Category: Christian

Reflections and Visions

It’s been a great week here in Baton Rouge at the Greater Things Conference.  Time to reflect, and then to look ahead.

First, it’s been nice to be away from Alaska for a week.  I have to say I’m not ready to go back to snow and cold.  It’s been nice to be outside in shirtsleeves.  Driving on dry pavement has been an adjustment… the locals probably don’t get my gentle braking, and they sure don’t understand my extended following distance!

More important than my break from the snow and cold was the conference itself.  I think I heard a number of over 800 registered participants came from all over the country (we even met a pastor from Hillsong Church in Sidney, Australia there!) to talk about what the Church can do to love our communities in the real, practical ways that Jesus loved the people and communities he walked among in his ministry.  There’s a real recognition among a significant group of Church leaders that the lack of relevance the Church has in the world today is because we are focused a lot more on giving the world theology than we are in showing the world compassion.  This conference was a concrete step by those leaders to try to change that focus.  There’s way too much to try to recap, so I won’t.  If you’re interested, the leaders are setting up a website to launch Feb 29, designed to share all the resources and workshops from the conference, as well as to provide a connection point for the interchange of ideas to reach our communities, at www.hopeoutpost.com.

While I won’t recap the conference, I want to share some of the very real indicators of the problem:

Need:

  • 15% of US households struggle to put food on the table-and we’re the richest country in the world
  • 27% of children under 18 live in a home with only one parent
  • Nearly 5 children in the US dieevery day from abuse and neglect
  • 22 million Americans have a substance abuse or dependency problem
  • 1.1 million Americans are living with HIV/AIDS today
  • 1.6 million Americans will be diagnosed with cancer in 2012
  • 1 in every 200 people in the US need a place to sleep (think about that a different way, if you’re in a group of 200 average Americans, one person in your group is homeless)
  • Up to 30 million people-the equivalent of the population of Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas-are estimated to be slaves or victims of human trafficking worldwide, and 80% of them are women and children used for commercial sexual exploitation.  Around 16,000 of those victims are in the United States!

Christine Caine made a painful, but real point in her presentation:  “People suffer daily around the world because our hearts are unchanged.”  She said that what she terms as the “ordinary heart” is primarily concerned with the immediacy of our own lives.  She had another awesome quote that cuts to the quick:  “The Church has confused compassion with emotion.”  We might look at the numbers above and say “oh, that’s tragic” but what are we doing about it?

Now for the “vision” part of this post:  What am I going to do next?  If all I do is go to a conference, and then go back to my life, I need to be slapped in the back of the head for being stupid–I could have been more effective by taking what I spent on the trip and giving it instead to the local food bank.  If I want to invest that money, so that it delivers a bigger value, I need to take what I learned here and make a difference.  Much to my frustration, God didn’t give me a new job and a clear direction during this trip, but he did give me a burden that I’m not going to let go of.  Instead, I’m going to continue to pray when I get back home, that he’ll show me where he wants me to go to work.  But the old way isn’t good enough anymore.  Stay tuned for the changes in our lives…

In the meantime, I’ll ask you:  Do those numbers, or other examples of poverty, homelessness, hunger, abuse, or injustice tug at your heart at all?  Enough to make you compassionate, or just emotional?

Greater Things Conference- Day 1

Woke up this morning to beautiful sunshine and 73 degrees! Saw a little of Baton Rouge, but mainly sat in the sun this afternoon, before heading to the conference this evening. Healing Place Church has done a great job so far hosting the Greater Things Conference.

Joyce Meyer ws the keynote speaker, and she did a great job pointing out the fact that too many Christians and churches are falling down in the “love” department. We go about saying we love one another, when our actions look more like we have a “Do Not Disturb” sign hung around our neck. We are too busy waiting for the Lord to tell us what our ministry is while walking past real needs we can meet every day. She cited some statistics that drove the point home that if the Church in the US would start acting to fill the needs of others, there would be a lot less need in our country, going on to make a point that I’ve cited here several times: We’ve let the government take over our job. The government is not anointed to take care of the poor, the widow, the sick and the marginalized, the church is. And we need to quit waiting for something big to happen someday and start doing the small things that are right in front of us today. We don’t need a committee or a prayer meeting before we can get started.

We just need to put on love, every day, as deliberately as we put on clothes.

Being a Sheep

Observations whilerunning with my pack (flock?)
 I run with my twolarge dogs.  Not as often as I should, oras they would like, but I do.  As we wereout for our run this morning, I was thinking, and noticing things.  First, my two dogs are rather exuberant whenwe start out.  They really don’t want tofollow my lead, but would rather run ahead. That causes problems, because when I’m not in front, they tend to missthe turns, and get their leads really tangled up, sometimes causing one or moreof us to slip and fall in the snow.  Whenthey’re following well, they  run withtheir shoulders right next to my thigh. They can sense when I slow down, speed up, or change direction; evenwhen I alert on some sort of perceived threat. We move almost as one.

Now, when they perceive a threat,whether it’s a moose, another dog, or a trash can (what can I say, the GreatDane can’t see too well in the dark) they tend to take their eyes off me, andstart focusing on the threat.  If I don’tget them refocused quickly, they start veering off toward the threat, creatingthe same problem discussed above.  Theycan even start pulling me off course. But, if they stay focused on me, we generally run right by the waywardtrash can, or I deal with the loose dog, and our little pack is safe.

 So what, yousay?  Well, I see a broaderapplication.  Excuse me while I changemetaphors, from a pack to a flock.  Manypundits, bloggers, and commenters on the internet news pages like to use themetaphor of sheep to refer to people today, particularly those who aren’talarmed by the threat that the writer sees. “Sheeple” has become a derogatory term for those in societywho aren’t alarmed by the threat so obvious to the writer.  “I don’twant to be a sheep! ” Sheep are dumb, blindly following theshepherd, and easily led astray.  Theyhave no real individual defensive capability, and are only really safe frompredators when pressed tightly together in the flock, and when being protectedby the shepherd.
 Unfortunately, Jesuscalls us sheep.  His sheep.  He uses this metaphor a lot, and says he isour Shepherd.
 So what does being asheep have to do with running with my dogs? Well, while I was running with my “pack,” I was considering aflock and how it behaves.  I won’t even pretendto be an expert on sheep behavior, but I have observed flocks before, and I’vegot Google.
 First, a flockfollowing their shepherd tend to bunch pretty closely together.  Even those sheep on the outside edges,farthest away from the shepherd, know where to go, because the flock tends tobecome one contiguous mass.  Those on theedge press in to those closer in, much like my dogs do when they’re followingwell.  When threats appear, they tend topress in even closer, trying to draw closer to their shepherd, and listeningfor his voice.  If those sheep on thefringe of the flock, instead of drawing closer, focus instead on the threat,they will tend to veer away from the flock, and toward the threat.  This is exactly what a predator wants–todistract the sheep from the flock, causing it to take its eyes and ears off theshepherd, and to stray away from the safety of the flock, becoming easy prey.
Jesus says his sheepfollow him because they know his voice. But what if the sheep, instead of focusing on him, are bleating aboutthe threat?  Loud noises frighten sheep!  I imagine those closest to him may still beable to hear his voice over the cacophony of the flock, but those sheep on thefringe, farthest from him, and also most vulnerable to the predator, may not beable to hear over the noise.

I think it’s time for Christians to start acting like the sheep we are supposedto be.  We are defenseless, other than bystaying in our flock.  We’re not supposedto fight against the predator, but to stay close to the Shepherd.  Quit fixating on the predator, and stopbleating.  We might still be able to hear him, butothers in the flock might not.  Ourcarrying on about the threat may be what panics them, causes them to losefocus, to run.  Our lack of trust andfocus might be the very thing that makes the predator successful in taking ourlambs.

If you’re scared, oruncertain, or worried about the predators lurking in the shadows, press in alittle tighter to the flock, and listen for the Shepherd.

Even though I walk through the valley of theshadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.  Your rod and staff, they comfort me. – Psalm23:4

It’s time for Christians to RISE UP!!!

Acts Chapter 4 recounts the story of Peter and John’s arrest and questioning before the Jewish religious rulers for teaching about Jesus. During their interrogation, the Jewish rulers ordered these two men to not speak or teach about Jesus.

Verse 23-24 relate what happened next: “On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. When they heard this, they raised their voices together in protest of this obvious violation of their religious rights, crying “To arms! To arms! All righteous men and followers of Jesus, RISE UP! We must defend our rights against this tyranny and oppression!” At this, the 3000 new believers launched an impressive guerrilla campaign that spread from Jerusalem, to Judea and Samaria in just a few short years. Within 50 years, their small guerrilla band had taken large portions of Asia Minor and Southern Europe, establishing strongholds in Rome that would eventually topple the Roman Empire.

For those of you who are now scrambling for your Bibles to see where THAT passage is,

“April Fools!”

That’s really not what happened. The first part is correct; Peter and John were arrested and ordered not to teach or talk about Jesus. They did go back to their followers, but v 24 really says “When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God, “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David:

” ‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One.’… They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. Now Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness…. After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.”

These people were facing real oppression–life-threatening oppression. They didn’t rail against the government, let alone plot to take up armed opposition. What did they do? They prayed, and they kept on preaching the Gospel boldly. So why do many Christians today feel the need to oppose our government? They’re not telling us to quit speaking about Jesus. And even if sometime in the future the US government were to violate the Constitution by ordering Christians not to speak about Jesus, are we then supposed to oppose the government? Not according to my Bible! We’re supposed to pray, then speak the word of GOD boldly! Not speak the word against the government!

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. –2 Corinthians 10:3-5.

Hawaii Senate ends daily prayer in chamber

This news article ran yesterday in the Washington Post. It seems the ACLU was threatening to sue to halt prayer the daily practice of prayer to begin each day’s session.

I have several thoughts on this.

First, if you read the comments section of this article, many of those who appear to support prayer (which one would presume mean they claim to be Christian) certainly don’t help the cause by making comments declaring God’s judgment on the state, it’s government, or its citizens. Last time I checked, God was pretty clear that judging was his responsibility, not ours, and that those who falsely proclaimed his judgment (in other words, say “Thus saith the LORD” without clearly hearing Him direct them to say it) are not looked on favorably.

Second, Although I’m a ferocious advocate of prayer in ALL situations, I’m not certain that prayer sanctioned by the government is what God desires, or is even very effective. The article stated that they were already prohibited from prayers that mention a specific deity. What good is that? I believe that the fervent prayers of the true believers within that legislative body, offered up in the name of Jesus, will be much more pleasing to God than milquetoast happy thoughts addressed to whatever random spirits that happen to be listening to the formal, mandatory invocation that ceremonially (religiously?) starts their work day. If that means that the believers in their midst should gather together in Christian fellowship BEFORE the legislative session begins, to jointly offer corporate prayer to GOD asking for his protection of their state and their legislative body, his wisdom and guidance for their actions throughout the upcoming day, then PRAISE GOD and THANK YOU ACLU! Maybe, just maybe, if they started doing that, God might unleash his power and favor in their midst, and the believers might see their numbers grow… possibly to the point that all of the Senators might voluntarily join in their prayer group out of their devotion to God, not out of compulsion.

Third, many Christians in America today want to protect what we perceive to be Christian principles in our government, be it through “In God We Trust” on our currency, or “under God” in our pledge, or corporate prayer in our official assemblies. But our Founding Fathers had broad views on the relationship of religion and government, reaching recorded consensus only to direct that

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

It’s my humble opinion that the Hawaii Senate is only following the intent of the Constitution and their citizens. If the only way to comply with the prohibition of establishment is to water down our prayer so that we can’t call on YHWH or Jesus, then who needs the prayer? Christians should also consider this: If we insist that prayer should be an established beginning of government assemblies, are we OK when that prayer is offered to Allah? Because it’s not inconceivable that one day the majority of citizens of some local government might be Muslim. I personally would rather have NO corporate prayer than be a part of corporate prayer offered to Allah, Buddha, or Mother Earth.

Are we really protecting Christian principles or merely Christian practices? I would submit that we can and should be more interested in the principles (compassion for our fellow man, maybe even a little love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control) and maybe the practices will take care of themselves.

Watch how you say it

1st Century Palestine was governed by a harsh, pagan dictatorship, bent on taking advantage of the people they governed, extracting their resources and wealth for the good of the central government in Rome, and oppressing the local people to ensure they did not rise up and revolt against the government. The Romans tolerated religion only insofar as it yielded ultimately to the ultimate form of power, the worship of Caesar as lord.

In this political environment lived a small group of men who worshiped the one true God. They studied the Scriptures, and observed every command to the extreme, exhorting all around them to do the same. These men longed for the Palestine of centuries past, when the people lived under a government loyal to God, and the king was a “man after God’s own heart.” These men even studied the Scriptures to more fully understand the prophecies of the Messiah, the one who was to come and establish God’s kingdom on earth, longing for the day when they could throw off the bondage of the pagan dictatorship and live under the authority of a government based on Godly principles.

Another group of men in Palestine did not revolt against the Roman government, they embraced it, allying with the pagans in their attempt to extract wealth from the locals. These “publicans” gathered the taxes from the local residents on behalf of the Roman government, and collected a little (or a lot) extra for the purpose of building their own personal wealth. The historical record reveals that the former group treated the publicans with unbridled contempt, despising them for their moral compromise of Scriptural principles for economic gain.

Against this backdrop, the Son of Man, the Holy One of God whom the Scriptures foretold, taught of the coming Kingdom of God which He himself was establishing. He spent a lot of time with both of the aforementioned groups, speaking to and about each, often in earshot of the other. Of one group he spoke with mercy, often citing them in his stories of God’s love and forgiveness. Of one he spoke harshly and contemptuously, unapologetically offending them in his scathing criticism of their use of position to selfishly advance their own interests.

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:9-14, NIV)

Jesus did not approve of the actions of the publicans (tax collectors). One can be certain that he despised their sins, as God despises all sin. But Scripture reveals that Jesus only spoke with open contempt and criticism of one group of people: those who took pride in their own righteousness and condemned others for not meeting their religious standards; of this group his condemnation is unvarnished and explicit (cf. Matt 23).

I relate all of this, not to judge the speech or motives of others, but to make the point that Jesus was VERY selective in how he spoke of his fellow man. In his teachings he speaks very strongly against adultery (Matt 5:27-30). But when he speaks to or about adulteresses, he speaks with mercy and compassion (See John 4). We (I am first among the “we”) should be of like mind.

Bravo, Rick Joyner!

A few days ago, I used a quote from Rick Joyner’s website to point out a concern about people not seeking to understand what was going on before they responded to bad information.

I take this opportunity to give Mr. Joyner some appreciation for his latest newsletter. I don’t agree with everything he says every week, but he’s a respected friend of a man that I respect and honor, so I listen to what Mr. Joyner has to say. I don’t immediately and unthinkingly adopt what he says, but I consider it.

In the article linked above, Mr. Joyner writes about Christians’ mandate to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13-14). He states:

To be the light that inspires the world and the salt that keeps if from falling into depravity is our calling. If the world is slipping into darkness, we must not condemn the world, but consider how our light has been dimmed. If the world is falling into deeper depravity, we need to determine how we, the salt, may have lost our savor so that we can no longer prevent this. Occupying until He comes infers not letting this happen. Therefore, the impetus for the meltdown of morality and growing corruption is on us to prevent, which we can only do by being who we are called to be as Christians. It is not the time to condemn the heathen for living in darkness—they cannot help this without us. It is time to judge ourselves, and resolve that we are here to help save them, not condemn them.

OUTSTANDING!!! Too many Christians in the West today are condemning their fellow man, thinking they’re “shining a light” on sin. In reality, they’re offending their fellow man, and showing an ugly, un-Christlike view of the Church to the world. Mr. Joyner has very eloquently challenged all of us to quit judging, and start loving!

A pastor friend recently cited statistics that most 18-29 year olds, when surveyed about Christians, first responded with “hates homosexuals”, followed by “judgemental”. WOW. Kinda the opposite of the Jesus I know. We, the body of Christ, need to get our act together. Our light’s going out, and our salt is tasting kinda sandy. In the process, we’re losing ground in a fallen world.

To my fellow Christians: If you’re going to judge, grab your Bible and a mirror. When the two images match, then you’re qualified to judge others. Until then, humble yourselves, and keep trying to get the mirror image to look like the Bible image.

To my non-Christian friends: We don’t deserve it, but would you consider giving us Christians another chance? I can only speak for me, but I’ve messed up more than I’ve gotten right in loving my neighbor. But God’s only had a few years to try to fix what I’ve worked real hard to corrupt for most of my life. He’s a miracle-working God, but I’m a pretty hard case, and I haven’t always gone along willingly. Would you please forgive us–we mean well.

Obama Administration declares Bible-believing Christians and Veterans “Terrorists”

PLEASE KEEP READING!!!

This headline, or others like it, has screamed at me several times from my inbox, as concerned Christian friends have attempted to “get the word out” about the coming persecution.

A recent article from Evangelical Christian writer Rick Joyner on his webpage states:

“Consider this: In the infamous memo put out by the Department of Homeland Security about potential terrorist threats in America, it named Christians who believe the end-time prophecies in the Bible and veterans, but did not name Islamic extremists. Think about how skewed that is. When was the last time a Christian flew an airplane into a building or was a suicide bomber? Over the last half century virtually every major terrorist attack in the world came from one group, Islamic jihadists, and yet that group is not even named as a potential threat by our DHS.” Prepared for the Times, Part 28, MorningStar Ministries

These statements concerned me, so I sought out the memo to see what it actually said. I’m concerned that Mr. Joyner, along with others who have forwarded emails citing this memo as a threat to Christians, did not read the memo. If they did, then I’m more concerned that they’re either:

a) Thoroughly misunderstanding what Christians stand for, or

b) So intent on finding fault with our administration that they are deliberately twisting the words so as to be offended by something that’s not inherent in the meaning.

The document in question is an intelligence threat assessment. It’s title indicates its subject matter (Right Wing Extremism). It does not state that Islamic jihadists are NOT a threat; they are just not within the scope of the document.

The references to veterans revolve around their potential recruitment by right wing extremist organizations. It does NOT state that veterans are likely to become right wing extremists, or that veterans themselves were potential terrorist threats, just that extremist organizations were targeting veterans for recruitment.

I’m even more taken aback by the comments about “it nam[ing] Christians who believe the end-time prophecies in the Bible…” as potential terrorist threats. I was eager to see what our government had to say that identified Bible-believing Christians (like me) as terrorist threats!

The only section of the document that mentions “Christian” or “end times” is the last paragraph on page 4, quoted in part here:

“Antigovernment conspiracy theories and ‘end times’ prophecies could motivate extremist individuals and groups to stockpile food, ammunition, and weapons. These teachings also have been linked with the radicalization of domestic extremist individuals and groups in the past, such as violent Christian Identity organizations and extremist members of the militia movement.”

Given that “end times prophecies” abound, and exist beyond the Bible, I decided to look into the “Christian Identity organizations” they referenced. Another quick Google search brought me to several websites about Christian Identity, and several other Christian Identity organizational websites. A brief review of these sites led me to several conclusions:

1) These organizations are NOT Christian

2) Their understanding of the “end times” is a grotesque bastardization of the Bible to justify their hatred of Jews and other non-white races

3) In at least one instance I found, they are very overtly targeting US veterans through deception and pandering to potential disillusionment in our returning veterans.

4) These guys are dangerous wackos that I want our government to keep an eye on!!!

Nowhere else in the government document does it address Bible-believing Christians. So I implore my fellow citizens of this great nation, at all points on the political spectrum, to take the time to do their homework before they respond to politically-charged sound bites.

“Seek first to understand…”