A Great Commission Core

David Black (who blogs here) wrote these words today and they gripped my heart upon reading them and I think they deserve sharing as well.  Here's what Dave wrote:

It is the Great Commission that ought to drive everything we do as followers of Jesus. Some people think they can be good Christians by attending the fellowship, singing songs, praying prayers, teaching one another, etc. Nothing could be further from the truth. We must return to Jesus' revolutionary, cross-based ministry. How different is this kind of self-sacrificing Christianity from the comfort-seeking, self-serving, ingrown religion so often practiced in our churches! This Jesus who humbled Himself as a servant and who died as a criminal -- this same Jesus is the One who was always pressing on to preach the Gospel in the next village. His heart's cry was for the dead and the dying, for the lost, the sick, the undone. He was willing to let everything go for the sake of lost souls. When I finally came to understand that this very same Jesus was desiring to live His missional life through me, I felt as if He had shoved a knife into my heart. But finally I knew the work he had for me. The true test of my commitment is not how much I give or even what I believe but how I live. God is not just asking us to give our money to missions but to make missions the core of our lives, the central passion in all we do.

More and more as I read the Word and pray and learn from my brothers and sister in Christ I cannot help but feel that following Jesus is "more."  It is more than what I am seeing.  It is more than what I am sometimes hearing.  It is more than what I am doing.  It is a total life commitment.  It is more than a willingness to love my neighbor, but it actually loves my neighbor.  Whatever it is, I want it. 


I often think of Jesus' words in the Sermon in the Mount.  One of the Beatitudes states:  "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled."  Yes, Lord!  Please place in me a hunger and thirst for you and the things of you that can only be quenched by you! 


Praying that prayer continually I look ahead to what God has for me today, and tomorrow.  I don't know what it will be, but I do know that he is already there.  I want the Great Commission to be at the core of my being as I live for and follow God.

Is There a Difference Between Believing In Jesus and Following Jesus?

A question that has come to my mind recently deals with the popular Christian phrase "I believe in Jesus."
This phrase is often heard in evangelistic contexts such as the question "Do you believe in Jesus?"  But what does this mean, really?  If we think about it many people believe that Jesus actually existed as a historical figure who walked the earth sometime in the first century.  But of those who believe in the historical Jesus there are many differing views of who Jesus was (and is).  We have Jesus the travelling Cynic, Jesus the Sage, Jesus the Stoic, Jesus the prophet and Jesus the revolutionary peasant just to name a few.  I tend to think that there is a difference in believing Jesus and believeing in Jesus.

I took some time and did a quick comparison of a couple phrases from Scripture and what I found was interesting (at least to me).  The word "believe" is used often in Scripture and rightly so.  But I looked up the phrase "believe in" in the Gospels.  I specifically focused on the words of Jesus or the phrase directed toward Jesus and I found the following break-down:  Matthew 2x; Mark 1x; Luke none; John 7x = 10x total.  I also looked up the use of the word "follow" as in Jesus' statement "Follow Me."  I also included a few statements where another tells Jesus "I will follow you."  Here's how this broke down in the Gospels:  Matthew 8x; Mark 5x; Luke 8x; John 7x = 28x total.  In full disclosure, this was a brief examination so these numbers may be off a little.  However, I think there is the potential for something here.  According to these numbers Jesus calls people to follow him rather than believe in him by a margin of nearly 3 to 1.

If this is true then what are the implications of this?  What is/are the differences in "believing in" Jesus rather than "following" Jesus?  Are these two ways of referring to the same thing?

What are your thoughts?

Team Redemption

Things have really picked up for me lately and it seems I have much to do, plus my family and I are going on vacation very soon so I will not be blogging as much as I would like to over the next couple of weeks.  However, I want to take to the time to share something with you and ask you for your prayers.

Tomorrow, June 28, four people from our church family here in Beach Lake are joining with five people from our sister church in Lake Wallenpaupack and they are embarking on a week long mission trip to Haiti.  The group is calling themselves "Team Redemption."  They will be helping in the continual rebuilding that has been going on in Haiti ever since the tragic earthquake that happened a while ago.  The Haitians still have so much rebuilding to do.  Please pray for my brothers and sisters in Christ as they seek to live amplified lives in Haiti this week.  Here are the names of the Redemption Team members so you can pray for them by name:

Tammy Plumb (team leader)
Pastor Ken Platt
Aimee Kern
Beth Dowd
Connie Lichtenstein
Sean & Megan Reager
Shane Priebe
Dan Reed

Video: "This Is Discipleship"

This video was put out by the Foursquare Church and I stumbled on to it via a Neil Cole Post on facebook.  I think the message of the video is very good and pretty spot on.  What do you think?

Making Missional Living Practical

Mike Breen (who blogs here) shared a great post today that I just had to pass along.  So often we want to live missionally in our day to day lives, but if you're like me, sometimes it can get squeezed out because our over-scheduled life.  In other cases we my simply not know where to begin and we feel overwhelmed by it all.  In his latest post, 8 Simple Ways to Be Missional, Mike Breen shares eight practical ways to live more missionally minded in the day to day of life.  Here is what he shared:

1. Eat with Non-Christians. We all eat three meals a day. Why not make a habit of sharing one of those meals with a non-Christian or with a family of non-Christians? Go to lunch with a co-worker, not by yourself. Invite the neighbors over for family dinner. If it’s too much work to cook a big dinner, just order pizza and put the focus on conversation. When you go out for a meal invite others. Or take your family to family-style restaurants where you can sit at the table with strangers and strike up conversation. Cookout and invite Christians and non-Christians. Flee the Christian subculture.


2. Walk, Don’t Drive. If you live in a walkable area, make a practice of getting out and walking around your neighborhood, apartment complex, or campus. Instead of driving to the mailbox, convenience store, or apartment office, walk to get mail, groceries, and stuff. Be deliberate in your walk. Say hello to people you don’t know. Strike up conversations. Attract attention by walking the dog, taking a 6-pack (and share), bringing the kids. Make friends. Get out of your house! Take interest in your neighbors. Ask questions. Pray as you go. Save some gas, the planet, and some people.

3. Be a Regular. Instead of hopping all over the city for gas, groceries, haircuts, eating out, and coffee, go to the same places. Get to know the staff. Go to the same places at the same times. Smile. Ask questions. Be a regular. I have friends at coffee shops all over the city. My friends at Starbucks donate a ton of left over pastries to our church 2-3 times a week. We use them for church gatherings and occasionally give to the homeless. Build relationships. Be a Regular.

4. Hobby with Non-Christians. Pick a hobby that you can share. Get out and do something you enjoy with others. Try City League sports. Local rowing and cycling teams. Share your hobby by teaching lessons. Teach sewing lessons, piano lessons, violin, guitar, knitting, tennis lessons. Be prayerful. Be intentional. Be winsome. Have fun. Be yourself.

5. Talk to Your Co-workers. How hard is that? Take your breaks with intentionality. Go out with your team or task force after work. Show interest in your co-workers. Pick four and pray for them. Form mom groups in your neighborhood and don’t make them exclusively Christian. Schedule play dates with the neighbors’ kids. Work on mission.

6. Volunteer with Non-Profits. Find a non-profit in your part of the city and take Saturday a month to serve your city. Bring your neighbors, your friends, or your small group. Spend time with your church serving your city. Once a month. You can do it!

7. Participate in City Events. Instead of playing X-Box, watching TV, or surfing the net, participate in city events. Go to fundraisers, festivals, clean-ups, summer shows, and concerts. Participate missionally. Strike up conversation. Study the culture. Reflect on what you see and hear. Pray for the city. Love the city. Participate with the city.

8. Serve your Neighbors. Help a neighbor by weeding, mowing, building a cabinet, fixing a car. Stop by the neighborhood association or apartment office and ask if there is anything you can do to help improve things. Ask your local Police and Fire Stations if there is anything you can do to help them. Get creative. Just serve!

Also, I love the qoute that Mike uses to end his post.  He states:  "Don’t make the mistake of making “missional” another thing to add to your schedule. Instead, make your existing schedule missional."

What do you think of Mike's ideas and suggestions?  Have you already implemented any of these ideas?  Are there other ideas that your implement that are not on this list?  Please share with the rest of us.




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College Says "Good-Bye" to National Anthem

What are your thoughts on this?  Is there an alternative to the national anthem?  Does this unduly separate this school from society or is this a necessary step from a Christian perspective?  Does not singing the national anthem make one unpatriotic?

By Jack Jenkins
c. 2011 Religion News Service

(RNS) Goshen College will no longer play The Star-Spangled Banner at sporting events, school leaders announced, reversing last year's decision to allow the use of the national anthem for the first time in the Mennonite college's history.

Some Mennonites had criticized the anthem's lyrics as glorifying war and offensive to the school's pacifist traditions. Goshen's Board of Directors said many felt the school's "allegiance should be to Christ rather than to country."

"As a result of a thoughtful, thorough, prayerful period of listening, learning and discerning," the board said in a June 6 statement, "it is the board's judgment that continuing to play the national anthem compromises our ability to advance the vision (of Goshen College) together."

The switch by the Indiana college, which is affiliated with the Mennonite Church USA, upends a February 2010 decision to permit an instrumental version of the song at athletic gatherings after decades of shunning the patriotic anthem.

Supporters of the anthem, who were mostly non-Mennonites, argued that it "honors our country and improves community relations by welcoming and respecting the views of non-Mennonite students."

The board is now seeking an "alternative" to the national anthem "that fits with sports tradition, that honors country, that resonates with our core values and that respects the views of diverse constituencies."

My Passport Arrived!

A little while ago I shared a post about God answering prayer and as a very small part of the post I mentioned how God answered one of my prayers recently.  I want to to recount the story with a little more detail here and share with you what is to come so you can pray for me and what God is working out according to His will.

A few months ago I received a denomination newsletter in the mail.  One thing particularly in the newsletter caught my attention.  The newsletter spoke of what is called Global Studies Intensive (or GSI for short).  Every few years the Free Methodist denomination organizes a mission trip to a part of the world.  But this is not just a mission trip, it is also a hands-on mission class.  The point is to connect pastors and lay-people from all over the world with one another to build relationships with one another in the context of cross-cultural missions.  For two weeks GSI intersperses class time with hands on ministry time.  You learn about cross cultural missions by participating in cross cultural missions.  This year GSI is happening in Kenya.  When I read about this I thought that this would be a great opportunity, but I knew I didn't have the money to pay for it.  So I said a prayer about it and laid the newsletter on the side of my desk. 

About a week later I was hanging out and chatting with people between our two Sunday morning gatherings and a man came up to me and handed me a copy of the newsletter.  The section about GSI-Kenya was circled.  He proceeded to say to me, "My wife and I prayed about this and if you want to go we will cover your expenses."  My heart lept!  I couldn't believe it!  I have heard stories of God working like this but have not been on the receiving end of any of them.  I spoke to my wife about it and we both had the sense the God wants me to go to Kenya for something. 

Adding to this, our church recently had a visit from some missionaries that we support.  They spent the last 6 years ministering in Mexico City but now it turns out they are moving to Kenya.  When I found this out I couldn't help but to ask God, "O.K., God, what are you up to here?" 

I share this with you because I think I would be remiss if I did not share with others the work of God's hands.  In the Psalms it says repeatedly that we are to tell others of what God has done.  For example, in Psalm 66:5 is declares, "Come and see what God has done, how awesome his works in man's behalf!"  Also, I'm asking you to join me in prayer for this trip.  I want to be used by God and I hope this trip changes the life of someone I meet as well as my own life.

One of the places we will visit is the Kibara Slum of Nairobi.  It is one of the largest slums on the world.  Approximately 1.2 million people live in an area that is about 3.5 miles long and .5 miles wide.  Here is a satellite picture form the internet of the Kibara Slum:

Here is a picture of some garbage men in Kibara trying to remove some of the trash from the slum, which is like trying to shovel during a blizzard:

And here is another shot of the slum in which you can also see the garbage:

Again, please pray for the people of Kenya and for those from all over the world who will participate in GSI-Kenya later this year.

We've Crossed "the Line"

Sometimes the church and church-goers can be known more for what they disagree about rather than what they agree about.  There seem to be countless books, blogs and the like that are all about differences.  Some are more cordial than others and the others are sometimes downright divisive.  There are debates within the church about Calvinism vs. Arminianism, organic vs. traditional, contemporary vs. hymns,...the list could go on and on.  Where does all of this get us?  Nowhere really.  It only causes division where there needs not be any division.  After all, Jesus prayed for the church to be untied together as He and the Father are untied together (John 17:20-23).  This brings me to the purpose of this post.  I want to highlight an example of a brother in Christ who does not give in to this nonsense.  His name is Alan Knox and he blogs at The Assembling of the Church.

My blog is not very popular.  I'm lucky to get 50 hits per day.  But the greatest source of traffic to my blog comes from Alan's own blog.  He has linked to a few of my posts and has been very encouraging to me over the past few months.  But here's the thing, Alan and I are different.  Here are some of the differences:

1. We belong to different "tribes"--He's Baptist and I'm Free Methodist.
2. We have different styles of church gatherings--he meets in a more organic style church and I meet in a more traditional style church.
3. We have different theological perspectives--he leans toward Calvinism (I think) and I lean toward Arminianism.

These differences don't get in the way of Alan's ministry or our relationship.  You see, Alan sees all believers as being a part of the same family.  We may have some differences but the similarities far outweigh the differences.  Here are some of the similarities:

1.  We both believe Jesus Christ is the head of the church.
2.  We both believe in the atoning work of Jesus Christ.
3.  We both believe in actively living out what we profess to believe.
4.  We both believe that we are part of the family of God through Jesus.
5.  We both believe that the church exists for the mission of God.

There are more, but you get the point.  What would happen if the different "tribes" of Christians focused on what is similar with one another rather than what is different?  What if we encouraged someone else who holds different theological perspectives than we do?  More often than not the differences that separate us are regarding doctrine or opinion that have no direct bearing on one's salvation (for example, infant baptism vs. adult baptism; drums in the church vs. an organ only). 

Let us keep the work of God through Jesus Christ, His Son, at the center of everything and let us move on together from there.

And Alan, thanks for your encouragement and friendship, brother.

5th Sunday -- Conversations, Caring and Committing

I apologize, I know this post is long overdue.  My life currently seems to have entered a busy season and I have not had the time to blog as I would like to.  Two Sundays ago our church family gathered for a different type of "worship service."  We called it 5th Sunday and we are not the only church to participate in this.  What we did was trade our regular time of worship with service to our local community.  This was our first experience with this but it was exciting and God showed up.  When I asked a few people about their experience following the service time my questions were met with excitement and anticipation for the next 5th Sunday.  Some people were already giving me possible ideas for the next time we take the church outside to four walls of our building.

Conversations
One of the projects was picking up litter on a local stretch of road very close to our church building.  This project was the one that I thought would have the least impact on our community, but I was mistaken.  AS the clean up crew moved along the nearly 2 mile stretch of road there were numerous opportunities for conversations with unchurched people.  We had a few homeowners come out an ask us what we were doing and why we were doing it.  It was very exciting to see "ordinary missionaries" connecting with those in the local community and simply practicing a ministry of presence in the community.  I think it is important to let the community know that we are here and that we care.  To pick up trash is a practical demonstration of this care.  Picking up trash not only helps the environment but it also benefits our fellow humanity.  I pray that some seeds were planted in these conversations and that God will cause some growth (1 Corinthians 3:6).

Caring
Another group went to the local nursing home to sing with them and visit with the residence.  One particular story that came out of this group involved an elderly Jewish man at the home.  One member of this group happened to be raised in a Jewish milieu and upon entering the nursing home he noticed an elderly man sitting alone outside the building.  Apparently he noticed some sort of Jewish symbol or custom associated with this elderly gentleman that tipped him off that he was morning the loss of his wife.  The gentleman from the group sat with him and never made it inside.  He spent nearly two hours talking to this man, sharing his faith, sharing and being Jesus to this man who was in mourning.  Apparently the conversation went very well and they made it a point to set up another time to visit, apart from the planned group visit.  I pray that God will guide this relationship.

Committing
We had over 60 people commit to serve their neighbor on this particular Sunday.  For some of them it was not to much of a stretch to change the style of "worship" for the day.  But for some others it was very different and somewhat difficult.  But I am proud of my church family.  Here's one example.  An elderly woman in our church, who is used to a more traditional approach,  came up to me before we prayed together and went out to serve and she made it a point to tell me how different this was to her.  However, she was willing to go and give it a try.  The simple fact that she was there was huge.  I love to see people of God stretching themselves.  When we do that we find that we grow in our faith and Christ-likeness.  When we give in to tradition and fear we find that we become stagnant and nothing changes. 

The next 5th Sunday is in July and we are planning more service projects for that day.  I'm looking forward to see and hear about God acting in and through our local community.  What about you?  Would you and your church family consider joining in with 5th Sunday?