I ran across this lovely little ditty recently, it's a utilitarian approach to a love poem.

You are aesthetically pleasing,
the reason for which I first noticed in you.
And later I found your personality equally pleasing.
I also noted your chest to waist ratio is suitable for birthing.
Therefore, I think you should live in my house.

I'm not pointing any fingers here but there seems to be a lot of that kind of love going around at the moment. You look nice, lets live together. It's a challenge for the emerging pastor to gently confront our culture (or when necessary tread lightly and carry a big stick).

I can never think of a better way to inspire people towards godliness than giving them the higher aspirations of God. Listen to what Paul says love is:

 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Love is so much more than "Hey I like the look of you" and when we model it to others, it can become a higher ideal that we can all aspire too. It is the only way we can combat the photoshopped, vanilla, lust fueled and disposable version of love offered up to us.

That's the kind of love I want to have!

Fully Committed

Garibaldi had an incredibly committed volunteer army. He would appeal for recruits in these terms: "I offer neither pay, nor quarters, nor provisions; I offer hunger, thirst, forced marches, battles and death. Let him who loves his country with his heart and not with his lips only, follow me!" Jesus invites you to discipleship. But He lets you know up front that it is a commitment that will cost you something. It's not going to be easy. To paraphrase Garibaldi, "Let him who loves the Lord with his heart and not with his lips only, be Jesus' disciple!"

We Need More Church Fans
Source: National & International Religion Report, 5/2/94. "To Verify," Leadership.

The Bible tells us that where your treasure is, there your heart is also. That means we could accurately say that many folks are more committed to professional sports than they are to the church. In 1993 the total attendance at worship services in the U.S. was 5.6 billion, while the total attendance at U.S. professional baseball, football, and basketball games combined was only 103 million (less than two percent of the worship attendance, or for every 100 people who attended church less than two were at a sporting event.)

Now the rest of the story: Contributions to churches for the year totaled $56.7 billion (that's just over $10 per person), but the amount spent on professional baseball, football, and basketball totaled $4 billion (that's nearly $40 per person or almost four times what people gave to their local church per person). Is it any wonder that we look at some fans and say that they really are fanatics? They are more sold out for their team than many church attenders. How could we change the nation if the church quadrupled its commitment of resources, discipleship, and evangelism?

Accepting the Marginal
Source: Dallas Willard

The leading assumption in the American church today—and the Australian one I'll add—is that you can be a Christian but not a disciple. That has placed a tremendous burden on a mass of Christians who are not disciples. We tell them to come to church, participate in our programs and give money. But we see a church that knows nothing of commitment. We have settled for the marginal, and so we carry this awful burden of trying to motivate people to do what they don't want to do. We can't think about church the way we have been.

The True Nature of Spiritual Life
Source: James Emery White, You Can Experience the Spiritual Life (Nashville: Word Pub., 1999), 194.

Christian spirituality isn't about sitting at the feet of some guru for a seminar at a retreat. It isn't about having a nice comfortable, safe dose of spirituality in your life to make you feel good whenever your thoughts run deep about ultimate questions and eternal destinies. Jesus called people to follow Him—and there was only one place He was going: a cross. The true nature of spiritual living involves sacrifice, duty, and commitment.

Commitment Challenges

A common source of challenge in life is commitment as illustrated in the following story: The church choir director was frustrated with the sporadic attendance of all the choir members for rehearsals for the Christmas Choral Concert. At the final rehearsal he announced, "I want to personally thank the pianist for being the only person in this entire church choir to attend each and every rehearsal during the past two months." At this, the pianist rose, bowed, and said, "It was the least that I could do, considering I won't be able to be at the Christmas Choral Concert tonight!"

This is the third part in the unintentional series on business following on from Confronting busyness with vision and Overburdening our congregations. Burn out, drop out or drop dead.

I say unintentional because initially I was really just ranting about something I see as a problem for the church and pastors, getting those people in the pews committed to the vision of the church (universal) and growing Spiritually.

Something that has been keeping me awake at night, and I do actually mean that it has been keeping me awake, is the questions

1) Are we making disciples of Jesus or just a crowd of followers,
2) If our church was to disappear tomorrow, would anybody notice?

The questions have popped up so many times recently that I know that it is God asking me to explore them in my own life and own church and ministry.

This is the third part in the unintentional series on business following on from Confronting busyness with vision and Overburdening our congregations. Burn out, drop out or drop dead.

I say unintentional because initially I was really just ranting about something I see as a problem for the church and pastors, getting those people in the pews committed to the vision of the church (universal) and growing Spiritually.

Something that has been keeping me awake at night, and I do actually mean that it has been keeping me awake, is the questions

1) Are we making disciples of Jesus or just a crowd of followers,
2) If our church was to disappear tomorrow, would anybody notice?

The questions have popped up so many times recently that I know that it is God asking me to explore them in my own life and own church and ministry.

I want to share with you this Scripture from 2 Timothy 2:1-7. This Scripture is the text I'm required to base my message on for my subject on advanced preaching subject techniques.

You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others. Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs he wants to please his commanding officer. Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor's crown unless he competes according to the rules. The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this.

When I read this I see Paul profiling the life of an emerging pastor. So lets dissect it!

It's said that the very best salesmen will sell you something you don't need, don't want and can't afford and afterwards you will thank them for the privilege. That's the kind of thoughts that come to me when I think of the Catholic church in the Middle Ages. It's not that their product (eternal salvation) isn't needed; it's not that you don't really want it, it's the fact that they are trying to sell you something that you can have for free! They were selling ice to Inuit's and everybody was grateful for the privilege. Well, not everyone was happy. The Catholic church had this nice little racquet going

As I mentioned earlier, we are now in the third week of our eight week bible study series on the beatitudes and I don't think things could be going better. There is a lot of conversation being generated by the participants and even new groups coming on board since it kicked off. We now have close to 100% adult participation which I believe is a testimony to how God is working in the lives of our church at the moment. Besides running my own group, I'm attending one of the new groups that were formed for the study (and I believe will continue to progress afterwards). It's been a strange experience for me to not be in the drivers seat but God is certainly working through the new leader (who had a great mentor :) to bring out His agenda for the group. It's this group leaders first time of leading "full time" and I've been encouraging him along the journey but I thought I should share some of the insights I've had with him.

It’s hard to even know were to begin with this post! Thursday night I arrived home, said a quick hello and goodbye to my wife then I was whisked away to a conference centre past Kurrajong, I’m still not exactly sure where! (Not that it was a secret; I’m just bad with directions).

 

You leave your watch, phone and blackberry at the door and just allow yourself to be immersed in an environment that is full to the brim with God’s love.

 

The Walk to Emmaus is a ridged program but I didn’t have a problem with that. By ridged I probably mean structured, it uses a time proven template to lead you deeper into God’s arms and deeper into a knowledge of his grace.

 

One person articulated that on his first walk he soon had the program figured it out, the program is there to break you, and he’s right. Have you ever seen one of those war movies like “Band of Brothers” or “Full Metal Jacket”? The latter particularly shows how the U.S. Marine corps has designed their regimen to crack every single recruit and then rebuild them in their image.

 

Emmaus is sort of like the Marine Corps, only much better and with a lot more food! (I think I have gone off lollies). The talks and times of Spiritual devotion are all designed to break the crusty shell of self hate, sin, pride, false conviction, whatever is in the way of us and God, and allow God to minister directly to our spirit.

 

This breaking is done in an atmosphere far from the Marine Corps, it is done with the lavishing of God’s love on the participants. From the table leaders, the Spiritual and Lay directors to those who faithfully wait on you during your meal times, so when you do find yourself broken before God (as I did) you are not cold and alone but surrounded by examples of His grace.

 

All in all, it was an intensely personal experience that left me confronted, sometimes in a state of shock (in awe of God’s love shown through others) but most of all, closer to God. May I remain broken in his presence.

 

De colores!

I came across this today from another blog. It's the words of an african pastor who lays out the true cost of following Jesus.

The thing about Christianity is we are not supposed to be living normal lives. We are supposed to set our sights higher and connect with the will of our Heavenly Father and live the life he wants us to live. We are called to be ministers of reconciliation, people who share the good news about what God has done for us. We are not called to stay home, accumulate wealth and live comfortable lives.

We are supposed to be a people who take up their cross daily, who suffer shoulder each others burdens and do God's will on earth as it is in heaven.

I’m part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have Holy Spirit power.  The die has been cast.  I have stepped over the line.  The decision has been made.   I’m a disciple of His.  I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still.

My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure.  I’m finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talking, cheap living, and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity.  I don’t have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded.  I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by power.

My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are few, my Guide is reliable, my mission is clear.  I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded, or delayed.  I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

I won’t give up, shut up, let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, and preached up for the cause of Christ.  I am a disciple of Jesus.  I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till all know, and work till He stops me.  And when He comes for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me —my banner will be clear.

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