It’s a great feeling when you enter a new season with a refreshed sense of clarity and direction.  For the past few months I’ve been investing time in mulling over what “being missional” means.  My church’s core values are as follows – worshipful, relational and missional.  And through these values we seek to exercise and demonstrate “following Jesus”, “in community”, for the purpose and hope of “transforming our world”.

What does it look like to practice these expressions and values?  For those of us that are already “churched”, we at least have some working definition of these concepts (I hope).  But I don’t know how valuable that knowledge is if we don’t also have in tandem some practical out-working of these concepts.  Or in other words, we should have some walkin’ paired up with our talkin’.  My current thinking process, in relation to these values, goes something like this…

My chief, uncontested priority, as one redeemed by God, is to glorify,honor and obey him (worshipful / following Jesus).  As a natural consequence of the relationship God offers to me, I engage in developing intentional relationships with people (relational / in community).  God has given his people clear instruction to seek out the lost, preach the gospel and make disciples.  Therefore, I should seek out and connect with people who don’t yet know our Heavenly Father (missional / transforming our world) in the hope that they might place their faith and trust in Jesus.

Granted, there’s much more that could be expounded on and there’s plenty of room for discussion.  All discussion aside, what we actually do proves what we truly believe.  There’s no getting around this simple reality.  I can say I believe that worshipping God is of central importance but do the actions of my life support that statement?  I can say that engaging in biblical community is important but do the relationships in my life demonstrate this?  I can say that I agree with God’s mission and mandate to his people but am I on mission, preaching the gospel and making disciples?  What if I turned off the audio commentary to my life, and all you could see is a silent film, would the picture show that I’m following Jesus, in community, transforming our world?

I got questions, lots of them.  Here are a few of the questions I’ll initially be blogging about:

• What is the Gospel?
• How do I “preach” the gospel?
• How and where do I apply the gospel?
• How do I make disciples?
• Why am I doing this!?

I’ll be sharing my experiences as I wrestle with and try to put practice to these questions.  I expect there’ll be a good bit of trial and error along the way.  If you have questions you’re working through it would be great if you shared them.  Even if they aren’t directly related to these topics.  And, if you’re a person with some answers or sage advice, definitely, please share!

CK

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And check out this crazy owl… God’s creation is amazing!

Almost every time I hear the word “REPENT!” (exclamation included), the image of a scrawny, crazed man wearing an a-frame as a shirt comes to mind.  He has a scraggly beard, missing teeth, balding head, and dirty sandaled feet.  To complete his ensemble… he roams the earth without pants.  I bet you can guess the phrase that’s scribbled across both sides of the a-frame in drippy red paint…

REPENT!  REPENT!  THE END IS NEAR!

I’m not sure where in my history I picked up this imagery but there’s something about the tone that’s not only dramatically morbid… it’s entirely “religious”.  Like many people, whether having experienced church or not, the concept of repentance generally brings feelings of negativity.  Feelings of fear, guilt, shame, not-good-enough, try-harder, unworthiness.  This is the mindset of empty religion… or I should say, this is the mindset of legalism.

Once upon a time “having religion” wasn’t necessarily viewed as a bad thing… it was a mark of righteousness, honor, integrity and other good characteristics.  But over time, the institution of religion has earned itself an unfortunately well deserved, bad reputation.  People have oppressed, suppressed and dominated other people, all in the name of religion.  Christianity is no exception to this problem and this is just within my lifetime.

What is your gut reaction to the following statement made by Martin Luther?

“When our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, said “Repent”, He called for the entire life of believers to be one of repentance” (Article 1, 95 These)

Does this statement seem overly dramatic or harsh?  Does it sound impossible?  Does it make you afraid… or angry?  I know when I first read it I essentially felt like I was “hosed”… not only do I apparently not repent “enough”, but I was choosing not to repent when I knew I should.  I’m never going to be “good enough”.  The bar is too high… so why even try?  No!  If I work harder maybe God will change His mind about me!  That’s it… try harder and perhaps I’ll climb the spiritual ladder to heaven, one rung at a time.

I didn’t know it at the time but I was a zealously religious person.  Since those days I’ve gradually received a different perspective on repentance.  Now, when I read Luther’s first point, I wholeheartedly agree and it gives me joy to think on repentance.

REPENTANCE, 1928 Noah Webster’s Dictionary (italics mine):

Sorrow for anything done or said; the pain or grief which you experience in consequence of the injury or inconvenience produced byyour own conduct against one that you love deeply.

In theology, the pain, regret or affliction which a person feels on account of his past conduct, because it exposes him to punishment. This sorrow proceeding merely from the fear of punishment, is called legal repentance, as being excited by the terrors of legal penalties, and it may exist without an amendment to life due to a mindset of legalism.

Real penitence; sorrow or deep contrition for sin, as an offense and dishonor to God, a violation of his holy law, and the basest ingratitude towards a Being of infinite benevolence. This is called evangelical repentance, and is accompanied and followed by amendment of life and a heart-felt turning away from sin… a clarity in hearing the Spirit’s voice… a deep feeling of joy, love and worship in the acceptance of God’s amazing grace. How deep the heart of thanksgiving because Jesus has saved us from the just punishment of our sin.

…most of Japan hit by big earthquake heavy damage… brother running home… no traffic moving… water is washing everything away houses cars… 

In times of high stress I’m normally not the kind of person that panics.  Something inside me “goes cold”, my focus sharpens and I start making decisions… I “do what needs to be done”.  If you were to ask my wife she would describe me as being completely emotionless.

But, when I received that text I experienced two things in a flash… my heart dropped into my belly and I became very afraid… then I became angry because I realized I was completely helpless to take any action.  I live here… my brother, his wife and their daughter who is the same age with my daughter are all way over there… in Japan.

All I could do was call my dad and ask if he had heard anything else… and pray.

About an hour later an update came through that everyone was alright.  I think I aged a decade in that time.  When I received the good news my heart leapt and I praised God.  But, in the midst of my relief and joy a thought occurred to me…

Some people are not safe…. some families were not left whole… some people are no longer alive as a result of this earthquake.

For those that are hurting… Where will they go?  Who will they turn to?

For those that are no longer living… Where did they go?  Did they know Jesus?

My brother and his family are not believers.  They respect the idea of Jesus and what He taught.  They like certain things about Him and Christianity.  They are highly moral people that could teach us a thing or two about integrity and character.  I love them deeply and my only hope for them is that they would someday become a part of God’s family… my family.

So many people in this world have swallowed a lie… they turn here or there seeking the truth.  Jesus is the truth.  As Peter said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”  That is my prayer for my brother and his family… that they would know the truth in knowing Jesus.  And infinitely more important, that Jesus would know them.

Pastor Mike has some valuable, real, insight:  LINK

Japan Quake/Tsunami Photos: LINK,  LINK

A large portion of my frustration is a result of all the different ways in which we “hold each other accountable”.  But therein lies the problem… there are apparently many different ways in which we apply this term so I question which ways are legitimate (or effective).  It’s like there’s an “accountability buffet” available to us.  We can pick and choose the tastes and flavors we prefer.  And if you don’t like what’s on your plate, just push it to the side and go fill up on something more to your liking.  Unfortunately, it isn’t difficult to show that in many places there is a lack of accountability altogether, buffet or not.

In addition to the buffet, I personally feel completely inadequate to hold my peers “accountable” to anything, regardless of what’s on the menu.  The question that first comes to mind is, “who am I to hold you accountable?”  Or in other words, I’m thinking we’re all in trouble if someone thinks I’m a good choice to keep someone straight.  Trust me, any good in me is 100% Jesus.  Truly, “there but by the Grace of God, there go I“.  It’s also an authority issue… without the right kind of authority and relationship you can’t actually “keep” someone within certain boundaries.  Furthermore, I don’t want that kind of authority (or responsibility… except with my kids)!

Somewhere along the way many of us picked up a skewed, faulty view of what it means to hold one another accountable.  More importantly, we have lost sight of what actually build us up versus those relational activities that tend to tear us down, whether intentional or otherwise.  And I don’t know that the term “accountability” is the right way to describe what actually helps us help each other to move closer in relationship to God.

Here’s a good word…

TRUST

And here’s another one I like…

LOVE

Trust and Love have a friend they always travel with…

RESPECT 

Friend, as far as holding someone accountable, I choose to hold myself accountable… “the quality or state of being accountable especially : an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s actions” (Websters 1828)

As far as holding someone else “accountable”, I choose to engage in developing trust, love and respect in the context of friendship.  Within the context of such a relationship the desire to move closer to God is a natural consequence.  God moves in and through you while doing the same in other people.  God brings about the desire to encourage, motivate, inspire, challenge and support one another.  It’s iron sharpening iron (Pr. 27:17) in a healthy, life-giving way.  If one were to stumble, others are there to come alongside and walk a ways until they get their feet back under them.  If one were to show themselves a wolf, others would be there to protect us.  That’s Biblical Community… that’s the true community of God’s people!

Interestingly, this issue is a current topic of discussion on some other sites… take a look.

The Worst Accountability Group Ever (Breaking Free)

Reminders are more effective than Rebukes (Tullian Tchividjian)

More on Accountability Groups (Tullian Tchividjian)

Accountability Accountaschmility (Noel Heikkinen)

I had such an experience this morning as I listened to Pastor Mike present a challenging message around the “thirst” that our soul has for God.  In contrast to our natural desires or the fickle longings of our flesh, there is a deep and mysterious “longing of the soul” for God that is undeniable.

As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.  My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. (PS. 42:1-2 ESV)

During the course of the message there was a series of questions around the spectrum of motivations we have in pursuing and relating to God.  Do you experience God from a more passionate, emotive stance?  Do you experience dramatic highs and lows in your faith?  Do you at times feel intimately close to God… and at other times feel alone and abandoned?

On the other end of the spectrum are those of us that pursue God from an intellectual space.  Would you characterize yourself as someone who exercises faith primarily through philosophy, logic and reasoning?  Does your view of God tend to run from the “neck up”.  Passionate highs and lows are not your experience typically… your faith tends to be more “level”.

Neither stance is “wrong” necessarily, but in both cases, they are incomplete or insufficient by themselves.  Our relationship with God should neither be overly characterized by passionate emotion or ambitious intellect.  Mental processing shouldn’t quench the fire and energy that passion stirs up.  Similarly, our passions shouldn’t carry us away from a solid understanding and application of biblical theology and sound doctrine.  We should have a view of God that is both highly intellectual as well as being full of heart-felt passion.

It was the following statement that grabbed my attention and pulled me into the zone: “We too often fail to be aware of what our soul needs and attend to it.” The moment I heard this I knew God was pointing to something I was aware of in myself, but have been suppressing and effectively ignoring.  I realized that I actually take pride in my intellectual pursuit of God… like it’s somehow the superior path to God.  I realized that I sometimes look down my nose at fellow believers that express “too much” emotion in their relationship with the Lord.  When did I become so foolish?

I have spent time and energy shoving my passions into a little control box.  I convinced myself that it was for the best… those emotional thoughts are entirely unreasonable… they are completely impractical.  They don’t make sense, they seem irresponsible, reckless and they’re downright annoying.  Yup… if a feeling or thought doesn’t neatly fit within framework of the 3 R’s (reasonable, responsible and non-risky) then that’s something a level-headed Christian wouldn’t entertain.  After all, our God is just like a coldly logical machine with highly predictable outcomes.  No room for passion in there.  Yeah… that sounds just like the God of the Scriptures.  Whatever.

You know what the truth is?  I’m afraid.  I think this is the truth for many of us… we’re afraid of living a life fully engaged with God.  Where our deep passions and intellectual ambition work together, in harmony, in balanced relationship with God.  I’m afraid of what will happen if I let my emotions rise up in me.  I’m afraid of what will happen if I allow the passions within me to have a seat at the table alongside my logical reasoning and intellectual processing.

And so, as we move into this season of Lent, the exercise of spiritual discipline will take on a different hue for me this time around.  As Pastor Mike said, “God is faithful to pull us towards Him as we draw closer to Him“.  God has asked that I open up the gates of my heart in addition to broadening the boundaries of my mind.  Admittedly, I’m afraid… but I’m not going to let fear determine my actions (and neither should you).  I choose to believe that God will indeed be faithful and draw me closer to Him.  What will come of this?  Not sure…. but I’m going to find out.

Friend, what if we approach God with our arms wide open… what will He ask us to do?  Amazing things could happen.  How about we both take a similar journey over the coming days leading up to Easter.  Let’s approach the Lord with our hearts and minds wide open, passions and all, and see what happens!

“Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me.  By day the Lord commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.” (Ps. 42:7-8 ESV)

I sometimes think of the Holy Spirit as a great ocean wave that is continually gaining size and momentum.  As the intensity of the wave increases, there are people on the distant shore that begin to have a sense of something powerful coming their way.  For some, it’s a cause for alarm and fear… a reason to run and hide.  For others, it’s a call to grab their long boards, jump into the open water and start paddling.  They can barely wait for the wave to come, they want to swim out and meet it!

Imagine yourself as one of those people who want to swim out into the open water… to be caught up and ride the wave when it arrives.  You don’t know exactly what the wave is going to do but you want to be there to see and experience it… to be there to witness the story unfold.  To be pulled by the Spirit to a new place.  To be there when the wave finally comes to shore… and see what happens next!

I think any time the Spirit tests our faith and brings us into a space that stretches us, it’s something like “riding the wave”.  Think for a moment… isn’t that exactly what God asks us to do when exercising our faith?  To swim out and meet Him, to be caught up and carried along by Him… without having a clear picture of where you’re going.  All you can do is trust Him.  I love that.

“Now faith is the assurance [or confidence] of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Heb. 11:1)

To place your faith in God is high adventure at  the  fullest!  The stories that are born out of faith are always amazing to hear as a person recounts the great and mighty things God did.  What’s even more amazing to me is that the people who are telling the stories typically don’t consider themselves to be people of “great faith”… they point to God and say, “it was all Him!”  Rightly so!

The following discussion illustrates the infinite source and power of our faith:

“… the author indicates that biblical faith is not a vague hope grounded in imaginary, wishful thinking. Instead, faith is a settled confidence that something in the future—something that is not yet seen but has been promised by God—will actually come to pass because God will bring it about. Thus biblical faith is not blind trust in the face of contrary evidence, not an unknowable “leap in the dark”; rather, biblical faith is a confident trust in the eternal God who is all-powerful, infinitely wise, eternally trustworthy—the God who has revealed himself in his word and in the person of Jesus Christ, whose promises have proven true from generation to generation, and who will “never leave nor forsake” his own (13:5)…” (ESV Study Bible)

I can’t decide what’s more exhilarating.  Hearing the stories about what God has already done… or hearing people excitedly discussing what God might be about to do.  Friend, I have some stories I could tell about what I’ve already seen God do.  But I tell you this… I can’t wait to tell you about the things He has yet to do!

We could all use help when it comes to pursuing personal purity and honor.  Given that we’re so visually aggressive, it makes sense to use services that help filter what we see.  For some of you, the aid of such services will always be needed.  For others, perhaps such services are more like “training wheels”.  For me… I choose to keep the services on-line whether I think I need them or not.

It’s hard and often painful to get traction when you’re striving towards purity… so why not surround yourself with as much protection as you can?  The Enemy doesn’t have a problem in surrounding us with images designed to tear down our integrity… so why shouldn’t we take a similar approach in building up integrity?

Whatever services you use, or “defensive strategies” you employ, remember one vital ingredient that is more important than anything else… PRAY!

P.S.  A quick note to wives and girlfriends… if you’re in a relationship with a guy that’s struggling, I ask that you not only pray for his (and your) purity, but also ask the Lord how you can best provide support.  Your man needs encouragement from you especially!  I know this is a tough subject that’s emotionally painful… the Lord will give you strength!

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. (Phil. 4:4-8)

COVENANT EYES:  Covenant Eyes is not an internet filter… it’s a monitoring and accountability platform that really helps men develop and strengthen their resolve.  I personally use this software.  They also have a great discussion blog:  Breaking Free

X3Watch PRO:  Similar to Covenant Eyes… developed by XXXChurch.  They also offer a support program that has received positive reviews: X3Pure

Net Nanny by Content Watch:  Internet Filter… quality, feature rich application that is stable, secure and does not have a significant impact on internet speed while browsing.  MAC/PC compatible

Safe Eyes by Internet Safety:  Internet Filter… similar quality to Net Nanny.  MAC/PC compatible

Every Man’s Battle:  Great ministry resource, pretty good book.

Pure Life Ministries:  Another great ministry resource, offers a better book (in my opinion), “At the Alter of Sexual Idolatry“