josh reich 7/17/13 josh reich 7/17/13

Two ideas That Change How We Think About Food, Weight Loss, & Body Image

This article is Part 1 of a 3-part series on how the gospel changes the way we look at weight, body image, and food. ---

When we think of addictions, we often think of things like drugs and alcohol. You might add pornography or sex into the list. For many, these aren’t the addictions that plague us. And no, I’m not talking about debt and money, although those certainly are addictions that plague many people.

What I’m talking about has to do with weight loss, body image, and food.

My name is Josh…and I’m addicted to food.

If you are like me, you love food. You might be one of those people who just loves to snack. You always seem to have a bowl of candy on your desk, or you grab a bag of chips mindlessly. Sitting in front of the TV, you find yourself eating something. It isn’t anything big; it isn’t a meal, you just eat, all the time.

Maybe for you it is dessert. You can’t go to bed without eating dessert. It is a comfort when life seems out of control. A long day is made better with a bowl of ice cream, a piece of pie, or some chocolate.

For me, I was never much of a snacker. When my wife Katie and I would take road trips, I never really wanted snacks. But I couldn’t resist the stops we could make for a hearty meal.

There is something else we might have in common. For you, it might not be food that is a problem. It is how you feel about yourself. The constant comparison to magazine covers or TV ads, the inferiority complex you have as you compare yourself to that guy in your office, the one who can eat whatever he wants and lose a pound, or the woman who always looks put together. You put yourself up against your sibling who always seems confident, looks great, and feels great, kind of like an annoying commercial.

Across the board in America there is a problem when it comes to food addiction, weight loss, stress, health, and body image. Today, there are more people overweight and obese than ever before. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, as many as 35.7% of adults are overweight or obese. 17% of children, or 12.5 million, are overweight or obese.

Consider this: 44% of U.S. women are on a diet, 29% of U.S. men are on a diet, 80% of U.S. women do not like how they look, and $109 million is spent in the U.S. every day on diet and weight loss products. Among those who lose weight while on a diet, 95% will regain all of the weight they lost within the first 5 years. Concerning stress, 43 percent of U.S. adults suffer adverse health effects from stress, according to an American Psychological Association (APA) study.

Is This It?

Maybe you have gotten to the place where you’ve asked, “Is this it? Is this really how life was meant to be lived?” Was I meant to envy the body of someone else, envy the six pack abs, butt, or hips of someone else?

My change began 6 years ago. There wasn’t a magic pill of any kind, I didn’t have a surgery, but things in my heart began to change, which led to things in my life changing.

I wasn’t always overweight. In fact, in college I played soccer all 4 years but when college ended, I continued to eat like I played soccer year round and then my metabolism came to a screeching halt and well, you can guess the rest. I ballooned up to almost 300 pounds. Someone looked at our wedding pictures recently and asked how much weight I lost. When I told them I lost 130 pounds, they said, “You lost a jr. higher.”

Maybe you are reading this and think, “I don't have an eating problem. I’m not overweight, but I can’t stop looking at the bodies that others have. I starve myself to look a certain way, to feel beautiful.”

Maybe you are like a guy I had lunch with recently. He eats like he doesn’t know fruit or vegetables exist, but he doesn’t gain any weight. For him, weight is an issue others deal with, but he doesn’t view his body the way God does.

Our Bodies and the Gospel

Often, when it comes to our bodies, the only time we bring the gospel into the conversation is if we are talking about sex. This is too small of an application. If the gospel changes everything and if the gospel one day restores all things, then our bodies, health, body image, and weight loss should fit into the discussion.

Two ideas have changed how I think about food, weight loss, health, pace in life, body image and how I talk about them. The first is found in the first chapter of the Bible in Genesis 1 where it tells us that we as humans are made in the image of God. We are made in the image of God. Most Christians do not believe this. How do I know? We envy other people’s images instead of celebrating our own.

The second idea is a verse that gets quoted to encourage Christians to not smoke or drink, at least, that is how the pastor of the church I grew up in used it. In 1 Corinthians 6:19 – 20 it says, do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. Glorify God in your body.

These two thoughts and their implications changed my life.

Josh Reich is the Pastor of Preaching & Vision at Revolution Church, an Acts 29 church in Tucson, AZ. He is married to his high school sweetheart and they have 4 kids and are adopting any day from Ethiopia. He is currently working on a book about weight loss, health, body image and the gospel. He blogs at www.joshuareich.org and you can follow him on twitter at @joshuareich.

sean post 7/15/13 sean post 7/15/13

Sabotaging Your Kingdom

There are ambitions which silently attach themselves to those of us who are participating in the work of the Kingdom of God. The desire to be known. To be recognized. To be wanted. To be in demand. To make a name for yourself. To have a calendar full of important speaking engagements. We each indulge our favorite flavor. And often we think we’re helping Jesus out when we do it.

With the same effect of a succulent burger ad, we salivate. Then we order “it.” We order to get what we saw the happy, successful Kingdom-workers enjoying. Then we pay for it. We justify a real sacrifice to get what others have and we want. Then we open the box. We encounter a disparity between the mess we’ve ordered and are experiencing and what was seductively held up to us through someone else’s life.

Two years ago, in the middle of my self-created busyness and self-supposed importance, I realized how desperately I was straining to be known. I was confronted with the reality that all of the “Kingdom” work I was doing was really a convenient front for another empire I was building. My own.

In his book, Sensing Jesus, Zach Eswine recounts a jolt he received from a mentor (p. 243):

Bob looked at me.

‘Zachary’, he said, ‘You are already discovered.’

‘What?’ I asked.

‘I want you to know that you are already discovered. Jesus already knows you. You are already loved, already gifted, already known.’

Is that enough for us? To be known by Jesus? If you and I are never “discovered,” will our hearts survive?

Although this temptation is greatly pronounced in our modern evangelical celebrity culture, it is not a new problem. The Apostle Paul observed the same sin in the church while he sat in a Philippian jail. “Some preach Jesus out of rivalry and envy” (Phil 1:15). Paul was aware that many used the Kingdom of God as a platform to serve a more personal agenda – the kingdom of self.

I confess the sickness of my own heart and am disgusted by the surfacing of these motives in it. I’ve begun to wonder, “How can I destroy my kingdom? What measures must I take to keep my intentions and affections in check?”

Well, here are three habits I’ve begun to cultivate in response to this tension. In many ways these practices have the power to help us “seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness.”

1. Cultivate a Skepticism Towards Your Use of Social Media and Entertainment

I was about to drop the name of an impressive leader with whom I’d met to another impressive individual with whom I was tweeting. It was relevant to our conversation on international church planting trends. Though just before firing off the message, I realized the pride that was embedded in it. I didn’t send the message.

I’m fascinated by how social media affects our daily lives. People now sleep with their smart phones. I would never do that! I just kept it on my nightstand for a while, and during that time the first thing I would do in the morning is check my Facebook, Twitter, and e-mail. You might feel that’s bad. Or you might feel it’s acceptable. I’m not interested in the verdict. I’m primarily intrigued by what my behavior tells me about my heart. What is it that drives the average American to check their smart phone 150 times a day?

In a real sense, we are tempted by a desire for omnipresence. Social media propagates the idea that we can be in more than one place at the same time. The idea that I can maintain the awareness of what 900 “friends” are up to indulges the illusion of real engagement with their lives. I can like a status. Or try to post a status or picture that will compel others to engage with me through clicking “like.” Resultantly, many sociologists have observed that social media leads to more interactions – but not more meaningful interactions.

My love for TV furthers my desire for omniscience. When my son crashes around 9 p.m. or so, my wife and I use all the energy left in our bodies to drag ourselves onto the couch. We then transport ourselves to the wilderness of Alaska. Or into a crowd watching America’s favorite dancers. We become part of an exciting auction. For a moment, we aren’t full-time working, toddler-worn parents. We are in a different place and part of a different story.

I’m not condemning social media or TV, but I do want to cultivate a healthy skepticism for my use of both. What does the frequency of your social media usage say about your heart? What does your compulsive need to rest via TV say about your soul?

2. Combat Boredom by Embracing the Ordinary and Mundane

G.K. Chesterton has said that we must learn to “exult in monotony.” Why? If the ordinary moments of life are not deserving of celebration, then life itself is not worthy of being lived. The essence of boredom is discontentment with “what is” and a desire to be somewhere else, doing something else. This state of being indicates that we do not yet possess gratitude for our lives. We haven’t yet absorbed the simple weight of what it means to be able to change diapers, pay taxes, and put in contact lenses.

“For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, ‘Do it again’ to the sun; and every evening, ‘Do it again’ to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike, it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never gotten tired of making them.”[6]

What would it mean to oppose your boredom for the sin that hides beneath it? How might you and I come to celebrate those moments that leave us wishing we were present in another place and time? Perhaps, we were made to live like Jesus in life’s most simple moments. The Son of Man built stuff with wood in Nazareth for two decades. Perhaps, this is the kind of life Paul had in view when he said that we should seek to lead, “a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way” (1 Tm 2:2). If something in your soul recoils at this prospect, what is that part of you?

German theologian, Jurgen Moltmann, observed, “The knowledge of the cross brings a conflict of interest between God who has become man and man who wishes to become God.” The incarnation speaks to the astonishing reality that God was willing to become “one of us.” Furthermore, the Son became the very best “one of us” who ever lived. The Son was the most fully human human being who has ever been. He relinquished the benefits of his membership in the Trinity so that he could live life as you and I.

But the ironic tension Moltmann noted is that although God descended to be with us, our universal desire is to ascend to the place of God. In many ways, I deny the limits of my humanity and posture myself as divine.

If the most human human being experienced life the way it was intended to be by occupying one place (an obscure and impoverished town) and simply “being there,” what can that teach us about embracing the glamour-less moments and places we tend to despise in our lives?

3. Remain Aware of What Your Worship is Doing

My sin causes me to love the wrong things. I am a “desiring being.” I have cravings that actually shape my entire person. These “wants” form me, rippling out from the core of my being and driving my thoughts, will, emotions, and behavior. This is what it means to be a worshiper. I am always worshiping and must remain conscious of what my heart is treasuring.

I must constantly ask myself, “What am I looking for right now? What is it that I most deeply want?” Sometimes it may be important to even ask a layer beneath that, “I crave acknowledgement. Why do I want that acknowledgement? What am I hoping it will do for me?”

Conversing with the Father after viewing both him and ourselves in the mirror of Scripture leads us to pray, “Your Kingdom come.” And when we pray with this heart, we are killing our own kingdoms.

There are moments I sit quietly with the Father, unable to offer my Creator any kind of adoration. I remain silent, wondering why I can’t piece together some string of affection that would communicate a perception of his worth. And then I realize why I can’t. I can’t worship God because I am simultaneously pouring out my heart to something else. There’s something that I want more than him. There is some good “second thing” that I have enthroned as my ultimate thing.

And then I have to do something even more pathetic. I must ask God to change what I want. The convenience of more superficial sanctification is that I can change myself. I can modify my behavior. I can filter my thoughts and words. But I am powerless to change what my heart wants. Only God can do that for me.

Conclusion

If your inner traitor is as sneaky as mine, then it’s almost certain there is a way in which you’ve been secretly siphoning off glory intended for God and stockpiling it for yourself.

There’s an impending rationale for why each of us must halt construction of our personal kingdoms immediately. One day, Jesus will take possession of the kingdoms of this world. He will set up his rule on Earth, and it will never end. You and I will sit under his rule as willing captives to his unmatchable radiance.

Then for many of us, the tears of regret will come. On that day, we will wish we could relive each hour we spent preoccupied with building our own kingdoms. Jesus will then wipe away tears of regret.

With the vision of the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven in mind, let’s skip back a few scenes. Skip back to right now. Invite God to help you sabotage your kingdom so that you can begin to truly live in his. It’s not a kingdom where you rule. It’s a better and enduring empire.

Sean Post resides with His wife and son in Maple Valley, WA. He serves as Academic Dean for Adelphia Bible School - a one-year Bible and mission immersion experience for young adults. Sean is also a leadership coach, doctoral student, book-lover, and a has-been basketballer. Twitter: @Sean_Post

Jonathan Dodson 7/10/13 Jonathan Dodson 7/10/13

Mentoring, Church, & Missional in Discipleship (My Response to a 9 Marks Book Review)

Last week the helpful, church loving ministry of 9 Marks posted a review of my book Gospel-Centered Discipleship. With so many books that can be read, I am grateful to Zach Schlegel for taking the time to read and respond to my book. His opening story narrates just the kind of application of the gospel I long for. I believe he got the essence of the book.

Is Peer Discipleship Enough?

While I don't usually respond to reviews, this piece raised several questions worthy of response. The first two can be quickly answered, while the third, regarding my perspective on "missional," will receive more attention. The first question inquires why I don't talk about examples of discipleship from those older in the faith to those who are younger. This critique has been raised before. For those unfamiliar with the book, I am critical of the professional-novice discipleship relationship, which often creates a distance between disciples based on knowledge, spirituality, or character. An older and younger disciple schedule a regular meeting where insights, spiritual practices, or character exhortations are transferred. Do this and you have a "discipler." This approach results in discipleship that is knowledge, spirituality, or character centered, not gospel centered. The older disciple acts as a guru to pass off best practices, while the younger disciple simply acts as a receptacle. This one on one discipleship is often bent on sharing faith but not sharing failures. With this lack of transparency, Christ is obscured. Disciples are not seen as equals, fighting together for belief in the gospel. This can be quite damaging because it creates a guru dependency that displaces Jesus. However, these dangers shouldn't cause us to do away with mentoring altogether.

The Bible offers numerous examples of mentoring type relationships that are gospel-centered (Abraham/Isaac, Moses/Joshua, Elijah/Elisha, Jesus/The Twelve, Paul/Timothy). In fact, this kind of relationship is written right into our DNA as fathers and mothers who raise sons and daughters. The most discipleship influence we will ever have will be with our children. In fact, familial ecclesiology (as opposed to individual mentoring) is God's appointed context for the flourishing of his followers. The apostle Paul refers to his discipleship relationships in familial terms. He refers to Timothy his true son in the faith (1 Tim 1:2). He acted as a father, mother, and brother to the Thessalonians (1 Thess 2). Many more texts could be marshaled in support. However, just because Scripture provides a mentoring pattern does not mean every disciple is entitled to a mentor. In missionary contexts, very often those kind of believers simply don't exist yet. Therefore, it is incumbent upon us as followers of Jesus to "make disciples of all nations" regardless of the availability of a mentor. With God as our adopting Father, the Savior as our redeeming Lord, and the Spirit as God's empowering presence, we have all we need to make disciples. Nevertheless, I wholeheartedly believe that mentoring discipleship is beneficial to Christian growth, provided it is Christ-centered. Then why didn't I mention it in the book? The reason I chose not to develop this pattern of disciple-making is because there are already countless books available on this topic, and I believe the literature needs to be balanced out with good examples of peer-based, gospel-centered discipleship.

In our church, we encourage people to form two types of discipleship groups (Fight Clubs): peer and mentoring. For example, I am in a Fight Club with a local pastor, who is a dear friend. I also meet with two emerging leaders for discipleship every other Thursday at a local coffee shop for breakfast. While I retain transparency and confess my need for Christ, I also take the lead in challenging, exhorting, and encouraging them in their faith. However, this is just one part of our discipling relationship. We also share meals, play Tennis, watch movies, serve the elderly, spend time together with our spouses. We share life not just meetings. In addition, we teach a whole course on how to mentor and disciple those younger in the faith. I have considered turning that into a book; however, there are probably better resources out there like (The Walk, Bill Hull's writings, and Robby Gallaty's forthcoming book). To conclude, there are seasons where peer discipleship will have to be enough, but this is not a settling "have to"; it is a get to. Peer discipleship is actually the normative example in the Bible. It is the church carrying out the commands of the New Testament in the context of sharing life and sharing the gospel together.

What About the Church?

The review states: "What about the church?" I was surprised to see this critique of Gospel-Centered Discipleship since I spend a whole chapter on the church, making the case that there three conversions for every disciple--one to Christ, church, and mission. In fact, I say "the church is God's appointed context for our gospel change." The bulk of chapter six is spent on how to be disciples in community, living as the church. The author then raises this question: "How does he [the pastor] help them avoid the error that their Fight Club is their church?" Ah, this gives me some insight into the critique. My whole book presupposes a commitment to the local church. As I explain in the book, discipleship should happen through organized expressions of the church, what we call City Groups, where you can be the church to one another an the city. Fight Clubs are smaller subsets of a larger expression of the body of Christ. For us, discipleship happens in three spaces: Sundays, City Groups, and Fight Clubs. Each environment of grace fosters growth and appeals to a primary identity: Sundays (worshipper), City Groups (family/missionary), and Fight Clubs (learner).

On the one hand, I want Fight Clubs to become "church" to our people. These relationships should be so rich, faithful, and deep that they express the various "one anothers" of churchly activity: confess, repent, encourage, serve, love, speak the truth...to one another. This kind of discipleship is more intimate and less diverse. Therefore, a disciple needs also participate in larger, more diversely gifted expressions of the church such as a City Group. To head off narrow practices of church, we encourage our people to have "fight club conversations in their city groups." By this we mean, continue transparency, confession, and truth telling in larger settings. If church isn't thick, then discipleship will be thin. Ephesians reminds us that we have a whole body of gifts that exist for our growing up into the full stature of Christ. Therefore, it takes a church to be a disciple.

Is Missional Just Evangelism?

The final questions revolves around my use of "missional." The author takes issue with my broader definition of missional, which includes everything from evangelism to social justice. Although I didn't have space or focus to develop my convictions about the mission of the church, I did note that the Great Commission is often reduced to an evangelistic text; when in fact, it presupposes a larger practice of mission. The author is kind enough to mention my article on the Great Commission that develops my view, but points his readers to a book by Kevin DeYoung that I disagree with. Thus, he is at odds with me when he writes: "The dangerous irony is that defining missional this way threatens to shift a church away from a gospel center—the very thing Dodson is fighting for." I disagree. In fact, I believe this broader understanding of the mission of God does more justice to the gospel and as world and life view, a theory of everything, that affects everything from creation to individual souls.

Very often evangelicals reduce the good news to what Scot McKnight has called "the soterian gospel," a gospel for personal salvation only. Although the term may not be that helpful (in biblical theology God is saving the world not just humans), it is true that the gospel generates mission that is more than soul-winning. For example, in Colossians 1:15-20 Paul argues that the atonement is both for the elect and the whole creation. In Luke 4:16-19 Jesus announces that the Spirit of the Lord has come upon him to anoint him to proclaim the good news. This gospel proclamation issues forth in mission that includes city renewal (see background in Isaiah 61), social justice, and personal evangelism. Some conservative evangelicals are afraid that if we elevate social justice and cultural renewal to the status of evangelism that we will compromise the gospel and lose evangelistic impetus. Therefore, they conclude that missional must be restricted to evangelism.

This appears to be Schlegel's concern. In fact, he expresses a fear that if given an opportunity between evangelism and tutoring that people will chose tutoring and neglect evangelism. Although I disagree his prognostication, my primary point is that he argues his case for a narrow definition of mission based on prediction of what someone might do. This is theology by reaction. He reveals his position when he states: "But if both are seen as equal aspects of the mission of the church, the church is at risk of communicating that evangelism is no more urgent than tutoring, or at worst, is optional." Clearly, he believe missional to equal evangelism. This, however, is not how missional has been historically used. More importantly, I believe prioritizing evangelism over social justice, for example, introduces an unbiblical hierarchy in mission.

In the words of noted missiologist David Bosch, “Mission is not primarily concerned with church growth. It is primarily concerned with the reign and rule of the Triune God.” Perhaps this is the starting place of our differences. I believe the meaning of missional should be derived, not from evangelistic concern, but from biblical theology. If the mission of God is the reign and rule of the Triune God through history, then I believe this gets us closer to a gospel-centered and therefore missionally diverse understanding of mission. What is the reign and rule of God? The rule of the Triune God is unmistakably Christ-centered, culminating in the death and resurrection of Jesus. It is this mission we are to announce and demonstrate--the reign of God in Christ in this world. Mission includes both social action and evangelism because both are a demonstration of God’s awe-inspiring, creative, redemptive reign breaking into our world (see Luke 4; Isaiah 61 and the five Great Commissions in the article above).

If mission is focused on God’s reign in Christ, which comes through the cross and resurrection, should we prioritize social action or evangelism? Michael Frost responds to this question, by citing six of the twelve historic positions noted by Bosch, which range from prioritizing evangelism over an optional social action (Position 2) to evangelism and social action as equally important with no prioritization of over one another (Position 6). Perhaps Schlegel assumes Position 5, which affirms the importance of both but prioritizes evangelism? I am arguing for Position 6--both are equally important and without prioritization. Both social action and evangelism are equally important ways of alerting people to the reign of God, and therefore, no prioritization should be made.

Rather, our emphasis should be on the gospel of Jesus, which is cosmic and personal, encouraging missional faithfulness in all areas of life by responding to the Spirit and seeking obedience to Jesus in every aspect of life. In other words, our entire life should be viewed and lived through the rule and reign of the Triune God, repenting wherever we fail and celebrating Christ wherever we succeed. I would like to have developed a longer response to the missional question, with greater biblical support; however, I have already exceeded my word limit. I do look forward to doing this elsewhere at some point. For now, I can point interested readers to the Great Commission article above as well as Ed Stetzer's fine work on the Meanings of Missional.

In conclusion, this response is not meant to generate spiteful polemics, but to clarify my position and, perhaps by God's good grace, increase clarity regarding some of these very important discipleship questions. I believe some real fruitful discussion could result, as two resource ministries (and an author and reviewer) reflect on Scripture for the good of the church and the world.

*Jonathan Leeman of 9 Marks was kind enough to respond to this article by pointing to his review of Tim Keller's Generous Justice. Keller makes this very important observation: “Evangelism [speaking words] is the most basic and radical ministry possible to a human being. This is not true because the spiritual is more important than the physical, but because the eternal is more important than the temporal” (139)."

I tend to agree with this; however, our good works also have eternal value and are rewarded as such. Even good works of cultural tribute will be present in heaven (Rev 21:22-27). Perhaps we could say evangelism, social justice, and cultural renewal are equally important for mission (avoiding dualism) but unequal in temporality? Yet, this seems to assumes that good works will not achieve eternal significance. Yet, Kuyper and Revelation 21/Isaiah 61 point to our good deeds as works of cultural tribute fit for the King of creation. Thus, it may be that long after our good works have faded from history, a great piece of art or work of social justice may reverberate in the new creation as a display of the reign of the creative, reigning Lord. Perhaps we are meant to remain in a tension on this matter...

Jonathan K. Dodson (MDiv; ThM) serves as a pastor of City Life Church in Austin, Texas. He is the author of Gospel-Centered DiscipleshipandUnbelievable Gospel. He has discipled men and women abroad and at home for almost two decades, taking great delight in communicating the gospel and seeing Christ formed in others.

Brent Thomas 7/8/13 Brent Thomas 7/8/13

Stereotypes prevent lasting Community

In 2004, Pixar introduced The Incredibles, a family of superheroes posing as a “normal” suburban family. After a series of unfortunate incidents followed by equally unfortunate lawsuits, superheroes are forced into “the Superhero Relocation Program,” in which they are forced to pose as normal citizens in order to evade any further legal action. Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl become Bob and Helen Parr, insurance agent and stay-at-home Mom, complete with three children. As a result of their hidden superpowers, Bob and Helen’s children are caught in a net of confusion. They know they are different but every voice they hear seems to say, "different is not good." Things come to a head when at dinner one night when their daughter, Violet, complains to her Mom, Helen: “We act normal, Mom! I want to be normal!” Their son, Dash, wrestles with similar issues. After being told he can’t try out for the track team because he’s too fast, Dash says: “But Dad always said our powers were nothing to be ashamed of, our powers make us special.” His Mom responds by telling him that “everyone’s special, Dash,” to which he retorts: “Which is another way of saying no one is.”

Though born different (with super powers), society no longer values their differences. Instead, they want the “supers,” as they’re known, to simply blend in and be like everyone else. Soon, Syndrome, a super villain, emerges wreaking havoc and giving the Supers no choice but to come out of retirement and use their powers to save the very people who want them to just be normal. They’re not normal. It’s only when they’re are able to truly be themselves that they can rise to their full potential and fight the evil that threatens their world.

The movie raises interesting questions about perception versus identity. When urging the children to use their special powers, Helen gives them masks, saying: “Your identity is your most valuable possession. Protect it.” At a climactic moment, Syndrome reveals plans to sell super weapons to everyone, noting that, “When everyone’s super, no one will be.” When we all fit the expectations, there’s nothing left to differentiate us.

Christian stereotypes prevent real, lasting, effective Christian community.

Sadly, this is exactly what much of what passes for Christian community does. We forget that each one of us is fearfully and wonderfully made. We expect everyone to look and act the same. Our community is weakened because we try to smooth out people’s rough edges. We forget that our community is strongest when we encourage individuality, not at the expense of, but for the sake of community. Christians, of all people, should get this.

Near the middle of my time in seminary, John Piper preached in chapel. I don’t remember most of the sermon, but I do remember that, at one point, he took an aside, mentioning that he was preaching to a room full of men who were training to do the same. He noted that when we graduated, most of us would try to emulate our favorite preachers, but we wouldn’t be any good at it. Instead, he offered, "we should strive to become sanctified versions of ourselves rather than watered-down versions of someone else.” That phrase has haunted me, in a good way, like no other during my subsequent years of following Jesus.

I have spent a good deal of my life in “ministry” being compared to and contrasted to celebrities and stereotypes. Everyone has their idea of what a pastor should be. Everyone has an idea of who their pastor should be. But it goes deeper. Everyone has their own idea of what a Christian should be. And when everyone has their own idea of what a Christian should look like, we race towards the middle: the blandest version possible (so as to not offend anyone, of course). The very people who should be the most distinct, expressing the most individuality for the sake of community, end up being watered down versions of a stereotyped celebrity that doesn’t even exist: An idealized Christian who no one really likes and no one can actually be but everyone seems to think is the standard.

American Christians have produced some of the most anemic community known to man. We have perpetuated closed-off, private, judgmental, and stereotypical environments where everyone feels an unspoken (or sometimes spoken) expectation that everyone should look and act the same. The result, of course is that what passes for community in many churches is nothing of the sort. People are afraid to let their idiosyncrasies show and many are afraid to be honest about their shortcomings and struggles because all the other Christians have it together (even though, of course, they really don’t).

Who We Really Are

Christians ought to be the most comfortable with who they are and the most welcoming and celebratory of uniqueness. We know we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” by God himself (Psalm 139:14). Though we were by nature children of wrath (Ephesians 2:3) and enemies of God (Romans 5:10), he has adopted us into his family (Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:5; Ephesians 1:5, etc.). We, who were once far from God, have been brought near to him (Ephesians 2:13). We have become his children, his heirs (Romans 8:17, Galatians 3:29, etc.). What is true of the Savior is becoming true of his people. He stands on our behalf even now interceding with his righteousness (Romans 8:34). The Holy Spirit who raised Christ from the dead dwells in us (Romans 8:11)!

There is a direct correlation between individuality and community. Community is strongest when people are most encouraged to explore their individuality; to just be themselves and walk in honesty. If we are free of needing people’s approval, we are free to serve sacrificially.

Why doesn’t this happen?

Why do we allow stereotypes to typecast us into a blandardized versions of likable but not real characters? Everyone knows the answer but no one likes it. We judge each other and hogtie real community because, deep down, we believe that it matters how you look before others and before God because that’s how he loves us more! So, I become tied to your approval of a fake version of myself which means that I can never actually give myself up to truly serve you because I’ve created a weird co-dependency thing that you may or may not be aware of.

In short, we choose to believe lies. Jesus told us that the “Truth will set us free” (John 8:32). If Truth sets us free, then it would seem that lies hold us captive. Deep down, we don’t believe that God’s acceptance of us is enough. We may not even be sure if it’s sincere. So we are never free to truly be ourselves because it’s always tied to a search for acceptance. But what if this is not the way God meant it to be?

How Does God See You?

If you were to picture God looking down on you and your life, how do you picture his facial expression? What do you think he might say over your life? Would he say: "Dangit, I’ve given Brent so many chances, why can’t he just get it together? Or, Oh man, I’ve just had it with Brent’s failures! This has gotten ridiculous!"

What do you really think he would say of you and your life?

Do you remember when Jesus went out to his crazy cousin John to be baptized in the Jordan? Mark 1:10-11 tells us that when Jesus came up out of the water, the Spirit descended upon him in the form of a dove and a voice came from heaven saying, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” What might change in our communities if individuals believed that what the Father says of the Son, he says about us? That, because Jesus stands on our behalf, the Father loves us, he is pleased with us, and we do not have to work for his approval or anyone else’s.

I wonder why our first thought is so rarely that God is pleased with us for who we are and not what we do? I have seven sons and one daughter (four biological sons, three foster sons and a foster daughter) and I love them each for who they are. They are each very different from each other. It would be foolish of me to expect them all to have the same interests, play the same sports, read the same books, listen to the same music, etc. It would be even more foolish if I based my acceptance of them on how well they all tried to act the same. And yet that’s exactly what we often do to one another.

The Fruit of Disbelief

We don’t believe that God truly loves us for who we are so we don’t believe that anyone else will love us for who we are. We pretend and there’s no real community because no one is really themselves because everyone has adopted a false caricature of what what we should all look like. Since our relationships are bound up in seeking approval, we never have the freedom to truly serve one another.

But the Truth sets us free. What if I no longer need your approval because I have God’s approval through Jesus? Now, I am free to be myself which enables me to serve you sacrificially because I no longer need your approval. It doesn’t matter what you think of me. I can and will find ways to show you God’s love. Because I can, not because I should.

When Jesus sets us free to truly be ourselves, community flourishes. And as community flourishes, I am even more comfortable showing you just how screwed up I am. And community flourishes as we accept one another as a “beautiful circus of crazies and freaks” to quote my friend Aaron Spiro. But we won’t ever have real community until we accept one another for who we are because we’ve accepted ourselves for who God has made us to be. And only the Gospel can do that.

Brent Thomas (MDiv) and his wife Kristi live in Glendale, AZ with four biological sons and one foster child. Brent pastored in KY and TX before moving back to AZ to plant Church of the Cross which exists to make, mature, and multiply disciples through gospel, community, and mission. He sometimes writes at Holiday At The Sea and hosts house shows with The Habañero Collective.

Other Articles by Brent:

Brad Watson 7/3/13 Brad Watson 7/3/13

Character is Different Than We Think

One of my mentors says: "80% of life is character development." Most of us want it the other way. We want our first 20 years to be about 'growing up' and the rest of life to be about successful leadership, disciple making, movement building, and world changing. We think that we can master the character stuff by the end of college, and then take on the world. Then, we find ourselves in our 30s learning all over again what it means to be humble, when our dreams don't come to fruition and we fail at changing the world. In our 40s, when our work becomes difficult and monotonous, we have to learn afresh what faithfulness means. The older we get, the more we see of our need to learn the basics: humility, self-control, perseverance, love, wisdom, generosity. Life teaches us we know nothing about those things. Hardships remind us we don't have life figured out.

We are faced with two choices: proceed unchanged or press into the character journey. You know what not changing looks like, but what about character change? In the character journey we re-learn the gospel. We cling to God. We realize that God is working all things together for our good. It just doesn't look like the good we want; it looks even better: conformity into the image of the Son (Romans 8:28-29). In the midst of the struggles, God has been transforming our character as much as he has been using us to transform the world. We want God to work through us, but he is doing just as much work in us.

Character is Different Than We Think.

Often we get into the mindset that we are transforming ourselves at one thing or level at a time. For example we might think: first we master humility , then we start working on generosity, then we pursue faithfulness, all the while getting closer to the 'goal.' Essentially, we think we are moving up the character ladder. However, the character journey is actual a constant process. Christ not only redeems us, giving the status of righteousness, but also begins to transform our core. It is more like a path we walk with him than a ladder we climb to be like him. Each day we are learning many new things about who we are in Christ and how to live and we are learning old things all over again. Each day we realize that Christ has changed who we are, and is changing how we live. His divine power is giving us everything we need for a godly life. These qualities are ours and are increasing.

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. - 2 Peter 1:3-8

The character journey is like climbing a mountain, painting a picture, or earning a college degree. It not only requires process, it is process.

Who You Are And How You Live

Character is the collision of who you are and how you live. There is an unmistakable connection to what we believe and what we do, and who we are and how we act. Everyone has character. Most of us arrive at a personal identity and a personal way of life opposed to and absent from Christ. We live out of a false perception identity based on who our parents say we are, what our teachers, peers, or even culture says we are. We are told we are sexual beings who's urges must be satisfied, and so we act on those. We are told we are the best and most important being in the world. Therefore, look out for #1, and we do just that. We may even base our personal identity and way of life on 'churchy' things. For example, we are good people, raised in a good home, who know the truth, so we should read our Bibles, pray, tell the truth, tithe, and say hello to strangers. We begin with a false understanding of who we are and move forward with wrong living and deceived hearts. Mostly our deceit is in our thinking we can decide what is good and right for ourselves. That we, on our own, are living an abundant and good life. When we fall on our faces, we simply muster up enough strength, or attempt to change our circumstances enough, to change ourselves.

Personally, I think of myself as a missional expert. "I know how to start and lead missional communities and can do it better than anyone," I say to my deceived self. This belief leads to a new legalism instead of new character. It is a legalism or self-justification around inviting neighbors to dinner, doing something every night with community, serving every Saturday, throwing a party every holiday, and sharing the gospel not out of love and belief but out of a duty to accomplish the mission. This is not the picture of godly living or transformed character we found in 2 Peter. This is a lie-filled identity and false actions. I'm not becoming more like Christ, I'm just becoming more exhausted.

Character transormation is actually found in a life lived close to God. It is in a God informed identity that our core is transformed, conformed, renewed, and recreated into his image. Character change is a redoing and repairing of a destruction from long ago. When Adam sinned, our relationship was broken with God. We, humanity, stopped walking with God. In fact, we rejected God. When we sin, we are acting different from God: distinctively selfish and prideful. The character journey is where Christ decisively transforms us into selfless and humble humans in relationship with God and others. God conforms us into his image. New identity and new way to live. This is exactly what Peter is talking about in his letter:

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. - 1 Peter 2:9-12

God has made us a people, a holy, special, chosen, and mercy received people. I am not a missional expert, I'm God's special possession. How much better is that! It is with this identity that we are called to abstain and live good lives. In the end, as Peter writes, the character journey isn't even about you. It is not for the sake of improved leadership, or for the sake of success in the Kingdom, it is for Christ's sake. It is Christ's work in us. It is for his glory.

What sort of "lessons" will be learned on the Character Journey?

What can you expect from embracing a life of change not only in who you are but how you live?

You can trust that God is good and nothing but pure joy exists in that trust. You see his good character everywhere. You trust he is concerned for you. You trust he is good at being in control.

Persistence is possible because of God's faithfulness. We continue down difficult paths because all we see is how abundantly gracious God is every morning and evening.

Weakness is strength. You will depend on God for everything. You will rely on the Spirit for the words to pray and preach. Rely on God to counsel the messy and be a husband or wife. You will come to a place where you regularly pray: "I don't know how and I know I can't. God empower me and walk with me. Please give me grace to do this thing beyond me."

Forgiveness will be tasted and extended. You will grow to know the depths of your sin and the heights of the cross. You will look forward to opportunities to extend forgiveness to those who wrong you. When folks rebuke you and expose your sin, you will be neither offensive or defensive.

Wisdom doesn't look like high GPAs. It looks like studying the scriptures with an intent on living them and applying it to life.

Humility isn't thinking bad about yourself or putting yourself down in front of others. Humility is viewing God rightly and taking your proper position as his child, his beloved, and his creation.

Faith is obedience. Obedience is Faith. You will realize that obedience doesn't come from getting the write Bible reading app, or setting enough reminders in your phone. It doesn't even come from making lists or accountability partners. Obedience is rooted faith. When we believe the gospel, that we were dead but raised to life by the person&work of Jesus, we read the Bible because it is our story. When we believe the gospel, we don't need reminders to pray, we know we can't survive without God's presence. We share the gospel in obedience because we believe it. We live on mission because we are recipients of the mission's message of grace.

Brad Watson serves as a pastor of Bread&Wine Communities in Portland, Oregon. He also works as the director of GospelCenteredDiscipleship.com. Brad is the co-author of Raised? Doubting the Resurrection. His greatest passion is to encourage and equip leaders for the mission of making disciples. He is Mirela’s husband and Norah’s dad. Twitter: @BradsStories.

Other Articles by Brad:

sean post 7/1/13 sean post 7/1/13

A Declaration of Dependence: Following the Spirit-Filled Example of Jesus

If you had to choose, who would you say is more like Jesus---Batman or Superman? Was Jesus an “alien” with divine powers we don’t have access to? Or was he a more human hero? Was Jesus' power on earth rooted in the benefits of his Trinitarian membership or was it rooted in participatory dependence upon the Trinity? 700 years before the arrival of the Messiah, Isaiah tells us that the Savior would be full of the Holy Spirit. “And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.” Apparently Jesus thought “Spirit-filled” and “Spirit-anointed” were pretty good descriptions of Himself. He uses another “Spirit passage” from Isaiah 42 to describe Himself in Matthew 12. “Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.”

It is safe to move forward with the understanding that Jesus walked perfectly in step with the Spirit, was led by the Spirit, was filled with the Spirit, and perfectly displayed the fruit of the Spirit. It is also safe to assume that in Jesus, believers have a visual illustration of what it means to walk in the Spirit. So when we are exhorted to do the Spirit filled life in the Pauline epistles we can look to Jesus in the gospels for greater clarity on how to do that.

Early on in the gospel accounts, we’re told that Jesus would often retreat to places of isolation for extended times of prayer (Mark 1:35). For example, he spent all night in prayer before choosing his twelve disciples (Luke 6:12). These prayers were an expression of friendship with the Father and the Spirit, submission to the Father and the Spirit, and dependence upon the Father and the Spirit. Prayer expresses (or at least should express) these same elements for you and I today. And when we talk about what it means to walk in the Spirit as Jesus did, we cannot miss these three components.

Friendship with the Holy Spirit

In Luke 11, Jesus is teaching the disciples how to pray and He begins to talk about asking God for good gifts. He promises that God wants to give good gifts when we ask. He then instructs us that the best gift we can ask for is the Holy Spirit (v13). That’s high praise for the Holy Spirit!

The Holy Spirit comes highly recommended from Jesus. Jesus could honestly tell us that the Holy Spirit is the best gift the Father gives because Jesus Himself enjoyed an intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit. How do we know? We know based on the same criteria we’d use to evaluate any relationship between two people. “What good things flow from that relationship? What fruit is produced from this friendship?”

In the case of Jesus and the Spirit, Galatians 5 summarizes the produce of the relationship: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The problem we run into is in trying to bear the same fruit without pursuing the same Spirit. Jesus never intended for us to imitate him without the help of the Helper.

Submission to the Spirit

It seems logical Jesus came to an understanding of His Messianic identity through the voice of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit probably spoke to him as he read the Scriptures. Imagine Jesus at ten-years old, listening to Isaiah 61 being read, “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me. He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom to the captives, and release from darkness for the prisoners.” Then the Holy Spirit speaks to Him, “That’s talking about you…”

In his early years, as Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, it was his submissive listening to the Spirit that led him to embrace his Messianic identity and job description. During Jesus ministry, it was the same submissive listening that allowed Jesus to know what he should do or say in a given situation. The Spirit often told him what people were thinking, who to heal, and what would happen in the future.

Jesus explains this at one point without directly mentioning the Holy Spirit (but clearly referring to Him). “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.” (John 8:28-29) Elsewhere Jesus says, “I do nothing on my own accord, but only what I see the Father doing.” (John 5:19)

It seems the whole of Jesus ministry was a response to what he heard when he was watching and listening. As he observed the will of the Father through the illumination of the Scriptures by the Spirit, or heard the voice of the Spirit during a moment of need – Jesus then acted accordingly. Jesus did only what he heard the Father speaking to Him through the Spirit.

To follow in the footsteps of Jesus, we must cultivate a sensitivity to the voice of the Spirit. A heart that says, “Speak Lord for your servant is listening!” Of course, as we obey the revealed will of God through Scripture, our conscience becomes more and more tuned to the ways of God and we are better able to hear the voice of God (John 10:3-4). As we walk in the Spirit we come to think like Jesus – this is why Paul referred to the possessing the Spirit as having “the mind of Christ” (1 Cor 2:14-16).

Dependent upon the Resources of the Spirit

Through the incarnation Jesus made a declaration of dependence. We’ve already seen that in his ministry Jesus only did what he heard the Father speaking through the Spirit. But it’s also important to note that Jesus did not fulfill the will of the Father using his own human resources. Jesus accomplished the will of the Father using the supernatural resources the Spirit provided.

As Luke sets the scene for the story of Jesus healing a paralytic, he says, “On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with him to heal.” The final phrase of the verse is significant. The fact that it is stated serves as an indication that there were times when the power of the Lord was not with him to heal. Why would this be the case? Because Jesus only needed healing power from the Spirit when he was healing people. The rest of the time healing power was unnecessary.

Later in his ministry Jesus reminds the disciples that in their own strength, they do not have the ability to resist temptation, do miracles, endure persecution, or answer kings as they are speaking the gospel. On the night he was betrayed, Jesus warned the disciples, “Watch and pray for the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” In other words, “You’d better ask God for some help because otherwise you’re going to fail.”

The psalmist offers the identical perspective: “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” (Psalm 73:26)

Both Scriptures are intended to point us to the one who can strengthen our heart – the Holy Spirit. We can be encouraged that it is God who works in our hearts to will, and to do according to His good pleasure. We are not sufficient ourselves but our sufficiency is from Him.

Reality Check – Am I Relying on the Spirit?

Looking at Jesus Spirit-filled life points us to a startling realization. We may lack the fruit and miracles of Jesus because we fail to ask for the Holy Spirit as He did. We must ask ourselves the challenging questions: “When was the last time the Holy Spirit clearly showed up in my life? Is the fruit in my life, relationships, and ministry reproducible without the Spirit of God? Am I relying on the Spirit at all?”

The Christian is commanded to “walk in the Spirit” (Gal 5:25). Being empowered by the Spirit and walking in the Spirit refer to the moment by moment decisions we make about where we will draw our energy and resources for daily life. Through his Spirit, God has given us everything pertaining to life and godliness (2 Pet 1:4). Will we choose to draw from God’s divine resources or seek to live the Christian life by our own effort (Gal 6:12)?

Practically speaking, God’s indwelling presence should be on our mind regularly (1 Cor 6:18). When Paul tells us to “pray without ceasing” the prayer we ought to pray ceaselessly is a prayer for the Holy Spirit to fill us, focus us, strengthen us, and help us (Eph 5:18, 1 Thess 5:17). How can you cultivate a conscious dependence upon the Holy Spirit?

Thankfully, Jesus is not only our perfect example but also our perfect sacrifice, forgiving all our self-dependent sin. He’s not a Savior who is stingy with his power and privilege. He extends it to us, as his sons and daughters, through the presence of the Holy Spirit. In Christ, we have the help of the Helper.

An excellent resource on this topic is A Primer on the Person and Work of the Holy Spirit by Winfield Bevins.

Brad Watson 6/28/13 Brad Watson 6/28/13

6 Lessons from Everyday Discipleship

As lead pastor of Grace Covenant Church, I equip disciple-makers every week through preaching the gospel from the front (we call this our air-war). As a Christian, I make disciples in the every day through leading a gospel community from my home (we call this our ground war). Though known for being mildly thick in the head, if you give me enough clues I’ll eventually get it, with some help. One of the things I’m currently learning is the more involved I am in the ground-war work, the more affective I am in my air-war work. The ground war is hard, slow, messy, up-close, and personal. Daily being involved in the the ground war prevents my weekly air-war delivery from becoming cold, distant, impersonal, un-attached, and reckless. In other words, my involvement with both makes me more effective in both. Here are six lessons I’m learning as I lead my family to live in community with other people while making disciples of believers and unbelievers in the every day of life.

1. LEARN TO FACILITATE A SINGLE CONVERSATION

You're not there to teach them everything you know, you’re there to facilitate the Holy Spirit guiding them into self-discovery. Be intentional...don’t let 5 conversations go at once where everyone is talking over everyone else and no one’s listening to anyone. Instead, learn to facilitate a single discussion, where people are listened to, loved, shown interest in, and asked questions of. You’ll be blown away at what will happen.

2. MISSION IS MESSY, SO DON'T AVOID IT, MOVE INTO IT

If you’re not discouraged, overwhelmed, tired, hopeless, frustrated...you’re probably not making disciples. You’re just not. You might be attending a nice Bible study where people come, share polite observations and leave, but you’re not in anyone’s life. You’re not under the hood. You're not past the facade. So you’re simply not making disciples (although you may be disciplining people to hide their stuff and perform for other people’s approval?) Gospel discipleship is messy. Everything gets exposed. No on gets to hide. So remember, when the crap hits the fan, don’t dread it, embrace it. Thank Jesus for it. It’s prime opportunity for discipleship. Don’t see sin as defeat, see it as an act of grace through which the Spirit is exposing unbelief so we can all learn, grow, repent, and turn again to Jesus.

3. LEARN TO TRUST THE HOLY SPIRIT

Making disciples is an exercise in learning to trust the Holy Spirit, not be the Holy Spirit. You don’t have to trust the Holy Spirit listening to me preach a sermon. But when you’re out trying to make disciples, strap on. The water level rises quickly as your unbelief, lack of skill, and ungodly character get exposed for the world to see. Worse, you realize you can’t change anyone at the heart level. You just can’t. You might be able to strong-arm people to change a few external habits through the application of enough guilt and calls for more will power, but we all know how long that kind of change will last. So it’s discouraging and humbling all at the same time. And then it becomes freeing when you realize the pressure’s off. You can’t do it! Now you get to act like you believe that by trusting the only One who can to do the heavy lifting. Phew! What a relief. Unless Jesus shows up, this will be a waste of time. Guess what? Now you’re in a place of utter dependance upon the Spirit of God working through the power of the gospel. That is a good place to be when making disciples. It doesn’t remove any of the weight or urgency, it just removes the pressure. He is the one who can correct, teach, rebuke and encourage. You just have to listen to the Spirit and ask the right questions.

4. LEARN TO PERSEVERE

What I really mean when I say that is: show up. Just flat-out, every time, rain or shine, feel like it or not, show up. I say that because most people don't. Lots of leaders start strong with lots of enthusiasm, but in the long run bring little sticking power. And you just won't make disciples if you don't stay after it. Let me explain. Wednesday is the hardest day of the week for me. Every week. No exceptions. It’s also when our gospel community gathers for our “structured” time of learning (we share a meal and then dive in). Coincidence? I don't think so. There hasn’t been a Wednesday I haven’t been tempted to cancel. Long day, stuff at work, kids get sick, you name it. Wednesday is official crap-interface-fan day, because the enemy wants me to quite, to cancel, to make up excuses, to go home and veg. Maybe even hit the sack early for a change? Anything but open my home and invest in other people's lives.

My selfishness, neediness, idols and unbelief all come boiling to the surface about 4:30 every Wednesday afternoon. And it's what happens in that moment that determines whether or not I'm going to be a person who makes disciples for the long run. No wonder Paul said he beats his body (I Cor. 9:27). This is flat out work, and my flesh often rebels and just wants to take a break. So I have to repent of my dependance upon myself, of my desire to avoid discomfort, and push ahead.

By 10:00 that night I’m standing in my kitchen, amazed, saying “Dear Jesus, thank you for saving me from myself. Again.”

Because there just aren’t any “average” nights when Jesus is at work. Every night something significant changes for someone. A penny drops. A connection gets made for an unbeliever. A new believers shares a fresh insight into God’s grace that rocks all of us. An old believer get convicted in a new way. Questions get asked, wrestling takes place, sin gets confessed, grace gets applied, tears get shed, laughter c and my ripples through the house, and my heart is once again full. And I almost missed it to indulge my selfishness! And often times the best moments come from where I least expected, from those I don’t even think were listening or paying attention. So the simple lesson is this: don’t trust in how you “feel”, trust that the Holy Spirit that is working and just wants you to be obedient. So show up. And watch Him do his thing.

5. LEARN TO MAKE A PLAN, BE FLEXIBLE, EMBRACE THE UNEXPECTED

One night my entire GC canceled between 4 and 5:30. I came out of a meeting and had 5 texts, all with differing reasons why they couldn't make it (all legitimate by the way, no complaining here). Great, I thought to myself. A young gal who was a new believer in our group was bringing her unbelieving boyfriend over for the first time, and I was frustrated. This was supposed to be the night we would show him our "family" identity! We had talked about it, planned it, prepared for it. And now everyone had bailed and he’d show up and it’d just be me? Some family. Totally lame. When he showed up I did the only thing I could think of. I asked him if he wanted to help me do the dishes while Sharon put the kids to bed. We cleaned the kitchen for an hour, and in the process I got to hear his story. The night I had pegged for a total wash (no pun intended) turned into the ice-breaking relational-building event that motivated him to come back again the next week.

See what happened? I know, it seems small. But small is big in disciple making. We'd made a plan, it fell apart, we flexed, and I spent an evening hanging with just him getting to know his story. For him, that night I went from “the pastor” to a real person who cared enough to ask questions and listen to his stuff. And none of this could have happened had things gone the way I’d planned. Jesus knew what was needed. Make a plan, be flexible, and embrace the unexpected. (Oh, and by the way, we’ll be baptizing that young man this summer!)

6. LEARN TO PLAY THE LONG GAME

When you’re in community, and building relationships, and inviting people into your life, and really caring for them, it gives you freedom. You can have hard conversations, you can dig into to the real issues, and you don’t feel the weight of having to address every issue in a single conversation because you’re going to see that person the next day. You don’t have to hit a home run every time. You’re looking for base hits. And the accumulative affect of that will blow your mind. In one sense there’s urgency in our disciple-making; in another sense there’s patience, because I’m wanting to make a life-time disciple out of the men in my group, and I’m willing to stick it out.

It also means I don’t have to point out every little thing I see wrong with them. I love them, I walk with them, I ask lots of questions, I talk about the gospel, and before I know it...they’re confessing the sin that I saw a long time ago! But it’s not because I pointed it out and now they want to change in order to please me, it’s the Holy Spirit convicting them of their sin or unbelief and working in their heart true change.

So hear this...you don’t have to return the kick-off for a touchdown. 2 yards over the right tackle is progress. 4 yards up the middle is progress. Stack a few first downs together and after a series of plays, guess what, you’re staring at the end-zone. Disciple-making is not a series of hail-mary’s for touchdowns. It’s a series of well-planned and executed first-downs that regularly put you in the Red Zone for striking distance.

LAST WORD

Making disciples isn’t a recipe. Neither is this article. These are ideas. These are components of a healthy group. These are disciple-making tools. Don't look for a recipe. If it doesn't work, change it. Make an adjustment. Make it your own. Just like a baseball swing...there are some mechanics that are a must. Every good hitter has them. But many of their swings look different. The fundamental mechanics are buried under their personal adaption of the basics. So make these your own, get on the field, try stuff out, scrap it when it doesn't work, tweak it when you get stuck, and make adjustments as you go. And above all, keep swinging!

---

Josh McPherson serves as lead pastor of Grace Covenant Church in Wenatchee WA, a church he helped plant in 2008. He is a member of Acts 29 and graduated from the Resurgence Training Center in 2010. He also holds an undergraduate degree in biblical studies and is currently finishing his graduate degree from Western Seminary. He and his wife Sharon have four children: Ella Mae, Levi Gregory, Amelia Claire, and Gideon Joshua. Twitter: @JoshMcPherson79

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Jeremy Writebol 6/24/13 Jeremy Writebol 6/24/13

The Implications of A Globally Exalted God

I want to suggest that you take your time in reading through this article. Pause with me for a while today, if you are able, and reflect. I want to invite you to read, pray, think and work your way through this mutual reflection one section at a time. This invitation isn't a mandate, however, I do believe that this sort of slowing down and pondering might give us a better idea of what action to take as we assess things. So slow down, think, pray, and let's reflect together.

The Grace of My Location

Where are you? Where are you from? I happen to be in middle of Wichita, Kansas. I was born in Colorado, lived all over the United States growing up, and spent most of my life up to this point in California. In every place I've lived there has been a few constants like language, currency, driving on the right side of the street, the message of the gospel, a church building of some fashion or another. For my entire lifetime it has been relatively easy to have access to what I consider the most valuable thing in all of life: the gospel.

I've lived in small rural towns, super-sized cities, and suburban developments. The gospel has always been an accessible reality for me. As I reflect on the fact of my national wanderings and my access to the gospel, I have to give thanks. God, by his kindness, has birthed me into a land where gospel access and gospel fluency is accessible fairly easily. Even the development of the Internet, because of my native language of English, allows me greater proximity to the gospel message, and probably to local believers in the gospel. I thank and praise the Lord for his kindness to me in that regard. What about you? Where have you lived? Did you have, or do you now have consistent and strong access to the gospel?

The Global Realities

Now, let me move the lens back to a wider panoramic. This last year I've already spent time in the second largest nation in the world, India. I've walked some of the neighborhoods of the largest city in the world, Tokyo. In each of these places the proximity of the gospel, and gospel expressions of churches and gospel communities was almost too small to even record. Conservative estimates state that for every four people in the United States there is one Christian¹. In Japan the ratio is exponentially higher. For every five hundred (500) people there might be one Christian². The Dunbar Number suggests that the average human being can only have and maintain about 150 personal relationships at one time. If there is only one Christian for every 500 people in Japan the likelihood of someone coming into proximity to the gospel message is nearly impossible.

I am not sure where our reflection has you at this point, but let's refrain for just a moment longer from drawing conclusions. Let's assess what we now know. Those who live in the United States and Western world have a greater proximity to gospel resources and gospel proclamation. Those in other parts of the world have a much larger, even seemingly impossible, gulf to cross in order to be in proximity to the gospel message and people. Take a moment and feel the burden of that.

Beginning at the End

Again, before we pull out implications, conclusions, ideas, or actions steps I want to challenge us to reflect. Three passages in Scripture have been the source of contemplation and meditation for me lately. They frame for me a perspective on my proximity to the gospel in light of the lack of access that my friends in India or Japan might have. They call me to action, not because of an apparent local need but because of the glorious nature of the God represented in them.

I'm the kind of person that likes to know the destination before I start the journey, so Revelation 5:9-10 is a good place for us to reflect. The scene is the worship in heaven of God and Christ. There the Father is seated, ruling, from his throne. A scroll is presented which causes great consternation among the angelic beings. Who is worthy to open it? As the scene shifts from angels to throne a Lamb "as though it had been slain" appears before the throne. The Lamb that had been slain is worthy to open the scroll. At the recognition of the one who is worthy to open the scroll a great chorus of song breaks out in the heavenly courts.

Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals,

for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God

from every tribe and language and people and nation,

and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,

and they shall reign on the earth.

At the center of this song is a statement of purpose. Christ is worthy to open the scrolls because he shed his blood and bought back a people for God. And where are those people from? "From every tribe and language and people and nation." This says something about the great and ultimate purposes of God. The gospel will be received by some from every language and location on the earth. Indigenous peoples everywhere will worship Jesus as the one who purchased them back from their sins by his life, death and resurrection. To say it in a shorthand way, the gospel message and power will go global. Maybe we should reflect on that idea for a while. Nothing in heaven or earth or under the earth will be able to thwart or hinder or hold back God's purposes. The gospel will go global. Every tribe and language and people and nation will worship Jesus.

It's Too Light A Thing

But that isn't the only passage that has been stirring my heart lately. Isaiah 49:6 keeps me out of the myopic, small imagination that I have about the gospel's spread and advance.

And now the Lord says,

It is too light a thing that you should be my servant

to raise up the tribes of Jacob

and to bring back the preserved of Israel;

I will make you as a light for the nations,

that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth."

In this passage, the Father speaks to the Servant-Son and declares that for him to be just the servant or savior of one small people would be too inadequate for his glory. The idea of something being too light is for it to be too little, too small, or not glorious enough. It would be akin to saying that it wouldn't fit the dignity of the Queen of England to only let her visit Auxvasse, MO (population 901). The glory of God is far greater and far more majestic for the Savior to only be the redeemer of Israel.

The Father promises the Son that his light (or glory) would be for the nations. His salvation would reach to the end of the earth. To put it in modern parlance, Jesus being the savior of American's isn't enough. It's not glorious enough. One specific location or people in the world is not enough. The glory of God must be global, his saving power and grace but be known the very ends of the earth. That would be awesome. That would be glorious.

From The Land of the Rising Sun

Just a few Saturdays ago, I was afforded unimpeded time to read and pray. I haven't reading a whole lot in the Old Testament Minor Prophets in recent days. So I gave myself some time to read Malachi. As I was, a particular passage jumped off the page and proverbially hit my square between the eyes. Malachi 1:11 leveled me in all the right ways,

For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts.

From a global perspective the East will be a place that offers pure worship to Christ, just as the West will be. God resounds and tells us that his name, his great and glorious "name above all names" will be valued and treasured everywhere on the earth. The name of God, which encapsulates all that he is (see Exodus 34:6-7), will be worshipped, enjoyed, celebrated, praised, and declared throughout every nation on earth. There will be no place that does not worship the King of All Kings. As one author likes to say, "Put that in your theological pipe and smoke it."

The Implications of A Globally Exalted God

How do all these dots connect? First, we are graced to have free and frequent access to the gospel here in the United States. Second, God is a global God, his grace will be proclaimed and heralded and worshipped by every language, people and place. Jesus as the radiance of the glory of God will be exalted above all names everywhere. Third, there are still places on this planet that do not have gospel access and do not exalt and worship the name of Jesus. Which leads me to this conclusion: they will one day.

If God has promised that all the nations will worship him as Lord and Savior, and there are not places that are not doing that currently, it seems to me that the reasonable conclusion of this is there is a certainty that one day they will. The mission of global gospel-advance will be accomplished. God's will won't be thwarted and his will will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

What does this say to us in the here and now? How does this lead us to action? I could point out all the mission agencies and opportunities that are available for you to go and work in all the places of the world. I could tell you of the need for financial support for global mission and the way in which we need to send and support those going for the sake of the mission. I could show you starving children, poverty-stricken nations and destitution that only the gospel can redeem and restore. I could give you more statistics on the needs of unreached people for translated Scriptures, linguistic workers, church-planters, teachers, pastors, missionaries, engineers, and so on and so forth.

However, instead I want to call you to reflect and then act. Each of us has a part to play in advancing the mission and engaging the globe with the gospel. Where has God been directing you to serve and work? Go do it. Who has God placed in front of you to support and encourage and send? Support, encourage and send them. How has God called you to make much of his name from East to West? Get after it.

If the gospel going global and reaching the nations is a guarantee, then mobilize yourself, your resources, your church, your passions for the one sure thing that God has declared: "My name will be great among the nations." Let's be part of that global, missional movement of God for the sake of his glory!

¹ Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life Report

² Mission Leader, Why So Few Christians in Japan

Jeremy Writebol(@jwritebol) has been training leaders in the church for over thirteen years. He is the author of everPresent: How the Gospel Relocates Us in the Present (GCD Books, 2014) and writes at jwritebol.net. He lives and works in Plymouth, MI as the Campus Pastor of Woodside Bible Church.

Ben Roberts 6/19/13 Ben Roberts 6/19/13

The Opportunity of Doubt

It is human, all too human, to doubt. When we share our faith with our non-Christian friends, we are often skirting the tension between finite understanding and infinite understanding—between the materially possible and the spiritually necessary. Doubt and faith have nothing to say to each other, and yet in this world, they often appear inseparable. For this reason (and by God’s grace), I have felt the Spirit prompting me at times to share my doubts with the folks I disciple. My prayer is that what follows is both a guide to the stormy waters of doubt as well as a clear pointer to the light of Christ shining above the troubled seas of our lives.

One Hundred and One Fun Things to do with Doubt

Last football season, I had an extra ticket to a game, and I invited my friend along. We stopped by the grocery store for some beers and sunscreen before heading to the tailgate party. Which is to say, I wasn’t really brooding about Existence right then, but my friend was. As we waited in the check-out line, he started talking about the end of the world: how humans have polluted the land, air, and water; how we’re continuing to do it; how we’re actually increasing our efforts.

Zoom out. We were waiting in line in a noisy, crowded store, and my friend was speaking to one of my most complex, unending despairs. Here’s how the doubt runs in my mind: both the Bible and science indicate that the future isn’t exactly rosy for the earth, and yet one of God’s initial commands was for humans to be stewards of His creation. I can’t help but feel deeply ashamed of the ways my actions contribute to the destruction of the environment.

This doubt stems from a cognitive dissonance: Take care of the Earth versus the Earth will be destroyed. This dissonance is partly responsible for the heated political rhetoric surrounding the environment and sustainability. At any rate, this is what I told my friend. I explained how deep my despair is about this subject, and I didn’t sugarcoat it with some platitude about my beliefs. I was honest. I told him that I have to pray about the Earth every morning. I have to give it back to God. On a cosmic-scale, it’s almost hilarious just how much global climate change is out of my hands, and yet I cannot help but feel responsible.

The beauty is that God doesn’t sugarcoat anything. He doesn’t have to. He knows this planet—He even knows me—far better than I do. By placing my faith in Christ, I align myself not with unthinking religiosity, but with the greatest thinker in the universe. As a result, I am free to act (and sometimes even fail) in pursuing environmental stewardship.

Zoom back in. My friend and I are standing in line to buy junk from the local mega-corporation. (There’s those cognitive dissonances playing out in real life.) But I don’t have to despair. Yes, I think the gospel calls us to help in renewing all creation, but do I always trust that knowledge? No. That’s what I told my friend. The gospel frees me from judgment and empowers me to act (Romans 6:1-2), but I am still compelled to get down on my knees and pray for strength to accept that freedom everyday.

We can open up to our friends about doubt, if we will see past our feelings of despair into our forgiveness in Christ. This frees our witness from both crippling defeatism and self-satisfied legalism. It can season our speech with the salt of critical thought (Colossians 4:6). In other words, the doubts aren’t the key. The key is the compassion found in Christ—that he understands our doubts and still loves us.

With this freedom, my friend and I climbed into my car and drove to our national distraction. Because I followed the Spirit’s promptings to be transparent about doubt, I gained an opportunity to talk about my faith. Honesty about doubt led to a deeper conversation about faith.

Doubts and the Doubting Doubters who Doubt Them

In Christ, there is no real reason for doubt. In Christ, we claim forgiveness, grace, and peace. Through faith in Christ, we possess the power to move mountains. The problem is one of unbelief. Our brokenness, our every sin stems from something we do not fully believe about God, but if we are to share our faith in a genuine way, we must share how God answers our unbelief, how our wayward minds are redeemed in Christ, how our troubled souls find rest and overflowing grace in the Holy Spirit.

When sharing a doubt with your friends, avoid the language of ownership (if possible). More importantly avoid self-pity about the despair attached to the doubt. Avoid smugness about your faith. The hope is that in disclosing a doubt we can open up a discussion of faith and offer loving words about how God answers our unbelief with grace and courage.

For example, many of my non-Christian friends feel the doubt voiced by logical positivist philosophers like A.J. Ayers. In so many words, they’ll explain that religious language is nonsense because it’s scientifically/empirically unverifiable. While this isn’t my particular brand of doubt, it is certainly one to which many non-Christians cling. But in speaking to them about this doubt, I have not found it helpful to rationally discourse about this philosophical stance. The conversation then caves in on the limits of its own reasonability, resulting at best in a series of metaphysical chess problems.

Rather, when I’m attentive to the Spirit, I’ve learned to take a step back and remember my own feelings of doubt—how they create such pointless sorrow and anxiety—and I speak to that. In other words, when we’re in tune with the Spirit, we speak from the heart to the heart (not necessarily from the mind to the mind).

The Division of the Individual

That’s all good and fine for sitting at the café chatting with our friends. What do we do when doubt gets personal? For example, what of the militant doubts that point out the uncounted atrocities that have been committed in the name of religious belief?

Again, take a step back and pray. Remember, this is the despair and anguish of unbelief talking. We are not equipped to answer these charges. Fortunately, Christ is. In this example, it may not be a good idea to air your own feelings of unbelief and doubt, but rather speak directly to the pain of the individual with the healing and love you have found in Christ Jesus.

Here’s the funny thing about faith. We all have it. It takes a certain amount of faith simply to be convinced that my “self” or anyone else exists. Interestingly, folks don’t typically assign this aspect of faith any religious meaning. It’s simply “who we are.” But, in the total absence of faith, who are we really? There are statistics that speak to those who lose this last hold-out of faith, and they aren’t pleasant. Without some small amount of faith, we would begin to doubt the very substance of our being.

This is the critical juncture of how broken we really are. Except for faith, our humanity is literally falling apart. In John’s Gospel, Christ says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5). This is kinda scary stuff for a non-Christian to hear, but God is bigger than those fears. God is bigger than the horrifying things that have been done by ignorant and deceived and broken people in his name. How do I know this? Is it simply wishful thinking? Is God loving only because I say so? No. Christ says that’s all sorts of backwards and upside down.

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. - John 15:9-12

In other words, when addressing—for example—despair over the atrocities committed in the name of religion, leave everything else and follow Christ. Remind your self and your friend that—according to scripture—nothing has been done in Christ’s true unutterable name that wasn’t also done in love. If an act of “religious belief” was done without love, it was done without Christ, and if it was done without Christ, then it was done without faith. In the absence of faith, all that remains is—not just doubt—but the void, the total dissolution of the God-breathed life inside us.

The critical distinction we must make as disciples of Christ is that our identity and agency do not arise from the formless void gnawing at the base of individual identity. By grace, we are learning to see that the very prospect of this construction of individual self is impossible from its foundation up, hence the terror and pain of those feelings of doubt. But when we take ownership of faith in Christ, then from him flows a new communal identity and a powerful fellowship of agency—the foundation of which is the very center, the unshakable core of all Creation.

Identity Restored

My true identity is in Christ not in myself. In Christ, we stand united with the true meaning of our lives, with our renewed humanity. But for a person hearing this truth for the first time, all this sounds pretty weird. The loss of individual identity? Being united with what? This is when—if I’m in tune with the Spirit—I often hear that still small voice saying, “Share those same doubts you once had… now share how Christ offers so much more.”

Christ is the hinge on which the entire universe turns. Christ is the door that opens to the infinite glory of God. Likewise, the gospel is the key that unlocks our restore identity. The good news is Christ understands our doubts. In Luke’s Gospel, Christ dispels the disciples’ doubts just before his ascension, offering questions that convict me even now: “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see.” (Luke 24:38-39)

My prayer today is to lay my doubts before Christ. To meditate on the wounds he suffered for my sake and find in his cuts and bruises the fullness of grace poured out for my sake. What doubt can withstand this flood of mercy? May the Holy Spirit guide the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts toward healing the sickness and pain of unbelief in ourselves and in those we disciple!—that we might sing of the peace and restoration found only in our redeemer Christ Jesus.

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Ben Roberts is follower of Christ & an Editor at both Gospel Centered Discipleship & the speculative literary journal, Unstuck. A graduate of the Michener Center for Writers, he lives in Austin with his wife, Jessica & son, Solomon. They fellowship and worship at City Life. Twitter: @BenStoleMyName.

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For more on sharing the gospel authentically, check out Jonathan Dodson's Unbelievable Gospel.

Brad Watson 6/17/13 Brad Watson 6/17/13

Our Hunger for Community

Idealized Community

Dietrich Bonhoeffer describes, in his book Life Together, the difference between spiritual community, true biblical unity, and emotional community. He identifies the common sin of loving the idea of community that we have invented in our minds more than we really love the community.

Those who want more than what Christ has established between us do not want Christian community. They are looking for some extraordinary experiences of community that were denied them elsewhere...Those who love their dream of a Christian community more than the Christian community itself become destroyers of that Christian community even though their personal intentions may be ever so honest, earnest, and sacrificial…Christian community is not an ideal we have to realize, but rather a reality created by God in Christ in which we may participate.

6 Misunderstandings about Community

Our desire and attempts at filling our need for community has clouded our understanding of community itself. As I help folks start and form gospel-centered communities in Portland I have come to notice a consistent stream of misconceptions and false expectations. Though we desire it, we have forgotten what it means to be the people of God in daily life. Here are the top six misconceptions I have encountered as we have started communities throughout inner Portland.

1. Community Is Not “Everyone is my best friend”

If you have one intimate friend (usually a spouse) you are blessed. Many people come into a church or small group with the expectation that everyone will be their best friend. Those unrealistic expectations are selfish and harmful to community. Come into community with one goal – to serve.

2. Community is Not A spiritual/morality club

You don’t pay membership dues to get into community. Jesus has already done that. It isn’t a group of generally moral people trying to do good for others. No, community is a made of people who were dead in their sin, but who God raised to new life with Christ. The good we do is with humility and an understanding of grace.

3. Community is Not A Book Club

The scriptures are vital to Christian community. We devour the words of God and look to understand the character and actions of God in the Bible. But Christian community cannot be reduced to simply a reading and understanding of the Bible. Christian community practices and obeys the scriptures. That happens in real life and in real time.

4. Community is Not A meeting or Event.

You might find community present in a meeting or an organization but those things can never create it. Vibrant community happens when people invest in one another outside of formal gatherings. It is not a time, building, or place, it is a people, family, and movement. Don’t settle for a two hour meeting in a living room as “community.” Allow that meeting to spill over into daily life. Share meals, call one another, bless each other, and try to make disciples.

5. Community is Not Easy

In Matthew 10, as Jesus sent his disciples out to do his works he didn’t say: “Now be nice to each other and you’ll see the sick healed and demons flee and hearts transformed.” He said “Don’t go alone; be careful! I’m sending you out like sheep among wolves, expect to be imprisoned, expect persecution, expect to stand before politicians and princes, expect to be rejected by brothers and fathers, expect strife, but stand firm to the end because my Father will give you everything you need!” (personal paraphrase). Paul, Peter, and James all say we should expect it to be hard. Paul tells us that we will be tempted to blame each other but to remember, you’re fighting sin not each other (Eph 6).

If we want unity it won’t feel like unity most of the time. Often we will feel like we’re barely hanging on to each other. Real unity, real community comes at a great price. We surrender our ‘rights’ for the sake of Christ and one another. We come together on a journey of dying to ourselves and living to Christ, and that is hard. Furthermore real community requires forgiveness, and reconciliation in a society that prefers to quit and ditch relationships as soon as we begin to hurt each other. In gospel-centered community, we rely on God’s grace, mercy, and love for us to confront the hurts and sin in each others’ lives. We forgive because God forgives. We reconcile because he made us agents of reconciliation. We love those in our community, because we are adopted brothers and sisters in Christ.

6. Community is not “Everyone gets along”

If you ask most Christians what unity is their first response has to do with everyone getting along and just “loving each other.” But Jesus doesn’t root our unity in some feel-good idea of everyone getting along and being sweet to each other. Jesus roots our unity in himself, his Spirit and what God has done in all us. Our unity comes from our common rescuer and Lord.

The Bible assumes we’ll have lots of conflict, so the Scriptures constantly remind us about the basis of our unity and gives us practical tools like repentance and forgiveness, for walking it out. Paul didn’t sit around and ask the Holy Spirit: “what esoteric thing do you want me to write about today?” Instead, Paul wrote to churches to respond to the things they were going through and frequently wrote about practical ways for these churches to keep pursuing unity. Almost every one of Paul’s letter addresses some very specific thing that is trying to divide them. Every one of Jesus’ messages to the churches in Revelation deals with something that is trying to divide them.

You show me a family that doesn’t fight and I’ll show you a family that is just coexisting or is under the rule of a tyrant. Healthy relationships are hard and there’s always conflict. We’re sinful, selfish human beings living in a sin-filled world. Our only hope in these conflicts is the gospel of grace.

Gospel-Centered Community

Gospel-centered communities are groups of people that love to include Jesus in everything they do. It never feels forced, but a meal with friends often drifts towards conversation about the person and life of Jesus. If community can be characterized by anything it will be characterized by who Jesus is and what he has done for us. His life, work, and character is woven into the language and practice of every authentic expression of community. The good news of Jesus is what makes the community, builds it, and motivates it.

7 Components of Gospel-Centered Community

There are many signs that a community is built on the foundation of the gospel. As we labored to start multiple communities in Portland, the healthy and thriving ones always have these characteristics and qualities. These are not seven easy steps or a how-to. In fact, the "how to" is to make the gospel central and to pray in dependance for God to do his work. These are the consistent elements I see expressed when communities are established in the gospel. They are also the seven elements that war against our own selfish desires for independence.

1. Generous Hospitality.

In Matthew 25 Jesus describes his spirit of hospitality. “I was hungry and you gave me something to eat.” Authentic community involves lots of food! It involves taking the time and space to incorporate others in your life. This is often found at the kitchen table and this is nothing new. In Luke's Gospel, Jesus was almost always on his way to a meal, coming from a meal, or at a meal. Authentic communities are regularly sharing meals with one another and those outside the community. Their generous hospitality is noticeable from the outside and others desire it.

2. A people where influence is earned by serving.

You know you have found gospel-centered community when you find selfless giving and constant blessing toward each other and those outside the church. Jesus told us the world will know us by our "love for one another." It’s true. When Jesus is the center, community is characterized by humble service to Jesus as Lord and King.

3. Accountable and Repentant

Community will bring everything into the light. By that I mean, we are honest with who we are, what we are doing, and where we are going. It means the community will not let us live a lie or false identity. The Scriptures, truth of the gospel, and the Holy Spirit will convict us of sin and unbelief in gracious and merciful ways. In repentance, communities return to the gospel and are reminded of their identity in Christ.

4. Led by qualified leaders.

Christian community has leadership. The leaders carry the tremendous weight of caring for the believers, and equipping the body for service and mission. You will know you are in the community when the leaders are the servants among the community who are training and releasing everyone else into the world. They will be characterized by humility, hospitality, faithfulness, self-control, prayer, and belief in the gospel.

5. On Mission

Any expression of gospel-centered community will be on mission seeking the good of their neighborhood, nation, and globe. Make no mistake about it, the mission is making disciples. Jesus-centered community proclaims the hope and truth of the gospel to the lost and broken. The presence of Jesus Christ is the most attractive thing to the human heart – and the presence of Jesus is found in its most potent form in a group of people that love him and love each other well. This is what Jesus said in John 13:35: “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Community grows and multiplies. Gospel-centered communities send their best people out into new areas of mission and service. However, life is added to community not subtracted. It has been like this from the very beginning. The command was to spread and be witnesses of Jesus from “Jerusalem to Samaria to Judea to the ends of the earth.” And it did. In a world without twitter, youtube, satellites, or pamphlets churches sprung up in houses and temples in three continents in only a few years. Your Jesus-centered community has the same potential and calling.

6. Active in Culture

Christian community will be in the public square where goods and ideas are exchanged. Their activity will be defined by love, grace, and truth. They will have jobs, create art, and seek the good of their city through social justice. They will do these things not from a point of power and greed but from a point of service and empowerment by the Spirit.

7. Diverse

It will be made up of rich and poor, men and women, young and old, black and white, immigrant and native, married and single. You will welcome everyone and you won't be made up of "people like me" and "at my stage of life." Instead you embrace those who are different from you. There will be no way to describe you other than to say, “Christian Community.” Christianity is unlike any other religion, even in its inception it was completely diverse. Up to that point in history religion was connected to race, status, and origin. In fact, your outside differences will tell the story of God’s work to create you into a people.

Story of Community

I met Mark (name changed) at a poker game. It was a mishmash of people and he was obviously nervous to be around so many new folks. He was an introvert like me and we connected. He was going to law school and was the smartest guy in the room. The next time we hung out, he was eating dinner at my house. Our missional community was getting together for a meal and sharing stories of what God had done in our lives. He had just heard the gospel from the guy who hosted the poker game and he was beginning to make sense of the death and resurrection of Jesus.

The next day we shoveled fertilizer together at the elementary school as part of a neighborhood wide clean-up project. He wanted to know how to pray to Jesus. Mark was part of our community and began spending lots of life with us. I got to baptize him a year ago. As we spend time together and grew in understanding of the gospel, he shared that he came to our city as a refugee, not as a student. He was running from home and the destructive life he had there. As he read the parable of the prodigal son, he couldn’t help but identify with him. “I messed so much stuff up,” he would say. At the age of twelve, he gave his life to drugs. It truly stole his life. No friends, no community, and ultimately his family gave up on him. Yet, at 26, Mark was a new man in Jesus. His words to our church before he was baptized, “Before Christ I was headed no where, I didn’t have any friends and did a bunch of bad stuff. Now I have a community and a life to live.” Three months later, he took an internship at an Indian reservation in another state seven hours away. He took a stack of books and planned to finish reading the Bible (he read two thirds of it in his first months following Jesus). We prayed for him and talked as often as we could and were planning on having several of the guys in the community taking a weekend trip to hang out with him.

At 11:00 pm on the fourth of July, we got a phone call from Mark. He was in trouble and we left immediately. It was the longest seven hour drive of our lives as we tried to piece together the short and chaotic phone calls we had with Mark in the early hours of the morning. We couldn’t figure out if he was in real danger or hallucinating. There was a stretch of four hours when we heard nothing from him. As we pulled into the town we found him surrounded by three police cars in a diner parking lot. He had spent the night outside running from terrifying and accusative hallucinations. He was barefoot and his pajamas were torn to pieces. His hands and feet were scarred and bleeding. But he was alive and he recognized us. The police allowed us to take him into our care. We cleaned him up, packed his bags, cleaned up his apartment, and brought him home. The coming days and weeks were hard, but he had a community around him who gave him a place to stay, took him to the hospital, fed him, and spoke the truth of resurrection to him. We paid his debts for him and cared for his heart. Mark's words when he was baptized were true: “Before Christ I was headed no where, I didn’t have any friends and did a bunch of bad stuff. Now I have a community and a life to live.”

Love for the Church

If you are a leader, I pray you will be known for you love of the community of God and that you will excel at pointing to God's love for it. Don't allow cultural expectations and the idolatry of community to take your eyes of the gospel. Keep the gospel primary and never stray from it. Pursue community that is unashamedly centered on Jesus.

Brad Watson serves as a pastor of Bread&Wine Communities in Portland, Oregon. He is serves as the director of GospelCenteredDiscipleship.com. Brad is the co-author of Raised? Doubting the Resurrection. His greatest passion is to encourage and equip leaders for the mission of making disciples. He is Mirela’s husband and Norah’s dad. Twitter: @BradsStories.

Other Articles by Brad:

Winfield Bevins 6/14/13 Winfield Bevins 6/14/13

Eight Keys to Personal Prayer

The following is an excerpt from Prayer Life by Winfield Bevins. Download the eBook here. --

We look upon prayer as a means of getting things for ourselves; the Bible’s idea of prayer is that we may get to know God himself. - Oswald Chambers

Prayer is first and foremost a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Some people think of prayer like a business transaction or as something they have to do just like checking something off a to do list. But that isn’t really prayer at all. We should think of prayer in intimate terms like a conversation between close friends. What are some words that you think of when you think of an intimate friendship? You will probably think of words like loving, caring, warm, sincere, personal, and intimate. These are words that should be used to describe our prayer time with the Lord. Prayer should not be dry or stuffy; rather it should be warm and intimate. How can you develop a personal prayer life?

Before You Pray

Before praying, there are four things that we should take into consideration. First, schedule a regular prayer time. Find a time everyday to spend in prayer. The important thing is that we should be consistent. The psalmist said that he prayed seven times a day. Second, choose a private place to pray. A prayer closet could be anywhere as long as it is private. You can use your garage, pantry, front porch, or any other creative place where you can get alone with God. Some people pray while driving in their car and others pray while working-out or running. Third, try to limit distractions. Don’t pray in the same room that you may watch television or be tempted by other activities. Lastly, have a prayer list to guide your prayers that includes family, friends, church, etc. This will ensure that you don’t forget important things to pray for.

Keys to Personal Prayer

Every believer can have a dynamic personal prayer life. The Bible gives us the keys that we need to develop a powerful prayer life. The Scriptures are full of examples of men and women who walked with God and used prayer to impact their world and you can do the same thing through prayer. The following are Scriptural ways you can develop a deeper more fulfilling personal prayer life.

1. Pray In Jesus Name.

Real prayer is Christological and focuses on the person and work of Jesus Christ. There are numerous New Testament references that talk about the importance of praying in the name of Jesus. Jesus Himself said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you” (John 16:23). When we pray in the name of Jesus, God the Father hears us. He responds to the prayer that is offered in the name of His Son Jesus because our relationship with God is through the Son.

2. Pray According to God’s Will.

God is not a Santa Claus in the sky; He does not give us anything we ask for. But in 1 John 5:14 it says, “if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” This means that when we pray in accordance with His will we can expect an answer. This is why the Lord’s Prayer says, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

3. Scriptural Prayer.

One the best ways to pray is to pray according to the Scriptures. John 15:7 says, “If you abide in Me, and My word abides in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” If God’s word is in us then His desires become our desires and we can have the assurance that He will answer our prayers. Make sure that your prayers are in line with Scripture. The Lord always honors His Word. A great example is the Lord’s Prayer.

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4. Keep Commandments.

God honors those who honor His Commandments. Jesus said, “Whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.” (1 John 3:22). If you keep His Commandments and do what is pleasing, then you can be assured that He will hear your prayers.

5. Believe.

The Lord wants us to have faith that He will hear our prayers. Jesus said, “And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.” (Matthew 21:22). In the great faith chapter of the Bible, we are told that, “without faith it is impossible to please im, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6). The Lord promises to respond to our prayer of faith.

6. Pray in the Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of prayer. Paul tells us to pray at all times in the Spirit. Romans 8:26 reads, “Likewise the Spirit also helps us in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” We don’t always know how to pray and we don’t always feel like praying. Therefore we need the Spirit’s power to help us pray.

7. Be Persistent.

Don’t give up if you haven’t received an answer to your prayers. Throughout the Bible there are stories of men and women who persevered in prayer. In Luke 18:1-8 there was a little old widow who did not lose heart. James tells us that the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

8. Humble Yourself.

Lastly, we are to humble ourselves in prayer. James 4:10 tells us to humble ourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt us. One of my favorite parables about prayer is in Luke 18:9-14, where the Pharisee and tax collector come before God. The Pharisee was proud and boastful, while the tax collector was humble and asked for God’s mercy. We are told that God hears the prayer of the humble. If we humble ourselves in the sight of God he will lift us up.

Closing Prayer

Lord, teach us to pray. We ask that you would make us humble, help us be persistent, and give Your Holy Spirit to help us pray. We ask that you would cleanse our hearts, meet our needs, heal our hurts, and give us strength to call on Your name and to give You glory. In the name of Your Son Jesus we pray. Amen.

Continue reading Prayer Life by Winfield Bevins

Dr. Winfield Bevins serves as lead pastor of Church of the Outer Banks, which he founded in 2005. His life’s passion in ministry is discipleship and helping start new churches. He lives in the beautiful beach community of the Outer Banks with his wife Kay and two daughters where he loves to surf and spend time at the beach with his family and friends. Twitter: @winfieldbevins

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Luma Simms 6/12/13 Luma Simms 6/12/13

Glimpses of Grace: Treasuring the Gospel in Your Home

In Gospel Amnesia, I discuss one of my biggest idols: the desire to be a godly parent. I know it may sound paradoxical. After all, which Christian parent doesn’t want to be a “godly parent.” And besides, aren’t we commanded in the Scriptures to be godly parents? First, anything can be an idol. Second, we are not commanded to be godly parents. We are commanded to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, and strength and to teach this love of God to our children (Deut. 6:4–9). That is a huge philosophical shift from “be a godly parent.” These are two different religions! The first is Jesus’ direct command and has as its object God. We are to point our hearts to God and to teach our children how to point their hearts to God. The second has as its object ourselves and our children, seasoned with the adjective, “godly.” The object becomes how to rightly be a parent with the drive behind it as the welfare of our children, spiritual and otherwise. I spent years and years reading books and blog posts on how to be a more godly mom and parent. I can’t do it anymore. As a matter of fact, I had no intention of buying one more book on motherhood. The inspired Word of God which I open up every single day has been telling me for years what I need to do: Love Jesus and love my neighbor (hint: my family are my closest neighbors). The issue is: Will my heart obey these commands from the Lord himself?

Those were my thoughts until I read my friend Gloria Furman's book Glimpses of Grace: Treasuring the Gospel in Your Home. This book changed my mind; I have already given away many copies of it and continue recommending it to women I know. Because of my previous idolatries in this area, I would like to encourage pastors to recommend it to the women in their congregation. Pastors, if you want the women in your congregation to keep their focus on Christ while still caring about motherhood, I humbly ask you to look into this book. This book will help women see the value of being a wife and mother without shifting their identity to it. Glimpses of Grace presses in the truth of the gospel so that Jesus is firmly established at the center, and all parenting orbits him. Gloria

In The Loveliness of Christ, Samuel Rutherford writes:

Take no heavier lift of your children, than your Lord alloweth; give them room beside your heart, but not in the yolk of your heart, where Christ should be; for then they are your idols, not your bairns.

Gloria accomplishes this beautifully in Glimpses of Grace. She doesn't say, “forget all your responsibilities and calling, just go after Christ.” Nor does she encourage women to focus on a different center: children, career, ministry, etc. She succeeds in showing the tension in a woman's life—illustrating the wonder of a life lived in the grace of Christ now, with hope in his promise of future grace. She does all of this without denying the real and tangible realities and hardships of everyday life. Although I am recommending it for mothers in the hopes that I can prevent some from falling into the idolatries I had fallen into, it is actually a book that can be read by any woman, married or not. I see the applicability to all women in some of Gloria's insights by the types of questions she asks and answers:

The questions I ought to be asking are these: How does believing in Jesus change the way I face the monotonous daily grind? Or how does believing take an interrupted nap in stride? How does faith in God rescue me from a restless heart? How can I experience the peace of Christ when I am so prone to failure because of my sin? How does the gospel make me into a woman who rests in the peace of God in the midst of the chaos in my heart?

Gloria Furman is a cross–cultural worker in ministry with her husband, Dave Furman, church planter and pastor in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. I talked with Gloria about her new book:

Would you define Glimpses of Grace as a "how to be a better mom" book? If not, why not?

I'm so glad you asked this question! Glimpses of Grace is decidedly not a book focused on motherhood. It’s about treasuring the gospel in your home, a subject that is applicable to women regardless of whether they have children. I address this book to women who need to take refuge in the Lord and taste and see that he is good, which would include all of us! On the subject of motherhood and the gospel, I’ve written Treasuring Christ When Your Hands Are Full: Gospel Meditations for Busy Moms (Crossway, 2014).

Glimpses of Grace is also decidedly not a “how to” book. I love how Lauren Chandler answers that question in the foreword:

We do well to seek advice. This is wisdom. But there something to being at your wit’s end that begs for more than instruction. Psalm 107 illustrates a season in the storm. Men in ships doing business on great waters are literally struck by a tempest. Scripture says, ‘They reeled and staggered like drunken men and were at their wits’ end’ (v. 27). Their response to being completely helpless was to cry out to the Lord. No how-tos, no cute preservers, but just an honest and urgent plea to be delivered from a situation that was more than they could navigate. What did the Lord do on their behalf? He showed them his steadfast love. He calmed the waters, hushed the seas, and brought them to their desired haven. This is sustaining grace, this is the desired haven: to know his steadfast love that saves and keeps us. Glimpses of Grace is not a how-to. It is a true friend’s invitations to see and know the Lord’s steadfast love displayed in every wave, big and small.

Indeed, there is a need for how-to, time-tested wisdom regarding keeping a home. But Glimpses of Grace does not address the need for table setting skills (incidentally, a skill in which I am sorely deficient). Glimpses of Grace describes how God, in his word, lays out a spread for us that addresses our heart’s deepest, most comprehensive need—to learn to feast on Jesus, the Bread of Life.

What were the circumstances and the heart issues that drove you to write this book?

For far too long the mundane loomed larger than eternal life for me. I wrote this book because I wanted to remind myself (and others) that every mundane moment of the day contains the potential to plunge our hearts into worship of the Living God whose matchless kindness leads us to repentance. For far too long I’d bought the lie that “this, too, shall pass” was the hope that I needed to cling to. The hope that I need to cling to is that God’s faithfulness will never pass, and because of the person and work of Jesus Christ, I am constantly running headlong into his future grace. Learning to cherish the gospel became key for me in beginning to understand this, and living in my home is the primary place I need to work out these heart-anchoring truths.

Why should pastors encourage the women in their church to read your book?

Although how-to manuals for homemaking are vignettes of wisdom and experience worth sharing, Glimpses of Grace is about something else. It’s a reflection on the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. Pastors want the women in their church to be rooted and grounded in Christ’s love, which is the same prayer that I have for the women who read this book. My goal in writing this book is that it would serve as a creative and repetitive reminder of the good news, pointing women to worship our Savior in the midst of their lives in the home.

I'm grateful for Gloria's friendship. Many times as I've discussed struggles with her she has helped me turn my gaze away from the situation to see Christ above it all and to grasp how the gospel applies to my heart issues in that moment. In my discipleship relationships right now, I say this to the women I have handed this book to: It's a book that shows you who Jesus is and how much he loves you. You don't need a book that tries to tell you how to be a better mother. If you want to be a better mother, or a better anything, look to Jesus and cling to him and refuse to let go.

Gloria has given me hope that God can use a book like Glimpses of Grace, to help other women treasure the gospel, no matter the circumstances:

Whatever the “this” that you desperately feel you can't do anymore is ultimately not about your circumstances. It's about peace with God. And God has provided a way for you to have that peace that dominates any and all circumstances, regardless of how difficult they are.

God is using this book to bring a peace between me and him about many things I have been saying “I can't do anymore.” Including reading this type of book.

—

Luma Simms (@lumasimms) is a wife and mother of five delightful children between the ages of 1 and 18. She studied physics and law before Christ led her to become a writer, blogger, and Bible study teacher. She is the author of Gospel Amnesia: Forgetting the Goodness of the News. She blogs regularly at Gospel Grace.

Abe Meysenburg 6/10/13 Abe Meysenburg 6/10/13

Good News for Single Men

Single men face many unique challenges and opportunities. They are regularly pressured to be married, constantly set up on blind dates, and are left feeling less than a man without a spouse. Recently, I had the pleasure of talking with a handful of single men from our Soma Tacoma family. As a shepherd and elder who cares deeply for the hearts of people, I’d like to speak directly to other single men about a few of the takeaways from our two hour chat.

1. Jesus wants to “secure your undivided devotion”

After beginning by affirming my love for these men, we read from 1 Corinthians 7, where Paul makes some interesting statements about singleness and marriage. (By the way, a few years ago, Andy Johnson preached a great sermon in Tacoma on this difficult passage.) There is one section, however, that is extremely clear:

I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, and his interests are divided…I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord. 1 Corinthians 7:32-35

Paul’s call to all single people is clear: as long as you are single, secure undivided devotion to Jesus! When you marry, you add a layer of complexity to your life. Use the extra margin you have today to sharpen your focus on Jesus.

My chief concern for all of our single men is that they passionately pursue Jesus. Not a woman, but Jesus. Love Jesus, serve Jesus, pursue Jesus, know Jesus, walk with Jesus, be satisfied in Jesus, experience intimacy with Jesus, and find every bit of their significance and value in Jesus. Be a faithful disciple of Jesus! That is the Father’s chief concern for you, single men. And though many I talk to are already doing that, the Spirit leads me to echo Paul again by saying, “excel still more!” (1 Thessalonians 4:9-10).

2. Start with the right question

It shouldn’t be shocking that my conversation included a discussion of how to determine which woman one should pursue. As we talked, I heard the essence of a question that I often hear single men ask (and I clearly recall asking myself when I was a single man): "Who am I interested in?"

I believe when it comes to pursuit, if you start here, you are starting with the wrong question. Jesus said the two greatest commandments are to love the LORD your God with all of your heart, soul, strength, and mind; and to love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:36-40). Everything we do should be motivated by love for God in response to what he has done for us in and through Jesus. We love him because he first loved us (1 John 4:10-11), and love for him is what motivates us to lay down our lives for the sake of others (2 Corinthians 5:14-15). Therefore, starting with the right question means asking, “Who would the Father have me pursue? Who would he have me serve and bless by initiating an intentional friendship?”

Finding a wife should not be your primary motive for pursuing a woman. A single man’s motivation for pursuing a woman must primarily be loving obedience to the Father, and secondarily to serve and bless his sister. Pursuing a woman in Spirit-led fashion, regardless of the outcome, honors God and blesses her.

Begin by asking the Spirit to make it clear to you who he wants you to pursue. He is your perfect Daddy, and he knows you (and all of your sisters) better than you know yourself. He is uniquely qualified to guide you. And ask others for help in determining the Spirit’s leading. Don't feel like it’s totally up to you to sit in the corner, listening to the Spirit, until some woman’s name pops into your head. Process this in community. This is nothing new, of course. I remember talking for hours with my friends about the different women we were interested in, trying to determine what we should do next. But we were starting with the wrong question. I wish we’d been armed with the thought that our Heavenly Father had an opinion on the matter. It would have significantly altered the discussion.

3. Having a wife doesn't make you a man. Jesus makes you a man.

As an elder, I know that at times I have inadvertently sent the message that finding a wife makes you more of man. Nothing could be further from the truth. I often ask men, married and single, “how do you know you’re a man?” I believe there are three main ways for Jesus’ followers to answer this question.

First of all, I know I’m a man because I am a male who has been created in God’s image (Genesis 1:27). Men and women both uniquely image God, and as a man, this uniqueness is reflected in my heart and life.

Secondly, I know I am a man because Jesus is the only perfect man who ever lived. Jesus was, in every sense, the ultimate man. He was the man that Adam failed to be (Romans 5:12-21). Jesus’ success as a man supersedes the failures of every man who ever lived. And now, I am in Christ (1 Corinthians 1:30). His perfect record is given to me. His performance, his work, his accomplishments, his achievements are all all mine and define me as a man. In any way that I seek to prove my identity as a man, I fail; and in every way I need Jesus to prove my identity as a man, he succeeds. Jesus, the only perfect man who ever lived, is the one who makes me a man.

Finally, as one who is in Christ, the Father affirms his love for me by his Spirit. He also affirms that I am his child. And when he affirms this, he calls me “son.” “The Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Romans 8:16). That is how I know I’m a man!

Single men, secure undivided devotion to the one who truly defines you. Love the only one who can deeply satisfy you. Obey the perfect Father who you can trust with your today and your tomorrow. And rest in the fact that you are already a man, made whole and complete by the lover of your soul.

–

Abe Meysenburg serves as a pastor and elder with Soma Communities in Tacoma, WA. After living in the Midwest for most of their lives, he and his wife, Jennifer, moved to Tacoma in the summer of 1999. In 2001, after working as a Starbucks manager for a few years, Abe helped start The Sound Community Church, which then became a part of Soma Communities in May 2007. Twitter: @AbeMeysenburg.

Other articles by Abe Meysenburg: The Burden of Shepherding, Grief and the Gospel and The Gospel and the Great Commandment.

Jamie Munson 6/7/13 Jamie Munson 6/7/13

Legacy: Why Authority Matters

In the later years of Solomon’s reign, he made conditions for the Israelites extremely harsh. The people referred to his reign as a heavy yoke. In the period after Solomon’s death, the void in leadership resulted in a division between the people of Israel. In hopes of bettering their working condi- tions, the people wanted to have a man named Jeroboam made king instead of Solomon’s son, Rehoboam. They were so fed up with Solomon’s rule, Rehoboam had to flee to the city of Shechem, afraid for his life.

Jeroboam came to Rehoboam in Shechem with a deal. “Your father made our yoke heavy. Now there- fore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke on us, and we will serve you” (1 Kings 12:4). In response, Rehoboam asked for three days to seek counsel.

Initially, Rehoboam went to the older advisers who served under his father. Their advice? “If you will be a servant to this people today and serve them, and speak good words to them when you answer them, then they will be your servants forever” (1 Kings 12:7). They called Rehoboam to be a servant leader who ruled for the good of the people.

The Bible records, “But [Rehoboam] abandoned the counsel that the old men gave him and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him and stood before him” (1 Kings 12:9). When the third day came and the people of Israel came to hear Rehoboam’s answer to their request, he said, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions” (1 Kings 12:14). Rather than choose to be a servant leader, Rehoboam demanded to be served. The result? A kingdom divided and thrown into chaos for decades.

As king, Rehoboam had a responsibility to serve and lead his people well. Instead, he abused the authority given him and ruled selfishly. Rehoboam’s downfall was ultimately the result of a com- plete disregard for the true meaning of authority.

Authority equals responsibility. Those of us who are leaders have responsibility, which means we have the opportunity to respond faithfully and steward what we are given for God’s glory. We are entrusted with the blessing of authority in order to be a blessing to our people.

The most blessed man ever to walk the earth was Solomon. He appeared to have it all—wealth, wisdom, a strong military, food and drink, women, and more. But he lacked one thing: a legacy. At the end of his life, when it was time for his son Rehoboam to assume the mantle of responsibility, Rehoboam instead brought devastation to his people and his kingdom.

As leaders, we too have the power to drive an organization towards health or towards disaster.

For me, this rings strongly true when I think of my family. I want to lead my family well, and I want to leave a good legacy. At times, I am afraid I won’t be able to do this. The temptation to be like Rehoboam is strong; to place my career over my family, leading so that I am served rather than lead- ing to serve—choosing myself over my family.

Rehoboam’s life reveals a challenging truth: a single decision or indiscretion can determine your legacy. When I am tempted to sin (or do sin), it has the potential to destroy my legacy. But it also allows for the opportunity to further establish my legacy through repentance.

Thankfully, grace changes everything. My wife and kids are incredible blessings. God has trans- formed a life headed towards a terrible legacy into a life with hope for a legacy that honors Him. He’s teaching me to obey him, which is essential for impacting the future, because how we view and respond to authority will determine the legacy of our authority.

UNDERSTANDING AUTHORITY

Whether it’s a founder, a chairman, a president, a CEO, an executive director, or a senior pastor, most organizations give somebody the final say. However, the majority of people exist somewhere below the top of the org chart.

So two questions arise: What does it look like to be called to a role that supports the primary leader? And, if you’re the primary leader, what does it look like to faithfully lead those entrusted to your oversight? We must be able to see ourselves as both servant and leader. Some days we’re taking out trash; other days we’re in charge of the most critical project of the year. How can we lead and serve simultaneously? How can we be good stewards of authority, and also submit to authority in a way that honors God and others?

A successful organization builds a vision that allows everyone to participate. The struggle is that we all want the glory, praise, and attention that comes from being in charge. The human craving for recognition and power is deep and unquenchable. However, there is hope that we can learn to lead and serve without being controlled by this longing. And this hope is rooted in an understanding of the biblical foundations of authority.

AUTHORITY IS GOD’S DESIGN

Like it or not, authority is God’s design. It is modeled after his own nature.

We love authority if we’re the ones who have it; we despite it if we’re under it. Ever since the Garden of Eden, humanity as a whole has been on a hell-bent quest to eschew all authority—God-given or not (Genesis 3:1-6).

I struggle with authority like everyone else. I’m selfish and want to make my own decisions. I want to be my own sovereign god. This shows up in some amusing and revealing ways.

For instance, I hate potlucks. I don’t know who cooked the food. I don’t know how clean their kitch- en is, or if they have cats (is there hair in that chocolate cake?). I can’t control it, so I eat what my family brings. Or I go for the fried chicken because it was fried. I don’t want to relax and trust oth- ers—even in something so trivial.

A potluck is just a simple example. Behind my desire to architect the perfect meal is really a heart unwilling to submit to anything that strips me of control, to authority—even a meaningless potluck.

Authority is not the problem. Our stubborn hearts are the problem. Our response to authority is rebellion, made all the more devastating because authority is actually a beautiful gift. Both authority and its corollary—submission—emanate from the core of God’s identity. To exercise authority and submission is to image God. Theologian Bruce Ware goes so far as to say, “An authority-submission structure marks the very nature of the eternal Being of the one who is three.” (Ware, Bruce A. Father, Son, & Holy Spirit).

Within the Trinity, God exercises and submits to authority with perfect joy. He invites us to do the same, while also showing us how. This means that leaders need to be both in and under authority, willing to take the lead and willing to follow. How are you resisting authority in your life? Where is submission a challenge for you?

GOD’S CHAIN OF COMMAND

There is one God, who is three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The Trinity is perhaps the greatest mystery in the universe—one we can only approach, describe, and understand by faith. The Bible does not use the word “Trinity” to describe the Godhead, but Scripture clearly teaches that all three members exist in eternity (none were created) and all partici- pate in creation (Gen. 1:2 cf. Gen. 1:26 cf. John 1:1–3). They have in common the divine nature, which theologian J. Scott Horrell describes: “the generic essence, universal property, or attributes of Godness manifest equally in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.” Each member is equally God while remaining a distinct person with a distinct station and roles:

The Father is God (Matt. 6:9–10; 1 Cor. 15:28; Eph. 1:3). He occupies the “position and authority, supreme among the Persons of the Godhead,” 6 for he appointed Jesus as King (Ps. 2:5–9), and he sends the Son (John 17:8) and the Holy Spirit (John 14:26). As Dr. Ware points out, God the Father is also described as our provider, protector, savior, help- er, and guide. 7 Each of these attributes outlines a position of power.
The Son is God (John 1:1–3; 15:5; Phil. 2:9–11; Col. 2:9; Heb. 1:1–2). Jesus reigns at the right hand of the Father (Heb. 12:2) as King of Kings and Lord of Lords (1 Tim. 6:15). His placement at “right hand of God” is significant because it implies that Jesus is both in and under authority. He is under the Father’s authority, but over Creation. The Bible also describes God the Son as High Priest (Heb. 8:1), Chief Shepherd (1 Pet. 5:4), the head of the Church (Eph. 5:23), and Lamb of God (John 1:29). All of these imply authority, except for the last, which refers to the submissive role of Jesus.
The Spirit is God (Acts 5:3–4; 1 Cor. 2:10–11; Heb. 9:14). Theologian J.I. Packer sum- marizes the Spirit’s role: “The distinctive, constant, basic ministry of the Holy Spirit . . . is to mediate Christ’s presence to believers.” (J.I. Packer, Keep in Step with the Spirit). God the Holy Spirit enables regeneration of our hard hearts (John 3:3–8) and continually sanctifies us and empowers us to be- come more like Jesus (2 Cor. 4:6). He also inspired the writing of Scripture (2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:21). In these ways, the Spirit is under Christ’s (and therefore the Father’s) authority, but over us.

The hierarchy of God—with the Spirit submitting to the Son, the Son submitting to the Father (John 14:25–26), and the Spirit submitting to both—may seem primitive or out of place in the land of “We the people”. But the Trinity proves that perfect peace, love, equality, respect, joy, and freedom can exist within a culture of authority and submission. There is no complaining or jealousy among the Trinity, just joy-filled submission. If our Creator submits willingly within the Godhead, then I sug- gest our problem with authority is not the perceived injustice of submission, but instead our proud, unwilling hearts. In fact, submission should not be considered demeaning, but rather godly.

We all have warped conceptions of submission and authority. Mine grew out of an immature belief that things are always better when I’m in control—coupled with the lack of consequences for irresponsible behaviors. One night my siblings and I were driving drunk. We totaled our car and almost died by speeding into a river. My dad came and met us at the scene of the accident. I had disregarded the authority of my parents, the authority of the police, and certainly the authority of God.

The next night, they took us out to the fanciest restaurant in town. It didn’t feel like it was out of grace, but more out of a desire to buy our love and avoid painful disciplinary conversation. This is just one example of how I was allowed to go unchecked in my belief that I was my own best authority. Real authority was absent from my life—so I ruled myself, because I could. It wasn’t until years later, when I became a Christian, that I saw my ungodly view of authority and how my stubborn heart cringed at submission and craved control.

This sort of baggage isn’t easily offloaded. But regardless of our upbringing and biases, we are all created in the image of this God (Gen. 1:27), who has authority over himself and also submits to himself. This means our highest purpose is to submit to our Maker, trust his Word, enjoy the grace of his rule and reign, and learn from him rather than try to usurp him.

The roles and relationships found within the Trinity serve as our only perfect example of what hu- man relationships can and should be. We must embrace God’s Trinitarian Leadership in order to wield authority as a beneficial tool and not a dangerous weapon. We must also submit to it as a sanctifying means of grace, not an oppressive yolk to be brushed off or abandoned altogether, which is equally destructive (Judges 21:25; Prov. 19:18).

AUTHORITY WITHOUT BAGGAGE

Many of us carry emotional baggage that we received at a very young age from authority figures. Sadly, more kids are raised with and influenced by their parents’ absence than they are by their parents’ presence. Maybe they never knew their father, or their parents were divorced, or their parents were too busy spending their time on “more important” things, like work or hobbies. On the other side of the spectrum, many children grew up in families filled with anger and abuse. Few of us grew up with a family that demonstrated the blessing of godly leadership.

Influenced by our sin and the sin around us, it can be difficult to understand undistorted authority or willing submission. The only way we are able to do this is through observing the Trinity. We have to pick up the baggage from our bad experiences and lay it down in the presence of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Instead of fixating on what we dislike or hate about authority, we examine their interactions and find what we can love about authority. Within the relationship of the Godhead, we can see authority marked by what it should be: humility, love, and generosity.

AUTHORITY FOR THE GLORY OF GOD

The humility, love, and generosity that flow through God’s authority are not arbitrary expressions of benevolence, or capricious acts of manipulation to win our allegiance. Instead, the authority of God magnifies the glory of God.

Self-glory is a problem in human authority, as with the leader who establishes himself as some sort of demigod. For a perfect being, however, who exists as the very definition of goodness, love, and truth, God’s glory represents the triumph of his perfect kingdom. John Piper writes, “The deepest longing of the human heart and the deepest meaning of heaven and earth are summed up in this: the glory of God. The universe was made to show it, and we were made to see it and savor it.”

Even in glorifying himself, however, the humility, love, and generosity of God are evident. The Spirit glorifies the Father and the Son, and the Son glorifies the Father. God the Father is the ultimate destination of all glory, and justifiably receives it all. Yet remarkably he shares it, by receiving the glory due him through the glory given to the Son.

All three Persons of the Trinity are filled with joy at the giving and receiving of glory from each other. Their mission is mutual glory for their own joy and the joy of mankind, not personal enrichment. They suffer no envy or jealousy. Each receives glory, and each shares it readily with the others. God is glorious.

Jamie Munson is an author and business leader. This post was excerpted with permission from his book, Authority: The Leader's Call to Serve. Check out his books, or follow him on twitter @jamiemunson, or read his articles on JamieMunson.com.

Jake Chambers 6/5/13 Jake Chambers 6/5/13

The Tension of Marriage and Mission

A World of Hope for Marriage

In the beginning God created the world and all living things, and it was good. He created everything to depend on and worship him, and it was good. The only thing God said was not good was for man to be alone. So he remedied that by making a woman out of man, and it too was good! The world started with great peace, love, worship, and joy. There was a connection to God and a connection to one another. Mankind cared for the planet, and life on Earth was healthy and satisfying. Today, the world is not like that. So what happened?

In Genesis 3, humanity turns away from its utter dependence on God and toward a dependence on self. Humans chose to serve themselves by trying to be God rather than to worship, obey and walk with God. Immediate brokenness and separation ensued. The husband and wife blamed each other, lied, hid from God, and were filled with shame and loneliness. Today, we live in a broken and isolated world that is still living under the curse of this Genesis 3 moment. What has been the solution to this curse? We continue to look to human wisdom to save us from our own mess. We have seen this from the humans building the tower of Babel back in Genesis. We also see this today in our culture’s drive to exalt ourselves by improving self-esteem and self-worth. This is also seen through this generation’s tireless fight to build an online self-monument via Twitter, About Me, Facebook, and other social networks. In our brokenness, we continue to look to ourselves to provide healing; all the while our addiction-to-self continues to grow. This is foolishness.

How is this self-centeredness proving itself today? According to the Center for Disease Control, 1 in 10 U.S. adults are clinically diagnosed with depression. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that 43% of American children today are being raised without their Fathers—this percentage doesn’t reflect the level of involvement of these fathers as abusive, distant, or loving and highly engaged. In the U.S. there is one divorce every 13 seconds which equates to 6,646 divorces per day, and 46,523 divorces per week. In addition, every second, 28,258 internet users are viewing pornography. I could go on and on with these statistics. However, as disciple makers these are more than statistics because we know the people, we know the stories.

In the midst of all of this there is a Creator-God that embodies community. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are in perfect everlasting relationship with one another, existing in an eternal state of harmony, peace and love. Stop and think about that. They love each other perfectly. Serve each other perfectly. Submit to each other perfectly. Honor each other perfectly –forever. God is love. And love is found in this relationship.

God the Son, Jesus Christ, came to this Earth to bring a people into this perfect relationship. In John 17, he prays to his Father that we would be one as they are one. This is one of the most scandalous, offensive prayers in history. Jesus asks the Father to make us—isolated, selfish, corrupt sinners—one with him and the Father. Blasphemy! But Jesus does not just pray; He sacrifices himself as the only way for this to happen. He takes the death that we deserve. Dying a humiliating, torturous, and lonely death on a filthy-Roman cross. He took the pain and separation of the curse, so that we might be one as he and the Father are one.

This is the gospel. This is good news—that sinful humans get to be family with God. Is this madness? Yes. Is this true? Yes. Does this change everything? Yes. Yes it does. We get to be with God and reflect this communal love. We also get to tell this broken world around us this true story of hope! Our loving God not only invites us into his loving family but into his loving mission. Jesus’ prayer in John 17 is a scandalous prayer to unite us with him in both family and in mission! This is the role of the church.

The reality of the gospel is the backdrop and foundation that should shape our marriages, families, and the church. I am writing this article address the tension of missional living and the health of our marriages and families. I want to urge us to not to seek balance between family and mission, but to lead our families out of balance via loving God, loving our families, and loving others! The goal is not balance, or finding the line between leading our church and leading our families; the goal is that leaders, families, the church, and the lost would be one with God the Father and God the Son, just as they are one. This is our goal. The question is how do we achieve this goal? The short answer is through the cross and by the power of the Holy Spirit. But how does that work?

The Mystery of Marriage

In the beginning, God created man and woman to be image bearers of the Trinity. This is a mystery. Humanity images God. Genesis gives us insight on how we are to image God. It was not good to try and image God alone. Why? As we have already established, our God is not alone, but a God in relationship –God is community. So God creates man and woman to image God together. He creates marriage to be a way to begin, reveal, and reflect the mystery of the Trinity. Wow, no pressure! Let me state this again. Human relationships, and specifically marriage, are meant to reveal and reflect the glorious submission, harmony, and love of the Trinity. This is a mystery, however, most of us have had the privilege of seeing a beautiful marriage and were drawn to it. Unified, gospel-centered marriages should draw us to worship the Trinity! This is why I argue that our goal is not to balance marriage and mission, because displaying a healthy marriage, in and of it-self, is mission! A healthy marriage is a God-ordained, God-created, mysterious way to proclaim the mystery of the Trinity, and this proclamation is mission.

Understanding Genesis should be more than enough to overwhelm us with the importance of a God-exalting marriage, but God’s story does not end in Genesis. In Ephesians 5, we are told that a marriage between one man and one woman displays the mystery of Jesus Christ’s love for the church. The mystery of Jesus’ John 17 prayer is on display in marriage. The fact that God became a man and died on a cross for the sins of the world can be exemplified through a Christ-centered marriage. A marriage where a man loves, serves, and sacrifices for his wife, and the wife submits and respects her husband shows off some of the mystery of Jesus and his bride the church. Unbelievable! Once again we see that a Christ-centered marriage put on display is, in and of itself, mission. God uses marriage to preach the gospel to the world. Is it any wonder that Satan wants so badly to attack marriages? The battle for gay-marriage, increasing divorce rates, and sexual addictions all make sense as a plan of attack for our enemy. Let us not be ignorant of the devil’s schemes. He wants to attack and destroy marriages.

Finally, it is not just marriage but parenting and family life. Two of the three members of the trinity are revealed to us as Father and as Son. God is revealed to us as a family. We are adopted by God the Father into a family and the church is described with many metaphors in scripture but none are more prevalent than family. The world looks to the church to understand that God is a family and the church looks to the family to understand that church is a family. Family is important. Loving fathers reflect to the world that our God is a loving father. Parents loving their children in front of the lost are conducting an act of mission. A healthy, God-centered family is missional because the world only has negative views of a father, and so when they hear that God is a Father they are hearing bad news. Earthly fathers get to display that this is good news! This is a weighty call, but it is a privilege. How we love, protect, nurture, and lead our children has a mighty impact on our mission!

What Does This All Mean?

What this means is that mission is good for our family and our family is good for mission. As we obey the Spirit on mission it will strengthen our family, and as we strengthen our family it will strengthen mission. The two are not mutually exclusive, but mutually fuel each other.

What this means is that families are on the frontlines of mission where there is spiritual warfare whether we want to admit it or not. It is easy to react to this by isolating and protecting the family in an anti-mission bubble, but this is actually more harmful because it ignores the call and joy of radical mission. It can propel families to believe a lie from the enemy. The opposite end of the spectrum is to force our families into sacrifices they are not ready or willing to make. The key is listening to the Holy Spirit through God’s word and community and letting that lead you and your family into mission.

What this means is that the home is a hub for mission. Part of displaying the mysteries of the Trinity and the gospel, and the love of God the Father is allowing people to witness it in the daily life of our homes. I know the home will get messy and even ruined, but we must remember what it cost our God to allow broken and messy people into his home. The gospel motivates us. Again there is a tension here. The home is a hub for mission but it is also to be a sanctuary. Our God does give us rest and we must be attentive to not make sacrifices in order to please man but to make the sacrifices God is calling us to. Listening to our wives, children and community can help us know what and when to say “yes” or “no” to opening the home.

What this means is that our goal for our children is not to fuel their self-worth or self-esteem but to point them to the joy of knowing and following Christ. We make it our aim to please God. We make it our aim to partner with our bride and Christ’s bride—the church—to model for our children and the lost the joy of giving up everything to follow Jesus into a life of love and adventure.

Remember this is not a balancing act or a chore. We get to be united with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We get to join in God’s great rescue plan for the world. We get to do this with our family and we get to do this with his family the local church. Let us rejoice and be glad in this!

Getting Practical

Practically speaking we can see that there is a great weight with marriage and family life. We can see that we have a real enemy who is trying to attack the church, families, and marriages. Below are 11 practical things that I have learned from other men who are fighting to live a life of mission with their family. I pray that these serve as helpful and practical guides:

Model repentance: We are the chief sinners in our families and need to be leading in confessing and turning from sin. If we cease to confess sin we will lose their trust or become a false god. Our role is to lead in pointing to a true God and reveal our need of Jesus and his work on the cross.
Model dependence: We must model a dependence on Jesus and show that we are needy for Jesus—we need his forgiveness, his love, and his grace daily. We model a dependence on God’s word and prayer and prove that our desire to be a family on mission is from the Lord and not just our crazy idea. Living this life of mission with the local church goes a long way in building trust.
Preach the gospel: If we are not preaching, teaching, and pleading with our household to believe the gospel daily, than how can we do this outside of our household? Remember that our wife and kids need to hear the good news of the gospel on a daily basis.
Encourage and Protect: Encourage family to use and pursue their unique spiritual gifts and callings. Encourage and make sacrifices to allow wife to get time with the women who challenge and encourage her. Make sure family serves primarily in the role they would be serving even if you were not in leadership. Protect them from lies from the devil and wolves; protect them from what the world says they should pursue and instead point them to what God’s word says.
Pursue: Never stop pursuing your bride. Work to win her love daily and work to prove your love daily.
Pray: Pray with and for your wife daily. Ask her where she needs prayer and pray for her specific needs. We cannot make the mistake of praying for everyone in the church and not our wives. Do the same with your kids!
Family Day: Take a day off weekly to hang out with the family and not do counseling, sermon prep, vision planning, etc. but just party with the family. This gives us a much-needed Sabbath and reminds you and the family that Christ is head of the church and it will all go on without you for a day. Show you really believe this by turning your cell phone off and not checking e-mail on these days.
Date night: Date your bride weekly. Let your leaders, church, and friends know you are doing this and that date night is a priority. Give permission to your community to make sure you are doing date nights. This comforts her to know that everyone knows that date night with her is a priority and that men will be holding you accountable to making it a priority. Turn off cell phone on date night.
Foster her identity: Call your bride a bride. Never use negative nicknames like ball and chain, old’ lady, etc. She will live out of the identity you help foster for her. Ensure that it is an identity of her being the bride of Christ and your bride too!
Listening: We must develop ears to hear from God and from our family. Listen to your bride, as she is your God-given helper to help you know what to say yes to and what to say no to. Listen to her hesitations and passions. Listen to your children too. Is your family getting burnt out? Are they excited for mission? Are they scared? Do they miss their daddy? Does your bride feel loved or forgotten? Do they love the church and are they thankful their Daddy or husband leads in the church? Listen to God’s people, to your leaders, and your local church family. God has given us them to build us up, serve us, and to point out our blind spots. We must be dedicated listeners if we are to lead our family on mission.
Do mission together: Finally, fuel each other’s missional ideas. It is not just the family sacrificing to follow you on mission but sometimes you sacrifice to follow what the Spirit is putting on your bride’s heart or your kid’s heart. Rally behind their ideas and do so as a family. This will build tremendous unity and make every dangerous gospel idea an idea that involves the whole family and not just one member of the family. While you are at it, do this with your local church. Mutually encourage each other’s faith and rally around each other’s missional ideas and dreams!

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Jake Chambers (@JakeJayChambers) is a member of Jesus’ bride - the church. He is the husband to his beautiful bride Lindsey, and a daddy to his boy Ezra, Roseanna and baby Jaya is on the way. Jake is passionate about seeing the gospel both transform lives and create communities that love Jesus, the city, and the lost. He currently serves Red Door Church through leading, preaching, equipping, and pastoring.

Other articles by Jake: Your Language Matters and Do Friends and Ministry Mix?

Jonathan Dodson 6/3/13 Jonathan Dodson 6/3/13

Fire from the Gods: Why Control Doesn't Solve Worry

Prometheus is a hero to many. He was a gigantic Titan god who challenged Zeus. Prometheus’ crime? Stealing fire from the gods. He thought Zeus’ rule over humanity was oppressive. Until Prometheus’ history splitting action, mankind lived a mundane existence, knowing the day of their death, ignorant of the Arts and Sciences. Zeus kept mortals in the dark. Prometheus thought this was unfair, so he sought to bring men and women out into the light. How? By stealing “fire from the gods” and giving it to humanity. This treasonous act was met with unflinching punishment. With Prometheus subdued, several gods escort him through a mountain gorge, carrying his massive stature to a mountain, where they fasten him to a rock. Hephaestus, the Vulcan blacksmith, reluctantly bolts the Prometheus to the mountain face.

Fire from the Gods

What did Prometheus accomplish in this seditious act? He gave humanity three things: a sense of immortality, ambition, and technology. As the story goes, the fire empowered the ambition of man to master many arts and ignite technological change. You might say Prometheus’ bondage freed humanity. What has been the benefit? Well, we’ve come a long way since hunting and gathering by moving into the progress of the Industrial Age, and now live in a globalized knowledge-based economy. We push the boundaries of science and technology century after century. Using the fire of the gods, we’ve healed diseases, extended life, sought to eradicate poverty, end human suffering, and even clone life.

Many would assert the fire of the gods is the way into a higher quality of life. Just look at human progress. When I come home, I kiss my wife, hug and greet each of my kids, talk to them about their day, and then check my phone. I may or may not put it away in my office. I feel the pull to check Twitter and email. The wireless signal draws me in, undetected, like a siren call. It makes me feel good, even in control. But am I in control? Is life better? While technology isn’t the devil, we must also remember that we aren’t the gods. In the words of Eugene Peterson, “we have the technology of the gods without the wisdom of the gods.”[1] Not knowing the day of our death (and knowing the Arts & Sciences) has given us, in the words of Prometheus, “blind hope.” We stumble forward and backward, fumbling our hope to change the world. Despite technological advance and educational leaps, we still haven’t eradicated poverty, stabilized the economy, or eliminated war. Is it possible the fire has blinded us?

Illusions of Sovereignty

Blinded by ambition, unaware of our mortality, we proceed under the illusion of control, under the spell of human progress, unaware that we are human because we can act like gods. Using Google maps we can pinpoint any location on earth. Using wireless technology we can contact anyone on earth. Using our laptop we can work from anywhere on earth! Many would argue this creates a better quality of life, we can do more for the world and more for the family, but that isn’t always true. Very often, we are controlled more than we control. We have an illusion of sovereignty. Possessing technological strength, we assume a sense of sovereignty that transmits the lie that we can minimize anxiety, insecurity, even suffering. We believe the more we control, the less we will worry.

My illusion of control protrudes into my family. After ten minutes of genuine niceties with my kids, disputes and complaints inevitably break out (They are 7, 6, and 2!). Summoning my sovereignty, I try to wield godlike control over the chaos. Commanding obedience and issuing reprimands, I try to secure the peace…but it doesn’t work. More control doesn’t lead to less worry. Why? Because my sovereignty is an illusion. We are not in control of our environment, circumstances, or children’s hearts. The only thing we can control is ourselves, and we are in desperate need for help with that.

Why doesn’t control work? Control doesn’t work because someone else is in control. There is a true sovereign who is willing something greater than temporary silence and false peace at home. There is a sovereign who has appointed the chaos of raising kids. God is willing weaker parents, gentler parents, more patient parents, parents who ask more questions than orders given. He could intervene at any moment, but he wants us to trust. Where is he exposing your illusion of control?

Worry Creep

The deceptive thing about the illusion of control, is that it works sometimes. Sometimes my kids quiet down when I threaten them. Sometimes employees do exactly what you want. Sometimes technology fixes things. But sometimes it doesn’t. What happens then? When kids act out, employees blow it, and computers go down, anxiety takes us by storm. We don’t expect it. We scramble, problem-solve, and worry begins to creep in. Our spell, now broken, brings our dreams crashing down around us. Plans, deadlines, and goals are thwarted. Anxiety begins to raise its ugly head.

What does Jesus have to say when worry hits? “I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? (Matt 11:25). Jesus says, “Don’t be anxious.” That doesn’t relieve much for me. It actually makes me anxious about not being anxious. Jesus offers some relief when he tells us to compare ourselves to the birds, well fed, and to the flowers, well clothed. If God feeds and clothes them, will he not take care of us? He tells us to consider the lilies. The word “consider” means to ponder and learn. What’s the relief Jesus is offering here? He says, in the moment of anxiety, rely on your head not your emotions. Remember what God does. He cares for the lesser. Will he not care for the greater? After all flowers and birds were not fashioned in his image. Honestly, this doesn’t help me much either. Why? Because reason isn’t the root of the problem. Faith is: “But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?” (11:30).

How does faith help worry? How does faith secure peace? Sounds like a sham. Are we supposed to close our eyes, cross our fingers, and wish our worries away to God? That’s not faith. That’s wishful thinking. Jesus’ counsel isn’t a sham because we all have faith. Regardless of what we look to for help (technology, God, ambition, personality), we look to something. We are creatures of trust. You might trust a spouse, but then you get hurt or burned, so you trust yourself. You think to yourself: I can secure happiness by leaving this marriage. Even though you don’t trust others, you’re still trusting. You might trust a great business idea or career move, but what if we hit a recession again and the business goes under? The capital dries up? We all trust, every day. The question is: “Is what you’re trusting able to hold you up, no matter what?” Are you in control or is it in control? Jesus explains: “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

Seeking First the Kingdom

Jesus said don’t worry by having faith, but now he tells us how: “seek first the kingdom of God.” Three critical elements have to come together to get us away from worry: seek, first, kingdom.

Desiring the Kingdom

Seek first the kingdom. Pursue. The word can actually be translated desire—desire the kingdom. Yearn the kingdom. Crave the kingdom. This is an emotive command, a strong, persistent way out of worry. Do you crave the kingdom? Do you pulse with desire for the things of God? If you don’t, you’ll be dominated by worry.

How do you know if you desire the kingdom of God? Anxiety will go down and prayer will go up. I’ve desired my kingdom at home, trying to enforce peace instead of entreat peace. Worry goes up, prayer goes down. So how do we desire the kingdom? First we have to know what it is. The kingdom of God is the reign of Christ over all things, in his way, and in his time. So to desire the kingdom is to long for Christ’s way over everything, especially the thing we worry about. The way out of worry is the way into the kingdom.

Desiring the kingdom is desiring God’s will more than our will. George Mueller said: “The will of God is to have no will of your own.” That will rub an American wrong. No will of my own? That’s mindless faith! Close your eyes and will it away? Do you really expect me to be indifferent about screaming kids, crashing economies, and vocational changes? No, remember, consider the lilies. Reason it out. Does God create? Does God provide? Does God care? If so, he’s the one that’s really in control, not you or them. He made it all—your kids, your spouses, your world. Trust who’s in charge. When something goes wrong with your Macbook, do you call Microsoft? No, you call the one who made it. You trust the one who has the power to fix it, who can control your technology. You trust the one in charge. Desiring the kingdom means calling upon the King. It means trusting his way and his timing, especially when things seem broken. The way out of worry is desiring the way into the kingdom.

Making the Kingdom First

Seek first the kingdom of God. By first Jesus means first, supreme, uppermost, on top of all things. If the kingdom of God is the reign of Christ over all things, in his way and in his time, then we would be foolish to not make it first. This is the kingdom of God, who dwells in unapproachable light, Lover-Beloved-Love, Restorer of shalom, the very Wind and Word of God, the Holy, holy, holy. His kingdom is first, not our kingdom. For the Christian, the kingdom of God is ultimate, supreme, of chief importance. We must long for it, for him, more than any other thing—more than family, security, technology, and even democracy. It must to be first because it is first.

The British preacher Martin Lloyd Jones remarked: “If [the kingdom] isn’t the first thing in your life, then you haven’t got it. Rather, it should have you.” How do you know the kingdom has you? You desire it. You pray for it: “Your kingdom come your will be done.” No caveats. The more we pray for it the more we will desire it. Pray it: “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you.” I’ve been praying this prayer regarding my attitude towards my kids. It’s changing me, which is changing them. Their mother was gone all weekend. But instead of trying to get an iron grip on the weekend, I asked God for his kingdom to grip me. I asked that I would desire his control first, especially in the disputes, trusting his agenda to change me. I asked that I wouldn’t be seduced by the lie that: “The more I control, the less I will worry.” It’s actually quite the opposite. The less I try to control, and the more I trust his control, the less I worry. My control is an illusion and grabs at fleeting peace. His control is true, and leads me into true peace.

We’ve forgotten that Prometheus Bound is a tragedy, not a triumph. Bolted to the rock by the Vulcan, Prometheus was scorched by the sun and frozen by the moon. By day an eagle pecked out his innards. By night they grew back. Riddled with anxiety, his suffering repeated itself day after day. The Greeks want us to see that it is folly to trust in ambition and put faith our control. Instead, we need to desire first the kingdom of God, the kingdom where the king is bolted to the tree for our transgressions, for our worries, and liberated for our triumph and our peace. Seek first the kingdom of God and worry will be a far second.

[1] This reflection on Prometheus is inspired by Eugene Peterson, Working the Angles: The Shape of Pastoral Integrity (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987), 28-31.

Jonathan K. Dodson (MDiv; ThM) serves as a pastor of City Life Church in Austin, Texas. He is the author of Gospel-Centered Discipleship andUnbelievable Gospel. He has discipled men and women abroad and at home for almost two decades, taking great delight in communicating the gospel and seeing Christ formed in others.

Related articles by Jonathan: Questioning the Gospel and How to Avoid Brain Meltdown and Increase Theological Vision

Brad Watson 5/31/13 Brad Watson 5/31/13

You Only Live Once?

A common phrase used among people my age is: YOLO or You Only Live Once. This is a term that encourages people to live life to the fullest and without limitations. It’s particularly popular among teens and young adults. YOLO captures the thinking and philosophy of the American young person. It focuses on oneself and offers an answer to Aristotle's ancient question: How ought a man live his life?

What is life all about?

Is this life all there is or is there more? I think it’s important for us to look at how the gospel defines life compared to how the world would define it. The world says: there is no certainty of afterlife. However, there is the certainty we are all going to die, and so we’d better enjoy life while we still can. This worldview sees life as merely natural. There is little or no spirituality involved and almost certainly nothing about eternity. The believer looks at life and its end differently. James, in his epistle, says: “What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” (James 4:14). James reminds us of just how small and insignificant we are. That our lives are an eye blink in the depths of eternity. Whereas the world sees the time we have here on earth as the highlight of our existence and should be focused on our own happiness. This worldview goes beyond pleasure seeking. W e have the right to make our choices and we have the right to fullfil ourselves. What we chose is best. Our culture is on a search for ultimate satisfaction. And this ongoing pursuit of pleasures is proof that we still haven't found what we are looking for. Augustine said it best: “Our hearts are restless until they rest in [God].” To the believer, life isn’t only something to be enjoyed here on the earth but is eternal. Jesus said it himself: "He came to give us life that we may have it abundantly" (John 10:10). Life is a gift for today and forever.

A Whole New Way of Living This Life

Jesus provides a completely different life here on earth than our culture expects. Jesus calls us to live completely selfless lives, lives that are committed to living a life of love. The two great commandments are loving God and loving people:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. - Matthew 22:37-39.

Jesus goes on to teach that living out these commandments is the ultimate fulfillment in life. By obeying these two commands we will be completely satisfied. It won’t always be easy, but it’s the ultimate way to enjoy this life. Jesus also gives us a hope for eternal life. "I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die.” (John 11:25). Jesus is clearly stating that there is life after death, and by belief in him we will be resurrected from the dead. In the Christian worldview, we are called to enjoy this life through the loving of the Lord our God and his people. While this life is good, it's not the ultimate and it never can be. We are promised something much greater, and that’s eternal life with our savior.

The Search For Meaning

We live in a culture where anyone who possesses a phone has access to more information at their fingertips than anyone else in previous generations combined. The information we come across in one day is more than someone in the 5^th century would ever see in their lifetime. We also have networking like Facebook where 'friends' can be everyone we meet. There is no excuse to not stay connected with co-workers, 4^th grade park district community soccer teammates, your mailman, or that girl you talked to that one time at the movie theater. With thousands of movie channels from sports, to sitcoms, to reality television and home improvement we have an inconceivable medley of forms of entertainment at the quarter inch movement of the thumb. We are no longer limited like we were in the days of our parents. The world is at our fingertips. The world is our oyster, we have access to anything we want within minutes. In a simple Wikipedia article we can learn how to fly planes, what a black hole is and what a celebrity’s second favorite food is. All of this feeds the notion that we deserve pleasure and we are in control of it. There is a world to be enjoyed. Live it up. You only live once. We have more entertainment than ever, and yet we are bored out of our minds. We flip through channels and watch nothing.

This is the passion that drives our culture. We are no longer limited, therefore every human ought to find their passions and their dreams and fulfill them! Surely this will satisfy us found the answer, we’ve found meaning. The fact is, many of my friends walk around empty, depressed, with no hope and bored. Depression rates are going up, relationships are becoming weaker in families and marriages. This, “live for me, get a taste of everything and only live for pleasure” is not working. If YOLO shows us one thing it’s that hedonism and self-indulgence do not satisfy the human heart, we are more complicated than that, we are deeper than that. There is something about the human heart that yearns for eternity, meaning, and truth. Everything else leaves us bored.

I recently read through the wonderful book of Ecclesiastes. I was deeply moved by this book not only because of what is said but particularly in who says it. The author of Ecclesiastes is King Solomon, the son of King David. Solomon does a complete one eighty with Israel from being this weak group of people to this grand nation for the Lord. Solomon was at the high point of Israel, he was the king of the greatest most prosperous nation of that time! Solomon was rich in wisdom, the wisest person on the planet. People traveled from all over the world to hear his words. He also had over 700 wives and 300 concubines. With his wives, he engaged in parties and rituals and festivals. This man was the epitome of YOLO. Surely this guy knows how to enjoy life and surely he is satisfied? In the second verse of Ecclesiastes he says: “Meaningless! Meaningless?’ says the Teacher. ‘Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless”. Here’s a man who has lived the YOLO life and in the end he basically says, “what a joke”. As Solomon says we “strive after the wind,” just caught up in our pleasures, constantly craving gratification, but none of it lasts. This gratification is temporary so we seek so many other sources for fulfillment, and when we find nothing that there’s nothing there we cry out “meaninglessness!” G.K Chesterton said: “Meaninglessness comes not from being weary of pain, but from being weary of pleasure.” One of the great losses a person feels comes when they have exhausted all life has to offer and are as hollow as they were in the beginning. This is a heartbreaking view our culture holds, but it makes this world ripe to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Meaningful Relationship

Dear friends the meaning of life is not a task, not an idea, not a trophy, it’s a person. Again, the gospel makes way for a relationship with a real person, Jesus Christ (John 17:3). It's this incredible relationship with the God who wont stop loving you to the extent that he has done whatever it takes to buy you back. He died on a cross to make you his again and recreates you into the perfect image you were meant to bear. Victor Hugo once said, “the greatest yearning in our hearts is to be convinced we are loved.” You need only to take a glance at the cross, and immediately you know that nobody has loved you like that. He invites you to know him, to grow in strength, wisdom, and love and to walk alongside him in the grand mission of redeeming the world. God has bigger plans for you than you ever imagined. In Christ we are given a life with profound purpose, inexhaustible joy, unfailing love, and a never-ending relationship with a perfect God. We were made for nothing less. The disciple of Jesus Christ does not waist his time, he knows what will stand forever and what is the stuff of future garage sales, dumpsters, and attic space. If you’re going to only live once, it might as well be forever.

Nick Dano is a chaplain candidate in the United States Army Reserve. He is currently resides in Dallas, Texas and attends Dallas Theological Seminary where he is pursuing his ThM with an emphasis in pastoral ministries.

Ben Riggs 5/24/13 Ben Riggs 5/24/13

3 Ways to Respond to Opposing Views

How do you deal with doubts? When you are hit with a barrage of rational, popular, and culturally acceptable challenges of your faith, what do you do? Do you respond or do you react? How does the truth of the gospel impact the manor in which we answer questions of doubt? How does the gospel change the way we act towards those who challenge and disagree with us? We can either co-opt the gospel, react with prideful arrogance, or respond with the gospel. In college, my discipleship was mostly a 'Christian' reaction to modernism. I was well equipped with an ensemble of proofs, philosophical argumentation, historically verified facts to react to critiques of Christianity. I was well educated in the craft of Christian arguing. I witnessed it in class, and perfected it in my studies. You could say, I sought a altered version of Nehemiah, I had a brick in one hand and a copy of Aquinas in the other. With all the studies and arguments I tried to fend off all objections to my faith. "If I can defend my faith, I won't doubt it," I thought.

Overtime, the pursuit to 'cleanse' myself of modernistic doubts soon brought about stronger and deeper doubts. Similar to the use of antibacterial: you take care of a few germs, but ironically, stronger ones emerge. I shifted gears and tried something new. Instead of fighting against modernism, I found myself with a greater problem: meddling with the gospel. So high strung to make the gospel “work” for those whose claims I was hearing, I began to co-opt the gospel. If I got them to accept Jesus, there was a large chance Jesus was more like David Hume, than the incarnate resurrected Word of God.

Co-opting the Gospel

Instead of allowing the gospel to stand on its power to save, we mold it to fit the thinking of the day. Such was the case with the first Christian apologetics towards the Enlightenment. Christianity's central doctrines of the atonement and resurrection were deemed untenable, a consequence of the elevation of 'human reason' as the infallible standard. The apologist's opposition was performed by appealing to “human reason,” as set out by the thinkers of that time. Leslie Newbigin has pointed out how this was problematic. In reacting to an opposing worldview they domesticated the gospel.

...it is plain that we do not defend the Christian message by domesticating it within the reigning plausibility structure. That was surely the grand mistake of the eighteenth-century defenses of the reasonableness of Christianity. Leslie Newbigin

They sought to show the 'reasonableness' of the Christian gospel in the opposing arena. No one paid attention to the foundation though. Changing the gospel is not the answer to doubts and objections.

Reacting to an Ideology

What if we were to become attack dogs, quickly pouncing on any opposing view or thinking to Christianity? The focus discipleship cannot be offensive destruction of world-views. Disciples are not meant to be wrecking balls for Jesus. When we're solely reacting to rebellious persuasions, we lose sight of the joy, grace, and dependence we have in the gospel. We rely on our own brains, studies, and rational arguments to beat the other side. We don't believe the gospel can stand on its own. We don't believe the gospel we are defending. As Luther once quipped, “Human reason is like a drunken man on horseback; set it up on one side, and it tumbles over on the other.” Our reactions can often fail to have checks and balances in place to ward off the vulnerabilities of human pride and self-righteousness. We can quickly come under a false narrative of, “The righteous shall live by answers...” This leads to two common lies:

1. Questions and Doubt Are Sinful

There are two ways to ask a question: cynicism and doubt. Cynicism says, “I don't know and I don't care.” Doubt says, “I don't know, but I'd like to.” Wish the first one luck and grab coffee with the second (Prov 18:2). Cynicism is sin because pride is sin. Doubt isn't sin. Whether it's theism or the death of a saint, questions inevitably arise. Normally, it's when we bump up against our finite limitations. Questions are a fundamental aspect of our creatureliness. Our questions distinguish us from God. In Mark 9, we see Jesus interacting with a father who has more than bumped up against his finiteness. After Jesus makes the case that belief is necessary, the father responds, “I believe; help my unbelief.” (v24) Jesus doesn't recommend a doubt “detox.” Jesus gives grace to doubts and questions. Questions are not the enemy.

2. Discipleship is getting answers and having arguments.

When questions are sin, answers become righteousness. While I'm not advocating intellectual immaturity (1 Cor 14:20), we can be like Peter and relegate God's Kingdom for another. When that kingdom is attacked, we'll draw our human weapons and strike off ears. If the Kingdom is won by intellectual beat-downs, have at all the arguments you can get your hands on. The Kingdom isn't won that way. We come equipped with the sword of the Spirit and pierce hearts. The Kingdom isn't a matter of talk, but of power (1 Cor 4:20). A farmer doesn't see fruit spring up by continually striking the ground constantly. It's part of a greater process of planting and growing. We plant and water with our confidence in God who gives growth (1 Cor 3:7). It is his gospel that bears fruit (Col 1:6). See, at the root of our co-opting and reactionary attempts to win arguments, we are placing our own minds at the center. We think we are God and we want to be God.

Responding to the Gospel

The gospel is the word of truth (Col 1:5). Not just for the 1^st century or just the 21^th. It is the trans-generational, transnational and trans-cultural truth of God for all the world all the time. We don't react to the gospel, but receive it and respond to it. As our whole lives become oriented around the gospel, they progressively become a response to God (Rom 12:1-2). This being the case, it will inevitably confront the unrighteousness in any ideological flavor of the week. We will see problems in the unbelieving mind as it continues to detour around who God is and what he has done. However, Paul told the Colossians, “Therefore, just as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” (Col 2:6-7). After Paul reminds them what the Christian life is, he warns them to not submit to life and practice that isn't “according to Christ”(v8). As we respond to the gospel, we will have the courage to confront and correct, not from being a intellectual jock, but a humble servant. The gospel changes our posture towards objecting views in four significant ways as we recognize it isn't our work, but God's.

And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome, but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth. - 2 Tim 2:24-25

1. It Makes Us Humble and Hopeful

When it's all up to you and your mind, you lust for the triumphs. People aren't stupid though. If you are in it simply to win it, they'll sniff that out a mile away. If your hope comes from winning arguments, you'll leave real people in your wake as rubble. As soon as you come up against someone who can spit game better and win, you'll be absolutely devastated. However, we can be hopeful even in conversations that come to a stalemate, because God gives the growth. I've learned from Douglas Wilson, “Win men, not arguments.” We can go into discussions humbled under the weight of knowing it is God who is mighty to save, not us. This gives us a humble and hopeful posture for our conversations with others.

2. It Makes us Patient and Kind

When it's all up to you, walking on eggshells is normative. You will be fear tripping over your words and lose sleep over proper sentence structure. Every poke and prod at your argument will feel like an attack against you. However, the gospel is God's power, not your eloquence (1 Cor 1:17). We can breathe deep, walk humbly and carry a big cup of coffee. The converting power they need is God's power. With this in view, kindness will be genuine since we aren't trying to spin the plates of arguing while standing on the wobbly stilts of self-righteousness. Kindness doesn't not mean being a door mat, but it does mean we are as welcoming as one. Enduring evil is a unique hallmark of the Christian. There will be times when you may need to simply endure. The gospel frees us to be patient with the banter, endure the ad hominem, and persevere with the strength of Christ who endured evil on our behalf. Do not repay evil for evil. Because God is at work and not us, we can be patient and kind.

3. We Can Correct While Being Gentle

When it's all up to you, you don't just correct wrong thinking, you win arguments. You say things like, "Whatever the cost, win the argument." Paul reminds us the truth ought to be vindicated against falsity. There is no reason to think the gospel makes you check your brain at the door. We can and should correct where correction is required. Jesus didn't leave bad thinking alone, but he also didn't go around breaking bruised reeds. Because the gospel is true and good news for everyone, we must speak it and defend it, but we will do it out of love.

4. We Will Trust in God

We know it's not all up to us and that God is gracious and sovereign. God would have been just in leaving us in our unrighteousness. Things could be way way worse than modernism and post-modernism. God upholds things by the word of his power. Paul exhorts Timothy to trust in God who is sovereign. He is the giver of repentance. It is his good pleasure to give. This means we pray. Pray like the father would have prayed for his prodigal; so they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the enemy. We don't rely on our mental metal but on God and his grace.

For more on this, Tim Keller on "How the Gospel Shapes our Apologetics”

Ben Riggs resides in Dayton, Ohio with his incredible and lovely bride Emily. He is Gathering Assistant at Apex Community Church and a house church leader in that area. He is the proprietor of pageflipping.blogspot.com. Ben has a passion to see the power and depths of the God’s gospel be drawn out for all aspects of life for God and others in God’s world.

Continue reading on doubt: Questioning the Gospel by Jonathan Dodson and Gospel Filibustering by Ben Riggs.

My name is Josh…and I’m addicted to food.

Is This It?

Our Bodies and the Gospel

1. Cultivate a Skepticism Towards Your Use of Social Media and Entertainment

2. Combat Boredom by Embracing the Ordinary and Mundane

3. Remain Aware of What Your Worship is Doing

Conclusion

Is Peer Discipleship Enough?

What About the Church?

Is Missional Just Evangelism?

Christian stereotypes prevent real, lasting, effective Christian community.

Who We Really Are

Why doesn’t this happen?

How Does God See You?

The Fruit of Disbelief

Character is Different Than We Think.

Who You Are And How You Live

What sort of "lessons" will be learned on the Character Journey?

Friendship with the Holy Spirit

Submission to the Spirit

Dependent upon the Resources of the Spirit

Reality Check – Am I Relying on the Spirit?

1. Our Hunger for Community by Brad Watson

2. The Tension of Marriage and Mission by Jake Chambers

3. Fire From the Gods: Why Control Doesn't Solve Worry by Jonathan Dodson

4. Good News for Single Men by Abe Meysenburg

5. Six Lessons from Everyday Discipleship by Josh McPherson

1. LEARN TO FACILITATE A SINGLE CONVERSATION

2. MISSION IS MESSY, SO DON'T AVOID IT, MOVE INTO IT

3. LEARN TO TRUST THE HOLY SPIRIT

4. LEARN TO PERSEVERE

5. LEARN TO MAKE A PLAN, BE FLEXIBLE, EMBRACE THE UNEXPECTED

6. LEARN TO PLAY THE LONG GAME

LAST WORD

The Grace of My Location

The Global Realities

Beginning at the End

It's Too Light A Thing

From The Land of the Rising Sun

The Implications of A Globally Exalted God

One Hundred and One Fun Things to do with Doubt

Doubts and the Doubting Doubters who Doubt Them

The Division of the Individual

Identity Restored

Idealized Community

6 Misunderstandings about Community

1. Community Is Not “Everyone is my best friend”

2. Community is Not A spiritual/morality club

3. Community is Not A Book Club

4. Community is Not A meeting or Event.

5. Community is Not Easy

6. Community is not “Everyone gets along”

Gospel-Centered Community

7 Components of Gospel-Centered Community

1. Generous Hospitality.

2. A people where influence is earned by serving.

3. Accountable and Repentant

4. Led by qualified leaders.

5. On Mission

6. Active in Culture

7. Diverse

Story of Community

Love for the Church

Before You Pray

Keys to Personal Prayer

1. Pray In Jesus Name.

2. Pray According to God’s Will.

3. Scriptural Prayer.

4. Keep Commandments.

5. Believe.

6. Pray in the Spirit.

7. Be Persistent.

8. Humble Yourself.

Closing Prayer

Would you define Glimpses of Grace as a "how to be a better mom" book? If not, why not?

What were the circumstances and the heart issues that drove you to write this book?

Why should pastors encourage the women in their church to read your book?

1. Jesus wants to “secure your undivided devotion”

2. Start with the right question

3. Having a wife doesn't make you a man. Jesus makes you a man.