A Better Unity

Wouldn’t it be great if we could all just get along?

I got caught up in two celebrations on Sunday. The first one was at my church where the congregation finally got to hear a report from a church-growth consultant team which has been study our situation, both inside and outside the church for several months.

The good news: we are in the right place at the right time with a very talented congregation to be able to take advantage of the opportunity to grow the Body of Christ in Richmond for the next 10-15 years. But in order to do this and move forward from where we find ourselves at the beginning of 2010, there are some barriers to overcome. The one most obvious and the one the team focused on the most is the present size of the new facilities that we moved into in 2005. They presented a workable plan to the congregation and now it is up to us to see if we can in fact come together and dedicate ourselves to the task.

But this challenge also throws into the spotlight the number one requirement ( in my humble opinion) to be able to do this successfully as a fellowship of Christians bent on following the Head of the Church-the Commander-in-chief. Churches don’t operate the same as corporations- we don’t have ceo’s. If we do, we deny the essence of who we are as God’s new creation- God’s new humanity. No, we have a CIC, and the only hope of success is to follow His strategy by faith and by His Spirit.

Thankfully, I am a part of a congregation which says they understand that: our mission statement is centered in “Alive in the Power of God!” That is before us every Sunday as we gather to worship- on the front cover of our worship bulletin. So the challenge to grow (and I believe our people have embraced that it is God’s desire for His Church to grow) begins with growing deeper spiritually. In this way, I believe we will know if we are “up to the challenge”. Thank you Doug and Dan of the Lifeway Consultant team for your excellent work.

Alive in the Unity of The Spirit

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alive  in the Light- a message from the CIC in I John 1.

 

 

5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

See Also the Apostle’s statement in the Gospel of John regarding this key element of LIGHT: John 3:16-21

 

 

The Festival of the Old Man

Getting a week’s jump on Mardi Gras.

If I’m not mistaken, this is the best time of the year to bring up the whole problem the Christian faces in living in the world (old creation) while possessing eternal life in Christ which is the life of the new creation: The conflict between living in the spirit and living in the flesh and the never ending battle in this present evil age.

Saint Paul constantly wrote about this conflict of the Christian in all of his epistles and he referred to this old Adamic nature (life-style) in various ways. From just two chapters in the Roman letter come these terms: Old man,Old self, Body of sin, Slaves of sin, wretched man, and Body of death.

The spotlight on the Superbowl this year has become a spotlight on this central theme of the Christian life. First and foremost because of the convergence of two major factors: the New Orleans Saints are playing there for the first time in their franchise history, and the fact that they are doing so only one week before the Mardi Gras week-end. So its only natural (to the men of flesh) for the Saints to taste victory and think about stepping up the celebration by one week. I find all kind of ironies in this whole scene-not the least of which is the franchise name, “The Saints”.

Let me suggest that this is indeed the perfect time for American Christians to rediscover their basic identity in Christ in the light of the American culture. All of this has a great deal to do with the theme of unity which is advocated on this blog. It has a great deal to do with what has been called “the Great Christian Tradition” and it has a lot to do with the controversy raised this year about  those certain Superbowl ads. The latest issue of Touchstone Magazine  suggests just how serious these things are in America and have taken a stand on what they perceive are the critical issues they have with their STATE.

Has the State gone too far?

“On November 20, 2009, Orthodox, Catholic, and Evangelical leaders released the Manhattan Declaration at a press conference in Washington, D.C. Among the 148 original signatories are fourteen Roman Catholic bishops, two Eastern Orthodox bishops, and Evangelical leaders from various ministries, churches, seminaries, and colleges, many quite well known, including J. I. Packer, Charles Colson, and James Dobson. The coalition of signatories is the strongest expression yet seen in this country of the new ecumenism of Christians dedicated to the Great Tradition.”

(Touchstone Magazine- “The Audacity of the State“.

I do not agree with all said in this issue-in fact I would want to contend that “the strongest expression…of the new ecumenism of Christians dedicated to the Great Tradition” is not in fact these issues involving the so called culture-wars, but rather what myself and others are calling the Missional-ecumenism. But the two agendas are in fact related and the Christians in America cannot get on with their God-given mission in the world without dealing with the question of unity and life in the Spirit, not in the flesh.

Read the Manhattan Declaration

Related post: A Script to Live by

 

The Sins of The Father

One of the ads set to be shown during the SuperBowl next Sunday involves the testimony of Tim Tebow and his mother concerning her courageous choice to give birth inspite of her Doctor’s warning of possible serious consequences. The sponsor of the ad, Focus on the Family, has been under attack from certain sections including NOW.

Here is a another story that I really believe has a tremendous message. It is also about a football player, a former player in the NFL. It is about a mother whose baby was taken from her shortly before she died after she had been shot four times. It’s about the man who killed her who has become a muslim in prison and now talks of “judgment”. It’s about a courageous grandmother and about forgiveness and about much much more.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4874549

Oh yes, about that SuperBowl ad. Check out this video from the Washington Post about another pro-life ad from players of the New York Giants winner of the SuperBowl in 1989.

 

America’s Economy: How much has changed in eighty years?

Confessions of A Liberal Christian Churchman.

I really didn’t have to listen to our President’s State of The Union address to get that it was about the “ECONOMY”. So what’s new in 80 years of progress- from 1930 to 2010?

In trying to live up to the “prophetic” part of the E4Unity blog, I went in search of a prophetic voice from the 20th century and found this tasty morsel from Paul S.Minear. As I started reading this essay which was written in 1980, I was blown away by what he said about his experience and convictions about the hard times of the 1930’s.

Paul S. Minear 1980

“In 1930 I was at Yale, beginning my graduate study of the Bible. The Great Depression was in its early stages; it would be ended only by World War II with its employment of millions of the unemployed, and with its armaments’ explosion and the subsequent development of the military- industrial-technological empire.

 But in 1930, millions were unemployed and hungry. There was immeasurable destitution, disillusionment, despair. The American dream had turned overnight into the American nightmare. Political anarchy and economic civil war were daily possibilities. There were explosive demands for economic justice; each of these demands touched off reactionary forces that were in a position to use the powers of government to fend off any substantive change in the social structure.

In New Haven, I was in constant contact with workers’ families whose only protection from extinction was to stand in endless breadlines or to work the streets peddling apples or pencils. I was kept from sharing their plight by the fact that I was a student, and my wife was in the employ of the university.

 The Depression signalled a cold war between economic royalists and radicals, both seeking to use the powers of government to fulfill self-interests. No one can tell how near the country came to revolution, but it was near enough to create an anti-Communist hysteria from which the nation has never since been free. To a great degree the cold war between America and Russia has been one of a pair of identical twins: the other twin being the internal cold war within America, between left and right.

What role in this struggle was played by Christian congregations? Two answers can be given. (1) The life of congregations appeared to be totally irrelevant to the solution of the critical issues. Nothing they did, or could do, had the slightest effect. (2) When congregations did take up positions, they lined up solidly on the side of economic and political reaction. Right-wing forces could count on their fears of radical change. The acronym WASP was an accurate symbol of actual collusion between religious and political establishments. Or so it seemed to me. This collusion was nowhere more obvious than in those sections of the country where Protestantism was, in effect, the state religion.

And the Bible? In many ways, the Bible appeared to be wholly irrelevant to finding ways of dealing with the successive crises. But where it did become relevant, it was in support of the collusion between religious and political establishments. The more reactionary the congregation, the more it gave recognition to the authority of the Bible. Loyalty to the Bible contributed directly to loyalty to Mammon, to Mars, to Caesar. “Bible-Belt” became a term referring to a region simultaneously super- patriotic, economically reactionary, militaristic, anti-union, and racially exclusive. All these were solidly identified with Christianity, and this Christianity was solidly identified with the Bible.

In 1930, I was convinced that before Christian congregations could be emancipated from such idolatries, their dependence on the Bible must be dynamited. I held the authority of the Bible at least partly responsible for the stance of the churches; therefore that authority must be undermined.”

　

 

 

 

Excerpt from “The Bible’s Authority in The Churches”.

Full text available as pdf download

 

 

Daily Bread for 2010

Living by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Well we’re already deep into the new calendar year and already face to face with human suffering and the mysteries of life on planet earth. For this blogger that means an opportunity to exchange personal viewpoints about how faith thinks and acts in daily life.

As far as my own faith in the Biblical witness that God Himself has given, that means keeping the Gospel of Christ as the fountainhead of every single day. I found the following post on another blog so powerful that I want to defer to it with little comment. I am focusing on what it says to the misconception that the Gospel is only about the begining-the ABC’s of salvation. Nothing could be farther from the reality. See if you agree.

Maturity doesn’t mean moving beyond the gospel, but more deeply into it.“There are two challenges for preachers, those of us called to announce this good news. First is to help people understand theologically that the gospel doesn’t just ignite the Christian life but it’s also the fuel that keeps Christians going and growing every day. The second challenge, which is much harder for me than the first, is to help people understand how this works functionally.

I address the second challenge by regularly asking myself this question: Since Jesus secured my pardon and absorbed the Father’s wrath on my behalf so that “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” how does that impact my longing for approval, my tendency to be controlling, and my fear of the unknown?

In other words, how does the finished work of Christ satisfy my deepest daily needs so that I can experience the liberating power of the gospel every day and in every way?

If you’re a preacher, then God has called you to help others make the connection between Christ’s finished work and their daily life. To do this, we must unveil and unpack the truth of the gospel from every biblical text we preach in such a way that it exposes both the idols of our culture and the idols of our hearts.”

(from “The Everyday Gospel”- Tullian Tchividian)

Read more

 

An Atheist for Jesus!

Richard Dawkins and his battle for Truth.

We have all heard about Richard and also about those who offended by his writings. But perhaps we have never heard directly from the man himself. Where was he born and raised? What is he actually trying to accomplish? Here’s a brief interview that I found very enlightening to begin the new year- in his own words. Note the source of this interview, that also is very interesting.

 

My New Years Eve Prayer!

What a way to welcome in the new year.

By far the most memorable new year’s eve celebration my wife and I ever participated in was in the 80’s in the interior of the State of Sao Paulo, Brasil. There is simply no better way to experience the first moments of the new year than to be on your knees in the presence of God and His people.

So here is my New Year’s eve prayer -for myself and all those I love in this world, and for all of you that stop by to read the e4Unity blog: sung by a congregation in Wales. May the Redeemer Himself guide your every step throughout 2010.

The Book of Revelation, chapter 21

” And He who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 

 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.  But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

 

A Christmas card from Bagdad

…And Christians in the middle east.

This Christmas we in the West are focused on the East as never before. Our son David is deployed along with hundreds of thousands of Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan. But have we neglected to keep our fellow Christians in those lands in our hearts and in our prayers. For a reminder in Arabic to pray for the world-wide Body of Christ and with great humility, I present this Christmas card on Christmas Day 2009.

Dedicated to the faithful in Christ in Iran.

 

Recognizing the Christmas Myth

I was thinking of all the ways I could send a Christmas message to all e4unity blog friends and not finding anything that seemed to be just the right one for this year. Then my always resourceful wife suggested I look at the web-site of one of our favorite musicians (he happens to be the best selling Catholic recording artist)- John Michael Talbot.

I think it is time for we Christians to become less defensive and sensitive about so much that is said in the public square and learn to communicate using the world’s categories and thought structures. Here is one of the greatest examples- willingness to admit that the great Biblical narrative fits into the literary genre of “MYTH”. John Michael’s essay perfectly addresses so many issues I have wished I could blog about myself, I’ll give you a sample and hope you will really want to read more.

Merry Christmas to all

“Some of us think that a “myth” is a story that is untrue, or a mere fantasy. But that is not really correct. A myth is a usually story that tells and symbolizes a deep and profound truth. But it often is, and can be rooted in a true story. That is what Christians believe about Jesus. Jesus IS the sacred Story of stories, the Word of words. For us He is the Myth of myths, and the Truth of truths.

What is so special about the Jesus myth? We believe that in Jesus divinity assumed humanity so that we might share in divinity again. We also believe that death is conquered through His dying, and confirmed in His rising. In Jesus God is found in humanity, the Word in silence, glory in humility. These are paradoxes beyond mere human logic that speak a deeper truth that every human heart longs for. The fullness of the human yearning is complemented and completed in Him in a way that is most perfect. Jesus is the fullness of the Mystery of mysteries and the Paradox of all the paradoxes spoken of in the mystical traditions of all the great religions of the world. He is practical human balance and divine mystery all in one life, in one divine action. He is the Perfect Word in a way beyond words. This is the Mystery of Jesus.”

Read MORE

What we hear in the west at this time of year in the most public of places, is some of the greatest music the Christian tradition has produced and loved to present at Christmas. It just may be outside the Scriptures themselves, the most public confession of Christianity- of what is at the very core, for all to hear and see regardless if they consider themselves to be Christians or not. If anyone asks what Christianity is or what it means, the classic carols of Christmas present music filled with the Christian gospel. Perhaps the standard of all time is Handel’s Messiah which is built on the libretto provided Handel by Charles Jennings and is all Holy Scripture. The only interpretation is in the selection of the Scriptures and the order they are placed in to tell the Christian myth as well as it has ever been told outside the Bible itself. Oh, there is also a great deal of interpretation going on by Handel himself in the character of the music which he assigns to each Scripture.

 

University of Kentucky Wildcats win 2000th

Men’s Basketball back on top at UK.

Thanks for a great Christmas present, Big Blue!