My Journey in the Ways of Jesus . . .

10 Focus Points for Harpeth Community Church in 2012

2012-01-03T21:22:00.000-08:00

1. Focus upon trusting and following Jesus.

2. Continued focus on "Relational Discipleship."

3. Deepening focus upon "Love."

4. Enhanced focus on reaching our "lost and hurting world" locally (in Williamson County).

5. Focus upon John's writings in the Bible.

6. Focus on "Every One of us in our Bibles and Prayer."

7. Focus on "Team Leadership."

8. Focus on "Developing More Leaders."

9. Focus on the "Relational Discipleship Network Ministry in North America.

10. Focus on "Supporting our Missionaries: The Robinsons and Siscos."

Apple's Steve Jobs

2011-09-30T12:36:00.000-07:00

Steve Jobs's Best Quotes ... After Steve Jobs resigned as Apple's CEO, The Wall Street Journal ran an article with some of Jobs's most quotable quotes over the past thirty years. Here are a few examples about leadership, communication, and creativity:

On simplicity: "Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean and make it simple."

On quality: "When you're a carpenter making a beautiful chest of drawers, you're not going to use a piece of plywood on the back, even though nobody will ever see it. You'll know it's there, so you're going to use a beautiful piece of wood on the back. For you to sleep well at night … the quality has to be carried all the way through."

On focus & self-denial: "It comes from saying no to 1,000 things to make sure we don't get on the wrong track and try to do too much … it's only by saying no that you can concentrate on things that are really important."

How Do We Make Disciples?

2011-09-22T12:39:00.000-07:00

Jesus, the apostles, and the writings of the New Testament tell us how to make disciples. It is important to note, in this regard, that teaching is at the heart of discipleship. Discipleship is not just example. Discipleship is not just service. Discipleship is not just relationships. Discipleship is not just sharing life. To be sure, if Jesus is our model, discipleship will include all of these things and more. But at heart, Jesus tells us that discipleship involves learning, the receiving of practical instruction that enables us to trust and follow Jesus.

In Matthew 28:18-20, the great commission tells us “to go” and “to make disciples.” In the Greek text, “making disciples” is an imperative command. The passage then tells us how we are to make disciples: by “baptizing them,” and “teaching them to obey everything Jesus commanded” (these two statements are participial phrases – linguistically formed in the Greek to tell us how to make disciples)

In this sense, then, biblical discipleship always involves teaching, guidance, or instruction. At the same time, Jesus showed us, by his life, that discipleship must be grounded in love, service, and friendship. The environment for discipleship in the gospels was relationship. Yet it was goal oriented; Jesus was asking his disciples to trust and follow him. Without discipleship, acts of love and service are simply acts of love and service. These are good things and are often the basis upon which discipleship is built, but by themselves they simply express the love of Christ without directly pointing people to Christ.

Sometimes showing love – with no strings attached - is the best and only thing that we can do for another person. We just serve someone. Maybe like the good Samaritan, all we will ever be able to do for another person is take care of them in their need, for that time of difficulty (Luke 10:25ff). This is true love and it honors God and reflects the fact that we are disciples. But, by itself, it is not discipleship because discipleship involves directing and teaching people in the way of Jesus.

We believe that discipleship, modeled after Jesus, equals directed relationship. Discipleship is directed because it has a goal: to enable people to trust and follow Christ (Matthew 28:18-20; Colossians 1:28-29). Discipleship is relational in that it is always done person to person.

Here are ten questions that churches use to help them address how they make disciples :

1. How does our church define discipleship?
2. What does a disciple look like?
3. Do we have an intentional process of discipleship?
4. Does our church know this process?
5. How does this process relate to the purpose of the church?
6. Has our church prioritized distinct practices that relate to the discipleship process?
7. Does our church practice the principle of abandonment based on the idea that activity doesn’t always mean productivity?
8. How does our church measure maturity?
9. How does our community describe our church?
10. Do our church families spend more planned time in a week at church with each other or in the community with non-believers?

There is nothing new or striking about these questions. But they show that wise church leaders must be thoughtful about discipleship. Since discipleship involves careful training and guidance, we want to pursue it with wisdom.

Apple's Steve Jobs on Death ...

2011-09-06T09:43:00.000-07:00

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything—all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure—these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked."

Steve Jobs Best Quotes, The Wall Street Journal (8-24-11)

Summer Reflections

2011-08-06T10:28:00.000-07:00

School is about to start again this week here in Williamson County. I am gearing up for the fall, but I am also trying to make sense of my summer.

-In June, I traveled to Sierra Leone, Africa. I spent 10 days with folks from Harpeth Community Church and the The Raining Season, at an orphanage and trying to discern the need to plant churches in that country.

-In July, I traveled back home to Canada for two weeks and spent quality time with family and friends.

-In late July, I spent a week at Real Life Ministries in Post Falls, Idaho with friends Jim Putman, Luke Yetter, and Jerry Harris planning for the new Relational Discipleship Network. I also spent quality time with Jim Harris - future Harpeth Community Church staff member and Relational Discipleship trainer at Harpeth Community Church.

-I then went back to Calgary, Canada and spent an intense 3 days with the leaders of three churches in Calgary, 2 of which will likely close their doors by the end of the year.

So, what are my reflections on all these things moving forward?

1. Relational Discipleship is the most important Christian direction to follow. I see nothing that is as Biblical and needed as this direction. "Love" ("Relational") is the quintessential hallmark of a true Christian (John 13:34-35) and "Discipleship" is the fundamental mandate of the church (Matthew 28:19-20).

2. Poverty of money (Africa) and Poverty of Spirit (Canada/USA) both leave people without a clear sense of what life is all about. I baptized two prostitutes in Africa because they had no other way to make a living. Within weeks, I met with two of my high school buddies from Caglary, who sat down with me, as they were drinking beer, and telling me about how they are becoming millionaires, but they have no clue about meaning in life. There are two kinds of poverty - material and spiritual - and they both devastate human beings.

3. Something is going on in the world, and I cannot put my finger on it. It just feels like there is no center, that old ways of making sense for people are no longer working. Maybe it is my age; maybe it is my level of exposure to diverse people in diverse places ... I am not sure. Maybe it is something else ...

4. I just know one thing: I am sure glad that I hold on to Jesus Christ as my center point and that my center is the same, whether in Sierra Leone, Africa; Calgary, Canada; Post Fall, Idaho; or Nashville, Tennessee.

The Art of Christian Love....is largely the art of persistence

2011-06-06T10:53:00.001-07:00

Our culture teaches us to be consumers. Get the best for yourself ... jobs, friends, clothes, houses, you name it. People then bring that same attitude to church.

Who can argue with the Christian who says, “this church is not meeting my needs anymore and I need to go to another one!” There is no quick and easy answer. Who wants to question a person’s freedom of religion? (its un-American). Who can easily tell another person what is best for her and her family? What argument answers the statement that another church “has a ministry that better meets my needs”? So church members often say little or nothing except, “we will miss you, but wish you God’s best.” It is a polite and graceful response, but if we are honest, it is also a little shallow. “Can’t we talk more about this first,” we say to ourselves. Or the tacky southern's just say, "bless his heart."

Individual freedom is a core value to Americans. Yet something important has changed in the last thirty years. Americans used to value both freedom and community commitment. Now, because of consumer training, marketing, mobility, time pressure, and the inflated value of self, Americans are losing the value of community. The pursuit of individual freedom and happiness now readily justify such things as

• easy divorce
• easy nursing homes for old people
• shallow friendships, always changing
• and, for many, church hopping.

It is a Failure of Love - a lack of agape love described in 1 Corinthians 13.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails.

Karl Beck wrote. “Its beginning to strike me that the greatest strength of American Christianity – the principle of free association – may also be what sounds like the death knell for serious discipleship in this country,” …. “Why . . . hang around the church when conflict flares, as it inevitably does any place where ultimate issues are on the line? Why not move along instead to the next congregation on the block?”

If you want the best for yourself ... AND are HUNGERING FOR DEPTH … LET ME TELL YOU HOW TO FIND IT.

Stay. Work it out. Suffer through the pain of disappointment. Say "no" to the more exciting. Say "yes" to the hard work of developing relationships through the thick and thin. Don't be a consumeristic, shallow, "think I am a better then them" Christian.

A deeper Christianity is not so often tried and found wanting, as much as ... tried, found difficult, and left untried.

If you want to really love … like Jesus, you have to DIE To SELF. Love when it is hard.

Beck: Weathering crises, sharing joys, working out dilemmas, evolving new understandings of the faith together, hanging in with one another when its fun and when its just duty – these are the most precious gifts the saints give to each other.

To all church hoppers: We become more like Christ, in part, by sticking with each other and learning to love each other. This is especially true when there is conflict or disappointment and we would prefer to leave for something that looks better.

This is what Christ-likeness looks like. This is what real love is like ...

Missional Communities ... Discipling Communities

2011-05-26T09:10:00.000-07:00

Launching Missional Communities, by Mike Breen and Alex Absalom .... 3DM ministires ...

1-3 intimate discipling relationships
3-12 personal discipling relationships
12-72 social discipling relationships
72-1,000s in public disciping relationships

The Hub of the church is the Public Assembly (72-1000s) but the relational life of the church focuses around the Missional or Discipling Community of 12-72 people, where the focus remains discipleship, but the gathering principle is bigger than 12 people, while including the group of people in 12s.

12-72 (social relationship size) ...

This size is a great way to include newcomers, non-Christians, and service opportunities ... great funnel if we teach it and sell that way.

... funnel into deeper discipleship .... which also includes easier social and service connections ....

-easier social gathering (barbe-ques, fun events, relationship building opportunities)
-easier for non-christians to serve the poor and needy with us
-great inclusive group

In gatherings, they need the vision casting and invites ... they need to know about the importance of the 3 and 12 gatherings, then they come together for larger fellowship, an overflow and a chance to serve the community.

How did Jesus do it ...

Seek Christ-like Character Anyway ...

2011-05-22T17:21:00.000-07:00

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.

Ed Stetzer on the future of denominations and networks

2011-05-19T16:30:00.000-07:00

Recently I completed a book on church planting with Stadia's president, Marcus Bigelow. The book is called, Together: Church Planting and Networks. There is a chapter in the book on networks and the future of denominations. We believe Ed Stetzer has unique insight into both networks and denominations; perhaps he is more capable than anyone in North American Evangelicalism to comment on this topic. He wrote an influential cover article on the value of denominations for the magazine Christianity Today recently and, other than Todd Wilson (Exponential), he spends more time with networks than anyone we know.

Question: Is it a wise move if denominations can become more like networks?

Stetzer: I think you’re talking about denominations becoming more network-like, and I think that makes sense. I think denominations are a lot bigger deal than networks right now. Networks are kind of the sexy thing, but the reality is that the vast majority of church planting is done by denominations, not by networks. Now, in my view, I’m a pro-network-guy and I’m a pro-denomination-guy. For me, I’m a pro-cooperation-guy and both of those are expressions of cooperation. A recent study of the Washington D.C. corridor demonstrates the point: 81 percent of the churches planted were planted by denominations, 11 percent by networks, and then the rest had some connections between the two. So you’re talking an 8 to 1 ratio between the two. So I think I’m certainly pro-networks but I am also pro denominations.

Question: How can denominations become more network-like?

Stetzer: I think we have to look at what are some of the things that networks have done. Well, first let me say, that denominations can’t become networks in some ways, because for example, you know denominations are going to have a generally more defined theological center than networks will have. Now in the case of where you guys are in Stadia — Stadia is a (and you hate the term) but it’s an intra-denominational network. You have a confessional identity that drives you and it lines up with the confessional identity of the independent Christian church movement. And so when you do that, you’re a network within a family (in your case, it’s a non-denominational denomination), but you’re a network within a family of churches. So that’s not dissimilar—it’s just really an extension of the partnerships within denominations.

Question: Can denominations embrace diversity the way many network embrace it?

Stetzer: Most denominations have more concerns about secondary and tertiary issues than networks. For example, Acts 29 has what they call an “open-hand” on issues like baptism. Well, I don’t know any denomination—well that’s not true, there are a couple—but there are no major denominations who have an open-hand on issues like baptism. I mean Baptists like baptism so much, they name their denomination after it. And so they’re not going to say, Hey let’s plant churches that baptize infants. Presbyterians follow a covenantal view of infant baptism. So I think networks tend to have more broad theological persuasions, and thus, if you look at primary issues and secondary issues and tertiary issues, denominations are going agree to disagree on tertiary issues—how you worship, how you dress, what time you meet—that kind of stuff. Whereas networks are more easily going to agree to disagree on secondary issues, like the egalitarian-complementarian dialogues, whereas denominations tend to agree on both first and second order issues.

Question: how can denominations act more like networks?

Stetzer: I think that denominations can be network-like, but they’re not going to be as broad as networks. I think that the way they can do that is to create affinity fellowships within their denominational community that are network-like. Now, by affinity fellowships, I think that one of the reasons networks work—lets take Stadia—Stadia is largely a connection of contemporary churches within the independent Christian movement that tended to launch large, using teams, and those are all values that under gird the movement (I recognize that there are exceptions to that). Acts 29—primarily younger, indie-rock listening, urban church planters; and GlocalNet tends to be driven by certain values. But they all have certain affinity with one another, but denominations have an affinity generally based on theology. Whereas networks tend to have an affinity based upon methodology or socio-cultural focus or things of that sort. Now there are exceptions, but in networks people end up getting together with people in networks that are like them, doing similar things, and they can relate to well. When denominations get together, you have the guy with jeans with the untucked shirt next to the guy in the suit and tie, next to the Latino pastor who barely speaks English, next to the African-American pastor in a three-piece suit, who are all gathered together because of the same theological affinity. It is harder to build relational bridges in a denomination than it is in the network because the networks tend to look more like. It’s easier to be friends with people more like you. Now, that has some negatives, too

Question: because much of the pull of networks, as you describe, is being with people who are like you, how can denominations embrace this kind of thing?

Stetzer: First they can recognize that churches are going to network, whether or not the denominations like the idea of networks. Churches are not asking for the denominations permission to form up a network. When a Presbyterian Church of America church is joining Acts 29 network, they’re not calling their Presbytery and saying, “hey is this okay with you?” As a matter of a fact, I would guess their Presbytery would rather not, because their presbytery is likely to think, “hey, you’re taking all that energy and you’re putting all that energy into Acts 29 when we’d like you to put all your energy into the Presbytery.” And so I think that denominations have to first recognize that churches can join networks without the permission of the denomination in almost every denominational setting. Take the appeal of the Association of Related Churches (ARC). They are Pentecostal/Charismatic friendly—which is very attractive to many Pentecostal church planters. Many Assembly of God (AG) leaders will be drawn to a network like that, so they’ve got to realize in the AG is they will want to be network like, so it would be good to create affinity groups within that denominational family. So for example, if I want to bottle some of the network energy, I need to get my—those who see themselves as missional-incarnational-organic-church-plant-types—I need to get them in a common learning community together. And if I want to make that intra-denominational, within the denomination, it would be good. Within a denomination, I would want an affinity group of Purpose Driven, an affinity group of new reformed, an affinity group of missional-incarnational, and so on.

Question: how can denominations self-consciously promote networks?

Stetzer: I would partner with churches that are creating networks. I think that is one of the things that the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) did well. They got out of the driver’s seat of a support role for church planting. They actually got behind their churches while their churches were forming networks. So for example, the Redeemer network (based out of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, in New York, with Tim Keller as lead pastor) is a network that is supported by the infrastructure that denominational leaders have helped to foster and create. And so they work with the denomination in assessment, in coaching, and so forth. The denomination, instead of being afraid of the formation of networks, has actually said that if our churches want to plant this way, we’re going to partner with them. Likewise, the Foursquare denomination made similar moves. When they asked me to come and be the coach and consult with them for a while (and I still am), one of things we talked about is how they could become a network of networks. So the denomination has said, “the end goal is not the advance of the denomination but the work of the kingdom as expressed through the local church.” And if local churches have determined that the best way they can do that is to form networks, then denomination is wise to create space and create resources so they can be a network of networks. Now, there are challenges with that because if you ask the typical pastor, “where’s your loyalty?” sometimes their loyalty is more to the network than to the denomination but I think if you can work and say that this is a partnership between the two it is good. We want to be part of a bigger family of churches, so lets embrace the affinity energy that’s there, but at the same time I’m connecting to a large denominational family.

Question: how can church leaders help in this process?

Stetzer: I would say is that you want to let local churches lead on this, and again I think you can’t create a network because you think it’s a “cool idea” and you’re a denominational leader. I think you can help churches, and I think churches will be more likely to stay in the family when they’re recognized and affirmed as part of the family, even as they’re creating some networks along the way. So I think that, once again, it comes back to what I said a minute ago—denominations provide a supporting role—letting local churches lead out. Too many denominations are afraid of the mission strategies of their local churches and networks are one of the missions strategies that is going to grow. I think networks are not going away. I think you’re going to see more and more networks forming, but I think what’s happening is people are rethinking them.

Question: what can denominational leaders do?

Stetzer: I think you need to be willing to rethink denominational structures. I think most denominational structures were created during a time when we rode horses to our meetings and we met once a year and that’s the only time we saw each other. I think one of the things you see in networks is they have created communities that were unimaginable and impossible when most denominations were formed. Thus, you often have multiple levels or layers (depending upon their polity) that probably now overlap and are doing the same thing, and if that’s the case, you need to ask the hard question, “Are we being a good steward of the resources that the churches give us?” Networks are often providing resources and relationships which used to be gained from the denomination. Perhaps we can ask, “Is this denominational structure the right structure for the twenty-first century?” When I consult with denominations, I’m always fascinated that they are having the same conversation—they’re talking about networks, they’re talking about how they are not doing as well as they should. They often feel like their denomination is falling apart—every denomination does—they feel all of those things. So, you know, I would say that it’s not an uncommon question—“how do we relate to networks?” The answer has to be, “What are local churches looking to do and how can we reorder our strategy?” And I think too many denominations are too focused on the maintenance of the system, and they need to sometimes re-ask the question, “Is the system accomplishing what we intended it to do?” It may have accomplished that when people rode horses to the meetings. Does it now accomplish that when people go to meetings online, virtually and actually create communities and share resources together?

Question: why do so many denominations feel like they are falling apart?

Stetzer: You know, I would say that every denomination I work with thinks that it is in some form of a crisis, though the level of the crisis might be different. I was meeting with the leadership of the Foursquare and I said, How many of you think you’re denomination is in a crisis? Raise your hand right now. And I’d say the strong majority did. I did the same thing with a group of Baptists, How many? Raise your hands. It was a strong majority.

I think part of it is that denominations have lost something that really drew them together and it was tribal loyalty. There was historically a tribal loyalty along the way that denominations felt and in the process they were, you know kind of, I mean, if you were Baptist, you went to a Baptist church and you kind of connected with that. Pentecostals would hang with Pentecostals. I think some pastors are post-denominational than people because they think, I don’t want to just be identified with just one denomination. So I think that denominational loyalty is declining. Part of that is because churches are learning from other churches. A Methodist church might way, “I don’t need the Methodist publishing house for resources. I get them from Purpose Driven.” I think that, at the end of the day, people are looking to other places on how to do ministry. And, we often are loyal to those from whom we learn. That concerns many denominational leaders.

Question: are there other reasons for denominational decline and increased interest in networks?

Stetzer: I think the lack of tribal loyalty is part of it. Increasingly, people don’t like to be identified denominationally. People used to say, “I am a Presbyterian.” Then a few decades later, “I’m a Christian, first, and a Presbyterians second.” Soon it became, “I’m a Christian primarily.” So part of it is a cultural issue.

Yet, I do think that a lot of reason you have networks getting traction is because churches feel that it enables them to engage in what God has call them to do at a sharper and more focused level. I think one of the things is that people feel denominations, true or not, have become focused on the wrong things.

People say, “Well, I give to my denomination,” and they often see their denominational giving as a tax that they don’t know where it goes. So if I give, for example, two percent to the national office, the question is: “What is it paying for?” They’re not sure. Whereas when they give to the network, they know the people involved, they know the plants that it’s sponsoring.

In a network, people perceive that there is: 1) a higher connectivity with where the resources are being spent, and 2) a higher confidence that it’s being spent on things that it should be spent on and in the process of spending that their resource dollars are going to where they want them to be.

I think what you find is—and I don’t have scientific evidence to back this up—but I think what you’d find is that churches involved at the network level are often involved financially and personally in the activities of that network because they see it as more lined up with their DNA and their values and they tend to see the denomination as more distant and perhaps doing other things than primary things. Now I think that there’s a mistake to that process, as well, because ultimately like if there were only a church planting networks, then what about the orphan and the widow? I think if you’re only a church planting network, where are you going to do theological education? Acts 29 didn’t have a school, so they forged partnerships with seminaries. Then, they started a school (Re:Train). So, you have to ask, at what point does Acts 29 actually become a denomination? When it creates its own seminary, for example?

Question: can denominations become focused, as networks are focused, on church planting?

Stetzer: I think in some ways, yes, and in some ways, no. I do believe that denominations will be smaller and more focused in the years to come, and I’m not afraid of that. I think right now denominations are in a time of rethinking, and the fastest growing segment as a percentage of Protestant Christianity in America today is non-denominational. So I think you’re going to find that denominations are going to think hard about their mission—and I think this is a good thing. It’s forcing denominations to think about who they are and what they’re doing. And I think they’ll be better in the long run because of that process.

Question: is one of the things that is going to scare denominations, as they think about shifting to a network focus, going to be the finances?

Stetzer: Yeah, it’s a tough one, because I think one of the things you have to consider. Part of the challenge within a denominational family is that, depending up how you do things, some can direct their giving where they want to. See, you all come from the same kind of tradition I do—what we call a low-church, evangelical denomination. You know a lot of evangelical denominations can’t do that. So in other words, if you’re Lutheran, you’re not supposed to give money to other directions. But when you’re in a tradition like mine, you know they can give some here and some elsewhere.

If you are a denominational leader, I would say that the case has to be made that giving to the denomination is actually better stewardship. I think the competition will force the denominations to prove that they are the most efficient and effective way to give, and I tend to think that they often are from what I have seen. Now there’s always waste in every system and there’s always bureaucracy in every system. Of course, one man’s system is another man’s bureaucracy. So there’s always those issues along the way. But, in reality, many denominations do really well with their resources.

I remember a few years ago, my denomination put out a brochure showing what giving to the common mission fund in our denomination supported. They showed that it supported a certain number of seminaries, a certain number of colleges, a certain number of chaplains, missionaries, and so forth. Then they compared that giving to several major para-church ministries Using the same amount of money). These were good ministries, but it took a much larger amount to support the para church ministries to equal the systems and the structures that were in place with our denominational structures.

Question: so you think a lot of the denominational structures should stay intact?

Stetzer: I believe that churches should decide, under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, what is the best way to support God’s mission through their church. And if they think a network is to do that, I think a network needs to be the way to do that. In my observation, I’ve seen denominations to be an effective way to do that. Denominations are getting a lot done, often without notice.

When you go overseas and you go to the last frontier of the ten/forty window you don’t often find, I’m sent out by such and such network. No… you find PCA missionaries, Assemblies of God missionaries, SBC missionaries, and the like. I’m pro-networks and have spoken to dozens of network meetings, but I think we need to learn to walk and chew gum at the same time and that both networks and denominations need to exist and both need to be valued and both need to be working together for the gospel and the kingdom.

Question: What are some things that networks can do to make themselves more friendly to denominations?

Stetzer: The cooperative and collaborative attitude does need to go both ways. As we have said, there are things that denominations do that networks don’t. Networks have to allow people who are in their network to support and be connected to their denominational system and their denominational obligations. I think if I’m a network, I should say, “you need to first give to your denominational connection and support your fair share, and then anything you give above that should go to the network.” So I think helping denominations to see that you’re not trying to undercut them. I will tell you my experience is that most network churches are also denominational churches and the denomination is often giving more money to the church plant than the network is. Now that’s not always the case, but it’s very common that it is the case. And so what I would say is that I think you’ve have to respect that process and that strategy.

Second thing is I’d be very careful not to demean denominations. Denominations are not the dinosaurs of the past. Denominations are very much engaged in mission in the present. And again, that’s not cool to some, that’s not sexy, but that is statistically accurate. I would say if you’re going to be partners, you’re going to have to act like partners. And doesn’t mean kind of secretly or privately demeaning the partners as well. And that goes both ways, because I hear denominational leaders demeaning networks at times as well.

Question: What do you see for a possible path into the future?

Stetzer: I think it would be a fascinating thing to engage the networks in partnership with the denominational strategy to focus on certain mission projects and endeavors that require a higher level of involvement. For example, let’s say there’s a network in Houston that forms of contemporary church planters in Houston, that’s a part of the Assemblies of God or some other denomination. I would say, I think the wise denomination would invite that network and say to that network, We’re so glad you’re there, you’re planting churches in and around Houston, but as a network, why don’t you adopt this certain people group in Turkey and we have missionaries on the ground there too.

I think the future involves multiple partnerships. I think the future may look in some ways in churches like Nascar—where you have kind of a series of logos on your car. I think church planters are very entrepreneurial and very smart and I think you know that they sometimes wear the logos to get the funding—but that’s not why you should be in a denomination or a network.

Church planters need to have integrity to only join networks and denominations that they can actually be involved and engaged with along the way. But if they join a denomination and a network—it would be hard to join more than that with intergrity—I would encourage them to be involved in both.

For example, most church planting networks are local, not all, but most are going to be U.S.-focused or even regionally-focused. And so to be involved with a denomination at the same time gives you some global opportunities as well that aren’t there within the network. I think denominations should not see networks as threats but I think networks need to work to be less threatening.

Question: If you had a guy in a room—he’s young, wanting to plant a church—what would you tell him to give him to inspire him to work with both a network and a denomination?

Stetzer: I think I would say to him that unless this network is comprehensive, much like more of a denomination is, the network is probably not going to be the only way that this local church is going to connect in God’s global mission. But, if that pastor wants to be in both, I would encourage ways to find partnerships in both. But what I would mostly say is to remember that God has called that pastor and that church to be engaged in God’s mission globally, and by globally I’m not just talking about internationally, I mean everywhere—here, there, everywhere. If that’s the case, if God’s called us to be involved globally, then they need to be a steward of the resources that God has given them.

And, would want my people involved at a higher level. I think is that one of the reasons that people are being attracted to networks is that they want a higher level of involvement. If I was pasturing in Cleveland, I’d be open to getting involved in a network there so my people could also be involved. ,

For me, it boils down to what God is calling that local church to do. Denominations and networks are tools, not the goal. The advance of the gospel is the goal. I think we need to discerningly use those tools to accomplish that scriptural goal.

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit and the Indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit

2011-05-11T13:12:00.000-07:00

The indwelling Holy Spirit is the distinguishing mark given in the Bible to delineate Christian from non-Christian (Acts 19; 1-5; Romans. 8:9; Ephesians. 1: 13,14).

Acts 2: 38 teaches that the Spirit of God was given to the believer at the point of water baptism.

This reality was spoken of in the Bible by the use of several phrases which were synonymous:

1) to be “baptized in the Spirit,”
2) to have the “Spirit poured out,”
3) to receive the “promise of the Spirit,”
4) “the gift of the Spirit,” and
5) to have the “Spirit come upon you.”

These are all different ways of describing the same thing, the coming of the Holy Spirit to dwell within and establish a person as a Child of God.

Thus, every person who is a Christian has been “baptized in the Holy Spirit” and has received “the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.” As 1 Corinthians says, “for we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body -- whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free -- and we were all given the one Spirit to drink” (1 Corinthians 12: 13).

The following passages refer to one baptism with two parts: the external water and the internal Spirit.

But when the kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared, he saved us, not be¬cause of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Saviour, so that having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:4–7)

But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Cor. 6:11)

Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.” (John 3:5)

This causes us to believe that God’s ideal, and normative pattern, is for baptism in water and baptism in the Spirit to occur at the same time. This truth lies behind the Biblical account of the re-baptism of twelve disciples in Acts 19. The apostle Paul traveled through Ephesus and there he met men who had been followers of John the Baptist. Paul asked if they had received the Holy Spirit. When they said that they had not even heard about the Holy Spirit, Paul instantly knew that there was an error in their baptism (Acts 19:1-7):

While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples and asked them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" They answered, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." So Paul asked, "Then what baptism did you receive?" "John's baptism," they replied. Paul said, "John's baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus." On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. There were about twelve men in all.

The apostle’s solution to an improper understanding and relationship with the Holy Spirit was a proper belief about Jesus Christ and baptism in his name. To confirm Paul’s teaching and to show that God was now grafting these followers of John the Baptist into Christianity with their baptism, they were also enabled to speak in tongues and prophecy. This passage points to the typical relationship between Spirit and water baptism.

Bruce Terry wrote a very helpful article on this point years ago in the Restoration Quarterly .... http://www.acu.edu/sponsored/restoration_quarterly/archives/1970s/vol_21_no_4_contents/terry.html

Seeking, Open, but Cautious

2011-05-06T11:23:00.000-07:00

I am often asked about the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit and the Christian life. They were a dominant part of the New Testament and any attempt to follow the Christianity of the New Testament should ask both God and ourselves some probing questions.

In the early church, after conversion and the laying on of the apostles hands, a significant number of Christians in the Bible were able to exercise miraculous spiritual gifts, such as speaking in foreign tongues, interpreting tongues, healing, and predicting the future (1 Corinthians 12–14). These miraculous gifts helped establish and confirm the Christian faith. When unbelievers saw miraculous healings, or heard some suddenly speak about the things of God in a foreign language which they had not previously known, it drew attention to the validity of the Christian message. Signs and wonders of this type caused many to become Christians. Yet once Christianity was established and the apostles died out, these types of gifts became less and less common, as historical research confirms (Hebrews 2:3-4).

In the Bible there was also a clear link between these miraculous gifts, the unique first century ministry of the apostles and those people upon which the apostles laid their hands (Romans 15:15-19; 2 Corinthians 12:12). Because of this linkage, many believe that these gifts were not given to the church for all time – they were just given to Christians in the first century. Others differ and so there is a hot debate about this among Christians because many Christians (especially outside North America) believe that the miraculous gifts are for the church of today and are available.

Factually, as stated above, miraculous gifts were rare in the ancient, pre-modern world and throughout history in mainstream Christianity, which has emphasized objective biblical doctrine. And, as the television evangelists easily show us, too often claims about miraculous gifts have been proven to be false and too often they have been associated with heresy.

But there is no Biblical basis by which we can rule them out or categorically deny the experience of these gifts as being available in our day. Countless Christians claim to be richly blessed by them – if not through public experience, through private personal prayer time. And contrary to what some say, there is nothing in the Bible that says God will stop giving people these miraculous abilities. We must be careful not to restrict God or lack faith in his miraculous abilities.

Yet again, given what has been learned in history and from the abuses in the Pentecostal, Charismatic, or Third Wave movements in our day, it is also wise to be cautious in these matters. Too many people attribute things to God that may not be from God. We want to be seeking, open, but cautious and carefully examine all practices in the light of what the Bible teaches.

The following four points summarize the “Seeking, Open, but Cautious” approach to this topic which encourages us to seek God, to be objective, grounded in the lessons of history, and open, all at the same time.

1. Seek God "full out" - and be open to God moving in unique ways. Christians should not just seek God with a rational and cognitive approach, at the expense of a deeply personal experiences. We should seek to be close to God in all things. Some Christians have denied the emotional and intuitive parts of the Christian life. We need all that God wants to give us, and as we seek him, we should be open to how he might be present with us to help us in fresh ways, while maintaining a balance with biblical and rational thinking.

2. A Christ-centered and Christ-like life - not speaking in tongues - is the strongest validation of the Holy Spirit in a person’s life. The Bible makes it clear that character and sacrificial love are the clearest validations of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 13:1-4; 2 Corinthians 3:16-17; Galatians 5:16-25). All other experiential manifestations of the Spirit – including the miraculous ability to speak in tongues, prophecy, and healing - should be understood as peripheral issues, compared to how we trust Christ, live, and love in our daily lives (Matthew 7:21-23).

3. Test everything by the Bible and rational thought. We are to love God with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength - this includes using our minds and critical thought. The study of miraculous gifts should be done with the leaders of a local congregation. In this way the leaders can ensure that there can be a careful examination of the scriptural basis of all things (2 Timothy 3:16-17). For example, according to Biblical teaching, if someone believes he or she can speak in tongues, it should not be allowed in a church setting unless there is an interpreter (1 Corinthians 14: 27-28). And prophecy is to be tested and evaluated by scripture and Christian leaders before being accepted (1 Thessalonians 5:19-21; 1 John 4:1; and 1 Corinthians 14: 29). Consequently, people should be free to privately speak in tongues. But if they want to do it at a public meeting, we should insist on having an interpreter and objective evaluation.

4. Pursue God from and for your heart. We must encourage all Christians to pursue a deep, personal, and abiding intimacy with God. Our yearning should be for God’s presence and the habits of prayer, Bible study, fasting, meditation, etc., We should seek to be in touch with God through his Holy Spirit on a daily basis.

A good way to think about miraculous gifts, then, is to pursue the fullness of the spiritual life and be open to all that the Spirit of God is doing, while being grounded in scripture, history, and critical evaluation. This approach does not answer every question. On the one hand it subjects all spiritual experiences to a careful evaluation – and yet, on the other hand, it encourages us to be open to and seek surprising new movements of God in our lives every day. The “Seeking, Open, But Cautious Approach” seeks to avoid extremes.

Osama Bin Laden and Just War

2011-05-04T10:45:00.000-07:00

I am not comfortable with the celebration and gloating over the death of Osama Bin Laden.

Proverbs 24: 17-18 Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice, or the LORD will see and disapprove and turn his wrath away from them.

I am not a pacifist and I am satisfied that he experienced a just punishment on earth and that he will not be able to kill anymore. I believe in the Just War.

Augustine gave the fullest explanation and rationale in in his book, City of God in the 400s. Based upon Romans 13, Augustine insisted there is no "private right" to kill. One can kill only under the authority of God, as communicated by direct or implicit command from God, or by a legitimate ruler who carries out God's intent to restrain evil on earth. Augustine further suggests that one who obeys such a command "does not himself 'kill.'" He acts only as an instrument of the one who commands.

Augustine concludes, "The commandment forbidding killing was not broken by those who have waged wars on the authority of God, or those who have imposed the death-pencaptiony on criminals when representing the authority of the state, the justest and most reasonable source of power."

When there is no command by God, war may be waged only by those 1) with legitimate authority, and 2) only for a just cause. Augustine was not, however, specific on what causes can be considered just. He has been interpreted narrowly, as saying states may go to war to avert (defensively) or avenge (offensively) a violation of their rights, or broadly, as saying war may be waged to redress any wrong against God's moral order. Thus Augustine fashioned what is now called the "just war theory," which over the centuries has become a complex set of criteria to govern both the recourse to war in the first place and the conduct of war once begun. With the exception of the "peace churches" (Quakers, Brethren, and Mennonites), mainstream Christianity has stayed to the present day essentially on the course set by Augustine.

A Just War is One that . . .

"Force may be used only to correct a grave, public evil, i.e., aggression or massive violation of the basic human rights of whole populations."

Just Cause - While there may be rights and wrongs on all sides of a conflict, to override the presumption against the use of force, the injustice suffered by one party must significantly outweigh that suffered by the other.

Just Means - The waging of war must be done to minimize harm for all innocent people and civilians.

Just authority - Only duly constituted public leaders and authorities may wage war.

Just intention - Thwarting or correcting a suffered wrong is considered a right intention, while material gain or maintaining economies is not.

Probability of success - Arms may not be used in a futile cause or in a case where disproportionate measures are required to achieve success;

Proportionality - The anticipated benefits of waging a war must be proportionate to its expected evils or harms.

Last resort - Force may be used only after all peaceful and viable alternatives have been seriously tried and exhausted or are clearly not practical.

I believe, based on everything I have seen, that what happened to Osama Bin Laden is the right thing. For that I am thankful, but it is with sadness for everyone's lose and all the evil that was part of it all.

How We Got the Bible ... the Canon of Scripture

2011-04-25T09:44:00.000-07:00

The writings of the apostles (and those closely associated with them) were combined with the writings of the Old Testament to form the “Canon” or list of books that are contained in the modern Bible. The “Canon” is a technical term which means “the list of books contained in scripture, the list of books recognized as worthy to be included in the sacred writings of a worshipping community.” Or, again, “the list of the writings acknowledged by the Church as documents of the divine revelation.” It is important to know something of the process by which books became part of our modern Bible.

The books in the New Testament were all written before the end of the first century (100 A.D.). Soon, however, these writings were not the only ones which were being circulated in the churches. In order to protect Christians from false teaching after the death of all the apostles, the early leaders had to delineate those writings which were authoritative from those which were not. By 170 A.D. (at the latest) the concept of the New Testament Canon was firmly established, and the main contents were set in place. The early Christians recognized as authoritative those books which met three key criteria: 1) they had apostolic authors (or were closely associated with apostles), 2) they taught the orthodox faith of the apostles, and 3) they had been widely accepted in the churches from the beginning.

As the early church clarified the final list of authoritative books, they affirmed that the church itself had been established by words and work of Jesus communicated by the apostles (Ephesians 2:20). The written works associated with the apostles were the objective norm by which the church was to measure and evaluate herself. Though the concepts and the main contents of the Canon were established hundreds of years earlier, it wasn’t until 367 A.D. that the final list of books which comprise our modern Bible was agreed upon.

In doing this, the early church itself recognized that it was subject to the objective record of the apostles’ teachings as its final authority. As Oscar Cullman said, “the early church did not fix a norm for others, but for itself, and committed the church for all future centuries to this norm.” In affirming which books were authoritative and inspired, the early Church recognized that without a superior written norm it could not keep itself or the apostolic teachings pure. Clark Pinnock summarized the meaning of the early church’s actions:

In opting for the canon, the church seemed to say that the criteria of truth lay outside herself in a text that stood over her and at times even against her. By accepting the norm of Scripture, the church declared that there was a standard outside herself to which she intended to be subject for all time . . . . . The church can fall into error and needs the Bible to measure herself by. In turn, the church serves the canon by continuing in the truth and faithfully proclaiming the Word of God.

Under God’s hand, the apostolic teachings and the Old Testament writings were fixed as the “Canon.” They are the foundational documents and the standard for the church of all time.

Jesus is Victorious in His Resurrection (Easter Pt 5)

2011-04-23T21:54:00.000-07:00

A great way of understanding Jesus' death on the cross is the “Christ Is The Victor Motif.” By his death, burial, and resurrection, Christ won a great victory over the spiritual forces of evil. Through his death on the cross, Christ disarmed the powers and authorities in the spiritual realm.

He canceled the record that contained the charges against us. He took it and destroyed it by nailing it to Christ's cross. In this way, God disarmed the evil rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross of Christ. (Colossians 2: 14-15, NLT)

The death of Christ is very significant in the battle between Satan and the human race. Satan gained a foothold into the human race when he first tempted Adam and Eve to rebel against God. This led to an enslavement of human beings under the influence of the devil.

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. (Ephesians 2: 1-2)

Through Satan’s temptation of our ancestors, the human race had chosen to belong to the demonic order through a collective history of sin.

This is why the Bible teaches that the “whole world” is under the control of the evil one (1 John 5: 19) and how Jesus came to destroy the devil’s work (1 John 3: 8). Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross destroyed Satan’s work.

Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death--that is, the devil--and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. (Hebrews 2: 14-15)

Now, through Jesus’ victory on the cross, those who trust in him are placed with him in a position of authority above the demonic.

God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2: 6-7)

The Bible teaches that though these spiritual forces have been sentenced to defeat, they will still wage battle against God’s people in the spiritual realm until Christ returns to finally destroy them.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:10–12)

Through the cross of Christ and our steadfast faith in him, God gives us victory in these battles. When we trust in Christ, we are literally translated from Satan’s kingdom into God’s kingdom.

For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:13-14)

Satan has been defeated, those who trust in Christ are set free, and God will reign victoriously (Revelation 12:10-11; 20:1-21:1).

Christ’s sacrifice on the cross teaches us the real meaning of love.

Another motif by which we understand Christ’s sacrifice is the “Example of Love Motif.” God has consistently demonstrated the depth of his love throughout human history. He has always provided his people with every good gift that would result in their long-term well-being. In the atonement of Jesus, as in everything else, God’s love shines forth brightly.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

Once we understand God’s holiness, we can properly understand the greatness of God’s love. God did not want human beings to be condemned. So, God did not leave us to face the consequences of our actions, he entered into our world to die for us and win us over through costly, sacrificial love.

For God did not sent his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. (John 3:17–18)

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. (1 John 4:9)

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

The Bible says that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself because of his great love (2 Corinthians 5:19). The cross of Jesus demonstrates for all eternity the depth of God’s love. As C.A. Dismore put it, “There was a cross in the heart of God before there was one planted on the green hill outside Jerusalem. And now that the cross of wood has been taken down, the one in the heart of God abides, and it will remain so long as there is one sinful soul for whom to suffer.”

God’s example of sacrificial love is the foundation upon which Christ based much of his teachings. For example, Christian leaders are to see themselves as servants of the people, just as Jesus was a servant of the people. Jesus “did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). Just as Jesus laid down his life for us, his followers are to lay down their lives for one another (John 15:12,13). Just as God through Jesus forgave the great debt caused by our sin, as his followers, we also must forgive the debts caused by people who sin against us (Matthew 18:21–35).

In keeping with this, the core of the Christian life is emulating the sacrificial love of Christ. The love revealed in the cross is the ethical pattern for a wide spectrum of interpersonal relationships (1 Peter 2:21ff; Ephesians 5:23ff; Philippians 2:5ff, etc.). The reality and example of the cross is the core and foundation of Christian ethics and morals.

What Happened on the Cross? (Easter Pt 4

2011-04-22T10:31:00.000-07:00

What happened on the cross? Lots ... it was truly cosmic, universal in the truest sense possible. If we can gain a solid and holistic understanding of what he accomplished for us, it will lead us to a solid and holistic understanding of what it means to follow him.

1. By Christ’s sacrifice God takes away our sin and provides complete forgiveness.

This is the “Satisfaction Motif,” the most important and prominent way of understanding Christ’s death. Christ’s sacrifice completely satisfies God’s holy and righteous judgment of sin and sinners. As people, we all have done wrong. We have broken God’s laws and God’s heart. As it is written:

There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. (Romans 3:10–12)

When Christ died on the cross, God was able to completely forgive our sin because the demand of his righteous judgment against us was put on Christ. As sinners apart from Christ we all have real, objective guilt. Before God we all stand guilty. Yet, when Christ died on the cross, he took away our sins:

But now he [Christ] has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as a man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. (Hebrews 9:26–27)

He [Christ] is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:2)
For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people's sins against them. This is the wonderful message he has given us to tell others. . . . "Be reconciled to God!" For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. (2 Corinthians 5: 19-21, NLT)

As sinners, we humans have no method of atoning for our sins against God. God had to take the initiative. Only God could atone for the sins of human beings. Christ’s death on the cross provided the complete ground and basis upon which God forgives, cleanses, and purifies people from wrongdoing. Only when our objective guilt is removed are we truly free and that is what Christ did for us.

1.1 The cross is a substitute for the eternal punishment our sins deserve.

God’s holiness and justice demand that sinners be punished: that is why Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden; that is why the ancient world was destroyed by the flood; that is why many of the Israelites were destroyed in the desert; and that is why God punished the nation of Israel.

God’s justice is not lenient, as human justice can be, because God’s holiness is at stake. Humankind’s only hope is to have our sins removed so that we will not experience the punishment from God that we deserve for each of our sins. In his great love, God put upon Christ the punishment we deserve. In Jesus' death on the cross, he freed us by taking the punishment due us for our sins and in the process satisfied God’s holy anger against us.

We are made right in God's sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins. And we all can be saved in this same way, no matter who we are or what we have done. For all have sinned; all fall short of God's glorious standard. Yet now God in his gracious kindness declares us not guilty. He has done this through Christ Jesus, who has freed us by taking away our sins. For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy God's anger against us. We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed his blood, sacrificing his life for us. (Romans 3:22–25, NLT)

Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:4-6)

When Jesus was crucified he provided the only possible way for sin to be removed. Only Christ could bear the penalty justice demanded. Jimmy Allen put it this way:

God is just, those who violate his law must be punished. How can a holy, righteous, just God save an unholy, unrighteous, unjust man and still be God? The Lord will never condone wrongdoing or fellowship sin. If man was to be saved, a way had to be devised whereby God could maintain his holiness and pardon man. There could be no compromise with sin. Shallow minded people sometimes ask, “How can a good God condemn anyone?” Really, Paul’s question in Romans is, “How can a just God save anyone?” The love and mercy of God found a way in which sinners could be forgiven … Jesus had to die to uphold the justice or righteousness of God.

The atonement of Jesus Christ, then, was necessary because it provided (in Christ’s suffering) for the removal of sin because Christ suffered the penalty that sin necessitated. Through the cross, we can be freed from the punishment we deserve.

1.2 The cross provides forgiveness from sin on a continual basis.

Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection provided an ongoing sacrifice. If we truly trust him, Christ’s atonement cleanses us from sin everyday. The expression “walk in the light” is the Bible’s way of describing living with a “genuine and active faith.” Christ’s provision for our ongoing forgiveness is described in 1 John.

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, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. (1 John 1:7-10)

This is why Christians live with ongoing joy and peace. They experience the realization of forgiveness for all past sins at conversion and then the renewing reality of forgiveness daily through ongoing confession and faith in Christ’s blood. Christ, then, offers forgiveness perpetually for those who actively trust him.

1.3 The cross leads to eternal life with God after death.

The death of Christ cleared the way for us to have a completely restored relationship with God in eternity after death. This restoration is often appropriately referred to as our “salvation”:

For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath, but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:9)

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you. (1 Peter 1: 3-4)

Our salvation will be consummated with the joy of an unending, intimate communion with God in eternity. Through his death, burial, and resurrection, Jesus Christ gave the proof and the substance of our own future resurrection to be with God forever.
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed — in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality … then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” (1 Corinthians 15:51–54)

Just as Adam and Eve caused the entire human race to be excluded from intimate communion with God and to be destined for death, through his atonement, Jesus Christ has provided the basis for all of his followers to re-establish an intimate communion with God and to be destined for eternal life with him where death no longer exists. What Adam destroyed, Christ rebuilt.

Easter - What It Means - The Atonement (PT 3)

2011-04-21T13:47:00.000-07:00

From the beginning of time, the problem between God and his people has been sin. Sin can be defined as everything in daily life that is against or fails to conform to the character of God. This is usually demonstrated in an attitude of rebellion or disobedience. Although there are at least eight words that are used to describe sin in the Old Testament and as many as twelve in the New Testament, the foundational idea is that of lack of conformity to God’s will. Sin is the failure to do what God would have us do. As Isaiah said, “Your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you so that he will not hear” (Isaiah 59:2).

God’s reaction to sin is hard for many people to understand. We fail to understand because we do not appreciate God's holiness. To say that God is holy is to say that God is absolutely pure and separate from sin. Holiness cannot tolerate sin. A holy God must insist on holiness in others, lest his own dignity, honor, and sovereign rule of the universe be diminished. God’s holiness requires that sin be punished and that divine judgment fall upon sinners (Exodus 34:7 & Romans 1: 18, 32). If God left sin and sinners alone, then he would fail to be a holy and just God.

Sin, therefore, is a serious matter to God. Sin destroys humanity’s relationship with God. Ever since Adam and Eve sinned God has been faced with a dilemma: he wants to be in relationship with his people, but that relationship is impossible because of sin. In his love God decided to send his Son into the world to remove human sin, so that God and his people could be one. God’s holiness made a penalty for sin necessary. God’s love endured that penalty and made freedom from sin possible. God prepared the Israelite people well in advance so they could understand how God’s holiness required the sacrifice of Christ if people were to be forgiven.

In the Israelite covenant God sought to help his people to appreciate his holiness and the damage sin causes by the institution of a special tabernacle and a special priesthood. To represent God’s holiness, the priests had to meet specific qualifications, wear special clothes, and carefully follow ceremonial procedures. Their job was to help the people understand sin and to offer sacrifices for it. God described in detail the extent and exact nature of sin (Leviticus 8–16, etc.), and then he provided a sacrificial system to enable the people to atone for sin.

To make atonement between a sinner and God, there had to be the loss of an animal’s life and the shedding of blood. Consequently, numerous animal sacrifices were prescribed so that, after committing a particular sin, a person could kill an animal and have the animal's blood sprinkled before God in a ceremonial fashion.

God taught them that the only way sin could be removed was through the shedding of blood:

For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life. (Leviticus 17:11)

So, in this fashion the Israelites became aware of God’s holiness, the extent and nature of sin, as well as the fact that it was necessary that there be a blood sacrifice and the loss of life if there was to be atonement for sin.

The Old Covenant sacrificial system was set up, in part, as an educational foreshadow or prefigure of what God would do in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. By God’s preordained plan, Jesus went to the cross as a willing sacrificial victim. The sins of humankind were such that people could only be reconciled with God if their sins were removed. Only the blood and life of God’s Son could take away the sins of the whole world. The Old Testament sacrifices of goats and calves were miniscule imitations of the final and complete sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that great, perfect sanctuary in heaven, not made by human hands and not part of this created world. Once for all time he took blood into that Most Holy Place, but not the blood of goats and calves. He took his own blood, and with it he secured our salvation forever. (Hebrews 9: 11-12, NLT)

Only the sacrifice of Jesus’ blood (Hebrews 9: 24-28) could meet the demands of God’s holiness and justice. Sin could only be removed forever by his sacrificial death.

Why Easter (Pt 2) ... What Happened

2011-04-20T08:04:00.000-07:00

The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ took place during the Jewish Passover feast of 29 or 30 AD. After Jesus and his disciples had observed the Passover meal, they traveled outside the city. There, in a garden known as Gethsemane, Jesus prayed to God the Father three times, pleading that God would provide a way other than the cross. After this series of earnest petitions and intense agony, it became apparent that there was no other way. Jesus thus determined to give himself up, and undergo death upon the cross (Matthew 26:36–46).

The Jewish leaders wanted this “teacher” to be taken out of the way. They believed that Jesus’ claims about himself would cause such a political upheaval that the occupying Roman army would seize the opportunity to destroy their nation. So, they bribed one of Jesus’ disciples named Judas to betray him. Judas betrayed Jesus by bringing the temple officials to the Garden of Gethsemane just after midnight, where they arrested him (Mark 14:43).

Jesus then went through a series of six trials, of various sorts, which extended through that night and well into the next morning. These trials were both unfair and viciously rigged. Between the trials Jesus was blindfolded, spat upon, struck in the face, beaten, mocked, ridiculed, and flogged. The effects of these attacks took a tremendous physical toll on him. Finally, after about eight hours of abuse and false trials, the Roman procurator, Pontius Pilate, sent Jesus to be crucified.

According to the Jews his crime was blasphemy, because he claimed to be the “Son of God” (Matthew 26:63). According to the Romans, however, his crime was insurrection, because he claimed to be the king of the Jews (Mark 15:5). The evil intent and plans of human beings, however, were used by God to fulfill his own purposes of bringing the world back to himself through Christ’s death (Acts 2:22–36).

A few years ago the well known medical publication, Journal of the American Medical Association, published a scholarly account of the death of Jesus entitled, “On the Physical Death of Jesus Christ.” In this journal, the authors had some interesting things to say about Jesus’ treatment during these trials. The Romans were experts at preparing their criminals for death. They had the preparation down to a science. The principle method used was flogging:

For scourging, the man was stripped of his clothing, and his hands were tied to an upright post. The back, buttocks, and legs were flogged either by two soldiers (lictors) or by one who alternated positions. The severity of the scourging depended on the disposition of the lictors and was intended to weaken the victim to a state just short of collapse or death.

God sent his Son, born in a stable, to the earth to live in the flesh. He grew up in the humble home of a carpenter. He was rejected by the teachers and leaders of the time; and then, after being betrayed by one friend, denied by another, and abandoned by the rest, he underwent a series of beatings and trials which ignored true justice. Lastly, he was subjected to cruel punishment and death for crimes he did not commit.

Edwards and the other medical examiners comment further:

At the Praetorium, Jesus was severely whipped. (Although the severity of the scourging is not discussed in the four gospel accounts, it is implied in one of the epistles [1 Peter 2: 24]) … The Roman soldiers, amused that this weakened man had claimed to be king, began to mock him by placing a robe on his shoulders, a crown of thorns on his head, and a wooden staff as a sceptre in his right hand. Next, they spat on Jesus and struck him on the head with the wooden staff … The physical and mental abuse meted out by the Jews and the Romans, as well as the lack of food, water, and sleep, also contributed to his generally weakened state. Therefore, even before the actual crucifixion, Jesus' physical condition was at least serious and possibly critical.

Finally, the soldiers led Jesus out to be crucified; but by this time Jesus was so weakened by the severe flogging he was unable to carry his cross, so they compelled a man named Simon of Cyrene to carry it for him. Simon carried it out to a garbage dump where Jesus was crucified. (Mark 15:21)

Although the Romans did not invent crucifixion, they perfected it as a form of torture and capital punishment that was designed to produce slow death with maximum pain and suffering. It was one of the most disgraceful and cruel methods of execution and usually was reserved only for slaves, foreigners, revolutionaries, and the vilest of criminals. Roman law usually protected Roman citizens from crucifixion, except perhaps in the case of desertion by soldiers.

Jesus was secured to the cross by heavy iron nails driven into his hands and feet (5 to 7 inches long [13 to 18 cm] with a square shaft 3/8 of an inch [1 cm] across). Death by crucifixion could take from four hours to four days. The person being punished would experience great agony: excruciating bolts of fiery pain in both arms and legs, tremendous difficulty breathing, lacerated and bleeding flesh, all made for a horrible death.

While on the cross the onlookers hurled insults at him (Mark 16:25–32). Then, after six hours, he died. But before he died, Jesus said a prayer to his Father so that he would “forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). After his death, to make sure that he was dead, the soldiers pierced his side with a spear.

According to the Journal of the American Medical Association it was unsettled as to whether Jesus finally died of a heart attack (cardiac rupture) or by suffocation (cardio-respiratory failure).

After death, his body was taken and placed in the tomb of a man named Joseph of Arimathea (Mark 16:43). But by early Sunday morning something wonderful had happened:

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.” So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshipped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid … ” (Matthew 28:1–10)

By Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection God had forever paved the way for humanity to be “at one” with him. The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus provided for the sacrifice of atonement that was necessary to restore the relationship between God and his people in eternity.

Why Easter (Pt 1)

2011-04-13T08:14:00.000-07:00

The entire foundation of the Christian faith is based upon Christ’s bodily death, burial, and resurrection. Unless these events are real, the Bible’s fundamental teachings are hollow, Christ’s life was a deception and fraud, and his followers are still trapped in their sins.

Regarding this, the apostle Paul wrote:

If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. (1 Corinthians l5: 14–19)

We have come to the centerpiece of the Bible. The truth of this teaching is the foundation of everything else. As Peter Cotterell puts it, the truth of this teaching is the most important of all.

Truth is not a matter of pride or humility. It is a matter of fact. Islam says Jesus wasn’t crucified. We say he was. Only one of us can be right. Judaism says Jesus was not the Messiah. We say he was. Only one of us can be right. Hinduism says that God has often been incarnate. We say only once. And we can’t both be right.

Of all the major religions in the world, only Christianity has the death, burial, and resurrection of its founder as its most important teaching.

A term often used to describe the result of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus is “atonement.” The word atonement is an old English word which means “to be set at one, to reconcile.” Etymologically this word is made up of three words: “at,” “one,” and “ment” (at-one-ment). The term “atonement,” then, is an English word used to explain how the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ provided human beings with the way to be set at one with God.

Thomas Oden puts it succinctly by summarizing the impact of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection and the “cross.” At the heart of it all is the meaning of the fact that “Christ died for us.” “He died” is a fact. “For us” is the meaning of that fact.

Sin dug a gulf in a relationship. The cross bridged it. Sin resulted in estrangement. The cross reconciled it. Sin made war. The cross made peace. Sin broke fellowship. The cross repaired and restored it.

Why Don't Other Churches Do It This Way?

2011-04-04T08:15:00.000-07:00

Interesting thing yesterday ... a young man in his mid 20s with a strong churched background, but new to HCC watched how we handled the baptisms last night (we have had a lot of baptisms lately), as two young ladies committed themselves to Christ.

He said to me, "at first I thought, why does Harpeth Community Church emphasize baptism the way they do" ... now, after experiencing what the church does, I only have one question, "why don't other churches do it this way?"

Cool... He understands now, through experience, what the bible describes (Acts 2:38; 1 Peter 3:21) and the early church practiced (Nicene Creed of 381 A.D.).

It is all about a covenant relationship with the Lord ... think about it this way ...

Relationships come first with God. The word “covenant” is the favorite Bible word to describe the establishment of a formal relationship with God. A covenant is an explicit agreement and commitment between two parties. God offers himself to us through Jesus Christ and his sacrifice on the cross for our sins. By faith, human beings receive God’s promises. Faith is both trust and submission – it is personal trust in God and his promises in Jesus Christ and submission of the mind, the heart, and the will to follow him. This is what the Bible means when it teaches that we are “saved by grace through faith” (Ephesians 2:8-9). In this covenant relationship, God is the primary initiator, provider, and sustainer – in Jesus Christ he gives us his love and Grace as he died on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins – and by his Holy Spirit, God draws us to himself and provides us with the will and the ability to follow him. But we must receive and embrace God’s offer of a relationship with himself, on our part, by active faith.

The baptism ceremony is the formal means given to us by God, as a provision of his grace, so we can place our faith in Jesus Christ, pledge ourselves to him as a formal commitment, and receive his promises.

The commitments made in baptism have many similarities to commitments made in a wedding ceremony. Both ceremonies are the formal means of entering into a covenant relationship. In a wedding ceremony, the focus is the heart, as formal promises and pledges are made. The marriage covenant ceremony provides the formal means for expressing the internal commitment of the heart through verbal confessions, signatures on the wedding license, and the exchange of rings. Afterward, the one presiding over the ceremony can formally and with full confidence introduce the couple as “husband and wife.”

Likewise, in a baptism ceremony, the focus is the heart, as God’s promises are received and the pledge of faith and loyalty is made. God made his promises in advance: He will give us complete forgiveness of all our sins, the empowering presence of his Holy Spirit, and the shear joy of a future with him in eternity. We respond by verbal confessions with our mouths that we believe what Jesus did for us on the cross and by committing ourselves to follow him by faith. The confessions are then made physically concrete when we re-enact our faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus through being fully immersed under the water and then rising up out of the water, as our sins are washed away by God. In the spiritual realm, we simultaneously experience the promise of an immersion in the Holy Spirit that results in the Holy Spirit’s ongoing presence with us. Afterward, the one presiding over the ceremony can formally and with full confidence introduce the person as “forgiven and indwelt by the Holy Spirit.”

The way I started this blog could sound prideful. I truly do not want to come across that way. It is just so wonderful to see people come to understand this Biblical teaching. It makes me want to say, "yeah God!"

Love Wins ... My first thoughts

2011-03-31T10:45:00.000-07:00

Rob Bell is an influential figure for many 20-something Christians today.

So, when the dust-up started, I read the reviews and watched the interviews.

I think the best interview so far was on MSNBC (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vg-qgmJ7nzA)

See also Albert Mohler's response to both Bell and Brian McClaren (http://www.albertmohler.com/2011/03/23/a-theological-conversation-worth-having-a-response-to-brian-mclaren/)

… Bell knows the post-modern mind very well, frightfully well…..

... I am so grateful for David Platt (Radical), NT Wright, and Francis Chan as much healthier responses to post-modern thought than Shane Clayborn, Brian McClaren, and Rob Bell.

I am starting the book and so far the following review seems to best nail Bell, in my view …. (from Amazon) ….

By Mark A. Almlie "mark almlie" (petaluma, CA)
This review is from: Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived (Hardcover)

First of all I want to say that I have greatly admired the preaching and books that Rob Bell has put out before "Love Wins". I will continue to recommend "Velvet Elvis" and "Sex God". He is a brilliant communicator of God's Word. I listen to his podcasts more than any other preacher.

The Good
I applaud Rob for taking a risk and writing about this extremely important, touchy, weighty, and often not talked about topic. It is a topic upon which Evangelicals are underdeveloped in their thinking. In writing about this topic publicly Rob gives us permission to talk more freely with each other about it. The more thinking and study of this topic the more we will be careful in our sometimes overly simplistic views or verbal slams against others.

Bell writes, "I've written this book because the kind of faith Jesus invites us into doesn't skirt the big questions." Amen. Completely agree.

The Great
The book is fabulous, compelling writing. Bell paints pictures, turns a phrase ("It's as if we're currently trying to play the piano with oven mitts"), illustrates, and illuminates the biblical text in a way few others can.

He clearly sets the gospel in its cosmic framework, not just its human salvation framework. Jesus came not only to save sinners, but to redeem the world--every atom. He articulates a gospel that transforms trees as well as people. This is a good thing and should stretch Evangelicals to understand what Colossians is getting at when it says, "This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven" (Colossians 1.23). "A gospel that leaves out its cosmic scope will always feel small." (p. 135) Agreed.

The Bad
"At the center of the Christian tradition since the first church have been a number who insist that history is not tragic, hell is not forever, and love, in the end, wins and all will be reconciled to God." (p. 109) Well, if universalism has been at the "center" of Christianity since the very "first church" I guess it's strange that there's such controversy around this book! Come on Robby, this isn't intellectually honest writing. The whole reason this book is swirling in controversy is because universalism has not been at the center, it has not been a belief from the beginning, and the first Christians did not think hell was temporary. It's one thing to present different views and theologies, it is another to do so with revisionist history.

The Ugly
In Matthew 25, Jesus the judge separates the sheep from the goats and sends the goats to "eternal punishment". Only, this doesn't fit with Bell's theology so he simply translates the phrase differently. He says "eternal punishment" should be translated as "a period of pruning" or a "time of trimming"!

"The goats are sent, in the Greek language, to an aion of kolazo. Aion, we know, has several meanings. One is "age" or "period of time"; another refers to "intensity of experience". An aion of kolazo. Depending on how you translate aion and kolazo, then, the phrase can mean "a period of pruning" or "a time of trimming", or an intense experience of correction. In a good number of English translations of the Bible, the phrase "aion of kolazo" gets translated as "eternal punishment," which many read to mean "punishment forever," as in never going to end. But "forever" is not really a category the biblical writers used." (p. 91-92)

First of all, he doesn't even quote the Greek text correctly! He says the phrase is "Aion of kolazo". That's not how the Greek text reads! It reads, "Eis kolasin aionion." The Greek word "aionion" is a different word than "aion"! This is very misleading. I can barely believe that he wrote so erroneously. It's as if he wished so hard that there is no reference to eternal punishment in the Bible that he found a way for it to go away.

The actual word used in Matt 25.41, 46 is "aionion". Now, it is true that the root word of "aionion" is "aion". But, they are two separate words, with two different meanings. For Bell to go on and on about "aion" meaning "age" and not "eternity" is completely irrelevant since he is talking about the wrong word!

"In a good number of English translations of the Bible, the phrase gets translated as 'eternal punishment'". Understatement of the aion! NIV, NRSV, NASB, KJV, New Living Translation. How about Eugene Peterson's "The Message" since Peterson endorsed Bell's book? The Message reads "eternal doom". Bell is off his theological and exegetical rocker when trying to get this verse not to mean what it actually means: "eternal punishment".

But imagine for a moment that he's right. Let's imagine that this verse isn't about eternal punishment, but just an "age" of time. So, theoretically, after an "age" or two of time, the goats will be set free. However, the sheep are sent to "eternal life" in the same verse. It is the same word used for the sheep as it is for the goats: "aionion". If Bell is right then "eternal life" is temporary. It's the same word used in John 3.16 "everlasting life". So whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have temporary life? I don't think so.

Rob Bell is not a biblical scholar or a theologian. He has no credentials to write his own translation of the Bible. I pray that there is not a Rob Bell Study Bible complete with a "fresh" translation of the scriptures coming our way in the near future.

conclusion:
If Bell is interested in raising more than just questions and really wants a thorough re-evaluation of hell, it would be helpful if he would either publicly debate other public figures, or co-write a book of "various views" on heaven/hell that includes other, more qualified, theologians and biblical scholars to help us all get a better handle on the topic.

I am also surprised that he keeps saying that he is not a universalist when that is what this book is about. "Love Wins" is a declaration that God's love will melt all hearts eventually, and all will be saved (maybe not right away but given enough time). If you go to the mars hill website they defend that Bell is not a universalist as well, but under their "download a resources list" they list "The Inescapable Love of God" as a good resource to help the reader understand "Love Wins" better. But the book "The Inescapable Love of God" is a book arguing for universalism. So, which is it? Is Bell a universalist or not? He clearly is, but both Bell and the FAQ on the church's website say he isn't. It's a strange mixed message.

COMMON OBJECTIONS TO CHURCH PLANTING PT.2

2011-03-25T08:47:00.000-07:00

...

Fourth Concern: We Do Not Want to Neglect Foreign Missions

This concern is a vitally important one. It is too easy to neglect foreign missions. Jesus gave the great commission to us and it necessitates foreign missions. This is especially true for North Americans who have so many resources compared to the rest of the world. We are blessed by God so that we can be a blessing to others.

If we have to pick between foreign missions and church planting at home, it just seems more honorable to focus on other countries because there are so many Christians and we have so much wealth in North America. We also realize that people in other countries may have never met a Christian or heard the gospel. We remind ourselves that everyone deserves to hear the gospel at least once before we focus on those who have likely heard it many times.

Response: We Need Both Foreign and Domestic Church Planting

We recommend the model Jesus’ gave for the expansion of the church in Acts 1:8. He said to the apostles, “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” We believe in the balance reflected in these verses. We think it is good to focus where we minister, in our home setting. We also want to focus on the regions closer to us (our Judea and Samaria regions). And then we also reach out to the ends of the earth.

This paradigm means that while reaching to the ends of the earth, we also take care of our responsibilities closer to home. We believe that the church in America is in crisis. In the upcoming chapters we want to expose you to the reality that Christianity is rapidly declining here at home and we have a responsibility to do something about it. People that we love in regions other than our own in North America need new churches. Many people that we are currently pastoring in our churches will move to other regions and we want them to find healthy, vibrant churches. We have responsibilities both at home and abroad.

Fifth Concern: We Do Not Know How to Plant Churches

It often sounds very complicated when people talk about planting a church. Many of us do not know about assessments, church planter training, coaching, and the like. Some ask questions like, “Where to you find church planters?” and wonder, “How do you know that they even know how to plant a church.” Local layman and church leaders naturally think that such endeavors need to be left to professionals.

Response –A Network Will Guide You through the Process of Church Planting.

If each church worked independently, then most churches would have a hard time planting churches. But as we will show in this book, lay leaders and pastors alike learn how to do it through the processes utilized in church planting networks. Everyone learns together. And there is an extra benefit--every church leader involved has the opportunity to grow and become a better leader through the shared learning.

Our Challenge to Each Other

At the very heart of church planting is a love for the lost—those who do not know life-giving salvation. The terminology in the Bible for the destiny of the saved is heaven and for those who are lost it is hell—the truth of which is unpopular to believe and even more unpopular to live by and talk about. We believe that Jesus is the only sure way of salvation, and in light of this truth, we have two questions that we ask ourselves and other church leaders on a regular basis. We ask these questions here because they hold people back from reaching the lost—the very heart of church planting. Please consider these questions with us as we seek to describe why planting churches through networks is so important:

Do we really believe millions of people in North America are lost without Christ?

We can easily lose clarity over time. We become accustomed to the nuances of the faith and the different beliefs held by different Christians and different churches. Life itself, in all of its complexity, is sometimes hard to put together. We soon realize that we do not know the answers to all the difficult questions. As we grow older, we also realize that some of the things we used to believe turn out to be naive.

We have de-emphasized the fear of hell. We don’t hear much about hell in most churches anymore. We also tend to gravitate from the fear of God to the love of God as a motivation when we grow spiritually. If the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom (Prov. 1:7), and if our fear of hell was part of the good motivation that inspired us to turn to Christ in the beginning (Matt. 7:13-14), we soon grow out of that. Some of this is natural as we mature and become more secure with our own eternal destiny (Rom. 8:39). But it is easy to lose balance. Hell is real and many people are going there (Matt. 7:13-14). You might read that last sentence again.

We want to be tolerant. We live with a strong cultural emphasis on tolerance and inclusiveness. We do not want to be judgmental and we lose clarity about the difference between judgmentalism (Matt. 7:1-3) and making good judgments about spiritual things (Matt. 7:14-24). Our convictions get fuzzy. Many hesitate in their confidence about simple things. Is Jesus really “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6)? Is it true that “no one comes to the father, except through him”? Can we say that there is “no other name under heaven, by which people can be saved” (Acts 4:12)?

We forget that God’s Glory is at stake. The best thing for a human being is to become a genuine disciple of Jesus. But more importantly, God is worthy of their devotion. God is good and those who become disciples embrace the purpose for which they were created: to love and enjoy God and to glorify him forever (Rev. 21:1ff). God is worthy of everyone’s devotion. We need to help everyone know and glorify him.

COMMON OBJECTIONS TO CHURCH PLANTING PT1.

2011-03-19T09:58:00.000-07:00

The following material is from the book, Together: Networks and Church Planting, written by Marcus Bigelow and myself (my son Chad helped too).

We have found that North American church leaders often think that it is not their responsibility to start new churches. “It is something that national leaders should do,” they might think. Or “church planting is for evangelistic associations or para-church organizations or denominational organizations.” It is not our responsibility, right? We think there is more to consider.
We think church planting today, as it was in the book of Acts, is still the primary responsibility of local churches and the leaders they send out. It was the church in Antioch, where the Bible teaches us that, “While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’ So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.” (Acts 13: 2-3). Paul and Barnabas were sent out by the local church. We think it still works best when the local church sends out church planters. Before we paint the picture of planting churches like this today, we want to deal with some of the concerns people have about church planting.

Concerns about Church Planting

There are lots of people in Christian circles talking about church planting. You likely have lots of questions. And when you start thinking about it, you may have many concerns. There are five common questions or concerns that we face regularly. Lets get these possible objections out of the way and see if there is merit to our general assertion that “you and your church should be involved in church planting.”

First Concern: Church Planting Just Seems Like the Latest Fad
Church planting is a fad for many young leaders. Many of them seem to be giving up on traditional churches and their ways of doing things. Church planting represents the new, but will it last? The deeper questions are “Why is it so popular with younger leaders?” and “Why are they disinterested in traditional churches?” and “Why is it that so many churches have trouble retaining people in their twenties today?” When we see many godly young leaders wanting to start something new, it forces us to ask ourselves about the future and the direction of the church.

Response: Church Planting is a Biblical Response to the Needs of a Changing World
Church planting is not merely the latest fad—it’s also a biblical response that transcends current trends. The truth that lost people need new churches has always been true. We personally know hundreds of young leaders who want to plant churches or who are planting churches – and some older leaders, too. The single most dominant reason they want to plant churches is to reach lost people. They seem to be acutely aware of the needs of lost people and they desperately want to reach them.
Most of us do not realize it but there are countless communities full of people who are literally dying without Christ, and they do not have a church or a community that shows them the kingdom of God. Many leaders today, both young and old, have been captured by the present reality of the kingdom of God, and they want to break out and start new churches to reach these people. They deeply feel that if it doesn’t happen, much will be lost.
C. Peter Wagner’s oft repeated statement sums it up for many of us, "The single most effective evangelistic methodology under heaven is planting new churches." It may be that church planting seems like a new trendy thing, but maybe not. We believe so many leaders have joined in because they have come to the same conclusion: church planting is the best hope for countless numbers of lost people in our country.

Second Concern: We Need to Focus on the Growth of Our Church
Church leaders need to focus on the growth of the churches they lead. The great commission given by Jesus has been entrusted to all of us, especially the leaders of the local church. I (Bobby) understand at a person level what it is like to have limited means for supporting the growth of local churches. I currently serve a church as a lead pastor and last fall, because of various strains on our finances, I had to lay off two key staff members. These men are my friends, and I love them dearly. In such circumstances it was very tempting to cut back on spending for things such as church planting. But we could not do it. We have responsibility to the local church, but I cannot use that as an excuse to neglect the kingdom of God in the world beyond my home church. We do not have that option.
Larger churches do amazing work in establishing multiple campuses because in doing so they are reaching new people and new communities. Some have even taken the next step in the multi-site movement and have embraced the idea of establishing low cost “missional communities.” These are small mini-campuses of the church, with Christians who meet in homes and other places to live out the present reality of the kingdom of God. This kind of ministry makes it easy to rationalize, “We do not need to plant churches, because we are doing our part through the expanding campuses of our church.”

Response: We Have Obligations to both Our Local Church and the Lost World Beyond
Growing the local church is important, but we have a responsibility to the lost world beyond our locality, as well. We hope and pray for churches to grow in spirit, service, and size, through multi-site churches and missional communities, but none of these compete with church planting. It is not an either-or question--it is a both-and understanding. Both growing the local church (and her campuses) and planting churches among unreached people are important functions of each church.
There are too many lost people, too many unreached communities, and too many challenges in North America for one church to think the kingdom of God, as it is expressed in their midst, is enough. The kingdom of God is beyond the scope of any one church, no matter how big. The churches in the Bible did not think that they only had responsibility to expand the reach of the kingdom through their ministries. They sent out resources and leaders to other places, because people they would never meet needed the gospel and kingdom. And they often sent resources from poverty, not from wealth (2 Corinthians 8 & 9). The needs of kingdom growth transcend our local expression of church and what our church can do alone. God intends his kingdom to expand beyond each congregation with resources he has entrusted to them!

Third Concern: We Do Not Have the Money
We are currently living in difficult economic times. Debt is high, unemployment is high, financial insecurity is pandemic. Money is tight, causing many to say, “Our church does not have any money for church planting,” and others to say, “Church planting would cost a lot, and in addition to our current budget commitments, we have to remember our obligations to foreign missions and the poor.”
The money question is a legitimate one and personal for church leaders because it reflects their values. There are individuals and churches doing their best with limited resources. It is both unwise and unloving for outsiders to make judgments in these circumstances. And we must also remember, no one should give “reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7).

Response: Reaching People in North America May Not Be A Priority
How we use our money reflects the priorities of both individuals and the local church. “Show me your checkbook and your calendar,” We’ve heard it said, “and I will show you the things that you really value.” Most of us have at least some money for the things that are important to us. Honesty says that most churches have not made reaching North America a priority. As we will show in the next chapter, North Americans—both in the U.S. and Canada—are rapidly turning away from Christianity and planting churches is the proper response. If you join in that effort, we are convinced that God will provide the funds necessary to accomplish his mission.
While it does take finances and resources, we think it is important not to exaggerate the costs. Planting is not as expensive as some think, especially when everyone pitches in what they can, the amount adds up quickly. This is a book about planting churches “together” with other churches and even small churches make significant contributions when working together. We commonly see churches with attendances of less than one hundred make contributions to church planting. For example, in some networks, if five small churches agreed to collaborate and give ten thousand dollars per year to church planting, they could plant a church every three years. Working together can go a long way.
We must emphasize this point: collaboration is the key to limited finances. We challenge the concept of autonomy and independence when it is used to thwart inter-dependence. The churches in the Bible cooperated and collaborated together and they did more than any one of them could ever do alone. It works that way today in church planting networks. You can join with us even with few financial resources.

more to come

From Boomers to Millennials

2011-03-13T07:41:00.000-07:00

The following article is a presentation that Marcus Bigelow (President of Stadia) and I are making to church leaders around the country .....

The world is changing … fast. Born in 1953 and 1958, we are Baby-Boomer Christians. My children were born in the 1980s, which makes them Millennial Christians. Baby Boomers were the biggest generation of Americans, but Millennials are even bigger. Born from 1978 through 2000 they are the emerging opinion leaders and shapers of our culture. Along with my wife, all four Harringtons are striving to genuinely trust and follow Jesus Christ, but we have very different orientations in that pursuit. The cultural forces that have shaped us are very different.

In our church planting roles with Stadia, we are faced with the differences in the generations on a regular basis. Most pastor/ministers of mega-churches are Baby-boomers and now, more and more church planters are Millennials. These leaders are all dedicated and spirit filled in their differences. This article is a brief description of the changes in the two generations of church leaders. The following ten trends describe the transitions that many are witnessing on a regular basis. They contrasts are not absolute: but there are clear tendencies, movements, and orientations.

1. From Serving in the Church …. To Serving in the Community

Baby-boomers value the local church. Our loyalty to our denominational tribe or heritage may not have been as strong as our parents, but we love the local church. For many it has been “the hope of the world,” because it was the place focused upon “winning the lost and making disciples for Jesus.” Given our beliefs, it is natural to devote our energies to building the local church. This is the place where we serve God and use our gifts.

Millennials value the local church and are often found serving there, but they place a higher value on serving the community. They love the thought of ministering in homeless shelters, with food drives, and third world countries – or just to random people in need. And when they serve in these places, it does not matter whether or not the local church gets the credit. Service like this in Jesus’ name is what matters. Serving without strings attached is where they believe Jesus focused.

2. From an Evangelism Focus …… To a Social Justice Focus

Babyboomer Christians focus on evangelism. One of our favorite verses is Luke 19:10 which tells us that Jesus came to “seek and save the lost.” We resonate with statements like, “lost people matter to God,” and “helping people cross the line from unbelief to faith motivates my life.” We believe that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Light, and that no one comes to the Father, except through Him (John 14:6). Without faith in Jesus Christ, people are eternally lost, we believe. Nothing is more important to us

Millennials agree that being eternally cut off from Christ is tragic, but they are not focused upon that reality. Their generation is more naturally attuned to the struggles of the hurting and disadvantaged. As Christians, they struggle with materialism and the compromise with it that they believe Babyboomers made. Furthermore, they cannot neglect that great number of passages in the Bible where God has told us to focus on the poor and disadvantaged. Page after page in the Bible, they point out, God has told us to remember the poor.

To be clear, there is not a clear delineation between the two, but there are trends. The leaders in the Babyboomer generation were all about evangelism: as the ministries of Billy Graham, Bill Hybels, and Rick Warren demonstate. Similarly, the leaders in the Millennial generation are all about social action: as the ministries of Shane Claiborn, Francis Chan, Rob Bell, and David Platt emphasize.

3. From Doctrinal Clarity ….. To Embracing Doctrinal Ambiguity

Babyboomers came to faith at the pinnacle of the modern era. Logic, facts, and science reigned supreme in the intellectual world of our youth, and we responded with a well-thought-out faith. If intellectual clarity was the goal of the modern university, doctrinal clarity was the goal for preaching and teaching. Great learning was applied to simplify, explain, and apply the great doctrines of the faith. Perhaps not as sectarian as our fathers in the faith, we were still committed to truth and doctrinal clarity.

Millennials do not reject doctrine and they value a certain amount of doctrinal clarity, even doctrinal bluntness. They just think truth claims and doctrinal systems have been over-rated and over-stated. They do not gravitate to tidy packages of doctrine or easy grand explanations. They are content to live with doctrinal ambiguity and loose ends. Trained to think in a post-modern world, they know that they are always many different perspectives, many different angles, and personal bias behind truth claims. They like to major on the majors and allow each other freedom to differ. Any perceptions of even slight judgmentalism or claims of “having worked it all out” are hard for millennials to accept.

4. From Church Program Centric …. To People/Relationship Centric

Babyboomers love to build bigger and better churches and strong church programs. Strong preaching, worship, children’s ministry, student ministries and the like are the focus. With the implied or explicit thought that “the local church is the hope of the world,” it only makes sense to build the best possible church with the best possible church programs. Countless hours, dollars, and strategic energy units are focused upon building the church.

Millennials like strong churches, but they are interested more in relationships and personal development. Instead of asking “how many show up,” or “how much did they give” or “how big are the buildings,” Millennials want to know about the relationships experienced and what is happening to the lives of the people involved. The focus is not even on the church in this equation. When evaluating leaders, Bible studies, and Christian gatherings of various sorts, they are seeking that which will help them engage with one another, the world, and make a difference. They want to know if the leader or gathering represents that which they value …. and will it help them become the type of person that they want to become. They love relationships with leaders and older people if it is personal, and especially if it involves mentors, nurturers, coaches, and spiritual guidance in a personal or small group context. When it does not involve or touch them personally, they have less interest.

5. From Church-centered …. To Kingdom of God Centered

Many Baby boomers were taught that either The Church equals The Kingdom or The Church is somehow tied up in The Kingdom. Consistent with their other beliefs, described above, this led Baby-boomers to focus upon the church as the place to proclaim the gospel, serve God, and reach the lost. The Christian life was often church-centeric. Good things are to happen in the church: the lost will be saved, lives will be enhanced, obedience will be engendered and God’s Kingdom will expand.

Millennials have been raised with clarity that the Kingdom of God is the reign and rule of God. The Kingdom expresses itself in the church, but the Kingdom is also expressed beyond the walls of the church – in the hearts of men and women at work in the world, ministering to the poor, working in the schools, teaching the gospel in coffee shops, serving God in business, and seeking to change the powers and authorities through political means.

6. From Programming Excellence …… to Authenticity, Relate-ability, and Story

Many Babyboomers related to Willow Creek Community Church’s Bill Hybels oft told story of his attempts to reach his unchurched friends before becoming a church leader himself. With sadness he described their perceptions of church as “boring,” “dull,” and irrelevant.” In reaction to the dead traditionalism and institution of the churches that they grew up in, Boomers sought to create exciting, inspiriting church services. Excellence was the mantra of the day: in preaching, music, drama, children’s programming, etc.,. It became a sin was to be boring and less than professional in all that was done.

Millenials like good programming, but they definitely do not like it when a church service feels like a show. They reject anything that seems inauthentic, plastic and un-real. Growing up in a world full of divorce, broken families, and broken promises, they prefer honest, genuine simplicity. Transparency in dealing with the real world and real problems, by real people means more than excellence to them. They long for leaders and churches who embrace authenticity and relateability.

7. From Highlighting Truth Differences ….. to Minimizing Truth Differences (being inclusive)

Most babyboomers developed their understanding of Biblical truth at the end of the modern era. The modern area loved the concept of truth and enlightenment. In their quest to understand things and make sense of Bible truth, Boomers have a tendency to preach about “propositions,” many enjoying summary categorization and alliteration. This quest for truth often divided or resulted in simplistic overstatements. Perhaps less denominational than their parents, Boomers embraced an optimism that logic, enlightened thought, and teaching would help people to see and embrace God’s path.

To many Millennials, being focused on defining what and who is right also means focusing on where others are wrong. Millennials oftern reject that overstatements of truth and oversimplification of complex issues they see at the hands of Babyboomers. They are post-moderns who know that most issues defy neat packaging and summary solutions. They dislike it when leaders and speaker act like they have it all figured out. They gravitate to those who humble speak the truth and include others. Embracing and acknowledging diversity among people and ideas are key. They enjoy to inviting lots of people into the process and showing respect for the honest differences that exist

8. From Mission and Accomplishment ….. to Values, Story, and Art

Babyboomers uphold truth and mission. They want to accomplish significant things for God. Purpose Driven Churches and Purpose Driven lives, according to Boomers, result in success and accomplishment. The mega church came of age during the time of Boomers because bigger was better. Better programming, better accomplishments, and reaching more people defined their goals. Management and organizational gifts are very important in the churches that have been established. Sometimes the church can feel more like a corporation, with a pastor/minister that is a CEO, but these tendencies are necessary if a church is to grow and reach more and more people for Christ.

“Being” is more important to Millennial Christians than “doing.” Stated differently, “who you” are is more important than “what you do.” Image conscious, sometimes to a fault, Millennials are oriented around good art, good taste, and good expressions of the faith. Anxious not be categorized as “intolerant,” “judgmental,” or “anti-people” (gay or whatever) they shy away from any image of the faith that might lead them to feel embarrassed with their peers. At the same time, Millennials are willing to sacrifice it all to make a difference. If they have rejected the negative stereo-type of Christianity found in the worst expressions of Boomer Christianity, they will easily rise to the challenge of doing something heroic for God. They want what is real, authentic, and life changing …. and when they see it, they will gladly and willing give up what they have for it. The biggest mistake with Millennials is to neglect their willingness to be heroic in the cause of Christ.

9. From Loyalty to Denominational Heritage (Religious Tribe) ….. to Loyalty to Personal Relationship and Personal Causes

I developed an adult faith in the context of multiple faith traditions within the evangelical church. Because I was taught to pursue and value truth, I learned to take a stand for what I understood the Bible to teach. Those teachings were often different on secondary points than various other evangelical denominations, who differed with each other even more. At the end of the modern era, most evangelical groups defined themselves according to a set of “hard won” beliefs, Biblical insights and practices shared within their distinctive tradition that were not the same as others. The Pentecostals and Charismatics spoke in tongues, the Nazarenes upheld personal holiness, the Churches of Christ maintained the ancient practice of baptism as the normative mode for conversion, etc.,. Boomer recognized Christians in other denominational tribes, but maintained a loyalty to the people and truths they had come to find in their own.

Millennials hold relationships and personal causes as more important than denominational distinctives. They will often stay within their heritage if the relationships are strong and they can find causes to which they personally relate. But the traditional categories do not mean as much to them. They grew up in a world where their needs were primary to their parents. So they now approach their faith in that same way. Key to Millennials are the personal relationships they experience and shared personal values which they hold with their leaders and churches. They want to be involved in causes that they can believe in …. and if they do not find such causes they will not be personally engaged and they will not give their money to support the church. If they have good relationships within a faith community, if the values of the leaders reflect their personal values, and if they are actively involved in causes to which they relate, Millennials will be very committed. Without these elements, Millennials will move on.

10. From Mom, Dad, and the Kids (Nuclear) ….. to Broken, Fragmented, and Diverse Families

Boomer Churches were often set up to reach the ideal Boomer family: Mom, Dad, and their 2.5 kids. From strong children’s ministries, to men’s and women’s groups and events, to helpful teaching on marriage and the family, these churches developed a full programming menus. The bigger the church, the more capable it is at meeting the programming needs of each person in the ideal nuclear family. The ideal family was not often the real-world family, so more and more Boomer Churches set out to help people with the heart-breaking realities of life. Now more and more, you will find programs to help with “Divorce Care,” “Financial Peace,” to “The 12 Steps,” “Single Parenting,” and Blended Families.”

More and more churches are waking up to the reality that the nuclear family is now broken and living arrangements are diverse. In 2008, for the first time in American history, there were more single adult women than married women. More and more people are putting off marriage until later, choosing to live together (contrary to the Bible), and experiencing divorce. Where the church is healthy, as we move into the future, it will be addressing and reflecting this diversity. The needs of single parents, for example, are different than married parents. The ministry patterns of the past will simply not be able to address the needs of a diverse population in the future.

Relationship

2011-03-04T13:55:00.000-08:00

Jim Putman just sent this to me ... and I edited it just a bit... What do you think?

Relationship. Jesus said that all of the scriptures are summed up in loving God and others. In other words, its all about relationship. Our relationship with God was broken because of sin and it resulted in broken relationships amongst humans. The whole redemptive story is about what God was willing to do to bridge the gap; he loved us and showed his love through Jesus and his Cross. As a result of His work in those who believe, we are able to have relationships with God and others as well. Relationship is key to the Christian experience for many reasons. Our relationships are to reflect Christ-like love, which is not focused on feelings, but expressive of our will. First, we are to love people as God loves us and them. The most loving thing we can ever do for someone is to help them become a disciple. This is why we were told to make disciples. Jesus sent us out not just with a task but with a method he modeled for us. He loved people by inviting them to be with Him and as they joined Him He invested in them. To make disciples best we must use the methods Jesus gave us. They will work for all people in all times. Secondly, this kind of relationship is not just the best methodology for making disciples but our ability to have true and right relationships is proof that we are becoming mature disciples. A mature disciple is one who loves well. Paul said if we know all mysteries and have great skill but don’t love we are nothing. A real mature disciple of Jesus is growing in his or her capacity to be in relationship. Thirdly, as Christians our ability to be in relationships with other believers in a broken and lonely world is evidence to people that Jesus is who He said He was. Oh yes we have wonderful evidence of many kinds…eye witness accounts, miracles, blessings in many ways, but our ability to have what everyone in the world longs for…relationship…is a draw to lonely people. Jesus said that we would be known for our love of one another. Lonely people long for relationship like a thirsty man in the desert longs for water. We show them that they can find what they are looking for with us. Lastly, relationship is one of our means for completing the mission that God gave us. We are better together because there is strength, support, protection, warmth, together. There is a better return for our labor. Jesus did not just send us out to do something but He sent us out to be something with others. As we do it together we are filled up. Oh yes this comes as the Spirit fills us and as we feed on the Word of God, but it also happens as we carry one another’s burdens and we build each other up …Relationship is key to our success and as the church seemingly has swapped information for relationship, we no longer see the results that God promised us we would have. The gates of hell can not prevail against His church…not any church…His church.

The Real State of Church Involvement in North America

2011-02-27T03:04:00.000-08:00

David Olson, in the American Church in Crisis, says church attendance is, in reality, way down in the US. The Barna Research Group and Gallup pollsters conducted surveys recently about church attendance—Barna found that 47 percent of the Americans surveyed said they were weekly attendees to a church and Gallup found it to be closer to 44 percent. Note, these two studies based their surveys on what people said about their attendance.

Olson's American Church Research Project, however, claims a much lower percentage actually attended church during that year, showing that in 2005 - in reality - only 17.5 percent of Americans attended an “orthodox expression of a Christian church on any given weekend” (including evangelical, mainline and catholic churches). Why such a discrepancy? The halo effect is why. It doesn’t just affect religious polls—sociologist say it affects polls having to do with politics, as well.

The halo effect is an ironical way of describing how people make themselves appear better than they are when being interviewed and it skews statistics. Not everyone tells the truth. Olson cites the US election of 1996 as a good example of the halo effect. After election polls showed that 58 percent of the adult population said they voted. In reality, however, only 49 percent actually voted (28). So, Barna’s statstic that 47 percent of Americans were weekly church attendees is probably not the true story.

Through more qualitative research and analysis, including follow up and visiting churches, those going to church semi-regularly (at least once a month) is 33 percent of Americans, and those who go to church every week is 17.5 percent of the population, about half as many who go semi-regularly (28). Statistics are not the tell-all sign of spiritual vitality, but they reveal a significant aspect of the American spiritual climate.

Why Plant Churches?

2011-02-26T10:14:00.000-08:00

My son and Marc Bigelow (president of Stadia) and I are writing a book on church planting networks ... here is part of what we write.

As Dave Olson demonstrated in his ground breaking book, The American Church in Crisis, an estimated 82% of Americans today do not attend church on any given Sunday, which is also why Josh McDowell described young Christians today as The Last Christian Generation. Although it is hard to peg comparable statistical studies like Olson's and McDowell's in Canada, most Canadian church leaders will say that they decline is even worse. Canada's foremost sociology of religion expert, Reginald Bibby, has demonstrated that Canadians may not be turning away from belief in "a god or gods," but they are turning away from church at a fast rate. If current trends hold, North Americans are following Europe in turning away from church and orthodox Christianity. This situation is tragic. God’s heart for the nations beats just as strong today as it did two thousand years ago. And His kingdom is just as important as it was back then. Why plant churches in America? Because North Americans need Jesus and they need local churches that transform lives and communities in His name!

Restore Training Network Internships

2010-06-01T09:53:00.001-07:00

What is Restore Training Network?

Restore is a new Missional training center committed to restoring Jesus’ mission. In my role with Stadia (www.stadia.cc) and as the lead pastor of Harpeth Community Church (www.harpethcc.com), I am focused on developing excellence in Missional Christianity. Restore is not only committed to missional Christianity, but most importantly, discipleship, and ministry multiplication. Restore focuses on two things:

1) training leaders, and
2) providing internships for future church planters.

Restore is a research and development center for Missional practices and leadership.

What is Missional Christianity?

A Short Answer "Jesus told us to go into all the world and be his ambassadors, but many churches today have inadvertently changed the "go and be" command to a "come and see" appeal. We have grown attached to buildings, programs, staff and a wide variety of goods and services designed to attract and entertain people. . . . "Missional is a helpful term used to describe what happens when you and I replace the "come to us" invitations with a "go to them" life. A life where "the way of Jesus" informs and radically transforms our existence to one wholly focused on sacrificially living for him and others and where we adopt a missionary stance in relation to our culture. It speaks of the very nature of the Jesus follower." ---Rick Meigs

What Kind of Leader Training Does Restore Offer?

We will provide seminars in missional Christianity and discipleship for the leaders of local and national churches. Additionally, we will partner with other missional organizations like Missio (www.missio.org), Forge (www.forgue.au.com), and Hope University to provide online classes and training. We will also provide gatherings, where leaders will come from various churches to discuss best practices in serving the poor, reaching lost people, and discipleship. Scott McKnight, Ph.D., the highly regarded writer (The Jesus Creed) and thought leader will speak at the first Restore seminar, January 21-23rd, 2011 just before he goes to speak at the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta.

What Kind of Internships are Offered at Restore?

We hope to invite 2 to 4 highly qualified young leaders to come and serve as interns of Restore, as early as September 1st, 2010. In the ideal, interns will have university degrees and aptitude in serving and reaching people. As interns, they will be “missionaries of Restore” to various communities in the greater Nashville area, including areas where poverty is dominant or where people living for Christ are rare. Their ministry will start with a focus on creating “missional small groups.” Here are some bullet-point summaries of what interns will experience.

-A Nine Month Program - includes room and board with host families
-Part-time Jobs - Interns will be required to obtain part-time jobs in or with the communities they are seeking to reach.
-10 hours of Weekly Training (mostly online) including involvement with Restore leadership
-Focus on Reproduction/Fruitfulness - in missional small groups, evangelism, discipleship, reproduction will be the focus.
-From Fruitfulness to Church Planters - after internships, Restore will help place fruitful missional leaders to be working with or leading church plants throughout North America in partnership with Stadia.

How Does a Person Apply for an Internship?

Send applicants to bob.harrington@mac.com. Interns may start as early as September 1st. Applicants need to send in the following:

1. A complete resume,
2. University transcripts,
3. A five page statement describing one’s personal conversion and faith,
4. A two page summary describing aptitude for missional practices, evangelism, and discipleship,
5. Areas of agreement or disagreement with HCC’s faith statement, and
6. A two page summary of future goals (after the internship).

What is the Future Vision for Restore?

In 5 to 10 years, Restore and her partner churches are raising up an army of 20 something, missional leaders and helping transform dozens of established churches every year. We are populating church plants around North America with leaders who have developed missional competency through the training and hands-on-experience they received through Restore. These young leaders have developed effective ministries to the poor, refugees, the creative class, and gay and lesbian communities (among others). The energy, commitment to Christ, and competency they display reflects the discipleship and training that they have uniquely experienced through Restore.

Missional versus Consumer Church

2010-03-06T20:36:00.000-08:00

The Church needs to rediscover itself as the people of God through whom the Holy Spirit works to impact the world, and ‘break in’ the kingdom of God. When the Church is seen as the instrument of God’s activity in the world, then the focus moves off ourselves - breaking us out of the ‘consumer mind set’, turning us outwards as mission people

… everything would then begin to change......

 People won’t ‘go to Church’, but will ‘be the Church’ - a group of people less interested in programmes and events, and more focused Christ and his activity in the world
 Our Sunday focus will shift from planning events that give people a specific experience, and be more about equipping people for kingdom living through the week..
 People will naturally want to feed themselves on the Bible and be devoted in prayer, since it will be perceived and believed that our relationship with Jesus is our own responsibility to grow. (1 Peter 3.15-16)
 People will more naturally see the Church, not as a building that we go to for certain things, but as a community of faith - a family - with whom we share a journey, with all its struggles, joys, difficulties and encouragements. (Acts 2.42 ff)
 People will come to believe that the needs of strangers, newcomers and fledgling believers take precedence over their own needs..
 We will see ourselves as ambassadors of Jesus (2 Corinthians 5.20) - seeking to incarnate the values of Jesus in all that we say and do.
 Evangelism will naturally become a part of the fabric of who we are
 Genuine and deep rooted every member ministry will move from being a theory to a reality and an expectation of all, including new people.
 Parents will take responsibility for the spiritual growth of their families and children, supported and equipped by the wider church community (Deut 6.4-9)
 We will naturally have a greater concern for social justice, poverty, injustice and the needy, as an expression and fruit of our mission orientation.

There is no way that a ‘Consumer church’ can produce ‘Missional Christians’
Equally a ‘Missional Church’ will not produce ‘Consumer Christians’.
Both go against the nature of that model of Church.
But becoming a missional Church requires more than a statement , or a piece of paper - it needs nothing less than a fundamental metamorphosis in the entire fabric of the Church

The Garden of Eden

2010-02-17T12:54:00.000-08:00

When God first created human beings, they were persons who had not yet experienced sin, and who dwelled in his presence in Eden. Scholars debate the extent to which the Biblical accounts of creation and the Garden of Eden are literal or symbolic. No doubt there are elements of both. But, strong Bible believers take different approaches on this point, while affirming that there is no final conflict between the “facts” of science and the Genesis record. There is an almost universal consensus that the primary purpose of the account of Adam and Eve in Eden is to show the original sweet relationship between a loving God and a sinless people, and then the human race’s fall into sin. This is the main point upon which we will focus.

After God, man appears first in the narrative because the book of Genesis wants to display that God, in his love, provided for all of the man’s needs in Eden. Whenever Eden is referred to in the Bible, it is pictured as a wonderful place: a fertile area, a well-watered oasis with large trees, etc. (Isaiah 51:3; Ezekiel 31:9).

God personally created the man first and placed him in the garden (Genesis 2:7,8). God made the garden in such a way that it was beautiful and full of good food (2:9). God spoke directly to the man, known to us as Adam (which literally means “man” in Hebrew), and described for him the gracious provisions that he had provided in the garden (2:16). The Lord created the man to work and to care for the world, and he was specifically assigned to these roles in the Garden (2:15). At this point it was joyous labor. Commensurate with man’s rule over the earth, was man’s dominion over the earth’s creatures. Therefore, God brought the animals to the man to see what the man would name them (2:19,20). The man named each of the animals, and in doing so took up his leadership role.

But there was something lacking. God noticed that the man was lonely. And so he stated, “it is not good for man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him” (2:18). Then God cre¬ated woman (2:21–24). The narrative brilliantly depicts God’s loving and miraculous cre¬ation: God took a part of the man and transformed it into a partner for him. When Adam realized that God had created such a wonderful partner for him, he exclaimed “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, for she was taken out of man.” Several writers have commented on the creation of Eve, but the best words belong to Matthew Henry:
Not made out of his head to top him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be loved.

No doubt, this was the most loving and perfect gift that God could provide.

Moses, the writer of Genesis, wrote so that we could see how God provided for the man’s every need. This is the way that God intended it to be between himself and humankind (2:9; 3:22).
The Cosmic Decision

Like all truly meaningful relationships it was necessary to establish boundaries. Adam and Eve were not programmed like computers — the last thing that God wanted to do was to compel their love for him. But they were given one restriction: they could not reach out and ingest the knowledge of good and evil:
And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” (Genesis 2:16,17)

These words were serious and to the point. If the man and woman chose to violate this one term of the relationship, disaster would ensue (Genesis 3:2,3).

Soon, a new character entered into the scene. According to a literal reading of the story, he was a serpent (3:1). In reality, however, he was much more than a serpent — he was crafty, he could speak, and he subtly twisted God’s words. A later Biblical writer would refer to this serpent as the devil, or Satan — enemy of both man and God (Revelation 12:9; 20:2). At this point, however, neither Eve, nor Adam, realized his true nature.

The serpent began by talking to the woman. He used three devices in an attempt to turn the woman against God and to cause her to doubt God's words.

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?’” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3: l-5)

As his first device, the serpent twisted God’s words to make it look as if God was overbearing and unreasonable. He implied that God had told them that they could not eat from any tree in the garden (3:1). The truth of the matter was that there was only one tree whose fruit they could not eat. When that ploy didn’t work, Satan then contested God’s truthfulness — he said God’s promised punishment would not happen (3:4). Then, thirdly — he accused God of bad motives. According to the serpent, God wanted to keep both Adam and Eve from being "gods" ¬¬— he unfairly wanted Adam and Eve to be his perpetual inferiors (3:5).

It didn’t take long for the serpent’s deception to have an impact on the woman. She started to look long and hard at the fruit. She noticed that it was good for food and pleasing to look at (3:6). More importantly, it could give her wisdom — perhaps even wis¬dom that would make her a "god,” “independent,” just like the Lord God. The woman gave in to the temptation and ate the fruit.

During the whole scene the man had been passively at the woman’s side (3:6). The man was the one to whom God had given the restriction directly. He was responsible to exercise some leadership in this situation. But he remained passive. The man listened to the discussion between his wife and the serpent without saying anything. Then, finally, after the woman had eaten the fruit, the man chose to follow her example by eating the fruit himself.

Things changed instantly. Whereas the couple had previously been naked without concern (a metaphor for their innocence), they instantly realized that they were naked and full of shame (3:7). They covered themselves up, then they hid (3:7,10). Denial, deception, and blame entered into human history for the first time. They were guilty.

The man was confronted first by God, and the man in turn blamed the woman. He also indirectly blamed God, because it was God who had created the woman to be his companion — he referred to her as “the woman you put here with me” (3:12). Then, when God spoke to the woman, she denied her responsibility by blaming the serpent. Neither of them owned up to committing an act of rebellion against God. The repercussions of their rebellion would be far-reaching and universal for the human race.

Questions about Women Lead Minister/Pastors and Elders

2009-08-21T10:21:00.000-07:00

1 Timothy 2 & 3 raise lots of questions for thoughtful people. It is important to know what to believe about men and women and ministry. Here are my top recommended resources.

The One Best website: www.cbmw.org (Council of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, top internet site for practical and in-depth study of the topic)

The Two Best (in-depth) Books: 1. Women in the Church: An Analysis and Application of 1 Timothy 2:9-15 by Andreas J. Köstenberger and Thomas R. Schreiner, and 2. Evangelical Feminism & Biblical Truth, Wayne Grudem.

The Three Best (in-depth and available in HCC offices) Articles: “Evangelical Feminism: The New Path to Liberalism,” Wayne Grudem; “Key Issues in the Manhood and Womanhood Debate,” Wayne Grudem; and “Pastor-Elders in a Biblically Functioning Church,” Bob Harrington

Revised HCC Faith Statement

2009-07-01T10:06:00.000-07:00

HCC Faith Statements (Revised, June 2009)

At Harpeth Community Church we believe that Biblical teachings can be understood at three levels. First, there are 1. Essential teachings, those which are necessary for salvation and a right standing with God. These teachings are so vitally important that they determine where people stand in eternity. Secondly, there are 2. Important teachings. These are teachings which are necessary for our faithfulness to God and healthy, biblical Christianity. They are important, but, by themselves, they do not determine an eternal right standing with God (as long as the faith behind them is genuine). This level provides context where we may differ with other Christians and other congregations. And lastly, there are, 3. Personal teachings, where, as individuals we differ on relative or disputable truths—things that Christians in the same church do not always agree upon, but must conscientiously uphold and practice as they believe to be right. The following faith statement does not explicitly define the exact teachings at each of the three levels, but it points to teachings which are held at these levels.

Statements we hold to and which point to what
we believe to be Essential and Important Elements of our Faith.

1. God. We believe in one God, creator of all things, infinitely perfect and eternally existing in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

2. Jesus Christ. We believe that Jesus Christ is true God and true man, having been conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He died on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins according to the Scriptures. We believe he was raised from the dead, ascended into heaven, and now acts as the only mediator between God and people. He shall come again, personally and visibly, to complete His saving work and to consummate the eternal plan of God.

3. The Holy Spirit. We believe the Holy Spirit applies to people the saving work of Christ. He brings conviction of a person's need for forgiveness and he leads that person to Christ. Those who truly embrace the Lord Jesus Christ by grace through faith are regenerated by and baptized in the Holy Spirit. He regenerates their heart and permanently indwells them. His ongoing work is to guide, lead, and empower the believer for godly living and service.

4. Humanity. We believe that people were created in the image of God for a loving relationship with God in His eternal kingdom. However, people have rebelled against God, actively or passively choosing to go their own independent way. Thus we are alienated from God and suffer the corruption of our nature because of our sin. The effects of this fall from our intended relationship with God can only be reversed through faith in Jesus Christ, the power of the Holy Spirit, and life in God’s eternal Kingdom.

5. Salvation. We believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross to save us from separation from God and the eternal penalty of sin. At the end of the age, the bodies of the dead shall be raised. Those saved by Jesus Christ shall enter into full possession of eternal bliss in the presence of God, and the lost shall be condemned to eternal punishment and death. No amount of good works or human effort can restore us from our state of eternal alienation from God. It is only by God's free grace that we are saved from this state of alienation, and this grace is appropriated by personal faith, through a change of heart toward God's leadership in our lives, by reliance on Jesus and His cross to forgive our sins, and a commitment to follow God through him. The normative Biblical way for expressing one’s personal decision to place faith in Jesus Christ, turn from sin, and commit oneself to the path of being a Christ-follower (disciple) involves a verbal confession of belief and water baptism by immersion, which re-enacts the burial and resurrection of Christ. Baptism is the concrete means by which we entrust and commit ourselves to God through Christ in a visible, historical, and covenant making moment.

6. Faith. Those with genuine faith in Jesus Christ are known by their warm heart for God and faithfulness to God’s commandments. Love for others displayed in ministering to the poor, reaching out to those who are eternally lost, service, the practice of forgiveness, and the like are all signs of the presence of God’s kingdom and ministry of the Holy Spirit within a person. In short, those with true faith are known through the demonstration of faithfulness and Christ-likeness.

7. The Bible. We believe the 66 books of the Bible, in both Old and New Testaments, were given by God's inspiration as the authoritative Word of God for the church of all time. We believe the Scriptures originated with God but were written by the instrumentality of people and thus speak with the authority of God while reflecting the backgrounds, formats, and vocabularies of the human authors. They are the uniquely supreme, reliable, and the final authority on all matters of Christian faith and practice.

8. Relationships. We believe that God made us for relationships, with God himself and with our fellow human beings. We emphasize the greatest commandment which is to love God with all of one’s heart, mind, soul, and strength and to love others as oneself. And the second greatest commandment is like it, as we love all others. Specifically, 0ur love for each other, as Christians, is the clearest demonstration to the world that we are true disciples. Love is the answer to our deepest problems: God’s love for us and our love for others, as God loves and empowers us.

9. The Church. We believe that there is only one true Church universal composed of all people who have been regenerated and forgiven by Jesus Christ. Discipleship is the fundamental ministry of the local church which facilitates the development of Christ-like people. The diversity of all believers working and serving together, using their gifts to build up one another, form the parts of the body of Christ, the Church. The scripture commands believers to gather together for the teaching of God's Word, fellowship, prayer, encouragement, and those things which enable the people to glorify God. There is benefit in partaking of the Lord’s Supper on a weekly basis, as we are constantly brought back to Christ, his atoning death, his future coming, and God’s grace. Wherever God's people meet in obedience to these commands, there is a local expression of the church. We believe that Jesus Christ is the Lord and Head of the Church, and that every local church has the obligation to seek to appoint godly male pastors/elders and preachers, who lead her, as they rely upon God’s wisdom and daily guidance.

Statements we hold to and which point to how we live out our
essential and important beliefs, and as they may relate to
and impact personal beliefs.

1. Baptism – we believe that baptism by immersion is to becoming a Christian, as the wedding ceremony is to getting married. In both, the genuine commitment of the heart is the focus, while the form for making the covenant is important. We believe that expressing faith in Christ through baptism is the normative mode given by God so a person can receive God’s promises in Jesus and commit himself or herself to the path of discipleship. We emphasize two things: God looks at the heart and his teaching on baptism is to be upheld by the local church. So, we acknowledge on the one had that scripture binds us to uphold this normative biblical teaching before membership in this church, and on the other hand, we also acknowledge that God looks at the heart, He is sovereign, and He saves people as he sees fit.

Behavior that Unifies
• We uphold baptism by immersion, with confession of faith is the normative method which enables a person to give his or her heart to God, trust Jesus, and become a Christ-follower (disciple) at this church.
• We uphold baptism is a requirement before formal affiliation with this church family.
• We emphasize that God is sovereign and looks at the heart, so we acknowledge and believe that there are circumstances where God does save people, apart from the normative mode of biblical baptism.

2. Eternal Security: Some believe that when God saves a person, they can never be lost. These believers usually hold that those who are truly saved are known by the fruit of their lives or their faithfulness. Others believe that when God saves people, they still have free will that can lead them to become apostates who turn their backs on Jesus. These believers hold that a person is saved by grace through faith and we can know we have a saving faith by the fruit of our lives and a pattern of faithfulness. Both perspectives affirm that genuine Christians can live with ongoing sin struggles. In the end, both believe that the church must reach out to those who seem to be losing the way – some question whether these persons were ever saved; others question whether these persons are in danger of turning away from Jesus. At this church both perspectives can be united if we commit to uphold the necessity of faithfulness as the mark of genuine faith and we agree to reach out to all who seem to be losing the way.

Arminian Perspective:
• Arminians believe salvation can be gained and lost.
• Arminians do not believe that a bad decision means you lose your salvation.
• The way you can tell a person is a Christian is by their fruit.

Scripture References: Luke 15; Romans 11:22-23; Hebrews 6:4-7; 2 Peter 2:20

Calvinist Perspective:
• Calvinists believe God chooses some to be saved and some to be lost.
• Calvinists believe salvation cannot be lost as it was given by God.
• Calvinists do not believe you can do whatever you want and be a Christian.
• If a person is not showing fruit and growth, then they were likely never saved to begin with.
Scripture References: John 10:28; Romans 8:29-30; 1 John 2:9

The Non-Negotiables at this church:

• We do not believe that this subject constitutes a salvation issue.
• You can believe the Arminian perspective and be wrong and still be saved.
• You can believe that Calvinistic perspective and be wrong and still be saved.
• We uphold that genuine faith is revealed by showing fruit and growth and faithfulness.

Behavior that Unifies at this church:

• We will teach and uphold the importance of salvation by grace through faith, with faithfulness as the mark of genuine faith.
• With love and concern, we will reach out to all who seem to be losing the way.
• We will show respect for both Arminian and Calvinistic perspectives at this church.
• We will not allow the discussion of a non-salvation issue like this to come up in a divisive way or to destroy the Lord’s work.

3. Leadership – we believe it is important to appoint leaders according biblical criteria and roles. The local churches of the Bible had a common structure, designed to be a lasting format, and put in place so that churches could carry on, as God intended, without the apostles (1 Timothy 3:14-16).

1. Minister-Evangelists – these are the lead ministers in a local church. Timothy was an evangelist who worked with the church in Ephesus. The apostle Paul wrote two letters to him, outlining his role as an evangelist and how the church should be structured (1 & 2 Timothy). Titus was another evangelist who also received a letter with similar instructions for his work on the island of Crete (Titus). Until the church is mature enough to appoint elders, it is to be led by an evangelist.

2. Elders- After the church have been established, it will reach maturity and elders are to be appointed. These are older and wiser Christian men called “elders”, “pastors” or “overseers” – these three terms all refer to the same group of men (1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9; 1 Peter 5:1-4). These men are given the responsibility of “watching over,” “protecting,” “guiding,” “leading,” “teaching,” and “equipping” the church. According to the Bible, some of the elders are paid (1 Timothy 5:17), but most work as volunteers.

We believe that the Bible teaches male servant leadership in the home and in the church. In The Church -- In many ways the church is a larger community which reflects the family. Here God has ordained that only qualified men should assume authority and teaching roles for the entire congregation. We understand congregational authority to refer to formal leadership decisions and policies which lead and set direction for the congregation (elders). We understand congregational teaching to be teaching which leads and sets direction for the congregation (Evangelist/Minister/Elders). We also believe that the best leadership will be given by men who receive input from women and who discuss things with the congregation before important decisions are made (1 Corinthians 11: 3-16; 14: 33-36; 1 Timothy 2: 8-3: 12; Titus 1: 4-9).

4. Spiritual Gifts – Few areas of theology within the church have caused more division than the subject of spiritual gifts. Some in our church believe all of the spiritual gifts spoken of in 1 Corinthians 12-14 are for today. Others believe some of the gifts are for today. And, there are those who believe none of the gifts are for today. You can see the potential problems.
The Non-Negotiables at this church:

• We do not believe that this subject constitutes a salvation issue.
• You can believe some of the gifts are for today and be wrong and still be saved.
• You can believe that all of the gifts are for today and be wrong and still be saved.
• You can believe that none of the gifts are for today and be wrong and still be saved.

Remember, for those who believe that the gifts are present today, the Spirit of God does not work contrary to the Word of God. The following are Scripture references for churches where the gift of tongues and prophecy are used.

• If someone speaks in a tongue, it will be one at a time. 1 Corinthians 14:27,33,40
• There must be an interpreter. 1 Corinthians 14:28
• There must be one who discerns whether it comes from God. 1 Corinthians 14:28-33; 1 John 4:1
• If it is a prayer language, there is a place to pray. Matthew 6:6
• All the gifts must be used to edify the church, not the individual. 1 Corinthians 14:4-5,26
• No one has all the gifts, but the church is to be a body. 1 Corinthians 12:27-30

Behavior that Unifies at this church:

• Because this is a non-salvation area of contention between believers, we will not encourage tongues in any of the gatherings of the church.
• We will not allow the discussion of a non-salvation issue like this to come up in a divisive way or to destroy the Lord’s work.
• We do believe God does miracles and answers our prayer and through the work of the Holy Spirit, empowers us to serve Him and do good works.

5. End Times – there are some key areas where all faithful Christians must agree in regard to the end times and other areas where faithful Christian disagree with each others. We believe we must be united in our belief in 1) the resurrection of the dead, 2) a literal return of Christ, 3) the final judgment by God, 4) hell and 5) heaven. We believe people will either exist eternally separated from God by sin, or eternally with God through forgiveness and salvation. To be eternally separated from God is eternal death in Hell. To be eternally in union with Him is eternal life in Heaven. Heaven and Hell are real places of eternal existence. We also believe there will be a literal rapture (a catching up of the saints). How and when this will happen has been a source of great debate. We believe the details are in God’s hands and this is not a salvation issue.
Scripture References: Matthew 12:36; John 5:22, 16:8; 2 Corinthians 5:10; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; 2 Peter 3:7; Jude 6; Revelation 20:11-15.

The Non-Negotiables at this church:

• Beyond the five key end times beliefs described above, we do not believe that this subject constitutes a salvation issue.
• You can believe the pre-millenial, post-millianial, a-millenial postions and be wrong and still be saved.

Behavior that Unifies at this church:

• Because end times teachings beyond the five key doctrines listed above is a non-salvation area, we will teach on these matters in ways that show respect for the those who differ with us.
• We will not allow the discussion of a non-salvation issue like this to come up in a divisive way or to destroy the Lord’s work.

6. Communion – we take communion every week at the church because it follows the example of the early church (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 11:17ff) and because it reminds us, on a weekly basis, of the foundational teachings of our faith, in the dead, resurrection, ascension, and second coming of Jesus.
Communion at the church is defined as Scripture defines it.
1 Corinthians 11:23-26 (NIV) For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
• Communion is a memorial.
• Communion is a new covenant.
• Communion is a proclamation.

It is a distinctive of our church that we take communion every week. But we do not believe you have to take communion every week; it is our choice.
Who should take it?
• Only those who believe.
• With regard to children, we believe a child should not take communion until they can understand the concepts of sin and salvation, and have accepted Christ. However, we do believe communion is a teaching opportunity to explain the concepts of sin and salvation, and our need for Jesus.

7. Church Discipline – we believe that God teaches us to uphold healthy accountability for sin in the church. We are certain that every Christian is engaged in a struggle with sin at some level. Some of us even struggle with certain sins on a regular basis. But there is a difference between struggling with sin and giving in to rebellious sin as a lifestyle. When a person actively embraces the ongoing lifestyle or perpetual practice of sin, then that person is in danger. There are also singular sinful acts, such as adultery or theft, which are serious in terms of the damage they can cause to others.

Perhaps the clearest and most important passage in this regard is Galatians 5:19–21 where the Bible explicitly lists sinful lifestyles.

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, and envy; drunkenness, orgies and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Such people give evidence that they are not living with an active faith and a repentant heart. This passage is a warning to Christians. People who live this way repudiate the Lord by their lifestyles. This is why the book of James says, “My dear brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders away from the truth and is brought back again, you can be sure that the one who brings that person back will save that sinner from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins” (James 5:19,20).

Q. Isn’t this judging, which Christians should not do?

A. Christians are taught not to be judgmental, but that is different than making judgments about whether something is right or wrong. Judgmentalism is being quick to make judgments, constantly condemning others, or being harsh in one’s assessments (Matthew 7:1-3). Christians are taught what is right and wrong in the Bible, and then they are responsible to identify sin, turn from it, and, with a kind, but firm spirit, help others do the same. This is not judgmentalism.

Q. We could never confront everyone over such sins?

A. We are not commanded to approach everyone who commits a serious or ongoing sin. Scripture teaches us to focus our concern upon people who call themselves Christians. In 1 Corinthians 5:9-13 the Bible teaches us that a local church must not passively tolerate the practice of ongoing sin by brothers and sisters.

When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin. But I wasn't talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or who are greedy or are swindlers or idol worshipers. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that. What I meant was that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a Christian yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or a drunkard, or a swindler. Don't even eat with such people. It isn't my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your job to judge those inside the church who are sinning in these ways. God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, "You must remove the evil person from among you." (NLT)

Christians have a special responsibility to other Christians which we do not have to those outside the church. We are to leave outsiders in the hands of God.

Q. How do we approach someone over such a sin?

A. The Bible tells us the proper mindset we must adopt. Galatians 6:1-2 says,

“Dear friends, if a Christian is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. Share each other's troubles and problems, and in this way obey the law of Christ.”

Thus we must be gently humble, and very careful not to fall into temptation.

Q. Why is this practice of accountability so important for the local church?
This is a biblical mandate is given to us by God; it is the plan teaching of scripture. If the church does not practice healthy discipline and accountability, more and more Christians will neglect faithful, obedient lives. The lack of accountability and discipline will mean that the local church will live more and more like the world. Accountability is a hallmark of the faithful church. The Protestant Reformers of the 1500s used to say that there are three signs of a biblical church: 1) the Word is preached, 2) the sacraments are offered (baptism and Communion), and 3) church discipline is practiced. The Reformers understood the biblical teaching that “a little yeast works through the whole dough” (1 Corinthians 5:7).

Q. What specific steps should we take?

A. Jesus taught us a specific format for dealing with serious sin. By following Jesus’ method we can point to Biblical teaching and avoid pitfalls often experienced by unwise confrontation methods. Jesus described the method in Luke 17 and again in Matthew 18:15-17.

"If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

The process described by Jesus would suggest the following four steps of action.

#1. When a person engages in serious or ongoing sin, we who know about it are to go to him or her and point out the fault (Matt. 18:15)

If someone brings an offense to our attention we should encourage that person to go to the offending individual and bring it to his or her attention, not to us (this could avoid gossip).

If that person refuses, we cannot ignore the offense and should take on the responsibility ourselves (if we now know a Christian is trapped in sin, we should go to him/her).

If he or she is in fact in sin and confesses it, then we have won over our brother/sister. We should have steps of action to suggest to him and help him so he can get from where he is to where he should be.

This process disallows gossip and slander, and also protects the offending party from the presumption of guilt without a hearing.

#2. If the offending person is truly guilty of sin but refuses to listen, we should take one or two other wise Christians with us to confirm the facts (18:16).

There is to be agreement by these individual witnesses that sin has been committed. They are to interact with the individual in order to clarify and confirm his statement or actions.

If the witnesses agree that the brother is in sin, then they are to become witnesses to him and lovingly encourage him to be restored.

#3. If he refuses to listen, then the church leaders (elders) are to take it to the church (18:17). At this stage there will be a members-only meeting of the church
The members of the churchwill learn about the situation and have opportunity (where appropriate) to encourage and pray for the individual to repent. This will also protect the church (as a culture) from accepting willful sin.

The guidance of the leaders in the process is essential. But, the leaders cannot have a close personal relationship with each member, so other members may need to be involved and support the elders in the process.

The time frame for each of the steps should not be artificially dictated, but should be Spirit-led. The time frame could be several months. If the sinful person responds then fellowship is restored.

#4. If he still refuses to listen, he is to be denied close, affirming fellowship (18:17).

This is not a step of rejection, but one of admonishing in order to restore (2 Thessalonians 3:15) and to protect the Christ-like lifestyle needed in the church (1 Corinthians 5:6). We will continue to show love for such persons—while recognizing that they are estranged from the church and God’s path. We believe that those who have been cut-off from the church can be reattached if confession and repentance occur. This approach is often sensible for those who have completed intervention events for alcoholics, drug addicts, or persistently rebellious teens. But most people in our day have little experience with this type of serious approach to sinful lifestyle choices.

8. Divorce and Remarriage - According to the Bible marriage is not a human-made custom but a divine institution established by God (Genesis 2: 24; Matthew 19: 5-6). We believe that God joins couples together in marriage and that it is God’s will for marriage to be a permanent and life-long commitment ( Matthew 5:32; 19:9; Luke 16:18; Malachi 2: 16). While permanence is God’s ideal, the Bible recognizes that in a sinful world this ideal will sometimes be corrupted.

1. According to the Bible, God allows divorce only if one’s spouse enters into an adulterous relationship with someone else or possibly if one is married to an unbeliever who deserts and abandons the believer (Matthew 19: 1-10; 1 Corinthians 7). In such cases the non-adulterous or non-deserting person would be free to seek a divorce but is not required to do so. We would encourage a person even in this instance to first pursue God’s ideal by seeking reconciliation in the marriage. We believe that in the instance of divorce which has occurred because of the legitimate Biblical cause of immorality by one spouse or because of the clear desertion by an unbeliever, the faithful spouse is free to remarry.

2. When there is abuse or ongoing and destructive sin in a Christian marriage, intervention is necessary. After godly counsel, temporary separation, but not divorce, may also be required. We strongly urge ongoing Christian counseling and prayer when separation is involved because the goal of such separation is reconciliation. Abuse, in its various forms, is terrible sin which necessitates intervention, but there is no evidence that, in and of itself, abuse is a Biblical basis for divorce and remarriage. People involved in such circumstances need wise and courageous support from the leaders of the church. Separation may be required to bring protection and safety. We believe that leaders have a responsibility to protect and watch over those who are under their care, so they treat such matters with utmost seriousness.

3. Many people have violated God’s teaching on marriage and divorce in the past because they have been uninformed about it or they have knowingly gone against it. While our desire is to uphold God’s truth, it is not our intent to cause further pain or condemnation to someone who may find themselves out of step with God’s Word in the area. The message of the gospel is that we can receive God’s forgiveness if we will confess our sin and turn to him. People who have experienced divorce and remarriage contrary to God’s teaching before becoming Christians or before desiring to be members of this congregation are encouraged to do as much reconciliation for their past actions as is feasible and reasonable. Because such matters can involve gray areas of Biblical teaching, they should be discussed with the evangelist and/or elders, but afterward most will have to make their own decisions. Such people must “work out” their own peace with God through prayer and study. In many or most cases these people may elect to stay in their current marriage situation, to trust in God’s forgiveness, to pledge themselves to God’s teaching from this point forward and start fresh.

4. When divorced and remarried persons become members of the congregation, after processing the circumstances with the leaders, they will not be hindered from participating in the full life of the church. We do not want to cause anyone to live a life of guilt that is not intended by Christ. We want to empower and encourage everyone to move forward in the grace of Christ.

Coming Together as a Church on Sundays and Friday Nights?

2009-06-09T13:29:00.000-07:00

We are exploring, as a leadership team (and now as a church), the possibility of adding an extra church service on Friday night. Our children’s ministry facilities are no longer sufficient for our attendance on Sunday mornings. Furthermore, on pragmatic grounds, many of us believe families in our community would love church services on Friday nights: it gives people a chance to attend church if they must work on Sunday, it can give stressed-out families two days for activities, community commitments, small groups, etc.,. and it is a great alternative to young families who have kids playing travel sports Sunday morning. Additionally, it would enable us to reach those non-Christians who find the time more appealing than Sunday mornings. Many churches hold extra services on Saturday and Saturday nights, but we think Friday night is preferable.

Before embracing the idea, the more important questions we want to ask are biblical and theological. Why have Christians honored Sunday meetings for twenty centuries? What is the Biblical basis of Sunday gatherings? What options or flexibility are we allowed by scripture? Good questions. Specifically, what positive biblical commands and principles are there that will help us?.

To begin with, we start with Jesus and his teachings. We know that Jesus was committed to relationships and that he modeled in-depth, loving involvement with his disciples on a daily basis. We also know that they observed the Sabbath (which was Saturday), as a day for Synagogue attendance and rest, and nothing indicates that Sunday was a special day for Jesus and his disciples in the gospels. We also know, through the writings of the New Testament, Jesus released his Gentile (non-Jewish) followers from the requirement of observing the Old Testament law, which included circumcision, food laws (no pork, for example), and the requirement to take Saturday off in observe of the Sabbath (Ephesians 2:11-16, etc.,.). Some have thought that the early Christian met on Saturday, but the evidence clearly shows, as we will see, that they met almost daily and, if any day was special, it was Sunday (See D.A. Carson, From Sabbath to Lord’s Day). Several important Biblical truths become clear when we focus our questions on the life of the early church, after Jesus’ ascension back to heaven.

Commands and Biblical Principles

First, we want to note the following positive teaching and principles in regard to special days that God inspired Paul to write about in Romans. The church in Rome, at this time, was in the midst of helping Jewish and non-Jewish Christians come together and experience church community life in unity.

Romans 14:5-8 One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone.

This text clearly states that there are not universal “special days” that God commands for all Christians. Whether Jewish or Gentile, we may have different days that we consider sacred, but these days are not universally binding. Jewish Christians upheld the Sabbath; Gentiles did not. The key factor will be our personal convictions with God. As a community, we must honor individual choices about special days, while knowing that we should not bind our convictions about special days on each other (see Romans 14:1-15:8).

Early Examples and Precedents

Second, consistent with the principles of Romans 14, the earliest Christians in Jerusalem were Jewish and they maintained their Jewish practices. They likely attended the synagogue/temple on Saturday and then met daily with their Christian brothers and sisters throughout the week. In the following passage, we see a summary of the meetings of the church in Jerusalem, with no mention of Sundays.

Acts 2: 42-47- They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Their practice was to meet in the temple courts and in homes every day. There is no mention of Sunday being a special day, even though the church was established in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, which was a Sunday.

Other Examples and Precedents

Third, we must note the following two examples which show that some of the early Christians met on Sundays. And it is important to note that the language of the Greek shows that they purposefully met on Sundays. These are not positive commands given in scripture, but these are clear examples or precedents of what the early Christians did in places outside Jerusalem.

1 Corinthians 16:1-2 - Now about the collection for God's people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.

Acts 20:7- On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight.

Additionally, the book of Revelation describes the vision which John received that became the basis of what is written in the book of Revelation. He describes receiving it on “the Lord’s day,” which was most likely a reference to Sunday.
Revelation 1:10- On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet.

These last three scripture point to a dominant practice in the early church of the Bible outside of Jerusalem and in the period right after the Bible was written (late first century and second century), which was to meet on Sundays.

Summary of the Biblical Evidence

In summary, there is some precedent in the Bible for meeting on Sunday, but no commands or principles which make it a requirement, especially when it does not seem to have been the practice of the Christians in Jerusalem. At the same time, most of the early church, after the Bible was written, met and had the Lord’s Supper on Sundays. This normative practice was based, not upon God’s commandment, but on a tradition which honored the day of the resurrection. In fact, given the historic tradition of Sunday meetings in the church throughout the centuries, it is surprising to find that God never commanded it in the Bible. The earliest writers outside the Bible give the following reasons for their choice of honoring a tradition of meeting on Sunday:

1.It was the day of the Resurrection – referred to as “the Lord’s day.”
2. It was the day of new creation.
3. It was the birthday of the church (as Pentecost was on a Sunday).

In short Sunday gatherings are a high tradition of the historic church, but not an exclusive or commanded tradition for the church.

The Reasons for Considering a Friday Night Service at HCC

Throughout the centuries many Christians have taken the early Christian example of Sunday church assemblies and coupled this concept with the Old Testament concept of the Sabbath. Putting the two together, they made Sunday the “Christian Sabbath,” without a commandment to do this from God. The down side of this tradition is that it took the focus off Christians “meeting daily” and it often imported concepts which imposed liturgy formats, worship concepts, robes, clergy and the like that hindered God’s teachings in the New Testament (see Viola, Pagan Christianity). And yet, at the same time, this tradition was a great benefit to many because it helped put the priority on attending the assemblies of the church every Sunday and on taking a day for family and relaxation. So, we want to respect the best of this tradition, but we must not make it binding, nor let it be a hindrance for Christians who can benefit more from other meeting times. And we must continue to find ways to encourage people to attend church services every week and to reserve regular days for family and relaxation.

The Sunday Night or Saturday Night Option

Before looking at the implications of a Friday night service, we considered offering Saturday and Sunday night services. We do not think these times are best for the following reasons.

Sunday Nights

1. Families are typically tired by Sunday night and want personal relational time.

2. Sunday night is the preferred time for small groups (we want to uphold small groups).

3. Professional adults (and others) and their children often get prepared for the upcoming week on Sunday night.

4. Some local churches have tried Sunday night services and not found them to be very effective (Franklin Christian Church is one example).

Saturday Nights

1. Saturday night services have not typically found great success in the greater Nashville area. To be sure, some churches offer them, but other churches have not found them successful and have disbanded them.

2. Our biggest concern about Saturday night services is what it does to the staff of the church. When staff members work on both Saturday and Sunday, they end up not having a shared day off with spouses and family members. Churches who embrace Saturday night services typically witness high burn-out and discouragement among their staff.

Friday Night Challenges

As we move forward, we propose to continue to the best of the “high tradition” of Sunday assemblies, but we will also look to add Friday night assemblies. From the beginning, the leaders of HCC have committed the church to a “Risk Taking Culture.” We relish the opportunity to make disciples with new venues and formats, even if these venues and formats might fail. Disciple making is so important to God, that it deserves risk, challenge, and even adversity.

But we think the risks are small. We believe that Friday night services will help us to disciple more people and honor God! There are numerous good reasons for a Friday night service and there are also difficulties. We will look first at the difficulties, and then the positive reasons for the service that can prompt us to overcome the challenges.

1. The staff of the church, ministers and others will be required to give up another night of the week for the church service. Some of the ministerial staff will be able to compensate for this loss, but others will not. It is an additional strain, especially on the senior minister, worship arts ministers and children’s ministers.

2. It may be difficult to recruit children’s teachers for the Friday night service. Friday night is the end of the week for most people, especially those who work full time. At the end of the week, people are tired, especially those who will be called to minister to children in the evening.

3. It may be difficult, in turn, if Friday night is successful, to encourage those who attend church on Friday nights to come back and serve in the children’s ministry on Sunday mornings.

Positive Reasons for Friday night Church Service:

1. An additional service relieves the crowding in the children’s ministry Sunday morning. The service should focus on families with elementary children, those who we are most effectively reaching right now (build on our strength, at this point).

2. A Friday night service will uniquely draw more people to HCC. An additional service, all other things being equal, according to studies, will lead to an average of 10% growth. But we believe that a Friday night service will lead us to 15 to 20% growth after six to twelve months. We believe this will be the case based upon five factors:

a. It is Family friendly – it is good for those involved with sports teams (especially travel teams), good for those who want to go away for the whole weekend (leaving for water skiing, camping, etc.,.), and good for families that need time at home, just with the family.

b. It is Stress friendly - good for those, at various stages of life, who must work on Sundays, attend Sunday football games, or those who are not Christians and are not used to giving up Sunday mornings.

c. It is Relationship Friendly - people will stay, linger, and spend relational time after Friday night services. Parents do not have to get up for work and the kids can sleep in the next day.

d. Real Life Ministries (our ministry partners) have shown its success - Real Life Ministries has shown us a good model for a Friday night service, which they find to be very effective (they have two Friday night services).

e. Friday Night Gives HCC a Unique Service Offering to Reach the Community – no other church is offering a Friday service.

Is Jesus The Only Way?

2009-05-14T12:28:00.000-07:00

An honest Senior High Student posted the following comment on the internet not too long ago …

Encumbered with Doubt
I love GOD, but sometimes i can not understand him. It almost seems unfair to me that JESUS is the only way to heaven. I feel that the destiny of your eternal soul, relies heavily on the enviroment of which you were raised. I doubt my faith in GOD would be quite so strong had i been born the child of a Muslim priest, or maybe even Ozzy Osborn.

I realize we all have our own choices in life, but then why do so many choose not to live a life for GOD? Some might say it's out of a lazy, lack of passion for religion, yet the many believers of other religons who pray five times a day and fast every other month, are much more devout than I. Why is it that because they call their maker by another name and celebrate their worship in another form, that they have to burn eternally in hell? That's not right. I am not a scholar of the BIBLE, nor do i indulge my self in the LORD every day. I know even less of other religions. Yet it does not feel right to me. Help me out here and shed some light on this monumental shred of doubt that encloses my mind. BUT I still have a strong passion for GOD. He is my motivator/ strength/ source of LOVE/ and father. I might have doubts but i don't need to know the legistics to know HE made ME.

An Answer: Christ’s Sacrifice Is The Only Solution

I am a Christian who believes that the Bible teaches that Jesus is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no one comes to God, except through him” (John 14:6). So, let me answer the brave posting on the website by explaining why I believe the only known or sure way of salvation is through Jesus Christ. Before giving my answer, however, let me point out the major reasons why so many people think that God will accept sincere, devout people from different religions equally.

• People in other religions are just as sincere and have just as good of morals as Christians. For Christians to think they are better is arrogant and judgmental.

• It is too hard to know which religion is right so it is not fair for Christians to say that God makes Jesus the basis of your eternal destiny – it is arrogant – there is not enough evidence that Christianity is the only right faith to lead all people to believe in it.

• It would show favoritism for God to save people who know about Jesus, but not those in other religions, like say Hinduism, who do not know about Jesus – that would make God prejudicial.
• It looks too complicated to know for sure who is right – it is easier to live as I want to live and just believe that God will treat us all with love in the end.

There may be some variation on these themes, but they capture the mindset of most people who struggle to believe that Jesus could be the only known and sure way of salvation.

If the Bible is Right, Only God Determines Who God Saves

I may make enemies right up front in saying this, but the Bible says that only God can determine who God will save. So, if the Bible is right, then it tells us that God makes this decision, regardless of what people think. The fundamental issue is the truthfulness of the Bible. Is the Bible God’s Word? Does it tell us accurate history? Is the Bible right on salvation and eternal destiny.. The truthfulness of the Bible cannot be ignored. All that I will write depends on the truthfulness of the Bible. I cannot go through the evidence of the Bible’s accuracy and truthfulness –but if the Bible accurately tells us the truth, then it makes it clear that only God will determine who God saves. Our job is to genuinely seek to determine for ourselves, as best we can, whether or not the Bible is right. Assume for the rest of this article that the Bible is right so that you can follow my logic. As one who was not raised as a Christian and who earnestly sought out the truth in this matter, I became convinced that what the Bible says is accurate and reveals to us the mind of God - email me at bobbyh@harpethcc.com if you want a short book I have written that shows the basic objective and subjective grounds by which we can know that the basic message of the Bible is true.

On a human level, it makes sense that only God determines those who God will forgive. Although, as humans, we think that sincere and good people should make it to heaven because of their worthiness, God does not save or forgive that way. No does the Bible agree that it is just too hard to figure it out. Repeatedly, the Bible tells us that if we genuinely seek God and genuinely want to know if the Way of Jesus is true, God will show it to us. We just have to decide, will we genuinely seek and ask and pursue the truth in Jesus. We cannot avoid asking – of all the religions – is Christianity really true? As Peter Cotterell puts it, truth is the most important question between all the religions.

Truth is not a matter of pride or humility. It is a matter of fact. Islam says Jesus wasn’t crucified. We say he was. Only one of us can be right. Judaism says Jesus was not the Messiah. We say he was. Only one of us can be right. Hinduism says that God has often been incarnate. We say only once. And we can’t both be right.

Christianity is unique in this regard. Not only does the Bible claim that the teachings about Jesus Christ are God’s truth for the human race, it claims that the only way of salvation is that which is provided for us by Him.

Sincerity Does Not Make Us Right With God

Every six to eight weeks I teach our simple Christianity seminar on the basics of the Bible. Sometimes I will deal with how the typical person thinks about these things. In this section of the class I begin by asking everyone if they have a close relationship with anyone from another faith. Most people do. I then lead the class through an exercise where we try to determine what people are like in other faiths. We quickly determine that most people in other religions are as equally sincere as devout Christians. Those of us who know Buddhists, Muslims, Mormons, or Hindus recognize their genuine zeal. In fact, the sincerity of some of these people puts many Christians to shame. Consider radical Muslims. They are so sincere that they are willing to commit suicide in an attempt to please God and enter into paradise. Their sincerity also makes us ask, however, if they are right.

Unfortunately, sincerity and zeal do not make a person right. Before the discovery of bacteria, doctors did not wash their hands when dealing with sick patients. They sincerely did not believe in germs. Their sincerity did not stop countless people from dying after the doctor’s dirty hands gave them infections. Unfortunately, in the same light, the Bible tells us plainly that the sincerity of people will not bring salvation to them. Take the Jewish people as one example. The Bible explicitly states in Romans 10:1-3 that the sincerity of Jewish people will not save them.

Dear friends, the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is that the Jewish people might be saved. I know what enthusiasm they have for God, but it is misdirected zeal. For they don't understand God's way of making people right with himself. Instead, they are clinging to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law. They won't go along with God's way. Rom 10:1-3 (NLT).

This passage makes it clear that salvation is based upon what God has provided and the truth that is in Jesus Christ. We respect Jewish people and their right to practice their faith as they understand it, but we are concerned for them. We know that sincerity will not save them. We hope and look to see many more of them come to faith in Jesus, as the Bible teaches (Romans 11:25). We hope and pray that more and more people of all faiths will turn to Jesus with them.

“Being a Good Moal Person” Doesn’t Get You Into Heaven

I ask the class about the morals of people in other religious groups. Again, most of us who know sincere devotees of other religions have found them to be very good, moral people. Some adherants of other religions live better moral lives than many who claim to be Christians. But this too begs the question as to how we are saved.

Are we saved by our good morals? Can a person’s high moral standing take away the sins he or she commits? Some religions say “yes.” But the Bible teaches that our good deeds do not undo our bad deeds. This makes sense when we realize that a bank robber’s high moral conduct in regard to his wife does not take away from his just punishment for robbing a bank.

The Bible clearly addresses this issue in Romans 3:20 where it states that “no one can ever be made right in God's sight by doing what his law commands.” Again, the Bible describes those who think that they can be made right with God based upon their obedience to law and moral commandments with these words in Galatians 3:10-11:

“But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under his curse, for the Scriptures say, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all these commands that are written in God's Book of the Law.’ Consequently, it is clear that no one can ever be right with God by trying to keep the law.” (NLT)

No one will go to heaven by being good. According to the Bible, we will only go to heaven if our sin is taken away by what God has done for us in Jesus Christ.
Christ’s sacrifice “satisfies God’s justice.” By Jesus' death on the cross, He frees us by taking the punishment due us for our sins. Because He became our substitute, He satisfies the just requirement that God punish our sins.

We are made right in God's sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins. And we all can be saved in this same way, no matter who we are or what we have done. For all have sinned; all fall short of God's glorious standard. Yet now God in his gracious kindness declares us not guilty. He has done this through Christ Jesus, who has freed us by taking away our sins. For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy God's anger against us. We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed his blood, sacrificing his life for us. Rom. 3:22–25 (NLT)

When Jesus was crucified He provided the only possible way for sin to be removed. Only Christ could bear the penalty justice demanded. The human mind will often ask, “how can a loving God send people to hell?” The Bible wants us to answer the deeper question: “How can a holy God not send everyone to hell?” The real question is “how can a holy God save us?” The holiness and love of God came together in the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. The highly respected Biblical scholar C. B. Cranfield puts it this way:

For God simply to pass over sins would be altogether incompatible with His righteousness. He would not be the good and merciful God, had he been content to pass over sins indefinitely, for this would have been to condone evil – a denial of His own nature and a cruel betrayal of sinners. God has in fact been able to hold His hand and pass over sins, without compromising His goodness and mercy, because His intention has all along been to deal with them once and for all, decisively and finally, through the Cross.

As sinners, we humans have no method of atoning for our sins against God. God had to take the initiative. Only Jesus – as fully human and fully God — could atone for the sins of human beings. Christ’s death on the cross provided the complete ground and basis upon which God forgives, cleanses, and purifies people from wrongdoing.

Salvation and forgiveness, in the end, are God’s prerogative. Only Jesus is worthy. Forgiveness is based upon Jesus’ worthiness. Jesus and His cross are the ground or basis by which God is compassionate and merciful. Without Jesus, there is no forgiveness; we remain in sin. The holy response to sin is justice and wrath. Justice is either absorbed by Jesus’ death on the cross or we must absorb it ourselves, as we deserve, in hell.

This is why the New Testament teaches that Jesus is the only way of salvation. As the Bible says, in answer to the question about people who will not be saved, yet who are sincere and devout: “It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy” (Romans 9:16).

Do versus Done

Christian theologians describe the difference between Christianity and other world religions using the “Do” versus “Done” formula. All world religions differ with Christianity on one question – “how is a person made right with God?” For some of the religions of the world, it is not a matter of salvation to heaven.

• If salvation is the attainment of illumination, then Buddhism can save.
• If salvation is union with a Universal Self, then Hinduism can save.
• If salvation is maintaining a proper relation to one’s ancestors, then Shintoism can save
• If salvation is forgiveness and heaven, then, of all the major religions in the world, this truth is only claimed by Christianity, Islam, and Judaism.

Of the three major religions concerned with our destiny in heaven or hell, only Christianity teaches that we get right with God based upon what God provides. God freely offers us salvation as a free gift, a gift of Grce. Jesus Christ has already “done” all that God requires for us. A person is made right with God, in all other religions, based upon what we “do” as humans. This doctrine of Grace and God’s free gift is behind the biblical teaching that Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life” and this is why “no one comes to the Father, except through Him” (Jn. 14: 6). In the end, the doctrine is about God’s mercy and grace, not the superiority of Christians. It is about what God has “done,” not what we “do.”

In the book, What's So Amazing about Grace, Philip Yancey recounts the time in which the influential Christian writer C.S. Lewis was called upon to explain the uniqueness of Christianity among the world’s religions.

During a British conference on comparative religions, experts from around the world debated what, if any, belief was unique to the Christian faith. They began eliminating possibilities. Incarnation? Other religions had different versions of gods appearing in human form. Resurrection? Again, other religions had accounts of return from death. The debate went on for some time until C.S. Lewis wandered into the room. "What's the rumpus about?" he asked, and heard in reply that his colleagues were discussing Christianity's unique contribution among world religions. Lewis responded, "Oh, that's easy. It's grace." After some discussion, the conferees had to agree.

The Biblical concept of God’s grace challenges our natural instinct; should we do something to gain a right standing with God? “No!” The Bible plainly teaches us. God has freely offered this to us as a gift.

Other Related Thoughts ….

• “It is both logically and practically possible for us, as Christians, to respect and revere worthy representatives of other traditions while still believing – on rational grounds – that some aspects of their world-view, and their paths of salvation are simply mistaken.”

• It is helpful to distinguish between two kinds of tolerance. “Moral tolerance is total acceptance of the other person as a human being who has a right to be treated with dignity and respect, even though he or she holds beliefs quite different from mine . . . A different kind of tolerance appears when I am forbidden to judge or criticize the beliefs of anyone who disagrees with me.”

• One searches in vain, if he or she looks for inclusivist teachings (all religions lead to God) in the Bible or if a person thinks that there is any idea of after-death evangelism.

• When asked if there will be people in heaven who never had a chance to hear the gospel during their lifetime, the first thing a wise thing to say is that we do not know. As Deuteronomy 29:29 states, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever.” Although we know about the Lamb’s Book of Life (Rev. 20:12-15), we do not know whose names appear in it. But much that we do know suggests that men and women who have not confessed Christ as Savior will not be there (164).

The Bible is clear about this – the only sure way is for those who truly have faith in Jesus Christ as savior and lord when they die – only they will surely be saved. There may be exceptions, but the Bible does not tell us how and we must base our lives on this clear teaching of the Bible.

Recommended Reading …..

Ronald Nash deals with this question in his book, IS JESUS THE ONLY SAVIOR? Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1994. 192pp.

The most in-depth, thoughtful, and insightful book on this topic is by James Edwards, Is Jesus the Only Savior? William B Eerdmans, 2005.

Facing the Tough Questions - Top 10 Books for Average Christians

2009-04-25T12:03:00.001-07:00

1. The Reason for God, by Tim Keller

Keller gives the kind of perspective on Jesus and the Bible that he presents each week at his New York city church, (over 5,000 in attendance each week, with an average age of 30). Keller simply explains the faith in a captivating way to all secular doubters. Think Christianity conflicts with science? Think again. Think Christians are arrogant? Think again. In issue after issue, Keller shows why the Bible is true and Jesus really is the son of God

2. The Case for Christ, by Lee Strobel

This is Strobel's seminal work. If I had to pick one basic book that presents the case for the historicity of the New Testament, this would be it. Strobel writes in an easy, engaging style on the major topics of doubt. He interviews world experts on each area of questioning: how we got the Bible, how we know that it is historically true, how archaeology confirms it, etc.,.

3. Is Jesus the Only Savior, by James R. Edwards

James Edwards asks the question in the book's title (Is Jesus the ONLY Savior?) and the answer is Yes. But it is not the Yes of a demagogue, a hermit, or an fiery evangelist. It is the Yes of a student, a scholar, an intellectual, and a world citizen. It is a measured Yes, a thoughtful Yes, a reasoned Yes. It is a bracing, satisfying, and spiritual read

4. Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics, by William Lane Craig

Most substantive book available for average readers. "It is hard to overstate the impact that William Lane Craig has had for the cause of Christ. He is simply the finest Christian apologist of the last half century and his academic work justifies ranking him among the top 1 percent of practicing philosophers in the Western world." Says J. P. Moreland, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, Talbot School of Theology

5. The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief, by Francis Collins

Francis Collins is a relatively new Christ-follower, and one of the most respected research scientists in the world and the head of the Human Genome Project. He shows how modern scientific discoveries support the teaching of the Bible and God’s existence. A thought-provoking book.

6. Letters from a Skeptic, by Gregory Boyd

Real life letters from Gregory Boyd (New Testament Scholar) and his skeptical father. It is a very interesting, real-life and challenging journey. One of the best and most practical works discussing why "God allows evil and tragedy." As the book proceeds and the tough questions are answered, we see Boyd’s father slowly come to faith.

7. Can We Trust the Gospels?: Investigating the Reliability, by Mark D. Roberts

With the scholarly skills honed by earning a PhD from Harvard, and the connection to thousands of readers each day in his award-winning blog, Mark Roberts is uniquely qualified to address the issues that are currently being batted about the airwaves and bestseller lists questioning the credibility of the New Testament Gospels. But what makes this book most helpful is that Dr. Roberts writes for the pew and the pub more than the academy.

8. Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense, by N.T. Wright.

This book is simple enough for those searching to know if Christianity is true and exploring and deep enough to challenge those who have been part of the faith for a long period of time. It is an argument for faith in Jesus and the Bible, using our experiences of the world (art, morality, nature). It is a wonderful, gentle, yet powerful argument for the faith.

9. Mere Christianity, by C.S. Lewis

This book is a defense of the beliefs common to all Christians. This has been the most influential book in helping non-believers to become Christ-followers in the last sixty years. Like a friend with a cup of coffee in hand, he sits across from us. He guides us through an incredible thought process to a conclusion, which is perhaps so logical it becomes irrevocable truth.

10.The Genesis Question: Scientific Advances and the Accuracy of Genesis, by Hugh Ross.

This one book answers the most difficult questions from Genesis 1 -11, including the alleged conflict between the facts of evolution and the Bible, the date for human being, the genealogies, and the flood. It is surprisingly brief, well thought through, and insightful. If I could only give a person one book to help them reconcile the Bible with the facts of evolution and science, it would be this one.

Answering Question #1 . . . Genesis 2 & 3 ………The Knowledge of Good and Evil

2009-04-23T12:15:00.000-07:00

The key to understanding good and evil in this world is the fall of humans into sin in the garden of Eden. What does the tree of the knowledge of good and evil represent? The fruit from this tree would give those who ingested it the knowledge of good and evil, because it is clear that eating from the tree of life gave those who ate of it eternal life, in the sense that they could live forever as long as they had access to its fruit (3:22). But what was it to have the knowledge of good and evil?

There are two important keys to understanding this phrase from the Bible. First, Eve believed that this knowledge of good and evil would enable her to become “like God” in some way (3:5,6). Indeed, God and the heavenly hosts affirmed that after the couple had ingested the knowledge of good and evil, they were, in fact, somehow “like one of us” (3:22). Second, in Ezekiel 28 the king of Tyre is compared to Adam and Eve in that he became prideful and thought of himself as being wise “as a god” (28:6,15–17). What do these two keys show us? They show us that by choosing to eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Adam and Eve were wanting to be more than creatures of God — they wanted to be god-like, prideful, and independent moral beings.

God’s Response

After the man and woman hid because of their shame, God went looking for them. The figurative language of the account pictured God strolling causally through the gar¬den in the cool of the evening (3:8). God must have done this regularly. When God found them, they said to God that they were naked. With horror God asked: “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the fruit of the tree from which I commanded you not to eat ?” (3:11).

First, the serpent was cursed so there would be continual hostility between the descendants of Eve and the descendants of the snake throughout history.
Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel. (Genesis 3:14,15)

It is likely that the hostility between the descendants of Eve and the descendants of the snake is also symbolic of the hostility between the entire human race and the Devil and his forces throughout history.1

Second, Eve, and all women throughout history, were cursed so that they would suffer hardships in childbirth and in their relationships with their husbands throughout history.

I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you. (Genesis 3:16)

These hardships are unique to two of the fundamental roles that women have assumed in history: childbearing and marriage.

Third, Adam, and all men throughout history, were cursed so that they would find their survival in this world fraught with difficulty, sweat, and peril.
Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground … (Genesis 3:17,18a)

Adam (typifying men as family representatives in history) would continue to work and care for the created world as he did in the garden (Genesis 2:15,16), but now that task would be beset by great hardship.

Fourth, as God had earlier warned (2:17), both Adam and Eve, as well as all of their future descendants, were cut off from the tree of life and sentenced to spiritual separation from God and physical death.

By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return. (Genesis 3:19)

And the Lord God said, “The Man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life. (Genesis 3:22–24)

The human race was created by God from dust. As dependant beings, Adam and Eve, and all of their descendants, relied on God for all things, including life. Because of human rebellion, God deemed that all who were to live life in this world after the garden were destined to experience death, and finally, to return to dust.

Two Key implications . . .

1.Humans now have “Radical Free Will.” We have a free will, with which they do very bad things – God allowed this, but did not want it.
-a. we have a sin nature ……….. that gravitates to sin in thought, word, and deed.
-b. we have spiritual forces leading us to indulge our sin nature.
-Most evil and suffering is the result of human choices . . .
C.S. Lewis: When souls become wicked they will certainly use this possibility to hurt one another; this perhaps, accounts for 4/5s of the sufferings of men. It is men, not God, who have produced racks, whips, prison, slavery, guns, bayonets, and nuclear bombs, not God. The German gas chambers of Belson and Auschwitz in WW II are proof that men do what they out not to.
We have freedom, real freedom, and that freedom means that such things happen.

2. The Natural Exists to Teach Us and Allow Trials for Us.. The world we live in is cursed, with all kinds of natural evil.
-Cursed world (fallen) …
-Natural Evil - Weeds, tornadoes, earthquakes, Hurricanes
-Natural Evil – cancer, HIV, heart disease, asthma
-Death – we all die, for some it is an incredibly painful death – even Jesus, God’s sinless Son died a painful death . . . so, I should expect difficulty, I should not expect to miss it.

Questions that Keep Us from Truly Following Jesus

2009-04-16T14:53:00.000-07:00

Easter Sunday at Harpeth Community Church saw many people write down the questions with which they struggle and keep them from truly or fully following Jesus. Then we had at least 70 people go online to vote and express their support for these questions. Here are the results...we will share the best answers I can find this coming Sunday.

#1 -Why does God allow tragedy and disappointment to those who trust him? (37 out of 70).

My life hasn't turned out the way I thought it should (divorce, husband got into addiction, loss of job). Why? Life is tragic - lots of pain - why do I have to suffer so much?

Why do bad things happen to good people?

#2-Why do we struggle with sin, even repitious sin, the way we do – especially when we are trying to live right? (37 out of 70)

Why am I so selfish and want my way all the time? The people I love the most (family) I can be the ugliest to - why?

Reptition of the same sin - can forgiveness continually be given?

#3- Why do I doubt - How do I attain a level of trust and faith needed to fully obey (35out of 70).

Why do I doubt? I hate it, I want to believe!

How do I attain the trust needed to put all of my faith in God?

#4 - Is there more than one way? Heaven will not be heaven without the good people who do not believe in Jesus or have never heard about Jesus. (28 out of 70)

Famous people like Opra and even Billy Graham have said there is more than one way to be saved or reach God. Is this true or are "good" people going to hell? If the latter, how can heaven be happy missing these "good" people?

The Holocost: I find it hard to believe the Jewish people who died for their faith are not in heaven. Are they?

Other questions that had strong support…..

How solid is the history for Jesus and the reliability of the Bible?
Why do some believe and then later disbelieve
In Heaven, could the fall happen again?
How certain can I be about heaven, especially when I struggle with Sin.
How Can I know God’s Will for My Life.

See you Sunday morning as we work through the answers.

Is Jesus the Only Way?

2009-04-16T11:34:00.000-07:00

One of the big questions in our survey is this one: The Holocost: I find it hard to believe the Jewish people who died for their faith are not in heaven. Are They?

Ronald Nash dealt, at and in-depth level, with this question in his book, IS JESUS THE ONLY SAVIOR? Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1994. 192pp.

I will seek to address this question, and three others, this coming Sunday (if not in the morning, then at night), but here is a summary of Nash's insight, from his helpful book.

1. Is Christianity Exclusive? - Most religions are exclusivist in the sense that each regards its own tradition’s central claims as true and competing claims as false

2. What Is Salvation? Different religious faiths define “salvation” differently:

If salvation is the attainment of illumination, then Buddhism can save.
If salvation is union with a Universal Self, then Hinduism can save.
If salvation is maintaining a proper relation to one’s ancestors, then Shintoism can save
If salvation is forgiveness and justification, then Christianity can save.

Different religious beliefs are also contradictory with each other, the beliefs cannot be compatible without distorting them. And it is not fair to down play, ignore, or minimize the serious and very real differences among the world religions. They do conflict logically.

3. Are All Religions Good? If all religions are the same, does that give equal validity to religions that believe in child-sacrifice, mutilation, cannibalism? What about Jim Jones? What about Bin Laden? In the end, this affirmation leads to chaos and moral anarchy.

4. “It is both logically and practically possible for us, as Christians, to respect and revere worthy representatives of other traditions while still believing – on rational grounds – that some aspects of their world-view are simply mistaken.”

5. It is helpful to distinguish between two kinds of tolerance. “Moral tolerance is total acceptance of the other person as a human being who has a right to be treated with dignity and respect, even though he or she holds beliefs quite different from mine . . . A different kind of tolerance appears when I am forbidden to judge or criticize the beliefs of anyone who disagrees with me.”

6. Faith in God, itself, is not enough: we must also direct faith at the proper object of faith Faith is tragically irrelevant if it turns out to be directed toward a false god.

7. People were saved by faith in the Old Testament, but there were three unique things about the object of the faith adhered to by these saints: 1) It was faith in the one true God, 2) it was based upon the sacrificial and cultic system that was a foreshadow of Christ’s work, and 3) the content of their faith was the teaching and revelation of God.

8. One searches in vain, if he or she looks for inclusivist teachings (all religions lead to God) in the Bible or if a person thinks that there is any idea of after-death evangelism.

9. When asked if there will be people in heaven who never had a chance to hear the gospel during their lifetime, the first thing a wise thing to say is that we do not know. As Deuteronomy 29:29 states, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever.” Although we know about the Lamb’s Book of Life (Rev. 20:12-15), we do not know whose names appear in it. But much that we do know suggests that men and women who have not confessed Christ as Savior will not be there (164).

10. The Bible is clear about this – those who truly have faith in Jesus Christ as savior and lord when they die -- will be saved. There may be exceptions, but we must base our lives on this clear teaching of the Bible.

Questions from Easter Sunday

2009-04-15T18:34:00.000-07:00

Interesting to read through the questions from Sunday morning. When Kathy (our administrator) showed me the questions, we originally thought we would sum them up in neater categories, but then, I thought to myself, "there is too much heart here." So, we decided to post the questions exactly as they were written on the cards. So much heart; so much pain in some of them.

Initially, the biggest question essentially boils down to "why does a good, loving God allow such bad, heart breaking stuff to happen." People also want to know about repeated sins and how Jesus can be the only way, especially for people who have never heard about him. Some tough stuff here.

I want to wait until everyone has completed their responses before answering further.

Thanks to all the respondents.

What Happens When We Die....

2009-04-14T08:36:00.000-07:00

Lots of questions from Easter Sunday about the resurrection of the dead and what happens when we die... so here is the summary.

Paradise — at death, the souls of Christ’s faithful followers go to be with him in Paradise — where they reign with him — as they look forward to Christ’s return, the resurrection of their bodies, and the final judgment. Paradise is a beautiful, wonderful place (Luke 16:22; 23:40-43; & Revelation 6:9-11).

Hades— is the temporary place of torment for the souls of those who did not receive Christ’s forgiveness. The Bible does not teach purgatory or limbo (they are based upon human traditions, not scripture). Hades is a place without escape where the unsaved await their final judgment and sentence to eternal hell. Hades is to eternal hell what jail is to prison. As those who are truly guilty will move from jail to prison after their trial and sentence, so also those in Hades (torment) will move to eternal hell after their trial and sentence on the day of judgment (Luke 16:23; 2 Peter 2:4-9; & Revelation 20:11-15).

Jesus Christ Returns to Earth — Jesus will come back to the earth — personally, physically, and with glory. Jesus will return with those who are Christians from Paradise at the height of human tribulation and evil — those Christians who are alive when Jesus returns will be Raptured — which means they will meet up in the air with both the saints who have died (in the past) and with Jesus Christ himself — Jesus will damn the devil, the anti-Christ, and all of their allies into the eternal fires of hell. (Acts 1:11; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 19:19-21; & Revelation 20:10).

The Resurrection of the Dead — At the second coming every person who has ever lived will be Resurrected to stand before God for the final judgment. For Christians, their souls will be united with bodies which will be glorious, powerful, and eternal. (John 5:25-29 & 1 Corinthians 15: 12-58).

Final Judgment — every person who has ever lived will stand before the judgment seat of God to answer for his or her life— people will be separated and sent to hell or eternal heaven based upon their names being recorded in the book of life — a record of those who lived with submissive faith in Jesus Christ. (Revelation 20:11-15; Matthew 25: 31-46; Romans 14: 1-12; & 2 Corinthians 5:10).

Heaven—The New Heaven and New Earth —the long sought after home of the soul with God. It is the dreamed of promised land where all the true utopian dreams of humanity come true. Ultimate intimacy with God — the saved will live forever—with new, powerful, glorious, and eternal bodies — no more death, pain, or evil —— the dream life, with God’s Glory and sheer blessed happiness with Him forever. (Isaiah 65:17-25; 2 Peter 3:1-13; & Revelation 21:1-22:5).

Punishment in Hell — the place of ultimate justice, wrath, and fiery torment, where people are punished for their sins. There is no escaping punishment in hell. Each person’s punishment will be in accordance with the opportunities, decisions, and responsibilities which they had while on earth. Hell is eternal separation from God and spiritual death. (2 Thessalonians 1:6-10; Mark 9: 42-49; Luke 12:5;47-48; & Revelation 20:14-15).

#3 God Shows Us His Love in the Cross

2009-04-12T05:28:00.000-07:00

We have been looking at the meaning of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection. This is the single most important teaching in the Bible........

The third way by which we understand Christ’s sacrifice is the “Example of Love Motif.” God has consistently demonstrated the depth of his love throughout human history. He has always provided his people with every good gift that would result in their long-term well-being. In the atonement of Jesus, as in everything else, God’s love shines forth brightly.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

Once we understand God’s holiness, we can properly understand the greatness of God’s love. God did not want human beings to be condemned. So, God did not leave us to face the consequences of our actions, he entered into our world to die for us and win us over through costly, sacrificial love.

For God did not sent his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. (John 3:17–18)

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. (1 John 4:9)

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

The Bible says that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself because of his great love (2 Corinthians 5:19). The cross of Jesus demonstrates for all eternity the depth of God’s love. As C.A. Dismore put it, “There was a cross in the heart of God before there was one planted on the green hill outside Jerusalem. And now that the cross of wood has been taken down, the one in the heart of God abides, and it will remain so long as there is one sinful soul for whom to suffer.”

God’s example of sacrificial love is the foundation upon which Christ based much of his teachings. For example, Christian leaders are to see themselves as servants of the people, just as Jesus was a servant of the people. Jesus “did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). Just as Jesus laid down his life for us, his followers are to lay down their lives for one another (John 15:12,13). Just as God through Jesus forgave the great debt caused by our sin, as his followers, we also must forgive the debts caused by people who sin against us (Matthew 18:21–35).

In keeping with this, the core of the Christian life is emulating the sacrificial love of Christ. The love revealed in the cross is the ethical pattern for a wide spectrum of interpersonal relationships (1 Peter 2:21ff; Ephesians 5:23ff; Philippians 2:5ff, etc.). The example of the cross is the core and foundation of Christian ethics and morals.
Summary

Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection is the core of the Christian faith. The meaning of it all can be summed up in three parts: Christ suffered in our place to satisfy the required holiness of God, set us free from the power of Satan, and show us the depth of his love. What the holiness of God required, the love of God provided on the cross.

In the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, God shows that he is much more loving than we could possibly have imagined. The cross reveals a God whose compassion is surprising and so contrary to what we commonly think.

#2 Christ’s sacrifice on the cross rescues us from Satan and takes us out of his kingdom.

2009-04-11T08:27:00.001-07:00

We have been talking about Jesus' Death, Burial, and Resurrection. We now get to see the second aspect of what he did for us on the cross . . . .

The second major way of understanding Jesus death on the cross is the “Christ Is The Victor Motif.” By his death, burial, and resurrection, Christ won a great victory over the spiritual forces of evil. Through his death on the cross, Christ disarmed the powers and authorities in the spiritual realm.

He canceled the record that contained the charges against us. He took it and destroyed it by nailing it to Christ's cross. In this way, God disarmed the evil rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross of Christ. (Colossians 2: 14-15, NLT)

The death of Christ is very significant in the battle between Satan and the human race. Satan gained a foothold into the human race when he first tempted Adam and Eve to rebel against God. This led to an enslavement of human beings under the influence of the devil.

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. (Ephesians 2: 1-2)

Through Satan’s temptation of our ancestors, the human race had chosen to belong to the demonic order through a collective history of sin.

This is why the Bible teaches that the “whole world” is under the control of the evil one (1 John 5: 19) and how Jesus came to destroy the devil’s work (1 John 3: 8). Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross destroyed Satan’s work.

Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death--that is, the devil--and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. (Hebrews 2: 14-15)

Now, through Jesus’ victory on the cross, those who trust in him are placed with him in a position of authority above the demonic.

God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2: 6-7)

The Bible teaches that though these spiritual forces have been sentenced to defeat, they will still wage battle against God’s people in the spiritual realm until Christ returns to finally destroy them.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:10–12)

Through the cross of Christ and our steadfast faith in him, God gives us victory in these battles. When we trust in Christ, we are literally translated from Satan’s kingdom into God’s kingdom.

For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:13-14)

Satan has been defeated, those who trust in Christ are set free, and God will reign victoriously (Revelation 12:10-11; 20:1-21:1).

#1 By Christ’s sacrifice God takes away our sin and provides complete forgiveness

2009-04-10T16:14:00.000-07:00

We have been talking about Jesus' Death, Burial, and Resurrection. We now get to see what he did for us on the cross . . . . theologically.

First is the “Satisfaction Motif,” the most important and prominent way of understanding Christ’s death. Christ’s sacrifice completely satisfies God’s holy and righteous judgment of sin and sinners. As people, we all have done wrong. We have broken God’s laws and God’s heart. As it is written:

There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. (Romans 3:10–12)

When Christ died on the cross, God was able to completely forgive our sin because the demand of his righteous judgment against us was put on Christ. As sinners apart from Christ we all have real, objective guilt. Before God we all stand guilty. Yet, when Christ died on the cross, he took away our sins:

But now he [Christ] has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as a man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. (Hebrews 9:26–27)

He [Christ] is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:2)

For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people's sins against them. This is the wonderful message he has given us to tell others. . . . "Be reconciled to God!" For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. (2 Corinthians 5: 19-21, NLT)

As sinners, we humans have no method of atoning for our sins against God. God had to take the initiative. Only God could atone for the sins of human beings. Christ’s death on the cross provided the complete ground and basis upon which God forgives, cleanses, and purifies people from wrongdoing. Only when our objective guilt is removed are we truly free and that is what Christ did for us.

1.1 The cross is a substitute for the eternal punishment our sins deserve.

God’s holiness and justice demand that sinners be punished: that is why Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden; that is why the ancient world was destroyed by the flood; that is why many of the Israelites were destroyed in the desert; and that is why God punished the nation of Israel.

God’s justice is not lenient, as human justice can be, because God’s holiness is at stake. Humankind’s only hope is to have our sins removed so that we will not experience the punishment from God that we deserve for each of our sins. In his great love, God put upon Christ the punishment we deserve. In Jesus' death on the cross, he freed us by taking the punishment due us for our sins and in the process satisfied God’s holy anger against us.

We are made right in God's sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins. And we all can be saved in this same way, no matter who we are or what we have done. For all have sinned; all fall short of God's glorious standard. Yet now God in his gracious kindness declares us not guilty. He has done this through Christ Jesus, who has freed us by taking away our sins. For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy God's anger against us. We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed his blood, sacrificing his life for us. (Romans 3:22–25, NLT)

Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:4-6)

When Jesus was crucified he provided the only possible way for sin to be removed. Only Christ could bear the penalty justice demanded. Jimmy Allen put it this way:
God is just, those who violate his law must be punished. How can a holy, righteous, just God save an unholy, unrighteous, unjust man and still be God? The Lord will never condone wrongdoing or fellowship sin. If man was to be saved, a way had to be devised whereby God could maintain his holiness and pardon man. There could be no compromise with sin. Shallow minded people sometimes ask, “How can a good God condemn anyone?” Really, Paul’s question in Romans is, “How can a just God save anyone?” The love and mercy of God found a way in which sinners could be forgiven … Jesus had to die to uphold the justice or righteousness of God.

The atonement of Jesus Christ, then, was necessary because it provided (in Christ’s suffering) for the removal of sin because Christ suffered the penalty that sin necessitated. Through the cross, we can be freed from the punishment we deserve.

1.2 The cross provides forgiveness from sin on a continual basis.

Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection provided an ongoing sacrifice. If we truly trust him, Christ’s atonement cleanses us from sin everyday. The expression “walk in the light” is the Bible’s way of describing living with a “genuine and active faith.” Christ’s provision for our ongoing forgiveness is described in 1 John.
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, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. (1 John 1:7-10)

This is why Christians live with ongoing joy and peace. They experience the realization of forgiveness for all past sins at conversion and then the renewing reality of forgiveness daily through ongoing confession and faith in Christ’s blood. Christ, then, offers forgiveness perpetually for those who actively trust him.

1.3 The cross leads to eternal life with God after death.

The death of Christ cleared the way for us to have a completely restored relationship with God in eternity after death. This restoration is often appropriately referred to as our “salvation”:

For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath, but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:9)

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you. (1 Peter 1: 3-4)

Our salvation will be consummated with the joy of an unending, intimate communion with God in eternity. Through his death, burial, and resurrection, Jesus Christ gave the proof and the substance of our own future resurrection to be with God forever.
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed — in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality … then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” (1 Corinthians 15:51–54)

Just as Adam and Eve caused the entire human race to be excluded from intimate communion with God and to be destined for death, through his atonement, Jesus Christ has provided the basis for all of his followers to re-establish an intimate communion with God and to be destined for eternal life with him where death no longer exists. What Adam destroyed, Christ rebuilt.

Why Jesus Had to Die on the Cross

2009-04-09T02:26:00.000-07:00

From the beginning of time, the problem between God and his people has been sin. Sin can be defined as everything in daily life that is against or fails to conform to the character of God. This is usually demonstrated in an attitude of rebellion or disobedience. Although there are at least eight words that are used to describe sin in the Old Testament and as many as twelve in the New Testament, the foundational idea is that of lack of conformity to God’s will. Sin is the failure to do what God would have us do. As Isaiah said, “Your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you so that he will not hear” (Isaiah 59:2).

God’s reaction to sin is hard for many people to understand. We fail to understand because we do not appreciate God's holiness. To say that God is holy is to say that God is absolutely pure and separate from sin. Holiness cannot tolerate sin. A holy God must insist on holiness in others, lest his own dignity, honor, and sovereign rule of the universe be diminished. God’s holiness requires that sin be punished and that divine judgment fall upon sinners (Exodus 34:7 & Romans 1: 18, 32). If God left sin and sinners alone, then he would fail to be a holy and just God.

Sin, therefore, is a serious matter to God. Sin destroys humanity’s relationship with God. Ever since Adam and Eve sinned God has been faced with a dilemma: he wants to be in relationship with his people, but that relationship is impossible because of sin. In his love God decided to send his Son into the world to remove human sin, so that God and his people could be one. God’s holiness made a penalty for sin necessary. God’s love endured that penalty and made freedom from sin possible. God prepared the Israelite people well in advance so they could understand how God’s holiness required the sacrifice of Christ if people were to be forgiven.

In the Israelite covenant God sought to help his people to appreciate his holiness and the damage sin causes by the institution of a special tabernacle and a special priesthood. To represent God’s holiness, the priests had to meet specific qualifications, wear special clothes, and carefully follow ceremonial procedures. Their job was to help the people understand sin and to offer sacrifices for it. God described in detail the extent and exact nature of sin (Leviticus 8–16, etc.), and then he provided a sacrificial system to enable the people to atone for sin.

To make atonement between a sinner and God, there had to be the loss of an animal’s life and the shedding of blood. Consequently, numerous animal sacrifices were prescribed so that, after committing a particular sin, a person could kill an animal and have the animal's blood sprinkled before God in a ceremonial fashion.

Through the Old Testament, God taught them that the only way sin could be removed was through the shedding of blood:

For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life. (Leviticus 17:11)

So, in this fashion the Israelites became aware of God’s holiness, the extent and nature of sin, as well as the fact that it was necessary that there be a blood sacrifice and the loss of life if there was to be atonement for sin.

The Old Covenant sacrificial system was set up, in part, as an educational foreshadow or prefigure of what God would do in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. By God’s preordained plan, Jesus went to the cross as a willing sacrificial victim. The sins of humankind were such that people could only be reconciled with God if their sins were removed. Only the blood and life of God’s Son could take away the sins of the whole world. The Old Testament sacrifices of goats and calves were miniscule imitations of the final and complete sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that great, perfect sanctuary in heaven, not made by human hands and not part of this created world. Once for all time he took blood into that Most Holy Place, but not the blood of goats and calves. He took his own blood, and with it he secured our salvation forever. (Hebrews 9: 11-12, NLT)

Only the sacrifice of Jesus’ blood (Hebrews 9: 24-28) could meet the demands of God’s holiness and justice. Sin could only be removed forever by his sacrificial death.

How Jesus Died

2009-04-08T08:12:00.000-07:00

The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ took place during the Jewish Passover feast of 29 or 30 AD. After Jesus and his disciples had observed the Passover meal, they traveled outside the city. There, in a garden known as Gethsemane, Jesus prayed to God the Father three times, pleading that God would provide a way other than the cross. After this series of earnest petitions and intense agony, it became apparent that there was no other way. Jesus thus determined to give himself up, and undergo death upon the cross (Matthew 26:36–46).

The Jewish leaders wanted this “teacher” to be taken out of the way. They believed that Jesus’ claims about himself would cause such a political upheaval that the occupying Roman army would seize the opportunity to destroy their nation. So, they bribed one of Jesus’ disciples named Judas to betray him. Judas betrayed Jesus by bringing the temple officials to the Garden of Gethsemane just after midnight, where they arrested him (Mark 14:43).

Jesus then went through a series of six trials, of various sorts, which extended through that night and well into the next morning. These trials were both unfair and viciously rigged. Between the trials Jesus was blindfolded, spat upon, struck in the face, beaten, mocked, ridiculed, and flogged. The effects of these attacks took a tremendous physical toll on him. Finally, after about eight hours of abuse and false trials, the Roman procurator, Pontius Pilate, sent Jesus to be crucified.

According to the Jews his crime was blasphemy, because he claimed to be the “Son of God” (Matthew 26:63). According to the Romans, however, his crime was insurrection, because he claimed to be the king of the Jews (Mark 15:5). The evil intent and plans of human beings, however, were used by God to fulfill his own purposes of bringing the world back to himself through Christ’s death (Acts 2:22–36).

A few years ago the well known medical publication, Journal of the American Medical Association, published a scholarly account of the death of Jesus entitled, “On the Physical Death of Jesus Christ.” In this journal, the authors had some interesting things to say about Jesus’ treatment during these trials. The Romans were experts at preparing their criminals for death. They had the preparation down to a science. The principle method used was flogging:

For scourging, the man was stripped of his clothing, and his hands were tied to an upright post. The back, buttocks, and legs were flogged either by two soldiers (lictors) or by one who alternated positions. The severity of the scourging depended on the disposition of the lictors and was intended to weaken the victim to a state just short of collapse or death.

God sent his Son, born in a stable, to the earth to live in the flesh. He grew up in the humble home of a carpenter. He was rejected by the teachers and leaders of the time; and then, after being betrayed by one friend, denied by another, and abandoned by the rest, he underwent a series of beatings and trials which ignored true justice. Lastly, he was subjected to cruel punishment and death for crimes he did not commit.

Edwards and the other medical examiners comment further:

At the Praetorium, Jesus was severely whipped. (Although the severity of the scourging is not discussed in the four gospel accounts, it is implied in one of the epistles [1 Peter 2: 24]) … The Roman soldiers, amused that this weakened man had claimed to be king, began to mock him by placing a robe on his shoulders, a crown of thorns on his head, and a wooden staff as a sceptre in his right hand. Next, they spat on Jesus and struck him on the head with the wooden staff … The physical and mental abuse meted out by the Jews and the Romans, as well as the lack of food, water, and sleep, also contributed to his generally weakened state. Therefore, even before the actual crucifixion, Jesus' physical condition was at least serious and possibly critical.

Finally, the soldiers led Jesus out to be crucified; but by this time Jesus was so weakened by the severe flogging he was unable to carry his cross, so they compelled a man named Simon of Cyrene to carry it for him. Simon carried it out to a garbage dump where Jesus was crucified. (Mark 15:21)

Although the Romans did not invent crucifixion, they perfected it as a form of torture and capital punishment that was designed to produce slow death with maximum pain and suffering. It was one of the most disgraceful and cruel methods of execution and usually was reserved only for slaves, foreigners, revolutionaries, and the vilest of criminals. Roman law usually protected Roman citizens from crucifixion, except perhaps in the case of desertion by soldiers.

Jesus was secured to the cross by heavy iron nails driven into his hands and feet (5 to 7 inches long [13 to 18 cm] with a square shaft 3/8 of an inch [1 cm] across). Death by crucifixion could take from four hours to four days. The person being punished would experience great agony: excruciating bolts of fiery pain in both arms and legs, tremendous difficulty breathing, lacerated and bleeding flesh, all made for a horrible death.

While on the cross the onlookers hurled insults at him (Mark 16:25–32). Then, after six hours, he died. But before he died, Jesus said a prayer to his Father so that he would “forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). After his death, to make sure that he was dead, the soldiers pierced his side with a spear. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association it was unsettled as to whether Jesus finally died of a heart attack (cardiac rupture) or by suffocation (cardio-respiratory failure).

After death, his body was taken and placed in the tomb of a man named Joseph of Arimathea (Mark 16:43). But by early Sunday morning something wonderful had happened:
After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.” So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshipped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid … ” (Matthew 28:1–10)

By Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection God had forever paved the way for humanity to be “at one” with him. The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus provided for the sacrifice of atonement that was necessary to restore the relationship between God and his people in eternity.

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the Dead

2009-04-08T08:08:00.000-07:00

The truth of this teaching is the foundation of everything else in the Bible. As Peter Cotterell puts it, the truth of this teaching is the most important of all.

Truth is not a matter of pride or humility. It is a matter of fact. Islam says Jesus wasn’t crucified. We say he was. Only one of us can be right. Judaism says Jesus was not the Messiah. We say he was. Only one of us can be right. Hinduism says that God has often been incarnate. We say only once. And we can’t both be right.

Of all the major religions in the world, only Christianity has the death, burial, and resurrection of its founder as its most important teaching.

A term often used to describe the result of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus is “atonement.” The word atonement is an old English word which means “to be set at one, to reconcile.” Etymologically this word is made up of three words: “at,” “one,” and “ment” (at-one-ment). The term “atonement,” then, is an English word used to explain how the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ provided human beings with the way to be set at one with God.

Thomas Oden puts it succinctly by summarizing the impact of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection and the “cross.” At the heart of it all is the meaning of the fact that “Christ died for us.” “He died” is a fact. “For us” is the meaning of that fact.

Sin dug a gulf in a relationship. The cross bridged it. Sin resulted in estrangement. The cross reconciled it. Sin made war. The cross made peace. Sin broke fellowship. The cross repaired and restored it.

To gain further understanding, I will make posts over the next few days on the biblical teaching on the death, burial, and resurrection.

Questions about Jesus

2009-03-30T07:12:00.000-07:00

As our Easter services are coming up, we are going to be looking at what it means to really, truly believe in and follow Jesus. Both parts are essential - to believe and to follow. Most people in middle Tennessee believe, but only a small number truly follow. George Barna, a national researcher, says that this is typical accross the land. Barna and Gallup (the Gallup poll)say that less than 10% of those who claim to be Christians live a life that is substantially different than those who do not make the claim. We want to get people to ask themselves, "what would it take for you to get serious about truly following Jesus?"

Church Planter Bootcamp Pt. 3

2009-02-07T16:11:00.000-08:00

Theology in Stadia church plants . . .

Basic Evangelical Beliefs . . .

1. Emphasis on the conversion experience, or born again after John 3:3 This experience is "by grace, through faith"(Ephesians 2:8,9 1).

2. The Bible as the primary, ultimate, reliable, and final authority, as God's revelation to humanity. (II Timothy 3:16 2, John 17:17 3).

3. Encouragement of evangelism and discipleship (the act of sharing one's beliefs)(Matthew 28:19 4).

4. A central focus on Christ's redeeming work on the cross as the only means for salvation and the forgiveness of sins (I Corinthians 15:3,4 5).

5. The local church is vital to spiritual life and vitality.

6. The empowerment and guidance of the Holy Spirit as vital to life and faithfulness to God.

Basic Restoration Movement beliefs . . .

1. The normative biblical conversion experience witnesses faith expressing itself in a commitment to Jesus Christ through water baptism. It is the norm, that in the Bible, reception of the Holy Spirit and forgiveness of sins occurs at this time. But God is Sovereign and is not bound by these norms.

2. Faith demonstrates itself, when authentic, in a lifesyle of faithfulness. Without faithfulness, faith is not genuie or reveals the path of apostacy.

3. The local church should appoint elders as the local leadership authority and practice weekly communion.

Most planters see these beliefs and patterns as vital and life-giving.

Church Planter Bootcamp Pt. 2

2009-02-05T08:00:00.000-08:00

Relational Discipleship - is driven by the conviction that doing discipleship in the purest model (Jesus' model) is based upon relationships. The tag line is "biblical discipleship in relational environments."

Keys:

1. Invitation
2. relational investment
3. apprenticeship
4. release

Church leaders must "live the DNA" we teach. It must be who you are, more than what you do. You must talk and a live one thing: relational environments for biblical discipleship.

Attraction to a small group? 90% of attraction is based upon a one-on-one invitation.

Church Planter Training Pt. 1

2009-02-03T11:20:00.000-08:00

Key thoughts on the Relational Discipleship Model (Tuesday morning) . . . .

-Relationship Discipleship is the way that Jesus made disciples . . . enter into the lives of people, love them, enjoy them, serve them and in the process invite them to follow Jesus.
-Relational Discipleship requires the core biblical conviction that obedience to scripture (and the teaching of Jesus) requires you to do it that way.
-Church isn't something you go to - it is a lifestyle that you live with others . . . church is something that you do 7 days a week.
-It must be who you are, more than what you do.

Inspiration and Authority of Scripture 2

2009-01-21T08:01:00.000-08:00

Scripture For the Christian Faith

The New Testament writings present Jesus Christ as the one who fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament. When Jesus came, God fully and finally revealed himself.
Jesus cried out, “When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only but in the one who sent me. When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me. I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day. For I did not speak of my own accord, but the father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say. (John 12:44–50)

Elsewhere Jesus compared his words and teaching to the foundation of a house. Claiming to follow him and to do great things in his name will not be enough on the day of judgment — only those who truly build their lives on the foundation of his teaching will enter the kingdom of heaven: Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in you name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?” Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evil doers!” Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. (Matthew 7:21–24)

It is not surprising, then, that just before his ascension back to heaven, Jesus committed his words and teachings to the apostles as the basis of obedience for all future disciples. Then Jesus came to them and said, “all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18–20)

The proper place to begin to understand the nature of scripture in the Christian faith, then, is to look to the apostles. In this way we see that both the Old Testament writings and the teaching of Jesus fit together and claim to be the authoritative word of God.

As Matthew 28:18-20 indicates, the apostles became the messengers of Jesus’ teaching. Jesus had previously given them the assurance that the Holy Spirit would ensure that they properly presented his authoritative teaching.

These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. (John 14:24–26)

The teachings of Jesus were entrusted to the apostles who were promised the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit. Like the prophets of the Old Testament, God’s Spirit would ensure that the message of the apostles was, truly, the word of God and that the apostles would correctly teach what Jesus entrusted to them.

This is why, from the first days, the Christians devoted themselves to the ‘apostles’ teaching’ -- they were not just the apostles’ teaching -- they were the inspired teachings of “ Jesus Christ!”

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. (Acts 2:42)

Jesus Christ and his words were God’s final message for the human race.

In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. (Hebrews 1:1-2)

This is why the writers of the New Testament urged Christians to uphold and defend these teachings – from this point forward, God would provide no new teaching, no other path, and no other way (Jude 3).

It was natural, then, that the writings of the apostles, and those closely associated with them, quickly assumed the status of inspired scripture. Even as the writings of the New Testament were being completed, the apostle Peter referred to Paul’s writings as “scripture,” and two texts, one from the Old Testament and one from the gospel of Luke, are introduced by the phrase, “the scripture says” (1 Timothy 5:18). In this way, God ensured that there was a written record of Jesus’ teachings -- given through the apostles -- and made available for all people in an objective form. The recognition of these books as the authoritative standard that we now call the “New Testament” occurred early, as the apostles’ teachings spread throughout the world.

Biblical Authority, Inspiration, and Infallibility . . . Old Testament

2008-11-28T19:11:00.001-08:00

My son is a Bible major and senior at Ozark Christian College. He recently has decided to work through the concept of the exact nature of Biblical authority. It is a good exercise, so I am going to blog about my reflections on it, as I write to him.

The best place to start is with the Old Testament concept of God's revelation of himself. Israelite history begins with Abraham, and by the time Abraham’s descendants became a nation, there was a need to have an objective, written record of God’s revelations. So God instructed Moses, the leader of Israel, to write down his words. Exodus 24 shows how this
happened.

Then he [God] said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy
of the elders of Israel. You are to worship at a distance, but Moses alone is to approach the Lord; the
others must not come near. And the people may not come up with him.” When Moses went and
told the people all the Lord’s words and laws they responded with one voice, “Everything the Lord
has said we will do.” Moses then wrote down every thing the Lord had said. (Exodus 24:1-4)

In this way God provided the Israelites with a permanent record of his mighty deeds and words (Exodus 34:1, 27).

At the end of his life, Moses took all that God had revealed in the Law and gave it to the priests of Israel.

So Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. Then Moses commanded them: “At the end of every seven years, in the year for canceling debts, during the feast of Tabernacles, when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God at the place he will choose, you shall read this law before them in their hearing. Assemble the people - men, women and children, and the aliens living in you
towns - so they can listen and learn to fear the Lord your God and follow carefully all the words of
this law. (Deuteronomy 31:9-12)

God commanded that every seven years the law was to be read aloud to the whole community. He also commanded the parents to teach these laws to their children on a daily basis (Deuteronomy 6:1-9).

From the very beginning the Old Testament writings presented themselves as the inspired message of God to his people. God loved his people enough to know that they needed an objective and authoritative standard to guide them in their relationship with him. It was too easy to misunderstand or to forget the verbal instructions that God had given the nation. Earlier in
Deuteronomy, God was very specific about the personal application of his law and the importance of not changing what had been revealed.

Hear now, O Israel, the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow them so that you may live and
may go in and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you. Do not
add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord your God
that I give you. (Deuteronomy 4:1–2; see also, 4:5–9; 5:29–33; 6:1,4–9; 7:12; 8:1,6; etc.)

God wanted to ensure that the Israelites understood his sacred ordinances: they were the daily
standard for living and to be adhered to without any changes in all things.

At the same time, God’s revelation through Moses was not God’s final word. As the Israelite nation developed, God continued to communicate with his people. Sometimes he would inspire the chronicling of important lessons in Israelite history, as he did in the books of Joshua through 2 Chronicles. At other times God would raise up prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah who
spoke for God to the people and wrote down their words. They were never just human words. They were the words of God.

The Israelites knew that there were more revelations to come. So God gave them tests to determine whether a prophet was legitimate and really speaking for God (Deuteronomy 18:14- 22). God also told Moses that there would be one special prophet who would come and the people were to heed the words of this new prophet, because his words would be those of God
himself. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account. (Deuteronomy 18: 18-19)

Related themes can be found throughout the Old Testament (Jeremiah 31:31–34; Isaiah 11:1–5; etc.). The Old Testament writings anticipated a climactic revelation from God which would become the ultimate standard. This prophet did come, and we now know him as Jesus Christ (John 1: 45).

Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T07:29:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite times. In 1863 Abraham Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving Day as a national holiday. However, it was not until 1942 that it became a legal holiday--4th Thursday in November. It is not a coincidence that both of these moves were made when the nation was in darkest days of 2 horrible wars. Thanksgiving is so important, because it asks us to remember God, and be thankful to him. Without conscious effort to remember God, we will tend to forget him, especially when I lives are going well. As Deuteronomy 8 puts it, "when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God . . . " So, Thanksgiving is a great time, but also a spiritually important exercise for when "we eat and are satisfied."

Atheism?

2008-11-24T08:07:00.000-08:00

I think the Bible teaches that we all intuitively and subconsciously know that God exists. As humans, our interaction with the created world somehow tells us God exists. Consider the following verses from the book of Romans.

For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. Rom. 1:20

This verse not only tells us that God exists, but that everyone knows about God’s eternal power and divine nature. Sensing that God exists, however, does not remove all doubt. I have met many people who question God’s existence, from friends in philosophy classes at graduate school to concerned Christians who grew up going to church. It is one thing to have questions about God and experience doubt, but atheists go one step further and state that there is no God. Atheism, so I found, is almost always driven by psychological factors. It is usually not a rejection of God, but a rejection of "a God or a religion the atheist doesn't like." More often than not, atheism is a rejection of the oppressive religion held by someone close to the atheist, often the atheist's father.

Often the person has legitimate reasons to reject a particular religion or religious practice, but the rejection goes too far. Rebellion against some form of oppression can become an over-reaction in the opposite direction. This syndrome is illustrated in the lives of many famous intellectual people like Sigmund Freud, Charles Darwin, Carl Marx, and it is described in the book, The Atheist Syndrome.

My 95% Agreement with Shane Claiborn

2008-06-09T19:25:00.000-07:00

In January, I encouraged everyone at HCC to read the Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborn. It is a good read, with good stories, and an emphasis that HCC really needs. After that, various adults read the book and the entire youth group read the book. This movement is all good . . .

I like the book, but I rarely believe that anyone is 100% right. I agree with 95% of the book because there is a flaw or two in his approach. He is not as biblical as he could be on evangelism, discipleship, and church. We must always remember, as we follow Jesus, that the focus of his life was to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). How can we say that we truly follow Jesus, if our focus, in regard to other people, is less than seeking and saving the lost?

Too many people, with the gift of mercy and a passion to serve the poor, neglect this point. Another way of thinking about this matter is the great commission. In terms of a biblical emphasis, everything in the entire book of Matthew leads up to the great commission, which ends with this clear teaching from Jesus: "we are to make disciples of all peoples" (Matthew 28:19-20). The greatest service that we can provide to another person is to help them repent, embrace the cross, and turn to Jesus. Without turning to Jesus, they are going to hell. Without turning to Jesus, they will not become a worshipper of God, which is the purpose for which they were created.

So, we seek a holistic balance on both service and evangelism; good deeds and good news; serving the lost and evangelizing them - showing the gospel and telling the gospel. It is great that we are doing beeter at serving the poor and helping the hurting . . . but the best way to ultimately help someone, and the way we are most like Jesus, is when we are evangelizing the lost and making disciples of Jesus.

It is both service and evangelism. This is the path we must follow.

This is an important percentage of any irresistible revolution that is truly biblical.

Missional or Consumer Christians

2008-06-05T08:08:00.000-07:00

Consumer or Missional?

Consumer Christians? – A Short Description. Many people come to church with an unexamined way of thinking which makes them, “consumer Christians.” Unfortunately, many long term Christians also have this mindset. They have come to believe the reason for the church's existence is to meet their needs. The Church is viewed as providing a product or a service: good religious feelings, self-help programs, children's activities, practical advice for living successfully, sports leagues, etc.

Thom Rainer’s research reveals, “For most of the generations born before 1950, church is a place where you serve, sacrifice, and give. For most of the generations born after 1950, the question is not ‘What can I do to serve the church?’ but ‘What has the church done for me lately?’

We believe that it is helpful to contrast Consumer Christians with Missional Christians.

Missional Christians? - A Short Description. . . . as God sent Jesus into the world to love, serve, and point people to the eternal kingdom of God, Jesus sends us into the world to love, serve, and point people to the eternal kingdom of God. “A missional life is a life where the way of Jesus informs and radically transforms our existence to one wholly focused on sacrificially living for him and others and where we adopt a missionary stance in relation to our culture. It speaks of the very nature of the Jesus follower." ---Rick Meigs

Consumer Christians

I want the best church experience
What can the church do for me?
Church exists for my needs
My needs should be met
My preferences
What do I get out of it?
My benefit?
Lots of Good Programs for our Family?
How much do I have to give?
How much time do I have to give up?
Give me what I want – get my support
Feed Me
Serve Me
Give me a Good Sunday Show

Missional Christian

I want to be fully involved in God’s mission.
What does Jesus want me to do for the church?
Church exists for God’s mission
Jesus’ Way of the Cross should be upheld
What others need
What can I give?
Service to others?
My Family’s Responsibilities to Jesus’ Kingdom?
How much can I give?
How much time can I find?
What Jesus asks for – gets my support
Help me feed myself
Help me serve others
Challenge me to connect and serve

The difference in these two approaches is big. At HCC we are committed to becoming and developing Missional Christians. Not easy, but biblical, Christ-honoring, and right!

2008-04-12T15:50:00.001-07:00

Leadership Seminar with Community Christian Church

2008-04-12T15:16:00.000-07:00

I just dropped Jon Ferguson and Eric Metcalf off at the airport. Leading a church that is excellent at developing leaders is great modeling for us - over 5,000 in attendance, 9 campuses, 60% in small group, leadership replication DNA. Good guys. Good one day seminar.

About 70 HCC leaders showed up. There were many great learnings for our church.

Here are my 10 top learnings as HCC's Lead Pastor:

1. HCC is on the right track, and has been for a long time now, with our leadership development and small group plans - this has been reiterated over and over again.

-relational discipleship is the best and most biblical discipleship and this best takes place in a
small group.
-all HCC ministerial staff must function as leaders of leaders.
-we must focus on equiping, supporting, and discipling leaders through relational means.

2. As elders and staff, we need to get better a providing and supporting good coaches for our small group leaders.

3. Small group leaders must get better at developing apprentices.

4. We need to seriously consider a "Monthly Leadership Community Gathering:"

-Cast vision regularly for the church and her small group leaders
-provide an organizationed coaching meeting every month
-celebrate the wins in the church
-train leaders with the skills and insights they need.
-have more crazy, fun

5. We need a slogan that sums up our mission statement. CCC's is "helping people find their way back to God." HCC's mission statement is "Leading people to Christ and helping one another become more like Him." CCC's statement is their tag-line. I wonder wonder about an HCC tag line . . . . helping people truly trust and follow Jesus. ??????

6 The seminar reminded me of Rick Stedman's charge to everyone in any service/ministry at Adventure Christian Church: "you have two jobs, first to do your ministry and second to recruit someone to take over your ministry."

7. I must better articulate the vision, as lead pastor, over and over and over and over - on Sundays, in emails, in published material, in leadership gatherings, in staff meetings, in . . . . . As Eric said, I must 1) live it out, 2) shout it out, and 3) spell it out (logo, videos, leadership commitments).

8. Like CCC, I would like a leadership culture at HCC that holds to the following:

- reproduction
-fun
-collaboration
-trust
-humility
-we lead with a "yes" (yes, results in the how)

9. Multiplication of Small Groups? We must multiply based upon "leader readiness" (apprentice), not group readiness. We make a mistake thinking it is about group readiness (normally, they will not want to lose their friends and intamacy) when it is about apprentice readiness. See http://www.cccsmallgroups.com/ for more.

10. I love their practical small group leader & apprentice teachings.

Method of developing apprentices . . .

- I do, you watch, we talk.
-I do, you help, we talk
-You do, I help, we talk
-You do, I watch, we talk
-You do, someone else watches (and you do it again)

Multiplication is caused by

-prayer
-goals to multiply
-effective training
-evangelistic efforts
-social gatherings outside meeting

I cannot think of two better evaluation grids than these . . . .

Solo Dei Gloria!

Attractional vs. Missional Church

2008-02-06T21:30:00.000-08:00

Attractional Church
Come and See
Tell the Gospel
Come to Building, programs, staff, services
Worship at the church
Proclamation and Teaching
Join us for Religious Services
Ministry by Professional “Ministers”
Pastors are gifted to serve us

Missional Church
Go and Be (like Jesus)
Show and Tell the Gospel
Go Love, serve, and meet needs
Worship by your life
Good Works and Good News
Go to the people, serve their needs
Ministry by Everyday Christians
We are all gifted for service

A New Kind of Christian

2008-01-02T18:39:00.000-08:00

I like many things that Brian McLerna writes, but I am not a Brian McLeran fan. I find it too difficult to overlook his compromize on key parts of biblical teaching (Jesus as the Only Way, divorces, homosexuality, etc.,.). But Brian McLeran writes an essay called, “Christian,” in David Kinnaman's new book, UnChristian. His vision is GREAT! Here is what he says . . .

In thirty years, research could show us that when people think Christian, they think things like this:

• Christians are the ones who love people, whoever they are – gay or straight, Jew or Muslim, religious or atheist, capitalist or not, conservative or liberal.

• Christians are the ones who have done more than anyone in the world to stop the HIV/AIDS crisis.

• Christians are the people who gravitate toward the poor and who show compassion through generous action and seek justice so that the systemic causes of poverty are overcome. They call the rich to generosity, and they call on rich nations to work for the common good.

• Christians are people who believe that art and creativity are important, so they consistently produce the most striking, original, and enriching art.

• Christians are willing to give their lives for the cause of peace. They oppose violence in all of its forms. They will lay down their lives to protect the vulnerable from the violent.

• Christians care for the environment. They don’t just see it as raw materials for economic gain, but they see it as the precious handiwork of their Creator.

• Christians have personal integrity. They keep their marriage vows and are aware of how destructive misused sexuality can be. Yet they are compassionate toward people who make sexual mistakes, and they never consider themselves superior.

• Christians build harmony among races. You always know that you’ll be respected when you’re around a Christian.

Perhaps I am a dreamer. But when the hard realities jolt you out of denial (as the research presented here can do), the status quo becomes less acceptable, and one is motivated to dream of better possibilities. I hope that this research will push others toward becoming dreamers too, and that hose dreams will inspire the needed creative and faithful action.