The Church has left the building...

Did the church ever start in the building? Some would think so, yet I would disagree. In fact the beginning of the church in scripture in Acts 2 (The day of Pentecost) comes from the Holy Spirit falling on 11 people. The Holy Spirit, through tongues and fire falls on the people, Peter then presents the gospel in an amazing way and 3,000 came to know Christ. This did not happen in a beautiful sanctuary, a revival tent in a field, or an old warehouse converted to be the next best church venue. Most likely in the streets of Jerusalem (where else would 3,000 people fit, maybe it is time to build a new building).

It is simple. The disciples lived in a such a way that it drew people in. People were amazed at was going on when the Holy Spirit fell on the 11. They did not have a huge building to draw people in, in fact, I like to think they were meeting in such a place that was among the people, to live out and speak out the gospel. not waiting for the people to fill the local church building at 11:00.

My rambling results to this. "Go." I can sit here and type out scripture after scripture that supports this two letter word. Go! It is simple. Jesus said GO into the nations (greek: ethnos, which translates to people groups, or english language: ethnicity). We are to Go. It is time for the church to leave the building. Time to stop waiting for them to come to us, and for us to go to them. Christ has given us the community that we serve, church rise up, leave the building, and GO!

Live out Acts :

⁴²And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. ⁴³And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. ⁴⁴And all who believed were together and had all things in common. ⁴⁵And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. ⁴⁶And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts,47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Yes Lord, oh wait, I have to change?

Yesterday was an interesting day. Some great things happened in the ministry of Trinity, but in other places, the wilderness seemed like it would never end. So it got me thinking about change... here are my thoughts and ramblings...

Here are a few verses from Isaiah 43. Great chapter, I encourage you to take time to read it!

^8(AA) "Remember not the former things,
nor consider the things of old.
^19(AB) Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
^(AC) I will make a way in the wilderness
^(AD) and rivers in the desert.

²⁵"I, I am he
^(AK) who blots out^(AL) your transgressions for my own sake,
and I will not remember your sins.
²⁶Put me in remembrance;^(AM) let us argue together;
set forth your case, that you may be proved right.

Do we as the church honestly believe the above passage? "Behold, I am doing a new thing!" I am starting to get heart broken at the sound of followers saying, "No, God, I am too comfortable, you cannot do something new, even if that means people must parish in darkness for eternity." Do we often forget who Gods really is? (vs. 25) Things in our culture are rapidly changing around us, be it technology, the way we communicate, the way things move (very fast), how we are entertained, and the list can go on...

Yet it is one thing we as the church do not wish to do, is let God do something new (if it requires change), a new thing that will provide water in a dry place, that will bring forth wells in desert. For the church to do something new usually means one thing, one word we are scared of, "Change." In the book Christian Atheist by Craig Groeschel he says, "Before you can tap into God's changing power, you have to stop making excuses." He goes on to talk about John 5:6 and the story of the invalid where Jesus asks him, "Do you want to get well?" (my translation: Do you want to change?") If you were sick and asked if you wanted to be well, wouldn't you want to change? What you want to be made healthy? Wouldn't you want Jesus to do a great work so you can go to the next level? The invalid responds, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me."

I want to pull something from this that Groeschel touches on as well, so some of this is my thinking and some I have adapted from him. I see two issues here with the invalid. If you take time to read the whole story we see that he has been in this place of suffering for 30 years. Time after time people have passed him at this pool, ignoring the help that he needs to get out of the state he is in. So my tie in is this... how many people in the communities around our churches have passed us day in and day out, wondering what is was like to come into our building, yet no one took the time to reach out and help them in? Maybe we did not take the time to look at what needs to change around us to make us more relevant to the culture we are trying to reach. How many people in our community are offered the chance to see the saving nature of Christ and miss out because we are too busy focused on how comfortable we are, to reach those who are looking for change, who are looking to be made well, who are looking to break the life of sin, yet no one was there to help them into the "pool." Ephesians 2:10, "He has grand designs for you, great works that he planned in advance for you to do."

God has great plans for the Bride of Christ, yet to embrace those plans, sometimes we have to change. Remember we are not changing who we are, who we are about, and what we carry, the Gospel. We are just changing in how we are relevant to the culture around us, as we can reach those who have been crying out for help into the "pool."

The best part of the story of the Invalid in John 5 is that he never had to get in the pool, Jesus just looked at him and said, "get up, take up your bed, and walk." This opens another blog for another day, maybe we are trying to hard to get people into our "pool" where we just need to go to them, meet them where they are, lend out a hand and say, "get up and walk."

Grace and Peace.

A prayer for Lent, for churches and individuals

Would you pray this for yourself and your church? Would you be willing to step out and say God, I have sinned and you have been right in your punishment? Would you pray this prayer? (Daniel 9:4-19)

³Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. ⁴I prayed to the LORD my God and made confession, saying, "O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, ⁵ we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. ⁶ We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. ⁷To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel,those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you. ⁸To us, O LORD, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you. ⁹ To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him¹⁰ and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. ¹¹ All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, refusing to obey your voice. And the curse and oath that are written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him. ¹²He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us and against our rulers who ruled us, by bringing upon us a great calamity. For under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what has been done against Jerusalem.¹³ As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us; yet we have not entreated the favor of the LORD our God, turning from our iniquities and gaining insight by your truth. ¹⁴ Therefore the LORD has kept ready the calamity and has brought it upon us, for the LORD our God is righteous in all the works that he has done, and we have not obeyed his voice. ¹⁵And now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and have made a name for yourself, as at this day, we have sinned, we have done wickedly.

¹⁶"O Lord, according to all your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy hill, because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a byword among all who are around us. ¹⁷Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate. ¹⁸ O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. ¹⁹O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name."

40 days of giving it up

Yesterday, Ash Wednesday, marked the beginning of the liturgical observance of Lent. This is my fourth year being a part of the Anglican tradition, and my fourth lent. Over the past four years I have given up coffee, candy, soda, tried to give up facebook, etc. I have also tried to take on more reading, better devotional life, and a better prayer life. For 40 days, and then it was back to "normal." Back to sweet carbonated goodness, facebook stalking, teeth rotting candy, and a luke-warm devotional and prayer life. I did my check off for the year, it is now pentecost season, time to rest. Sound familiar?

Fasting is an important part of Lent, I just feel I have been missing, and so do many others, the mark on what our Lenten disciplines (those things we fast for 40 days) are all about. Even though this is my favorite time of year in the church because of the emphasis of self-examination and preparation for the resurrection celebration, I will say I despise the question, "So, what are you giving up for Lent?" I often ask myself is this a question for a later relationship of accountability or a question of curiosity? (Matthew 6:16-18) Fasting these things we decide to give up are great, but it is what we replace them with, that matters (great example in Daniel 9:3). We give things up, we take things on, but do we give someone up, ourselves?

However, we must remember that our Lenten disciplines are supposed to ultimately transform our entire person: body, soul, and spirit. Our Lenten disciplines are supposed to help us become more like Christ. Eastern Christians call this process theosis, which St. Athanasius aptly describes as "becoming by grace what God is by nature."

Steven Clark, , always said, "Lent is more than a diet." As you take on your lenten discipline, remember that is more about gaining spiritual maturity and righteousness, something I hope to accomplish. I pray that it is more than a 40 day focus, but a lifetime work, what I like to call a "Beautiful Struggle."

I have a great friend of mine who is currently undergoing to daniel fast (read about it: http://www.daniel-fast.com/). He started out full fledged with a great plan, and then realized it was starting become more about rules and regulations, instead of growth, discernment, and holiness, which I can say about many of the fasts I have done. I support taking something on or away for lent, I just pray that we can honestly come through with a closer relationship with the one who gave His life. That lent becomes "more than a diet," but a way to come to the cross a changed disciple of Christ. To me, Lent is not about putting something down, it is about putting someone down: myself. May we give our life to the One who gave it all for us!