You can get their whole history here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook) but let me talk to you about what God is doing through Facebook here at CGS.

A month ago we had a Congregational Summit and brainstormed about ways we can connect with each other as we follow Christ's mission to help spiritual wanderers become authentic followers of Jesus.  Many ideas came up and many successes were shared.  As God gives us successes in our mission, we have new issues to overcome.  For example, we've reached people for Christ ... now how do we learn their names?  We have new ideas and activities popping up around the church ... how do we get the word out when no one seems to read the bulletin?  We are becoming a networking church ... how do we connect our personal networks to the network of believers at CGS?

Those are good problems to have!  Facebook is a potential solution.  It was suggested at that summit a month ago and is already bringing people together in our congregation.

Before I dive in, let me give you a major disclaimer.  Technology can be used for powerful good and powerful evil.  It is a tool, nothing more.  Whether that tool is a website like Facebook, a gun or a wheel, the tool is only helpful if it is used in good ways.  Because of wheels, we can transport people to the hospital more quickly.  We also have drive by shootings.  The shootings can't be blamed on the wheels, guns and bullets.  Technology is generally neutral.  It's the people that make choices.  That said; Facebook can be helpful, but we need to approach this technology with soft hearts, good discernment and a commitment to Peacemaking.

When this idea was first introduced, I was a Facebook outsider.  I have too much going on to "waste time" on social networking and saw Facebook, MySpace and similar sites as simple time sinks. 

Since it was strongly suggested by people I trust, I took time and created an account. It was really simple - taking less than 10 minutes to begin.  When I put in my high school and college information into the system, the software began to suggest "friends."  These are people I haven't talked to since 1988 and it's been great to reconnect with some old friends.  As I've added friends, the system has suggested other people who I might know, extending the reach of my network considerably.  A month later my "Friends Lists" has people from CGS, friends from WorldCom, old classmates and many other people I've lost touch with.

One thing I'm impressed with is Facebook's security.  No one can see my information unless I want them to.  I'm also not required to put any information in that I don't feel comfortable sharing.  There is a place for a phone number.  Feel free to leave that blank.  You can upload pictures, but you can also control who sees those pictures.  It puts the user in the drivers seat.

Here are five ways Facebook can help us as a church and as individuals as we seek to follow Jesus in His mission (inspired by  http://www.buzzardblog.com/buzzard_blog/2008/11/thinking-biblic.html)

1.       We can get back in touch with old, far-away friends in an easy way, showing them how you've been changed by Jesus

This past weekend was my 20th Reunion from High School.  I wasn't able to attend but many of my friends did.  As they were preparing, I had a chance to "virtually reconnect" with them through this online tool.  Back in those days, no one would have picked me to be a pastor.  Now I have an opportunity to share my story and how God has worked in my life.

2.       We can use Facebook as an extension of face-to-face relationships.  This can be used to enhance time spent with people.

You get 10 minutes on a Sunday to get to meet a new friend.  Afterwards we often find ourselves stretching to remember names, occupations, home towns, ect.  Through Facebook you could have an opportunity to get to know more about people.  You can look at what books they are reading, what problems they are having, and what grace they are experiencing.  Through this technology I am learning to better love and care for people when I'm with them because through Facebook I know more about who they are and what's going on in their lives.

3.       We can use Facebook to think about ourselves less and others more.

Between Sundays it is easy to sink into a trap when we think mostly about ourselves, our problems, our jobs, our "to-do" lists, and our personal lives.  On Facebook you can receive an alert when one of your friends status changes.  I use these alerts as a wake-up call and reminder to pray.  I've been able to pray for one friend whose mother passed away, another who was wrestling with some social issues, and many others through the ups and downs of their lives.  I'm now being jarred from self to others and then to the Throne of grace many times a day!

4.       We can use Facebook to quickly announce events and to make great things happen.

It would be a huge mistake if we spent time on Facebook instead of face-to-face with others.  We have to be careful to avoid this trap.  But, if used wisely, we can use this tool to facilitate more face-to-face time.

For small groups and our church-wide endeavors, instead of taking 45 minutes to call 10 people to come over for a spontaneous evening of fun and fellowship, it is possible use Facebook to communicate these events, saving more time for other activities ... hopefully for face-to-face time. 

5.       We Can use Facebook to influence other people for Jesus. Create a new culture with your status updates.

There is an application on this site that lets you set your status, usually with your name followed by "is" and then a description..  It could be anything, a few I'm seeing now include: ________ is content.  _________ says good news (and goes on to describe an injury that isn't as bad as anticipated).  _______ is celebrating (her son's) 17th Birthday today!! ______ is at the Pizza Hut all you can eat buffet.

What if we used these as a way to encourage, to teach, to instruct, to be transparent and to show what it looks like to live a 24/7 commitment to Christ. 

My hope, and the hope of our Consistory, is that Facebook can become a free on-line photo directory for our church.  We can use this to reduce the cost of mailings and printing, connect to new and old friends, and further follow Jesus on the road to the Great Commission.

If you have questions or are worried, feel free to ask.  There are already a ton of people from CGS on Facebook and many would be happy to sit down with you, answer your questions, and even help you create an account.

God Bless You!

- Pastor Tim

www.cgschurch.com

It's amazing how our circumstances can impact our faith ... when exactly the opposite should be true.  Our faith could give us understanding as we encounter all sorts of circumstances.  In Helping People Change, (Steve Aaby's class) one of the key points is that the #1 way we can be of service to people is to help them look at their circumstances from the right point of view.  Remember, the Devil brought sin into the world just by shifting the way Adam and Eve viewed the world.  He didn't introduce new circumstances, he simply reinterpreted their reality, and we still pay the price.

Tonight at CGS, from 6:30-7:30pm, is our church-wide time of prayer.  For me, prayer is the best way I connect with Jesus and allow Him to reinterpret my circumstances.  So let me encourage you, if last night's election results have you pleased-as-punch, come and pray.  If last night's election has left you worried, come and pray.  If last night's election doesn't matter because the other circumstances in your life are so difficult that the election isn't even on your radar, come and pray.

As I pray about the election, let me share a few thoughts God has given me.

I was born in 1970, after the Civil Rights Movement turned our nation upside down.  I remember a young African-American family with two boys my age moving into the area and I hung out with them.  My Dad once pulled me aside and told me that he was proud of me for doing this, but I didn't understand why.  To me they were just boys.  Because of the hard work of people in my father's generation, I had the wonderful privilege of growing up in a world where skin color was an increasingly unimportant trait.  Last night's election is a big step in this direction.  We're not all the way there, but we are becoming and increasingly color blind society and for that I thank God.

It is difficult to loose, especially after such a long and heated election season.  Even though President Elect Obama won a significant majority of the Electoral College, the last numbers I saw showed that the popular vote was split 52 to 48 percent.  That puts nearly half our nation in a position to feel like they've lost and to sink into bitterness ... or to feel like they've won and to drift into arrogance. 

Whether in defeat or victory, it is important to show grace.  I remember the election eight years ago, the last time the party changed in the White House.  That election was also heated and little grace was shown by the winners and losers.  As the White House prepared to transition to new leadership frustrated staffers ripped "W's" off keyboards made sure that the transition would be expensive and difficult.

This time I hope that all the "O's" aren't ripped off the keyboards. 

This time I hope that the conservative press doesn't start with potshots and hate-speak.  I hope we don't start hearing "I hate Obama" as often as we've heard "I had George Bush." 

This time I hope we can disagree with grace and remember the words of Abraham Lincoln, as mentioned last night, "We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic cords of memory will swell when again touched as surely they will be by the better angels of our nature."

The one issue that leaves me heaviest of heart is the sanctity of life.  One of Obama's election promises was that his first action in the White House will be to sign the federal Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA).  This would take the abortion issue away from the state government and give it to the federal legislature.  This includes late term abortion.  I believe that we need to "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; defend the rights of the poor and needy" (Proverbs 31:8-9).

I know that there is some debate as to when life begins.  In this video John Piper tells the story of a man charged with negligent manslaughter after a hunting accident.  The message from that case; "When in doubt, don't shoot!  It might be a man!  If you're on a hunting party and you make a bad judgment call, you're guilty!  Life is that important."

This is an issue I don't fixate upon week-after-week, but its also not an issue we can forget about.  We might feel small and powerless, but be encouraged!  We don't need laws to protect the lives of the unborn.   The most direct and personal ways we can help unborn children and their mothers are still fully available to us. See Fifty Ways to Help Unborn Children and Their Mothers.  Also see the small book "Why Prolife?" is online in PDF form for FREE..

While there is debate when life begins, there is little debate as to when life ends.  Yesterday, however, legislation was passed that we will now have to live with until it is repealed, I-1000, the "Death with Dignity Act."  Soon, people with less than six months left to live will have the option to take a lethal dose of medication.  To be consistently pro-life (or anti-death) means that a follower of Jesus must oppose this sort of procedure.  Now that this is legal, burdens may be placed on families to help people continue to live when hospitalization and treatment have been cut off.  Again, our hope is not in the legal system.  Our hope is in building a community where we can offer hope, resources, prayer and healing.  I know of many people who have been given "less than six months to live" and who have persisted for years.  I hope we can pray that this imitative is repealed and that in the mean time we can help people choose life.

In a divided country with issues of life, hope and economics on the line, the biggest thing we can do is to help change hearts and minds one at a time through the power of Jesus Christ.  That's why we exist.  We are here to help spiritual wanderers become authentic followers of Jesus.  It is time to put lesser issues aside and to take our mission seriously.  Maybe we've fought over the wrong things.  Maybe we've fought the right battles in the wrong ways.  Maybe we've defended a political party more than we've defended moral issues.  Maybe we've fought each other.  Maybe we've been complacent.  Today it doesn't matter.  Today is the beginning of a new season.  Today is when we can show what grace, dignity and life look like.

My hope is that we will move forward with grace, that we will embrace the positive changes that are on their way, and that we will continue to fight for issues of life and faith.

Standing With You;

- Tim

Today is a big day for our nation ... right in the midst of a big week for our church.

Before you finish reading this, VOTE.  Actually, before you vote, PRAY then vote, then finish reading this e-mail.

Back?

Good!

Now, to business.  This past Sunday was an incredible day in the life of our congregation.  We had a packed worship service, and incredible time of worship, and our first potluck in a long time.  If you missed it, the Small Group Get Together had incredible food and over 60 people all talking, laughing and making new friends.  We learned a few lessons to make the next one better, but by and large the night was a success as we saw first hand all the new life God is bringing to our church and to our lives.

Tomorrow (Wednesday 11/5) from 6:30-7:30pm is our night of corporate prayer.  This time of prayer is essential for the future of our church.  If you remember, we are in a season of prayer, brainstorming and seeking God's will.  We are a church with a big vision, lots of opportunities and a real budget crisis.  Over the next months we have to pray and discern God's direction.  So far 120 ideas have come in.  These range from the essential (PRAY!) to the obvious (park out front during the week), from the insightful (more intergenerational mentoring) to the incongruous (mud-wrestling).

Tomorrow night we'll take some of these ideas and lay them out before the Lord in prayer.  Then, as God leads, we will present them to the church for action and implementation.  Not every idea can be implemented.  We'd end up going crazy with busy-ness.  That's where prayer comes in.  In Romans 12 God promises us that we can actually know His will.  It's not easy.  It takes work, silence, Bible study and prayer ... but it's possible.

Romans 12:1-2 - I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

As we pray, let's be bold and ask God for both a God-Sized vision and God-Sized Provision.  God has promised boldness, the Holy Spirit, revival, growth, conversion, faith for our children, transformation for our culture and joy in the midst of suffering.  Ask him for it!  Hold Him to His Word.  If God tells us to pray for the harvest, then pray for the harvest!  God desires all men to be saved, lets pray that as many as we can come to faith!  Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones, commenting on Exodus 33, wrote:

"I commend to you the reading of biographies of men who have been used by God in the church throughout the centuries, especially in revival. And you will find this same holy boldness, this argumentation, this reasoning, this putting the case to God, pleading his own promises.  Oh, that is the whole secret of prayer, I sometimes thing.  Thomas Goodwin uses a wonderful term.  He says, "Sue him for it, sue him for it."  Do not leave him alone.  Pester him, as it were, with his own promises.  Quote Scripture to him.  And, you know, God delights to hear us doing it, as a father likes to see this element in his won child who has obviously been listening to what his father has been saying."

Today, pray and vote.

Tomorrow, pray and pray (and maybe fast and pray).

Sunday, be ready to walk through the open doors God is revealing to us.
Standing With You;

Pastor Tim

PS- Get ready for Don't Waste Your Life (http://www.dontwasteyourlife.com).  Details this Sunday.

He writes:
1. It's based on the English Standard Version, which is one of the finest and most faithful translations available today. While it's always good to consult various translations for study, the ESV does a great job recognizing variants in translation in the footnotes.
2. The introductory notes to each book are informative and helpful, and don't overwhelm you with interesting but non-essential background information.
3. The notes are extensive and answer questions I actually have about the text, without avoiding difficult passages.
4. The notes cover material that is not only helpful, but pastoral, aimed at helping me understand God's Word better and loving God more.
5. The notes are well laid out. Larger section, shorter, then vs. by vs. I've found them easy to follow along with the text.
6. The treatment of the first few chapters of Genesis is very even-handed and well-researched. The notes aim to give us an appreciation for the interplay of science and the Bible without giving ground on the ultimate authority of Scripture.
7. The focus is always Gospel-centered. The notes seek to answer the question, "Where does this section of the Bible fit into the larger story of God sending Jesus to redeem a people for his glory?"
8. The articles in the back of the Bible are almost a book in themselves (I'd love to see Crossway will publish these separately), and address many significant issues clearly, briefly, and effectively. They include Biblical Doctrine, Biblical Ethics, Reading the Bible, The Reliability of Bible Manuscripts, The Bible and World Religions, and the History of Salvation in the Old Testament.
9. The maps and illustrations actually contain the cities, areas, and details I want to know about, and are placed close to the passages they refer to.
10. The notes don't go beyond what the text says. They affirm what is clear, and plainly present different views when a word, phrase, or passage is unclear.

More information here

(HT: Z)

I ran across a fantastic article by Ed Stetzer last week and finally had time this morning to give it more attention.

Dr. Stetzer has been in conversation with Eric Geiger, co-author of Simple Church (a book that we've been recommending to new leaders at CGS).  Ed Stetzer is the guru of being missional in North America.  Simple Church is a look at how to maximize a church's efforts by making things more simple (think iPod instead of a sound board).

In this article, they combine the two trains of thoughts and give some advice on how to be SIMPLY MISSIONAL. 

Their thoughts are very relevant given our church's current season of prayer and discussion as we fine-tune our programing and goals for 2009.

Here are a few highlights as they compare the church to Dell's just in time distribution methods.

http://blogs.lifeway.com/blog/edstetzer/2008/10/simpy-missional-in-neue.html

Most churches build big warehouses and shelve a bunch of Christians (those rows look suspiciously like shelves). They design attractive programs to "retain" people in the sacred warehouse, keep precise records of how much inventory (people) is on the shelves, and brag about their warehouses being constantly open. And warehouse managers love to show other warehouse managers their newest warehouses while dreaming together of bigger and better warehouses.

God is calling churches to shatter the warehouse myth, to change their warehouses into strategic distribution centers, where people are distributed as salt and light to the world--sending them out on mission. Some churches are strategically challenging their people to be out there, and these churches have a strategic and simple process that moves people from the warehouse to the street. These churches are simple and missional.

They are simply missional.

...We have heard the cries from pastors for years, "Our people just do not seem to know lost people."

Hmmmm.

Perhaps our church people do not know lost people because our churches have kept people in the warehouse, losing opportunities to deeply engage in relationships with lost people. Church leaders often "guilt" people into coming to the church, removing them from the world that Jesus came to save.

All too often we have discovered that church programming dominates the schedules of members to the point that there is just no time nor energy left in members lives to do the very thing they were created for--live as redemptive agents of the Kingdom of God. This results in both a de-energized body and a gathering of individuals who do not feel fulfilled in their own lives because they are not using their natural, God-given gifts to work in the fields in which the Lord has placed them.

Churches with minimal programming help their people live among the world as missionaries by not asking them to live at the church, but to live as the church.

Churches with minimal programming encourage their members to know their neighbors, coach their kids' little league teams, attend the PTA meetings, and play in the city recreational leagues. And as Christ stepped into our culture, these church members are living incarnationally in the everyday environments life offers us. As Christ is Immanuel (God with us), these church members live God with us lives within the context of their communities.

... instead of utilizing people and resources to keep church programs functioning, missional leaders view their programs and resources as tools for people to encounter the grace of God. The goal is people, not program. They view their resources as tools for people's lives to be transformed, and they train their members to think this way.

Justin, drinking deeply from John Piper's book Hunger For God, writes:

I would like to encourage readers of this blog to consider taking a fast with regard to abortion.

The best thing I have read on this is the chapter, "Fasting for the Little Ones: Abortion and the Sovereignty of God over False Worldviews," from John Piper's Hunger for God (the link takes you to a free PDF of the whole book).

Piper looks at Francis Schaeffer's legacy of worldview engagement, and then writes:

So what can you pray? Here's one way:

Piper also writes:

I join Piper in commending this practice to you--utterly foolish to the world, but pleasing to God.

In this season of life, with an election, an economic crisis and hard times in the life of the church, it is very easy to let our prayers center on us.  As we fast, we deny our easy-to-indulge urge to fill our stomach and instead induldge our less-pressing-but-more-important need to satisfy our souls with Jesus.

As you fast and pray, when temptation comes, let your mantra be "I'd rather have you!"  More than a cheeseburger, more than Reeses Pieces, more than homemade pie, Jesus I'd rather have you.

If health concerns, your lifestyle or anythign else would keep you from fasting from food, consider a media fast.  Turn off the TV, don't listen to the radio, even put your e-mail away and when tempted to grab the remote or X-Box controler let your soul cry out "I'd rather have you Jesus."

Change the oil, filters, and such while the moms get their haircut and kids get to play and have treats or something while the cars are being tended to???? and car washed (by the youth group...) Everyone is involved from our church...

What do you think?? Needed: Mass mailing to the area, donations of $ and car stuff (oil, filters, etc.), treats for kids, someone to donate their time to cut hair and so forth...is this doable next spring or some time????

Let me know what you think ... log in and post comments.

Four years ago, this past week, our family arrived in Lynnwood and started praying with you all.  For the past four years God has blessed us with new friends, lots of rain, and opportunities to see His grace.  We were homesick at first (remember me complaining about Seattle pizza one or two times????) but have come to love the people here.

During my four years here, and my hunch is that this would fit the other 36 years of the church’s history, prayer has been a place of comfort and of power.  During the best times, I’ve found people who have joined with me to give thanks and praise to God.  During the worst times, I’ve found people who have stood with me and sought God’s face for wisdom, healing and grace. 

Without prayer, I wouldn’t have made it.  Without prayer, none of us can make it.

In John 4:14 Jesus says, “…but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

In my devotions yesterday I read Charles Spurgeon’s comments on this verse.  Spurgeon writes:

“He who is a believer in Jesus finds enough in his Lord to satisfy him now, and to content him for evermore. The believer is not the man whose days are weary for want of comfort, and whose nights are long from absence of heart-cheering thought, for he finds in religion such a spring of joy, such a fountain of consolation, that he is content and happy. …There is such a fulness in Christ that he alone is the believer’s all. The true saint is so completely satisfied with the all-sufficiency of Jesus that he thirsts no more—except it be for deeper draughts of the living fountain. … Is this the feeling of thine heart now, believer? Dost thou feel that all thy desires are satisfied in Jesus, and that thou hast no want now, but to know more of him, and to have closer fellowship with him? Then come continually to the fountain, and take of the water of life freely. Jesus will never think you take too much, but will ever welcome you, saying, “Drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.”

If you believe that, if you want to feel that, how do we drink of Him?  The answer is that we drink through faith as exercised in prayer.  We don’t drink deeply of Jesus by intending to drink of Him some day.  We don’t drink deeply of Jesus by working hard for Him.  We don’t drink deeply by putting off bad habits.  When we worship, when we pray, when we immerse ourselves in the Word – when our faith is exercised, that’s when we drink and are satisfied.

Tomorrow night is our monthly prayer event.  I would commend this to you – not as a religious hoop to jump through, but as a chance for you to drink deeply on Jesus and be satisfied.  Honestly, things are church are both wonderful and fear-inspiring.  New people are coming, new ministries are beginning and new energy is palatable in our meetings … but there are financial challenges, physical problems and some open spiritual warfare that’s been pestering members of our church.  There are no easy paths forward, but with grace and God’s power we will move forward nonetheless.  To not pray in light of the nation’s economic crisis would be irresponsible.  To not pray in light of the church’s tightening budget and burgeoning growth would be to miss out on vast resources of power.

There is one other tool I want to commend to you as we all seek to increase our lives of prayer, and that is the church Prayer Blog.  Every week Pam Swank adds concerns that are submitted on Sunday so that we can pray for upcoming surgeries, crises and praise God for His many deliverances.  Just today I added a new tool that will help us focus on unreached people groups. This will update daily and provide information on people who are far from having hope and who desperately need Jesus.  You can find more at http://www.cgschurch.com/blogs/prayer-blog/

It’s been four years here for me.  For you it might be four weeks or forty years.  We all have one thing in common.  If we are to see our hopes and dreams realized for our lives, our church and our mission, we need to pray.

See you tomorrow (10/8) at 6:30pm.

-Pastor Tim

This morning as I arrived home with my bags of groceries just retreived from Safeway and getting them put away where they go I had the thought; I don't really have much passion for this business, it's a job I have to do.

Then it dawned on me the difference between doing that kind of thing and the process of breathing. I have a passion to breathe. Clear proof of that necessity would come by putting a platic bag over one's head and then see how quick it comes a primary objective to get it back off to get some air. Passion is not something we cause to happen. We can diminish or remove passion effect with a decision but we don't bring it up with a decision. Passionate spirituality won't happen without the Spirit that is passionate. Webster uses words like powerful, ardent adoring, boundless enthusiasm, deep, overwhelming, highly intense, forceful devotion. Then passionate arises from and is the expression of passion. The first Adam was of the earth and became a living soul when God breathed into him the breath of life. The "last Adam", as Christ is called, became a life giving spirit. It feels to me that there needs to be an understanding come to the people by some means that it isn't us who have passionate spirituality, it is the very spirit of Christ himself, or the Holy Spirit as we know him better, to fill and have the compelling desire for the reading of the  Word, to pray, to worship God and above all things seek after the relationship with the Father as His children.

All of that really means what I would say in one line. We can't decide passion of spirituality, passion of spirituality we must let have us.

So that's my human passion and longing for the body. 

-Keith

In light of tonight's concert of prayer I thought I'd share a few thoughts that have been stirring in my own soul about this topic.

A short definition of passionate spirituality that has been very helpful to me is "individual hearts reflecting God's glory."  Our own KC Harding coined that phrase, and it hits the bull's-eye for me.  God is like the sun, constantly giving off love, light and life.  We are moody, inconsistent and fallen.  We go through season of night where we've turned out backs on God (either intentionally through sin or unintentionally through distraction), and season of rain where the clouds of depression, illness and fatigue put a barrier between us and God's presence.  The goal of passionate spirituality is to craft a life that is more like Hawaii than Seattle.  More exposure to the sun, less distance by the oppression of the world, more heat, more life, more light.

The first step towards this sort of life is VISION.  We have to ask ourselves "what would my life look like if it were passionately spiritual?"  If my soul was more like Hawaii and less like Alaska, how would I react to stress?  If my heart was being renewed by the warm sunshine of spring, how would I interact with my co-workers?  with my children or grandchildren?  with my neighbors?  We'll never live that sort of a life if we don't take time to imagine it.  For me, it's very helpful to read good Christian biographies.  Seeing how others have lived lives of passionate spirituality helps me imagine my life lived in the presence of God.

The next step towards this life is INTENTION.  We can exercise our imaginations all we want, but there comes a time to exercise our will.  If we could wave a magic wand or say a super prayer and immediately become the sort of person we imagine in step one, most of us would.  We want that life.  We want to live in the eternal sunshine of God's presence.  Now we have to intend to actually shape our lives, habits and souls in such a way that results in a life lived reflecting God's glory.

Intention means asking hard questions of our every-day practices.  For a pastor's retreat I was asked to read Dietrich Bonhoeffer's book "Life Together."  He goes to great lengths to describe the sort of intentionality a life of passionate spirituality would require.  He asks about how we wake up, how we sing, how we meditate at the close of the day.  Intentionality means claiming the dozens of little opportunities presented to us throughout the day, and turning them into ways to transform our souls.

Once we see where we're going (vision) and decide to get there (intention) we need to apply ourselves to helpful MEANS of Grace.  "Means of Grace" is a fancy word for helpful habits that shape your life.  Reading the Bible.  Prayer.  Church Attendance.  Reading helpful books and biographies.  Fasting.  Silence.  Giving.  Service.  There are dozens of these.  Many of these we are already doing, but maybe not doing in a helpful way.  If your goal is to read a chapter of the Bible, then we'll plow through the chapter.  If our goal is to take half an hour with the Bible to clear the clouds that separate us from God, then maybe you'll read the chapter, or maybe you'll get hung up on one phrase and spend the rest of the day turning it over and over in your mind.

There's more, but as I've been considering my own heart these three things have been very helpful.  (The insight of Vision/Intention/Means or VIM comes from Dallas Willard's book the Renovation of the Heart)

Tonight there is a Means of Grace available to us all.  From 6:30-7:30pm there will be a concert of prayer.  During that time we will be seeking the filling of the Holy Spirit, begging God for revival, and for healing.  Afterwards we will be able to join the Youth Group for worship and some skits.

So whether you can make it tonight or not, spend time today in prayer for the youth group.  We have over 20 teens connected to Kimberlee and our Youth Ministry.  99% of these kids do not attend church.  Many of them have friends and families who are spiritual wanderers.  Our church exists to help spiritual wanderers become authentic followers of Jesus.  Tonight we can pray for that, work towards that, and join God in what He is already doing.

Standing With You!

- Tim

 Justin Taylor recently posted a lengthy quote of his that really hit me.  Enjoy!

Which do we really need-to give love or to receive it? We resist the question because we want to say both.

Yet Scripture seems to favor the imbalance. Not that we aspire to have our friend or spouse love us less, but that "in humility [we] consider others better than [our]selves" (Phil. 3:4). When the kingdom of God is ruling our hearts, we aspire more to serve than to be served, honor more than to be honored, and love more than be loved. This doesn't mean that we don't care about being loved; it simply means that we always want to outdo others in love.

Do we run the risk of a lopsided relationship? Absolutely. That is the relationship we have with God-he always loves first and most. . . . Throughout Scripture God is the one who loves more than he is loved. He always makes the first move. He advertises his extravagant affection for us even when we are indifferent or opposed to him.

When Jesus Christ, God incarnate, walked the earth, the pattern continued. Through his life Jesus was rejected by his people and misunderstood by his disciples. At the most difficult point of his life, he was betrayed, denied, and abandoned. But through it all his love was unwavering. In this, he established the pattern for true humanness. This is the way we were intended to be.

This is life in the kingdom. It wants love, but it wants even more to love others deeply. Its treasure is to grow in the fruits of the Spirit, foremost of which is to love others.

From Running Scared: Fear, Worry, and the God of Rest (pp. 184-185)

At the present day, I am afraid that nine people out of ten do not believe in the God Who is revealed to us in the Bible. I can point you to newspapers, to periodicals, and also to pulpits by the score in which there is a new god set up to be worshipped-not the God of the Old Testament; He is said to be too strict, too severe, too stern for our modern teachers.

They shudder at the very mention of the God of the Puritans. If Jonathan Edwards were to rise from the dead, they would not listen to him for a minute; they would say that they had quite a new god since his day. But, brethren, I believe in the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob; this is my God-aye, the God Who drowned Pharoah and his host at the Red Sea and moved His people to sing, "Hallelujah!" as He did it; the God Who caused the earth to open and swallow up Korah, Dathan, and Abiram and all their company.

A terrible God is the God Whom I adore-He is the God and Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, full of mercy, compassion, and grace, tender and gentle, yet just and dreadful in His holiness and terrible out of His holy places. This is the God Whom we worship, and He Who comes to Him will take Him to be his Instructor, and so shall he learn aright all that he needs to know. (At the Master's Feet, July 18)

Quote #2 from "On Christian Leadership."

The laws of success operate also in the higher filed of the soul-spiritual greatness has its price. Eminence in the things of the Spirit demands a devotion to these things more complete than most of us are willing to give. But the law cannot be escaped. If we would be holy we know the way; the law of holy living is before us. The prophets of the Old Testament, the apostles of the New and, more than all, the sublime teachings of Christ are there to tell us how to succeed...

The amount of loafing practiced by the average Christian in spiritual things would ruin a concert pianist if he allowed himself to do the same thing in the field of music. The idle puttering around we see in church circles would end the career of a big league pitcher in one week. No scientist could solve his exacting problem if he took as little interest in it as the rank and file of Christians take in the art of being holy. The nation whose soldiers were as soft and undisciplined as the soldiers of the churches would be conquered by the first enemy that attacked it. Triumphs are not won by men in easy chairs. Success is costly.

Think on this...

Mentoring has received a lot of talk at CGS over the years, especially lately.  The Tuesday night class is doing well and people seem interested, but my sincere hope is that we do more than talk about mentoring and actually reach out to the next generation.

CGS has so many people with wisdom and experience.  I long to see that energy unleashed as it gets passed to the next generation.

To help cast this vision into reality, I've attached an article by a young pastor on the power of mentors in his life.  As you read it, ask yourself who God has put in your life that you can reach out to to mentor...or maybe to receive some coaching yourself.

- Tim

Generation to Generation
by Joshua Harris

When I turned twenty-one, my dad gave me this simple advice: "Find men that you want to be like and then sit at their feet." As I launched into manhood, he was reminding me that the lessons I needed most wouldn't be found in a textbook - they'd be written in the heart and life of a godly man. I needed to get close enough to this man that I could observe his character and be shaped by his example. I needed a mentor. 

I didn't realize at the time how important and prescient my dad's counsel was. But less than a year later, God brought me across the path of C.J. Mahaney, the man who would mentor me, train me in pastoral ministry, and eventually install me as his replacement in the church he founded and led for nearly thirty years. 

Looking back, I've become even more aware of what a rare gift God gave me in my relationship with C.J. Sadly, my experience is unique. There are many young adults who desire to sit at the feet of mature Christians. But how many older Christians are willing to let them sit there?

C.J. let me into his life even though it involved personal inconvenience. He literally invited me into his home (I lived in his basement for a year); he guided my study, exposed me to great theology, and both encouraged and constructively critiqued my fledgling attempts at leadership and preaching. 

So for me the power of a mentor is no abstract concept. I know the difference that personal example, friendship, and on-the-job discipleship makes. Every part of my life - as a follower of Christ, as a husband and father, and now as a pastor - has been shaped by the investment my friend made, and continues to make, in my life.

One of the reasons I love to tell my story is because I hope it will inspire older Christians to take the time to mentor the up-and-coming generation of believers. 

Most of us know that mentoring the next generation is a good idea. And of course it's unarguably biblical. Proverbs 13:20 calls the young to be companions of the wise - the implication being that some wise person will be willing to let the less-wise be their companion. The Psalms speak of one generation commending the mighty acts of God to the next (Ps. 145:4). And of course, the New Testament example of Paul teaching and training Timothy models the importance of mentoring in the spread of the Gospel and the building of the church. 

So we can agree that mentoring is good. But do we do it? And if we don't, is the problem that we're too busy? Or could it be that we don't mentor because we lack real conviction? And could our lack of conviction be the result of failing to apply the truth of the Gospel to our view of the next generation? 

How does the Gospel relate to this topic? First, it's the essential motive for Christian mentoring. As Christians, we have a message - one composed of true facts about real events - that is bigger and more important than any one of us. The good news of Jesus and His death and resurrection for sinners is the world's only hope. It's the only way of salvation for mankind. The obvious implication is that passing this saving message on to people who will be here after we're gone is the most important thing we can do during our lifetime. Our legacy, our reputation, our heritage is really unimportant. A building or company or denomination with our name on it will do the world little good. But if we can teach, train, and disciple men and women to trust in, love, and proclaim the message of Christ and him crucified, then we've accomplished something worthwhile. 

This kind of Gospel-centered view of life leads to proactive mentoring. And this is exactly what is needed today. Members of the older generation need to take it upon themselves to pursue younger Christians to mentor and disciple them in the faith. Let's be honest. They might not be beating down the door to sit at your feet. They might not look to you with adoring eyes, amazed by your knowledge. You might not be a "cool" old person. Don't let that stop you. If you're motivated by the Gospel, it shouldn't stop you. Remember, it's not about you. It's about the Savior. It's about what He has done. Whether or not you have the added fuel of feeling wanted, needed, and in demand, you can go out and seek to serve. 

But what if you can't relate to the younger generation? Again, this is where the Gospel comes into play. The Gospel strips away the façade of "generation gaps" and reminds us that, regardless of our age, we all have something in common - we're all sinners in need of the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The Gospel smoothes out the bumps of cross-generational friendships. It reminds us that, regardless of our age, we have a lot in common.

It was God's grace that led me to realize as a young man that I needed a mentor to advise and train me in ministry. And it was God's grace that prepared a godly older man to be that mentor. Two decades earlier, in the early days of his ministry, C.J. had made a promise to God. He had always longed for but never truly found a godly, older mentor for himself. And so he told God that if he ever had the chance to be that mentor to a younger man, he wouldn't pass up the opportunity. He wouldn't be too busy. 

When I came along he didn't see me as a nuisance. He didn't see me as a threat. His first concern wasn't preserving his position. He saw me as a young man in whom he could invest in so that the most important truth - the truth of the Gospel - could be passed on. What a refreshing perspective. Our job isn't to fend off the next generation. Our calling as lovers of the Gospel is to equip the next generation to surpass us in faithfulness and effectiveness. 

Somewhere there's a young man or woman praying for a mentor. Get ready. You could be God's answer to that prayer.

*****

Rev. Joshua Harris is senior minister of Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and is author of Sex Is Not the Problem (Lust Is).

From Ligonier Ministries and R.C. Sproul. ©2008 Tabletalk Magazine.

If you haven't read Lovelace's book, the following might not mean much...but once you understand his concepts you realize how brilliant and true this is. His main point is that the Gospel has to be the foundation for all hope of revival and renewal. We have to understand

1) That the Gospel is Good News and Bad News - The good news is that Jesus is mighty to save, the bad news is that we are sinners in need of saving.

2) The Gospel Changes Everything - from legal justification to real life growth in holiness (sanctification) to supernatural power in spiritual warefare - everything we are, everything we do and everything we hope for is changed by Jesus' work on the cross.

3) The Gospel is the Root of Life - once we embrace the ways that the Gospel has changed us, we find ourselves natrually growing in mission, prayer, community and theological insight. We can preach on any of these, program around these and try to equip people to perform them, but will always fail unless they grow from a foundation of the Gospel. Lovelace compares them to secondary colors - they only exist when the primary colors are blended together. In same way we can only have a good prayer life when we blend out justification, sanctification and spiritual authority.

i. His Justice

ii. His Love

i. In your own life

ii. In your community

a. Justification: You Are Accepted in Christ

b. Sanctification: You are free from bondage to sin in Christ

c. The Indwelling of the Spirit: You are not alone

d. Authority in Spiritual Conflict: In Christ you have authority

A. Mission: Following Christ into the world & presenting His gospel

i. In proclamation

ii. In social demonstration

B. Dependant Prayer: Expressing dependence on the power of his Spirit

i. Individually

ii. Corporately

C. Community: Being in union with his body

i. In micro-communities (Small Groups)

ii. In macro-communities (whole church)

i. Destructive

ii. Protective

E. Theological Integration: Having the mind of Christ

i. Toward revealed truth

ii. Toward your culture

In the midst of what could have been an overwhelming experience, Steve found time to share the gospel with the firemen, and give a God-honoring testimony to the media. KSAT quotes Steve:

"Everything we have can be taken away in a second. It doesn't really belong to us; it all belongs to God," said Steve McNary...."The good thing is my wife is safe, my daughter's safe and it's just stuff and stuff can be replaced."

What a great perspective!

Today I find myself humbled. Sometimes we get so inward focused that every conflict and personality issue feels like the end of the world. People in our circle aren't happy so it feels like the end of the world. Outside our circle, there is a world that is hurting and fighting real battles. Fires in San Diego, friends loosing homes...all the while young people are leaving the church in record numbers. I have to ask myself when we'll life our heads and focus more on their needs than on our own hurts.

Cick here for the full news story.

Praise God!

Thanks to all of you; especially June & Nancy Jo for your time volunteering at the event and Charles for arranging our table.

- Pastor Tim

As I think about how hard it is for my heart to settle into these contemplative times, two thoughts struck me.

First, I am wound too tight and need to relax! As I write this I have 11 reminders in my Outlook that need attention, a phone call in ten minutes, and a few other projects to tackle. Prayer is one of those important but not urgent tasks (quadrant one for you Covey fans out there) and I need to focus on it. There is the old Luther saying that his days were so busy he could not start the day with less than four hours of prayer. I need to keep that in mind.

Secondly, and more to the point I want to make, is that I think I've made a false idol out of contemplative spirituality. When I imaging prayer, I think of Henri Nouwen, the Stations of the Cross, Richard Foster, and lots of time spent alone with a journal. That's my picture, and maybe my idol. I'm learning that my image of spirituality might be a barrier towards real, passionate spirituality.

Yesterday I spent 10 hours with good Christian friends, putting about 300 miles on our motorcycles and tooling around the Cascade Mountains. I prayed (and not just prayers that I wouldn't die this time!), sang songs of worship loudly and badly to an audience of One, considered challenging issues our church is facing, prayed for dozens of people in our congregation by name, and in general spent the whole day in close communion to God. All day, however, I had a nagging guilt that I was playing hooky. If I did the same activities sitting on a concrete bench in a monetary would I have been more spiritual?

It's surprising to me, but the saddle is as holy as the monastery. Theologically, I've known this. Brother Lawrence washed dishes, Francis of Assisi planted trees and helped the poor with a "preach the Gospel all the time, use words if you must" attitude. I know this. But until yesterday my mental picture of spirituality was not well informed by this theology.

Let me know what your image of "spirituality" is, and times that you've actually had days spent in God's manifest presence.

After yesterday, my tail bone is a little sore, my motorcycle needs to be washed, and my spirit feels clean and refreshed. Who would have thought I could experience all that following two Harleys and a Honda!

The following is from Francis Schaeffer, theological uber-stud.  I know its a long quote, especially for one of my first blog-posts, but it is well worth the time spent reading it...

Through the centuries, people have displayed many different symbols intended to show that they are Christians.

They have worn marks in the lapels of their coats,
hung chains about their necks,
and even had special haircuts.

But there is a much better sign - a universal mark that is to last through all the ages of the church till Jesus comes back.

What is this mark?
At the close of his ministry, Jesus made clear what was to be the distinguishing mark of the Christian until His return:

A new commandment I give you: Love one another.
As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
By this all men will know that you are my disciples,
if you love one another.
(John 13:33-35)

Notice that what He says here is not a statement or a fact.
It is a command which includes a condition:

By this all men will know that you are my disciples,
if you love one another.

An if is involved. If you obey, you will wear the badge that Christ gave. But since this is a command, it can be violated.

The point: while it is possible to be a Christian without showing the mark; if we expect non-Christians to know that we are Christians, we must show the mark.

Speaking to the church some years later, the same John who wrote the account above says:

This is the message you heard from the beginning:
We should love one another.
(1 John 3:11)

John in effect says:

Don't forget this... don't forget this!
This command was given to us by Christ while He was still on earth.
This is to be your mark.

The command at this point is to love our fellow Christians. But there is another side of Jesus' teaching:

We are to love our fellow human beings,
as human beings.

We are to love all people, in fact, as neighbors.

All people bear the image of God. They have inherent value,

not simply because they are the objects
of Christ's saving work, but because they
are God's creation, in God's image.

All people are our neighbors, and we are to love them as ourselves. We are to do this on the basis of creation, even if they are not redeemed, for all people have value because they are made in the image of God. Therefore, they are to be loved even at great cost.

This is, of course, the whole point of Jesus' story of the Good Samaritan.

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus.  "Teacher, he asked, what must I do
to inherit eternal life? What is written in the Law?"

He replied. How do you read it?

He answered: Love the Lord your God
with all your heart and with all your soul
and with all your strength and with all your mind;
and, Love your neighbor as yourself.

You have answered correctly, Jesus replied.
Do this and you will live.

But he wanted to justify himself,
so he asked Jesus, And who is my neighbor?

In reply Jesus said:

A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho,
when he fell into the hands of robbers.
They stripped him of his clothes,
beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.

A priest happened to be going down the same road,
and when he saw the man,
he passed by on the other side.
So too, a Levite, when he came to the place
and saw him, passed by on the other side.

But a Samaritan, as he traveled,
came where the man was;
and when he saw him, he took pity on him.
He went to him and bandaged his wounds,
pouring on oil and wine.
Then he put the man on his own donkey,
took him to an inn and took care of him.
The next day he took out two silver coins
and gave them to the innkeeper.
Look after him, he said, and when I return,
I will reimburse you for any
extra expense you may have.

Which of these three do you think
was a neighbor to the man
who fell into the hands of robbers?

The expert in the law replied,
The one who had mercy on him.

Jesus told him, Go and do likewise.

(the gospel according to Luke; chapter 10, verses 25-37)

If Jesus had commanded so strongly that we love all people as our neighbors, then how important it is especially to love our fellow Christians.

If we are told to love all people as our neighbors then surely we can understand how overwhelmingly important it is that all men and women be able to see an observable love for those with whom we have these special ties.

The apostle Paul makes the double obligation clear in Galatians 6:10:

Therefore, as we have opportunity,
let us do good to all people,
especially to those who belong
to the family of believers.

He does not negate the command to do good to all people.
But it is still not meaningless to add,

especially to those who belong
to the family of believers.

This dual goal should be our Christian mentality, the set of our minds; we should be consciously thinking about it and what it means in our one-moment-at-a-time lives. It should be the attitude that governs our outward observable actions.

Very often the true Bible-believing Christian,
in emphasizing two humanities -

one lost, one saved,
one still standing in rebellion against God,
the other having returned to God through Christ -has given a picture of exclusiveness which is ugly.

There are two humanities. That is true.

Some men and women made in the image of God still stand in rebellion against him; some, by the grace of God, have cast themselves upon God's solution.

Nonetheless, there is in another very important sense only one humanity.

All men and women derive from one origin.
By creation, all bear the image of God.
In this sense, all people are of one flesh, one blood.

Hence, the exclusiveness of the two humanities is undergirded by the unity of all men and women. And Christians are not to love their believing brothers and sisters to the exclusion of their nonbelieving fellows. That is ugly. We are to have the example of the good Samaritan consciously in mind at all times.

The first commandment is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and mind. The second commandment bears the universal command to love people. Notice that the second commandment is not just to love Christians. It is far wider than this. We are to love our neighbor as ourselves.

First Thessalonians 3:12 carries the same double emphasis:

May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.

Here the order is reversed. First of all, we are to have love one toward another and then toward everyone else, but that does not change the double emphasis. Rather, it points up the delicate balance - a balance that is not in practice automatically maintained.

If we look again at the command in John 13, we will notice some important things.

First of all, this is a command to have a special love to all true Christians, all born-again Christians.

From the scriptural viewpoint, not all who call themselves Christians are Christians, and that is especially true in our generation.

The meaning of the word Christian has been reduced to practically nothing. Surely, there is no word that has been so devalued unless it is the Word of God itself. Central to semantics is the idea that a word as a symbol has no meaning until content is put into it. This is quite correct. Because the word Christian as a symbol has been made to mean so little, it has come to mean everything and nothing.

Jesus, however, is talking about loving all true Christians. And this is a command that has two cutting edges, for it means that we must both distinguish true Christians from all pretenders and be sure that we leave no true Christians outside of our consideration.

But we must be careful of the opposite error.

We must include everyone who stands in the historic-biblical faith whether or not he or she is a member of our own party or our own group.

But even if a person is not among the true Christians, we still have the responsibility to love that one as our neighbor. So we cannot say,

"Now here's somebody that, as far as I can tell,
does not stand among the group of true Christians,
and therefore I don't have to think of him any more;
I can just slough him off."

Not at all. That one is covered by the second commandment.

The second thing to notice in these verses in John 13 is the quality of the love that is to be our standard. We are to love all Christians

As I have loved you. [Jesus says]

The love he exhibited is to be our standard.
We are to love all true Christians as Christ has loved us.

When we consider this, either of two things can happen:

We can just say, "I see! I see!" and we can make a little banner and write on it, "We Love All Christians!" and show it off when anyone looks at us.

How ugly.

Or we can find something exceedingly more profound - something that will take a great deal of time to cultivate; a great deal of thinking and praying about it.

The church is to be a loving church in a dying culture. How, then, is the dying culture going to consider us? Jesus says

by this shall all people know
that you are my disciples,
if you have love one to another.

In the midst of the world, in the midst of our present culture, Jesus is giving a right to the world. Upon his authority he gives the world the right to judge whether you and I are born-again Christians, on the basis of our observable love toward all Christians.

That's pretty frightening. Jesus turns to the world and says, "I've something to say to you. On the basis of my authority, I give you a right: you may judge whether or not an individual is a Christian on the basis of the love they show to all true Christians."

In other words, if people come up to us and cast in our teeth the judgment that we are not Christians because we have not shown love toward other Christians, we must understand that they are only exercising a prerogative which Jesus gave them.

And must, must not get angry.

If people say, "You don't love other Christians," we must go home, get down on our knees, and ask God whether or not what they say is true. And if it is, then they have a right to have said it.

We must be very careful at this point, however.

We may be true Christians, really born-again Christians, and yet fail in our love toward other Christians. As a matter of fact, to be completely realistic, it is stronger than this.

There will be times
(and let us say it with tears),
when we will fail in our love
toward each other as Christians.

In a fallen world,
where there is no such thing as perfection
( until Jesus comes),
we know this will be the case.

And, of course, when we fail,
we must ask God's forgiveness.

But, Jesus is not here saying that our failure to love all Christians proves that we are not Christians. What Jesus is saying, however, is that, if I do not have the love I should have toward all other Christians, the world has the right to make the judgment that I am not a Christian.

This distinction is a vital one. If we fail in our love toward all Christians, we must not tear our heart out as though it were proof that we are lost. No one except Christ Himself has ever lived and not failed. If success in love toward our brothers in Christ were to be the standard of whether or not a man is a Christian, then there would be no Christians, because all men have failed. But Jesus gives the world a piece of litmus paper, a reasonable thermometer.

There is a mark which,
if the world does not see,
allows them to conclude,
"This person is not a Christian."

Of course, the world may be making a wrong judgment because if the man is truly a Christian, as far as the reality goes, they made a mistake.

But there is something even more sober. And to understand it we must look at John 17:21, a verse out of the midst of Christ's high priestly prayer. Jesus prays,

That all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

In this, his high priestly prayer, Jesus is praying for the oneness of the church, the oneness that should be found specifically among true Christians. Jesus is not praying for a humanistic, romantic oneness among people in general. Verse 9 makes this clear:

I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours.

Jesus here makes a very careful distinction between those who have cast themselves upon him in faith and those who still stand in rebellion. Hence, in the twenty-first verse, when he prays for oneness, the "they" he is referring to are the true Christians.

Notice, however, that verse 21 says, That all of them may be one...
The emphasis, interestingly enough, is exactly the same as in John 13

not for a part of true Christians,
but for all Christians

not that those in certain parties
in the church should be one,
but that all born-again Christians should be one.

Now comes the sobering part:
Jesus goes on in this twenty-first verse to say something that always causes me to cringe. If, as Christians, we do not cringe, it seems to me we are not very sensitive or very honest, because Jesus here gives us the final apologetic.

What is the final apologetic?

That all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

This is the final apologetic. [our ultimate defense]

In John 13 the point was that, if an individual Christian does not show love toward other true Christians, the world has a right to judge that he or she is not a Christian. Here Jesus is stating something else that is much more cutting, much more profound:

We cannot expect the world to believe that the Father sent the Son, that Jesus' claims are true, and that Christianity is true, unless the world sees some reality of the oneness of true Christians.

Now that is frightening.
Should we not feel some emotion at this point?

How well have we consciously practiced this? How often, in the power of the Holy Spirit, have we gone to Christians in our own group and said, "I'm sorry"? How much time have we spent reestablishing contact with those in other groups, saying to them, "I'm sorry for what I've done, what I've said, or what I've written"? How frequently has one group gone to another group with whom it differed and has said, "We're sorry"? It is so important that it is, for all practical purposes, a part of the preaching of the gospel itself. The observable practice of truth and the observable practice of love go hand in hand with the proclamation of the good news of Jesus Christ.

I have observed one thing among true Christians in their differences in many countries: What divides and severs true Christian groups and Christians-what leaves a bitterness that can last for 20, 30, or 40 years (or for 50 or 60 years in a son's or daughter's memory)-is not the issue of doctrine or belief that caused the differences in the first place. Invariably, it is a lack of love--and the bitter things that are said by true Christians in the midst of differences. These stick in the mind like glue. And after time passes and the differences between the Christians or the groups appear less than they did, there are still those bitter, bitter things we said in the midst of what we thought was a good and sufficient objective discussion. It is these things - these unloving attitudes and words--that cause the stench that the world can smell in the church of Jesus Christ among those who are really true Christians.

If, when we feel we must disagree as true Christians, we could simply guard our tongues and speak in love, in five or ten years the bitterness could be gone. Instead of that, we leave scars - a curse for generations. Not just a curse in the church, but a curse in the world. Newspaper headlines bear it in our Christian press, and it boils over into the secular press at times--Christians saying such bitter things about other Christians. The world looks, shrugs its shoulders, and turns away. It has not seen even the beginning of a living church in the midst of a dying culture. It has not seen the beginning of what Jesus indicates is the final apologetic--observable oneness among true Christians who are truly brothers and sisters in Christ. Our sharp tongues, the lack of love between us--not the necessary statements of differences that may exist between true Christians--these are what properly trouble the world. How different this is from the straightforward and direct command of Jesus Christ--to show an observable oneness that may be seen by a watching world!

But there is more to observable prayer than saying we are sorry. There must also be open forgiveness. And though it's hard to say, "I'm sorry," it's even harder to forgive. The Bible, however, makes plain that the world must observe a forgiving spirit in the midst of God's people.

In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus himself teaches us to pray,

Forgive our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.

Now this prayer, we must say quickly, is not for salvation. It has nothing to do with being born again, for we are born again on the basis of the finished work of Christ plus nothing. But it does have to do with a Christian's existential, moment-by-moment forgiveness for our sins on the basis of Christ's work in order to be in open fellowship with God. What the Lord has taught us to pray in the Lord's Prayer should make a Christian very sober every day of his or her life: We are asking the Lord to open to us the experiential realities of fellowship with himself as we forgive others.

Some Christians say that the Lord's Prayer is not for this present era, but most of us would say it is. And yet, at the same time, we hardly think once in a year about our lack of a forgiving heart in relationship to God's forgiving us. Many Christians rarely or never seem to connect their own lack of reality of fellowship with God with their lack of forgiveness to others, even though they may say the Lord's Prayer in a formal way over and over in their weekly Sunday worship services.

We must all continually acknowledge that we do not practice the forgiving heart as we should. And yet the prayer is Forgive us our debts, our trespasses, as we forgive our debtors. We are to have a forgiving spirit even before the other person expresses regret for wrong. The Lord's Prayer does not suggest that when the other person is sorry, then we are to show a oneness by having a forgiving spirit. Rather, we are called upon to have a forgiving spirit without the other person having made the first step. We may still say that this individual is wrong, but in the midst of saying that person is wrong, we must be forgiving.

We are to have this forgiving spirit not only toward Christians but toward all people. But surely, if it is toward all people, it is important toward Christians.

Such a forgiving spirit registers an attitude of love toward others. But, even though one can call this an attitude, true forgiveness is observable. Believe me, you can look on a person's face and know where that one is as far as forgiveness is concerned. And the world is called on to look upon us and see whether we have love across the groups, love across party lines. Do they observe that we say, "I'm sorry," and do they observe a forgiving heart? Let me repeat: Our love will not be perfect, but it must be substantial enough for the world to be able to observe or it does not fit into the structure of the verses in John 13 and 17. And if the world does not observe this among true Christians, the world has a right to make the two awful judgments that these verses indicate: That we are not Christians, and that Christ was not sent by the Father.

Of course, as Christians we must not minimize the need to give honest answers to honest questions. We should have an intellectual apologetic. The Bible commands it, and Christ and Paul exemplify it. In the synagogue, in the marketplace, in homes, and in almost every conceivable kind of situation, Jesus and Paul discussed Christianity. It is likewise the Christian's task to be able to give an honest answer to an honest question and then to give it.

Yet, unless true Christians show observable love to each other, Christ says the world cannot be expected to listen, even when we give proper answers. Let us be careful, indeed, to spend a lifetime studying to give honest answers. For years the orthodox, evangelical church has done this very poorly. So it is well to spend time learning to answer the questions of those who are about us. But after we have done our best to communicate to a lost world, still we must never forget that the final apologetic which Jesus gives is the observable love of true Christians for true Christians.

While it is not the central consideration that I am dealing with at this time, yet the observable love and oneness among true Christians exhibited before the world must certainly cross all the lines which divide men. The New Testament says, Neither Greek nor barbarian, neither Jew nor Gentile, neither male nor female (1 Cor. 12:13; Gal. 3:28; Col. 3:11).

In the church at Antioch, the Christians included Jews and Gentiles and reached all the way from Herod's foster brother to the slaves; and the naturally proud Greek Christian Gentiles of Macedonia showed a practical concern for the material needs of the Christian Jews in Jerusalem. The observable and practical love among true Christians that the world has a right to be able to observe in our day certainly should cut without reservation across such lines as language, nationalities, national frontiers, younger and older, colors of skin, levels of education and economics, accent, line of birth, the class system in any particular locality, dress, short or long hair among whites and African and non-African hairdos among blacks, cultural differentiations, and the more traditional and less traditional forms of worship.

If the world does not see this down-to-earth practical love, it will not believe that Christ was sent by the Father. People will not believe only on the basis of the proper answers. The two should not be placed in antithesis. The world must have the proper answers to their honest questions, but at the same time there must be a oneness in love between all true Christians. This is what is needed if men are to know that Jesus was sent by the Father and that Christianity is true.

What happens, then, when we must differ with our brothers in Christ because of the need also to show forth God's holiness either in doctrine or in life? In the matter of life, Paul clearly shows us the balance in 1 and 2 Corinthians. The same thing applies in doctrine as well.

First, in 1 Corinthians 5:1-5 he scolds the Corinthian church for allowing a man who is an active fornicator to stay in the church without discipline. Because of the holiness of God, because of the need to exhibit this holiness to a watching world, and because such judgment on the basis of God's revealed law is right in God's sight, Paul scolds the church for not disciplining the man.

After they have disciplined him, Paul writes again to them in 2 Corinthians 2:6-8 and scolds them because they are not showing love toward him. These two things must stand together.

I am thankful that we have the record of Paul writing this way, in his first letter and his second, for here you see a passage of time. The Corinthians have taken his advice, they have disciplined the Christian, and now Paul writes to them, "You're disciplining him, but why don't you show your love toward him?" He could have gone on and quoted Jesus in saying, "Don't you realize that the surrounding pagans of Corinth have a right to say that Jesus was not sent by the Father because you are not showing love to this man that you properly disciplined?"

A very important question arises at this point: how can we exhibit the oneness Christ commands without sharing in the other people's mistakes? I would suggest a few ways by which we can practice and show this oneness even across the lines where we must differ.

First, we should never come to such difference with true Christians without regret and without tears. Sounds simple, doesn't it? Believe me, evangelicals often have not shown it. We rush in, being very, very pleased, it would seem at times, to find other people's mistakes. We build ourselves up by tearing other people down. This can never show a real oneness among Christians.

There is only one kind of person who can fight the Lord's battles in anywhere near a proper way, and that is the person who by nature is unbelligerent. A belligerent man tends to do it because he is belligerent; at least it looks that way. The world must observe that when we must differ with each other as true Christians, we do it not because we love the smell of blood, the smell of the arena, the smell of the bullfight, but because we must for God's sake. If there are tears when we must speak, then something beautiful can be observed.

Second, in proportion to the gravity of what is wrong between true Christians, it is important consciously to exhibit an observable love to the world. Not all differences among Christians are equally serious. There are some that are very minor. Others are overwhelmingly important.

The more serious the wrongness is, the more important it is to exhibit the holiness of God, to speak out concerning what is wrong. At the same time, the more serious the differences become, the more important it becomes that we look to the Holy Spirit to enable us to show love to the true Christians with whom we must differ.

If it is only a minor difference, showing love does not take much conscious consideration. But where the difference becomes really important, it becomes proportionately more important to speak for God's holiness. And it becomes increasingly important in that place to show the world that we still love each other.

Humanly we function in exactly the opposite direction: in the less important differences we show more love toward true Christians; but as the difference gets into more important areas, we tend to show less love. The reverse must be the case: as the differences among true Christians get greater, we must consciously love and show a love which has some manifestation the world may see.

So let us consider this: is my difference with my brother in Christ crucially important? If so, it is doubly important that I spend time upon my knees asking the Holy Spirit, asking Christ, to do His work through me and my group, that I and we might show love even in this larger difference that we have come to with a brother in Christ or with another group of true Christians.

Third, we must show a practical demonstration of love in the midst of the dilemma, even when it is costly. The word love should not be just a banner. In other words, we must do whatever must be done, at whatever cost, to show this love. We must not say "I love you," and then - bang, bang, bang!

So often people think that Christianity is only something soft, only a kind of gooey love that loves evil equally with good. This is not the biblical position. The holiness of God is to be exhibited simultaneously with love. We must be careful, therefore, not to say that what is wrong is right, whether it is in the area of doctrine or of life, in our own group or another. What is wrong is wrong anywhere, and we have a responsibility in that situation to say that what is wrong is wrong. But the observable love must be there regardless of the cost.

The Bible does not make these things escapable.
First Corinthians 6:1-7 reads:

If any of you has a dispute with another, dare he take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the saints? Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!

Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, appoint as judges even men of little account in the church! I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers? But instead, one brother goes to law against another - and this in front of unbelievers! The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated?

What does this mean? The church is not to let pass what is wrong; but the Christian should suffer practical, monetary loss to show the oneness true Christians should have rather than to go to court against other true Christians; that would destroy such an observable oneness before the watching world. This is costly love, but it is just such practicing love that can be seen.

Paul is talking about something which is observable, something that is very real: the Christian is to show such love in the midst of an unavoidable difference with his brother that he is willing to suffer loss - not just monetary loss (though most Christians seem to forget all love and oneness when money gets involved), but whatever loss is involved.

Whatever the specifics are, there is to be a practical demonstration of love appropriate to a particular place. The Bible is a strong and down-to-earth book.

A fourth way we can show and exhibit love without sharing in our brother's mistake is to approach the problem with a desire to solve it, rather than with a desire to win.

We all love to win. In fact, there is nobody who loves to win more than the theologian. The history of theology is all too often a long exhibition of a desire to win.

But we should understand that what we are working for in the midst of our difference is a solution - a solution that will give God the glory, that will be true to the Bible, but will exhibit the love of God simultaneously with His holiness. What is our attitude as we sit down to talk to our brother or as group meets with group to discuss differences? A desire to come out on top? To play one-upmanship? If there is any desire for love whatsoever, every time we discuss a difference we will desire a solution and not just that we can be proven right.

A fifth way in which we can show a practicing, observable love to the world without sharing in our brother's mistake is to realize, to keep consciously before us and to help each other to be aware, that it is easy to compromise and to call what is wrong right, but that it is equally easy to forget to exhibit our oneness in Christ. This attitude must be constantly and consciously developed - talked about and written about in and among our groups and among ourselves as individuals.

In fact, this must be talked about and written about before differences arise between true Christians. We have conferences about everything else. Who has ever heard of a conference to consider how true Christians can exhibit in practice a fidelity to the holiness of God and yet simultaneously exhibit in practice a fidelity to the love of God before the watching world? Have you heard of sermons or writings which carefully present the simultaneous practice of two principles which at first seem to work against each other: (1) the principle of the practice of the purity of the visible church in regard to doctrine and life; and (2) the principle of the practice of an observable love and oneness among all true Christians?

If there is no careful preaching and writing about these things, are we so foolish as to think that there will be anything beautiful in practice when differences between true Christians must honestly be faced?

Before a watching world, an observable love in the midst of difference will show a difference between Christians' differences and other people's differences. The world may not understand what the Christians are disagreeing about, but they will very quickly understand the difference of our differences from the world's differences if they see us having our differences in an open and observable love on a practical level.

That is different. Can you see why Jesus said this was the thing that would arrest the attention of the world? You cannot expect the world to understand doctrinal differences, especially in our day when the existence of truth and absolutes are considered unthinkable even as concepts.

We cannot expect the world to understand that on the basis of the holiness of God we are having a different kind of difference, because we are dealing with God's absolutes. But when they see differences among true Christians who also show an observable unity, this will open the way for them to consider the truth of Christianity and Christ's claim that the Father did send the Son.

As a matter of fact, we have a greater possibility of showing what Jesus is speaking about here, in the midst of our differences, than we do if we are not differing. Obviously we ought not to go out looking for differences among Christians; there are enough without looking for more. But even so, it is in the midst of a difference that we have our golden opportunity. When everything is going well and we are all standing around in a nice little circle, there is not much to be seen by the world. But when we come to the place where there is a real difference, and we exhibit uncompromised principles but at the same time observable love, then there is something that the world can see, something they can use to judge that these really are Christians, and that Jesus has indeed been sent by the Father.

Let me give two beautiful examples of such observable love. One happened among the Brethren groups in Germany immediately after World War II.

In order to control the church, Hitler commanded the union of all religious groups in Germany, drawing them together by law. The Brethren divided over this issue. Half accepted Hitler's dictum and half refused. The ones who submitted, of course, had a much easier time, but gradually in this organizational oneness with the liberal groups their own doctrinal sharpness and spiritual life suffered. On the other hand, the group that stayed out remained spiritually virile, but there was hardly a family in which someone did not die in a German concentration camp.

Now can you imagine the emotional tension? The war is over, and these Christian brothers face each other again. They had the same doctrine, and they had previously worked together for more than a generation. Now what is going to happen? One man remembers that his father died in a concentration camp and knows that these people in the other group remained safe. But those on the other side have deep personal feelings as well.

Then gradually these brothers came to know that this situation just would not do. A time was appointed when the elders of the two groups could meet together in a certain quiet place. I asked the man who told me this, "What did you do?" He said, "Well, I'll tell you what we did. We came together, and we set aside several days in which each man would search his own heart." Here was a real difference; the emotions were deeply, deeply involved. "My father has gone to the concentration camp, my mother was dragged away." These things are not just little pebbles on the beach; they reach into the deep wellsprings of human emotions. But these people understood the command of Christ about this, and for several days every man did nothing except search his own heart concerning his own failures and the commands of Christ. Then they met together.

I asked the man, "What happened then?"

And he said, "We just were one."

To my mind, this is exactly what Jesus speaks about. The Father has sent the Son!

The principle we are talking about is universal, applicable in all times and places. Let me, then, give you a second illustration - a different practice of the same principle.

I have been waiting for years for a time when two groups of born-again Christians who for good reasons find it impossible to work together separate without saying bitter things against each other. I have longed for two groups who would continue to show a love to the watching world when they came to the place where organizational unity seems no longer possible between them.

Theoretically, of course, every local church ought to be able to minister to the whole spectrum of society. But in practice we must acknowledge that in certain places it becomes very difficult. The needs of different segments of society are different.

A problem of this nature arose in a church in a large city in the United States. A number of people attuned to the modern age were going to a certain church, but the pastor gradually concluded that he was not able to preach and minister to the two groups together. Some men can, but he personally did not find it possible to minister to the whole spectrum of his congregation - the counterculture people and the far-out ones they brought, and at the same time the people of the surrounding neighborhood.

The example of observable love I am going to present now must not be taken as an "of course" situation in our day. In our generation the lack of love can easily cut both ways. A middle-class people can all too easily be snobbish and unloving against the counterculture Christians, and the counterculture Christians can be equally snobbish and unloving against the middle-class Christians.

After trying for a long time to work together, the elders met and decided that they would make two churches. They made it very plain that they were not dividing because their doctrine was different; they were dividing as a matter of practicability. One member of the old session went to the new group. They worked under the whole session to make an orderly transition. Gradually they had two churches, and they were consciously practicing love toward each other.

Here is a lack of organizational unity that is a true love and unity which the world may observe. The Father has sent the Son!

I want to say with all my heart that as we struggle with the proper preaching of the gospel in the midst of the twentieth century, the importance of observable love must come into our message. We must not forget the final apologetic. The world has a right to look upon us as we, as true Christians, come to practical differences, and it should be able to observe that we do love each other. Our love must have a form that the world may observe; it must be visible.

Let us look again at the biblical texts which so clearly indicate the mark of the Christian:

A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. (John 13:33-35)

That all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. (John 17:21)

What then shall we conclude but that as the Samaritan loved the wounded man, we as Christians are called upon to love all people as neighbors, loving them as ourselves. Second, that we are to love all true Christians in a way that the world may observe. This means showing love to our fellow Christians in the midst of our differences-great or small-loving them when it costs us something, loving them even under times of tremendous emotional tension, loving them in a way the world can see.

In short, we are to practice and exhibit the holiness of God and the love of God, for without this we grieve the Holy Spirit.

Love-and the unity it attests to-is the mark Christ gave Christian's to wear before the world. Only with this mark may the world know that Christians are indeed Christians and that Jesus was sent by the Father.

As "followers of Jesus" I think we need to approach life like that. We can look at the list of everything a good Christian should be doing and get overwhelmed. Prayer, serving the poor, coming to church, attending a small group, reconciling relationships, sharing the Gospel, visiting the sick and shut-in, collecting food, working to help the homeless, reading the Bible ... it can be a bit much.

Add to that the problems in the world.

In the face of all this....what's a follower of Jesus to do? Maybe the answer is the same as Andre Carnegie received - don't focus on all the problems and "TO-DO's" at once. Instead, just do the next right thing.

Through His prophet Micah, our Lord told us what the next right thing will look like:

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8 (ESV)

I like the way its put in The Message translation:

But he's already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women. It's quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, be compassionate and loyal in your love, And don't take yourself too seriously - take God seriously. (Micah 6:8)

You might not be able to fix every broken relationship in your life right now, but you can do the next right thing.

(maybe put down a grudge, pick up the phone, write that note only to the person you need to talk to...)

You might not be able to share the Gospel with the whole world today, but you can do the next right thing.

(maybe hand out fliers in your neighborhood about your new small group, invite a coworker to church, buy a Bible for your niece...)

You might not be able to solve the problem of homelessness, but you can do the next right thing.

(maybe get involved with Vision House by donating your time, talents and treasure to them...)

The question isn't how you can fix the world. That's not your job. Your job is simply to do the next right thing.

I'm writing this to you all mostly because today is the sort of day that I need to remember this as well. I almost forgot but yesterday marked three years of Glenn and Toni Stokke being members of the church. I remember that Sunday well ... it was my first one here! The three years between that first worship service and today have been marked by many things...but one thing stands out. If I know nothing else about CGS I know that it is a church marked by doing "the next right thing" for Jesus.

What does doing the next right thing look like?

First: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor. When I think about these words, I can't help but think of the parable of the unmerciful servant in Matthew 18. The "fair" or "just" thing to do is to show forgiveness and grace. In the Cross of Christ, we receive more grace than we can ever imagine. If we received nothing else from God, the Cross of Christ would be enough to merit an eternity of praise. Along with the Cross, we get family, money, houses, cars, friends, a church, health and more! We have received so much...how can we hold back from forgiving and loving the people around us? How can we hold back from sharing the Good News of this grace with the world?

Good Shepherd was started as a drive in, because the "next right thing" was to reach out to people who didn't feel comfortable sitting in pews. CGS started Wild West Days because "the next right thing" was to help children in our neighborhood have a safe, fun week where they could make friends with Jesus. In a community that is growing like wild-fire and filled with young families who are alienated from Jesus, you can count on CGS to do the "next right thing" and take the Good News to them.

Secondly: Be compassionate and loyal in your love. Tahlia's children's Bible talks about "God's always-and-forever-never-ending-kind-of-love." That's the sort of love we must have for each other. The sort of love that doesn't stop loving when feelings have been hurt. The sort of love that can overlook an offense. The sort of love that sees past the mistakes (and God knows we al make plenty of those!) and sees the potential.

Good Shepherd is a rare church in this area. Newcomers are greeted warmly and sincerely. People of every color and background, with all sorts of baggage and styles, are accepted as people who need the Lord. Some of them haven't been easy to love and some of them have taken and left without saying "thank you" but you guys keep loving, compassionately and loyally. When the chips are down and people are broken, you can count on CGS to do the "next right thing" and extend the love of Christ.

Finally, don't take yourself too seriously! G.K. Chesterton once wrote that angles are able to fly because they take themselves so lightly. While I'm not sure about that, I do know that humility is vital to having a good relationship with the Lord and with others. 1 Peter 5:5 says that "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." I know I have a long way to go, but for the past year I've been studying a great book on humility by C.J. Mahaney. In the best times, as well as the worst, by focusing on humility I've been able to see less of me and more of Jesus. Like I said, I have a long way to go, but this journey has been completely worthwhile.

Good Shepherd is great at this one too. We are a church that loves to laugh. We know how to take ourselves lightly and our Lord seriously. Whether its letting the kids dance in the aisles, or singing as loud as you can, Good Shepherd can be counted on to do the "next right thing" by focusing less on itself and more and the Lord.

The last three years have been years of joy, growth and adventure for me, and hopefully for you too. My prayer is that Jesus will give us grace as we continue to do the next right thing as a church and as individuals. Grace to share the Gospel, grace to love with loyalty and grace to pursue humility.

Still Standing With You after Three Years;

- Pastor Tim