Too Many Toppings

Good insight, I like the focus. Worship needs to be Christ centred. We walk ona knife edge in todays society between God worship and us worship!

Worthily Magnify

Within one mile from my house there are two frozen yogurt places. Directly across the street from each other. My two oldest daughters (four and almost-three) would eat at one of these places every day if they could. They love them. The frozen yogurt is fun for them, but it’s really all about the toppings. Oh they love the toppings. That’s what gets them excited. And messy.

Catherine and I have to limit the number (and weight) of the toppings our girls choose. It’s like trying to tame wild beasts when we tell our daughters they can only pick three or four toppings from the 1,529 options. But somehow we make our way to the cashier, pay, and find a table where they stuff the frozen yogurt and (mostly) toppings into their mouths with varying levels of accuracy.

I’m more of an ice cream guy myself. Chocolate. One flavor. How…

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Don’t go to Church

Wait, what? Really? You heard, well read, correctly.

How many times, when talking in small groups, morning meetings, with family or friends, the phrase ‘well, I went to church on Sunday’ or ‘I went to a prayer meeting, so that’s my bit done’. It might not be as succinct as that, but the message is the same.

The culture we live in today tells us that church is something we go to, it is something where we pay our dues to God, because either we have to, it’s the done thing, or feel he deserves the whole 2 hours of a Sunday morning out of our week. We feel satisfied, as though it is yet another chore or box ticked.

I watched a talk by Peter Rollins last night titled ‘Salvation for Zombies, (link here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHLcy1Duk8c), and whilst I could rattle on until the cows come home about his subject matter, he makes a very interesting point summed up like this;

As soon as we become self-aware, we experience loss. Even though we have not lost anything. We see what someone else has, or something we think we need, realise we don’t have it, and thusly, feel like we have lost it. This can be related to the original sin/ loss, but this then prevails our entire lives. This loss creates a hole in our soul that we try to fill. Much like consumerism, it has us striving for the perfect solution to fill this hole so that we may be satisfied. These become our idols. Computers, relationships, stuff. And we have made church no better than the rest. It has become yet another solution, another action to fill this hole. Another Idol. Something we do to feel better about ourselves and to feel justified.

But that’s just it. Church, Christianity, what Jesus ultimately died for, is not about us ‘just doing our bit’. To tell you the truth, if we spent 24 hours, 7 days a week 365 days a year ‘just doing our bit’ then guess what, we would still be screwed. The very essence of Christianity is that there is nothing we can do to make God love us more, and there is nothing we can do to make God love us less.

The English word for ‘church’ was derived from the word kurikon, meaning dedicated to the Lord. The biblical translation of the word Church is derived from the word ekklesia, which means the called out ones. These are used to describe the body of people.

We are the church. We are called out. We need to be dedicated.

We meet in a building for convenience sake, because if we didn’t, given the English weather, we would probably get wet. We meet to worship God, to lay ourselves before him and praise him. Thank him that despite our entire brokenness, our sinful natures and imperfections, we can call him father. That despite everything he continues to forgive us, and calls us to continue the work that Jesus bestowed upon his disciples. We meet together to grow, to have fellowship and to strengthen one another.

But like worship, church is not a one stop shop. We treat it like a one night stand that can spur us on for the next week, until the weekend. No, church, church is our life. It is the way we live, the way we act and how we treat one another. Especially those we don’t know, or do not yet know Jesus. It is not another box to tick, or another action fulfilled. It is about leading a dedicated life and being part of a community.

I challenge you, (and I am challenging myself here too), do you just go to church, get your next fix, then head off back to life, or do you live church? Are you church?

Not to score points, not to get into God’s good graces, but because by being church we are the embodiment of Christ on earth.

Don’t Go to church Be church.

Out of Gas

I find that God speaks to me in the small things in life. That small quiet voice in the back of my head after I quietly moan about something. That ‘see, this is what I am trying to tell you’.

Believe me when I say that this article is speaking to me as much as it may speak to you and that I am convicted and challenged as I type.

This happened to me not so long ago when I had been driving my car on the orange light and the fuel gauge had been reading near empty for longer than I would care to admit. On the way to work, a busy day of work, a day where I couldn’t afford to have set backs, my car decides it wants to splutter to a halt and wouldn’t budge. After the trek to the fuel station, buying the 5 litre canister, and carrying the fuel back to my car to give me just enough to get to the petrol station, God decides to whisper in my ear.

‘This is what happens when you don’t rest in me, when you do not refuel with my word’

As much as I hate to admit it, I like to think that I can push myself to the brink all the time, run on that orange light, and that I can cope. I had/ have the mind-set that I should be able to cope with work, working overtime, hobbies, house chores, driving 2 ½ hours each way to see the fiancé, as well as church commitments. Oh, and then there is the gym, socialising, prayer meetings, calling the parents, eating and finding time to sleep. Where does the God time then fit in?

A talk I listened to at my fiancés church struck me when the speaker spoke of him prioritising his work on the basis that he was providing for his family but in the act of working too much he lost the relationship as he did not put enough time into what really mattered. He then put himself into serving his church, but found that as he did more and more on the pretence of serving his God, he lost the relationship, again, as he did not put the quality time in. He wore himself out spiritually and physically because he no longer had time alone with God.

It is something so simple, and yet so important, that we stop to breathe. That we spend time with God on a personal level. We re-fuel our spirit and our relationship with God. If we are running on that orange light, constantly serving, working, and never opening the bible or praying in our own time, at what point do we spluttering to a halt? We stop serving because we are too tired? Our work and social lives crash to the ground or we just burn out?

Don’t get me wrong, serving is great, and I actively encourage it (see my previous article ‘actions speak louder than words’), but without the fuel of an intimate relationship with God, how can we expect to serve with a full and loving heart? How can we hear him guide us and expect him to lead us where he wants us to go?

We were not created to burn ourselves out with work and stress and overloading. We were created so that we may have a full and loving relationship with God.

In this busy time of life, are you fulfilling the purpose for which you were made, or are you telling God that something else is more important?

Life is Like a Theme Park

Myself and my fiance went to Lego land the other day, (we are getting older and wanted to have fun with our inner children), and it was in the midst of a conversation about being completely engulfed by the culture of the theme park, that it dawned on me. Being a Christian in today’s world is much like a visitor going to a theme park.

Bare with me on this one, it does make sense.

Imagine, if you will, that your mates have invited you to a theme park.

You initially go saying you will pay the entrance cost and that is it. You won’t buy any in-park refreshments or novelty items because, let’s face it, they are too expensive and you always belittle yourself afterwards because there was no need for it in the first place.

You get in and suddenly you are totally immersed in the environment. All contact with the outside is effectively gone, and you are pelted with how good offers are, or suddenly, you begin to think that you can knock down those three cans in just two throws. You fight it initially, knowing that everything is marked up quadruple, and that you don’t really need that neon pink bracelet, but then the deeper you go into the park, the more it takes over. You begin to rationalise spending. It is a keepsake, a souvenir, that one food shop is cheaper than the others. When in Rome. Then the park begins to get a firm grasp on you.

You begin to want to buy that £349.99 Lego Super Star Destroyer. It doesn’t matter if you don’t shoot all the targets in that range, because you can buy another 3 shots, and the man was kind enough to compound your score, rather than starting afresh.

As it is with this, sadly the world for the young people, the students and even the more mature of us is the same.

Whilst in previous articles, I have called for a revolution, for us to go into the darkness, and not expect it to come to us, we need to be aware of the temptations surrounding us. At every step, there will be a calling for ‘just another beer’, mindsets like ‘its ok as long as I don’t sleep with her/ him’, or the ever lingering pull of social acceptance and peer pressure. Know that the deeper you go, the harder the temptations can be.

We need to be guarded and protected against all that can be thrown at us. Even the greatest man can fall if he attempts to work in his own strength. But this is not all negative. It is not saying that we are fighting a losing battle and we night as well give up as soon as we walk through the door.

We need to venture forward with faith and righteousness that God Is with us and we have been bought and paid for through Christ’s sacrifice. We need to have faith that nothing can be thrown against us that we cannot resist. There is no power that holds claim over us anymore, except the love of God. Psalms 23:4 phases it perfectly:

“ Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”

On a freedom in Christ course, the thought process to sin was likened to that of your mind being an airport, and the thoughts and desires are like planes. As soon as you focus on it for just a second, and the more you think about something, the closer it comes to land, and the harder it is to turn away. To be fully effective, we need to turn away from the desires of sin as soon as they hit the radar. Something that often needs prayer and the power of God to help us.

On a practical note, I find myself wearing a cross on my wrist, it used to be a W.W.J.D band, but that got too old to wear. It is a simple reminder of who I am, and my place with God. Whenever I am in a situation or place which is full of temptation, it catches my eye and I am reminded to either pray for strength, or to remain righteous. It is a simple thing, but for me, a very practical way of remaining faithful to God.

There is much that can be enjoyed and shared in the world today and I pray that we will remain steadfast throughout our walk, and not get pulled into all the pitfalls and temptations that surround our lives on a daily basis.

I could write more, and probably will, on this subject, but I want to leave with this challenge that struck me in 2 Corinthians 1:12

“for our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the worlds with simplicity, and Godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom, but by the grace of God”

Actions Speak Louder than Words

I’m going to shift a viewpoint for the moment. Instead of looking outwards to our community, I am going to look inwards. Into the church you are a part of. This is a longer post, but it is something that has been on my heart recently, and needs to be said.

Are you an active member? Are you a passer-by? Do you sit on the edges ready to leave one the service ends? Whilst essentially this subject would normally be aimed at those who would deem themselves to be the ‘active core members’, lets change that.

I have heard the Sunday service, (and weekly events) likened to that of a swan. Calm, serene, gliding as if operating with no effort, and yet beneath the surface there is a plethora of activity franticly moving just to keep the whole show gliding onwards. Now you may use other analogies such as an iceberg, a rocket blasting into space, whatever suits you. The thing is, the issue with these analogies is that it requires the viewpoint of someone watching. Not doing, watching. Here’s where I get stuck.

Why are you sat just watching the surface (service…surface, originally that pun wasn’t intended)?

I want to draw your attention to 1 Corinthians 12;

‘You can easily enough see how this kind of thing works by looking no further than your own body. Your body has many parts—limbs, organs, cells—but no matter how many parts you can name, you’re still one body.’

Yes, you are still part of one body. You are not watching that swan, you are part of it. Everyone has a part to play when it comes to the body of Christ, and I am sorry to say, you are no different than anyone else.

Now please here me, I am not saying that if you don’t serve you are not part of the body of Christ, far from it. I am just asking you, what are you doing for the body of Christ?

If that swan’s leg stopped paddling, because it didn’t feel like it was receiving the praise it was due, what do think would happen?

Not all serving is glamorous, but then if it was, we wouldn’t be serving, or at least serving for the wrong reasons. I am developing a new found respect for those who serve, not for the public knowledge that they do, not for the pats on the back, or the well done, but purely to serve and see God’s work done.  Without them, that swan wouldn’t move at all.

Verse 14 states

‘I want you to think about how all this makes you more significant, not less. A body isn’t just a single part blown up into something huge. It’s all the different-but-similar parts arranged and functioning together.’

Contrary to society’s viewpoint on roles in life, it is often the smaller roles, that are the most important, and whilst I could ramble on, the rest of Chapter 12 pretty much spells it out for me:

‘As a matter of fact, in practice it works the other way—the “lower” the part, the more basic, and therefore necessary. You can live without an eye, for instance, but not without a stomach. When it’s a part of your own body you are concerned with, it makes no difference whether the part is visible or clothed, higher or lower. You give it dignity and honour just as it is, without comparisons.

 If anything, you have more concern for the lower parts than the higher. If you had to choose, wouldn’t you prefer good digestion to full-bodied hair?

^25-26 The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don’t, the parts we see and the parts we don’t. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance.

^27-31 You are Christ’s body—that’s who you are! You must never forget this. Only as you accept your part of that body does your “part” mean anything. You’re familiar with some of the parts that God has formed in his church, which is his “body”: apostles, prophets, teachers, miracle workers, healers, helpers, organizers, those who pray in tongues.

But it’s obvious by now, isn’t it, that Christ’s church is a complete Body and not a gigantic, one-dimensional Part? It’s not all Apostle, not all Prophet, not all Miracle Worker, not all Healer, not all Prayer in Tongues, not all Interpreter of Tongues. And yet some of you keep competing for so-called “important” parts.’

… And here I was thinking I had it written down well. Who can match the Bible?

I want to lay down a challenge to you.

Why, if you do serve, do you seek the high profile roles? Is it for your own satisfaction? Or is it truly where your heart it and where God is working in your life?

For those in the ‘low roles’ I want to shake you by the hand and say well done and thank you for everything you have put up with. You have truly served your God.

And for those who don’t currently serve? Get involved, help steer the mother ship and become part of a fantastic community. Take ownership of your church and your involvement. You may lose that hour lay in on a Sunday morning, but given everything God has blessed you with, would you not rather do something for him?

Bucking the Trend

If I told you to go and preach the gospel, what comes to your mind?

A man on the streets, on his soap box, exclaiming how the world will be ravaged by fire and sorcery unless we repent? Perhaps a kindly pastor handing out for a guest service? Then again, you might be having a ‘light party’ at your local church and are inviting the local youth to come along.

Whilst these may not necessarily be bad ideas (except, you know, fire and sorcery), these aren’t exactly the most original or even likely to reap the most reward.

A Popular parable describes sowing the message across a variety of people and explains about the different types, and how they hear it. Some will hear and be saved. Hallelujah! But then there are those who the message skips entirely, or have the heart to hear but soon become enveloped in the world again. Does this mean we should leave them out in the cold? Should we keep throwing the same message at them again and again in the vain hope that at some point if we throw that seed hard enough it will break through their skull and lodge in their brain?

Albert Einstein once said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and still expecting different results. Truth be told, he is right.

Jesus told us to be the salt and light of the earth. He told us to be the light that shines in the darkness. Do you know what that means? That means actually venturing into the darkness. If you were to eat a teaspoon of salt what would you do? Throw up probably. If a light was to shine in an already lit room, would you notice it?

It is time to buck the trend and revolutionise how we bring this light into the world.

How? Do something non-Christian.

There, I said it.

It may sound counter-intuitive, but go out to the pub, see that film your mates want to see, go paintballing. Mingle. Instead of inviting your non-Christian friends to church, invite your Christian friends out with your mates or colleagues. It sounds daunting doesn’t it?

How is this preaching the gospel?  Salt is a subtle flavouring. You notice new flavours once it is added, and once it is gone, you realise what you were missing. You want to add that salt back to the meal. Doesn’t the world seem a little darker once a small light is suddenly extinguished?

Go out and do something non-Christian orientated. Don’t instigate the ‘Jesus chat’. Don’t slap them in the face with the whole ‘Jesus says I shouldn’t’. You will be surprised how quickly just being yourself and letting God shine through your actions will instigate questions from your friends.

Show them something they have been missing from Christianity, and religion as a whole. Simply a friend, a confident and a family. Somewhere they feel they belong.

You will be surprised at the difference you can make.

Revolution

The very word brings about images of violence, rebellion, acting against the government and the establishment. Compare this to the youth culture of today. Sound similar? After reading an article written by Marc Solas about ‘the top ten reasons why our kids leave church’, it is clear in my head that something which has been on my heart for a while, needs to take place.

We need a revolution for today’s young people.

I am not talking about pitchforks and Molotov cocktails, but more a renewed energy to fight for our youth. Whilst we drastically try to make church ‘cool’ and ‘relevant’, we are fighting against a world where every opinion is right, where sexual immorality is encouraged and a ‘if it feels good, do it’ attitude. How can we compete with this? How can we make this C.2000 year old book relevant for those who we see drifting away, or lost entirely?

The answer is not easy, but it is simple. We do not try to dull down, make hip, or generalise the message. We do not treat each person as a project. We do not slap them in the face with a hard back KJV. We are facing an intellectual group of minds, but what they initially need most, is love.

I am not saying go out and buy some chocolates in a heart shaped box, but actually show them care and respect. Provide a family, a community where our young people are welcomed in. Somewhere they are not judged and do not feel persecuted. Meet them in their own environment. But do not lose that salt and that light that makes you different.

There was an awesome guy a good few years ago who did this. When asked, he would never dull down what his message was, but I do not recall a time where he would not actively meet the lost in their territory. He would never judge the worldly people, instead he would bless them. He even taught how to show our neighbour this love through a story we know as ‘The good Samaritan’.

This is a revolution of the kingdom of God. This is a revolution of love.