Thoughts on gifts and fruit of the Spirit

I can’t help but be drawn to the charismatic/evangelical movement at times. I understand that side of Christianity has made its share of mistakes, but I am overjoyed to know them. In case you wonder, not all of them are the crazy people you might think they are. I was listening in my class studying Galatians, where my professor, Dr. Witherington, mentioned the fruit as opposed to the gifts, and I got to preview Gordon Fee’s Paul, the Spirit, and the People of God. He mentions the idea of gifts and how he thinks the idea is portrayed in 1 Corinthians.

I really enjoyed Fee in that he stated that the “gifts” or “manifestations” are not a systematic listing at all and does not cover every base. I can’t help but cringe at the idea of a spiritual gifts assessment (this is more general evangelical as I do not want to put this on the Charismatics) in that most of them are limited and some do not allow for these things to be manifestations of God’s Spirit to His people. It’s hard to define a list of gifts because the lists in the letters are never exactly alike. It must be known that God does not always work in the same way and that he might shell shock our preconceptions of how God gives gifts to His people through His Spirit. Needless to say, Paul would be confused.

Realize that it is not about us having a gift as if it is our own…

but that. supernaturally, it is about God showing us that He is here…

IN POWER…

BEYOND OUR WILDEST IMAGININGS!!!

We get prepared to live out the future reality in this present age.

The other thing to remember is that Galatians 5 shows us the fruit of the Spirit and not the gifts. There is a distinct difference. The gifts are what are given to encourage and prepare us, but the fruit is what is produced by the presence of the Spirit. Paul’s community ethic under the Spirit would have put so much emphasis on the fruit and the gifts have to be secondary and subject to the existence of the fruit. Read the difference. Where one is about the supernatural happenings and the things that are given in affirmation, the fruit is about the life of the community, which is what the letters of Paul are quite repetitive about.

If we forget the fruits of bringing true blessings of God’s love to the community, then the gifts will not matter. “If I do not have love, I am just a clanging cymbal.”

I heard a story once of a woman who led in a ministry. Many were blessed by her musical gifts and she loved what she was doing. She was married to a man, but happened to find romance with another man who was not her husband. She asked her pastor, “Would this require me to give up my musical gifts in this ministry?” The pastor replied with compassion, “Daughter, it is not your gifts that are in question, but your character that is in jeopardy.”

Remember to tend to the fruit (your character) and the gifts will be given to you. And be ready if you live this out. God may give  you a gift that was never in your community before.

And to close, all are gifted.

I say that again with greater emphasis added…

ALL are TRULY gifted BY GOD’S SPIRIT.

Grace and peace to you all.

 

Childbearing

I hear many crazy things, but some things put extra cherries on my ice cream. Here’s a verse to start things off:

“And they will be saved through the childbearing, so long as they persist in faith and love and holiness with modesty.” – 1 Timothy 2:15d (my personal translation).

I know that most of your translations will not place an article in front of childbearing. Let’s explore that for a second. If you say that, from a strictly textual viewpoint, you can see how it seems as if men can be saved when they have faith in Christ, but women would be through childbearing. This seems a little off, however, since Paul has said that there is no male nor female in the kingdom. This doesn’t make theological nor biblical sense.

Look at it in the greek (if you can). There is an article in front of the word for bearing children. Let me give some 101 information on how articles are used in greek. If you do not see an article, there is a chance that the noun could be a general idea, but it can also be specific in idea, but that needs context. Here this is not the case. There is an article. If there is an article, then it has to be more specific. It cannot be general in a syntactical sense.

Here is what I propose. There is a specific birthing idea that Paul wishes to bring into mind. Considering how Timothy was a Christian in leadership, what would be the infamous birth that got the snowball rolling in this era of salvation history? You guessed it, the birth of Jesus the Christ. If you consider that all that Paul has said that although wives are subject to husbands, he is implicit and explicit in greek that women in general are free to participate in Church life. Even Luke in his book “The Acts of the Apostles” seems to imply this as well.

Although this may be what some of us were thinking all along, here is the ammunition you need to do effective ministry.

Grace and Peace to you all.

 

Point 5: Economy

I heard a sermon awhile back at a church where a pastor preached a sermon on the commandment of stealing. You could tell that the man was referring to taxes and that he was implying that the taxing of the top percent of Americans would be stealing. I wasn’t sure how much to agree with him. Sure, taxing is not exactly stealing until you talk about those poor who have been oppressed by stealing, but for the top percent of the country, I’m sure that they have much to spare.

That got me thinking. How does the church view economy and money. I can’t help but think back to acts and the story of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5 and how many of us find our feet on the same cliff they were on. Do we give it all, or try to keep some for ourselves? And if we keep some, do we lie or come clean with what we have kept?

How many times have we done that?

How many times should we have died at the feet of God’s throne?

I do believe that the gospel counters much of what any government is. Most tend to say that they will bring hope and change for the better, but with the Christian, that is God. Obama has said “Yes, We Can,” which can be pushed to a level that equals the Tower of Babel at times. But we must remember Bush as he stood on the debris of the twin towers and vowed vengeance, which landed us in two wars, one which most think we should not have stormed into, and a prison which suffers from human rights charges. Being a Christian, I would say that although I voted for both of these men, they have come short in many ways. (I don’t mean to bash them too hard, but I do want to point out the reality of humanity.)

Maybe we should be more attentive to God’s will. You hear many saying this or that about taxes and the economy, but the truth is that our country is struggling, and the Church has a potential for greatness. Crisis has an element of chaos, but also of opportunity.

Where are our old saints who opened hospitals and orphanages?

I hate to say this out of enjoying Capitalism, but the first century Church had some ideas that would lean toward socialism (Though at other times, seems very much like a democratic republic). I think it’s funny that Christians are yelling that they are scared of Obama because he is a socialist, never mind the social security check they will be cashing in (assuming that it will still be there in the future). Plus, they would probably have yelled the same about Peter and the decisions of the early Church for spreading the wealth.

I just think that the Christians need to open their eyes to suffering, and they might not yell so much. Disagree if you like, but there needs to be a solution discussed immediately.

I end by recalling the Rich Man who had an overabundant harvest (Luke 12:13-21, Luke has a tendency to critique the rich). He decided to build bigger barns to hold ever bit of that grain. We must remember that the first century Jew would know to be appalled at this since the man was supposed to keep the same barn and actually leave some grain for the widow, the orphan, the poor, and even the alien. So, in layman’s terms, if the rich find ways to get richer while the poor get poorer, or even cause them to get poorer (remember that we must never look at resources as endless) than something is wrong. And it becomes quite obvious whom God will vindicate when he comes to judge.

Grace and Peace to you all.

 

Point 4: Marriage and Homosexuality

Here is another point. I listed it due to the intense focus of the Church on the issue. I can’t help but think that the Church has an unhealthy fixation on the issue compared to other sexual issues. Not only that, but it tends to place it’s views on America. I think it probably has to do with this view that the Church and the state have made the distinction between the two fuzzy. Biblically speaking, the world (which includes America) is something that is not quite what Heaven (which includes the Church) is. Such an idea leads me to search Christianity. The Church is it’s own political entity with it’s own agenda. The Nation is only included when we consider that it will one day fall under God’s rule, but that is not yet. In the church we follow God, but in America, the constitution and the leaders of the nation are the rulers.

Most solid Christians have to admit that Israel was a nation under God, the only geo-political nation to ever attain such a title. But the faith has changed its course. Since Christ rose from the dead, we no longer fight for a geo-political entity. We know that at Christ’s return, and the resurrection of the saints, the geo-political entity we wait for will be made reality. In a sense our politics are already existence, but not on the scale of what will follow the Judgment.

If you read Scripture, you will see a motif of a people who, although they mean no harm to current powers of the world, they oppose them and their anti-Christ agendas (which is more tied into thoughts of men over the ages and is not some crazy being in the future, Revelation doesn’t even mention the word anti-Christ).

Now to the topic at hand, marriage and homosexuality. I start with marriage, since I hold a highly Christian view of it. I believe marriage between male and female is sanctioned and protected by God as a means of survival (Deuteronomy 22:16, 25:5). However, I think that is a Judeo-Christian ideal (I also admit other religions have the same view). To place this expectation on the people of the world I think is a little ludicrous. (A side remark on marriage in heaven [Matthew 22:30; Mark 12:25; Luke 20:34-35], marriage is used to mock the Sadducees. I don’t think that marriage is the point here. I also think that maybe any point on marriage is that it will not be needed, since marriage is a custom/law issue for people who would not remain with those whom they promised to be with, and those evil people will not inherit heaven when it come here.)

What people need to realize with these verses is that the institution of marriage is not the primary recipient of protection, the people that are married are. That means that the ones currently taking advantage of the marriage situation are just as guilty as homosexuals are…no…they are more guilty. Oppression is always more devastating than simple sexual deviance from the law.

Homosexuals are obviously not highly favored in Scriptures (Leviticus 18:22, 20:13; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10). Many use the Sodom and Gomorrah and tie in homosexual motifs (Jude 7; 2 Peter 2:6 [this one is an example of when that is not done]). It is usually a later development. The first writers, and the writer of 2 Peter, probably had bigger issues with taking people out of their homes to rape them, and homosexuality was the straw that broke the camels back. Ancient Israel would have looked at the creation account and said that since God’s first creation was between man and woman, and since there is a command to multiply, that homosexuality defied God. They saw God as moving them towards life, and homosexuality was not a move toward life. Since Christ rose from the dead, furthering the point that death is the enemy, Christians would have kept that point, and should still do so today.

But since we don’t use death or move towards death, we do not bring death to our enemies, since we are enemies to death…PERIOD.

The end of Revelation is explicit about letting the evil do what they must. We know that vindication will come. And what if God was to change his mind in the end? Although you can’t condone here on earth what they do, should you not be kind and admit their worth before God? What if America was to allow homosexual marriages? Is American a nation of God? No. There can only be one nation of God, and that is the Kingdom of Heaven, which is represented by the Church.

If you want to follow God, worry about how we are following His will.

Don’t commit adultery.

Don’t seduce and rape young women or men.

Stay away from incest, beastiality, and prostitution.

Don’t steal what’s not yours.

Do not murder with the gun or the tongue.

Do not split apart a community of God with your agendas.

Do not hold money higher than God.

Do not take in excess when others have nothing

Follow his will as is expressed in the Law, the prophets, Jesus, and others.

If you follow His will you will inherit heaven.

But if you willingly oppose him, you will inherit hell.

And surprisingly, some of the ones condemning homosexuals to hell, since they are not faithful to the terms God has listed, or probably closer to hell the any self-respecting gay person.

Grace and peace to all of you. I love you all, even my friends I don’t agree with in lifestyle.

(This is derived from the NRSV Bible, IVP Bible Dictionaries, and The Anchor Bible Dictionary)

 

Fruits of the Spirit

I was thinking on Galatians. I can’t wait to take the class this upcoming semester. I’ve been doing work on it before hand. I noticed that in chapter 5 that this is the letter that lists out the fruits of the Spirit. Many have tried to make this a simple list of virtues and the list of effects of the flesh as a list vices. I’ve been wondering if that was necessarily the case. I have been trying to move toward looking at Scripture as more about the community known as the Church rather than so much about the individual. There are a few places where I have to accept that the individual is important, but here I might not have to, thanks to the use of an Anchor Bible commentary on Galatians.

When I look at the lists, they seem to follow a pattern of actually being general and ambiguous.

“Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these.”

I noticed that this list starts with 3 sexual elements, a reference to open sexuality, a violent sexuality, and a bragged about sexuality (subtleties of Greek), all of which are the abandonment of God’s purpose for sexuality (which was a Jewish opening to speech against gentiles).

“idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy”

And then we move to a list of a very religious matter but very peculiarly moves into an obvious list of things that are bad for the community. But I noticed that most of this list is in essence or things that could be viewed as bad for a community. Which leads to the next part of the list.

“drunkenness, carousing, and things like these”

The first part is directed toward how alcohol can bring a person to only look at himself and ignore the needs of others. If this is a list of rules, it makes sense to say none of these things, but it seems as if the following words imply a general ambiguous list of things that point to a stronger point: the destruction of the community.

“I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God”

The point of this is that those who try to disrupt the community and do not find value in the Church instead of themselves will be judged as not fit for the Kingdom of God, meaning that no matter how “on fire” for God some might think you are, if you do not love your brother as the Torah commands, then you will not be allowed into God’s presence when he fully takes over things here on earth. Paul does not imply that when God gives grace that He steps down from his throne. That would be a form of Deism.

“By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control”

This verse sometimes puts the fruits as “borne” by the Spirit. In it the Spirit and who is led by it produce something, particularly something that is in contrast to what came before (the works of the flesh). It’s not an exhaustive list. Just look at how ambiguous it is. But it does have one core element, love reflected in a way that can only be seen in community. And anything done in love among those in community Paul describes as follows:

“There is no law against such things”

Very well said, Paul. No law against, and without saying that there is something free yet goal oriented about Christianity and how it performs community. It’s not a list of virtues, but an incomplete list of things springing from Godly community.

“And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires”

So, then, we can choose to do something about this. We notice that there is a group of people (Christians) who belong to the Christ, who is Jesus. The crazy part is that these people have crucified the flesh. Many think that this is talking about crucifying your own flesh, but the flesh is actually seen as a cosmic power and is put as another entity which has it’s own will. So is the Spirit. As a community of God, we have already crucified the Flesh (or so we should have). This is rhetoric stating how it should be. It is something that is the way it should be, but things Word (will) of God always be fulfilled in order to be a reality.

So when you look at these lists, don’t just reproduce it.

See it’s meaning,

and then live it out.

Live out community in love.

Don’t just look at these fruits as something you get as an individual and as virtues that you as an individual, but look at these things as not the point at all, except for the words love, joy, and peace in the old Jewish sense (Deuteronomy 6:4-5, Leviticus 19:18).

So when you find someone else this week.

Look at them.

Find some worth in them.

And see that we belong together as people.

Let’s find value together in the Lord, our Lord, God.

Grace and Peace.

 

July 4th (America and the Church)

I wanted to post on this again, since we just got past the Fourth of July. I struggle with the idea that America is the nation of God. It doesn’t seems to make much sense to me. I have been looking at references to the Kingdom of God/Heaven in the New Testament and there are a few things that stand in the way of calling this nation the nation of God.

1) America wasn’t around during the time that scripture is spoken of. If Jesus was representing the Kingdom of God, Heaven (which is defined as the place where God dwells), and America had not been born, then it would have to follow that there might not be parallels. The events leading to America started much later in world history. Jesus also was speaking to the only political entity to ever be given such a title, which was Israel. The title has changed, since Israel is not necessarily the nation of God, since that has fallen to the Church, which has opened the membership to everyone across nations, kinships, races, etc. God has merely favored America, but the frightening question is why He has done so.

2) The Kingdom in the times referred to in the Bible is ruled by God. There is nothing in the founding documents, or in current American law that gives God the ruling of President of the USA (God can actually only be totalitarian since His rule is conditioned on the complete obedience of those under him).

3) The Prophets, Jesus, and the writers of the letters continually mention or reference the kingdom coming. If the Church has fulfilled the messianic hope of the new kingdom, then it must follow that America can fall in line and recognize our commissioning by God (my apologies to the Republican platform). Although I am American, I must say that when it come to representing either this country or the nation of God, I choose God.

This is not a post of rebellion, but of perspective. I do not condone anyone seeking to use God as an excuse to defy what is not evil in itself. God has told us that governments are meant to promote order and peace (though they fail, and that is the exception) in Romans 13. Although it is assuming the correct actions of the governing, it still stands as a testament against fulfilling your selfish desire for anarchy or pointless liberation.

In Revelation 21:24, John shows us that God is not about destroying the nations, but having them follow him (and that would mean one world government ordained by God for the ones who thing one world government is evil). Also in 22:1-7 states that the end times are a time of healing the nations, which means that we should be about healing the nation with the healing we have to offer. If a nation is being heavily taxed, lets offer advice of mercy. When it is oppressing, let’s bring words of challenge. When the people are violent against their rulers, let’s offer creative consequences that teach and do not kill. And remember…

The Church

Not America

is the Nation of God,

and we will see vindication and glory.

So go out and do the gospel to the world. I hope we see many great things in these end times (which, to clarify, has been that last 2000 years, give or take).

Grace and Peace.

 

Ecological Food For Thought

The Canticle of Brother Sun

Most high, all powerful, all good Lord!
All praise is yours, all glory, all honor, and all blessing.

To you, alone, Most High, do they belong.
No mortal lips are worthy to pronounce your name.

Be praised, my Lord, through all your creatures,
especially through my lord Brother Sun,
who brings the day; and you give light through him.
And he is beautiful and radiant in all his splendor!
Of you, Most High, he bears the likeness.

Be praised, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars;
in the heavens you have made them bright, precious and beautiful.

Be praised, my Lord, through Brothers Wind and Air,
and clouds and storms, and all the weather,
through which you give your creatures sustenance.

Be praised, My Lord, through Sister Water;
she is very useful, and humble, and precious, and pure.

Be praised, my Lord, through Brother Fire,
through whom you brighten the night.
He is beautiful and cheerful, and powerful and strong.

Be praised, my Lord, through our sister Mother Earth,
who feeds us and rules us,
and produces various fruits with colored flowers and herbs.

Be praised, my Lord, through those who forgive for love of you;
through those who endure sickness and trial.

Happy those who endure in peace,
for by you, Most High, they will be crowned.

Be praised, my Lord, through our Sister Bodily Death,
from whose embrace no living person can escape.
Woe to those who die in mortal sin!
Happy those she finds doing your most holy will.
The second death can do no harm to them.

Praise and bless my Lord, and give thanks,
and serve him with great humility.

-St. Francis of Assisi

I just thought this would be a good read for some.Imagine what a person like this would say to the possible ecological crises we are facing today.

Grace and Peace to you all.

 

Interruption

I have to take a break from the book I have been reading in order to respond to an article found in Wesleyan Life by Den Guptill. This is not to attack his character, I still have respect for people who choose not to drink due to the covenant membership requirements found in our Discipline and this man seems quite respectable. What I do not agree with is trying to substantiate it by using poor biblical studies in order to make it look like the responsible form of Christianity. I will list out some of the things he says that are in need of dire peer review. I will also cover some of the issues that I may or may not be against.

(Sources will be listed in asterisks)

1. They drank wine 2000 years ago because there weren’t many options…

This is a tricky claim, so I’ll hit it first. Wine itself is hard to define, since there are references to new wine (tiros) 38 times in the Old Testament. This “wine” would have had less alcohol, although it still had intoxicating capability. Also juice (asis) in the Old Testament actually does exist. Although hard to store, it was an option. It’s even trickier that the term for festivals and celebrations had the connotation of being based around the consumption of wine. The common alternative is milk. There are multiple animals to gain milk from. Two examples would be to use goats or cows. What animal to use would depend on where you are from.* It seems ironic that juice and milk are mentioned by the article as part of the options, since my source says that those two options were available in the days of Christ and even further back into the Old Testament.

Another point is to attack the statement of clean tap water, which is not necessarily true due to the astounding amount of synthetic pesticides used for plants finding their way into tap water all the time with effects lasting for multiple years. This also implies that the people who drank wine in the places that had clean water (which is a fact here and there**) were not faithful.

2. When the Bible speaks of strong drink, it’s referring to unmixed wine…

This is false. According to my source, the “strong drink” is different from wine altogether. It is closer to a beer brewed from barley. So wine is actually still a hands on drink, which is funny, because beer has a lower alcohol content than wine.*** If one is to substantiate this claim, they are going to have to prove it by going into biblical scholarship and deny the common consensus among the scholars.

3. The Alcohol Industry “destroys lives, wrecks marriages, and kills people”…

This is one I can’t disagree with simply put. I have heard how the industry works and how there are macro-brews (large producers of alcohol) that produce a massive amount of alcohol, to which I say shame on them. It’s bad enough that we have a problem with consumption and want more for our buck when the responsible thing to do is to face the facts that a more expensive product sometimes is the more responsible way to go, and that money is needed in places other than our selfish wants. If you drink, I don’t condemn, I have known men that drink that in all honesty I would nominate for sainthood before many that I know that do not drink. But I will say that you should buy responsibly, drink responsibly, and realize that alcohol is like a firearm. Danger is found in ignorance and lack of control. The author is well within his rights to use the fact that alcohol has had connection to death and abuse. I personally do not drink, but I do not connect it with evil. I also do not connect with those party-goers that drink to escape and feel the buzz. As one of my friends in seminary once said, “Drunk people give alcohol a bad name.” That was probably truer than many of us realize.

3. If you so badly want to drink, ask yourself why. And ask yourself what would be missing if you gave it up…

To the ones who are not part of a church body that says not to drink, ignore this part. You obviously are good to go.

This challenge is surprisingly a legitimate question. You do have to ask yourself that question if you are part of an organization that prohibits your consumption of alcohol. I agree that to sign on to an agreement to not drink and turning around to drink is detrimental to the drinker in this case. It’s okay not to drink, and you’re not going to be any less of a man if you do not. I have had people tease me for not drinking, but they will not be able to say I went back on what I said I would do. This is not simply an alcohol issue, but an issue of honor and respect and integrity. If you want to push change and wait, I respect that. If you want to switch denominations, I respect that too. But just be honorable with your promises.

I do not post these points to discount any notion of the Holiness Movements incentive to abstain from alcohol. Nazarites in biblical times were the same thing. They would take upon themselves to abstain, and it was respectable. It is still respectable today. But such vows are holy in that they actually bring one closer to God and others. There are many drinkers who understand this. There are many non-drinkers who do not. Instead of trying to simply substantiate our views so that we may look holier, let’s respect each other and move toward the important things that actually ail society, like lack of responsibility, inclinations to hate, having jealousy, dwelling in greed, and pursuits of violence, as well as the lack of pursuit of God…at least in the Church.

Respect,

Love,

Hope,

Joy,

Communion…

With God…

and the saints.

Grace and peace to you all.

*King, Philip J., Lawrence E. Stager; Life in Biblical Israel. Westminster John Knox Press: Louisville. 2001. pg. 101-103.

**King, Stager, Life in Biblical Israel pg. 122-129.

***Green, Joel B., ed.; Scot McKnight, ed.; Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels. InterVarsity Press: Downers Grove, IL. 1992. pg. 870-873.

 

Now vs. Then

I am at a very peculiar point in my stance on a worship issue at this point in my life. I am speaking on a very touchy issue. Some of you know of the debate between contemporary and traditional worship. I have been a victim to this aspect of Christianity ever since I was in middle school. I must say that it has not been until the last 2 years that both have left quite a bitter taste in my mouth. I can not see how Jesus meant this in getting the bigger picture. Is the good news of salvation singing songs that make me feel good or finding heaven in the here or the hereafter? Or is it somehow both?

I’ll start with the guys who I like to call the Nows. These guys are cool. They love to move forward and exlore the grounds that the previous generations have not tried. Not that they are new grounds, but that it has been abandoned due to various factors. I’ll consider myself partially a Now at the moment, because I see such great potential. They get it when it comes to creativity.

I love that.

Creativity…

Imagination…

Cleverness…

but should I include a little selfishness as well?

I use strong words on myself as a progressive type. I love some of the new songs towards God (the keyword here is some; a lot of popular Christian based music is quite a joke). Let’s face it though, we progressive get really selfish and disoriented sometimes. We have a tendency to demand feel good services. We also tend to abandon the point of religion, find reunion to God. You are probably asking, “Is not feeling ‘God’ true spirituality, or religion?” It depends. The Pharisees were great religious guys, even had some great aspects of there lives that we should follow, but their biggest hang up was there focus that they feel God instead of praising Him and experiencing Him. There is a huge difference between feeling something and experiencing something. Guys who are going to have a heart attack probably can feel healthy, but the truth is they are experiencing the path towards death. They have no experience of responsibility to do what they need to do, which is a very naive understanding of God.

So creative is good,

but selfish is bad.

We’ll get to the responsibilities later.

What about those old honkies I like to call the Thens. Represent some old school, will ya’. Thens are to Nows like Tupac and Biggy are to B.E.P. and Kanye. I love these guys, and at times I definitely have to call myself a traditionalist, or a Then. There are two kinds of these people. One is quite ancient and follows a solid liturgy, like Lutherans or Catholics. The others are American traditional. You know, the backwoods, country gospel piano, and maybe an organ if you’re lucky kind of people. And it is good. They experience God just as much as the Now people. And to be honest, they are sometimes smarter if they have been around for awhile. If they do what they are called to do, they can do it VERY EFFICIENTLY!

Solid,

grounded,

experienced,

wise.

And of course selfish like everyone else.

If your this kind of man, you’re yelling just as loudly as the first group, but here me out. I am talking about change. I am not saying that every young pup that thinks he gets it should bully you into changing, but you should try to give something new a try. You are not getting rid of God, your just changing your perception of Him. You have some much potential to be leaders in sharing this community of God. Teach us what sharing the experience of God is like.

Have your traditions,

and share the experience.

And everyone can dialogue about this. If a young person comes wanting to try something, give him your best offering of opportunity. But if someone cannot experience God in these new songs, then be understanding. Do not be the first to yell that they can leave if they don’t like. If paths are split, then split in goodwill, which is part of the idea of peace. If you created a service that is one or another, the only thing you should come with is openness towards God, with little concern of music, and that applies to both parties. If you blend, then you’ll need the openness to God even more, because there will be bigger disaggreements. If you created two separate services, then come with the same mentality, and find ways to connect the two. The worst thing to do is to create two services and then let it be a wall between two groups, that’s not the unity of the church. It is actually called division, and it is a sin, an opposition to God’s desire for His people.

One statistic that surprised me is the church that grew the most in recent years. While the majority of churches are on the decline, this denomination was on the rise. You might want to sit down for this one. You ready? The denomination that grew the most was the Eastern Orthodox. Now as you come back into conscious and realize the implications this has for worship, move further with me. I have heard of someone who said the reason she went there was that she experienced a service that expected God’s presence instead of just talking about God (the more surprising thingis that she used to be Methodist; sorry Hank.) But this has implications for the rest of us. We need to come ready to experience a loving yet powerful God. A God who cares deeper than any other about your life, but in doing so can wreck your current life to the extreme.

Better yet, think of the book of Acts. There are amazing stories in here, but the majority and most intriguing of them are people who lived the idea of the sabbath. The idea of the sabbath is that there is a separate existence that is set apart to show people how it can be, and that it does not have to be the way it is. Funny, sounds like the original intent of the Holiness movement (and that movement is in desperate need of a paint job).

As far as the two styles of worship are concerned…

NEITHER ARE INCARNATIONAL!!!

The only ones who come close are those uber-traditionals, like Catholics, or better yet, Eastern Orthodox.

God comes to people who need Him, not to music. A good aspect of God’s personality is that He comes to those who are in desperate need, hence, he comes to those who call to Him, and hurt itself causes the Spirit to cry and moan to God. This means that true sabbath living is meeting need. Morgan Freeman in Bruce Almighty puts it close to perfect by saying that if you want to see a miracle, then be the miracle. I like to say, if you want to reflect God as Jesus did, then be Jesus. Which means be more focused on relationship with God, people, and nature instead of being emotionally deranged by demanding that you feel good about yourself. Just because you are saved does not mean you have no responsibility. God secures your right, so that you can be focused on the acts down here. In other words, quit focusing so much on afterlife theology. God wants us to live here, He’ll come back and pick us up like He said, so be trusting in that and live out your faith here.

Love

be kind

lift others up

speak wholesome language

focus on God and not music

live incarnationally

LIVE OUT THE SABBATH MENTALITY

I’m going to end with my take on salvation. I am going to start with personal salvation. We are not saved by works, I’ll admit that up front. Salvation is God’s gift. We don’t earn that. But Jesus and even Paul were adamant about responsibility. It is a two sided coin. You are saved by God by Christ’s death. If you have accepted His forgiveness, then you are bound for the redeemed and united Heaven and Earth. But if you believe the God is a redeeming God, then you must reflect your master. Live with redemption in mind. In other words,

feed the hungry,

give to the needy,

shelter the homeless,

parent the orphan,

weep for the sad,

rejoice with the glad,

and never forget to LOVE EACH OTHER.

So drop the music card and get with the program. Jesus wanted us to get it, but in the end, do we really get it?