CHILEAN QUAKE MOVED THE PLANET. DID IT MOVE YOU?

With scientists informing us that the 8.8 quake in Chile altered the length of the day and location of the poles by a tiny amount, I can’t help but wonder if it has moved anyone here at all.

Of course, I’m speaking of my own heart, really. I do not know you. I have no idea how this earthquake may have affected you, or moved you. I can only say that, for me, those images of destruction and despair get lost in the noise.

I have barely had time to reflect on the devastation in Haiti, and now an even greater destruction has come to Chile. What am I to do? How am I to respond?

Having donated money to an on-the-ground ministry in Haiti, I had just begun to check off the box and move on with my life. Now, this. Will another monetary gift make this one go away? And then I can’t help but wonder, how long until the next one? How long until this devastation finds us here in the United States?

What would it be like to have the earth shake violently beneath my feet? For darkness to fall over me as concrete and steel come crashing down? What would it be like to search for my sons, or my wife, and not find them? What would I do if there were suddenly no running water, no food, no medicine, and worse – no hope?

As I look at these faces covered with soot and dust, with tears streaking down and eyes full of despair in Haiti and Chile, I can’t help but wonder how long will it be until this touches me? And when it does, what will I do? And what is it that I would want someone in another nation who sees my photo on the internet to do about my pain?

A mentor of mine once said that the only mistake we can make when we consider Jesus' call to love our neighbor is not to see our neighbor in the face of the next person we meet.

But, what is the response of one who follows Christ to this endless parade of suffering and devastation? How can we be like the Good Samaritan when there is a man laying in the road on every website we visit?

At some level I know that we can only do the best we can do. We cannot berate ourselves for not taking an action that is beyond our ability. But, if it's more an issue of the heart, then I must admit that my heart is not as soft as it should be. And no amount of check-writing will change that.

I have a poster on my bedroom wall. It says, "We can only fail them if we do nothing." It is a poster to remind me of children who are orphaned and abused and exploited around the world. I look at those words and they burn in my mind. Because I wrote them. And now they echo back at me. Certainly I may have done something, but it's so small as to feel like nothing to me.

Lately I have been meeting on a weekly basis to pray with other men from our Church family. After just two weeks now I've become refreshed by these times of prayer. And one thing that has begun to stir in me is that prayer shifts my perspective to admit that there is much I cannot do.

By praying we acknowledge that we are unable to change men's hearts. We are powerless to heal others. We are helpless when it comes to divorce, and cancer, and unforgiveness, and poverty. We are insufficient. We are - by definition - 'not enough' to change these things. But God is. He can. And when we pray we begin to become filled with the great hope that He will move and act and work in ways that we can't.

Tonight I pray for the countless thousands who are suffering in Haiti, in Chile, in India, in Thailand, in the Philipines, in Africa, in North Korea, in China, and in every dark place on this globe. Yes, even in America. And I ask God to heal them, and bless them, and rescue them. And I also ask Him to send an 8.8 quake into my heart to shake up my status quo and tranform my life.

I think, honestly, that is what I would want if someone were to see my face on the internet and read of the devastation in my hometown. I would want them to lift me up in prayer. I would want to hear the voice of God. I would want to know that He had not forsaken me, or forgotten me.

Honestly, I want that now.

Amen.
-kg

Haiti & Chile

HAITI

What our news media didn't tell you about Haiti:
On February 12, 2010, President Préval of Haiti called his nation to 3 days of fasting and prayer. Over 1 million Haitians attended this epic event.

Watch the amazing report and video
HERE

**
CHILE

[EDITED]

Apparently it's always best to source your quotes, Timmy. Let this be a lesson to all of you.

[Hoax newstory removed. My apologies to televangelists everywhere.]


**
Amazing and heartbreaking photos of Chilean tragedy,
HERE

**

Treasures from Tozer

The Old Cross and the New
by A.W. Tozer

ALL UNANNOUNCED AND MOSTLY UNDETECTED there has come in modern times a new cross into popular evangelical circles. It is like the old cross, but different: the likenesses are superficial; the differences, fundamental.

From this new cross has sprung a new philosophy of the Christian life, and from that new philosophy has come a new evangelical technique-a new type of meeting and a new kind of preaching. This new evangelism employs the same language as the old, but its content is not the same and its emphasis not as before.

The old cross would have no truck with the world. For Adam's proud flesh it meant the end of the journey. It carried into effect the sentence imposed by the law of Sinai. The new cross is not opposed to the human race; rather, it is a friendly pal and, if understood aright, it is the source of oceans of good clean fun and innocent enjoyment. It lets Adam live without interference. His life motivation is unchanged; he still lives for his own pleasure, only now he takes delight in singing choruses and watching religious movies instead of singing bawdy songs and drinking hard liquor. The accent is still on enjoyment, though the fun is now on a higher plane morally if not intellectually.

The new cross encourages a new and entirely different evangelistic approach. The evangelist does not demand abnegation of the old life before a new life can be received. He preaches not contrasts but similarities. He seeks to key into public interest by showing that Christianity makes no unpleasant demands; rather, it offers the same thing the world does, only on a higher level. Whatever the sin-mad world happens to be clamoring after at the moment is cleverly shown to be the very thing the gospel offers, only the religious product is better.

The new cross does not slay the sinner, it redirects him. It gears him into a cleaner and jollier way of living and saves his self-respect. To the self-assertive it says, "Come and assert yourself for Christ." To the egotist it says, "Come and do your boasting in the Lord." To the thrill seeker it says, "Come and enjoy the thrill of Christian fellowship." The Christian message is slanted in the direction of the current vogue in order to make it acceptable to the public.

The philosophy back of this kind of thing may be sincere but its sincerity does not save it from being false. It is false because it is blind. It misses completely the whole meaning of the cross.

The old cross is a symbol of death. It stands for the abrupt, violent end of a human being. The man in Roman times who took up his cross and started down the road had already said good-by to his friends. He was not coming back. He was going out to have it ended. The cross made no compromise, modified nothing, spared nothing; it slew all of the man, completely and for good. It did not try to keep on good terms with its victim. It struck cruel and hard, and when it had finished its work, the man was no more.

The race of Adam is under death sentence. There is no commutation and no escape. God cannot approve any of the fruits of sin, however innocent they may appear or beautiful to the eyes of men. God salvages the individual by liquidating him and then raising him again to newness of life.

That evangelism which draws friendly parallels between the ways of God and the ways of men is false to the Bible and cruel to the souls of its hearers. The faith of Christ does not parallel the world, it intersects it. In coming to Christ we do not bring our old life up onto a higher plane; we leave it at the cross. The corn of wheat must fall into the ground and die.

We who preach the gospel must not think of ourselves as public relations agents sent to establish good will between Christ and the world. We must not imagine ourselves commissioned to make Christ acceptable to big business, the press, the world of sports or modern education. We are not diplomats but prophets, and our message is not a compromise but an ultimatum.

God offers life, but not an improved old life. The life He offers is life out of death. It stands always on the far side of the cross. Whoever would possess it must pass under the rod. He must repudiate himself and concur in God's just sentence against him.

What does this mean to the individual, the condemned man who would find life in Christ Jesus? How can this theology be translated into life? Simply, he must repent and believe. He must forsake his sins and then go on to forsake himself. Let him cover nothing, defend nothing, excuse nothing. Let him not seek to make terms with God, but let him bow his head before the stroke of God's stern displeasure and acknowledge himself worthy to die.

Having done this let him gaze with simple trust upon the risen Saviour, and from Him will come life and rebirth and cleansing and power. The cross that ended the earthly life of Jesus now puts an end to the sinner; and the power that raised Christ from the dead now raises him to a new life along with Christ.

To any who may object to this or count it merely a narrow and private view of truth, let me say God has set His hallmark of approval upon this message from Paul's day to the present. Whether stated in these exact words or not, this has been the content of all preaching that has brought life and power to the world through the centuries. The mystics, the reformers, the revivalists have put their emphasis here, and signs and wonders and mighty operations of the Holy Ghost gave witness to God's approval.

Dare we, the heirs of such a legacy of power, tamper with the truth? Dare we with our stubby pencils erase the lines of the blueprint or alter the pattern shown us in the Mount? May God forbid. Let us preach the old cross and we will know the old power.

-A. W. Tozer from "Man, The Dwelling Place of God"

JESUS: ROLE MODEL?

Presenting a much-needed kick in the butt from Francis Chan.

Enjoy.

THE JESUS WE DO NOT KNOW

“God created man in His image and man returned the favor” – Voltaire


“I like to think of Jesus with, like, big eagle's wings, singin' lead vocals for Lynyrd Skynrd with, like, an angel band, and I'm in the front row, and I'm hammered drunk.” – Cal Naughton, Jr., "The Ballad of Ricky Bobby"

**
A few years ago I sat down and read through the Gospel of Mark in a single sitting. It opened my eyes to narratives and themes that are only visible when taken all at once. One thing that jumped out at me while I was reading Mark this way was that the book has a climax which comes at the point where Jesus stands up in the boat and silences the storm by commanding the wind and waves to cease.

Up until this point, the disciples have been following Jesus as if he were simply a Jewish Rabbi, a teacher of the Law, and perhaps the Messiah who was to come and set their people free. But when Jesus stands up in the boat, with lightning crashing all around, thick black clouds pelting them with rain, and giant waves tossing the boat like a toy in a bathtub and commands the elements with his voice, all bets are off. In that moment, Jesus utterly destroys their version of the Messiah and sends everyone back to square one. The Gospel of Mark records it like this, “They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!" (4:41).

You can almost taste the sense of fear and uncertainty of those disciples. They had just moments before this been afraid of the power of a storm, and now they are even more terrified of this man in the boat with them. “Who is this person?” they ask. All of sudden, they are not so sure. They look to one another for answers and realize that none of them has any clue who this Jesus is, or what might happen next. This is a side of Jesus they have never seen before. He is not who they thought he was at all.

Sometimes I feel as if you and I need to have that sort of moment in our lives where Jesus can be who He really is and not necessarily who we have made Him out to be. Let me assure you, Jesus is not who you think He is. He is more glorious, more powerful, more confusing, more fascinating, and more radically inclusive than you or I can possibly imagine.

There’s a version of Jesus that we are comfortable with. He’s our friend. He’s our provider. He’s our encouragement. He is whatever we need at the moment. But, sometimes the Jesus we need isn’t the Jesus we should be following. Even worse, the Jesus we are comfortable with may not even actually be the real Jesus at all.

So, when we fashion a version of Jesus we are comfortable with, we run the risk of missing the real Jesus who upsets our status quo and makes us tremble in his presence asking, “Who is this?”

Maybe we’ve been confused by the language being thrown around in Christian circles about how we need to “know Jesus” in order to be saved. Jesus Himself said as much (John 17:3). But maybe knowing Jesus isn’t a past tense reality? Maybe knowing Jesus is an ongoing, daily journey of discovery. You meet him as a friend, you receive him as a savior, you embrace him as a brother, you marvel at him as a teacher, you lean on him as a provider and a good shepherd, and you are continually surprised to discover another new facet of his character with every passing day, because he is alive, and he is bigger than your expectation.

I don’t know about you, but if I am offered a choice between the Jesus I have made in my own image or the Jesus I have not fully understood yet, I would rather have the Jesus who is still bigger than my ability to understand, who defies my description, who challenges my preconceptions, and who takes my breath away. I would rather have the real Jesus, and I have to be willing to admit that the real Jesus may not fit into my convenient little box.

Let Jesus be who he really is. Jesus is not your UFC fighting champion. Jesus is not your flag-waving Republican (or Democrat). Jesus is not your blue-eyed all-American boy.

Don’t fabricate a version of Jesus who happens to share your political viewpoint, or who hates all the same people you hate, or who tolerates all the minor sins you happen to practice.

Our journey of faith is to find out who Jesus really is. Not to mold him into the version we are more comfortable with. We must take his words to heart. We must grapple with his teachings. We must take up our cross daily and follow Him - not our own agenda.

Jesus doesn’t want to be your co-pilot. He’s either the pilot, or you’re on the wrong plane.

On the way he asked his disciples, "Who do men say that I am?" And they told him, "John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others one of the prophets." And he asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" (Mark 8:27-29)


Peace,
kg

A Note from Frank Viola

Frank Viola sent me an email suggesting that I let everyone know that every single one of Mark Driscoll's points has already been addressed over at Frank Viola's own blog. (see below)

**
Hi Keith.

Perhaps you can add to your blog for your readers' interest and education that every argument in that critique has *already* been addressed on this page
HERE -- which is an exhaustive list of q and a plus several public debates re: the book.

also: house church is not a monolith. different house churches, missional churches, and organic churches (we support the latter in our book by the way) deal with "church discipline" in very different ways, just like institutional churches do. so this is really a strange argument that's made in the critique.

thanks,Frank
**

More to come...

RESPONSE TO MARK DRISCOLL'S REVIEW OF "PAGAN CHRISTIANITY"

Since I have no way of directly responding to pastor Mark Driscoll concerning his late review of Frank Viola and George Barna's PAGAN CHRISTIANITY, I wanted to respond to a few of his points here on my blog.

First of all, I must disclose that, although I love Mark as a brother in Christ, I am still struggling with his previous comments about our Lord. Specifically, where he has said that he "cannot follow a God I can beat up" and voiced his preference for an ass-kicking UFC-style champion Jesus. (Which only makes me think of Will Farrel's scene from the film "Taladega Nights"...but I digress).

Pushing this aside for now, I turn to Mark's recent review of PAGAN CHRISTIANITY. Most of his critique is based solely upon the response of New Testament scholar Ben Witherington, and while it's always good to rely on the wisdom of others in areas where we are weak, Driscoll makes the mistake of ignoring the very public trouncing of Witherington's arguments by Jon Zens over a year ago.

Anyone who would like to read Jon's rebuttal of Ben Witherington may do so
HERE

Honestly, if you will read the point-by-point response that Zens gives to each and every one of Witherington's arguments, you will pretty much have decisively answered every one of Driscoll's points (because they are one and the same).

I would also like to call out the section of Mark's review where he mentions me by name. By quoting from Belcher's DEEP CHURCH, Driscoll uses me as an example of why he has trouble with house churches. I'll quote from Driscoll's article here:

One glaring absence in this book is a lengthy discussion of how church discipline is done. How does an organic house church practice church discipline without any form of hierarchical leadership? Pastor and author Jim Belcher, in his book Deep Church, discusses this issue in the context of his relationship with a house-church leader, “My greatest concern about house churches like Keith Giles’s is that there is no formal structure for discipline. When I asked him how he would mediate a struggle between him and another member or leader…he really did not know. He would try, he said, to convince that person based on the strength of their relationship. But I have seen firsthand that this is not always enough. Sometimes a higher court, like an elder board or a denomination is needed.” This is indeed a major problem for house churches of the Viola and Barna mold as well. On the other hand, Belcher appeals to “The Great Tradition” and its “ordained office of elder/pastor” as being “charged with godly discipline.” This is not simply a tradition but appears to have biblical precedent as the nature of the pastoral elder’s governance extends to “refut[ing] those who contradict” sound doctrine (Titus 1:9), and “reprov[ing] with all authority” (Titus 2:15).

First of all, Driscoll omits the section from Belcher's book where the author agrees with my assertion that anyone in our house church family who will not repent based on their ongoing relationship with me, and the rest of the Body, will hardly respond to the voice of an authority figure they have no relationship with.

Allow me to share the entire quote with you for clarity:

"Keith would agree that they have no hierarchy, offices and fluid structures. But he would disagree that they have no accountability. When I asked about discipline, he said it is done through the relationships that are built in the house church. He mentioned a few times that he has had to confront wrong choices people have made.

'But what about when the leader is a lot younger and not as theologically trained? Would they be able to do the same? Or would they just let it go?' I asked.

'If they are not going to listen to me, when I love them,' he said, 'why would they listen to someone above me in a hierarchy?'

I would have to agree."

-Now, does that sound like what Driscoll reports in his article? Does it sound as if I have not thought of how to respond to church discipline, or make provision for it in my ecclesiology?

No. In fact, the actual quote from Belcher's book not only reveals that I have "had to confront wrong choices people have made" in our house church (church discipline) but that my assertion regarding the power of hierarchy to overcome sinful behavior is affirmed by Belcher, not contradicted.

In the actual interview between Belcher and myself for this book, the author went on to share several very specific instances where he personally confronted people in his church who were behaving sinfully and they did not respond. Nor did they waver when he brought in the denominational authority.

Granted, Belcher and I disagree on the importance of hiearchy, and Belcher does go on to say in his book that he doesn't feel comfortable without a hierachy in place, but Driscoll's pull quote is misleading and doesn't present the entire dialog in context.

Perhaps I will take the time to respond to a few more specific points of Driscoll's assessment of PAGAN CHRISTIANITY later, but I had to get this off my chest for the record.

Peace,
Keith


"

WHAT'S WITH PAUL AND WOMEN?

I'm honored to be among those who are helping Jon Zens spread the word about his very important new book, "What's With Paul and Women?"

For years, centuries to be exact, women have been silenced in the Body of Christ due largely to a lack of understanding about passages like 1 Timothy 2 and 1 Corinthians 14.

Whether or not you agree with Jon Zens, you're not fully equipped to discuss the issue until you take the time to read what he has to say about these two difficult passages of scripture.

I had an opportunity to read a bit of this book as Jon was putting it all together and I can honestly say:

“This is an important book. It provides new insight into a topic which has sadly divided the Church for much too long. I have been greatly enlightened by the work Jon has done in this book and I strongly recommend it to everyone who takes God’s Word seriously.”

What others are saying:
“Jon is one of the church’s best kept secrets today. This little book presents a colossal challenge to years of subjugating women in the name of Christ. It is a theological bulwark against those who would use the New Testament to teach a second-class citizenship in the kingdom of God.” - David Flowers

“This passionate, well-researched work is not only a fair treatment of the subject, but one that is biblically sound, drawing from the entirety of the Word of God. Intelligent, captivating, covering new ground — a must read!” ~Stephanie Bennett, Ph.D.
Palm Beach Atlantic University 
W. Palm Beach, FL

“In this engaging and careful study, Jon Zens provides a thoughtful and unique examination of the thorny passage in 1 Timothy 2 that deals with a woman’s ministry in the church. A hugely insightful read.” ~Frank Viola, author of From Eternity to Here, Reimagining Church, Pagan Christianity, and Finding Organic Church
**
Find out more and order this book today
RIGHT HERE

UPDATE: ROBERT HIGGINS

Last night I spoke on the phone with his son, Richard. He was very nice on the phone although he did admit that there was some "major drama" between Robert and the rest of the family that is still hanging in the air. Because of this, Richard was not willing to give out his Mom's phone number, or the contact info for his 2 sisters - although he confessed he wasn't even sure where one of his sister's was now.

Richard shared with me that he felt like he had made peace with Robert over whatever it was that took place. He said he sometimes wondered about his Dad, and he did ask me a few questions about how Robert was doing. I only shared with him that Robert was in a wheelchair and that his arm was in a sling. Beyond that I didn't feel like it was time to share any more than this - at least not until the two of them have a chance to talk one-on-one.

Richard said he was ok with me sharing his phone number with Robert. He said he might try to come and see his Dad sometime, too. Although, I did not tell Richard that Robert was in an assisted living facility.

Tonight I plan to drop by and inform Robert that I’ve found his son and offer him the chance to talk to Richard again over the phone.

Please pray that God will use this to bring healing to Robert's family. My concern is that this might only bring up more painful and negative feelings for Robert. Obviously, there is a long way to go for God to bring reconciliation to this family. But, I've seen God work in situations like this in the past and I'll be praying that He can soften hearts and restore relationships in Robert's family.

Of course, a big step for Robert is still his own faith in Christ. He and I are having lunch together on Friday. Pray that he and I might have an opportunity to talk about the Lord and for me to have wisdom as I ask Robert some important questions about his faith.

God is doing a great work in Robert's heart these days. Yesterday when I went to visit him he asked me to tape up his birthday cards on the edge of his tray so that everyone could see them.

His Hospice care nurse, Mona, shared with me last week that when Robert told her about the birthday party he started to cry. She wanted me to know that Robert was very blessed by this simple gesture of affection. So, THANK YOU to everyone who participated in that.

The night of the birthday party, as we were leaving his room, Robert took my hand and with tears in his eyes he said to me, "No one has ever done anything like this for me before." It's astounding to me that someone could live for 78 years without experiencing such a simple act of love, but this seems to be Robert's story.

Robert's favorite song, on one of only 2 CD’s he owns, is Foreigner's "I Want To Know What Love Is". As I spend time listening to him talk about his life, I can understand why this is his favorite song. He really doesn't know what love is and he really does want someone to show him. I'm praying that one day, very soon, he will know who love is and embrace Jesus with all of his heart.

Thanks for keeping Robert in your prayers. I’ll provide updates as they come.

Peace,
kg