MUTUAL SUBMISSION

There are some who disagree with my advice regarding how to conduct ourselves when the ekklesia gathers together. Even those who are avid house church participants still believe that arguing over different doctrines is essential for Christian assembly.

Part of that viewpoint is based on their philosophy of ekklesia, I suppose. See, our fellowship is intentionally seeking to take hold of Christ whenever we gather together. That means we don’t want to waste our time talking about doctrines, or arguing over differences in opinion, or even focusing too much on our own struggles and needs. Instead, we work together to allow Jesus to speak to us and to lead us corporately. This isn’t easy. But, if we are all focused on this one thing, and if we are all sincerely surrendered to Christ, then we can experience the presence of Jesus in our midst. When that happens, Jesus encourages us. He heals us. He speaks to us. He teaches us. He rebukes us. He inspires us. He comforts us.

How exactly does Jesus do this? Often it is through one of our own members. As we each are surrendered to Christ, one of us might sense that the Lord is prompting us to share a specific verse of scripture. We might not even understand why, but in obedience to Him we read that scripture. Then another person might confess that they are struggling with something that exact verse was speaking about. Then another person might feel the Lord prompting them to lay hands on that person, or another person, and to pray something specific over them; a blessing, an encouragement, or yet another verse of scripture.

Sometimes a member in our group might sense the Lord wants us to sing a particular song together. Another person might feel that the Lord is asking us to sit in silence for a moment. Then another person might realize that they need to ask forgiveness of someone else in the Body for something that was said or done. And so on.

As wonderful as this experience might be, we don’t always enjoy this kind of thing. At least, not as often as I would like, anyway. Sometimes we start off in this direction and then someone might derail the process, or we get distracted by something else and then we cease to wait on the Lord and to respond to His voice. It happens. And when it does we all have to have grace for one another and recognize our own weaknesses, and even confess that we’ve done the same thing many times ourselves. These are opportunities for more grace and another chance to love one another in spirit and in truth.

But if our group spent most of our time debating points of doctrine, or engaging in “sword fights” over what scripture teaches about this or that, we would never – and I mean never – allow Jesus to lead us and to speak to us in the way I just described.

In our individual walk with Jesus, we are commanded to surrender ourselves to Christ and take up our cross daily. Jesus says that we cannot be His disciples (followers) if we don’t do this. In the same way, whenever those same cross-bearing disciples get together in the same room, the need to remain surrendered and crucified doesn’t change. If anything, our need to die to ourselves and to let go of our agendas is probably even more necessary whenever we enter a room with other Christians.

Jesus must be our Head. He must be submitted to at all times, and especially in the gathering of the ekklesia. Without this complete and total surrender we cannot follow Jesus, and we cannot “be the Church” that Jesus desires.

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“He (Jesus) is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.” (Colossians 1:17-18)

 

 

 

KEEP THE UNITY OF THE BODY

 

In a recent correspondence with another brother in Christ, the question of unity in the Body came up. Specifically, there was a difference of opinion in his house church group over a certain doctrine. He had one opinion, fueled by articles written by respected New Testament scholars. His brother in the fellowship had another opinion, also fueled by articles and sermons provided by respected Christian teachers.

While I agree with one side of that argument, my main concern was for the unity of that fellowship. Since I’m certain that he is not alone in this regard, I thought it might be helpful to share my response with everyone, in the hopes that there might be more unity in the house churches.

Here’s how I responded to my friend:

I'd encourage all of you guys not to spend any time when you are together arguing about the things you disagree on. In our group all of us disagree on many things, but we do not spend our time talking about what we disagree about. Instead, we spend our time together working to see Jesus and experience Him in our midst.

Remember, we are not "One" in our doctrines or opinions, and I for one don't believe we ever will be. According to the New Testament, our unity is in Christ. Not in our doctrines or theories, but only in Christ are we "One".

"...for you are all one in Christ Jesus." Galatians 3:27-29

So, if you strive for unity in these doctrines you won't find it, I'm afraid. If you strive for unity in Christ, you will find it because He is the One who brings unity, and reconciliation, and love. We're the ones who bring differences and opinions and arguments.

Leave those arguments at home. When you gather, take hold of Jesus. Focus on Him. Talk to Him. Worship Him. Magnify Him. Glorify Him. Set your eyes on Him. The rest of that stuff will fade into the background.

If you want to discuss these issues together, do that one-on-one over coffee and don't drag that into the ekklesia. That's my advice.
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MY SECRET IDENTITY

I’ve come to realize that I have an ongoing conflict within myself. Part of me wrestles with pride and self-love while another part of me wallows in self-loathing. So, my pendulum swings between these two extremes. Either I feel an inflated sense of self, or I beat myself up for not being a better person. If I’m prideful then I hate myself for being so full of myself. If I feel sorry for myself then I hate the fact that I have given in to these feelings of self-doubt. Then the cycle repeats.

Self-love or self-doubt. Bravado or pity. Pride or condemnation. Those are my choices. I either compensate for my feelings of inadequacy by telling myself I’m better than I really am, or I beat myself up for being too self-absorbed. Where do I find the balance? How do I change this inner struggle? How do I rewrite the script that continually plays in my head over and over again?

I recently began reading a book about self-image. Specifically, about how our identity is wrapped up in Christ. Not all of it was great. In fact, a lot of it really didn’t click at all for me. But what God did show me was significant and important.

Identity has always been a fascination of mine. It’s why I love the books I love. It’s why I love the movies I love. If I listed them for you now you’d see what I mean. The point is that the question I’ve been asking all this time is, “Who am I?” and deep down, deeper than I’ve known until now, the other question I’ve been asking is, “Who is God?”

Frankly, answering the question, “Who is God?” is easier for me to answer than “Who am I?”, as crazy as that sounds. I’ve never doubted God. Not in the sense that I’ve doubted His existence. Truthfully. I can remember being a little boy and talking to God, thinking about Him, reasoning out how He could have created everything without needing to be created Himself, praying to Him for help, promising Him that I would be a preacher if He would put my parents back together again. All of these things took place years before I formally went forward and surrendered my life to Him. I have always felt Him near me. So finding out who God was and is has never been that much of a struggle for me.

But finding out who I am? That’s another story. In fact, I think it’s difficult for most of us. We can tell people our name, and our address, and where we’re from, and what our hobbies are, and who we love, but none of us can accurately answer the question, “Who are you?” Because my name, and my address, and my hobbies, and my job, and my associations do not define me. They are all things that exist outside of me, they are not me.

What I learned from reading this book was this very simple truth: “To know myself I have to know God, and to know God I have to know myself.” In other words, my identity is revealed in Christ when Christ is revealed in me. Jesus put it this way:

“If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matt. 16:24-26)

Denying myself is part of finding myself revealed in Christ. It’s more than simply saying “no” to my sinful desires. It’s also about giving up on defining myself. In other words, I am not who I pretend to be. I am not who you think I am. I am not who others tell me I am. I am only who Jesus reveals me to be.

So, letting go of my ideas about who I should be and embracing the person that God made me to be allows the veil to be removed from my eyes. Losing my life allows me to find my true self hidden in Christ, where I have been all along.

At the same time, I have to fully embrace the person that God has made me to be. For a long time now I’ve been hiding from my true self.  I have a teaching gift yet I often sit quietly in the background and let others talk. Yet, God made me to be a teacher. That’s part of my identity. To deny that is to deny my true self.

All of this takes me back to when I was five years old, laying on my bunk bed in the dark, whispering to God from my heart of simplicity. The more I shared my heart with God, the more God revealed His heart to me. It takes me back to sitting in my closet and pouring out my soul to God as a teenager. This is a relationship. The more I know God, the more He allows me to know my true self.

Over time I think I’ve forgotten how to let God love me like that. I’ve become so used to pretending to be the person I think I’m supposed to be that I’ve been hiding my true self from Him. I’ve been rolling over in the darkness when He calls my name. I’ve been going through the motions instead of coming before Him just as I am; simply trusting that He will love me because of who He is.

The beautiful truth is, He just wants me to know Him. He really wants to show me who I am, too. The more I open my heart to Him, the more I know Him, and the more He reveals myself to me.

One of my favorite promises in scripture is found in Revelation 2:17 where Jesus promises that one day He will give each of us a white stone, and on that stone is written a new name. It is a unique name that Jesus has already picked out for each of us individually. He tells us that no one will know that name except the two of us. It’s a special secret name that reveals our true identity through His eyes.

I can’t wait for Jesus to drop that white stone into my open hand. I can’t wait to turn it over and to read that secret name etched there by His own hand.

I am only who I am when He whispers that name to me.

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I WILL GIVE YOU REST.

 

Jesus makes a few radical promises to those who would take up their cross daily and follow Him. One of those promises is that he will give those people an incredible gift called “rest.”

For those who are weary, exhausted, burnt out, and frazzled, Jesus says, “I will give you rest.” For those who are ready to quit, walk away in disgust and throw in the towel Jesus says, “come find rest for your souls.”

But the fact remains that many Christians are not experiencing that rest. They are overworked, stressed out, and pushed to their limits. 

What’s wrong? Is it that Jesus lied about giving us rest? Or maybe when Jesus said he would give us rest he meant after we die and go to heaven? You know, sort of like the phrase “I’ll be dead soon and then I’ll sleep.” 

Or maybe Jesus really meant what he said. Maybe Jesus is holding out peace and rest to us and we’re just not able – or willing – to reach out and take it.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matt. 11:28-29)

Jesus invites everyone to come to him, especially those of us who are weary and burdened. Why? Because he wants to give us rest. If our weariness is real, then the rest he’s offering is just as literal. If our burdens are heavy, his rest is light. His offer is as real as our need.

Jesus also asks us to take his yoke upon ourselves. What does that mean? It means that he wants us to submit to his leadership in our lives. He wants us to actually surrender our will to his own on a daily basis. He wants us to listen to his voice and to obey him. He wants us to learn from him.

Learn what? How to live our lives. How to be as gentle and as humble as he is. Why? So that we can find rest for our souls.

Notice how finding rest for our souls comes after we take his yoke and learn from him. That’s the only way it works. Rest is something we have to follow Jesus into, one step at a time.

If you’re needing some relief today, I’d encourage you to go to Jesus. Ask him for his yoke. Let him teach you how to follow him and trust him daily. Then you’ll start to experience more of his promised rest as you exchange your worries for his peace of mind.

Remember, if God is in control then we are not. Real peace comes when we surrender the things we’re clenching in our fists to Jesus. Rest is received with an open hand.

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GOD'S FAVORITE PLACE ON EARTH

 

I don't often use my blog to promote things, but in this case I'm making an exception. Frank Viola is someone whom I respect and I've been very blessed by several of his books over the years. He has been very accessible to me personally at various times when I needed insight or advice, and he's very generously shared his time with me both over the phone and by email on several occasions.

Because of this, I've decided to donate a free PDF of my latest book, The Power of Weakness, to everyone who buys a copy of his new book in the next 7 days.

DETAILS:

Frank Viola's new book, God’s Favorite Place on Earth is now available, and if you buy the book betwen May 1st and May 7th you'll also receive a bonus package of 24 Free Gifts from 15 different authors (including my book, "THE POWER OF WEAKNESS" on PDF).

ABOUT FRANK'S BOOK:

The premise of the book is simple: When Jesus walked the Earth, He was rejected everywhere He went - from Bethlehem, to Nazareth, to Jerusalem. The only exception was the little village of Bethany.

The curtain opens with Lazarus, who is now ready to die, telling the incomparable story of Jesus’ interactions with him, Martha, and Mary. God’s Favorite Place on Earth blends drama, devotion, biblical narrative, and first-century history to create a riveting book that you’ll find difficult to put down. Within each narrative, the common struggles Christians face are addressed and answered.

Frank's intention with this book is that your relationship with God might deepen and that by reading this book you might find victory over bitterness and be set free you from guilt, fear, doubt and discouragement, once and for all.

BONUS:

As part of an online promotion, Frank is giving away over $200 worth of free extras, including books, mp3s, PDFs, and more from people like Leonard Sweet, Jeff Goins, Andrew Farley, Steve McVey, DeVern Fromke, Pete Briscoe, Frank Viola himself, and me.

I'm honored to have my book, The Power of Weakness, included in this massive grab bag of free goodies that Frank is giving away to those who purchase his book online.

Go to GodsFavoritePlace.com to claim your 25 FREE GIFTS, read a Sampler of the book, and be sure to watch the video trailer.

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WORRY NOT

What if we treated worry as a sin? Would that change the way we respond whenever we felt ourselves starting to worry about something? Would we quickly repent of that and re-submit ourselves to Christ?

Well, I hope you’re sitting down because worry is a sin. That is, if you define a sin as disobedience to Jesus, anyway. Because Jesus clearly commanded us not to worry, and he told us that if we would seek first the Kingdom of God that all of the things we’re worrying about would be handled for us.

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life…” (Matt. 6:25)

“So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matt. 6:31-33)

I think most of us treat worry as something we’re better off not doing, but I think few of us put worry in the same category as lust, or slander, or stealing. Most of us treat worry as a bad habit, or an occasional mood swing, but according to Jesus our worry betrays our lack of faith in God to handle our needs.

If we treated worry like we treated lust or lying, we’d feel guilty whenever we caught ourselves doing it. We’d feel the need to confess that sin to God and to ask Him to help us resist that temptation.

Trusting God allows us to enjoy the freedom of living in the now. It sets us free from being chained down to all the “what ifs” and fears that rule our minds and corrupt our joy.

So, the next time to feel tempted to worry, repent of that sin and confess it quickly to God. Surrender your fears to Him and re-affirm your trust of God’s love for you and His perfect ability to take care of everything in your life.

“Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.” – Corrie Ten Boom.
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UNBELIEVABLE TRUTH #6: God Wants Us To Love Our Enemies

In our previous installment of this series we talked about how hard it is for Christians to believe that God really loves filthy sinners like killers and rapists and terrorists.

This article examines a very closely related truth which Christians equally struggle with; the idea that God really wants us to love our enemies too.

Because we can't accept that God would love evil people, it just follows that we can't believe that God would expect us to love them either. Of course, the truth is that God really does love evil people and that means that He really does expect us to do the same.

Even if we can accept this teaching in general, or in theory, it is much more challenging to actually take the step of loving our enemies or sincerely pray for these people to receive forgiveness or mercy or grace.

So, when we see the face of a terrorist or a murderer on the news our first impulse is not to stop and pray for that person to be saved and healed and forgiven. But that is what we should do if we are truly followers of Jesus.

Jesus commanded us specifically and in no uncertain terms to love our enemies and to bless those who curse us, and to do good to those who hate us. If we are to treat people who directly harm us and hate us like this, how much more should we love and bless those who have harmed others? Especially since the basis for these actions is found in the character of God. In other words, Jesus appeals to the loving and forgiving nature of God as our model for showing this same kind of love and mercy.

"But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matt. 5:44-45)

One of the main reasons that we find it so hard to love our enemies, I believe, is that we're more influenced by our human nature than by our spiritual nature. We also make the mistake of thinking that loving our enemies is equal to approving of their behaviors, but that's not the case. We can show love to people and extend mercy to them without accepting their actions. For example, my wife and I routinely help and serve people who are homeless. Many of them are addicted to heroin or meth. Do we approve of their drug use? Or their prostitution? Of course not. But that doesn't prevent us from showing them love and mercy and extending the grace of God to them.

If we really hope to be ambassadors of Christ to a world full of imperfect people, we must admit that we are among the imperfect, and then we must allow God to fill us with His perfect love for others, especially those who (in our opinion) do not deserve it.

If we stop and think we'll realize that none of us deserves the love and mercy of God, but we all need it very, very much.

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