[Subversive Radio Podcast] The Didache: Ch. 11-13: Teachers and Prophets

The early Christian church had very strict guidelines for who was to be considered a prophet and who was not. Did they ask for money? Then they are a false prophet.

These teachings and more are explored in this podcast on the Didache.

[Subversive Radio Podcast] The Didache: Ch.8-10

What does the Didache have to say about Fasting, Communion and Prayer?

Find out in the latest Subversive Radio Podcast from the Didache (a first century document about making disciples in the early Christian church).

[Subversive Radio Podcast] How It All Began

Ever wonder how the whole Subversive Blog and Podcast got started? Well, we're going to tell you anyway.

Listen to a brief history of how Keith Giles started his blog back in 2005 and how a cranky editor and a professional artist inspired the whole thing!

[Subversive Radio Podcast] The Didache: Ch. 5 - Ch. 7

This study covers The Didache, Ch.5-7: The Way of Death; False Teachers; Baptism Instructions.

Christmas Gifts

When I was in Third Grade, our class went to the local Nursing Home just before Christmas. I was selected to sing a solo after our entire class sang a few songs together.

When it was my turn to sing I stepped forward. My song was "O Come All Ye Faithful" and I had been carefully coached on how to sing it. To this day I cannot sing that song without following those exact instructions:

"On the first "O Come Let Us Adore Him" sing it softly. On the second time around sing it slightly louder. On the final time, really dig deep and belt it out strong."

That's how I sang it that day. It's how I still sing it now.

Last week a few people from our little house church - the Miscellaneous Christians of Orange County - met at a local Senior Home to sing room-to-room for a few of the residents there.

In almost every room, as we started to sing the Christmas Carol - be it "Silent Night" or "Joy To The World" or "Little Town of Bethlehem", the reaction was nearly the same. People smiled. They closed their eyes. They shed a tear. They allowed our songs to transport them back to a time when they were surrounded by loved ones. They recalled being children themselves and sitting around the Christmas Tree with their family. They softly sang along with us.

And when we were finished singing they said, "Thank you" and "Can you sing another one?"

When I was in college I used to sing in a band.

We played clubs, and bars, and schools, and anywhere they'd let us play.

We wrote our own songs. We recorded a few of them and tried to sell them to our fans. I still have boxes of those cassettes in my garage. Recently I uploaded all of them for free on the internet. No one downloaded them.

But when I'm singing a Christmas Carol for these dear people I am more than a rock star. I am more appreciated than I ever was on stage.

I loved being on stage. I loved performing for an audience. But when we sing to those few people at Fountain Care, I forget all that.

Instead, I realize that my real audience is the One who compels me to sing at all.

I see His face of joy in the old woman under the sheets.

I see His smile in the eyes of the man who doesn't speak English but sings along with us in his own native tongue.

I hear His voice in the dear woman who has lost her feet to diabetes and for a few verses of "Silent Night" has forgotten her sorrow. "Thank you," she says enthusiastically.

We were a little flat. The key was a little too low. But the presence of Jesus was surrounding us. We all felt it. We all perceived His approval.

In that moment we were all family.

"O Come Let Us Adore Him...Christ, the Lord".

-kg

[Subversive Radio Podcast] Blessed Are The Torturers?

Is Jesus for or against torture? Wasn't he arrested, beaten, tortured and killed by the Empire? How then should His followers respond when we hear that our own nation has tortured and killed people? Listen as we explore this controversial topic.

Torture Is Not Christian

With the release of the CIA torture report this week, there have been numerous conversations among Christians about whether or not torture is something that Jesus would approve of.

Some have wisely pointed out that Jesus himself was a middle eastern insurgent who was arrested and tortured by the Empire for subversive actions. How then, could Jesus – or a follower of that same Jesus – approve of such behavior?

When it comes to torture, I would see it like this: There is “The Way of the World” and  “The Way of Christ.”

The Way of the World includes War, Torture, Politics, Violence, and displays of power exerted over others to achieve and succeed.

The Way of Christ includes, Love, Peace, Forgiveness, Mercy, Compassion, and displays of humility coming underneath others to bless and serve them and express the transformational love of Christ.

Either these two paths either run parallel – so that you can follow Christ and the World both at once – or these two paths run in opposite directions, and if so, you must forsake one to follow the other.

I believe Jesus taught that we cannot do both. We cannot serve both God and the World. To follow Christ we must “think again” (the root meaning of “repent”) and turn around and go in the opposite direction.

Those two paths are not parallel, they are in opposition to one another, and we who hope to follow Christ must turn around and walk in the opposite direction from the World to follow Christ.

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other.” (Matt. 6:24)

“There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to destruction.” (Proverbs 14:12)

So, we must choose. And if we must choose, then I choose the Way of Christ.

Jesus did not come to sanctify or Christianize the ways of the World, he came to overthrow them and replace them and to show us a better way.

Our mandate from Christ is to love. We are called to be peacemakers in a world filled with violence. We are called to the ministry of reconciliation in a world saturated with conflict.

Every Christian is under this calling. Every follower of Jesus is expected to obey His commands. As Jesus emphasizes when he asks, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’ and do not do the things I say?” (Luke 6:46)

Jesus asks this question directly after he has commanded us to love our enemies and turn the other cheek (v. 27-29), so it’s not vague what he specifically has in mind when he asks this question.

Do we call Jesus our Lord? If so, how can we do that and ignore His commands to love our enemies and do good to those who hate us?

Answer: We cannot.

Either we are following Jesus, and therefore we obey His commands, or we are not following Jesus and we are free to do whatever we think is right in our own eyes.

But we cannot call ourselves Christians – followers of Christ – and flat out deny His clear commands to love our enemies, or defend those who practice cruelty, violence and toture.

To love Jesus is to obey Him. Those who love Jesus obey and those who do not love Jesus do not obey Him. Jesus was the first to point this out. (See John 14:15-24)

C.S. Lewis, through the voice of Aslan, put it this way: “And if any man do a cruelty in my name, then, though he says the name Aslan, it is Tash (Satan) whom he serves.” (The Last Battle)

Choose you this day whom you shall serve. As for me and my house, we shall serve – and follow – the Way of Christ.

Peace,

-kg

[Subversive Radio Podcast] The Didache - Chapter 4

Making Decisions In An Organic Church

One of my favorite memories from the early days of our house church was when we asked the children to lead our meeting. We told them in advance so they’d have time to prepare for this special day. We all anticipated this special morning together for several weeks, and then finally the day arrived.

I’ll never forget, after our usual breakfast and fellowship time, we all moved into the den for our share time. The kids all sat together and we waited to see what they would do.

Then one of them said, "Ok, does anyone have something to share with the group today?"

At first it threw us off a little, and then someone laughed out loud at the irony of it all as we realized what was happening: We had modelled the open meeting so well that their “leadership” of our meeting looked exactly the same! It wasn’t about who was leading. It was only about Jesus and what He was doing in our Body that morning.

As I sit down to write my installment of the “Why Churches Don’t Need Senior Pastors” blog series, I can’t help but recall that special morning when the kids taught us an important lesson – and it was the same lesson we had already taught them – Jesus is our only Head.

Some have suggested – even within the House Church Movement – that human leaders (spiritual parents, elders, pastors, etc.) are necessary for a “healthy” organic church to flourish. I don’t disagree in theory – but in practice I think it matters a whole lot what those “leaders” do or do not do, if we are going to truly experience the Headship of Christ in our midst.

Leadership is a spiritual gift. It’s right there in the New Testament alongside tongues, healing, miracles, teaching, etc. No doubt about that. And, yes, God does provide some who serve as “Pastors” (plural) in the Church.

But what a leader does – or does not – do in the gathering and among the members of the Body makes all the difference in the world.

Some things a leader, pastor, elder might do in the gathering are:

*Gently nudge the talkers to wait for the shy ones

*Gently nudge the shy ones to share what God has place on their hearts

*Initiate prayer for someone who is obviously in need or hurting

*Prayerfully remind the church family why we are here

*Point everyone back to Jesus

Here are some things a leader, pastor, elder should not do in the gathering:

*Tell people what to do

*Dominate the conversation

*Establish the order of service

*Get in the way of the Holy Spirit

*Attempt to create an environment that caters to their own personal bias

If I had to write a hundred page book about how to lead an open meeting in an Organic Church, it would contain 99 pages of “Things Not To Do” and only about a page of what you should be doing.

Why? Because the more we do, the less room we allow for Jesus to move and work in our midst.

But this blog series is all about answering the question: “Who Makes Decisions In An Organic Church?”, especially if there are no “Senior Pastors” around who can just tell us what to do.

Here’s the short answer: “Ask Jesus”.

The longer answer would contain a few suggestions about how to facilitate that in the gathering, but essentially you, as a church family, would take the time to pray together and wait on the Lord and see where and how He is leading you to act or move.

It would be faster to simply elect someone to make all those decisions for you. Obviously. But do you want expedience and efficiency, or do you want accuracy and obedience to Christ?

If your desire is to hear from the Lord, and if your church family really wants to experience Christ at the Head of the Body, then together as a Body you need to stop and listen to the Head, who is Christ. It’s really that simple.

There’s an African proverb that says: “If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to travel far, go together.”

I would urge you, as a brother in Christ, not to go quickly, but to go together and to seek the Lord as a Church Family.

Does it work? Yes! It does work. It has worked several times in our own house church family, and it has worked spectacularly for others as well.

For example, one young couple who we know started an organic church recently after visiting with us only a few times. After their group had been together a few months, someone donated a large sum of money to them. Seeing as Organic Churches don’t need money to operate, they were unsure of what to do with the money. So, they came together and prayed and asked Jesus what they should do. Here’s what happened next:

“We bowed our heads and a few different people prayed aloud for wisdom and discernment for all of us to come to an agreement on what to do. After a long period of silence, we asked if the Spirit had put any specific direction on anyone’s heart. One woman spoke up and said, “I kept thinking of the numbers, 60-30-10″ and someone else said, “I sensed the numbers 600, 300, 100,” another “60-30-10,” and finally, a fourth, “6-3-1, double.”

“The woman who sensed “6-3-1, double” went on to explain that the 6 meant $600 and was to go to one need. The 3 meant $300 and was meant to go to the other need, and the 1 was $100 and needed to be kept back. The she went on and said something like, “The ‘double’ is because we are meant to give our own money and double what has been given to us because right now this gift hasn’t cost us anything and we are meant to give out of our own resources.”

“We returned to group dialogue to check with everyone’s spirit to make sure there weren’t any “red flags” in anyone’s hearts, and, surprisingly, everyone was on the same page. We were then able to discuss how to be people of generosity throughout the week and to plan to “double” what had been given to us by giving back to needs we experienced in our circles of influence.

“A sense of excitement and peace permeated that living room as we reflected on the fact that the Spirit had spoken, and not only that, but He had chosen to do so through different members of our group while the rest tested His voice. People remarked to one another that they felt a part of something significant and how amazing it was to observe and participate in the body responding to the movement of the Spirit.” [From “Sixty, Thirty, Ten, Double” by ChristaMcKirland]

The more your organic church practices this sort of thing, the more common and “normal” it will become. But it will only work if everyone in the church family works together to submit to the Holy Spirit, and to one another, to arrive at the answer that the Lord desires for you.

Who makes decisions in an Organic Church? Jesus does! He’s the Head. He’s the Senior Pastor. The rest of us are all brothers and sisters – and members of His Body – who submit to Christ as Lord, both in our personal lives, and in our corporate times together as a Family.

Once you hand all of this over to an expert or a Senior Pastor, it’s the last corporate decision your Church will ever make together.

Do you want to go far? Go together. Just make sure you’re all following Jesus.

-kg

NOTE: This blog is part of an ongoing series. Read the two previous posts by Jon Zens and Richard Jacobson HERE.
 

 

 

 
 

 

2014: THE YEAR IN REVIEW

I always look forward to writing these “Year In Review” blog posts. It gives me a chance to refresh my memory about the blessings God has poured out on me over the last 365 days, and I’m always amazed how much favor is lavished on me by my Heavenly Father.

Fair warning, this is a long one so pour yourself a nice hot cuppa coffee, grab a chair and settle down for the long ride. 

Here we go!

MY TOP 10 BLOG POSTS OF 2014

As chosen by you, my readers, based on the number of page views received.

1 - THE BLOOD MOON HOAX EXPOSED

PAGE VIEWS: 13,018

2 - THE MARK OF THE BEST REVEALED

PAGE VIEWS: 2,316

3 - SUBVERSIVE INTERVIEW ROUND TABLE: NEIL COLE, JON ZENS, HERB MONTGOMERY, KENT WILLIAMSON

PAGE VIEWS: 763

4 - THE TOP 5 BEST BOOKS ON CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP

PAGE VIEWS: 723

5 - THINGS I DON’T BELIEVE ANYMORE

PAGE VIEWS: 705

6- I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE KINGDOM OF GOD

PAGE VIEWS: 702

7 - A BROKEN GOD FOR A BROKEN PEOPLE, BY VILBERT VALLANCE

PAGE VIEWS: 635

8 - A FORCE MORE POWERFUL

PAGE VIEWS: 628

9 - DUCK DYNASTY OR CHRIST DYNASTY?

PAGE VIEWS: 609

10 - SUBVERSIVE RADIO INTERVIEW GREG BOYD

PAGE VIEWS: 590

 **

OTHER COOL STUFF

There is life outside the blog you know.

*SIMPLE CHURCH: UNITY WITHIN DIVERSITY

I was honored to be invited to share a chapter in this book which features 23 other authors, bloggers and thinkers – all involved in Simple Church. So far the book is already in the Top 10 at Amazon and it only just published! Yowzers.

My chapter in this book was about how our little house church got started and how we give 100 percent of our offering away to the poor in our community and how our motel ministry started.

LEARN MORE/PURCHASE HERE

*HOUSE2HOUSE MAGAZINE
I was also very blessed to help launch the new and improved House2 House Magazine in an online format late last year and it grew into something pretty awesome in 2014.

Very proud of this little online magazine.

*MOTEL CHURCH

We had some very, very troubling and difficult times this season, but we endured and emerged stronger in the process. Here’s hoping – and praying – for a much less dramatic year in 2015.

One of the most amazing things that happened at the Motel Church this year was what God did with Tommy.

Sometimes God does something so beautiful and so amazing all you can do is just sit back and smile. This was one of the highlights of the year for me.

MIRACLE IN THE CARPORT

*PODCAST
It was pretty cool to do interviews, and thanks to our one and only donor, Layton Lynch, we were able to purchase a BlogTalkRadio premium account for a few months in order to do just that. Thanks, Layton!

PODCAST INTERVIEWS

I interviewed some pretty incredible people this year on my Subversive Podcast:

INTERVIEW: JUSTO GONZALEZ: “THE EARLY CHRISTIANS”

INTERVIEW: DAN NOTTI “AUTHENTIC COMMUNITY”

INTERVIEW: GREG BOYD:“FOLLOWING JESUS INTO NON-VIOLENCE”

INTERVIEW: HERB MONTGOMERY: “JESUS, THE PRINCE OF PEACE”

INTERVIEW: JON ZENS:“WHY ALL THE ONE-ANOTHERS?”

INTERVIEW: STEVE GREGG: “JESUS, ISRAEL AND THE CHURCH”

INTERVIEW: KENT WILLIAMSON: “STAINED GLASS RAINBOWS”

INTERVIEW: THOMAS CRISP: “JESUS, GANDHI AND NONVIOLENCE”

ROUND TABLE: Neil Cole, Jon Zens, Herb Montgomery, Kent Williamson

"WHAT’S SO GREAT ABOUT CONSTANTINE?" THE AL BAKER DIALOGS:
It was a great blessing to get to know NT scholar, Al Baker, through a series of podcasts about Constantine and his impact on the modern church today.

PART 1

PART 2

 **
THE BLOG SERIES OF 2014:

Sometimes there’s a topic that requires more than a single post.
These are the ones I spent the most time on in 2014.

“WHO MAKES DECISIONS IN ORGANIC CHURCH?”

This is still ongoing, but so far it’s been a blast to collaborate with Neil Cole, Richard Jacobsen, Dan Herford, and Jon Zens to discuss the concept of making decisions in an organic church setting. Richard’s video was a great kick-off which spawned some great discussion and I can’t wait to read what everyone else has to say. Plus, we’ll wrap it all up with a video Skype round table.

 FOLLOW HERE

WHO DECIDES? [Subversive Radio Podcast]

THE SEASON OF LOVE BLOG SERIES

A series of blog posts about how love is our mandate from Christ and how loving your enemy begins with learning to love like Jesus.

*WE WHO HAVE BEEN TRANSFORMED

*LEARNING TO LOVE EXTRAVAGANTLY

*IN THE NAME OF LOVE

*A FORCE MORE POWERFUL

*LOVE UNLIMITED

*LOVE DEALERS

*LOVE, HATE AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD

*TURN! TURN! KILL?

THE DIDACHE [PODCAST SERIES]

This First Century document, which pre-dates the Gospels, was used by the Disciples and the early Christian church to train those who wanted to become followers of Jesus and the Way of Life.

PART 1

PART 2

PART 3

PART 4

DISPENSATIONALISM REFUTED [PODCAST SERIES]
Way back in the 1800's, John Nelson Darby invented a crazy system of theology called "Dispensationalism". Coincidentally, the same year that Joseph Smith introduced his crazy theology called "Mormonism". Sadly, Darby's "connect-the-dots" theology has now become the dominant view of the Church in the West. Here's why you shouldn't swallow it.

PART 1

PART 2

PART 3

PART 4

JESUS THE PROPHET [PODCAST SERIES]

A study of the Olivet Discourse from a Partial Preterist perspective.

PART 1

PART 2

PART 3

ISRAEL AND THE CHURCH [PODCAST SERIES]
What's worse? To replace Israel with the Church, or to replace Jesus with a religion and Nation State that denies he is the Messiah? Let's discuss.

*THE OBSOLETE OLD TESTAMENT

*LET’S TALK ABOUT ISRAEL

*PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST

*GOD’S CHOSEN PEOPLE?

AWARDS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS

*VIDEOS

OUT OF BUSINESS [video]

My collaboration with Richard Jacobsen on the “Out Of Business” video was very well received and is something I’ve quite happy with.

http://subversive1.blogspot.com/2014/02/video-blog-out-of-business.html

*

GUEST BLOG POSTS

Sometimes it’s good to hear from other voices. This year we had some excellent guest posts.

*FERGUSON: GOSPEL GARDENING BY DARRYL FORD

*FERGUSON: GUEST POST BY EMBO TISHMANGA

*DAVID GILES: “GIVE UP”

So blessed to have my youngest son contribute a blog post.

*VILBERT VALLANCE: “A BROKEN GOD FOR A BROKEN PEOPLE”

I am always blessed to hear from my Indian friend, Vilbert. But this post is my all-time favorite.

*MARY EMILY DUBA: “THE INCARNATION OF LOVE”
Honestly, I watch this video about once a week. It’s really such a beautiful expression of the peace-making work of Christ. Maybe one day I can interview Mary? Hope so.

*BRANDON CHASE: “TWO SIDES TO THE CROSS”

*

*SILVER ADDY AWARDS

Several of my creative projects at work (where I write marketing and advertising copy for technology vendors like Cisco, Microsoft, etc.) were recognized, including:

MICROSOFT: 78 UNFAMOUS PEOPLE [VIDEO 1]

MICROSOFT: 78 UNFAMOUS PEOPLE [VIDEO 2]

CISCO: HAWAII VACATION CONTEST

MORE FUN AT WORK:

RICHOH: RESPECT  THE MARGIN CAMPAIGN

*CISCO: FLY HIGHER VIDEO

http://subversive1.blogspot.com/2014/05/video-fly-higher.html

*APC: POWER IS OUR MIDDLE NAME VIDEO

http://subversive1.blogspot.com/2014/05/power-is-our-middle-name.html

MY PERSONAL FAVORITE BLOG POSTS OF 2014

I know there’s a Top 10 list already. But these are MY favorite blog posts. Shouldn’t they be yours too?

*THE MISCELLANEOUS CHRISTIANS OF ORANGE COUNTY

*OCCUPY JESUS

*IT’S NOT ABOUT PACIFISM

*CHRIST OR ANTI-CHRIST?

*AS I LIVE AND BREATHE

*BAD NEWS FIRST

*HOW TO FIGHT LIKE A CHRISTIAN

*SPECTACULAR FAIL OR ABIDING LIFE?

*ULTIMATE NINJA JESUS [PODCAST]: This is one of my personal favorites.

**

COMING SOON: 2015

Who knows what the future holds? “If the Lord wills…” these are the things I hope to put my hands to in 2015:

*NEW COVENANT BOOK

I’ve been stewing and percolating on this one all year long. Hope to get started writing this during the Holiday and finish it mid-year in 2015.

*LEADERSHIP BOOK

The only way to finally get everything off my chest about this insane “Christian Leadership” movement is to write my own book about what true New Testament Leaders look like.

*PACIFIST FIGHT CLUB

My plan is to have quarterly PFC gatherings in 2015. So, we’ll kick things off in February with a PFC Movie Night and watch “Dirty Wars” together. Details soon.

*MOTEL CHURCH

I am praying right now about how to engage more with people like Tommy and Jim and a few others who, technically, are homeless and do not live/stay at the motel but still participate and serve at the motel. These guys are hungry for the Word of God, desperate for connection, and interested in growing nearer to Christ. Seems like a good idea to put my hands to that!

*MISSION HOUSE CHURCH

I think the Lord is urging me to abandon myself more to Himself and to really let go and learn to love others and allow others to love me. Our house church family is the best place to start with that.

*MORE PODCASTING

I’ve really loved doing these podcasts and so we’ll continue to do more of these in the year ahead.

*MORE COLLABORATION

One thing I’ve learned this year is that working and partnering with like-minded people is much more interesting and rewarding, and ultimately more impactful, than just writing and working all by myself. The Round Table podcast with Neil, Jon, Herb, and Kent was so amazing, and the current blog series on making decisions in Organic Church with Jon, Richard, Dan and Neil is also creating great conversations. Plus, the multiple authors approach of the book “Simple Church” where I got to contribute a chapter alongside some of my favorite bloggers, authors and thinkers, was an incredible experience. So, in the year to come I want to collaborate with more people! More round tables, more gatherings, more linked blog conversations, etc. Next year will be the year of Collaboration.

*PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

For my birthday this year I invited a handful of guys who resonate with me and inspire me. It was a great blessing for all of us and we all expressed a desire to do this kind of thing more often. So, we will.

*

THANK YOU!

One thing I really, really want to do is to say “THANK YOU!” so much for reading my blog, listening to my podcasts, watching the occasional video, and sharing my posts with your friends and family. Writing in a vacuum is no fun. But hearing feedback from all of you means so much to me. In fact, I keep a folder called “Warm Fuzzies” where I save each and every comment and word of encouragement I receive from you guys. It’s true! You guys keep me going when I sometimes feel like giving up.

I look forward to where the Lord takes us in 2015. I hope you’ll be along for the ride.

Peace,

Keith

TURN! TURN! KILL?



There's a famous song written by Pete Seeger, yet popularized by The Byrds way back in 1965, called "Turn! Turn! Turn!"

You've probably heard it before. It takes the words from Ecclesiastes, chapter 3 and sets them to a groovy tune and says:

“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, a time to reap that which is planted;

A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up…

A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.”

 On Saturday of last week, driving around in our car, my family sang along to this one. The next day, when our church family came together, one of our members actually referenced the song and read from the verses in Ecclesiastes where the song is derived.

That made me think.

What especially hit me was how often I hear Christians refer to this verse as a way to justify violence. "It says in the Bible, 'there's a time for war and a time for peace; a time to kill and a time to heal', so obviously God makes room for violence when it's necessary," people will say.

But is that really so?

I would argue that there is a time for war and a time for peace, but that Jesus (our Lord) has established for us what "time" it is now.

Jesus showed up and announced that the Kingdom of God had come. Then he gave us - his followers - a very specific command: "Love one another."

Next, Jesus commanded us not to hate our enemies, but to love them.

Then, he rebuked Peter for using a sword by saying, "Put that away! Those who live by the sword shall die by the sword."

Then he told Pilate "My Kingdom is not of this world. If it were my disciples would fight."

So while there may very well be a "time to kill" and a "time for war", Jesus has made it very clear that we are now living in a "time of peace" and "a time to love".

The question is: Are we following Jesus?

One last thought: What if our Judgment Day before the Lord Jesus consists of Him calling our enemies forward to ask them if we loved them as He commanded us to do?

What would they say?

How would we defend our lack of obedience?

The time for love is now. We are in a season of love, not a season of war or hate.

Let's get busy loving.

-kg

PODCAST [Subversive Radio] WHO DECIDES? ORGANIC CHURCH LEADERSHIP

Is the idea of a church without a Senior Pastor unbiblical? Do we need "Spiritual Parents" to guide us? Or was Jesus serious when He said, "Not so with you!" regarding the practice of lording over one another in the Church?

Listen as Keith responds to a recent post from house church leader, John White who believes that human leaders are necessary for healthy churches to grow.

GUEST POST: Gospel Gardening: Ferguson and Beyond, by Darryl Ford

Something is wrong with our garden. God cares about it. We should too.

 There are weeds preventing water from reaching the soil. There are plants suffering drought. There are areas where soil nutrients are being overtaxed. Recent events are a reminder that our garden in America is unhealthy and is in desperate need of maintenance. Specifically when we look at the powder keg that is race in America.

A few examples: The shooting fatality of Mike Brown in Ferguson. The choking fatality of Eric Garner in Staten Island, NY. The shooting fatality of John Crawford III in a southwestern Ohio Walmart. The shooting fatality of Ezell Ford in Los Angeles. The shooting fatality of Darrien Hunt outside of Salt Lake City, Utah. All unarmed African Americans killed while being arrested or in custody.

There are also certainly huge issues within the African American community. High absentee father rates, high incarceration rates, and high recidivism rates remind us that there are significant issues without clear answers. But one thing is clear, regardless of what side of these issues you’re on.

Something is wrong with our garden. God cares about it. We should too.

Sadly, some of us know this and are apathetic and uncaring. Others of us don’t know that we should care. Within American evangelicalism, both groups route their apathy and/or ignorance in hollowed out churchy platitudes like “Racism is bad, but sin is the real problem” or “Racism will never end until Jesus returns". Platitudes like these, even if true, provide convenient ways to ignore the holistic mission of God in all the world to which He has called his people.

We are created to be Gospel Gardeners.

Part of the reason I think we (including myself) can become apathetic or ignorant on issues of systemic injustice is because of how we are likely to answer this question: “What is the oldest job in the world?” If your answer is “Prostitution”, you’d be wrong. (Thanks a lot Rudyard Kipling!)

We learn what the first vocation given by God actually is in Genesis 2:15:

“The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it”.

The first job given to Adam was two-fold: To work it (Hebrew word ‘abad’ meaning to tend, prepare and cultivate) and to keep it (Hebrew word ‘shamar’ meaning to preserve or guard it).

The garden was the place where God created man to dwell. We were created to cultivate and protect the garden. We were created to be Gardener-Guardians. Although Adam and Eve were kicked out of the original garden, our garden is wherever God’s people are. God always expected his image bearers to tend the garden. We see this in the OT:

Zechariah 7:9-19 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another. Do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against one another in your heart.”

Psalm 82:3-4 “Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

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

God has called us to always care about the garden. This includes both individual sin issues, as well as systemic injustices. Sadly, we usually emphasize one at the expense of the other. And in the case of American evangelicalism, we avoid the issue of systemic racism and injustice by emphasizing individual sin exclusively.

On the Sunday after the Travon Martin/George Zimmerman decision, or the Sunday after Mike Brown’s death, many majority culture, predominately white churches were largely silent. Church went on like usual. Conversely, many ethnic minority churches were heavily conversant on that Sunday morning. For those churches, Sunday was a day of heart wrenching mourning.

God shows us that caring for the garden means we mourn with those who are mourning. We don’t have to necessarily agree on the reason for their mourning. We still mourn with them because they mourn. This is how community in the garden is supposed to work.

Something is wrong with our garden. God cares about it. We should too.

We struggle with caring because we are beholden to an abrogated and truncated gospel.

We fail to do justice because we don’t understand it. It’s been hijacked politically. Regardless of your political flavor, you have an understanding of justice that likely isn’t God’s definition. Justice in scripture means to make things right. It means fulfilling mutual obligation.

When justice is mentioned in scripture, you normally see these words close by: widow, fatherless, poor, hungry, stranger/immigrant, needy, weak and oppressed. This means we don’t turn a blind eye and/or a deaf ear to those who are unjustly affected by a broken system.

It’s why I don’t believe believers (gospel gardeners) should avoid the news. A lot of us avoid the news because it’s so “negative” and “sad” and it gets us down. This isn’t only because we can be apathetic or callous. For many of us, injustice can be so overwhelming because of the sheer enormity of the issues. We can’t begin to think about how we could ever fix the problems, so why expend emotional and intellectual capital on it? I believe this is the subtle way that, as American evangelicals,  we anesthetize ourselves from mourning injustice. In so doing, we grieve the heart of God.

Something is wrong with our garden. God cares about it. We should too.

We mourn the ways in which the garden doesn’t work. God hates injustice! He hates when people use power and privilege for exploitation and not human flourishing.

If righteousness means making things right within, then justice means being made right without! This means that, to quote Jim Wallis, “Your faith may be personal, but it is never private”. God’s mission isn’t just to redeem broken people, but to redeem broken systems. We are called into a relationship with Christ in which we are changed and re-oriented to use our passions, talents, gifting and vocation to advocate for human flourishing.

So how should Christians respond?

As an African American pastor of a new multi-cultural church plant in Atlanta, I don’t have the luxury of ignoring the ways in which the garden doesn’t allow for people to flourish. I can’t avoid the fact that there are at least two different perspectives of law enforcement in my own household. My wife (who is White and grew up in an upper middle class white suburb of Chicago) had an experience with police officers quite opposite from me (a Black man who grew up in Detroit). We both have experienced being pulled over and although she was driving, the first question the white police officer would ask is “Ma’am, are you ok???” as if to imply that this woman had to have been with me against her will.

Don’t get me wrong. I also have family members and friends that are exemplary police officers. The issue isn’t about how great or horrible cops are. Beyond anecdotes, the point is that we have a huge challenge to cultivate and protect our garden. How do we do this?

Well, a good gardener always looks for the things that may inhibit the garden’s flourishing.

1.    Listen, Learn and Locate: This means we look for weeds. We learn the reasons weeds exist. This means being slow to speak and being quick to listen to others’ accounts of how the garden doesn’t work well for them. This means we don’t use our experience as the litmus test for whether or not their experience is legitimate. We listen and learn. What does law enforcement look like in our garden? What does access to good education look like? What does access to good jobs look like? What do family structures and dynamics look like? What systems are in place that unfairly and unintentionally benefit some and harm others?

2.    We Engage: This means we engage in prompt weed removal to prevent more weeds from becoming established. This keeps weeds from robbing moisture and nutrients from other plants. This also keeps from allowing a haven for pests and disease to exist. When we see injustice, we become burdened and we act. Whether it’s predatory lending, or exploitative check cashing businesses, we work to end their existence. Even if we do it imperfectly, we still image God well when we do.

3.    Monitor: We look for symptoms of disease or pest problems regularly. Individual sin is definitely at play in all forms of injustice. That’s not going to be eradicated on this side of eternity. This means we expect to see systemic injustice arise in myriad forms. We need to keep a watchful eye as we guard the garden.

4.    Expect: While injustice won’t be eradicated completely, we can see signs of hope. The beauty of our hope being rooted in the resurrection, is that we have a new life and new creation to look forward to. But this doesn’t mean we hide in our prayer closets in our bubbles and wait for Jesus to rescue us. Saying “racism will always be here so it’s silly to rail against it” ignores the holistic gospel mission of God.

The reason the Lord’s prayer includes “Your kingdom come, your will be done in Earth as it is in heaven” is because in caring for the garden, we become signposts for the kingdom that is coming. We give a picture of what perfect community looks like in Revelation 7:9-10:

“After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

Mike Brown’s death is bigger than whether or not he “deserved” it, or whether or not he “brought it on himself”. I’m not sure if we’ll ever truly know that. What we do know is that this forces a larger courageous conversation that needs to be had by American Evangelicals. A conversation guided by this question, “How is our garden doing? Any other response, whether it’s looting or ignorant passivity is at best lazy, and at worst blatant disregard for the heart of God.

Something is wrong with our garden. God cares about it. We should too. 

GUEST POST: Ferguson by Embo Tshimanga

Ferguson

NOVEMBER 26, 2014 BY LIFE W/ EM

I’ve been pondering over Ferguson since the beginning and it’s crazy how quickly things are escalating.

Firstly, I’ve never felt so numb, disappointed, sad and mad over what’s been happening and how quickly things are changing. I am fervently praying for peace.

Knee jerk reactions and generalizations are booming across social media and the news but I believe that you must listen in order to speak. Generalizations deny the reality of any given situation and truth must be foundation, then love.

To those who state Jesus and the church is not involved in this, I simply believe you are wrong. In I am in no way passing judgement on their beliefs, I am merely stating my opinion. I believe that this world that we inhabit and all that occurs within it is not our own, I believe that it is His and His alone. 

That being said, all that occurs and this world itself along with those who inhabit it, are His. The aspect of unity especially in the church is so much deeper than before. God is infinitely and intricately woven into all events of this world, including the ones of Ferguson, Missouri. This is much much deeper than a “black vs. white” thing. 

The story of Ferguson, Missouri is one that has gripped the hearts of not only African American people, but people of the Asian, Hispanic, and White race from the beginning. Ferguson is not a clear cut black vs. white event though society it has been deemed that way. 

Both sides of Ferguson are understandable- I can admit that. I understand the anger land uproar on both sides, because let’s be real- no matter the outcome, the protesting would’ve happened either way. I am so saddened.

I admire The Brown Family for their courage and bravery of their peaceful words. Many people have asked me simply because of the reason I am an African American whose side I’m on in regards to this case but the thing is, my stance is irrelevant, my “biased” beliefs are irrelevant, and more so, my skin color does not matter either because it isn’t a skin problem, or a black vs. white problem,or a racism problem. I love what Benjamin Watson said, “it’s a sin problem,” it is sin that has made this world that full of corruption- not the fact that I’m African American or white- sin. It is a sin problem. 

Sin is a tree in this world with many roots. As an African American person, it’s heartbreaking, our nation seems hopeless. As an African American Christian, I feel hopeful because our only hope, the only explanation, is Him. Not in that sense, but more in a sense that while there is still racial discrimination and issues, it’s lessened over the years and we’ve obtained a new sort of “normalcy”. As I’ve said before, my stance is with Him, because He alone is the only hope for this world. I’m with Jesus.

I’ve prayed about it, and I’ve thought about it and 1 Peter 4:7-8 is what came to mind:

"The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray.Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins." (1 Peter 4:7-8)

*

Read Embo's blog here>

*

NOTE: This is the first in a possible series of guest blog posts where I will open my blog up to African American Christian's who share their perspectives on Ferguson, in hopes that those of us who are White can see this from another angle.

-kg