Loving The Wrong People?

Jesus was always loving the wrong people. It’s what set him apart from everyone else around him.

Jesus loved the lepers, and the lame. He loved the broken, and the brokenhearted.

Jesus loved those who were poor, despised, rejected and cast out.

He loved Samaritans, and Pagans. He loved prostitutes. He loved drunkards.

He loved people who loved to party, and he felt right at home in the midst of those who were called “sinners” by the religious elite.

Jesus loved all the wrong people, and he suffered abuse for it.

He was called “a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners”. [Matt. 11:19]

When they called him a “friend of sinners” it was not as a compliment, but as a rebuke.

He loved the unlovely. He even loved his enemies.

Simply put, Jesus loved people. He loved all sorts of people. But most of all, he loved the wrong people. He loved all of the people that we find it most difficult to love.

How many of us would be called the friend of a whore? How many of us would invite a homeless man into our home to share a meal? How many of us would take a meth addict who lives in his van out to dinner? How many of us would be willing to love the wrong people the way Jesus did?

Are we willing to love people who are living in sin? Can we love people outside our faith community? Are we open to loving someone with a different sexual orientation? Can we love those who disagree with us politically, doctrinally, morally?

The truth is, Jesus still loves all the wrong people. He loves them with an unending love and he wants you and I to love them, too.

Jesus loves all the people we hate. But we shouldn’t hate anyone.

As people who have been touched by his love, we need to be changed by his love into people who can love like he loves.

“Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did.” [1 John 2:6]

If Jesus loves all the wrong people, it’s time for us to love them, too.

-kg

Resurrection Now

When Paul said that he considered all things to be lost in order to know Christ, and that he only wanted to “know Christ…and the power of His resurrection”, [Phil. 3:10] he wasn’t talking about gaining more Bible knowledge.

On the contrary, he had just spent the previous six verses expounding upon all of the great Bible knowledge he once put so much stock in and then declared that he considered all of that to be  “dung” or “crap” [literally].

Why so? “So that I may gain Christ and be found in Him..” [v. 8-9]

There’s almost an "if/then" wording here where Paul is suggesting that anyone who wants to gain Christ and to be found in Him – anyone who wants to “know Christ and the power of His resurrection” – must first consider everything else to be garbage in comparison.

Take the juxtaposition of “knowing Christ” and the phrase “the power of His resurrection”. You can’t have a resurrection until you first have a funeral. If no one dies, then who will be brought back to life again?

This dovetails beautifully with the Gospel that Jesus proclaimed saying, “If anyone would come after me, let him first deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me”. 

In other words, if we want to experience the “power of His resurrection” we must first die to ourselves daily. Once we die, then we can begin to receive the marvelous power of His resurrection life within.

We don't have to wait until we die to begin experiencing this resurrection life, we can know it right here and now.

What’s even more amazing, is that Paul is talking here about an actual reality. This isn’t a metaphor. This isn’t some spiritual platitude. He is talking about being truly able to know Christ and to experience that resurrection life today. He is talking about a transcendent reality whereby he is capable of knowing Christ the way you and I know our own voices.

Think of it! You and I can experience the living, breathing, presence of Jesus right here and now.

“The Lord is near”, as Paul says in Philippians 4:5. Therefore, let us “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”

Drawing nearer to Him is not only possible, it’s practically mandatory for every single person who is found in Christ.

-kg

Our Missed Opportunity

By arguing with gay people about the validity of their love, we've missed the opportunity to talk with them about the reality of Christ's love.

Worse yet, we’ve also lost our chance to demonstrate the love of Jesus to them, and this is something that many of them are most desperate to experience.

What Jesus commanded of us, and what Jesus expects of us, is that we lead with love; and that we love others "as I have loved you" - which was unconditionally and completely.

Instead, we’ve decided that “love” is about telling people the truth. Therefore, by telling people that they are horrible sinners who are destined for an eternal suffering in hell, we are “loving” them and therefore we are fulfilling Jesus’ command to “love others”.

The problem with that is – it’s not love, it’s pride. Arrogance and judgment, maybe, but not love.

When Jesus gave us these commands to love others and to put others first, his examples included showing compassion to our enemies, spending our money to take care of their needs, healing their wounds, transporting them at our personal expense, and treating them the way we would like to be treated.

Here’s a simple test we can use to determine if we’re fulfilling Jesus’ command to be known by our love:

If people feel loved, then you are loving them.

If people feel hated, hurt and judged, you are not loving them.


I feel like we’ve been trying to make this Gay Marriage debate about them, when it’s really about us.

What I mean is, we’ve focused so much on how “wrong” they are – and how “right” we are – that we’ve failed to stop and see all the ways we are wrong.

Instead of stopping to ask ourselves what our mission to this culture really is, we’ve continued onward in a frenzy, desperate for the world to hurry up and open their eyes and see how right we are.

And in our impassioned ranting all they can see is how angry, and petty, and dismissive, and condescending, and unloving we are.

Put another way, all we have shown them is just how unlike Jesus we are.

Or, more tragically, we have told them that we represent Jesus, and then we have done what he would never have done; We have rejected them. We have condemned them. We have given them no hope.

The other day I read a blog post by a friend of mine from High School. He’s not a Christian. He’s also gay.

As I attempted to read this blog out loud to Wendy, in our kitchen, I just broke down into tears. His words sliced into my heart and ripped into my soul.

Here’s just a sample of what he shared:

“Apparently, this guy died on a cross so that I wouldn't be able to get married. I don't know how he knew that it would be an issue, over 2,000 years later, but he did it.

[Of course] he never said anything like that in the Bible, if you believe in that sort of thing. I personally don't think this guy died for [that]. I think he died because he tried to show that his God was not what everyone else was saying he was. I think he died because churches had become places of profit, rather than worship.

I think, if I believe the Bible, that he hung out with a whore and 12 other guys who went fishing a lot. I don't think he'd have trouble with guys who like guys.

I'm not even dating anyone, so what do I care? I care, because the oppressive energy behind this religious fervor is disheartening. When I am told that I cannot get married, I'm told I cannot be loved. To say to me that I may not get married is to say to me that I am sentenced to die alone.

I have a very dear cousin who has said to me, that God does not and will not honor my marriage. That I may not get married. I don't know if he realizes that he has said to me; that I may not express my love of someone else; that if I may not reach the destination of marriage, why bother making the trip?

Why bother trying to find someone that you can't marry? And if you're not married, you are living in sin. If you express physical love with someone you are not married to, you are sinning.

God hates sin. God hates you. God meant for you to be alone; [to] die alone.

Certainly, I don't believe any of those things are true, but my cousin does. He chooses to believe that God does not want me to be with someone.

Or maybe, somewhere in the back of my mind I do believe it. Maybe that's why I've gone this long without finding someone. Maybe I am alone because a while back, someone who is so close to me told me that I am unworthy of love.”
*

I know that reading all that may evoke a variety of thoughts and emotions in your heart.

You may be tempted to argue that my friend is arguing with God’s Word. You may be tempted to call him a sinner and point out how depraved his lifestyle is, according to a few verses in the Bible.

But, for a moment, I hope you can understand the value of hearing someone on the other side of this conversation reflecting back to us what we sound like.

Receive this as a gift from God to you. Understand that, in our pursuit of ultimate “rightness” we have been sending a non-Christian person messages like:

“God hates you.”

“You are unworthy of love.”

“You’ve been sentenced to die alone”.

It doesn’t really matter if we’ve intended to send those messages. Those are the messages they have received from us.

To me, the Christian church has missed the mark when it comes to loving the gay community.

Does anyone know another word for “missing the mark”?

Oh yeah, I think it was the word “sin”.

We can do better.

If we can set aside our need to be right and start getting on our knees to wash feet, and humble ourselves just a little, we just might convince people that God’s love is real, and that Jesus really does love them, and that they are not only worthy of love, they are at the center of His heart and dearly treasured by Him – and by us.

In fact, until they are loved and treasured by us, I’m not sure anyone will ever believe that they are loved and treasured by God.

“We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.” [2 Cor. 5:20]

-kg

**
READ MORE?
*NOT A SIN?
*THE NEW SAMARITANS
*BLESSED ARE THE EUNUCHS
*A LOVE THAT'S BETTER THAN SEX

THE MIRACULOUS CHURCH OF JESUS

We are members of a Miracle Church, my friends. 

We are part of a Church composed of Liberals and Conservatives; of Capitalists and Socialists; of Anarchists and Communists. 

We are a Church where all of those labels fade into nonsense and we count everything as garbage compared to the surpassing greatness of His excellence. [Phil.3]

We are part of a Church made of a mosaic from thousands of denominations who disagree on more than they agree on.

But what we agree on is what makes us one. "For we are all one in Christ Jesus" [Gal. 3:28]

When we all turn, together, and behold the face of our glorious Savior, our differences fade; our disagreements are muted, and we all gasp in wonder at His beauty, and His power – and then His grace, and His endless, boundless love washes over us and dissolves all of our disagreements. 

In Him we become One Body. He takes His rightful place as King and Lord of us all. We profess our love for one another, even with those we most violently disagree. We sell our property to provide food and clothing for brothers and sisters whose names we didn't even know a few days - or even hours - before. We lay down our need to be right and we embrace one another as we surround the Throne of Grace together.

This is the Church. We are all a part of it. 

When Jesus is the center, we can all share in the beautiful wonder and awe of His presence. 

If anything else is the center, we break apart; we turn our face from Him, and we find fault with one another.

But when we look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, we realize that there is nothing to gain by chasing such distractions as these. 

When we begin to count His blessings, and to ponder His goodness, and to meditate on His surpassing greatness, we slowly discover that there is truly no end to His unsearchable riches. 

If we begin today, we can never exhaust our exploration of His magnificent grace and endless love.

We find ourselves reflecting on Jesus and our hearts begin to race as our hearts are filled with the knowledge that Jesus is:

“....the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, [who] upholds the universe by the word of his power.” [Hebrews 1:3]

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he 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, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” [Colossians 1:15-20]

“‘For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.” [Colossians 2:9-10]

This is the Church of Jesus. This is the only Church there is, or will ever be. This is a Church where Jesus is at the center and people with a myriad of doctrines and distinctives swirl around His throne singing, "Worthy, worthy is the Lamb of God; who was and is and is to come! Praise His Holy Name! Alleluiah!"

I am grateful to fellowship with each of you, regardless of our differences. I choose to see Jesus in you, and to set aside the doctrines that divide us. 

We are all one in Christ Jesus. As long as Jesus is at our center, we will remain in unity and we will share in His excellent greatness and partake of His grace, love and mercy together.

May you know His presence and His love for you today.

Blessings,

Keith

"Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,  to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” [Ephesians 3:14-21]

Controversial Love?

Muslims are beautiful people and dearly loved of God.

Homosexuals are beautiful people and dearly loved of God.

Everyone is a beautiful person, and dearly loved of God.

This is the Gospel. Apparently it is still a very controversial idea - even among those who call themselves "Christian" today.

I posted these statements online over the weekend on Twitter and Facebook. The response was a tidal wave of both agreement and also overwhelming disagreement.

Why is it do hard for Christians to accept the idea that God loves everyone? Isn't that foundational to the Gospel? If God did not love everyone He would not have sent His son. Jesus is proof: Everyone is beautiful and dearly loved of God.

One person asked "What about child rapists and sex traffickers. Are they beautiful people, too?"

A better question might be, "Is there anything about anyone that ISN'T always beautiful?" and the answer would be, "Yes, we all have something about us that isn't beautiful." 

But God still loves us and still finds us beautiful in that we are made in His image.

If you have a child and you look into the face of your child, you love them, even if they have done something horrible.

They will always be beautiful to you and you will always dearly love them.

We are made in His image. How can you not love your own son or daughter? They look like you, and  even when they do bad things your love for them never changes. 

We are all beautiful and dearly loved of God. Not just when we repent. He loves us while we are still sinners. 

He loves us even when we deny that His love is for those outside our circle. He loves us even when we say that only people like us are beautiful.

God sees what we are like inside, and He loves us still. He loves us so much that He would rather die than live without us.

This is the Gospel, my friends. It is controversial. But it's the Gospel of Jesus all the same.

So, if you can't say to a Muslim, "You are a beautiful person and dearly loved of God" then you can't possibly share the Gospel with a Muslim person.

If you can't say to a Homosexual person, "You are beautiful person and dearly loved of God", then you don't have any hope of loving them yourself or of showing them the love of God.

If you don't believe that every person is beautiful, because they are made in His image, then you don't know the Father's heart.

If you don't believe that every person is loved of God, then you don't know God because God is love.

Jesus is proof that everyone is beautiful and loved of God because "God so loved the world that He sent His only son.."

If we can't accept that God loves people who are not like us, then we don't know the fullness of His wonderful love.

This is nothing new. When Jesus proclaimed the "year of the Lord's favor" to the Jews in his hometown, they rejoiced. But when he suggested that this favor was intended to fall on the Gentiles and the Pagans around them, they turned on him and tried to kill him.

Let's not repeat that mistake, my brothers and sisters.

God's love is for everyone. Every person is made in His image and every person is dearly loved of God.

Receive it. Believe it. Embody it.

The world is dying for us to take this Gospel seriously.

-kg

Our Biggest Problem

For 10 years I've been telling people the biggest problem in the Church is that we don't understand the Gospel. Today I found a bigger one.

Yes, it’s a huge problem that Christians don’t understand the basic message of Jesus, and yes, it does affect the way you understand everything else about Jesus and the Christian life, but there is something even more foundational than that.

My little epiphany came yesterday as, once more, I had a surreal conversation with a Christian who maintained that we are incapable of being like Jesus. 

Don’t get me wrong, I have had hundreds of conversations with people like this over the years. But maybe this was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

With my recent change in office location, my drive home lately is about an hour long. That gave me plenty of time to think about this conversation, and soon enough I started to realize the real depth of this problem within modern American Christianity.

We don’t believe that Jesus is alive in us. Worse yet, Jesus probably isn’t actually living through the vast majority of us.

We have no concept or expectation that Christ is living within. Therefore, we repeat verses like “Christ in you, the hope of glory” and “Abide in me and I will abide in you”  and dozens like this, but we have absolutely no experience that any of this is an actual reality.

Now, if you have a church full of Christians who never take their faith beyond the book, or the idea stage, just imagine how lifeless and empty that church – and those Christians – will be.

This is why we have Christians who are hateful, angry, distracted by nationalism, moved by politics, competitive, selfish, frazzled, anxious, depressed and bored with their church, their faith, and even with Jesus.

I’m not suggesting that Christians can’t be depressed, or angry, etc., but when someone says a prayer to escape hell and then attends a weekly meeting out of fear and obligation, there’s little reason to be surprised when that person isn’t experiencing the indwelling spirit of Christ or putting his unsearchable riches on display for people to marvel at.

Jesus came to give us life, and that more abundantly. He promised that if we would find ourselves in him, that he and the Father would come and make their home in us.[Jn 14:23] And once they do that, our transformation of character begins.

Not that we’re perfect. Not that we don’t blow it. Not that we don’t need to be reminded over and over again to seek first the Kingdom and to take up our cross daily. But there is the expectation that those who are in Christ have become new creatures with a new heart and the mind of Christ. There is the reality of the character of Christ being formed in us as we submit to Him and seek His face.

So, while the Christian church suffers for not knowing what the Gospel is all about, they suffer more by not experiencing the transformational power of the Gospel in their actual lives.

A Christian who is walking daily in the reality of the indwelling presence of Jesus won’t need any more information about the Gospel, because they are already immersed in the living actuality of Jesus.

Christians who are filled with the Spirit of God are marked by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, meekness and self-control. Those are the kinds of people you want to be around. They’re the sorts of people who inspire questions like, “Why do you have so much hope in your heart?” Our doctrines don’t inspire questions like that. Our theology doesn’t waft the aroma of Christ into the nostrils of the unbelieving around us.

As Madeleine L’Engle put it:

“We do not draw people to Christ by loudly discrediting what they believe, by telling them how wrong they are and how right we are, but by showing them a light that is so lovely that they want with all their hearts to know the source of it.”

I have spent many years studying apologetics. I know that stuff backwards and forwards. But once I realized that I had never once argued anyone into the arms of Jesus I quit. Instead, I found that there is no apologetic like a life that reflects the character of Christ.

I’ll be honest, I think it’s possible to know all of this in your head and still not get it in your heart – or practice it in your daily life. That’s the piece I am only beginning to explore right now.

But isn’t this the key element that’s missing in our own lives? (Not to mention in the church, or in our world).

The reality of the living Christ within is where our faith rises or falls. Either Jesus is alive inside of us right now, or our faith is dead.

The good news is that Jesus is waiting to meet you where you are. He is longing to awaken your heart – and mine – to the reality of his holy presence.

His promise is that He will never leave you, nor forsake you. His name is “Emmanuel” which means ‘God with us’.

How can we keep him at arm’s length? How can we reduce him to an image or a concept?

 Read the Bible all you want. Until you have the living spirit of God within, you'll never know Christ and the power of his resurrection.

Knowing things about Jesus is not the same as knowing him.

Knowing theology is not how you draw nearer to Jesus.

Get on your knees. Ask him to reveal himself to you.

Wait on him. Listen for his voice.

He freely gives his Spirit to anyone who asks.

-kg

** 

"I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." - Jesus [John 15:5]

"The world does not need Christianity. The world needs Christ". - Kat Huff

Loveless?

Our God is love. Our greatest command is to love. We're supposed to be known by our love.

So, why is love the last thing on our mind?

We honor the rich who oppress the poor. We glorify the systems that exploit the weak. We celebrate those who marginalize unbelievers. We revel in the defeat of those who are different.

We return insult for insult. We seek power to overcome our enemies. We loudly proclaim our superiority.

Our cross gathers dust in the corner. The Gospel goes unspoken. Our lives remain unchanged.

We do not love mercy. We do not do justice. We have not walked humbly with our God.

Our hope is still in politics. We know our Constitution better than we know –or follow – the words of Jesus.

We are quick to stand for our own rights and slow to consider the rights of others.

We would rather live in a Christian nation than to live among the lost and love them as Jesus did.

We are not friends with sinners. We want nothing to do with those outside the church.

But if our God is love, then maybe those without love don’t know God.

If our greatest command is to love, then maybe those without love are the real sinners.

And if Jesus says they will know that we are his disciples by our love, then perhaps those without love aren’t really Christians at all?

Love is the litmus.

Without love, we are nothing.

Without love, we are lost.

Without love, our message is worthless.

“If you love only those who love you in return, what credit is that to you?” – Jesus [Luke 6:32]

“Love is the fulfillment of the law.” – Paul [Romans 13:10]

Limited Negatives

Quite often in the Gospels, Jesus – and other Gospel writers – will use a common Hebraic figure of speech called a “Limited Negative” to emphasize a point.

A limited negative is often constructed like this:

“Not A, but B”.

For example: “…children who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” [John 1:13]

What the writer actually means is: “Not only A…but also B” or, sometimes: “Not merely A…but primarily B”

Such an idiom becomes recognizable when it would be absurd or contradictory to take an absolute-sounding statement in its absolute sense.

In the example above, it would be foolish to try to use this verse to teach that the children of God are NOT born of blood or flesh. That would be ridiculous. Of course Christians are “born..of blood” and “of the will of the flesh”, but the phrase is meant to illustrate that we are not merely born of the flesh, but primarily – in a greater way – born of the Spirit.

Once you recognize this as a common idiom and figure of speech, you can easily understand many other verses of scripture from this same perspective.

Here are a few more examples of limited negatives:

“Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life.” (John 6:27)

Meaning: “Do not work ONLY for natural sustenance, but MAINLY for your spiritual sustenance”

“He who believes in me, believes not in me, but in him who sent me” (John 12:44)

Meaning: "He who believes in me, believes NOT ONLY in me, but ALSO in him who sent me.”

“…for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.” (Matthew 10:20)

Meaning: “It is not ONLY you speaking, but it is MAINLY the Spirit of God speaking through you.”

"I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” (Matthew 10:34)

Meaning: “I did not come ONLY to bring peace, but ALSO to bring a sword.”

And what sort of "sword" did Jesus intend to bring? The context of the verse tells us that he is referring to division between father and son and brother and sister, etc. as some may accept Christ and others may reject Him as Messiah.

This verse is not about war. It's about how a decision to follow Christ may cost you relationships, and this is why He also tells us to "count the cost" of being His disciple.
Hopefully this helps you to better understand Jesus and the other New Testament writers when they use language like this and not get confused as if they are making absolute statements about literal truth.


Blessings,


Keith

WHAT IF?

CHRISTIANS AND EMPIRE

IRONIC CHRISTIANITY

SUMMARY: JESUS WITHOUT RELIGION (OR POLITICS)

Now that my little experiment is complete, I know several of you have been curious to hear how these two  meet up groups I started turned out.

First of all, it was a wonderful experience for me, personally. Not that this was the goal, but God did some interesting things in my own heart and mind as these meetings went on. Mainly, the Lord used these meetings to help me feel comfortable talking to non-Christians about Jesus. It also awakened me to the reality that there are people all around us who are desperate to find connect with Jesus, without all the usual baggage.

As for the meetings themselves, they were each worthwhile in their own way.

The Non-Christian group was basically a class. We followed a schedule and worked our way through a series of topics about Jesus from various angles. I had one main attendee who came to every class, paid close attention, showed genuine interest, and didn’t appear particularly moved by what we talked about. I could be wrong, of course. We never know what God does with our witness. I’m praying that the Holy Spirit will continue to stir his heart to continually seek after Jesus. [We did have one other regular attendee in this class, but he was already a follower of Jesus. There was another young man who showed for our first and our last session but he missed all other sessions].

The Christian group was, and still is, basically a coffee house discussion between my wife and I and one other person. He’s a great young man who is mainly looking to be encouraged more in his spiritual life, and we’ve been very blessed to help answer questions, provide insight, and pray with him about various things.

NOW WHAT?

Now that the Non-Christian meet up is complete, I’d like to run it again. We’ll see if anyone signs up – or shows up – for that or not.

I’ve also been praying about starting one just for Muslims who want to talk about Jesus without religion or politics, but that might require a bit more preparation.

Practically, the Meetup.com website was helpful to find potential candidates for these groups, but frankly it was also very frustrating. For example, both of my groups have about 40 people who have joined, but out of those 40 people I’ve only managed to actually get one person per group to show up. That’s a little disappointing, and I’m not sure how to fix that. But, for now, I don’t know any other way to get connected with people in our area who might be interested in coming to meet and talk about Jesus with us. [If you know of any other online resources, please let me know!]

Maybe I need to host these in a bar or a pub? Would that attract a larger audience? I’m not a drinker myself, but there might be a better turn out if I called this “Beer and Jesus” and planned to meet at the local pub instead of a coffee house. I’m not sure.

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

Would you be interested in hosting your own “Jesus Without Religion (Or Politics)” meetings? I’ve had several people show interest in hosting their own meetings, and they’ve asked me about my notes and my lesson materials. Those are available if you’re interested. Just PM me and I’ll send you what I have.

Eventually I’ll set up a page here on my blog where all of the “Jesus Without Religion (Or Politics)” materials can live in one convenient location for easy access. I might even record a series of podcasts with all the lessons in order in case there’s an interest in learning what I taught during the sessions. Until then, hit me up and I’ll send it to you.

IN CONCLUSION.

It was a great experience. We got to meet a handful of wonderful people who are at various points on the curve with Jesus. We learned a lot about the spiritual climate in our community. We also got to see how blessed we are to have a community of believers who know us, and love us, and encourage us on a regular basis. So many people, it seems, are in desperate need for connection with others who are on the same page.

Part of my calling is to connect people with others who can help each other and encourage one another. I just wish I knew how to reach out with my arms and gather all the various people in Orange County who are all feeling disconnected and empty and lonely out there.

I would LOVE to start a little organic community made up of people who just want Jesus without all the other nonsense. In fact, I’m praying that the Lord would show me how to do exactly that.

-kg

HOUSE CHURCH DYNAMICS: ORGANIC CHURCH CONFERENCE

Join Dan Notti, Keith Giles, and Matt and Christa McKirland for a day long conversation about Organic Church. 

Date: Saturday, Sept. 19, 2015
COST: FREE! 

TIME: 9am to 2pm [everyone brings their own sack lunch] 

LOCATION: Fuller Seminary, Irvine [off of Sky Park] 

ADDRESS: 17744 Sky Park Cir #150, Irvine, CA 92614 

CONTENT: 
Relational Dynamics - Guiding principles; Love and trust; Authentic Community, etc. Organizational Dynamics - Leadership; Finances; Accountability; Facilities, etc. Developmental Dynamics - Discipleship; Ministry; Spiritual Gifts; Unity, etc. 

FORMAT: Short [15 minute] intro of each topic followed by open dialog by attendees.

WHO'S THIS FOR?
Anyone who is either looking to join and/or start an Organic Church, or anyone who is currently a contributing member of an Organic Church Body.

DON'T MISS IT!