MY BODY

One of the most beautiful things about an open mutual participatory church gathering is that you learn from everyone in the room, not just one person.

In our last house church gathering a brother shared an insight with us that totally floored me. I had never seen this before, even though it was from a passage of scripture I have read, and taught from, and blogged about dozens of times.

We were looking at Romans 12 which starts out with the statement:

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” [v.1]

It’s a powerful statement of our calling to lay down our lives for Christ and to allow Him to live in us by His Spirit. But I already knew that part.

Then we continued to talk about the rest of Romans 12 together and everything was going as expected, until we got to verse 5 which says:

“…so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.”

And then my brother in Christ said this:

“So, we lay down our bodies as living sacrifices so that we can become part of His Body…”

Boom.

Such a simple observation but, honestly, I had never made that direct connection between verse 1 and verse 5 as he had done. But now that he had pointed it out I couldn’t stop seeing it, and marveling at the beauty and synchronicity of it all.

We have to let our body die so that we can become members of His Body.

And consequently, if we refuse to lay down our bodies and to die to ourselves then we cannot really expect to become members of His Body.

We must become submitted to the Head of the Body and that can only happen if we do what He commands.

“If anyone would come after me, he must first deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” – Jesus [Luke 9:23-24]

This submission is not only essential to our own personal Christian life, it’s also essential to our corporate life in the Body of Christ.

This is how we experience “oneness” in the Body. It’s how we experience “oneness” with Christ.

So grateful for the simple power and truth of this insight.

Blessings!

-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

Cognitive Dissonance Re-Examined by Laura Anaya

[NOTE: This guest blog post is a response to my podcast “Cognitive Dissonance”]

A thought on cognitive dissonance,  and the anger people have at being confronted with truth  - even truth you agree with. 

One of the key teachings of the church I grew up in was that the sin of Adam and Eve eating the fruit of the tree of Knowledge of good and evil was disobedience. Very little attention, if any, is placed on the effect of the fruit itself, or the doubt in Eve's mind about God being on her side leading up to taking the fruit. 

However in my walk back to understanding God's love I found that there is a profound effect of fear that the fruit of needing certitude of good vs evil has on one’s  life.  It is a shame-based fear that envelopes us when we see ourselves in the wrong.  And we instinctively take measures to protect. 

Adam and Eve covered themselves and hid.  We continue to cover ourselves and hide from each other even when we know our errors.  Often we embrace the certitude of claiming Christ’s name and believing He is God to ensure we are in the “Good” camp, but we do not give up the false security of the fruit of the Tree of Death. We remain self-protective rather than embracing Christ's way of vulnerable self-sacrificing service, and placing our certitude in Him rather than ourselves getting the right understanding and right doing and right saying that will earn the favor of God. 

When this happens we often look good on the outside but continue to rot on the inside.  And any truth that confronts our beliefs will be met with anger or defense, not because it is wrong but because if we realize we can be wrong in one area of our life it shakes the foundation of our salvation, which is a right understanding, and doing Christianity rather than Christ Himself.

I truly appreciate your love and the messages you speak.  Many must die to self-protection and embrace Christ-protection to hear the truth.  It is a painful process to die to self-protection and self-certainty; the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good vs Evil. 

When we claim this as Adam and Eve's sin and don't recognize it as fruit we continue to eat of it ourselves we deny it's deadly effects in our lives today. 

It is difficult, if not impossible, to eat of it and embrace the self-sacrificing service of love Christ made us for and died to regain for us.

-Laura Anaya

 

Love Much?

 

“The one who is forgiven much, loves much.” – Jesus

Have you ever found yourself running low on love? Especially if it’s for a certain person who tends to bother you?

Perhaps our lack of love is related to our unfamiliarity with repentance?

In Luke 7:36-50, Jesus teaches a parable to illustrate how our humility is related to our love. The story is told because a “sinful woman” crashes the party where Jesus is dining in the home of Simon, the Pharisee, and proceeds to weep. With her tears she washes the feet of Jesus, and with her hair she dries them off. Next, she opens an expensive alabaster jar of oil and anoints his feet with it. All the while, Simon and the other Pharisees murmur in their hearts about how scandalous the whole thing appears.

That’s when Jesus tells the story of two men who owed a debt to the same creditor. Both had their debts forgiven, but one of them owed a lot of money and the other only a little.

“Which of these men loved the creditor most?” asked Jesus.

Simon replied, “I suppose the one whom he forgave the most.”

That’s when Jesus makes his point about love and how it is tied to our acquaintance with our own sinfulness, saying that the one who is forgiven much loves much, and the one who is forgiven a little, loves little.

Those of us who are more aware of our weakness, and our sinfulness, tend to have a deeper well of love and compassion to draw from than those who refuse to confess their sins and receive God’s mercy. Consequently, whenever we find ourselves with very little love for another person it might be because we have forgotten how much we have been forgiven – and still need to be forgiven.

Hitler and I are both sinners. Without Christ, we would both end up receiving the exact same sentence of death and eternal separation from God. The playing field is level apart from the love of Jesus.

I share this insight with you because there is one particular person whom I am finding it very hard to love. Over the weekend, as our house church family gathered together and the Lord began to speak to us through one another and His Word, I began to realize that the problem was not the other person – it was me.

When it comes right down to it, my impatience and intolerance of this person is directly related to my lack of love. More specifically, my attitude about this person is tied to my blindness concerning my own need for Jesus.

See, God loves this person dearly. In fact, God loves this person exactly as much as He loves me. God sees me and this person the same way – He loves us through and through. So, why can’t I love this person? It’s because I have an unspoken perspective that thinks that this person and I are different. But we’re not. This person is arrogant. I am also frequently arrogant. This person is prideful. I am often prideful. This person is self-absorbed. I’m very self-absorbed at times. This person is not a follower of Jesus. I am a follower of Jesus. But we are both sinners.

As a follower of Jesus I am commanded to love everyone – even my enemies – so that those who have not experienced God’s unmerited grace and favor might get a taste of it by being in relationship with me.

Frankly, this is very, very hard for me to do. Whenever I see this person I want to run the other way. But instead I need to lay down my life, die to my flesh, and pray for the Holy Spirit to supernaturally fill me with His love so that I might be empowered to love this person as God loves him; to bless this person who annoys me; to serve this person who grinds my gears; so that the life and love of Jesus might shine through this jar of broken clay.

So, I confess to you all that I am a sinner, and that I am failing in this area of my Christian walk. I ask for your prayers to live out these things that I have learned. Because, in the words of Jesus: “Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” (John 13:16-18)

-kg

Wanting Less

“Jesus, the Blessed One, is poor. The poverty of Jesus is much more than an economic or social poverty. Jesus is poor because he freely chose powerlessness over power; vulnerability over defensiveness; dependency over self-sufficiency.” - Henri Nouwen.

I can’t fully express to you how profoundly this quote has impacted my heart. The implications for this are astounding for those of us who have decided to follow Jesus. Because if Jesus left the splendor of heaven to become nothing (see Philippians 2), then we should also step down from our earthly splendor and let go of our temporal wealth to follow Jesus into this intentional poverty.

I can hear some of you responding, “But, Jesus didn’t command everyone who followed Him to sell everything and give it to the poor. He only said that to the rich young ruler, right? Right?”

Right. And also wrong.

Yes, Jesus did tell the rich young ruler to sell everything and give it to the poor. That’s true. But he also said this:

“Anyone who does not give up all that he has cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:33)

Read that again. Jesus is talking to “anyone”. Other translations use the word, “everyone” if you prefer. But either way, the meaning is clear. If anyone wants to be a follower of Jesus they cannot do so unless they first give up all that they have. Everything.

I’ve said before that Jesus only asks us to give up one thing to follow Him. It’s called “everything.” But for some reason this verse, and that quote by Nouwen, hit me in a new way this week.

Maybe it’s because I’ve been noticing a tendency in myself to become more materialistic lately? Maybe it’s because I’ve been a little fearful to let go of things and to share out of my abundance with people who are in need?

I think another aspect of this is the idea that the poverty of Jesus was intentional. As Paul noted, our weakness unleashes “the power of Christ” within us. (2 Cor. 12:9) So, the reason for Jesus to intentionally step into a life of poverty was to demonstrate to us the importance of depending on God for everything. It was also to model for us the value of people over things and possessions.

If I’m honest, the idea of letting go of my things is painful for me; physically and emotionally painful. I look around my room at my favorite books, and toys, and cd’s and games. What if all of those were gone forever? I consider my gadgets, my cell phone, my iPod, my X-box, and my television. What would my life be like without those? I wonder what items I simply could never let go of or give away and what it might take for me to let go of them for good.

This question of giving up everything to Jesus is uncomfortable for me to consider. The idea of taking these words from Jesus seriously frightens me. And why does it frighten me? Because it’s the Holy Spirit asking me these questions. Because the truth is, there are some things that I do not want to let go of. Jesus knows that I have to surrender everything to follow Him. It’s time to drop a few things I’ve been carrying to make it the next few miles of the journey.

See, on the global scale, I am rich. Filthy stinking rich. I make more in a year than most people on this planet will make in several lifetimes. I live in Orange County, one of the most expensive and extravagant places in the world. I have two cars. I have a garage full of stuff. I own dozens of electronic gadgets and toys. I eat better than most everyone else on the earth. I have a disposal income. I am rich.

The bible has a lot to say about those who are wealthy. None of it is very positive:

“Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” (Mt. 19:23-24)

“He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.” (Luke 1:53)

“But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.” (Luke 6:24)

“Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you.” (James 5:1)

“Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position. But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower. For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business.” (James 1:9-11)

Here’s what I know about myself; one of my love languages is “gift-giving.” So, when I consider my recent desire for materialistic objects the truth becomes clear – I am trying to create an artificial feeling of love within myself by giving myself these gifts. But these gifts to myself are temporal. They do not bring me any joy. In fact, they serve to create a comfort zone around my heart that insulates me from others, and from trusting God.

So, in essence I believe that the Holy Spirit is urging me to change my posture from grasping to giving. If I can begin to let go of my things I will discover that true joy is found in letting go. By sharing what God has provided to me with others, this wall of comfort will begin to come down, and my heart will have more direct access to God.

Not coincidentally, I’ve also been praying lately for God to allow me to bear fruit in my life for His kingdom. Two things are required for bearing fruit:

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

“Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life” (John 12:24-25)

So, the idea of letting go of my stuff involves dying to myself, and it involves sowing the seed of the Kingdom, and learning to trust in the Lord for everything. Not in my stuff.

Pray for me if you think of it this week. I’ll be continuing to seek the Lord about this and to begin sharing and giving away what I already have rather than seeking to gain more material objects that I do not need.

The irony? There are countless, priceless treasures in store for me as I cast away these temporal things and trust more in the God who loves me and gave Himself for me. He is a God who loves to give good gifts to His children.

-kg

**

More verses on wealth:

“You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves for the day of slaughter.” (James 5:5)

“Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.” (1 Tim.6:9)

“Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.” (1 Tim. 6:17)

“The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature.” (Luke 8:14)

“You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.” (Rev. 3:17)

Long Distance

The greatest distance in the Bible isn’t measured by how far the East is from the West, but by how far Jesus humbled himself to step down off that throne in Heaven. Being worshiped night and day by the seraphim and the angels, Jesus lets go of his power and makes himself nothing.

By stooping to be formed as an embryo in the womb of an unknown Jewish teenager in Palestine, Jesus demonstrated just how far he was willing to go to make a way for us to be with him.

What most Christians fail to realize is that when Jesus was on this Earth, he was fully human. His identity was God, the Son, but he was a man.

He told us that he only did what he saw the Father doing. He said he couldn’t do the works he did apart from the Father.

 

He showed us how we can live a similar life in the Kingdom. He was our blueprint for living in the Kingdom.

 

So, we can’t use the excuse “Well, Jesus was perfect! He was God so that’s why He could turn the other cheek and forgive people and things like that. I’m not Jesus so I can’t do those things.”

 

It might seem to be true, but that’s not what Jesus tells us. He says that if we believe in Him – if we put our complete trust in Him – then we will do the works that He did, and not only will we do those things – we’ll do even greater things.

 

I don’t think that’s about doing bigger and better miracles, but it’s about the principle of multiplication. Because if it were about bigger and better miracles then Peter and Paul would have flown through the air because that would have been a bigger miracle than walking on water.

 

Instead, I think that "greater things" is all about exponential possibilities. As the Body of Christ expands to cover the Earth we will accomplish things that Jesus didn’t during his earthly ministry.

Think of it like this: What do you think Jesus would be doing if he were here today? Where would he spend his time?

 

Now, let’s realize the truth: Jesus IS here today. We are His Body. We are “little Christs” (which is what the word “Christian” means). We are His ambassadors here and now.

This isn’t about us. Remember? The Gospel is about Jesus. It’s about His Glory, His Kingdom, His rule and reign, etc.

So, following Jesus is about us dying to ourselves daily. Letting go of ourselves and our rights so that His life and His plan can be accomplished in us and through us.

 

“We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.” (2 Corinthians 4:10)

Because Jesus was willing to let go of everything and become nothing, you and I can enter the Kingdom. Because he would rather die than live without us, we can live together forever.

-kg

DROWNING

I have a healthy fear of the ocean. It’s the darkness of it. The enormous depth. The multitudes of creatures that swim beneath the surface – all capable of killing you instantly.

I don’t mind the shore. In fact, I love going to the beach and walking barefoot in the sand. I love the feeling I get when I hear the ocean waves and take in the endless horizon where waves and sky blur into one. My soul feels refreshed on the shore. I am safe. The dangers are few.

But if I go deeper I risk pain, and death. The riptides have the power to thrust my body out to sea. The jellyfish and the urchin threaten me with their sting. The shark and the eel and the sea snake can end my life with a single bite. Even the gentle whales terrify me with their immense size and power.

One of my earliest memories is of riding on my father’s shoulders as a young boy. He was walking out into the ocean with me on his back. “Are you touching the bottom, daddy?” I asked every few steps. “Yes,” came the answer. “I’m touching the bottom.”

Eventually we were far out to sea. My mom and my grandmother were small specks on the horizon. “Are you touching the bottom, daddy?” I asked again in disbelief. “Yes, son, I’m touching the bottom.”

But then the wave came. It hit us from behind as I was looking back towards the shore at my mom. One moment I was riding on my father’s shoulders in the warm Florida sun, and the next I was swallowing salt water, tumbling over and over again in the blinding foam.

I don’t remember how long I was under. But then I felt my father’s hands grab my arm and pull me to the surface.

My father and I sputtered and coughed as we bobbed on the waves. He was holding me tighter now. Tighter than I can ever remember him holding me before. I looked into his face and saw the fear. The panic subsiding, slowly replaced by pure relief. He started to laugh as his emotions shifted. He had his son back. But in my little heart his laughter sounded like a mockery.

“You lied,” I shouted. “You said you could touch the bottom, but you lied.” Then I started to cry. He pulled me closer and tried to comfort me, but if I could have I would have swum away from him in my anger.

Maybe that’s part of why I fear the ocean? At a young age I tasted firsthand how unpredictable it could be and how quickly it could snatch you from blissful serenity and thrust you into an unexpected encounter with mortality.

Last night I had a dream about the ocean. It threatened to swallow me alive. I felt that same taste of real fear just before I woke up. Then I lay there in the darkness and heard the voice of God in my ear. “I’m calling you into the depths,” He said. I knew that there was danger, and suffering, and pain, and even death beneath those dark waves. “This is not a metaphor. This is not a spiritualization. The pain and the suffering and the death are real.”

For nearly half an hour I lay there and considered these words. I admitted my fear. I confessed my preference for the shoreline, for the sand beneath my feet. I kept hearing the voice of God urging me to follow Him deeper into the dark depths.

The danger is real. The suffering is real. The pain will be real. The death will be real.

“Follow me,” came the voice again.

I got up from my bed and wandered into the den. I dropped to my knees and kept listening. How could I agree to this? How could I refuse? My decision to follow Christ was made a long time ago, but now it was being challenged again.

What if my cross was really about dying? What if following Jesus actually meant letting go of everything; my wife, my sons, my safety, my own breath? What then? What now?

I can tell you that my response was not immediate. I can tell you that the answer wasn’t automatic. My one request was for my sons. I wanted to know that they would continue to walk with Jesus after I was gone. I couldn’t ask the same for my wife, because I didn’t know if my decision was something we might experience together or not. But if she remained behind, my prayer was that she would be comforted.

It is God’s mercy that I do not know exactly what I am saying yes to. If I knew exactly then there is a very good chance that I would never agree to following Him that far. All I asked was that Jesus would go with me and that He would meet me in person when the ocean sucked that last lungful of air from my body.

This time I know that my Father has me in His grip. I know He will never let me go. I know that He can be trusted to carry me all the way home, safe at last to that other shore.

One last breath…

-kg

EMPHASIS: LIFE

"I urge you, therefore, in view of God's mercies, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice to God." (Romans 12:1)

You know, I've not only read that verse over a thousand times, I've also blogged about it here nearly as much. But the other day I actually saw it again and understood it as if reading it for the very first time.

Yes, we are called to be living sacrifices to God, but with an emphasis on the “living” part. See, it’s “life, life, life” that God wants to give you, not the constant pain of the dead flesh being consumed on the altar.

Notice that Paul in Romans 12 follows up this statement  about being a living sacrifice with a list of things he wants to emphasize, and all of them are great things:

First, Paul says that this act of becoming a living sacrifice is our worship to God. Worship is good. Then he talks about transformation and renewing our minds. Those are also great things. Next he says that this will result in knowing God's good, perfect, and pleasing will for our lives.

All of this is good. What's the downside to being a living sacrifice? Nothing. In fact, if you keep reading Romans 12 you'll end up with an even longer list of blessings, including a more loving fellowship in a Body of believers and a more Christ-like spirit towards others.

I suppose my entire paradigm has since shifted regarding this idea of death to self and my need to embrace the continual life of Christ that such sacrifice produces in my heart. For too long now I've been fixated on this idea of death to self (which is still quite necessary) without fully understanding my need to go onward to the part about how God wants to pour into my heart an overabundance of his astounding love and his glorious life.

So, the next time you hear someone talk about the need to die to yourself and become a living sacrifice, be sure to picture in your mind a happy, dancing, life-filled clown like me who is absolutely so full of the life of Christ that he’s about to explode. Because that’s what it actually means.

As God says, “I want your loyalty, not your sacrifices. I want you to know me, not to give me burnt offerings.” (Hosea 6:6 )

-kg

CHANGE MY HEART, OH GOD.

I think the older I get the more I realize how desperate I am for Jesus. It's sometimes even difficult for me to really enter into worship because I'm constantly aware of my selfish thoughts and prideful heart.

The best I can do is to fall on my knees and beg God for mercy. My hope is that, somehow, He will change my heart and work that miracle where I am mysteriously transformed into the image of Christ.

Until that day, I am simply broken.

Maybe that's why I was drawn to this verse in 2 Corinthians last week?

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us." (2 Cor. 4:7)

How true this is. There is nothing good in me. The more I know myself the more amazed I am that God could love me. Yet, I don't doubt His love. I've experienced it hour by hour, day by day, every second of my life. His love is constant and completely undeserved. That's why they call it "Amazing", because there's no other word for a love so strong and a price so high for a people so flawed and broken - Amazing.

Recently I had to confess to my church family that I felt like I was going through the motions. The reason why I wasn't connecting with God, or loving others the way I'm supposed to, is rooted in fear. Mainly, fear of being hurt again.

About two years ago, a man I had befriended died of bone cancer. He was homeless, alone, and far from God. I did everything I knew how to do to show him the love of Jesus, and in the end I'm not entirely sure I succeeded in this attempt.

That experience has left me fearful of putting myself out there again. So, I've slowly retreated more and more into my comfort zone and closed myself off from the needs and struggles of others.

The word "compassion" means "to suffer with" and frankly, the last thing I want to do right now is to suffer with anyone else ever again. So, I've kept people at arms length. I've pulled back into my little safety zone and wrapped myself in layers to protect my heart from ever hurting again.

But, I know that's not my calling. I know that's not God's will for my life. I know that following Jesus means laying down everything and enduring the pain of death in my flesh so that the life of Christ can change me from within. In fact, in that same verse above, Paul says as much:

"We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh." (2 Cor. 4:8-11)

What's so beautiful is how my church family responded to this confession. They surrounded me and placed their hands on my shoulders and arms and head, and they prayed over me the most healing words of hope and restoration.

One brother was reminded of Jesus, in the Garden, kneeling before the Father and asking that, if it were possible, that the cup of crucifixion be removed. Nevertheless, Jesus was resolved to follow through with his mission and ended by saying, "Not my will, but yours be done."

And that's really what this is all about, isn't it? Living for Jesus means experiencing the death of our flesh, which, by the way, is quite painful. Yet, we are not allowed to shrink back from this suffering simply because it hurts. Our calling is to follow Jesus, and following Him means taking up our own cross, much as He picked up His long before we were born, and stepping forward into the path of obedience to share in His sufferings, so that we can also share in His life.

As Paul concludes:

^"So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal." (2 Cor 4. 16-18)

What God has been constantly reminding me of lately is that my focus needs to be more on what I am gaining and less on what I am letting go of. In other words, my focus has been too much on the idea of dying to self and not enough on the idea of living in Christ.

I had lunch with a dear brother in Christ a few weeks ago, and this perspective shift was highlighted for me in an interesting way. We were both talking about this idea of needing to die to ourselves and let go of earthly things in order to follow Jesus. My response to all of this was, "It's sometimes hard to follow through with what God expects of us" and my friend's response was, "Not just what He expects of me, but what He wants to give me and what new blessings He has for me to enjoy."

That was it. My friend's focus was on the joyous treasures of the Kingdom. My eyes were on the things I needed to give up and let go of.

So, if you're one of those people who is praying for me, I'd ask for your prayers to simply be that I could experience this slight, but very necessary, shift in perspective from the worthless things I must surrender to God, to the glorious treasures that are found in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Peace,
-kg

YOUR CHURCH MUST DIE

I used to say that the Church in America needs to go out of business. But now I believe that the best thing that could possibly happen to the church in America is for it to just lay down and die.

Forget about business as usual. Forget about that new program or the next church growth seminar. Forget about hiring a new pastor or cranking up the volume on the worship team.

Seriously? Just die.

Jesus was pretty clear that no one could possibly follow Him unless they first took up their cross daily and died to themselves. That’s what the Church needs to do. She needs to die.

Without death, there can be no resurrection. Without death, the life of Christ cannot be released into the Church.

We all know you can have better worship bands and still not have Christ in your midst. You can also have a great preacher and still not have Jesus at the center.

In fact, you can have all the best programs, staff, doctrine, leaders, facilities and an unlimited budget and still not have the heartbeat of Jesus at the core of your Church.

So, that’s why we all need to die. So that Christ can live in us and resurrect us from within.

As a wise man once said, “unless the Lord builds the house, the laborers toil in vain.”

Another wise man said, “I am the vine and you are the branches. Without me you can do nothing.”

So, maybe it’s time for our churches to die. Neil Cole, in his book “Church Transfusion”, even goes as far as to suggest that every church hold an actual memorial service to celebrate all the good things that our old way of doing and being church used to stand for. Dig a hole in the ground and drop in everything that symbolizes that old way of church. Say a few words. Sing some favorite songs. Enjoy some pies after the service. Go home and mourn for church-as-we-once-knew-it.

Next week, host a Baby Shower. Talk about what this new life might look like. Pray together and ask the Lord to show you as a people what His will and His plans and His purpose for your church might be.

Don’t use this as an opportunity to manipulate people into doing things your way. That’s the old church formula that you buried the week before. Instead, listen to Jesus. Really. Pray and ask Him to speak to you as a Body and wait for His direction. Not just to the senior pastor (like you used to do) but to the entire Body. As Jesus said, “I am the Good Shepherd, and my sheep hear my voice”.

Scripture tells us that, “if anyone lacks wisdom let him ask” so go to Jesus and ask Him. Then, do whatever He says.

If our churches in America would honestly lay down everything they have been clinging to and die to their old ways, then the power of Christ which is made perfect in weakness would be released within us. The resurrection of the Church would begin. And this nation, and the people of God, would be empowered to live surrendered lives of service to one another and the world.

Let’s all lay down and die. The Church needs a resurrection. The World needs a resurrected Church. We all need Jesus to live and breathe in us today.

-kg

Are You Dead Yet?

When Jesus wanted to defeat the Enemy and rescue the planet from the power of death, how did He accomplish this? He died.

“And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death - even death on a cross!” (Phil. 2:8)

How are we able to follow Jesus? We die.

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23)

How did Paul minister? He died.

“I die every day—I mean that, brothers—just as surely as I glory over you in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (1 Cor. 15:31)

How did Paul receive the power of Christ? He embraced his own weakness.

“Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Cor. 12:9-10)

What does all this mean? Let me ask you something – Can you defeat an opponent who gains power when they die?

The genius of God’s way of fighting and winning (duh) is to lay down and die so that the love and power of Christ might be revealed through our weakness.

The lower we get, the greater Jesus becomes.

The more we die, the more Christ lives in us.

The more we get out of His way, the more God can accomplish through our submission.

Jackie Pullinger once said “The Gospel is always life for the one who receives it, but death for the one who brings it.” If we are not in the act of dying daily, then Christ is not alive in us.

What’s your mission? To be like Christ. What did He do? He died. The Apostles died. You and I are also called to die so that Christ may live through us.

“I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” (John 12:24-25)

Conversatio Morem! Death to my status quo.

As John the Baptist declared, “He must increase. I must decrease.” (John 3:30)

-kg

PART 2: WHY ARE (SOME) CHRISTIANS SO MEAN?

Reason #2 – Christians in America don’t know what makes you a Christian

I think the second reason that some Christians are so mean – or act nothing like Jesus – is because we evangelize people the wrong way. By that I mean that we tell people that they are “Christians” if they have prayed the “Sinner’s Prayer” regardless of how they are living their lives right now.

This “Sinner’s Prayer” appears nowhere in the Bible, by the way. It’s just something we made up to make it easier to evangelize. This focus on ease of conversion is part of what’s wrong with the Church today. Rather than to invite people to follow Jesus (become Disciples) and obey Him in their actual lives, we urge them to repeat after us: “Jesus I believe that you died on the cross for my sins and that you rose from the dead and that you are coming back to take me to live with you in Heaven one day. Thank you Jesus for your gift of eternal life which I receive today. Amen.”

Once we get people to repeat this prayer (or something like it) we tell them that they are now “Christians”. Of course, getting them to pray that prayer isn’t so difficult if you start off by asking them something like, “Do you know that if you died tonight you would be in Heaven tomorrow?” or maybe even “With every head bowed and every eye closed, please just quickly raise your hand if you don’t want to burn in hell forever. I see that hand, thank you.” And then we ask them to repeat that magic prayer and – voila - they will go to heaven when they die.

Of course, Jesus had a slightly different method. First of all he called for people to follow Him. Not too complicated. Might actually fit that on a bumper sticker. But then He added that if anyone wanted to follow Him (become a disciple) they would have to give up just one thing – He called it “everything.”

“Those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.” (Luke 14:33)

And

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23)

This is pretty different, I’ll admit. Notice that Jesus doesn’t ask anyone about a preference for burning forever or not. Notice that He doesn’t ask them to repeat any magic prayers. Later on, just before He left His Kingdom in the hands of those same disciples He added this part:

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

So, Jesus expected us to make more followers (disciples) and then to “teach them to obey everything (He) commanded.”

Obedience is part of the package, according to Jesus. If you’re going to call yourself a “follower of Jesus” you might just have to, you know, follow Him and stuff.

This sort of theology allows people to think that just because they repeated a prayer when they were nine years old, they can go ahead and live any way they want – even become a Satanist or a Hindu, or whatever – and still go to heaven when they die. But that’s not what Jesus says. He says that only those who “remain in (Him)” have life and those who do not remain in Him do not have life. In fact, those who do not remain in Christ are the ones who will be “like a branch that is cast out..and thrown into the fire and burned” (John 15:6)

Trust me, if you prayed a prayer a few years ago but today you are far away from Christ and you are not remaining in fellowship and relationship with Jesus, you will not end up where you wanted to be. Or, as Paul says in Collosians 3:3-4:

“For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”

The problem is that we’ve turned salvation into a “thing”. We’ve overstressed the fact that salvation is a “gift” and then carried that metaphor out to an illogical (and heretical) conclusion.

Yes, salvation is a gift from God, in the sense that it is free and you don’t deserve it. But it’s not a gift in the sense that you can take it (like a pair of socks) and wear it apart from the one who gave it to you. That’s not how salvation works. Apart from Christ there is no life. Those who are in Christ have life, those who do not have Christ do not have life. Therefore, we need to remain in Christ and as long as we cling to Jesus we have that life.

Or, as the Apostle John states it:

“And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” (1 John 5:11-12)

If you prayed a prayer just so that you could go to Heaven when you die, you might not be a Christian.

 

I urge you to take a moment and pray a different sort of prayer. Something that takes into account that you are alive today and that you want your life to be lived in Christ right now. This prayer should be about surrendering your will and your attitudes to Christ Jesus, and dying to yourself so that Jesus’ life can fill you on the inside and spill out to those on the outside.

Go ahead, I’ll wait.

See? Isn’t that better? Now, the deal is you will need to do this again tomorrow. All of us need to daily take up our cross and die (over and over again) so that Christ can live in us.

If we do that, we might just avoid being mean to others and at the very least we will be doing our best to obey Jesus in our actual lives. That means loving others, forgiving those who offend us, and serving the people He puts in our path.

Try it! It’s pretty amazing.

-kg

[END PART TWO]

COME AND DIE

Last night I woke up with this thought in my head: “To know more of Jesus you must be willing to share in his sufferings.”

I realized that this is part of what has held me back the last few months in my spiritual journey. I’ve known this was true and I was unwilling to pay that price.

Jesus made it very clear that anyone who would follow Him and become His disciple must take up his cross and daily die to self. Notice that Jesus doesn’t say that one must be willing to die daily, but that daily death is par for the course.

So far, I think I’ve only been willing to die, just as long as no one actually asks me to lay down and die upon the cross of humiliation, or shame, or embarrassment, or suffering. I’ve stopped short and stood on the door mat labeled “Willing” but not taken the actual step inside the threshold marked “Death”.

Instead of moving forward, I have padded my cross with comfort. I have done what I can to avoid discomfort and pain. I have pretended that it’s possible to follow Jesus without the cross. I have meandered along the narrow path without truly looking to Jesus as my guide.

It doesn’t do any good to look back down the path and ask for credit based on past sacrifices. What was done to get me to this place in the road is meaningless. It’s like trying to move closer to the sun by hopping on one foot. Sure, I’m technically closer to the sun when I’m at the apex of my jump, but the distance isn’t worth measuring. 


I am still stuck where I am on the path. Standing at the crossroads with my cross at my feet. I wonder if I have the strength to lift it again. I doubt that I could even carry it another foot without dropping it again. I just don’t think I have the strength within me to carry on.

As I pondered this truth, I was challenged to fall on my knees and pray. I confessed my weakness to God. I admitted my apathy and my weariness. I asked Him to fill me with courage and strength to embrace the cross in spite of the pain. As I prayed I was reminded of the words spoken by Jackie Pullinger – “The Gospel is always death for the one who brings it, and life for the one who receives it.”

I need this death to self. Without it I cannot experience the resurrection life of Jesus. It is a process, a mechanism, whereby my sinful flesh is consumed and the life of Christ is revealed within me all at once. But it is painful. It is not easy. It is not comfortable. There is a cost and it is not cheap.

Jesus compared the Kingdom of God to a man who found a great treasure in a field. When he found it he covered it up again and ran with joy to sell all that he had in order to buy that field and gain that matchless treasure.

I think I am needing to be reminded of how much greater His Kingdom is worth compared to whatever He might ask me to give up, or to let go of, or to abandon, in order to gain more of Him and His Kingdom. Right now I am mainly concerned with the pain and the discomfort. This is what is real. This is what is right in front of me at this very moment. The experience of death to self.

There is no glory in this. If I step forward, if I embrace this cross, there will be no cheering crowds to spur me onward. If I take up this cross, there will be no immediate reward for my obedience. There is no anesthetic to dull the pain. It is nothing but nails, and blood and dying flesh. This is what it will cost me – everything.

But, what else can I do? Really, how could I possibly turn back now? As hard as it seems, the act of laying down and giving up is more repulsive to me than the prospect of enduring the inevitable humiliation and shame. This life is but a vapor. I know it. My Lord Jesus is waiting for me to choose Him over my own temporary comfort. I need that cross. I need to find it again, and to lift its weight on my shoulders, and to carry it the rest of the way.

Here’s what I know; writing about it is not the same as doing it. Blogging the process isn’t actually participating in the daily process of death to self. I either embrace the cross and endure the pain, or not. Writing about it doesn’t accomplish anything.

So, today, I take up my cross. I hold it close. I await the painful piercing of those nails upon my flesh. I anticipate the death of Keith Giles, the fake, the pretender, the expert, the semi-internet-famous-blogger, author and radio host. He will die. He must die so that Christ may live in me and transform me from within.

As Keith expires, Jesus will breathe. As Keith fades away, Jesus will rise up. As Keith decreases, Jesus will gloriously increase.

“I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.” (Philippians 3:10-11)

-kg 

ONLY MORE LOVE

Last night as I was falling asleep I started thinking about all the different ways I've been hurt emotionally over the last few years. I started asking God to heal me of those. During the night as I woke up over and over I would pray and ask the Lord to heal my heart in those areas.

I woke up this morning with the Peter Gabriel song "Digging in the Dirt" in my head, especially the line, "I'm digging in the dirt to find the places I got hurt". So, I listened to that song in the car this morning on my way to work.

As I was talking to the Lord about this I realized that I had shut myself off from pain, and therefore lost my heart for others.

See, I have a little secret. Over the last several months now I’ve felt very numb. I have lost my passion for things that used to drive me and excite me. Even though I have prayed about this often and taken it to the Lord, I couldn’t quite put my finger on what the cause of this loss of passion might be, although I had a few suspicions.

I thought that it could be the loss of my friend Robert Higgins to bone cancer about a year and a half ago. But still I wasn’t sure. I’ve recently lost a lot of people, a lot of friends, for various reasons and the pain is still very real to me. Sometimes people have moved away to pursue a career or to follow God’s calling. Some friends just walked away from me because of differences in theology. Some just stopped returning emails or phone calls and I have no idea what, if anything, I did or said to create the space. Others have drifted away. Some friends that I care about have insulted me or made comments that have hurt me deeply. Over time, all this accumulation of pain has slowly paralyzed me.

As I was driving to work listening to the Gabriel song on my stereo and talking to God about this, I thought about the word, “Passion.” I had slowly lost my passion for things like poverty, social justice, the Gospel of the Kingdom, making disciples, organic church, and everything else that used to interest me. The word passion means literally “to suffer.” Then I thought about another word, "Compassion" which means "to suffer with". This is what I had lost. I realized that I had lost my heart of compassion for others because I didn’t want to hurt anymore.

Essentially, I have retreated to my comfort zone, and I'm very snuggly and warm and comfortable now. I’m safe and I like it. No one can hurt me here. But at the same time, I am unable to engage with the people that God has called me to serve, and to share in the sufferings of those who need to experience the tangible love of Jesus.

I can think back over the last few months and see places where I’ve held back from serving or sharing with others. Now I can see why, and it doesn’t excuse my apathy, but at least now I can sort of understand what was happening and why.

Now that I’m aware of my situation, I can at least start to fight my way out of this. But I know it won’t be easy.

Honestly, I’m not sure how to escape this soft, comfy prison I’ve made for myself. The hardest thing for me right now is to even want to escape it, because my flesh is resisting the process of stepping out again into the cold to share in the suffering of others.

It's really just so much easier to stay where I am and to remain disengaged. At the same time my spirit and my heart know that this is wrong and that I need to return to the Lord and to take up my cross again and die to myself. I need those nails. I need to let Jesus crucify this flesh again.

One of the only people in my life who has stood beside me, loved me, cared for me, and encouraged me through it all is my amazing wife, Wendy. Before I left for work in the morning I had shared with her my confusion over my lack of passion of late. When I got to work I sent her an email to explain a bit more about what I had discovered after praying in the car and listening to the song.  Her response to me was to keep on pouring myself out to the Lord in service to others and in thanksgiving. Then she said she had already heard from the Lord to share a quote with me that we both love from Mother Teresa that says, “I have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts, there is no hurt, only more love."

In the end, it’s still all about daily putting myself to death. It’s about enduring the cross so that I can allow the life of Jesus to thrive within my heart.

Please God, help me to throw off these soft chains that so easily entangle me, and let me press on to the high calling of sharing in the sufferings of Jesus, my Lord and King.

Conversatio Morem! Death to my status quo!

Amen.

-kg

CONSTANTLY CRUCIFIED

My recent epiphany has come as the result of reading the book, Viral Jesus, by Ross Rohde. It made me realize how weak my faith had become lately. It brought me both a vision for what could be and condemnation for what I have been lacking in my walk with Jesus.

In response, God spoke to me through one of the letters of Fenelon in the book, Let Go, (which seems to have been written specifically for me). Here’s what I read the other day:

“Do not be like a person I just met a short time ago, who, after reading the life of one of the saints, was so angry about his own life in comparison that he completely gave up the idea of living a devoted Christian life. I know this will not be true of you.” (pg. 26)

So, in one book Jesus revealed to me how far I had fallen, but in another book he encouraged me not to give up hope.

What I’ve also realized in this process is that the areas of my life where I have failed to live out my calling as a follower of Christ are all due to the same failure to die to myself. I can vividly recall moments where I have allowed my fear of man to keep me from speaking the truth. I can remember the conversations where I held back the name of Jesus in order to protect my own reputation. I can replay the scene in my mind – over and over again – when I let an opportunity to share my faith in Christ slip away because I was not ready to suffer persecution for my faith.

In each of those moments, scenes and conversations what I lacked was a willingness to die, even a little bit, so that Christ could live in me. My cross was somewhere under my desk at work, or in the backseat of my car in the parking lot.

Suddenly I am aware that death to self is more practical and tangible than I imagined. Being thought of as “the Christian nut” by my coworkers is the fruit of embracing my own cross. Having people mock me for being “Joe Christian” is what it costs to follow my Jesus with everything I have. Suffering the contempt of my unsaved friends is necessary to the process of dying to myself. It’s also what makes it possible for the Gospel to impact the world I live in – and to impact my life as well.

Unless I die to my flesh, I cannot fully experience the resurrection life of Christ within me.

The real truth. The very shameful and painful and embarrassing part of it, is that I have loved myself, my status, my reputation, more than I have loved my friends and my coworkers. That is my own sin. That is what drives the nails deeper into my heart. I am horrible and selfish. I am the monster that needs to die. Let me crucify that worthless creature of arrogance and pride. I want those nails to pierce this flesh. I need to let this dark person taste the metallic flavor of death on his tongue.

Only Jesus can drive those nails. As much as I long to dance on the grave of this selfish bastard, I love myself too much to do the deed myself. So, please, Lord Jesus, make me to lie down on this rugged cross. Bind my wrists to this cruel beam. Press the tip of that iron nail into my hand. Lift that hammer, Lord Jesus. Drive it deep. Deep enough that it won’t come loose again tomorrow.

I need your life, Lord Jesus. I need to know the power of your resurrection by sharing in your sufferings. I need this constant, daily, crucifixion if I am ever to reach the end of this road and look up into your wonderful face. Only then may I lay down this cross of death. Only then may I lay it aside and rest in your comforting arms.

Until then, I pray, let me be constantly crucified and surrendered to your perfect will.

Let your Kingdom come, Lord Jesus.

-kg