JESUS: THE IMAGE OF GOD AND OF HUMANITY

In Jesus we see the best and clearest picture of what God is like. He is the exact representation of the Father, and the fullness of the Godhead lives in Him in bodily form. So, we know that if we have seen Him, we have seen the Father.

But at the very same time we also see something else in Jesus: We see ourselves.

Or, better yet, we see who we are made to be. Jesus is our example, our blue print, for how to live a Kingdom life He shows us how to love our enemies, how to bless those who curse us, how to forgive those who harm us, and most importantly He empowers us to live this way by coming to live and breathe inside of us.

“Anyone who claims to be in Him must walk as Jesus did.” – 1 John 2:6

That means we are not only called to be like Jesus, we are enabled to do so by daily leaning on Him and trusting in His presence.

“If anyone abides in me, I will abide in Him and he will bear much fruit. Apart from me, you can do nothing.” – Jesus [John 15:5]

I love that Jesus reveals to us who God is, and who we are, at the same time. In Him we have the truest picture of the Father, and the truest example of humanity, all in one.

Maybe this is why Jesus shares His vision for a radical unity where He is in the Father, and the Father is in Him, and they are in us and we are in Him? Because, somehow, Jesus makes it possible for us to see the Father, and ourselves, as we gaze into His wonderful face and He empowers us to experience a transformative unity that makes all things gloriously new, in a way we never imagined possible.



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Revival, Resurrection and Reality

Maybe there’s something wrong with me? 

I already know that I don’t quite fit perfectly into the usual American Christian Evangelical mindset. That’s why I blog about things that often get me into trouble, or invite criticisms from those who disagree with my skewed views.

I think I'm also cursed to always see things from a slightly different perspective, and whenever I share that perspective I'm often blasted for it. But, I can't help myself.

So, when I see thousands of Christians gathering in a stadium for a revival, it doesn’t really resonate with me. Maybe because I don’t really expect God to perform for us on command. Or maybe because I don’t believe that God is impressed by large crowds.

Jesus seemed to always be trying to get away from large crowds, not looking for ways to attract more people. Jesus seemed to care more about those one-on-one conversations with lepers, or prostitutes, or outcasts, or women who most people ignored.

Big events don’t move me, and so I guess I tend to assume that they don’t move God either. Maybe I’m wrong about that. Maybe I’m not. I’m just sharing my gut reaction to big-scale events where people equate a trending hashtag with spreading the name of Jesus – especially when that hash tag doesn’t contain the name of Jesus.

 The bottom line is that I’m not in the place to judge anyone. I know that. No one needs to clear anything with me before they host a large Christian gathering.

If this event ignites someone's heart to follow Jesus more fully in their day-to-day life, then that's a very good thing.

But, if it leaves us empty after the emotional high is over and people are unable to see Christ in their sometimes mundane reality, it might create a dependence on emotional experiences rather than keeping us focused on the reality of a life-changing daily relationship with Jesus.

I’m just saying that if Revival truly comes to our nation, it will probably be in the quiet solitude of a prayer closet and not up on the Jumbo-Tron screen. At least, that’s where most Revivals begin, historically.

Can God do whatever He wants? Well, obviously. Yes, He can do whatever. And maybe if He really wants to get our attention, He’ll have to show up to one of our stadium events because that’s where most of us are looking.

But typically, God seems to love to do things differently. He seems to prefer to defy our expectations and to upset our status quo.

If nothing else, maybe we should keep our eyes open for Jesus in the unexpected places, off the main stage, outside the coliseums, in a quiet place, with a still, small voice calling out in rooms where no one is recording anything on their iPhone or live-Tweeting the play-by-play.

Revival, for me, is a word for a people whose hearts are broken. A person whose soul is ripped down the middle at the sight of all the suffering that surrounds them.

Revival is essentially a word that calls attention to the reality that something that is dead needs to come alive again.

Maybe we don’t need another revival meeting. Maybe what we need is more like a resurrection.

A resurrection doesn’t have a soundtrack or an official t-shirt.

A resurrection is simply a miraculous burst of life in a dark place.

When people who are hungry for Jesus and moved by Jesus are willing to go out and act like Jesus in a world that is desperate for Jesus, then we can honestly say that we have experienced a resurrection.

I’d love to host a “Let’s Go and Do the Stuff Jesus Did Conference"

where thousands of Christians spread out over the city

and break into groups of five or ten

to visit children’s hospitals

and pray for cancer patients

and give hugs to the homeless

and reconcile with their gay brothers and sisters

and pray a sincere blessing for their President

and repent publicly from seeking to change the culture through political power

and maybe take up an offering to feed the poor and house the mentally ill who sleep on our streets every night.

Now, that’s the kind of revival I can get excited about, and it just might deserve to go viral on Twitter, too.

What do you think?

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5 MINUTE VIDEO: Discipleship [Part 4] "Spiritual Gifts"

Continuing our 5 Minute Video series discussion about Discipleship, we now move on to how spiritual gifts help to facilitate the process of mutual discipleship in the Body of Christ. 

Take 5 minutes and listen as Keith explains the importance of knowing your spiritual gift and how it impacts the rest of the Church.

5 MINUTE VIDEO: Discipleship [Part 1] with Keith Giles

Take 5 minutes and listen to Keith talk about Discipleship in this new "5 Minute Video" series of talks about what it means to follow Jesus.

WHAT WE KNOW WITH OUR HANDS

There are things we know with our heads and hearts that we are still in the process of learning with our hands and our feet.

For example, we may know that God loves us, but we’ve yet to really live as people who are so dearly loved.

Or we may know in our heads that Jesus wants us to trust Him with everything and surrender all that we own to Him, but we are still holding on to a few things that we’re not comfortable letting go of yet.

The good news is that Jesus knows this already. He remembers that we are made of dust. He knows that our flesh is willing but our spirits are weak.

Jesus had mercy on the man who said to him, “I believe Lord, help my unbelief” and didn’t withhold the miracle but showed him mercy in spite of his lack of faith.

One of the most common phrases that Jesus used to refer to his disciples was “you of little faith”, because he was painfully aware that they were less-than perfect.

Just like us.

Jesus knows our hearts. He knows that we struggle sometimes to put our faith into practice, and he has incredible grace for us in those moments of weakness.

But I do believe that he is looking at our hearts and that he is looking for a “want to” somewhere within us. Whether or not we successfully live out the things we know in our heads, we should at least have a desire to do so.

In other words, we should be trying to put His words into practice, even if we fail. When we fall short, we are disappointed. We resolve not to fail in the same way again. We hope for another opportunity to do the right thing the next time we are called upon to live out our faith.

Our aim, our posture, is to lean towards obedience to Christ, not away from it.

So, until we fully know these things with our hands and our feet, we have not yet fully known them as He intends for us to.

That means we have to continually put His words into practice in our daily life until one day we know these things inside, and out.

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If Jesus Tells Me To Do Something, Do I Have To Do It?

Seems like a simple question, and you might assume the answer is obvious, but sadly, you would be wrong about that.

I asked that exact question on social media and the responses I received were along the lines of:

"You can't."

"Even Jesus' closest followers didn't obey Him"

"I can't."

"Mountains can't be moved even though He said they could."

"I tried."

And I have been fielding those sorts of responses for years now. Every time I suggest that we who follow Jesus should actually follow Him, and put His words into practice - or even that we CAN do these things - I am constantly told that we simply cannot.

I've been through a lot of this kind of thinking the last few years and I'm at the place where I can see that Jesus does empower us to do everything He asks us to do.

That's why He can say, "Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord' and do not do what I say?"

Because if we are in Him, then we can! Otherwise, Jesus is just messing with us, and I don't believe that's what's going on at all.

I think our problem is that Christians today need to move from a Romans 7 mentality into the Romans 8 reality.

Romans 7 is where Paul goes on and on about how the good he wants to do he cannot do and the evil he doesn't want to do he ends up doing anyway. Many Christians live in that chapter and never move on from there.

But Romans 7 ends with Paul asking a question:

"What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?"

Which he then answers triumphantly:

"Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!"

See, Paul knows that we are all likely to focus on our weakness and less likely to embrace our ability to actually obey Jesus the way He asks us to. So, that's why he gave us Chapter 7 of Romans to sort of get that all out in the open and let it sit there for all of us to see.

Yes. We are powerless against sin. We all feel that way sometimes, don't we? Yes, sure we do.

And then...Romans 8 comes right along and blows the whole thing to smithereens.

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death." 

- Roman 8:1-2

That freedom is about so much more than salvation, by the way.

We are set from from the law of sin and death which keeps us pinned down in Romans 7. In Romans 8 we are set free by Christ and we are given life and the power to rise above our powerlessness to sin.

Paul then goes on in Romans 8 to talk about how we are now living "according to the Spirit" and not according to the flesh.

"You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ." - Romans 8:9

See, we often tend to accept the Grace of God as being only strong enough to save us, but not strong enough to transform us into people who are like Jesus.

But the NT says otherwise:

"For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives IN THIS PRESENT AGE, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, " - Titus 2:11-13

And...

"His divine power has given us EVERYTHING WE NEED for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires." 2 Peter 1:3-4
And of course,

"If you abide in me, and I abide in you, you will bear much fruit" - Jesus, John 15:4

And my fave: 

"This is how we know we are in Him: If anyone claims to be in Him, he must live as Jesus did" - 1 John 2:5-6

Do we fall down? Yes. But so do little children learning to walk. No parent says, "Well, he'll never walk, I guess. He just keeps falling down. I guess I'll stick him in this walker forever."

We shouldn't do this to ourselves, either.

More and more we learn to walk in Christ, and we learn to stand more than we fall over time.

It's not about us trying harder. In our strength we know we can do nothing. But we also know that if we abide in Him and if He abides in us, then we will "bear much fruit" and that fruit is the working of the power of the Holy Spirit within us who empowers us to live like Christ in this present age.

It really is about daily resting in Him and learning to abide in Christ. 

It's a process, but it's possible.

If it weren't, Jesus wouldn't say to us, "Follow me" and expect us to do what He says.

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**
FOR FURTHER READING
Our Biggest Problem
Crazy Pills

JESUS: OUR BLUEPRINT

"Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world" - John 1:29

I've often referred to Jesus as our blueprint for living the Kingdom life because Jesus lived a Kingdom life for us to emulate. He showed us how to humble ourselves and serve others, how to love those who are outside our comfort zones, and how to forgive those who hate us.

The life of Jesus was intended to show us that, in fact, it really is possible for us to obey His commands and live as He did.

This is what Jesus meant when he said "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing" - John 14:12
If we trust in Jesus, if we really believe in what He taught us, we will put His words into practice and we will do the things we see Him doing.

A few verses previous to this one, Jesus lets the Disciples know that all He has ever done is what the Father told Him to do:

"The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work." v. 10

So, if Jesus accomplished all that He did by listening to Father, and doing what the Father was doing, then we also can, and will, do the things that Jesus did when we submit our lives to God in the same way.

A few verses later Jesus is asked a question: "Why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the World?"
The disciples are wondering why Jesus doesn't reveal His Glory to the entire planet at once. Here's what Jesus says in reply:

"If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him." - John 14:22-23
Did you catch that? The Disciples want to know why Jesus only shows himself to the twelve and not to the whole World. Jesus answer? I'm showing myself to you and when you obey my teachings you show me to the World, then they will see me, and the Father.

Our obedience to Jesus allows the Gospel to be proclaimed in our lives each day.

The point of a blueprint is to read the plan and to duplicate it in the real world. Jesus' death on the cross was intended to set us free and give us a new kind of life in the Kingdom of God, here and now, where we live and breathe.

His sacrifice gave us life. His death gave us access to the Kingdom. And now, our daily sacrifice not only allows us to follow after Him, it is intended to put to death our flesh so that He can live in us.

Because Jesus died, we live. Because we die daily, Jesus lives within us.

Do people around you see Jesus in you? Are you daily taking up your cross to follow Him? There's still time to start living for the One who died to give you life.

"Behold, the Lambs of Jesus who die daily so that their Shepherd can live through them."

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Follow Closer

If you hate Muslims,
if you fear immigrants,
if you despise refugees,
if you want to kill your enemies,
if you think violence cures violence,
please don't tell people you follow Jesus.
Because that's not "Following Jesus"

-Nathan Hamm 

You can't say, "I follow the Prince of Peace" while saluting the flag of a conquering nation, or while cheering for war, or by calling for vengeance or while dismissing the words of that same Prince who disarmed Peter saying "Put away your sword. Those who live by violence will die by violence", and who said "Love your enemies", and who said "If my Kingdom were of this world, my disciples would fight," and who said,"Blessed are the peacemakers" and who told us that those who seek to call down fire on their enemies "do not know what spirit they are of", and who gave us "the ministry of reconciliation."

Either Jesus was a fool who taught nonsensical ideals that cannot work in this world, or he was the Son of God who came to teach us another way to think and live; who gave us a new blueprint to follow, and who ended his sermon on loving our enemies by asking, "why do you call me 'Lord, lord' and don't do what I say?"

Your New Testament was written by a violent man who went from house to house killing and persecuting Christians on behalf of the religious elite and with the blessing of the Empire until Jesus transformed him into an Apostle who taught the Gospel of peace until he was put to death by that same Empire.

You want blood? You want vengeance for the evils done? Jesus says, "Here, take my blood, shed by that same empire of violence and retribution you salute and pledge allegiance to. Here, drink my blood until it transforms your heart into one like mine which cries out, "Father, forgive those who do violence, for they know not what they do!"

We cannot kill our way to peace. Someone has to welcome the enemy and return love for hate. Someone has to lay down their weapon first and be the one who is willing to die- but not kill - to make this world a better place.

We have forgotten our heritage. We have ignored three hundred years of Christ-following martyrs who put the teachings of Jesus into practice, and who valiantly loved and served and blessed the Romans who put them to death.

We now longer resist the Empire, we now embrace that same spirit of Empire which killed them, and Paul, and the other Apostles, and even our own Lord, Jesus.

"Come out of Her, my people," Jesus says. Stop fornicating with the Empire of violence and retribution.

"You know not the Spirit you are of."

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EPISODE 19: "THE HEALING POWER OF COMMUNITY" DAN NOTTI AND KEITH GILES - VIDEO SKYPE PODCAST

After a long break, Keith and Dan are back at the microphones to talk about the healing power of the ekklesia community.

Can you guess where Skype randomly cuts Dan off in our conversation? Do we get him back? Does the audio cut out? All these questions will be answered in this exciting episode of Keith and Dan's Video Skype Podcast on Organic Church and Christian life.

IGNORING JESUS?

One thing that puzzles me – and depresses me – more than anything else is simply that so many Christians today refuse to actually follow Jesus and put His words into practice.

I know, it’s nothing new. Even Jesus himself marveled that people wanted to call him “Lord” without actually allowing him to be their Lord. [See Luke 6:46]

It’s a little like someone saying that they are a Buddhist without following Buddha, or claim to be a Muslim while ignoring everything that Mohammed taught.

Being a Christian is about following Jesus and putting His words into practice in your daily life. (At least, it used to be).

Here are some of the more popular teachings of Jesus that Christians today love to ignore completely:

"Love your enemies and bless those who persecute you." (Matt. 5:44)

“If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.” (Matt. 5:38-42)

“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” (Matt. 6:19-21; 24)

“In the same way, anyone who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:33)

"You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you.” (Matt. 20:25-26)

“But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Matt. 23:8-12)

In short, many – if not most – Christians in America today are very comfortable calling themselves Christians while totally ignoring what Jesus commanded them to do.

The sad truth is that more Christians follow fashion, politics and the Kardashians than Jesus Christ.

These same Christians would be highly offended if someone were to flip Jesus the bird, but in essence, that’s exactly what they’re doing when they call Jesus “Lord” and then deny it with every breath in their body.

What’s especially troubling is that these Christians will quote Romans 10:9 which says “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord…you will be saved” without realizing that this confession needs to be a statement of an actual reality in their lives, not just repeating “Jesus is Lord” like magic words and clicking their heels together to be saved.

“These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.” – (Matt. 15:8-9)

We can’t say we love Jesus and then ignore what he says.

What do you call a Christian who does not love Jesus or put his words into practice?

I'm not sure exactly, but I wonder if that person can truly call themselves a “Christian” at all?

“Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching; and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching..” (John 14:23-24)

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Who God Really Is

Last night I met with a young man who asked some really great questions.

First, he asked me how we know that our perception of God is really who He is and not a projection of God that we’ve created in our own mind.

My response was to say that we have to begin by deciding in advance that we want to know God as He really is, regardless of what our preconceptions might be.

Then he said, "It's kind of scary to connect with God - for real - knowing that I might not like who He really is."

And that led us to talk about the differences between the Old Testament God, who seems to be so vengeful, and the version revealed by Jesus which appears to be much more merciful and loving.

What I told my friend was this:

"The clearest picture we have of what the Father is like is revealed by Jesus, who said, "If you've seen me, you've seen the Father." Without Jesus there is a veil that covers our eyes when we read the Old Testament, and it's only taken away by Jesus. [2 Cor. 3:14-15] So, if we want to know who the Father really is - and what God is really like - we look at Jesus, not at the metaphor and the shadow of the OT, but at the "exact representation of God’s nature" [Hebrews 1:3], that we see in Jesus who is "Emmanuel, or ‘God with us’."

This conversation was held during one of our “Jesus Without Religion (Or Politics)” meetup groups.  So far we’ve had two meetings each week – one for Christians and for Non-Christians – and both have been attended by just one person each.

On the way home from our meeting last night, Wendy noted something wonderful. She said, “It’s so cool that God knew that these two young men needed to know who He was and he prompted you to set up these groups so we could sit with them and help them to see who Jesus is.”

That is pretty cool, isn’t it?

If you think of it, please pray for these two meetings, and for both of these wonderful young men who are continuing to understand who Jesus is and how much He cares for them.

Thanks,

Keith

CRAZY PILLS?

Many Christians today do not put Jesus’ words into practice, and in fact they find it ridiculous that anyone might suggest that they are expected to do so.

What’s going on here? I feel like Mugato in Zoolander shouting, “Am I the only one who can see this? I feel like I’m taking crazy pills, here.”

Just the other day I encountered a Christian who acted as if putting Jesus’ words into practice would most likely result in cutting off your own hands or plucking out your own eyes. Presumably because they’ve heard that Jesus told someone to do that once and therefore obedience to Jesus must include self-mutilation.

Even worse, this sort of reaction is not an isolated incident. Many Christians – dare I say “Most” Christians – today are of the same mind on this. For them, following Jesus is an optional, extra-curricular activity that could possibly be undertaken but it is not necessary by any means. Being a Christian, in their minds, is simply about believing the right ideas about God and little else. Of course, one must pray a certain prayer in a certain way to be saved from an eternal torture in hell, but beyond that all that God requires of Christians is to hold the right set of beliefs.

Let me say this: If the words of Jesus are not meant to be put into practice, then Jesus is not Lord and Christianity is a dead religion. [You can Tweet me on that].

Christianity is all about discipleship. It is primarily about one person pledging their life to Jesus and surrendering everything to Christ. Apart from that you may believe whatever you like and pray whatever comes to mind, but you may not call yourself a Christian.

Jesus called for disciples to follow him. [Matt. 4:19]

He warned them to count the cost before starting out with him. [Luke 14:26-28]

He told them that it would cost them just one thing – and that was called “everything”. [Luke 14:33]

He explained that it was impossible to be his disciple without denying yourself and taking up your cross daily. [Matt. 16:24]

He complained against those who wanted to call him ‘Lord, Lord’ without actually doing what he commanded. [Luke 6:46-49]

Disciples and Christians are exactly the same thing. [Acts 11:26]

Whatever else you believe about Jesus or the Scriptures, you must not call yourself a Christian if you do not daily submit to Jesus as your Lord. [Romans 10:9]

A.W. Tozer once called those who deny this simple truth “Vampire Christians” because they only want enough of Christ’s blood to get to heaven, but have no real intention of following Jesus with their life.

Am I the one taking crazy pills here? Or is it everyone else?

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EPISODE 18: "Hard Conversations" - Dan Notti & Keith Giles [Video Podcast]

When and how do you have that hard conversation with a brother or sister in Christ who needs gentle correction or rebuke?

Dan and Keith share from real life personal experience how hard it can be, and what not to do, the next time you have to sit down with someone in your life who needs to know about their blind spot.

Humility, love and sincere concern are essential. Never undertake this process unless you genuinely love and care for the person. 

Recognize your own blind spot, too, and keep in mind we're all in need of people in our lives who have permission to show us an area where we are not yet formed into the image of Christ.

UNCONDITIONAL

On Friday, June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States made a landmark decision regarding the definition of marriage for the entire nation.

What should we do about that?

Well, we could start by following Jesus. We could go out into all the world (not just this nation) and start to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom to everyone. We could begin to teach people to obey everything that Jesus commanded. We could participate and collaborate with the Holy Spirit as He transforms people into the image of Christ. That's our job and our mission as Christians – regardless of what our Government does.

How should we treat LGBT individuals?

We should love them.

We should open our hearts, and our homes, and, yes, even our churches, to embrace them and welcome them and love them.

Forget the politics. Let the politicians do what politicians do, but please, let the Body of Christ do what She is called - and commanded - to do.

If we're successful in our endeavor, it won't matter what laws they pass.

Besides, if Christians were as concerned with loving everyone as they are with "being right" the whole world would have known Jesus' love by now.

It’s time to get our eyes on Jesus, and to start doing what he told us to do, and begin loving with the kind of extravagant love he expects us to be known for.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." - Jesus (John 13:34)

Think about that verse for a moment. "As I have loved you," Jesus says, "so you must love one another." 

How has Jesus loved you? Did He love you because you did something first? Or did Jesus love you as you were - unconditionally?

Unconditional love is what brought us here. Unconditional love is what transforms us. Unconditional love is what Jesus pours out on us, and it's what we are commanded to pour out on everyone else.

What does "Unconditional" mean to you?

Love like that and I think we'll not only please our Father in Heaven, but we'll be demonstrating that we love our Lord Jesus. 

"If you love me, you will obey what I command." - Jesus (John 14:15)

"You are my friends if you do what I command"- Jesus (John 15:14)

"Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me." - Jesus (John 14:21)

"If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching." - Jesus (John 14:23)

"He who does not love me will not obey my teaching." - Jesus (John 14:24)

"If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love.." - Jesus (John 15:10)

  

BONUS: 

For those of you who are fearful that America is falling away from previously held Biblical values, please remember that our faith was born under cruel, anti-Christian Roman Emperors who tortured and killed the followers of Jesus for sport. If America ever gets that bad (and I doubt that it ever will) we'll still be ok as long as we continue to follow Jesus and obey Him.

Let’s keep our eyes on Jesus and continue to seek first the Kingdom of God. We are not called to become entangled in the affairs of this world. We are called to love people as Jesus loves them and to demonstrate the transformative power of the Gospel of Jesus to the world around us.

And maybe, who knows, maybe in the process we might discover that we are the ones who are just as much in need of His transformative love and grace as anyone else in this world.

Amen?

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Transformed Into His Image

One of the most remarkable things in my life is that Jesus has found a way to transform someone as selfish and narcissistic as I am into someone who occasionally decides to wade into the misery and suffering of other people.

As anyone who knows me – really knows me – can tell you, I am anything but an altruistic person.  At heart, I am self-centered, prideful, and mostly uninterested in the lives of other people. I would rather stay home, with the shades drawn and the door shut watching movies or surfing the internet for hours than to get up and venture outside to spend time with people who are struggling or in need.

Some of you might want to counter this scenario by pointing out that I have helped to start a church that meets in a motel every week, or that our family takes free groceries to families in poverty once a month, or that I once spent about a year taking care of an elderly homeless man who was dying from bone cancer. As if this alone was enough evidence that, at heart, I am not selfish and riddled with pride.

No, those details are the grand exceptions.  That is not who I really am inside. Rather, that is who I am slowly, sometimes barely becoming, by the Grace of God and the abiding presence of Jesus.

My flesh completely resists this transition. My will is constantly seeking to avoid this change. My heart is quite content to remain complacent and unmoved.

Thankfully, God has given me His Spirit to stir me up. He has provided a wonderful example of selfless love and care in my wife, Wendy. He has surrounded me with a great cloud of witnesses who are much further along in this process of humble service to others.

In spite of myself, God’s plan is to transform me into the image of His Son. One day – by some miracle – I will be made complete in Him. I will be made like Him. 

For now, I see as through a glass, darkly, but one day face-to-face.

I know. It sounds crazy, doesn’t it? It sounds impossible; beyond belief.

Me? Like Jesus? Puh-lease!

But seriously, it’s going to happen one day.  For now, this miracle is in process as I live and breathe in the here and now.

Even more wonderful is the fact that Jesus is alive within me at this very moment. He is nearer to me than my own heartbeat. He is more real than anything else around me could ever be “real” because He was the One who breathed all of this into existence and none of it would exist without Him.

When I breathe in, Jesus breathes in. When I exhale, Jesus exhales. When I forget myself and extend my hand to share bread, or brush away a tear, Jesus does this, too.

He has made His home in me…and in you…and He wants more than anything else to change the world – this world right here – one heart and life at a time.

Starting with my own life, Jesus is in the glorious process of transforming everything into His new creation. And through me – and through you – He intends to make all things new.

Both in us, and through us, Jesus is alive and well. He is living His life today through each of us who corporately make up His Body.

Even so, we say come Lord Jesus, come.

Have your will and your way in us.

Let your Kingdom come and your will be done.

-kg

Putting On The New Man

“But you have not so learned Christ; If so be that you have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That you put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” (Ephesians 4:20-24)

Most modern translations, sadly, render this section of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians as being about the “Old Self” and the “New Self”, which unfortunately obscures the true meaning of his teaching here.

The actual terms used by Paul are the “Old Man” and the “New Man”, which he explained earlier in Ephesians 2:14-16 this way:

“For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups [both Jews and Gentiles] one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.”

This “New Man” was created by removing the barrier between Jews and Gentiles. This refers to the Church – the Body of Christ.

The “Old Man” is found in Romans 6:6 where he says:

“Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him that the body of sin might be done away with that we should no longer be slaves of sin.”

At the end of Romans 5 (the previous chapter), Paul talks about “Two Men”: One which brought about justification and another man which brought condemnation. This refers to Adam (the old man) and Christ (the new man).

Both Adam and Christ are spoken of in these passages as corporate entities. Adam stands for the entire race of mankind. Christ stands for the new creation as embodied by the Ekklesia.

Literally the word “Anthropas” in the Greek can refer to both one man and to humanity as a whole; exactly as the word “Man” can refer to both a single person or to an entire race of people.

Adam is the representative of the Old Man. Jesus is the New Man. We are either of the Old Humanity of Adam, or we are in the New Humanity found in Christ.

Going back to the teaching found in Ephesian 4:20-24, Paul is talking about this same reality of the Old Man (Adam) and the New Man (Jesus). He’s not talking about my individual self at all. He’s talking about a reality that extends to all of humanity.

What Paul wants us to do is to put off the Old Man and embrace the New Man.

These are not two divisions within me, these are two distinctions within the entire Global sphere of mankind.  Either I am a member of the Old Man (and therefore I act as someone who is among the tribe of Adam), or I am a member of the New Man (and therefore I act as someone who is of the tribe of Jesus).

Therefore, no one can be in Adam and in Christ at the same time. One is either living according to the flesh, or living according to the life of the Spirit of Christ.

Paul urges us to “put off the Old Man” and to “put on the New Man”. The Old Man is crucified with Christ and now no longer lives. Christ, who is our life, has filled us and we inhabit Him as citizens of His Kingdom.

The part of me that once lived according to the Old Man is dead. Adam is no longer my example. Jesus is now my Lord and my King and I walk according to His blue print.

This means that I love like He loves. I forgive like He forgives. I serve like He did. I have become a “little Christ” or “Christian” who has taken on a new nature and a new identity found only in Jesus.

Now that we are no longer part of the Old Man, we have to put off the old behaviors and to put on the New Man and those new behaviors that are in character with Christ.

“But you have not so learned Christ…” Paul says. What are we learning? How to be like Christ.

As Paul explains in Eph. 1:23, the Church is the Body of Christ and “the fullness of Him who fills everything in every way.” That means that Christians are designed to be like Jesus in this world. It’s not automatic, but as we abide in Him we learn to allow Him to abide in us and let Him live His life through us, day by day.

Anyone who is truly in Christ – who has been transformed from within by the power and presence of Jesus – is now a partaker of the Divine Nature and a member of the New Humanity. Nothing will ever be the same again.

Even as the members of my own body are animated and empowered by me, the members of Christ’s Body are enlivened by Him and under His authority to accomplish His agenda.

This is a corporate reality, not an individual one. It's not about putting off an old version of my self, or about putting on a new version of my self. It’s not about my self at all – old or new. No, it’s about an old form of life being eclipsed and overshadowed by a new form of life found only in Christ.

Now that we are in Him, let us continue onward to live the life He wants to live through us. Rather than being self-centered, let’s become Christ-centered.*

-kg

“Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.” (Colossians 3:9-11)

*NOTE: Special thanks to Steve Gregg for helping me to understand this concept of the New Man vs the Old Man.

Episode 16: Dan Notti & Keith Giles "Personal Revelations"

After a 2 week hiatus, Dan and Keith share some of their personal testimonies about what God has been showing them after some down time.

Including:
*We still have a lot to learn
*Neither of us has it all figured out
*God always reveals our weaknesses in the positive, not through condemnation
*It really is all about Jesus
*And more!

As God Lives Through You

Episode 15: Dan Notti & Keith Giles - "Teaching and Learning"

In our pursuit of Spiritual Formation as the central activity of the Ekklesia, how do we handle teaching, listening and learning? What do we do when some of our views collide? How do we create an optimal environment for learning?

Conformed To His Image

"Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” - Jesus (Matt. 28:18-20)

Here we have our marching orders from our Commander in Chief. This is about so much more than Evangelism. Rather, it is a framework for what every Christian community should be focused upon.

Where the Christian Church in the West has failed most, I believe, is in taking this mandate to heart and putting it daily into practice.

Instead, the Church has twisted this "Great Commission" from Jesus and turned it into a justification for building million-dollar structures, launching extravagant outreach campaigns, and publishing thousands of "How To" books, all aimed at creating converts while at the same time ignoring any call to make disciples who understand how to "obey everything (Jesus) commanded".

This is largely why the Evangelical Church in America finds Herself in deep decline today. Instead of inviting people to know God more intimately through an ongoing encounter with Jesus, and creating a church full of people who are intentionally seeking to put His words into practice in their actual lives, we have opted for a Gospel that does little more than provide an escape from Eternal Torment; leaving our Churches with nothing to do but entertain a growing crowd of un-transformed converts until they eventually die and move on to their promised "Heaven".

It also creates a world where the Church hardly resembles Her founder and causes many outside the faith to doubt the love of God and the power of Christ to transform the human heart.

This is not the Gospel. It's also not what Jesus had in mind for His Body.

Reading the New Testament reveals that Jesus expected to inspire a community of people who were called out and empowered to not only call Him 'Lord, lord', but to actually put His words into practice.

Essentially, what the Church needs today is to return to Jesus, renew their allegiance to Him, and begin to become Disciples (so that they can start to "make Disciples of all nations").

A recent conversation with my dear friend, Dan Notti, honed in on this missing element of Christian life. Specifically, the idea of spiritual formation is becoming extinct in our Christian faith today.

Not only is it slowly fading away as a concept, it is actually becoming an idea that is radically opposed by many Christian teachers who argue that the teachings of Jesus cannot be kept, and that Jesus never intended for us to try to follow His teachings or to put His words into practice.

This is flabbergasting. Especially when we cannot read the Gospels without being inundated by the words of Jesus crying out, over and over again, that those who love Him obey Him, and that those who put His words into practice receive life, and that those who call Him 'Lord, lord' but refuse to do what He says will be told "Depart from me, you workers of iniquity. I never knew you."

How does this happen?

Partly because, as we've already seen, the Gospel that gets communicated is the bumper sticker "Pray this prayer if you don't want to burn in Hell forever" variety rather than the "Repent! The Kingdom of God is near" version we hear Jesus proclaiming.

Another reason we see the abandonment of the Gospel of the Kingdom, however, is the rise of a more Pauline version of the Gospel which emphasizes - or rather over inflates - the message of Grace so that it begins to eclipse the teaching of Jesus.

This is not to say that Paul and Jesus were at odds. Far from it. Anyone who reads the writings of Paul, or especially the Acts of the Apostles, will see that Paul, and the other Apostles, all preached the Gospel or Good News, of the Kingdom. [See Acts 28:23; 30-31; 14:22; 19:8; 8:12; Eph. 20:25, etc.]

However, when Christian teachers and preachers overemphasize the Gospel of Grace - in a way that Paul never intended - they create the false impression that Jesus' message and Paul's message were different.

Not so. Paul preached the Good News of the Kingdom everywhere he went. Yes, he did write a few epistles where he reminded the disciples that their salvation was a work of God's unmerited favor and grace. But this was always within the context of submission to Christ as Lord - something Paul writes a lot about - and an assumption that those Christians understood the "Good News of the Kingdom" which involved complete submission to Jesus as both Lord and Savior.

One revealing verse about how Paul truly understood the concept of Grace is found in Titus 2:11-12 where he says:

"For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.."

Notice two things:

1) Paul affirms that the Grace of God "offers salvation to all people."

2) Paul also teaches that the Grace of God "teaches us to say 'No'" to "worldly passions and to live self-controlled...godly lives in this present age."

According to Paul, the Grace of God is about salvation, AND about living a godly, self-controlled life - right here and now!

The Grace of God isn't only an instant "get out of hell free card", it's also an ongoing, continual power at work in our everyday lives that empowers us to become more like Jesus.

That's spiritual formation, folks.

Grace, then, is like the small amount of yeast that enters our lives the day we respond to the sound of Jesus' voice [to save us from our sins], and that continues to permeate our entire being every moment after as we continually become transformed into the image of Christ.

What if our Church family was single-mindedly focused on cooperating with the Holy Spirit in this process of becoming more like Christ?

What if our main focus as Christians was to collaborate together with one another, and with Jesus, to ensure that everyone within our church community was actually on the path towards having the heart and mind and character of Christ formed within them? [Ourselves included, of course].

To me, that is what is missing from our Churches today. That is what would breathe new life and vitality back into the Body of Christ again.

As Dallas Willard has put it, the Church should be about "...transforming disciples inwardly, in such a way that doing the words and deeds of Christ is not the focus but is the natural outcome or side effect." (from "Renovation of the Heart")

Simply put, we as individual Christians should begin by falling to our knees - daily - and surrendering continually to Jesus, we should focus on abiding in Christ and allowing Him to abide in us, so that our lives can bear more fruit.

If we do that, everything else will fall naturally into place.


-kg