No Stranger To Love

All of us were once strangers to righteousness. Holiness was an alien concept to us.

Then we met the One who loved us into life again.

His touch rearranged our DNA.

We began to die in that moment. Our old self was crucified, but our new self came alive.

This intimate knowledge of the Infinite conceived a new life within us.

The resurrection power that raised Christ from the dead was now unleashed within us.

Soon, disobedience to our Abba became strange to us. We became aliens to this world around us.

Who we are now is all that matters. What we once were is not worth mentioning again.

We stand now, as new creations, calling out to the Creator as beloved children made in His image.

We are remade for righteousness.

Our new nature is hard-wired to glorify Him with a clean heart

and lips that speak of grace

and voices that magnify His Holy name

and hands that comfort the broken

and arms that support the weak

with eyes that seek for truth

and ears that listen for the still small voice of One so very big.


You, oh God, are remaking us into a people who are like you,

even though there is no one like you,

and even though

“eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and no heart has yet imagined 

the things that God has prepared for those who love Him…

God has revealed all of this to us through His Spirit.” [1 Cor.2:9-10]

“We have the mind of Christ” [1 Cor. 2:16]

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” [2 Cor. 5:17]

“Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” [Phil. 1:6]

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control....and those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.” [Gal. 5:22-26]

“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.” [2 Peter 1:3]

-kg

SUBVERSIVE.

I am a subversive agent of a kingdom with unlimited powers.

My mission is to overthrow this empire from within and to unravel its systems and re-boot the culture.

This is accomplished by introducing a virus into the existing mainframe of reality. This virus is a “Metanoia Class” program designed to re-write the code of our thinking. It has the power to re-wire hearts, reprogram minds, and transform human behaviors.

The purpose of this is to increase the number of radicalized agents into the culture and exponentially advance the range and effect of the Metanoia program.

Our leader has given us access to an unlimited source of life and power. Our lines of communication with him cannot be tapped, traced or interrupted. We can receive messages from our source at any time, at any place, regardless of access to electricity, infrastructure or technology.

One by one, we are now in the process of changing the world from within. Slowly, almost imperceptibly, we are transforming people from darkness into glorious light. Those who formerly walked in the shadows are now awakening to the inescapable truth. Every second of every day, people around the globe turn from walking in the way of this world and begin to follow the way of life contained in the Metanoia program.

Those who are infected by this unique virus have begun to think different, and to act different, than other humans around them. They begin to take on the same heart and mind and perspective of our leader, Y’Shua of Nazareth; loving those who hate them; forgiving those who seek to harm them; seeing everyone as a potential brother or sister and a future operative in the program.

We are not alone. We are legion. Our methods are varied, but nonetheless subtle and unstoppable by any government, law or threat known to man.

The weaker we grow, the more powerful we become. The more you oppose us, the greater our effectiveness.

Our victory is assured.

We have outlasted every empire for the last 2,000 years. We have endured persecution, torture, and even death. We may die, but our mission carries forward. No force on earth, or even the entire universe, can stop us, or defeat us, or destroy us.

Our lives are already lost. We have surrendered all to this single purpose and calling. Our death was accounted for on the day we embarked on this mission.

We have no fear. All fear has been erased by an irresistible love that permeates our existence. We are guided by this love and fully compelled that it alone is the hope for all life on this planet.

We have no country. We owe no allegiance to any nation, state or ideology other than that of our King.

We have no armory. The weapons we employ are love, compassion, service, mercy, and grace. Combined with prayer, hope, trust, and faith, these are all we need to accomplish our goals.

Make no mistake, this world is fading away. A new world is coming. Behold, the kingdoms of this world have become the Kingdom of our God.

Nothing you can do will change this. The insurgency will prevail.

Join us and live.

A Jesus Thing [Guest Post by Wendy Giles]

Guest post by Wendy Giles

During my recent trip to Tennessee my mother wanted very much to bless me with something beautiful. As we were in a gift shop during a visit to a cave with a large underground lake we came across some sun catchers. Some were very pretty. They had ones with pansies (my favorite flower), and some with lighthouses (I love the ocean) among their choices.

My biggest desire was just to spend time with my family, not to receive a souvenir. But my parents wanted so much to bless us, not realizing that they, themselves, were already the blessing I wanted most.

Today, I have a sun catcher, but it isn’t either of the two I looked at with my mother. It’s made of plastic, with uneven paint, made by a five year old girl who lives on our street. She left it on our front porch with this note:

“Dear Wendy,

I made you a Jesus thing and I’d like you to have it.

Love,

Sienna”

This sweet little girl blessed my heart so much. We just finished (over the summer) a Kids Club for the children on our street. She came and heard about Jesus here in our home. He blessed her (and me) enough to place on her heart the desire to give me a gift.

It amazes me that with Jesus we see a common thread woven through the hearts and lives of His followers – both young and old – the desire to be a blessing.

Sierra, like my Mom, wanted to give me something that would be a blessing. She, like my Mom, is already a precious blessing to my heart. The sun catcher is simply a reminder of the sweet gift I have been given.

I am blessed to be so loved.

-Wendy

My Fellow Athenians

I was reading Acts 17 the other day and was impressed by a few things I found.

As a backstory to the passage, Paul was in Athens and noticed all the idols around the city. He noticed that they even had an idol to the "Unknown God" and took the opportunity to reveal His identity to them, saying, "Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you." (v.23)

Paul's message to them is fascinating to me, mainly because of the details he chooses to reveal to them about this "Unknown God". He could have taught them about sin and redemption. He could have talked about grace and works. He could have preached about the Law of Moses. Instead, notice what Paul thought was most important to communicate here.

"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands." (v.24)

Paul begins his message by affirming one of the central truths of Christianity - That God does not live in a temple made by human hands. If this is so central to our faith, then why do we put such an emphasis - and expend such obscene amounts of money - on building temples to our God?

The second point that impresses me is that Paul takes the time to stress that God has a purpose and a place for each one of us: "From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live." (v.26)

Do you realize that God put you where you live today? God has a purpose for "the exact places where (you)...live" and that means that He had a reason for doing this. Your neighbors are your mission field. Your co-workers are your assignment. God has strategically placed each of us where we are today for the purpose of proclaiming - and living out - the power of the Gospel to those around us. "God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us." (v.27)

I also love Paul's poetic, inspired statement in verse 28: 'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'

Finally, I am amazed that Paul hangs every single statement he makes on one, single fact: The proof of the resurrection of Christ from the dead. "He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead." (v.31)

Do you see what a high level of confidence Paul has in the resurrection of Christ? He does not shy away from this, in fact, he is so sure of this fact that he appeals to this as a basis for everything he has said to them. If the resurrection is not true, then neither is anything else he has said.

I'm sad to admit that, sometimes, I am in need of being reminded just how solid the proof of Christ's resurrection really is. Once a year we may hear a sermon on the evidence for the resurrection, but the rest of the year we barely talk about it or meditate on the astounding reality of it all.

As I read this passage I realize that there are many Christians in America who need to hear this same message from Paul. God does not live in a temple made by human hands. He lives by His Spirit within each and every one of us. He has placed each of us as His ambassadors exactly where we live and work for His purposes. He is always at work in the world around us. In fact, God is everywhere. Every moment is sacred. Every location is full of His presence. And, best of all, we can have confidence in knowing that Jesus Christ is alive and well today. We are the ones who can boldly proclaim that "He is risen! He is risen indeed!"


Amen!

-kg

Extended Metaphor: Glow In The Dark

"You are the light of the world" - Jesus

QUESTIONS:
What's the point of wearing a glow in the dark t-shirt if you never go anywhere where it's dark?

What's the point of singing "This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine" if we remain safely under the flood lamps of our churches?

-kg

The More People You Reach The More Likely It Is That You're Reaching The Wrong People

Who vs. how many.
*from Seth Godin's blog today

**
Seth Godin is one of my morning ritual blog reads each day. His insights into guerilla marketing, the cult of advertising, the change in the wind, and uncommon sense keep me grounded and help me realize that much of what I have suspected about our society, our christian sub-culture and our churches is evidenced in the very fabric of our society as a whole.

In short, the Church has become "of the world but not in it". As Christians we are more a product of our culture than agents of change within this culture.

Seth's quote today underscores the problem we've adopted from taking our cues from Big Business leaders rather than from our founder (Jesus).

Jesus is always attracting a crowd and then doing all he can to either thin the crowd or to escape them and find real followers in another town.

Jesus wants followers, not spectators. Jesus wants disciples, not believers. Jesus wants people who will put his words into practice, not people who will memorize those words and repeat them behind closed doors to others who already know the message.

Christian leaders in the 20th, and now the 21st, Century were enamored by the "Bigger is Better" approach to ministry. Putting more butts in the seats equated with success. Growth became the new Holy Grail of ministers across the fruited plane, and the size of your congregation became the new yardstick of a healthy church.

As our focus turned to attracting crowds we soon learned to identify the myriad challenges associated with putting butts into our seats. Eventually we surrendered our pulpits to a Gospel of positive thinking and reduced the dangerous words of Jesus to self-help rhetoric for improving your lifestyle and personal happiness.

As our Churches focused on getting more, our people began to pick up on the message and began to pursue getting more too. Soon televangelists emerged to offer up what our itching ears wanted to hear about how Jesus wants us to be rich and have all we want because we are, after all, "King's Kids".

What gives me hope these days is the fact that twenty or thirty individuals have emerged from the shadows over the last few years to email me and share with me their unrest at this State of the Modern Church in America. They have walked away from the private club mentality of Traditional Church and embraced a pioneer calling to go outside the four walls of Christendom and discover that being the Church is far more important than attending one.

You don't know their names. You won't find their books at the local Christian Bookstore. They will never grow famous and the churches they've planted will never advertise on Christian Radio or on the local billboards near the freeway. Yet in the Spirit, these unknown followers of Jesus are slowly being joined by hundreds and hundreds of others around this Nation, yes even around the World, as the Holy Spirit begins to call them out of the "Pattern of Church" and into the freedom of "Being Church" with others in their living rooms, in parks, in coffee shops, in lunch rooms, and anywhere God calls them to live out the Gospel...which is everywhere.

Jesus wasn't interested in the large crowd, he was always interested in the one person who the crowd pushed aside. He sought out the woman with the issue of blood. He singled out Zacheus and escaped the crowd by joining him for dinner in his home. Jesus gave us a fine example to follow, and the Disciples followed through when they planted hundreds of simple, house churches across Jerusalem, Judea, Corinth and beyond.

The early church grew one person, one family, at a time. They valued each person for who they were. They ate together. They shared everything with one another. The loved one another. Growth wasn't their goal, it was love. And yet, growth was the natural by-product of this love and simple obedience.

For 300 years the Church practiced being family throughout the known world. In spite of persecution, secret meetings, lack of evangelistic crusades, absence of witnessing tracts and zero marketing the early church grew from 25,000 in AD 100 to about 20,000,000 by AD 310.

While our Churches have focused on becoming Bigger over the last several years, they've ironically become more empty at the same time. In a crowd of hundreds of worshippers, many are feeling isolated, ignored and forgotten.

We've grown larger Churches where many feel anonymous and lonely. We call ourselves a family but no one knows our name. We call each other "Brother" and "Sister" in Christ, but we have no one to share our pain with.

Last Sunday our house church, "The Mission", celebrated our two year anniversary. If I've learned anything over the last two years it's that everyone matters. The definition of "Church" is simply the people of God plus the Holy Spirit and time to listen to one another and share all that we have.

Let's go and "Be the Church" now. However you meet. Wherever you gather. Let us not forsake the calling we have to live out the Gospel in our daily lives.

"To get something you've never had before you will have to do something you have never done before." I'm not sure who said that, but I know it is true. If we expect to experience Church in a different way, I am convinced that we will have to do (and be) Church in a different way too.

-kg


Seth Godin's blog entry is here:
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/01/the-more-people.html

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