WHAT NEEDS TO CHANGE?

Yes, Jesus could turn stones into bread and make sure no one was ever hungry again. But then we’d live in a world where people had too much food and no reason to share with those who had nothing.

Jesus could heal every disease and remove sickness from the world. But we would still live in a world where people cared more about themselves than about the needs of others.

Jesus could step in and prevent every car accident and rescue every innocent child from hit and run drivers. But we would still live in a world where people cared nothing about the safety of others, took foolish chances with their lives, and abused alcohol.

Jesus could guide every bullet so that it always missed taking a life. He could turn our guns into candy canes if He wanted to. But we would still live in a world where people wanted to kill each other.

Jesus could appear to everyone and prove that He exists right now. He could float through the air, appear on CNN, visit every human on the planet in person and shoot healing lasers of love out of his eyes. But people would still not love Him or serve Him.

Jesus has the ability to change things and circumstances, but what really needs changing is people and their hearts.

Now, if we would simply follow Him and listen to what He says and put His words into practice, we’ll see that He’s really telling us the truth: We really can enter the Kingdom right now. We really can enjoy peace that passes understanding. He really will be with us until the end of the time. He honestly will never leave us or forsake us. He actually does love us as we are, and not as we should be [because none of us is as we should be].

God, help those of us who are called by your Name to really believe in your amazing love. Help us to receive your love. Help us to live and breathe and move and give and share out of this endless stream of living water that you pour into us - and through us - to a hurting world so in need of your refreshing love. 

Help us to admit, first of all, that WE need your love as much as anyone else does.

Now, help us to soak up that love that transcends knowledge and squeeze it out in every human interaction we have today, and every day. 

Until the whole world knows your love.

Amen.

-kg






*Inspired by the Tweet stream of @JesusBenyosef.

Our Biggest Problem

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

As Madeleine L’Engle put it:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Knowing theology is not how you draw nearer to Jesus.

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

Wait on him. Listen for his voice.

He freely gives his Spirit to anyone who asks.

-kg

** 

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

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

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

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.

Miracle In The Carport

A few months ago Tommy was the guy at the Motel Church who was picking a fight with Don, the kind, elderly gentleman who weighs about 80 pounds and is confined to a wheelchair.

During that incident one of our fellow servants pulled Tommy aside and let him know that we don't treat our friends that way.

Weeks later, Tommy stayed after the message and helped fold chairs and put away tables. I walked up to him after we were all done and placed my hand on his shoulder.

"Thanks for your help today, Tommy." His eyes started to fill up with tears.

"Are you going to be ok?" I asked him. He nodded and looked away as the tears started to roll down his face.

The next time I heard about Tommy it was from another resident who told me that Tommy and Don had tangled again at the corner gas station. This time Tommy threatened Don.

"I told Tommy he wasn't welcome to come back to the motel church until he could straighten himself up," my friend told me.

I disagreed with that. "But the help Tommy needs is over here with us," I said. "Tommy needs Jesus. How can he get help if we make him go away?"

Tommy kept coming to the Motel Church every Sunday, however. The confrontations with Don subsided and Tommy kept mostly to himself, but he was there and he joined in whenever we talked about Jesus.

This morning as I got out of my car and started to open my guitar case, Tommy came over to me. "Keith, I wanted to ask you if I could share something with everyone after you're done."

I could see he was serious, and very emotional.

"Ok," I said.

"I also want to sing two songs but I need to say something before I sing," he explained.

"Uh...what songs are you going to sing?" I asked him.

"'Because He Lives' and 'Lord I Lift Your Name On High'", he said.

"Alright, then."

So, I kept my teaching shorter than usual to leave room for Tommy. After I was finished I invited him to stand up and share what the Lord had placed on his heart this week.

I wish you could have seen him. His face was glowing. He had tears streaming down his face. He had to stop more than once because the emotion was so nearly overpowering. But he got through it.

I stood behind him and placed my hand on his shoulder. Partly to let him know I was still there, and partly to assure him that he was doing a great job.

Tommy told everyone what a sinner he was. "I know everyone is a sinner," he said. "But I'm the worst sinner of all of you. I mess up all the time. I'm stupid. I do dumb things. But Jesus died for me. He left Paradise - gold streets and the angels in heaven worshiping him night and day - and he came down into this filth, and he died for all of us."

Then Tommy sang, "Because He Lives". I joined in and a few others who know the words did too.

After that, Tommy told us more about how much Jesus loves us, and how much we all need to make sure that we are right with God because we don't want to hear God say, "I never knew you".

Then we sang, "Lord I Lift Your Name On High" together.

It was glorious. So beautiful. To see Tommy - broken, simple, sincere - of all people, stand up like that in front of everyone and preach a message so heartfelt, so sublime, so tearful, and wonderful, and amazing...it was like a dream.

What I love about this so much is that it was totally, one hundred percent, God. It was all God.

Tommy told me privately how this last week God had gotten hold of him. "I started thinking about God, and about the scriptures. They all just kept coming to me, over and over, and before I knew it, two hours had passed," he said. "I looked down and realized I hadn't even touched my beer in two hours!"

The verse that came to my mind was, "the kindness of God leads to repentance" (Romans 2:4)

This all goes back to that first confrontation Tommy had with Don a few months ago. At that time we didn't chase Tommy away. We explained that Don was our friend and that we don't treat friends like that. We also affirmed that Tommy is our friend too.

It goes back to that simple "Thank you for your service" that one Sunday when Tommy helped put away the chairs with all of us.

It goes back to the reminder that the help Tommy needs is only found in Jesus.

"I'm such a sinner," Tommy told me this morning. "Why did God choose me to give this message today?"

I took him to 2 Corinthians 4:7 and read this to him: "But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us."

I said, "See Tommy, God loves to do extraordinary things through ordinary people like you and me because that way everyone knows it was God - not us - and He gets the Glory for it."

"But I'm such a sinner," Tommy said.

"So am I," I said.

"I don't understand why he would choose me. He could have chosen anyone else."

"God loves you, Tommy. He loves you. That's why He showed Himself to you and touched your heart this week."

Tommy just smiled and nodded his head. I could the tears forming again in the corners of his eyes.

As I looked around I could see everyone's face was full of joy. We had witnessed a true miracle today. 

God had touched Tommy's heart. Then God touched our hearts through Tommy. 

As I got in my car to drive back home, Tommy said, "Pray for me!"

"I will," I said. "Just keep following Jesus."

"I don't always do that," he admitted.

"You can do it," I said. "Just keep your eyes on Jesus. He's with you."

"Ok," Tommy said.

So, join me this week in lifting up our new brother, Tommy. Pray that God would continue to reveal himself to Tommy.

Pray that Tommy would spend many more hours away from his beer - wrapped in the arms of Jesus and becoming more intoxicated by the Spirit of God's presence.

Pray that others would listen to the Gospel message that Tommy preached today. I'd love to share even more testimonies like this one with you as we continue to serve at the Motel.

Let the Kingdom come!

-kg

We Who Have Been Transformed

We who have been transformed are without excuse.


You opened the eyes of the blind.
Who are we to sing the songs of darkness?


You opened the door to the Kingdom.
Who are we to defend the way of the world?


You were beaten and tortured and killed.
Who are we to side with the aggressor?

You were born into poverty and had no place to lay your head.
Who are we to justify sending the poor away hungry?

You were forced to flee a violent dictator's sword.
Who are we to turn our backs on immigrant children?

Your mother carried the shame of an unexpected pregnancy.
Who are we to shame the unwed mothers?
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.


Our hardened hearts were transformed by your irresistible love.

Who are we to condemn sinners?

Our darkness was changed into light.

Who are we to say there is no hope for others?

Our violent souls were calmed by your voice.

Who are we to stand with those who do violence?

Your Kingdom subverted the glorification of power and redefined the meaning of authority.

Who are we to return to the worldly system of hierarchy and domination of others?

Now, let the transformed rise up to heal the wounded.
Let those who have been made new follow the way of the cross.

Let every creature that has been made new stand with the oppressed and the homeless and the orphan and the voiceless.

Let every child of the King point out the path to your everlasting peace.

Let those who hear your voice kneel down to wash the feet of our enemies.

Let those who follow the Prince of Peace lay down their weapons and fall to their knees.

Let those who are called by your name humble themselves and seek your face and turn from their wicked ways.


Now, let those who have received so great a mercy, extend that same mercy to everyone else.

We who have been transformed are without excuse.


We who have been made new are held to a higher standard.

Now, let the redeemed of the Lord please say so.

Please. Say so.

And do so.

-kg