NEW: AUDIO SERMON LINKS ONLINE

I just discovered how to add links to my page.

Yeah...I know I'm slow...

But the good news is, now you can check some cool website I love, and also listen to a couple of my sermon's while you're online.

The two up now are:

"Hunger and Thirst" Audio Sermon and...

"Worship and Justice" Audio Sermon.

Both are linked at the lower left.

Enjoy!

kg

VIDEO: BONO'S REMARKS BEFORE CONGRESS

Earlier I emailed the [subversive underground] list about the text for the address Bono (from U2) made before the Congress earlier this month.

Now you can watch the actual video...here:


Awesome!

kg

ARTICLE UPDATE: GINKWORLD

My article, "BRINGING JESUS" is now live at Ginkworld (a cool, sensory overload/emerging christian site)

Read it right here:
http://ginkworld.net/

Wubba!

kg

ENGAGE- APRIL 22ND (NOT JUST ANOTHER CONFERENCE)

SOUL SURVIVOR: ENGAGE is just one month away!

This is designed to be an "un-conference" in that we want this to be a catalyst for real life change, not just another meeting. So, participants can get out of their comfort zone by signing up for pre-conference "Mission Assignments". A workshop "Debrief" session will take place for those who take the challenge to share their experiences.

We've also got an amazing "Soliton Arts Interactive" planned where participants will share their "notes" on the conference publically, via text or drawing or any other artistic method, live on the spot. Others will respond to those notes with their own thoughts, etc. We'll also be posting the art/notes/photos/thoughts/etc. live on the web as the event takes place!

During the day we'll take time (from 2 to 4pm) to go out and serve the poor in the community together. So, we're not just talking about social justice issues, we're actually going to go out and serve as part of our experience!

After the final session, participants can sit around a table with David Ruis, Paul Martin and myself and share in an open round-table dialog about the things we've learned and experienced at the conference...and after it's all over we'll continue the dialog online at our forum, and via the PARABOLIC JOURNAL project which will spawn out of this event.
(check out the PARABOLIC JOURNAL site- http://www.parabolicjournal.com )

We want this to be an event that makes a difference in our actual lives and we're doing all we can to keep the interaction and the dialog open to all who participate, even until the next event in June (MOMENTUM) and the new event in the Fall of '06 (as-yet-untitled).

CHECK OUT THE WEBSITE AND REGISTER FOR THIS AWESOME, INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCE:
http://www.soulsurvivorusa.com/engage/

THE MISSION-UPDATE MARCH

The house church is going very well. In fact, it's so amazing that I
can't believe it.

Last week's meeting was just a jaw-dropping, eye-opening experience for me.

As usual we started at 6pm by welcoming all our friends, new and old, to the house. One new girl visited for the first time, another new visitor for only the second time returned and brought his guitar to lead us in some worship time later on.

We began by holding hands in the kitchen and praying over the meal, asking the Holy Spirit to come and join us and be part of our meal and fellowsip together.

During the meal I stood up and read from 1 Corinthians (about the Lord's Supper) while people tore off bits of bread from the loaf in front of them and dipped it in the juice cup at the center of their table. After the scripture reading I prayed again for God to join us in our "communion" with each other, and with Him.

Then we at desert (strawberries, ice cream and cake..yum!) and worship soon followed.

THE BEST PART: "SHARE TIME"
We all sat around and shared after our worship time together and slowly we started to realize that someone was stringing together our shared scriptures, dreams, impressions, thoughts, responses and experiences during the week into a cohesive, singular sermon. It wasn't me. It wasn't any of us. It was the Holy Spirit.

It takes my breath away to sit back and watch the Holy Spirit teach a lesson
to us, through us, and yet without our realizing it. I'm not sure I can even
describe it, but it's a thing of beauty.

My son David started us off sharing a dream that God had given him during
the week about the end of the world. Dylan, my other son, then shared about a dream he had also had about the end of the world. (Which is significant since we've not been talking about this in our family, or discussing this sort of thing...nor have we been watching any movies like this. The dreams were just "out of the blue" and yet connected in theme). That lead to a dream that an adult had also that was connected thematically. Then another elementary-age girl shared a scripture with us that had spoken to her this week (John Chapter 1), and then my wife shared what God has been saying to her about maturity.

This lead to some discussion, and then another woman shared about what God has been saying to her, I read a scripture verse, a person came in late to the meeting and started sharing her thoughts on this discussion. Then another woman shared an excerpt from a book she's been reading. That lead to more discussion, more shared experience, and then I read from 2 Peter a verse in chapter three that tied all of this seemingly random thought and experience and discussion together in a neat little bow.

God did that.

Wow.

We spent time afterwards praying over each other, asking the Holy Spirit to
confirm in our lives the lesson He had just taught us through the evening
together. We dismissed but several women ended up in the kitchen laying
hands on my sister-in-law and praying a blessing over her as she wept.
Others gathered and shared what God has been doing in our lives together.

One woman stayed until 11pm and we had an extended, intensive prayer time
together for a dear friend and his family.

For me, this is the best thing I have ever done with the word "Church" on
it.

I can't wait for our next meeting!

Peace,
Kg

CONSTANTINIAN FALL-OUT

In my most recent [subversive underground] newsletter entitled "MODELS" I shared a little about my personal struggle with what I've learned lately about Constantine and his negative impact on the modern church as we know it.

I'm currently reading a book about Constantine that details his conversion to Christ and his subsequent murder of his wife and son, and most of his friends and advisors...after he supposedly turned to Jesus.

Beyond this, Constantine had difficulty with the idea of the crucifixion of God's son (he felt it was an embarrassing display of God's failure to rescue his own), and he scolded his own sister for her "worship" of Jesus.

It's difficult to say that this person was a saint...or to even accept that he really had a life-changing experience with the same Jesus you and I follow.

More troublesome to me is how Constantine's impact on our modern church practice and tradition has effectively removed our earlier family-based form of worship (the House Church) and created a form of Christianity where the family/relational form of worship was replaced with something more impersonal.

In essence, Constantine broke up the relational house churches and set up their leaders as miniature kings who would now rule over a peasant class which would be taxed to pay for the upkeep of the castle (the church building), and the provision of the new christian royalty.

This bothers me.

As I shared this with the faithful [subversive underground] subscribers, I received quite a few responses. Some supportive and in agreement with me, some questioning my motives, some critical....but that's what this is all about. I want an open dialog and I really am trying to work out this stuff in my own life and in my own head.

Here are some of the edited responses I offered up today to a few of those who asked for more clarity on this issue.

First of all, I'm sorry if I came across as being judgemental or critical of the modern church. I'm really trying not to be too critical...and honestly, if someone can show me where the early Christians met somewhere other than homes (in those first 300 years before Constantine), I'm very, very open to seeing this evidence. I mean, I WANT to find it. I'm seriously willing to email all 56 people on this underground list and admit my mistake if someone can show me where I'm wrong on this point.

Yes, the book of Acts shows us the earliest Christians meeting in Solomon's Collonade (or Porch), and we know that sometimes they would gather in the temple in Jerusalem, but as persecutions (by the Jews) increased, this became less and less possible. Soon, even within the time period of the writing of the book of Acts itself, and the entire New Testament, we see the early Church meeting in their homes almost exclusively. For 300 years the home was the main place the church would meet. (And I always have to stop and remind everyone at this point that the United States of America isn't 300 years old).

Secondly, I'm not trying to paint all "non-house churches" as evil, paganized organizations. I really am thinking out loud here. I'm honestly struggling in this email, and in my real heart, NOT to do this. I want to remain open to both the historical facts of christian history, and the reality of God's Spirit moving with power through His church (all of it...all forms and models of it) right up to this very day.

PERSONAL PERSPECTIVES
I have parents in the modern church form. I have great friends and colleagues in the "constantinian" form of church. Some of these friends, and my parents, are reading this email newsletter. The last thing I want to do is to insult them or make enemies with these dearest of friends and family.

What I am trying to do here is to share with everyone what I'm learning, what I'm reading, what I sense God saying to me about house church. I believe that House Church is not for everyone. I'm not arguing for all of us to tear down the traditional church model. I believe God is still madly in love with His Bride as it exists in this form, and as it has existed in this
form for thousands of years.

But...gee...wouldn't you want to know about how this one guy (Constantine) shaped our christian history and practice? How he never really converted to Christianity at all and yet how our traditions have been tainted by his influence? It's seriously fascinating, and troubling to me.

What do we do about this? I don't know.

SO WHAT?
As I said in my previous email article, I'm asking myself if I can just learn about this, accept it as fact, and then just go, "So What?" and let it go.

People who don't go to house church are not evil. People in the house church aren't smarter or more holy or spiritual. We're all honestly following Jesus the best we know how.

But I would hope we would all be willing to just take a look at the stuff I've shared and take it at face value. You don't have to agree with me. That's cool. But I do feel the need to defend myself and make it clear that I'm not calling for an end to the organized church. What I am doing is to ask hard questions, share my personal misgivings, and offer up my
perspective, and my personal decisions about what I'm learning, with others.

I'm more than willing to be questioned, and rebuked, by anyone on this point. Some of my friends and fellow pastors have dialoged with me about my comments, and it's been helpful to me.

(sorry to ramble on and on here...almost done..)

What I didn't share in the last email was that I realize that what I want to be is a reformer of modern christianity, not a revolutionary. I don't want to argue. I don't want to fight. But I do hope to ask good questions and share some of my perspective with others and pray that God does the rest to reform His Bride in the areas He wants to do this.

I'm honestly trying to walk out this paragraph above.

FINAL THOUGHTS
So, as I consider these thoughts, and I struggle internally with what to do about these thoughts and ideas, I think I have come to a few conclusions...(for those of you still reading this monologue):

1) I need to focus on the postive experiences I've had in our House Church more than I spend any more time criticizing the modern church.

2) I need to emphasize that the Church is more about who we are as followers of Jesus and less about where we meet or how we go about worship. This is a core conviction of mine and I realize that some of my ramblings on Constantine start to undermine this key point. "We are the Church. Church is not a place you go to for a meeting. We need to BE the Church, not attend one."

3) While I feel that Constantine screwed up the Church in many ways, God is the one who has allowed this and has redeemed this structure and form for His Glory. God has the last laugh. Seventeen hundred years later, God has a Bride that has emerged victorious, in spite of the clothes that Constantine has put on her. One day Christ will give Her a new robe, a wedding gown of pure white and nothing any man does will change that inevitable truth.

4) I'm still learning. I can be wrong. I might not have it all together myself. Just a few months ago I was blissfully ignorant of these unsettling thoughts and God loved me as much then as He does now.

5) This blog entry is way too long.

Thanks for reading.

peas,
kg

CLOSED DOORS, OPEN WINDOWS

CLOSED DOORS, OPEN WINDOWS
By Keith Giles

Yesterday I had one of those days that you anticipate with dread.

Wendy and I have been slowly transitioning out of the church we had helped to plant in Tustin over three years ago. Since October of last year we have been meeting with our friends and fellow pastors about feeling called to leave and start a new church elsewhere.

The journey itself has been a painful one. Saying goodbye, asserting your convictions, standing for what God has called you to do, and defending your vision is always difficult when those who disagree with you are your brothers and sisters in Christ.

All in all, this could have been worse. As painful as this process has been for our family, and for those who remain behind at the church, God’s grace has been sufficient to sustain our friendships, and to maintain our fellowship.

For the last five months my family has been continuing to serve in the elementary class we started called “Kids Rock”, training new teachers, handing over responsibility and becoming advisors rather than leaders in a ministry we dearly love, for children we have pastored for three years.

Yesterday was our last Sunday. We had agreed upon the date of March 5th as our final Sunday in attendance.

We had been dreading the goodbye, and especially the pain of closing the doors. Even though we know we’ll still see many of our friends again, and we aren’t moving away, the process of saying goodbye itself is most painful, especially when so many of our friends still don’t understand why we’re leaving and don’t support what we’re doing now.

But God has a way of healing wounds and mending hearts.


As a tribute of sorts, they had put together a short video collage. Thankfully, the video was brief, and even humorous at times, but we still cried. Wendy and I were invited up front, along with our two boys, and the entire pastoral staff laid hands on us and prayed a blessing over us, to send us out in our new, strange, ministry of house church.

After this blessing, they presented us with a baseball bat which had been signed by everyone in the church, encouraging us to “step up and swing the bat” for the King in all that we do.

I prayed over the elementary children, one last time, and then we went out with them for our final class together. The Kids Rock class itself was great. Wendy and I had a great time with the kids, and there were no tears (thankfully) as we gave our final lesson.

After church we took the kids to the Pizza Party, and then over to a friend’s house for a Baptism.

My final day at this church, I stood in the hot tub, side by side with my Pastor and friend, Robert Crabbe, and together we baptized a little boy from our Kids Rock class, a little girl whose family we met while ministering at the motel in Santa Ana, and an older gentleman who had never been baptized in his life, even though he had served the Lord faithfully for many years.

Afterwards, as we stood waist deep in the warm water, Robert and I were able to talk, and to share about these last few months of transition, about the pain, and the tears, and the way God had held things between us together for His Glory, and His Purpose. In that moment, there was healing, and an agape kind of love for my brother in Christ that transcends words. It was a sweet moment of grace between the two of us that only God could have orchestrated.

After all the disagreements, after all the pain of tearing ourselves away from our friends and church family to launch out into the unknown, there was something healing about doing the work of the Kingdom alongside my brother in Christ that last day. In the act of initiating these few children into the family of God, Robert and I became brothers again. Our differences faded into the background for those few moments, and our words lost all value and meaning in the simple obedience of baptism.

I am thankful for the time we spent at The River, serving the poor, teaching the children, and sharing our lives with the good people there. I’m grateful that we’ve been part of the legacy of this church in these areas of compassion and ministry to children, and to know that these ministries will continue under new and capable leaders.

Planting a church like this one has been one of the most dynamic and spiritually stimulating experiences of my life. In truth, it has been a sort of laboratory where I’ve been free to try new things, dream big, and lead others in the kind of Christianity I’d only dreamed of before. I’ll never forget my time in this church.

Now, we turn our full attention towards the work of God at The Mission, the small house church that meets weekly in our home. This is our new adventure. This is the next laboratory of the Spirit for us to discover more of Him, walk deeper into the Kingdom, and become more like Jesus in the process.

Wendy and I take strength from the experiences of serving at The River and set our hearts toward the new thing that God is doing in our family, for His Glory.

God has been so faithful to us, opening a window for us, even as he closes a door. We know that He has so much more in store as we continue serving Him and seeking His face.

ENGAGE- WEBSITE NOW LIVE

Hey everyone, be sure to go and check out the awesome website for ENGAGE that my buddy Lito did in about 5 hours time.

SOUL SURVIVOR PRESENTS: ENGAGE- APRIL 22, 2006
WITH DAVID RUIS and others

http://www.soulsurvivorusa.com/engage/

EARLY-BIRD Tickets are just $15 while they last, and then they go up to $25, so hurry!

Peace,
kg

TWO OR MORE

TWO OR MORE by Keith Giles

Last Thursday Wendy and I attended a Teen Challenge Graduation Ceremony in Santa Ana.

We arrived early, got to meet a few people, and sat back as the flurry of activity took place around us while the team was setting up for the celebration.

They set up tables, chairs, and laid out food and drinks for everyone to share after the ceremony. They practiced their worship songs and ran off copies of the program and lyric sheets for all who would soon arrive.

Finally the guests were all congregating around the makeshift sanctuary, which was a converted two car garage, complete with the large door which remained raised so that people could make their way inside and find a seat.

We opened with prayer and a few wonderful songs of worship, lead by the Director of Teen Challenge himself, Ron Brown, on the piano. His gospel-themed style of piano and singing made us all feel that we were at a Sunday Morning church service, rather than in a converted garage in the poor side of Santa Ana.

After the worship time, Ron got up and introduced me. I gave a short message on The Power Of Weakness, looking at King David, Samson and Gideon as examples of how God looks for and seeks out the most ordinary and simple of people to accomplish His amazing work on Earth.

The most surprising miracle was that I managed somehow to deliver the message in exactly 20 minutes. No one was more stunned than I was.

Next came the real blessing. The Graduates of the 4 month program were to be honored for completing their initial stages of sobriety. One by one they were brought up to the front and given a blessing and a word of encouragement by their counselors for the hard work they had done in successfully completing the program.

Everyone was in tears by the end.

But what God most dearly blessed us with on this day was something very simple and sweet.

The good people at Teen Challenge had spent all this time and energy putting on this Ceremony, and about 50 people went out of their way to drive out and attend this graduation service, for just two men.

That's right. Only two men graduated this day from the 4 month program.

On the drive home, Wendy and I were marveling that this ministry would have such an amazing heart to stage such an event in order to honor just two people.

"Would we do that?" Wendy asked out loud in the car.

I wondered that also.

And then God did something kind of sneaky.

That night, as we prepared our dish for our Thursday night house church meeting, only two people were there. I was very disappointed by this. We held hands to pray and bless our food and I held back a sadness in my heart at my apparent failure to attract and minister to more than two people, one of whom was my sister-in-law.

We ate our dinner together, we talked about life, we shared a bit. But inside I was squirming. I felt like going into my bedroom and hiding away.

Then, one other person showed up.

Still, I felt embarrased. Now this person realized what everyone must already know, that I was a failure. Our house church was a failure. Maybe we really were foolish to think that this sort of thing would ever fly in Orange County?

We finished dinner and sat down to share together what God had been speaking to us this week. As we shared, another person showed up.

I felt a little better. At least now we had four people, and including my family that made eight. Maybe this wasn't so bad after all?

That was when Wendy shared with the rest of us how blessed she was at this morning's Teen Challenge ceremony. How blessed she was that they would do for only two people what most of us would only do for ten or twenty.

That's when the Holy Spirit kicked me in the teeth.

"Would you do that?"

Well...would I?

Suddenly the lights came on. I realized that God had deliberately used this morning's experience at Teen Challenge to show me how to operate in the Kingdom.

Even God Himself, the Creator of the Universe, isn't too important or busy to show up for two people. "Where two or more are gathered, there I am in the midst of them." Why should I treat people any differently?

Now I realize that I was more concerned about my own reputation than I was about honoring and serving the people of God.

I wanted those who have mocked us and put us down for taking this step into the house church model to hear about a "successful" and "growing" meeting in our home. Even though personally I do not equate bigness with success, and I don't personally believe that "growth" equals "depth", I know that those who judge us and criticize us really do draw those parrallels, and I wanted to look good in their eyes.

So, I had to repent. And I do this now, in full view of all men. I repent of my own pride. I repent for wanting to please men rather than to please God. I repent for playing along with those who say that large gatherings equal success and continual growth equals spiritual maturity.

Tonight, our house church meets again in our home.

Whether we have one, or two, or even if our family is the only one in attendance. We will have church. We will invite the Holy Spirit. We will worship God and we will read the Scriptures together and take strength from God's Word and His prescence with us.

I remind myself again, "We are the Church. Wherever we are, there is the Church. Whatever we are doing, this is what the Church is doing."

I repent.
kg

Small Requests

Hey guys,

Just wanted to ask for a prayer from you about a message I'll be giving tomorrow morning (Thursday) at 9am.

I'm speaking a Teen Challenge graduation ceremony in Santa Ana, California. This is a class of students who have graduated from their 90 day addiction recovery program.

Pray for me, please, that God would speak through me to encourage these guys and gals. Pray that God would bless them and that I would share only what is on God's heart for them.


ARTICLE ALERT:

I've got 2 new articles online right now.

BBQ WAFFLES is online now at SEED STORIES:
http://www.seedstories.com/main.cfm

CONVERSATIO MOREM! is online now at CMA RESOURCES
http://www.cmaresources.org/

Go check'em out!

Thanks!

Keith
www.keithgiles.com

ENGAGE- "GET OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE"- APRIL 22ND, 2006

SOUL SURVIVOR PRESENTS: "ENGAGE" APRIL 22, 2006
(Get Out Of Your Comfort Zone)
With David Ruis and others.

Hey guys, we're taking registrations now for the Soul Survivor ENGAGE conference on April 22nd now.

The basic info is up now:
www.soulsurvivorusa.com

The first 20 people who register can get in for just $15 each!

After that it's just $25 per person.

The theme of the event is "Get Out Of Your Comfort Zone" and this will be a one-day Saturday conference to explore the Biblical connection between Worship and Justice.

Our main host is David Ruis, and this other guy Keith Giles...some of you may know him.

WORSHIP SERVICE:
The conference will also feature interactive artistic elements, workshops, and a 2 hour "Worship Service" where we let our Worship be our Service to the poor in the community.

TAKE THE CHALLENGE:
For those brave enough, we're offering a "Missionary Challenge" track where people can sign up to go on a "Mission" into the culture to engage the poor, BEFORE the event even begins! Those "Missionaries" will then have a "Debrief Session" at the event where they can share their experiences and testimonies with each other.

Hope you can all make it out!

Peace,
kg
www.keithgiles.com

RELATIONSHIP FACTOR

Poverty: The Relationship Factor by Keith Giles

One thing I’ve had to learn about working with the poor is that it’s not about “fixing them”, instead, it’s more about the relationship.

When I first began working in the motel over in Santa Ana, my vision was grand. We were going to start regular Bible Studies, share meals, worship together and see powerful conversions, healings, deliverance and eventually convert the entire motel into a satellite service of our own Church.

God had other plans.

Instead, as we began to host monthly carnivals for the children of the motel, God started high-lighting one particular family to me. We were involved with serving several families at this motel, but one in particular stood out in our hearts and minds, as if God had put a spotlight on them for us and said, “Love these above all”.

So, we started to intentionally befriend his family. I took time to drive Mike all around Orange County so he could find an apartment through the Section 8 program for those who need housing assistance. We prayed together, searched the internet together, drove all over the county, looked at apartments together, filled out applications, met with managers, and the usual stuff, for several weeks. All for nothing.

Mike’s frustration was my own. We kept praying. We had them over for lunch after church. We watched movies together. We befriended them.

Soon I began to realize that this was really the whole point of this Compassion Ministry. It was not about the program, or the activity, or the resources we could offer these families as much as it was about really allowing their lives to intertwine with our own lives.

As this began to occur, I realized that it was I who was being changed, healed, and blessed.

That’s the paradox of this ministry. No matter how much food we give away, no matter how much resource or blessing we give, I always walk away feeling guilty. I used to wonder about that. I used to think it was because we didn’t do enough. Even though I knew in my mind that this wasn’t true, that we had actually brought a significant material blessing, something still felt “unequal” in the transaction for me.

That’s when I figured out that it was because we were taking away a blessing that was always greater, in the Spirit, than anything we could ever hope to provide out of our own material resources.

We’re the ones who got blessed.

And that’s why I think God said that “..the poor you will always have with you”, because He knew that we needed them. We have so much we can learn from them, and there’s so much we can’t ever get about the Kingdom without interaction with the poor.

So far, what I’ve learned is the true meaning of courage, of sharing, and of love.

Want to know what courage is? It’s a man who suffers the indignity of raising a family in a one-room motel, full of prostitutes, drug dealers and the mentally ill, and who stands by his wife and children with his head held high.

Want to know what sharing is? It’s a seventy year old woman with an infection in her leg who can’t afford to buy groceries, or insurance, who gives away the food you just gave her to a total stranger who is walking by and asks for help.

Want to know what love is? It’s a family living in a motel room that they can barely afford who allows a friend to sleep on their bed, rent free, while they sleep on the floor, knowing full well that if the manager discovered this guest they’d all be thrown out on the street.

Love is a when a couple who once lived on the streets gets their own apartment after years of struggle, who brings in total strangers off the streets to sleep on their couch, so that they can help them get jobs, get their State ID Card, get into Job Corps, and get off the streets.

Before this, I didn’t really know the fullness of the meaning of these words, and I could never have discovered this in a text book, or in an article like this one. It’s the sort of thing you only really learn as you live it out firsthand.

This is why I’m so eager to share this with others. There’s a whole world of things that God wants to show us and teach us, if we’ll just obey Him in this one thing; to love and care for the poor around us.

The Holy Spirit is always trying to get us into relationship, because it’s in relationship with others that He can move and teach and transform us into the image of Jesus.

Kg

GRACE VS WORKS by Keith Giles

GRACE VS WORKS by Keith Giles

I'm fascinated with how the proliferation of the "Easy Grace" version of the Gospel has corrupted our understanding of actually "Following Jesus".

If we're all saved anyway, why fast? Why die to ourselves? Why suffer here in this life? If you do those things and I don't, but we both still go to heaven, why bother?

The warped idea that because we're saved by Grace we therefore shouldn't actually follow Jesus is absurd...and directly in opposition to the words of our Lord Himself.

"If anyone would come after me let him take up his cross daily and follow me"-Jesus

"Not everyone who says to me 'Lord, Lord' will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father in Heaven." - Jesus


Want a shock? Read Ephesians 2:8-10. This is where Paul unloads the idea that we're saved by Grace "...and not of ourselves lest any man should boast", however, if you read the very next verse he says, "...saved by Grace TO DO GOOD WORKS.."

How about that? The ideas of Grace and Works really do go hand in hand!

Again, we are totally saved by Grace, no question about it. But as Dallas Willard says, "Grace is not opposed to effort".

The area where we've gotten so confused is in understanding that, just because works won't save us, that doesn't mean that works are bad. It just means we need to have a correct understanding of the idea of service.

Jesus says in Matthew 4 "..Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only."

Service and worship are linked together. Worship is more than singing songs and crying and jumping up and down to declare with your lips that God is good. It's also, Biblically, about surrendering your whole life to God (Romans 12), and about caring for the poor (Amos 5, Isaiah 58, James 2:14, 1 John 3:17-18, etc.), and about obedience to God and to Jesus' words (John 14:15; Matthew 7:24, etc.).

Works are what actual saved people do gladly. See Matthew 25 for a great proof text.

Here's my analogy: "If you swim all day, you will not become a fish. But if you are a fish, you will swim."

Translation: "If you're actually transformed into a new creature (by Grace), then you will do what a transformed creature does (Obey the Lord you love and serve Him)".

Jesus didn't submit himself to become a baby in the hay, endure the hardships of life, suffer under the Romans, endure whipping, beating, torture and mocking, even death on a cross just so you and I could sit on the couch and watch "American Idol".

He saved us to allow us to be living testimonies of His Grace, not idle recepticles of this amazing love for a private collection.

God help me to live this out!

Wendy and I are called to be missional in our community, and to the world around us, but we both realize it doesn't come natural to us. We're totally throwing ourselves on His mercy, on His Grace, to somehow live in this "Jesus kind of way".

God opposes the proud, but He gives Grace to the humble.

Praise His Holy Name for that.

JOIN THE UNDERGROUND

STATUS REPORT: "THE MISSION"

Last Thursday evening Wendy and I hosted our first "Interest Meeting" for the new house church called "The Mission".

We had around 14 people RSVP'd for the evening, and there were 2 others who surprised us (in a good way) when they showed up too.

The evening was very sweet. Wendy and I took turns sharing how we arrived at the House Chuch model, explained our vision for the group and how our goal is to let the Holy Spirit be our leader and our most important member.

What was most surprising to us was how effortlessly we shifted from talking about how we wanted to operate into actually just spontaneously moving with the Spirit into sharing, caring, and praying together. Even as I was becoming aware of it I could only marvel at the phenomenon and smile.

There seemed to be an almost unconscious assumption among us that we were already the church and the formality of saying it out loud became unnecessary.

Still, as a pessimist at heart, I have to reserve my presumption that everyone who attended this meeting will return and become part of the regular weekly meetings of "The Mission". Only time will tell who is genuinely called to this way of being church.

We asked each person to take the entire next week to pray and ask for God's direction and guidance about whether they are called to this way of church or not. We recognize that this isn't for everyone and it's very important to us (Wendy and I) that only those whom God calls actually become one with us in this endeavor.

In just the last few days there have been several other people who have also expressed interest in coming to see what we're doing and to pray about whether they might also be called to this.

So, we're trusting God to build His Church, as He promised He would. We're committed to allowing The Holy Spirit to be the leader, founder and inspiration for this Church.

This is all in His capable hands.

Our first official meeting will be Feb.2nd, 2006.

I can't wait.

GOING ABOVE GROUND

In order to be subversive, sometimes you have to go above ground with your message.

Here are two recent transmissions to the masses:
(you'll have to cut and paste these links, sorry I'm html challenged)

WHAT IF? by Keith Giles
(an article posted on the Ooze' 'SEED STORIES' website for emerging church planters)
http://www.seedstories.com/articles/article.cfm?id=18

I AM A CHRISTIAN ACTIVIST (the podcast version)
I've recently become an assistant pastor at Soul Survivor's congregation in Costa Mesa and they have podcasted my message from Sunday evening. You can download it here (if you have ITunes):
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=117593278&s
=143441
*MY SPIRITUAL JOURNEY is the title they gave my message. It's a testimonial of sorts about God's hand in my life and a statement at the end about who I am and my personal manifesto.

ENJOY!

LIVING STONES

Just last night it occured to me that the early Christian Church (from Acts to the first 300 years of History) never used property or land for a building or a facility so that they could stop meeting in those house churches.

In fact, we do know from the book of Acts that the early church did receive property and land all the time. If they had wanted to use this land to build a large facility where people could meet, they certainly could have done so. At least we do know that they had the opportunity.

Instead, they consistently sold the property and gave all of it to the poor.

In 300 years of church history, beginning with the Biblical, New Testament Church itself, we never see the church using property, funds or resources for the building of their own empire.

They were interested in compassion, in the building of the Kingdom and in serving the least and the lost around them.

Just interesting to me....

THE MISSION: DAY ZERO

Today is Tuesday, January 17th. In two more days we will host our first "Interest Meeting" for our new house church, The Mission.

Right now we have around 10 people who have RSVP'd and some are bringing friends along with them who are interested or curious about the house church model.

I'm trying to organize my thoughts, think of how best to describe just what a house church is, and in some ways, trying to think of ways to creatively talk people out of joining us.

Yes, that's right. I'm subconsciously trying to think of ways to convince people that this isn't really what they're looking for.

I think the reason why is that most people don't really know what they're getting into. I'll do my best to make it as clear as possible what this will be, and what it will not be, but I know that inevitably some will come along for all the wrong reasons.

Some are coming because they like us, they love our family, they want to support us, etc. This is awesome, and we're grateful, but for this house church to become what it must become, we really need people who are committed to the house church and who are going to be excited about doing church (or "being church") this way.

So, what this will not be is a home group. Although there will be at times elements of this group that resemble a home group such as worship time, fellowship, a short Bible study, etc., this is not a home group.

This is also not about taking what happens in a traditional church on Sunday morning and creating a micro version of it in our living room each week. We will not have an emphasis on a select few leaders and a larger group of followers. We are all followers, and we are all leaders.

See? I told you it's not something that we intuitively understand in today's culture.

I'll do my best on Thursday night to explain our vision for the church, to describe in detail the sorts of things we will be engaging in for the house church meetings, and hopefully inspire some good questions from the group about what the heck I'm talking about.

Last night I sat and read a chapter in "The Church Comes Home" about how to begin a house church. It talked about what to do and what not to do. It gave excellent examples of how the group should organically develop over time, how the first few meetings should differ from the later meetings, and then how the mature group should shift focus and begin really taking form.

Part of me is terrified. I've never done this. It is so far outside my comfort zone that I tend to want to grasp at those systems and patterns that I am so used to operating in, but if I do that then I short circuit what the house church is really meant to be.

I'm realizing that the most important member of our house church is the Holy Spirit. He needs to be at every meeting. He needs to have the complete freedom to speak, to encourage, to rebuke, to move and to, in fact, lead this group where it should go. I am the co-pilot, if that. He, the Holy Spirit, is the One who must build this Church, His Church, and lead it where it should grow.

Maybe my fears are centered here. I must be comfortable with being out of control. I must make it my practice, as the leader, to lead in a way that I have almost never observed anyone else leading before; with a "hands-off" approach and the courage to allow the Holy Spirit to have His way, no matter what.

So, I welcome your prayers for this endeavor. I know that the Enemy hates the Church, and I know that the opposition to something intended to be as pure and as Biblically-based as this will be great.

"Your mission, should you decide to accept it...."

BEEP

A BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE ON POVERTY

In my last [subversive underground] e-newsletter, I referenced a story I had read on MSN about how the poor in American aren't really poor because they have color tvs, microwaves, refrigerators, etc.

My reaction to this, in the article I sent out to everyone, was centered on how the article really had no intention of dealing with the very real problem of poverty in America, but was more about justifying our own apathy towards the poor who live among us because, "Hey, they're not as poor as those in Mexico or India, etc.".

I actually got several great responses from people on the list (which is the cool thing about the e-newsletter format...people can talk back!) and so I had to expand on my thoughts and really dig down on this issue of poverty in America and our Biblical mandate to respond.

Here's a little of what I sent out to those who responded:


I guess what I was saying about the article was that it really wasn't trying to actually deal with the very real problem of poverty in America. It was actually trying to make us feel better for not helping at all because "they're not REALLY poor".

Secondly, and mainly, I'm trying to say that there's a Biblical difference between the poor in another country and "our poor". The poor in India, Mexico, Ethiopa, etc. are seriously, desperately poor. No one argues that. This is why I'm on the board of Arms of Love (armsoflove.org), a ministry that builds orphanages in the poorest nations of the world to provide homes for street children who live in the city dumps and are forced into prostitution, etc. I'm not saying don't help the poor "out there".

But the poor in your city, in my city, down the street from me, they are "our poor". What we're called to do, Biblically, is to do something about it. Not to solve poverty. Not to cure it. Not to erase poverty forever, but to do what we can to help a few, in the name of Jesus and with the compassion of Jesus.

The quote from Jesus in Matthew about "the poor you will always have with you" was Jesus referencing Deuteronomy 15:7-11. You should seriously read this passage. The point is that God, the Father, is commanding the Jews to not have a hard heart or a closed fist towards the poor, the stranger, etc., but to give generously, freely to the poor among them. At the end of the passage, God say, "There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land."

That's what Jesus means when he says what he does in Matthew. He is not suggesting that, since we'll always have the poor with us, why bother?

Read Matthew 25. At the Judgement Seat of Christ the one criteria is whether or not those who call him "Lord" had any regard for the poor, the hungry, the thirsty, the homeless, the prisoner. The Sheep almost unconsciously care for these poor, not because they think it will get them into Heaven, but simply because they have genuinely been transformed into the people of God. The Goats, who also call Him "Lord", have the same unconscious attitude, but towards the existence of the poor or their needs.

The people of God, redeemed by the Blood, saved by Grace, seem to have an inability to walk past someone who is naked, poor, hungry, thirsty, lonely, etc. and do nothing. They cannot do that. It's not in their new nature.

We have a Biblical mandate (and it's alllll over the Scripture, both Old and New) to care for the poor..."our poor"...and that takes more than writing a check.

Again, this is my very biased conviction. I've been hammered by God on this issue and I cannot let it go because it won't let me go.

Do you know what the sin of Sodom is? Read Ezekiel 16: 49. It's not what you think.

"Now this is the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were proud and did detestable things before me. Therefore, I did away with them as you have seen."

Wow.

How about this one?

Galatians 2:10- "All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do."

(Paul's response after being sent out as the first missionary by Peter, James and John).

or...

{God is speaking of King Josiah:}
"He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?" (Jeremiah 22:16)

Wow.

"Is that not what it means to know me?"

What does it mean to "Know" God? This verse suggests that it means to care for the poor and the needy.

and of course we could also look at, Isaiah 58:6-7, Amos 5:21-24, 1 John 3:17-18, James 2:14-17, etc., etc.

I just wanted, in the article, to make the point that God has called us to care for the poor, not to justify their poverty or our lack of compassion by comparing them to the "actual poor" in Third World countries.

Still, I'm new to this whole thing. I'm still trying to work out my own calling in this area too.

Thanks for letting me rant.

2005- the year in retrospect

This year was certainly one of the most challenging ones our family has had to face.

The sheer variety of tests and trials we endured were also significant.

We suffered through a miscarriage, loss of income, had shake-ups at church, went through a move and a house search, had to say goodbye to dear friends, and went through some times of poor health (without any health insurance).

Still, we've grown so much. We've learned more about what it means to walk by faith and not by sight.

Most of us go out of our way to avoid situations where we don't have control and don't know the outcome for certain. This is why God forces us into these sorts of tests so that we can walk by faith and not by sight.

God loves it when we keep our eyes focused on Him. He loves it when we put all of our trust in His providence and when we have nothing else but Him to lean on, or depend on, or place our hope in.

He really does love it.

As we look forward to 2006, we still hope and pray that it will involve much less adventure. We do not want to move again anytime soon, or change jobs, or have to receive money from anonymous donors to pay our bills, or suffer through sickness or a miscarriage, or say goodbye to any more of our friends.

But, this is life. Life is unpredictable. Things change. People die and move on. All things are temporal We ourselves are mortal. Everything is in flux. Nothing is certain.

We lift our heads and place our hands into the hands of God, one more time.

2006, here we come!