THE GOSPEL: FOR HERE OR TO GO?

I've written a six-part series called "The Gospel: For Here Or To Go?" based on the workshop I did at Soul Survivor's MOMENTUM '06 Conference last month.

The articles deal with our calling to be missionaries into our culture, various methods towards an evangelistic lifestyle, the difference between conversion and discipleship, etc.

Part one is online now at GINKWORLD (http://www.ginkworld.net) and the entire six-part series will run every two weeks. I invite you to go check it out and to leave any comments about the articles here or on the Ginkworld boards.

ALSO: If you'd like to read these articles before they publish online be sure to subscribe to the [SUBVERSIVE UNDERGROUND], my free, weekly e-newsletter. I will send out one part every week (not every 2 weeks like on Ginkworld), so you faithful subscribers can read it before anyone else does.

TO SUBSCRIBE: Click on the link at the lower left "JOIN THE [SUBVERSIVE UNDERGROUND]" and add your email to the list. It's that easy!

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VISION: I am currently looking for a new full-time job and as part of this process I've been thinking pretty hard about my personal calling, vision and mission. Here's what I think God is saying to me:

1) The Mission: Our house church which meets every Thursday night is a big priority for our family. This is where we feel called to serve and to fellowship. It's out of these conversations and experiences that we will draw strength and direction for future service and ministry.

2) Writing: I have felt, more and more, the calling to write. This is why I have this website. This is why I'm sending articles to six or seven different web-zines. This is why I'm sending out a weekly e-newsletter. I feel called to write. Honestly, I am not sure exactly what the fruit of all of this writing might be, but I know I have to be obedient to this calling.

3) Kid's Club: Wendy and I (and our two boys) are starting a neighborhood outreach to the kids on our street starting TOMORROW!! We have felt all along that God called us specifically to this exact house and to minister the Gospel to these specific families here. After our 5 week series on "Jesus" is done, we're praying that God would open doors of relationship and fellowship with each of the families here so that we might start a Sunday Morning house church group on our block.

4) Motel Ministry: For about 3 years now my family has been serving the families at the California Studio Inn in Santa Ana. Thousands of homeless families in Orange County have jobs and steady income but cannot afford an apartment or a house. Their only option is to live in their car or raise a family in a motel for $275 a week. We've built steady and meaningful friendships with several families in this motel and we're excited about inviting our "Mission" house church group to join us for future ministry there.

5) House Church Network: After meeting with Ken Eastburn (The Well OC) and Neil Cole (CMA Resources), and others locally I sense that God is calling me to do something in the OC area for other house church leaders/pastors. If nothing else I want to find a way to gather these guys and gals together and pray with them, get to know them, encourage them and share ideas. Maybe that's all it will be, or maybe it could turn into something more? We'll see...

6) Ministry To Prostitutes: Honestly, this is the biggest "outside my comfort zone" ministry I've ever known. If nothing else I feel called to help others launch an OC ministry or non-profit resource to help these girls who are trapped in a dead-end lifestyle. I need to connect with L.A. ministries such as The Dream Center and Children Of The Night to see what can be duplicated for an organization here in the OC.

7) Book Projects: I'm nearly finished with my first little booklet "The Power of Weakness", and I also want to compile some of my past articles and interviews into other books for sale online as self-published works and/or to pitch them to publishers I have a built-in relationship with such as Gospel Light/Regal Books and Relevant Books. Either way I will publish these books. I've also been looking into the concept of self-publishing PDF versions of my books for $10 each as a downloadable file here on the website. Either way, I want to make this "next step" with my writing and start publishing books.

So...as I look at the second half of 2006, these are the areas I feel God has called me to focus on and to step out in faith to follow Him.

Thanks for your prayers!

Peace,
Keith

WOW!!

I can't believe this, but ALLELON.org just published one of my articles!

"Less Is More" is online now
http://www.allelon.org/main.cfm

*These guys publish stuff by Dallas Willard, Brian McLaren, etc. and now they've published one of my articles too?! What the...?

I've also got a smattering of articles published at places like

Next-Wave magazine:
http://www.the-next-wave-ezine.info/issue90/

TITLE: "Jesus Is A Verb"
*(and soon "BBQ Waffles?" in the July issue)

at Ginkworld.net:
TITLE: "Poverty Light"
AND: "Poverty & Relationships"

theemerge.com:
TITLE: "Conversatio Morem!"

and seedstories.com
TITLE: "What's Wrong With This Picture?"
AND: "Light VS Heat"
etc..

THE PLAN:
My very intentional goal is to have revolving articles posted online in as many emerging/church-planting internet magazines as possible.

A brand-new six part series called "The Gospel: For Here Or To Go?" will begin posting over at Ginkworld.net starting in the next few weeks. Subscribers to the [SUBVERSIVE UNDERGROUND] newsletter will get to read these in advance of the online publication, so if you don't want to wait, be sure to subscribe to the free e-newsletter at the link on the lower left.

THE BOOK(S):
Right now I'm working on my book, "The Power Of Weakness" (only 3 chapters to finish up!), and contemplating a collection of my previous articles into a much larger print version which would compile all of them into sections like "Compassion", "The Kingdom", "House Church", and "Spiritual Development". Volume 2 of this same collection would compile all of my interviews from the Relevant Magazine series called "Subversive" where I talked with Dallas Willard, Todd Hunter, Matt Redman, Tim Hughes, and several others. Already have a groovy title for that one in the bag. Just need the time and the cash to get these printed up. Possibly considering a pdf book version of each of these to sell online here also.

More later...
kg

HOUSE CHURCH ARTICLE ROUND-UP

After several comments from various people about my house church experience, etc. I have compiled a list of articles found both on the [SUBVERSIVE UNDERGROUND] newsletters and also here on my website over the last four or five months.

Here's a list if you're feeling adventurous.

*FROM THE [SUBVERSIVE UNDERGROUND] ARCHIVES:

JOY (A report of what happens in our house church meetings)

BBQ WAFFLES? (If we want what they had, we have to do what they did)

WHAT IF? (What would happen if Church took place every single day?)

SUCCESS AND FAILURE (What dos "success" look like in the house church?)

STEP ONE

HOUSE (House church...not Biblical?)
http://subunderground.blogspot.com/2006/03/subversive-underground-house-by-keith.htm

MODELS (How important are models of doing/being church?)
http://subunderground.blogspot.com/2006/03/subversive-underground-models.html

FAILURE (God shows me my own hypocrisy in the middle of our house church meeting)
http://subunderground.blogspot.com/2006/05/subversive-underground-failure.html


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(FROM THE MAIN WEBSITE ARCHIVES)

DOWN RIVER (Leaving "The River" to enter "The Mission)
http://subversive1.blogspot.com/2005/11/down-river-by-keith-giles.html

TERTULLIAN'S WINDOW (A quote from Tertullian about early church life)
http://subversive1.blogspot.com/2005/11/tertullians-window.html

THE MISSION: OUR VISION AND VALUES (Our Vision and Values Statement at The Mission)
http://subversive1.blogspot.com/2005/10/mission-our-vision-our-values.html

THE MISSION- DAY ZERO (After our first interest meeting)
http://subversive1.blogspot.com/2006/01/status-report-mission.html

STATUS REPORT: THE MISSION
http://subversive1.blogspot.com/2006/01/status-report-mission.html

A WEDDING A WEEK? (The difference between a Wedding and Thanksgiving in terms of Community-Building)
http://subversive1.blogspot.com/2005/10/wedding-every-week-by-keith-giles.html

WHY THE HOUSE CHURCH? (A list of reasons why House Church makes sense)
http://subversive1.blogspot.com/2005/10/why-house-church.html

2 MORE REASONS WHY THE HOUSE CHURCH (nuff said)
http://subversive1.blogspot.com/2005/10/2-more-reasons-house-church.html

IN PRAISE OF THE LOCAL CHURCH (Keith eats crow!)
http://subversive1.blogspot.com/2005/12/in-praise-of-local-church-by-keith.html

APPLES AND ORANGES (The Goal of an Apple Tree is not to produce apples...)
http://subversive1.blogspot.com/2005/12/apples-and-oranges-by-keith-giles.html

LIVING STONES (A short note on how we, the people of God, are the Church)
http://subversive1.blogspot.com/2006/01/living-stones.html

TWO OR MORE (God teaches me another lesson in the house church)
http://subversive1.blogspot.com/2006/02/two-or-more.html

THE MISSION UPDATE- MARCH
http://subversive1.blogspot.com/2006/03/mission-update-march.html

CONSTANTINIAN FALL-OUT (this one has some negative and frustrating emotion in it, but it is valid to the discussion)
http://subversive1.blogspot.com/2006/03/constantinian-fall-out.html

CLOSED DOORS, OPEN WINDOWS (My experience leaving the traditional church and entering full-time house church)
http://www.seedstories.com/articles/article.cfm?id=35

THE EARLY CHURCH AND US (Excerpts from an excellent article by Ray Mayhew that helped formulate my calling into house church)
http://subversive1.blogspot.com/2005/08/early-church-and-us-excerpts.html

LIGHT VS HEAT (Reformation, not Revolution)
http://subversive1.blogspot.com/2006/04/light-vs-heat.html

TOMMY (A surprising story of compassion and mission on house church night)
http://www.seedstories.com/articles/article.cfm?id=44


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More on this later...
kg

CRY UNCLE!

Sorry I've been lax in posting here lately.

MOMENTUM 06 just wrapped late last night and in a few hours I'll hop on a borrowed RV with 7 others and head to Arizona for a six hour drive to launch our ROADSHOW with Mike Pilavachi.

Ugh.

I am so tired of this.

I miss my family. I miss "normal" (whatever that is).

Last night I realized that I have been enduring hardship for exactly a year (starting with last year's MOMENTUM conference where Wendy and I had just had a miscarriage a few days previous).

I'm ready for a season of not getting hit with a hammer. I want to pause this dull suffering and step into a stretch of time where He makes me lay down in green pastures and restores my soul.

When I was a kid my Dad and I would wrestle on the floor together. If he ever got me pinned in a way that I couldn't move or escape he would ask me to "Say Uncle" (meaning I give up the fight).

I feel like God and I are on the floor. We've been wrestling for a year now. I've been pinned and I'm trying to get up.

I say "Uncle".

I know a lot of what makes my situation more raw is the fact that I'm physically and emotionally exhausted right now. I just want to find a quiet place somewhere, preferably a soft, clean, King-sized placed with cotton sheets and my favorite pillow, and sleep for a week or so.

When you get exhausted and you endure the feeling for several days you begin to loose control of your emotions. Everything is either unbearably sad, or ridiculously funny, or entirely too difficult to even begin to attempt.

I'll be away from my family for another 2 days now. On the road with co-workers and friends. But under the stress of having to perform again, which is something I have learned to loathe (I mean "Performance").

If I could call a time-out about now, I would. If I could hit the pause button and retire to the sofa, I would.

But.....I can't...and that sucks.

CONVERSATIO MOREM (the PODCAST SERMON)

You've got the tattoo, you've ordered the t-shirt, now listen to the FREE PODCAST Sermon!

Here:

"CONVERSATIO MOREM" by Keith Giles PODCAST from Soul Survivor Church

HOUSE CHURCH IN WASHINGTON POST

GOING TO CHURCH BY STAYING AT HOME

Going to Church by Staying at Home
Clergy-Less Living Room Services Seen as a Growing Trend
By Michael Alison Chandler and Arianne Aryanpur
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, June 4, 2006; Page A12

After Sunday dinner at Joe Rodgers's Rockville home, guests adjourn to the living room for church.

In his makeshift chapel, wooden kitchen stools and a floral print couch act as pews, a portable keyboard substitutes for an organ and the host, an electronics technician by day, serves as pastor.
(MORE IN LINK ABOVE)

BRAIN DUMP

MINISTRY TO PROSTITUTES
So, last weekend I took a small group of people from Soul Survivor to the streets to minister to young prostitutes on Harbor blvd., but for some reason we only met one girl on Friday night and saw zero on Saturday morning. So, I guess we need to do some more research before we move ahead.

Two months ago there were around 8 to 10 girls out there on the same stretch of road, so it's a little confusing as to why things have changed in so short a time. Potentially it's because the issue is getting media attention now and this has caused Police to crack down more, chasing the girls somewhere else.

As I've researched this issue I've learned a lot about the problem of prostitution (more than I ever cared to know, trust me) and I can begin to see that the only way to really impact these girls and provide serious ministry to them involves setting up a complete ministry to them, not just a monthly service project.

For example, there are no ministries in Orange County (that I can find) set up to help these girls specifically. There's Teen Challenge with two women's homes about 50 to 70 miles away, but they are for girls with drug or alcohol dependency issues. They also only take interviews for potential residents to their program on Tuesdays at 9am, which is very inconvenient to a girl who is trapped in prostitution and wants out asap. Plus, Teen Challenge requires the girls be at least 18 and have a social security card and a driver's license, however many of these girls on the streets are under 18 and have no driver's license. Other girls are here illegally, some against their will, and have no social security card or license either.

It just seems ridiculous to me that we could find a girl who wants out of this oppressive lifestyle (prostitution) and if she's under 18, or never got a license, we have to say, "tough luck" and kick her back to the streets. That's not an option to me.

So, I'm learning that up the road in LA county there are a few ministries that do reach out specifically to prostitutes and under-age girls trapped in this lifestyle. One is The Dream Center and the other is Children Of The Night (which helps under age children of both sexes trapped in prostitution and living on the streets). I think I need to meet with these organizations and see what it would take to either set up OC versions of their ministries, or at least learn from them how to replicate what they do down here in Orange County.

This, of course, is bigger than any of us ever bargained for...and yet I do think that God really is calling us into this ministry. Especially since no one else here in Orange County is doing anything to reach out to these girls and offer real world solutions and assistance to them, in the name of Jesus.

Is that what I'm called to do? How much of a role do I take in setting this up? Am I only here to help someone else get it going?

I'm not sure yet.

HOUSE CHURCH UPDATE- "The Mission"
The last few weeks at house church have been so great. God has spoken to me in so many ways, and I am seeing Him work in our midst in amazing ways. I wish I could explain or describe all the nuances of what it's like to be in fellowship with other followers of Jesus, and AT THE SAME TIME to be in fellowship with the active presence of God in the form of The Holy Spirit, while He is moving and speaking and blessing and healing and ministering to each of us, through each of us. It's breath-taking. It's called "Koinonia" and it's real. I am so blessed by God that He has called us to this sort of community and faith in action and a life of faith that goes beyond "playing church".

Last night we had a smaller gathering as some of our brothers and sisters were on vacation or home sick or in meetings, etc. We enjoyed our evening meal together as usual, shared communion, worshipped in song and shared very openly and frankly together about our personal walk with Jesus. We sat there in my den and shared and prayed and talked and encouraged one another until 12am. No one wanted to leave. It was so, so sweet. I mean, there are seriously no words for me to express to you the intense love and mercy and "life of Jesus" that is present with us in those sorts of moments. It is something I have never experienced in my life before.

We spent a large portion of the evening encouraging one of our own dear sisters who has been dealing with bitterness and struggling with certain areas of her relationship with God, and also with the Church itself. I think it was one of the most earnest and open times of sharing we've ever done. At one point our sister said, "Thank you for not rushing over and trying to put me back in my little Christian box" (after she shared her struggles with us). It was great to talk openly with each other and share our own struggles and put to death the "performance" aspect of our faith, and to exchange that for honesty and real-world experience, peppered liberally with the Word of God, encouragement and prayer.

Sometimes all we need to do is shut up and listen. How often does that happen in most church meetings or gatherings?

Personally, I am liberated by the fact that our house church isn't built on me. I do not deliver the sermon or submit the Bible Study. We all come ready to share something equally. In fact, I think the group could easily go on and have a healthy, complete spiritual life without me. Because it's the Holy Spirit who leads this group, not me or anyone else. It's so refreshing to simply open my front door, invite people in to share a meal, pray for the Holy Spirit to have His way, and then actually allow Him to do just that. Imagine! What a concept.

THE MOVEMENT?
Earlier this week I met with a local house church network pastor who helped me to imagine how I might play a larger role in the OC house church movement. I've never thought of it before, honestly. But after meeting with this guy I started to pray about how God might want me to interact with other house church pastors here in Orange County. I started wondering about how I might encourage them, or learn from them, or help this guy (Ken Eastburn) as he tries to put together magazines or websites or area conferences/gatherings for other house church pastors and members.

I have to admit that as I meet more and more people who are doing this house church thing I am convinced beyond the shadow of a doubt that God is genuinely up to something. I call the house church thing a movement because I keep meeting people just like me who came into this thing as the result of God's specific calling, feeling that they were the only ones doing so, only to realize (after they'd taken the step of faith) that there were hundreds of others just like them who had heard the same calling and resonded in the same way.

This guy Ken also shared with me how he's met with regional denominational representatives from around the country who report that their traditional church-planting efforts are failing. How existing churches are dieing slowly, buildings sit empty or are sold to others to cash out their debts. But in the house church movement things are exploding. People who would never darken one of those church doors are open to sharing a meal and talking about Jesus with their neighbors.

The sad thing is that most pastors of traditional churches reject this movement because it threatens their own job security, or it questions their method, or it insults their tradition, etc. and so most of us who have left to follow God's calling to plant house churches are feeling left alone, rejected and "banished". This makes me realize the very real need to encourage other house church pastors and planters. Also because I see an alarming trend among house churches for bitterness towards those brothers and sisters who have rejected them. I firmly believe that this movement needs to take the high road, to forgive and to bless those who curse us...even our own brothers and sisters in the traditional church.

What I wish the traditional church could see is that, all that they need to do is to bless this. Supporting a house church movement doesn't involve spending one single dollar. House churces cost zero to build, promote or maintain, yet they offer so much of what is missing in the traditional church today. Community, fellowship, ministry of the Holy Spirit, Discipleship, lifestyle evangelism, hospitality, service to others, etc. are all natural byproducts of the house church. Why would you want to cut off your church from its own fruit? Even more, ask yourself what happens when you cut off all the fruit from a plant? Doesn't it stop producing fruit?

All that the traditional church would need to do would be to bless these house churches, meet once or twice a month with the pastors of these house churches and pray for them, encourage them, resource them. It would only cost the church one lunch special a month and a cup of coffee to say "Yes" to what the Holy Spirit is doing across this Nation.

I guess we can only pray that some pastors will decide to do this as we go forward.

More later.

Peas,
kg

MUSTARD HEART

Last night my wife Wendy was making lunches for our two boys, Dylan and David.

As I walked through the kitchen and saw her putting mustard on one of the sandwiches I noticed that the top section of bread had a mustard trail in the shape of a heart. The bottom piece of bread was a smiley face.

In my pessimism I asked her why she would go to the trouble of doing this when it was obvious they would never even look at the inside of the sandwich or notice this.

She looked at me sheepishly and smiled. "I don' t know," she said.

"Do you ever put those hearts on my sandwiches?" I asked her.

She reached over, unwrapped my sandwich and showed me the inside of my baloney sandwich. The mustard-shaped heart was a silent testimony of her love for me.

We both stood there with tears in our eyes and smiled at each other.

I am so very loved.

Just Added: New Dallas Willard Podcast

Just Added: New Dallas Willard Podcast on The Kingdom As Reality (see link below at lower left).

Great stuff!

Enjoy.

kg

YOUR POOR....

In preparing slides and researching texts for the recent ENGAGE '06 conference last month, I came cross this verse and this image, which together speaks volumes about how far the Church has come in America in regards to caring for the poor, the immigrant and the oppressed.

NEW ENGAGE '06 PODCASTS NOW UP

Hey, be sure to check out both morning and evening sessions of ENGAGE '06 podcasts featuring DAVID RUIS at the links below (lower left), and while you're at it, be sure to listen to the amazing DALLAS WILLARD message from the recent ALLELON Conference, also linked below...also free.

ENJOY!

kg

CONVERSATIO MOREM!

I can hardly believe this...but my friend KEITH SECKEL (see link to his blog under LINKS below) recently sent me this email about how he had been inspired by my article "Conversatio Morem!" and decided to get a tattoo of this message on the back of his neck (see the picture of said tattoo above).

wow.

I don't know what to say....has anyone else here tattooed themselves with any other phrases or ideas from my articles and columns?! I hesitate to ask...but, if you have, please let me know and I'll post the weirdness here.

This seriously does make me want to go ahead and create [subversive underground] t-shirts. It costs less than a tattoo, and it's painless!

more later..
kg

GREEN CARD

GREEN CARD by Keith Giles
(this article is now online at www.ginkworld.net)

Recently, I read an article where someone suggested that Churches should issue green cards to converts who are baptized in order to remind them that they are resident aliens in this World.

Jesus agreed with this idea of Christians as immigrants when he said, "My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it."
(John 17: 15-16)

We are not of the world, any more than Jesus was of it. So, why do we continue to live our lives as if this were our home?

Beyond the implications of what this verse suggests about our materialism, or our pursuit of fame, money or position, I am wondering about what this verse might mean in terms of our identity.

I am especially curious about how we fail to see ourselves in the plight of the current immigration reform debate that is currently raging in our own Nation. We are more like these resident aliens living here among us in the United States than we realize. So, why are we not out there marching alongside them, asking for them to be treated fairly and seen as worthy human beings who deserve the same chances we've been given?

Even if we weren't especially called to skip work and carry a sign in the park alongside the activists, what about simply praying for them? What about defending their position to those we call our friends? What about taking the time to identify with these fellow outcasts and unwanted immigrants?

Jesus told us, "If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you" (John 15:19).

This verse is especially troubling to me. It makes me ask myself, "Does the World hate me?" or even worse, "Do I hate the World?" Now, I don't mean "hate" in the sense that I should hate other people, but do I hate the system, the consumerism, the focus on the flesh rather than the spiritual?

"You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God." (James 4:4)

Do I love what God hates? Do I hate what He loves?

We, as followers of Jesus, should be comfortable among the the ranks of the misunderstood, the hated, the outcasts and the despised. We should go out of our way to embrace those who are, like us, always in the world but never of the world. That means the poor, the prostitutes, the unpopular, the prisoners, and yes, even the undocumented immigrant.

Welcome to the church. Do you have your Green Card?

Kg

HARDER THAN YOU THINK

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another"- JESUS (John 13:34-35)

I am learning that these words of Jesus are more difficult than we can imagine them to be.

At first, these look like simple commands. "Love each other? That's it? Ok, then..."

But walking out the reality of these words is so much more difficult, challenging and painful than it seems.

Honestly, I wish that Jesus had said, "They will know you are my disciples if you love the lost, the least, the broken and hurting in the world." For me, that would be much easier.

I can extend Grace and forgiveness to someone who is weak. I can overlook the faults of those who have never known Jesus or experienced His love. It's not so hard for me to love and embrace the ones who are in pain, or in need, or have experienced sorrow.

It's those Christians I can't stand.

Seriously, no one can wound you like a brother. No one can disappoint you like a pastor. No one can hurt you like someone you've trusted like a sister in Christ.

It's when your brother in Christ stabs you in the back that the words of Jesus take on new meaning.

It's when the Church you've been attending for years, and serving faithfully all the while, turns on you and begins to slander your name, or to mock you...that's when the full weight of the words of Jesus kick you in the teeth.

"A new command I give you."

Notice that it's not a suggestion. It's a command. Want to know why? Because he knew that it would be something so hard, so painful, that if he didn't command us to do it, we'd never take him seriously.

Until we learn to love our brothers, we'll never really know what it means to love our enemies. We'll never fully know what it is to offer compassion to the least and the lost and the poor and the broken.

First, we learn to love those brothers and sisters who have injured us. We forgive them while they smile and wear their masks and go on as if nothing has happened.

Lately, God has revealed to me the depth of my own hypocrisy. It's been painful, so very painful, and yet at the same time, it's a sweet thing to know that He loves me even though I look like this on the inside.

He's known I had this twisted side to my inner being now from the beginning and only now has He let me see it too.

I've been so judgemental of all those other Christians who don't value the poor the way I do. I've had contempt for those so-called followers of Jesus who leave their crosses at home, who embrace the easy grace version of the Gospel, who leave out the poor and the marginalized (especially here in Orange County). I've hated those bastards for not seeing what I see or believing what I believe...and then God shows me that I'm one of those bastards too.

A few weeks ago, in my own home, during our house church meeting, I was actively ignoring the needs of someone in our group who I had determined was unworthy of equal treatment or compassion. It wasn't until another person in our group had gone far, far out of her way to love and bless this man that I was able to see my own sin.

God spoke to my heart in this moment and said, "See? I was here in your house and you did not wash my feet, but this woman has not stopped washing my feet since I sat down on your sofa. Do you really value the poor? The broken? Do you really see me? Do you really love me?"

Wow.

I was crushed. My heart was revealed to me...my own black, sinful, selfish, evil heart.

I wanted to look away, but God had so brilliantly revealed it to me that I couldn't pretend I didn't see it. I couldn't ignore it. In fact, I think I suddenly felt the same pain in my heart that I must have been causing in His for a long time now.

What could I do but to repent? Fall on my knees again and beg for Him to wash me, cleanse me, heal me, change me.

I realize, again, that I need a constant conversion. I need to daily lay down my life for Jesus. I need to really learn what it means to lay down my life for a brother..for a friend...(and it doesn't involve bloodshed as much as it involves submission, humility, service and genuine compassion).

Am I really ready for what it means to follow Jesus? To lay down my life for Him? To daily take up my cross and die to myself?

This is harder than we know. Following Jesus, contrary to what the televangelists would have you believe, is not easy. It will not make your life easy. In fact, it will jack you up in ways that nothing else can ever hope to.

Maybe I'm not ready to follow Jesus yet. Maybe I need to find something else to do with my time?

But I know that there's really no other option for me. I've tasted and I've seen. I've been in His prescence and changed by His touch. Where else can I go?

"Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God." - John 6:68

by Keith Giles

Great comments, pictures over at the ARTS INTERACTIVE

Check the new comments posted online at the ENGAGE Arts Interactive blog here:

http://artsinteractive.blogspot.com

You'll be glad you did...

kg

IMMIGRATION REFORM?

My buddy Arnie Adkison had a great quote over on his blog. I had to post it here for your consideration.

"I have an idea. I think that the city of San Antonio, where I live, should make it a law tomorrow that you have to live in the city to work in the city. Then Wednesday, when all those people who live in the suburbs "immigrate" into SA to work, they should arrested as illegals and deported back to their home community. If they don't have respect for our laws, regardless of how arbitrary they are in the overall scheme of things, they should not be allowed in to work." - ARNIE ADKISON

ARNIE'S BLOG:
http://www.stimulation81.blogspot.com/

*It's great to have friends like this...
kg

JOIN THE UNDERGROUND

ENGAGE- I'M A SURVIVOR

Wow.

What an amazing Saturday conference we had at ENGAGE.

I can't even begin to describe all the cool stuff we did and experienced.

There's a cool picture journal and blog of the day's events over at:
http://artsinteractive.blogspot.com

Go check out some of the workshops, arts entries on the graphitti wall, the service projects we went out on, etc.

All in all, the day exceeded my expectations.

There were people who had never done anything like this in their spiritual life before, and this was my target audience. So, I was thrilled to have so many people take their first steps outside their comfort zone to serve the least and the lost at ENGAGE.

The workshops were all well received and all of the feedback I got was glowing.

The service projects were all very successful. People were blessed, and our participants were excited to be putting their hands and their feet into action for the Gospel.

David Ruis did a fantastic job. I am so honored to call this guy a friend and a brother. He delivered two challenging messages to our group that inspired and blessed us.

The Arts Interactive was the most ambitious part of the day, and in hindsight I think I wouldn't have done so much on setting it up as I did for this day. Next year will be cool, but not as "over the top" as this one was. The best thing was that people really did pick up a brush and a pen and began to share their thoughts and experiences on paper for all to see. I was happy about that.

WHAT I WOULD CHANGE FOR NEXT YEAR'S "ENGAGE":
1. I would make it a two day event. Start on Friday afternoon/evening and extend the experience and the dialog a bit. Maybe even have it spill over onto a Sunday morning also.

2. I will make the next ENGAGE event small on purpose. This year's event was about 70 people and that's about right. I'll cap next year at 100 or less to keep the interaction and the intimacy level high.

3. I'd like to have David Ruis return, but I'd also like to involve other voices like Greg Russinger, Crissy Brooks and my buddy Scott Laumann (who had planned to come this year but couldn't make it at the last minute).

4. Arts Elements: I like the artistic elements very much, but maybe this should be a separate track? I'm not sure. The other option is to do a separate arts conference that specifically focuses on art and justice. This would be small and highly creative, which I love.

5. Involve other area ministries more. I have good friends who work for some incredible ministries here in the OC and I'd love to have them enjoy a larger presence at the event. The OC Rescue Mission, MIKA, the OC Interfaith Shelter, Teen Challenge, Side By Side Ministries, MoreOfJesus.org, and many others, are doing great work for the poor in the OC and I'd love to have a roundtable with reps from each of these groups to come and share together about the face of poverty in Orange County and how we can all work together to improve the quality of life.

6. More volunteers. I did the entire conference pretty much on my own. This is why I am exhausted. This is why I didn't see my family for most of the last week. I will gather volunteers and empower them much earlier in the process next time. I promise.

7. Speaking. I think I'd like to actually take one of the sessions to share next time. I had originally planned to share at this ENGAGE, but because of all the pressure on me (due to lack of volunteer involvement) I decided to let David do all the talking...and it was awesome! But next time I want to share about what I've learned specifically about dealing with poverty in the OC over the last three years or so.

All in all, it was a great day. I'll have podcasts/downloads of David Ruis' messages at ENGAGE pretty soon for everyone to listen to for free. It was a wonderul experience and I can't wait for next year.

Now I turn my attention to MOMENTUM and the Roadshows in June.

Back to work!
kg

ENGAGE- JUST A FEW HOURS FROM NOW...

I'm running ragged trying to get everything together for this one-day conference for Soul Survivor called ENGAGE with David Ruis.

The biggest challenge has been the Soliton Interactive Arts Room we're (that means "I am") building in the large fellowship hall at St. James.

Tomorrow I'll lead a small army of volunteers to set up cardboard walls, lay down drop cloths, set up tables, art supplies, paints, paper, etc. for one giant arts interactive experience on Saturday.

I'm a little bummed out that my buddy Scott Laumann won't be able to join us for ENGAGE. I do have Karen Schmidt (an amazing sculpture artist), and Heather Wright (an amazing painter) for the workshop on arts and justice.

David Ruis is ready to go. We should have the lights, sound, video projector, etc. ready to go in time also.

Plus, we've got the NOISE service projects from 2pm to 4pm. This has been a little challenging, but I've reduced the number of projects from five to four, and one of the projects has two sponsors/partners helping out, another has one partner and a very capable team leader (Carrie Yarborough), and actually all of our team leaders are excellent...so that should be fine.

I'm trying not to stress about the things I can't control. I'll do the best I can do and let God handle everything else.

I'm going to feel soooo good after this is all over.

Wish you could all join me for ENGAGE!

If you're near the O.C., check out the website and try to come down for as much as you can:
WWW.SOULSURVIVORUSA.COM

Must sleep now.

kg

RISEN?

The good folks at SeedStories.com just published my article "RISEN?" just in time for Easter.

Please go check it out and make a comment if you would over here:

http://www.seedstories.com

Thanks for your support!

peace,
kg

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"The mathematician goes mad.
Not the poet.
Because the mathematician tries
to build a bridge across the infinite.
When the poet can swim in the sea."

G.K. Chesterton

LIGHT VS HEAT

LIGHT VS HEAT by Keith Giles

Most everyone who has read my blog here, or who receives my weekly [subversive underground] e-newsletter, knows how I feel about the corporate church model.

It’s no secret how I feel that our modern versions of “doing church” have corrupted the Biblical model where everyone who follows Jesus “is the Church” and gets to participate, use their gifts, interact with everyone else, be ministered to and minister to others, and enjoy the presence of the Holy Spirit in His Power along with everyone else.

Honestly, as we’ve been doing house church now for about two months, I realize that “Koinonia” is something I think I never experienced before now. Everything before “the mission” was just playing church to me.

I also feel that there is way too much emphasis placed on “Leadership” (as defined by the Big Business World and now co-opted into the Bride of Christ).

Why are there no “Follower’s Study Bibles”? Why so much emphasis on leadership? How about encouraging “Followership” since that’s what Jesus called us to do in the first place?

I can remember being so frustrated as an on-staff pastor that our mandate was to make sure we visited with our significant leaders every month. I wondered, “Who will visit with our forgotten, poor and insignificant people if we’re all focused on those leaders?”

*If I’m not careful, I could run off on a rant myself here...so, I’ll take a deep breath.

(whew)

So, the other day I received an email from a friend who had written a scathing attack on this exact issue and he wanted to share it with me, knowing that I lean hard in this direction, I suppose.

As I read my friend’s email, blasting the corporate structure, attacking the cultural distortions of the Biblical form of “being Church”, I guess I saw myself from a distance and it troubled me.

In response to my friend, whom I agree with about 99%, I had to admit my own failures in this area of criticism versus grace.

I know we have a very real need for urgency on these issues, and I applaud the truth and the passion of someone who desires to see things change for the better.

To be clear; I am not arguing for the value of “dispassionate conversations”, but let me point out that “less passion” doesn’t equal “No passion”, right?

I struggle, personally, with these same issues/passions, and how best to make people see what’s going on in the Christian culture around us. It makes me sick. It makes me crazy. I long to see people “get it”.

For example, on the one issue; the sickness of the modern/corporate-inspired version of “Church-as-a-franchise” I am especially passionate...maybe too much for my own good, or the good of the issue itself.

I have written several critical articles on this problem, not for the sake of being critical, but just honestly venting my own revulsion and excorcising my own guilt for having been part of this system for so much of my own Christian life and pastoral “career”.

However, I am starting to think that this sort of language only serves to polarize people on one side of this issue or the other, and that doesn’t serve my passion.

What I really, deep down, desire passionately is for people to start to really see what I have seen.

I think Jesus does this masterfully when he uses parables to illustrate points of eternal significance. I mean, if anyone had a right to be angry/passionate/urgent about the state of his people, the corruption of the Word of God, etc., then I think it was Jesus. But only once did he resort to violence, and only once did he publicly rebuke the Pharisees for their misguided behavior. Instead, Jesus spent MOST of his time/energy/passion on helping people to really UNDERSTAND the things they’d been told by “blind guides” and “empty tombs”, and he did this in a very simple, creative, loving and even brilliant way.

This is my personal goal. I want to teach like Jesus. I want to help people consider things they’ve overlooked, and probably have even known all along but have forgotten it because of the corruption within the corporate church systems.

Are you feeling me?

I’m trying hard now (and this is hard, it’s not the easy path that’s for sure), to listen to the Holy Spirit and to use my gifts to communicate this astounding truth of the Kingdom of God to those who have not yet seen it, or who need to see it again.

As for me, I am working to communicate to others more about the pure JOY of living in the Kingdom, of being truly FREE in the Spirit to BE THE CHURCH. I believe that if I can paint a more clear and accurate picture to others about what astounding and amazing freedom there really is in Christ, outside of the structure of corporate church systems, that God will woo those sheep who hear His voice.

The old saying is true, “You attract more flies with honey”, and I’m trying to follow Jesus in His example to accomplish this very thing.

I still believe that Jesus is the ultimate leader and that his style of leadership should be our model. That means not only his servanthood and his “others-focused” ministry, but his tone and his style of communication as well.

I have come to believe that making positive changes within our own lives and modeling this new way of “being the church” we all hold dear is much more effective, and Biblical, than simple criticism, no matter what our tone may be.

It’s partially why I gave up on the whole Apologetics thing a while back. I realized that I had never once argued someone into the Kingdom, but when I shared with others what God had done and was doing my life, then my life became the Apologetic, (which is way more challenging), and besides, no one can argue with the Truth of what God’s Spirit is doing in your life, or in mine.

So, as I struggle with this inner passion, I pray that I can maintain the heart of Jesus and love those brothers and sisters in the Church, no matter what model or form they prefer to worship in.

After all, didn’t Jesus command us to “Love one another, even as I have loved you?”

Amen.

Kg

BLOOD

BLOOD
by Keith Giles

There was rhythm in the air that morning
a seed-planting rhythm in a land
of broken ground. It traveled
from my heel to
my fingertips and
circled in my neck until
I bowed my head in submission. The beat
continued, echoed across
the arid stretch
of the hillside and all
of the faceless people stood
swaying to the rhythm
the compelling metronome
of hammer and nail and
the crescendo mounted until the blood
the blood gushed hot and wet onto the grass
we held our breath until they lifted
the crossbar over our heads, until the sky
turned to black cloud, until he whispered that it was finished and the soldiers took him down.
But the rhythm never left my feet
kept time with
the beating in my heart, turned
my blood to wine.

*more poems in the link at lower left

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.