ON A MORE PERSONAL NOTE

Heather Cosby tagged me to share this with all of you so, here goes...

4 things I was doing 10 years ago:

1- Working at Vineyard Music Group - Yes, I was hired on as their Wholesale Music Sales Director. It was one of the best jobs I've ever had and that entire experience was still one of the best seaons of my life. I loved VMG, I loved working with a "dream team" that included Dave Hackbarth, Jeff Searles, Brock Shinen, Lee Swope, Paul Martin, Brian Eichler and Chris Wimber. Chris was one of the best bosses I've ever worked for and I know there are those who would laugh if they read this because he wasn't really a great manager per se, but for me Chris excelled at envisioning his executive staff and empowering them to succeed. His funeral was one of the most amazing and signifcant events in my life.

2- Recording the Elysian Skies Cd, "Exquisite Whisper" - It was one of my lifelong dreams to record at the amazing Green Room in Huntington Beach. My friend and guitarist John Wahrmund and I wrote songs through the mail and my friend J.J. Plasencio (the bassist for "Sixpence None The Richer" at the time, and later "Plumb") agreed to produce our Cd. My friends Bill Scmidt and John Feiery joined us and the amazing Andy Prickett ("The Prayer Chain") engineered our recording and even played a guitar solo on our first track. My wife Wendy even sang background vocals on a couple of tracks too, which was very, very special to me. It took us almost two years to record, mix, master and manufacture the Cd, but it got great reviews over at the Phantom Tollbooth and True Tunes and our track "Digg" even ended up on a sampler called "Sparkler" which was distributed via Metro One Records. I think a few radio stations played "Digg" here and there, and a few of our songs ended up on the soundtrack for an indie film "When Love Walks In" too. Anyway, I am pretty proud of that Cd and once in a while I still listen to it and say, "Dang…we put out a really awesome Cd, didn’t we?" Yes, we did.

One of the biggest highlights for me was mixing the CD with the amazing Gene Eugene. He died soon after this and I will forever be grateful for those days I spent next to Gene. He blessed me and I was blessed to know him.

*Read the PT review


3- My son David was born. He's such a blessing to us. David is one of the only people I know who actually has all five of the "Love Languages" --Physical touch, Words of Affirmation, Acts of Service, Gifts and Quality Time are all important to David. He's the most loving person I know, other than my wife, and I am so very blessed to be his Dad.

4- Trying to publish my poetry. My senior year in college I wrote a series of poems on grief and loss called "Wintermoon and Coffeestain". I had attempted to submit my poetry to various magazines and come up empty. For a while there I had a British publishing house interested in the collection but then it fell apart. Oh well. Maybe I'll self-publish my poems through Lulu.com someday? Hmm….

4 things on my to-do list for today:

My HOME To-Do List:
1- Make plans to celebrate my 19th Wedding Anniversary with Wendy this weekend.
2- Re-install the OS on my laptop in hopes of eradicating a nasty virus which will not die and has now caused my computer to slow to a crawl.
3- Help my sons clean up their book-case in their room and separate out all the Baby Books which need to go into storage or get donated to charity.
4- Take a shower.

My WORK To-Do List:
1- Finish the Services E-Newsletter for October
2- Finish the Prevalent E-vite copy with new input
3- Finish the Marketing Services website copy
4- Finish the Hosted DRM End-User flyer copy

4 random things I love about my wife:
1- She's the most loving person I know. When we were dating in college she and I visited a local Nursing Home and I was in awe at the way she stopped to look each person in the eye, spend time with them and give them a real hug. I was instantly in love with her and I still am today.

2- She has the ability to speak words of wisdom to me when I need to hear them most.

3- She talks me out of stupid ideas and helps keep me from becoming a raging radical out in left field.

4- She still loves me after spending 19 years with me and seeing how shallow and selfish and petty I am.

4 jobs that I have had
1- Domino Pizza Delivery Driver- Lasted one week, I think. I couldn't get the pizzas there in 30 minutes so I ended up paying for them out of my meager paycheck. Plus my car, an awesome '67 Camaro, sucked gasoline mucho fierce so all my money went to buy gas.

2- Door-to-door "Rainbow" Salesman- It was a water-based vacuum-cleaner (my Mom still uses hers and loves it) and the sales exeprience helped me later in my career, but it was basically a scam. The only other good thing out of this job was meeting Lee (Hammar) Davis, one of my oldest and dearest friends who ended up being one of my groomsmen when I married Wendy.

3- UPS - First I was unloading the trailer trucks into the distribution center and onto the belts. I remember sweating like a pig and begging God to help me live long enough to finish the first truck. When I saw the back of the trailer I was so relieved. At least until my manager came into the truck, lifted up the floorboards and showed me the 900 boxes hidden in the lower compartment. I wanted to die after that. Soon I was moved to the belts, loading up the brown trucks for delivery. Hated that job.

4- Youth Pastor - I remember telling God that it was like using a hammer to drive nails. I was the wrong tool for that specific job, but God blessed those kids (and me) anyway. Good experience for me. Never want to do that again though.

4 movies I have watched more than once:

1- Blade Runner- I think I have probably seen this movie close to 200 times. I own all 3 versions of the film, including the recent boxed set which included the workprint edition and the deleted scenes and the 8 hours of extras and documentaries. I have read the book it's based on "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick (one of my fave authors) three times. I have read the book on the making of the film "Future Noir" by Paul M. Sammon twice and I own the soundtrack. Yes, I am obsessed with this film.

2- Fight Club - Can't help how much I love this film. Read the book too. I might watch it again before the end of this year.

3- It's A Wonderful Life - I cry everytime I watch this .Everytime. Never fails to bless me.

4- Elf - I keep showing it to my friends to share it with them. "Did you hear THAT?!" Oh yeah.

**Bonus:
5- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Such an amazing film. It makes me thankful for my life and my friends and especially my wife. A true work of inspired genius.

6- Monty Python and the Holy Grail - Say no more.

7- Brazil - Another work of prophetic and creative genuis. Watch this film and marvel at how our modern media and culture mirror the one in this film. Amazing stuff.

8- Children of Men - Powerful stuff. The "one scene" where the baby literally brings peace is poignant in the extreme. Wow.

9- Hotel Rwanda

10- Gattaca

11- The Incredibles.

4 places I have lived:
1- Eagle Pass, Tx.
2- Bloomington, Indiana
3- El Paso, Tx
4- Huntington Beach, Ca

4 places I have been: (most memorable places I’ve been)
I am not a traveller by any means so this is not such an impressive list:

1- Grand Canyon- Took a helicopter trip into the canyon itself and split the "tuning fork" formation. Awesome.
2- Juarez and Tijuana, Mexico - Go once. Never forget it.
3- Brownsville, Fl - The big revival back in the 90's. I got to hang with Lindell Cooley and his wife and team for two days. Great experience.
4- Homeless- My family has spent the night sleeping on the floor several times over the last 10 years, thanks to the charity of our friends. Thankfully it never lasted longer than a week each time, but it really puts your life into perspective when your family literally has no place to call "Home".

4 places I want to visit:
1- Israel
2- England
3- Hawaii
4- Africa

4 TV shows I watch:
1- Joan of Arcadia - Never had any desire to watch this when it was on the air but thanks to the magic of DVD (and the charity of my friend Liz) my family is falling in love with this awesome show. God is allowed to say things on this show that blow my mind- and it's the heart of God for His people. Amazing.

2- Battlestar Galactica - Again, you'd probably never guess it, but this show has shown things about the heart of God and the nature of religion versus genuine spirituality that blow me away. It's not kid-friendly by any means, but the power of showing a flawed character asking for forgiveness, or laying hands on a dying child and asking God to heal him (and God does), etc. is very, very awesome.

3- Lost- I know, you either love it or hate it but I so, so, LOVE it! When it finally ends I hope they leave us with more questions than answers. I really do not want them to wrap it all up into a neat bow.

4- House- The best character on TV now is the guy you love to hate. They've had some very powerful shows about God as well.
**Bonus

5- The Fringe - I love sci-fi and this show has some promise.

4 things you may not know about me:

1- I've seen Elvis in concert. At the age of 9 I saw him with my parents in San Antonio, Tx. He died less than a year later. I still have the ticket stub.

2- I've been shot at.

3- I was nearly shot dead at a minimum security prison (different occasion).

4- Some of my favorite bands are "Rage Against the Machine", "Duran, Duran" and "Johnny Cash". Shoot me.

TAG 4 PEOPLE
*Lionel
*Heather Wright
*Keith Seckel
*Crissy Brooks

-kg

RESPONSE TO "EXPLOITATION OR EMPOWERMENT" ARTICLE

Over at TheOoze.com my article "Exploitation or Empowerment" is sparking a few interesting conversations.

I just posted a rather lengthy response to a friend who asked some questions and raised some objections there so I thought I'd re-post my comments here for further discussion.

Essentially, my friend Paul is questioning whether or not all are called to be leaders in the Church and raises some good points about the Church Fathers. He also questions the idea that there was no hierarchy in the early church.

Here's my response:

First, the Apostles were commanded by Jesus to call no one Father, not to be called Teachers themselves and to treat everyone as brothers. (See Mark 10: 42-45).

Jesus also modelled a leadership structure whereby the leader would wash feet, humble himself and serve the others as an equal and a brother or sister in Christ (see John 13) and he commanded those disciples (soon to be Apostles) to do the same.

The Apostles did not execute a leadership style or structure that you and I would recognize...and I mean that in a good way.

When we look at NT passages where the church is commanded to "submit to the authority of elders" (found in various places throughout the NT) it is in the context of submitting to them as they instruct in the Gospel. It is not a submission to them as authoritarian leaders but a submission to them as they lead us to follow Christ. Of course, if those leaders lead people away from Christ or the Scriptures one would not be required to submit to their authority.

I agree that there were Apostles, Elders, and Deacons in the early Church but they were not authoritarian leaders, they were average people who were filled with God's Holy Spirit and who sat alongside their brothers and sisters as equals on a daily basis. It was an authority based on maturity in Christ (at least at first).

Also, isn't it curious to you that those NT Epistles were not addressed to "The Pastor of the Church in Corinth" or "Ephesus", etc.? I find it fascinating that those letters are written to the believers themselves - directly to those same believers who were the Body of Christ - not to the leaders who would then work it into a weekly sermon.

I think when you move so quickly into the idea of Bishops and Church Hierarcy you assume that this was always the case and it most certainly was not. Until Cyprian and Ignatius began to influence the Church in this way these concepts were not accepted or practiced. Constantine provided the final piece to that shift away from the Priesthood of the Believer, but it was a process, not something that was present in the first 200 years of Christian life and practice.

Simply because we see words like "Leadership" and "Elder" and "Authority" it does not automatically follow that the practice of leadership and authority looked like what we're used to in Modern Christianity today. I would argue that it did not.

Peter and Paul and the other Apostles argued often that there was a new way of worshipping and experiencing God outside of a temple (building) and without the need for a secondary priest to mediate for us. Instead, the Gospel included the radical concept that you and I (as followers of Christ) are the new Priests of God. Shocking, yes, but clearly demonstrated throughout the writings of our Apostles in the NT.

The Gospel message also included another radical idea that had not existed previously - that the worship of God would not require a building/temple because you and I (as followers of Christ) are the new Temple where the Holy Spirit dwells. This was a radical teaching of inclusion for anyone and everyone to become a Talmidum or Disciple of Jesus and participate in a way never before imagined by the common folk of the day.

You suggest that "all are not leaders" and I would agree. But just because some lead and others are not leading this doesn't mean that not everyone participates. Clearly the idea behind 1 Cor 12 is that everyone in the Body of Christ has a purpose and a function and a very, very critical role to play in the operation of this Body. Name a part of your body that you would be ready to cut off and live without. Other than your appendix or your tonsils, maybe that extra kidney, none of us would want to live without our body parts--because they're all esssential to the health and function and well-being of the Body!

Did God plan to have all 28 spiritual gifts flow through one man? You've been a pastor and you know (and have seen) the crushing weight of trying to be the single person through whom the gifts of encouragement, prayer, teaching, administration, counseling, discernment, etc. must flow. The reason so many pastors burn out and give up is because this is not the way God envisioned it. His plan was to distribute everything the Body needed through each and every member. This means that participation is essential. It means you need everyone. It means if you don't obey Jesus and love one another then you're not the Church that He designed…and you can't be because all the spiritual gifts must operate in love. (Which is why everytime Paul mentions gifts he follows with an instruction on love. Everytime).

WHAT DO I MEAN BY "DO NOTHING"?
I mean, they sit and listen once or twice a week and go home until the next meeting. You ask me, "Is the level of participation higher in the house church?" - YES! In fact, if there was no participation we'd all sit and stare at each other in silence week to week. It wouldn't work. And beyond the participatory nature of our gatherings, we have "deputized" each and every member of the house church to "be the church" and that means loving their actual neighbors, making disciples, leading others to understand God's Word, take the Gospel to their workplace, etc.

HOW DO I ACCOUNT FOR HISTORICAL CHRISTIANS WHO WERE ADVOCATES OF ORGANIZED CHURCH?The short answer is that they were products of their environment and I understand this because for most of my spiritual journey I was in the same boat as they were.I'm not saying I'm better than them because of this. The truth is there are certain areas of faith where Luther and St. Francis were giants and other areas where they were very small and just plain wrong.

Where Luther was right about indulgences he was wrong about the Jews. Where Mother Teresa was right about the poor, she was wrong about praying to dead people. Where Calvin was right about the depravity of man's soul, he was wrong about man's inability to "want" to do good.

Perhaps I need to write another article more explicitly about the kind of leadership that we see in the NT and how it looks nothing like what we see in pulpits around the World today?

Wait for it...

kg

HOUSE CHURCH 101 - RECAP AND UPDATE

The first House Church 101 class was actually pretty awesome. We only had one couple show up with their son (Drew, Stefani, & Jake) and Larry and Kelly from the Mission were there to help me answer questions too.

Drew and his wife are in the same boat as the rest of us, "cut from the same cloth" as Drew expressed it and we had a great time answering questions, getting to know them and encouraging them in their journey into house church.

Drew even came to observe house church yesterday morning and even joined us last night for our Mission Men's night where we had some very, very encouraging and stimulating conversations from 6pm to 9:30pm.

I've invited their family to come back again any time, and for as long as they want to come and join us. I had suggested they visit other local house churches such as The Well and maybe a few other house church groups just to get a flavor for what house church is and/or can be and they want to try that too.

This Sunday morning was also my first opportunity to sit at the back of the room and allow our house church to operate without my guidance. I actually stepped out of the room during the last worship song yesterday and sat in our TV room so that when the song ended no one would look at me and wait for me to lead us in communion or direct them towards share time, etc.

Everyone adjusted wonderfully and great conversations were started without my involvement. For me, the most wonderful part of the day was when one of our little ones spoke up and encouraged her Mom with a word of wisdom and encouragement that could only have been inspired by the Holy Spirit. It was seriously awesome.

AN UNEXPECTED CHANGE
As for me, I can honestly say that the experience this weekend of leading this first House Church 101 class, and the subsequent dialog with Drew and the Men of the Mission last night, have really helped me quite a lot in my thoughts regarding the development of our house church.

Some of these things are hard to put into words, but mainly I'm feeling permission to let go of the church and to really give it away to everyone else. I have no anxiety anymore about how big we are or how big we might get or who comes or who doesn't or even if we'll still all be together as The Mission a year from now.

I suppose one thing that really struck me over this weekend was the idea that The Mission really is God's project and if God wants to scatter us in six months to go and accomplish different things for the Kingdom, or gather with others around some other coffee table somewhere, that's really ok with me. I guess I've really let go of everything and have finally surrendered my vision and my dreams for this thing to God.

Honestly, I have to believe that if we did break apart in a few months, most of us (maybe not all) would simply not be content to return to the pew. So eventually I think all of us would find ourselves in someone's living room somewhere with someone again no matter what.

I am not building an empire and my success doesn't depend upon The Mission being a success in anyone's eyes but God's. If it is God's will for us to stay together and start a second group, then we will, and if it's God's will that we scatter and share what we've learned with others, then we will. It's not my job to hold anything together or to push anything apart. I only have to be faithful to what God has called me to do and allow God to do the rest.

So, I suppose I have successfully separated my self-worth and identify from The Mission and I have truly, finally, surrendered this church to its rightful owner (God).

I feel a sincere freedom in my spirit over this.

Initially I was concerned that these House Church 101 classes could be problematic for us since The Mission is already too large (27 people) and I didn't want these classes to turn into a way to funnel even more new families into the Mission.

Now I've changed my mind. I want to invite as many people as possible. I want to swing wide the doors and encourage the rest of our house church to bring their friends and invite their unsaved neighbors, etc. because if we explode into a house church of 47, or 57, that's ok with me. It might even help us to reach a true "critical mass" and multiply even more groups out of simple practicality and to make room for all the new friends who are discovering house church and learning to "be the Church" this way.

More later...

Peas,
kg

A Biblical Perspective on the Bailout Plan

Found this today over at J.R. Miller's blog "More Than Cake" and it blessed me. Had to share it here with all of you too.

A Parable of the American Kingdom by J.R. Miller

Jesus, the undocumented worker, returned home to Mexico from living in America. His family said to him, "Jesus, why have you returned home from America?"

"It is difficult to understand" he said, "So let me tell you a story."

"The kingdom of America may be compared to a Government who wished to settle accounts with a Mortgage Lender.

When the Government had begun to settle accounts, one Mortgage Lender, which owed 700Billion dollars, was brought to account. But since the Mortgage Lender did not have the means to pay his bad debts, the Government simply printed up more money and gave it to the Mortgage Lender so he would not be ruined.

Later, that same Mortgage Lender, now bailed out from his 700 Billion in bad debts, went out and found a homeowner who owed hundreds of thousands of dollars. The Mortgage Lender seized the homeowner and began to choke him, saying, 'Pay back what you owe.' So the homeowner fell to the ground and began to plead with the Mortgage Lender, saying, 'Have patience with me and I will repay you.' But the Mortgage Lender wanted his money and he took the homeowner's property and forced him into bankruptcy.

So when his fellow homeowners saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their Government all that had happened.

Then summoning the Mortgage Lender, the Government said to him, 'You wicked Mortgage Lender, I gave you 700 Billion to pay all your bad debt, should you not also have had mercy on the homeowners, in the same way that I had mercy on you?' And the Mortgage Lender contributed many thousands of dollars into the coffers of the Government and contributed to the campaign funds of the many politicians and the Government was happy.

The homeowners were grieved, but still they elected the same leaders again and again..."

**
READ THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE AND VISIT JR'S BLOG
HERE

House Church 101 Class - This Saturday

This Saturday I'll be leading our very first "House Church 101" class for people interested in learning more about house church and how to start one.

Find out more about this FREE class
HERE

I've been advertising the class in three different ways:

1) Flyers at local Christian bookstores
2) Guerilla marketing by slipping bookmarks into copies of "Pagan Christianity" and "Re-imagining Church" and "Un-Christian" at local Barnes and Nobles/Borders.
3) Word of Mouth.

I suppose a fourth method to get the word out has been the internet itself and Google's search services. So far the people signed up for this Saturday's class seem to have found out about by searching for "House Churches in Orange County".

Fun!

-kg

Periscope Up

I've been too swamped to post here recently and I apologize for the radio silence.

Here's what's up with me these days:

*Just preached on Sunday at Soul Survivor Church about "The Gospel of the Kingdom". You can download it for free over at ITunes under their Soul Survivor Church podcast. (Just search by my name and you'll find it).

*Our house church this Thursday night will meet in our dear sister Mary Anne's room at the Royale Health Center as she struggles with brain cancer.

*Dinner this Friday with another set of house church leaders in Yorba Linda to see where this whole "OC House Church" network thang might be going.

*Preparing to teach the very first "House Church 101" class at Triangle Square this Saturday morning. Can't wait to meet the people God has brought to this and encourage them.

*This Sunday morning will by my first trial-by-fire at The Mission as I practice restraint and sit at the back of the room while others lead. Can't wait.

*Sunday night the men of the Mission get together to pray and encourage one another. We all need it.

*My article "Exploitation or Empowerment" is now up over at www.TheOoze.com. Enjoy!

More later...

-kg

"Missional House Church Network" Seminar - MP3's

You can download to all four sessions
HERE

SESSION 1 - BILL FARIS- WHAT'S ALL THIS ABOUT MISSIONAL HOUSE CHURCH?
HERE

SESSION 2 - CHARITY LESLIE - BIBLICAL FOUNDATIONS OF THE HOUSE CHURCH
HERE

SESSION 3 - BILL FARIS - SIMPLE & FOCUSED: STRUCTURED FOR THE MISSION
HERE

SESSION 4 - KEITH GILES - FOOD, FELLOWSHIP, GIFTS, LEADERSHIP, ETC
HERE

SESSION 5- BILL FARIS - WHERE WE'VE COME, WHERE WE'RE GOING
HERE

OC HOUSE CHURCH UPDATE

Last Sunday I visited a House Church training conference in Lake Forest and had a chance to share some of what God has been teaching us lately. It was an excellent day and I was honored to make connections with others in Orange County who are being called into House Church. Pray for the good people of Vineyard Community Mission Network and their pastor Bill Faris, as they take their first steps towards becoming a house church network and wade a bit deeper into this movement.

In the evening I went to Huntington Beach to share God's heart for the poor with another house church group started by Ken Eastburn of The Well. They were challenged and have decided to spend the week in prayer about what God would call them to do about poverty in Orange County and next Sunday evening they will gather again to discuss their next steps. Pray for them as they try to listen to God's voice concerning the poor in their community.

Our first HOUSE CHURCH 101 class will be on Saturday, Oct. 4th at T-Square from 10am to 11:30am. Please pray that we can get the word out about this free class to those who are feeling God's call to "be the Church" in this way.

I've already had several lunch meetings and random encounters with people who are interested in house church so I do feel that God has His hands on this. I just want to be obedient to what He's calling me to do.

-kg

HOUSE CHURCH 101 - OCT. 4TH

"House Church 101"
Saturday, October 4th
10am to 11:30am
at Triangle Square in Costa Mesa, CA

- Registration Now Open

Join us at Triangle Square on Saturday, Oct. 4th for this opportunity to learn more about the House Church experience and how you can start your own house church, or join an existing one, here in Orange County, California.

For more info and to register for this FREE event, please visit
OCHouseChurch.com

Pray For House Church Planters Around the Globe

Over the last several months I have received email from over half a dozen people who are feeling called, in one way or the other, to step out into the great unknown and start a house church.

Some are currently pastors of traditional churches, others are worship leaders who support their family through the use of their gifts in traditional church, others are humble people who just know they can't continue to identify themselves as "Church-goers" rather than as "Followers of Jesus" and who yearn to BE the Church as God has called them to be.

Please pray for these men, and their families, as they seek God's direction in this:

*Mark W. - Indianapolis
*Mark M. - Kentucky
*Jonathan - Santa Ana, CA
*Justin - Costa Mesa, CA
*Roger - Virginia
*Nolan - Philipines
*Charles - New Mexico

I've begun praying for these men on a daily basis and my hope is that I can encourage them as they move forward.

If you decide to pray for them today, please post a comment below and let them know you're praying for them too.

Peace,
Keith

Painful Truth

Last Saturday evening I met with some of the leaders in our house church about how we should respond to the growth of our group to 27 people. After a series of questions it became clear that if my wife and I left the group it would die. No one would continue to meet this way or operate as a house church if we weren't there to hold it together. That was very hard for me to hear, but it's helped me to see where we need to change and adapt.

So, from now on I will not be facilitating our group. Instead each person will take a turn each week at leading our discussion, offering communion, directing our worship, etc. I will sit in the back of the room and observe and only contribute as needed.

This is something I honestly should have started to do after our first year together, but it needs to be done in order to train everyone on how to contribute more and take the reins from my hands and place them in the hands of our people.

Because of last week's post I felt I needed to correct some of my previous assumptions about how our house church operates.

Blessings,

Keith

What Makes Me An Expert?

A few weeks ago I set up a little online survey to get feedback from my [Subversive Underground] subscribers. The responses have been great, so far. But there was one that really hit me harder than all the rest and I wanted to respond here since I don't have the email address or the name of the person who made the comment.

Here's the comment:
"What makes you the house church/church renewal/church reform/new wineskins guru of the day? Some of us have been trying to do this for 30 years, with little results or encouragement; Yet we aren't considered a voice worth listening to; certainly not gurus. why is that? -- a discouraged leader"

My first response is that I don't consider myself a guru or even necessarily a "voice worth listening to". My hope is to share some of what I'm learning with others and encourage people who feel the same way.

The discouragement in this person's comment is palpable. I wish I could reach out and hug this person, or bless them in some tangible way. Mostly because I know that he or she is not alone in this feeling. There are many, many people who don't experience the thrill of house church. Many friends of mine here in the OC and online have shared their stories of failed attempts to find others who want to fellowship this way. I know men who have struggled for years to plant a house church that will last longer than a few months or years without fizzling out.

Just today I sent an email to a brother in Christ who had questions about leading a house church and wondered about his own ability to make it work. Here's a little of what I shared with him:

**
I think the main thing to take away from the discussion is that it's not about you. It's about allowing the Holy Spirit to be in charge and taking your hands off the wheel.

Our house church is coming up on 3 years now and it is thriving and growing (almost too fast) and it has NOTHING TO DO WITH ME! Nothing. At. All.

I don't bring dynamic teaching every week (no one does). I am not the attraction here. People are coming to "be the Church" and this is a safe place for them to discover how to do that.

So, leadership is a loaded topic and I feel like it's more about just being who you are and allowing everyone else to be who God has made them to be...warts and all.

Being a good facilitator is my only contribution, and I still need more on-the-job training in that actually. Learning to listen, learning to allow questions to hang out there and dangle, learning to keep our dialog on track, and learning to listen to the Holy Spirit are the main things I do every week. It's not about being agressive or taking charge. It's actually more about being passive and letting God take charge (which is much more difficult and takes a lot more courage and strength than assuming power, believe me).

I'd encourage you to pray for God to build a church in your home that is exactly what He wants. Pray for God to do something so awesome in this church, in these people, that no man would dare take any credit for it. Then step back and watch God do exactly that. At least, that's what He did in my case.
**

So, if you're struggling to get your house church off the ground, or if you're feeling less than adequate for the task at hand let me tell you --You're not alone.

We're all weak and the sooner we admit that to one another the better. I'm just as screwed up as the next guy...that's why I need Jesus. That's why we all need Him.

This one goes out to all the wonderful children of God out there who long for a house church where everyone loves as Jesus commanded and has yet to taste the fullness of that.

Please don't give up. Please continue to walk out the calling that God has given you to "be the Church" where you are. Even if you do it alone, with your own family, sitting on the living room floor with a Bible open and a few out of tune, accapella hymns. Keep the faith, my friends.

Peace,
Keith

More Proof That Being A Christian Doesn't Make You A Follower Of Jesus

I had lunch yesterday with a good friend, Bob Sears. He presented me with a copy of his new book, "Gold, Silver and Precious Stones". Last night I sat down to read it and was arrested by the following paragraph:

"In 2008, Kenya shocked the world with its violent ethnic conflicts that produced a wave of house burnings and hundreds of thousands of refugees. Stories filled the news of machete-wielding men hacking their neighbors to death for belonging to a different tribe. How could such atrocities occur in a country where over 80% of the population claims to be Christian? Faustin Ntamushobora, who survived the Rwandan genocide and now works to reconcile tribal factions suggested this answer: “African’s are converting to Christianity, but they’re not being taught how to live it. These people are churchgoers, but they’re not disciples of Jesus Christ.” (from “The Biolan”, Spring ’08, p.20)."

Do we really need any more proof that making converts isn't good enough? We were commanded by our Lord to "Go into all the world and make disciples, teaching them to do everything I have commanded".

Can we start making disciples now?

-kg

My New Hero: W. Carl Ketcherside

Much thanks to my friend Lionel for showing me this link and quote from author W. Carl Ketcherside.

This quote is taken from Chapter 1 of his marvelous book, "The Royal Priesthood" published in 1956.

"Every child of God is a priest! Every man and woman who is a Christian has entered "the priesthood." The only high priest in God's system today is in heaven. That is the theme of this book. It is just that simple. If the Bible teaches that, this book is in harmony with the will of God; if the Bible authorizes a special priesthood composed of a clerical class, in this age, then this book is wrong in its presentation, and its author must stand condemned as one who opposes the plan of God.

"I have no intent or desire to defend modern religious institutions, nor to champion the societies which have been spawned in the fertile brains of fallible men. It is my firm conviction that the community of saints planted by the holy apostles in the first generation of the Christian era constituted the divine pattern for the entire dispensation. My humble efforts will be bent, not toward the refinement, amendment, or reformation of any existing sect, but toward restoration of the primitive "colony of heaven" as representing God's ideal to which we must conform if we would meet his approval.

"No careful student of the early congregation of believers can fail to be impressed with the simplicity of its worship and functioning. Imbued with a fervent zeal, motivated by a common purpose, possessed of a deep love for each other, "all the believers kept together" and "among all those who had embraced the faith there was but one heart and one soul" (Acts 2:44; 5:82). In such a company each felt under compulsion of spirit to do all he could to edify his fellows. None served for gain. Those who had personal property and real estate sold their possessions and distributed to all who had need; no one thought of threatening the needy with eternal destruction if they did not support a privileged class.

"In the original church of God there was no distinction between clergy and laity. God's clergy (portion or lot) consisted of God's laity (people). Every member of the "laity" was a member of "the clergy" and vice versa. Every person in the divine arrangement was a minister of God. One "entered the ministry" by coming into the Christ. The holy and unblemished church can never be restored until those who love the Lord recapture in the fullest sense the picture of a "priesthood of all believers" free from the taint of a special caste.

"The religious world in general has lost the pattern of the corporate worship of the original community of baptized believers. The early church gathered around a table; the modern church sits before a pulpit. The Lord placed the table in the church so it could remember its debt to him; the clergy placed the pulpit in the church to bring it in debt to them. In the early church they all spoke one by one; today all the speaking is done by one. Then the spirit was kindled; now it is quenched. Then they claimed to love each other and talked about Jesus; now they claim to love Jesus and talk about each other. In those days all exerted an effort to exhort; now all must be exhorted to exert an effort.

"The primitive disciples did not ask the world to come and get the gospel, they took it to them. They gathered to eat the Lord's Supper, then scattered to preach the Word. Wherever there was a Christian and a sinner, there was a gospel meeting. They announced the glad tidings to masters and mistresses, friends and neighbors. They did it simply but fervently. They told about Jesus, his death and resurrection. They testified of their faith in him. They preached him in chariots along the road, in prison cells, by river brinks, in private homes, in hulls and in synagogues. The whole earth was their auditorium, the thing at hand their pulpit.

"Much of the irreverence, formality and cold ritual of these days is the result of a loss of significance of a priesthood of all believers. The sense of individual relationship to God with its attendant responsibilities has disappeared in the modern sectarian strife for supremacy of party. To restore the primitive community of saints a great reformation of thought is essential. This book has been written to help the good and honest heart properly evaluate our present status in the light of God's revelation."
**
You can read the entire book for free
HERE

Welcome To The OC House Church Network

Another one of my crazy ideas has come to life. Behold, the new Orange County House Church Network resource page!

HERE

I threw together www.OCHouseChurch.com this week to serve as an online resource for people in Orange County, California who might be searching for a house church and/or curious about starting their own.

My plan is to host monthly "House Church 101" classes on a Saturday to answer questions and share what House Church is all about.

I hope to do this in co-operation with my fellow house church leaders here so that I'm not the only guy doing all the work and the training and coaching, etc.

We'll see how it goes.

I plan to host the first training in October. Details coming soon.

-kg

SPEAKING THE TRUTH IN LOVE

CORRECTING A BROTHER I LOVE
I'd like to start today's blog by pointing out that, in all my years blogging here I have never once taken the time to openly rebuke or correct another pastor, teacher or blogger. Today I make an exception because I can't allow this sort of teaching to go unchallenged.

My hope is to lovingly and soberly correct a misunderstanding and false teaching concerning forgiveness.

Earlier this week I read a post called "Messiah Complex" by blogger Darin Hufford.
The post in question is HERE

Essentially, Darin takes a difficult passage of Scripture and twists it to say something that is not supported by the rest of the New Testament, or the Apostles, or the practice of the Early Church.

The passage of scripture in question is John 20:21-23 where Jesus says
"Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."

Darin believes that this passage in John 20 gives us, the followers of Christ, the power to forgive people their sins, even if they have not repented of their sins.

In an attempt to discover what Darin meant by this teaching, and to give him the benefit of the doubt, I started posting comments to his blog. You will notice that he has since deleted our entire conversation completely (there were at least 4 comments by me and at least as many by him, all deleted). You'll notice that he makes a comment addressed to "Keith" but this is the only hint that I ever made any comments at all. (Unless he deletes this post too).

So much for open dialog.

NO OTHER CHOICE
Because Darin has attempted to silence anyone who disagrees with him, and because he has more than a little leverage in the blogsphere regarding matters of theology, Christian thought and Church life, I find it necessary to call him out on this misunderstanding of Scripture.

Because he has deleted my comments on his blog and refused to allow another point of view to be heard or seen by his readers, I can only provide a response here on my own blog and reveal his attempt to cover up a fair and open dialog about this heretical doctrine.

Let me say off the bat, I do not hate Darin Hufford. I love him. He is my brother and I would love to have this conversation with him in private, or even on his blog, if we were open to such a dialog. Sadly, he is not. He is more interested in making sure people only hear one side of the argument and he is not interested in allowing anyone else to hear what other teachers have to say.

I've always said that the Truth is "Questionable". If Darin is teaching the truth he should not be afraid of questions. The truth is bullet-proof. It can certainly handle a few shots from me.

MISUNDERSTANDING JESUS IN JOHN 20:21
Darrin says in his article that, before he understood this controversial verse correctly he was of this opinion - "In other words, unless they come to Jesus, they cannot find forgiveness for their sins, so it's my job to get them to Christ."

However, now that's he's been enlightenend by John 20:21 he was discovered a remarkable concept: Forgiving people of their sins is now his job as a Christian. For example, when his unbelieving friend asked him if he thought God would ever forgive him of his sins, Darrin doesn't take the opportunity to say, "Yes, let's pray and ask Him to forgive you right now. I know He will. Would you like that?"

Darin says something very different to his friend who is inquiring about God's forgiveness for his sins:

"He asked me if I thought God would forgive him and I responded by saying "I forgive you for all your sins." I explained that the decision to forgive him was mine, and I decided YES."

Why didn't Darin lead his friend to Jesus so that Jesus could forgive his sins? In this example Darin seems determined to be the one who forgives the sins, even though Jesus was clearly a very viable option in this situation.

WHAT JESUS REALLY SAYS ABOUT FORGIVENESS
Did Jesus really teach us to go around forgiving people of their sins?
Well, yes and no. Jesus does instruct us to forgive others so that our sins will be forgiven.

"For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." - JESUS (Matthew 6:14-15)

However, this verse is telling us that we will receive forgiveness for our sins if we forgive others when they sin against us. I've written an entire article about this over at the [Subversive Underground] blog. (See May, 2007 - "Forgivness According to Jesus")


Jesus does not teach us that we have the power to forgive the sins of people who need God's forgiveness.

HOW WE SHOULD HANDLE DIFFICULT PASSAGES
In the passage from John 20:21, where Darin gets his doctrine from, the meaning of these words is difficult to understand. Whenever we have a passage in scripture that is difficult to understand we always balance it by looking at other verses of scripture on the same subject. We never, and I must stress the word "never", base any doctrine on the weight of just one single verse of scripture. Sadly, this is what my friend and brother Darin is doing here and out of this has spun a serious misunderstanding of the Atonement and the doctrine of Forgiveness.

I'm asking for verses in the New Testament where Paul or Peter or James or John instruct the early christians to forgive the sins of unbelievers.

Do they instruct us to forgive the sins of those who sin against us? Yes.
Do they instruct us to forgive one another? Absolutely.
Do they instruct us that we have the power to forgive the sins of everyone we meet? Clearly, no.

To determine the answer I am asking if
A) The Apostles taught/modelled/practiced this or
B) The early church practiced this.

I find no evidence that any early Christians (Apostles or otherwise) put this practice of forgiving people their sins into action.

Are we called to forgive people? Yes.
Is it important to forgive ourselves? Yes.
Are we called to forgive the sins of people who have not come to Christ or repented of their sin?
Clearly, no.

DELETED SCENES
One of the most troubling comments made by Darin in his reply to my first comment (since deleted) was that "the Apostles didn’t teach on 90% of what Jesus taught".

This statement alone says volumes about what Darin thinks of Jesus and the Apostles and how much he understands (or misunderstands) the New Testament.

I responded by asking Darin to please show me just 5 things that Jesus taught that the Apostles didn't teach and/or practice in the early church. Darin's response was to list the Beatitudes of Jesus.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit...blessed are those who mourn…blessed are the meek…blessed are the pure in heart...blessed are peacemakers."

Darin doesn't believe that the Apostles continued to teach or to practice the principles found in the Beatitudes of Christ on the Sermon on the Mount. I disagree.
I think the Apostles DID teach on these 5 things. The Sermon on the Mount was about life in the Kingdom of God (which is the Gospel that Jesus preached).

The Apostles DID preach the elements of life in the Kingdom, and my now invisible comments said as much:

#1Blessed are the poor in spirit corresponds to: "Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?" - James 2:5

#2 Blessed are those who mourn corresponds to:"Rejoice with those who rejoice, mourn with those who mourn" - Romans 12:15

#3 Blessed are the meek corresponds to: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble" - James 4:6

#4 Blessed are the pure in heart corresponds to: "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to...keep oneself from being polluted by the world" - James 1:27

#5 Blessed are the peace makers corresponds to: "as long as it is possible...live at peace with all men" Romans 12:8

With more time and space I could expand on other verses from the New Testament where the Apostles encouraged other Christians to live out the Sermon on the Mount. But that's another post.

A FAIR QUESTION TO ASK
My point to Darin was, we don't find any verses where the Apostles taught or encouraged other Christians to forgive the sins of their unbelieving friends, etc.

I think it's a fair question to ask: "If Jesus really taught us to forgive the sins of unbelievers then why don't we see the early church engaged in this awesome practice?"

Answer: Because Jesus clearly did not teach this to his disciples, nor did they teach it or practice it.

Blessings to my friend and brother, Darin Hufford. I pray that this misrepresentation of the words of Jesus doesn’t lead anyone to stumble in their faith.

Peace,
-kg

TWO MIRACLES (AND ONE IN PROGRESS)

Yesterday at The Mission we heard testimonials from two of our church family about God's amazing, miraculous healing power.

CLARA'S HEALING
About two weeks ago Clara hurt her shoulder and the doctors told her she had torn her rotator cuff and would need surgery to correct the injury. As the week's progressed her arm became more and more useless. She had no use of the arm and it hung limp at her side.

After receiving prayer for her injury she woke up yesterday morning and, before she realized it, she was combing her hair...with both hands!

She discovered she could move her arm completely pain free in any direction. She was totally healed.

NANCY'S MOM HEALED
Our dear friend Nancy shared about how her Mom, who had been on a breathing tube with a "Do Not Resuscitate" order on file, had been read her Last Rites just a few days previously. But after the prayers of her family, and many in our house church, her Mom was taken off the tube and was so completely healed that even the Doctor's and Nurses called it a miracle. What's more, her Mom's feet, which had been closed up into painful stumps after years of working as a nurse and from being on her feet constantly, were also totally healed. Her toes were stretched out and relaxed, Nancy said. She can now walk without pain and she's going home totally healed.

ONE MORE MIRACLE TO GO
After we heard these two amazing testimonials I really felt we needed to stop and pray and just praise God for His incredible healing power. We thanked God together for answering these prayers and for healing these two women so incredibly, and completely.

Afterwards I asked Clara and Nancy to lay hands on Mary Anne and pray for her to be healed as well. Mary Anne had a large brain tumor removed about 3 months ago. At that time the Doctor's said she had a network of tumors in her brain (melanoma) and that she would only survive another 3 months. Her left-side paralysis has returned and she is getting confused mentally by simple things like putting on her blouse or letting go of an object.

We all prayed for Mary Anne to be healed, but at this time she remains un-healed.

Still, we know from these two testimonials that God can heal her (and from many other testimonials as well), so we will continue to pray for Mary Anne to be totally and completely healed of her cancer and that these tumors will dry up and disappear.

If you'd like to pray for Mary Anne too, that would be really awesome.

God is good.

peas,
kg

Is The Gospel Relevant in Today's Culture?

If you find yourself wondering about this, or if you've read any articles lately posing this question, I think it's worth discussing.

First, anyone who poses this question either doesn't really understand what the Gospel is, or they don't know the meaning of the word "Relevant".

WHAT IS RELEVANT?
I've often found myself in conversations with people who use the word "relevant" as a synonym for "Popular" or "Current". As in, "This new book is very relevant" or "What you said is so relevant for people today".

In Christian circles I think this misuse of the word "relevant" is tied to the popular magazine of the same name for which I was once a writer. Their hip, trendy, "twenty-something" culture branding has successfully replaced the meaning of this word with the idea of being cool.

This is great news for the magazine and bad news for Christians who now think that something has to be acceptable to the culture in order to be relevant.

Being relevant simply means that something is necessary. The color of the sky is not relevant to someone who is dying of thirst, but a glass of water is very relevant to the man in the desert. Water is relevant to the thirsty because it is necessary, not because water is popular and trendy among those who thirst.

From the Dictionary:
Relevant (rĕl'ə-vənt); adj. - "Having a bearing on or connection with the matter at hand."

If something is relevant it must be valuable, necessary and contain meaning.
So, does the Gospel of Jesus have any bearing on or connection with today's culture? Let's make sure we understand what the Gospel is before we attempt to answer that question.

WHAT IS THE GOSPEL?
The Gospel of Jesus is that the Kingdom of God has come near and anyone who wants to live in this reality can do so today.

"I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent." (Luke 4:43)

"The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" (Mark 1:15)

"Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness." (Matt 9:35)

"Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom.." (Matt 4:23)

Entrance into the Kingdom of God is accomplished by following Jesus with your every day life. It involves a submission of your will to His perfect will and a surrender of your way of life in exchange for God's way of life.

"Then (Jesus) said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it." - Luke 9:23-24

The Gospel of Jesus is simply an invitation to follow the example of Jesus and the teachings of Jesus in submission to the commands of Jesus, every day of your life.

Instead of answering the question, "If you died tonight do you know you'd be in Heaven tomorrow?" the question Jesus asks is, "If you knew you'd be alive tomorrow, who would you follow and how would you live your life?"

Does the Gospel of Jesus have any relevance to our culture today? Is it connected with the matter at hand? I think so. I believe everyone has to answer the question: "Who will you follow and how will you live your life?"

People are asking this question already. This is why they read books on self-improvement and watch Oprah and Dr. Phil and read Deepak Chopra and meditate and chant and do Yoga and go to Church, or stay home from Church. They are all answering this question, or they are all seeking to decide how the question should be answered.

The Gospel of Jesus is as relevant today as it was two thousand years ago. Our job, as followers of Jesus, is to model the Kingdom lifestyle in such a way that those who are yet to answer this question can make an informed decision about who they will follow and how they will live their lives.

If those who follow Jesus look and act and behave just like those who do not follow Jesus, what is the point? Do our lives point to the new life we have found in Christ? Are we a city on a hill? Are we salt to those who are thirsty for the Living Water? Are we light those those who stumble in darkness? Or do we hide our light? Has our saltiness been lost and trampled underfoot?

The Gospel of Jesus is still relevant. Can we say the same of His Followers?

-kg

Beware the Yeast of the Celebrities

One thing that concerns me was I see this growing house church movement prosper is the celebrity effect.

When I first stepped into this universe there were a few books out there to help me get my bearings and for those books, and to those authors, I am grateful.

Now I see us selling books into Christian bookstores that are topping best-seller lists, and our annual conferences are selling out early (better get your tickets now before they're all sold out), and our spokesmen are becoming minor Christian Celebrities.

I suppose I fear that, if we're not very intentional about all of this, we risk becoming the thing we fear.

If we really believe in this peer-led, leaderless concept of "being Church", and if we really are convinced that God's Spirit is active in each of us just the same, then I would love to see some of those up and coming, almost famous house church leaders step aside and allow a few "Joe Nobody's" to take the stage and move into the spotlight. It would be great to see us model something different at the highest levels of our movement...something really unique and refreshingly inclusive.

-kg

UNWORTHY

When I first came to California about 15 years ago I worked as a sales rep for Diamante Music Group selling alternative and rock cd's and cassettes into Christian bookstores.

One of the guys I worked with there was Chris Singer. Today he is the pastor of St. John's Lutheran Church in Orange where I now live.

A few weeks ago Chris asked me if I'd be interested in meeting him on a Thursday morning at 6am (gulp) to pray for about an hour before I had to leave for work. His invitation humbled me and I was blessed and honored to accept his offer to meet and pray.

This morning we had our second meeting for prayer and as we were praying Chris said something that really leapt out at me. He made a comment to God about how we (pastors) are unworthy to carry the message of the Gospel and the name of Christ, yet Jesus allows us to do so anyway.

I couldn't help but think that if every Pastor in America had that same attitude our Churches would be in a lot better shape.

As I drove to work I continued to think about this. We, the "Holy Men of God", the Pastors of the flock are unworthy to carry the Gospel or bear the name of Jesus - just like everyone else.

We all need Jesus. The sinners, the losers, the drunks, the prostitutes, the homeless, the wife beaters, the apathetic, the homosexuals, the drug dealers, the pastors and the saints - all unworthy of God's Grace. All free to take it anyway.

Praise Jesus.

"Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." - 1 Cor 6:9-11


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Serve Day?

Here in Orange County we have an annual "Serve Day" where hundreds of churches and thousands of christians on one single Saturday a year to serve the community.

As someone who has been passionate about serving the poor and wanting to remind the Body of Christ of our mandate to serve others, you'd think I'd be one of the most vocal supporters of this annual event.

The truth is, it burns me that we have made serving others an annual event where everyone pays money to sign up, gets their "Serve Day" t-shirt and checks off the box for their annual hour of service to "those poor people" in our community.

I have to ask, "Why don’t our Churches do this every single day?"

Is this really what Jesus had in mind for His Church? Are we called to focus on ourselves 364 days of the year and expected to set aside just one day to serve others? I don't think so.

Sure, there's the potential for an event like this to be an opportunity for people to get their feet wet and discover the joys of serving others. I'm certain a few of those who have taken part in a Serve Day previously have decided that they could surrender more of their time to serve more often in their community.

I suppose my biggest concern is with the leadership behind Serve Day. They seem perfectly content to organize a massive, annual day of service across Orange County without any intentional effort to encourage participants to make service their way of life, every day of the week.

The emphasis seems to be on the "One day to change Orange County". Of course that one day has yet to change Orange County, or us, in any significant way, except perhaps to make us more complacent and apathetic the other 364 days of the year towards the poor around us.

Have I made my concerns known to those who organize this event? Yes, I have communicated my concerns to several people, but I think the event has become bigger than anyone ever expected and now any attempt to reconfigure the DNA of this thing is considered too much to tackle. At least that's my assumption of why no one seems to have tried to use the Serve Day event as a catalyst for long-term service within the community.

Why? Because servanthood is just one option for us as Christians, and honestly, it's not a very popular or appealing option to most.

I will say one thing, servanthood wasn’t an optional activity for the early church in Acts, or for the Apostles, and certainly not for Jesus.

Why has it become optional for those who call ourselves by His Name?

-kg

UNDERSTANDING JESUS

This morning I sat down with my oldest son, Dylan to read Mark chapter 8 before I left for work.

When we got to verse 31, where Jesus informs his disciples that he will suffer and die, Peter rebukes him and Jesus in turn rebukes Peter saying, "You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."

Jesus then turns to all of his disciples and says, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me, and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?"

Dylan, who turns 13 in December, admitted that he wasn't sure what Jesus was talking about there, so we talked about it a bit more. I explained that Jesus first says that he will die, and when Peter rebukes him Jesus explains that not only will He die on the cross but all of those who wish to follow Jesus must also take up their cross daily and prepare to die.

I asked Dylan if he was ready to do that. He admitted that he wasn't ready to die. So, we prayed together for God to help him understand what this was all about.

We talked about how, when he was a little boy, he prayed and gave his heart to Jesus. He was baptized as a young boy and started his journey with God all those years ago, but our decision to follow Jesus is a daily decision. I explained to him about how all of us who follow Jesus have to pray that prayer every day- ask God to forgive us and lead us and change us and surrender our lives to Him.

I had to admit to Dylan that I really never understood what Jesus was saying for most of my Christian life. It's only been in the last six or seven years - after being licensed and ordained and pastoring others- that I began to understand what Jesus was saying.

My oldest son is wrestling with concepts that I never encountered until I was in my 30's. I know this is not an easy thing for him to understand.

On my way to work this morning I prayed that God would help Dylan to grasp these difficult words from Jesus and to have the wisdom to understand them.

I need to understand them too.

-kg

WOMEN AS PASTORS, ELDERS, DEACONS AND OVERSEERS

Earlier today I responded to an excellent post by my new blog-friend, Lionel over at his blog.

Lionel started an excellent discussion regarding the role of women in today's Church by asking readers to answer a question about someone who devotes their life to building up the Body, yet happens to be female. Would we call that person a pastor?

This is a question, and a subject, worthy of great discussion and debate within Christian circles today.

My short answer is that I have no problem with this at all, however the subject is multi-faceted and any discussion of this must take the time to examine the various angles equally.

As I see it, there are three issues at the core of this discussion:

1- What would Biblical leadership look like in the Church?
2- Can women take a leadership role in the Church?
3- What does Paul intend to communicate in his various teachings on the subject?

First, let's tackle the first issue regarding the nature of leadership within the Church according to the New Testament.

1- What would Biblical leadership look like in the Church?

One problem we face is that we equate leadership within the Christian Church as being the CEO/Pastor who acts as a Boss and through whom all teaching, edification, instruction, encouragement, (and many of the other 28 spiritual gifts described throughout the NT) must flow.

This is not a Biblical position. So, whenever we examine the New Testament regarding this issue, and others like it, we have to take off our 21st Century filters and attempt to read things at face value. The early church did not resemble what we experience today. The weekly gathering was in a home, meals were shared, everyone contributed and there was no visible leader in the group who did all the talking or teaching while the rest of them listened.

According to 1 Corinthians, Chapter 12, God has designed His Church to act relationally. He has given everything the Body needs to function and grow to the Body itself, "for the common good". The Body is able to thrive through the power and indwelling of the Holy Spirit, which lives within each member of this Body.

If you read 1 Corinthians, Chapter 12 and elsewhere in the New Testament, you will NOT see any teaching or practice within the Body of Christ where all of the gifts flow from one elect leader to everyone else so that they can grow, mature, receive mercy, etc.

What God DID do was to give all of the gifts to various people distributed throughout the Body. In God's relational design for His Church, the encouragement you need is available from someone else in the Body. This means you need the rest of us. It means we need you. We need each other to grow and mature.

Couldn't God have given each person the spiritual gift they needed, when they needed it? Yes, of course He could have. But then we wouldn't need to relate to one another. Instead, God's plan was to place the gift you need most in the hands of someone else so that you and I are required to communicate our needs with one another. It is necessary for the life and health of the Body that we share our weakness and that we share the gifts we have been given.

With this in mind, let's look at the rest of our issues.

2- Can women take a leadership role in the Church?

Some are convinced that there are New Testament scriptures which prohibit a woman to act as a leader within the Body. We'll look at those verses more closely in our next discussion point, but in general I would remind everyone that women played a very important role in the ministry of Jesus. His most powerful interactions, healings and teachings involve women (the woman at the well, the woman caught in adultery, the woman with the issue of blood, the woman whose son had died, the woman who annointed his feet with her tears and dried them with her hair, the woman who broke the gnard of perfume over his feet, etc.) and women supported his ministry, watched him die, attended his grave and gave witness to his resurrection from the dead.

Jesus honored women in a culture where women were undervalued and equal to children and unbelievers.

Now, let's see what Paul really had to say about this subject and, beyond that, what he meant to teach us about the role that women play in the Body.

3- What does Paul intend to communicate in his various teachings on the subject?

Lionel's article references 1 Timothy chapters 2 and 3. In those chapters the main thing we take away is found in verse 12 of chapter 2 where Paul says: "I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent."

Paul says, rather clearly and somewhat chauvinistically I might add, that he does not permit a woman to teach, or to have authority over a man. He also says she must be silent.

As with all difficult teachings and doctrine, we have to take the consensus of other scriptures on the subject in order to get a clear picture of what is being said and taught.

While Paul appears to teach that women shouldn't have any authority over a man within the Body in this passge, we have to remember that elsewhere Paul also teaches that a woman should cover her head when she Prophesies. (see 1 Cor 11:4-5)

What's going on here? In one verse Paul says that he doesn't allow a woman to speak and he doesn't allow a woman to teach, yet in this passage he's providing guidelines for how a woman should prophesy in the gathering of believers.

Let me remind you that, to Paul, the gift of Prophecy is one of the greatest "leadership" gifts in the entire Body (see 1 Cor 14: 1-5). Doesn't one who prophesies speak to the entire Body and provide a message from God for their edification and strengthening?

How do we reconcile these seemingly contradictory ideas regarding Paul's vision of Church? Women are allowed to prophesy as long as their heads are covered, and yet they are called to keep silent. What's going on?

In my opinion, there are a few things going on here.

First, Paul says one thing to the Church in Corinth because he is addressing some very specific issues they are facing in their fellowship together. This means that when he writes to Timothy and he gives a different set of guidelines he is attempting to correct a different set of behaviors within a different Body.

Simply put, Timothy's church didn't face the same problems as the church in Corinth, therefore Paul's advice to one was not the same as what was given to the other.

Also, Paul often says certain controversial things and he attaches a qualifier like, "I am saying this, and not the LORD..." as he does in 1 Cor 7:12, "But to the rest I, not the Lord, say, If any brother has a wife who does not believe, and she is willing to be with him, let him not divorce her."

In passages like this Paul seems to be aware of certain opinions that he might hold that may, or may not, be necessarily a hard line teaching from God.

With this in mind, I think it's interesting that in our original passage (1 Tim 2-3), Paul says, "I do not allow a woman to teach or to have authority over a man..." and in my mind this leaves room for us to wonder out loud about whether or not Paul intended this teaching to be taken as "from the Lord" or from Paul's personal bag of wisdom. At any rate, I believe Paul leaves room for us to disagree with him in these matters of cultural preference regarding the role of women within the gathering. I want to stress, however, that we do not have that same privelege when Paul leaves off that qualifier, "I, not the Lord".


ADDITIONAL NOTES:

Paul writes in Timothy and in Titus to provide criteria for an Elder, and an Overseer within the Body. In those passages he centers on the male gender, calling for them to be "Husbands of one wife", etc.

However, the New Testament also includes great evidence that the early church had many women deacons. Paul speaks of a deaconess named Phoebe in Romans 16:1 and also mentions Priscilla and Aquila in verse 2 calling them "my fellow workers in Christ Jesus". These two are also prominent in Paul's ministry, even travelling with him on Missionary journey's in Acts 18:18, and we know that the two of them hosted a church in their home according to 1 Cor 16:19. (Paul also mentions Euodia and Syntyche in Philipians 4, as well as Tabitha or Dorcas in Acts 9.)


DISCUSS: There also seems to be a difference between the roles of elders and overseers as it pertains to the Worship service or share time versus the life of the Church outside the meeting. Women are welcome to share among the rest of the people who gather to share and worship in the 1 Cor 12 model, however the authority required to rebuke or confront a believer caught in sin, etc. seems to rest on those male elders and overseers who were recognized as having a Fatherly position within the Body.

Your thoughts?

UNBELIEVABLE

The internet is a strange place and apparently several of my more vocal online fans have submitted my name to a talk show host who has now helped to create a grassroots campaign calling for me to run for President.

No, I'm serious.

Watch this news clip:
HERE

I don't think any Third Party candidate has a hope of winning the Presidential Election anytime soon, but this groundswell of support to recruit me into running for the highest office in the land is very humbling.

What do you guys think?

kg

EINZE GEHOBEN

This is going to sound very weird, but the other night I had a series of very strange dreams. They were the kind of dreams where my wife Wendy has to pray for me because I am struggling, both within the dream and outside the dream, to wake up.

I call these spiritual dreams because they always involve a message, a vision or a sense of spiritual encounter.

So, my dream the other night involved a phrase in German that I could not understand. Mostly because I do not speak German. So, when I woke up around 2am I went into the den and scribbled the word down on a piece of paper so I wouldn't forget it.

Today, just a few moments ago actually, my sister-in-law called me to interpret my German message from God. (She speaks German).

The words I had written were: Einze Gehoben. According to Felicia, my sister-in-law, these words are interpreted as:

Einze = First

Gehoben = One who is lifted up or elevated

So, I still don't know exactly what to make of this. Why would God give me a message in a language I don't speak? Why would it be something cryptic like "The First one who is lifted up?"

Not sure. But it is interesting isn't it?

I could draw parrallels to scripture and recall the verse where Jesus says, "If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto myself". Jesus was the first one to be lifted up, onto the cross, for the salvation of mankind. We also are called to carry our cross, daily, in order to follow Jesus. Our cross and his cross are linked together.

Is my German message just another name for Jesus, the "Einze Gehoben"? Or is it something more?

I'll be praying about this over the next few days. If you have any ideas what this could mean I'd appreciate the feedback. Just place a comment below.

Thanks,
Keith

REACTIONS TO "THE RELUCTANT RADICAL"

Yesterday I sent out my weekly [Subversive Underground] article to the subscribers of my little e-newsletter. It was entitled "The Reluctant Radical" and it was something I have been working on and thinking about for some time now.

(You can read this article by clicking on the [Subversive Underground] link at the left-nav).

Already I've received several responses which tells me several things. One, that some people actually read those things, which is a relief. It also tells me, based on the email and comments I'm receiving, that I need to clarify a few things.

Below I have pasted some of my correspondence with my good friend Ben V. and also with fellow blogger Adam on the subjects of church history, practice and leadership.

Here ya go:
**

I hope that people who read my articles still get that I'm not against traditional churches or those who attend them. I've tried to balance what I'm saying with the idea that I still have many friends who are traditional pastors and parents who still attend, and love, their mega-church, etc.

My high-wire act is to share what I'm learning with everyone and allow them to draw the conclusions, allow them to fill in the "Now What?" blanks for themselves.

Yes, I have my opinions, and I try to share them as graciously as possible, and yes, sometimes people get offended by what I share and that's ok too, I guess.

I am pretty open about the fact that our family has decided to enter the house church arena, and I hope that people get more light than heat from my articles. I hope so, anyway.

To answer your questions:

A) "when I actually read Acts and realized the Believers were still meeting in the Temple daily for prayer."

Well, not exactly. I mean, yes, at the beginning of Acts we read that they met daily in the Temple Courts. But this stopped pretty much instantaneously after Stephen was stoned to death and Saul started going from house to house to round up these Followers of The Way. After this is was pretty much the house meeting exclusively to avoid arrest.

It's important to note, however, that the decision to meet in houses didn't come up after the persecution as a way to protect the Body. It was something they were doing from day one. What they did was eliminate the more public and Jewish-based meeting in the Temple Courts, but the house meetings were ongoing from Jesus, into the Upper Room meetings and throughout the New Testament church.

I'm not kidding when I say don't read the history of the early church unless you want to have your concepts blasted apart. The less you know about these things he easier it will be for you to stay safe and happy the way you are. I'm just sayin'....

B) "It talks about the church hierarchy and it seems similar to what we have today"

Again, not really. We tend to read into the New Testament these patterns because that's how we've always been taught to see and understand things. But there was no hierarchy in the early church, not until late in the Third Century when newly converted pagans became leaders and brought their ideas of Priest and Bishop into the fold. Before this the church was lead mainly by Elders who were self-identified by the rest of the Body and sometimes by one of the Apostles.

The word "Pastor" only appears once in the Bible. We have no formal explanation of what someone with this gifting did, other than to trace the root of the word as it relates to "Shepherd", or one who cares for the flock. To me, it's significant that the only way to lead a flock of sheep is from behind. Jesus modelled a very different kind of leader for us, and for his disciples, which they took to heart.

At any rate, those with pastoral giftings in the early church certainly didn't look or act anything like the one's we have today.

I recently engaged in a Q & A with a guy (ADAM) over this on the [SU] so rather than re-type this here's what I said to him about the idea of leadership within the early church:

ADAM SAID: "...having been in the corporate world a while, one truth I have found regarding human nature is that people WANT to be led."

KEITH'S RESPONSE: Yes, people do want to be lead, but what I've learned is that leadership doesn't have to look like what we're used to seeing in the church.

The traditional church models a CEO leadership and takes its cues from the business world, but there are other forms of leadership that don't take the "I'm the boss" approach.

The form of leadership that Jesus modelled was to wash the feet of his followers, and then he commanded them to do the same, especially pointing out that when they lead others they were not to "Lord it over people" as the pagans did/do.

Leadership, as modelled by Jesus, is by example, based on servant hood and facilitates dialog, cooperation and teamwork, not a professional clergy class.

ADAM SAID: "But what about Romans 12:5-8 which I was always taught about spiritual gifts?....there is a Leadership "gift.""

KEITH'S RESPONSE: You're correct, but again, we cannot assume that "leadership" means what we've come to know it as simply because that's the model we've grown up with. Does the Bible show us a different model for leadership? Yes, it does. My argument is that we, as followers of Jesus, need to adopt the model that Jesus gave us, not the one we've borrowed from Bill Gates and Starbucks, etc.

ADAM SAID: "...this passage insinuates a multi-member, multi-function organization with people in leadership roles. If the pastor is not designated the "leader" then who is?"

KEITH'S RESPONSE: You're getting it. The Bible gives us a model where function within the Body is shared and relational. Each person contributes something that no one else can using their unique gifts.

ADAM: "Just curious, how does your house church operate?"

KEITH: Glad you asked! I've got several articles I could send you which describe this in greater detail, (and I'll email those links to you if you ask me at "elysiansky" at hotmail (dot) com), but essentially I facilitate our share times together and try not to dominate the dialog, allowing everyone (even the children) to share insights into scripture, communicate a testimony, provide an insight, etc. to encourage the rest of us in our walk with Christ.

There are times when I need to exert my "Pastoral Authority" but usually everyone plays nice and most of the leadership you'd expect to see is done behind the scenes, in private and one-on-one with those who need a loving rebuke or a nudge in the right direction

**

Ben - I'm glad to hear you're re-reading through the book of Acts. I'd encourage you to go to the library and pick out pretty much ANY book on Constantine and/or early church history. It will change your mind about a lot of things.

As you say, "It would be truly terrible to find out one day that, like our Catholic brothers, we've been getting things wrong for centuries. Of course, that may be the case . . ."

Yes, that would be truly terrible.

kg

LORD, SAVE US FROM YOUR FOLLOWERS

This is one indie film worth seeking out. "Lord Save Us From Your Followers" is not a slam against Christianity by non-believers, it's an honest look at Christianity in America that we need to take seriously.

First, this film hopes to reclaim the heart of the Gospel and to restore the concepts of relationship and love for people, as Jesus commanded us.

Secondly, the film hopes to inspire dialogue between political or ideological extremes, particularly Christian and non-Christian; Liberal and conservative.


WATCH A PREVIEW OF THE FILM
HERE

MAIN WEBSITE
HERE:

Rabbi Unveils Secret Name of God

READ THE COMPLETE ARTICLE
HERE

(FROM THE ARTICLE ABOVE): "Rabbi Mark Sameth contends...that the four-letter Hebrew name for God…should actually be read in reverse. When the four letters are flipped, he says, the new name makes the sounds of the Hebrew words for "he" and "she."

**
Wow. If you flip the four letter name for God and read the gibberish out loud it sounds like the words "he" and "she"."

This is an historic discovery. Apparently if you take the name of God from the Hebrew, reverse the letters, and then attempt to pronounce the gibberish, someone who speaks Hebrew will think you are saying "He, She" and do you know what that means?

I don't either, really. But, I decided to take this genius theory and apply it to my own name to discover even more about myself.

So, if you reverse the letters in my last name you get "Selig" and often people will call me "Kevin" instead of "Keith" since the two names are very similar. This leaves you with "Kevin Selig". Amazing, huh?

So, if you Google the name "Kevin Selig" you find this page:
KEVIN SELIG

Here's what we've learned: First, not only is Kevin Selig, my anti-thesis, a blogger who writes articles on the InterWeb (just like me), it turns our that Kevin loves coffee as much as I do.

You know the most amazing thing about all of this? I'm going to tell you. The most amazing thing about all of this that the Rabbi who came up with this theory has a picture of himself on the first link (go check) and he looks just like John McCain who is running against Barack Obama who has not one, not two, but THREE Muslim names.

Doesn't that strike you as oddly fascinating?

Me neither.
-kg

Arrested for Feeding the Poor

On April 4, 2007, at the conclusion of an Orlando police undercover investigation that, according to the Orlando Weekly, cost taxpayers $65,000, FNB member Eric Montanez was arrested. His alleged crime: feeding more than 24 people. His weapon: a ladle.

The result was twofold. One: A jury who understood the concept of "unconscionability" found Eric "not guilty." Two: The arrest scared away groups and people who were participating, especially some of the church groups, who were afraid of being labeled "law-breakers."

Yes, it is unconscionable to let people go hungry, in a city of plenty in a nation of plenty. It is a higher magnitude of unconscionability to persecute those who feel called to serve the poor and subject them to arrest and prosecution.

READ THE FULL STORY
HERE

**
These stories make me wonder if I would continue to go out and serve the poor if I knew I would be arrested for doing it. Part of me wants to say, "Absolutely", but the truth is that I have a family, and the idea of being arrested kind of scares me. Would I really be willing to feed people, serve people, love people even if it meant that I'd be handcuffed and taken to jail for doing it?

Next weekend our house church is taking a truck load of free groceries to hand out to the families who live at the California Studio Inn in Santa Ana, as we've done for over 5 years now. But what if our local government made it illegal to pass out food to people in motel parking lots? Would I still show up and face arrest?

Next month some of our Mission house church family are taking food and supplies to an orphanage just over the border into Tijuana, Mexico. What if we knew they could be detained and thrown into jail for doing this? Would we still be so eager to serve?

I ask these questions because they reveal a sense of comfort in me that I find disturbing. Am I really more interested in serving and loving others than I am in my own comfort and safety? I know we're not supposed to be stupid about how we serve people either. We don't just take any stranger off the street and allow them to sleep on the floor next to our children at night. We're careful within reasonable boundaries and we use our brains to make wise choices as we serve others.

I just wonder if the day ever comes when serving costs me my freedom or my safety, will I be willing to serve and to love anyway?

-kg

PARKER'S EPIPHANY

Over the last two and a half years my family has been trying to live out a missional calling to the neighborhood where we live.

One of the main ways we've accomplished this has been through the children who live on our cul-de-sac in Orange and play with our boys every week.

A few weeks ago at the Mission we were joined on a Thursday evening by five of the children from our neighborhood. They knocked on our door as we were finishing up dinner and preparing to enter worship to announce that they were coming to church with us.

They sang along with us, took communion with us and engaged in our open share time dialog along with everyone else.

The day we moved into this house it was Parker, a street smart kid who is used to taking care of himself and his two younger siblings for much of the time, who first welcomed us to the neighborhood, and himself to our house.

Parker, who is only about 7 or 8 years old, is head strong, funny and smart as a whip. He's got the mind of a 19 year old in the body of a young boy so you never know what he might do or say.

This night, as we were answering the rapid fire questions being thrown at us from the kids, Parker suddenly had a revelation and shouted, "Hey, wait a minute!"

We all paused to hear what he might be preparing to say next. "If Adam and Eve were the only people in the beginning and then they had kids and their kids had kids, then that means the whole planet is one big family."

The adults in the room all smiled and nodded to one another. We were visibly impressed by Parker's revelation.

"You're right," I said to Parker. "If only the leaders of our Nations and the people of our planet could all remember that, our World would be a much better place wouldn't it?"

Parker agreed.

-kg

Peace

"...the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." - Jesus (John 14:26-27)

If there's anything I need right now, it's the peace of Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

I've felt so disjointed the last few weeks, as you may have noticed due to my less-than-frequent blogging here. Life is busy.

I know that everyone in Orange County is "Busy". If you don't believe me, just ask them. They'll tell you with a sigh that they are busy.

But for the last several years my wife and I have been, intentionally, living as simple and as stress free a life as we can manage.

A lot of our friends say we already do too much, but the truth is we normally only do the things we love doing and then we just do a whole lot of it. For instance, we love to serve the poor and to spend time with people so we do as much of that as we can with our kids and our house church. We also love our kids and so we spend as much time doing family stuff as we can. We also love our house church family and so any chance to be with them we take advantage of it and we do that.

Lately, however, we've been invaded by a series of time-stealing activities that have made me long for those days when we could spend more time doing what we love instead of what we have to do.

So, today at work, where I am buried under a never ending mountain of projects, I googled this verse and took a moment to meditate on what it means to lean on the Holy Spirit and to ask Jesus for his peace.

I need that peace right now. I need the joy of the Lord to be my strength.

Granted, these things that are stealing my time for the moment are passing. Soon enough my life will return to normal (in about six more weeks) and then I can stretch out and enjoy the luxury of a quiet moment with my family, or a fun time with my sons, or a warm cup of coffee with a good friend.

Until then, I am daily seeking Jesus for His peace and for the strength that God provides me through His joy.

Peace,
Keith

And the Lord said, "Wait..."

For about six or seven years now my wife and I have noticed an ongoing pattern in our lives. Everytime we start down a path or attempt something new, God always seems to respond with "Wait".

Sometimes it's as mundane and everyday as waiting in traffic, or unexpected delays at an airport, but many times it's big things like that check we need from the IRS to help us pay our rent, or a new job so we can get out of debt, or an answer to a prayer we've been bringing to Him for months, sometimes years.

It's almost like a conspiracy of sorts.

These days Wendy and I will usually just look at each other and nod silently, or simply repeat the word to each other- "Wait" as if it's the punchline to a joke we've heard many, many, many times before.

Except that this joke is only funnier the longer it goes on. In the beginning we didn't laugh when God said "Wait". Instead we threw fits and cried and rolled around on the floor like spoiled brats. Over time we've learned to roll our eyes, or comfort one another with the simple, yet very familiar word of God, "Wait".

A few weeks ago we attended a day-long seminar on the ministry of the Holy Spirit lead by Mike Pilavachi. It was a great day to be with my old friends from Soul Survivor and to receive practical instruction on how to pray for people and to move in the power of the Holy Spirit...which is something I have to admit I am really terrible at.

My dear wife was the first to bring it to my attention. "Isn't it funny," she asked me as we stood in the kitchen on the day after our Holy Spirit conference. "What?" I said. "You know," she continued, "God's been trying to get us to understand the importance of waiting on Him for years now and yesterday Mike Pilavachi demonstrated to us the secret of moving in the power of the Holy Spirit was all about waiting for Him to move."

I didn't respond at first. It took a moment to sink in all the way, but when it did I had to laugh. "The reason why I'm so bad at moving in the power of the Holy Spirit is because the secret is to wait on Him to move first," I said, stating the obvious point which had eluded me all these years.

It gave me a new understanding of the verse where God says, "Those that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they will mount up with wings as Eagles."

Suddenly I could see that this verse wasn't just about waiting for months on God's answer to prayer, or for years to discover God's will for my life, but also about waiting five or six minutes in silence for the Holy Spirit to move or to speak to us as we gathered together to pray.

So, I have to admit, I am still not very good at this. In fact, I am still downright horrible at it. But, now that I understand the principle and the importance of waiting on the Holy Spirit, I can honestly say I have a hope of improving in this area.

The secret is to wait.

-kg

NEW BOOK IN PROGRESS

I'm hard at work writing my third book, "Jesus Called. He Wants His Church Back" and I'm very hopeful that it will be complete and ready by the end of this year.

This book will take a look at the church that Jesus built, the Cyprian heresy, and specifically how God's people need a fresh understanding of what it means to "Be The Church" rather than attend one.

In addition, I plan to include a section of the book with testinonials from pastors, friends and everyday people like you who have discovered the power of "being the Church" and moved towards a more organic and simple ecclesiology. (If you'd like for me to include your testimony feel free to contact me about it at "elysiansky" at "hotmail" dot "com).

The book will also include a section detailing our specific adventures into House Church at The Mission over the last 3 years in a journal/diary section taken from my personal diary and my articles over at www.MissionHouseChurch.com and over at SeedStories.com and Ginkworld.net.

My first two books are still available at the link on the left-nav bar and one of them should be officially re-published before the end of this year also. More on that as soon as I've signed the actual contracts.

Thanks to all of you who have downloaded the free PDF versions of my book, and giant "THANK YOU'S" to those awesome folks who actually purchased a hard copy of your very own. I am very blessed to read your feedback and to hear how God has challenged you as you read these books.

I pray that this new book would also inspire, challenge and bless a new generation of people to understand how God designed His Church to function and what it means to be the temple, the daily sacrifice and the royal priesthood of God.

More later..

kg

The Normal Holy Spirit

Fellow blogger Adam made an interesting, and very honest, comment on my last entry regarding his reaction to the Holy Spirit and I wanted to follow up with a few comments of my own on this subject.

I am, like Adam, a recovering Baptist who was raised to believe that God answers prayer and heals, but most likely won't in my case.

It's a pretty common thing, I believe, for us to doubt testimonies of miraculous healing or Divine Appointments. Our everyday experience often conspires against our inner faith in God's willingness to intervene in daily life.

Part of the problem, I think, is that we've all seen the Holy Spirit used as a tool to coerce people or manipulate them. Usually this manipulation involves sending in a check to an Evangelist with bad 70's hair and an immaculate Armani suite on channel 40.

However, the Holy Spirit is real. He is the third person of the Trinity. He is continuing the ministry of Jesus in the actual world you and I live in every single day. Without the Holy Spirit the Church, you and I, would have no hope of accomplishing anything in the Kingdom of God on our own.

Todd Hunter recently made a statement about the Holy Spirit that helped to center this discussion for me. He said, "In the Early Church, and in the New Testament, the Holy Spirit was not a controversial subject. It just wasn't. Because the Holy Spirit was simply the manifest presence of God empowering them to continue the ongoing message and ministry of Jesus".

Part of our problem is fear. I also think that, speaking for myself, I need to overcome the delusion that God doesn't want to heal or to speak or to move or to empower His Church to utilize their Spiritual Gifts. Of course He does! Why would God want to cripple His own Body? Why would the Holy Spirit desire to bring doubt to God's people? Why would Jesus want to withold the power necessary to encourage His Bride to live and love as He did?

Answer: He wouldn't.

The Holy Spirit is real. He is no more "weird" than Jesus. He is no more inaccessible than our own thoughts and prayers.

In fact, the same Holy of Holies that once hid behind a 300 pound veil is now located somewhere in your chest, nestled just inside the doorway of your heart.

He is near. He is real. He wants to bless and heal and empower us to be the Church we're called to be.

-kg