Just War or Passive Resistance?

I recently started reading a book called "The Essential Writings of Ghandi” at about the same time my family and I took a trip to Washington D.C. While we were there we visited the Holocaust Museum. I remember coming home that night and reading the next chapter in this book which was, coincidentally, about Gandhi’s view that Hitler could have been stopped through non-violent resistance. The horror of what I’d seen at the Holocaust Museum that morning was still fresh in my mind. I remember closing the book and shaking my head in disbelief. "How could Gandhi believe that non-violence could have stopped Hitler?" I wondered. It’s one thing to use non-violence to change the culture of a land, or to resist an unjust law, but Hitler’s regime seems so much more evil than any of that. If people weren’t moved to lay down their weapons when they saw thousands of Jewish women and children being starved to death, or shot in the head, or burned alive in massive ovens, then how could they possibly be moved by a show of solidarity and determination to resist evil to the point of death?

Over the last few months I believe I’ve come to some better understanding of what Gandhi meant, and also what a Christian non-violent response could have accomplished against Hitler’s schemes.

Obviously what I'm going to share is complete supposition. At best, I am only thinking out loud and inviting you to consider these thoughts along with me.

What I wonder is what an organized, non-violent response to Hitler might have accomplished. What if, from the beginning, the Jews and others in Germany had collectively refused to cooperate with the injustices imposed upon them and said, "You can kill us, but we will not wear the Gold Stars. We will not comply with your racist and oppressive rules and laws." What would have happened? Would it have made any difference?

As we consider this, let me remind you that non-violence and passive resistance don't emphasize passivity. On the contrary, it requires great courage and it involves laying one's life on the line to oppose injustice. In other words, many people would probably have still died in the battle. But, it would have been a battle where only one side was the aggressor and the other side was a unified force that refused to go along with even the tiniest injustice imposed against people – regardless of their own race or creed.

What was missing from this equation was someone like MLK, or Gandhi, or an inspired follower of Jesus who would lead the way. What was required was someone who had an influence on the people, someone with a voice who could inspire the people to agree together that they would not stand for the racist laws, and that they would not comply in even the smallest way with the unjust policies imposed upon them or others.

Not to place the blame on the victims, but history shows us that, without such an inspiring leader to point the way, the Jews did what everyone else would do in such a case – they mostly went along with what was asked of them by their Government. They were good citizens who believed that what was asked of them was something temporary, or inconvenient. None of them had any idea just how deadly and malevolent the process would eventually become.

Certainly some did resist the unjust laws and policies, but those individuals were quickly killed or arrested to set an example to any others who might attempt to resist. Those who watched these people being arrested or killed probably wondered if it was worth the price they had to pay in order to resist. However, it’s theoretically possible that, as in the case of MLK, or Gandhi, if everyone together collectively agreed to resist - even to the point of death - and regardless of how many of them were arrested or put to death, we might have seen a vastly different outcome.

Of course, we do not know this for sure. I understand that. I do.

Simply acquiescing to evil is not the same as passively resisting it. As Gandhi famously said, (and I’m paraphrasing) "I will lay down my life to oppose injustice and evil. But I will not kill anyone." So, our commitment has to be to die for what is right - to fight - but not to do violence or to kill anyone in the process.

As a follower of Christ, I'm skeptical about whether or not anyone other than a follower of Jesus can ever actually do this. It’s not that I believe Christians are more loving or self-sacrificing. It’s more that I’m skeptical of any human ability to lay down their life for strangers. I'm not sure I believe that anyone, apart from the indwelling love of Christ, is capable of loving their enemies enough to lay down their lives and die to themselves, and for one another, in such a way. For example, those who followed Martin Luther King, Jr. did so because they were followers of Christ, primarily. Those who marched were largely church members. Those who resisted to the point of shedding their own blood were Christians. And, of course, they were African-Americans. They were the oppressed.

Even Gandhi, I believe, had a basic faith in Christ that informed his own passion for justice and inspired a willingness to follow Jesus' example of overcoming evil with good, even to the point of death.

As an aside, Gandhi read the Sermon on the Mount every day and wrote as much about Jesus in his writings as any modern Christian author does. I wonder, what do you call someone who reads the words of Jesus every day and puts his teachings on love and forgiveness and service and self-sacrifice into practice? Regardless of whether or not Gandhi would have called himself a Christian (and he wouldn't have), I personally feel that he was a better follower of Jesus than I am at times, and perhaps a better follower of Jesus than most American Christians.

Maybe I’m wrong about this, however. Again, this is all supposition anyway. But, maybe with the right inspiration and an organized non-violent strategy the Jews could have successfully stopped Hitler in the earliest stages and the Holocaust could have been avoided. Or not.

Still, my mind goes back to the images of the death camps. I see again in my memory the heart breaking despair and unbelievable inhumanity expressed under the Nazi regime and I find it hard to accept that anyone or anything could have stopped this evil, short of assassination or war.

But, was this war - the only viable candidate for anything near to what could be referred to as a “Just War” – truly just? Was it truly the best possible solution to answer this atrocity?

Above all other wars in human history, World War Two alone stands as the primary (if only) example of what a Just War could look like. Laying aside for a moment whether or not you believe that a Just War is even possible, let's look at the fruit of this “Just War.” What did it produce, other than the eventual end of Nazi Germany?

*The development of nuclear weapons

*The death of 80k people in Hiroshima

*Another 60k dead due to radiation poisoning

*73k killed in Nagasaki

*Another 70k after that due to radiation

*50 plus years of Cold War escalation as nuclear weapons proliferated between the US and Soviet Russia

*A total of over 70 million fatalities

Let’s remember that America did not enter the war in order to stop Hitler. We knew all about what Hitler was doing to his people and to neighboring nations and we did nothing. In fact, if it were not for the fact that Japan dared to bomb Pearl Harbor we would never have considered entering the war at all. So, if we are honest, we only entered the war when it was about defending our own pride, not because the lives of others were at stake.

World War Two was the deadliest conflict in human history. It brought about millions of deaths. It created the atomic monster that continues to plague our world and threatens still to blow up the planet ten times over.

Is that what a "Just War" looks like? Is this - the best of all possible wars - really something we hope to emulate again?

Whether or not the war against Hitler was justified, the costs were enormous, and it should cause us to rethink the idea of war and to become desperate to find peaceful means to resolving future conflicts.

As followers of Jesus - the Prince of Peace - we need to become experts in peace. We must take seriously the promise of Jesus when he said, "Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall inherit the Earth."

Are we peacemakers? If not, are we really followers of Jesus?

-kg

PART 2- WAR IS NOT CHRISTIAN

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In Part 2 of our new War Is Not Christian series over at Subversive Radio, our host Keith Giles looks at: *Jesus turning over tables in the Temple *Early Christians on Non-Violence and War

INTERVIEW: Crissy Brooks (MIKA)

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Listen to my interview with Crissy Brooks of MIKA. Find out more about MIKA here>

New Podcast: War Is Not Christian

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LISTEN: Subversive Radio Special Edition: War Is Not Christian with Keith Giles. In light of the upcoming Pacifist Fight Club: Round 2 (This Time It's War!), host Keith Giles takes a moment to explore common scriptural objections to Jesus and Non-violence.

FOR LEADERS ONLY

Today’s article is directed only to the leaders among us. We all know how important leaders are in the Body of Christ, and that’s why I want to take this moment to address all of those who are leaders in the Church.
However, this article is also – at the very same time – addressed directly to everyone who calls themselves a Christian.

Let me explain:

First of all, every follower of Jesus is commanded to love:

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” (John 13:34)


Secondly, loving one another means serving one another:

“You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free, (therefore)…serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Galatians 5:13-14)

Third, those who are leaders in the Church must be servants:

“The greatest among you will be your servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Matthew 23:11-12)

Therefore, if every Christian is called to be a servant, and if loving one another means serving one another, and if those who serve others are leaders in the Body of Christ, then every Christian is a leader.

That means Christianity is for leaders only.

The more we serve others in the Body of Christ, the greater we become. The greater we become the more authority we are given to serve others. The more we exercise our authority to serve by serving more people, the greater servants we become, and the greater we become in the Kingdom. It’s really very simple.

WHAT ABOUT NON-LEADERS?

Simply put, lack of leadership in the Body of Christ is a disease. Some call it “Diotrephesia”.

“I wrote something to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not acknowledge us. Therefore, if I come I will call attention to the deeds he is doing – the bringing of unjustified charges against us with evil words! And not being content with that, he not only refuses to welcome the brothers himself, but hinders the people who want to do so and throws them out of the church!” (3 John 1: 9-11)


The symptoms of Diotrephesia are:
*Always seeking to be first
*Strong desire to do all the talking
*Tendency to "Lord it over" others
*Fixation with literature, conferences, and titles that imply leadership is about being in control rather than being a slave.
*Tendency to assume the entire church fellowship is under his authority and control.
*Continually finds ways to exploit the talents of others for his own gain.
*Keeps others dependent upon himself for spiritual health

There is no room in the Body of Christ for any so-called “non-leaders”. The New Testament has nothing to say about followers of Christ who do not serve, or embrace the greatness of being humble. Those in the Church who refuse to serve must be taught how to serve, or be served themselves by everyone else until they either become so ashamed of themselves for their lack of leadership that they also begin to lead by serving.

LEADERS, SERVANTS, AND FOLLOWERS
Those of us who are leaders in the church (and that’s all of us) are called to be just like Jesus, and even Jesus “did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life” for others. Paul the Apostle follows up these thoughts by pointing out that everyone in the Body of Christ is called to love – and to serve – everyone else. In short, everyone who calls themselves a Christian is, in fact, a servant, and therefore, a leader. This means that Christianity is for leaders only.

See you at the Leadership Conference on Sunday.

-kg

LISTEN: Subversive Radio Interviews Chase Andre & Thomas Crisp

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Listen to Subversive Radio host Keith Giles interview Dr. Thomas Crisp and Chase Andre about their involvement in Pacifist Fight Club coming up on May 5, 2012 at Fuller Seminary (Irvine). Learn about Pacifist Fight Club at www.PacifistFightClub.com

Pacifist Fight Club: Round 2 - This Time It's War!

We will fight for peace, but we will do no violence

This is a FREE Event.

*BRING YOUR OWN SACK LUNCH

*WATER, COFFEE & TEA PROVIDED

DETAILS:

Saturday, May 5, 2012, 9:00 am to 2pm

Fuller Seminary (Irvine), 2061 Business Center Drive, Irvine, CA 92612

Topics:

"Christians in the Military" - Thomas Crisp (Biola)

"Just War Theory vs No War Theory" - Shane Crash (Pacifist Army)

"The Dangers of Christian Nationalism" - Chase Andre (Biola)

"Christian Zionism: Israel, Palestine and the Kingdom of God" - Keith Giles (Pacifist Fight Club)

"How Love Overcomes Hate" - Brandt Russo (Can't Ignore The Poor)

To find out more about Pacifist Fight Club listen to Subversive Radio this Sunday night at 9pm (PST) to hear our guests, Thomas Crisp and Chase Andre talk about the upcoming Pacifist Fight Club event.

LISTEN SUNDAY NIGHT AT THIS LINK>

OR CALL IN TO PARTICIPATE: (646) 915-8079 at 9pm on Sunday night (PST).

OR VISIT WWW.PACIFISTFIGHTCLUB.COM>

LISTEN: THE POWER OF WEAKNESS

IT SEEMS illogical, but we may be most useful to God when we’re at the end of our rope.

Keith Giles joins host Derek Gilbert to discuss his new book, The Power of Weakness. 


Drawing on examples from scripture, Keith argues that our natural Key Performance Indicators — to borrow some jargon from the business world — may actually lead us away from the path God wants us to walk, and that His glory is most evident when He works through those least likely to succeed.

LISTEN TO THE FULL INTERVIEW >

LISTEN: Subversive Radio - Episode 1

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Every Sunday night at 9pm (PST) I'll be hosting a new Blog Talk Radio show called Subversive Radio.

We'll talk about all the things I blog about here, take calls and sometimes even talk to special guests.

Follow the link to listen in LIVE on Sunday nights at 9pm (PST) or listen anytime after that to our archived podcast versions of previous shows.

This Sunday night (4/22) my guests will be Dr. Thomas Crisp (Biola) and Chase Andre. We'll talk about their upcoming presentations at Pacifist Fight Club: Round 2 "This Time It's War" on May 5th at Fuller Seminary (Irvine Campus), and about their Dorothy Day Society, among other things.

Make sure to join us, call in, or just listen.

VISIT SUBVERSIVE RADIO ONLNE HERE>

What Happens When The Largest Church and the Smallest Church in Orange County Work Together?

About ten years ago, my wife and I started serving the people who live at the California Studio Inn on Segerstrom street in Santa Ana, California. At first, our only goal was to love people and to bless them in the name of Jesus. We didn’t market our church, we didn’t preach any sermons, we simply showed up with a bounce house, and ice cream for the kids, a short puppet show, and sometimes free groceries and clothes. Our hope was that people would start to wonder, and then to ask us, “Why are you coming out here every month to bless us like this?” We were hoping to create a desire in them – a divine curiosity – to understand our motivation. And when they did eventually ask us that question, our answer was, “Because Jesus loves you, and we love you, too.”


At first, my vision for ministry at the motel was grand. We were going to have large gatherings where I would preach the gospel and people would be saved, delivered and healed. We’d have dramatic stories to tell of how hundreds came to Christ and lives were transformed. But, as I soon learned, God’s plan was different.

The first thing God said to me was to simply love and befriend one family at the motel. He challenged us to embrace them, to welcome them into our home, to have them over for dinner, to let their kids play with our kids, and to let their challenges and their struggles become our own.

Over time, we did begin to see dramatic transformation and deep spiritual growth. But that growth, and that transformation, was mainly being done in my own heart, and in my family.

We learned that when we can’t, God can. We learned that getting burned and taken for a ride was the best way to develop our instincts for how people survive in this environment. We learned how to love people, even when we knew they were trying to play us. We learned how to bear the burdens of people who had never known the love of Christ. We also learned when to stop carrying the burdens of some people so that they could learn to lean more on Jesus than on us.

Eventually, someone from Saddleback Church contacted us about wanting to start a Sunday morning church service at our motel. Over time we began to work together to facilitate this weekly service.

Ron Wilbur was the main person I dealt with on a regular basis. He and I became fast friends and we both learned to work together as we began to see God at work in this motel.

People started making professions of faith in Christ. Baptisms started happening in the swimming pool, or in people’s homes. Residents of the motel started volunteering to help set up, post flyers at the motel, serve the food, even teach on Sunday mornings as needed. Slowly, we started to see God at work in the lives of the people here, and we realized that He cared much more about this than we did.

Just over a year ago, however, things changed dramatically. After a particularly loud Sunday morning worship service in the parking lot, the manager shut everything down. We thought it was over. But, as we were soon to learn, God had everything under control. See, this particular motel is actually two motels in one. While we were kicked out of the first motel, the manager at the second motel – herself a committed follower of Jesus – gave us carte blanche to re-start the Church on her side of the fence.

In the process, we made a few changes to the format. Rather than have teachers come and share the “sermon of the week” with us, we decided to have everyone read the same scriptures together during the week and discuss those verses when we gathered together on Sunday morning. We started off with the Gospel of Mathew and the Sermon on the Mount.

Over the next few months we witnessed a dramatic change in the lives of the residents. They were actually growing in their faith. They were reading the scriptures and they were coming on Sunday morning to share their insights, their thoughts, and their questions with everyone else. The participation factor was much higher, and as a result, we started to see them becoming disciples of Jesus – real followers who were grappling with the words of Jesus and working to live out His teaching in their actual lives.

Now, after just about a year and a half of this new format, we’re seeing new opportunities emerge. On Easter Sunday we planted four new motel churches in Anaheim, and two of those motel churches were led by members who came out of our little motel church. We’re starting our first weekly Bible Study soon, too. Led and hosted by the residents themselves, not Ron or myself. In fact, one former motel resident, who is now part of our house church family, and who was recently baptized himself, wants to join the Bible Study group. So, it’s all coming around full circle.

I’m amazed at what God has done. It blesses me so much to see what happens when the largest church in Orange County and the smallest church in Orange County come together to let God build His church in a little motel. The key has been working together, laying down our own agendas, and letting go of our need to own or brand the process. Ron has been a joy to work with. His humility and his transparency are phenomenal. I’m honored to serve alongside a brother like him.

Now, we get to see what God has in store for this little church in the next few years. I can’t wait.

-kg
**

THE POWER OF WEAKNESS

New ebook by Keith Giles:

In his second letter to the church in Corinth, the Apostle Paul described an encounter with God that taught him a valuable lesson about humility and perspective.

The author, Keith Giles, explores this Kingdom principal of weakness in the lives of people like Moses, Gideon, Samson, Solomon and even Jesus to help us understand how we can unleash the “power of Christ” in our own lives.

REVIEW BY ARTHUR SIDO:

The Power of Weakness is the latest offering from Keith Giles and it was both a pleasure and encouragement to read. In a church culture that sees sickness and poverty and weakness as something to be avoided and prayed about, Keith takes us back to the Bible to demonstrate that God has always used people when they were at their worst or those who were least "qualified".

The bulk of The Power of Weakness is an examination of the lives of a number of well-known figures from the Bible, men like Moses and Solomon and even Jesus Christ Himself, to show the glory of God in achieving great things through the weakness of man. After looking at the compelling evidence from the Bible, Keith turns to a more practical application, each and every individual Christian. If God can and has done great things through the weakness of men like Gideon and Paul, certainly He can and does through weak vessels like you and I. In a church culture that glorifies and exalts the most educated, smoothest speaking and best credentialed men, Keith reminds us that it is rarely the obvious (in our eyes) vessels that God works through.

As Keith points out, there is a reason that God glories in using the weakness of man to accomplish His great works, namely that it leaves no doubt in the mind of those who witness or read about these events as to where the honor and glory belong. It is not because of human talent or skill or intelligence but God alone who accomplishes His tasks. Along with the biographical examples, Keith points us again and again to Scripture to demonstrate his central thesis of God glorying in weakness. This message is not an unusual one in the church but it is one of the many cases where our rhetoric doesn't match our practice. You might hear an awful lot about "not many wise" in the church but look at the guys called to lead and more often than not it is the man who is the best sermonizer or the most educated or the most successful in the community rather than the weak.

I would certainly recommend The Power of Weakness to anyone who is struggling with feeling adequate to serve God or those who are looking at taking the next step in ministry. It is a critical reminder that God doesn't pick the best and brightest to do His work, He often picks just the opposite!
**
Download your copy of The Power of Weakness at Amazon.com > 

JUST WONDERING

Imagine you live in a huge mansion. One day you discover that there’s a wing of the building you didn’t know was there before. You explore and find a large family that’s been living there a long time. They’ve got nice stuff over there, some of it better than yours. 

So, you go over there, kill them, enslave the survivors, and take their stuff. 

Is that what a Christian would do? Because that’s essentially what the first American settlers did to the Native Americans, and what we continue to do in Africa, the Middle East, South America, etc.

If being "Christian" means being like Christ, then I have a very hard time believing that America - or any other nation on this Earth - has ever been like Christ.

-kg

LOVE THE SINNER?

"Among the plastic saints of our times, Jesus has to do all the dying, and all we want to hear is another sermon about his dying." - AW Tozer

Just before Good Friday I posted the above quote on Twitter and Facebook. One of my friends from high school wasn't sure what the quote meant, so I tried to explain the quote to her. As we began to dialog back and forth, an interesting thread began to develop. 

I explained to her that this quote is meant to be a commentary on how Christians here in America tend to forget that Jesus said "If anyone would come after me, he must first die to himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me." (Luke 9:23). Today, Christians just want to hear stories about Jesus' death and His cross, but want nothing to do with talk of their own dying to self or taking up their own cross to follow Jesus into selfless love for others.

I talked about how Jesus set us an example to love others and that loving others as Jesus expects involves being inconvenienced for the sake of others.

My friend then made a comment about the over used phrase that Christians throw around that says, "Love the sinner. Hate the sin."

In response I said, "If we did more actual loving of people, this phrase wouldn't be such a problem." And I think this is true. Unfortunately, what we see is people who call themselves followers of Jesus doing very little in the way of "Loving Sinners" and far too much in the way of "Hating the Sin" (and therefore the sinner, too).

Until we are marked by our love and known as great lovers of people, it will never matter what we say with our mouths or what our bumper stickers say. 

In other words, "Don't tell me Jesus loves me, SHOW me the love of Jesus."

My friend, who does not identify herself as a Christian, said that this sounded great, but that, in her opinion it seemed like that was ok for some Christians, but not for every Christian.

"Well," I told her, "the problem with this not being for every Christian is that Jesus never gave us any other options." We either follow Him, or we don't. Jesus invited people to follow him, and then he explained what that involved, which is total surrender.

“In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:33)

My friend responded by saying that if her Christian friends would spend as much time loving and serving others as they did trying to convert her, she would be a much happier person.

The funny thing about this is that Jesus never told his followers to convert anyone. He simply told us to love others, to be known for love, to love God, and to teach others to follow Him too. 

If people don't want to follow Jesus, we're not supposed to beat them up. We just continue to love them.

"Why don't more Christians do this?" my friend asked.

Why? Because once we start trying to actually love one another, or love our enemies, or love the poor we discover - almost immediately - that it is far from easy. It's actually impossible. Why? Because love like this involves sacrifice. It means laying down my desires and wants in favor of meeting another person's needs. This is what "taking up my cross" is all about. My cross is the instrument of death to self so that the life of Christ can live in me - and love through me. That's the only way it works.

The bottom line is, character and actions speak louder than words. Yes, Jesus is about so much more than getting us to love others and demonstrate compassion. This is part of it, certainly, but He's mainly about wanting us to know Him, and sometimes this is more easily accomplished in our hearts when we obey Him in acts of compassion. 

God says this over and over again throughout the Bible: 

"He defended the cause of the poor and the needy (God says), is that not what it means to know me?" (Jeremiah 22:16) 

Here, "Knowing God" is related to showing kindness to the poor. Elsewhere it says: 

"If anyone has material possessions, and sees a brother or sister in need and does nothing, how can the love of God be in him?" (1 John 3:17) 

So, the sharing of possessions is related to sharing the love of God within us? Wow.

Again, the Bible affirms that no human being of flesh and blood is our enemy. We are called to love people, no matter what they believe or how they behave towards us. Our only enemy is spiritual and our only weapons are prayer and trusting in God.

Hopefully the next few decades we'll see more and more Christians focus on the "Loving the Sinner" part than on "Hating the Sin." If so, maybe there's hope for the Gospel to penetrate even the hardest hearts - maybe even our own?

-kg

SUBVERSIVE RADIO IS ON THE AIR

Starting this Sunday evening at 9pm PST the first broadcast of Subversive Radio will begin.

  

If you'd like to call in and ask a question or participate in the conversation, please call (646) 915-8079.

You may also listen in online at Blog Talk Radio> 

BLOOD

A Poem by Keith Giles



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

-kg

THE COMING FLOOD

Every now and then, when I mention to people that we've planted a house church in our community, they will respond by saying something like: "That's good because I believe God's Judgement and persecution is coming soon and the Church needs to be ready to go underground if it's going to survive." (Or something close to that).

Personally, I've never resonated with that response. Mainly because my reasons for starting a house church have nothing to do with fear of persecution or judgment. Actually, we started our house church because God called us to plant a church where all of the offering could go to help the poor in our community. So, I don't participate in house church out of fear, but out of love.

Over the weekend, I had a very interesting conversation over lunch with author Ross Rhode, and a few others who were attending the Momentum conference with me. Ross had been sharing with those at our table about how God's Spirit has fallen throughout history - and most recently in America - in the form of several revivals. Someone asked why they never seem to last very long, and he suggested that it was usually because men tried to control the strange manifestations that often accompanied an outpouring of the Spirit (such as tongues or shaking or laughing). The other cause? When people made it attractional. In other words, when the revival experience could only be appropriated by visiting a certain place and hearing a certain man preach, the revival eventually burned itself out.

That got me to thinking. Actually, what happened was that I saw a picture in my mind of a massive field of dirt. It had been plowed into rows, but nothing was growing there. Slowly, as Ross continued to talk about the ebb and flow of revival, I began to see a series of irrigation ditches being carved out around the field. Ross said, "If the Spirit of God ever does fall again, the house church movement is the perfect vehicle to keep it going." I nodded in agreement. "Yes, because in a house church whenever we get too many people at once we are quick to send them out to start another church. We don't want to get bigger, so we'll always keep sending them out as they get saved to keep spreading the revival."

I believe the house church movement in America is a genuine move of the Holy Spirit. Over the last five years I have spoken to countless people who have felt God's calling to step out of the Church, or down from the pulpit, to start a house church in their community. One by one, story after story, I've listened to people tell me how God compelled them - even as others warned them not to, or mocked them for leaving - they knew that to obey God they had to lay it all down and plant churches in their homes, and neighborhoods.

What if? What if God is inspiring so many people to leave the traditional model of institutional church so that He can build a nationwide network of house churches that will quickly spawn more house churches as the fire of revival spreads across this nation?

As I shared this with Ross and the people at our table, I mentioned that it was like what I was seeing in my mind's eye. That God was creating this network of house churches to operate like irrigation canals that would rapidly disperse the Spirit of God as it fell on this nation - allowing the empty, desolate field to burst into life as the rivers of living water began to fall from the sky and flood the earth with the presence of God.

Ross began to pray spontaneously. As he prayed, all of us around the table joined in. In my heart, as I prayed, I could see the sky growing dark. I heard the crack of thunder in the sky. I heard the steady patter of heavy rainfall drenching the dry and thirsty ground. The canals around the large field began to fill with sweet, living water. The field grew dark with moisture. New life began to spring up as the seeds that had been planted years before were nourished by this living water. Suddenly the field was overtaken by large, green, fruitful plants.

My eyes were filled with tears when we all finally stopped praying.

"Why can't it happen here?" someone asked. "Why can't we pray and ask God to rain down His Spirit on us  again?"

I believe He wants to. I believe that what is coming is not a sword of judgment, but a flood of His Holy Spirit upon a barren land.

Rather than sit back and pray that God would hurry up and return so we can get out of this place, our prayers should be for God to revive this nation. Our prayers should be like those that Paul the Apostle uttered when he yearned for all Israel to be saved and his own soul cursed to hell out of desperate love for his people.

What do we want more? For Jesus to return and bring swift judgment upon this heathen nation? Or do we cry out for Jesus to show mercy and to reveal His love to all men, women and children on this earth?

Pray for God to heal this land. Pray for His Spirit to fall. Pray for the Gospel to go forth and for lives to be transformed by His Word.

This is our calling. This is our destiny. Pray for revival to come. Pray for souls to come to the saving knowledge of Christ. And then, work hard while it is still light enough to proclaim the Gospel of the Kingdom to all who have yet to hear it.

"Repent! The Kingdom of God is upon you."

Let it rain.
-kg

CHRIST IN THE PASSOVER

At the beginning of the dinner, a woman lights the candles and sings a blessing. Without her, the story of our redemption cannot be told. Like Mary, the mother of Jesus, she brings the light into the world and shares it with all of us.

"And Jesus said, 'I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'" (John 8:12)

First, three matzahs are placed in one single pouch. Early on in the dinner, the middle matzah is broken and one half is wrapped in a cloth and hidden. Later on, a child will find the "affikomen" (a Greek word meaning, "that which comes last"). This final piece - taken from the "bread of affliction" is shared by all at the very end.

Early on in the meal, we dip our matzah into horseradish and charoset (a sweet mixture of honey and nuts). This symbolizes how our bitter afflictions can be sweetened by our hope in God. It's also at this point in the Passover that Jesus identified Judas as the betrayer, saying:

"One of you shall betray me." Peter motioned to John to ask who he was. Jesus answered, "He it is, to whom I shall give a sop." After he dipped sop, Judas left to betray him." (John 3:21-30)

What I find interesting is that, during the meal, everyone dips the sop together and eats it. Very likely the disciples considered that it could be any one of them who would betray Jesus. Most especially, Peter might have feared that it was him due to the fact that Jesus rebukes him and prophesies that Peter will deny him three times before the cock crows. This might explain Peter's dogged determination to stay with Jesus throughout the night, and even to cut off the soldier's ear with the sword.

Another fascinating aspect of the Passover is the inclusion of the prophet of Elijah. There is a cup poured for him, and a place set at the table for Elijah. At one point, a child goes to the door to see if he will return and announce the coming Messiah. In Malachi 4:5 it says that the prophet Elijah will be sent before "the great and terrible day of the Lord." Jesus said of John the Baptist, "...this is Elijah" (Matthew 11:14).

If we read the prophecy in Malachi about the return of Elijah to prepare the way for the Messiah we find this:

"See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse." - (Malachi 4:5-6)

When the Angel of the Lord appears to Zechariah (the father of John the Baptist) he repeats this same promise:

"But the angel said to him: "Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John...Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." - (Luke 1:13-16-17)

Jesus also affirms that John the Baptist is the fulfillment of the Elijah prophecy saying, "Indeed, if you are willing to accept it, he (John) is Elijah, whose coming was predicted." - (Matthew 11:14)

This is a serious revelation for me, because it suggests that the "Day of the Lord" may have been fully realized in the first coming of Christ (although I leave room for the second coming version as well). However, when the Angel of the Lord refers back to the prophecy in Malachi, he is affirming that the coming of Elijah - in the form of John the Baptist - is a fulfillment of that same Malachi promise, which appears to speak of what we would normally refer to as an "end times" event, or a final judgment, not simply a messianic precursor.

It starts to make me wonder in what ways Jesus fulfilled the "Day of the Lord" prophecies in his first coming. He most certainly came to judge the Jewish leaders of the day, (the Pharisees, Scribes and Sadducees), and his crucifixion resulted in the tearing of the temple veil, and soon after the temple in Jerusalem was utterly destroyed...and remains so to this very day.

At the final cup, "The Cup of Praise", it is a tradition to sing the Hallel (Psalms 113-118). This is most likely the very same hymn that the disciples sang (Matt 26:30) as they left the Passover table. The song says, "The stone which the builders refused is become the head of the corner...it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." (Psalm 118:22-24)

It was this fourth cup with Jesus refused to drink from, saying, "I tell you the truth, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in the Kingdom of God." (Mark 14:35)

After the singing, Jesus and his disciples left the city and went to the Mount of Olives. It was dictated by tradition that the Atonement Lamb's body was to be offered up to God outside the city walls. (see Hebrews 13:11-14)

At 3pm on Good Friday, the shofar was blown to announce that the lamb was being sacrificed. It was also the moment at which Jesus declared, "It is Finished" and the veil in the temple was ripped in two.

I cannot express to you how amazing it is to me that God predicted all of this, thousands of years in advance, and instituted the Passover Seder to remind the Jews of His plan. It blows my mind that God fulfilled all of this on very exact day, even the same hour of the day, that He ordained so long ago.

-kg

58 FOLD MINISTRY?

“Do you believe in the Five Fold Ministry?”


Someone asked me this very question the other day, and after a lot of thought and research I’ve finally got my answer – “No. I don’t.”

Perhaps it would help if I were to clarify what I mean? First of all, in case you don’t know what I’m talking about, the Five Fold Ministry is a concept taken from one single passage in the New Testament (Ephesians 4:11-13) which says:

“So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”

Notice that there are five gifts mentioned here. They are Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors, and Teachers, and for those who swear by the Five Fold Ministry model, this list represents both a hierarchy of giftings, and an essential list of gifts that must be present in every church for health and growth.

First, let me explain why I reject the Five Fold concept. It’s because Paul himself gives us other lists of giftings elsewhere in his epistles and those other lists are slightly longer, and in a different order, than the one he gives here in Ephesians.

Before we look at those other two, let’s go ahead and say that this fact alone should tell us that Paul didn’t intend for his list in Ephesians to be taken as the only model for church dynamics. If he gave other church members in other cities a different list, then that means he wasn’t trying to be dogmatic about this, and that he was speaking loosely about the various gifts that God releases into the Body of Christ for growth, strength, and life.

Got it? Ok, now let’s look at those other two lists, starting with the one in 1 Corinthians 12, verse 28 where Paul says:

“And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues.”

So, even though Paul starts out the same in Corinthians as he does in Ephesians – with Apostles and Prophets – he strangely promotes Teachers to third place (up from last place in our Ephesian list. Way to go Teachers!), and then introduces Miracle Workers, Healers, Helpers, Guidance (or Wisdom) and Tongues. This might be called the Eight Fold Ministry since here Paul expands the length of his list by three.

Notice that, if we were ignorant of the other lists, the one in Ephesians and the one in Romans (which we’ll look at in a second), we could easily conclude that God’s plan is all about this (and only this) order of gifts to lead the church. We might conclude from this list that Pastors and Evangelists are lower class citizens in the church since they’re not mentioned at all. We could also easily make a case that Paul’s list is hierarchical since he enumerates these by saying, “First of all…second….third…” and so on. This clearly indicates that the first ones are more important and the last ones are less important.

Right?

Wrong. Why? Because Paul said something different to the church in Ephesus and in Rome. And, since his order in those other cases was different, we can safely assume that when Paul says “First of all apostles…” he’s talking chronologically and not hierarchically. The Apostles were the first ones to be “sent out” by Jesus and once the Gospel was preached and people responded, they needed to have others who could prophesy and teach, and serve, etc.

But wait, we’re not done. Let’s look now at Paul’s essential list of gifts in Romans 12. It goes like this:

“For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully."

(v. 4-8)

Personally, I like this list a lot more than the other two. This Seven Fold Ministry of God drops leadership to the very bottom, just ahead of showing mercy, and it moves service, teaching and encouragement to the top. That’s my kind of list.

But, again, the Christians in Rome could easily have taken this list and deduced from it that Apostles, Evangelists and Pastors are unnecessary in the Church, and that what really counts is Prophecy, Service, Teaching, Encouragement, Giving, Leadership and Mercy. But, again, they would be wrong about that.

What’s fascinating to me is that, while we have all three of these epistles in front of us and they didn’t, our tendency is to take one of those lists as authoritative while ignoring the other two. There is no evidence that the churches in Ephesus, Rome or Corinth took Paul’s instructions in this manner to be exhaustive and exclusive of the others.

The main thing I believe we can learn from all of this is that Jesus was serious when he said that we are all brothers and sisters and that none of us was meant to play the Father, or the Ruler over anyone else. (See Matthew 23:9) The goal in the Body of Christ is that we are all members of one another, and that no one person is given the preeminence over the rest of us.

Having said all of this, let me clarify that yes, I do believe that there are those today who are “sent ones” (or “Apostles”) in the church today. Their function is to go out and preach the Gospel, plant churches, recognize gifts in the Body, and move on when needed to plant more churches. I also believe that there are those in the church today with the gifts of prophecy, and tongues, and teaching, and mercy, and giving, and all those many, many other gifts.

What I reject is the idea that there are only five main gifts in the church today, or that these five should be exalted above all the other gifts mentioned in the New Testament as if they are more special or more necessary or more crucial than any of the others.

At face value, the message of the New Testament is that you matter. Your gift – whatever it is – is necessary. You are important. You have something the rest of us need. We have something that you need. We need one another to grow and to thrive.

As Paul says in each of these passages, there are many gifts, and they are all given by the One Spirit, and we are all members of each other. Our gifts are not for us, they are not about us, they are about one another and the purpose of these gifts is to be a blessing to everyone else and to exalt them, not ourselves.

So, I’m not sure about you, but since there are something like 28 different spiritual gifts mentioned in the Bible, and 58 "one anothers", I’m a big fan of the 28 or the 58 Fold Ministry of God.

How about you?

-kg

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Guest Post: Wendy Giles

Lessons Learned from Tiger

 

We have a cat named Tiger who must have gotten into a fight. On a Sunday afternoon we realized he had a huge, gaping wound, and we were concerned that it needed immediate medical attention. It's important to note that this is not an indoor cat. His mother was abandoned when she was quite young, and pregnant. She had her kittens in our neighbors yard, but brought them to our yard as our neighbors have a sprinkler system which kept getting them wet. At any rate, Tiger is her kitten, and although he has been showered with love and attention from our boys since he was about six weeks old, he is still mostly feral. We had him neutered and we love him and feed him, so in that sense he is our cat.

 

We took Tiger to the hospital and found out he needed surgery, and two weeks of indoor living. This has been hard on him- and us as well. I felt like God wanted me to take note of a few things that I was witnessing about Tiger's behavior because the Lord was wanting me to see some insights into either myself or my relationships with others. At first I felt like I needed to go point by point and explain each one, but I think I'll leave it open to the reader's consideration. The main points that make this understandable is that Tiger must wear a cone. We had to clean his drains twice a day to prevent infection, and he had to be shut in the bathroom at night to keep him from getting into things in the house or failing to use the litter box. Also, because of his strange smell and appearance, his own mother has not recognized him yet as her own son, and continues to hiss at him- very sad!

 

 

Lesson I've learned from Tiger:

• Feeling trapped can make you destructive.
• Sometimes help can look a lot like punishment.
• We can mistake family for strangers because of smell/appearance.
• It's hard to eat and drink on your own when you're wearing the "cone of shame".
• That's when you step in and feed them by hand.
• Medicine that's hidden in food goes down more easily.
• The treatment against infection is sometimes painful.
• The one stuck outside wants desperately to be inside. The one inside desperately wants to be outside.
• We can't always see the big picture.
• Two weeks seems like an eternity.
• It's awful to not be able to scratch your own itch, and such a relief when someone comes to help.
• It's easier when you don't fight it.
• Wounds require a great deal of care to heal properly.
• Fighting can be quite costly and painful.

 

I have to admit that I have been reminded of a couple other things which are much more touching and beautiful:

 

• God didn't set a limit on how much He was willing to pay for my sake. 
• He understands the groaning of my heart which are much too deep for words. 
• He is patient and attentive to detail in caring for my needs which continue throughout my entire life, and not just two weeks.
• He is compassionate even when I am frustrating.

 

I know this list could go on a lot longer, but I will end it for now. I'm sure many others have been put in similar situations, and also have learned valuable lessons.

Wendy

 

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What Should We Believe About Hell?

Now that the smoke has largely cleared on Rob Bell's "Love Wins" book and most of the credible rebuttals and responses have long since fell off the Top 10 List of Christian bestsellers, I wanted to share my thoughts on this controversial topic.

Before I get into this one please let me say that this is still an in-progress study for me. My views are not set in stone, but this is where I've landed as of now, based on my studies. These studies have included reading the words of Jesus on the topic of hell, or gehenna, listening to various Bible teachers on the subject, and reading both Bell's "Love Wins" and Francis Chan's response, "Erasing Hell".

 For me, Bell's book was anything but persuasive, and Chan's book was only a re-statement of the traditional view of eternal suffering without any real, hard look at the other two competing views of hell, namely Annihilationism and Universalism.

Honestly, I much prefer the ministry and teaching of Chan to that of Bell, so my opinion of their books isn't reflective of my like or dislike of their individual ministries. I'm simply commenting on my assessment of their books on this subject.

Before I get into this I should probably define what the three main views of Hell are for those who aren't familiar:

Eternal Suffering is the most popular view in the Christian church today, although as we shall see this is a fairly recent development. It was once the minority view in the early church but has risen to prominence in the last few hundred years or so. This view is that those who reject Christ will suffer an eternal punishment of extreme anguish and torture forever and ever without end.

Annihiliationism is the view that unrepentant souls are destroyed forever after a period of suffering.

Universalism is the view that those who reject Christ as Lord will suffer for a period of time and then be offered an opportunity to repent and turn to Christ, thus being redeemed and brought into the Kingdom of God.

I must point out that, although it may seem so, this theory of Universalism is not the same as the Catholic doctrine of Purgatory. As I understand it, Purgatory is where only certain people go who are not good enough to be saved, but not evil enough to suffer forever. Catholics do also believe that some go to an eternal place of torment. Those who do not either go to Hell, or Heaven, must suffer a time in Purgatory and are then allowed to enter Heaven.

To study this topic you must only look at the New Testament writings. Why? Because the Old Testament scriptures are strangely silent on the topic of where we go after we die. David and the other Hebrew writers refer to "going down to the pit" or "the grave" but nothing is said about fire, or torment, or suffering forever and ever...or at all, really.

While we can probably wonder about why this is, the fact remains that Jesus and the Apostles give us our only clues about what happens to those who reject Christ after they die. So, let's look at what the New Testament tells us.

If we look at what Jesus taught about Hell, or Gehenna, (the term Jesus actually uses when He speaks of the place that people go if they do not accept Him as Messiah), we see that in every case the language that Jesus uses has to do with destruction of the soul, not eternal suffering without end.

Yes, there are a handful of verses that speak of "everlasting fire" or "everlasting torment" and Jesus talks about "fire that is not quenched" and "the worm that does not die", but these are only a handful (and we will address these in a moment). The majority of verses do not speak of an eternal suffering but instead about destruction, perishing, and death.

In the places where Jesus does speak of an eternal duration of hell, the eternal quality is placed on the fire, or the smoke, or the worms, not on the torment, and not on the souls of the people who are suffering.

The view of eternal suffering is predicated on an assumption which I believe is scripturally unsound; the idea that the human soul is eternal.

You and I have always heard it said that "every soul is immortal, the only question is where you spend eternity." But, does the Scripture teach us that those outside of Christ will live forever? No. I can find no scriptures anywhere that affirm the eternal quality of the human soul per se, without Christ.

Starting in Genesis, the reason that God banishes Adam and Eve from the Garden is why? "Lest they eat of the Tree of Life and live forever." (Genesis 3:22)

And what was their punishment for eating of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil? "You shall surely die" (Genesis 3:2)

So, if death was the punishment for their sin, and if they were prevented from eating from the Tree of Life because to do so would be to "live forever", then are human souls inherently eternal?

No.

This is also why Paul and the other Apostles go on and on about how "our life is hidden in Christ" and "when Christ, who is your life, appears, you will appear with him also." (Colossians 3: 3-4)

Jesus even tells us that if we come to Him we will have life, but if we do not come to Him we do not have life. (John 5:40; 10:10; etc.)

So, only those of us who are in Christ have life, and without Christ we have no life beyond this one.

However, Jesus does teach that those who reject Him as Lord will suffer in Gehenna, which we translate as "Hell" but that His contemporary hearers would have understood as the garbage dump outside the city gates.  At best, Jesus is using this constantly burning trash heap as a metaphor for what will happen to those who die without His life in them.

At the resurrection, when Christ returns, both the righteous and the unrighteous will be raised from the dead to face the Judgment seat of Christ. Those who love Christ and who have followed Him will be raised to live forever with Him in the New Heaven and the New Earth. But those who do not belong to Christ will be raised for...what?

This is where it gets tricky.

Jesus warns that it will be a place of torment, but we do not know for how long. While Jesus says that the fire will be eternal, we are not told that the people, or the suffering will be eternal.

Jesus tells us that in Gehenna there will be weeping (Matt 8:12), wailing (Matt 13:42), gnashing of teeth (Matt 13:50), darkness (Matt 25:30), flames (Luke 16:24), torments (Luke 16:23), and "everlasting fire". (Matt 25:41)

As scary as this may be, and Jesus did emphasize that this was a fate to avoid at all costs, it does not specifically teach us that Hell is about suffering eternally without end.

We have to balance these statements with verses where Jesus warns us to fear God who:

"...can destroy both soul and body in hell." (Matthew 10:28)

One thing I came across that really opened my eyes on this subject was a reference in the New Schaff-Herzog Christian Encyclopedia which revealed something fascinating:  

"The earliest system of Universalistic theology was by Clement of Alexandria who was the head of the theological school in that city until 202 A.D. His successor in the school was the great Origen, the most distinguished advocate of this doctrine in all time." (From the New Schaff-Herzog, page 96, paragraph 2)

"In the first five or six centuries of Christianity there were six known theological schools, of which four (Alexandria, Antioch, Caesarea, and Edessa, or Nisibis) were Universalist; one (Ephesus) accepted conditional immortality; one (Carthage or Rome) taught endless punishment of the wicked." (From the New Schaff-Herzog, page 96, paragraph 3)

Download the PDF of this page here>

[The info is at the bottom, left corner of the text.]

Also, when Augustine refuted Universalism in his day he freely admitted that it was the view of a majority of Christians in the Christian Church.

So, what are we to make of this? If it seems that the Old Testament scriptures hardly mentions the topic, and if Jesus speaks mainly of the "death" (perishing, destruction, etc.) of the unrepentant sinner, and if the early Church had no grid for the concept of eternal suffering, and if both the Old and the New Testament Scriptures affirm that only those in Christ have eternal life, then the views of Annhilationism and Universalism (after a period of suffering/punishment) seem to be much more in line with the whole of Scripture. 

At the very least, all of these facts certainly make the commonly held doctrine of Eternal Suffering seem very weak in comparison.

I'd love to know your thoughts on the subject. Please post your comments below.

-kg

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WANT TO STUDY MORE?

For more on this topic I recommend part two of Steve Gregg's excellent series: "Three Views of Hell" on MP3 here>

Learning To Be Loved

My friend Thomas Nixon once said something that I will never forget. He said that his house church family came together to discover how to love God and how to love one another. I remember nodding as he said that, not realizing that he was about to add something so intuitive and yet so unexpected to my mind at the time. He went on to say that they also came together to learn how to be loved by God, and how to be loved by one another.

The simplicity of that statement stunned me a bit. Of course, I thought, if you’re in a room full of people who are committed to loving everyone else, you’ll have to accommodate them by allowing them to actually love you. And if you’re honestly trying to learn how to love God, you’ll have to actually begin by learning how to let God love you.

The questions that began to whisper through my heart as I pondered my friend’s words were relentless. “How can I receive love from others like this?”, “What’s holding me back from receiving God’s love in my own heart?”, and most profoundly, “How could I possibly have missed such a simple truth?”

That conversation was years ago now. I’m still trying to answer those questions in my heart. If anything, those whispers have crescendoed into roars like a waterfall in my ears. “How do I learn to be loved?”

I have to admit, this is something I struggle with. Yes, I know in my mind that Jesus loves me, and I have experienced the love of God in my life many times before, but I’m learning lately that I have yet to really learn how to fully receive God’s love the way He intends for me to.

Why is it hard for me to accept God’s amazing love? I think it's partly because I struggle with pride. One of the ways I try to manage my pride is to avoid anything that is about "me" or tends to exalt my ego in any way. Somehow the idea of embracing the notion that Jesus is totally in love with me feels like a threat to my meager humility. It’s almost as if receiving His love would fill me with pride somehow. I don't know how to fully explain it, but it’s there.

At the same time, I am also constantly aware that I do not deserve His love, so to fully embrace His outrageous love for me is like denying that I am wretched, sinful, and unlovable.

So, because of my love for myself, and my hatred of myself, I am kept from fully receiving the exquisite love of God. I am boxed in on both sides by selfish pride and by awareness of my own sin. How can I receive the awesome love of a Holy God when I am too in love with myself, or too ashamed of my own unworthiness to let Him love me?

Intellectually, of course, I know all the answers for this. If I were counseling someone else I would know exactly which verses to quote, what illustrations to use to counter these ideas, but in practice, in my own heart, these do not erase the reality of my struggle.

I’ve preached sermons on this topic, I’ve memorized verses on the love of God, I know in my mind that all of these thoughts and attitudes are foolish and unnecessary, but none of that changes the fact: A large portion of my heart is still untouched by the love of God.

If you’re in the same boat with me then we are the people that Paul the Apostle is praying for in Ephesians chapter 3 when he says:

“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” (v. 17-19)

What Paul says is that our ability to be “rooted and established in love” can only be accomplished if we receive “power” from God to do so. God’s power must be unleashed upon us to enable us to “know this love that surpasses knowledge”.

I love that Paul uses that phrase to describe the love of God - “love that surpasses knowledge” because what he’s emphasizing to us is that the love of God isn’t accessible via language, or teaching, or intelligence, or any other form of human knowledge. How could you possibly know something that surpasses knowledge? Even if you had all the knowledge in the Universe you would still not be capable of knowing this astounding love of God. Why? Because the love of God surpasses knowledge. It cannot be found in this way. It is too large for any human brain to grasp. Only the human heart can ever hope to receive it, and only then if it is apprehended by the impulse of God’s might power working in us.

My prayer for myself, and for you as well if you find yourself in this same place, is exactly what Paul says here. I pray that we might all have power to grasp how infinitely wide and eternally high and endlessly deep is the transformational love of Christ Jesus, our Lord.

True, there may be barriers in my own heart that I know must be broken down before I can finally receive His amazing love. But, it's good to know that Jesus has His sights set on destroying these barriers. Only He can do this work in my heart. I long for Him to crash through those two strongholds of mind and heart. I can't wait for that day to come.

-kg

SHANE CRASH: FIGHTING FOR PEACE

Keith Giles: Shane, catch me up on your bio. Who are you?

Shane Crash: I'm Shane Crash. I write zines and short stories.

KG: Is there a website where people can read your zines or short stories?

SC: You can read short writings and purchase zines at http://www.shanecrash.com/. I'm putting out my first novel on June 1st, through Civitas Press.

KG: What's it called? What is it about?

SC: It's called "Forest Life". It follows a character who retreats from society and his struggle to sustain the will to live.

KG: Sounds interesting. What else do you do with your time?

SC: I work with the homeless and teach on nonviolence.

KG: What kind of work do you do with the homeless?

SC: I'm volunteering at the Portland Rescue Mission and I walk the streets of Portland at night providing clothing, toiletries and food to the homeless people I meet.

KG: So, explain where and how do you teach nonviolence?

SC: I normally submit essays on my website at shanecrash.com, and I also teach on it in my zine "Lost Thoughts" which is available in my web store.

KG: What are your views on nonviolence?

SC: The New Testament commands us never to “repay evil with evil” but instead to “overcome evil with good” (Rom.12:17; cf. I Thess 5:15; I Pet 3:9).

Jesus said, “Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also”(Mt 5:39). He also said, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you” (Lk 6:27-28).

I believe that only good can overcome evil and that to combat evil we must love and serve our enemies in the same manner that Christ died for those who persecuted him.

Violence is an unending cycle and is continually perpetuated by nationalistic conditioning in the form of redemptive violence and fear mongering. The whole point of Jesus’ teaching is to tell disciples that their attitude toward “enemies” should be radically different from others. “If you do good to those who do good to you,” Jesus added, “what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same” (Lk 6:32).

Everybody instinctively hates those who hate them and believes they are justified killing people who might kill them or their loved ones. In contrast to this, Jesus is saying: “Be radically different.” Like MLK, I maintain that social change comes most meaningfully through nonviolence.

KG: What else do you write about?

SC: I generally write on social issues using satire. I prefer the short story format. Right now I'm focusing on storytelling and my own experience as a backpacker.

KG: Let's talk about that. What sort of experience have you had as a backpacker? Did you travel the US or Europe as a hitchhiker? Why did you do that? What did you learn?

SC: When I was twenty years old I was a wealthy salesman at a growing company. I was the lead salesman in my department making a large amount of money. I suffered through a personal tragedy and could no longer carry on living a meaningless existence so I sold all of my possessions, paid out the lease on my apartment and traveled the United States and the Bahamas as a backpacker.

Over and over I scoured the dark­est, most des­per­ate parts of Kansas City, of Brook­lyn, Los Ange­les and almost every major city in the continental US. I observed ran­dom acts of violence. I watched hook­ers get into cars with strangers and I lis­tened to grown men sob alone in the alleys at night because they had nowhere to go.

I hit the road looking for something that I couldn't quite put my finger on so for a while I lived alone in a cabin on Kentucky Lake. I was determined to try and understand life. When I couldn't reconcile the Christian teachings of my youth with the futility of living I tried to kill myself by smashing my car into a median on a highway in Missouri. That didn't work out so I continued searching and drank heavily for the next two years. I was finally able to reconcile the Jesus who hung out with screwed up sinners while speaking with some homeless friends one night in Houston, Texas. Eventually I became content with living and I curved my frustrations with faith and existence to try and benefit others who are enduring similar trials. Now I work with the homeless as much as I can and I advocate for nonviolence.

KG: You've said before that you felt compelled to write about this subject and to examine the problem of suicide and suffering without religious language or faith in the equation. Why did you feel it was important to examine this problem "without religious language"?

SC:I wanted to write an honest novel and frankly I don't feel comfortable using religious language. I'm a human and my struggles have always been very human struggles. I'd rather write an honest, gritty and human novel than sacrifice my intellectual integrity for Christian Catch Phrases.

KG: How is it different from your other projects?

SC: It's my first concise novel. In the past I've only put out punk zines and short stories.

KG: What are your main passions? What is it you most often find yourself writing about?

SC: I'm very passionate about nonviolence and religion/anthropology and the correlation between the two, especially regarding religious culture and the effect it has on humanity. I like to examine the ambiguity of religion in humanity, the way that it brings security to some minds and suffering to others.

KG: Can you explain how religious culture effects humanity. What do you mean by that exactly?

SC: I've always been frustrated that the Christian elite employ gimmicks and ploys to reel in the thoughtless and naive through politics and televangelism, etc. I am frustrated because Christ is very clear that his followers are to practice power UNDER others rather than power over others, meaning Christians should self-sacrificially serve their neighbors and enemies without condition.


KG: I wonder if you could elaborate a bit on what you mean by the phrase "ambiguity of religion in humanity"? How and why does it bring "suffering" and "security"?

SC: Some people find comfort in the ideas of Heaven and Hell, feeling that their beliefs guarantee them eternal paradise and others eternal damnation. Others like myself are nearly driven to madness and inconsolable grief by the fear that people are punished eternally for getting things wrong in this short life. Given the millions of variables that can determine a person's belief or lack thereof. It's hard to reconcile a loving God with the mainstream narrative within Christianity.

KG: So, what are your views on Hell? Are they driven more by a rejection of God's character as one who punishes evil in this way? Or do you base your view of the afterlife on scriptural insight? Or a little of both?

SC: My study of theology has led me to lean toward the annihilationist view. Annihilationism is the view that whoever and whatever cannot be redeemed by God is ultimately put out of existence. That view seems to be the most consistent with scripture and with the character of God revealed in Christ. Of course, I'm still working my ideas on this subject out but I completely reject the traditional view of Hell.

KG: I’m leaning towards either annihilationism or redemptive punishment (where unrepentant sinners are punished up to a point and then given an opportunity to repent and turn to Christ after a set time).

I’m still researching the topic at the moment, but after reading Rob Bell’s book (Love Wins) and then reading Francis Chan’s rebuttal (Erasing Hell), and re-reading the words of Jesus on the subject a bit more closely I began to doubt the view of eternal suffering. Then, I discovered that the majority of New Testament Christians never believed in eternal suffering either. The two dominant views, for several hundred years, were annihilationism and limited suffering, or redemptive suffering. The view we all hold today as being “orthodox” (eternal hell) was the minority, or “unorthodox” view for a very long time. I’ll probably have to write a blog series on the topic soon, but that’s another issue.

Why don’t you explain the concept and inspiration behind your Pacifist Army idea?

SC: I'm part of a small group called Pacifist Fight Club. I had the idea to foster a community devoted to nonviolence and enemy-love similar to Pacifist Fight Club. The idea is to periodically raise funds for Christian Peacemaker Teams.

KG: Yes, I started Pacifist Fight Club earlier this year and it was great to have your support as we blogged and Tweeted leading up to that first event.

So, is Pacifist Army an online community, or is it a local gathering of people in your geographic area? What sorts of things to do you do? What Christian Peacemaker Teams are you raising funds for? Why do they need money? What do they do with it?

SC: Pacifist Army is a community of people who discuss and promote nonviolence. I'll be giving small talks regarding nonviolence on my upcoming book tours. I'll also have guest speakers at certain dates. We sell Pacifist Army merch, much the same way that a band would, but the funds all go to Christian Peacemaker Teams. CPT places teams at the invitation of local peacemaking communities that are confronting situations of lethal conflict. These teams seek to follow God's Spirit as it works through local peacemakers who risk injury and death by waging nonviolent direct action to confront systems of violence and oppression. The money is used for travel, subsistence stipends, and communications equipment.

KG: So, what are you currently working on or writing about?

SC: I'm currently documenting my experiences wandering through the streets of Portland at night and my encounters with the homeless. I feel most comfortable outdoors with rubbertramps and homeless folks.

KG: Will this be your next book? Or are you sharing these writings on your blog?

SC: I'm sharing these writings on my blog periodically. It's sort of an exercise to pan out my next project, whatever that may be.

KG: One last question, Will we see you at the next Pacifist Fight Club on May 5th in Irvine, California? It would be great to have you join us since our topic is War.

SC: I will be there. I've marked it on my calendar.

KG: Thanks for taking the time to talk with me, Shane. I'm looking forward to your book and I wish you all the best with the Pacifist Army.

SC: Thank you sir.

Excuse Me While I Single-Handedly Neutralize Al-Qaeda

A repost of Brant Hansen's classic article for your enjoyment:

Alan Hirsch, in his book (The Forgotten Ways), points out that Al-Qaeda is almost impossible to stop. This is, in large part, due to the way its message works, and the way the work gets carried out. And he's absolutely right.


So, in the service of national defense, I propose the following, in order to effectively neutralize the movement. Let's get Al-Qaeda to...

1) Complexify the message

Right now, it's so simple, it can pass from one to the next, and be easily grasped by the uneducated, the young -- everyone. This is dangerous, because it's highly contagious, and people on the street feel capable of enlisting others in the cause.

2) Construct a less "flat", more hierarchical structure

Currently, small, underground groups can move nimbly and autonomously, complicating efforts to thwart them. A more regimented, stratified approach, where some members are left thinking, "I can't know enough to do anything" would bring the movement to a halt.

3) Foster "expert" culture, and barriers to entry to the expert class

Promote the idea that the message is not only highly complex, but only some can truly understand it. Construct extensive barriers to entry to the presumed expert class. Promote idea that cells lacking a certified member of expert class, it is not equipped to be activated.

4) Focus on knowledge, rather than doing

Complexification and expert-class development will make cells spend immense amounts of time studying the work, even debating theories of the work, rather than doing it. Better yet...

5) Equate STUDYING the work with the work itself

The cells are called to ACT, of course. But if we can convince operatives that the work, itself, is in trying to understand the complexity of the work? They'll be effectively neutered. We need to get them to spend large amounts of time in study, gathering to study, believing they don't know enough, hiring new experts to teach them again and again, and attending teaching events.

They'll actually believe they're doing their work when they attend events held by experts. This will render the cell, and the whole movement, harmless! Convince them that the most radicalized, militant among them are merely called to bring other non-activated members to the cell events.

6) Sabotage cell multiplication

VERY important! Cells that operate under simple principles, with motivated operatives, devoted to multiplication? Very, very dangerous, fast-growing, and pop-culture endangering. We must stop this in its tracks, and this is done in multiple ways:

A) Foster egos and small-time celebrity. By convincing operatives to set up individual fiefdoms, fewer autonomous cells will be activated. Rather, the emphasis will be on building larger individual cells with numerous unactivated members.

B) Make the basic structure highly difficult to replicate. Al-Qaeda cells currently are, by necessity, simply-structured and easily replicated. Propagate idea that for cells to begin, planning, experts and capital must be simultaneously accumulated. Expert motivational speakers will be necessary, plus paid staff with highly specific training and talents. Operatives will see massively "successful" large cells, and attempt to duplicate them, with very limited success because of the huge inputs required. This will greatly inhibit growth.

C) Convince philosophically-aligned, but non-active, members to choose from among most entertaining, high quality, cells that offer services for them. Not only will this engender a harmless, internal focus, it will require IMMENSE amounts of resources and energy.

7) Make operatives really, really busy.

Replace simple, animating mission with lengthy lists, charts, and programs for cell maintanance. Convince them that this institutional maintenance is, actually, the mission, itself.

This will leave them will no actual time for conducting actual mission.

8) Get Al-Qaeda to seek governmental approval.

Offer tax incentives if necessary. The larger cells, requiring large edifices, will also require tremendous amounts of capital. This will also allow a measure of control, to threaten the cell's tax status, thereby threatening funds for internal programs, when necessary.

Better: They'll consider actual operational cells that exist without this governmental approval to be, themselves, invalid!

9) Co-opt Al-Qaeda with the larger culture.

Once members are convinced that cell maintenance and study are actually their "mission", the rest of their lives can be harmlessly integrated with the culture at large. They'll be indistinguishable from non-members, and, because of their new understanding of "mission", effectively equivalent to non-members.

10) Convince members to wear Al-Qaeda t-shirts with funny sayings and stuff.

Mission accomplished.

It'll work to thwart an evil message. It even works with the good ones.

-Brant Hansen

**
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Review of "This Is My Body" from Middle Eastern Church-Planter

I received this email review of my book the other day. This brother asked that I remove his last name and the name of the nations where he is serving since his life, and the work they are doing there, might be jeopardized. Here's the email review published with permission and edits:

Dear Mr Giles,

Wow.  I was on an "exam" night for my English classes [country name removed], and was able to read your book during their test taking.  

Wow. Thank you for the words.  I have been re-reading "Reimagining Church" from Viola, and had forgotten I had your book on my kindle.  Right now we have begun to help a small house group in our country.  The large "institutional" group is not only an extreme example of institutional, but also is the "legal" authority for the country.  This tends to extreme control and excess.  This group started not as a "leaving" but as a group from another country that moved here and started something new.  

As someone who has worked for the past few years in the institutional church here in [country name removed] and in [another middle eastern nation], I have become the "resident" theologian of the group.  

As we began to get involved in leadership, I have had thoughts of exploring ordination (I'm a youth worker for the past 20 years) and was trying to understand how to best serve this community of people.

Having read your book and Viola's book, I am at peace for the first time in a couple of weeks.  No longer do I feel the burden to become something that I didn't think was necessary, but I also feel much more confident in explaining an alternate way to explore our "church" life.  I was very impressed with your story and your journey.  Thank you for writing this book and for allowing it to be made available for the kindle.

Blessings to you and your community.

Todd [Last name removed by request]

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