Out With The Old. In With The New.

Which has more relevance for you:The 10 Commandments or The Sermon On The Mount?

Which one trumps the other: Moses or Jesus?

Does the question confuse you? Maybe so. “Aren’t they both equal in weight and value?” you might ask.

But think of it this way: Should we allow the Old Testament scriptures to inform our understanding of the New? Or is it the other way around?

American Christians have been lulled into an Old Testament form of Christianity. We’ve started to gravitate to a more Moses-centric form of Christianity rather than a purely Jesus-form.

If we’re followers of Christ, for example, why wouldn’t we want the words of Jesus on our buildings in public places rather than the Ten Commandments?

Imagine “Blessed are the poor for theirs is the Kingdom of God” posted in your Courthouse? Or “Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. And…love your neighbor as yourself” displayed in our Town Squares? Wouldn’t that be more radical and “Christ-like” than a list of “Thou Shalt Not’s”?

But back to our previous question: Do we interpret the New Testament in view of the Old Testament? Or do we use the New Testament – and the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles – to help us understand the Old Covenant scriptures?

According to Paul, the Gospel is a mystery to everyone who came before Jesus. In fact, he says it four different times:

“We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.” (1 Cor. 2:6-7)

“In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets.” (Eph. 3:4-5)

“Now to him who is able to establish you in accordance with my gospel, the message I proclaim about Jesus Christ, in keeping with the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all the Gentiles might come to the obedience that comes from faith.” (Rom. 16:25-26)

“I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people.” (Col. 1:25-26)

The Apostle Peter says it this way:

“Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.” (1 Peter 1:10-12)

This is why Jesus, after he had risen from the dead, had to “open (the) understanding” of the disciples so “that they might comprehend the scriptures.” (Luke 24:44-45)

It’s also why Paul says, “But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away.” (2 Corinthians 3:13-15)

In short, Jesus illuminates the Old Covenant scriptures. He alone “removes the veil” so that we can understand when the old covenant is read. The Apostles, under the power of the Holy Spirit, were empowered to reveal the true meanings and mysteries for us.

So, the teachings of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount are more authoritative for us than the teachings of Moses. Even Moses acknowledged this in Deuteronomy 18:15, and Peter reminded everyone of this in one of his earliest messages to the people, saying:

“For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from their people.’” (Acts 3:22-23)

And Stephen also reminded everyone of this same fact in Acts 7:37 just before they stoned him to death.

So, Jesus – not Moses, not Jewish Rabbis, not the traditions of men – and His Apostles to whom He has revealed this mystery, are the ones we should be listening to.

Jesus is greater than any human prophet. He is the Son of God, and God the Son. He is Emmanuel, “God With Us” and He is the Word of God made flesh to dwell among us.

Let us remember the words of our Heavenly Father on the mount of transfiguration - after He had removed Moses and Elijah from their presence – when He said: “This is my beloved son. Listen to him!” (Matt. 17:5)

Yes. Let’s.

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NUMBERED.

"So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. " - Psalm 90:12

You have cancer. You are being sent to Iraq. Your time is short.

You have a moment of time to consider your life, to count your blessings, to enjoy whatever life has to offer.

Every breath is sweeter than the one before. Water tastes cleaner. Food explodes with flavor in your mouth. Each embrace of a child, or a loved one, is like an eternity of comfort.

You are blessed.

All of us will taste death. Not one of us can escape it. We can fill our waking moments with distraction, we can avoid the discussion, we can turn the page on the words, but we cannot change the fact that every heartbeat within our chest is drawing closer to the last one. Time is short.

Those of us who know this are at an advantage. Because the sound of the clock ticking only reminds us to enjoy what we have been given. We are constantly reminded to savor every breath, every smile, every second of sweet laughter, every tear, every good thing that comes our way on the breeze.

I remember attending a memorial service for a young boy, barely out of high school, who had lost his life in Iraq as a Marine.

One by one his friends stood up and shared how blessed they were to know Danny. One by one they talked of cherishing his memory every day that they are alive. Even as we gathered to remember his brief life, we were each reminded to be careful not to take our own life for granted.

Several years ago I worked for a man who had melanoma. Small networks of tumors were steadily growing larger in his brain. Yet, my friend came to work each day with a smile on his face. He encouraged each of us to follow our dreams. He reminded us to enjoy life to its fullest. He refused to lay down and die.

I can remember him coming to work until he needed to walk with a cane, but he kept coming. One day he came in with a walker, but he came anyway. A few weeks later he was in a wheelchair as he greeted us at the door, but he was at work with a smile and a word of encouragement. He was blessed. He knew his days were numbered. He was doing all he could to make his life count. He was determined not to waste a second of breath on anything less than absolute joy and the pursuit of purpose.

Over my head there is an invisible counter on its way to zero. I am oblivious to the number of days that remain. Because of this I am often lulled into wasting entire hours on pointless things. How much of my life have I spent in front of the television? How many hours have I wasted on meaningless things? How many empty moments of my life have I thrown away?

I know my life would be lived in a different way if I could see the face of that clock over my head. If I could catch a glimpse of how much time was left I would gain a much-needed perspective of how my time should be spent on things that count, on endeavors that have eternal value.

My life is a vapor. One day I will breathe my last. One day I will be lowered into the ground, laying quietly inside a dark box. My time here will be over sooner than I expect. How will I spend the remaining hours of time I have left?

Teach me, Lord, to number my days so that I may bring Glory to Your name with whatever I have left to give. Help me to make each day count for the Kingdom. Help me to encourage others. Help me to savor every breath. Help me, dear God, to never take this sweet life you've graced upon me for granted.

"....tick...tick...."

"What counts for eternity? Only that good which is done for the love of doing it. Only those plans in which the welfare of others is the master thought. Only those labors in which the sacrifice is greater than the reward. Only those gifts in which the giver forgets himself" - Henry Van Dyke

Live. Love. Give. Share.

Peace,

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[SUBVERSIVE RADIO PODCAST] - What Is Salvation In The Kingdom Of God?

If the Gospel is not about praying a prayer so you can go to heaven when you die, but instead about a daily reality of life in the Kingdom of God, then how do we share the Gospel?

Listen as Keith answers a listener's question about how to communicate the Gospel of the Kingdom to children or to anyone who wants to know how to become a follower of Christ.

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IN CONTROL

Originally published here on 10/26/05
**

Relax. Everything is under control.

Your employer only has enough money to pay you one more month. Your family has to pack up everything and move out this weekend and you have no idea where you’re going to move into. Maybe you’ll have to rent a storage unit, move everything inside for a few months, and sleep on a few floors.

Everything is under control.

Of course, it’s not under MY control. I can barely see over the top of the steering wheel right now. I’m on my knees in the back seat of this car, praying that we make it to where we’re headed in one piece.

The last five months of my life have been some of the most stressful and challenging you could possibly imagine. Even more challenging than the year and a half I spent among the ranks of the unemployed, sustained only by the hand of God and the generosity of others, learning firsthand what ‘Daily Bread’ is really all about. Yes, even more stressful than the day I had almost $2,000 in bills to pay with no fulltime job, and less than one hundred dollars in the bank.

Over these last five months, my wife and I have suffered a miscarriage, gone three months with only half our normal income, endured week after week of uncertainty about where we would live and who I would work for, and now we face the countdown to homelessness.

Everything is under control.

About two years ago I began this journey. I suddenly realized that the Gospel I grew up on wasn’t really the Gospel that Jesus preached at all. It rocked my world. It turned everything upside down.

Following my little epiphany came the realization that I had spent most of my teenage and adult life following Jesus without taking up my cross.

I learned that it’s easier for us to die for Jesus than it is to live every single monotonous day for Jesus.

After this I began to dig into the idea of discipleship, or “follower-ship”, to Jesus. I began to seek first The Kingdom of God and to apprentice myself daily to Jesus as my Lord, and not just my Savior.

Just the other day it dawned on me what the last five months have been about. It’s simply the fruit of my desire to die to myself, to put Jesus first and to carry my cross (the instrument of my personal death to the flesh). Nothing more, nothing less.

So, now my life is out of my control. I have no say in where my finances come from. I have no clue where my family will live next. I have no idea where, or if, I’ll be employed in the next three months.

This is part of what I signed up for.

Of course, just because I don’t know the answers to these questions doesn’t mean that it won’t all work out for us. It just means that I’m not the one in control. God is.

The real question for me is, “Am I ok with that”? Am I ok with not being consulted when it comes to where we live, where I work, how much money we make, or even where we go to church? Because if turning my life over to Jesus is really what I’m all about, then not being the one in control of my life is a major byproduct of that decision.

I have to walk into the darkness ahead of me, leading my family along behind me, with no idea whether or not or next step will be into the abyss or into a blessing.

Everything is under control.

METAPHORS

 

I was corresponding with someone this week about metaphors for ministry and for understanding our own calling.

Metaphors help us to take a step back and look at our experiences and our thoughts from a different vantage point. Sometimes this helps us to discover things that we never would have thought of before.

A few years ago I received a prophetic word from a guy at church that confirmed what I was asking God that same week (about whether or not to launch a new compassion ministry at our church), and the word was about me being a "Point Man" in our church, leading the people into new territory and being careful to lead them through the dangers and towards the place that God (our commanding officer) was sending us.

Of course, the whole idea of being a point man kinda scared the heck out of me. In real life, a point man is the guy who takes the bullet if the unit walks into an ambush. He's the guy who had better know where they're going or else everyone will get lost in the jungle and die.

I figured if God was taking this metaphor seriously then I should take it seriously too.

One Sunday the same guy gave me another word. The funny thing is, I knew he was going to have another word for me before he did. And no, this guy isn't one of those 'prophetic' kind of people who is always going around handing out words. In all the time I've known him, (2 years or more), this  word on Sunday was only the second thing he'd ever shared with me.

The word he gave me was about my family being like indigenous 'special forces' units within the community. There were a lot of little details, like how we're part of the community, specialized and equipping others in the community to join with us, and teaching them to train others, etc. It was exactly about what we're doing now by starting a missional house church here in a new community.

How can I discount this sort of thing? Such a specific word of encouragement at such a perfect time and place. Like apples of gold in a setting of silver.

Spencer Burke ("Making Sense Of Church") talks about having a personal metaphor. For example, he said he felt like he was a fire starter. His calling and gifting were related to helping others get on fire for what God was calling them to do.

I think I'm like a magnifying glass. I help people to see things that they might not otherwise see and to magnify the urgency or amplify the vision that God is giving them.

Of course, I’ve learned over time that these metaphors all have a negative side as well as a positive side. For me, a magnifying glass, the negative is that sometimes burn holes in the things it is intending to magnify. The danger is in becoming more focused on the negative than on the positive.

Everyone has a specific calling, gifting or purpose within the Body of Christ. It's God's promise and His plan to build up the Church. Our part is to understand who we are specifically made to be and then to fulfill that calling.

So, class, the question for today is: "What's your metaphor?"

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*Note: Originally published on the [Subversive Underground] e-newsletter.

GOOD FRIDAY MEDITATIVE SERVICE

For several years now, our family has hosted a Good Friday Meditative/Reflective Service in our home.

We set up various stations around our home and play instrumental worship music as participants move in candlelight from station to station to reflect and meditate on the passion and sacrifice of our Lord.

Here are the stations we will observe:



Casting Lots for Christ's clothing





Tasting the vinegar and bitterness He tasted for us on the cross.




Touching the crown of thorns He wore in our place.



Driving nails into the wood to remember the price He paid to set us free.



Dipping our hands into red paint to make a collage of thanksgiving to Jesus for His amazing love.

We will also tear cloth to symbolize the veil of the temple being torn in two for us.

Afterwards we will sit together quietly in the den and each person suggest a song about the passion of our Lord spontaneously, and we all worship together accapella.

Finally, we will all hold a candle and, one by one, share what Jesus' sacrifice means to us individually, blowing out our candles as we go. We will dismiss in darkness and exit in silence.

This is always a very powerful, emotional, and spirit-filled time of meditation upon the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus.

If you'd like to do something in your own home, or with your own church family, I highly recommend it.

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Bad News First

There is a beautiful resurgence of emphasis lately on the “Good News” of the Kingdom of God. Which, honestly, is a great thing after so many years of emphasis on escaping the fires of hell and acquiring your holy fire insurance and a lease on the heavenly mansions beyond the clouds.

But I think our newfound emphasis on the  “Good News” of the Kingdom must include a healthy dose of “Bad News” if we’re to be effective.

Here’s what I mean: The Good News of the Kingdom is that everyone has access to the abundant life of Christ right here and now. But the Bad News of the Kingdom is that the cost of admission is high.

 

It costs you everything.

In other words, the price for life in Christ involves death to self. Or, as C.S. Lewis phrased it:

“Nothing in you which has not died will ever be raised from the dead.”

Or, as Jesus puts it:

“In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples." (Luke 14:33)

Whew. Pretty steep if you ask me.

Now, by calling this “Bad News” we’re not being fair, or totally accurate. See, the idea of surrendering everything in this life in order to follow Jesus into His Kingdom only sounds like bad news to those who have yet to take the leap. In other words, once you’ve let go of your worldly treasures you discover an astounding truth – it doesn’t compare to the splendor and majesty found within the Kingdom reality offered by Jesus. In fact, those earthly “treasures” are really pretty worthless and empty, so dumping all that crap out the window isn’t actually all that difficult.

Maybe it’s easier to explain it this way: When you let go of your worries, your fears, your doubts, and your status quo, you get to enjoy the glorious life, love, joy, hope, peace, and contentment found only in Christ, Jesus.

I guess when you put it that way, it’s really not “Bad News” at all, is it?

 

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[Subversive Radio Podcast] The Power of the Gospel?

In response to a video clip where theologian Wayne Grudem attempts to discredit Greg Boyd's book, "The Myth of a Christian Nation", Keith illustrates the foolishness of taking the position that the Gospel is not enough to overcome evil in this world.

[Click link above to listen]


WATCH THE VIDEO CLIP FEATURED IN THIS PODCAST HERE:

AS I LIVE AND BREATHE

What if I were to spend most of my time seeking out the boundaries of my savior’s love? What if I were to focus my energies on plumbing the depths of the heart of Jesus? What if it were my supreme passion to know Him better today than I did the day before?

There are times when I find my heart beating faster as I begin to realize how close the Almighty creator of the Universe is to my own heart. Like swimming in the ocean and suddenly turning to realize that there is a massive whale swimming just outside your reach and you find you can barely breathe.

These realities escape us for the most part. We take such grandeur and majesty for granted, or deny it outright in the mundane sameness of our daily routine.

Think of this: The same Jesus who walked on water is alive right now within you. The same Messiah who calmed the storm with a word is listening to your heart beat this very moment. He knows your thoughts right now. He knows your pain, your fears, your doubts, and your insecurities. He longs for you to cast your cares upon him because he cares for you – yes, you.

More than this, Jesus WANTS to be found. He wants you and I to seek His face. He longs to reveal more of Himself to those who are hungry and thirsty for His presence.

You could talk to Jesus right now. He will listen. You could grow closer to Jesus – and allow him to grow closer to you – with simply a whisper of a prayer under your breath and a few minutes of silence as you drive to your next appointment.

Our imaginations are so dull. For example, we take no thrill in the fullness of the thought that we will be alive two hundred thousand years from now; just as alive – even more alive – than we are right now.

Today I am trying to remember that every breath I breathe today is taken in harmony with Christ. Every beat of my heart belongs completely to him alone.

“Lord Jesus, come live and breathe in me today. Help me to hear your voice, to see your face, and to experience your presence more and more.”

Amen.
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[Subversive Radio Podcast] What About The Five Fold Ministry?

Listen as Keith explains what the Five Fold Ministry is and why he doesn't agree with most people about it.

Shine

*NOTE: Originally published on Saturday, August 30, 2008 on the [Subversive Underground]

Shine

The Bible uses several metaphors to describe the Church. We are called the Bride, the Family of God, and the Body of Christ.

We are never referred to as an organization, a weekly meeting or a business.

In God's heart, we are a living organism. We are a Body made up of interdependent parts with Christ as our head.

We are a family, adopted sons and daughters who are blessed beyond measure to call the Creator of the Universe "Papa".

We are a Bride, the fiancee of the Son of God, radiant by His Glory, madly in love with the Groom, being made ready for a wedding feast at the End of Time.

We are carriers of the Kingdom message, empowered by His Holy Spirit, called from the four corners of the Earth, on a mission of love and service and daily sacrifice.

We are sons and daughters. We are fathers and mothers. We are housewives and computer engineers. We are musicians and artists. We are mathematicians and scientists. We are poets and truck drivers and marketing executives and elementary school teachers and airline pilots.

We are the global ambassadors of God's love to a hurting and dying world.

We are the Church when we are awake and when we are asleep. We are the Church when we are driving on the freeway and when we are talking on the phone. We are the Church when we are in line at the Grocery Store or eating a cheeseburger in the food court.

We are the Church - Agents of change who have one simple command to fulfill; "Love one another".

If we could really understand this. If we could really see who we are every minute of every day, there is nothing that could stand in our way, not even the very gates of Hell.

Can we defend the cause of the orphan and the widow? Can we speak up for the abused and the enslaved? Can we share what we have been given with those in our own community who have nothing? Can we lay aside our petty differences and learn to forgive and love and befriend those who are right in front of us?

Can we learn to love others as Jesus loved? Can we give the way He gave? Can we lay down our lives, our wants, our needs, our comfort, for the good of someone else?

All of Heaven holds it breath in anticipation, awaiting the outcome of this drama of life we find ourselves in.

The Kingdom is in motion. Your assistance is required.

Don't miss your chance to shine.

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THE BLACK SWAN EFFECT

[GUEST POST BY FELICITY DALE]

Tony and I used to have a dog named Sugar—a faithful and loyal companion, though of dubious parentage and limited intelligence. We live in a house with a fenced yard and an electric gate across the driveway. Sugar used to hide, lying in wait until a car went through the gate. Then, just as the gate was closing the final few inches, she would make her bid for freedom. She would return several hours later, exhausted but very happy.

We live near a busy road and eventually decided to put a stop to her adventures. We installed an invisible fence (which works by giving the dog a small jolt of electricity if it approaches too close) across the driveway. After a couple of, shall we say, shocking experiences, Sugar learned to stay within the confines of our yard. In fact, long after the battery in her collar had died, Sugar would sit, wistfully gazing at the liberty that lay on the other side of an open gate without making any attempt to escape. She had become conditioned to her limitations.

As women, we too, have become conditioned to live within boundaries. Even within the simple/organic/house church movement, where there are no boundaries for what a woman can do, women still rarely take the initiative. There’s an inbuilt misconception that we have to wait for a man to step up to the plate.

But imagine what might happen if women really understood that they are free to make disciples, baptize, start churches, teach…. They can function as apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers. What might happen if men and women partnered together for the harvest?

The Black Swan Effect, a book I recently compiled, presents a vision for what can happen as men and women work together in the Kingdom of God.  The authors (both male and female) encourage men to champion women as equal co-laborers and partners in the harvest. They give women permission and inspiration to follow the Lord—to reach their own full potential and encourage others to fulfill God’s call. The Black Swan Effect equips both men and women to bring an informed and positive contribution to the increasingly crucial conversation on gender in the church.

This book was written for men as well as women.  Fourteen different authors contribute to these themes in The Black Swan Effect, each of them writing from their own area of passion and expertise, the whole being woven together into a single narrative. Encouraging stories of women who are doing marvelous things for God today accompany each chapter.

If you are like most Christians, one of three primary motivations might propel you into a discussion about women in ministry:

§  Many Christians have come to the conclusion that there is no better way to increase the size of God’s missions workforce than to fully deploy women to use their spiritual gifts and God-given capacities.

§  Some are asking theological questions. They are investigating how the Bible portrays women, especially women leaders. How did Jesus treat women? Were the New Testament writers—in particular, the apostle Paul—misogynists? Are there alternative interpretations for some of the really difficult passages of Scripture? 

§  Others are drawn to this discussion because of issues related to justice and human dignity around the world as well as in the church. As they study Scripture, they are assured that God cre­ates all men and women in his image, and they can’t even imagine a God who would discriminate against women.

What might happen if men and women worked together, side by side, for the Kingdom? 

Does our traditional view of the Scriptures concerning women overlook something powerful? 

Could the role of women be crucial to the church’s future? 

Are we on the edge of a new era in missions history? 

Change is coming. Get ready!

The Black Swan Effect is available viaAmazon>

[Subversive Radio Podcast] The Promise of Suffering

Why does God allow suffering? If God is good, why doesn't He intervene? What does all of this have to do with the Kingdom of God?

In this podcast, Keith looks at our suffering can unleash the power of Christ in our lives, and impact the people around us.

CLOSE-UP: Why Momentum?

Watch this: In this video clip, Keith Giles explains why Momentum regional organic church conferences are the perfect opportunity to learn more about how to start a house church in your community.

I'm excited to be one of the many presenters at MOMENTUM LA on Saturday, April 5th.

This even will be a dialog-driven, interactive gathering to inspire people to start organic churches in their community, or provide resources for those who already have.

I'll be speaking on the most important topic ever: Leadership!

Other presenters include:
Ken Eastburn
Karl Vaters
Bill Faris
Matt and Christa McKirland
Bryan Cullison
and more!


Click above to watch video.


OR: WATCH HERE>

SIGNS AND WONDERS

 

 

NOTE: Originally published on Saturday, September 02, 2006 at [Subversive Underground]

SIGNS AND WONDERS

I’ve noticed a curious trend that has continued to perplex me. It’s the contemporary bent towards a desire to experience the next “Azusa Street” or “Brownsville Revival”, or “Toronto Blessing.”

Of course, these tendencies are more prevalent in certain circles, but it’s something I’ve had to deal with, or at least to observe from a distance.

My first reaction to this sort of desire to see signs and wonders displayed in the Sunday morning service is to ask, “Why?” I mean, honestly, I don’t get it. Do we seek after signs and wonders in order to put butts in the seats? I confess, my immediate guess is that many senior pastors seek after this sort of miraculous outpouring because it will bring more people to their church and increase their ministry.

Never mind that, to increase their ministry they could simply practice evangelism, and train their people to share their faith in more effective ways. If more people were coming to faith in Christ, wouldn’t that be miracle enough? Have we forgotten that salvation itself is a miracle of God too?

Perhaps the search for signs and wonders is the symptom of a lack of faith? It seems ironic, but I think it’s possible that, in some cases, the two are connected. Because the people have a weak faith life, or their walk with Jesus is getting predictable, they surmise that what is needed is a jolt of a good old-fashioned miracle on a Sunday morning. This is indicative of someone who wants a short-cut to maturity of faith. Rather than to practice the spiritual disciplines and learn to surrender to Christ on a daily basis, they would rather that God simply touch them and zap them into a greater sense of love and commitment to Himself. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way.

I’ve actually heard pastors cry out for God to “raise the dead” or declare that they want to see “blind eyes opened, deaf ears hear”, and what they don’t realize is that, for the dead to be raised in our midst, one of us will have to die. In order to see the miraculous cure, you have to go where the broken, the infirmed, the dying, are at. Or maybe we'll have to be the ones who suffer so that we can experience the touch of God on our lives.

Jesus experienced this same phenomenon in his ministry. As he traveled around healing people, he began to draw large crowds. True enough, the solution to a sagging attendance is the miraculous. However, Jesus did all he could to discourage this kind of growth. He saw it as an artificial growth based on superficiality. To counteract this, Jesus would ask those he healed from blindness and deafness not to tell anyone about what had happened to them, but to keep it a secret. Of course, no one can keep secret when they’ve been miraculously healed, so they did tell everyone and Jesus would end up leaving that region because the crowds would grow too large for him to operate.

Do you get that? Jesus spent his time healing people, not to draw crowds, but simply because he loved people. The Gospels tell us, time and again, that Jesus would look upon the persons in need and that he had compassion on them and healed them. His miracles were not about putting butts in the seats, or about growing his ministry. It wasn’t about spreading his own personal fame. It wasn’t about the show. It was simply about compassion.

 

And when Jesus drew a huge crowd, what did he do? He walked away. Hmm...

I sometimes wonder if the reason more churches in American aren’t experiencing the miraculous outpouring of signs and wonders is connected to their lack of compassion for the sick and the broken, the dying and the lame.

If we were all as desperate to see people made well, out of a sincere compassion for them, as we were to see God do a magic show for us, perhaps we’d see the power of God poured out again?

Maybe what we lack in our churches isn’t faith, but simple compassion for others?

If we wanted God to heal someone because we genuinely loved them as He did, and not out of a desire for personal gain, or for the entertainment factor, perhaps the Spirit of God would open up Heaven and rain down upon us all the power we needed to help people in need?

I’ve often wondered about those who have big healing ministries on television and why they never seem to walk through the cancer ward at Children’s Hospital when all the cameras are turned off and heal people for free. Why is that?

Even if we changed our hearts and began to develop a love for other people, it would be a forward step in itself, regardless of whether or not God were to do a miracle in our midst. At least we’d become a people with a heart like His, and I for one would prefer to be a follower of Jesus who had a heart like His than to be a filled with the power to heal and have a heart that is proud and self-serving.

“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love…if I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains…if I give all that I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.” – 1 Corinthians 13:1-3

(PART 4) DISPENSATIONALISM:REFUTED

 In Part 4 of this series, Keith looks at Galatians and how Paul explained who the true Children of Abraham really are.

BELIEF AND PRACTICE

NOTE: Originally published on Tuesday, October 31, 2006 at [Subversive Underground].

BELIEF AND PRACTICE

What does Jesus mean when he says, "…whoever believes in (me) will not perish but have eternal life"? Is he talking about doctrine and theology? I doubt it. Specifically because, when he spoke these words, the New Testament had not been written yet, in fact, it was being lived out as he spoke these words, and this is my point. I believe that what Jesus was trying to communicate in John 3:16 is the importance of living out what you say you believe, not simply saying what you believe.

One way to express this is to ask yourself what it is you do each and every day of your life. I would suggest that Jesus could be paraphrased here, and in numerous other passages, as saying, "Show me what you do, how you behave, and that is what you really believe".

Again, I'm not against doctrine and this article is not in any way attempting to suggest that doctrine and theology are useless. Far from it. In fact, what I'm saying is that your doctrine and theology are a lie if you don't act out the principles contained in your doctrine and theology.

I am also not suggesting that our actions affect our salvation, which is 100% the work of Christ and his act of sacrifice upon the cross.

Dallas Willard, one of my spiritual heroes, has a great quote about this. He says, "What you really believe about Jesus is revealed by what you do when you realize that you cannot do anything (to earn your salvation*)".

So, what do you really believe about Jesus? It's revealed in the way you live your life. It's revealed in the way you treat people. It's revealed in the way you think of yourself. It's revealed in the way you behave when you think no one is looking.

If you have really confessed and believed that Jesus is Lord, then your life will reflect that reality as you submit to the rule and reign of God in your life. It will be revealed as you search the scriptures for wisdom and in the way you apply it to your everyday life. If you have confessed it and yet continue to rule your own life as you see fit, then in reality it is you in control and not Jesus, therefore, Jesus is not Lord.

There is a wonderful passage in a book called "Follow Me" by Jan David Hettinga (which I whole-heartedly recommend) where the author relates a counseling session between himself and a dear friend who is undergoing turmoil in his life. The author listen to his friend complain about his life and then challenges him about whether or not Jesus is really in charge of his life. At first this friend is angry at him for suggesting such a thing, but then the author calmly points out every event in his life where he has blatantly followed his own lusts and desires and kept Jesus out of control.

At the end of the conversation the author asks his friend, "What would your life look like if you really gave Jesus control over everything today?" His friend is quiet for a moment and then starts to say, "I guess I’d stop drinking so much and I’d have to cancel my poker night with the guys every week. I know I’d have to be a lot nicer to my wife and spend more time with my children, etc."

The author then asks his friend if he's willing to start allowing Jesus to be the Lord of his life or not.

As I've said before, one of the greatest challenges to living in the Kingdom of God is that most of us here in America have never been presented with the Gospel that Jesus preached throughout his ministry; "Repent for the Kingdom of God is near." (Matt 4:17,Luke 4:43, Mark 1:5, Matt 9:35, etc.)

The Gospel most of us have heard all our lives is the "Repeat after me" prayer and the pronouncement of instant salvation as a free gift. We never hear the "Live after me" message that Jesus taught and our lives suffer for it.

Because the part about surrendering to Christ is left out, most of us have never thought about it very much. But Jesus talked about it all the time. It's impossible to read the Gospels and to study the words of Jesus and miss the fact that he most definitely intended for his disciples to hear his words and to put them into practice.

A. W. Tozer (another of my spiritual heroes of the faith) has a great insight into this most recent neutering of the Gospel for American consumers. He says, "a notable heresy has come into being throughout evangelical Christian circles—the widely—accepted concept that we humans can choose to accept Christ only because we need Him as Savior and that we have the right to postpone our obedience to Him as Lord as long as we want to!" (From his book "I Call It Heresy")

He goes even as far as to suggest, "that salvation apart from obedience is unknown in the sacred scriptures."

I had to come to grips with this in my own life just a few years ago. After living for over two decades as a born-again Christian, licensed and ordained into the ministry of the Gospel, I came face to face with the reality that I had misunderstood the essence of the Gospel that Jesus came and died to preach. It shook me to realize that I had been trying to follow Jesus all that time without carrying my cross and dying to myself each day. The foolish thing was that Jesus specifically told us in scripture that we cannot follow him unless we take up our cross daily.

(see Luke 14:27)

I had to repent and to start over with Jesus as my Lord and my Savior. It has been a long process where Jesus patiently and lovingly reveals this truth to me over time...and I'm still learning!

The most challenging, and life-changing, part has been the daily walk with Jesus as I attempt to learn how to actually die to myself and surrender to his perfect plan for my life.

So, it is about belief, and it's also about how we practice what we believe, and that is where the real Christian life begins.

-kg

*From the book, "Subversive Interviews" available at my blog.

Part 3: DISPENSATIONALISM:REFUTED

In Part 3, Keith looks at Paul's letter to the Romans to show that God sees only one "Israel" in the Body of Christ, made up of both Jews and Gentiles.

Notes From The Edge

NOTE: Originally published on Sunday, October 08, 2006 at [Subversive Underground].

Notes From The Edge

When I pulled up and parked in front of the Deseret Bookstore, I felt a bit of fear. Not unlike the fear I imagine a covert agent must feel before he enters a building in order to gather intelligence. As I passed through the front door I felt a tingle run up my spine, as if I had just passed the hostile roadblock into the evil empire undetected. Why? Because this bookstore was unlike any other bookstore you've ever been inside.

This was a Mormon Bookstore.

I tried to act casual and browse the aisles without looking too conspicuous. The last thing I wanted was for one of the salespeople to notice me and think I needed some help finding the "Pearl Of Great Price" in a leather edition, or maybe ask me if I wanted a Joseph Smith bumper sticker for my car.

I wondered if everyone I saw inside was a Mormon or if some were, like me, just curiosity-seekers. Perhaps some of them were simply oblivious to the fact that this was a Mormon-themed store. At any rate, I was not comfortable here. No one smiled at me or noticed me. I felt like an outsider and an intruder into their little world. Which, to be fair, I was.

On a whim I had decided to explore this Mormon-themed retail store. It happened to be in the same strip mall as the pizza place where I had ordered our family dinner and while our pie was in the oven I thought it might be interesting to see how the other side lived.

The inside was not unlike any mainline Christian store you’ve ever been in. There were rows of large, hardcover books that were written by various authors that you and I have never heard of, but that the average Mormon might recognize if he or she heard the names. The titles ranged from the devotional variety to fiction. (Mormon fiction?!) I was especially puzzled and even saddened to see a large section of paintings that depicted a laughing and loving Jesus. “Wow,” I thought, “How sad to offer pictures of Jesus for sale without offering any true concept of who Jesus really is.”

I soon found my way to the music section, as I usually do wherever I go, and was amazed to see a large wall covered with Cd’s and tapes. Yes. Cassette Tapes.

Except for that Amy Grant display on one shelf, most of the musical offerings were hymns collections performed by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. There were some “rock” offerings too, which surprised me. Most of these were packaged like early eighties new wave projects and had names like “Elemenopee” and “Chris Savage and the Rock-Tones”. I was not too impressed. This was, after all, just a sad imitation of what mainline Christian bookstores across America have to offer.

I immediately realized that this was probably what most non-Christians would feel should they venture into one of our Christian Bookstores. I had to ponder if we in the Christian World came across as irrelevant and as derivative as our Mormon counterparts. Most of what I saw in this cult music section was a laughably pathetic rip-off of what I could purchase at my local Christian store. It had the look and feel of the real stuff but was obviously an imitation of the real thing.

It kind of made me scrutinize the whole Secular versus Christian bookstore dichotomy from a similar perspective.

I can’t help but feel a little saddened by the fact that most Christian Art (and especially Christian Music), is nothing more than a pale imitation of what the world is doing.

Just the other day some friends and I were standing around and we overhead the local Christian Radio Station blasting out of a nearby car. They were playing a remake of a popular secular song called “Love Is The Answer” but adding the words “Jesus” and “Lord” here and there to sanctify it for our righteous ears.

It made me want to puke.

Why can’t the art and music of the Christian Culture be different? Even if it were just weird for the sake of being weird, I’d prefer this to the “sounds-like” comparisons of most music and art in the Christian Marketplace today.

I once interviewed Mark Saloman from the band Stavesacre and he had an amazing insight regarding this. He noted that, “…the world creates music and art from a fleshly and vain pool of inspiration. Whereas we, the sons of God, have a unique relationship and connection to the very Creator of the entire Universe. Why shouldn’t the World be following us? Why are we the ones who are following them?”

That’s a great question.

Why are we the ones who are following them?

For over seven years I worked in the Christian Music Industry. I still have friends who are part of the CCM Machine and most of them are great, Godly people who are doing their best to change the system from within. But, sadly, at the end of the day, the Christian Music Industry is still a business and the bottom line is selling product, not ministry.

Why is it easier to copy what someone else is doing and “Christianize” it? Maybe because it’s much more difficult to take the time to submit your craft to God, allow the Holy Spirit to work through your talent to create something that may, or may not, be acceptable to the mainstream audience.

The problem is, sometimes the Truth is offensive. Sometimes the one’s most offended are the people who are supposed to be your brothers and sisters. If you’re supposed to be a “Christian Artist”, and especially if you’re trying to make a living at it, the last thing you’d ever want to do is to offend anyone.

What the world needs now is a new wave of true artists. Those who are more committed to using their talents to communicate a burning truth that sears the soul, rather than those who simply want to spread their own fame.

People like Derek Webb, Jars of Clay, Switchfoot and Over The Rhine come to mind. Artists who create what is sincere and true have more interesting things to say than those who are simply trying to sell us something.

Maybe the real problem is when we try to make a buck off of the Truth? I think maybe loving people and living out the Gospel should never get confused with commerce.

What do you think?

-kg

ROUND 4: PACIFIST FIGHT CLUB - SATURDAY, MARCH 15

THIS IS A FREE EVENT.

PACIFIST FIGHT CLUB | ROUND 4
Saturday, March 15 at BIOLA UNIVERSITY
9am to 12pm.

Our Fighters:

*Mike Izbicki - Former Naval submarine officer who read the Sermon on the Mount and is now a conscientuous objector.

*Dr. Thomas Crisp - Co-Founder of PFC and Professor of Philosophy at BIOLA.

LOCATION:
BIOLA UNIVERSITY
Mosaic Cultural Center
13800 Biola Ave.
La Mirada, CA 90639

PARKING
The gate to Lot A will open at 7am on Saturday morning. No parking pass needed. Please park at the end of Lot A, whose entrance is separate from the main entrance of Biola. The entrance is just north of the main entrance on Biola Ave.

Location is the Mosaic Cultural Center, directly across from the new Talbot East building. Look for a glass sign outside of the building.

FOR MORE INFO ABOUT PACIFIST FIGHT CLUB VISIT OUR WEBSITE>

[Subversive Radio Podcast] DISPENSATIONALISM: REFUTED (Part 2)

In this podcast we look at the Dispensationalist teaching that there is a distinction between Israel and the Church.

[Subversive Radio Podcast] DISPENSATIONALISM: REFUTED (Part 1)

Keith provides a basic history of Dispensationalism as it started in 1830 by Darby, and explores the teaching that God's land promises to the Jews remain unfulfilled.

QUESTIONS

NOTE: Originally posted on Tuesday, November 14, 2006 at the [Subversive Underground].

QUESTIONS

I have learned something important about myself in the process of leading a house church that has taken me by surprise.

Over the last few years of my life I have become fascinated by the teaching style of Jesus. He told stories, he provoked thought, he invited questions and more often than not he allowed questions to go unanswered.

In my own personal life I have prayed that God would help me to be more of a teacher like Jesus who is not afraid of questions and who is able to provoke people to thought, to change and to action by his stories and by the way he allows people to figure things out for themselves without throwing out easy answers to everyone.

That's the goal. The reality is something else altogether.

I have an old poster that I took off the wall in the Art Department where I went to college. It says, "Well-formed questions are more useful than well-formed answers". I love that poster. I love the radical notion that sometimes questions are more useful than answers.

In the scriptures, Jesus was asked something like forty three questions and he only actually answered two of those questions. The others he either answered with a question of his own, or he outright refused to give an answer at all. I love that about Jesus. He was not focused so much on the answers, but he was interested mostly in helping people to think things out for themselves.

I am learning that, as much as I value this quality, I am not comfortable with it in everyday practice.

One of the things that frustrates me most about the modern Christian subculture in America is our fixation with providing answers. I hate that we have tried to reduce the Gospel into a sound bite, thus removing from it the true power it has to transform us. I hate that we often employ answer-based evangelism whether or not the people being evangelized have ever asked us the questions. I long to see more question-based forms of evangelism and communication come out of the Church and this is mostly because it brings our own need to live out the Gospel message into the light and the conversation.

Still, what I have learned about myself through our house church is that I personally am terrified of questions in a group setting. The last few weeks God has pointed out to me my annoying habit of answering each and every question raised in our house church meeting. I realize that I do this mostly out of a sense of feeling uncomfortable that someone else might answer it incorrectly, or out of a desire to display my inherent wisdom and understanding of the passage of scripture or the topic at hand.

I need help.

Just a few weeks ago this scenario played out during one of our Thursday night gatherings and I share it with you now to illustrate what I mean.

We were having a wonderful dialog about the book of Job together. Someone pointed out, brilliantly I might add, that the entire point of the book of Job is found when Job utters to God, "My ears had heard of You, but now my eyes have seen you". Although God did not appear to Job in bodily form, he had somehow "seen" God. How was that accomplished? By the sufferings he endured Job gained a powerful perspective of the fact that God is God and that Job is not. Without the suffering he endured, Job would only have "heard of" the Glory of God, but now due to the suffering, he could say he had really "seen" God's Glory. (Job 42:4-6)

At this moment, one of our members asked, "So then, is suffering the only way to see God?" If I could travel back in time, to that moment in my den, I would wrap a roll of duct tape around the mouth of the host...which is me.

What I wouldn't give to go back in time and, instead of answering that person's question for her, had turned to the group, or back to this person and asked another question like; "I don't know. What do you think?"

Wow. That would have been one very cool conversation. But it's a conversation that we will never have now because I took the opportunity to answer this volatile question all by myself.

I repent of that. I pray that I can learn from this and next time, when someone asks a question in our group like that, I will bounce it back to them and ask them what they think the answer is.

In theory I love the idea of allowing questions to breathe. I love the idea of welcoming input and dialog, even if there is the danger that someone will arrive at the wrong answer or get distracted by some misunderstanding. In reality, I am still learning to come to grips with the idea of a living question in my presence. I am still learning how to welcome such radical inquisition into my home without asking it to first submit to my so-called wisdom.

In fact, I've written articles in the past on this very topic. I've pointed out the importance of asking questions and I've criticized those in the Church who fear the question unnecessarily. Now the whole thing has come back to bite me in the butt. I suppose that's why the Word of God is sometimes referred to as a "two-edged sword".

I hope that one day I can find the inner resolve to allow questions to flourish, to breathe, to dance in my living room without being smothered by the big, fat answer I hold behind my back. I hope that God will teach me to welcome questions and to be more comfortable with allowing people to work things out for themselves.

More and more I am learning, through our house church experience, how to live out the values and the convictions I have within, in ways that I never could have in any other way.

I suppose that in the process of making disciples, we have to admit that we are also disciples who are in the process of being made.

Peas,
Keith

[Subversive Radio Podcast] JESUS: The Prophet (Final)

Keith finishes up the series on the Olivet Discourse and Jesus' prophecy about the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem in AD 70.

In this final podcast, Keith explains the phrase "Where the carcass is, there the eagles will gather" from Matt. 24:28 and Luke 17:37.

URGENT!

NOTE: Originally published on Tuesday, November 21, 2006 at the [Subversive Underground]

DISCLAIMER: Please read the following article VERY CAREFULLY before you do anything at all. There is more going on here than meets the eye. You have been forewarned. - kg

**

URGENT
As most of us are aware, there is a new Congress in session at the moment. With this new influx of Congressmen and Senators will no doubt come a changing of the guard that will require us as Christians to be vigilant as never before.

This is why today's [SUBVERSIVE UNDERGROUND] is so critical for each of us. I'm tempted to ask everyone one of you to read what I write here and to forward this to EVERYONE IN YOUR ADDRESS BOOK right away. (Especially if you "really" love Jesus).

But, what I'm about to tell you is SO ALARMING, it could seriously threaten Church in America forever.

There is new legislation in motion, at the earliest possible stage, which I need to let everyone know about now before it gets out of our control.

First, many of you are already aware that there are forces out there that threaten to take away the non-profit status of Christian Churches in America whenever messages of a political nature are delivered from the pulpit. As desperate as this is, there is a new development brewing now that is even worse.

There are people who want to propose legislation that would challenge the non-profit status of any Christian Church simply based on whether or not that Church actually gives a significant percentage of its funds back to the community, as most other "non-religious" non-profits are required to do.

WHAT THIS MEANS is that your church could be in danger of losing its non-profit status simply because none of the tithe money goes to help out those poor families who live around the community. EVEN IF THEY DON'T ATTEND YOUR CHURCH!

Of course, there are plenty of churches in America that do care for the poor in their community. They pass out free groceries, they provide free oil changes for single Moms, they host after-school programs for kids in the area at no-charge, etc. Churches who are already "giving back" to the community in this way and serving others the way Jesus would would have NOTHING TO FEAR!

However, if a church in the community were to spend 70%, 80%, or even 99% of its tithe on itself, it would be in danger of losing that non-profit status and would have to pay taxes JUST LIKE ALL OTHER LARGE CORPORATIONS.

This means that a church spending most of the tithe for salaries, or a new building, or the new flat-screen plasma televisions for the announcements in the nursery, or the Starbucks Coffee bar at the back of the Church, or the new carpet, etc., would have to justify their non-profit status on the basis of whether or not they were actually performing any actual "service" to the poor around them. If they couldn't demonstrate a tangible connection between their church and the community around them, their non-profit status would be revoked forever!

REGARDLESS OF THE FACT that Matthew 25 suggests that Jesus takes our concern for the outcast seriously, this attack on the non-profit status of our big, fat American churches is just NOT FAIR!

We've earned the right to collect as many hundreds of thousands of dollars as we like in the name of Jesus and it should be totally up to us how we spend that money. Especially if it's for our own needs, wants and desires.

Just because we're not really involved in the needs of the poor around us, the Church SHOULDN'T BE PUNISHED IN THIS WAY.

Regardless of the fact that the Church in America HAS THE POWER and the ECONOMIC RESOURCES necessary provide affordable housing, long-term community development, and primary health care to everyone who needs it, the US Government should NOT be the one to force this upon us through legal means. That should be left up to a Higher Power.

Even though Universal primary education would cost $8 billion a year, which is about half of what parents in the US spend annually on toys for their children, this has nothing to do with those of us who are called by the name of the One who humbled Himself and surrendered His life to demonstrate the compassion of God to the World, and especially to the least and the lost.

So, if you want to protect your church from this kind of judgement, I urge you to write to your pastors, your elders, your deacons and your church leaders and let them know how you feel about this very serious issue that faces the modern Church in America.

We, the Church in America, are dangerously close to the SIN OF SODOM!

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

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

Obviously, the issue facing the Church in America today is WAY MORE SERIOUS THAN SIMPLY OUR NON-PROFIT STATUS! If the Church were to rise up and spend their money this way, THAT WOULD BE AN AWESOME THING, and yes, a lot of people would probably stop calling us hypocrites and maybe they'd take us seriously when we tell them that Jesus loves them, because we've demonstrated that just maybe we love them too.

As you may have guessed, this legislation IS TOTALLY FICITIOUS! I have made up the entire thing with the help of my good friend Jarred Rowland who first suggested the concept to me.

I couldn't resist mimicking the style of those alarmist Christian email messages we all get forwarded telling us that we must send it on to everyone we have ever known in order to prove our love for Jesus. Please, also forgive me for all the CAPITAL LETTERS I USED!

Seriously, I think if my friend Jarred were to introduce a Bill like this one to our Congress it might put a fire under our churches to wake up and realize that their Bibles are full of commands to care for the outcast, the poor, and the needy who are all around them. If nothing else, it would create an amazing open dialog in the media between the leaders of the Church, the members of the community, and the man on the street about issues of compassion, Christian charity, and the calling of Jesus to care for the poor as we would care for Him. (see Matthew 25)

Until that legislation comes to pass, I will have to resort to stunts like this to try to wake people up and realize that God's heart is for the poor and that He has taken this issue very seriously.

The truth is, the idea of their church losing its non-profit status is more likely to spur Christians to action than the fact that there are thousands of homeless, and poverty-stricken human beings suffering a few blocks from their front door.

"He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?"- GOD, speaking of King Josiah in Jeremiah 22:16

[Subversive Radio Podcast] JESUS: THE PROPHET (Part 2)

*Apologies for the abrupt ending here. Part 3 will pick up from where we left off.

[Subversive Podcast] JESUS: THE PROPHET (Part 1)

Part 1 of the new Subversive Radio Podcast Series looking at Jesus' Prophecy on the Mount of Olives, or The Olivet Discourse, and how the fulfillment took place during the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in AD 70.