A typical meeting but, as I have said before, give me this as typical.
We had the sort of exchange of prayer requests that is possible only among people who have few secrets from each other and who intensely love each other in the Lord.
As is often the case, singing time turned into a discussion of important points of what we believe, particularly of the significance of our adoption in Christ, of the potter and clay description of our relationship with the Lord and of what is sometimes called, though we didn't call it that, "natural theology."
Time in the Word was very specifically focused on the working out of our faith in Him through our lifestyle.
The taking of the bread and cup was very much focused on our imitation of Christ.
A typically good meeting.
Monday, August 31, 2015
Friday, August 28, 2015
The Disaster for the CGGC that was the Year 2013
As I noted in another post, I was impressed with Lance's take, his spin, on the Statistical Reports from 2013 as he addressed the numbers in the most recent issue of The CHURCH ADVOCATE.
Lance's honesty startled me. I've not been accustomed to honesty coming from the mountaintop in quite some time.
If you haven't read Lance's commentary for its tone, read it for its tone. Also note that this article is one of the places that Lance calls for the CGGC to change.
When I read the article I recalled that Ed wrote a similar article a little more than a year earlier, which I commented on on this blog, and in which I chided Ed for celebrating 28,000 in worship in 2012 when 20 years earlier we were seeking 35,000 by the year 2000.
That number 28,000 stuck in my mind so I looked up the old blog post and discovered a fact that is not clear from Lance's account of how bad 2013 was.
Ed reported worship attendance of 28,072 in 2012. Lance reports 27,177 for 2013.
Doing the math, worship attendance declined by 895 in that year or 3.2% in a single year.
And, if you remember the 2013 statistical report, this year's report included a 99 word formula for counting worship attendance that greatly expanded the definition of worship attendance to include several categories of people who would not have been counted in 2012.
That diluted definition of how to count worship attendance coupled with the fact that our Regions have added congregations by merely adopting them to our number suggests that we probably lost far more in attendance than 895 or 3.2% in that one year.
It is no wonder that Lance presents a bleak picture. But, the truth is that the picture is much more bleak than a mere reading of the article suggests.
Lance inherited a mess.
We must repent. He must lead repentance.
Lance's honesty startled me. I've not been accustomed to honesty coming from the mountaintop in quite some time.
If you haven't read Lance's commentary for its tone, read it for its tone. Also note that this article is one of the places that Lance calls for the CGGC to change.
When I read the article I recalled that Ed wrote a similar article a little more than a year earlier, which I commented on on this blog, and in which I chided Ed for celebrating 28,000 in worship in 2012 when 20 years earlier we were seeking 35,000 by the year 2000.
That number 28,000 stuck in my mind so I looked up the old blog post and discovered a fact that is not clear from Lance's account of how bad 2013 was.
Ed reported worship attendance of 28,072 in 2012. Lance reports 27,177 for 2013.
Doing the math, worship attendance declined by 895 in that year or 3.2% in a single year.
And, if you remember the 2013 statistical report, this year's report included a 99 word formula for counting worship attendance that greatly expanded the definition of worship attendance to include several categories of people who would not have been counted in 2012.
That diluted definition of how to count worship attendance coupled with the fact that our Regions have added congregations by merely adopting them to our number suggests that we probably lost far more in attendance than 895 or 3.2% in that one year.
It is no wonder that Lance presents a bleak picture. But, the truth is that the picture is much more bleak than a mere reading of the article suggests.
Lance inherited a mess.
We must repent. He must lead repentance.
Gathering 8-27-15
The Thursday night group is the most intense and intimate of our gatherings. It is also the group most committed to growth by the multiplication of the number of gatherings, not by adding to the particpation in the gathering.
These people are committed to radical obedience to Jesus. Several of them make me uncomfortable by the extent to which they are willing to take the teachings of Jesus, even in the Sermon on the Mount, literally.
This is the group that is studying Francis Chan's CRAZY LOVE. Chan's call to a life of radical love is extreme and it is backed up by the life Chan has been living in recent years. But, to be fair to the group, they were already at the place Chan would take us before we began reading the book.
Last night, we began Chan's chapter that quotes Jesus saying, "lend to them without expecting to be paid back." (Lk 6)
Those words throttled the meeting. We never moved beyond them.
By the the time the meeting broke up, we agreed to take a sizable portion of the group's financial reserves and offer it as a loan to a young couple we know in need but who have a well earned reputation for not paying back money that has been loaned to them.
The discussion leading to that action was challenging and, for me, uncomfortable. But, we concluded that to do this is to be faithful to Jesus, come what may.
I am blessed to gather with people who truly spur me on to love and good works.
These people are committed to radical obedience to Jesus. Several of them make me uncomfortable by the extent to which they are willing to take the teachings of Jesus, even in the Sermon on the Mount, literally.
This is the group that is studying Francis Chan's CRAZY LOVE. Chan's call to a life of radical love is extreme and it is backed up by the life Chan has been living in recent years. But, to be fair to the group, they were already at the place Chan would take us before we began reading the book.
Last night, we began Chan's chapter that quotes Jesus saying, "lend to them without expecting to be paid back." (Lk 6)
Those words throttled the meeting. We never moved beyond them.
By the the time the meeting broke up, we agreed to take a sizable portion of the group's financial reserves and offer it as a loan to a young couple we know in need but who have a well earned reputation for not paying back money that has been loaned to them.
The discussion leading to that action was challenging and, for me, uncomfortable. But, we concluded that to do this is to be faithful to Jesus, come what may.
I am blessed to gather with people who truly spur me on to love and good works.
Thursday, August 27, 2015
Ray Benner
My friend Ray Benner passed away this past Sunday.
Ray was a blessing to me, as I'm certain he was to many others.
When we lived in Findlay, and after all opportunities that Ray would be in a class I taught had passed, Evelyn and I socialized with Ray and Stephanie. The list of students with which we had that sort of relationship is extremely small. We were acquainted with Brittany and Josh when they were mere crumb crunchers.
Ray and I served on the ERC Renewal Commission in its earliest days. When we were both in congregational ministry, we spent some time attempting to figure out what a sermon actually is, based on the Word.
I was, I'm certain, very little help to Ray when Stephanie was dying of cancer. However, when Evelyn was struggling with cancer, he was a very good friend to me, even though the pain of losing Stephanie was still fresh for him.
Ray was a reader of this blog.
I know of at least one time I copied, into the blog, private comments to me that he had written. Ray was very supportive of what I wrote on the blog, though, so characteristic of his special gift, I'm not certain Ray agreed with me. I think he did. But, all I really know for certain, is that he supported me as I lived out my gift and calling.
Ray Benner was a beautiful man in the Lord and I will miss him.
Ray was a blessing to me, as I'm certain he was to many others.
When we lived in Findlay, and after all opportunities that Ray would be in a class I taught had passed, Evelyn and I socialized with Ray and Stephanie. The list of students with which we had that sort of relationship is extremely small. We were acquainted with Brittany and Josh when they were mere crumb crunchers.
Ray and I served on the ERC Renewal Commission in its earliest days. When we were both in congregational ministry, we spent some time attempting to figure out what a sermon actually is, based on the Word.
I was, I'm certain, very little help to Ray when Stephanie was dying of cancer. However, when Evelyn was struggling with cancer, he was a very good friend to me, even though the pain of losing Stephanie was still fresh for him.
Ray was a reader of this blog.
I know of at least one time I copied, into the blog, private comments to me that he had written. Ray was very supportive of what I wrote on the blog, though, so characteristic of his special gift, I'm not certain Ray agreed with me. I think he did. But, all I really know for certain, is that he supported me as I lived out my gift and calling.
Ray Benner was a beautiful man in the Lord and I will miss him.
The New CHURCH ADVOCATE, a Root Canal, Contributions to this Blog and "Cancer" Surgery
Just a few comments in passing:
1. I hope you've been reading the new edition of The CHURCH ADVOCATE. Much of it either features Lance or was written by him and there is some good and also some startling stuff. Lance mentions the need for change to take place in the CGGC several times. That is important. That sort of sentiment had been absent up top in the CGGC for some time. Lance's take on the 2013 CGGC statistics is surprisingly brutal and honest, also something usual in recent years. What is missing from what Lance wrote is how historically bad the year 2013 was in the CGGC, perhaps the worst year in CGGC history. Perhaps I'll add detail on that point later.
2. I had a root canal today, my first ever. It was not a barrel of monkeys but not as bad as I feared. A fascinating thing happened as I was being worked on. I noted that the back of my mind was meditating on 2 Chronicles 7:14 as the dentist was working away. Having memorized many verses from the Word, I often find part of my mind to be enmeshed on some part of His revelation while other parts of my brain are dealing with other matters. Today, my mind kept repeating on the words, "and will forgive their sin...." Perhaps if we humble ourselves and pray and seek His face He will forgive our sins.
3. You may have noticed that my blog output has declined lately. There are many reasons for this. If you are a Facebook friend, you know that my dad requires nearly constant attention these days. The emotional and physical drain of that is immense. Also, my job keeps me hopping and...
4. I've not mentioned this to this point, but a hideous growth developed on Evelyn's arm very near to where cancer-ridden lymph nodes were removed and which her cancer surgeon saw during a recent checkup. The surgeon recommended that they book an operating room as soon as possible to have it--and surrounding tissue--removed. Evelyn wanted this kept on the QT so, except for people in our community of gatherings and coworkers who love the Lord and a very close friend, I have not mentioned it to anyone. Word on the pathology came back on Tuesday and, shockingly, the surgeon was wrong. The growth looked hideous but it was benign. Unless you've walked the cancer journey, you have no idea how profound our thankfulness is.
1. I hope you've been reading the new edition of The CHURCH ADVOCATE. Much of it either features Lance or was written by him and there is some good and also some startling stuff. Lance mentions the need for change to take place in the CGGC several times. That is important. That sort of sentiment had been absent up top in the CGGC for some time. Lance's take on the 2013 CGGC statistics is surprisingly brutal and honest, also something usual in recent years. What is missing from what Lance wrote is how historically bad the year 2013 was in the CGGC, perhaps the worst year in CGGC history. Perhaps I'll add detail on that point later.
2. I had a root canal today, my first ever. It was not a barrel of monkeys but not as bad as I feared. A fascinating thing happened as I was being worked on. I noted that the back of my mind was meditating on 2 Chronicles 7:14 as the dentist was working away. Having memorized many verses from the Word, I often find part of my mind to be enmeshed on some part of His revelation while other parts of my brain are dealing with other matters. Today, my mind kept repeating on the words, "and will forgive their sin...." Perhaps if we humble ourselves and pray and seek His face He will forgive our sins.
3. You may have noticed that my blog output has declined lately. There are many reasons for this. If you are a Facebook friend, you know that my dad requires nearly constant attention these days. The emotional and physical drain of that is immense. Also, my job keeps me hopping and...
4. I've not mentioned this to this point, but a hideous growth developed on Evelyn's arm very near to where cancer-ridden lymph nodes were removed and which her cancer surgeon saw during a recent checkup. The surgeon recommended that they book an operating room as soon as possible to have it--and surrounding tissue--removed. Evelyn wanted this kept on the QT so, except for people in our community of gatherings and coworkers who love the Lord and a very close friend, I have not mentioned it to anyone. Word on the pathology came back on Tuesday and, shockingly, the surgeon was wrong. The growth looked hideous but it was benign. Unless you've walked the cancer journey, you have no idea how profound our thankfulness is.
Sunday, August 23, 2015
Gathering: 8-23-15
So, a very usual gathering.
For this group.
Intense intimacy is the standard so much so that I suspect we take it for granted.
But, today, it set the tone for the whole time we gathered.
There was barely an order to what we did today. Without any plan or forethought, the theme was "bear on another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ."
I preached/harangued, about faith not being faith unless it bears fruit in action. I referred to Hebrews 11: "By faith, Abel did this. By faith, Noah did that. By faith, Abraham did the other thing."
This idea is not controversial. Heads were nodding.
Once again, we struggled together with the issue of what is love or mercy as opposed to encouraging sin. And, with how you choose to show mercy to one person and not another. (We are being asked by two people for the same act of kindness at the same time when it is physically possible for us only to do it once. The only choice we have is to, perhaps, refuse to do it at all. A real possibility.)
It seems to me that what makes our sense of community so intense is not that we are so familiar with each other but that we are so intensely committed to the same pursuit of righteousness.
For this group.
Intense intimacy is the standard so much so that I suspect we take it for granted.
But, today, it set the tone for the whole time we gathered.
There was barely an order to what we did today. Without any plan or forethought, the theme was "bear on another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ."
I preached/harangued, about faith not being faith unless it bears fruit in action. I referred to Hebrews 11: "By faith, Abel did this. By faith, Noah did that. By faith, Abraham did the other thing."
This idea is not controversial. Heads were nodding.
Once again, we struggled together with the issue of what is love or mercy as opposed to encouraging sin. And, with how you choose to show mercy to one person and not another. (We are being asked by two people for the same act of kindness at the same time when it is physically possible for us only to do it once. The only choice we have is to, perhaps, refuse to do it at all. A real possibility.)
It seems to me that what makes our sense of community so intense is not that we are so familiar with each other but that we are so intensely committed to the same pursuit of righteousness.
Thursday, August 20, 2015
Gathering: 8-19-15
The Wednesday night group is our smallest. And, it is unique in that it is made up of people we work with who are also people who are still deeply entrenched in the traditional, seeker-sensitive, parish priest-centered Christendom church. They come to us for fellowship and mentoring.
Last night it was just Evie and me and a woman I work with.
The gathering was beneficial for everyone, I believe. We had a very interesting meal and a lengthy and intense celebration of the Lord's Supper.
In this gathering, like all of our gatherings, the gathering focuses on the Lord's Supper much more than the Word.
And, the centrality of the Lord's Supper--of the Gospel--is a source of fascination to even the best-intentioned people entrenched in traditional, contemporary churchism.
Last night the question was, "You guys meet with three different groups of every week [not actually true, not every week], and you take the bread and the cup every time. In my church, we do it once in a while for a short time. How do you do this and not get tired of it?"
A good question, really.
It's hard to explain but all of us know that the more thoroughly we immerse ourselves into Him and His incarnation and atonement the more thoroughly we want to go on that journey.
It's not boring. It's thrilling and humbling.
Tonight we meet with the Thursday group and we won't be able to do the whole routine. So, when we contacted the rest of the group, it occurs to me now, that the one thing we made certain of is that we take the Lord's Supper.
That need was, as Jane Austen said, was "universally acknowledged."
Last night it was just Evie and me and a woman I work with.
The gathering was beneficial for everyone, I believe. We had a very interesting meal and a lengthy and intense celebration of the Lord's Supper.
In this gathering, like all of our gatherings, the gathering focuses on the Lord's Supper much more than the Word.
And, the centrality of the Lord's Supper--of the Gospel--is a source of fascination to even the best-intentioned people entrenched in traditional, contemporary churchism.
Last night the question was, "You guys meet with three different groups of every week [not actually true, not every week], and you take the bread and the cup every time. In my church, we do it once in a while for a short time. How do you do this and not get tired of it?"
A good question, really.
It's hard to explain but all of us know that the more thoroughly we immerse ourselves into Him and His incarnation and atonement the more thoroughly we want to go on that journey.
It's not boring. It's thrilling and humbling.
Tonight we meet with the Thursday group and we won't be able to do the whole routine. So, when we contacted the rest of the group, it occurs to me now, that the one thing we made certain of is that we take the Lord's Supper.
That need was, as Jane Austen said, was "universally acknowledged."
The CGGC in the 2010s as a Counter-Culture Movement
The one thing institutional, shepherd-dominated parish priest focused Christianity has always done well is to provide sacraments and rituals that reinforce mainstream cultural values.
These institutions feed off of culture and profit from it as they support it and advance it. They are not salt and light to culture.
I have been pointing out that our shepherd mafia has done nothing as far as the turn of the culture from values that don't protect the CGGC institution. And, until the shepherd mafia repents to its heart, I can't see that there is anything for it to do.
Counter-Culture Christianity is not shepherd-dominated. Be honest. Counter-Culture Christianity is dominated by apostles and prophets. It is Luther standing up for 95 points of truth. It is Wesley demanding a vital relationship with the Lord based in wholehearted love for Him and neighbor and the sinners of the world. It is Winebrenner demanding freedom and equality for slaves. It is Bonhoeffer resisting Hitler to the moment of his death. It is Mother Theresa turning her back on comfort and ease to spend herself on the least of these.
Luther. Wesley. Winebrenner. Bonhoeffer. Theresa.
People for whom faith organically produced action. Radical, culture-threatening action.
But, the people who think of themselves as CGGC leaders, only think and produce words as if words are works.
They don't act. My guess is that they are paralyzed.
As time goes on, we, in the CGGC, get more words unconnected to acts of love, mercy, grace and obedience.
The culture is moving in its direction at the speed of light. Our so-called leaders seem to have their feet anchored in concrete.
It's time to throw out the old wineskin.
It is long past the time to repent.
These institutions feed off of culture and profit from it as they support it and advance it. They are not salt and light to culture.
I have been pointing out that our shepherd mafia has done nothing as far as the turn of the culture from values that don't protect the CGGC institution. And, until the shepherd mafia repents to its heart, I can't see that there is anything for it to do.
Counter-Culture Christianity is not shepherd-dominated. Be honest. Counter-Culture Christianity is dominated by apostles and prophets. It is Luther standing up for 95 points of truth. It is Wesley demanding a vital relationship with the Lord based in wholehearted love for Him and neighbor and the sinners of the world. It is Winebrenner demanding freedom and equality for slaves. It is Bonhoeffer resisting Hitler to the moment of his death. It is Mother Theresa turning her back on comfort and ease to spend herself on the least of these.
Luther. Wesley. Winebrenner. Bonhoeffer. Theresa.
People for whom faith organically produced action. Radical, culture-threatening action.
But, the people who think of themselves as CGGC leaders, only think and produce words as if words are works.
They don't act. My guess is that they are paralyzed.
As time goes on, we, in the CGGC, get more words unconnected to acts of love, mercy, grace and obedience.
The culture is moving in its direction at the speed of light. Our so-called leaders seem to have their feet anchored in concrete.
It's time to throw out the old wineskin.
It is long past the time to repent.
Monday, August 17, 2015
There is a Repentance that does not Lead to Salvation
I'm beginning to become more than a little worried that CGGCers may actually take a stab at repenting and do it wrongly.
If you read carefully, you may have noticed that some form of the word "repent" has now appeared in two of Lance's eNewses.
And, stunner of all stunners, the R word appeared today in an article sent out by an ERC staff member who, in my opinion, has strenuously avoided introducing the concept of repentance in the past when it absolutely should have been core to his teaching.
In addition to these mentions of repentance in official CGGC writings, you should know that, with increasingly frequency, in private communications, CGGC people who want any association with me to be kept on the QT have been writing to me and expressing their conviction that the CGGC needs to practice repentance.
---------------------------------
I'm actually becoming fearful that repentance may soon emerge as a new CGGC fad. I'm fearful, because repentance can be done wrongly and, in fact, most often in the history of the church, it has been done wrongly and has led to disaster.
As the ESV translates him, Paul says, "For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret." (2 Cor. 7:10a) From this it can be understood that what Paul next refers to as "worldly grief" produces death. (As I read it, the grief that is generating interest in repentance in the CGGC these days is worldly grief.)
Just a few quick surface thoughts about repentance, as I have come to understand it.
1. As I read the New Testament, repentance takes three different forms. As I read Lance and the ERC staffer, they speak of repentance in only one of those three forms. In my opinion, the two other ways to repent are a much more pressing need for the CGGC.
2. The aversion to repentance that has marked today's CGGC up to the beginning of the Finley era has actually been out of the norm even for institutional, parish-priest dominated Christendom Christianity.
The truth is that institutionalistic parish priests have normally embraced the idea of repentance but have perverted the Word's call to genuine repentance by turning the heart-rending, life-altering act of repentance that God demands into a ritual of some form.
Institutionalists and parish priests absolutely groove on ritual.
Here quickly are two examples of God's call for repentance being ritualized by the institutional church:
3. As I read the New Testament, the act of calling for repentance is one that the Holy Spirit entrusts specifically to apostles, prophets and evangelists and not to shepherds and teachers.
My sense is that unless CGGC mountaintoppers rediscover the two lost forms of repentance--and practice them themselves first--our institutional, shepherd mafia-dominated leadership culture will attempt to issue a call for repentance in the CGGC and, because these people have no gifting from the Spirit, they will do it badly, wrongly and, in fact, sinfully. The call will fail and prove to be nothing more than yet another failed CGGC fad.
4. Our mountaintoppers are going to have to repent and, in the process, relinquish their control of the institution and beg the Spirit to move and to empower men and women of His choosing to call for repentance in the way He leads them.
If you pray for revival in the CGGC, therefore, pray that the people who lead the institution will experience genuine godly grief and that that grief will produce in them a repentance that leads to salvation without regret.
Until recently, I despaired that the godly grief, repentance, salvation thing would happen on the CGGC mountaintops. These days, I do have the smallest hope.
We must repent.
If you read carefully, you may have noticed that some form of the word "repent" has now appeared in two of Lance's eNewses.
And, stunner of all stunners, the R word appeared today in an article sent out by an ERC staff member who, in my opinion, has strenuously avoided introducing the concept of repentance in the past when it absolutely should have been core to his teaching.
In addition to these mentions of repentance in official CGGC writings, you should know that, with increasingly frequency, in private communications, CGGC people who want any association with me to be kept on the QT have been writing to me and expressing their conviction that the CGGC needs to practice repentance.
---------------------------------
I'm actually becoming fearful that repentance may soon emerge as a new CGGC fad. I'm fearful, because repentance can be done wrongly and, in fact, most often in the history of the church, it has been done wrongly and has led to disaster.
As the ESV translates him, Paul says, "For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret." (2 Cor. 7:10a) From this it can be understood that what Paul next refers to as "worldly grief" produces death. (As I read it, the grief that is generating interest in repentance in the CGGC these days is worldly grief.)
Just a few quick surface thoughts about repentance, as I have come to understand it.
1. As I read the New Testament, repentance takes three different forms. As I read Lance and the ERC staffer, they speak of repentance in only one of those three forms. In my opinion, the two other ways to repent are a much more pressing need for the CGGC.
2. The aversion to repentance that has marked today's CGGC up to the beginning of the Finley era has actually been out of the norm even for institutional, parish-priest dominated Christendom Christianity.
The truth is that institutionalistic parish priests have normally embraced the idea of repentance but have perverted the Word's call to genuine repentance by turning the heart-rending, life-altering act of repentance that God demands into a ritual of some form.
Institutionalists and parish priests absolutely groove on ritual.
Here quickly are two examples of God's call for repentance being ritualized by the institutional church:
The Roman Catholic church's sacramentalizing of "Confession" paired with the doing of acts of penance in place of repentance.
And, the practice, still common among many conservative Protestants, of expecting that a convert either respond to an altar call or recite some version of a "sinners' prayer."While, for some people, genuine repentance may take place in either of these contexts, they are, at their core, merely outward actions used by institutionalists to ritualize a genuine spiritual act.
3. As I read the New Testament, the act of calling for repentance is one that the Holy Spirit entrusts specifically to apostles, prophets and evangelists and not to shepherds and teachers.
My sense is that unless CGGC mountaintoppers rediscover the two lost forms of repentance--and practice them themselves first--our institutional, shepherd mafia-dominated leadership culture will attempt to issue a call for repentance in the CGGC and, because these people have no gifting from the Spirit, they will do it badly, wrongly and, in fact, sinfully. The call will fail and prove to be nothing more than yet another failed CGGC fad.
4. Our mountaintoppers are going to have to repent and, in the process, relinquish their control of the institution and beg the Spirit to move and to empower men and women of His choosing to call for repentance in the way He leads them.
If you pray for revival in the CGGC, therefore, pray that the people who lead the institution will experience genuine godly grief and that that grief will produce in them a repentance that leads to salvation without regret.
Until recently, I despaired that the godly grief, repentance, salvation thing would happen on the CGGC mountaintops. These days, I do have the smallest hope.
We must repent.
Sunday, August 16, 2015
Gathering: 8-16-15
When I talk about living out purpose in our gatherings it is almost always that we spur each other on to love and good works and, indeed, that part of our purpose is key to the identity of our community of gatherings. But, it also very bottom line.
When we began the process of repenting from being a traditional seeker-sensitive church to pursue a radically New Testament way of gathering, we began with the idea that we must live in obedience to what we still call "the three love commands:"
-Love the Lord,
-Love your neighbor, and,
-Love one another.
The blending of the idea of obedience, which can be so cold and dry, with love, which can be so warm and fuzzy that is leads to spineless, cheap grace religion, calls us to a balance that is complete and can be achieved only when we walk in the Spirit.
Today was a day when we strove for obedience and love in community.
One family is in the midst of dealing with an issue in their extended family in which people they love are in conflict and neither is living wisely. Neither of the people in the conflict follows Jesus so, of course, neither is living righteously. Our people are heart broken seeing what is going on.
Much of the time we spent today focused on this issue. At one point, the question was asked, "What does the Bible say that applies to the situation?"
And, at first, answers were slow in coming but, in time, as we walked together in the Spirit, words of wisdom from the Spirit began to be spoken.
In the end, the time we spent together was marvelously edifying. There were powerful words spoken from Scripture, and none of them from someone with theological education!
As always, the focus ended up being on Jesus as we took the bread and the cup together.
It is such a blessing to me to live in this intimately connected community.
When we began the process of repenting from being a traditional seeker-sensitive church to pursue a radically New Testament way of gathering, we began with the idea that we must live in obedience to what we still call "the three love commands:"
-Love the Lord,
-Love your neighbor, and,
-Love one another.
The blending of the idea of obedience, which can be so cold and dry, with love, which can be so warm and fuzzy that is leads to spineless, cheap grace religion, calls us to a balance that is complete and can be achieved only when we walk in the Spirit.
Today was a day when we strove for obedience and love in community.
One family is in the midst of dealing with an issue in their extended family in which people they love are in conflict and neither is living wisely. Neither of the people in the conflict follows Jesus so, of course, neither is living righteously. Our people are heart broken seeing what is going on.
Much of the time we spent today focused on this issue. At one point, the question was asked, "What does the Bible say that applies to the situation?"
And, at first, answers were slow in coming but, in time, as we walked together in the Spirit, words of wisdom from the Spirit began to be spoken.
In the end, the time we spent together was marvelously edifying. There were powerful words spoken from Scripture, and none of them from someone with theological education!
As always, the focus ended up being on Jesus as we took the bread and the cup together.
It is such a blessing to me to live in this intimately connected community.
Friday, August 14, 2015
Gathering: 8-13-15
Three weeks ago I journaled the first gathering of our Thursday group in eight weeks. That gathering was out of the ordinary for several reasons, including the fact that it was the first and only time we met in our home.
Last night we met for the first time in ELEVEN weeks in the usual format and we were right on track with our core purpose to, of course, provoke each other to love and good works.
The man in the host family asked, even before the gathering began, if he could lead the taking of the Lord's Supper. And, what he offered us was incredibly brief, Jesus-focused and powerful.
Recently, I have asserted that a crucial challenge to American Evangelicalism in the wake of the Supreme Court same sex marriage decision is that today's Evangelicals have perverted the gospel by editing out of the teachings of Jesus the demand that anyone who would follow Him must deny self. They don't preach that message to their own churchy people. How, then, can they preach it to LGBTQers?
Fred, our host, has not read this blog for years and he has no idea that I've blogged what I have blogged. Yet, in leading us in the taking of the Lord's Supper, he called us to reflect on Jesus teaching that following Him begins with the denial of self.
That theme set the tone for the meeting.
We resumed study of Francis Chan's CRAZY LOVE, which contains the self-denial theme.
----------------
We had an eleven week gap between meetings but, because our fellowship transcends the gathering, we picked up without skipping a beat.
What a blessing.
Last night we met for the first time in ELEVEN weeks in the usual format and we were right on track with our core purpose to, of course, provoke each other to love and good works.
The man in the host family asked, even before the gathering began, if he could lead the taking of the Lord's Supper. And, what he offered us was incredibly brief, Jesus-focused and powerful.
Recently, I have asserted that a crucial challenge to American Evangelicalism in the wake of the Supreme Court same sex marriage decision is that today's Evangelicals have perverted the gospel by editing out of the teachings of Jesus the demand that anyone who would follow Him must deny self. They don't preach that message to their own churchy people. How, then, can they preach it to LGBTQers?
Fred, our host, has not read this blog for years and he has no idea that I've blogged what I have blogged. Yet, in leading us in the taking of the Lord's Supper, he called us to reflect on Jesus teaching that following Him begins with the denial of self.
That theme set the tone for the meeting.
We resumed study of Francis Chan's CRAZY LOVE, which contains the self-denial theme.
----------------
We had an eleven week gap between meetings but, because our fellowship transcends the gathering, we picked up without skipping a beat.
What a blessing.
Thursday, August 13, 2015
In Lieu of Gathering, 8-12-15: An Act of Mercy
This is a bit of a continuation of the Gathering post from Sunday.
As we were gathering on Sunday, we received a phone call that went to voice mail in a voice from our past that asked Evie and me for an act of kindness. That request fueled the group's discussion for the rest of the morning.
Specifically, a young, unmarried couple with three young children asked if they could move into our second floor, about 400 square feet, and live there indefinitely for free because they had been forced out of their apartment. They actually had lived in our upstairs several years ago with two kids and it had not gone well. Since then, they borrowed money from us and failed to repay it.
If you have been keeping score, you may have caught the fact that we've had people living with us almost continuously since the beginning of the year and, all of those experiences have gone reasonably well, though it is always somewhat stressful to have someone outside your family unit in your home, and we are tired anyway. And, we need a break just to catch our breath.
So, we told the family of five that we could not accommodate them.
We did help them find a large motel room for five days, which we and the Sunday Gathering are partially funding, while they look for something more permanent. AND,...
...Evie invited them to dinner last night, the time the Wednesday Gathering would gather.
As far as I can tell, the other gatherers accepted the choice of the family over the gathering, but what could they really do? We didn't ask. We told.
The evening went well. The kids were well behaved. Maggie, the world's greatest greeter, loves kids, but seemed overwhelmed by the end of the evening.
This decision reveals an important core value of our community: The act of gathering is not an act of righteousness. Showing mercy is.
I feel bad for how we cancelled the Gathering but not for choosing mercy over Gathering.
Many of our core values are being engaged right now as we go forward with this situation...
...but that is a good thing.
As we were gathering on Sunday, we received a phone call that went to voice mail in a voice from our past that asked Evie and me for an act of kindness. That request fueled the group's discussion for the rest of the morning.
Specifically, a young, unmarried couple with three young children asked if they could move into our second floor, about 400 square feet, and live there indefinitely for free because they had been forced out of their apartment. They actually had lived in our upstairs several years ago with two kids and it had not gone well. Since then, they borrowed money from us and failed to repay it.
If you have been keeping score, you may have caught the fact that we've had people living with us almost continuously since the beginning of the year and, all of those experiences have gone reasonably well, though it is always somewhat stressful to have someone outside your family unit in your home, and we are tired anyway. And, we need a break just to catch our breath.
So, we told the family of five that we could not accommodate them.
We did help them find a large motel room for five days, which we and the Sunday Gathering are partially funding, while they look for something more permanent. AND,...
...Evie invited them to dinner last night, the time the Wednesday Gathering would gather.
As far as I can tell, the other gatherers accepted the choice of the family over the gathering, but what could they really do? We didn't ask. We told.
The evening went well. The kids were well behaved. Maggie, the world's greatest greeter, loves kids, but seemed overwhelmed by the end of the evening.
This decision reveals an important core value of our community: The act of gathering is not an act of righteousness. Showing mercy is.
I feel bad for how we cancelled the Gathering but not for choosing mercy over Gathering.
Many of our core values are being engaged right now as we go forward with this situation...
...but that is a good thing.
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
Monday, August 10, 2015
Sixteen Characteristics of the CGGC Brand, Pre-Finley-Findlay
Gang,
I have mentioned in the past that, at about the time Ed was announcing his resignation as CGGC CEO, I was in the process of updating my list of the characteristics of the CGGC Brand but that there was so much real life going on for me that I didn't have time to put the list in publishable form.
That list, in reasonably readable and honestly accurate form, true to my thinking at the time, is what follows.
I have polished the prose very slightly over the past few months but have not fiddled with the list's essential content.
I want to put this on record as my understanding of the essence of the CGGC before the new CEO took possession of the corner office. (I wrote all of this when Ed was still CEO.) Even today, not all of these sixteen characteristics still feel current to me, but the jury is still out and time will tell.
FYI, there is one significant change between this list and the previous list: This list includes a sixteenth characteristic, number 5, Creeping High Church-ism.
One other FYI: I sense that the essence of the CGGC is, indeed, changing as the changes in those who sit atop the highest CGGC mountaintop create fruition.
What follows is for the historical record and for understanding of what change is taking place as time moves forward.
------------------------------------
I have mentioned in the past that, at about the time Ed was announcing his resignation as CGGC CEO, I was in the process of updating my list of the characteristics of the CGGC Brand but that there was so much real life going on for me that I didn't have time to put the list in publishable form.
That list, in reasonably readable and honestly accurate form, true to my thinking at the time, is what follows.
I have polished the prose very slightly over the past few months but have not fiddled with the list's essential content.
I want to put this on record as my understanding of the essence of the CGGC before the new CEO took possession of the corner office. (I wrote all of this when Ed was still CEO.) Even today, not all of these sixteen characteristics still feel current to me, but the jury is still out and time will tell.
FYI, there is one significant change between this list and the previous list: This list includes a sixteenth characteristic, number 5, Creeping High Church-ism.
One other FYI: I sense that the essence of the CGGC is, indeed, changing as the changes in those who sit atop the highest CGGC mountaintop create fruition.
What follows is for the historical record and for understanding of what change is taking place as time moves forward.
------------------------------------
1. Lukewarm-ness. Perpetual, reality-defying self-satisfaction. Akin to the pseudo-Christianity of the Laodiceans. Built on the belief that, spiritually, we are all exactly who and what we should be (Rev. 3:14-18). Read all of the issues of the eNews. Jesus said, "You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked." (Rev. 3:17)
2. Institutional "Churchianity," not Christianity. With increasing fervor, the CGGC focuses on an institutionalized, parish priest-centered view that church is parishes or flocks, led by pastors, with an ecclesiastical elite ruling over all. The CGGC now only pays lip service to what Jesus commands of His disciples. The CGGC today renews churches, makes transformational churches, adopts churches and plants churches yet only goes into the world to make disciples after all the headquarters and local parish work is thoroughly finished, therefore, never.
3. Ecclesiolatry. Ecclesiolatry is the creation and veneration of the church as an idol, as opposed to love of and obedience to Jesus Christ, the Lord of the Church. Idolatry is creating objects of worship and adoration to suit our own passions and prejudices. The CGGC substitutes love for the church for love for the church's Lord. Hence the obsession with planting, adopting, transformationalizing, adopting and renewing local churches while the Church's Lord's talk was about and His prayer and passion was to establish a His Father's Kingdom. The church is the CGGC's Golden Calf.
4. Traditionalism. What the CGGC does is, no longer, rooted in love for, nor obedience to, Bible truth. These days, CGGC practice derives from the way of thinking that led to the rise of the church as an institution in the Middle Ages. The CGGC's founder, John Winebrenner, who saw even the Protestant Reformation as a failure, wouldn't recognize what has become of the movement he began.
5. Creeping High Church-ism. In recent years, there has been a marked increase in the number of CGGC clergy who don clerical collars and who sport large crosses on chains around their necks. At the same time, there has been increasingly open, unashamed, proud and passionate advocacy of the high church's celebration of Lent, Holy Week and Advent from CGGC mountaintops. This has had the effect of elevating the clergy of the CGGC as a hierarchical priesthood and stealing, from all the members of the CGGC body, their role as a universal priesthood. It also focuses the CGGC on the church that is served by credentialed priests, not the Kingdom Jesus brings.
6. Faddism. The CGGC shifts direction according to what is fashionable among other religious denominations. Hence, today, the people with offices in headquarters buildings fret over the CGGC 'brand.' Most recently, with other trend-driven denominations, the CGGC has sought to embrace the 'transformational church' fad and the coaching and leadership development fads. Currently fads such as these, not biblical truth, drive CGGC change.
7. Mellow Relationships over Truth. The CGGC has serious issues with truth primarily because it values, to the extreme, human relationships rooted in tolerance of others but does not value hunger and thirst for righteousness. The CGGC no longer holds, as the most important relationship, love for the Lord, which Jesus called the greatest commandment. The CGGC no longer takes firm stands on any biblical truth, as the recently adopted revision of We Believe and the 2013 Statement of Faith make clear.
8. A Middle Ages Understanding of Christian Community. Perhaps the most harmful achievement of CGGC elites has been the creation of a 'laity.' In its early years, the Church of God had significantly attained the priesthood of all believers. Recently, however, CGGC higher ups have transformed the typical participant in a CGGC congregation into a mere consumer of the religious products and services supplied by the parish clergy and their higher ups.
9. Strong Central Planning Coupled with Lower Level Clergy and Congregational Resistance. It is not enough to suggest that the CGGC is becoming clergy and higher up dominated. (See item 8) Even in the expanding CGGC clergy world, there are extremes in power from the bottom of the clergy pyramid to its peak. Some higher ups in denominational headquarters and in regional offices act from a sense of power that no Roman Catholic Pope would dream of. However, in response, many pastors outside of the good-old-boy leadership network, and most local CGGC congregations, ignore and sometimes defy (always without consequence--unless money going to leadership is involved), the authority of the leaders located in the denomination's central planning offices.
10. Cynicism. As much as CGGC higher ups are shepherds seeking peace, calm and quiet among the pastors and congregations of the CGGC, there is a stifling atmosphere of cynicism among our pastors and congregations toward those in CGGC seats of power. (See item 9.) There is also thinly disguised cynicism flowing from headquarters leadership down into the body. This cynicism flows in every direction: From the top down, from the bottom up and horizontally among factions in the body.
11. To Talk is to Walk-ism. According to the New Testament, a follower of Jesus is one who possesses a faith that organically produces acts of obedience to God's will. (Matthew 7:21-23, 24-26, 25:1-46; John 14:15; 2 Cor. 5:10; Eph. 2:8-10; Jas. 2:12-26; Rev. 2-3). However, CGGC faith is disconnected from action. It is possible to talk CGGC talk without walking it. Hence, for example, the GC Mission, Vision and Faith Statements that are not lived out--and virtually no one notices.
12. Empty Faith. The Old and New Testaments define saving faith as a way of living that is fruit of who a person trusts and what that person thinks. (See Romans 4:18-22, Ephesians 2:8-10, Hebrews 11:4-40, James 2:14-26). (In the Church of God, see John Winebrenner's 27 point description of its faith and practice, first published in 1844.) More than at any time in CGGC history, today faith can be defined by empty theological pronouncements apart from a way of life. (See the 2013 Statement of Faith.)
13. Cheap Grace. The CGGC calls people to easy-beliefism. Jesus said that anyone who doesn't hate his father and mother isn't worthy of Him. There was a time, in its founding generation, that the Church of God called sinners to a radically changed way of life. Dietrich Bonheoffer (who coined the phrase, cheap grace) could have been viewing today's CGGC when he wrote: "...cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ."
14. False, Flock-focused Righteousness. One need only read the first part of the Sermon of the Mount to understand that right living, as radically defined by Jesus, is key to discipleship. In the CGGC, however, righteousness is defined as a local parish, or flock, achieving consistent growth in parish/flock-oriented activities such as 'worship service' attendance not, as Jesus taught, disciples serving each other and caring for the least of the brothers and sisters of Jesus and going to all nations making disciples.
15. Organized Hypocrisy. There is illogic and outright contradiction among the things the CGGC claims to be true about itself. This illogic and contradiction is, in reality, deeply rooted, highly intentional and carefully executed. A hypocrite is an actor: "...a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings." It is a positive and essential value of the CGGC to speak one message and to, without qualm, act out another that is entirely disconnected from that avowed principle.
16. Decline. This is today's bottom line. In the first sixty years or so of its history the Church of God began from scratch and grew to approximately 800 active congregations. From that peak, the CGGC has declined to far less than half that number, losing a total of 60 congregations between 2001 and 2010 alone!
4. Traditionalism. What the CGGC does is, no longer, rooted in love for, nor obedience to, Bible truth. These days, CGGC practice derives from the way of thinking that led to the rise of the church as an institution in the Middle Ages. The CGGC's founder, John Winebrenner, who saw even the Protestant Reformation as a failure, wouldn't recognize what has become of the movement he began.
5. Creeping High Church-ism. In recent years, there has been a marked increase in the number of CGGC clergy who don clerical collars and who sport large crosses on chains around their necks. At the same time, there has been increasingly open, unashamed, proud and passionate advocacy of the high church's celebration of Lent, Holy Week and Advent from CGGC mountaintops. This has had the effect of elevating the clergy of the CGGC as a hierarchical priesthood and stealing, from all the members of the CGGC body, their role as a universal priesthood. It also focuses the CGGC on the church that is served by credentialed priests, not the Kingdom Jesus brings.
6. Faddism. The CGGC shifts direction according to what is fashionable among other religious denominations. Hence, today, the people with offices in headquarters buildings fret over the CGGC 'brand.' Most recently, with other trend-driven denominations, the CGGC has sought to embrace the 'transformational church' fad and the coaching and leadership development fads. Currently fads such as these, not biblical truth, drive CGGC change.
7. Mellow Relationships over Truth. The CGGC has serious issues with truth primarily because it values, to the extreme, human relationships rooted in tolerance of others but does not value hunger and thirst for righteousness. The CGGC no longer holds, as the most important relationship, love for the Lord, which Jesus called the greatest commandment. The CGGC no longer takes firm stands on any biblical truth, as the recently adopted revision of We Believe and the 2013 Statement of Faith make clear.
8. A Middle Ages Understanding of Christian Community. Perhaps the most harmful achievement of CGGC elites has been the creation of a 'laity.' In its early years, the Church of God had significantly attained the priesthood of all believers. Recently, however, CGGC higher ups have transformed the typical participant in a CGGC congregation into a mere consumer of the religious products and services supplied by the parish clergy and their higher ups.
9. Strong Central Planning Coupled with Lower Level Clergy and Congregational Resistance. It is not enough to suggest that the CGGC is becoming clergy and higher up dominated. (See item 8) Even in the expanding CGGC clergy world, there are extremes in power from the bottom of the clergy pyramid to its peak. Some higher ups in denominational headquarters and in regional offices act from a sense of power that no Roman Catholic Pope would dream of. However, in response, many pastors outside of the good-old-boy leadership network, and most local CGGC congregations, ignore and sometimes defy (always without consequence--unless money going to leadership is involved), the authority of the leaders located in the denomination's central planning offices.
10. Cynicism. As much as CGGC higher ups are shepherds seeking peace, calm and quiet among the pastors and congregations of the CGGC, there is a stifling atmosphere of cynicism among our pastors and congregations toward those in CGGC seats of power. (See item 9.) There is also thinly disguised cynicism flowing from headquarters leadership down into the body. This cynicism flows in every direction: From the top down, from the bottom up and horizontally among factions in the body.
11. To Talk is to Walk-ism. According to the New Testament, a follower of Jesus is one who possesses a faith that organically produces acts of obedience to God's will. (Matthew 7:21-23, 24-26, 25:1-46; John 14:15; 2 Cor. 5:10; Eph. 2:8-10; Jas. 2:12-26; Rev. 2-3). However, CGGC faith is disconnected from action. It is possible to talk CGGC talk without walking it. Hence, for example, the GC Mission, Vision and Faith Statements that are not lived out--and virtually no one notices.
12. Empty Faith. The Old and New Testaments define saving faith as a way of living that is fruit of who a person trusts and what that person thinks. (See Romans 4:18-22, Ephesians 2:8-10, Hebrews 11:4-40, James 2:14-26). (In the Church of God, see John Winebrenner's 27 point description of its faith and practice, first published in 1844.) More than at any time in CGGC history, today faith can be defined by empty theological pronouncements apart from a way of life. (See the 2013 Statement of Faith.)
13. Cheap Grace. The CGGC calls people to easy-beliefism. Jesus said that anyone who doesn't hate his father and mother isn't worthy of Him. There was a time, in its founding generation, that the Church of God called sinners to a radically changed way of life. Dietrich Bonheoffer (who coined the phrase, cheap grace) could have been viewing today's CGGC when he wrote: "...cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ."
14. False, Flock-focused Righteousness. One need only read the first part of the Sermon of the Mount to understand that right living, as radically defined by Jesus, is key to discipleship. In the CGGC, however, righteousness is defined as a local parish, or flock, achieving consistent growth in parish/flock-oriented activities such as 'worship service' attendance not, as Jesus taught, disciples serving each other and caring for the least of the brothers and sisters of Jesus and going to all nations making disciples.
15. Organized Hypocrisy. There is illogic and outright contradiction among the things the CGGC claims to be true about itself. This illogic and contradiction is, in reality, deeply rooted, highly intentional and carefully executed. A hypocrite is an actor: "...a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings." It is a positive and essential value of the CGGC to speak one message and to, without qualm, act out another that is entirely disconnected from that avowed principle.
16. Decline. This is today's bottom line. In the first sixty years or so of its history the Church of God began from scratch and grew to approximately 800 active congregations. From that peak, the CGGC has declined to far less than half that number, losing a total of 60 congregations between 2001 and 2010 alone!
Sunday, August 9, 2015
Gathering: 8-9-15--A Doozy of a Day
We gathered today but that's the least of it.
We sang a few songs, one of which was JESUS NAME ABOVE ALL NAMES then we spent a time longer than a long sermon exegeting the meaning of the names of Jesus mentioned in the song. It was a time of discussion of rich theological themes aiding our understanding of who Jesus is and what He has done for us.
We took themes from our discussion as our focus in taking the Lord's Supper.
The meal we shared was one of our best ever.
Then the real issue of the day presented itself. While we were eating the meal, Evie received a voice mail from a family to whom she and I showed mercy in the past at some degree of sacrifice for us. They responded, at the time, by abusing our act. Today they called to ask us to show mercy to them again.
Because we live in such intimate community together and because everyone present knew the family, we engaged in a lengthy conversation about where the line is between enabling sin and showing mercy.
As I've said in the past, this is an ongoing struggle for many of us. Others shared similar struggles they are having along the same line.
From beginning to end, until the last people left, the gathering lasted about four hours. We didn't resolve the mercy/sin question.
Evie and I did offer to help the family in a way that required some accountability from them to move forward in a responsible way.
Friday, August 7, 2015
Calling for the Creation of a New Wineskin in the CGGC
Gang,
I acknowledge that I am way too close to this to be objective, yet, I am convinced that objectivity is overrated.
One of my top five heroes from church history is remembered for saying, somewhat inaccurately, that subjectivity is truth, and I believe that it is.
---------------------------------
It is true that even during the height of Brian Miller's Emerging blog days, I was calling for macrorepentance in the CGGC, exactly what I mean these days when I say that the CGGC needs a new wineskin.
For what must now be about ten years, I have been saying consistently, strenuously and directly that the change the CGGC needs does not involve the creation of new programs and the hiring of new staff members and the strengthening of the institution but that it needs to change what it is at its core, that it needs to repent of what it has become, change direction and find an entirely new way.
While it is true that others agree with me and even, from time to time, express that opinion publically, I have been the primary and most irritating voice for that message. It is I who have been pressing the issue most fervently.
-----------------------------------
And, it is not lost on me that the response to my message from those who have thrived most from the old wineskin has been to DEFROCK me, or, at least as of this moment, to attempt to.
Clearly, if there is to be change of the wineskin in the CGGC there will be casualties--on both sides of the battle. The old wineskinners will put up a world-class, heavyweight fight.
They already are.
Yet, Jesus died to launch God's Kingdom. . ..
I acknowledge that I am way too close to this to be objective, yet, I am convinced that objectivity is overrated.
One of my top five heroes from church history is remembered for saying, somewhat inaccurately, that subjectivity is truth, and I believe that it is.
---------------------------------
It is true that even during the height of Brian Miller's Emerging blog days, I was calling for macrorepentance in the CGGC, exactly what I mean these days when I say that the CGGC needs a new wineskin.
For what must now be about ten years, I have been saying consistently, strenuously and directly that the change the CGGC needs does not involve the creation of new programs and the hiring of new staff members and the strengthening of the institution but that it needs to change what it is at its core, that it needs to repent of what it has become, change direction and find an entirely new way.
While it is true that others agree with me and even, from time to time, express that opinion publically, I have been the primary and most irritating voice for that message. It is I who have been pressing the issue most fervently.
-----------------------------------
And, it is not lost on me that the response to my message from those who have thrived most from the old wineskin has been to DEFROCK me, or, at least as of this moment, to attempt to.
Clearly, if there is to be change of the wineskin in the CGGC there will be casualties--on both sides of the battle. The old wineskinners will put up a world-class, heavyweight fight.
They already are.
Yet, Jesus died to launch God's Kingdom. . ..
Thursday, August 6, 2015
New Wineskins in the New Testament
I have made it clear that I think that the most pressing need for the CGGC is, and has been for a long time, to create a new wineskin or, as I most often have said it, repentance on the macro, big picture, level, of who we are.
I am very well aware that some people who, at one time, read my blog(s) with great interest have long since tired of my continual negativity in the face of everything the CGGC does. And, so, let me take one paragraph to comment on why I am so continually negative:
Those first two have already been relegated to the graveyard of failed CGGC brainstorms.
MLI, while it is still operating, is a shell of what it was in its early days. I was present for its first appearance. I remember the early dream because I bought into it. I recall Reggie McNeal using the violent nuclear metaphor, "critical mass," to describe his personal vision for MLI's end product. Nothing like critical mass has been achieved and it certainly will not be achieved.
McNeal's critical mass, as I understood it, would have been change on the level of the wineskin, not the wine, and the truth of the MLI experience is that the CGGC mountaintoppers, early on, declared that the wineskin was untouchable. They would produce missional wine but not a missional wineskin.
-----------------------------------
Anyway, to the point...
...as I've said, the Lord has been talking to me a lot lately about this metaphor, parable, of the wineskin and I am blessed to be hearing what I'm hearing.
As of this moment, it seems to me that the changing of wineskins actually happened quite a few times in the New Testament, beginning in the Book of Acts and continuing past the time covered by Acts.
Not counting the first Kingdom wineskin, the one in Acts 2, I currently see four New Testament New Wineskins, three in Acts and one coming later. Two of them impacted the entire community of disciples, the other two impacted smaller portions of the Kingdom community. Very importantly, these new wineskins were created as a result of differing circumstances.
If God is willing, I will describe, on this blog, all four of them--and the circumstances that made them necessary--and any others the Lord shows me.
------------------------------------------
The first, post-Acts 2 new wineskin, appears beginning in Acts 6 with the arrest and martyrdom of Stephen and in the scattering of disciples.
Interestingly, in terms of recent events, this new wineskin was created by events that took place in the world in the Christian community existed.
Up through Acts 6:7, the world in which Christians operated was generally friendly to it. In fact, Acts 6:7 says, "The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith."
Beginning with the next verse, the world in which Christianity existed changed radically and for the worst, as far as disciples were concerned.
And, disciples, living in the power of the Spirit, immediately embraced a new wineskin and, as a result, the Kingdom began to expand even more rapidly than it had been with the earlier wineskin.
The parallels to the American church today and the recent Supreme Court decision legalizing same sex marriage are stark to me.
The context in which American Evangelicalism exists changed suddenly and dramatically with the publication of that court opinion, not, of course, as dramatically and violently as was the case in Acts 6ff.
The difference between what the early Christians did and what today's American church is doing is that, today, Christians are still holding tenaciously, to their old, brittle and unusable wineskin.
Specifically, again, as I have already said, apparently to many ears that are hard of hearing, what the CGGC has actually done is only to grab more tightly on to that old, trusty wineskin and, as an institution, to insulate its congregations, sanctuaries and the members of its clergy from sinners who need to be loved, shown grace and mercy and to be preached the good news that Jesus Christ saves all who repent of their sin and believe in Him.
None of that love, grace, mercy, gospel-preaching, repentance and belief stuff has been put into CGGC mountaintopper action as of yet and there is no evidence that any of that action is about to be taken.
All we get in action is the hugging of that old, institutional wineskin along with some characteristic "to talk is to walk-ism" about God's love for all people: a love that no mountanintopper is living out, in my line of sight, at least.
The truth is that we will not walk in the power of the Spirit as long as we cling to old ways that always have failed.
This is, I believe, a special time for the American church. This is a moment in which we really do have to made a choice.
We can choose repentance. We can allow the Spirit to produce a new wineskin and we can drink the wine He pours into it.
Or, as we have to this point, choice to cling to the old wineskin and crush our own grapes to put into it.
I hope. I pray that that we will throw away the old wineskin and walk in the Spirit.
I am very well aware that some people who, at one time, read my blog(s) with great interest have long since tired of my continual negativity in the face of everything the CGGC does. And, so, let me take one paragraph to comment on why I am so continually negative:
My conviction is that it is the CGGC wineskin that needs to change, not the wine that we produce. All the CGGC has done in the past 80 years is tamper with the formula for the wine. As long as our efforts to change are with the grapes and not with the vessel the grape juice is stored in, I will continue to call what our leadership does folly and foretell that it is doomed to failure.Think back on just the most recent wines that our leaders have produced with great blind hope: Transformational Church, Hear the Call, MLI.
Those first two have already been relegated to the graveyard of failed CGGC brainstorms.
MLI, while it is still operating, is a shell of what it was in its early days. I was present for its first appearance. I remember the early dream because I bought into it. I recall Reggie McNeal using the violent nuclear metaphor, "critical mass," to describe his personal vision for MLI's end product. Nothing like critical mass has been achieved and it certainly will not be achieved.
McNeal's critical mass, as I understood it, would have been change on the level of the wineskin, not the wine, and the truth of the MLI experience is that the CGGC mountaintoppers, early on, declared that the wineskin was untouchable. They would produce missional wine but not a missional wineskin.
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Anyway, to the point...
...as I've said, the Lord has been talking to me a lot lately about this metaphor, parable, of the wineskin and I am blessed to be hearing what I'm hearing.
As of this moment, it seems to me that the changing of wineskins actually happened quite a few times in the New Testament, beginning in the Book of Acts and continuing past the time covered by Acts.
Not counting the first Kingdom wineskin, the one in Acts 2, I currently see four New Testament New Wineskins, three in Acts and one coming later. Two of them impacted the entire community of disciples, the other two impacted smaller portions of the Kingdom community. Very importantly, these new wineskins were created as a result of differing circumstances.
If God is willing, I will describe, on this blog, all four of them--and the circumstances that made them necessary--and any others the Lord shows me.
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The first, post-Acts 2 new wineskin, appears beginning in Acts 6 with the arrest and martyrdom of Stephen and in the scattering of disciples.
Interestingly, in terms of recent events, this new wineskin was created by events that took place in the world in the Christian community existed.
Up through Acts 6:7, the world in which Christians operated was generally friendly to it. In fact, Acts 6:7 says, "The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith."
Beginning with the next verse, the world in which Christianity existed changed radically and for the worst, as far as disciples were concerned.
And, disciples, living in the power of the Spirit, immediately embraced a new wineskin and, as a result, the Kingdom began to expand even more rapidly than it had been with the earlier wineskin.
The parallels to the American church today and the recent Supreme Court decision legalizing same sex marriage are stark to me.
The context in which American Evangelicalism exists changed suddenly and dramatically with the publication of that court opinion, not, of course, as dramatically and violently as was the case in Acts 6ff.
The difference between what the early Christians did and what today's American church is doing is that, today, Christians are still holding tenaciously, to their old, brittle and unusable wineskin.
Specifically, again, as I have already said, apparently to many ears that are hard of hearing, what the CGGC has actually done is only to grab more tightly on to that old, trusty wineskin and, as an institution, to insulate its congregations, sanctuaries and the members of its clergy from sinners who need to be loved, shown grace and mercy and to be preached the good news that Jesus Christ saves all who repent of their sin and believe in Him.
None of that love, grace, mercy, gospel-preaching, repentance and belief stuff has been put into CGGC mountaintopper action as of yet and there is no evidence that any of that action is about to be taken.
All we get in action is the hugging of that old, institutional wineskin along with some characteristic "to talk is to walk-ism" about God's love for all people: a love that no mountanintopper is living out, in my line of sight, at least.
The truth is that we will not walk in the power of the Spirit as long as we cling to old ways that always have failed.
This is, I believe, a special time for the American church. This is a moment in which we really do have to made a choice.
We can choose repentance. We can allow the Spirit to produce a new wineskin and we can drink the wine He pours into it.
Or, as we have to this point, choice to cling to the old wineskin and crush our own grapes to put into it.
I hope. I pray that that we will throw away the old wineskin and walk in the Spirit.
Sunday, August 2, 2015
"Solituding:" 8-2-15
I'm on my own for more than a week, except for Maggie, our Golden Retriever and world's greatest church greeter, while Evelyn is away showing God's love in a practical way to a friend who lives in another state. I am so inspired by her life of righteousness!
And, because Evie is the primary person of peace in our community of gatherings, there is no gathering today nor will there be one until next Sunday.
So, my time in the Lord is just Him and me today, something that is not a problem for me because I am a pretty extreme introvert who has a job he enjoys but which brings him (me) into close contact with the public and with many coworkers.
It was a good part of the day for me spiritually. As some know, we live in a small condo beside the sixth tee of a golf course. The guys who run the course are easy to live with and are happy to allow Mags and me to walk on the course so long as we stay away from the golfers, something easy to do early in the day. We walked a good part of the back nine for about forty minutes until the aging Maggie got tired then I walked the back nine again for about another hour. The golf course looks and smells and sounds beautiful early in the day at this time of the year. It is a perfect setting for a time of prayer and meditation and that is exactly what I did for nearly two hours today.
Believing that I am a prophet makes my life interesting, to say the least. Lately, I believe that the Lord is speaking to me about the wineskin thing I wrote about the other day and I received many insights along that line as I walked and meditated and prayed.
This wineskin thing is a Jesus way to address the term that was central to a micro fad with which the CGGC flirted a while back, that is, paradigm change. I had insights about Winebrenner and CGGC history and the CGGC today.
No doubt, I will feel led to share stuff about this at a future time.
For at least the next part of the day, I'll be listening to an audio version of the Michael Connelly novel, THE FIFTH WITNESS, which is the fourth book in his LINCOLN LAWYER series.
Blessings.
And, because Evie is the primary person of peace in our community of gatherings, there is no gathering today nor will there be one until next Sunday.
So, my time in the Lord is just Him and me today, something that is not a problem for me because I am a pretty extreme introvert who has a job he enjoys but which brings him (me) into close contact with the public and with many coworkers.
It was a good part of the day for me spiritually. As some know, we live in a small condo beside the sixth tee of a golf course. The guys who run the course are easy to live with and are happy to allow Mags and me to walk on the course so long as we stay away from the golfers, something easy to do early in the day. We walked a good part of the back nine for about forty minutes until the aging Maggie got tired then I walked the back nine again for about another hour. The golf course looks and smells and sounds beautiful early in the day at this time of the year. It is a perfect setting for a time of prayer and meditation and that is exactly what I did for nearly two hours today.
Believing that I am a prophet makes my life interesting, to say the least. Lately, I believe that the Lord is speaking to me about the wineskin thing I wrote about the other day and I received many insights along that line as I walked and meditated and prayed.
This wineskin thing is a Jesus way to address the term that was central to a micro fad with which the CGGC flirted a while back, that is, paradigm change. I had insights about Winebrenner and CGGC history and the CGGC today.
No doubt, I will feel led to share stuff about this at a future time.
For at least the next part of the day, I'll be listening to an audio version of the Michael Connelly novel, THE FIFTH WITNESS, which is the fourth book in his LINCOLN LAWYER series.
Blessings.
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