Appleseed Travel Journal - Flexibility

Brooks

Flexibility and going with the flow. That’s the name of the game when we travel! Each day is pretty awesome, but often not at all what I had expected! We get to practice humility and often asking for the Holy Spirit to tell us what to do in this or that particular situation. Pretty much it’s a continual letting go of my game plan and expectations and being open to whatever God has in mind. I’m sure you must know exactly what I mean! Well, thing is, life in California or life in Africa, it’s pretty much all the same!

Today I was invited to “train” a group of “for sure not more than 20 women.” Well, I know from experience that this number doesn’t include babies strapped to mama’s backs or 3 or 4 year olds playing with a string or stick at their feet. I also know that where 20 women are gathered, there are going to be at least 30. So, sure enough, when I arrived at the rented meeting room, there were 35 women all smiles, waiting, and then, timidly stretching out their hands to greet me. It was going to be a great day. A day like days I have done many times before with African women. …well, maybe not! Lillian, the initiator of this gathering, and the commonality for most of the women there pulled me aside and in a thick French accent, albeit limited English, told me that the women had a “presentacion” for me. I couldn’t and didn’t exactly know what that meant, but got it right away that this was going to be ah, yet another exciting day IF I could let go of what I had planned and just “go with the flow!”

So, with some chaos, we all squished side by side into plastic chairs in a large circle, children in the middle. Lillian then invited each woman to speak. So round the room we went, one by one, each giving me their beautiful names and the place where they lived. I very mistakenly thought this was the presentacion, but no, as I began working through my material trying desperately to provide some sense of familiarity, safety, and comraderie even within such a large group, I could definitely sense something was amiss. Each woman listened politely, as my male Burundian student, translated. When I broke to ask the question of how they knew God was real and alive, that was just the opening they were looking for. Two hours later each one of them had stood, walked to the center of our circle and told their story. Each story a miracle; each story about a life that had been one of hopelessness and then what had happened to change that, and today what their life looks like. Paul would have been proud. Better testimonies were never given! I wish you could have been there. Some of them dressed in what we would call rags; some in brightly colored beautiful African dresses; each with a smile, a knowing peace, a joy they had never known before. They told of this lady or that coming to them and telling them about Someone who had answers for their lives, Someone who had hope and love for them. Not only did they tell about this Savior, but they showed them in a physical way a kind of love and caring they had not known.

Here are just a few of their stories. Many were the same: lives of scraping by at best for a marginal existence for themselves and their children, sickness, prostitution, the death of at least one or more of their children, alcoholism, and/or rejection, abandonment by their husbands, if they had ever had one. Yet, each one told a story of redemption and grace and love. Meet just some of these ladies:

Juliette: Juliette had borrowed money from a neighbor to buy soaps, chocolates and biscuits. When the fire came, she, too, lost everything. She had two children and was desperate. The person who she had borrowed the money from threatened to send her to prison if she did not pay the money back. Terrified for her children to be left without their mother, she was “so hopeless and had many, many problems.” A Christian came to me and shared that there was some Good News, the gospel of Jesus Christ. She prayed for me and she met with me and we read the Word of God together. “God gave me all this money to pay my debt. I got it all from these people who have now become my family, and now I am free from this worry. Even when I was in the hospital, the house church came and visited me and helped me. My life is changed as never before.”

Consolata: “Without Jesus I would be dead or crazy. I had three children and my husband had already died. I came from up-country. It was horrible, the fighting. I ran with my small children; I don’t even know how, but God made a way for me to reach this place of Bujumbura. I was so afraid of everything and every person. These people they have helped me and today I belong to a family of Believers. We meet every Saturday and sing and study the Word of God. They have helped me so much. I am now with hope and peace and confidence things.”

Jackie: “Someone came one day and was talking about some Good News. I was a drunkard, living a very, very bad life of selling myself. But this person, she came and she took me where I was. She told me things that were the truth. My husband had left and I had three children. After I heard that my life could change, I believed in Jesus Christ and was baptized. Now I talk to others and tell them my testimony. They only have to look at me and know that I am changed. They knew me before and now they see me as I am. Now I am filled up with hope and peace and joy. I am never the same again.”

Stephanie: “I lost many children. These Believers, they came and they helped me. Before I thought God existed; today I know God really does exist.”

He Does What You Cannot

“We had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead.”
2 CORINTHIANS 1:9

Know that Christ is not here to help you become a better person, but to make you so weak in yourself and so sick of your own way that you can do nothing but trust in Him to do what you at last realize you cannot do. It does not matter if that something “we cannot do” is save ourselves, control our temper, get along with others, raise our children, or overcome a lustful habit. The course is the same. After many attempts and failures we at last realize we cannot, so we throw ourselves on the mercy of God and trust Him to do what we cannot do.

Source: Embrace the Cross by Chip Brogden

The Fullness of the Kingdom

 

The Fullness of the Kingdom

“Of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is... And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!”
MARK 13:32,33,37

The Kingdom may be near, at hand, at the door, even within; but it has not come in its fullness until the King Himself returns. This is the sense in which Jesus calls upon us to watch and pray for the Kingdom to come. It is literally praying that the King will come into the fullness of His Kingdom – not merely within the heart of the individual believer, but in a tangible, visible, universal sense that brings about the full recovery of the Heavenly Order with Christ once more having the preeminence in all things.

Source: The Irresistible Kingdom by Chip Brogden

Submit to the Cross

“O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”
MATTHEW 26:39

His sweat mingled with His tears, and He wrestled with Himself three times before He could settle the issue, but once it was settled, He gave no resistance, and within a few hours everything was accomplished.

Oh! That is where we are lacking today! How long will we kick and struggle against the pricks? How long will we argue and complain against God and resist His dealings with us? If we have to die in order to truly live, let us be about the business of dying! If we must be crucified in order to have Resurrection Life, then let us just submit to it and get it over with!

Source: Embrace the Cross by Chip Brogden

Appleseed Travel Journal - Rebel Soldiers' Lives Are Changed

Roger

At our second day of training in Bujumbura, Burundi, I was introduced to two young men who had been sitting attentively from day one. They appeared to be like any of the other twenty-something young guys that were there: full of life and enthusiasm for serving God.

“I want you to meet these guys,” our Burundian team leader told me. “Both of them were rebel soldiers when one of our church planters went out to their remote area and shared the Gospel with them. They were one of the first people baptized in that region (pictured).

Both of these young men had infectious smiles and wide-open faces allowing you to see a deep peace and joy. I found it very difficult to imagine that these guys were the type of soldiers that had committed the kinds of atrocities we read about in those areas. Rebel soldiers are known for the terror and intimidation that they use to take what they want and to cause unspeakable harm.

But Jesus got hold of these two and gave them the kind of new life that only He can give. I could not even see a shadow of their past, just the glow of their new life.

“They go out into the same areas where they terrorized people to let people see how they have changed, and others are amazed by what God has done in their lives. They are now influencing many for Christ and have begun planting churches themselves.”

As we wrap up the first half of our Burundi training I have to tell you, there is nothing like being around people whose lives have been radically, thoroughly, and irrevocably turned inside-out by God’s amazing power.

You support this kind of life-change and you provide us with the opportunity to see and feel it!

       

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Simple Spiritual Growth

 

Simple Spiritual Growth

“He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.”
2 CORINTHIANS 5:15

With less of me, there will be more of Him in my life, so why would I resist that? There should be less of me today than there was yesterday, and there should be more of Him now than there was before. If I will submit to Him today, then tomorrow there will be yet a little more of Him and a little less of me. Praise God! Spiritual growth is not stronger anointing, greater power, or increased knowledge. Spiritual growth is “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30).

Source: Embrace the Cross by Chip Brogden

Thinking Naughty Thoughts on Church

By Jeremy Myers 0 Comments

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I was recently sent a book to read and review called Thinking Naughty Thoughts on Church, And Why I Think We Need to Change by Johan Van DerMerwe.
All in all, the content of the book isn’t bad… it just has a definite self-published look and feel.
But if you can get past that, the book will encourage  you to ask questions about church that you may have never asked, and to see certain church practices from new perspectives.
In seven chapters, the author raises questions about belonging to a local church, observing the Lord’s Supper, church leadership structures, tithing, preaching, worship, and the church building as the “House of God.”
The author closes with a chapter stating that while he does not judge or condemn those who see things differently that he does, he hopes such people will not condemn him either, but will allow him (and others) to face the difficult questions about church that need to be asked. As one who asks many questions (and sometimes gets condemned as a result) I heartily agree with this request.
While much of what the author wants is similar to what I have written about on my blog and in my own books, I am always glad to see other books with similar messages make it into the marketplace. The more that books like this get published, the more chance there is that people will read them and begin asking some important questions about church and how to follow Jesus into the world.
Books like this remind us that having concerns, doubts, and questions about how to follow Jesus and be the church is not us being rebellious, blasphemous, or heretical, but is simply participation in the worldwide awakening to what the Spirit of God is whispering into the minds and hearts of the people of God everywhere.
So I thank Johan for offering another voice to the ever-increasing chorus of men and women who seek to follow Jesus in ways that require courage and creativity.

I Am A Church Member (but Thom Rainer doesn’t get it)

By Jeremy Myers 19 Comments

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I like Thom Rainer. I have benefited greatly from his books and research. But his most recent book, I Am a Church Member, is severely misguided and misinformed.
I Am a Church Member appears to be intended for “Church Membership” classes in local churches. While I am not a fan of  institutional churches or of the church membership classes that go with them, I do understand that if a group of believers are going to meet in an institutional way, they probably need some sort of membership rolls, and membership classes to go with them. Fine. If that is how you think it is best to follow Jesus, I have absolutely no problem with it.
So what is the problem with Thom Rainer’s book? I Am a Church Member uses guilt and fear to get new church members to do what the church leadership wants.
Let me back up.
By all reports, institutional Christianity is hemorrhaging.  Every year, millions of people abandon the institutional way of doing church, not because they are abandoning God, Jesus, or the Church, but because they find that intimate relationships with others and loving service in the community apart from the systematized and scheduled meetings on Sunday morning is a more natural way of following Jesus and living life as His disciples.
Naturally, this mass exodus from the church has church leaders scared. They need people to fill their pews. Why? So that they can give their tithes, so the church building can be paid for and the pastoral salaries funded, and so that there is a place and people for all the expensive church programs.
But how do you tell church members that to truly follow Jesus, they have to attend church, give their tithes, support the church leadership, and serve in church programs?
Apparently, you get Thom Rainer to write a book about it, and get 23 prominent church leaders and seminary presidents to endorse the book, and then price the book in such a way so that scared church leaders all over the country will buy hundreds of copies of the book so they can hand it out to all the people in their “Church Membership” classes.

A Summary-Review of I Am a Church Member

Here is a basic summary of Thom’s book:
Rainer begins the book pointing out that nine out of ten American churches are declining in attendance (p. 4). His book is the proposed prescription to this problem. (But is it really a problem?)
Beginning with a terrible misunderstanding of Paul’s “Body” imagery in 1 Corinthians 12-14 and how every “member” of the Body needs every other member, Rainer uses six chapters to propose six commitments that every new church member must make to the church they are attending. The six commitments are actually six popular cliches which church leaders around the world love to use in sermons and in publications to guilt church people into being regular church attendees.
The best (read: worst) part about each chapter, is that they conclude with a pledge for the reader to sign and date! I can almost visualize the conclusion of each week in the Membership classes, where the Pastor (or Elder) teaching the class get everybody to stand and say the pledge out loud, and then collects copies of everyone’s pledge to be stored in the person’s “Membership File” so that if they ever get out of hand, the pastor can pull their file and say, “See? You made a commitment. You signed on the dotted line. Are you going to break your word? Are you a liar? You know where liars go, don’t you?”
That may be a bit over the top, but you get the gist…. and if you have ever sat through one of these meetings, you know that this is pretty much how they go… See this satirical video.

The Six Commitment in I Am A Church Member

Here are Rainer’s six recommended commitments (summarized and reworded for this review):

1. I will devote as much time and energy to my local church as possible, because if I don’t, I am letting Jesus down.
2. Nobody is perfect. Not even my pastor. So I won’t talk or think negatively about him in any way, or challenge anything he says or does, because doing so would damage the gospel.
3. Church isn’t about me. Even if I don’t like the music, can’t stand the preaching, there’s nothing for my kids, and I think the church is wasting my time and money, I will still attend faithfully.
4. No matter what, I will support my pastor and pray for him every single day.
5. I will bring my entire family to church with me, because the future of my family, the church, and the entire world depend on it.
6. I love being a member of this church, and I never, ever, want to stop being a member. It’s the best! I promise. It’s a gift from God.

Yes, yes, my summaries are a bit snarky. But if you read Thom’s book, you will see that my summaries are not that far off from what he actually wrote. I am using satire to point out how guilt-laden and performance-driven these commitments are.
Why do I feel so strongly about this? Because I am tired of church leaders with expensive church buildings and bloated church budgets trying to shore up their ineffective church programs by demanding further sacrifice and greater commitments from tired and weary church members. What ever happened to “my yoke is easy and my burden is light”?
While there may be some people are leaving institutional Christianity because they are rebelling against God or forsaking Jesus, the vast majority are leaving so that they can better follow Jesus into the world. Isn’t this something to be praised and encouraged?

Look, being a church member has nothing to do with sitting in a pew on Sunday morning, listening to a sermon and praying for your pastor, giving your money to support a local church budget, and making commitments to serve on a church ministry program.
Are we all members of one Body? Yes. Does every member need every other member? Of course.
And that is exactly why so many millions of people are leaving institutional Christianity. It is not because they don’t want to be members of Christ’s church, but because they are members of Christ’s church, the Body, and have found that Jesus wants them to serve the Body and love the world in ways that waste less time and money.
Look, I am not against people attending church. Truly. I am not. I am not against “Church Membership” for people who attend church. The way that system is set up, “Church Membership” is a good idea. What saddens me is that church leaders think that people who “leave their church” are forsaking Jesus, abandoning the church, and living in rebellion against God.
Just once, I would love for a mega-church pastor or a prominent church author to come out and announce a blessing upon all those people who are leaving their church

I would love for a mega-church pastor or a prominent church author to come out and announce a blessing upon all those people who are leaving their church



 to follow Jesus in tangible and loving ways in the community. Why cannot church leaders see themselves as “sending these people out into the world” rather than see them as “leaving the church”? So if Thom Rainer ever reads this review, I would invite him to write a follow-up book which church pastors can hand out to people who are leaving their church. It could be titled, I Am a Church Member (…even if I don’t attend church). The book would contain no pledges, no dotted lines upon which to sign, and no guilt trips. Instead, it would contain a commitment on the part of the church leadership to not condemn or criticize those who leave institutional Christianity, but to bless them and thank them for being the church by following Jesus in ways that take great courage and creativity.
I beg Thom Rainer (and all the Seminary Presidents and Mega Church Pastors who endorsed I Am a Church Member) to recognize that many people may be leaving the institutional church, not because they have given up on church, are abandoning Jesus, or are bad church members, but because they are good church members and they want to be the church by following Jesus into their neighborhoods and communities.

Order of Creation

 

Order of Creation

“God, who created all things through Jesus Christ.”
EPHESIANS 3:9

If you walk into a dark house and find the furniture scattered and the rooms covered with dust and spider webs everywhere, you would probably conclude that no one had lived there for some time. But if you walk into a house and find the lights are on, the rooms are tastefully decorated, the furniture is arranged in an orderly fashion, the table is set and dinner is cooking on the stove then you would not be surprised to find someone lives there and has put everything in its place.

The more we look at creation the easier it is to believe that there is Someone with infinite wisdom Who designed everything with purposeful intention according to a definite order and arrangement. The Scripture says that this Someone is God, Who “created all things through Jesus Christ.”

Source: Embrace the Cross by Chip Brogden

A Warning to the Lukewarm

 

A Warning to the Lukewarm

by Chip Brogden

We have a lot of people on our mailing list who come to The School of Christ, and who visit our website, and benefit from the teaching; and they attend church on a regular basis – even though they know exactly where we stand on the subject of Organized Religion. Our heart’s desire is to see God’s people delivered from anything that keeps them in bondage, anything that hinders them from spiritual maturity, and anything that distracts them from the simplicity of Christ. I’ve said this before, and I’ll be very clear in saying it again: that in my opinion, Organized Religion is the greatest hindrance to a real relationship with Jesus that I know of. There are many reasons why I believe this. And there are many people who agree with me. And there are just as many people who disagree with me; and they continue to go to church and support that religious system, and they believe they are doing what God would have them to do.

Let me emphasize: our heart is for God’s people, wherever they are – both inside the religious system and outside the religious system. In fact, part of our three-fold mission is “to provide for the spiritual growth and maturity of all believers.” Assuming “all believers” means real, true followers of Jesus (not hypocrites and counterfeits, but genuine believers in the Biblical sense of the word), then The School of Christ is here for God’s people, both inside the Institutional Church, and outside the Institutional Church.

Now, since I believe that “Church” is the greatest hindrance to spiritual growth and maturity, naturally I’m going to encourage God’s people to think seriously about where they go, and what they support, and why; and I’m going to challenge this religious system that we have created. If I didn’t speak out against it, and challenge it, and question it (while all the while I believed it was hurting more people than it helped) then I wouldn’t be honest. The reason we speak these things is because of our love and concern for God’s people. And it’s that love and concern that motivates us to speak out against abusive leadership, and abusive groups, and abusive pastors and prophets, and the entire religious system that keeps God’s people in a kind of spiritual ghetto – keeping them down, holding them back, or worse, lulling them into a false sense of security and fellowship that is based on something other than the Lord Jesus Christ...

Click to read more:
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/a-warning-to-the-lukewarm.html

I've been ruined 2

Hi all,

When I was growing up we had an aquarium full of tropical fish. My mom knew what species each one was, and I remember looking in reference books where they originally came from - their origins sounded exotic and I wondered about their home waters.

 

At another time we had 'sea monkeys' - a product of the 1960's and early '70's that was very popular for a time. I think sea monkeys were brine shrimp that hatched once placed in water, but whoever marketed them as 'sea monkeys' must have made a fortune because nearly every house with kids bought some at one time or another. Later mom would have a salt water tank and had several sea horses and other sea life.

 

And then...

My first snorkeling experience was at a gravel pit turned public swim area called France Park. Everyone called France Park 'The cliffs', because the big challenge was to climb over the fence boundary and jump off the cliffs which ranged from a few feet to near 100. While snorkeling there I saw fish for the first time in their natural environment, and I was amazed and felt sorry for the ones in our little tank at home.

 

Then I went snorkeling in the Florida Keys among coral reefs when I was about 17 and saw cousins of those aquarium fish in the wild. WOW! The colors and their interactions with each other in their natural environment was hugely impacting to me - the life those fish led compared to the fish in our tank was very different though each swam in water, found food, and went about life. Over the years I've snorkeled again in the Keys, the US Virgin Islands, and Hawaii, and each time I come away amazed at the Lord's imagination and creativity - and a touch of sorrow for all aquarium fish everywhere.

 

The church aquarium

Last week I shared my spiritual upbringing in the Episcopal church on Sunday mornings, as well as my involvement in Saturday night prayer meetings attended by other suddenly Spirit-filled Episcopalians, Catholics, Baptists and Methodists in the 'charismatic renewal' time of the 1970's.

 

To me, the Episcopal church was the little aquarium tank at home and my Saturday night prayer meeting was like the open ocean. I wondered if the fish trapped inside wondered what life could be like in a world not needing all that life support equipment. What if they could swim in a place where no water pump or filter was needed? What if they didn't need a bubble blower to put air into the water? What if they didn't need The Giant Hand to drop flakes of food to them each morning? What if there was no liturgy, no schedule, no altar or even building called 'church'?

 

Love God, but...

Some, like my mom, loved the history, ritual, and predictability of the Episcopal church. Routine meant safe, and she wouldn't dream of going outside that 'aquarium'. She loved the Lord, but remained a smoking, drinking, tongue talking Episcopalian the rest of her life. I inherited her Bibles when she died, and found she wrote in the margins of her Bibles just like I do - and her notes were deep thoughts and revelation - much to my surprise. But she loved that fish tank called St. Andrew's Episcopal church. Good for her and for any who feel the Lord has them in a traditional church as my mom did. I find no fault.

 

Her traditional church affirmed her in those ways. After the divorce she needed the routine of each Sunday, the stability, the history and feeling she was part of something old in which each ritual was a reflection of some deeper spiritual truth. But swimming in the spiritual open ocean affirms a person in a different way. Not in ritual and routine, choirs and music, but in freedom to go where God wants to go in a meeting, to participate, to be connected to people. And so for me, I kept thinking about those fish...

 

What if they could swim free among the coral reefs? Yes, I'd been ruined, I had not only seen what it was like outside the spiritual tank, I had swum in the open ocean!

 

All that I've said thus far, has come after years of reflection and life experience. At the time, I just kept my thoughts to myself out of respect for my mom, but my thoughts were amazingly close to that of a TV character in the popular (US) sitcom, The Big Bang Theory. The character named Amy says to her friend Sheldon: "I don't object to the concept of a deity, but I'm baffled by the notion of one that takes attendance." To which Sheldon replies; "Then you might want to avoid east Texas." LOL

 

Just straight talk

I had similar thoughts, boiled down to 'Does Jesus really need all the trappings of church for us to be able to worship and fellowship with Him?, but I didn't utter them. I did become determined not to be caught up in the things man-made, for though they were at one time intended to lead people to God, they had to me become obstacles and even walls erected that prevented me from knowing Him any other way than the priest, pastor, or teacher wanted me to know Him.

 

But, we accept the reality of the world which we are presented. We may wonder if the building and order and hype was invented by God as a means to allow us to approach Him or not, but we sit on those thoughts for years. We accept this is the way it is, wonder briefly in our deepest yearnings, 'What if?', and then return to the same routine, growing ever more restless over time.

 

Like I said, I never fit in - those are 'rebellious' thoughts

In 1978 I went to work for Jim and Tammy Bakker's PTL Club (TV ministry) in and around Charlotte, North Carolina. I was a Park Ranger at the Heritage USA site under development. Park Ranger sounds so official. But in a rapidly growing ministry that was pressured to open Heritage USA the summer of 1978, it meant I landscaped, showed little old ladies where the porta-potties were, and played host and guide.

 

It was the first year Barb and I were married, and it was a good experience, but once again, we didn't fit in. While the TV shows revolved around classic southern gospel singing and guests who would excite the audience, and Jesus was glorified, it was also big business.

 

I wondered, 'If we took away the TV cameras, the lights, the idolizing of the 'stars' that appeared on the show, could Jesus be seen in all this?' Our first year of marriage at the PTL Club was rough financially, rich spiritually, and rich as a young married couple in their 1st year together. We learned, we gleaned, we observed and made mental notes about ministry and life during that time. We learned how not to do ministry, but held to that which was good.

 

Rhema

Then in August of 1978, just 4 months into my work at PTL Club, the Father told me He wanted me to go to Rhema the next year. I had barely heard of Rhema, didn't know anything about it other than it was a Bible school in Tulsa, and so rose from prayer and called my mom.

 

She just happened to be having lunch with a friend right then, who upon hearing the news that the Father told me to go to Rhema in a year, said this: "In March the Lord told me, 'I'm going to send John to Rhema in about a year and a half, and I want you to pay his tuition.'' She was so excited I had called at the exact moment mom and her just happened to be having lunch. I was amazed at her response. She said, 'Send me a letter of acceptance and I'll write a check.' I did and she did, so in summer of 1979 we drove from North Carolina to Tulsa, not knowing what awaited us.

 

Rhema was a whole new world, and very exciting in 1979. I learned the integrity of God's Word - this was in the days before disciples of Kenneth Hagin twisted the Word to their own greed and lusts. It wasn't yet twisted into 'name it claim it' or 'prosperity gospel' - I learned God's Word was the final authority, and the Word and Spirit always agree. I learned to dig into the Word myself and to hear His voice as I studied and thought on the Word and ways of the Father.

 

But it was what I would call, 'professional' Christianity, in Tulsa, the belt buckle of the Bible belt. I was in another aquarium. I wondered what had happened to those Saturday night prayer meetings and the people who went there? I wondered where were my friends from those wonderful Thursday night teen prayer and praise meetings we went to, or the Sunday night meetings where we teens often rotated homes and experienced such moves of the Spirit?

 

Did we just jump from one aquarium with a certain type of fish into another aquarium with another type of fish? But with work and a new baby and school, the year went by quickly and it was soon time to move to where the Father told Barb and I when we were in college we'd be; Boulder, Colorado. That was May of 1980.

 

I'm jumping ahead a bit

I don't intend to take you down my Memory Lane in this series, but I do intend to get you thinking about what you truly long for, and why. You see, for centuries the Jews had worshipped in Jerusalem in a temple, and that's where God's presence was.

 

It really began back in Exodus 19 when the Lord came down on the mountain and gave His Word to Moses. He went from the mountain to the wilderness tabernacle He had instructed Moses to make. Some 400 years later David knew Him as the 'God who lives between the cherubs' over the Ark of the Covenant. Solomon built the first temple, and though destroyed and then rebuilt in part or completely through the years, the Temple is where God's presence was for centuries. That was their aquarium. That's all they knew.

 

But then came something that had never been seen before. At Pentecost God moved out of the temple and into human beings. He had confined Himself more or less to the aquarium of the Temple for centuries, but His real goal was to move out of that aquarium and into the open ocean of humanity. His goal was to move into living temples spread all over the earth, thus filling the earth with His glory, Word, and ways.

 

That is why there is something inside each Christian that rebels a bit at the aquarium and wonders 'Is there more?' We ask this because God moved out of the temple (aquarium) 2,000 years ago and into mankind. We are ocean going fish, not designed for the aquarium. And that's where I'll pick it up next week.

 

Blessings,

John Fenn

Remember to use cwowi@aol.com for personal email

 

 

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Taking Authority Over Your Thoughts #1

Transform Your Life by Transforming your Thoughts

Many people struggle with a negative mind set towards themselves and towards life, yet don't know how to achieve a final life-changing breakthrough. In the first part of this 2-part series, John shares his own experience on overcoming a negative self image and ‘my life counts for nothing’ thinking. You will understand the process of changing your thoughts and how His life in your spirit flows out into your soul and emotions. This series will provide insights and direction into breaking the momentum of the past and building a momentum towards life.

 

 

Bread of Life

 

Bread of Life

“‘Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’ Then they said to Him, ‘Lord, give us this bread always.’ And Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life.’”
JOHN 6:32-35

The people were asking for Jesus to give them bread, but failed to recognize that He Himself is the Bread of Life. They worked and toiled for something which would perish, but were not willing to receive the True Bread that would not perish.

The significance of the Lord Jesus is not that He can give us bread, but that He is the Bread.

Source: Lord of All by Chip Brogden

Prisoner of Love

 

Prisoner of Love

“Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus...”
PHILEMON 1:1

It is a glorious thing to be the prisoner of the Lord, for in our bonds we find liberty. In our weakness we find strength. In our foolishness we find wisdom. In our poverty we find prosperity. By losing everything we find everything. By giving up all things we inherit all things. By accepting the sentence of death we find the Life of the Lord.

Let us stretch forth our hands and allow Him to dress us and lead us where He wishes us to go, in the way we would not choose for ourselves, for that is the Narrow Way, and it is the path of blessing, though it be disguised.

Source: Embrace the Cross by Chip Brogden

The Tree of Life

“To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”
REVELATION 2:7

We should see that Christ does more than restore what Adam lost. He goes beyond Adam, offering the Overcomers fruit from the Tree of Life, fruit Adam knows nothing about. Obviously this is symbolic language, but what does it mean? The Tree of Life represents the Cross, for from that Tree the Lord yielded up His Life for us all. Those who overcome have learned that fruitfulness and Life come from death to Self, and that is what the Cross means. The Cross is a Tree of Life to those who embrace it.

Source: Embrace the Cross by Chip Brogden

True Confessions

“‘Who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered and said, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’”
MATTHEW 16:15,16

Jesus did not teach Peter what to say, He merely revealed Himself to Peter. He did not sit down with His disciples and say, “I am the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Now repeat that after Me several times, and I will test you on this in the morning.” He did not teach them a catechism or a rosary or a mantra or a confession, He merely revealed Himself to them as He in fact is. They made the confession in due course, having revelation.

The Testimony of Jesus always springs forth from the Revelation of Christ. If we do not have the Revelation then we cannot have the Testimony. That is to say, we cannot bear witness of what we have seen and heard if we have not, in fact, seen or heard anything. We try to get people to confess in order that they may ATTAIN to something, but true confession comes forth naturally after they have OBTAINED it.

Source: Lord of All by Chip Brogden

Good Out of Evil?

“You meant evil against me; but God meant it for good.”
GENESIS 50:20

The story of Joseph is not just the story of Joseph. It is the story of how God works everything together for His Purpose. No matter how far removed from that Purpose things seem to get, eventually we see its fulfillment.

At some point in eternity we will all stand before God and will finally see His Ultimate Purpose fulfilled. Then we will look back on the sad history of the human race and we will see how God brought something good out of every evil thing that ever rose up to challenge His Purpose. For some people the existence of evil is a stumbling block. If God is good, why does He allow evil? A better question is: how can God allow evil and still manage to bring something good out of it in the end? Evil is not a stumbling block to an all-powerful, all-knowing Creator who specializes in bringing good out of evil. What He did for Joseph He will do for all Creation.

Source: The Irresistible Kingdom by Chip Brogden

Questions from Acts 1

Hello Friends

Many of you can identify with my journey of beginning to question and then discard  firmly held convictions (mostly about how to do church).  Too many "Biblical principles" turned out to be cultural or institutional dogmas.  In this process I began to wonder about the early disciples and to look at the book of Acts through a big question mark-  What was their journey?

Luke writes the Acts account by simply telling the story.  He makes no value judgements.  He does not say whether something done was consistent with the teachings of Jesus or not.  He just tells the story.  We assume that everything he records the early apostles as doing was good,  but should we?  Acts begins with them asking Jesus,  "Lord will You at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel?"   They were still thinking of an earthly kingdom that would kick out the Romans and give them BMW camels.  They were still asking this question after a forty day seminar on the Kingdom of God!  They were on a learning curve and I do not think it ended with the Day of Pentecost.  

Jesus talked about building on rock or on sand.  Sand used to be rock.  Sand is bits broken from the rock.  You can choose bits of the scripture but what you build upon your favourite bits will fall.  We need to wrestle with the whole as revealed in the Rock, Jesus, if we wish to build something that will last.  The old saying  "Text without context is pretext." is accurate.  If you cut and paste, you can make the scripture say anything you like.  

Maybe the problem  is not just understanding the original historical context but seeing our own?  How much of what we see in the scriptures is because we are looking at them through the filter of  our present presuppositions and reading that back into them?  Or maybe just reading the scriptures through the lens of our own desire for significance, power, position and privilege? 

Is this what the early apostles did?  The church at Jerusalem was hugely successful but were having a problem feeding all the widows and orphans.  More accurately they were having a cultural problem in that the Jewish background widows and orphans were getting better food than those of Greek background (Acts 6). The apostles did not think it was desirable "that they should leave the Word of God and serve tables.....  but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and the ministry of the word."  so they appointed deacons to this task.   Luke says this  "Pleased the whole multitude"  but does not say if it pleased the Holy Spirit.  

These verses have been quoted over and over again in support of "full time ministry" but should we not question them?  How could the very men for whom Jesus made breakfast, the very men who heard Him say that even a cup of cold water given in His name would be rewarded, the very men who  helped Him feed the multitudes, the very men who received the  instruction that whatever was done unto the least was done unto Him.... How could these men think that serving tables was beneath them?   In appointing deacons were they forgetting the teachings and example of the Master and reflecting the privileges of the religious leadership culture all around them?

To ask questions through the book of Acts you may have to question some of your favourite bits and cultural filters.

You may have to acknowledge that you are on a journey.

You may have to question some of your security blanket convictions.

You may have to ask the Holy Spirit some questions.

Your brother

Steve

 

www.harvest-now.org

Not Yet, But...

“We do not yet see all things put under Him; but we see Jesus.”
HEBREWS 2:8,9

Today, Scripture acknowledges, we do not YET see all things submitted to Him. I must say I find that word “YET” terribly exciting! That word “YET” means that something is in store for everything that remains unsubmitted to the Lord Jesus Christ. The presence of the word “YET” means its manifestation is inevitable.

We are not pretending to see something that does not really exist – yes, we agree that we do not YET see all things submitted to Him, things are bad, and will probably get worse; BUT we do see JESUS, and for the Christian who seeks first the Kingdom of God, that revelation is sufficient. You may see every fact to the contrary and argue against Him, but we see Who He is by revelation, and by revelation we know that what we see happening in the unsubmitted earth today will be set in order when Christ and His Kingdom are manifest in all of creation.

Source: The Irresistible Kingdom by Chip Brogden

The Classroom of the Cross

October 13, 2013 Hello Dave! A new blog post has just been added to the site... The Classroom of the Cross by Chip Brogden Our temptations, tests, and trials are doing the work of reducing us to Christ. Each wound we receive strikes a blow to our pride and weakens our independent spirit. The things that we think are there to humiliate, weaken, and destroy us are the very things that God uses to strip, refine, purify, purge, and mold our character into the very image of Christ. We do not have to seek these decreasing experiences; they come to us automatically by reason of our existence in the world. Jesus said that “in the world you will have tribulation” (Jn. 16:33). And since this is the case, we might as well make the best possible use of every difficulty and circumstance we find ourselves in. These difficulties will either makes us better, or make us bitter. Ultimately, the outcome depends upon how we choose to respond... Read the rest of this article: http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/the-classroom-of-the-cross.html

Our ability to influence whole communities or villages for the gospel is greatly enhanced by how we treat the leadership of the community.

Are You Loved in Your Community?

By Ron Thiesen Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor. ~ Romans 13:7
READING: Romans 13:1-7
Our purpose for planting a church in a community is to influence the whole community for Christ, to reach all strata of the community. Our ability to influence whole communities or villages for the gospel is greatly enhanced by how we treat the leadership of the community.
In our reality in the villages along the Amazon River and tributaries, it is essential that we “give honor where honor is due” with the village leadership. The very first thing that we do, even before presuming to disembark equipment from the boat, is to converse with the mayor (lieutenant governor), head of the PTA or school principals and get their permission to do our event.
Often they will come to the evangelism event and many times they receive Christ as their personal Savior. When the village leadership receives Christ, or when we simply find favor with them, we have real advantages in planting a church. They are often more prepared to influence their own people and can promote in the process of planting the church. If, on the contrary, we offend them, they are very capable of closing many doors for us and the people of the local community to the gospel.
What about your influence in the target community where you are planting a church? Do you have influence with the powers that be? What could you do to befriend them or become an asset to their positive purposes in the community? Get with your team and prayerfully make a plan to obtain the favor of your community leadership.
Our Heavenly Father, We pray for the leadership of the community. Open their hearts to hear your voice. Give us wisdom in reaching their hearts for you. Amen. 

Dynamic Church Planting International (DCPI) “Equips Leaders to Plant 5 Million Churches Worldwide.” Learn more

We need to plant churches among unreached and unengaged people groups.

Planting the Church Where the Church Is Not

By Paul Becker It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation. ~ Romans 15:20
READING: Matthew 24:9-14
Today I challenge you to "plant the church where the church is not." Jesus said, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matt. 24:14). The phrase "all nations" means all ethnic groups. All ethnic groups must have dynamic, soul-winning, disciple-making churches reproducing within them.
We need to plant churches among unreached and unengaged people groups! As of this writing, 639 unengaged, unreached people groups with populations over 100,000, together numbering over 535,000,000 souls, are still beyond the reach of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They are spiritually lost and helpless, like sheep having no shepherd.  
Will you try to reach one of these groups?
How I thank God for a recent report from one of our Tanzanian DCPI Certified Trainers, Bishop Williams Yindi. “We have just returned from the outreach among those who have never heard about the Saving Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. It took us about 20 hours on the bus to reach this group near the Mozambique border. We planted a very good church among a previously unreached people group, the Matengo. This brings us to a total of 172 churches planted at this writing.” WOW!
Unreached people groups may be closer than you think. European nations are once again unreached, as are large portions of the next generation in the USA. Most cities have pockets of unreached immigrants who have never heard the gospel.
Ask God to open your eyes to see what part he wants you to play to break new ground for the Kingdom.
Dear Lord, Help me to plant a church where the church is not. Amen. 
Dynamic Church Planting International (DCPI) “Equips Leaders to Plant 5 Million Churches Worldwide.” Learn more

Not By Might

“Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? O my Lord, I am not eloquent... but I am slow of speech, and slow of tongue.”
EXODUS 3:11; 4:10

We know that in fact Moses was mighty in words and in deeds (Acts 7:22). But he no longer saw that as an asset anymore. That is exactly the type of person that God is looking for. He is not searching for those naturally gifted souls who think they can do it and then set out in their own strength! It is those who embrace the weakness of the Cross and allow God’s strength to be perfected in them that He is looking for.

Source: Embrace the Cross by Chip Brogden

When to break fellowship 6

Hi all,

I began this series saying Christians often break fellowshipfor wrong reasons while ignoring the actual reasons given in scripture. Many of us have had friends drop us like radioactive waste when we changed churches or did the slightest thing to offend them, leaving us clueless as to what we did wrong!.

 

Confusion in the body of Christ

Let us not forget people who refuse to break fellowship when they should: They stay loyal to a minister after he divorces his wife and mother of their children to marry their nanny and is right back in the pulpit after the honeymoon. Or they remain loyal to the pastor who weekly manipulates their hard earned money out of their pockets to line his own, or the pastor who creates a church culture so toxic that if anyone raises the slightest question about anything, they are the ones accused of having a demon.

 

I want to teach the Word in context. So I don't want anyone to think Paul's list of habitual sins in I Corinthians 5 that qualify as reasons to break fellowship includes family members, co-workers, is license for divorce, or other situations outside the context in which he was writing.

 

Not talking kids and workplace situations

He was not sharing (nor was I) about adult children who once walked with the Lord but are now living in one or more of those various sins, nor was he talking about co-workers at the job.

 

For co-workers, you were hired to work, not witness or discuss spiritual things, so work. They aren't persecuting you, they just want you to do what you were hired to do; work. Paul said to work not with eye service as a man-pleaser, but unto the Lord who sees and knows all. Let your witness be your quality work.

 

For adult children I will suggest this; They know they are living in sin, or are an addict, and that you are praying for them. They don't need mom and dad expressing their disapproval every time you see them, nor do they need to hear a sermon. What they need is for you to be mom and dad. Romans 2:4 says, 'Do you not know it is the goodness of God that leads to repentance.' Show them God's goodness in you.

 

Let them see the Lord's faithfulness in your life, and talk wisdom to them. Help them make right decisions, and know that none of their behavior caught the Lord by surprise. Pray for them what Paul prayed, and I pray this for myself regularly, according to Ephesians 1:17-18 and Colossians 1:9 - that they may receive the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in Him, that the eyes of their understanding would be opened, that they may be filled with all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

 

The good news is the man repented

There is good news with the man of I Corinthians 5. You'll recall he had an ongoing sexual relationship with his step-mother, Paul pronounced judgment on him and turned him over to Satan for the destruction of his flesh for an early death so he would be saved - but he repented and was restored. Don't let that point be lost - after judgment was pronounced, he repented and it was accepted. So what indicates a true repentance?

 

Paul says in II Corinthians 7:8 of the effect of his first letter to them: "Though the letter caused you sorrow I do not regret it, though I did a little for I see it caused you grief and sorrow, though only for a little while."

 

He said he caused them 'grief' or 'sorrow', which is the Greek word 'lupe'. the Amplified Version says 'pain'. This is not just emotional pain and grief, but deeper, spiritual grief. It may take a sharp, confrontational word to them, as Paul's letter was, that caused the 'wake up' moment.

 

Godly grief

II Corinthians 7:9 continues: "I am glad now, not that you were pained, but that you were pained to repentance, for you felt a grief that God meant for you to feel, so that you might not suffer any loss..."

 

Godly grief and repentance is all about God and draws us to Him. False repentance is focused on self keeps a person from God. There is a Godly sorrow and that draws us to Him which allows us to receive mercy and grace to help in time of need - restoration. It is a healthy part of repentance.

 

And the next verse defines it even more: "For godly grief and the pain God is permitted to direct, produce a repentance that leads and contributes to salvation and deliverance from evil, and it never brings regret. But worldly grief is deadly (the hopeless sorrow characteristic of the pagan world)." (Amplified Version)

 

The people we must break fellowship with need to experience a Godly pain of the heart which directs them to Him. God is permitted to direct a godly sorrow because our hearts are turned to Him to give Him that permission. Have they given the Lord permission to deal with them on this subject? Have they experienced that grief God wants them to experience? David did. The man and the congregation of I Corinthians 5 did.

 

Experience the Holy Spirit, or knowing God?

Because true repentance flows from this revelation from God that we have sinned, I wonder if because so many churches provide a church experience instead of a God experience, people learn church-based repentance and formula repentance rather than a heavenly revelation based repentance the Bible describes.

 

People are trained to go to an auditorium to experience God rather than first experiencing God through the week in their personal lives. A whole congregation following a "Pray this prayer after me" instruction has become 'repentance'. They are trained to experience God corporately through worship or teaching, but once they walk out that door they don't know Him individually - they only know His presence corporately.

 

Because sin is personal between the human heart and God, the auditorium can offer little help as they try to battle sin. Repentance requires a person to pray their own prayer from their heart, not follow someone else's idea of what they think a person's heart should express.

 

As a result, millions of Christians are stuck powerless in a love/hate relationship with themselves and God wondering why He won't deliver them, ignorant that the power over their sin flows from revelation of the Father on a personal basis, not on a corporate basis.

 

If not corporate anointing, then...

I've seen people come forward week after week to altar calls yet are nothing bettered. Some years ago I began discreetly asking a few about their lives and found a common trait - each came forward expecting the pastor (prophet, teacher) to lay hands on them and if they kept coming forward, one day, Lord willing, hopefully, if the anointing is heavy enough and there is an open heaven that night, and the pastor holds his tongue just right, God will touch them and deliver them.

 

This culture of 'someone laying hands on me is the key to my breakthrough' is in contrast to scripture. Repentance is the first word of salvation. Hebrews 6:1 lists repentance as the first characteristic of the foundation of faith. Has the seeker friendly, politically correct, don't pressure anyone, and don't mention 'sin', culture robbed people of a true salvation experience involving repentance?

 

We were created sovereign beings which means neither God nor the devil are able to make us do anything. Many in the body of Christ need to find backbone, find determination, and stop waiting for some anointed magic beans to solve their sin problem, and just repent. Often though, they love their sin more than our presence in their lives, and would rather stay in sin than seek God with their whole heart.

 

It's always harder work to seek God than seek sin. The standard life line the church throws to people in need of repentance is, 'Come back next week and hear the message' (or the guest speaker) because many pastors have lost or never had in their own lives the knowledge of how to seek God, so can't lead others.

 

Just talk to Him from your innermost heart

Again, for many in the body of Christ, they know how to pray corporately, worship corporately, receive teaching corporately, even repent corporately.

 

But they don't know how to just talk to the Father conversationally one on one (nor repent on a one to one basis). Find reasons to talk to Him - tell Him of the beautiful morning, on the great timing of something good in your life, and of that issue you are struggling with. Don't get into the habit of you and He struggling with a sin yet never actually talking to Him about it - be blunt, be honest - He can handle it. He has invested in you for the long haul - eternity.

 

He knew of our struggles at this time before He even created the world, yet Jesus still died for us. He not only loves you, He likes you. Wow. Once you share your heart to Him openly and honestly, be quiet, and let Him share His heart openly and honestly with you, which may take weeks or months. Walk with Him in that. That revelation leads to a repentance that will never be regretted, and will draw you closer to Him than you ever have been before.

 

Blessings,

John Fenn

 

Remember to use cwowi@aol.com for personal email

 

 

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Taking Authority Over Your Thoughts #1

Transform Your Life by Transforming your Thoughts

Many people struggle with a negative mind set towards themselves and towards life, yet don't know how to achieve a final life-changing breakthrough. In the first part of this 2-part series, John shares his own experience on overcoming a negative self image and ‘my life counts for nothing’ thinking. You will understand the process of changing your thoughts and how His life in your spirit flows out into your soul and emotions. This series will provide insights and direction into breaking the momentum of the past and building a momentum towards life.