It's me again.
Wow... I really didn't intend for this story to take three
parts.
But we're just getting to the good stuff!
In Part 2, you'll recall that I had just lost my first church
and I was a little bit bitter, hurt, angry, disappointed, confused
and depressed. :-)
This was my state of mind as I sat in my tiny backyard, reading my
Bible on a beautiful, sunny, warm spring day.
I decided to read Ephesians, mostly because I thought it might help
me figure out this spiritual warfare stuff.
I think most people ordinarily think of Ephesians 6 and the section
about "put on the whole armor of God" when it comes to
spiritual warfare - shield of faith, sword of the Spirit, etc.
Right?
But that day I decided to just start from the beginning of
Ephesians and work my way up chapter 6, just to make sure I
didn't miss anything important.
Well, that decision changed my life!
I began with Ephesians 1), and towards the end of the chapter I
read the following:
"And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward
who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he
wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at
his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all
principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name
that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to
come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be
the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the
fulness of him that filleth all in all" (Eph. 1:19-23).
I stopped reading and I thought, "That's great - but how
does this help me?"
I could totally understand that...
- Jesus was raised from the dead
- Jesus is at the right hand of God in the heavenly places
- Jesus is exalted far above all principality, power, might,
dominion and name (present and future)
- All things are under His feet
- and He is the Head over all things.
But again, how does this help me?
I know Jesus has the victory, but I feel like I don't have the
victory.
I know Jesus is above all things, but I feel like I'm beneath
all things.
I know all things are under His feet, but I feel like nothing is
under my feet.
"ARRRGGGGGGHHH!"
And in my state of mind I very nearly stopped reading at that point.
I think a lot of people experience similar frustrations and give up
when things don't make sense.
I encourage you NOT to give up.
Keep digging.
You know the old story of the guy who got the treasure map, started
digging, then got frustrated and quit?
Then the next guy came along, dug down in the same hole, and found
the gold.
One more thrust of the shovel and the first guy would have had the
treasure.
But he quit.
If I had quit at Ephesians 1, I would not be here today to tell you
this story.
I decided to keep reading.
And with "one more thrust of the shovel" I came to this
passage that changed my life:
"But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith
he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us
together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us
up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus" (Eph. 2:4-6).
One word jumped out at me:
TOGETHER.
TOGETHER.
TOGETHER.
Now, I had read this hundreds of times before...
But on that day, in that moment, that word seemed to leap off the
page and slap me in the face.
TOGETHER! TOGETHER! TOGETHER!
I knew that Jesus was "in me."
But I never really saw that I am "in Him."
Now I saw it.
TOGETHER.
TOGETHER.
TOGETHER.
It was like walking out of one room and into another room, closing
the door behind me.
I was in a new world.
I quickly went back to re-read Chapter 1, realizing that everything
it said about Jesus applied to me (and to all who are in Him)...
- If Jesus is at the right hand of God in the heavenly places, then
SO AM I.
- If Jesus is exalted far above all principality, power, might,
dominion and name (present and future), then SO AM I.
- If all things are under His feet, then all things are under MY
feet.
I looked up from where I was sitting and just gazed into the
Carolina blue sky, and as the Truth dawned on me, I began to laugh.
It was so simple.
If I am seated together with Christ, then I ascended together with
Christ (Eph. 2:6)
If I ascended together with Christ, then I was resurrected together
with Christ (Col. 2:12).
If I was resurrected together with Christ, then I was buried
together with Christ (Rom. 6:4).
If I was buried with Christ, then I died with Christ. (Rom. 6:5).
And if I died with Christ, then I WAS CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST! (Gal.
2:20).
I saw everything from the Cross to the Throne: backwards and
forwards, upside-down and right-side up, in millions of colors, in
all dimensions.
I saw that Victory is a Man, and that the Cross joins me to
Victory, because that's what makes the TOGETHER possible.
The Cross leads to the Throne.
But you can't get to the Throne without the Cross.
So, embrace the Cross.
That's the secret to overcoming Sin, Self, and Satan.
Well, I saw all that in a flash, but it took me many years to find
the language to express it as simply as I have laid it out for you
in this email.
And when I saw Christ in His fullness, I also saw the Body of
Christ as it really was, and I discerned the difference between
Religious and Relationship.
Well, knowing the Truth is one thing; but walking in the fullness
of that Truth is something else.
Yes, I had seen the fullness of it in the Spirit.
But the practical application of it was still just a baby seed.
I had a lot of "unlearning" to do (I still do, in fact).
Meanwhile, I tried to go back into the denomination and continue
with my ministry.
My mindset was like a lot of other people I hear from:
"I've got to go to back to church and help them see what I
have seen!"
But you can't make anyone "see."
Only God can open their eyes.
I should know.
Since I wasn't a pastor anymore, I decided I would go around
and help other pastors.
So we had a ministry where we would go fill in for pastors who
needed a vacation, or for churches that didn't have a pastor,
or for churches going through church splits.
We went a lot of places and saw a lot of things - the good, the
bad, and the ugly.
In the process I was invited to become an associate pastor and
music minister at a church.
Karla and I thought, "Well, here's an opportunity to share
this great revelation of Christ and what the Body of Christ is
supposed to be like, and we can just love the people and teach them
the difference between Religion and Relationship!"
We weren't quite 30 years old then - still young, idealistic,
and inexperienced.
I had the revelation, but I didn't have any common sense.
To make matters worse, the pastor was only a year older than me,
and he was everything I used to be - only worse!
It was during this tumultuous period of time that I discovered
writing as a way to express what God was showing us.
Why?
Because they wouldn't let me preach!
So instead, I would write stuff down and send it out to this little
email list of people.
That had already started waaaay back in 1995 with a little weekly
email I called SOUL FOOD.
Back then there was no Google or Facebook, and only big companies
had websites; everyone else just had a free little "home
page" on GeoCities.
(Anyone remember those?)
My ugly GeoCities page evolved into a website called Watchman.Net
around 1998.
One day someone at church found my website, read my stuff, and took
offense.
It went badly (very badly) and eventually we were kicked out of the
church AND the denomination in a way that made it clear that I was
no longer welcome in either.
We couldn't go back even if we wanted to.
But we no longer wanted to.
We felt God was calling us to something larger.
I can tell you lots more stories about everything we experienced
AFTER coming out of that church, but this email is already getting
lengthy.
I'll just say this: it's been a rough-and-tumble journey
ever since.
And it seems to be getting rougher!
It's been hard and, at times, very lonely.
But do you know what I'm most thankful for?
That we are NOT ALONE in this journey.
It's true that we don't get to see many of you face-to-face.
But we are still one Body in Christ, regardless of geography.
So whether you are an old friend or a new subscriber...
THANK YOU for listening, praying, supporting, and encouraging us
all these years.
I'm not perfect - far from it.
But by sharing my story I hope you can see where my heart is.
And hopefully you can take this encouragement from it...
Don't give up.
Keep pressing on.
Embrace the Cross.
Stay on the Path.
The best is yet to come.
I am your brother,
Chip Brogden
http://TheSchoolOfChrist.Org
PO Box 552, Canandaigua, NY 14424, USA
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