Jesus-Looking Community: The Goal of Every Church and Small Group

By Scott Boren

“Just as Jesus led his followers down an alternative path that no one expected, the Spirit of Jesus wants to do the same today.”

When Jesus came 2,000 years ago, he did not just offer a message of salvation that resulted in a different belief structure. He offered a different way of life—called the kingdom of God—that included a different kind of vision for community. The Jesus-looking kingdom was not something anyone would have expected. No one—this cannot be reiterated enough—no one could have predicted that God’s way would look like self-sacrificial love hanging on a cross. The king the nation of Israel expected was not supposed to die.
The Israelites of the first century expected a normal king—their word for this was “Messiah,” which is christos in the Greek New Testament—but that’s not what they got. And most did not see what was going on. John put it this way: “The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him” (John 1:9-11). They did not have ears to hear Jesus and his way.
The people of Israel had a different imagination for the kind of kingdom God would bring and this included a specific vision for community. Four popular versions of community of the time illustrate this point:
A realistic vision for the kingdom: This was the strategy of the Sadducees and the Herodians. These two groups, each in their own way, asked, “What is possible within the circumstances at hand?” Since the Romans were in charge, they tried to make the best of things and work within the rules of the power brokers.
A radical vision for the kingdom: The Zealots took this approach. They sought to establish Israel by meeting the violence of the Romans with equivalent violence. They were training to drive out the Romans with power.
An exclusive vision for the kingdom: A group called the Essenses adopted this strategy. They withdrew to the desert to escape the pollution of the culture so they could set up the new kingdom of God in pure form.
An ideal vision for the kingdom: The Pharisees followed this pattern. While they lived among the populace, they established an ideal way of doing “church” that separated themselves from the culture at large. Their goal was to find the right way to serve God so that others would join them and thereby usher in the kingdom of God.
Jesus vision did not fit any of these paradigms and, as a result, most people did not see or hear what Jesus was up to. He created a kingdom of God movement by establishing a Jesus-looking community that stood in contrast to the popular versions of community at the time.
Often our small group visions fall short of Jesus-looking community in similar ways.
Realistic community: Instead of starting with God’s dream to redeem all things, we start with the realities we face in life. Since we are busy, overwhelmed and underresourced, we look at how we can lead groups in a way that does not infringe too much on group members. We lower expectations to something like “attend the meeting.”
Radical community: With these group leaders, there is no room for compromise. They call Christians to step out and go above and beyond, to sacrifice to extremes. Activism, mission and outreach consume small groups that take this approach. Zealous progress toward passionate Christianity and getting something done for the kingdom is the focus. The focus too often lies so much on the action or the mission that these groups end up doing violence to others and themselves. They rally around the cause, but in doing so they miss the way of Jesus.
Exclusive community: The most common form this takes is called “Bible study.” We get together to talk about the information of the Bible and learn some very good facts about the Bible. Insider information shaped by insider language creates a group that has little to do with normal life outside the group, and new people are welcome only if they speak our language.
Idealistic community: Idealism causes us to find the “right” way of doing church and small groups. We assume that if we unlock this right way, we will unlock the life of God in our midst. Usually this involves arguments about the way the early church operated and how to follow that biblical approach. Here’s the problem: Through the years there have been so many “right” interpretations of the way New Testament house churches operated that any claim to rightness can be countered endlessly. We just don’t have enough detailed explanation about first-century house churches to define an ideal New Testament model.
Jesus offers us something that we all want, but we cannot produce. We can produce the four visions of community listed above. But only the life of Christ through the power of the Spirit can generate Jesus-looking community.
We enter into this life by embracing the three rhythms of Jesus-looking life together.

• Communion with God.
• Relating well to one another.
• Engagement with our world.

Discipleship or spiritual information is simply learning to do these three things with one another.
The truth of the matter is that this is really not that complex. There is no secret path to lead your group into Jesus-looking community. It’s really about making the space in our life together so that the Spirit can teach us an alternative pattern of Jesus-looking spiritual formation. We want some kind of plan or program that will produce this kind of life. But it just does not exist. The Spirit does not work that way.
However there are some things we can do in order to make this kind of space for the Spirit to work in our groups or in our relationships:
1. Work with people who are expressing a desire for more than just attending a small group meeting. A sign that the Spirit is working in people is found when people are stirred up and dissatisfied with mediocrity. You cannot force this or will your group into this kind of life. Pray for the Spirit to raise up a hunger.
2. Enter into conversations over meals—food really helps create an environment to talk about what the Spirit is doing—with those who want more. Ask questions of one another and see where the conversations lead. I offer some questions around Jesus-looking community in my book Leading Small Groups in the Way of Jesus (pages 56-62).
3. Experiment with some communal spiritual practices that will shape a different way of being in community with one another. I offer some examples in my book Missional Small Groups. You cannot program Jesus-looking community. You discover it.
Just as Jesus led his followers down an alternative path that no one expected, the Spirit of Jesus wants to do the same today. In fact, this is already happening. The question for us is: Are we making space in our personal lives and in our life together—whether in our groups, with our families or in our friendships—to hear what the Spirit is saying.  

M. Scott Boren is a Teaching Pastor at Woodland Hills Church in Saint Paul, MN and consultant who partners with The Missional Network (www.themissionalnetwork.com). He has written and co-written eight books, including Introducing the Missional Church, Missional Small Groups and MissioRelate. He share life with his bride, Shawna, and their four children, all under the age of eight. He can be reached at his website: www.mscottboren.com. More from Scott Boren or visit Scott at http://www.mscottboren.com

7 Things You Must Do TO and FOR Your Small Group Leaders

By Mark Howell

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Can I let you in on a little corner of reality? Small group leaders are no different than the rest of us. A few of them (maybe 5 to 10%) are self-starters and have the internal wiring to take the right steps to grow on their own. The other 90-95% of all small group leaders need someone to develop and disciple them.

This is a very important concept to understand because whatever you want to happen in the lives of the members of your small groups must happen in the lives of your leaders first. No life-change in the leader, no life-change in the member.
Bottom line? If your leaders aren’t being developed and discipled, you cannot expect much to happen in the lives of the members of their groups.
Ready for another dose of reality? If you have coaches in place, this is what you need them to do. If you don’t have coaches in place…developing and discipling your small group leaders is your job.
I’ve been saying for quite a while now that the primary role of a small group coach is to do to and for (and with) your small group leaders whatever you want your leaders to do to and for (and with) their members. What I haven’t said very specifically is what must be done to and for your leaders.
Here is what I believe must be done to and for small group leaders.
Things you must do TO and FOR your small group leaders:

1. Offer encouragement and guidance, both unsolicited and upon request, from the very beginning. This is about technique and it’s what most of us would refer to as coaching. It is the tip of the iceberg, but it is where you need to begin in most cases.
2. Get to know your leaders. Ask the right questions. Proactively listen. Lean in. It takes about three months for most leaders to learn everything they’re ever going to need to know about technique. If you want to develop and disciple them, you have to know them and they have to know you.
3. Give them a sense of family. Make getting to know them and their family a priority. Remember, a small group leader cannot give away what they have not received. If you want your groups to develop a sense of family, your leaders need to have already experienced it.
4. Pray for them. First, ask them how you can pray for them. Second, stop what you are doing and pray for them right then. Third, remember to follow up and ask them about their prayer request.
5. Help them identify their spiritual next steps. A key role that must be played by someone (whether that is you or a coach) is the same one Paul played with Timothy. The “follow me as I follow Christ” role is really played by someone who is known, not a distant role model.
6. Help them take their spiritual next steps. In order for a leader to become more than a good facilitator they need to be able to help group members take spiritual next steps. To do that well, leaders need to have experienced genuine and loving accountability.
7. Model for them what they need to do TO and FOR their members. The right coach is really a role model for group leaders. You know you have the right men and women as coaches when they already have the habits you want your leaders to build.

Image by Sagar
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News from Madagascar…

Appleseed Travel Journal - News from Madagascar…

In This Issue...  News from Madagascar…  More Recent Articles

Brooks

Francis, one the of church planters that we worked with in Madagascar a few years ago, was at the conference and shared his vision:

“To see 700 simple/house churches in 7 strategic locations in the next 7 years…

“The northeast part of Madagascar is counted among the least reached places on the world’s third largest island. Due to severe isolation (very damaged roads or no roads at all – 3 days journey for only 150 km), the population is cut off from many things and very few outsiders go there.”

Traveling from the northernmost city of Madagascar first by bus, then walking for three days into the depths of the jungles of Madagascar, even using canoes at times to maneuver the rivers, Jesus-followers passionate to be the Pauls of our day go forth. There are three people groups making up a population of 900,000 living in this region. When they finally come across a cluster of homes, curious villagers sit on logs to greet and listen to their visitors’ stories…stories of a God who loves them and knows them by name. They hear for the first time about the God above all other gods who needs no appeasing to make them happy or to accept and approve of them…the God who created the heavens and the earth, and even holds eternal life for them. Before long they come to accept and want to worship this God. The disciple-makers of Jesus do not inflict their culture on these people. Instead, as the new believers want to worship Him, they respect their ways of acknowledging the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Drums are for placating demons and practicing witchcraft, they say, so no, they dance and sing a new song for the God who does not need or want these kinds of demonstrations. They know He is more powerful than all the things they have worshiped and cowed down to before. These are simple people, simply worshiping a simply Wonderful Loving God.

Neuroscience confirms LK10 Practices (#1)

Neuroscience confirms LK10 Practices (#1)
October 20, 2015  

A recent article in Time magazine about the work of UCLA neuroscience researcher, Alex Korb, confirms some of our basic LK10 Practices.  (Which we get straight from Scripture!)  (Thank you to Barb Lidfors, LK10 Coordinator for Germany, for sending this!)

Here's the first practice...  

1)  The most important question to ask when you feel down?

So what do neuroscientists say you should do? Ask yourself this question:  What am I grateful for?

Yeah, gratitude is awesome… but does it really affect your brain at the biological level? Yup.  You know what the antidepressant Wellbutrin does? Boosts the neurotransmitter dopamine. So does gratitude.
The benefits of gratitude start with the dopamine system, because feeling grateful activates the brain stem region that produces dopamine. Additionally, gratitude toward others increases activity in social dopamine circuits, which makes social interactions more enjoyable. Know what Prozac does? Boosts the neurotransmitter serotonin. So does gratitude. Trying to think of things you are grateful for forces you to focus on the positive aspects of your life. This simple act increases serotonin production in the anterior cingulate cortex.

I know, sometimes life lands a really mean punch in the gut and it feels like there’s nothing to be grateful for. Guess what? Doesn’t matter. You don’t have to find anything. It’s the searching that counts. It’s not finding gratitude that matters most; it’s remembering to look in the first place. Remembering to be grateful is a form of emotional intelligence. One study found that it actually affected neuron density in both the ventromedial and lateral prefrontal cortex. These density changes suggest that as emotional intelligence increases, the neurons in these areas become more efficient. With higher emotional intelligence, it simply takes less effort to be grateful.  And gratitude doesn’t just make your brain happy — it can also create a positive feedback loop in your relationships. So express that gratitude to the people you care about.

But what happens when bad feelings completely overtake you? When you’re really in the dumps and don’t even know how to deal with it? There’s an easy answer…

JW:  I'll share the second practice in my next Newsletter.  You will be amazed at what it is!  And, during the month of November, we will be introducing a powerful way of your deepening gratitude called "interactive gratitude".

For the whole article, go to http://time.com/4042834/neuroscience-happy-rituals

7 Natural Barriers to Sustained Church Growth

7 Natural Barriers to Sustained Church Growth

By Ron Edmondson In church planting, we defied the rules of growth for several years. There are “rules,” which when they happen will naturally stall growth. We were convinced they didn’t apply to us. What we learned is it just takes more time—sometimes.
Recognizing these early and addressing them is key to sustaining growth and momentum.

Here are seven natural barriers to growth:

Facilities:  There is something to the 80 percent rule of capacity. When your attendance in service reaches 80 percent full, you will eventually begin to stall. It’s not immediate, but it is eventual. In church planting, we defied this one for several years. We were convinced it did not apply to us. And it didn’t for a while. I am still convinced it can be addressed without the only solution being building bigger facilities, but leadership must be intentional. One way we addressed it was to use “fullness” as a part of our vision-casting. It works for a time but eventually one of these other barriers begins to occur.
Mindset: When the resistance to change is greater than the need for change, you can expect growth to stall. It doesn’t matter if it’s a church plant or an established church—eventually people get comfortable with the way things are and traditions begin to take shape. When you begin to alter those traditions, some people will naturally resist. To continue to grow, leaders must consistently challenge the norm and encourage healthy change.
Burn-out: It could be volunteer or staff burn-out. In a church plant, after people have spent so much time setting up and tearing down, eventually they grow tired. The key is to find ways to motivate them again or continually add to the volunteer base. And doing both is probably the best option.
Complacency: When people no longer seem to care if growth occurs or not. They may be satisfied or passive, but their attitude is always contagious. This is why leaders must continually cast and recast vision. It’s also why we must continually embrace change, because “new” stirs momentum.
Country Club small group Bible studies: I’ve noticed this one is often overlooked in the established church—especially when church growth has already plateaued. Whenever a group sits together with no new people entering long enough, they become closed to outsiders—even if they think they are not. Newcomers can’t compete with the inside jokes and confidential information the group has already developed together. One way to address this is by continually starting new groups. Some churches “force” or strongly encourage groups to break up and start over with new people.
Leadership void: Continued growth requires new leadership. There will need to be new initiatives, creative ways to do things, and simply replacement of the leaders who move or quit. One key to sustain growth is a successful leadership development program.
Leadership lid: This one is the capacity of the senior leadership. If a leader is controlling, for example, there will be a cap. The church will be defined to the leader’s personal abilities. When leaders realize they have reached their personal lid, they must be humble enough to admit it and seek help from others. Empowering and delegating become even more important. (Of course, they always are important.)
These are some I have observed—and experienced personally. I’m certain there are others. The biggest mistake I see leaders make, and I’ve done this as well, is to deny they are issues. They may be subtle for a time, but if you wait until they are obvious the damage will be much more difficult to address.

Ron Edmondson is a pastor and church leader passionate about planting churches, helping established churches thrive, and assisting pastors and those in ministry think through leadership, strategy and life. Ron has over 20 years business experience, mostly as a self-employed business owner, and he's been helping church grow vocationally for over 10 years.
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He Must, Therefore He Is

“It pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell.”
COLOSSIANS 1:19

He must increase; therefore, He will increase, and He is increasing. It must be so, therefore it is so. It is so simple. He must increase. Why? Because God has ordained that Christ must have the preeminence in all things. He clearly does not have that preeminence in all things now; and so, He must increase until He does have the preeminence in all things.
This is a Universal Spiritual Principle because it is at work right now. Whether you believe it or not, whether you understand it or not, whether you like it or not; the Bible says it must be, and so it is.
Source: Lord of All by Chip Brogden

How to Simplify Your Life

   

 

FrankViolaBlog - How to Simplify Your Life

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• How to Simplify Your Life
• Snakes in the Temple
• Blog Subscribers Read This PLUS Some Comedy

How to Simplify Your Life Posted: 03 Sep 2015 05:06 AM PDT UPDATE: Yesterday, Feedburner (the service that emails my blog posts) sent my subscribers an interview that was published a long time ago on this blog. We aren’t sure why this happened, but we didn’t ask them to send it. I don’t know of a way to contact Feedburner to inquire. If this ever happens again (you get a post that was previously published on this blog), it’s a Feedburner glitch. This has only happened twice since 2008, so I trust it’s not going to be common. Now for today’s post. — Today’s world is incredibly complicated. So much so that most of us are seeking ways to simplify our lives amid the blizzard of busyness. The trick to simplifying your life is to look at what you do in a given month. Then analyze what needs to be done from what can be removed or trimmed back. As an example, here are five ways that I’ve simplified my life in 2015. Perhaps some of them will inspire you and ignite your own ideas. After you going through them, feel free to share how you’ve simplified your life in the comments. 1. I am only speaking in 4 events a year. In the past, I used to accept the majority of the speaking invitations that came my way. So I was on the road at least once a month. Sometimes I would travel twice a month. A few years ago, however, I became very choosey on which invitations I selected. Traveling so much just wasn’t the best use of my time. So I cut back to only 6 speaking events a year. This made my live appearances more special and valuable. Next year (2016), I will only travel and speak 4 times. (That said, if you want to invite me to speak at your event, go to my Speaking page for details.) 2. I will begin blogging once a week. When I became intentional about being a professional blogger, I blogged 5 days a week. Then I dialed it back to 3 days a week. For the past year or so, I’ve posted two days a week. Beginning this October, with a few exceptions, I plan to blog one day a week — every Thursday. Sometimes there might be two back-to-back posts on Thursday. But my main posts on Thursdays will be high-voltage articles. So you’ll want to stay subscribed. The reason for this is because I’ll be devoting most of my “work” time and energy on my new Mentoring/Connecting project (which will include my new Master Class on God’s Eternal Purpose). I’ll also be using my work time to write new books — I have 6 in the queue right now. 3. I am turning my iPhone off more often. Up until last week, my phone would be on until the battery died. But now, I keep it off much of the day. I’m still connected online throughout the day, but I use a desktop or laptop for that. I use my phone mainly for calls. 4. I stopped using texting for conversations. I never liked using my phone for texting. It can be a time vampire and a productivity interrupter. So when I receive a text, I now ask the person to call or email me. 5. I cut down the podcasts I consume to only one. In addition, the courses I take are from the same person. I find so little out there today that’s unique, creative, and inspiring. It’s virtually all same-ole, same-ole. Since time is a limited resource, I only want to use it for the gold. How have you simplified your life? SHARE THIS POST USING THE FACEBOOK LINK BELOW.

Snakes in the Temple Posted: 03 Sep 2015 05:00 AM PDT Today, I interview David Orton on his book, Snakes in the Temple: Unmasking Idolatry in Today’s Church. Enjoy! Instead of asking, “what is your book about,” I’m going to ask the question that’s behind that question. And that unspoken question is, “how are readers going to benefit from reading your book?” David Orton: The reader will benefit from a “root and branch” exposé of the contemporary church’s hidden idolatry. The book shows that the enemy of our souls – Satan – finds footholds in the corporate life of the church through the inner life of both people and leaders—this is the root. These idolatrous attitudes, values, and mindsets then play out in how the church does ministry and leadership, how she structures herself—this is the branch. Through this the reader will not only discover the root causes of the western church’s spiritual malaise, but also find solutions that are not merely cosmetic or exclusively structural—it’s not just a matter of re-jigging how we do church. These solutions are within the grasp of every believer through their own heart response to God. This will then play out with some spiritual authenticity in a complete re-formation of the people of God from the inside out, effecting mindsets and then structures, ultimately leading to the regeneration and renewal of whole cultures and nations. What does “Snakes in the Temple” mean, exactly? David Orton: “Snakes in the Temple” is referenced from Ezekiel 8 where the elders of Israel – the leaders of God’s people – had created a completely concealed room within the temple dedicated to the secret worship of snakes and reptiles—and this, while the temple’s ritual continued as normal. It provides a potent picture of the pseudo-spirituality of the contemporary church. While our programs, services, gatherings, and conferences continue unabated, internally we – as leaders – have bowed to the dominance of created things—of reputation, success, and growth. Like the generation of Christ and the apostles, we have unwittingly established the house of God as the “synagogue of Satan”. Tell us about the experiences that shaped the insights in the book. David Orton: After 30 years of ministry and church leadership I was well versed in church life and much of it very positive. I was converted at the height of the Charismatic Renewal and Jesus Revolution. I was launched in my spiritual journey through a powerful conversion, coming out of the counter-culture of the late 1960s—we were looking for authenticity and social revolution. We were immediately immersed in an experimental movement that sort to reform the church through the restoration of personal shepherding and fathering apostles. Also integral to the DNA of this movement was an emphasis on God’s will being done on earth. We had a vision of the kingdom of God renovating all spheres of life—of cultural transformation. Strategic to this was a redeemed community demonstrating the wisdom and love of God to the world. For this to happen the church needed to be radically reformed. She needed to be set free from man-made systems that divided her and restored to first century apostolic unity across whole cities. This would demonstrate God’s power and the integrity of the gospel in transforming man, not only individually but also corporately. So, that was the vision. But as the saying goes, “The devil is in the detail!” That particular movement – as with so many – contained the seeds of its own destruction. What we saw was that no matter what the structures and systems of church life – whether organizational or organic – the human factor is the same. The apostolic leader we related to was exposed for serial immorality and subtle abuse of power over many years. He was a highly gifted person exercising leadership throughout the Pacific Rim, including Australia and North America. Despite an emphasis on relationship, personal shepherding, and character there was still a subliminal emphasis on hierarchical authority and leadership. This and human weakness played into the movement’s demise. With this and subsequent pastoral experience in a denominational setting and in pioneering a national citywide pastors prayer movement, focusing on relational unity we had ample first-hand proof that something was radically wrong. Both our pastoral situation and the national movement of pastoral unity hit a wall. Values and leadership conflicts plagued both. I resigned all my leadership roles and involvements. And what we thought might be a 6-month sabbatical became 5 years of cave-time. With the help of “brothers” my reputation was shot both locally in our city and nationally. I was without a job and without friends. Every attempt to extract ourselves from the cave failed. And so, Jenny – my wife – and I learned to sit before the Lord and to wait. In that time I began to ask, “God, what was that all about?” And he began to answer, “David, have I changed?” – “No Lord, you haven’t changed” – “David, has human nature changed?” – “No Lord, human nature hasn’t changed” – “Well then, neither has my controversy with my people changed”. That was the key that unlocked the book. I began to see that the perennial controversy God had with his Old Testament church was their worship of idols—and so too with his New Testament church, with us! This was why the pastors’ prayer and unity movement that was making great strides across our nation and many cities of the world hit the wall in the late 1990s. It was why the Shepherding Movement had failed and the Charismatic Renewal and the Prophetic Movement and Apostolic Movement after 40 years had all gone to seed. God’s people are beholden to institutionalized and thus legitimized idolatries that ultimately resist the move of God. These are false value systems that undergird our traditional denominational divisions, including our congregational and pastoral structures. The book seeks to penetrate these issues and provide a way out. How is your book different from the many other books on the same subject of critiquing contemporary church practices? David Orton: While it addresses church practices and structures it shows how these are merely the institutionalized expressions of a private and personal idolatry, particularly in the hearts of its leaders. To tackle “church practices” without first tackling the “inner motivations and values” that created them is self-defeating. And so, the book is not so much focused on the technology of new church paradigms as it is on the technology of the heart. Give us two or three insights from the book that would be helpful to Christians. David Orton: # 1. Our Working Definition of Idolatry. For our purpose, we use this working definition of idolatry: Idolatry is the feeling of well-being gained from my relationship to a created thing, either material or non-material. There is one sure test that exposes our own idolatry. It is this question: “From where do I draw my sense of well-being?”  This means anything has the potential to be an idol – a person, possession, position, or even a perception – our own self-image, or even a thought-process through which we rationalize or justify ourselves. Anything that gives me a sense of identity – a feeling of significance in my world, and therefore, a feeling of power. # 2. Confusing the Goal with the Prize. As a spiritual Olympian the apostle declares, “…one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize….”  (Phil.3: 12-14) A stirring analogy.  It inspires us to press through our pain to achieve great things for God. But there is a difference between reaching the goal, and receiving the prize.  Whoever reaches the goal, crossing the finish line as a winner, automatically receives the prize.  As Paul said, “I press on toward the goal to win the prize”. On seeing the prizewinner’s dais it is not a smart athlete who cuts out of the race, thinking, “Wow – the prize, all I have to is cut across the field – and go get it!” And yet, tragically, this is exactly what the church has done. Let me explain.  Because the Western church has lost sight of the goal, taking short cuts to get the prize, she has been disqualified. Paul warned,  “Run in such a way as to get the prize…so that…you will not be disqualified…” (1 Cor 9:24-27).  In fact, the Western church’s goal has become the prize. We have replaced Christ as the goal with the prize of missional effectiveness. # 3. New Paradigms – Old Problems: Pouring Old Wine into New Wineskins. Jesus said, “You don’t put new wine into old wineskins”. But what we are doing is putting old wine into new wineskins! Let me explain. The issue is one of spirit and structure. The wineskin exists for the wine – not the other way around! Therefore, new wineskins should only be created for new wine – new paradigms, therefore, should come out of a new spirit.  So very simple!  But, we get it all wrong.  We put all our energy into producing new wineskins, new models and new structures. We import the latest church growth and leadership formulas, thinking they will produce the new wine of life and growth when all-the-while, according to Jesus, new structures come out of a new spirit. We know that new wine is a symbol of the Holy Spirit.  But, what about old wine? Surely it is the opposite – symbolizing the world spirit. Paul says that, “We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us” (1 Cor 2:12 NIV, emphasis mine). If drinking the new wine of the Spirit enables us to “understand what God has freely given”, the old wine of the world spirit does the opposite. It numbs our spiritual understanding and highlights only what the world can give. It is an anti-Christ spirit, setting up value systems that displace God, putting confidence only in human ability. What do you say to people who charge you with hating the church? David Orton: My love for God and his people is the very thing that constrains me to speak out. And so, I don’t hate the church, I just hate what we have done to it, in light of her destiny. My calling and gift to the body is – to the best of my ability – to be true to God, to his nature and character. This demands a measure of prophetic probity. While none of us can claim the stature of a biblical prophet, the fact remains that as a prophet Jeremiah, for example, was to function as an “assayer” of metals, testing the hearts and ways of God’s people. However, the measure is never the arbitrary dictates of any individual – for “no prophecy is of private interpretation” – the touchstone, rather, is God’s own nature revealed in his own word. And so, his word is the prophetic touchstone to which we must return and this demands an interpretative community. I would be worried if I were the lone voice down this line. Nonetheless, the track record of the church’s handling of prophetic voices is not positive. We still have much to learn in this regard. My burden – and I believe of the Lord – in any prophetic confrontation is unto destiny. I am consumed with a vision of God’s high call upon his people—that they may be a demonstration to the nations of God’s wisdom and ways. Order Snakes in the Temple on discount See also Why I Love the Church: In Praise of God’s Eternal Purpose SHARE THIS POST USING THE FACEBOOK LINK BELOW.

Blog Subscribers Read This PLUS Some Comedy Posted: 31 Aug 2015 04:06 AM PDT I want to meet you in person. Over the years, I’ve traveled to many states and countries.* So there’s a good chance I’ve already been where you live. I have one more trip planned this year. And then I’ll be looking at invitations for 2016. I love meeting my readers in person, whether it’s at a conference, a church where I’m speaking, or just over coffee. Since we don’t announce my travels publicly, we notify people by email through our Events list. But there’s a problem. Our Events list is outdated. It’s over 10 years old, and over half the email addresses no longer work. Therefore, if you’ve not filled out my Events form within the last 6 months, please do so today. We can’t invite you to live events or let you know when I’m in your area unless you do. When you get to the form, be sure you type your email address in correctly and confirm your sign-up (you’ll get the confirmation email within an hour after you fill out the form). Fill out the Events Form here then come back and read the rest of this post. Do you have a sense of humor? If you have a sense of humor, in the 124th podcast episode, we did something that’s never been attempted before. We let our Unsubscribers call the show and allowed them to speak their minds! You can listen to this unusual episode here (again, only if you have a keen sense of humor), but make sure you fill out the Events form first if you haven’t done so over the last 6 months. On Thursday, I’m going to riff on a topic that I believe will benefit you. So stay tuned. * Places where I’ve traveled – New York * Georgia * Colorado * Tennessee * Kentucky * Washington * Indiana * Illinois * Texas * Ohio * Oregon * DC * Virginia * Pennsylvania * Arizona * California * Nevada * North Carolina * South Carolina * Maine * Utah * Italy * Ireland * Mexico * Canada * Holland * Belgium * Switzerland * Germany * South Africa * South America.