dressed for church

Thoughts of mine

When we focus on or center our attention on a man instead of Christ then we are committing idolatry.

It also goes for any thing, symbol, icon, etc.

the secret to be content in all things: abiding in Christ students training, South Africa | A normal believer in Christ

I found this to be an interesting read. Too many times we are full of discontent. For example, ‘my job stinks’, ‘I wish I lived elsewhere’, or ‘I am not satisfied with my life’. The young man who wrote this post has articulated his point very well. So, are you content?

South Africa 12 Feb

The main line we covered in the recent student training in South Africa was the Experience of Christ in the book of Philippians. My top enjoyment from this line was from the final message.

The experience of Christ is in our spirit but the enjoyment of Christ is in our soul. We need to experience Christ in such a full and complete way so that our experience seeps through to our soul to be our enjoyment, joy and delight. How do we do this? In Phil 4:12 Paul says he has learnt the secret to be both abased and to abound and in the previous verse to be content in all circumstances. The secret is simply to be in Christ, to abide in Him. To be content in everything means the good things and the bad things. To be content in all things means to be content in all the ordinary things too! Our Christ does not change, our contentment therefore cannot change.

But how can we simply just abide in Him in all things? The secret is in verse 13. Many Christians interpret this verse in the wrong context. This is not power to shift mountains and control earthquakes or simply to do well in a test or race. This power is the power to be in Him. We can abide in Him because He empowers us to be in Him.

We need to learn the secret. It is not merely enough to know the secret. We all know about abiding in the Lord but have we learnt to abide in the Lord in all circumstances, good and bad? This is where we need to experience Christ in order to know the secret!

May we all experience Christ in this way, until the experience in our spirit seeps through to our soul. In Phil 3:7 Paul counted all things as loss on account of Christ. But in verse 8 he goes further and says on account of the excellency of Christ Jesus, my Lord. The addition of the words “my Lord” indicate that as Paul was writing, he was filled with intimate and tender feelings towards God. Eventually, it became personal and became “my Lord”. We need to experience Christ in such a way, until we can call Him “my Lord”!

Something I also learnt in the training was that we need to pray. My highlight concerning this was when I came together with my table mate and we got to pray together for whatever we were burdened for. I also learnt how to pray over something we would like to share with others or just pray read the outline.

My highlight of the training was when we had to prepare for testing. When someone says testing, you automatically become intimidated – but this testing was actually so enjoyable. When you pray over the outline, the word becomes a part of you. If you exercise your spirit with this word that is in you, testing becomes so much more enjoyable and easier. Thank You Lord that we could be trained!

[sharing from the recent Students Training in Spring 2012 in South Africa by brother Kyle - find him online at Overcomer Kyle. Picture source: Philippians, learning the secret.]

via the secret to be content in all things: abiding in Christ students training, South Africa | A normal believer in Christ.

Christ is the conquering of death! « Called to Rebuild

As I read this, the thought came to me that Josh has put this quite well. There are so many folks out there that are ‘driven by the fear of death’ that they go to extremes to avoid the inevitable. They are continuously searching for the elusive ‘Fountain of Youth’ or the next discovery of living longer. I agree with Josh as he quotes Bonhoeffer and the author of  Hebrews, ‘Christ IS the conquering of death’.

Christ is the conquering of death! By Josh

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about death, and how people are driven by the fear of death. I’ve also been thinking about my dad. This should come as no surprise seeing that now is the time of year he passed away.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said, “Death reveals that the world is not as it should be but that it stands in need of redemption. Christ alone is the conquering of death.” I couldn’t agree more. When I sat at my dad’s bedside shortly after he passed, I was struck by the paradox of death: On one hand nature is full of it. Death has a wonderful purpose in the cycle of seasons, and all things die that they might live again in some renewed form. So death is natural.

On the other hand, anyone who has watched a loved one struggle against terminal cancer and eventually give way under that beast can tell you that there is nothing natural about death. Despite the mystery of death and resurrection being written into the very fabric of the universe, there remains another side to death’s face-an ugly side-which I dare say no honest man can face up to without being brought to realize that something is wrong with our world. The pain, the emotional trauma, the heart-wrenching effect on family and friends… all together it goes to show, like Bonhoeffer said, that something is amiss. Death is the evidence of a breakdown in the original, God-intended order of things.

The writer of Hebrews was firmly convinced that God came into our world in the person of Jesus Christ for one mighty purpose:

…that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. Hebrews 2:14,15

Those are some heavy words. But isn’t it true that people are driven by the fear of death? What else can explain man’s tireless efforts to preserve his life, to prolong it, to avoid pain at any cost, and hopefully, ultimately, to overcome death altogether and live forever? Death is an enemy-the last enemy, according to Paul 1 Corinthians 15:26-and deep down in his heart man knows this, and he is terrified by it.

Now, I understand some cool-headed atheists out there will deny this. Come to find out, they are not at all afraid of dying. That’s fine, I understand where they’re coming from. But at the end of the day I just can’t believe it, because they’re human just like I am. We’re made of the same stuff. And this instinct-this primeval fear of dying-goes deep into the heart of man, whether he cares to admit it or not.

This is where the significance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ comes into play. Without the resurrection there is no Christian message. We can go on and on about how Jesus “died for us” and everything that entails, but the fact of the matter is, until the Lord rose from the dead there was no good news to tell. Consider the two disciples on the road to Emmaus: Christ died, and though they may not have understood it, he died for them. But that meant nothing to them or to anyone as long as he stayed dead just like everyone else. Just like Lao Tze, just like Confuscius, just like the Buddha, and just like every other man and woman, even the great ones who brightened their little corner of history with flashes of light and truth.

The good news is in the resurrection, for “Christ alone is the conquering of death.” Until death is defeated, man is not free. Rather, he is “subject to lifelong slavery” through the fear of what is to come, namely death.

So I’ve been thinking about all this and how it pertains to my life and the thoughts I have about my dad. And I can say with all honesty, through my faith and experience of Christ in the Spirit, that the resurrection of the Lord has worked an incredibly practical effect in my life. I wrestle with fear and doubt just like the next guy, but I can testify that the sting of death is gone for me. From the day my dad fell asleep until now, I can say that I sense him with me as much and sometimes more than I did before when he was living in the flesh. What’s more, I can say that with each passing day, even as I move on with my family and my life, I am not haunted by the fear that I am losing more of dad through the passing of time. A lot of people feel that way, I think. They feel that as the initial trauma goes away, time passes, and memories begin to fade, they are somehow moving further and further away from their loved one. I have the opposite sense. For me every day is not a drifting away from dad, despite the pain I feel from missing him; on the contrary, with each day that passes I have a growing sense of closeness to him… a drawing together rather than a fading away.

This is the reality of Christ in me, the hope of glory! Nothing in life can amount to this experience which is mine, and I hope yours, by faith. It is a tremendous joy, a liberation, which I can’t fathom knowing any other way. Yes, something is terribly wrong with our world-death reveals it-and in this life we will have pain and sorrow. ”But take heart,” Jesus said to the twelve, and through their testimony to us, “for I have overcome the world” John 16:33!

via Christ is the conquering of death! « Called to Rebuild.

Mr. Metaxas at National Prayer Breakfast

The National Prayer Breakfast was held on Feb. 2, 2012 and featured Eric Metaxas as one of the speakers. Mr. Metaxas challenges all of us with what he had to say.As I watched, I had to laugh and cry a bit as he shared. I hope it impresses you as much as it did me.

National Prayer Breakfast Clip, posted with vodpod

Get your clothes on and go « Think Higher

I got this from a blog that I follow.

How many times have you heard the same excuses that are mentioned here? I believe all of us, who are following Christ, should not have an excuse not to share Him with others. No matter where we are on the journey with Jesus we should be looking for opportunities to tell others the Good News, whether it is in person or even online.

Get your clothes on and go

An actual conversation I had this week, and is often repeated with others:

“Brad, I think what you are doing is great, being missional, but I don’t think I know enough and am not trained to be a missionary”.

“I understand Jim [not his real name], now let me tell you a story.

One day Jesus crossed the lake of Genessaret and when he got off the boat a naked demon possessed man met him there, and Jesus cast the demons out of the man and he put some clothes on and regained his right mind. Later that day when Jesus was preparing to get in the boat and leave the man said, ‘I’m going with you’. Jesus said ‘No you can’t go with me. I need you to stay here and go and tell people your story’. The man obeyed Jesus and went throughout ten cities in the region sharing his story.”

“I have one more story. One day Jesus came to a well and he was very weary and thirsty. There was this woman there and Jesus asked her for a drink. A conversation ensued which ended with this woman so impressed with Jesus that she left and went and told the town folk who returned with her. After meeting Jesus they said to the woman, ‘Now, we believe, not because of what you said, but because we have seen and heard ourselves.’”

“Jim you have been in church since you were born. Now, unless you can demonstrate to me that you have less training and knowledge than those two people who spent only hours with Jesus, then you are ready.”

Stop making excuses. Oh yeah, just put some clothes on first.

via Get your clothes on and go « Think Higher.

Please Stop the Holy Ghost Smackdown via Charisma News

When I saw this article I realized that it needed to be re-posted for others to see.

 What Mr. Grady has written here actually happened to me. Although, I was not slapped but instead was pushed with a heavy hand, did not fall on the floor (as others around me were doing), and ended up with a sore neck. I also saw the ‘evangelist’ shove folks in the stomach [then] they would fall down.

When I was pastoring another oddity I have seen was an ‘evangelist’ blowing on folks and expecting them to fall on the floor. In fact, one of the members came to me afterwards worried that she might get sick because she was blown on.

I really have a problem with people fabricating a ‘move’ of the Holy Spirit’. I do, as Mr. Grady also says, love it when there is an authentic presence of God’s Spirit in the gathering.   I have seen His power in action without any physical human assistance. All we are required to do is ask and believe when we pray.  

Please Stop the Holy Ghost Smackdown

10:27AM EST 2/1/2012 J. LEE GRADY

I love it when the Holy Spirit shows up in church gatherings. Whenever sinners are converted, backsliders repent, bodies are healed or self-centered believers are broken by God, we see evidence of the Spirit’s work. But I don’t appreciate it when people fabricate spiritual manifestations to prove God is using them.

A few years ago a popular charismatic preacher spoke at a meeting I attended at a church in Orlando, Fla. After his message he asked all ordained ministers to run to the platform so he could lay hands on them. Immediately this man’s team of beefy bodyguards began grabbing people, dragging them onto the stage and holding them in place until the evangelist could pray for everyone.

I felt queasy about this spectacle. It resembled a charismatic version of World Wrestling Entertainment: lots of smacking noises, falling bodies and cheers from the excited crowd. We Christians seem to love a good show, even if it is staged!

I cringed as I watched the bizarre theatrics. But before I could move to the side of the auditorium, one of the evangelist’s 220-pound goons strong-armed me onto the platform. When I looked up, the wild-eyed preacher was heading toward me with his arms flailing. I tried to duck, but when he got close enough he shouted “in the name of Jesus” and slapped me across the face. I tumbled to the floor.

My face and neck were stinging with pain. I had not been slain in the spirit, as some observers assumed. I had been assaulted. This man used his own strength to make people think he had imparted a special anointing to me. All he did was give me a headache.

Because of this embarrassing smackdown, I decided I would never push people during prayer, not even gently, or do anything to manipulate the Holy Spirit’s power. I want the real thing. I don’t want to grieve the Holy Spirit by pretending.

Why do some Christians insist on pushing people during prayer? Some do it out of ignorance or because they have seen famous evangelists doing it. Others push to force spiritual results. They think if enough bodies end up on the floor, people will assume God showed up.

I know there are times when people can be so overcome by the Holy Spirit’s presence that they become weak in the knees. King David trembled in God’s presence, and the priests in Solomon’s day could not stand in the temple because of the heaviness of God’s glory see 1 Kings 8:10-11. But there is absolutely no biblical precedent for forcing people to fall.

In Exodus 30:22-29, God gave Moses the recipe for the holy anointing oil that was to be used in the tabernacle. Each ingredient—cinnamon, myrrh, fragrant cane and cassia—had to be crushed first and then blended in olive oil. All five components represent Jesus, who was crushed for us. Moses was warned that the oil was never to be misused, nor were any ingredients to be left out or substituted.

God commands us never to cheapen the oil of the anointing, mix foreign substances into it, dilute it or create our own version of it. The Holy Spirit is holy! People in the Bible who tampered with the holy recipe such as Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, who offered strange fire on God’s altar in Lev. 10:1-2 suffered serious consequences.

Today I fear we have blended the anointing with other ingredients. The charismatic movement has become an embarrassing mixture. Some preachers dangle God’s promises over people’s heads and offer elusive promises of prosperity “if people will call this number now and give a donation.” Others fake certain body movements to make people think they are super-charged by God. Others mix exotic anointing oils on sale now for only $12.99! or they create anointed candles, suggesting that certain scents can trigger the Spirit’s power. This borders on witchcraft.

Please search your heart. Do you push people to the floor when you pray for them, rather than trusting the Lord to do His work? Are you trusting in Him, or in the arm of the flesh?

Have you lied to the Holy Ghost by faking the anointing? Have you mixed your own version of the anointing oil, adding exotic substances that are not of Christ? Have you become addicted to sensational experiences, always craving a sign yet never satisfied with Jesus alone?

How sad that a movement that began in the Spirit has wandered so far from the holiness of God. He sees through our charade. Let’s repent of our childishness, throw out the fake oils, stop making false claims, and quit abusing and manipulating people to make ourselves look spiritual.

J. Lee Grady is a contributing editor of Charisma.

via Please Stop the Holy Ghost Smackdown.

Thanks to Charisma Magazine for permission to re-post.

You can follow him on Twitter at leegrady. He is the author of several books including 10 Lies Men Believe and The Holy Spirit Is Not for Sale.

Parenting 101: You Can’t Bad-Attitude Someone into a Good Attitude « Approaching Damascus

Hey Everyone,
I found this over at my wife’s Facebook page and thought it was quite good! I really like the title and the way the author has put it all together. Hope you enjoy it also!

Parenting 101: You Can’t Bad-Attitude Someone into a Good Attitude

January 13, 2012 by Rick Holland

The implications and influence of our attitudes towards others cannot be overstated. Our tone is usually louder than our message. And tone is more quickly interpreted than words. I’m finding out the hard way that this is the linchpin of parenting.

Having teenage sons in our home creates an interesting environment. Messes happen, chores are neglected, arguments develop, things are lost, procrastination reigns. No, it’s not all negative, but it can get frustrating. But my frustration is not so much that my boys will be boys, but with my response and shepherding of them. Here is the all too easy pattern into which I can fall.

Something happens with one or more of my sons that needs correction; they sin. This sin comes to my attention and I feel the reflex of anger in my heart. Then comes a list of questions racing each other in my mind towards my tongue. “What were you thinking?” “What do you think you’re doing?” “Are you kidding me?” “How dare you?” “You were only thinking about yourself, weren’t you?” The list could go on…

Yes, my sons need constant correction. But so does their Dad. But how should that correction be framed? How important is the attitude behind the correction?

If you are a parent who longs to see your children walk with God or a someone who wants to influence your friends and family, there is a helpful pattern for us to follow in Romans 2:4. Paul writes:

 Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?

The second chapter of Romans begins with a confrontation regarding being more ready to judge others, including God, before oneself. In verse 4 Paul asks if judgmental spirit has cloaked our understanding of and experience with the gospel. God has demonstrated kindness, tolerance, and patience toward us. And here in the second part of the verse we meet a remarkable principle.

It is the kindness of God that leads us to repentance. Notice that it is God’s attitude, His disposition, which motivates us to change. God motivates us with kindness.

Think of the implications of imitating this attribute of God as we parent our children and try to influence others. Another way to say it is, “You can’t bad-attitude someone into a good attitude.”

When is that last time someone confronted you in anger and your immediate response was something like, “Oh thank you, I am so motivated now to do better and try harder.” Correction packaged in a bad attitude is not motivating, stimulating, or helpful.

If it’s the kindness of God that leads us to repentance, we would do well to encourage repentance in others the same way. But that will only happen when our thinking is flooded with thoughts of God’s kindness, tolerance, and patience toward us in the gospel.

If you are looking for a verse to memorize that will have immediate application in your relationships, my suggestion is Romans 2:4. Once again…

Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?

via Parenting 101: You Can’t Bad-Attitude Someone into a Good Attitude « Approaching Damascus.

Witnessing Videos

Here are a couple of interesting witnessing videos

Rememberances

Anyone remember listening to songs like these???

Changing of the Wineskins: 2012 (Part One) via Third Day Churches

I have been following Third Day Churches for awhile now and this is an outstanding piece that absolutely needed sharing. I’ll definitely re-post the next part when it becomes available. What a challenge for all of us who are endeavoring to follow Christ.

Changing of the Wineskins: 2012 (Part One)
“Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins will break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine in new wineskins, and both are preserved.” (Matthew 9:17).

 

What does it really mean to “do” church differently?

 

What does “change” really mean?

 

What does “new” really mean?

 

Four Possibilities From New From Roget’s II: The New Thesaurus The Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary.

 

Main Entry: new
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: Not the same as what was previously known or done.
Synonyms: different, fresh, innovative, inventive, newfangled, novel, original, unfamiliar

 

Main Entry: additional
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: Being an addition.
Synonyms: added, extra, fresh, further, more, other, new

 

Main Entry: fresh
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: Not previously used.
Synonyms: brand-new, new

 

Main Entry: present
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: In existence now.
Synonyms: contemporary, current, existent, existing, now, present-day, new

 

Change remains vague until it is defined. With “change” being one of the driving themes of an entire shift in world politics, everyone is crying out for more clarity, more specificity, more steps, more exact actions.

 

What do we mean by change?

 

And when it comes to the church what are we actually changing, and how are we seeing wineskins renewed?

 

Unfortunately, “church change” sounds way to similar to the nebulous eco-political jargon of today. So we don’t want to offend anyone in the church so we couch our nomenclature in ambiguous terms, or even religious ones.  Like, we just need “renewal,” we just need “revival,” we just need “reformation.”

 

But without specificity most people read that as we just need a new “program,” we just need a new “vision,” we just need a new “pastor,” or at least newer “buildings,” and new, softer “pews.”

 

So, we find ourselves adjusting the lighting, laying down new carpet. Trading in the old pews for theater seats, buying the hottest new flesh tone wireless microphones, firing an old preacher, hiring a new preacher. We work at doing fresh demographic studies and change the order of service, or if all else fails add a new service on a new night.

 

But this time, in 2012, in the time cycle of the church, that will not be enough, it will not work, anymore. This is merely patching the wineskins.

 

Patching the Wineskins!

Patching the Wineskins!

Patching the Wineskins!

 

We paint the old wineskin, we put new carpet in the old wineskin, we rearrange the seating in the old wineskin. Or, we add a second wineskin to the old wineskin, maybe even a Saturday night wineskin for the younger set.

 

Of course none of these changes make a difference over the long haul. Sure, we may get a few kudos about some of these subtle shifts and slight changes we have engineered. But has anything really changed for real and for the long run?

 

We even brag about the little changes we have made at the Annual Wineskin Convention, maybe even write a new book about our new wineskin, and start an association around this new way of wineskinning.

 

“Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins will break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine in new wineskins, and both are preserved.” (Matthew 9:17).

 

With all the decorative aesthetic adjustments nothing really changes, all we do is end up diluted the wine, weakening the wine, create more distraction for people’s hunger and thirst for the “true new wine,” forgetting all along that the purpose of the church is to accommodate what God is doing, not asking God to cooperate with what we are doing.

 

Because these church growth adaptations too will fade; this time we need something more. Right now, like no other time in history, we need a completely “new” way of doing church, a “new” way of being the church: a new way, not an additional way, or even just a fresh way, and definitely not the present way.

 

In fact, everything we currently call “church” needs to change, not from the outside in, but the inside out, these issues are so systemic, these issues are so broken they need to be replaced. We must begin by actually accepting a complete ‘funeral’ mentality on how we have done everything, or do church, and need to let it die, and then let God shape in us an entirely new winekskin that will adequately handle His potent “new wine.”

 

A Whole New Paradigm 

 

For us who are used to the old, a new ‘paradigm’ requires first of all a definitive ‘paradigm funeral.’  A deep willingness to let things die and start all over.

 

So we start by looking around for a highly missional, highly participatory band of believers to regularly gather with, those who radically care for one another and make themselves readily accessible to the lost.

 

We return to “simple church” with a common meal and a common cup, not another lecture-driven “meeting” with more of the “sit, soak and sour,” as some professional ‘talking head’ does all of the ministry. But start some gatherings that are a highly prophetic with the released Holy Spirit called upon to lead through the people at His bidding, relying on His leadership, not the scripted program that we followed last week.

 

We refuse to sit in silence one more time and leaving the meeting with one one more “we simply don’t understand and definitely can’t apply to our lives.”

 

We begin to think 24/7 missional church rather than another weekend where we drive to a campus, struggle through a twenty minute search for a parking space, an athletic sprint to drop of the children at the Christian babysitters, another mad dash to the coffee kiosk, and then a press to find a decent seat before the performance begins. Only to look around for the first twenty minutes trying to find the family you want to go to lunch and spend the afternoon with after the meeting.

 

And No More Crying Over Spilled Wine

 

“Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins will break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine in new wineskins, and both are preserved.” (Matthew 9:17).

 

OK? No more crying over spilled wine. Enough is enough, don’t look back, no more excuses, it is now time for a “new” way of doing and being church, not a “renewed,” or “refreshed,” or “repainted,” or “redecorated,” or a “refurbished,” or “re-patched” one. Remember the greatest enemy of the ‘new’ is the part of the ‘old’ that still works.

 

Too often this is called, “talking new and acting old.” In other words we start by looking forward at everything, and have to fight the temptation to look back for the nostalgic and familiar old way of “doing” church. This is ‘forward’ looking, not ‘backward’ looking.

And no more “patching” of the old wineskins, we have already polluted and diluted way too much of the good wine, we already know that the old wineskin won’t handle the radical lifestyle of the next generation, or the passionate missional movement that is in front of us.

The ‘old’ will not embrace the press for the new level of intimacy with the Father that is coming, and it will literally explode or implode with the new spontaneous worship of the new wine that is coming. It is time for a totally ‘new wineskin.’

 

To start? We must confront the current church system head on.

 

1. The current church system is designed to produce dependency on the system.

 

2. The two major obstacles to removing people from dependency of the current church system are the church building and paid professionals. We need to find a way to create a new organizational system that doesn’t rely on either. Jesus didn’t.

 

3. We need to find a way to redeem people’s generosity by removing the obstacles (such as buildings and paid staff) and thus releasing people’s resources directly into missional opportunities.

 

4. Dependency is ultimately dysfunctional because we’re not designed to be dependent forever. We’re designed for self-government and personal responsibility to become interdependent mature sons and daughters of God who can risk loving and risk living.

 

5. The problem is, that in today’s system we know how to do 500 people really well, just leading them like cattle into another building for another meeting. But we don’t know how to do 12 people really well. Jesus modeled the latter.

 

6. And we face the primary concern and fear by the current church system that if we actually release people to become the priesthood of believers they will sure fall into heresy. Funny, heresy exists regardless, always has, always will. Example: We have 30,000 denominations. Some of them are wrong. But Jesus risked leaving His followers, and released His Holy Spirit to lead ordinary people. Even if they go through a season of heresy, they will eventually be led into truth. Can we do the same?

 

7. Exponential growth happens when people participate in what God was already doing. Not through prayer events that call down God to bless our latest agreed upon program we picked up at the latest conference or ministry fair.

 

Yes, all of these are specific challenges for today’s church to face? You will have to decide if you will face them, or conform and run from them. You also will have to decide what approach to any remedies you are going to risk. If you are really serious about change and not just a “repatch of the wineskin,” you will have to ask God what He wants you to do and then address what is holding you back.

 

It could mean completely rethinking your views on the church as it relates to everything, the land (properties, facilities) learning (training systems, learning dynamics) and leadership (styles: both old and new) and then addressing those models you insist on perpetuating that continue to weaken today’s legacy church. Letting those die and fade and moving toward the “change of the new.”

 

So, the question remaining is this. Are we desperate enough for the new wine?

 

In His Grip,

Gary Goodell 

Gary Goodell is a former evangelist, pastor, college dean and instructor involved in ministry stuff for almost 50 years. He and his wife Jane live in San Diego, California USA. He is a father of two adult children and the grandfather of seven. As an author and consultant he functions as an itinerant mentor working with the organic church planting movement known as Third Day, that he and some friends founded in 2001. Third Day International now involves leadership and ministries in 20 nations.

 

Two books, “Permission Granted To Do Church Differently in the 21st Century,” and “Where Would Jesus Lead?” are both available online. More articles available on the website at www.thirddaychurches.com

Lonely Noah! What’s In Your Carry-On Bag? via Defrosting Windows

Thanks Dan for this thought-provoking post! I look forward to the ‘rest of the story’ when it becomes available.

Lonely Noah! What’s In Your Carry-On Bag?

Posted on January 2, 2012

Something Was Very Important To Noah

If the T.S.A. had searched Noah’s luggage, could they have found something of interest and value? We know about the major contents of the Ark. We know about the people on board the Ark. But does the Bible,  history, or legends give us even a hint or possible clue about anything that Noah may have personally carried with him long ago on his nautical voyage? What was important to Noah? If it was you today, what would you take? Photo Albums? Passed-down family heirlooms? Precious memories? Seriously, what would have been precious to Noah? I’ll tell you this, I believe something was very precious to Noah.

A Different Look: What Motivated Noah?

Let’s begin by getting inside Noah’s head for a moment as we look at his life. Although Noah had a wife and family, I tend to believe that Noah was a man who may have battled a deep sense of loneliness throughout his life. Have you ever known anyone like that? Think about this fact: Before the Flood, he was the ONLY righteous person left alive on the Earth! (Gen. 7:1).  Imagine living your life as the only one standing against the ways of the world. Imagine the increasing, alienating ridicule he may have endured and how it made him feel. How would you feel?

For years, he was a preacher of righteousness (2 Peter 2:5), and yet no one would listen, no one would heed. Did they scoff at him and walk away? It was isolating enough to be the only righteous man alive; But on top of that, he was also an against-the-grain preacher! He had to feel like an utter alien. I want you to think about the reality of the Bible naming him a “preacher of righteousness”. What does that mean? It probably means the following: 1) God called Noah to preach. 2) Given the situation, he was probably a very passionate preacher. 3) He probably had a true spiritual burden from the Lord accompanied with innumerable hours of knee-breaking powerful intercession. So, he had the calling; he had the truth; he had integrity; he had God’s empowering; he faithfully preached for decades; and had NO results…(crickets chirping). When I think of the preaching ministry of Noah, I can hear the lyrics of the Beatles song Eleanor Rigby when it says, “Father Mckenzie writing the words of a sermon that no one will hear, no one comes near…Father Mckenzie wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave, no one was saved. All the lonely people…”

The world would call Noah a failure. They would say he should quit preaching and do something else with his life. They would remind him of the world’s wisdom which says, “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results”. The sheer loneliness combined with decades of the most complete futility that a minister could ever experience had to be crushing at times. According to the timeline, I believe that Noah holds the Biblical World Record for the lengthiest and most futile preaching ministry (100+ years, 0 converts). I hope he wasn’t a results-oriented person. He had zero results and yet he belongs to the Faith Hall of Fame. God is more interested in character than counting. (Some congregations need to read this before voting their preacher out, and some preachers need to read this before quitting).

Like any real human, Noah must have had times of being engulfed with feelings of despair and failure because of the continual, complete, and very personal rejection of both him and his message. All humans have a real need of knowing that someone can identify with them on some level. That kind of profound and isolated loneliness would cause a righteous man to deeply yearn for some form of attachment or reminder of someone who also loves God the way he does. Noah was very human and his need was intensely magnified.

The Final Farewell

When it came time to enter the Ark, I wonder if Noah and his family experienced tremendous mourning as God closed the door of the great ship? You might be asking, why would he cry at seeing God’s hand provide shelter and comfort by closing out the storm? In our hindsight that’s the way we view the closing of the Ark door. But from Noah’s real and immediate point of view, it probably felt like watching the lid of a coffin closing out the only world he ever knew. His loved ones were about to be buried alive in water! What? I thought that all of his loved ones were on the boat? No, not all of them. The Bible makes a clear point to tell us that Noah had plenty of YOUNGER brothers and sisters (Gen. 5:30). As the skies began to pour out their torrent, I wonder if the Ark was sound proof or if he could hear the traumatizing screams of his brothers, sisters, their families, and their babies  as they continuously pounded their adrenaline-filled fists against the Ark while the waters rose to their waists? After carefully contemplating the passage above, I believe that his younger brothers and sisters that he had helped raise and care for, were now dying outside. That is so incredibly sad. No doubt these were many of the people to whom he had preached and poured out his soul (A man who would preach and never give up is a man who I would guess had a deep intense love for those people). I wonder if he could hear them yelling in desperation, “Noah, I’m sorry I didn’t believe you! Please Noah, help me!!!” Have you ever stopped to think of the utter grief and deep emotional pain he suffered as he knew that his younger brothers and sisters were drowning outside? Picture your favorite sibling, nephew, niece, or dear cousin who doesn’t know the Lord. Can you feel it? It was real. I simply cannot grasp the full magnitude of Noah’s very real pain.

Now Noah had many, many years to think about what he would take with him on this voyage. Noah wasn’t stupid and I’m sure that he could see that no was listening to him. He could see that tragedy was coming. Was there anything from the pre-flood world that Noah would want to keep as a source of strength and comfort??? Most of us would be looking for our Bible. What did Noah have?

After the rains stopped, we tend to think about how wonderful it must have been to finally open that window and feel the sunshine; but we forget the dreadfulness of seeing the rotting, dead carcasses of both man and animal floating on the water. After the Flood, it must have been sheer terror for Noah to come to the full realization that his was now the ONLY family left alive on Earth as he walked among the carnage, stench, and destruction (Gen. 6:23). This was so much more than a Hurricane Katrina, or a Japanese tsunami…The whole world was dead. Do you think that Noah and his family suffered post-traumatic stress disorder, or do you think they just lived happily ever after? The circumstances of their post-flood trauma has no equal. How do you deal with that? God sustained them, but the grief was real. Having favor with God does not make you immune to pain.

In his lifetime, Noah went from being a rejected outcast before the flood, to being a lone father in a situation of dire isolation. From beginning to end, everything we read tells us that his life was a life of alienation followed by desolation. Everyone likes to talk about Job, but folks don’t realize the lengthy tragedy of Noah’s life. While it is true that Noah was a righteous man, let’s not forget that Noah was a fallen human being. The emotional pain must have felt overbearing at times. Why else do you think he got drunk (Gen. 9:21)? Commentators try to make this look like Noah had no idea that grapes would do that. Seriously, do you think Noah was that ignorant? Come on! Noah was drunk, naked, and passed out! This was no accident. This was human weakness. I’m not excusing his drunkenness. It made things worse! It led to further tragedy which caused a permanent wedge in this suffering family. (Let me stop for a moment to say that God doesn’t just work in pretty lives; He also works and brings glory into lives that are wrecked with pain. Just because you have favor with God doesn’t mean that things will be rosy with man. Favor doesn’t always = converts, care-free living, and comfort in this world. God is sometimes the only comfort in your life. When you fall, God knows your frame and He remembers that you are dust. But, if you draw nigh to God, He will draw nigh to you. He helped Noah pull through! Do not read the Bible in a deceitful manner thinking these people were above us and escaped real human emotion and weakness. These things are written as examples for us. When you read the bible without calculating human emotion, drama, weakness, and strength into it, then you run the risk of reading with a lying mind.  Pray in the Spirit! Noah was far from perfect. BUT, Noah took the comfort that God gave him, and he CONTINUED to worship God. Life busted his chops, but he kept going in God’s strength. Jesus is interceding for you. Perhaps Noah is among the heavenly cloud of witnesses that is cheering you on! Noah would tell you that the joy of the Lord was his strength. That’s real. You’ve got friends in High places! That’s where it counts the most.)

Let me repeat what I said earlier: That kind of profound loneliness would cause a righteous man to deeply yearn for some form of attachment or reminder with someone past or present who also loves God the way he does. Remember, Noah didn’t have a Bible filled with heroes. I personally believe that Noah found that kindred spirit and carried something with him. In the next post, we will take a look at that person and the evidence. In the meantime, I would like to  encourage you to do a few things. 1) Share this with others. Maybe it will encourage someone. 2) Read Genesis and start asking questions like: Who is this person? In what ways could Noah identify with this person? What could they pass on to Noah? 3) Feel free to subscribe/follow this blog, or e-mail me so that you don’t miss part 2 and the following segments.