Why do we ask why?
What’s the reason
That people reason?
If there’s no
Meaning or plan
Behind existence,
Then why do we ask why?
Why do our hearts cry
For purpose, understanding,
Relationship, and love?
Isn’t the search for meaning,
A meaningless meandering,
If meaning is merely mythical?
I found meaning in
Meeting the Messiah,
My Maker,
And experiencing Him daily,
And now I have
A reason for
Taking up space
On this planet.
Someone suggested to me today that since my blog is frequently about participatory church, perhaps I could make it more participatory. I agree!
Of course people are always welcome to make comments on any post on my blog. However, in order to help people feel more invited to participate I am beginning a series of Tag-Team-Blog posts. Each one will contain a question. I will answer the question in the comments and I invite you to answer it in the comments as well. Also, you are welcome to respond to my answer and/or anybody else’s answer.
So let’s get going. The Tag-Team Blog #1 question is: When are you most aware of God’s presence?
A simple script for an amazing church service:
–“Please welcome our speaker, the living, resurrected Jesus Christ!” (Applause, then one person after another stands up and talks freely from the heart as they are internally prompted by Jesus.)
Have we made church meetings too comfortable and routine? Have we set them up so that if God doesn’t come through they run just fine without Him?
–Perhaps we need to lay down our human programs and open up church meetings so that “we will be in trouble if He doesn’t come through.”
–A scripted football game where you are given a program that shows every play and the results of each play (before the game even starts) would bore almost everybody.
–So why do we do that with church? Why do we script church meetings so tightly that there is no room for any excitement or surprises — no room for the living Christ to show up?
“Being present in the Presence, so that the mind is a conduit for the immediate guidance of the Spirit is a powerful testimony.” –Keith Saylor (2013)
Our post-Christian world will never be convinced of Christ by religious talks and programs. They need to experience the living, resurrected Jesus Christ for themselves. It’s our job as Christ-followers to present Christ to the world and to one another, “not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power.” (1 Corinthians 2:4)
Who will step beyond church’s contained, confined, and controlled Christ and welcome the living Jesus to the podium in your heart and in church meetings? When will churches set aside their programs and allow all the people present in meetings to obey the challenging words of Jesus’ mother Mary in John 2:5: “Do whatever He tells you,”?
“The testimony of Jesus, which is revelation, had been much withheld from the church until our early Friends (the early Quakers) were prepared to receive it, and to walk faithfully by its guidance, as the rule of life, and thus this unspeakable blessing to the church was again restored ; and how exceedingly essential is it for her that.” –John Wilbur
Inner peace, joy, sincerity,
Contentment, and satisfaction,
Are rare qualities nowadays;
Because they can’t be taught or bought.
They’re caught and grown
Within humble, honest hearts
In touch with the sweetness
And presence of God.
Hear the light,
The sound of sight,
The striking of a match
In a dark room.
“Aha!”
Suddenly you’re aware
Of things you were
Completely unaware of
Just moments before.
Hear God’s Light
The sound of insight.
There are none so blind
As those who will not hear
The Light Of The World
Knocking on their heart’s door.
“This was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by My Father in Heaven.” –Jesus Christ
“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in.” –Jesus Christ
True Christianity is
More than a program.
It’s the presence and power
Of the Person who died and now lives!
True Christianity is
Not about listening to a man.
It’s about listening to Christ in you
And doing what He tells you to.
True Christianity is
Not dull and boring.
It’s thrilling, liberating
Transforming & restoring.
True Christianity will change the way you feel without taking a pill!
Your pain will decrease
When you surrender to the Prince of Peace.
He will release your inner joy.
(Side effects may include: a warm heart, overwhelming love, a life makeover, supernatural vision, sudden loss of guilt, spiritual intoxication, inner healing, loss of interest in routine activities, a passionate longing to live right, loss of addictions, self-forgetfulness, a burning desire to serve others.)
“No matter what else you may lack, or what may be against you, with the Holy Ghost you will succeed; but without the Holy Spirit, no matter what else you may possess, you will utterly and eternally fail.” William Booth (co-founder of The Salvation Army)
The human heart can connect to a river of God’s Spirit. But we human beings have been trained to dam up our heart and stop the Spirit’s flowing. We have turned Christ in us into a religious reservoir instead of a running river. Perhaps it’s time to tear down your inner dam and let God’s river freely flow!
Even churches train us to exchange the active flowing of the Spirit within us for religious talks, programs, and liturgies. However, by damming the flow of the Holy Spirit, Christ-followers have created the greatest untapped reservoirs in history — the living Christ locked up tightly in human hearts.
Jesus said: “Whoever believes in Me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” Christ doesn’t want to be a shut down reservoir in your heart, but a raging river. He wants to be present, active, and free-flowing, both in our individual lives and when we gather as His body. If we dam up His flowing and try to keep Him as an untapped reservoir, we quench the Spirit and shut down His power. Our Christianity becomes bland and lifeless.
So how do you tear down the dam and let Christ’s rivers freely flow? It’s so simple: 1) Surrender–lay down your pride, your self-will, your agenda, your opinions; and religious tradition and protocol; 2) Take the time to quiet your self and listen to His voice; 3) Courageously say and/or do whatever He tells you to; 4) Continue this process and His river will grow stronger and flow more powerfully through you day-by-day.
Paul of Tarsus put it this way. “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.”
Will you pull down your inner dam and turn your reservoir into a river? Will you let the living, resurrected Jesus Christ be a raging river flowing out from deep inside of you and into your daily thoughts, words, and actions?
“Christ is not a reservoir but a spring (a river). His life is continual, active and ever passing on with an outflow as necessary as its inflow. If we do not perpetually draw the fresh supply from the living Fountain, we shall either grow stagnant or empty, It is, therefore, not so much a perpetual fullness as a perpetual filling.” –A.B.Simpson
“No matter how full a reservoir of maxims one may possess, and no matter how good one’s sentiments may be, if one has not taken advantage of every concrete opportunity to act, one’s character may retain entirely unaffected for the better.” –William James
“A crisis creates the opportunity to dip deep into the reservoirs of our very being, to rise to levels of confidence, strength, and resolve that otherwise we didn’t think we possessed.” –Jon M. Huntsman, Sr.
Tear down your dam!
I love how God leads me to books. It has happened regularly for decades. I feel like I’m on God’s reading program.
About a week ago I was walking in Glascow, Kentucky and saw a Salvation Army Thrift Store that I didn’t know existed. I went in there and came across several books that confirm what I’ve been writing about church for the past several years. I wrote a blog about one of those books, Church Meetings That Matter.
Yesterday I went to Book Cellar in Crossville, Tennessee and found a few more books confirming my thoughts about church. Here are a few quotes from the books from those two places:
“The church as Christ formed it long ago, was not a crowd watching a performance, but persons engaged in a ministry to other persons.” –Elton Trueblood, The Future Of The Christian Church, 1971
“Church is a community animated in some degree by Christ’s Spirit.” –Howard H. Brinton, Evolution and the Inward Light, 1970
“All the parts of the body are needed for the body to function well. Christ talked a lot to His disciples about not wanting the preeminent position but being willing to serve. It’s all for God’s glory and we’re all working together. There seems to be a constant emphasis on how everyone has a part.” –Tony Dungy, Teamwork, 2009
“I want the leadership of our church to be about creating an atmosphere, an environment where people can fall in love with Jesus. I don’t want technicians who can run a program. I want agents of love who will spread the life of the Holy Spirit through out the church.” –Jim Kallam, Jr., Risking Church, 2003
“To squelch the life out of a group; dominate the group from the beginning. Establish yourself as the authority on all matters that may come before the group. Make all the basic decisions yourself, while giving the impression of a democratic spirit to the group members. Pay no attention to the needs and interests of the group members. Most people don’t know what is best for them anyhow . . . Establish yourself as the teacher of the group and deliver a learned lecture at each meeting.” –Clyde Reid, Groups Alive, Church Alive, 1969
“Any church that is alive is so because God is its Life, acting within it in the present. The Holy Spirit is more than a doctrine; He is God in Christ alive, active, and at work . . . The tendency of the church is to identify itself with its outward forms which have not the presence and power of God in them. Often our preaching witnesses to what God has done in the past but neglects what He does in the present. Doctrinal preaching and teaching of the Word are often divorced from the deed and truth . . . that continues to be at work through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.” –Joseph W. Knowles, Group Counseling, 1964
“True Christian leadership sets others free to minister with their gifts. It does not dominate or hold on to the opportunities for ministry. It is looking constructively for ways others can develop and grow. It is prepared to stand down — to be stood down — in favor of another.” “Jesus never pulled rank. He never took refuge in status. He rejected any concept of hierarchy and taught His friends bluntly and uninhibitedly to do the same.” –David Prior, Creating Community–An Every-Member Approach To Ministry In The Local Church, 1992
“It is our life, shared with the lives of others, that creates the webs that form the mystery of community.” –Jeff Imbach
William Booth said: “Will you go to His feet and place yourself entirely at His disposal?”
–Will we do that or will we settle for mere religious programs? Shall we surrender church meetings to Christ’s control or sit silently through a sermon? Ekklesia is a gathering of people who meet at the feet of the living, resurrected Jesus Christ and place the control of the meeting “entirely at His disposal.”
Is there any room for the living Jesus in 21st Century church services? (There is room for a traditional talk about Jesus, but is there even a tiny bit of room on the program for the living Jesus, Himself?)
–What would happen if the pastor stepped aside and made some room for Jesus in church services? Amazing things!
A professional talk about the historical Jesus, by the same man week-after-week, can be boring. However, when we gather at the feet of the living, resurrected Jesus and surrender the meeting to His direct control, things get exciting.
A living Jesus doesn’t need a man to talk for Him — He can speak for Himself, directly to human hearts. Many people do all they can to drown out His voice with constant worries, distractions, noise, activities, and denial. However, those who pay attention and stop running away, hear Jesus clearly. When we humbly gather with others in His name and listen together, each person obeying what Jesus says, His voice becomes even clearer.
Jacques Ellul wrote: “In the desire to make the church safe, Christians have eliminated the critic and the prophet. As a consequence, the church is bland and irrelevant.” Shall we settle for safe & comfy church or embrace exciting, interactive ekklesia?
(If you are in Nashville, you can experience ekklesia. Visit The Salvation Army Berry Street, 225 Berry St., 37207 on Sundays at 10:45 am. for an unprogrammed, unscripted, participatory meeting at Jesus’ disposal.)
When a Christian meeting exalts, features, and/or promotes anybody but the living, resurrected Jesus Christ, we put the spotlight on the wrong person! Perhaps we should use the Christovision App!
–The Christovision App–
You can see the living Jesus
Animating His people
When they gather in His name
And listen to and obey Him,
Freely sharing from their hearts;
Testimonies, Scriptures, prayers,
Exhortations, words of encouragement,
Gifts of the Spirit, and short teachings.
Suddenly Christ is no longer
Mere history, religion,
Ritual, theory, or theology,
But a living, present-day reality!
(1 Corinthians 14:26)
While in a bookstore yesterday I found two books that confirm the importance of the Christovision App. One book contained these two quotes:
“While Jesus calls us to freedom, we create religious systems that frequently bind people.” –Jacques Ellul
“In creating our religious rituals, theologies, structures, and programs, we have more frequently worked against the intentions of the Man from Galilee than we have furthered His dreams. Thus we need the courage to subvert our own rigid systems and overcome our own ideologies.” –Charles Ringma
The other book, Creating Community–An Every-Member Approach To Ministry In The Local Church by David Prior & published by Navpress, said this:
“Jesus Himself is the leader of His people, the Head of His body, the great shepherd of the sheep, the One in charge and the One with whom the buck stops . . . We must not push Jesus out of His proper place. If there is, therefore, one person who is the leader in a church, it continues to be Jesus Christ. If the buck stops anywhere, it stops with Jesus. If we look to anyone for final decision making, it is to Jesus . . . This approach means taking time to listen to Jesus as Head of His church — and listening in stillness, without interposing any human insight or idea.”
