A New (Emergent and/or Organic) Name For Christianity: Christimacy

These ideas came to my mind during the praise and worship meeting at The Salvation Army Berry Street this morning.  I shared them with the believers gathered there.

The one word that most describes the difference between the Old and New Testaments: Intimacy!
* Intimacy between God and individuals because of the blood of Jesus — “God with us;” “Christ in you the hope of glory.”
* Intimacy between individuals. “He broke down the wall of hostility that separated us.” “Love one another.”

Biblical Christianity is not a doctrine, a creed, a teaching, a belief system.  It is intimacy — the act of being intimate with God and man.

This intimacy was lost in the Garden of Eden.  Mankind was separated (alienated) from God and the way back into the Garden was blocked.  Mankind’s approach to God became regulated, distant, formal, religious.  Mankind was also separated (alienated) from one another.

Yet Christ, through His death and resurrection, restored the intimacy.  Therefore I propose a new name (a more emergent and organic name) for Christianity:

Christimacy.

Posted in atonement, Christ, Christ followers, Christ in you, Christ in you the hope of glory, Christian, Christian values, emergent Christianity, emergent movement, God with us, having a form of godliness, He broke down the wall of hostility, house church, intimacy, Jesus Christ, lost and restored, Love one another, move of God, movement, new birth, new creation, New Testament, Old Testament, racial reconciliation, reconciliation, salvation, Salvation Army church, Salvation Army Corps, simple church, spirit, Spirit-filled, Spirit-led, spiritual, spiritual awakening, spiritual formation, spiritual healing, spiritual innovation, spiritual interaction, spiritual kinship, spiritual transformation, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 10 Comments

How To Surf Brainwaves To Hope, Health, & Happiness

Life is about surfing brainwaves.  Catch positive brainwaves and they will carry you to paradise-like beaches of hope, health, and happiness.  However, charging choppy brainwaves will cause you to wipe-out and deposit you among emotional riptides and maybe even men in grey suits (sharks).

With your power to choose you can control the wave machine in your cranium.  Choose well.  Ride righteous waves to being stoked on inner peace and joy; rid yourself of rogue brainwaves (lest you be raked over like a medieval serf in a washing machine).  Here are some suggestions:

*  Stop cranking along with tormenting and/or self-destructive brainwaves.

*  Stay away from party waves.  Don’t follow the popular thought pipeline.  If you are caught up in 21st Century culture, you’ll be conditioned to conform your thinking to gnarly, messed up messages.

*  Get out back, way beyond the breaking waves of day-to-day thinking, and catch a positive brain wave that is outside your thought pattern.

*  Create an inner swell of uplifting brain waves by reading, watching, and focusing on things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, and virtuous (Google Philippians 4:8).

*  Get a tow-in to the best brainwaves by hanging out with uplifting, positive, and inspirational people and by avoiding negative and angry folks and media.

*  If you feel like you are underwater, get help from a counselor, a therapist, a friend, a pastor, a priest, or a rabbi.

*  If you’re caught in a sea of choppy brainwaves, cutback to the perfect wave — Jesus Christ.

 

Posted in 21st Century, Bible, biblical, brain, brain chemistry, brain research, brainwashed, brainwashing, breaking waves, choice, choppy, counselor, cranium, cranking, cutback, good report, happiness, happy, health, hope, inner peace, Jesus, Jesus Christ, joy, medieval serf, men in grey suits, New Testament, out back, parties, party, partying, pastor, peace, peace of mind, Philippians 4:8, pipeline, rabbi, raked over, riptides, sea, seduction of self-destruction, self-destruction, sharks, suggestions, swell, therapist, thinking, thought pattern, thoughts, tormenting thoughts, tow in, Uncategorized, underwater, uplifting, values, virtues, washing machine, wave machine, wipe-out | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

My Soul Needs Fracking (Frack Me, Lord.)

I woke up this morning with the word fracking in my mind?  What does that mean?

Fracking is the procedure of blasting pressurized water (along with sand and chemicals) down a well so as to fracture the rock deep beneath the ground, below the aquifer, and release the oil or natural gas it contains, pushing it to the surface.  It is sometimes called hydraulic fracturing.

As I lay in bed this morning I realized that my soul needs to be fracked.  I need the living water that Jesus talked about (the Holy Spirit), deep in my soul, to fracture the hardness of my heart and force out the selfish, natural desires that miss up my life and alienate me from God.

Frack me, Lord, so that, no longer bound by my sin within, I can do, everything You tell me to.

“He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”  –Jesus (John 7:38)

Is the living current of Christ cruising within you or do you have a dead battery under your hood?

 

 

 

Posted in aquifer, Bible, Biblical concept, drilling for oil, God, God calling, God-shaped vacuum, healing, hearing Jesus, heart, heart care, mining techniques, oil drilling, oil well, rivers of living water, Scriptures, search for significance, self, self-denial, self-will, selfish desires, sin, sins, soul, spiritual, spiritual growth, spiritual healing, spiritual power, spiritual transformation, submission, surrender, surrender to God, we have turned everyone to his own way | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Tag Cloud For Spirit-Led (Rather Than Human Programmed) Church . . .

A tag cloud is a visual representation of the frequency of the use of words (tags) to find a website (sometimes called a word cloud or a weighted list in visual form).  What words would be in a tag cloud for Spirit-led, rather than human programmed church?

action packed,         unpredictable,    awe-inspiring,                 interactive,            organic church,              invigorating,            real, heart-felt,               powerful, miraculous,            biblical,     passionate,        uncontrollable,       life transforming,             simple church,                   thrilling,             2 Corinthians 14:26,  contagion,

When the living, resurrected Jesus Christ is allowed to direct a church meeting, without the control of a human leader, amazing things happen!

If you are in Nashville, TN, come and see for yourself at The Salvation Army, 225 Berry St., 37207, on Sunday mornings at 10:45 where everyday people show and tell what God has done.

 

 

 

Posted in 2 Corinthians 14:26, action packed, Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, Bible type revival, biblical, Christian organizations, church meetings, church program, church programs, church roles, church services, contagion, controversial, faith-based, Holy Spirit, house church, Jesus, Jesus Christ, participatory church, religious ceremonies, religious innovation, Salvation Army church, Salvation Army Corps, Salvationists, simple church, Spirit-filled, Spirit-led, spiritual, spiritual innovation, supernatural, surrender to God, tag team, tags, testimonies, testimony, website | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

What You “Like” Says What Kind Of Person You Are

“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart”

and the things I like on Facebook

“be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord.”

Posted in Christian values, Christianity, compromise, compromised, conviction, conviction of sin, meaning, media, media circus, popular culture, positive thinking, post-Christianity, thoughts | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Church? Prevading Presence or Prearranged Program?

Church is the powerful and permeating Presence of the living, resurrected Jesus Christ; not just the mere presentation of a prearranged religious program.

Church is a group of people actively engaging God; not a group passively listening to a talk about God.

Church is not a meeting where people assimilated by contemporary culture and conforming to its values, gather to hear a comforting message. It is a group of radical people actively living a countercultural lifestyle based on Spirit-led obedience to Jesus Christ.

Posted in Christ, Christian community, church meetings, church program, church roles, church services, church structure, conformed, contemporary, contemporary society, corrupt culture, countercultural, do church, Do not conform, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Jesus Christ, kingdom of God, kingdom values, lecture, lifestyle Christianity, lifestyles, meaning, non-church, non-church movement, non-traditional church, power, religious innovation, resurrection, sermon, sermons, Spirit-led, spiritual innovation, spiritual interaction, spiritual power, the way we do church, values | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

2013 — A New Year? Or The Same Ole Same Ole?

Will 2013 be a new year for you or the same ole same ole of years gone by?   Does this new year mark the mere movement of time; or the development of character, the growth of love, and the flowering of faith?

Resolutions seldom seem to break the pattern of the same ole same ole.  Here’s a Beatles flashback:  the lyrics from Revolution say:  “You say you want a revolution, well, you know . . . ”  With Christ “you got a real solution.”  You tell me it’s the institution, well, you know, you better free your mind instead.”

Jesus Christ can give you a new year, a new mind, and a new life. (“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”)  But how?

1) Ask God to show you your sins and make you deeply sorry for them.

2) Persistently cry out for His forgiveness until you are made clean.

3) Turn away from your sins.  Openly confess them.  Renounce them.

4) Turn to God with all your heart, soul, mind, and spirit.  Give your all to relentless pursuit of the living, resurrected Jesus Christ.  Follow and obey Him with all your might.

5) Connect and build open, honest relationships with godly people who are passionately following and obeying Jesus.

6)  Begin to read the New Testament at least 5 minutes every day.

Posted in Christ, Christ followers, Christ in you, Christian, Christianity, conversion, conviction, conviction of sin, forgiveness, God, honesty, hope, if anyone is in Christ, Jesus, Jesus Christ, lyrics, new birth, new creation, New Testament, obedience, prayer, presence of Christ, presence of God, recovery, reformation, relevation, religion, repent, repentance, revelation, revival, revolution, sin, sins, soul, spirit, spiritual, spiritual formation, spiritual healing, spiritual training, spiritual transformation, spiritual warfare, supernatural, surrender to God | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

My Top 12 Blog Posts For 2012

1) Occupy Till I Come — What The Church Can Learn From Occupy Wall Street
2) The Most Important Tim Tebow Quote
3) US Congressman, Thaddeus Stevens, My 4th Greatest American
4) 70 AD — One Of History’s Most Important Dates
5) A White Man Who Trained Rosa Parks & Martin Luther King, Jr.
6) Top 10 Ways To Quench The Holy Spirit
7) Top 10 List — The Ten Greatest Americans
8) How To Bring Back The Glory Days Of The Salvation Army
9) Explaining Sin In A Post-Christian Culture
10) ABC News Glosses Over Mormon Beliefs
11) Tim Tebow, Jeremy Lin, & Now Bubba Watson — W.G.U.T.? (What’s God Up To?)
12) When Somebody’s Done You Wrong — 3 Responses
Posted in Bubba Watson, church, congress, Holy Spirit, Martin Luther King Jr., Mormon faith, Mormonism, Mormons, Occupy Wall Street, quench the Spirit, Salvationists, sin | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

2012 WordPress Review Of “Free Gas For Your Think Tank”

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

4,329 films were submitted to the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. This blog had 42,000 views in 2012. If each view were a film, this blog would power 10 Film Festivals

Click here to see the complete report.

Posted in 70 AD, Free Gas, Nashville, Occupy till I come, Rosa Parks, Steve Simms, Thaddeus Stevens, Think Tank, Tim Tebow, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Imitator or Radiator? (Awash In The World or Aflame For God?)

Are you a radiator spreading the presence and power of Christ to the people around you or an imitator following the influence of popular culture?

Are you transforming your friends, neighbors, coworkers and community by godly influence or are you conforming to them and their values?

Are you a salesperson persuading people to daily follow and obey the living, resurrected Jesus Christ, or are you a prospect being sold a bill of good to follow and obey your own desires and cravings?

Are you a thermometer being controlled by your environment or a thermostat, influencing your environment to come up to God’s standards.

Are you a missionary spreading God’s truth with your words and your lifestyle or a mission field being converted to ungodliness?

Are you awash in the world’s messages, media, and lifestyle or aflame with the passion to live a life of obedience to Christ and to share His message with the world.

 

Posted in aflame, alternative lifestyle, apologists, awash, be transformed by the renewing of your mind, belief, belief system, biblical, burning heart, change agent, Christ followers, Christ-centered, Christian, comfort zone, complacency, contagion, contemplation, controversy, conversion, convert, corrupt culture, countercultural, current events, fire of the Holy Spirit, imitator, Jesus, Jesus Christ, meaning, media, media circus, ministry, mission field, missional, missionary, moral principles, morality, obedience, obedience is better than sacrifice, obeying orders, popular culture, radiator, sales, salesperson, spiritual transformation, spiritual warfare, testimonies, thermometer, thermostat, values | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments