The one true church

And now these three remain:
correct interpretations, biblical worship, and church hierarchy.
But the greatest of these is . . . wait a minute!

I often heard this phrase growing up: the one true church.

I thought I knew who it was: my church.

Now I know differently. I have for awhile.

But the past sickens me still. I don’t doubt that my church then was part of the one true church—I don’t doubt it now, but only by the grace of God are they still in, any of us in—but I know now that many other groups were also part of the one true church.

Because the single, unifying factor that makes the church ONE and TRUE is this:

It’s Jesus.

Not your doctrinal precision.
Not your worship patterns.
Not your leadership hierarchy chosen from the cream of the crop of your group.

It’s Jesus.

If you’ve got him, he’ll pour grace in the gaps of your knowledge (none of us have it all figured out). He’ll delight in unlimited modes of praise that originate from your heart (isn’t the heart what he’s always been after?). He’ll guide your leaders just as much but no less than he’ll also guide and lead through all his followers (a big topic for another day).

It’s Jesus.

So even though you may brag about your correct biblical interpretation on this and that . . .
Or boast about your achievement of unity through diversity . . .
Or claim great deeds your church has done . . .

That’s not what it’s about.

It’s still about Jesus.
Only Jesus.
Always Jesus.

And only because of his grace are we in his church at all.

Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”
1 Corinthians 1:31

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13:13

* * *

10 tips for making the most of online community

Maybe we’re in our pajamas. Maybe it’s 3 a.m. Maybe we’re not even in town.

But in our new world, these are no longer limitations.

For example, in this little corner we gather any time, from many different countries, to memorize scripture together.  We come to encourage or share a photo or ask a question (what does “portent” mean in Psalm 71:7?).

It’s online community. It’s relatively new to us all. And it’s quite an opportunity.

With only a keyboard and screen, we can type out love for God and others from wherever we are to any person with internet connectivity. While online encounters should never replace in-person ones, they are legitimately useful in our modern lives, a positive addition to our global neighborhood.

Here are ten tips to make the most of your online community.

Read them here

* * *

I’m writing at Do Not Depart today for our Created for Community series. Please join me there.

What social media do you use for community?

Have you met online friends in person?

Are you quiet enough to listen?

Maybe one of the biggest ways you can love somebody today is the quietest . . .

We’re already sweating.

No white tent is up today. Jenna and I take a seat in row 2 of the folding chairs. We scan the crowd. We wait for the unknown.

Then he strolls in. In a clean, crisp shirt today. I smile to see him. He's the one known I was waiting for.

Will he remember me? It's been two whole months. I wave, “You're looking good today, Walter Baby Love!”

I smile even more inside when he steps into the second row. I feel special (proud? is that weird?) to be the one he chooses to sit by. Gifts are hidden in his homelessness and I want to be near.

It’s Outdoor Church, the first Saturday each month when Fran & crew invite the homeless to come break bread in every way. (I want to be a Fran, but, alas, I am definitely not. Too timid. That I know.)

I like to listen to Walter, this aged yet ageless man with a brand of wisdom I could never generate. His smarts are from hard living, not from pecking keys on a laptop in a bedroom with a/c. 

He starts talking. About his singing audition at the Von Braun Center. He then pulls out a brochure to show me about the Rescue Mission event he would sing at later today. I feel pride for Walter and say I'm glad he uses his gifts for God's glory. He knows.

What are you teaching me, Walter? What? I want to learn.

When I ask if he's singing for us here, he tells me his song choice (I’m sorry I’ve already forgotten it). “A good one, Walter.” He will teach through that one. I believe.

It’s suddenly not as hot. Clouds roll in—You'll rain us out, God? Really?—but Walter keeps talking, teaching me that getting wet won't hurt anybody this month, but in another month it might make you so sick you'd never recover.

On stage now is the worship team—a small white woman in denim capris and her black husband on the guitar, his shirt flapping open at the bottom as the wind picks up. They launch into their set.

I don't know all the words—no lyrics are PowerPoint-projected on the outside of this warehouse sitting on hot pavement. But I make do and harmonize with Jenna on one side and Walter Baby Love on the other, all of us aiming to praise the same God for providing (while I wonder if he's provided more for me and shouldn't my praise reflect it, if so?).

Walter leans in and mumbles, “I wish she'd stop that,” when the nothing-but-bones lady pushes around a cart of water bottles during the prayer. I hear him. (But I take a bottle and give thanks.)

Am I feeling rain? I look at Jenna. She nods. But nobody gets up. They know it's fine to get wet in September. I know, too; Walter told me.

Then something changes.

At the first thunder and far-off lightning, Walter gets fidgety. He whispers to me, “When God is doing his work, I gotta find a dark corner and wait ‘til he’s finished.”

And he does. Walter walks away—he’s scared of the thunder. His confidence gone.

I’m ashamed. Have I never considered how terrifying it would be to live outside in a thunderstorm? Shelter under a bridge would be little comfort. Even if Walter now lives in a room somewhere (I regret I didn’t ask), he’s bound to have bad memories from bad weather.

But the storm blows north this time, so Walter blows back in. He sits. Then he gets up and sings. We tell him Jenna got his picture. That makes him happy. It makes me happy, too.

And so we leave.
Smarter for the listening.

If we’ll get quiet enough to listen,
everyone—everyone—has something to teach.

* * *

Who can you listen to in the next 24 hours?

RELATED:

• When you touch a soul
• You got something to say
• Little old church ladies

Not just another day in church

Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Matthew 6:10

I arrived at church a few minutes before it started. Several seats were already taken. I walked to the back and an older gentleman said, “Hi.”

We shook hands and I said, “I’m Lisa.” He told me his name, then suggested some seats where we could all sit together.

Although we were first-time attendees, he obviously was not. He knew how to welcome visitors.
It was a hot morning, so he asked if Jenna and I would like some cold water. Before we could answer, he hopped up, cane in hand, and brought back two bottles of water.

He told me he was singing at today’s service. He liked to sing. For the glory of God, he said. I believed him.

The service began. My new friend knew the words to all the songs. Then it was his turn for an acapella solo. Could he sing? Oh yes, he could sing!

He sat back down, leaned over, and grinned, “Didn’t I do it?”

Oh, yes, Walter Baby Love, you did it.

He said he had a name like that for a reason; now I understood.



After the sermon, I got in line for communion with Walter Baby Love and other poor and homeless brothers and sisters gathered on the hot asphalt for this outdoor church service. Maybe some didn’t understand—couldn’t understand—but some did.

We took the bread, dipped it in juice, and took it in.

I took it in.

And took it in. And took it in. Kingdom living.

• Sounds of praise
• Goodness of our Jesus
• Grace from his veins

Jeff was grilling when we rounded the corner after church was over. Following this feast of worship, he and the other volunteers of the Manna House served a feast of hamburgers, hot dogs, and all the fixings for the guests.

All free.
Until full.
Among friends.

The kingdom has come.
I’m glad to be in it.
And I’m glad brothers like Walter Baby Love are in it, too.

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound  
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost but now am found
Was blind but now I see

[Click here if you can't see the 30-second video]

* * *

Where have you unexpectedly seen the kingdom come lately?

Quit going to church

That’s what he says.

What author Bob Hostetler wants you to do is start being the church.

I need to quit “going to church” and start following Jesus.

I need to quit “going to church” and seek the kingdom of God.

I need to quit going to church and devote myself to the Word of God, to living in community with God’s people, to worshipping him wholeheartedly, to drawing close to him in prayer, and to going public, reaching out and sharing it all with the world around me.

And while you’re quitting, here are a few more habits he suggests you drop.

• Quit saying your prayers...and start keeping company with God.
• Quit fellowshipping...and learn how to really party instead. 
• Quit trying to be good...and instead focus on dwelling daily in Jesus’ presence.

There’s more. Quit tithing. Quit volunteering. Quit helping the poor. I couldn’t always see where Hostetler was going at first, but he always made it clear in the end.

Quit reading your Bible
Surely not. But what if instead of reading, you listened for God’s voice in every line, every word? Let the Bible be an instrument for relationship.

Moses said, “Teach me your ways.”

Why? So I can be entertained? So I can escape from my problems? So I can get information? Instruction? Inspiration?

No. He said, “Teach me your ways so I may know you.”

Quit sharing your faith
Share your life instead.

Jesus wants us to be like him. He wants us to risk our reputations. He wants us to earn criticism from religious folk. He wants us to eat and drink with tax collectors and “sinners.”

He wants us to get out of our tidy Christian ghetto and hang out with people who are far from God...not to judge them, not to demand some Christian standard of behavior from them, not to look down our noses at them, but to actually and really be their friends, accepting them, relating to them, expressing genuine interest in what they think and what they enjoy, and not trying to squeeze them into our mold, but sharing our lives with them.

Quit being nice
Yep.

I believe Jesus calls us to conform to his image, not to our pseudo-Christian portraits of him.

He does not call us to be nice.
He calls us to be real.

It started when Adam and Eve sinned, and tried to hide this major relationship problem with God. Because they were scared.

And we’ve been hiding ever since. That is the main reason we are so “nice.” We are afraid. Of all kinds of things. ...We fear exposure. ...We fear rejection. ...We fear being overlooked.

Instead, we can learn to be honest about who we are, and learn to love from that center, as Jesus did.

So don’t let the title Quit Going to Church mislead you. Yes, Hostetler has a lot to say about quitting in this book, but he has more to say about living and loving like Jesus.

And if that means quitting the status quo, then quit.
Now. 
And start something better instead.

* * *

Is there something you need to quit doing and start something else?

My thanks to ACU Press & Leafwood Publishers
for the review copy of this book

Links I like (5/3/12)

Things I found helpful this week on the web:

Start by listening – “When hurting people share their stories, if our first instinct is to dismiss their perspective and defend the status quo, something is terribly wrong,” says Suzannah Paul.

Make a decision already – Do we vastly overestimate the value that a little more information will give us? Al Pittampalli thinks so in “Are you miscalibrating?”

Do say this; don’t say that – Helpful things to say—and not say—when someone is hurting, in this case, from church pains. Kathy’s whole series here is enlightening.

Print vs. Digital Books – 10 more ways we’re changing our reading habits.

When silence is yella’ – You may not agree with everything J.R.Daniel Kirk is saying about women’s roles, but he does make a point for speaking up against suffering (apply it to your issue of choice).

Top 10 introvert myths – um, yes. Myths indeed. Speaking as an introvert, I concur with this list.

* * *

In Visible Fellowship

---

The reason God gives us discernment
about a weakness or a fault in another believer
is so we will bring the issue before God,
praying on behalf of our brother or sister.

…If we spent as much time in intercessory prayer
for others as we do complaining about others,
how would that change the life of our community?

How would that change us?

- JON WALKER, In Visible Fellowship

---

Can you follow Jesus by yourself?
You can.
But isn’t it so much better together?

We weren’t meant to do this alone. The Christian life is lived more fully through community.

That’s what In Visible Fellowship teaches from beginning to end.

Author Jon Walker takes Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s thoughts from his classic Life Together and rewrites them for contemporary fellowships—in an excellent and absorbing way.

When I read Bonhoeffer straight, I have to go slow, reread, and flip back. It’s dense and rich and I don’t want to miss a thing. It’s worth it, but reading Walker’s take was much easier, yet still valuable. 

---

We need to spend time with God
in order to remain intimate with God.

Our intimacy with him gives us
the confidence and courage
to develop intimacy with those in the Body of Christ.

---

Each short chapter (4-5 pages) is organized this way:

• A header quote from Bonhoeffer
  Then sections entitled:
• The Big Idea
• Jesus is...
• To be like Jesus...
• Scripture
• Questions

(I admit I’m a sucker for good organization. This book has it.)

The first five chapters describe how we were created to live in fellowship, sharing God’s grace together, and learning how to love in Christ-community.

The next seven chapters give specific examples of spiritual activities for The Day’s Beginning, such as morning praise, praying the Psalms, singing the new song, etc.

The book progresses into chapters on The Day’s Work, Midday Worship, Evening Worship.

Five chapters are dedicated to The Day Alone, focusing on topics such as When Loneliness Misuses Community, solitude, intercession, and more.

---

 Intercession means no more than to bring
our brother into the presence of God,
to see him under the Cross of Jesus
as a poor human being and sinner in need of grace.

Then everything in him that repels us falls away;
we see him in all his destitution and need.

His need and his sin become so heavy and oppressive
that we feel them as our own,
and we can do nothing else but pray. 
– DIETRICH BONHOEFFER 

---

Next are chapters on various ministries—meekness, listening, bearing, etc.

The book ends with six chapters on In Confession and one chapter on The Ministry of Communion.

---

Bonhoeffer says our unwillingness to listen
to one another reveals a resistance to God:

“Anyone who thinks that his time is too valuable
to spend keeping quiet will eventually have no time for God
and his brother, but only for himself and for his own follies.”

    Listening is one of the ways we serve others in the Body of Christ.

---

This book is packed with short but deep thoughts on Christian community. Of how it can be done. And of how we all benefit when it’s done well.

It makes me want to reach out more for it.

(And to read Bonhoeffer’s book Life Together.)

* * *

Walker says, “Our communion with Christ should compel us into communion with each other. Not in the lesser sense of communion—when we say that someone communes with nature—but in a deep, unconditional commitment to each other.”

Do you agree? How is your Christian fellowship? How would you like to see it changed?

Thanks to ACU Press for the review copy of this book.

RELATED:

• Book review: Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy
  

A people of the Book?

Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
1 Peter 2:10

It’s not bad to be known as people of the Book.
     But isn’t it better to be known as people of God?

In my younger years, I thought only my religious tribe was a people of the Book. The “walking Bibles.”

     I was wrong.

The more exposed I became to other Christians in other churches, I discovered there were many who diligently studied the Bible. Many who quoted scriptures. Many who believed in God’s Word just as much as I did.

While we didn’t always agree on interpretations, we each held the Bible as our standard.

But there was more we had in common.

     It was Jesus.

The Bible by itself is a story tale unless it’s backed up by the living, breathing Savior written about in its pages.

As I’ve tried to focus on main things this Lent, I keep returning to this main truth: It’s Jesus.

• It’s not church
• It’s not perfect doctrine
• It’s not even the Bible

Those are good things, important things, but they’re about more...about Jesus. He’s the point. He’s the center. He’s who I want to be identified with.

While I will continue studying my Bible—it teaches me truths about Jesus!—I don’t want my identity to stop there.

     I want to be known for who I worship: the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

I won’t stop with the written word; I can’t have a relationship with a book.
The written word leads me to the Living Word. He’s the One who can love me. And whom I can love back.

A Being, not a book.
A Savior, not a system.
     Jesus. Jesus. Jesus.

You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.
John 5:39-40

* * *

What is your church or denomination most known for?

What about you?

Church, where are we?

Two arrested in the last meth bust. Back page news.
The 20-something-man slits his wrist. He fails to die. 

Lord, I need You, I cry aloud
My heart is low, my head is bowed

The teen girl feels unloved. She awaits 18 to leave it behind.
The mom has a death wish. Her plans are mounting.

Please come find me, I am here
I need to know that You are near

A wife stays jailed in her own home. She can’t leave her man.
The girl says this cut will ease the ache. No pain this time.

The sin is harsh and tries to stay
Kick it off, I plead, I pray

And the church in the city
keeps its doors locked at night and
its hearts busy by day and
its rules binding ever tighter.

Where is the Light?
Where is the Love?
Where is their Jesus?

Who has time for coddling slippery slopes when
souls are ripping and
marriages are breaking and
kids are wondering why mommy cries all the time.

Church, where are we?
Church, where are we?
Church, where are we?

I’m here, I’m here, My grip is strong
My grace is deep, My reach is long

Who will hear Him...
Can they tell another...
Won’t someone shine a Light on the dark?

* * *

When things bubble up, and I can’t catch the overflow, I lay them out in words. Sometimes words only in prayer. Sometimes there and here. Today, both.

What are you trying to say? Katie and Stacey say put your hearts on the page and offer them to the One who gave them to you in the first place. Link up here.

It’s coming...He’s building it

I know it’s coming. Soon. I saw its baby footprints on Sunday.

God is building it. A new community.

As of last Sunday afternoon we are just a disjointed group, looking around to see who else shows up at the information meeting.

But by mid-July, I pray we’ll be a tight-knit ekklesia. The “called-out ones.” A church within the church.

The call is back to El Salvador. I hear it for me. Who else is hearing it, too?

How does God do it—form a community of one to live and love and breathe together—out of a misshapen group of sinners? Over and over? In many places, in many ways?

His call, the pull of koinonia—communion by intimate participation—draws us in. Communion with Him leads to communion with others.

As we scrunch in tighter at the foot of the cross, 
we rub shoulders.

Community can form in many places. Maybe you’ve felt it in a gym every Saturday morning watching your kids play ball. Or with a group of friends sharing weekly coffee together.

But hopefully, you’ve felt it deepest with a church, a gathering of believers with one main thing in common. One Person big enough to push differences aside.

What will our “Mission to El Salvador” community have in common? A love to share Jesus. To show what we’ve seen. To grow and learn and connect with other believers. To help call others into community with Him. 

I can’t explain how God does it, but I know He does—He takes a group of individuals and turns them into a group of one. I pray He creates one out of our many.

And that our many will always look up to our One.

* * *

When have you known community? Where do you have it now?

Why your man might hate church

Male and female participation are roughly equal in Judaism, Buddhism, and Hinduism.

In the Islamic world men are publicly and unashamedly religious—often more so than women.

Of the planet’s great religions, only Christianity has a consistent, worldwide shortage of male practitioners.
     DAVID MURROW, Why Men Hate Going to Church

We’re coming up on one of the three days of male church obligation: Christmas Eve, Easter, and Mother’s Day.

I hope your man doesn’t hate church or feel obligated to go. Let’s get that out of the way.

Why do they hate going?

But just in case he does, here are a few reasons why, according to David Murrow in Why Men Hate Going to Church:

• I don’t have time.
• Church doesn’t work for me.
• It’s boring.
• It’s irrelevant to my life.
• I don’t like the pastor.
• It’s too long.
• They ask for money too much.
• It’s for wimps.
• There are too many hypocrites there. (most popular)

I wasn’t sure this would apply to my church. We appear highly male-oriented to me. Most of our committees are headed by men, filled with men, and executed by men. Almost all our teen and adult classes are taught by men (exceptions are the all-ladies classes). All the major decisions are made solely by men. Only men are allowed to speak up front.

But when I took the Guy Friendly Test, my church ended up ranking much lower than I expected. Why? If I often feel oppressed as a woman, how could we not be guy friendly?

Men don’t like this

Well, we do hold hands across the aisle periodically. We often have a “hug your neighbor” time. We don’t strongly state our mission or use the language of risk or danger or death like Jesus did. We use a “family” metaphor more than a “kingdom” one. Some might say we don’t focus on quality or innovation in our services. We don’t regularly provide “men projects” (compared to opportunities to cook meals for the sick or attend baby showers).  Our services often go long. Our classes are typically geared to the academia-type who delight in exegesis and lectures.

Hmmm.... Have we overly-feminized the church?

Murrow says,

Women are just better at “doing church” than men are, because the rules of church favor women. The natural abilities that help a person become a star in church can be summed up in three words: verbal, studious, and sensitive.

But research proves that churches lacking in strong male leadership are typically not strong churches at all.

Once a church’s adult attendance is 70 percent female, you can write its obituary. …

Men have been less interested in the Christian faith for centuries. Men have had the pulpit; women have had the pews.

What to do

Murrow suggests women do masculine, but men don’t do feminine.

So help your church become more welcoming to men; it will benefit the men and the women. But how, and especially how without hurting the women?

• Consider men’s needs when planning.
• Let men gather without women around.
• Step back and let men lead.
• Do not belittle men or act spiritually superior.
• Stop sending signals that church is just for women.
• Encourage leaders to dream big enough to tap into God’s power.

He also suggests valuing what he labels the “the most important valuable spiritual discipline for today’s men: the discipline of friendship. …  The men who stay faithful to God are those who walk closely with other Christian men.”

What do you think?

I’m not finished processing this yet; I’m not sure what I think.

I’d love to hear from you about your church experiences.
What do the men in your life think about going to church?
Good things, bad things?

* * *

RELATED:

• 7 reasons why I still go to church
• 5 things that make a good church day 
• 3 pieces of advice to a new Christian

Thanks to Book Sneeze for the review copy of this book.

Book review: “The Faith of Leap”

By taking our eyes off the ball, or anxiously focusing on technique, orderly worship, political correctness, or whatever, we not only lose focus, we also miss the point of what it is all about.
     ~ MICHAEL FROST & ALAN HIRSCH, The Faith of Leap

I really like this book.

There is no doubt that to walk with Jesus means to walk on the wilder side of life. Spirituality and discipleship in the Way of Jesus is demanding, but it is also God’s blueprint for an authentic life of wholesome (holy) humanity.

And because I’ve marked so many pages and paragraphs, I can’t adequately summarize it for you.

So I’ll whet your appetite with a short review and a few quotes below, and then invite you to read it yourself. 

The subtitle of The Faith of Leap is “Embracing a theology of risk, adventure & courage.” The authors encourage us to let go of our idol of security and live more courageously for the mission God is calling us to. They don’t go into details on what those missions are—it will vary with each of us—but they do dare us to take the plunge and become who we were made to be.

And to do so in community, or as they refer to it, communitas.

The Bible is written to communities, be it Israel or the church, and it is written to foster community, whether it be the national identity of Israel or the faith community of the church.

Just as there is no such thing as an Israel-less Jew, there is no such things as a churchless Christian (1 Cor. 12:13).…We are never going to be the church that Jesus built if we do not take community seriously.

Have you been a part of a short-term trip or a mission-specific group that transformed into a real community? Didn’t it call you to be more bold for Christ than you ordinarily would? We know that kind of togetherness that restructures relationships into a camaraderie—it comes when we’re living for purposes greater than our own. 

But can the church really maintain such a rich sense of do-or-die mission?

Mission is more and different from recruitment to our brand of religion; it is the alerting people to the universal reign of God through Christ.

Mission is the practical demonstration, whether by speech or by action, of the glorious lordship of Jesus.

We better get this right. And get it right together.

We cannot shake the impression that the church Jesus built was meant to experience this form of togetherness…and lots of it. And not just for the sake of love and fellowship, but because we have a mission that requires it!

Mission propels us out of self-concern to other-concern, from holy huddle to venturing out into God’s world. And mission, encapsulating as it does the purpose of the church, has always been vital to the equation of ecclesia that Jesus intended in the first place.

Our adventure in following Christ is an open-ended journey. There’s no way we can predict where He will take us (and I’m not talking about locations).

Will we view this unknown as a threat or as an opportunity?
Will we stay so preoccupied with safety that we miss our mission?
May it never be so.

On leadership:

Followers want comfort, stability, and solutions from their leaders, but that’s babysitting.

Real leaders ask hard questions and knock people out of their comfort zones and then manage the resulting distress.

On risk aversion:

We remind loss-averse church leaders of what could ultimately be lost if the call to missional adventure is finally rejected or ameliorated....Only love can empower us to overcome our loss aversion.

Jesus tackles our [loss aversion] head-on from the very outset: “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it” (Matt. 16:25). In fact, he repeats this proverbial statement over and over. If we could be freed from our aversion to loss, our whole outlook on risk would change. We would be free indeed.

On replacing fear:

Church plays a critical role in the liminal process of cultivating an adventurous faith to replace our fears.

But, so often it is otherwise; Robert Capon wittily observes that the church, by and large, has had a poor record of encouraging freedom.

She has spent so much time inculcating in us the fear of making mistakes that she has made us like ill-taught piano students: we play our songs, but we never hear them because our main concern is not to make music but to avoid some mistake that will get us into trouble.

On purpose:

There are movements that have emphasized the importance of community. Many of the monastic orders fit into this category.…[But] when the most important thing that matters is being together—when community organizes the other functions—then there is likely to be a very rich sense of relationships between brothers and sisters, but such love would always live in the shadow of the ever-present threat of its becoming the cloying, controlling community-for-its-own-sake.

The Christian community is meant to exist for more than itself.

As William Temple once observed, the church is the only society in the world that exists for the benefit of the nonmembers. We forget this to our peril.

On adventure:

The church, the redeemed people who follow Jesus the great Adventurer, archetypal Hero, apocalyptic Rider, and courageous Savior, ought to be a place where there is great adventure and the risk of faith and mission—for to love God is to become like him.

If this is not the case, we have good cause to question whether we have truly encountered Jesus and are worshiping the right God.

Christianity is an adventure of the spirit or it is not Christianity. We must repent of our obsession with safety and security and do the task that only we as Jesus’s people can do.

* * *

“tinuviel” is the winner of the book give-away!
Congratulations!

My thanks to Baker Books for the free copy.

Avoid burnout: Introduce uncertainty

Burnout sets in when two conditions prevail:
Certainties start to characterize the workday,
and demands of the job make workers lose a sense of control.
~ ELLEN LANGER, Mindfulness

It’s another Sunday morning.

• Get up at the same time
• Park in the same spot at church
• Sit in the same seats for worship
• Talk to the same friends
• Sing the same songs
• Hear a sermon from the same chapter
• Eat lunch at the same restaurant

Routine is good. Structure is good. “Decently and in order” is good.

But when it’s no longer Spirit-breathed, it can also be boring.

Introduce uncertainty.
Not as a psychological trick, but as an act of faith. God is not boring. Neither should our worship of Him be.

When we plan room for spontaneity or the non-routine, then worship and relationship and gratitude might awaken and grow.

Even though it’s a little risky (wonder what the new guy will say?) or it might fail the first time (so the new song flopped) or it might make us a tad uncomfortable (what’s next?), it can be healthy. It can be God-glorifying.

Structure doesn’t have to equal rigidity.
Plans shouldn’t rule out inspiration.

If an organization is characterized by rigid rules,
problems that arise feel insurmountable
because creative problem-solving seems too risky.
When bureaucratic work settings are of
the “we’ve always done it this way” mentality,
burnout is no stranger.

We don’t have to be afraid of uncertainty. Even though it seems a little adventurous. So is our God. Be open to options. Play with ideas. Encourage questions. Look for better ways to honor the Father.

If your church has been operating the same way for years and years, it may be time to ask yourself why.

The Word never changes. God never changes.

But He wants the Word to change us.

Do our gatherings reflect that desire and that actuality? Are we growing in love for the Lord and in love for others (Mark 12:29-31)?

If so, maintain.
If not, then what?

* * * 

We’re discussing chapter 8—Mindfulness on the Job—of Langer’s book Mindfulness today at The High Calling. Please join us.

I hear voices

All God's creatures got a place in the choir
Some sing low and some sing higher
Some just hang out like a bird on a wire
Waiting to fly home

All God's children are the apple of his eye
Even the ones we can't stand sometimes
But we're coming together just to go outside
And I need something to sing with this neighbor of mine
    ~ MATT MAHER
         “Look like a Fool”

    And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them...” 
    And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.
Acts 4:24, 31

she slips in quietly
the singing has already begun
she scoots in by her long-time friend

our voices blend...well...as well as they will
soprano and alto and tenor and bass
sounding lyrics of love

‘til a single voice speaks up
for her friend—our friend
her words too heavy to carry alone

we listen of need
for healing
from soul pain

this calls for another voice
to appeal, to pray
we whisper agreement in hearts

the singing resumes
songs of God’s arms
never letting go in calm or storm

i hear their voices
i hear my own
i hear His—over and in and around us

the voices shake the place we’re gathered
they fill the room with Holy breaths
they declare the Word with boldness

the singing stops
we file away one by one
but I still hear voices.

The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.
Zephaniah 3:17

The LORD, Our God, is with you
He is mighty to save
The LORD will take great delight in you
He will quiet you with His love

He will rejoice over you
He will rejoice over you
If you could only hear His voice
You would hear the LORD rejoice
Rejoicing over you with singing
    ~ SCOTT WESLEY BROWN, DAVID HAMPTON
         He Will Rejoice over You

* * *

RELATED:

• Mute
• What is God singing?
• He sings over His children

5 things that make it a good day at church

I attended three different churches (including my own) in the last seven days while we were in and out of town.

I was encouraged by each, yet all three were different.

Was it common factors that made them all uplifting?

Or did they each bring something unique?

Here are five things I noticed:

1. Look up
Each church had this in common: God was mentioned. A lot. He wasn’t just another visitor on the pew, but was the focal reason for the gatherings. He is the point, after all.

2. Open Bible
The Word was prevalent in all three churches too. Not just through readings (although there were several), but through songs, through applications, through individual stories.

3. Sing out
Each also shared this: praise was hearty. Songs were sung to the Lord, about him, for him. With truth and with feeling.

4. Pray/talk together
If I don’t connect with someone while I’m there (other than God, of course), I walk away feeling a little empty.

Church # 1 had 10 minutes in the middle of their service for individual praying, either with leaders spread throughout the auditorium or for praying with your neighbor on the pew. It was nice for Jeff and I to have our own prayer time in the midst of the larger congregation.

Church # 2 offered two questions to consider among each other as we broke bread together for the Lord’s Supper. I treasured the conversation time because my heart was heavy with the sermon message and I wanted to talk it over right then with Jeff instead of having to wait until we were back in the car (I probably would have forgotten by then!).

Church # 3 provided this time in classes. In the class I attended, we each shared strengths and weaknesses in our faiths, then read Moses’ words encouraging Joshua, then prayed. 

5. Act later
I need this push: Now go spread God’s love outside of church.

Church # 2 made the most visible effort to activate others to become like Jesus, including manned tables in their lobby with suggestions of ways to get involved. One goal the night we visited was to get 40 children sponsored through Compassion International.

This list of 5 is certainly NOT all-inclusive. Each church has its own ways of applying scripture to their gatherings, loving the Lord, and building others up to love him and love each other.

What is something encouraging that YOUR church does?

Please share in the comments.

* * *

Odds and ends--39

Interesting things I’ve been reading around the web:

1. Are you frustrated with your local church?
I’m deep into Bonhoeffer these days, so this quote from Deitrich Bonhoeffer on Desiring God blog about not being an accuser of your church really got to me.

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2. The newest U.S. mission field...women???
Is the church losing the ladies? Interesting statistics from a new Barna study. 

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3. How formal do you like your worship service? Carl Trueman offers an interesting perspective about formal liturgies.

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4. The Myth of Mutual Submission
I read the chapter referenced, but I’m not sure what I think about it yet. You can see what you think.

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5. A litmus test of whether you believe the gospel:
“If you want to know whether you love religion or whether you love the gospel, check and see how angry you are at God.” Read the rest here.

* * *

Why go to church?

Is Jesus Christ real to me?

I am not asking whether you know things about Him but do you know God, are you enjoying God, is God the centre of your life, the soul of your being, the source of your greatest joy?

He is meant to be.
~ MARTYN LLOYD-JONES, Spiritual Depression

I’ve been a church-goer all my life.

• I’ve sat in umpteen Bible classes
• I’ve listened to thousands of sermons
• I’ve sung “Amazing Grace” and “Just as I Am” too many times to count
• I’ve read through the Bible several times and have memory verses hidden in my heart

But so what?

Who really cares?

Because those things aren’t the point.

Those things should lead to the point.

To the God-Man.

To Jesus Christ.

Am I loving him? Am I loving you?

If going to church and sitting in classes and listening to sermons and singing songs and reading your Bible and memorizing scripture isn’t centered around the highest goal—knowing God and glorifying him through loving him and loving others—um, aren’t you missing something?

Like, the main thing?

* * *

If you’re going to church this week (and do go!), why?
At least think about it.

RELATED:

• 7 reasons I still go to church

When church leaves you dry

   O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
   ~ PSALM 63:1-2

Sometimes church leaves me dry.

Not Jesus, mind you, but rather the way we’ve set up our gatherings.
Those weekly, regular times.

If we’re not diligent, they can become rote.

And in some tribes they can be so full of intellectualism and/or routine that they leave little room for the heart of community to thrive.

Address the head only,
and the blood doesn’t travel to all parts of you
that need the life it delivers.

But address the heart only,
and you’ll lack the truth base needed
for wise decisions and godly thinking.

Can’t we engage both head and heart when we gather?

When we don’t, we birth “if only’s”:

• If only we’d sing fewer worn-out songs, we could concentrate more on the words we are singing
• If only they’d let women have a voice of some sort, we’d all be more balanced in our spirituality
• If only we could actually talk to each other during our weekly gatherings, we could build each other up much better
• If only, if only, if only...

Sometimes “if only’s” are necessary to realign our body back to the shape Jesus wants it in.

But other times, no.

Because while we need to occasionally reevaluate the purpose and efficacy of activities in our assemblies, it’s still our my own heart that needs the most work.

And sometimes my very discontent with the assembly reveals that the clearest.

When the weekly gathering leaves me dry,
I need to drink deeper from Jesus in the spaces all around it.
He is there too.

Sharing with brothers and sisters before the assembly is a drink of edification, if I’m intentional about it. And talking afterwards—even praying together as opportunities allow—is another long sip.

I can grow in these white spaces that surround the gathering.

And it’s in those white spaces that my value as a woman can be exercised. I can listen to a burdened sister, or greet a visitor who wanders in, or play with a child who needs a distraction. I can let the Spirit flow through conversations. I can encourage and be encouraged by other believers in Jesus.

I can love and be loved in the white spaces too.

And then when those special times do occur with the assembled church (and they do!)—when the gathering touches both head and heart for the Lord—our worship together is even more meaningful because of the relationships we strengthened in the white spaces.

* * *

Do you ever struggle with the way your church “does church”? How do you handle it?

RELATED:

• 7 reasons why I still go to church
• Where 2 or 3 are gathered
• If you want better fellowship

Sometimes it’s this

Sometimes it’s the place.

• Place: Maple Hill Cemetery

The February afternoon is cool with a breeze. Sunny with clouds in the distance. Pregnant in sorrow with birth pangs of joy.

Nothing brings a seriousness like a graveyard. It’s the ethereal meeting place between the living and the dead. Between believers and doubters. Between hope and despair.

Sometimes it’s the reason.

• Reason: Mrs. Georgine’s funeral

We’re here to call upon the Lord, sing songs of victory. We long to fill the hole. To look death in the face and redeem the loss. To picture the rising.

“I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain”

“…Then I’ll bow down
Lay my crown
At His wounded feet”

Sometimes it’s the people.

• People: Believers I love, who I believe love me

Mostly familiar faces hover round. Minus one, unless you count a photograph from a time I never knew.

I identify every voice in song beside me, behind, in front. Singing clear and steady of a common Love: “I will always sing your praise / Here on earth and ever after / For You’ve shown me heaven’s my true home / When it’s all been said and done / You’re my life when life is gone.”

I catch the eye of soul-friends. We’re one in love with Him. Confident our rich history together will culminate in a far more glorious future. I anticipate the release.

Sometimes, it’s one thing.
That day, it was three things.
Always, it’s God.

Why am I in this place for this reason with these people?
Only God knows.
I know to give thanks.

Look around you.

Where are you right now?
For what reason?
With who?

Is it Lord-ordained? Love-ordained?

For
     this place,
          this reason,
               these people,
can you give thanks, too?

Lord, 
Your will come.
Here...because of Love...through us.

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I continue to count...

# 17....22
~ good goose bumps in cemetery; singing praise over living & dead
~ friends who touch with and without hands
~ incoming kleenex; cough drops for sore throats
~ a marriage of 60 years til death did they part

# 23....27
~ daughter who cleans kitchen without being asked; antihistamine
~ loud birdsongs in roofs of trees; wind harmonizing through limbs
~ Granddad’s hand-me-down grasshopper

# 28....30
~ Clock still counting minutes at 1:52 a.m.
~ God’s company at all hours
~ a husband sleeping soundly no matter the light I’m reading by

* * *

What gifts are you seeing in this place & time?

3 pieces of advice to a new Christian

What advice would you give a new Christian?

Our church has had several believers birthed into Christ lately. We’re passing along advice.

Here’s some advice I’d add to the mix:

(1) Unwrap the gifts
Of course stay on your guard against temptation—sin can still destroy you.

But you’ve received the gift of grace from Jesus Christ!

And it won’t stop. He will keep offering gifts to you that you’ll need on the journey.

Watch for them, unwrap them, and use them.

(2) Wear God’s watch
Forget about your own clock now. God’s timing is different than yours.
Your natural tendency is near-sided, but God takes the eternal perspective.

Grow in understanding that God has everything under control, even time. It will bring you great peace to know things unfold as they’re meant to.

God is never too late; never too early.

(3) Worship everywhere
You now can zero in on a single life goal: glorifying God.

It’s what he designed you to do. Let him know how wonderful he is: to him, to yourself, to others.

In all you do—your career, your relationships, your everyday life—make God look good. In a way that is as distinctive as your fingerprints.

Bring your worship of him to everything, everywhere.

* * *

What else?
What advice would you add for a new believer?