After our break for Mother’s Day we’re jumping back into our study on “Discovering Authentic Church” this Sunday at the Crossings.  Over the next two weeks we’ll be looking at the two major Churches highlighted in the book of Acts.  The first one is the original Church in Jerusalem that is described primarily in chapters 2:42-47 and 4:32-37.  The second Church in consideration is the Antioch fellowship found in Acts 11:19-30 and 13:1-4.  Both of these Churches leave a lot that we can learn from today.  However, the goal is not to legalistically or mindlessly follow each point in detail, but rather to look and learn from the overall picture of what God did and how they responded to Him in the first century.  As we begin to wind down this series, I really believe that the authenticity of the first century Church really can be a reality in the 21^st century today.  So for everyone who lives in the Northwest Houston area, be sure to grab a friend and come by one of our services.  For everyone; how are you going to “BE CHURCH” this week?  In the mean time, check out this guy whose life was changed by “Discovering Authentic Church.”

I’m not making this up.  Got a tweet today, from Under Armour saying “We have a new sports bra just for you!”  C’mon man!   I’m a little overweight.  OK, more than a little overweight.  But I don’t need no stinkin sports bra!

But it does remind me of some verses.  One is from I Timothy 4:8 “For bodily exercise profits little: but godliness is profitable unto all things….”  OK, that reinforces my sedentary lifestyle.  Let’s try again:  I Corinthians 6:19—“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you…?”  The point evidently is that God made our bodies.  We must certainly not engage in immorality, but rather seek to glorify God in our bodies.

Most of us pastors SIT.  We sit, and work at a desk.  On a computer.  Books open.  Sermons written.  We counsel folks.  Oh, we do go out.  I visit folks in hospital rooms or rest homes.  If I am in a home, I invariably get offered something to eat, maybe sugary to drink.  What we don’t do very often is physical labor.

With our church staff shifting somewhat—I got assigned “Physical Plant Overseer”.  Anything goes wrong with any of our structures—the buck stops on my desk.  We have a seven acre campus with an aging infrastructure.  And that includes fences that separate us from neighbors.  One lady’s fence was about to go down, with a storm coming in.  We in essence own half the fence—the part we have to fix.  So I am out in the back 40, finding a hammer, nails, a board.  Several nails later, several slivers later (in my hand) the job is done.  I’ve exerted some calories.  I feel good that some task was brought at least to a temporary conclusion.

My point is: we need to exercise more!  We need to keep these “Temples” in better shape!  I now have a “coach” through my health insurance.  I have to share goals during our next phone conference.  I have two:  to do some cardio exercise three times a week, and to start keeping the “points plus” program at Weight Watchers.  I pay for WW now—just don’t go to meetings, and up to now, didn’t really track.  Exercise?  Oh yeah, I also pay an annual fee to belong to a gym—I just haven’t been there much.

I’ve gotta do better.  How about you?

Tom,

Have you seen the final installment of the Harry Potter movie empire yet?  I haven’t.  But with it bringing in some $168.6 million on opening weekend it sure is something to talk about.  I wasn’t thinking too much about it until I logged onto Face Book this morning and noticed an interesting post by one of my friends.  He jokingly wondered how many “Christians” who loudly protested the first movie a number of years ago were now in line buying tickets to see how the whole series finished up.  “God Hates Witches” they shouted back in the day.  I remember those days and thought I’d drop a few thoughts on how followers of Christ can better respond to such a phenomena.  Here are some things to start with. 

1. Is rudely protesting a movie really that smart?  I don’t see the first Christians doing that in Acts.  While Jesus told the woman caught in adultery to leave her life of sin, the only folks he whooped up on were the religious Pharisees. Maybe spreading the love of Christ and Kingdom of God would come a lot easier if we just lived the way Christ lived instead of trying to fight his battles for him.

2. On the God “Hates” issue though, we really do need to rethink this. So many times today people look at God as the big sugar daddy up in the sky that is available at our beckon call. But the reality is that God does indeed hate sin and his wrath is heavy on those who oppose and ignore him. Note Ps. 5:5 as a starting place on that one. But that is why God sent Christ. God is Holy; but He is also perfect in love. That was the point of Christ dying on the cross; he took the punishment that we all deserve.

3. So witchcraft is indeed sin. But so is gossip and gluttony which seem to be fine with many Christians.

4. There are real people who practice real witchcraft today. Debi and I have a friend back in Nor Cal who is a “practicing witch”.  We love her as a person and friend. But we don’t excuse the practice. The real deal is not a laughing matter.

5. With our girls who have watched some of the movies and read some of the books, we have explained to them that this is all pretend but that there are real people who are into magical spells. That’s a bad deal.  But we’ve also showed them that God is more powerful than witchcraft.

6. What about “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Chronicles of Narnia“?  The point being that if we make a blanket statement that you can’t read about or watch movies with witches; you have to throw those out as well. Yes, there is a difference between the Chronicles of Narnia and Potter. CS Lewis wrote clearly with Christian allegory in mind. Likewise, one can easily see the Christian influence in Tolkien. I think the reason why some folks get upset with Potter is that it is presented in such a way as to make magic something noble and fine in modern life where as the others are clearly fictional stories in the middle ages.  But we still need to watch those all or nothing statements.

7. So witchcraft is a big deal and the first Christians in Ephesus who came from demon worship treated it that way.  They actually burnt their scrolls which monetarily equaled up to many years of wages. Reff. Acts 19:18-19.  Again, the point being that as followers of Christ we should not personally engage in the practice or even get involved with such things as tarot cards or fortune telling.

8. Over all, it seems like the best option is for everyone to just keep their heads on. Witchcraft is a real deal which is condemned by God. But HP is just a book and adventure movie. I’ve seen a couple of the flicks with my kids. On one side; just some fun, no big deal. On the other hand, without proper education, the HP books can lead some astray. So balance seems to be a big word here. Intelligent conversations, not shouting matches.

What would you add?

Alright, show of hands here.  How many of you actually enjoyed taking history classes in High School?  Yup, that’s probably about right.  History is not the most popular subject with a lot of folks and that’s ok.  On the other hand, I’m one of those wired guys who actually enjoyed the study.  Don’t know, but maybe it’s just because I liked blowing an hour going to the film room at Tascosa High to watch a WWII documentary instead of sitting through Geometry.  But history does have important lessons to teach us in creating a more successful future.  If we take time to examine the good and bad decisions and the lives of those who have gone before us, we can learn from their victories and mistakes.  So it is with the CHURCH.  The first followers of Christ were so much like Jesus that they were actually called “Christians” for the first time in Antioch (Acts 11:26).  But how can that kind of “church” be realized today?  By that I don’t mean the wearing of a term, but actually being and living in such a way that others will see the real Christ and His Kingdom in us.  One of the ways to realize this is to rediscover the ancient church before man made traditions set in.  With that in mind, we’re going to take a few months to periodically examine what the early church looked like from the book of Acts and extra biblical sources written prior to the second or third century.  This was a period prior to the institutionalization of the church.  Writing about this era, Eberhard Arnold remarks that “The original witness of the church must lead us all, though still in very different camps, into the unity and purity of the clear light.”  Yes I know that there are some folks who would chuck this pursuit as being just too impractical for the modern Western thinker.  But I tend to agree with Roland Allen who rightly summed up the issue well in stating that, “In no other work do we set the great masters wholly on one side, and teach the students of today that whatever they may copy, they may not copy them, because they lived in a different age under exceptional circumstances and were endowed with exceptional genius.”  In every other pursuit, we take into consideration what past and ancient leaders have exemplified, so it would stand to reason that we can do so in living out the Kingdom and Church life as well.  Let’s take some time to rethink CHURCH in light of the ancient order of things.  What about you, have there been examples in your Church experience that more resembled western American culture or some other custom above simple Christian spirituality?

Well it’s obvious that I’m nuts about following Jesus and wouldn’t have it any other way.  As for me, I arrived at my convictions about Jesus not because I simply grew up that way kind of like a cultural thing, but because of a point in time where I was presented with the clear evidence of Christ, and then chose to accept it and follow him.  But that does not mean that I think I’m any better than anyone else or even those who have chosen not to accept Christ or his teaching.  In fact, there are times when I prefer to hang out with those who would consider themselves “outside” of the Church and even joke about themselves as being “pagans” or something like that.  They’re at least honest in the sense that they’re not trying to fool anyone by being more spiritual than the rest of humanity.  This is one of the many things I liked about living in CA.  There are a lot of folks who grew up in my home state of Texas who know how to play the religious church game really well.  They know the right “churchy” answers, dress and drink yet there is no real inner change in their lives.  But back in CA, most people didn’t play those kinds of games and you knew exactly where they stood.  They would just come out and tell you to your face.  But on the other hand, my heart aches a lot for my friends who don’t want to go to church or have a serious relationship with Jesus.  They feel that way because they’ve been jaded by a false, counterfeit kind of Christianity.  That’s why many times in discussions I try to clarify whether were talking about a man made religious institution or the authentic CHURCH and real Christian spirituality.  Those are really two totally different things.

Anyway, I got a quick response from one of my cousins in Dallas the other day to one of my recent posts on FACEBOOK.  The content dealt with an upcoming sermon title I was about to preach and her comment really illustrates a need for discussion on what the real deal of Christian faith is all about.  With her permission, I’ve put those posts below and will make some more comments as you’ve had a chance to think about the issues yourself.  Please feel free to add any comments or questions you might have, but just remember to be respectful of all parties no matter what side of the discussion you fall on.  Thanks and enjoy. 

(My Face book Post)

Discovering the Mystery of the CHURCH; Part III. It’s all about who? (No, not THE WHO)

(Bonnie)

Shoot, I like “The Who” better than church…

(me)

LOVE IT! But unfortunately, what you hate is the Counterfeit church. It’s the real CHURCH that rocks. Hey maybe you can shoot me everything that you think stinks about the church and we can blog about it. I’ve got a whole section at kingdomology.org on the authentic CHURCH, though it’s been a while since I’ve added to it. Hmm sounds like a time to dialogue. So go ahead Bonnie, throw it all at me, I want to hear it all.

(Bonnie)

I taught my kids from a very early age what a hypocrite is. That’s what I would be if I went to church. I’m tired of hearing about good Christian values and then see how these people are outside of church. Uh, it’s not for me. I am what you see (metaphorically speaking), like it or not. I took a great class on the Old Testament. It was taught by the minister that married Jeff and me. I loved it because to me it was like a history class. Jeff and the kids go to church. It’s nondenominational. Jeff has a very deep seeded faith and I respect that. Just as he respects my heathenism. I hope this explains something about me:).

(Bonnie)

I believe there is something out there bigger than us but not necessarily called/named God. I believe that if we lead a good life and teach our children from an early age to be good productive citizens then they will carry on our legacy. I don’t need to believe in something I can’t see or a God that was not nice in the Old Testament. I don’t need to prove my love for “Him” in order to be a good person.

I got an interesting email from one of our readers a few days ago that I wanted to throw out for discussion.  Stan, who works through his own site at Atheism-Analyzed posed the question of how we as Kingdom Citizens are to engage in the political systems that we live in here on this side of eternity.  I’ll paste his question below, give a couple of responses myself, and then turn it over to you to think about and then respond back to if you like.  Here you go . . .

     “Jesus did not take any action (that I am aware of) toward changing local political structures, as onerous as they were in his day. So what is the responsibility of Christian residents of the Kingdom, when the American part of the kingdom is in danger of becoming totally controlled by non-Christians, in fact antagonists of Christianity? Are we to fight it, girded with biblical armor, as “Christian Soldiers”? Or are we to focus totally on evangelizing, ignoring the political power gains of the enemies of religion, as Jesus did?” 

 Well Stan, you’ve asked a question that has been on the table for a long time for a lot of folks.  I have even wrestled with it myself.  It’s a good question and especially relevant in America where citizens have the ability to run for office if they choose to which is different for other Christ followers who live in places like Saudi Arabia.  If you’re looking for some biographies of folks who have lived this, you might check out Dietrich Bonhoeffer who is one of my heroes.  Bonhoeffer had to grapple with these issues while working through his faith in Nazi Germany.  While I believe he was a serious and committed Christ follower, I also believe he went too far in the wrong direction by being involved in a plot to assassinate Hitler.

But here are a few pointers to start with:

1. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are called to submit to the governing authorities unless we are directly commanded to disobey God.  Note:  Romans 13:1-7, Titus 3:1, 1 Peter 2:13-15.
2. We are to pray for those in authority.  1 Timothy 2:1-4
3. We are to seek God’s Kingdom first in all we do, which is really hard for patriotic Americans. (or Texans)
4. We have freedom in Christ to run for office or not.  We live by Faith and if our conscience compels us to directly get involved in the political system, then we must do so with the utmost of ethic.
5. We must not judge fellow believers on how they chose to fall on the issue.  We all answer to Christ as the judge.
6. We need to understand that ultimately, only a changed human heart will last and not political systems.