1. The President has correctly stated that these people in NY have a Constitutional right to construct their center as long as they abide by the laws of the land.  This is the same right of any other American religious group.

2.  Not all Muslims in America have declared Jihad or live by the same interpretation of the Qur’an as the terrorist of 9/11 did.  Not all Muslims hate the West or America.  I don’t hate Muslims.

3. But the real reason is my faith in the power of the gospel (good news) of Jesus Christ.  Paul stated that he was not, “ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes”.  In short, I am not threatened or fearful of Islam.  I have a friend from Iran who came from a Muslim faith.  I believe that when the simple elements of Christ are placed alongside the basic tenants of Islam on an equal playing field, Christ will win.  I say that not because Christ followers are better than Muslims.  Rather I say that because Jesus answered the inner cry of our hearts like no one else ever has- how can we have peace with God? Islam says keep the Five Pillars and maybe you’ll get in.  Judaism says keep the Torah and maybe you’ll get enough points.  But Christ came and said that in and of ourselves we are bankrupt, but that he loves us anyway.  We are unable to appease God, but Jesus came and took our brokenness and sin on the cross.  That is where true transformation comes from.  That’s love and power and true change.  That’s why I’m not too hot and bothered by a Mosque two blocks from ground zero.  I’m actually excited about more opportunities to share the love of Christ with those in New York and around the world who don’t know him.

The real answer for NY is not a court battle over property, but for someone to move there, share the love of Christ, and thus plant a living Christ centered community there.  Any takers?  I might be able to get you connected.

As I noted earlier, there exists a counterfeit church today which is quite foreign from the real deal. But there is always an element of the real CHURCH in the world no matter what kind of institution is being propagated. You can read more about the authentic church here in Kingdomology under the CHURCH page. But in short, the Church has nothing to do with buildings or institutions. The authentic Church is more about God’s people called to him. When it comes to people, yes, you are quite right, there are a lot of people who make great claims about being good “Christians” but don’t seem to be any different than the rest of the world other than just being a religious pain in the rear because of self-righteousness. I get that. But here are some other points to consider.

1. Possibly these folks are really not Christians. In other words I can say I’m a Muslim because I go to a mosque. But that doesn’t change who I am on the inside. An apple can say it’s an orange, but that doesn’t make one fruit the other. Pt? Judge a tree by its fruit and not by what it says.

2. Possibly these “Hypocrites” are followers of Christ, but have lost their way. In one sense, everyone is a hypocrite about something. A guy plays pro-ball, but blows it from time to time. Can he still say he’s a pro-ball player or is he a hypocrite?

3. Could be that they are just sadly misguided. They have not been properly taught about what it really means to follow Christ. They took the ‘fire insurance’ but didn’t connect the life change.

4. Just because there are hypocrites out there, that does not mean that God or the CHURCH in its purest sense is wrong. You’ve spoken of loving Texas. There are some real nut jobs from Texas. Does that mean that all Texans are weird?

5. In conclusion, I just want to throw out a challenge to everyone who hates the church. I understand you’ve been jaded and I want to apologize for that. I understand that you’ve been wronged and I’m sorry. I do love people who don’t like the Church and want to be friends with them. But real friendships are two way streets so I just want to ask that everyone consider at least two things to start with.

a. Look to the real church. Consider all the major institutions in the West which exist to help mankind that were actually started by the church and Christ followers long ago. The Red Cross, most hospitals, and the YMCA. Even Harvard was founded for the purpose of better educating itinerant preachers without resources. Do I say it, but the “SALVATION ARMY”? So don’t waste your time on the counterfeits, but look to the source. Look to Jesus alone.

b. Be honest. Critics of the Church have been honest with their gripes and I’m happy and open for that. But I also want to ask that they honestly examine their own hearts as well. In other words, are the arguments people bring up against God really that solid or just a mask for rebellion? I’ve had good friends in the past who have rejected Christ and the Church, but when it all came clean, it was just an issue of choosing to say no to God because they didn’t want to submit to a higher power. In short, they wanted to be Master of their own destiny and didn’t want anyone or any god telling them what to do.

Is there anything else you would add?

In the past, I’ve taken some down time around late December or early January for reflection.  Usually this is a good time to review a spiritual journal from the past year, read through sections of the Bible, and just try to listen for God’s voice. When I’ve done this I’ve found it easier to organize and set out some goals for the upcoming 12 months. This past January I did some additional things which I plan to repeat again for 2010.  The first thing I’ll do is to ask four or five mentors what their advice would be for me in the next year. The second thing will be to work through an expanded list of questions that I got from guy named Bob Roberts who is a preacher, church planter and has been around the block a lot longer than I have. Finally, after a season of praying and reflecting, I’ll then take the major points from God’s Word, lessons learned over the past year, answers from the questions below, and council from trusted advisors to develop a plan to go forward. 

I don’t know about you, but I’ve found that my problem at times is not finding things to do, but being focused enough to really do the right things. We have plenty of business in our society, but not a whole lot of solid direction. So let me challenge you to take some serious down time somewhere over the next few days to be still. Be still before God and ask Him to teach you something from the past and rightly point you to the future. You won’t regret it.

1.  What has God called me to be / do?

2.  Do I know why I’m doing what I’m doing?

3.  What is it that I bring to the table?

4.  What are my greatest strengths?

5.  What are my greatest weaknesses?

6.  How am I organized?

7.  How is my team organized?

 8.  What are two or three things that I could do which would bring an increase this next year?

 9.  What are some of my biggest obstacles and how can they be turned into opportunities? 

 10.  What excites me most?

 11. Do my beliefs match my actions?

 12. What are two or three changes that I could make which would be most pleasing to God?

 Is there anything else you would add?

Repentance is a harsh word for the modern Western world.  While multitudes in our age profess a belief in God and many times even in Jesus, a radical change to actually follow Christ is often absent.  Jesus himself stated that “unless you repent, you too will all perish” (Luke 13:3).  Wow, did he say ‘Perish?”  So it sounds like this is something that we ought to be clear on.  The Theological Dictionary of New Testament Words describes repentance as the changing of the mind or to “adopt another view.”  The modern term also derives from an old Greek Military term used to mean doing an “about face.”  So the picture is of soldiers going one direction and then doing a “repent” and then going another direction.  For our purposes here, the term describes a turning from oneself to Christ.  That’s actually a big point there.  It’s really about who’s boss, us or Christ?

We see this a number of times in Acts where people are called to, or choose themselves to repent and turn from their former ways and follow Christ.  In Acts chapter 2, the convicted crowd asks what they need to do and Peter tells them to repent.  There are places where Jesus tells the crowd to “repent and believe the good news.”  In John 8 a woman is caught in adultery and brought before Jesus.  Everyone knows this is a set up to actually catch Christ, but he steps in to the situation anyway and turns the wrath away from the woman.  Most people stop right there and use this as a proof text for not judging.  But Jesus finishes up the passage by telling the woman to “leave her life of sin.” 

A perfect Biblical illustration of this is found in Acts 19:19 where some folks who came to faith in Christ burnt their sorcery scrolls which were worth about 50 thousand drachmas.  A drachma was a silver coin worth about a days’ wage.  In short, these folks not only had a head knowledge of what it means to come to Christ and be in His Church, but they repented and completely turned from their past sin.  Here again we see a huge missing element in much of the pop Christianity of our day.  The real deal of being a Christ follower and part of His Church is a complete break from the past.  By this I’m not talking about leaving old friends, but old practices of rebellion against God.  That is what repentance is all about.  Some areas of repentance are clear.  If a couple is living together and come to Christ, then they need to abstain sexually before they get married.  That’s cut and dry.  Others are trickier and have to do with individual consciences.  For me, I remember an occasion of personal revival about 20 years ago where I chucked all my Pink Floyd and Classic rock albums because I believed they were standing in the way of a closer walk with Christ.  Either way, to come into the Church of God calls for a change, it calls for repentance.  So there you have it, now the ball’s in your court now.

     But what kind of thoughts and feelings come to mind when you hear the name “Church”?  What does the name really mean anyway?  Words can be confusing or even dangerous when we don’t know what they mean.  Take the word “Tolerance” for an example.  Historically, one of the most widely understood definitions of the word has gone something like, “the capacity for or practice of recognizing and respecting the opinions, practices, or behavior of others.”  In other words, it was the idea that says that while I don’t agree with you on a point, I’m not going to kill you over it.  But today the idea, especially in some parts of the world, conveys not only a ban on violent behavior, but on any form of disagreement at all.  If someone speaks out with an opposing view point on moral, religious, or political issues, they are automatically deemed to be “intolerant” even though they had absolutely no intentions of responding negatively or physically. 

     So having everyone arrive at the same definition or name is a big thing.  When it comes to the Church, most often the name is associated with a building in which religious services take place.  People might say “I’m going to church” or “I got offended the last time I was in church.”  On the positive side others would speak of being at church every week as a very encouraging experience.  By this they associate what goes on at a certain building at 11:00 every Sunday morning with church.  Though there is some truth in that understanding, this thought process in itself could not be further from the truth.  The CHURCH is so much more than that.  Stephen Macchia describes the church as “God’s vehicle for carrying the message of hope to needy people.” (pg. 14)  This idea implies ownership and purpose and that the Church belongs to God and it is to convey His message to others.  A modern theologian named Everett Furgusson states that “the Church may be defined as the people who come under the reign of God and accept his rule in their lives.” (pg. 26)  Making a more complicated definition, (hold on to your seats with this one) an older expert on the early church, Eberhardt Arnold, teaches that the “church is the action of God turned toward humankind, the religious and social manifestation of the Spirit at work on earth.” (pg. 26)  However the church is defined, it is quite clear that the New Testament conveys a church which is quite foreign to modern American or Western thought.  A major striking point is that people are the building blocks to the church rather than a building or program.  Peter easily illustrates this by stating that “you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:4).  In fact, nowhere in the Bible does the word Church refer to a physical building.  So let’s look at exactly what the word itself does mean.

     When considering the specific term of “Church” there are two defining words in particular to consider.  The first is the root of the actual English word Church.  The foundation comes from the old English word cirice, the Scottish word Kirk, and the German designation Kirche.  All of these terms were ultimately derived from the Greek word Kuriakos which means “the Lord’s.”  From this we see the idea of ownership.  That whatever the church is, Jesus owns it rather than humans.  We on the other hand belong to Him and are at His disposal.

     The second and most widely used term is ekklesia.  In essence the word means any assembly of people.  The term is derived from two other words.  The first is ek  meaning “out” and the second is kaleo  which means “to call”.  Thus, the combination of the two terms refers to those who have been called out of something or somewhere.  Originally the word carried no spiritual nature.  Acts 19 is a good illustration of this in that Demetrius initiated a riot and those involved are referred to as the assembly in verse 32.  However, with context and the further use of the word, came to describe the church opposed to other assemblies such as in Ephesians 5:23-25.  So from the combination of these two words the true nature of the church can be seen.  In essence, the church is a group of people who belong to God and are called out from the world.  1 Peter 2:9-12 illustrates the church as being called out from the world to live in a different nature.

     Because the church is “of the Lord” and it has been “called out by the Lord” then the church belongs to the Lord and this then mandates a character that is separate from the world and similar to that of Christ and God.  The church is owned by Christ and thus His words are to be taken seriously by those in the church.  So we cannot legitimately call ourselves the church if we do not take seriously what Christ has spoken in His written Word. Now that certainly conveys a whole lot more than Sunday morning attendance and pot luck suppers.

     “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.

Don Novack.

I had a great time meeting Don Novack this morning.  Don is a church planter in Amarillo and is heavily involved with Christmas in Action.  We talked a lot about faith, churches, and some of the spiritual make up of the area.  I always knew that there was a higher percentage of folks who attend Sunday morning worship services here than in other parts of the US and Europe.  But it was also interesting to see that no matter where you go, you’ll still find folks who claim the name of Christ, but only attend worship gatherings once or twice a year.  Is the whole “going to church” thing just a personal preference, or is there something more to it?

Yes, I know that there are some ultra “religious” people who are at a church building or function every time the door is open yet their inner lives are harnessed with a chain of legalism.  On the other end of the pendulum, there are folks who claim their “freedom” in Christ and only show up for gatherings whenever it “feels” right.  The truth however seems to be someplace in the middle of these two. 

We do see from Hebrews 10:25 that the author exhorts us to, “not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching”  So this whole church attendance thing is something we do need to seriously look at.

One of the things I really loved about the five years we lived in Nor. Cal. was the refreshing sense of freedom in the Christian life.  The Kingdom of God is so much more than a list of do’s and don’ts.  Jesus died for more than that.  But yet we are called to live for others and not ourselves.  So it would seem from Hebrews that if nothing else, one of the reasons why we crawl out of bed on Sunday morning is to encourage others.  Believe me, there have been times in my life that I have not wanted to go to Church because I’ve been exhausted, and I’m a preacher.  But what I’ve found is that when I get there for others, I’m always glad I did and someone else is blessed.  How do you feel about church attendance?  Where are you at on the question?

The kingdom reality is just all over the place when you think about it. So what we find is that Christ came for more than just offering fire insurance, but something totally and completely “new and from above”. (Note John 3:3) A common misunderstanding about the Kingdom is that it is something that will be established when Jesus comes back. But it’s much more than that. I cut my teeth on this truth while taking a preaching class from Mark Scott way back in 91 or 92. The main text that I was looking at was Mark 1:15 where Jesus opened up his ministry with the radical words of,”The time has come . . . The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!” The old King James Version of the text sheds a bit more light in its translating the verse, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.”

The real shot came when I dived into the original language of the verse, (don’t worry, we won’t get too heady here and I’m really not that smart) and noticed that the phrases, “time is fulfilled” and “is at hand” are both in the perfect tense. The point being that Jesus was saying that the long awaited coming of the Kingdom of God was an “event that happened and is continuing to happen.” In other words, the Kingdom of God was inaugurated with Jesus Christ. We can live in it now as kingdom citizens. Yes the final reward will be when we move on from this side of eternity into its fulfillment. But the Kingdom is also a present reality. This is seen by Christ the King ruling in the lives of His citizens today. This is also seen in His providential sovereignty around the world today. So in the pages and blog of Kingdomolgy, we’ll be exploring and discussing what it means to really live as Kingdom Citizens now. What about you? How are you living out the Kingdom in your world today? Are there areas where you struggle in this area?