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.

“To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his steps.” 1 Peter 2:21

Oswald Chambers

     “Do you suffer on account of somebody else or for somebody else? In your agonizing prayers before the Lord on behalf of what you consider a “distressing situation,” are you longing for release because the “distressing situation” hurts and discomforts you? If so, you are not having fellowship with His suffering. But if your soul, out of love, longs and bears in a voluntary and vicarious way for others, then you are having fellowship with Jesus in His sufferings.
     When your Christian work seemingly is in ruins and you wail before God, is it because the work of your hands is in ruins? Are you tempted to say, “I thought this was to be my life work; now it is broken and blighted and shattered”? If so, you do not know what fellowship with HIS sufferings means. But when you see people defiling the work of God, making HIS house of worship a place for worldly business for the engendering of false affections and pursuits (I would also add a crying out for those perishing without knowing the love of Christ) and you agonize before the Lord with tears, then you are learning to have fellowship with our Lord in HIS sufferings.”

Oswald Chambers
Author of
My Utmost for His Highest

I think Chambers was on to something there, as so many times our prayers of anguish have more to do with getting us out of our tense situations than for the good of others. Something to chew on.

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.

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?

Over the next few weeks I’ll spend more time further expanding on the purpose of Kingdomology, but to begin with, I want to explain more about how this blog came about. While on one hand, there is the simple fact that we made a faith move in ministry from our church plant and left our old blog behind. But the root goes deeper than just geography. Part of the drive for this new site and blog actually originated back in January when I took off on a prayer retreat in the coastal mountains near Santa Cruz. The plan for the time there was to review my prayer journal from the previous year, ask some strategic questions, and most importantly, to quietly read through scripture. A big observation came from John 6:29 where Jesus said that the work God requires is to “believe in the one he has sent.” It struck me in a new way that the first call of God is not to some great accomplishment or exploit, but a simple belief in Jesus. As I chewed on that reality among the Sequoia trees a number of other texts came to mind from my reading that week. James 1:5 teaches us that we are to “trust and not doubt.” Luke noted in Acts 14:2 and 19:9 that the Jews who opposed the message of Christ “refused to believe.” It all then occurred to me that in a real sense, belief is actually a choice we all have to make. When it comes to salvation and the changing of citizenship from the world to the Kingdom of Heaven, we have to choose to believe the message of Christ or not.

Just as our citizenship in the Kingdom starts with a choice, we as Christ followers have the daily choice of continuing in that belief or giving in to doubt. Someone much wiser than me once observed that Christians at times live as practical pagans as they trust God for their salvation, but not for their daily bread. The whole revelation brought me to a place of further commitment to God in this area of trust and belief. It called me to whole heartedly believe the things I say I believe. It called me to take ALL of His Word for what it is and rest in His promises. In short, it was a big transition not only in thinking, but in life.

It is that belief that led me to eventually take a dive of faith and move from our church plant in Nor Cal back to Texas where I haven’t lived for 20 years in pursuit of an unexplainable call of God deep within my gut. It was frightening (and still is) to pick up and move even though we didn’t know exactly where we were headed. Our part was just to trust Him. It’s that belief that is actually a core factor in real Kingdom living. One of the foundational parts of the Christian life which is missing so much in America and the West is a daily walk with Christ that radically affects our entire life. It changes our world view, how we interact with others, our careers, our marriages, our churches, and life in general. It’s that kind of life that Kingdomology is setting out to explore and live.

Presently, we’ve set up camp in Amarillo and I’m taking interim jobs as I can. Through prayer we’re waiting to see how God opens this next chapter of our lives. I don’t have all the answers yet, but I do know that the one who does is very active today in the lives of those who whole heartedly pursue Him. What about you? Where are you at in this grand adventure? How is your faith quotient going? Just know that the King of all creation is madly in love with you and He’s got more in store for you than you can possibly imagine. Anyone else ready for a dive?