What is Church?: EKKLESIA (Greek) and QAHAL (Hebrew)

(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5) (Part 6) (Part 7) (Part 8)This is Part 9

Christ’ Passion for the Church (10.3 mb, 21 min 56 sec)

As Jesus was nailed to that cross and the sins of man were placed on Him, He willingly accepted it. Because…….of his great love.

And then for a time He separated Himself from the Father, so that men would never have to be separated. But death would not hold Him. He rose again, and He returned to His father’s side.

But before He did, He gave His follower’s his message of hope, so that they could share with the world what He had done. And thus, the church was born.

The church, a group of people who had accepted the creator’s forgiveness. A group of people who would be placed upon a rock, and the gates of Hell would not prevail against them. They would be his light. And they would pursue the world with His message of hope, of forgiveness and of love.

I believe that we cannot be Christians alone. We must function with others, in community. We cannot fulfill our mission in life separated from the church or “Ekklesia”……communities of Christ followers. We must be close enough to others to exercise our gifts by loving and serving them. We must he united by a shared commitment not only to Jesus but also to one another.

Direct download: 20070401-Christ-Passion-JAN.mp3

Matthew 25:37-45   What is rich?

Last night upon arriving at Grace and Grits (an opportunity we have each Wednesday to live out Matthew 27:37-46 in a real way), I was told that my friend Donna was in the hospital.

First, let me give you a little background information. I have known Donna and her husband Pat for a little over a year. Donna is a small, frail little lady that is fraught with medical problems and her husband is a big, burley man with a huge smile. They live in a tiny little garage apartment here in Sanford and walk the mile or so to get to Grace and Grits each week for a free meal and the fellowship we all share there. They have very little. I was told by my homeless friend, Bill, that he has known them for over 15 years and that Pat used to be a workhorse of a man, though in recent years he has put on allot of weight and is also fraught with health problems. Last night after Grace and Grits Bill and Pat and I loaded up my truck with all my equipment and took off for the hospital to see Donna. Pat was there the night before (the night she arrived) until 2:30 in the morning and walked home (around 5 miles). When we got to the hospital, Bill stayed with the truck (so no one would steal my guitars and stuff) and Pat and I went on in. When we arrived to the room, Donna beamed ……though she had a stroke the night before……this is the reason for her stay. She lay there in bed, thin and frail…..

Pat pulled out a cookie (with a big green smiley face on it) that he had been given at Grace and Grits, told her about all the people praying for her and then we prayed together with her at her bedside. Donna looked up with tears in her eyes as if looking at God in the ceiling and with passion said, “You are so good to me! You are so good to me! I am so blessed! Why God, why are you so good to me?”. With this she looked back down, smiled and her eyes connected with Pat’s, “I love you! I really love you!”. Pat told her that he loved her also, and Donna reached over and grabbed a napkin that was all wrapped around a big piece of leftover ham and two small hospital containers of orange juice. She told Pat that she had saved them for him and he beamed!

These two beautiful people in God’s eyes………have so very little…..but they have each other…..they are rich, beyond measure! Most people, when they see Pat and Donna, shrink back a little because they look homeless, a patchwork of tough times and street grit………but when God sees them……He see’s two hearts that love Him, that love each other and with what little they have…..love others. They are rich beyond measure! I am richer for knowing Donna and Pat!

I am reminded of two verses that help keep me grounded in the ways of God, in what is important in life:

Proverbs 13:7
One man pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth.

1 Timothy 6:17-19
17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19 In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

What do you think?

RANDOM THOUGHTS: Respecting the image of God in others….protecting the image of God in ourselves.

I am reading a book…..which I will divulge the title of later….. ( ) ……but, meanwhile, I want to share these thoughts from it’s pages…. as it has really been on my mind lately:

How we treat God’s creation (people, our world…everything), reflects how we feel about the creator…..God. When we mistreat, objectify, neglect people, or treat them less than human….these actions are against God. A church exist to be a display of this “new” humanity…..a community of people who honor and respect the poor and rich,…..educated and uneducated…..Jew and Gentile…..black and white….old and young…powerful and helpless……as fully human, created in the image of God.

When we respect the image of God in others…we protect the image of God in us. When Jesus speaks of loving our neighbor, it isn’t just for our neighbor’s sake. If we don’t love  our neighbor….something happens to us.

And in trying to protect the image of God in them, we just might be protecting the image of God in ourselves in the process. Because with every decision, gesture, comment, action, and attitude….we’re inviting heaven or hell to earth.

If anyone would like to take a stab at the name of the book or author… feel free

What are your thoughts?

SHORT VACATION

I appreciate each and every one of you that visit LaleoCafe  I will be taking a short vacation from posting (apx 30 days). I am working 10-12 hour days plus ministry at night. Soon, I will be back to posting on a regular schedule. God bless you all!

What is Church?
Big ‘C’ focused, Missional

(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5) (Part 6) (Part 7) This is Part 8

One of the hardest things I sometimes find to articulate is being a part of something that is “bigger than ourselves” (because GOD and His kingdom is certainly so much “bigger than ourselves”. Church is a community of people that are outward focused, concerned with the “Big C”. I like to call this “kingdom focused”. I believe that “church” is simply a small community of followers and believers that are a part of, and make discisions, based on God’s larger kingdom rather than simply our “small community”. I believe deeply that God will take care of the little “c” if we stay focused on the big “C”. Thank you “School of Fish“, thank you “Imago Coffee“, thank you Jason Rewis, thank you Andrea and Dave at SCPC, and thank you “BaldWorshipLeader“. (Big ‘C’ focused, missional)

What are some examples of “kingdom/big “C” church focused and what are some examples of not being “kingdom/big “C” church focused?

Please, please……tell me what you think….

What is Church?
Discipling, Christ Centered

(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5) (Part 6) This is Part 7

Church is a community of people that encourage and teach each other the ways and the wisdom of Jesus, indeed…God. Not out of a “legalistic belief”….but out of the joy of obedience, truth, fullfillment and love. A community where the pastors and leaders equip people for the mission and to serve one another.(discipling, Christ centered)

First, I would point out that when leaders are mentioned……..that can easily include you! However, it is important to note that God wired some people as leaders and some as followers. So, it’s certainly okay to be a follower. Keep in mind also that many followers become leaders. A good follower needs a good leader and good leaders need good followers. They both work together hand in hand.

If we are a community of Christ followers……we’re a community of believers by default…..because everything we do should be centered on Jesus. We are people who are passionately dependent upon God in worship and prayer all week long.

This community comes together weekly as a body to Praise and Worship God and to teach and encourage each other and….to get refuled….to then go out and simply “live” ministry through our interactions with others in daily life. Then they go on throughout the week in home churches and Bible studies, and groups of people doing “like” things….living the Truth.

A church is a gathering of people who immerse themselves in the ways of God…….to worship and love the Most Holy……..to pray…….. to celebrate what Jesus is doing in their lives and their world so that they can LEAVE………yes…I believe that we come to church so that we can LEAVE……so that we can GO OUT and meet people where they are, so that we can GO OUT and share our lives with others, thereby sharing what we hold most dear, our relationship with Christ, with others. 

How can we better disciple people, teach them the ways of Jesus?

How can we better foster the encouragement of others in the ways of Jesus?

How can we do this with out being “legalistic”?

Please, please……tell me what you think….

What is Church?
Ecumenical- A Community of Diverse People

(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5) This is Part 6

Church is a community of people…a community of diverse people…and this diversity is celebrated….because God so obviously celebrates this diversity….look at us…we’re all different and special. (ecumenical)

This is so hard for some people to wrap their thoughts around. It is a part of our human and fallen condition to want to be around people that think like us and are like us. While, to some degree, I agree that we should be around people that we share attributes with…it is SOOOOOO important to understand and celebrate the diversity of God’s people. Spiritually, some are more pious than others, some are really “rough around the edges”, some are loud, some are meek, some are struggling, some have overcome struggle, some are teachers, all are students. I often sit in amazement when I hear one denomination bash another (and yes, I have been guilty of it! Though I am usually bashing the close mindedness not the beliefs)…or one group of people pass judgment on another (as in racism), or one group of believers that sit in judgment of other believers….we are all God’s children. What part of that do we not understand?

What we call churches, small communities of followers and believers in Christ……are simply communities of people with some shared threads in life. I believe that it is not until we can respect the diversity of other communities of followers that we can truly be the the “Church” that God wants us to be.

On a more personal level, I would like to take this a step further: Why can I not allow my Jewish friend or Muslim friend ownership of his/her beliefs? Why MUST he/she believe as I believe? Is this relativism? No….it is simply loving my neighbor as myself. Am I “condoning” their beliefs by not hating them or adamantly rebuking them? No, I am man enough to take ownership of my beliefs. I cannot even begin to dialog and share my beliefs if I am not willing to listen to theirs.

Many will disagree with me here. That is okay. I would like to offer additionally that it takes strength, not weakness to take ownership of your beliefs and thoughts while humbly listening to others and not needing to be self affirmed by only being around those who agree with you. I don’t know if that makes sense. I believe that some folk are inside unsure of themselves (and may not even know it) and so they have to present this “sure” front. I also believe that some folks need to save the world, blindly not realizing that God is in control and is the only one that can save the world.

Please, please……tell me what you think….

What is Church?
Engaging and Authentic

(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) This is Part 5

Church is a community of people in dialog with each other about Jesus, about God, about the Bible, about life. Dialogs are conversations that are open…not closed. (engaging and authentic)

Jesus was a Hebrew, a Jewish Rabbi. The Scripture makes this very clear. It is not a fact that we can change….for…..it is a fact. One of the differences between Hebrew view of Scripture and Greek view of Scripture is that in the Greek way of thinking, which is what our culture by-in-large subscribes to, it is all about having the answers. It is all about having “figured it out”. Truth, in this way of thinking is static. In the Hebrew way of thinking, the way that Jesus thought, it is all about the questions, it is all about the contemplation. It is all about trying to understand….not having the answer…but seeking always. I will add that this is NOT relativism, and I am NOT describing the thought that each person has their own truth, that truth is relative. I am describing a seeking heart, a heart on a journey for truth.

It is impossible to dialog when both sides “have the answer”. We can easily find people who share our “answers”, but the true test of a man (or woman) is to be able to listen, to look at opposing thoughts, to allow the Holy Spirit to work in that. To seek the truth and wisdom of God……and never have the defining answer. Why, because Scripture is alive when read by God’s people.

When was the last time you talked about your anger and you contemplated with your friends what Jesus taught about the subject in your dialog? When was the last time you discussed God’s Words and you allowed the other person to present their thoughts while you presented yours…and there was no anger? True, someone may say things that you feel are outrageous and that you do not believe. But, by listening, by allowing them their belief, and by their then listening to yours…..there is room for growth and God can be in command of the conversation rather than us.

Indeed, just like Jesus and the ancient rabbi’s of His time, they discussed Scripture, not just listened to one man’s interpretation of Scripture. God’s Words are alive, He wants us to seek, He wants us to contemplate, He wants us to discover. None of this can be accomplished if we already know the answers. Or rather, I should say that none of this can be accomplished if our hearts are so hardened as to not allow others ownership of their thoughts, their journey, their understanding.

Contemplate the story of Jesus as a twelve year old boy in the temple…. the broader context of this story is found in Luke 2: 41-52 (ESV). We will look closely at verses 46, 47 and 52:

46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.

52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.

Note that Jesus asked questions…and note that Jesus, at tweleve years old, also shared His understanding with the rabbi’s and others in the temple.

Please, please……tell me what you think….

What is Church?
Authentic and Organic

(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) This is Part 4

Church is a community of followers and believers that looks from the outside like the people on the inside (not like some other church or program somewhere else). (authentic, organic)

What makes a church, a community of followers and believers “organic” and “authentic”?

What areas of the church can reflect this principal? How can this principal be applied to these areas or other areas?
     — Teaching?
     — Ministries?
     — Outreach?
     — Missions?
     — Other areas?

Do you believe a church should strive to be “organic” and “authentic”?

Please, please……tell me what you think….

What is Church?

(Part 1) (Part 2) This is Part 3

My friend Jim Smallish (Jimmish), commented the following: “I agree that the Church is a diverse group of many individuals at different stages in their growth in Christ, each with unique gift(s). It is also (or, certainly should be), a refuge or haven for the hurting , wounded, blind, deaf and lame; both literally and spiritually. The tricky part often comes in having a church with a solid core of Godly, Christ-centered direction which embraces even the “most foul sinner”, while retaining its strength, purity and direction. I have seen open Christian institutions set badly off course when the influence of those “taken in” was allowed to redirect the whole.”

This raises such a relevant question:

How do we have a church with a solid core of Godly, Christ-centered direction which embraces even the “most foul sinner”, while retaining its strength, purity and direction?

Please feel free to share your stories that touch on this topic.

I would note that the discussion is ongoing on these topics in what has started to become a series in itself.
Please feel free to continue to comment and add to the discussion here as well:
(Part 1) What is Church?
(Part 2) If we were to want to be a “kingdom focused” church…..what would it look like?

Again, thank you all for joining in this discussion God bless each of you for your hearts and love for our Lord!