Child like

I brought a friend of mine to the IHOP (International House of Prayer) service this past Sunday for his first visit and as we where leaving his 2 year old daughter in her class there was another 2 to 3 year old boy sitting on the floor crying his heart out. He was inconsolably, no one could get him to stop crying, he wanted his parents, he was unable to function without them near by him. He refused to be consoled, to participate with the other children, to even play, to be function in life until he was back in the presents of his parents.

When we returned to the sanctuary I though about that little boy and it came to me that perhaps that is part of what Jesus meant when He said we must become like little children to enter the Kingdom of God. That just like that little boy we to are inconsolable, unable, and unwilling to function when we are not in the presents of God. That if any time during the day we brake off communion with God, move out of His presents. Allow anything to come between us and God that we to become so upset that we like that little boy must fall to our knees and cry until we are back in His presents. That we to refuse to be comforted by any other thing in this world or any other person, that only our Fathers presents will satisfy us. Only when we are back in His present will we return to participating in life, because we dare not do so without Him, without being in His loving presents, with out His protecting presents with us. Only them do we feel safe to be in this world.

Maybe that is why Jesus said only children really understand how to enter the Kingdom of God, how to be a child of God. Can you function in life with out the presents of God, in constant communing with Him? Do you even aware if you are in His presents or not? Are you unwilling to go even 5 minutes in your day with out His presents, in communion with Him? Or do other things satisfy you so much that you don’t even notice if you are in Him or not, or that you don’t even need Him really to function in your daily life? These are question I well ask myself, I seek to become like that little boy, that I must be in the presents of my heavenly Father to live my daily life or I too will stop everything and cry out for Him and will not go on until I am back in communion with Him, walking in His very presents.

What does you life say Christianity is?

People look at the lives of Christians and say, “So that is what it means to be a Christian.”

So what is your life saying to them what it means to be a Christian?

People look and say “So that is what Christianity is all bout.”

So how does your life define the meaning and purpose of Christianity as being?

People look at your life and say “So that is who Jesus was and what His life was all about.”

So who does you life say Jesus is and what His life was bout?

Isyour life about God’s mission on earth, liberating others from Sin, Gospel Proclamation, about the redemption of the world? Is it about compassion and mercy? Is it about Liberating others from Suffering, Gospel Incarnations therefore you are passionate about the poor, naked, orphan, widow, the hungry and the oppressed? You spend you time, money and life for these things.

Or is it about materialism, worldly things, your career, and bigger house, getting ahead in the corporate world. About self, me, mine and more for me. Does being Christina just mean you don’t cuss, dance, drink, smoke see movies and sleep around and go to “church” get entertained for an hour and put your Christian county club dues in the offering basket. That you don’t get around sinners, prostitutes, drug users, people with AIDS or drunkards. After all Jesus never did anything like that, God wants nothing to do with those kind of people right. Your prayer is all about your and what you want for your self to live a comfortable, rich and happy life. Church is there to server you and take care of any perceived needs you have.

Is that what you life is tell people that Jesus was about, that is why He came and died. That your life models God’s mission here on earth, what the Gospel is all bout? After all Christians are told to imitate the life of Christ, Christian means, to be Christ like, therefore you life tells everyone looking at you what Jesus lived like, His purpose, what His death was for, what things God is concerned about, His mission, and what it means to become a Christian, what Christians live for and their mission in life. So what is it saying?

What part of Go don’t you understand?

Jesus said, “Go into all the world” Go; verb Inflected Form(s): went; gone. 1: to move on a course. 2: to move out of or away from a place expressed or implied: LEAVE, DEPART. 3: to begin an action or motion. 4: to proceed without delay.

So with a dictionary at every Christians reach how is it they do not understand Go. Go means Go, depart, leave for a location other than the one you are in. Christians, the Church where told to Go, not stay, not build buildings, entertainment centers and Sit and wait for the world to come to you. But rather Go to them. So why is it the American just sits and waits, why does the church operate as if Jesus said, Sit on you duff and wait for the world to come to you, why is it the only go they do is going to a building, go to a lazy boy chair and sit and wait for the world to come to it?

I have heard people say that only applied to the disciples, or that only applies to those call to “missions”. And they are right, a true Christian is a disciple, that is the only kind of biblical Christian there is, one who is a disciple of Christ. And yes it does apply to only those called to be “missionaries”, but every disciple of Christ, i.e. Christian is called to be a missionary, because ever disciple of Christ is called to Go. Every true Christian is called to be missional, live missionally, be missionally.

And Go does not mean only over sees, to a different country, it doses include those. It mean Go, Go to every place, work, the store, your neighbors house, Wal Mart, the park your school. It means Go every where and everywhere you Go, preach the Gospel, take the Gospel, take Jesus us, Go for Jesus.

So I guess by peoples own admission it is safe to say that churches are not full of Christians, because they are not called to Go but rather to sit and be entertained in a country club, because by their own words only disciple of Jesus are called to Go, and biblically all Christians are disciple of Jesus and are called to Go by Jesus, then they are saying they are not Christians by their own words. Right.

Other wise what part of Go don’t they understand?

Being Missional: What's the Difference?

Some may think that the missional conversation is just a lot of talk, just a new way of saying the same thing about evangelism. Causing many to wonder if the difference between being missional and being evangelistic is just a matter of semantics. The biggest difference of a missional church is seen in the ongoing work of the leaders of the to continuously keep the church rooted in its purpose to take the gospel to the world. The Church and Christian have for too long lost sight of their personal responsibility to share the gospel with the world. For example, church is typically defined in one of several ways:

"Church as a place: For many people, church is a place you go. It is a facility, a campus or a building. The common phrase, “I’m going to church” summarizes this view. When a person is at the building or facility, they are at church. The implication is that when they are not at the building, they are not at church.

Church as an event or spiritual activities: For others, church is something that happens. Church is defined by worship services, Bible studies, prayer meetings or other ministries. Again the implication is that when one is not engaged in one of these events or activities, they are no longer doing or having church.

Church as associated with a person: For others, church is an organization associated with a pastor or Christian leader. For example, people often say things like, “I go to Mark Driscoli’s church” or “I attend Rick Warren’s church.”

Church as offering programs or services: For others, church is determined by what the organization offers to meet needs such as youth programs, music programs, marriage groups, fellowship, discipleship, mission opportunities, etc."

However, in a missional fellowship, the church is understood to be God’s sent missionary people. “That means when everything is stripped away – the building, the events, the activities, the leaders, and other identifying markers for the church – the people are the church and church is the people.” As a missional community, evangelism is the work and lfe of every Christ-follower. Evangelism and mission is no longer seen as a program or one purpose among others. Mission becomes the identity of the body. The church is not the sender but the one that is being sent.

Missional church is a paradigm switch from internal focus to external focus, a switch form self interest programs and events, making church a place to serve me and my needs, to one of outward focus, joining God in His work and going outside the walls to meet others and their needs, take God and the Gospel to the world instead of a wait for them to come mentality.

To where in most churches evangelism and mission is a program, extension, project or special event of the church. Evangelism has the tendency of becoming what some people in the church do, instead of being the very nature of the church. Children ministries, youth groups, Sunday Schools, and small groups have the tendency of becoming places of growth but they do not embody any sense of “mission” as a reason for their existence, they are solely internally focused while claiming to be outward focused, it never leaves the room.

Mission and evangelism becomes a program or ministries of the church. In this midset the church often becomes the place that Christianity "happens". Programs and ministries are formed to attract members and attendees. There is little engagement with the lost world outside of the church facility, just a lot of talk about doing it. Most of the emphasis is placed on ministering to Christians at best. In this system, which is driven by Christian consumerism, many lose sight of the fact that they are sent to be on mission each day and that the Holy Spirit wants to empower them to be missionaries to their city.

In the era of “movements,” missional is often looked upon as just another program to be used. But being missional is more than just another movement or program, it is a return to a biblical understanding of who the Church of Christ is and what it is called to be and do. At its core, missional is a shift in thinking that fosters a change in the functions of the church. Making this shift can be difficult for many who are accustomed to a church that is driven by a consumer mentality; i.e. seeker senitive, we exist to get as many people in attendance as we can and meet whatever felt needs they have. We must enertain them to get them in and keep them coming back.

The missional church fosters an understanding that each and every member of the church is on mission in the world and a missionary in their culture. That is what Jesus had in mind when he commanded us to go make disciples. In a missional church, mission/evangelism is not seen as one of the many purposes of the church. In a missional church, but the purpose of our existence in the world is our participation in the missio Dei, i/e/ mission of God. Christ did not die on the cross to heal our inner man, to prosper us and make us healthy and wealthy, to aid us in our self-actualization and self-fulfillment. Christ died to redeem us from hell and to Go, to send us out to tell others the good news. When a person joins a missional church they are told from day one that the church exists as a missional community and they are invited to join them in reaching their city for Christ Jesus the Lord. The missional church makes evangelism and participation in the shared missionary purpose of the church a foundational understanding of all members.

And all of this applies to one's personal life also, rather one is living missionally or not, that is living a self focused or external focused life, or rather one Is the church or attends church. If one defines Go as only me going to church to be served and have my needs meet or maybe at best servering other Christians at church, or Go as going into the world to take and to incarnate the Gospel to others, the unsaved, the lost, the needy, the poor and destitute, the prostitutes, the sinners and serve them and meet their needs and tell the Gospel to them like Jesus did and commanded His people to do as He did. It comes down to is it is a paid "professionals" job to do the things of God, or mine, every ones job to Go and do. Is church a place I go or something I am?

The right woman

I was thinking this morning on how our relationship with woman can affect a mans walk with God. A friend of mine who is in the beginning stages of divorcing his wife after a horrible 5 years he has had with her. Before his marriage he was a strong man of God, an example of a man of God that other guys desired to be like, but he made the fatal mistake of marry a girl who was not a woman of God but rather just another American Christian, you know born in America and confess Jesus is Lord and you are saved, attend church just long enough to get a mate.

But I discovered in my thinking on how there are two ways negatively a woman can effect us men, my friend was a pillar of a man of God before he hooked up with his soon to be x-wife, and how she very quickly brought him down to at best a novel Christian, a man who once walked boldly with God in an intimate relationship, someone who’s entire life was God, to become someone who hardly had time to even think about God let alone walk with Him. The relationship with her diminished, destroyed his relationship and walk with God, tempted him away to worship other god’s, her and materialism. Entering the relationship with her derailed his relationship with God, diverted his attention away from God and the things of God to the things she was all about, that she worshiped. She was a negative factor in him being a better man and a man of God, even a hindrance, a replacement for God and the things of God.

Me on the other hand, I was a prodigal son, not walking with God, enjoying the fruits of this world when I meet a Christian girl who also was a prodigal. And God used us in each other’s lives to bring us back to Himself; she was the love of my life. My love for her and her love for me made me want to be a better man, her quest to walk with God fuelled my desire to become a man of God also. Our relationship freed me up to have the time to seek and serve God. I was not consumed with finding a relationship with a girl, submerged in the single life taking up all my time to play and seek out intimate relationships. But was loved and had someone to love and could devote my time to the things of God, freed up from the single seen I could be part of couples who where focused on God and serving Him. She was the fire that made me seek to be a better man and man of God, but when our relationship ended it derailed my relationship with God, it severely damaged my walk with Him for many reasons. She was a positive factor in my wanting to both be a better man and be a man of God. She pointed me to God and the things of God.

So here are two examples how being in a relationship with one woman hindered, even destroyed a man’s relationship with God, and another, fostered my relationship with God and how the loss of that woman damaged my relationship with God. One the woman lead the man away to worship foreign gods the other lead me to worship The God. One made him less of a man due to her treatment of him, the other made me not only a better man, but gave me the desire to strive to be a even better man every day because of her treatment of me.

Men we must be very careful in the woman we chouse to be with, they are key in the course of not only our lives but also our relationship with God.

How to Enter Your Community Missionally

I picked up these five ways for entering a community from Dr. John Fuder. Each one, taken seriously, will properly position any pastor or church planter to effectively enter a new community. When entering a community we should:

Intercessor – One must humbly petition heaven for their community. Asking God to reveal himself to the community and to reveal to the planter how He is at work already in that community.

Learner – One must enter as a student of their community and the cultural make up of that community. Asking good questions to community leaders and long time residents is a good place to start.

Servant – One must enter with the mindset of a servant. Church planters should not just enter a community to serve individuals but to discover ways to serve the community as a whole. Some communities see churches as takers in a community and not givers. Church planters have an opportunity to change that mentality.

Friend or Ally – One must go into a community for the purpose of building long lasting relationships and fostering healthy partnerships. Informal and formal alliances will be crucial for you to gain creditability among those you are trying to reach.

Story Teller – People love stories and telling God’s story is the reason we are entering the community. Church planters and pastors need to learn how to tell three stories well: 1) Their personal faith story. 2) The story of their call to the community. 3) God’s story of redemption.