What the Chruch is Not

Some may assume or rationally think that the church is a building to be filled with Bible Studies, churchy music, hi tech sound and lighting shows, movie clips, entertaining skits, hymnals, pews, paid workers to do all the work, pastors who do all the studying then present the cliff notes of it both verbal and in the program also would be nice (keep it to 20 min or less please) of what the bible says and do all the evangelizing of course, programs to meet their needs (financial, marriage, how to get rich, how to get God to do what you want Him to do, est.), something to keep the kids busy for an hour or two, a program to teach the kids all bout the God stuff so the parents do not half to, prayer groups to do all the praying, oh lest not for get about the free Starbucks and donuts in the foyer, etc., est. And service to God is reduced to changing diapers once a month, handing out the programs at the door or directing traffic in the parking lot and working the book store of course where you can pay to get copies of the sermons and the pastors book that you paid him to do.

But church is Not for more studies to debate personal theology and continually add to the list of don'ts. Not for only prayer about my health and personal needs or a new $500,000 sound system to bring in more people. Not for couples to choose to only live in isolation from the world and surround themselves with only believers. People who say church is Sunday and Wednesday night only and has nothing to do with the rest of the week. Church is the building I invite people to come to, to be entertained by our professional entertainers and get plugged into one of our programs for the paid professionals to deal with them. Not for people who think that being a conservative Republican in their views is being a light, being a Christian or how God is working in America.

Basically dismissing the idea that each person who knows Christ is to function as the church in their everyday life 24/7, and the church exist is to carry out the " Missio Dei ", to join in, be part of the Missio Dei, the Mission of God.

The church is a gathering of sent people who are individually living as the church by being a Gospel centered people who are on Missio Dei, living missionaly 24/7. Who come together to corporately be the church as a whole on Missio Dei, God’s mission. To celebrate and worship God and their part in His mission. And each person is excursing their spiritual gifts and calling to the body so there is no need for paid professionals. To live in community with each other 24/7, and love, build up and support one another. And they are a people in motion, that is going out into the world to take the gospel to the world, being sent out into the world as Christ was sent, so we are being sent to be agents of reconciliation and transformation to the world, joining in with God on His Mission to redeem the world, in our neighborhoods, work, schools, grocery store, Wal Mart, the city as well as other countries. We do not invite people to go to church, we are the church and are about taking it to the people, we are on Missio Dei.

Power of God

I am always hearing in certain circles of Christians talk about the power of God, getting the power of God in their lives, needing the power of God, or getting the power of God as well as people defining certain acts as the power of God. But yet everything I hear people attribute a lot of things as to being the power of God, like an act of nature such as an earthquake or hurricane. Or act’s on their behalf like healings or holding back the strongholds of the enemy, est, est. Although these things are limited expressions of God’s power in action no where in scriptures are any of these things call, labeled as God’s power, there are only two things are call the power of God, Jesus and the Gospel. How powerful, then, must the gospel be that it would warrant such a title! So if people really want the power of God in their lives, the true power of God, not power for selfish gain, notoriety or the power to control things for their own purposes, but for the sake of God’s glory and the advancement of the Kingdom of God, we simple need the Gospel in our lives for it is the power of God.

This is why all Christians need to be Gospel Centered in their lives, Gospel centered in how we live, in interrupting the scriptures, in our worldview and Gospel centered in who we are. This is why the New Testament teaches that Christians need to hear the gospel just as much as non-Christians do.

And to do so requires that we daily preach the Gospel to ourselves, continually remind ourselves of the Gospel, the is what Ehp 6:13 it telling us, we need the “put on” the Gospel daily to fight our daily battles both outside and inside of us. As I just covered it is one of the only two things called the “power of God” in the scriptures, and so if I want the power of God in my life all I need to do is be Gospel centered, preach the Gospel to myself every day. Incorporated it into who I am and how I see and live life and I have the power of God in full action and display in my life. Earthquakes, healings and other things can be explained away by the world with scientific theories, but the Gospel and its work in me and through me can only be explained, attributed to God, the real power of God at work, on display.

Fast food places are really not fast food

Something that irritate me, one of my pet peeves.

Fast food places are really not fast food, I go in I order say a 1/3 lbs hamburger with out mayo, onion or lettuces and a water to drink. The person behind the counter stands there staring at me like a deer in my headlights at night, not entering in anything. Then forms the words, would you like cheese on that, but yet up on the menu board just below the 1/3 lbs hamburger I just ordered is 1/3 lbs Cheeseburger, it seams to me that they are insinuating that I am as dumb as mud and can not read the words just below my choice that says Cheeseburger, or are they assuming that I do not know that cheeseburger means a burger with cheese on it and I really wanted a cheeseburger not the hamburger I ordered but was to dumb to know that. And so I half to restate that I meant what I said, a hamburger not a cheeseburger.

And as if the first questions was not irritating enough, the next question that always follows is, did you want a combo, again they must be thinking I am as stupid as a rock, because all over the menu board as well as on the hundreds of banners and signs are listed all 25 possible combo meals, and they are even numbered in a font 12 inches high to make it convent to order them, 1 through 25. But yet when I ordered I did not use one of their foot high numbers, and even said I wanted a water to drink which one would think to a normal intelligent person the would make it clear I did not want a comb that is identified by number and I would get a soft drink with. Are they assuming that I can not read, that I do not read numbers, that I really wanted a number 1 but could not read it, or could not pronounce the number 1. But never the less there they are, those time wasting questions that assume that I am as dumb as mud, one after another and all from a person that needs a computer register to tell me how much change to give me.

And top of all those I must be to dumb to order for myself questions, after this very irritating chain of unnecessary questioning, I have to order again because instead of entering in my order exactly as I ordered it when I ordered it, they stood there mind unengaged, so it takes three times a long as it should have to order my hamburger and water.

It should not be that hard to order a hamburger to go, take that long in a FAST food restaurant to get my order. That just irritates me to no end and I had to post this.

Define Missional church

Missional Church seams to be catching on as a ID tag for just about every church now days, just like so many thing that are NOW and Hip, to keep up with the Jones. But the key really is not identifying ones church as being Missional the real questions is what mission are they on.

As so many church are claming to be missional my questing to them, the more important question is define the mission that makes you Missional.

In the truest sense of the movement to be missional both as a body/church and as an individual is that you are on Missio Dei, the Mission of God. And that your definition of Missio Dei, Mission of God is the true mission of God on earth.

And I can tell you that most church on not on Missio Dei, they are on a religious mission, a self defined mission that they justify by saying it is the God’s Mission.

Most would include as their definition building projects, say that part of God’s Missio Dei is about building bigger and more elaborate building with the latest hi-tech devise and creature comforts. And I can tell you buildings are not part of Missio Dei, in fact I can say that they are counter to Missio Dei.

Tell you that Missio Dei consist of church programs, those are not even on God’s blue prints, tell you about new schemes to get people to come to their churches, not so, Missio Dei is all about being sent out, taking the gospel to the world, not manipulating them into come to you.

That the Sunday services are the main focus of the church, not so, the Gospel and taking it to the world is the main focus.

So it is not as simple that church adapt the catch phrase Missional, define them selves as Missional, but that they become Missional and that their definition of Mission is Missio Dei, the real mission of God and are joining Him on it and not making up their own mission, AKA the traditional way of doing American church. But are being transformed in to a body of people who are Missional, living Missional and that their body/church corporately is functioning Missional by being on Missio Dei. If, and only if each member of a body is on Missio Dei can this be done. Because if they are not gospel centered and living Missionaly, then when they assemble together they cannot functions as a whole Missionaly, because for a whole body to be Missional, each part, member must be living Missional daily, that is the only way a church can be Missional, that is being on God’s mission. And when the church body as a whole is living on God’s mission there is no longer a need for building projects, programs or for Sunday services to be the main focus, because the church is being sent out like it should be.

So the question is, what is your churches definition the mission they are on, is it Missio Dei and is their definition of it God’s, the Gospel, and is every one in the church on it, living it 24/7?

iPhone vs life

Instead of wasting time in line to spend $500 for the new iPhone that will be obsolete and probably half as much in 6 months, a toy that's features are cool and hip, but totally unnecessary for me to live and have a good life. I gave the money to feed starving children, that same $500 will feed 62 starving children for a month, it gave life to 62 children for another month. That seems a much better investment to me than something that could be a distraction while I should be looking at the road while driving, or instead of watching mindless video I could be engaging another human in a conversation or reading a good book.