I love going to jail …
And being part of some of the best church in town.
Most “jail ministry” imports “church” or tries to “do church” for inmates.
It’s much more fun, instead, to let them be the church …
By allowing Christ to indigenously come alive in them, through among and among them as they learn to minister one to another and become His disciples where they live.
After all, isn’t that the heart of the Great Commission?
Do God’s will and there’s very little we can’t accomplish together …
Once we give up the need to control it, own it or brand it.
Don’t be trapped …
By the successes of your past.
Nothing in the original language or context of the New Testament even remotely matches our current, prevailing concepts of …
“Church,” “pastor,” “teach,” “preach,” “tithe,” “ministry,” “communion,” “worship,” and so much more.
Which begs the question:
What do people think they’re actually doing each Sunday morning?
Is it just an edifice built on post-Biblical human traditions and contradictions …
Continue readingEffective, liberating forgiveness can’t occur unless we fully acknowledge the underlying wrong that plagues us;
How wrong the wrong is; and
What our heart truly feels because of it …
Whether committed by us or against us.
Only when we stop minimizing, rationalizing or excusing the offense …
Can we fully give it to the Lord.
And be free.
Some claim that doubt and angst are a form of “faith.”
But that’s not true …
Because ultimately, that would make faith all about us.
Rather, faith is trust and confidence in the One who knows all, even when we don’t understand.
Getting there might mean struggling with doubt and angst …
But don’t confuse the journey with the destination.
That’s why the new anti-faith definition of faith by “Christian” progressives and other “religious” existentialists …
Leaves them stuck with themselves.
Let’s avoid their dead ends …
And boldly move forward towards true faith, which comes from God Himself.
The church as commanded in the New Testament:
Simple relational gatherings of people who encourage and minister to one another in their different gifts and callings …
Not staged events by captivating “pastors” with their hip “worship” bands.
Let’s be the church …
And change the world once again.
Don’t waste your life:
If it ain’t worth dying for …
Then it likely ain’t worth living for either.
Jesus never said to be a “servant leader.”
Instead, He said to be a servant …
Just a servant (period).
Anything else is more about you …
Than about Him or others.
The measure of spiritual maturity is not perfection …
But how we deal with our imperfection.
Often, we had no choice over bad things that happened in our past …
But whether we let them define us or instead turn them over to God is always our choice.
Failing to fully surrender them to Him, however …
Is why experiencing relational participatory church is so difficult for so many.
Consider this:
Actual relational participatory church is impossible …
Unless we learn to prefer one another above ourselves.
Continue readingDiscipleship:
A vibrant relationship with the Living Word …
In submission to the authority and discipline of His written Word.
If you need to write or read a whole book on how to hear God’s voice, something ain’t right.
Seriously.
Just start communicating and listening …
In whatever ways He created you to communicate and listen.
He’ll take care of the rest.
Today, “church” tries to lead folks into God’s presence.
In the New Testament, folks assembled to express God’s presence already in them – one to another.
Big difference!
