Jesus 2.0:
He came as a lamb …
Will return as a lion.
My dad often said a prepared person is better than a prepared message.
People these days are sick of those who talk the talk but don’t walk the walk …
Often from raised podiums above us.
So make a difference – try getting down off your pedestal and being a prepared man or woman instead …
Because there is no better “sermon”.
The Kingdom of God is simple.
Not nice, neat, tidy or easy …
But simple.
“Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, (how?) thy will be done, (where?) on earth (extent?) as it is in heaven …”
So we just need to do God’s will as He directs in each sphere and circumstance of our life here on earth …
And where we do that, we see more of His Kingdom – His will in action – being established around us.
Sure, it is often hard and sometimes disruptive …
But nonetheless simple.
When we give thanks …
We become more than ourselves and our circumstances.
Charities, social programs and church ministries have their place …
But not as substitutes for individual hospitality and personal acts of kindness.
You just might be a Pharisee …
If you feel compelled to call everyone who disagrees with you a Pharisee.
Jesus: He’s more than a feeling.
I don’t plant churches so believers can come find Christ among me and my friends …
And I then can become the leader.
Rather, I go to the lost and plant Christ among them and their friends …
And then get out of the way.
That’s because relational participatory churches, like taught in the New Testament, happen simply but are never about us.
It’s not very complicated, nor does it cost anything …
Except obedience.
So how about it?
Why not start doing it the way Jesus taught it …
Once again?
Jive Turkey:
Frozen birds with canned food distributed during the holidays by “respectable” Christians to poor, lost and lonely people …
Who otherwise would never be invited into their homes for a place at their table.
Unfortunately, frozen turkeys will out number true hospitality by more than a hundred to one at “churches” across the land this Sunday.
Although the poor, lost and lonely appreciate receiving their annual frozen turkeys …
Don’t think for a moment they also don’t get the unspoken message.
Why not make a real difference by affirming true worth and dignity …
With the gift of hospitality instead?
The only hierarchy allowed in the church is Jesus as the head.
He, in turn, commands us to submit one to another and to prefer each other above ourselves – no exceptions!
Let’s be the church once again.
Within the New Testament church, authority emerged from relationships, plurality, example, persuasion and earned respect.
Today, it is imposed through appointment, position, hierarchy, titles, command and control.
Big difference.
Real love …
Invokes endless fascination.
The same Jesus who tells His disciples to individually love those who persecute us, return good for evil, turn the other cheek and forgive …
Also says, through Romans 13:3-7, that government officials bear the sword as “God’s ministers” to stop evildoers, protect the innocent and insure our common good.
It’s really not that complicated:
Let’s obey all that Christ says by sacrificially loving evildoers who harm us …
While also loving others enough to insist that government stop those same evildoers from harming anyone else.
New Testament unity is rooted in diversity …
As we honor God’s differing gifts, callings and motivations in each other above our own.
Insisting on “unity” through uniformity, conformity or hierarchy, however, is a lie.
Law reveals …
But grace enables.
What would disrupt your Sunday “service” the most:
The Holy Spirit doesn’t show up …
Or “the Pastor” and his “worship team” never show up?
Be honest …
Then tell me, whose “church” is it really???
Delight and gratitude are barometers of healthy relationships …
With God, our spouse and others.
Sometimes words are not enough.
New Testament:
Be the church with diverse ministry by one another while engaged with each other in face to face participatory gatherings.
Today:
Go to church for a monologue sermon by the one while staring at the back of someone’s head at a staged meeting with spectator seating.
Let’s be the church and change the world once again.
When Satan worries more about your plans for the day than you do his …
Jesus smiles.
Spiritual frauds know how to fake charm and empathy to manipulate many.
Don’t be misled …
Value truth and candor instead.
“Christian” authors, bloggers, influencers and “leaders” who dismiss Christ’s plenary authority of Scripture …
Set themselves up – through a Jesus of their own perception – as the ultimate standard.
It’s a post-modern form of narcissism …
Leading to spiritual abuse and deception.
Don’t give up!
Demolition often precedes renovation.
Tired of the “institution” and looking instead for the simplicity of relational participatory church …
But your friends aren’t interested?
Consider opening your life, your home and your kitchen table to the lost, the unseen, the ignored, the marginalized, and the lonely.
After all, if your respectable friends aren’t interested in your hospitality, who does Jesus say to invite instead? The poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame …
Along with those living besides highways and hedges. Luke 14:12-24
If you know none, then get out of your comfort zones!
So go to the kinds of places Jesus went and reach out to the kinds of people with whom he hung …
Not through a “program” but with authentic friendship.
There is no true church, real faith, sacrificial love or advance of God’s Kingdom without hospitality – especially to those considered the least among us …
Not only by the world, but often by our own top-down, agenda-driven “churches.”
Rather than their impersonal “programs,” which try to help “outsiders” without truly embracing them but treating them as mere objects of “ministry” …
My wife and I have opened our home and table as places of hospitality over the years – offering respect, dignity, and genuine friendship to all who accepted our invitations to come.
As a result, fellowships emerged and lives transformed – including our own.
Hospitality: The missing ingredient.
Simple!
Don’t confuse love with nice …
Because sometimes nice is not enough.
Plumbline Faith 