"Organic Church": Is it really a movement? (Frank Viola's reply to the Christianity Today Article)

I've quoted Frank Viola alot. I've shared my thoughts on "Church" frequently, especially the "organic" variety. I've posted some recent questions and links on this topic that have had me answering if I'm still a "Christian" in my social circles. In other words, the importance of God's vision for His bride is at the forefront of my mind even if the questions I'm posing make the casual Chrisitan and even the committed follower of Jesus uneasy.

Therefore, I'm posting a recent article Frank Viola used as a response to the previous post I had regarding a Christianity Today article on "Organic Church". I suggest you read it as it gives more insight into what his, my and I hope God's view is for those who desire to live a life by the indwelling Spirit of our Lord Jesus.

Disclaimer: Frank Viola is not of Minnesota Twins fame from the 80's and the 90's, so don't get your hopes up that a left handed pitcher with a perfect mustache cares more about Church life than how well his curve ball is breaking.

CLICK THE LINK ON THE POST TO READ THE ARTICLE

Can Organic Church Last?

It seems I write about it daily. I think about it constantly. I wish I didn't feel led this way as it's much easier to stick with the status-quo. I'm speaking about Organic church and it is the current trend in the Christian faith with the hope of bringing back a more authentic community life, an end to silly institutional spending and an abolition of the clergy/laity divide while re-instituting the biblical view of an all member functioning community in which the body becomes the true expression of Christ as it moves in the way the Spirit leads it. Many believe it is the answer to the lack of transformation in the individual and the way for the church to get back to her true definition. Regardless of how you feel about it, it's here and it's gaining steam.

Today, I've posted a link to a great article I read in Christianity Today that gives a great outline and description of what is happening and what has historically happened to similar visions for the Church in the past. I hope you check it out and gain insight, perspective, hope and an opinion about where you stand in your own relationship with Christ, His bride, and your perspective on where the church is headed.

If you are like me, a bit torn in your view of "church life" and you hear this still small voice calling you out of institutionalism but unsure if you are walking into a possible heresy (that is Organic Church life) I urge you to read this. If you are living the institutional church life, have no issues with it, but wonder what those crazy revolutionaries are fighting for when it comes to Organic Church I urge you to read it. If you are looking for something interesting going on inside your family (your eternal family) that you may not know a lot about, I urge you to read it. In other words, check it out and let me know what you think.

(Click the title for a link to the Christianity today article)

"A Jesus Manifesto" by Frank Viola and Leonard Sweet

I had to post this link after reading Frank Viola's and Leonard Sweet's "A Jesus Manifesto". It was written to and for the entire body of Christ regardless of specific views of members regarding ecclesiology (church), eschatology (end times), Soteriology (the way in which humanity obtains salvation), the presence of spiritual gifts today or in light of political, social or economic views. This "Manifesto" is strictly about Jesus (which is why the entire trinity is not focused on) and is a great foundation for what He hoped we would become.

Within the "Manifesto" we truly see it is Jesus who is Lord and Head. Both authors make it clear that they don't necessarily agree with the different sets of beliefs listed above. I clearly have certain views within the realm of being a Christian, but like the authors, that doesn't separate me from being part of the same body as many of you who don't share those same views.

I truly hope you consider reading this "Magna Carta for Restoring the Supremecy of Jesus Christ", and would love to hear your comments, thoughts and insights. There is no better unifying factor in the Christian life than to have Jesus as the King, Lord, Savior and Head. He is the Alpha and Omega and he desires His body to be unified under His headship. I hope this writing helps us to recognize that we are truly dead outside of Christ and that if we all would allow His Spirit to transform us into the kind of people who love like He did, the problems of pride and self-righteousness could be eliminated and unity in the body would come to fruition.

(To see the article please click the title of this post)

"Budweiser vs. Microbrew" what Newsweek says about Church in America

As most of you know I'm passionate about Jesus, I'm passionate about truth, I'm passionate about love, I'm passionate about God's word, and I'm passionate about God's plan for sharing the truth, love, and word of Jesus through His body...the Church.

This morning I read an interesting article in Newsweek's online magazine about the cultural Christian shift from institutionalization to a more organic and biblical form of community life. In the article Gary Laderman, professor of American religious history at Emory University and author of 'Sacred Matters' stated, "What's going on is a kind of deinstitutionalization of religious life," when he was asked why American Christians have grown weary with the current ways of practicing their faith.

Though the article is interesting and agreeable on the point it aims to make, ( it expresses a major concern for the institutional tradition of the way we "do" church) it still fails to focus on the main issue in regards to the mass exodus of some 1,000,000 Christians per year leaving institutional churches (per the Barna Group), the lack of genuine transformation of individual Christians, and the total disunity within the "body of Christ" (The Church). That main issue is that Christians have grown tired of playing the part of the "American Christian", a part that is focused on keeping America "Christian", the using of the pulpit as an opportunity to press the political beliefs and religious interpretations of a few clergy on to the mass amounts of listeners while they care more about the appearance and marketability of their congregation than transformation and discipleship within the membership (don't tell me it's different, show me). Within this issue is that while the church preaches to the individual listener there is a lack of biblical community within the body as we have been taught like children to be seen and not heard for fear that the congregation speaking up is what would lead to disunity (shaking hands and giving your name before we get entertained is not community). Though Pastors have the best of intentions to keep things orderly, their hierarchical positions have deadened the Spirit of the congregation as very few manage to function, and their fears of disunity are strictly a fear that they may need to re-think the way their program currently works. In a nutshell, followers of Christ are tired of playing the part of Christian, following a select few and their views while the Headship of Jesus and the love and unity of believers is left in the dust.

It also needs to be said that meeting in a house doesn't make a Christian community any better than the one who meets in a church edifice. This is especially true if people are leaving the institution in order to meet together while still holding on to the un-biblical hierarchical structure and liturgy that bores the masses on Sunday's. I truly believe that the main reason for this move from institutional church life is due to a desire of the body to share in authentic worship within an all members functioning community with Christ as Head (see 1 Corinthians 14, Ephesians 5, and all through Acts). The desire doesn't come from the need to be known or "do" church better, but instead, due to the Holy Spirit which desires us to be a unified visible expression of the love and truth of Christ within local communities. While we currently have church buildings on every block from multiple denominations, God's desire to bring true unity within His body cannot co-exist with the current "sheep stealing" that goes on. Especially if these sheep are already part of the Kingdom of God through their relationship with Christ and know their Shepherd(John 10).

In these tough times, ones in which the faint of heart have a buffet of choices in which they can get their daily fears from, the Holy Spirit is moving in the hearts of Christians to usher in the Biblical Kingdom of God through the love, generosity, grace, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I do agree that a lack of institution is where God moves best as the Headship of Christ is allowed to be re-established as he supplants the "CEO Pastor" that currently runs the body in America (and the world). However, I'm also aware that some may disagree with my views on why the move to de-instituionalize the Church is happening and I want to be clear that my main desire is that we would aim in this New Year to re-hire Jesus back as the Head of his Church so that we may get the true answer of what he's doing.

May we all come together in love, regardless of our views on denominations (that includes you non-denomonationals too), politics, baptism, eschatology or any other view that gives us pride as opposed to humility. Let's aim to give Jesus his church back, regaining our understanding of who we are in Christ as well as our roles in His Church.

(For the whole Newsweek article, please click the Blog title entry)

Keeping you Mentally Healthy...

I came across this blog entry on the John Piper "Desiring God" site. As many of you know I've dealt with Panic Disorder and General Anxiety Disorder in years past and this link is a great list of things you can do to prevent these harmless yet annoying and debilitating conditions along with burnout, stress, pride and depression. Along with the link above on the title of this post, I'm also copy and pasting the 10 points directly on to this blog in case you have trouble. I encourage you to see the entire article so that you get some history into who wrote the list and why it was written.

I'm hoping you all are off to a wonderful New Year! I pray that we all will be a blessing this year both individually and as a body to those we come in contact with. Make your life one of ministry like Christ who "Came to serve, and not to be served...". Like Abraham, we have the ability to be a blessing because we are so blessed.


10 Resolutions for Mental Health

1. At least once every day I shall look steadily up at the sky and remember that I, a consciousness with a conscience, am on a planet traveling in space with wonderfully mysterious things above and about me.

2. Instead of the accustomed idea of a mindless and endless evolutionary change to which we can neither add nor subtract, I shall suppose the universe guided by an Intelligence which, as Aristotle said of Greek drama, requires a beginning, a middle, and an end.

I think this will save me from the cynicism expressed by Bertrand Russell before his death when he said: "There is darkness without, and when I die there will be darkness within. There is no splendor, no vastness anywhere, only triviality for a moment, and then nothing."

3. I shall not fall into the falsehood that this day, or any day, is merely another ambiguous and plodding twenty-four hours, but rather a unique event, filled, if I so wish, with worthy potentialities.

I shall not be fool enough to suppose that trouble and pain are wholly evil parentheses in my existence, but just as likely ladders to be climbed toward moral and spiritual manhood.

4. I shall not turn my life into a thin, straight line which prefers abstractions to reality. I shall know what I am doing when I abstract, which of course I shall often have to do.

5. I shall not demean my own uniqueness by envy of others. I shall stop boring into myself to discover what psychological or social categories I might belong to. Mostly I shall simply forget about myself and do my work.

6. I shall open my eyes and ears. Once every day I shall simply stare at a tree, a flower, a cloud, or a person. I shall not then be concerned at all to ask what they are but simply be glad that they are. I shall joyfully allow them the mystery of what Lewis calls their "divine, magical, terrifying and ecstatic" existence.

7. I shall sometimes look back at the freshness of vision I had in childhood and try, at least for a little while, to be, in the words of Lewis Carroll, the "child of the pure unclouded brow, and dreaming eyes of wonder."

8. I shall follow Darwin's advice and turn frequently to imaginative things such as good literature and good music, preferably, as Lewis suggests, an old book and timeless music.

9. I shall not allow the devilish onrush of this century to usurp all my energies but will instead, as Charles Williams suggested, "fulfill the moment as the moment." I shall try to live well just now because the only time that exists is now.

10. Even if I turn out to be wrong, I shall bet my life on the assumption that this world is not idiotic, neither run by an absentee landlord, but that today, this very day, some stroke is being added to the cosmic canvas that in due course I shall understand with joy as a stroke made by the architect who calls himself Alpha and Omega.

Trusting Truth- 40 Days of Psalm 37 (Day 40)

"The LORD helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him." -Psalm 37:40

Wow! The year is over. Can you believe it? We have so much to be thankful for, so much to be grateful for and so much to look forward to. Thank God I decided to weed through my thought life on the blog this morning as I was interested in seeing what I became neurotic about these last twelve months (if you know me personally, the term neurotic is almost an understatement once I get caught on a subject). I'm so grateful that during this time of reflection I was able to recognize that outside of my own hand written journal this blog was true therapy. It became my way of asking myself to answer my own hard questions, challenging myself to search for truth and drawing a line in the sand that I was going to press into the truth of God in Christ even if it makes me seem nuts. My blog life became the area in which I could no longer lie, I could no longer deny and I could not run away from what I had typed. If I said it, I was going to have to answer to it.

Another great aspect of this personal blog review was that by His grace I was able to see that I/we never finished "40 Days of Psalm 37". In my defense, it wasn't that I actually forgot about the importance of going over this Psalm, but honestly, I have been on such a search for truth within the Christian culture (or lack of truth), that I unfortunately began to compartmentalize my "transformation" time with God as something I didn't need to share on the blog (even though that's where the Psalm 37 series stemmed from) and turned to asking questions about the way we Christians have been transformed by culture as opposed to God's Spirit. Just to be clear, my hope in leaving the Psalms series was never to make you feel bad about the way we've done "things" in our walk with God but instead to challenge brothers and sisters in Christ as well as anybody who stumbles on to this little blog (if they're a friend I'm aware it was out of pity) to search for truth. I pray that my questions and answers always turned them to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

Today's Psalm truly encompasses the answers to all of my questions and supports my thoughts about Christ as I've pressed into Him over the past year. It also sums up the entire series of "Trusting Truth...". Today's message of Psalm 37:40 is that we need to be reminded of where our eternal security lies and how much we can trust the Triune God to deliver us from finite evil. He is the only eternal security available in a world that is sure to burn. The author David states this so clearly and if we are to read the entire Book of Psalms the way it was written (without chapters and verses) we would see the beautiful, passionate, truthful, hopeful and authentic confessions of a man who knew the truth of God's love and eternal plan of salvation even as he struggled with depression, enemies, fear, violence and uncertainty in his own life. His words in the Psalms are a constant reminder of God's constant unchanging love for us, even in the midst of our sin, trial and denial.

From the point of view of a realist (I don't consider myself a blind optimist or pessimist) the year 2010 promises to be one of hardship, turmoil, suffering, uncertainty, fear, and downright panic in the lives of those who don't know Christ (as well as those who say "Lord, Lord..." but never have truly known Him). We live in a world dominated by those who desire power, money and control and that will not change no matter who is in office or running big businesses. In my opinion this passion to rule the world through politics has less to do with their position as much as it has to do with their eternal condition. Without the only One who is a refuge in the time of need, the One who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, the One who causes all of creation to sing of His majesty and the One who makes His eternal Kingdom an option now through Christ; those who don't truly know God must continue in the darkness of a finite life trying to catch the air in their little finite hands.

I don't claim to be the Old Testament prophet type but these coming days of 2010 and beyond promise to be extremely difficult for followers of Jesus. We can expect to be persecuted, made fun of, mocked, starve, and even be killed (Sound familiar to somebody we know and love?). We can also expect continued disunity within the "body" as we love the Lord but don't look to Him as the Head that directs His members. Because of our forgetfulness of who wants "Headship" we lose sight that we are to be the expression of who he is, and resort to being an expression of who He'd want us to be if WE were Him.

With these coming days of tribulation I hope that we don't see this season as a reason for us to rise up and "try harder" to bring people to Christ through our own efforts of great teaching, evangelism, or through politics in the wisdom of the world. Though these things may be a great plan to man our own wisdom and hurried nature is never the best plan to God. Plus, for the record, I'm not sold on our own best ideas of marketing Christianity to the masses which have failed miserably in their attempts to bring people to actually know Jesus as opposed to hear about Him constantly.

Instead, I'm hopeful that we will be transformed by the "renewing of our minds" instead of by one great book by a Christian author who seems to be in touch with one area you are passionate about. I am hoping that we begin to become the ones who are willing to trust and obey God even if it means turning the other cheek so that the "slapper" may know the love of God. I pray that we will take on the mind of Christ in every area and be transformed by the Holy Spirit so that we may live out the love of our risen Lord. And while I oppose gay marriage, I am never actually for the gay bashing that goes on because of it. I truly do find it hard to understand why is it that we reach out in love to the drunk in the street, the witch doctor in Africa, the drug addict on skid row or the corporate millionaire who just lost His wife to cancer but our Western culture of Christians has decided to hate gays? Does that mean we need to "save them"? No! God is the enabler of the heart. But it does mean we need to love them, in spite of their lifestyle. In case we forgot, Jesus wasn't worried about positions, race, creed, religion, or social status, so we need not be. "Repent and follow me" was a message to the Pharisee as much as it was the Samaritan woman. All I can say is that our response and action towards those not like us should always be from the transformed version of us, not in our Pharisidic Christian version that picks and chooses the laws and sins we think need the most treatment.

In my opinion, the coming year is a time in which we don't need to figure out how to get Christianity right and instead need to re-focus on becoming like Christ through the transformation by His Holy Spirit and through communion with the rest of His body who serves under His headship. We constantly need to be reminded that "winning souls" has nothing to do with us or what we've done and instead has everything to do with Him and what He's called us to do corporately. We need to remember that loving people has to do with a calling from God to be the love of Christ to a world in the darkness, and not as another way for us to try harder to make God love us more by doing what He asks. He can't love you any more than He already does! Lastly, we need to remember like David tells us in this Psalm that we have an eternal refuge in God, we have the eternal answer to death in Christ and that we can put all of our trust in a God who promises to deliver us no matter how difficult things may get. The message of 2010 is the message Jesus gave a bunch of ragtag guys in the 1st century,

""If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Matthew 16:24-26)

Friends, brothers and sisters, the call is to trust and obey. To allow God to be God and us to be an expression of His love as we come to the end of our "self's" for His sake.

May your new year be prosperous in the relationships you build, in the truth you obtain, in the love you give and in the light you walk in! See you next year!

A.W Tozer with the Quote of the Day...

"If Christianity is to receive a rejuvenation it must be by other means than any now being used. If the church in the second half of [the twentieth] century is to recover from the injuries she suffered in the first half, there must appear a new type of preacher. The proper, ruler-of-the-synagogue type will never do. Neither will the priestly type of man who carries out his duties, takes his pay and asks no questions, nor the smooth-talking pastoral type who knows how to make the Christian religion acceptable to everyone. All these have been tried and found wanting. Another kind of religious leader must arise among us. He must be of the old prophet type, a man who has seen visions of God and has heard a voice from the Throne. When he comes (and I pray God there will not be one but many) he will stand in flat contradiction to everything our smirking, smooth civilization holds dear. He will contradict, denounce and protest in the name of God and will earn the hatred and opposition of a large segment of Christendom." - A.W Tozer

I had to share this quote. I feel it would be a disservice to only share things that "I think" without helping you know where some of these thoughts are coming from. I'm aware that I might have shared this before but it sure blesses my soul and I hope it moves your mind like it moved my own. As I can't say enough I love the Lord Jesus and I love His Church more than anything. From the inside out I desire to be transformed into Him so that the world may see and experience His love, grace and freedom. I love that we have the opportunity to be his DNA through belief, faith and then transformation. There is so much more freedom in Christ when we follow His word as opposed to the word of those who want Christ to be and look like their idea of a "perfect God", or even worse, share a created Christ that appears like the perfect American Christian with all the answers to the "problems" of life.

In this world we see "test tube babies" all the time. I just watched the movie, "My Sister's Keeper" in which a child was genetically engineered to perfectly match the organs, blood type and bone marrow type of a sister dying of cancer. Sadly, many of us have become "test tube babies" in Christ. We have genetically engineered our Spirits through our own effort and knowledge to look like, act like or feel like what we think Jesus to be or want us to be. Through great teaching, great books, great vision, great worship and great ideas, our culture has helped us to be "great Christians". Unfortunately, Jesus has so much more for us. He wants us to literally be Him, sharing His DNA. He even tells us how to be transformed into His likeness...by death to self.

Though the ideas of "Fire and Brimstone", "What would Jesus Do" preaching, and the push to "serve" (though many times out of guilt or shame) may marketable in the pulpit, make you feel better about yourself and may even be considered "good" things; It must be said that these good things are absolutely not the best things, nor is it God's plan for His children. As Oswald Chambers says, "Good is the enemy of the best", and as a culture who desires instant gratification, we accept the good as fast as we can get it even at the expense on missing out on the best things God has for us.

I encourage you to not fall into the trap of selling your life solely out to "movements" because they "feel" right even if they are using the name of God or Jesus. I pray that you don't follow Preachers simply because they say the right things about God or about something you are passionate about and scratch your itching ears. Be sure to "test everything" against God's word and allow yourself to be the person whom God can transform into the likeness of His Son as we trust and obey in Him.

Note: I also want to say that by seeing things like movements and great preachers as "good" vehicles that can be used by God, we never lose sight of the best thing which is Jesus our Savior, Lord, King and Bridegroom.

The "Three Gospels" According to our Culture

Two days ago I came across a great blog post/article regarding the "Three Gospels" of the church on Frank Viola's blog. As I read this bit of wisdom and knowledge I not only became aware of how I've consistently treated my relationship with Christ (and others) in a way that doesn't prove my allegiance to the King but also how I've been foundationally wrong even though I aim to make God's Word the ultimate authority in my life and constantly write and live with the "best of intentions". Unfortunately the "best of intentions" is usually driven by my own guilt, shame and condemnation and those intentions spring out of a desire to make things right. Of course the desire to make things right, work out our salvation and live like there is not grace even though we sing that it saves us is what defines legalism.

Being a "legalist" is something I've battled with in my walk with Christ over the past seven years. As I've gained more head knowledge through reading, conversation, "doing" ministry and knowing the right people I've missed out on the transformation of my heart that Jesus offers and Paul of Tarsus speaks of. As most of you who read this know, my goal in this blog is to encourage you to abandon yourselves, discern the truth and trust wholly in Him through obedience; unfortunately many times I get so caught up with being "right" in the way this life takes form that I fall back into my legalistic ways.

So, without boring you any further I encourage you to click on this link (or on the title of this article) and check out Frank's blog.

http://frankviola.wordpress.com/

Doing, Playing, Being or..."Areing"?

I have a confession again this morning. The confession is not that I've sinned, but the confession does involve missing the mark. In fact, my confession has to do with the realization I've come to in the way I've wanted to "fix" the church as if it's mine. Like those who've come before me, I've tried so hard, in my own power, with the best intentions to fix the way we Christians "do", "play", and now the way we try to "be" the church. I've realized through a revelation in my quiet time this morning that I've decided to try and do brain surgery on something (the church) that only needs Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. We don't need a new brain, we just need to re-train the one we were given by the God.

Christmas is a funny season for Christians. We, most of the time, out of the goodness of our hearts love to show those our love by buying them gifts. It's a beautiful thing to show people how much we care for them by giving them something we know they need or have said they want. As a person who loves to give, I never feel better than when that gift is received with grace, love and appreciation. Most of the time it is in a smile that I see I've done right, or in a few words like "I love you", but more than anything it's in the way I'm treated as a result of what I gave. When we give a gift out of love, and the response of the recipient is to simply receive this gift in love, and then respond by just accepting the gift as opposed to feeling like they must pay me back, my mission has been accomplished. In the same way, when we are just able to accept/receive God's gift of new life to us, and the death of sin, as well as the taking on of the DNA of Christ as his Church and bride that gets to live in His perfect Kingdom then we will begin to experience the freedom of who we "are".

This morning i realized as an advocate for "being" the church, I am part of a group that is still striving to "do" it right. As a follower of Jesus Christ, I am already part of his Church and that is where freedom lies. Freedom is never a response of guilt but of love. The same way that Eve was Adam's DNA since she was made from his rib, I am part of Christ's DNA as I am a member of a church that was born out of him and I can find freedom in accepting who I am in Christ. I truly believe with all my heart that a revival and revolution is coming from within the body as we begin to see, in glimpses, how God sees us. The beginning of that revival comes from the fact that we are worthy to be loved, worthy to accept forgiveness and worthy to be a member of the Church regardless of what we've done in the past. If we are to believe in a God that is all knowing, all loving, all powerful as well as everywhere at the same time, then we have to believe that God knew of our sins before we would commit them. The proof of him being aware of that sin is the sending of His only begotten Son to take those sins to the cross so that we may have fellowship with Him.

Nothing surprises God! Nothing! Your sins of omission and your sins of commission do not catch God off guard. But...what pains God, what hurts the feelings of God is the fact that in spite of his gift of forgiveness for sin, in spite of his gift of new life and a new marriage with Him through Christ, we have responded in finding out how He we can "repay" Him. If I can urge Christians one thing this Holiday season it is to learn how to be a great receiver. When we learn how to accept a gift, we learn how to appreciate the giver and the thought of his present. When we aim to "repay" for what was given, it becomes more about us and what we can do to show we're worthy of such a thought. It's hard to accept but you are worthy of God's love. It's hard to accept but you are "His Masterpiece" according to Ephesians 2. We can't make ourselves any more of God's masterpiece by playing the part of His Masterpiece. As His church and bride we are perfect in His sight and therefore we can begin to experience the freedom of Christ when we see what we already "are" instead of what we need to do, be or play the part of.

Perspective and Confessions of an Ordinary Guy

About a week ago I wrote about saving a word like "amazing" for those special moments in life in which God speaks to your Spirit and your Soul. After my meeting this morning, the only word that comes to mind is "amazing" when I begin to describe what God spoke to me through the conversation, the love, the growth, and the understanding I developed as I spent some time with my Brother-in-law. A little background on the relationship is that my Brother-in-law has been an integral part of my everyday life and most importantly in the development of my Faith over the past six years. We began dating our wives at virtually the same time in Jan/Feb of 2004, we were there for each other through the times that nobody else would have a clue what it's like to date or marry a triplet (did I mention our wives have the same DNA?), we have prayed numerous times together, have spoken the truth in love to one another when it wasn't easy, have taken numerous trips together and have basically shared all of our lives together. Whenever you end up marrying "multiples", you have no choice but to become as close as brothers. However, over about the past three to six months, as he has engaged further in his position as a youth Pastor and i felt the Spirit of God moving me to question the makeup of the institutional church, we have slightly drifted apart in our ability to talk about "all things Jesus".

So, after he read multiple blog posts over the past month or two when it appears that I have been filled with the spirit of a renegade for the deconstruction of the institutional church, he decided it was time we meet and talk about the "elephant in the room", especially since in many ways it appears I'm calling for an end to his job as we know it. He noticed that even though I was and am posing important questions to those in the church, those who work in the church, those outside the church and anybody else who reads this blog, I have rarely included myself in the problems that I'm blaming on the "institution" and somehow separate myself from the very thing (the Church) that I'm trying to put back in to what we currently refer to as "church". Ironically, just last night as I was praying I felt something tell me (not audibly) that though my deconstruction may be correct and even important, unless I aim to build back up what I'm tearing down, then all I'm causing is disunity within the body of Christ (just as much of a sin as leading people to worship where they attend on Sunday instead of Christ or the creation of "churchilebrities").

So, without getting into personal details and with the encouragement of my brother-in-law it's time to clear somethings up...


1) Do I hate the church? Absolutely Not! I'm a member of the Church and recognize that I don't use the word "we" enough when speaking about the Church. I'm incredibly passionate about the body of Christ and truly believe that the revival and reformation that followers of Christ are hoping for will most certainly take place within the "institutional church" as we know it. This may mean a breaking off of some of the members to pursue house churches and just as likely it will be a reconstruction of how we "do" church by the Holy Spirit. This doesn't make you or me "emergent" or "emerging" but it does mean an end to the fear that we must be "relevant" within culture or fear that we are letting down John Calvin or Martin Luther. The Kingdom of God is above all Earthly cultures and wisdom and I expect that by the power of His Spirit, the culture of the Kingdom will regain its influence, power and attraction as the body hands the power back to the head who is Jesus Christ. I don't have all the answers to how this will work or what it will look like, but I know that it's already happening. I also know that it won't happen out of the wisdom of man (me included) but instead by the wisdom of God (see 1 Cor: 2 and 3).

2) Do I hate you if you work at a church? Absolutely Not! I feel terrible as I read anything that I've written or that others have written that aims bazookas and chucks grenades at those working "in the church" (guilty at times). Though i would not be true to my study of Scripture if I denied the fact that I don't believe in a paid "clergy", I don't know if that is the BIGGEST problem within the institution and I don't believe it's something that MUST be fixed. If it must be fixed, all I can say is that it's a God sized problem that can only be fixed by God himself. For the record, I do believe that a teacher should be paid a "fair wage" as Scripture says, I also believe in the financial support of missionaries which in my opinion now includes local churches due to the lack of those actually following Christ in America, and I believe in the cheerful giver who has the ability as a follower of Christ to prove that God has total control of the money he allows him or her to make (that's a tough one personally). With that being said, I only hope to encourage you, edify you, exhort you, and serve with you as part of God's "Royal Priesthood". I have realized that even though I am trying to raise important questions, I may have demeaned your current calling and in no way am I in a position to do that.

3) Do I believe that we all need to attend a church? Without getting fully into the semantics of the word "church" today, the answer is YES! Surprise coming from me? Let me be very clear, all followers of Christ are called to be part of a community of believers that without question meets together and lives life together. We are called to serve together, take communion together, pray for one another, edify each other, exhort one another and give to each person as they have need. With this being said, this doesn't mean that there is only way to experience church and that is by going on Sunday. It should also be said that showing up at a Starbucks with a Christian friend and reading the bible is not the same as "going to church" and should actually be referred to as fellowship which is also extremely important to sharing life together within the body. I must also note that most of my issues with the institutional church have to do with the squashing of the Spirit of God that is in so many of the "congregants" by the traditions of our liturgy. As we sit in pews, fall asleep, cheer, raise their hands, listen, think, or whatever else we do during a service time we are rarely encouraged to do anything but fill compartments of the "church life". Therefore, I'd urge the institution to let go of their tight grip on programs, methods, being relevant, being up to date, or being concerned with offending people and instead trust God that the building he wants to speak through is his people who come together as "living stones" (1 Peter). By allowing for this, even within the institutional church, we actually build one another up and become a real family. I doubt people at home aren't allowed to talk with the exception of 5 minutes of pre-planned time on a Wednesday night and I don't see what that should be any different whenever a community of believers meets together no matter the day of the week that they meet.

Is Jesus the only way? Yes! Not because I'm saying it, but because He did. "If God says it, that settles it" as my mentor always says. Next question!

Do I always think I'm right, and if you disagree should you stop reading the blog? The only person who is always right is God himself! I aim to be clear that when I pose questions, they are just that...questions. Many times I will give opinions, but more often I aim to present facts. It's a fact that the institutional church is on the decline and house churches are on the rise. But, that doesn't mean that the Holy Spirit isn't in both. I realized this morning that there is an adrenaline seen in my writing when I get passionate about something and instead of being constructive, it is often times destructive. Please know, that in all humility, I don't always believe I'm right, but I do believe God is always right. Therefore, if I'm stating a fact, it's not always because I want it to be that way (see the Jesus question above) but because God states it SHOULD be a certain way. I also want to be clear that the institution, the house church movement and the missional church movement are all part of God's sovereign, eternal and moral wills. Anything we do inside of those wills of God are ok. In other words, we may disagree on some little things but our questions when reading the work of somebody else should not be whether or not we're personally offended. The question that should be asked is, "does this piece of writing offend the God of Scripture?" and if you answer no to that question you would then ask, "what can I personally do to remedy my own situation and relationship with Him"? Just so you know, most of the time the answer is to let Go and give everything to God. We have to get over ourselves enough to allow His Spirit to transform us because we can't transform ourselves into the image and love of God. It's not easy for me to be right in my head when I'm writing, only to be corrected by a friend, a reader or God. But we're all after truth and leaning on tradition and comfort never helped anybody grow in Christ.

I'll stop right here for now. If you have any more questions for me, comments for me or anything else I'd love to hear from you whether by email or by comment. The most important thing I was asked this morning was "Ryan, what are you hoping this blog actually does? Is it your ministry?". The answer to that question was that I hope I can be the hands of Jesus as I type that pull people out of the rut of being a "Christian" on paper but have never seen the Spiritual Transformation that produces the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22. Personally, I'm embarrassed to say that in my own life, things like anger and pride continue to have a hold on me. There are places and areas of my life that I need to let go, places where I still must come to the end of myself and places in which I block the presence of the Holy Spirit. I don't apologize for asking hard questions or making you uncomfortable, but I do apologize for creating any disunity in the body because of my lack of focus to "Be completely humble and gentle; patient, bearing with one another in love. Making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace" (Eph 4:2-3). I hope that from here on out this blog becomes a dialogue in which revival and reformation can spring up within all aspects of the church and the resurgence of God's people to influence a culture as opposed to us being transformed by it. My aim is never to be relevant, Jesus wasn't worried about relevance, he was concerned with truth. Truth is what sets people free and the truth of our freedom comes by grace through the death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. Amen!