Tag Archives: church

What Are We Building for Heaven’s Sake?

I have no idea if what I’m about to talk about will make sense. We’ll see. My style is not to wait until the story takes shape before I begin to type. Instead, I sit down at this blank screen as soon as I know something is pushing at the edges of my brain; when a whisper becomes persistent, and then I see where it all goes. This is that. I’m in the book of Haggai. Don’t ask me why, it will only distract me.

History: Haggai speaks of the rebuilding of the temple. In 538 B.C., King Cyrus of Persia, who had defeated the Babylonians [who had conquered Jerusalem and taken the Jews captive], gave his permission for the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. Roughly 50,000 of them returned and began the work. Two years later, the foundation was completed, which caused great opposition from surrounding neighbors who feared what might happen if the temple were completely rebuilt. So the work stopped. Enter the book of Haggai.

“The Lord of Armies says this: These people say: The time has not come for the house of the Lord to be rebuilt.” The word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: “Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?” (Haggai 1:2-4)

And this is where something is beginning to push a little harder, but I can’t grab it yet, so let’s keep going.

“You expected much, but then it amounted to little. When you brought the harvest to your house, I ruined it. Why?” This is the declaration of the Lord of Armies. “Because My house still lies in ruins, while each of you is busy with his own house.” (Haggai 1:9)

I picked at the thread, so now I have to keep pulling and see where it goes.

“So, then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone. In Him the whole building, being put together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In Him you are also being built together for God’s dwelling in the Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:20-22 – emphasis mine)

Old Testament temple. Physical picture of a New Testament spiritual reality. Us. The Church. We are the house of God. The place of His dwelling.

“Now, the Lord of Armies says this: “Think carefully about your ways:

You have planted much but harvested little.
You eat but never have enough to be satisfied.
You drink but never have enough to be happy.
You put on clothes but never have enough to get warm.
The wage earner puts his wages into a bag with a hole in it.” (Haggai 1:5-6)

Because they neglected God’s house, while building their own.

What does that look like here, today, in our world? I don’t know, but I’m willing to throw out some what ifs on the table.

What if it looks like…

  • a greater desire to be culturally relevant than biblically sound
  • a place where pastors, teachers, and worship leaders are turned into celebrities and where “followers” usurps “following”
  • an online presence mattering more than the presence of God (subtly, of course; never admitted. Heavens no.)
  • acceptance = love, but a call for repentance is hateful
  • having the right credentials (degrees, education) is a greater qualifier than the anointing of God

But the thread doesn’t end with the corporate entity known as the Church. Because we, me, you, we’re the Church, so we have to pull that thread until we can see ourselves in the book of Haggai.

What if it looks like this in me, or in you, but probably in that other guy over there for sure…

  • a greater interest in making decisions for the church than making disciples
  • church being where we go or what we do, not who we are – more about a building than a body
  • we prefer to serve in the seen than the unseen
  • we’re more willing to be 10% of Jesus’ wallet, than to be all in as His hands and feet
  • we’d rather walk away with our offense than stay with our forgiveness and grace
  • investing in our future is more important than investing in the Church
  • Church has become optional

Do we feel like we have put so much work into our lives, but don’t really see anything for it? Are we continually dissatisfied, wishing and wanting for something more, something else, something different? Does what we have never seem to be enough?

I wonder if we have attempted to disconnect our personal lives from the Church, when in fact they are indelibly connected. Should we not be sad that we have preferred to build our own house with dead stones, than to be a living stone in building the house of God?

Even worse, are we building a church that looks nothing like the house of God?

I think I can let go of the thread now. I may need a nap, but I absolutely need some time with Jesus to let Him speak truth into me and into my life.

Thanks for hanging out with me.

Exodus 6: We Are the Messenger, Not the Message

But the Lord replied to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: because of a strong hand he will let them go, and because of a strong hand he will drive them from his land.”

God’s first words in this chapter are in response to Moses’ last words in the previous chapter – “…why have You brought trouble upon this people… You have not rescued Your people at all.”

God sent Moses to Pharaoh with a message, and the message didn’t work. In fact, it made things worse. At least that’s what it looked like from Moses’ vantage point, and it caused him to despair. Moses didn’t know that his assignment was never intended to be the solution, it was only meant to prepare the way. Moses was not the message. In other words, it was never going to be Moses who changed the heart of the king and freed God’s people.

I wonder if someone needed to hear that today. What you perceive as failure on your part, may simply be a misunderstanding of the mission.

Moses brought the message of God to Pharoah, but what was going to move the ruler was the power of God. And yet… I still don’t think that’s the full perspective of this chapter, and here’s why. God could have simply brought a deadly plague on every Egyptian, leaving the Israelites free to walk away from their bondage. He could have, with a thought, wiped out their oppressors, if their freedom was the primary goal. But it wasn’t, and we know that because of the next message God gave Moses to take, not to Pharaoh, but to the Hebrew slaves.

Therefore tell the Israelites: I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from the forced labor of the Egyptians and rescue you from slavery to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and great acts of judgment. I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from the forced labor of the Egyptians.” 

You will know that I am the Lord your God.

I will dare to say that Moses being sent to Pharoah wasn’t about Moses, or even about the oppressed or the oppressor. It was about God being known.

There would be no misunderstanding as to how the Hebrews were rescued from their slavery. No way to chalk it up to good fortune or coincidence, and certainly no way they could ever think that they freed themselves. Everyone involved in this story would know one indisputable fact – God had done this. Not a god, but the God.

You and I, as Christ followers, are in the service of our God, but let us never mistake our assignment to be the solution. Sometimes we will deliver the message, maybe even raise our staff over the water, but it will always be the power of God that parts the sea, turns a heart, heals a disease, or sets someone free – so that they will know that He is the Lord. May we never allow our limited perspective to make any of this about us.

May we (the Church) stop endeavoring to be known. Stop making it about our great preaching, great worship, and great ministries. The number of seats filled and the number of people following us is meaningless as long as it remains about us.

I pray the Church shifts her gaze, and the quest of her heart becomes to simply make Him known.

Because we are the messenger, not the message.

I pray that my gaze shifts off of me – my failures and successes, my not enough or too much, my abilities or inabilities, my have or have not, my following or the lack thereof.

I pray that the quest of my heart becomes to make Him known, even if (when) it means that I am unknown.

Because I am the messenger, not the message.

Follow Jesus: See & Tell

The Gospel of John.

John the Baptist: I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God. (1:34)

Andrew: The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus. (1:41)

Philip: Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. (1:45)

Samaritan woman: “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” (4:29)

Man at the Pool: The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well. (5:15)

Those living in darkness were seeing a great light, and their response was to tell others, and bring others to that light.

Sometimes we complicate things, you know? We make Christianity about us and ours. Our church. Our doctrine. Our style of music. Our programs. Our ministry. Our ideas and preferences and need to do things our way.

I think some of us just need to tell someone about Jesus.

Do we still believe that there is power in the gospel? That the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God? (1 Corinthians 1:18) 

Do I believe it? Do I believe that the gospel that comes forth as I share my testimony has the power of God on it? Or have I, we, become far more comfortable inviting people to church, or to an outreach event, than we are inviting them to know Jesus through our own story?

Bringing someone to church isn’t bringing them to Jesus. I will stand by that statement, as offensive as it may sound. Inviting people to come to church isn’t wrong, or a bad thing. But it isn’t the model we have been given in the scriptures. The picture we have is that people encountered the Messiah, and then went to tell someone what they had seen, often bringing them back to Jesus. And when Jesus left the earth, we see the disciples going out and doing the “greater things than these” that Jesus spoke of in John 14:12-14. And all those people who believed in the Jesus they were being told about, became the Church. Today, those who believe in the Jesus we’ve seen and tell them about, become the Church.

People were seeing and telling long before Jesus told them to go make disciples of all nations. But we’ve made that great commission our flagship scripture for so long that “missions” is now where people are told about Jesus. Why tell my neighbor about the life changing encounter I had with Jesus, when I can invite them to an outreach event at church instead. Something safe. Unintrusive. Non-threatening. I wonder. If we truly believed our theology of heaven and hell, would we care about being unintrusive? I wonder if it’s time for the Church to get intrusive. Become threatening to the schemes of the devil. Walk in the power of the Holy Spirit to be His witness as we go, everywhere we go.

We have seen. We have seen Him in our lives. So let’s be followers of Jesus and tell someone. Let’s invite them to Jesus before we invite them to church.

Truth: Day 10—I Belong

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Ephesians 2:19-22

I am no longer one of them, I am one of us.

Not a stranger to God, now part of His family.

I am a citizen of His Kingdom, part of His Church, a stone in the temple that is His dwelling.

I am a sojourner, but I am a wanderer no more. I have a sure destination.

I am not on my own, forging my own path, figuring it all out.

The community of God are my family, my fellow soldiers at war with darkness, my friends and my people. We are the one anothers, learning how to love and forgive and serve and care for one another. Together.

I used to believe that I didn’t belong. Anywhere, but especially in the Church. With all the good ones, the well dressed ones who knew all the things I didn’t know. The ones who would never understand where I had been or why I was now standing in their space.

But now I know the truth, so I speak the truth to help me live the truth.

I am part of something. I am part of Someone.

I am not on the outside looking in. I am not the thing that is not like the others.

I belong.

Our Tree of Life: Suffering and Redemption

It was late. I needed to sleep but couldn’t get my brain to agree with my body. It’s become that thing that I do. Go to bed and not sleep. Lately, my brain’s aversion to sleep has been leading me to the secret place and middle of the night sessions with the Holy Spirit. This night was that kind of night.

Suddenly, a picture showed up in my mind. A tree. Large, lush, very green, and full of fruit. It was the tree of Life in the Garden of Eden.

And then I saw the cross and Jesus hanging on it. And suddenly, scriptures came across the screen of my mind.

“Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” – John 6:53

“Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, because it is written: Everyone who is hung on a tree is cursed.” – Galatians 3:13

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” – John 14:6

 “…that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.” – Philippians 3:10-11

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” – Galatians 2:20

And these thoughts pole vaulted into my brain –

The cross is now our tree of life, and Jesus is the fruit of that tree.

We no longer have access to that original tree of life. The one that came without suffering. The one that required no death.

Ours is a different tree.

We must be reminded of this tree and what it means, beyond “Jesus died for my sins”. We must take of the fruit of this tree in order to know life. We must partake of what Jesus suffered so that we too can obtain His resurrection.

For most of us, our suffering looks different than His. None of the people in my immediate circle, or in any of the circles near me, are being killed for the gospel. But there is certainly that suffering taking place in other parts of the world, and for those ones I pray Godspeed and mercy.

But here, in my world, there are other sufferings, as the death to our flesh is called for on a daily basis. A laying down of our own will in order to fulfill the will of the Father. A death to dreams and wants and our 5-year plan for our lives. The tearing down of idols that seems unending as the light continues to expose what has been hidden in us. A giving of ourselves when we would rather keep, remaining when we would rather leave, being emptied of our own selves so that we can be continually filled with Spirit of God.

Letting mercy triumph over judgment in our own hearts toward those around us. Giving grace that hasn’t been earned. Showing compassion, not just for the least of these, but for those who are against us. Speaking mercy instead of condemnation. Dropping stones that feel like justice in our hands.

Please tell me you’re getting this, because I can go on all day.

The cross is not just the place Jesus died a long, long time ago. It is where we die every single day. It is our tree of life.

And I have said all of that, to say this:

Oh, what a God! He looked through time and knew that we would go astray. Knew we would leave Him and claim our lives as our own. So He made a way before we even knew we needed one.

When He set flaming swords in front of the tree of life in the Garden of Eden, He knew there would be another tree, in the fullness of time, and it would bring eternal life to all who would partake of its fruit.

To taste the suffering of the cross is to taste the redemption of the tree of life.

I find it all a little mind-blowing.

What happens in Rome…

We all know the story, or at least many of us do. You know, the one about what everyone thought Jesus had come to do, when in fact He hadn’t come to do that at all. Conquer Rome. Free the Jewish people from an oppressive government and restore to them a kingdom that was rightfully theirs.

We can all see it now. Jesus had something else in mind. Something no one imagined.

Jesus barely even mentioned Rome. Don’t you find that odd? That the biggest issue in the lives of His people at that time isn’t even addressed? That they were being taxed to death simply brought “give to Caesar what is Caesar’s”. He showed zero indignation toward Rome. There was not a word mentioned of Jewish rights as the people of God, no talk about protesting what was happening, no call to resistance.

I assume you know where I’m going with this. We are the people of God. Just for giggles, let’s call our government Rome.

I know some people can rattle off perfectly good reasons (in their mind) that the Church needs to be involved in politics, needs to have their finger on the pulse of culture, needs to push back for our “freedoms”. There’s a lot of talk about taking back the seven mountains, taking back the government, standing up for righteousness, but the problem I keep running into is this: I can’t find it in scripture. I can’t find that part where Jesus told us we have rights and freedoms and that we are to dictate the culture of the world. I see this…

A scribe approached him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”

Jesus told him, “Foxes have dens, and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

Matthew 8:19-20

Jesus isn’t saying “if you choose to follow me, it could get uncomfortable”. He’s saying that when we choose to follow Him, we relinquish our right to have a place to call home here on earth. No right to a roof over our head.

In Matthew, chapter 10, the first time He sent out His disciples on mission, He sent them with no provision. He told them they would be beaten and imprisoned for His sake, that they would be brought before people in authority, but they were to be His witness in that situation.

In other words – unfair and unjust treatment is not something to fight against, it is to be used as an opportunity to be His witness.

When I read the gospels, I do not see rights. I do not see a call to resist or a call to take something back. I see a laying it all down, a giving it all away.

I see “sell everything you have and give it to the poor and follow Me.” (Matthew 19:21)

“Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:39)

“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. You are blessed when they insult you and persecute you and falsely say every kind of evil against you because of me”. (Matthew 5:10-11)

It is clear from the scriptures that the people of God do not have a “right” to comfort, to fair treatment, to be respected, or to be treated kindly or justly (except by the other members of the family of God. There are big expectations in that category).

Beloved, we have not been tasked with conquering Rome. Frankly, that is a far too narrow a vision. Our assignment is simple, but has profound eternal consequences – love God with everything we’ve got, and love people as ourselves. Carry the gospel to all the nations. Make disciples (not just converts). Trust God in all things. Fix our eyes, minds, and hearts on heaven, not on earth.

We are a people called to lay down and give away, not demand and take back.

I know it seems radical and uncomfortable and goes against so many things ingrained in us as earthly citizens of this nation (or any other free nation). But we have something so much bigger on us than constitutional rights and allegiance to political parties. We have a call to allow the Holy Spirit of God to pursue the hearts and salvation of people, through us. A call to co-labor with Jesus to build His Kingdom, not a political kingdom with political power and authority. That is way too small and narrow. We are increasing the territory of the spiritual authority and power of heaven, on the earth. But that power and authority is not against men (flesh and blood), it is against “the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens.” (Ephesians 6)

Our battle is not with Rome, it is with hell.

It is a battle fought through prayer, and through our obedience to the Word of God. It is fought best by those who are fully aware of who they are in Christ, and what they are actually fighting for – the souls of men. Not their political views or their opinions on current cultural issues. We are fighting for their eternal destinies.

The days are getting darker, and nothing in scripture tells us that evil will be vanquished or that the darkness will recede, until Jesus returns, no matter how bad we want it. That is not our fight.

Our fight is to pillage the darkness with the gospel that can save the souls of men and women held captive there, and to love one another while we do it.

#followJesus #betheChurch

Declaration & Praise: Day 12

“Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ. For He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before Him.” – Ephesians 1:3-4

“We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love that He had for us, made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace!” – Ephesians 2:3-5

Today I declare that He is the One who blesses me. He is the One who chose me. He is the One who makes me holy and blameless.

I will not look to myself or to others for what can only come from God.

I was dead and now I live. I was under wrath, now I am under grace – because there is a great love that exists in God for me.

In the same way, my brothers and sisters in Christ were dead, and now they live. They were under wrath, but are now under grace. There is a great love that exists in God for them.

Today, I will remember that I am not alone in the grace in which I stand. I am not alone in being chosen, holy, blameless, and loved by God.

I will choose to see myself and others in the Body of Christ from the perspective of truth.