September 2010

I recently came across a document where the title caught my attention: “The Church of the Triune God.”  I really believe that too many of us do not what the church is so we miss out on what Christianity has to offer.  Here are some loosely repeated quotes that I have retained about the church. I haven’t always retained the authors so I aplogixe if these quotes belong to you!

“The church us the form that eternal life takes in the here and now.”  (Dr. Elmer Coyler)

“The church is not the means to an ends.  The church is the ends.  The church is the goal.” (Kathy Deddo)

“The church is the ongoing Incarnation as it marches through human history.”

“The church is the new humanity of Jesus on earth as it encounters our fallenness.”

“… the shape of participation … in the life of God, is the church’s transformation into the shape of the life of Jesus …”

“The church is visible sharing in the obedience of the Son.”

In all of these quotes the church is presented as the incarnational life, the participation in the life of Jesus on earth.  We Christians are united to and with Jesus.  The way to engage in Jesus is to be engaged in the church.  They are the same thing!  The church is the Body of Christ on earth so we participate in and with Jesus as re participate in the church his body. So why do so many see the church as the means to get saved or to get to heaven! It’s not.  Why do so many badmouth the church – would they badmouth Jesus?  Why do some Christians think they can stay home and still participate with Jesus?  That’s like getting married and then saying. “since we’re married we don’t need to live together!”  Why do some Christians go shopping for a church like they shop for a new car?  Why do some leave their chosen church once they disagree with what the pastor says or does?  The Holy Spirit places us in church and no one agrees with Jesus all the time – just read the gospels!  We need to get back to the right understanding of the church and what eternal life is all about – participating with Jesus in his communion with the Father by the Holy Spirit.  It is, after all, the church of the great triune God!

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August 2010

Michael Jinkins writes in “Invitation to Theology” that “Forgiveness in the concrete actualization of the Christian faith.”  Forgiveness is the primary part of what it means to practice this faith we call Christianity. We must understand and grasp that we are unconditionally forgiven through God’s self-emptying love manifest in the Incarnation of the eternal Word as the man Jesus. As we understand and internalize the unconditional  love of our Father we should find ourselves completely undone.  Our only response is to gratefully receive that forgiveness (love) and to extend it to others.  To live shoulder-to-shoulder with other sinners as forgiven forgivers!  We extend forgiveness to others not on our own but in the shadow of the cross as participants in what God has done for us.  We can never separate forgiveness from Jesus.  If we do it becomes a legal transaction instead of the relationship it really is. As I see forgiveness in your eyes I can believe that God has forgiven me and I will stand with you as a brother!  In that place we have true communion in the Spirit with Jesus, with our Father and with one another!  May it fill the earth as the waters fill the oceans! Amen!

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JULY 2010

I’ve been thinking a lot about stewardship lately.  It’s really not my fault!  I’ve been reading Michael Jinkins “Invitation to Theology.” He makes the comment “God is a workman with the heart of a child.”  He explains that children have the freedom, capacity, and creativity to engage in the same activity over and over and yet find it joyful.  Just think of their gleeful cry “do it again!” when mom or dad do something that they enjoy.  Jinkins claims that God has that same attitude and ability.  Every day God says “do it again” to the sun and it once again rises!  God does this with all of his creation and takes great joy in it.  Stewardship is for God a joyful activity (notice how I made that clever jump from creative activity to stewardship!).  But we humans have a huge disdain for routine and in particular the routine of stewardship.  We have no joy in doing the same thing over and over.  Once is enough!   So we operate as “on again-off again” Christians when it comes to stewardship in particular stewardship in the church.  We are bored to death with routine!  Why is that?  What have we lost that God enjoys?  Why can’t we be as faithful as God is in the sun rising in our stewardship activities?  Why can’t we find joy in “do it again?”  Something’s wrong and I’m not sure the cure!  So I have  more questions than I have wise and profound statements of truth.  Part of the restoration of the image of God in the church must be stewardship and that must include finding joy in routine.  Maybe that’s a new spiritual discipline we need to learn but then Christians are pretty much bored with spiritual disciplines!

On another topic – have a wonderful and joyous 4th of July celebration!

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June 2010

In June we in America celebrate Father’s Day.  It’s a day to pause and remember all that father’s do for us – in particular in regards to protecting and perpetuating the family.  Jesus came to reveal to us that God is a Father – his Father and our Father. As a father he is intimately involved with his family his creation.  Unlike all the pagan gods (and some that aren’t so pagan but still aren’t fathers) who fight among themselves and inflict pain/punishment on humanity, our Father loves us unconditionally and is involved with every aspect of our lives.  He is our point of reference.  He is our security.  No matter what troubles we might have (and troubles we will have!) our Father desires that we seek knowing him – that we don’t allow our troubles or our blessings to lead us into seeking after something else or depending upon something else.  As humans we are his beloved made reality in the Incarnation of Jesus and experienced in the presence of the Holy Spirit.  It’s a very assuring and comforting truth that our Father loves us and wants us to know him.  We don’t need to please him or earn his affections.  In Christ we already have that!  So happy Father’s Day to everyone – to every child of our Father in heaven!

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May 2010

Spring is finally here and with it new life in so many ways.  Nature begins anew.  Graduation from all levels into a new life. Mother’s Day – motherhood always caries with it the promise of new life.  And let’s not leave out Pentecost – the day the church celebrates as the fulfillment of the promised Holy Spirit and the new creation in Christ.  The new beginning of the church that Jesus himself is building.

Acts 2:33 explains this event this way: “Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.”

We see in Pentecost the actions of the triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Jesus, the exalted Son, receives from the Father the promised Holy Spirit.  We must ask “what then is our part in all this?”  The honest answer is “nothing!”  Jesus receives the Holy Spirit!  We are all included in Jesus!  So as he receives the promise as a result of his works we also receive.  That’s all!  We are already included!  So we must rejoice!  So we must be eternally grateful!  So we must live up to what Christ has attained for us!  We must!  Not because of what it does for us but because of who we already  are!

Glory be to the Father and to
the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now
and ever shall be, world without
end.

Amen!

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APRIL 2010

In April we celebrate both the death of Jesus with Maundy Thursday (Annual Lord’s Supper) and the Resurrection of Jesus with Easter (Resurrection) Sunday.  See the April 2010 Newsletter for detail.  These events are the focus of the Christian worship calendar.  Jesus came to become like us so that we would become like him and participate in all he is and is doing in his communion with the Father and his anointing of the Spirit.  In reference to his passion Jesus said in John 8:14, “I know where I came from and where I am going.” For him it was a simple process – not easy but simple.  Why do we then make the process of becoming like Jesus so complex?  In “Simple Church” by Thom S. Rainer and Eric Geiger we are challenged to make church simple – to have a simple process of making disciples so that followers of Jesus know where they came from and where they are going.  Again, that doesn’t mean that it will be an easy process but it should and must be simple.  Striving for that we have boiled all things in CRF down to three things:

Reconciling to God

Fellowshipping with Others

Ministry for the World

That’s it!  All programs and ministries serve those three things or they are done away with.  It’s a process or flow from one to the other as described in the three action words: to – with – for. Reconciling to God is where a person discovers that they belong – belong to God and are already included and accepted. In their minds they can then experience reconciliation.  Fellowshipping with others is where a disciple deepens and practices what they believe – from belonging to believing.  Ministering to the world is where a disciple serves the world in furthering the mission of the Father to the entire world; of co-ministering with Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit the message of reconciliation to the world (see 2 Corinthians 5).

That’s it; that’s the process:

Reconciling – Fellowshipping – Ministering

To – With – For

God – Others – the World

And we must add

Father (reconciled!) – Son (fellowshipping!) – Spirit (ministering!)

Won’t you join us?

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March 2010

I’ve been thinking about some of the early church fathers and mothers that developed their “rule” for living.  These rules became popular and grew into monastic movements such as the Jesuits. At the same time I was reading a contemporary author’s view of life and he discussed how he had his own rule for living or as he called it a mantra.  It was important to him in that it had not ever failed him in life no matter what happened to him even a diagnosis of terminal cancer.  So I was pondering what a simple biblical rule for living might be.  As I thought on it my mind went to 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.  In my words it says “always rejoice” and “without ceasing Pray” and “in everything give thanks.”  Seems to me to be a rule for living that covers just about everything – receiving from God, being with God, and giving to God.  With effort I’m going to attempt to try it on for a while and see what happens.  I’m particularly drawn to the overall positive aspect of this rule.  So many people are always “down in the mouth” about something or always critical about something.  And when I speak of “so many people” I’m mainly referring to those that proclaim to be Christian.  Now I’m not proclaiming a poly-anna rule of living but one that experiences all of life’s ups and downs (and there are plenty of both) positively and makes them work for life.  So wish me well in my endeavor – or pray without ceasing for me – I need it!

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FEBRUARY 2010

February is Black History Month here in America.  Our church is a multiracial congregation so we take the time to observe Black History Month by pointing out the many accomplishments of African Americans and their significant contribution to our nation.  We remember that God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Three unique persons but yet one.  God’s oneness does not in any way diminish the uniqueness of each person.  They are only unique as they are in relationship with one another.  In the same way we humans are only unique to the extent that we are in relationship with others who are also unique.  Thus we can celebrate our multiracial makeup as a reflection of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  We celebrate each other’s uniqueness while recognizing our oneness in Jesus by the Spirit.  We don’t force each other to convert to some yellow pencil standard.  We can be diverse but yet one.  If it works for God in community why can’t it work for us in community?  And of course it does!  While in seminary I was often asked how we accomplished our diversity.  My answer is that I/we did nothing to produce it.  It just happened as an act of God’s grace!  I believe it is one of our gifts and one I hope we never loose!  May we all reflect more profoundly our God who is uniquely  Father, Son and Spirit but yet One.

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JANUARY 2010

I guess I have to wish everyone a Happy New Year…it’s the thing to do you know!  A new yea

r, 2010.  S

om

e set resolutions.  Some set goals.  And many do nothing but celebrate.  I think I’m

with this last

group.  I want 2010 to be a year of living, of being fully alive in Jesus.  A year of agreeing wit

h the Holy Spirit at work in me.  I want my church (CRF) to become more Christ-like.  I want to love more, serve more, laugh more, cry more, and be more alive.  I just can’t come up with the goals and resolutions to make that all happen.  So instead I’ll celebrate.  Celebrate who I am in Jesus.  Celebrate the awesome relationship we all have with Our Father – in Jesus of course.  Celebrate the Holy Spirit at work in me.  And perhaps as I celebrate all that I desire will come into being through the Spirit.  I’ve learned a new way (well, new for me anyway) of saying the Lord’s Prayer.  A way that is more in keeping with the original.  I offer this prayer up for all of us for 2010:

Our Father who are in the heavens

Let be sanctified your name

Let come your Kingdom

Let be done your will

As in heaven so also on earth

Give us today our continual bread

Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors

And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one.

For yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory for ever and ever.

Amen!

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DECEMBER 2009

The Incarnation. The coming of God into our existence as flesh and blood.  God becomes a man called Jesus – the Son of Man.  Calvin called the Incarnation the mirifica commutatio – the “wonderful exchange.”  Jesus took what was ours that he might give us what is his.  He takes all of humanities anguish, alienation, broken sinfulness and heals and cleanses it by his self-sanctifying life of communion with the Father by the Holy Spirit.  And then he comes back to us in the power of the Holy Spirit and gives us back our humanity, now renewed and whole.  He makes us a new creation; a new way of being human.  In my mind the Incarnation is the greatest of all miracles ever performed!  All I can do is stand in awe and reverence forever grateful!  Like the shepherds on that first Christmas all I want to do is go and “see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us” and then return “glorifying and praising God for all we have heard and seen.”  The miracle and magic of the Incarnation remains with us to this day.  I pray that your celebrating of this greatest miracle ever will be filled with that magic and awe!  God bless you!

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November 2009

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  Everyone has a lot to be thankful for but I can’t help but wonder if we are truly grateful for all that God has done for us.  Karl Barth says that the only correct response humans can have for grace is gratitude.  We must gladly and sincerely receive the grace of God given to us in Jesus.  That gladness and receiving is gratitude.  We fool ourselves into thinking we have something to offer God when we have nothing.  All we can do is receive from God and be glad for what he gives – grace.  Anything else makes us God’s benefactors and how ludicrous that is!  Living in gratitude changes everything about life and takes the pressure off of us to perform for God.  I challenge each of us to develop an attitude of gratitude.  Paul writes in Romans 7:25 “Thanks be to God-through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

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October 2009

Church is the place where we come together to learn what it means that we are already included in the eternal community of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  We know this truth in our heads but how do we live it here on earth?  That is where church comes in.  We learn and live out what the Trinity is.  Jesus came as a man and as a man he lived out his relationship with the Father and his anointing with the Holy Spirit.  Jesus, as a man, sits at the right hand of the Father and continues to live out who and what he is as part of the Triune God.

Jesus came into our ordinary lives as mothers and fathers, as factory workers and office workers, as students and as siblings.  He has entered into what we too often seek to escape and he makes it part of the Triune community.  Church helps us to spread this awesome message and to live this awesome truth.  Our ordinary lives become quite extraordinary!  It’s quite holy (extraordinary) to love a sunset, to cheer loudly at a good football game, to loose track of time when fishing, to enjoy a good meal with good fellowship, to feel like you’re in heaven when you play with your kids and on and on it can go.  Ordinary life?  No, extraordinary life!  Thanks be to our Father in heaven and may he continually open the eyes of our hearts to see his presence in every aspect of our ordinary lives. Thanks to Jesus for building his church.  And thanks to the Holy Spirit for choosing to dwell in us.

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September 2009

Jesus teaches us to pray by beginning our prayers with the word “Our Father.”  These two words say a lot!  God is “our” Father.  He’s not just the Father of Jesus or just believers’ Father or just my Father.  He’s our Father – all of us together and with Jesus.  I’m reminded that I’m a child of God – that’s transforming.  I’m reminded that I can’t create a relationship with God the Father no matter how hard I try because I already have a relationship with him – Jesus’ relationship!  I’m invited into that relationship.  I’m reminded that all of you are my brothers and sisters – we have the same Father.  But you better be careful because if you hurt me I’m telling Dad!  Seriously, I can talk to our Father about you and you can talk to him about me – it’s all in the family.

Prayer becomes the conversation between our Father and Jesus – a conversation that we are a part of.  If we listen closely we just might hear Jesus telling Dad about you and what he is saying is beautiful!  God says to tell you that he is “Our Father!”

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August 2009

Sometime I read something that makes me laugh with pleasure and joy – it’s not that it’s funny but that it’s fun!  Below is a quote that does just that – makes me laugh with joy.  It comes from “The Mystery of Christ…and Why We Don’t Get it” (p 10) by Robert F. Capon.

“There is no sin you can commit that God in Jesus Christ hasn’t forgiven already.  The old baloney about heaven being for good guys and hell for bad guys is dead wrong.  Heaven is populated entirely by forgiven sinners, not spiritual and moral aces.  And hell is populated entirely by forgiven sinners.  The only difference between the two groups is that those in heaven accept the forgiveness and those in hell reject it.  Which is why heaven is a party—the endless wedding reception of the Lamb and his bride—and hell is nothing but the dreariest bar in town.”

I don’t like dreary smoke filled bars.  But I do love a party – a wedding reception.  We just had one of those in the family a few days ago and it was filled with laughter, good food, good drink, and above all else lots of family and friends!  And all I have to do to be part of Jesus’ party is accept my acceptance in Him.  Count me in!  How about you?

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July 2009

I’ve really been thinking a lot (that’s probably not good!) about church and reaching people with the Gospel.  We are supposed to take the Gospel to people and not wait for them to come to us.  But to do that effectively we really need to focus on just one community.  It will probably be a community that looks a lot like us.  We should have a compassion for that community.  And we need to build relationships with them.  All that sounds good and simple but it’s not easy!  I’m praying that the Holy Spirit will give us as a church clear vision on the group He wants us to reach and that He will give us the passion to reach them.  It would be really sad if there is a community somewhere that God has specifically planned for us to reach and we never make the attempt to do so!  Wow – that would be embarrassing!

But what is community?  It might be a geographic location like a specific neighborhood.  It might be an ethnic group.  It might be group bonded together by some specific value or need.  It might be a virtual community – again bound together by some common affinity.  As you can see, we have our work cut out for us!  Please join us in prayer as we seek the Holy Spirit’s leading.

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June 2009

I’ve been reading T.F. Torrance’s “The Mediation of Christ” (a great book if you are interested).  In the book he writes, “Quite evidently Jews and Christians must come together in the Messiah, if the world is to be reconciled.”  I had to stop and really think about that comment.  If jews and Christians were ever able to reconcile in Jesus then there is no power on earth or in heaven that could prevent them from reconciling all people together in Jesus.  But first we Christians need to get our act together.  How can we as a whole reconcile with the Jews when we are so divided?  The divisions don’s bother me so much as the fighting does.  The refusal of some Christians to dialogue with their brothers and sisters with different beliefs/traditions because of the false belief that they will be defiled by doing so is absurd!  Jesus took all that to the cross so let’s move past it.  And whose to say which group is truly defiled?  It becomes a shouting match that neither side can win even if one side can yell louder than the other.  That just means they have a louder voice not more truth.  We need to let these difference be and move towards reconciliation with each other – intentional reconciliation.  How about it?

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May 2009

Jack and Judith Balswick in their book “A Model For Marriage” make the following statement “brokenness is not the opposite of wholeness, but the means towards it.”  If that is a true statement then most of us are striving down the wrong road!  We try to get rid of all brokenness or at least hide that we are in some way broken.  Doing so prevents us from journeying towards wholeness.  It also denies that it’s okay to be broken.  What do you think?

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April 2009

It seems to me that our American culture has a serious flaw – it creates an environment where relationships are easily fractured with no hope for repair.  Whether it’s husband-wife, child-parent, siblings, coworkers, neighbors, or friends broken relationships easily happen and it doesn’t seem to matter to anyone. Broken relationships are excepted as a natural part of life.  But God is revealed as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  He is eternal relationship and  he created us in his image – relationship or community.  So why do we take such pride in individualism and easily accept broken relationships as the norm for life?  Gilbert Bilezikian in his book Community 101 writes, “The supreme act of worship is to strive for biblical oneness.” He explains that biblical oneness is the oneness of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Is that how we see worship?  Coming together as one?  Is that for you worship?  Living in communion with others and striving for that communion?  It makes me stop and think!

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February 2009

What does it mean to become a Christian?  Is it saying a magical prayer?  Is it participating in a ritual?  Is it joining a church?  All of those things are important but they are not what it means to become a Christian.  The confusion comes from the concept “becoming” a Christian.  That word gives the impression that a person changes or transforms into something they were not before.  Even though there is truth in that from a subjective perspective it’s not the complete truth.

It would be better to phrase the question as “what does it mean to become a believer?”  In reality there are believers and unbelievers.  Believers are those that have learned the truth about who they already are in the Lord Jesus Christ and believe it!  They stop believing untruths about who Jesus is and who they are in Him.  They start believing and living the truth.  Biblically that is called repentance – turn to Jesus and believe.  That changes a person subjectively but not objectively.  They were already reconciled to God the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ – they just didn’t know it.  Once they learned the truth and believed it they became a believer.  Or we can say they became a Christian.  A prayer might be part of that process.  A ritual might help them along.  Joining a church will allow them to be immersed into the Trinitarian lifestyle.  But those things do not make a person into a Christian.

Choosing to believe that you are already accepted in Jesus makes you a believer or a Christian.  Refusing to accept that you are already accepted makes you an unbeliever BUT it does not change the awesome objective truth that you are already included!  That has been done for you through the mystery of creation and the Incarnation.  Your reconciliation takes place through the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus (and might we add to that list the ‘coming’ of Jesus?).   It should be obvious to you that it didn’t have very much to do with you!  It was worked out by the Father, the Son and yes the Holy Spirit as He lives in you.

A transformation takes place but not a transformation into something you were not.  You transform into the person you already were but was hidden from you.  You then begin to live who you really are.  Through Jesus (your Creator and your Savior) you begin to get to know the Father – Jesus’ Father.  He shares that relationship with you.  He includes you in that relationship.  How cool!  Through Jesus the Holy Spirit leads and guides you.  Jesus also shares that relationship with you.  You always were included in what the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are doing and now you know it!  That teaching leads you into new life (zogron).  You are a believer!  You are a Christian!  Welcome home!

Now I invite you to come join us as together we learn how to live and understand who we are in Christ.  It’s a lifelong journey filled with good times and bad times.  But we are never alone in the journey.  We have brothers and sisters to help us along the way.  We have a Father who loves us unconditionally.  We have an Older Brother who continually takes our side and fights our battles.  We have a Companion who can never leave us or forsake us.  He wants you to know that…and now you do!