Hey people of God,
Long time no talk. That’s my fault for getting busy, but I’m back and wondering as usual. Anyway…I have been thinking about what’s happening to America and its steady deterioration morally, economically, socially, etc. and wondering what God’s heart is in this matter. And this got me to thinking about something. Let me explain it through something that I’ve noticed in my own life and experience that may help illustrate what I’ve been pondering.
About four months ago a group of us began to sense the Spirit of God asking us to start crying out to the Lord for our neighborhood through the avenue of morning prayer meetings. So in obedience to this leading we began to meet every morning at five a.m. to pray. This has been very difficult but very rewarding, and it began to expose some things almost immediately. There were those of us who began coming immediately almost every day as soon as the call went out to morning prayer. There were those of us who came at least a couple times a week and then those of us who came sporadically here and there. This isn’t a judgment on anyone, but through the process of becoming a house of prayer for all nations (Matthew 21:13) I noticed that some who were excited in the beginning stopped coming like they used to and some who came sporadically stopped coming at all. But I also noticed that we would meet new people who would come for the first time and have kept coming very regularly. And this is when I began to think about two things: Our convictions and priorities direct out activities and we develop our convictions without having given them thought.
My son is in basketball and loves the sport deeply. He will get up early, go to bed late, and do whatever it takes to be at non-mandatory conditioning and practice sessions for the game he loves. My father has been getting up at 3:30 or 4:00 a.m. every morning for years to go to work to provide for his family. I know people who will adjust schedules and find child care so that they can work out or attend a function that they feel strongly about. My point is if it is a priority to us we’ll find a way to work it into our daily routine. What I’ve been thinking is that it’s possible that our enemy has made things priority for the Church that seem important but have little effect on his activities against us or the people we’re called to minister to.
I don’t know of many Christians who will say that prayer is not important. Most of us believe that it is. For most of us in the U.S. though it is not a priority. You can see it in our activities. But in places where Christianity is exploding (Africa, Latin America, or Asia for example) prayer is the priority. Through careful reflection it seems like for us here in the United States priorities are relevant worship services, charismatic Bible teaching, or exciting outreach events. All of these are important so please don’t hear what I’m not saying, but as good as these things are they are still leaving us wanting and our nation failing. We’re still seeing our cities going to hell and the majority of our people living for self. If you can truly tell a tree by its fruit, then maybe it’s time for us to begin planting some different seeds.
Frequently, when we tell people about our prayer meetings we’ll hear something like, “Wow that’s a little early.” I know it is but the people who are coming are showing their convictions and priorities by their actions. All I’m asking you to consider is what do your activities show about your convictions and then do your convictions need to undergo an overhaul for the sake of our nation and our mission?
Still thinking carefully on this,
N8
Monday, November 17, 2008
Monday, July 14, 2008
July Newsletter
Hey friends,
Vanguard Street Ministry is doing really amazing!!! We have been expanding in many new directions, and seeing God use us to really impact people for the kingdom, and for this we rejoice. But...lately I've been personally meditating on something that I have to try to express.
There are a lot of patterns in scripture that are supposed to teach us things concerning our Lord and our relationship with Him and each other. In 1 Corinthians 10:11-12 Paul starts talking about Israel's history and the necessity of us learning from it and the written witness of what happened to them. He writes, "These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall.” Along with this scripture I’ve been thinking about Paul’s desire in Acts 20:24 to finish the task God gave him, and that led me to this: Throughout the witness of scripture there have only been a handful of people who have finished well.
Moses ended up dying in the wilderness before he made it to the promised land along with Aaron. Gideon ended up leading Israel into idol worship. Samson died blind and ineffective. David ended ineffective on his bed having seen a coup attempt, a daughter raped by her brother, and several sons murdered. Solomon died not even serving God with more wives than he could possibly be with. Josiah died running into a battle he wasn’t supposed to get involved with. John the Baptist died disillusioned and in prison, not even sure if Jesus was the Christ. This has continued through into our era as well. I have been in close contact with SEVERAL ministries who talk about the things their ministry USED to do and now they are in a “restructuring phase,” trying to decide what they should do to avoid becoming increasingly irrelevant and obsolete.
The pattern seems to be: many people start strong with God and, even if they are used mightily by Him to see His kingdom and will happen in the earth, they have an extremely difficult time finishing the race well, and often end disillusioned or in shame. So I’ve been asking God to reveal to me why this happens so often and how to avoid it in my own life and ministry. I think He has begun to give me answers but maybe that’s for another time. (If you’re further interested just call me or drop me an email and we can talk.) I do believe that God was serious when He said through Jesus that we can ask for anything in his name and He would do it for us. Consider joining me in prayer for your own lives and the lives of others you know that we would finish well, because it seems that finishing well doesn’t happen easily.
Love you guys!
N8
Vanguard Street Ministry is doing really amazing!!! We have been expanding in many new directions, and seeing God use us to really impact people for the kingdom, and for this we rejoice. But...lately I've been personally meditating on something that I have to try to express.
There are a lot of patterns in scripture that are supposed to teach us things concerning our Lord and our relationship with Him and each other. In 1 Corinthians 10:11-12 Paul starts talking about Israel's history and the necessity of us learning from it and the written witness of what happened to them. He writes, "These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall.” Along with this scripture I’ve been thinking about Paul’s desire in Acts 20:24 to finish the task God gave him, and that led me to this: Throughout the witness of scripture there have only been a handful of people who have finished well.
Moses ended up dying in the wilderness before he made it to the promised land along with Aaron. Gideon ended up leading Israel into idol worship. Samson died blind and ineffective. David ended ineffective on his bed having seen a coup attempt, a daughter raped by her brother, and several sons murdered. Solomon died not even serving God with more wives than he could possibly be with. Josiah died running into a battle he wasn’t supposed to get involved with. John the Baptist died disillusioned and in prison, not even sure if Jesus was the Christ. This has continued through into our era as well. I have been in close contact with SEVERAL ministries who talk about the things their ministry USED to do and now they are in a “restructuring phase,” trying to decide what they should do to avoid becoming increasingly irrelevant and obsolete.
The pattern seems to be: many people start strong with God and, even if they are used mightily by Him to see His kingdom and will happen in the earth, they have an extremely difficult time finishing the race well, and often end disillusioned or in shame. So I’ve been asking God to reveal to me why this happens so often and how to avoid it in my own life and ministry. I think He has begun to give me answers but maybe that’s for another time. (If you’re further interested just call me or drop me an email and we can talk.) I do believe that God was serious when He said through Jesus that we can ask for anything in his name and He would do it for us. Consider joining me in prayer for your own lives and the lives of others you know that we would finish well, because it seems that finishing well doesn’t happen easily.
Love you guys!
N8
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
May Newsletter
Hey people of God,
I have been considering what it looks like to be a disciple of Christ. As I have meditated on this I have had to decide whether or not I could be considered a disciple, according to Jesus' own criteria, as well as how many true disciples I really know. Let me explain.
In Luke 14 Jesus starts explaining the importance of counting the cost of following him before making the decision to follow him. At the end of his teaching he says, "Any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple." At first I downplayed this hard verse. But as I began thinking about it and trying to remember if there were any other scriptures to back this thought up John 15:13 came to mind. In it Jesus explains, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." Additionally 1 Corinthians 6:19 clearly states, "You are not your own; you were bought at a price." What does this even mean?
While considering this I was forced to think about something else: the commitment level of the disciples Jesus ended up using and the commitment of those he rejected. Luke 6:57-62 describes those who almost became disciples. Although they were ready to follow Jesus they were reluctant to completely lay down their lives to serve him. On the other hand Mark 2:13 and Matthew 4:18-22 describes men who eventually became disciples of Christ, and all of them immediately laid their lives down to follow Him. And now the big question is, am I really a disciple of Jesus or am I a church-goer pretending I'm a disciple?
Can I say my finances are truly His or do I still ignore His nudging so I can spend my extra money on toys and vacations I want? Is my free time really His or do I make up excuses for why I didn't make it to prayer meetings, or why I can't volunteer for this or that program? Do I consistently make up reasons why now is not the time to obey Him in certain leadings, so that I don't have to become uncomfortable in my lifestyle? If I am going to be a true disciple I cannot ignore these questions because apparently Jesus believed that if you wanted to be one of His followers you had to be willing to give up your life. And apparently the church can't function very well with people who claim to follow Him but won't die to self.
I guess I'm just asking you to think more about this with me, as I have not yet thought out the implications of a group of halfway committed Christ followers or if we can even call ourselves Christ followers without laying our lives down. Maybe we should consider that it could be necessary (almost imperative) for us to raise the bar when it comes to what it means to be a disciple of Christ and not let ourselves get away with pseudo-Christianity any more. I don't know.
Still carefully praying on this,
N8
I have been considering what it looks like to be a disciple of Christ. As I have meditated on this I have had to decide whether or not I could be considered a disciple, according to Jesus' own criteria, as well as how many true disciples I really know. Let me explain.
In Luke 14 Jesus starts explaining the importance of counting the cost of following him before making the decision to follow him. At the end of his teaching he says, "Any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple." At first I downplayed this hard verse. But as I began thinking about it and trying to remember if there were any other scriptures to back this thought up John 15:13 came to mind. In it Jesus explains, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." Additionally 1 Corinthians 6:19 clearly states, "You are not your own; you were bought at a price." What does this even mean?
While considering this I was forced to think about something else: the commitment level of the disciples Jesus ended up using and the commitment of those he rejected. Luke 6:57-62 describes those who almost became disciples. Although they were ready to follow Jesus they were reluctant to completely lay down their lives to serve him. On the other hand Mark 2:13 and Matthew 4:18-22 describes men who eventually became disciples of Christ, and all of them immediately laid their lives down to follow Him. And now the big question is, am I really a disciple of Jesus or am I a church-goer pretending I'm a disciple?
Can I say my finances are truly His or do I still ignore His nudging so I can spend my extra money on toys and vacations I want? Is my free time really His or do I make up excuses for why I didn't make it to prayer meetings, or why I can't volunteer for this or that program? Do I consistently make up reasons why now is not the time to obey Him in certain leadings, so that I don't have to become uncomfortable in my lifestyle? If I am going to be a true disciple I cannot ignore these questions because apparently Jesus believed that if you wanted to be one of His followers you had to be willing to give up your life. And apparently the church can't function very well with people who claim to follow Him but won't die to self.
I guess I'm just asking you to think more about this with me, as I have not yet thought out the implications of a group of halfway committed Christ followers or if we can even call ourselves Christ followers without laying our lives down. Maybe we should consider that it could be necessary (almost imperative) for us to raise the bar when it comes to what it means to be a disciple of Christ and not let ourselves get away with pseudo-Christianity any more. I don't know.
Still carefully praying on this,
N8
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
February Newsletter
Hey people of God:
I’ve had a recurring theme come into my path recently and I would like to share it with you. One thing I have learned is to make careful note of any patterns or repetitions that I see in the world around me (I don’t believe in fate or coincidence) as God may be trying to teach me something. This is one of those things.
It started at the Kalamazoo Gospel Mission. Vanguard has the privilege of leading the chapel service from 7:30-8:30 every Wednesday night there and we take turns presenting a short meditation to the men and women living there. We have had dozens of different presenters of all ages and races but I started to see a pattern that I began meditating on. If the presenter for the evening was over the age of sixty and had been serving God for many years their message was always the same: Come to Jesus. Please don’t get me wrong, the other presenters have all been wonderful, ministering on everything from life in the Spirit to freedom from oppression to the healing power in the blood of Jesus. But as the months progressed I began to note that when it came time for an older saint to present the Word, I could count on it being a message of salvation. And this got me to thinking.
Two years ago I went to the Willow Creek Leadership Conference. The speakers were wonderful preaching on things like “Putting Your Family First” and “Fruitful Church Life.” But the most powerful message of the conference was the last one done by Bill Hybels, lead pastor of Willow Creek. He very carefully, very passionately, presented the gospel message of salvation through Christ.
Three years ago I was with my grandfather and he was asking me if I had ever considered searching for my biological parents. I told him that I rarely, if ever, thought about it which didn’t surprise him, but I remember his response: “But if they don’t know about Jesus it would be worth any amount of search.”
Last week in my Systematic Theology Class (a fancy way of saying, “thinking about what we believe”) we got into a discussion on if Jesus could or should be preached from every scripture, whether preaching from the New Testament or Old Testament. Some students thought that this was reaching too far and some thought every message should be about Jesus. Each argument had valid points but the professor finally pointed out that the early church fathers, including first and second century believers, all believed that Jesus was the fulfillment of the Old Testament and couldn’t see preaching any message that didn’t include Jesus since the entire book was about Him anyways. And that got me to thinking.
Is it possible that we’ve grown too familiar with the gospel? Have we grown so wise that we have forgotten that Christ is all and is in all? Have our doctrines outgrown the centrality of the message that without Jesus the entire world is going to hell? What I think the Lord has been trying to show me is that when a saint becomes truly grown up, they realize that the only message that really matters is, “Do you know that Jesus died for you?” I know that we get excited about teaching on the Melchezidek priesthood, or the Tabernacle of David and apostolic church building, but in the end if there is someone in the hearing who doesn’t know Jesus you’ll just have succeeded in producing a really educated future resident of hell. And this does have me thinking.
I love you guys
N8
I’ve had a recurring theme come into my path recently and I would like to share it with you. One thing I have learned is to make careful note of any patterns or repetitions that I see in the world around me (I don’t believe in fate or coincidence) as God may be trying to teach me something. This is one of those things.
It started at the Kalamazoo Gospel Mission. Vanguard has the privilege of leading the chapel service from 7:30-8:30 every Wednesday night there and we take turns presenting a short meditation to the men and women living there. We have had dozens of different presenters of all ages and races but I started to see a pattern that I began meditating on. If the presenter for the evening was over the age of sixty and had been serving God for many years their message was always the same: Come to Jesus. Please don’t get me wrong, the other presenters have all been wonderful, ministering on everything from life in the Spirit to freedom from oppression to the healing power in the blood of Jesus. But as the months progressed I began to note that when it came time for an older saint to present the Word, I could count on it being a message of salvation. And this got me to thinking.
Two years ago I went to the Willow Creek Leadership Conference. The speakers were wonderful preaching on things like “Putting Your Family First” and “Fruitful Church Life.” But the most powerful message of the conference was the last one done by Bill Hybels, lead pastor of Willow Creek. He very carefully, very passionately, presented the gospel message of salvation through Christ.
Three years ago I was with my grandfather and he was asking me if I had ever considered searching for my biological parents. I told him that I rarely, if ever, thought about it which didn’t surprise him, but I remember his response: “But if they don’t know about Jesus it would be worth any amount of search.”
Last week in my Systematic Theology Class (a fancy way of saying, “thinking about what we believe”) we got into a discussion on if Jesus could or should be preached from every scripture, whether preaching from the New Testament or Old Testament. Some students thought that this was reaching too far and some thought every message should be about Jesus. Each argument had valid points but the professor finally pointed out that the early church fathers, including first and second century believers, all believed that Jesus was the fulfillment of the Old Testament and couldn’t see preaching any message that didn’t include Jesus since the entire book was about Him anyways. And that got me to thinking.
Is it possible that we’ve grown too familiar with the gospel? Have we grown so wise that we have forgotten that Christ is all and is in all? Have our doctrines outgrown the centrality of the message that without Jesus the entire world is going to hell? What I think the Lord has been trying to show me is that when a saint becomes truly grown up, they realize that the only message that really matters is, “Do you know that Jesus died for you?” I know that we get excited about teaching on the Melchezidek priesthood, or the Tabernacle of David and apostolic church building, but in the end if there is someone in the hearing who doesn’t know Jesus you’ll just have succeeded in producing a really educated future resident of hell. And this does have me thinking.
I love you guys
N8
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