Archive for February, 2010
Chan on Persecution
Posted by: | CommentsCurrently the video posted by Francis Chan has been removed to clarify the connection of some of the issues to the persecution in Orissa, India. This does not negate that we have brothers and sisters all over the world who are facing great trials as they stand for their faith.
Will you pray? Why wouldn’t you pray? How could you not pray?
Ash Wednesday 2010
Posted by: | Comments 
We gather to remember, reflect, and repent. We depart to sacrifice, engage, and anticipate.
Some Scripture to ponder on this day:
Genesis 3
19 “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
Job 42
5 “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you;? 6therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”
Mark 1
14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.
Hebrews 9
11But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) 12he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. 13For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 14how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
15Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. 16For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. 17For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. 18Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. 19For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.” 21And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. 22Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
23Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, 26for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
1 John 1
9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Thoughts on the heart of the season
Posted by: | CommentsAs many of you know, Ash Wednesday is a special day on the historical church calendar when the church has marked the realization that we are mortal and sinful. While emphasis in many traditions is placed upon rituals and the act of placing ashes on the forehead in the sign of the cross, the real essence of the day is about repentance. As the first day of Lent it is a time to be mindful of our sinfulness and to repent and turn away from the sins that so easily creep into our lives.
I want to encourage each of you to prayerfully consider your response to this day. Will you take time to consider with others around the world where you are in your walk with Jesus? Will you take the time to ask yourselves the hard questions regarding faith, obedience, idolatry, and living and dying in light of the gospel? I trust that you will see beyond the ritual and look at the heart of this day to remember, reflect and repent.
I would write more, but have found a very well stated ongoing series of posts on the entire Lenten season from Elliott Grudem at Christ the King Church. You can find it here http://www.ctkraleigh.org/article/why-bother-with-lent-part-one/ . This is part one of a three part series to come. I encourage you to follow it.
English as a Bridge
Posted by: | CommentsWhat does it mean at Antioch Church when we say that English is a bridge language? Largely we are talking about how we use English and other languages in our corporate worship gatherings. While we will always attempt to integrate as many languages as we can as a part of how we celebrate in worship, we recognize that for our church English will always be seen as the overarching and unifying language. Now, for some multi-ethnic churches the bridge language may be different, but it seems inevitable that there must be a choice made.
At this point it works out like this. We are integrating Swahili and Arabic into our services through prayers by individuals. These are not translated. We also read Scripture in all three languages with translation being projected on the screen in the languages not being read at the time. We are verbally translating the Bible story phrase by phrase. We are still fine-tuning translating the main points of the sermon on the screen in both Swahili and Arabic.
We are still considering several other ideas. One is to use electronic devices for headset translation. This is a challenge due cost and the need for an extremely talented real-time translator. It also raises the question of how many languages can be supported with this technique. We minster in a neighborhood with 70 people groups and certainly can’t fully translate to all of the languages that might come to a service. Another thought is to provide translators in cluster seating during the service, so that, those who want to hear things translated, that are not translated from the stage, can be close enough to do so.
The realities of striking a language balance in a multi-ethnic church are always going to be difficult. It requires grace and understanding. It requires sensitivity to those participating. It demands careful and thoughtful planning by leaders. But, believing that the celebration of multi-ethnic worship is one worth pursuing all of the demands are worth it. One further note, this type of worship also demands that opportunities are given, in our case through weekly Family Groups, for gathering in a context where the language barrier is not issue.
Please feel free to ask questions or comment, or by all means, if your church has a handle on these ideas share your solutions.
Mission…what?
Posted by: | CommentsAre we doing missions or are we being missional? Yeah, yeah, I know…semantics right. It’s just playing with endings, but it’s all the same. Well, whatever you want to call them, I think the two concepts are different. Surely the thoughts I’m pondering are not new or original, but they have been rattling in my head and heart a lot lately. So here’s what I’m thinking.
If we are simply doing missions, then we are by definition relegating the mission to a task, action or program. So, we simply go on mission trips. We have a missions department or ministry. We organize people to sign up and get equipped to do something.
If on the other hand, we are living missions, i.e. being missional, then by definition our mission begins to define who we are. We are equipping people to be something. Missions is not something we do, but instead runs through the fabric of how we think, what we love, and how we relate to others. We see the church as a community of called out people living out the gospel in every aspect of their lives.
Jesus came to live the redemption mission. God didn’t send us a revamped program of how to engage Him. He came, He lived, He died, and He rose again. This is what the mission looks like. It is an “all in” affair. We can’t just do “missiony” things and declare ourselves faithful.
Like the description on the Kingdom of God, living missionally, living “for the sake of the gospel” is like yeast it permeates everything. In other words you can’t be a little missional, slightly gospel centered or a tad Kingdom minded. The gospel captures everything about us and therefore our response should be to live it out in every aspect of our daily lives.