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XXX Church and The Gutter

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The Gutter, by Craig GrossI recently read The Gutter: Where Life is Meant to be Lived. The basic message is that if you want to follow Jesus into the world, you better head for the gutter. This is so true. Jesus was, after all, a friend of sinners.

I was so impressed by this book, I got online to find out more about the author, Craig Gross.

I found that he is one of the co-founders of XXX Church, a ministry reaching out to those caught up in the sex industry. Whether you are a person addicted to pornography, a woman caught in prostitution, or anything in between, they want to help. Also, if you want to help keep yourself accountable when surfing the Internet, I recommend their free X3 Watch software.

If you like Craig’s book, you should also get Starving Jesus: Off the Pew, Into the World.

Man Amputates Mark of the Beast Hand

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The Mark of the BeastI used to pastor in the Kootenai mountain region of Montana. I loved it up there. Wonderful people of all sorts. I even knew a few like the man below.

I wish he had someone to come along side him and warn him away from some of the more radical streams of “End Times” lunacy he apparently had been exposed to.

It would have been good if someone had come along side him and told him that he doesn’t have to cut off his hand to escape hell and receive eternal life, but only believe in Jesus.

HAYDEN, Idaho —  A man who believed he bore the “mark of the beast” used a circular saw to cut off one hand, then he cooked it in the microwave and called 911, authorities said.

The man, in his mid-20s, was calm when Kootenai County sheriff’s deputies arrived Saturday in this northern Idaho town. He was in protective custody in the mental health unit of Kootenai Medical Center.

“It had been somewhat cooked by the time the deputy arrived,” sheriff’s Capt. Ben Wolfinger said. “He put a tourniquet on his arm before, so he didn’t bleed to death. That kind of mental illness is just sad.”

It was not immediately clear whether the man has a history of mental illness. Hospital spokeswoman Lisa Johnson would not say whether an attempt was made to reattach the hand, citing patient confidentiality.

The Book of Revelation in the New Testament contains a passage in which an angel is quoted as saying: “If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury.”

The book of Matthew also contains the passage: “And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for you whole body to do into hell.”

Wolfinger said he didn’t know which hand was amputated.

This article was pulled from FoxNews.com

Jesus and the Unchurched

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Conversations with the UnchurchedDid you see the article in USA Today about the unchurched? The basic findings are that the average person who doesn’t go to church wants to learn more about Jesus and is even open to talking about Him with Christian friends, but doesn’t think the church is doing a very good job representing Jesus (either in our words or actions). Here are a few quotes:

Most of the unchurched (86%) say they believe they can have a “good relationship with God without belonging to a church.” And 79% say “Christianity today is more about organized religion than loving God and loving people.”

“These outsiders are making a clear comment that churches are not getting through on the two greatest commandments,” to love God and love your neighbor, says Scott McConnell, associate director of LifeWay Research. “When they look at churches … they don’t see people living out the faith.”

But despite respondents’ critical views of organized religion, Stetzer is optimistic. He cites the finding that 78% would “be willing to listen” to someone tell “what he or she believed about Christianity.”

They already know believers — 89% of the unchurched have at least one close friend who is Christian, Stetzer noted.

And 71% agreed that “believing in Jesus makes a positive difference in a person’s life.”

“What surprised me is the openness of the hard-core unchurched to the message of God and Christianity — just not as expressed in church,” Stetzer says.

So who do you know that you can start a conversation with about Jesus?

Of course, the goal is not get unchurched into church…. that’s just more religion. The goal is show Jesus to others, love others, and invite people into friendship with Jesus, whether or not they ever “attend church.”

Why My Best Friends are Atheists and Sinners

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A critic paid me quite a compliment today when he accused me of befriending and conversing with atheists and people who use the “F-word.”

If only he knew the truth…

…but I’ve got nothing to hide, so it’s time for a full confession.

Guilty as Charged!

Wendy says that if I ever meet some prostitutes or strippers, I can invite them over for dinner. I have not met any yet (since I’m not going to the places they tend to hang out).

I gave a $50 Burger King card to a drunk on the street a month ago. If I had the time, I would have gone and eaten with him. I keep looking for him at his corner but haven’t seen him yet.

A while back we let an alleged murderer stay in our house for six weeks while he was on house-arrest. All of his friends and family members abandoned him when it looked like he was guilty, so we took him in. It was one of the best six weeks of my life.

One of our best friends is a swinging, pot-smoking atheist. He is one of the kindest and most generous people we know.

So not only am I trying to make friends with atheists, agnostics, and people who use rough language, I am also trying to befriend prostitutes, strippers, drunks, and murderers.

Why? Because in my experience, Jesus is more likely to be found among people we consider “sinners” than among people we consider “saints.”

Closer to Jesus

When I hang out with so-called “sinners,” I’ve never felt closer to Jesus.

Jesus, Friend of Sinners

If Jesus were walking the earth today, He would befriend and converse with these people too. Of course, the Pharisees and religious hypocrites would get upset at Him today, just as they did 2000 years ago: “Gasp! Jesus is eating with tax collectors and sinners! Doesn’t he know what they’ve done?” (Read Matt 9:11; 11:19; Mark 2:15-16).

Yes, He does know. That’s why He eats with them.

That’s why I eat with them too…. Not because I’m “holy like Jesus,” but because I’m one of those “sinners.” I hope that if Jesus were walking around today, He would come up to me and say, “Hey! I’m having a BBQ over at my place for sinners. Want to come?”

Definitely! Will there be beer?

18 Things about Church I’m Tired Of

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I'm Tired of ChurchBen posted a comment on one of my posts, and I went and read his blog (as I do with almost everyone who comments on my blog… so if you want to be read… make a comment!), and found an article he wrote called “I’m Tired” about his experiences in church.

Here is some of what he wrote:

I’m tired….

I’m tired of people being entertained and not being discipled (not suggesting these HAVE to be mutually exclusive).

I’m tired of the poor not being fed. (I couldn’t tell another person asking for some money to feed their children that we cant give them anything (because its policy) when we have 6 plasma screens hanging on our stage – I know the story of the costly perfume etc but I don’t think this means that it is OK to have expensive toys and NOT look after the poor).

I’m tired of hearing/talking about how to “DO” church and want to start hearing/talking about how we “BE” the church.

I’m tired or having to wonder if these very senior Christian leaders are even saved.

I’m tired of evangelism and missions ‘not really being the thing that we do’.

I’m tired of controlling leadership.

I’m tired of legalism.

I’m tired of Christian Celebrity.

I’m tired of 90% of the congregation not being ‘engaged.’

I’m tired being of being sung at in ‘worship’

I’m tired of paper work and just want to get my hands dirty!

I’m tired of being judged.

I’m tired of Christianity only being accessible to the intelligent.

I’m tired of preaching where its all about me.

I’m tired of preaching that suggests that Jesus died so that I can have a Ferrari. (I mean what’s wrong with a porsche? 😉

I’m tired of Christianity being ‘Sunday-10am-centric’.

I’m tired of people thinking that I’m backsliding if I skip a service.

I’m tired of the mindset that I have to dress up to honor God when I go to meet him at the church at 10am on Sunday. Do they not realize that God was with me all week, when I woke up, when I had breakfast and even when I farted?!

I’m tired of being tired.

You can read the rest of Ben’s post here.  Ben, I’m Tired too! Great post. Keep ’em coming.

2012 Note: Ben didn’t keep ’em coming…. He only made one more post after this. I hope my re-post didn’t scare him off… 

How Much is Your Vision Worth?

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My wife and I finished watching all twelve hours of the Lonesome Dove series last night and as we sat there, watching the credits roll, my wife looked at me and asked, “How much is vision worth?” I knew exactly what she was asking because I was thinking the same thing.

Turning Vision into Reality

Woodrow Call- Lonesome DoveIn the Lonesome Dove movies, there is a big emphasis on the vision of Captain Woodrow Call, and how he turns his vision into reality.

In Part 1, he starts a cattle ranch in Montana. In Part 2, he brings a herd of wild mustangs to Montana. But in the process, he loses almost all of his friends. At the end, when he finally tells Newt that he is his father, Newt basically says “Too late, Dad. I’m leaving.”

As my wife and I sat there, I thought about my vision for church and theology, and wondered, “What is it worth?”

What is Vision Worth?

I have read and heard some visionaries talk about how you can know what you are meant to do by asking yourself the question, “If money were no object, and failure was impossible, what would you do?” The problem with this is, how do you define failure?

In my opinion, Captain Call successfully accomplished his vision, but failed miserably. He said at the beginning of Part 2, while commiserating about the death of his best friend Captain McCrae, that “A man ought to leave something more behind than a sorry piece of dirt and a sign.”

Captain Call left a lot more behind, and as it turned out, a lot less.

Worthless Vision

Here is where I am at right now: No vision is worth losing my family. I would rather be digging holes in the desert and have my family intact than help reform the church but lose my wife and girls.

Some would say I have made an idol of my wife and girls, and if I really want God to use me, I have to put them up there on the altar just like Abram did with Isaac.

I have seen many pastors do this very thing, and almost without fail, they end up divorced and with a bunch of kids who hate them, hate church, and hate Christ. I do not call this success, and based on what I read in the New Testament, I don’t think God does either.

I feel that my wife and kids are my first “church.” If I cannot “plant” and “pastor” them, I have no business trying to plant or pastor churches elsewhere.

So I don’t know if I will ever be going into formal “church planting” but one thing I do know…this year, I am going to continue planting a church in my own home. And that is a Christ-honoring, God-glorifying vision!  If I can leave behind a godly heritage in my family, I am a success. And if God allows me to leave behind more than that, all the more glory for Him!

The trick, of course, is how to bring this vision to reality in my family. Any of you husband and father experts have practical suggestions on pastoring your own family?

Understanding the Unbeliever

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I am convinced that we cannot adequately reach out to this world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ unless we understand how the unbeliever thinks, what they value, and why they make the decisions they do. Therefore, we must be students of people and culture just as much as students of the Word.

Once we begin to understand some of this, it will change how we organize our churches, how we share the gospel, how we interact with our neighbors, how we do our jobs at work, what we do with our money, and a host of other things.

UnbelieverTo learn about this world we live in, there are a variety of things we can do, but every Christian must be doing something to learn about people we are trying to reach. Though the best way to do this is with developing personal relationships with people, one quick way to learn is through blogs and websites.

I have recently become aware of a blog that is written by people who were once Christians, but have now left it behind. They share their reasons for doing so, and what they think is wrong with Christianity. At times, their insights amaze me. At other times, I am brought to tears.

I am a bit hesitant to share this site, since I have a feeling that some who read my blog will want to go post comments on that blog which which will only bring greater damage to the name of Christ…

But I think that most who read this blog are genuinely interested in understanding how unbelievers (and former believers) view Christ and Christianity.

So here is the site: de-conversion.com. Please, if you go read this site and decide to comment, be gracious, kind, gentle, loving, and patient.

Are there any other blogs you are aware of which helps us understand the way unbelievers think? Let me know in the comments!

Welcome to 2008!

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2007 is behind us, and 2008 is here. I trust it will be wonderful year for all of us, even if we do have to endure the final months of the presidential race…ha ha. At least we have the Summer Olympics to look forward to.

New Year 2008

I generally do not make New Year’s Resolutions, but I do make a small list of big things I want to accomplish in the year ahead. Here are a few of them:

  • Graduate from Seminary. If all goes well, this shouldn’t be a problem. The biggest hurdle right now is finishing my thesis. I am writing on the concept of honor and shame in the New Testament. It is very fascinating and has incredible ramifications for how we read the New Testament, and how we understand eternal reward. I will post more about this eventually. I have 14 days to write about 20 more pages. The challenge isn’t the 20 pages, but keeping myself to only 20 more pages. In those 20 pages, I have to explain about 14 passages. That’s going to be a trick.
  • Adopt Arianna from Guatemala. As I’ve posted previously, we are in the process of adopting a baby girl from Guatemala. We have so many prayer requests and needs for this process that it is hard to get my mind around them all. The US and Guatemalan governments needs to change their adoption laws, paperwork needs to be completed, funds need to be raised, and a million little details all need to come together. It is one of the biggest faith-growing adventures we have ever embarked upon. We are hoping to have Arianna in our home by Christmas of 2008, but this will only happen through much divine intervention.
  • Figure out if now is the time to go into church planting. I know that somehow, church planting is in my future. I am not sure yet if I will be planting a church myself, or taking a church that plants churches, or just helping others plant churches. This year, I hope to gain some direction on all of that. If I am going to plant a church or pastor an established church that wants to plant churches, I am not sure this will happen in 2008. But I need to plan and prepare and stay ready for the time when God says “Go.” It may be this year!

2012 Update: The links above were added well after this post was written. I did finish my Thesis, but only because one of my Thesis readers didn’t have time to read it. He told me about six months later that if he had read it before I graduated, he would have failed me. Nice, huh? 

We were not able to finalize our adoption of Arianna. Guatemala closed down adoptions, and so far, has not reopened. In some ways, we still feel like one of our daughters is out there, waiting for parents who never came…. It was heart breaking for us. 

I am kind of planting a church. Or kind of not. You would have to read most of my posts from 2009 to the present to know more about what I am talking about. In these three years, my thinking about church has radically changed…

Winning the War on Terrible Christmas

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Putting Christ back in Christmas?

Here is something Tia Lynn wrote on her blog recently about this whole war on Christmas:

Wouldn’t it come as a baffling shock if Christians everywhere put down their picket signs, ceased the boycotts, dropped the Christmas lawsuits, and instead, showered politicians, business owners, and ACLU workers that show disdain for Christmas/Christians with thoughtful gifts, invitations to OUR Christmas celebrations, letters of prayers, (not condemning ones), asking nothing in return?

What if Christians took all the money they are spending on lawsuits over Christmas and used it to serve the poor, the marginalized, and sick?

What if we stopped courting the approval and recognition of the rich and powerful and focused on the least, the lost, and the last of this world?

What if Christians recreated our Christmas celebrations and invited the world, instead of demanding the world get it right and include us?

How much harder would it be for the world to label us as judgmental, condemning, intolerant, superficial hypocrites, if we actually lead by example, by service, by radical, ridiculous, unconditional love?

See, Jesus is no naive optimist, He is a genius!

By responding to cruelty with kindness, insult with blessing, neglect with service, rejection with embrace, it proves our opponent wrong. It shows their true colors. It halts their accusations. It could inspire a rethinking of their assumptions. It makes us a people separated unto God. It clears the way for reconciliation, healing, renewal, forgiveness, and transformation.

When we take the bait and repay evil with evil, eye for eye, dollar for dollar, insult for insult, when we demand our DUE, we not only lose in the end, but we becomeour “enemy,” for we are guilty of the same offenses, tactics, and attitudes.

For what good is it if we only show love to those who love us? Do not even non-christians do this? Aren’t we called to a higher standard?

Thanks Tia for showing us how to be truly incarnational during this “holiday season.”

Would Jesus be a Christian?

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Jesus is not a ChristianI have a friend who sees everything wrong with the world, and then looks at the average Christian, and as a result wants nothing to do with Christianity.

He says that it appears Christians would rather spend their time arguing and debating theology than helping the poor and homeless, and would rather drive Hummers and build huge church buildings than drill wells in Africa or feed orphans.

He doesn’t think that Jesus would be a “Christian” if Jesus were walking the earth today.

The other day, he showed me a YouTube video where a secular rock artist posted his video about this very thing.

The artist was very angry. The video and song lyrics show Christians going to church and pastors preaching sermons, all the while ignoring the hungry and needy that are all around them. The basic message of the song is “Christians need to stop praying and preaching and building huge cathedrals for themselves, and start doing something that actually helps!”

After I watched the video, my friend turned to me and said, “I think there is a special place in hell for Christians.”

Whether you realize it or not, this is the prevalent attitude toward Christianity among those who are ages 18-35. If you don’t believe this is true, you probably don’t know many non-Christians who are 18-35 years old.

How have we as Christians come to this, and what (if anything) can we do about it?

Here are two books I recently read which may be of some help in this area:

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