Overwhelmed?

Great article for all of us who respond with 'busy' when asked how we are doing ?

OVERWELMED?

Eight biblical marks of a true church

8 Biblical Marks of a True Church

Projects, Programs, People

Jesus is into people.
I mean really into people. So much so that he offers himself as a substitutionary sacrifice to save us in ways that we cannot save ourselves. This is the heart of the gospel of Jesus and it is an incredible and life transforming to be loved by God in this way.

I believe that this how we should be like Jesus: really into people. Jesus has a heart to save the lost and so should we. Jesus cares for the broken and so should we. We are to reflect Jesus in how we think and how we act. The challenge each generation of Christians faces is how to do this. Because the Bible tells us what to do, but allows us freedom in how to do it in our culture, context and time. 

Timeless truth. Timely methods. 

What others far more educated that me see in Western society is that the corporate ideas of events and outsourcing have found root in the church. It is summed up in a line from the Kevin Costner film Field of dreams where he says "If you build it they will come" and so we build ministries, events and programs in the hope that they will come.

Consumers are fickle

What large scale analysis has shown across the world is that whilst people might come in numbers they will not come in heart because what we are doing is using consumer models that perpetuate the consumer mindset instead of creating maturing disciples of Jesus. If someone else offers a program that is better...brighter...louder...funnier...cooler...they are gone and entire ministries disappear overnight because it's not about the programs or the projects. We saw this a number of years ago in Cape Town where a major international church planted in the city and almost overnight the church had 3000 people - almost all from other churches. I know of at least one congregation that lost half its band in one week.

Consumers are fickle.

So how do we change this? Listening to what others are saying and studying the scriptures leads one to the truth that the answer lies is not a program nor a project. Jesus cares about people and so should we. Jesus does not care much for projects or programs and I believe that the answer to this lies in building relationships where the truth of Jesus is passed on from one to the next. Not just bible knowledge but also the knowledge of how to serve, love and care for others. Knowledge about how to pray, discern and follow the call of the Holy Spirit. Programs and projects simply lack the power to do this.

Jesus leaves us two enduring images in Matthew 28 and Acts 1: We're to be disciple-makes and witnesses. And these are things we can all do because it does not require programs that cost money, it needs no flashing lights, Power Point and we don't need a theological degree to make disciples nor to be a witness.

Disciple-makers 

We make disciples by apprenticing people and showing them what we have learned to by God's grace.

I love DIY and I have a garage full of tools that I have learned to wield well to make all sorts of things as our family has need from pop-guns to bookshelves. Much of what I do I learned from my dad. He was always fixing something: cutting wood to size for cupboards in the house,repairing broken brickwork, fixing damaged wiring and building things he needed. I watched, and in time I helped, and then I did it myself. In many ways I have learned far beyond what my dad was able to do simply because I have had access to more tools and technology from a younger age. Importantly, I had someone to show me how.

In the scriptures we see people learning to follow God, not by reading their bible alone but learning from others what it looks like to serve the poor, teach scripture, pray for the sick and call people to follow Jesus. Paul writes to the dysfunctional church in Corinth and says  Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. 1 Corinthians 11:1

A disciple-maker imitates Christ and calls others to do the same

Witnesses

To be a witness is to tell others about what you have seen and John writes it like this:  That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.1 John 1:1–4

Do you see the tangible words he uses? Heard, seen, looked at, touched...All the early church did was tell others about what Jesus had done for them and this does not need a title nor an education. You simply tell others how Jesus gave you hope when you had none. How Jesus saved you from your self absorbed life. You tell them how Jesus has made you joyful, hopeful, helpful, grateful and free! 

We're all called to be disciple makers and witnesses

What if each of us who love Jesus walked alongside others with whom we share our lives; friends, family, co-workers and colleagues and what if we discipled them to Jesus, then discipled them in Jesus starting by telling our stories? What if as we live out gospel centred lives we drew others in to walk that journey with us? 

Is your group going to serve at a home for abused women? Take someone with you. Are you going to the hospital to pray for someone who is ill? Take someone with you. Joining with others to gather under Christ to eat and gather round the bible? Take someone with you. Show someone what it looks like to follow Jesus who is Lord of all.

I have a simple faith (some might argue naive) that if we're faithful in following these biblical instructions, Jesus will grow his church. Not a church willed with passive consumers but with passionate disciples who will also disciple others by passing on the good news of what Jesus has done for them.

Home groups must be about gospel mission or else they fail at fulfilling Jesus mission

We've been encouraging our HomeGroups to move from internal self focused ministry to Gospel mission for some time now and we're seeing great fruit of this. This is a journey that we're on and we're learning each day what it means to get the gospel out there.One of our groups has adopted St Mary's home, a refuge for abused women as Jesus calls us to identify with and bless those who are the underdogs, the oppressed, the hurting and the broken. We're trying to take this seriously as a church and each group is seeking God's guidance as they minister into the community into which we have been called. This is a radical change from inward focused home groups ministry that we've been operating with in the past.

Jesus reminds us that what we do for the least we actually do for him Matthew 25:35–40  For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

It is great that to see families doing this together. The best thing that we can teach our kids is to serve as Jesus serves us. Knowledge of the Bible is important as is the basic spiritual disciplines of study, prayer and giving, but what our kids need to see is faith in action. As they watch mum and dad serve, love and care for those who need help they will learn what it means to really follow Jesus. Because Jesus is God in action. We see it as he seeks justice, opposes the rich and the proud and lifts up those oppressed, hurting, demonized and far from God. We're called to be like him and we too are a sent people - sent by God to make a real difference in the world. Making a difference always starts with building relationships because we need to earn the right to be heard and so as this is what this group is doing as this new shelter launches. In time they will learn to care for those oppressed by domestic violence, they will learn to give counsel and minister the Gospel of Jesus to those who will come here to find refuge and shelter. And it will all be for Jesus glory.

Psalm 5:11 But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you.

How to read your bible and how to encourage others to do the same

The Bible is central to the Christian faith and yet it is often ignored by many because it can be a challenging read and, if you start in the wrong place it can break your resolve to get to know parts of it well. It is very difficult to be Jesus disciples without having his word to guide us and encourage us. It is very hard to call others be Jesus disciples if God's word has not flavoured our thinking and acting for Jesus.

In a nutshell, the Bible is a book about Jesus. It's his story and if we can keep that single truth in our minds and hearts as we tackle it we will find a deeper appreciation of the scriptures and a greater love for the God who wrote them. You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me. - John 5:39

Everyone comes to the scriptures with some sort of a lens through which they interpret what they read. Some read it through the ‘rule book’ lens leading to despair, because how can we ever meet up to those kinds of expectations? Others read it through the lens of a guidebook leading to worry because there is so much of our lives the bible does not speak about.

There is only one lens through which to read the Bible and that is through Jesus and the good news about him. What is this book saying about Jesus and my relationship to him? What is this book saying about Jesus grace and my response to it? What is this book showing me about what Jesus has done for me in his death, burial and resurrection?

The best place to start reading is in the New Testament so that we can get to know Jesus and his story and allow his life to flavour our reading in other parts of the Bible. If we read the bible through any lens other than Christ we will either dismiss it as an interesting ancient literary artefact or we will find ourselves trapped in rule based moralism with no way to find forgiveness of sin.

The Bible is the story of God’s rescue plan to save a broken and sinful world by sending the rescuer, Jesus. It contains the tools to diagnose sin and then points us to the one who can heal our terminal illness, Jesus who is Saviour, Lord and King!

With that brief introduction in mind here are some helpful hints to reading God’s word:

1. Use a good bible as there are different styles of translation and not all are equal. Two excellent translations are the ESV which is a very good translation and is as close to the original text as you are going to get in English and then there is the NLT which is an easy reading translation especially for teenagers.


2. Make notes, underline and scribble in the bible itself, mark passages you want to come back to, underline helpful points and put question marks in the sidebar where you need to understand more. The contents of the book are holy, but he book itself is just paper.


3. Find a mature Christian who you can ask for help in understanding tricky parts of scripture. This book is written to the people of God and reading it is something of a team event. If you are married it is good to spend time in scripture together so that you can hold each other accountable and each can encourage the other.


4. Pray before reading that God would fill you with his Holy Spirit and that the Spirit would give you wisdom, insight and understanding so that you would be obedient to the commands in the scriptures


5. Allow scripture to read you. What do I mean by this? Allow your life to be interpreted by scripture, where is the Bible calling you to repent and trust Jesus and where is it encouraging you? Our lives are to be lived under the light of scripture and we must allow scripture to speak into how we do everything we do. (Hebrews 4:12)


6. Start by reading for 5 minutes a day. If you do less you will not gain any substance, more and you might find too much to chew and swallow in one go, some of it is really meaty. If you find a verse that is especially meaningful to you write it down and stick it on the fridge or on the bathroom mirror to remind yourself of God’s promises to his children. It is good to keep a journal as you make this journey with Christ. (Acts 17:11)


7. Start with Mark’s gospel, it is a chronological account of Jesus life and a great place to get a handle on Jesus and his work. Then head to John, Acts and to Galatians and from there you can start unpacking the rest of the New Testament. There is no right and wrong in this but some of the meat in books like Romans will be too much for a new believer to handle.


8. The Psalms are a great place to learn the language of worship and prayer. You would do well to end each time with God’s word with reading a psalm out loud, hearing the word of God is a powerful tool in allowing it to transform our lives. Think of it as love poetry to God as we speak of his greatness and ask for his deliverance.


9. Pray blessings from the word over your children and your spouse and tell others about the wonder of what you are reading in God’s word as it points you to Jesus who is the author and perfecter of our faith.


10. Finally: do the word. Act upon it’s instructions, be obedient to the commands to serve, love, witness and worship. It’s no use to read about them and not do them! (James 1:22-25)

There is no greater book on this earth. It is the incredible story of God’s love for humanity and his self-sacrifice to save us. This book contains the great promise of resurrection and eternal life for those who trust Jesus. May the word of God live in you richly!

Tim Keller ten tips to witness

Tim Keller is a giant of the faith and one if the best theological thinkers of there. Here are ten pretty ordinary but really helpful tips on evangelizing people so that they too would love Jesus. Worth passing on to all those you lead.  Tim Keller’s top 10 evangelism tips | salternlite

Athiests need your help

Atheists Need Your Help
Click on the link above for an interesting article and a book that may be helpful when dealing with those who oppose us, not just for being politically incorrect but because they see faith as something to be attacked. More and more this is going to be something that we have to equip ourselves to deal with.

When God shows up

Obviously God shows up all the time in places and ways we cannot imagine - he is at work everywhere.

But sometimes He shows up in style. And this Sunday that is what he did. Dozens of people at each service came forward for prayer to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Some came forward in tears as God was healing them of hurts. Others were entire families who came to be filled together as God redeemed damaged relationships. Some where facing additional and others temptation. As we prayed, people kept coming forward as God convicted them of sin - it was a powerful and holy moment.

As I reflected in thanksgiving on Sunday there are some things I need to keep learning and they may be helpful to you too:

1. We must ask God to show up
It seems obvious and yet so often we forget to ask God to be part of a gathering. We should desire to see him there and not just at gatherings, we should ask God to be with us in all that we do. Work, play or rest all can be spirit-filled worship in the presence of God.

2. We must ask God to glorify himself
God has made us to worship and when we ask him to help us to fulfil this task he hears our prayers. It is not about us but about him. God hears our prayers when we seek his kingdom above our own agendas.

3. We must pray with others in expectation
We spent much time praying towards this weekend as leaders. We asked God to do whatever he willed and we waited upon him in expectation of his answer. We should live in joyful expectation of God's answer to humble prayer.And when his answer is 'no', or 'not yet' we learn to trust in humility that his plans are best.

4. We must trust his sovereignty
Sometimes God works in mighty ways, moving people to tears and at other times his work is quieter and less dramatic. Ultimately we're dependant on him and he is the one who makes these decisions and in all things he is ruler and lord. We cannot cajole him or force him and we need to learn submission to our King.

5. We need to remember that God is full of surprises
God cannot be boxed. Ever. Sunday reminded me of just that. Simple worship, a basic sermon, a call to repent and God blew our minds. He moved in ways we hoped for but (if I am honest) we sometimes doubted would happen.

Thank you Father, thank you Jesus, thank you Holy Spirit for showing up in style and reminding your people that you are the living God whom we worship.

The five C's of a healthy vision

Every ministry should have something that remonds hem of why they do what they do. Dave Kraft is one of the great leadership guys in the church and in this article he reminds us of some things that are important for a vision statement to have.

The Five C's of a Healthy Vision Statement

The Empty Tomb

I am not sure where the original of this comes from but it's really good!

             The cross means we can look back and be thankful;

               the empty tomb means we can look ahead and be hopeful.

            The cross fills us with gratitude;

              the empty tomb fills us with expectation.

            The cross means that He died for us;

              the empty tomb means that He lives for us.

             The cross means the old has passed away;

               the empty tomb means that all things have become new.

             The cross is the triumph of mercy;

               the empty tomb is the triumph of righteousness.

             The message of the cross is, "It is finished";

               the message of the empty tomb is, "I am alive forever more."

         

We must move forward from the cross,not get marooned on Golgotha.

Book Review: The Gospel According To Jesus

The Gospel According To Jesus: What is authentic faith? 
By John F MacArthur (First published by Zondervan 1983)

Available at Kalahari.com or Amazon.com

In this book MacArthur stresses the strict submission to the Lordship of Christ, as the vital element of true saving faith and for anyone who is in the slightest doubt as to their salvation, this is a must read.

Jesus’ words about eternal life were invariably accompanied by warnings to those who might be tempted to take salvation lightly. He taught that the cost of following Him is high, that the way is narrow and that few find it. He said that many who call Him Lord will be forbidden from entering the Kingdom of Heaven and for those who have struggled with this damning scripture, this book adequately explains the difference between 'Lordship salvation' and 'easy-believism.'

When Jesus says “come follow me,” it is abundantly clear that He expects total obedience (Luke 6: 46-49) and more often than not He turns people away, rather than have lukewarm followers. The reader is left in no doubt that to be a true disciple is going to be costly and that it would require obedience and sacrifice.

When Jesus calls sinners to repentance, He expects a complete surrender of the will and an inevitable change of behaviour – a radical new lifestyle; not just a difference of opinion, but a turning from the old life, to the new life in Christ. Such a change of purpose is what Paul had in mind when he described the repentance of the Thessalonians (1 Thess 1:9); a turning to God, a turning from evil, and the intent to serve God; true repentance includes all three elements.

Jesus came to seek and save what was lost and so from the opening pages of human history, it was God who sought out the fallen couple in the Garden and it is in His nature to bind up the broken and strengthen the sick. This is good news only for those who acknowledge themselves as sinners. Those who fail to confess their sin – like the rich young ruler – He turns away, but He reaches out in grace to those who like Zacchaeus and the Samaritan woman, admit their sinfulness and seek deliverance.

Let me say as clearly as possible right now that salvation is by God’s sovereign grace and grace alone. Nothing a lost, degenerate, spiritually dead sinner can do will in any way contribute to salvation. Saving faith, repentance, commitment, and obedience are all divine works, wrought by the Holy Spirit in the heart of everyone who is saved - John Macarthur

The book is sprinkled with interesting explanations of some of the parables and teachings of Jesus and makes for easy reading, even for the theologically challenged, and is highly recommended for anyone interested in a firmer grasp of the issues about real faith and salvation. I also found the book helpful as a daily read, as each chapter is independent of the rest and deals with different subjects.

All in all it is a very instructive book by an author of sound doctrine and useful tool for evangelising, especially for those who need some assistance explaining the scriptures.

Leon Huisamen - Elder

Christ is risen!

Raising the Bar

A good article on calling people to follow Christ in Asia:

I recently stumbled across an interesting set of questions. They are used by Asian Access (A2), a Christian missions agency in South Asia, to determine a new convert’s readiness to follow Christ. In the West, we might ask newcomers if they prefer contemporary or traditional worship. As you can see, the questions they ask in other parts of the world are a little different. Here they are:

Are you willing to leave home and lose the blessing of your father?
Are you willing to lose your job?
Are you willing to go to the village and those who persecute you, forgive them, and share the love of Christ with them?
Are you willing to give an offering to the Lord?
Are you willing to be beaten rather than deny your faith?
Are you willing to go to prison?
Are you willing to die for Jesus?

Besides making me feel very grateful for where I live (and slightly guilty for feeling grateful) the questions sounded familiar. I heard an echo of Jesus’ words from Luke 14. You know the passage. Jesus spins around to the people following him and says, “Are you sure you want to do this?”

That’s my paraphrase, of course. What Jesus actually said was much worse. If you want to be my disciple, you have to hate your family, take up your cross, count the cost, give up everything—real crowd-pleasing stuff.

It’s tempting for me to dismiss these radical demands. Jesus’ challenge seems harsh, even bizarre. But hey, we’ll file that one under “divine prerogative.” And the A2 questions? Well, those are necessitated by persecution. In a country (name withheld for security reasons) where converts and evangelists get jailed, weeding out the phonies is essential.

Still, I’m not so sure there isn’t a lesson here for those of us in the West. Could we benefit from raising the bar for those considering a commitment to Christ?

For the most part, we have specialized in doing the exact opposite. We talk about smoothing the path to God, and removing obstacles to faith. Every time I question the validity of a “soft touch” public ministry, I’m assured they have a solid discipleship program on the backend. But that strikes me as backwards. “Hey, come to church and you’ll have a better family. OK, now that you’re here, you have to die to yourself.”

I think that’s called a bait and switch.

What would happen if, like Jesus and A2, we put the hard demands of the gospel front and center? If we dispensed with slick campaigns and puffed up promises and gave people the unvarnished truth of what it means to follow Jesus? If we told them that sometimes following the Carpenter from Nazareth means donning your own crown of thorns? I’m sure it would cost us numbers up front, but would it be worth it in the end? I think it would be. How about you?

Orginal article is at Out of Ur: Raising the Bar

Sexual Healing

Absolutely brilliant! Please pass this on to anyone who has kids who are facing these kinds of temptations. (pre--teen to young adult)

The evil one lies to us about the value of sexuality leading us to believe that it is not as holy as God desires it to be. He uses it as a tool to hold us into slavery and to draw us into a place of feeling unworthy,  unworthy of the love of others and unworthy of the love of God. But there is a resurrected saviour who can heal us of the damage we do to ourselves and the damage inflicted on us by others.

A Plea for Pray-ers

From Gordon Macdonald at Leadership Journal:

Can I be frank? I'm distressed by the low quality of public prayer that is being heard in too many worship services today. Too often, prayer is used as a transition from one event to another. But what if the pastoral prayer was (as some like to say) a main event?

When Solomon dedicated the temple, a large part of his public leadership was a quite pastoral prayer. He knelt and said, "Lord, there is none like you … you've kept your promises … please give attention to my prayer … may you hear the prayer your servant prays toward his place … deliver us when we've been defeated … teach us the way to live … help us to walk in your ways … when we sin, please forgive."

This is not a lightweight prayer. It takes in everybody in the crowd. As he opens the gates of the temple, the king (little k) is interceding to the King (big K) on behalf of all who will come to worship.

I love to be in worship when young men and women are leading. And many of them lead us so well. But when they come to the place where prayer is appropriate, the substance of the prayer sometimes reveals a person who has hardly thought for a minute what they are going to say next. If the music was done like the praying, we'd probably switch bands rather quickly.

"God … we just want to thank you for this day … that we just could … just … sing to you … that we could … just … love you."

Well meant, those words. But they lack thought; they lack power, and they fail to lodge themselves in the souls of their hearers. The aged one losing control of his life who is listening for assurance. The sinner who is listening for hope. The addict who listens for deliverance. And the joyful person, who listens for thanksgiving.

Prayer can be intentional, thoughtful, powerful. Let's give our prayers the energy and depth that our Audience—and our audience—deserves.

The original article is here A Plea for Pray-ers | Leadership Journal