jesus

church planting / church relevance / Dave (personal) / jesus / life / ministry / people — 2 Comments
30
Sep 09

What does the company you keep say about you?

Being in ministry and going through the process of planting a church, I have connected with people that can help me through: sharing wisdom, supporting me in meeting my goals, prayer, guidance, etc. If I shared my contact list with you, it would be obvious who I was.

I mentioned repentance in yesterday’s blog post here. It’s an ongoing process with me and the company I keep is something I feel I need to address. I look to Jesus as an example. In contrast to what others think of Jesus, he was not some lovey-dovey, goodie two-shoes person walking through the streets of Galilee 2,000 years ago. Instead, he was actually considered to be a very dangerous man! So dangerous that he posed a threat to the Jewish establishment. People were appalled at the company he kept. Even his inner circle of twelve consisted of a tax collector named Matthew. He was seen talking and dining with prostitutes & drunkards so often that people witnessing his lifestyle thought he was a sinning glutton and alcoholic (Luke 7:33-34).

Based on the company I keep, people around me in ministry bear witness to the fact that I am blessed with leaders that have invested time in my life to help me pursue the vision God has given me to see a new ministry take shape here in Sacramento, CA. However, what do the people of Sacramento see? Do they see a ministry leader that associates mainly with Christians and others in ministry, or do they see someone that has compassion and love for his fellow human regardless of his/her faith? Do my neighbors see a revolutionary of grace or the safety of a well-positioned minister to Christians?

I’ve spent a lot of time chasing the church and making it my idol. I’ve been wrapped up in believing that I am only as good as my church--that without formal ministry, I am nothing or will be labeled a failure. I’ve sacrificed time in my business (my only source of income as I don’t take a salary from the church), time with my family, and time from those in need of Christ’s love in my community. In reality, ministry is really about people and fulfilling The Greatest Commandment (Matthew 22:36-40)--we are called to love others above ourselves, not gain respect from our work in ministry.

Know that most of the people in my life are not of a Protestant Christian faith. Living most of my life as an atheist, you can imagine that I didn’t keep many Christian friends, nor witnessed any family members come to faith in Christ through my words. I do associate with people that spend time in bars or have been known to devote their lives to making lots of money. However, I feel that my focus has been on building new relationships that will help me move forward in ministry ahead of relationships that will foster the love of Christ in unknowing, anonymous ways. Too often I’ve brought attention to myself in the name of Christ’s Church rather than in the name of Christ period. I am repenting for this and moving forward in a more-balanced way regardless of what happens with my role in formal ministry. I’m looking at making a difference in the world anonymously so that people see Christ, not me and right now I can only do it one person at a time. I cannot let my natural instincts as an introvert lead my thought process.

How would people in the world view you based on the company you keep? It’s an important question that I hope you spend a moment pondering today.

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Christianity / faith / God / jesus / life — No Comments
29
Sep 09

What time is it?

Well for me, the answer lies within the first words Jesus preached from Matthew 4:17:

From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”

The essence of Christian faith is grace. We learn in Ephesians 2:8, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” With grace comes the forgiveness of Jesus for any and all things from our past. We start with a clean slate.

Repentance tends to be an evil word to those outside of the faith. It is misunderstood. I know when I was living as an atheist, I would hear people talk about repenting and seeking forgiveness, but in my mind there was nothing I felt I needed to be forgiven for. Now as a follower of Christ, there are many things I do and think about that I need to seek forgiveness for. However, repentance isn’t just about being forgiven. It goes much deeper than that. When one repents it must be a turning away from that which is wrong and then turning towards that which is right. We then must continue to deal with moving towards what is right. That is the difficult part.

When I first came to faith I made a commitment to God. In that commitment I asked for forgiveness and as a result I have never been made to feel guilty for anything from my past. All of my hurt and pain and emptiness was replaced with the grace and love of Jesus. That’s the great part! However, that’s been Jesus’ part of the commitment. He has remained true to that. My part of the commitment hasn’t been so true. I didn’t merely ask for forgiveness--instead, I made a commitment to repent.

In what others may see as a nasty word, I find beauty. When I feel the burden to turn away from doing things that I should not do, I know there is someone there to take those burdens away from me and to help guide me in the right direction. God did not create me in order to watch me fail. He reunited with me and called me into his embrace so that I could know true life. That life is filled with ups-and-downs, joy and pain, gain and loss. However, this new life I’ve been given has meaning and purpose and I need to always direct my eyes towards God and remember what he first called me to do--repent for the kingdom of heaven is near.

Repentance can seem like a scary thing. It may require us to turn away from something like causing physical harm to another human being, or it can be something as simple as being judgmental or speaking negatively about someone unjustly. No matter how big or small, turning away from something we know we shouldn’t do and honoring our commitment to then focus on doing only what we know is right is something that God requires from us. It’s our part of the commitment. If we truly believe we are in a relationship with God through Jesus, then we all know that there are two parts to any relationship.

Have you honored your part of your relationship with God lately? Not the part of doing what you feel he has called you to do or taking when he has extended his hand to you? I mean the part of your relationship where Jesus asks you to repent and come closer towards him and you look into your heart and seek to turn away from the things he wants you to.

Maybe you have felt the pain of carrying around a huge weight on your shoulders and you have not known how to be removed from it. It may be such a part of you now that you can’t imagine living a day without it being heavy on your heart. As difficult as it may be to imagine, won’t you just ask Jesus to come into your life and remove it? Nothing else has worked so far, because knowing Jesus is the only way. Know that God didn’t create you to be a table for heavy burdens. He created you to rise above all things and equipped you with the strength to get through it and to know joy through his spirit residing within you. Asking him into your heart and seeking new life may seem like a stretch of the imagination at first thought, but you’ll find that once that thought enters your mind, you won’t be able to forget about it. It eventually feels like the right thing to do. Go with it. Talk to God. Lift up your burdens to him. Tell him what you’ve been carrying around and ask him to forgive you of it and take away the pain. He will do it. In fact, he already knows about it. It’s not new news to him. However, he has not sat in judgment of you, nor will he cause you to feel guilty. He just wants you to come to know him and seek to live a new life walking together with him.

For all that Christ has done in my life, it is so easy to talk about the good things. However, it’s not so easy to talk about the bad things. As the one that has brought some bad things into my relationship with God, it is time for me to shun those things and do my best not to look to doing them again. Today is the day that I take time with God and repent from doing some things that I need to stop doing. It may cause some distance between me and some others, but it’s a small price to pay to honor my commitment to the Lord. It isn’t about guilt--it’s about God’s kindness that leads me to this place of repentance. Lord, I ask that you give me the strength to confess those things that I want to turn away from and that you give me the strength to never go back them. May it be so for all those that come to you on this day seeking your love and kindness and turning their backs on those things that need to be left in the past.

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Bible / church planting / jesus / ministry / prayer / Sacramento — No Comments
18
Jun 09

Church Planting & Philippians 4

The NIV version of Philippians 4:4-7 tells us to rejoice in the Lord always. Not just once, but it is written twice! It reminds us to let our gentleness be apparent to all and to not be anxious about anything. We are instructed to pray about everything and be thankful as the peace of God will take us beyond anything we ever imagined, and guard our hearts and minds as we focus on Christ Jesus.

As I mentioned earlier, the common thread through all of Philippians is the notion of joy and rejoicing. Some days in ministry, especially in church planting, at the end of the day of being beaten down and weary it is difficult to think of rejoicing. Not only are we faced with battling the community as we represent Christ and faith in him to a world that is in opposition to him, but we also face issues within our leadership and people, anger from those hurt by the church in the past, people that feel we are divisive because they think God’s Word excludes them, working without similar financial compensation that we would get in any other workplace, people committing with their lips yet not with their hands, etc. However, if anyone of us looks at these and wishes they were not in ministry I have some simple advice. GET OUT NOW! Paul explains to us and we need to understand that we are called to rejoice in all things. We are on the side of righteousness and eternal life. We are not working for treasures here on earth. If at the end of the day you can’t get yourself to come around and go face the world the next morning, this probably isn’t the time for you to be in ministry. Go do something else and be happy. Ministry is difficult. Church planting is difficult. It takes someone committed to keep working at it for a cause greater than themselves and their personal feelings. I have gotten to some low points and faced the decision of leaving the ministry or giving up on the vision of seeing a transformational community come together here in Sacramento. It’s easy to give up. Sometimes it feels right to want to give up. We need to work through those feelings and jump back into the fire or really make the decision to get out. Otherwise you will crash and burn and be useless to others, probably even useless to yourself. It’s not necessarily the end of your ministry, but quite possibly it may be a well-needed rest to be ready for God’s timing when he calls you to something new.

We are called to pray and give thanks in everything. However, we aren’t always going to be able to. It’s just a fact. No one can really be rejoicing in the face of adversity, pain, heartbreak or loss. How we handle those times will determine how we move forward and if we will ever get to a place of rejoicing after the fire has come and gone. For me, the biggest saving grace in my life are the friends that God has surrounded me with. As an atheist for 37 years before becoming a Christian, you can imagine that most of my friends are worldly and in some instances atheists as well. During the rough times, these friends of mine will typically encourage me to get out and go back to what used to bring me a six figure income, nice cars and travel. To them, my reasoning for going away from that life never quite clicked in their minds. Most of them envied my position and respected me for my worldly credentials and successes. So, I value my new friendships with people that know my struggles and encourage me. I could not be where I am without them. When I look at my friendships, all of them being outside of my city, I revel in God’s favor on my life. My friends aren’t wealthy and can’t jump in and help me setup sound equipment or invite people to connect with our community of faith, but they are always there anytime I call or email. They always listen before speaking. Whether it’s days or months that pass by without contact, or maybe even just a few hours…they are always by my side and praying to God for me. For this I rejoice even though I face difficult days and rejection at times. It is easy to get back on the horse after getting kicked off and stomped when one has friends like I do!

In my study time through Philippians this week, I find that The Message translation of verses 4-7 speak to me in ways that most fill my heart with joy. It is written in a way that encourages and reminds us that we should celebrate the gift of ministering to others that God has given us. With this gift comes great responsibility, but knowing there is nothing else I could do right now than this, it is a sweet and pleasant taste that I want to savor…to know that somewhere, someone is going to know Christ eternally through something that is said or done in the context of living life as followers of him is an amazing thing. So amazing, that I want to share the experience with others and bring them along in this journey. I want to share the love of Christ in my heart with others and let them know his healing power still works, that miracles happen all around us every day, that Satan is fooling and deceiving a lot of people that are clueless to his lies. There is great power in Christ that needs to be manifested through his people. I’m looking for a team of people that believe that and desire to serve under this powerful anointing on Sacramento. Know that the Lord is near and he is coming soon. Consider our time here on earth to be short…how does that make you feel? Does it move you to do more? Is something stirring in your heart when you think about it? I close with Philippians 4:4-7 MSG…it’s time to stand up and celebrate!

    Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you’re on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute!

    Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

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Bible / church / culture / jesus / life / ministry / people — 5 Comments
10
Jun 09

The church’s role in financial freedom

My friend Kenny Jahng recently posted this question to twitter:

@kkcoolj Does the Church have any responsibility to teach its own brothers & sisters 2 treat THEMSELVES w/ financial accountability, responsibility?

From this we engaged in some conversation about the matter via twitter, but 140 character bursts won’t really add clarity to my position. Thus, this blog post was created to reinforce my views.

Kenny and I are on different sides of the fence on this issue. In actuality, he and most other people may be on the other side of the fence from me. However, I feel the church is not a classroom and we put off a lot of people when we plead with the church to listen to messages that have no relevance to them. Let me explain: I believe that the bride of Christ [Revelation 19:7] should be more concerned about matters of the kingdom than about personal shortcomings. I am not interested in programs and classes, instead I want people far from God to come to know that his people are open-minded, big-hearted, compassionate and operating under grace and mercy from above and no one is above the love of Christ or so far away that he won’t draw near to them.

Is being responsible with our finances a biblical principle? Absolutely! Proverbs 22:26-27 and Luke 16:1-4 are a key verse for me in this respect. Should the church share the Word of God in regards to money? Definitely. However, should the church make it a point to minister to people about money assuming that no one knows how to be good stewards of their finances? I don’t think so.

As bad as the economy is right now and with all of the defaults on mortgages, auto loans, credit cards, etc. know that there are still many people out there with perfect credit, stable employment and comfortable homes. Some even have much more in excess of their needs with no worries about making ends meet. Will talking to them at length about managing their finances really help them to know Christ and to be light to others that do not know Jesus eternally? I can’t connect the two. There is a place to talk about finances and money in context of the gospel, but becoming financial professors to the community at large isn’t what I believe the church was intended to do.

As a side note, what does financial freedom really do? In its basic form, it empowers people to know peace without Christ. They get complacent and sometimes even become so thrifty that they fail to help others as they horde their money in fear of losing it. If we as the church teach people to manage their finances better, they feel less need for God and others. They take the information and put it in the bank for safe keeping. In contrast to that, rather than force feed people messages on financial freedom or prosperity, what if we explained that our finances really have God as the source? If we took a biblical view of what money is and how God entrusted us as stewards with hearts of compassion for others that have less. Imagine what the world would be like if we as supposed Christ followers stopped looking to the church as having to meet their personal needs and looked to others as the Bible tells us to in Matthew 25:31-46:

    31“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

    34“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

    37“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

    40“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

    41“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

    44“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

    45“He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

    46“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

We as the church need to show others just how much Christ loves them and has a plan for their lives which leads not to peace in this world, but peace on an uncomparable, eternal level with the God of the universe. Let us focus on Jesus, the lover of our soul and less on how we can have happier lives because of a false understanding that God wants us to be happy. God never, ever called on us to be happy. He did, however, call us to be holy!

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jesus / life — 2 Comments
20
Apr 09

What does it take?

As you probably all know or can guess, planting a church has it’s ups and downs. There are good days and bad days. However, we can say the same thing about life, marriage, relationships, work, etc. I have found myself in a place several times where I ask the question, “What does it take?” in order to accomplish the task or sometimes just to make it through the day.

Have you been there? I think we all have. In the end, the answer is always the same: Less of me, more of God. When we try to make it about us and our efforts, we usually fall short. We weren’t designed to live at such a pace where we make ourselves step up to every challenge and get through it on our own. In Matthew 11:28 Jesus says to us, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” However, I ask that today you let this comforting thought speak to you in a different way as you read it from the Amplified Bible translation:

Matthew 11:28-30 AMP

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.]

Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest (relief and ease and refreshment and [e]recreation and blessed quiet) for your souls.

For My yoke is wholesome (useful, good--not harsh, hard, sharp, or pressing, but comfortable, gracious, and pleasant), and My burden is light and easy to be borne.

What does it take? Usually it just requires us to take Jesus yoke upon ourselves and letting him lead and guide us because his burden is light and easy to bear.

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