Business Model

It's all about relationships.

I've learned that lately.  It's all about relationships.  The little things matter: One on one time; taking an interest in another's life; honesty; going the extra mile.

Without these relationships, how will our message be received?  We have something very important to share, a spectacular truth, even.

If we want to succeed in business, we need to build relationships.  So my boss says.

If we want to evangelize, we need to build relationships.  So my friends say.

Hmm.

The similarities between my boss's business approach and witnessing were once disturbing, but now remind of the simple truth: Much like a potential client wants to work with someone they know and trust, a non-christian will perhaps be more likely to listen to Jesus's truth from someone they know and trust.

So build relationships.  Don't fake it - love sincerely.  Insincerity is disingenuous.

A butterfly called love

Love is a lot different in practice than in theory.  I thought I understood love, but understanding and doing are sometimes two mutually exclusive concepts.  I'm learning to love right now, sometimes to my joy, sometimes to my sorrow, and always to my discomfort.

I think loving a specific person, like a fiance, is difficult.  That love wants to grow and move from a cocoon to a butterfly.  It stretches, it tears, it hurts, it pushes and pulls and yearns to break out.  The prize is worth the effort.  The butterfly breaks free and is something bigger and more beautiful than before.  The caterpillar and cocoon were good for a time, but the butterfly is beautiful.

I feel stretched, pulled, and pushed, and hurt because I am learning to love.  Being a caterpillar was easy and fresh and new and exciting.  I don't know why it changed or how, but I'm in a cocoon right now.  I am learning how to love and how to speak a language of love that one will hear and understand.  My understanding of love won't suffice anymore; the goal is a butterfly and to get there, one must stretch and pull and push and tear through old ways of love to understand and love more beautifully.

The prize is worth the effort.

Romans 8 - Part 1

Memorized so far...  typing out word flow.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.  For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering.  And so he condemned sin in sinful man in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.


For the those who live according the the sinful nature set their minds on what that nature desires but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on what the Spirit desires.  For the mind of sinful man is death but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.  The sinful mind is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's law nor can it do so.  Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.


You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit if the Spirit of God lives in You.  If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, then he does not belong to Christ.  But if Christ lives in you your body is dead because of sin but your spirit is alive because of righteousness.  If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is in you, then he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.


Not too shabby.  I'm simultaneously encouraged and convicted by the discussion of living by the sinful nature and living by the Spirit.  It's so very black and white, heads or tails.  If I may confess, I'm not fully living by the Spirit.  I think I set my mind on what the Spirit desires, but my sinful nature rocks me pretty hard sometimes.  I'm on the journey, the continuum.  God, may your Spirit who lives in me continue to sanctify and change me because I cannot do without you.  Thank you for changing me so far and thank you for future growth.  Thanks!

joel

Jesus Christ (superstar)

Acts 2

The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost

 ¹ When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. ²Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. ⁴ All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues^[a] as the Spirit enabled them.

 ⁵ Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. ⁶ When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. ⁷ Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? ⁸ Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? ⁹ Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,^[b] 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome¹¹ (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” ¹² Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”

 ¹³ Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”

Peter Addresses the Crowd

 ¹⁴ Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. ¹⁵ These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! ¹⁶ No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

 ¹⁷ “‘In the last days, God says,
   I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
   your young men will see visions,
   your old men will dream dreams.
¹⁸ Even on my servants, both men and women,
   I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
   and they will prophesy.
¹⁹ I will show wonders in the heavens above
   and signs on the earth below,
   blood and fire and billows of smoke.
²⁰ The sun will be turned to darkness
   and the moon to blood
   before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
²¹ And everyone who calls
   on the name of the Lord will be saved.’^[c]

 ²² “Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. ²³ This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men,^[d] put him to death by nailing him to the cross. ²⁴ But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. ²⁵ David said about him:

   “‘I saw the Lord always before me.
   Because he is at my right hand,
   I will not be shaken.
²⁶ Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
   my body also will rest in hope,
²⁷ because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
   you will not let your holy one see decay.
²⁸ You have made known to me the paths of life;
   you will fill me with joy in your presence.’^[e]

 ²⁹ “Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. ³⁰ But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. ³¹ Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay. ³² God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. ³³ Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. ³⁴ For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said,

   “‘The Lord said to my Lord:
   “Sit at my right hand
³⁵ until I make your enemies
   a footstool for your feet.”’^[f]

 ³⁶ “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

 ³⁷ When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

 ³⁸ Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹ The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

 ⁴⁰ With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” ⁴¹ Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

The Fellowship of the Believers

 ⁴² They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. ⁴³ Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. ⁴⁴ All the believers were together and had everything in common. ⁴⁵ They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. ⁴⁶ Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, ⁴⁷ praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Pooh

My favorite coffee mug has a quote from Winnie the Pooh.  It reads,

"Good friends will stick with you until you're unstuck."

Where's Church?

I have an idea and am just going to write it out and see where this goes.  Please leave comments or give me a call because I want to discuss this further than I can take it.

So here's my thought process.  It is, admittedly, disjointed.

• I don't like our church shopping culture.  If you don't like a particular church, just go down the road or to the next town and find a different one that fits your style.
• I don't like the insular focus of contemporary church goers.  Try this: clasp your hands, fingers held inside your hands.  Point your two index fingers up into the air and put your thumbs in front of your hands.  Looks like a church, right?  I learned this as a child and heard a little rhyme that went like this "Here is the church, here's the steeple. Open the doors and see all the people."  Well, that's just like our churches today.  We are all inside.  We aren't outside, putting hands and feet to the gospel that we follow.
• I think practicable expressions of our faith in Jesus are critical.  Read Luke 4:14-21.  Heck, read about how Jesus interacted with people.  Not sure we do this enough.
• The church is a a local family of Jesus-followers who regularly meet for teaching, worship, confession/encouragement, evangelism, community service (feeding/clothing/loving poor and marginalized) and remembering Jesus' death and resurrection (communion). 
• I've heard it said that for every 10 minutes we spend in commute to work (or church?), we are 10% less likely to commit to relationships to other people and thus, community service and evangelism.
• We are more likely to interact and invest with people in our local communities.  At least, I am more likely to be invested in my own community because it is in my nature to reduce inefficiencies such as drive time and use that time to invest in people and relationships and conversations.
• I think, and this is my idea, that church location is important.  I think that church location trumps such other considerations as worship style, minor theological differences*, preaching style, etc.  In my definition of church above, I stress "local, "family," and "community service."  Basically, the practicable expression of our love for Christ and others. 
• Assumption: there is a church within the community one lives and works in.
• Assumption: the local church(es) are Bible-teaching, Jesus loving communities.  The flavors might be different, but ice cream is ice cream.  
• Assumption: the individual is self-sufficient or mature enough to pursue truth about God through personal and family Bible study and prayer.  This might be the biggest assumption.  Though, if one isn't mature enough in their faith, they won't really understand minor theological differences, right? I also assume within this that there are good non-pastor Christian leaders within each church community to come alongside young Christians and help them learn.
• There is little difference between Methodist, Wesleyan, Baptist, Presbyterian, Reformed, Pentecostal, and other Protestant churches.  Honestly.  The differences are minor, usually, and I'm disappointed in how fractured the Church became post-Reformation. But one can attend any one of these churches and presumably hear the Gospel. I'm uncertain about Catholic or Orthodox churches because the differences between Protestant and those faith groups are much larger.
• So, a what-if:  Say you live in a town of 8,000 and the church options are an old-person Baptist church, the liberal Lutheran church, the not-so-liberal Lutheran church, an Assembly of God church, a Wesleyan church plant but no Reformed based church and you are Reformed by background.  I would say it's more important and valuable to disregard one's theological differences and join a church that is in close proximity and offers opportunities to engage the local community.  
• What if there are no exciting, rock based worship experiences in one's town?  Do you drive 30 minutes south to the cool, hip college student church? I would say no.  Put aside the desire for an exciting experience and worship with a different culture.
• The local expression of Jesus' Body is vital.

Watchman Nee was a freaking sweet Chinese evangelist who believe that each town should only have one church.  He thought that geographic differences were the only grounds for having different church communities.  Super interesting.  

What do you think?  Travel to a church that fits you?  Or stay in town and fit a church that differs from your background?  Please ask some questions I'm not asking...

*I think minor theological difference include, but are not limited to: Calvinism vs Arminianism, gifts of the Holy Spirit, end-times, role of women in the church.  Feel free to discuss this.

Mr. Fix-It (ish)

I am a fixer by nature.  I like to fix things.  I want to fix things.  I can't wait to have a workroom in a house to put tools and a workbench and table saw and a jig saw and old peanut butter jars of assorted nails and screws.

And fix things.

Or make new things.

I can't wait.