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What Might the Cell Church Encounter?

I was thinking about the Cell Church model in relation to the traditional model. I can't predict exactly what will be the major problems with the Cell Church or what it will struggle to accomplish in relation to God's mission, but I think, after looking at the traditional model, it will have a hard time looking like a interconnected church.

What I mean by that is this: The traditional church struggles with home groups in the way that they try to make it look like they're really relational and community driven. But when you compare that home group to the church's showings of a home group. They fall short with evangelism, discipleship, mercy ministries, and caring for the planet. Whereas, it is easier for a house church to fulfill those calls in the small group setting.

So when I look at that problem and see how the traditional church struggles there, I can't help but think the Cell Church struggles with looking like we aren't apart of a larger community. A bunch of "small churches" trying to do "big church" is going to run into the counter-problems found with a "big church" trying to do "small church".

Something I have to wrestle with...

"I want to show you how a Christain man dies."

Found this on Justin Taylor's blog Between Two Worlds. Enjoy.

In his book The Walk, Michael Card recounts the many ways that biblical scholar William L. Lane mentored him, beginning with Card's time at Western Kentucky University and ending with Professor Lane's death. Indeed, his retelling of their friendship is the telling of their discipleship:

"I would like to speak to you now about discipleship. I could do so in technical, academic words that would bore us both to death. Instead, I will do what Christians from the beginning have done—I will tell you a story because something as important as discipleship cannot be reduced to a definition or contained in a program. The truth of it must be lived out to be properly understood. It is organic; it flexes and moves and defies definition. That is the way of discipleship."

The means of discipleship, according to Card, is a walk. It is two (or more) people walking together for months, or even years, in the context of living life together. Indeed, as Card points out, this is the model of discipleship evidenced in the life of Jesus with his own disciples.

Card recalls his time in college with Lane as "the golden years," in part because Lane was able to show Card just how good those years really were:

"After all, that's one of the tasks of the discipler, to wake us up to what is really going on around us, to encourage us to take our eyes off ourselves and see that our world is not the only world. That outside the narrow confines of the self there exists a world that truly is golden. And they allow us to borrow their eyes until we can see it for ourselves."

Card also recalls what occurred when Lane learned that he had cancer, near the end of his life. The mentor and his wife decided to move to Franklin, Tennessee, to be nearer his disciple:

"During the conversation Bill told me why he wanted to spend his last days here. He didn't feel that Seattle was home, even after eight years there. Neither did he want to go back to Bowling Green, even though his years there had been some of the happiest of his life. 'I want to come to Franklin,' he said. 'I want to show you how a Christian man dies.'"

And that is exactly what he did.

It was only after Lane's death that Card began to understand the full meaning of that statement:

"Bill had said, 'I want to show you how a Christian man dies.' I have only recently realized that this lesson began the first moment we met. It continued for twenty years or more, because each time I was within Bill's reach, I was being powerfully taught or even more powerfully shown the life of faith and Spirit. And it is that life that best prepares us for the slumber Jesus spoke about."

May God raise up more men and women who will demonstrate to their disciples not only what it means to live for Jesus, but also what it means to die in him.

3 Ways

There are only three ways to Live:

1. Legalism/Moralism

2. Gospel-saturated

3. Hedonism/relativism

You pick.

What it takes to follow

"The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been

made.

I'm a disciple of His and I won't look back, let up, slow down, back away,
or be still.

My past is redeemed. My present makes sense. My future is secure.

I'm done and finished with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth
knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talking, cheap living, and
dwarfed goals.

I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or
popularity.

I don't have to be right, or first, or tops, or recognized, or praised, or
rewarded.

I live by faith, lean on His presence, walk by patience, lift by prayer, and
labor by Holy Spirit power.

My face is set. My gait is fast. My goal is heaven.

My road may be narrow, my way rough, my companions few, but my guide is
reliable and my mission is clear.

I will not be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back,
deluded or delayed.

I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice or hesitate in the presence of
the adversary.

I will not negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of
popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

I won't give up, shut up, or let up until I have stayed up, stored up,
prayed up, paid up, and preached up for the cause of Christ.

I am a disciple of Jesus!

I must give until I drop, preach until all know, and work until He comes.

And when He does come for His own, He'll have no problems recognizing me. My
colors will be clear!"

-Anonymous

Without the Gospel

Without the gospel

everything is useless and vain;

without the gospel

we are not Christians;

without the gospel

all riches is poverty,
all wisdom folly before God;
strength is weakness,
and all the justice of man is under the condemnation of God.

But by the knowledge of the gospel we are made

children of God,
brothers of Jesus Christ,
fellow townsmen with the saints,
citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven,
heirs of God with Jesus Christ, by whom

the poor are made rich,
the weak strong,
the fools wise,
the sinner justified,
the desolate comforted,
the doubting sure,
and slaves free.

It is the power of God for the salvation of all those who believe.

It follows that every good thing we could think or desire is to be found in this same Jesus Christ alone.

For, he was

sold, to buy us back;
captive, to deliver us;
condemned, to absolve us;

he was

made a curse for our blessing,
[a] sin offering for our righteousness;
marred that we may be made fair;

he died for our life; so that by him

fury is made gentle,
wrath appeased,
darkness turned into light,
fear reassured,
despisal despised,
debt canceled,
labor lightened,
sadness made merry,
misfortune made fortunate,
difficulty easy,
disorder ordered,
division united,
ignominy ennobled,
rebellion subjected,
intimidation intimidated,
ambush uncovered,
assaults assailed,
force forced back,
combat combated,
war warred against,
vengeance avenged,
torment tormented,
damnation damned,
the abyss sunk into the abyss,
hell transfixed,
death dead,
mortality made immortal.

In short,

mercy has swallowed up all misery,
and goodness all misfortune.

For all these things which were to be the weapons of the devil in his battle against us, and the sting of death to pierce us, are turned for us into exercises which we can turn to our profit.

If we are able to boast with the apostle, saying, O hell, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting? it is because by the Spirit of Christ promised to the elect, we live no longer, but Christ lives in us; and we are by the same Spirit seated among those who are in heaven, so that for us the world is no more, even while our conversation is in it; but we are content in all things, whether country, place, condition, clothing, meat, and all such things.

And we are

comforted in tribulation,
joyful in sorrow,
glorying under vituperation,
abounding in poverty,
warmed in our nakedness,
patient amongst evils,
living in death.

This is what we should in short seek in the whole of Scripture: truly to know Jesus Christ, and the infinite riches that are comprised in him and are offered to us by him from God the Father.

-John Calvin

Thug Life

I'm turning into a thug. I'm starting to like this Christain rapper, Lecrae. He's so good! Check him out. Holla'!

Idolatry

I'm realizing that we do in fact worship a tangible idol here in America. It may not be in the shape of a statue that we bow down to, but it does come in many shapes, sizes, and functions. We bow down to our selfish desire for the latest trend or technology. Materialism has plagued America since the instalment of capitalism. We are driven for our unquenchable thirst for more "stuff".

I went up to Hearst Castle yesterday. I have never been there. And I guess I shouldn't have been surprised by what I found. It was going to cost us $25 to get in a bus and walk through a guy's house that he built to try to find fulfillment in the now. He was driven by what he could have here on Earth. And as I stood there, I noticed that everybody around me had the same drive train, me included. To a degree, everybody there, some more than others, wanted to have the stuff that William Hearst had.

But God has called his followers to a different drum beat. He told the rich young ruler to leave all that he had. To abandon his identity. That is, his materialistic idol. Nothing in this world is laying prostrate before but God. That's something that we in America must remind ourselves everytime we watch tv, drive through town, and walk into any shopping center. A passion for the tangible will leave you lonely and wanting more than what you have. Materialism is an ever-perpetuating ride of emptiness.

As Christopher Wright so brilliantly put it, "The worship of false gods is the fellowship of futility, the grand delusion whose only destiny is disappointment."

Just Me?

I've been noticing a not-so-new trend in the traditional worship setting. It's something that I'm not a big fan of, but I'm not sure if it's just me or everybody else.

Doesn't worship nowadays seem like a utopic setting? I might be wrong here, but most songs that I see churches singing deal with us acting as if we are perfect people in the presence of God. For example, I recently sang a song that centered around how much "I" love God. This love seemed so deep that "I" couldn't even imagine sinning, but that's not how I feel.

We also sang about "our holy desires" and the fact that there is nothing we desire more than God. Maybe my theological wheels were spinning too fast at the time, but I couldn't help but think that every time we sin, we slap God in the face with our desires.

During the entire worship set all I could do is sit there. I couldn't sing. I couldn't worship. Yet, for some reason, everybody around me was singing like it was their last chance to. It must just be me that feels like a shattered soul, unworthy for the love bestowed on me. I know the theology behind imputed righteousness and justification. In fact, I can't get enough of it, but when it comes to worshipping God like this, I have trouble doing it.

The times that I can worship God with the entire depth of my lungs and heart is when we sing songs full of angst. Songs that are centered around God being perfect, me being broken, unworthy, sinful, and made righteous by the blood. It is those songs that I'm able to worship God with. They seem to be more in line with how feel in front of God.

But it may just be me.

Two Hymns

"If Thou But Suffer God to Guide Thee"

God knows the time for joy and truly

Will send it when he sees it meet

When He has tried and purged thee duly

And found thee free from all deceit.

He comes to thee all unaware

And makes thee own His loving car.

-Georg Neumark

"Day by Day"

He Whose heart is kind beyond all measure

Gives unto each day what He deems best--

Lovingly, its part of pain and pleasure,

Mingling toil with peace and rest.

-Fanny Crosby

My Uninspiration

Just for the heck of it, I thought I'd make a list of things that don't inspire me at all. In fact, they make me mad. This stuff are the items/topics/thoughts that I wish I could get rid of for good. I hate every piece of them, especially the ones I struggle with (which is all but 7.

1. Vanity

2. Popularity

3. Materialism (Especially in the Church, i.e. big buildings/expensive facilities)

4. Small Talk

5. Pride

6. Superficiality

7. Business

There they are...now they should leave.

My Inspiration

I decided to make a list of the things that inspire me most in my relationship with God at the moment. For some reason, when I reflect/dwell deeply and envelope myself in these things, I come away feeling refreshed as they press me into holy places in my mind. So here is my current list, which I'm sure could change as early as tonight:

1. Mornings with God & coffee

2. Weighty Truth

3. Robust Dialogue on Mission and Ecclesiology

4. Passionate Teaching

5. Gospel Saturated Books

6. Discipleship

7. Courageous/Challenging Sermons

Staying Quiet WILL Lead to Death

"The greatest sermon is the one unspoken."

I've heard this quote before, but I recently heard somebody say this. And all I can say is, "God, may this never be my attitude. Motivate me to preach the Gospel. Never let me be content with 'living a good life'. I want to do that and more for your Kingdom. You gave us your WORD that we can proclaim it to the nations. Let that mandate control my decisions."

That quote is the biggest excuse to keep our faith under a bushel.

Aggressive Tithing

In my observations of what the economy has done to the church (not the institutional church), I have seen that people are taking it out everywhere, but the offering plate. What I mean by that is instead of having more trust and a higher view of money in the down turn, the people are finding excuses and taking out their aggression on either their own personal relationship with God, church leaders, or a bad combination of the two. This just propels my hatred towards capitalism.

We can't have "stuff".

We can't be "comfy".

We can't be "happy".

We can't have our god.

Our consumer culture welcomes these ideas of having the newest stuff with their own version of a holy kiss. Christians have fallen into the trap with the pagan culture in our midst. We walk a thin line between worshipping God and money. According to Revelation, it would be better for us to be enemies of God instead of friends with the world and trying to maintain some kind of atoning relationship with the Creator.

So instead of letting this economic downturn cause our materialism to come out in full force towards God or the godly leaders of His church. Let us instead take out aggression towards the offering plate. Let's take out our anger or bitterness out on the money which has generated our disdain. Let's show God that we worship Him more than money.

My Theology*

Before I start this apparently necessary venture, it is beneficial for me to lay out a few added notes that would otherwise not be able to fit into this post. Also, I am too tired to proof read this...and considering not many will read it, I'm okay with mistakes and bad grammar.

First, let me explain the asterisk is the title. I am a student at CBU. Therefore, I am learning new things that are continually shaping the way I think. My professors challenge me and I engage in multiple meaningful conversations with people who are much smarter than me. Which, in return, broadens my thinking as well. So to fully reveal what I mean by the asterisk I will add what it means to the title, My Theology (Subject to Extreme Change...Daily). And you might as well add weak to that also. In no way is my theology strong, the foundation for my theology, however, is the one of unsurpassing strength. It is also my belief that the daily will not stop once I graduate CBU, Seminary, and wherever else God leads me because I am forever a student of God and the Scriptures. In no way do I think I will come to a place where my theology is perfect. It will always need correcting.

Second, the reason why I am writing this post is because, for some reason, I have been given the stigma of being an extreme Calvinist. Some might give me the adjective (or noun) of hyper, staunch, and supra-. I want to make myself as clear as possible, I do not consider myself a "Calvinist" nor do I even think that John Calvin himself would give himself of title of his own cachet.

Now, let me start from the beginning....

I believe my first encounter with a Calvinist was one that turned me off to the title completely. I was in Hawaii with my family on a vacation the summer after I graduated. I decided to go on a little stroll along the strip at night to get some fresh air and out of the hotel room. I soon ran into a preacher whose pulpit was the street corner. As I came up to him I set my eyes upon a sign that he had stood up next to his pulpit that read, "God hates sinners....Repent or burn". I was a little irritated to say the least.

I started to engage in a conversation with him and he told me that Jesus had only died for those who are going to heaven. My biblical knowledge was not robust at the time and had no idea where he would get such an idea. I responded with the most profound verse that I knew on the subject, John 3:16. We continued to argue for a good hour before I quit trying to convert him (even though his knowledge surpassed mine exponentially). I always have loved arguing for some reason.

But that was my first encounter. I overly zealous street preacher who had no love for people. He was there because the Bible demanded him to evangelize. His idea of evangelizing was weak and, I'm sure, fanned the "flame of atheism" for many who were yelled at by him. I was turned off by this "Calvinism". Especially after talking to my dad about it the next day when he told me that Calvinists had bad theology (according to him, of course).

A month or so later, I moved to college to start my studies of God and the Bible. The first class I went to was Pentateuch, taught by Dr. Mooney. I immediately fell in love with him and the class. He opened with a heart wrenching, though provoking, motivating scenario that placed me in front of a boy who had never heard about Jesus. He ended the story with, "and what will you say to him about the Cross?" At the time, and sometimes to this day, I would not know what I would say. But ever sense the first class Dr. Mooney had my full attention. I hung on every word that came out of his mouth. I ate up the class and loved every minute of it. Even when studying for a test meant pulling an all-nighter and still not feeling prepared.

So at this point, Dr. Mooney could say anything and I would trust it as Biblical Authority. And when I found out that he was a Calvinist, I didn't know what to say. I started to study and search for it in the Scriptures. I read Romans, Ephesians, Exodus, and every other passage that dealt with the doctrines behind that loaded word. All I could talk about with my friends was this idea, I had no idea what to believe. I didn't want it to be true. The fact that Jesus just died for the elect. How could a loving God do such a thing? But it was still exciting, too exciting even. I saw the Biblical foundation behind Calvinism and my professor and hated street preacher's theology. It was all so new, and my mind was softer than play dough. "This is Truth", I said to myself over and over again in my dorm room. The thing that I hated so much since the day I first encountered it was the thing that I began to believe.

All I could say at the time was, "I'm a Calvinist." And I remained one for, perhaps, a year.

Then I walk into Dr. Morgan's theology class. This man is nothing less than brilliant. He remembers what page number certain footnotes can be found on...think about how crazy of a memory that is. But we started to discuss theology in a systematic way and my thinking, once again, started to become unglued. He pointed out all the flaws in both Arminian and Calvinist camps. I had to concede my Calvinism right then and there after seeing even more biblical proof on the doctrine. (I condensed this section because it's late at the moment and was sick of writing out stories of my life.)

And this is where I stand now with my theology as of June 12, 2009 at 1:08 a.m..

It is my opinion that a so called "5 point" theology is limiting to God. How is it that God only works salvation in 5 points? And then on top of that, I am extremely limited by the brain that God has given me. Unfortunately, I am not as smart as I wish to be. So me attempting to comprehend the way God works in the lives of human beings is futile. All I can do is take all the biblical data I can and throw them into the soup called, My Theology. And just to cover the main issue here (atonement), Jesus' death atoned for something. That is obvious. The question that lies before me is, what is the "something"? In some verses it is the entire world and all people. This language is impossible to bypass and I get irritated when I hear theologians and preachers try to walk around the text in a cute way to make it fit into their system. And the same goes with Romans 9 and the idea that God chooses vessels of wrath and glory. Don't avoid the easy exposition of this text, HE CHOOSES WHOEVER HE WANTS. End of story. Deal with it.

So if both are found in the Bible, why do we waste all of this time arguing about how He does it? All we know is that He works out salvation in the lives of the Lost. If you think there is any other way to get salvation outside of God, reread the Bible. God creates, provides, and gives salvation (That is found in John 3:17 for those who'll throw out that Bible verse).

But to give a name to my theology for all of you who think of me as a Calvinist, I prefer reformed because Calvinism immediately denotes an idea of a system. I hate systems. And I think God does too, He always surprises me. Therefore, I'm sure He can and does work outside of a 5 point system considering the biblical data that we do have. And even if I had to put myself into a pointed system, I would lean more towards 3. Irresistible Grace is unbiblical, people resist God all the time. They straight up close their eyes and plug their ears when creation screams, "God created me!" Total Depravity has some issues for me too. Solely based on symantics. My good friend Jeph says he believes in Radical Depravity, which I think makes more sense. I agree with the definition, but the adjective Total implies the meaning that lies behind the title of Complete Depravity. Limited Atonement...this one has more symantic problems too because atonement is unlimited for all the sin that I have done. But I have no idea if it atones for Joe and Suzy or just Suzy. I think that a lot of the Scriptures point to both, but I do believe that it atones for just Suzy is justified as well. So I have no idea what I believe there...just depends on the day I guess.

Sorry there was so much here. I just had to give reasons why I went on that 1 year sojourning process through the land of 5 Point-erism and that took a long time to cover.

Social Work vs Gospel Work

This video offers intriguing insights from two of my favorite pastors, John Piper and Tim Keller, on where the line should be drawn between meeting the physical needs of those less fortunate and meeting the spiritual needs of the Lost. 

GM and SBC

My friend and mentor Dr. Dunavant wrote an intriguing article concerning the recent demise of GM and the implications it has on the future for the SBC. Click here to read it.

Cal Poly Encouragement!

I was encouraged today to find a couple of girls having, what looked liked, a Bible study at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo. Except on closer examination, via ease-dropping, I soon learned that it was more of a discipleship meeting. One girl was asking questions (of which I couldn't hear...she was a quiet talker and facing the opposite direction) and the other girl was giving Biblical advice and constantly pointing to her past examples and the perfect example of the Cross.

I'm not exactly sure why I was so encouraged by this news. Maybe it was because I had not seen it yet on campus after being here for 3 weeks. Or maybe it was because I am so used to seeing meetings like this all around Cal Baptist. Nevertheless, discipleship is flourishing and spreading like wildfire. Even on secular campuses!

Soli Deo Gloria!

The SBC

One of my professor's wrote an article for Between the Times today and it was quite insightful to the direction that he (and I) feel that the Southern Baptist Convention is moving to in the near future.

You can read it here. 

Our Burden

I recently had a conversation with a girl in high school who had to cancel her mission trip to Mexico on two different occasions: the first trip was to Tijiuana due to all the gang violence as of late. The second was to Mexicali because of the Swine Flu. Her church was finally able to find of a hole in the curtain separating the US from the world in Jamaica.

I think it's great that these Christ followers are willing to relentlessly seek to do the work of the Kingdom. Even when it's inconvenient.

But why is it that we refuse to send missionaries to dangerous places?

Are we afraid of what might happen to us?

Is the risk of losing our lives to great?

I even see this at my school. They will not send students to India because of the danger. Why don't we just sign a reliability release form?

Jesus took the biggest risk. He knew He would be murdered on Calvary. He knew, yet He went. And it turned out to be the mission trip that brought Salvation to this world. His blood washed sinners clean. It is my prayer that we do not back down as Disciples. That we take off the burden of fear and put on the burden of the Cross.

Just Do Something

The answer to my prayers?!

Wisdom Teeth Chronicles

My wisdom teeth were stolen from me on Tuesday...and as I was waking up after the mugging, I found myself sitting infront of a salt water tank. In this tank I saw a fish that I never thought I would be so excited to see, Nemo....yes, Nemo.

I repeatedly told the nurses and my parents that there was a "little Nemo" in that tank. I was astonished. I couldn't get enough of the little sea creature. Later on the drive home, my dad asked what the name of my girlfriend is (this question is always asked and never has an answer), but I thought I would give him a name for once, Britney Spears.

The life lesson I learned from this little adventure, don't do drugs.

Made Me Think

Last week, I was in my very last Biblical Preaching class (Biblical is a loose term) and one of the sermons opened very thoughtfully with the most sinful city in America, San Jose. It was surprising to me that it was not Las Vegas, and apparently it surprised some of my classmates who are from LV. They both in unison let out a rejoiceful, "YES! It's not Vegas!" It made me think.

Yesterday, while I was in staff meeting at church, one prayer request read, "Pray for my sister, she is recovering from surgery in Utah and is surrounded by Mormons." It was apparent that the request was for spiritual strength to get through their "evangelism." It made me think.

I've recently started reading a book titled The Reason For God. And in it, the author Tim Keller began to depict the city that he decided to plant a church in, New York. He was saying that the reason he chose this city is because of all the liberal/theologically absent thinking in the area. It made me think...

Why are so many people in our Christian culture afraid of being apart of a conversation about God? Why are so many people happy that they are "not" in a culture flooded with sin? Shouldn't we be excited at the possibility that we live in the city with the most sin in America? When I heard that statistic at the beginning of the sermon, I thought, "I want to live there." And immediately after, I heard the shouts of acclamation. During the staff meeting, I prayed for something that the requester was not thinking. I hope that lady recovering from surgery is used by God to start a revival in that lost state.

I'm not saying this to make anybody think that I understand what it means to be Christian, because I don't by any stretch of the imagination. But I am saying this to try to make myself, and hopefully somebody else as a vicarious consequence, to think about where I am in life. Where is it that God has put me to make a difference? Am I in a city that does not have a light? If so, what am I doing to make the Gospel known?

It is those cities and places that Paul had in mind when he wrote this in Romans 10,

"How shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!'"

Paul made me think. And hopefully the Gospel makes me act.

Prayer For Obama

Obama will be in my prayers. It is an historical event and I am blessed to live in America where the Presidents can so peacefully switch power. I pray that Obama will have guidance, protection, and wisdom from God in this presidency. But most importantly, I pray God will break down Obama's opinions on abortion and make them fit more in tune with a Biblical Worldview.

Also, I'll agree with everybody when they say he is a great rhetoric, but not as good as Piper!