In recent days, I have been hearing with increasing frequency conversations about the future. It seems that the recent economic crises have shaken us from our collective drowsiness, and brought to the fore our deep-seated fears that somehow our way of life may be changing, and we are helpless to stop it. It doesn’t seem to matter whether those I talk to are religious or not, whether they claim the Way of Jesus, or some other way, the despair seems to be prolific.
So what’s up with that?

Man, listen here! We have so much to rejoice over – and we are unsettled by the prospect that our money will go away?

“I’m giving you peace – my peace, peace that nothing and no-one else can give,

and I’m giving it to you” -Jesus

Let’s not forget that we have hope, hope that transcends the shifting uncertainties and swirling possibilities of time and space, and we who claim Jesus the Christ have staked all we are or have on one Hope beyond all hopes. The Hope of a God who came and showed us the sheer impotence of the existential, the vast inconsequence of what is, bringing us something better in a Kingdom not of this world. The question is, do we really believe?

“I know WHO I have believed in, and I’m convinced that He is completely able to hold safe that which I’ve given to Him, until He comes into His own…” -Paul

In times of widespread trouble, in days of darkness and doubt, in moments of crisis both personal and communal, we have promises that transcend the temporal limitations of whatever crisis we find ourselves in! I’m talking about hope! Do you think for one moment that He has ceased to be involved? Do you think that this is no longer a story He is telling? Don’t be afraid, don’t despair – this is your moment, because it’s His! This is the time for love to shine, for hope to gleam brightly in the eyes of the Children of the Kingdom. If people ever needed to see what God reigning in our lives looked like, it’s now. If there’s ever been a moment when we need people of faith, hope, and most of all, love- we’re in it!

We have to let go our self, to see outside of our own story, to truly live! All we have to do is take another step after the One who called us, or maybe a first step of faith.

“Don’t grow weary while doing good, when it’s the right season,
we will reap the harvest if we don’t lose heart” -Paul

Today we need to kick fear to the curb and throw ourselves into the opportunities and challenges of life. It’s not as if we’re doing this alone – He’s there, ever step, our best, brightest, and only hope…

Peace,
The Suburban Vagabond

Politics and the Kingdom continued

Three reasons politics is a unhealthy pursuit for the Church

(1) Contrary to Kingdom growth:
The power of God is manifested in His people when we emulate the example of Christ by demonstrating love with humility, service, and sacrifice. Seizing power over "the world" to change behavior and make it a more comfortable place to be a Christian is contary to both the message of Jesus and the methods He used. Remember, He was the rightful heir to the throne of God, one with the Father, the rightful ruler of the world. But rather than seizing power by force, He chose to "empty Himself" and "make Himself of no reputation" (Phil. 2)
Consider His instructions to those who would follow in his footsteps: "Be as sheep among wolves" Be wise as serpents, gentle as doves" "Turn the other cheek" "Go the extra mile" etc...

The spread of the Kingdom (better translated "Reign of God") was clearly organic, not systemic. The gospel ("good news") of Christ ultimately revolutionizes (and I use revolution in the GK Chesterton sense) the world as it revolutionizes YOU (The Kingdom of Heaven is AMONG you)

(2) Distracts the Church from her true mission with a myopic vision:
The temptation here is to replace the authenticity of a Spirit-led life - Submission to God, respect for authority, completely sold-out Kingdom life - with self: becoming like a God to others (determining their actions by "power-over"), being the authority (ie..."The Moral Majority"), and having our own kingdoms stamped with a "Christian" label to justify our idolatry.
When this happens you have law over love, you replace Kingdom life with nationalism, Godliness with gain, humility and submission with power over others.

Once again, the followers of Christ that manifest this organism known as the Church were intended to BE the embodiment of the "Reign of God" by living a life that imitates Christ in message and method.

(3) It doesn't work:
There is no historically demonstrable example of the seizure of power being beneficial for the cause of Christ (a few negative examples would be the crusades, the reformation, and the slave trade) . Rather, the Church flourishes when believers are living a life that is completely Kingdom-focused regardless of their situation and occupation and outside of the world's methods of gaining power. From the first 300 years of the Church to the modern spread of the movement of Jesus in China, God has continually demonstrated His willingnes to manifest His power when His people humble themselves, seek HIS face, and turn from their OWN sins.

grace, peace, love,
michael
phil 1:20-21, 3:7-10

Why I won't be joining you November 4th...

"My Kingdom is not of this world..."
The message of the messiah is completely missed in a world gone mad. Did He not say that the Kingdom of Heaven was like a treasure hidden in a field, that one must obsess over to find? Did not He say that following Him would cost us everything, starting with our own ideas? Did He not say the last would be the first, and the least would be the greatest? Did He not tell us that to seek power was a dead-end road, and to seek a scepter was the way of darkness? Do not be deceived - the Kingdom doesn't come through the seizure of power, and change is nothing more than a by-word unless it comes from the heart. Laws don't change hearts, they change actions (with dubious success at best).

I hear the voice of a radical, revolutionary, passionate Messiah. I hear Him saying "Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand!" I hear His call "Follow Me"
Yea, Crucify yourself - serve, sacrifice, love, give, be gracious, submit, pray, fast, fight the powers of darkness by the might of the Spirit, forgive, bless, do not curse...
But nowhere, not once, ever..."Seize power, exalt yourself, tear down your enemies, rule, take vengeance..."

You can take your politics back to the hell that spawned them. We see the truest works of the Enemy when we see the "followers of Christ" spending their time and money on acheiving a faltering, fading hold on "power" that will vanish like a mist in the midsummer's dawn. Cease from folly, turn your eyes and your efforts to the Kingdom lest you waste your life."

A voice says, "Cry out."And I said, "What shall I cry?"

"All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field.
The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the LORD blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever." (Isaiah 40:6-8)

For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." (Luke 14:11 NIV)

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." (Ephesians 6:12 NIV)

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!

(Philippians 2:5-8)

peace,

michael

Phil 1:20-21, 3:7-10

Love and Fear

Lord, grant us, not to be delivered from our fears, but to embrace love. For when we embrace love in actuality, we grow more like You. True love relegates all fear to insignificance, not because it avoids all mishap, disaster, and undeserved evil, but because love that continually grows as we are poured out allows us to connect with the Divine, and ushers us into the presence beyond the veil. Fear surrounded the Holy of Holies, Love tore the veil.

Activate

Here you stand. These crossroads again. This bitter place of never-quite-realized dreams. The edge of who you were meant to be. Here you stand, and you are paralyzed by the potential. All the “maybes” and the possibilities of pain and failure hold you in place like chains of the soul. What you can't see has called your bluff. So lets talk about what you can't see.

What you can't see is that He is right there, and He's going to meet you as soon as you take that step of faith and leave your comfort zone. What you can't see is that you will never grow unless you take risks, and you will never become who you were meant to be unless you lay it all down. You can never fulfill the destiny that God placed inside of you unless you are consumed and driven to pursue Him.

You can't see the price He paid to redeem you, or the great desire He has to bring wholeness into your life. You can't see the spiritual forces battling on your behalf. You can't see the victory that is already won for you. All you can see is the fear of the possibilities. You're here with only your faith and His promises, and the Enemy is willing to go to any lengths to keep you from living in them. What ARE you waiting for? Go!

Asleep

It's 3:45 AM. I drive along the surprisingly deserted interstate, finishing a long night of work, thinking about many things, and watching the city go by. At this hour, most people are still asleep. Only the lonely, the late nighters, and the sleepless are up at this hour. The world is a very different place when humanity is, for the most part, sleeping. It can be a very lonely place.

Right now, however, there is no loneliness. As I watch the world sweep by, I sense the presence of someone I know well. His hands formed each person who dreams, His love pursues them all: the weak and the least, the broken and the bitter. The alone and the lonely, the self satisfied and proud. He never ceases, He never relents. He is always calling, always pouring out the affections of His grace, the attentions of His scandalous kindness, the whispers of the maker, calling His creation to intimacy with Him. He never, ever, even for a second stops pursuing, wooing, and drawing us to Him...

In the days of uncertainty and desperation, in the age of doubt and despair, this I find true. I am loved by Him. I find that in this crazy relationship with this incomprehensible God who inexplicably loves me I find the only peace I will ever have, and the only thing worth having. I find in my Jesus all that I ever have or ever will need. It leaves me completely at a loss. To say that He is all would not even begin to adequately express how He is enough. He is extravangantly, lavishly, above-and-beyond enough.

Wherever you may find yourself at this moment, whatever this journey that we call life has brought you through. I can tell you this. He has never, ever, not for one smallest fraction of a millisecond, left you. Right now if you will listen, if you will open your heart, you will hear that whisper. The whisper of the One who formed you. The One who has held every moment of your life. The One who longs to be found in relationship with you, to bring you the only thing that matters in life. Peace...

"For he himself is our peace..." (Ephesians 2:14a)

May you be at peace.

Life Words

In most instances where I sign my name, I also include two scripture references. The first of which is Philippians 1:20-21. I often write them carelessly, almost haphazardly, jotting them down as a casual addendum to the mark of my identity. This week, however, I find these verses will not leave me. They are constantly in the back of my mind, inviting me to step beyond the temporal and engage life as it was meant to be lived.

Philippians 1:21
"For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain."

This maybe the most powerful statement of personal faith that I could make. It's a simple equation: "Life=Christ, Death=gain". What would it look like, however, if that truly became our ethos, the core of our approach to life. What if we realized that Christianity is not a religious belief system, not church service attendance, but rather a revolutionary way of living - be that as a pastor of a church or a warehouse worker, a full time youth worker or a stay at home Mom. Are we brave enought to make that statement in our current situation? Do we have the chutzpah to take a side in the cosmic battle between darkness and light? Are we willing to fight that battle in our own hearts, homes, and in the familiar grounds of our oh-so-safe and familiar spaces?

The greek literally puts it this way "Living (the act) Christ death (act of) gain (advantage)"
"Living Christ dying advantage." Are you willing to put those for words at the core of your being? To step into a life that declares the totality of existence is for the purpose of knowing and emulating Christ, and that the length and security of our earthly life is insignificant compared to the advantage that we gain by being with Him?

This is what Jesus calls us to when he calls us to be His disciples. This is the answer to the unequivocal "Follow Me" of the gospels. This is truly who we were meant to be. In this verse lies the answer to all our questions about purpose, and the fulfillment of the longings we can never quite stifle.

Life. Christ. Death. Gain.

May it be true in me, may it be true in you.

The suburban vagabond

Phil. 1:20-21, 3:7-10

Haunting questions

Questions that haunt me:

1. What if Jesus really meant all those things He said?
2. Why does everyone talk about passion, but no one have it?
3. Can I just ever love. I mean really love?
4. Is there anyone else out there who can't quite drown out the voice that whispers that there is hellbent world beyond your carefully constructed paradigm, and that Love is the only thing that can save it?
5. If the American Dream is right, then why isn't safety a consideration when Jesus says “follow me”?

The Lord roars

The pastor stared at me across the desk in his luxuriously furnished office. I had spent the last half hour sharing with him the passion that I had for seeing this generation on fire for Christ, and the amazing people working with to spread the gospel of Christ.
“God is moving” I said. “We have been praying for revival and I believe we are seeing it among the young people in Christianity. However, it may not look like what we expect.”
Without hesitation, he replied - “That's alright – as long as it looks like the church.”

I felt as though someone had slapped me in the face. What he was saying to me, quite deliberately, was that he was OK with God moving in this generation - as long as He used acceptable channels. His idea of “the church” is a little white building with a steeple in the middle of the american countryside, where the people gather to sing “Just As I Am” without any idea of personal sacrifice, or maybe mouth “Send The Light” without a modicum of concern for the oppressed, the downtrodden, or those in spiritual darkness. How do I know this? That's what “the church” he pastors looks like. It is primarily an organization, centered around a building, existing for the purpose of perpetuating itself, and increasing the proficiency of it's members at imitating themselves. It is a monolithic “club” which only adds members from other “clubs” from the same political, social, and economic bent. While existing in an area where over half of the population has no connection to any community of faith whatsoever, it is existent only to perpetuate and affirm the disconnect between the community and “the church.”
So what is my point?

“The Lord roars from Zion, and thunders from Jerusalem...The lion has roared – who will not fear? The Sovereign Lord has spoken – who can but prophesy?”

Those words from the prophet Amos ring as true today as they did the moment they were spoken. God is shouting into our culture, the living God is entering into conversations with humanity, and those who claim the knowledge of Him are piddling with trifles, sleeping in theological enclaves, or drowning their passion in the opiates of politics and power-games in safe arenas. While the world burns, we in the “body of Christ” are no better than Nero with his storied fiddle, playing at being ourselves, obsessed with pointless arguments over “style” and transfixed on things that no one will remember in twenty years. We have beautiful monuments to our excess, we have organizations and doctorates of divinity(gag), economic security and social status, political proficiency and IRA's, yet “the Son of Man has no place to lay his head...”

“You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.'
But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.
I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich;
and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness;
and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.
Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent.
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock.
If anyone hears my voice and opens the door,
I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”
Revelation 3:17-21 (NIV)

Hear me, brothers and sisters – being in relationship with the living God based on the sacrifice of Christ does not mean we have a free ticket to heaven and the license to waste our lives on ourselves and those just like us. If you are not driven to live for others, if you are not impelled by concern for the “outsider”, if you are not overcome by the love of Christ for a lost and broken world, then please do Him a favor and stop using His name in vain by calling yourself “Christian”.
Jesus lived to reach out to the “sinners” and the outsiders. Jesus spent more time with tax-collectors and prostitutes than he did in temples. He came “to search out and rescue that which is lost”, in fact his first public announcement of His ministry was this -

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”
~Luke 4:18-19~ (NIV)

His last recorded instruction to his disciples, found in Mark 16 (NIV)-

"Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.”

If we claim to follow Jesus, then it is time we stopped playing games with God and got serious about living like Christ. It is time for those of us in the Christian community to take a serious look inside our church buildings, inside the communities we are building, and most importantly, inside ourselves. At a critical moment in the history of humanity, we must be prepared as Paul the Apostle to count everything as less than worthless, even repulsive in comparison with the value of knowing and walking with Jesus (Philippians 3). When we know and love Christ above everything and anything else in life, we will care about the outsider more than ourselves, we will be more worried about the lost than the saved, we will care more for the world than “the church”, and we will change the world, because we will be like Jesus. May we hear what God is speaking to us, because we need to hear Him knocking on our doors before we go knocking on our neighbor's.