Category Archives: Emergent Church

December 8, 2012 · 11:32 am

Who Is Going Viral In Your World?

12-12-08_591893_44228499When we say that something has gone viral it indicates that a portion of the culture is experiencing something that is out of the normal status of that culture. In other words there is a change taking place that is evident. YouTube has become a social media site where people go to see and experience the effects of change. Thus the term going viral is measured in how many people view something that has happened.  

Some could say that democracy is still viral because we have recently witnessed four maybe five nation states oust their leaders for a more democratic form of government. Within Protestant Christianity, Pentecostalism remains virulent as the fastest growing sector as it continues to spread the deeper experience of a consciously aware relationship with Holy Spirit. At the same time many in the emergent church movement are participating in a cultural revolution within Christianity as a whole with some observers liking it to the beginnings of the Protestantism reformation.

The bigger question and the personal question is what kind of change are we expecting ourselves and others to experience? Jesus the Christ injected a spiritual strain of DNA (human mother and spiritual father) into the race of mankind that has been affecting the human culture for the last two thousand years. The Kingdom of God extends membership to all who become aware that they carry within themselves a spiritual Presence (namely the Spirit of God, Holy Spirit). And so we are all witness the effect of God’s Kingdom on the religious and secular segments of the human culture.

2 Cor 3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

Isa 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, because the LORD has anointed Me …. To proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;

When cultures grow with in existing cultures they tend to feed on the host culture until it becomes the host. So there are waves of growth and resistance that takes place as the states of status quo give way to new states of normalcy. Witnessing the effects of change can be difficult because they happen gradually over time. However as we learn to develop the tools to observe cultural change it is an exciting thing to watch.

For two thousand years the Kingdom of God has been spreading throughout mankind’s culture. Also during this time our understanding of that Kingdom has changed. As we reflect on history we can begin to see patterns as understanding changed so did the growth of the Kingdom expand. The same is true for the host culture, as its understanding about the Kingdom changed its resistance to the Kingdom either strengthen or diminished.

Jesus founded the Kingdom on the principal of love. One scriptural interpretation was that Jesus was freeing people from the bondage in the world to join the Kingdom of His Father. But as we look back through history we see that some of those who have taken up this work used the tools of force and fear to spread God’s Kingdom and in every case the host culture met it with a level of resistance. The same is true when the tools of love and forgiveness were used we see great growth and minimum resistance by the human culture.

From our Master’s perspective we are given the Kingdom to set free those that are in bondage. In those times when terms of revolution was used to set free others than self we see a righteous discharge of Kingdom authority. However when these terms of revolution are used for personal gain or the gain for a subgroup of the culture one can only do like our Master and pray, forgive them for they know not what they do.

As Christians we have become agents of change or ambassadors of God’s Kingdom.  Our local community by definition is not the Kingdom; our country defined by its borders is not the Kingdom. The Kingdom is any place where the Presence of God Spirit is.  A U.S. ambassador is the embassy, any aircraft carrying the President is Air Force One. Concerning the Kingdom Presence is everything. If the Presence of God’s Spirit is within us then the Kingdom is inside of us.

Our ability to see Christ in others even before they can see it in themselves makes the Kingdom virulent. Under the Old Testament when something unclean touched something holy that thing became defiled, unclean and no longer fit for service to God. When Jesus as the Christ established God’s Kingdom, He came and touched things and people who were unclean in order to make them clean, holy and fit for service to God. We have been given that same authority. We are at the point of impact within the culture, we carry within us the Presence of God and all that we touch can become pure. This is true because it is no longer we who live in these vessels of human flesh, we have been transformed, we are the embassy of God, and all that run to us should be glad. One day they will violently try to touch you.

So I encourage us to demonstrate with intent and understanding of what we carry inside of us. Unfortunately many of us are members of religious organizations that continue to put up walls as a defense to stay undefiled from the world. We need to demonstrate to them as well as the world that we are and carry a greater Presence within, than the junk in the world. If there is fear or a need to destroy the world, it is because of a poor understanding of the power of the Presence living within. Scripture reveals that perfect love cast out all fear.

My encouragement to you is to increase your awareness of God’s spiritual Presence that is within us. As that relationship grows we will begin to notice the effects we are having on others and the effect that Holy Spirit’s Presence is having on us. Daily and hourly as we commune with God the two are becoming one. We are all individually being transformed in much the same way the world is changing. So I leave you with my original question, what kind of change are we expecting ourselves and others to experience?

 

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November 10, 2012 · 10:56 am

Evidence of Our Truths

Our life is evidence of what we believe to be true. If we were to ask a non-Christian to give us a one word description of Christianity in North America many of us would most likely hear the word hypocrisy. For me this is very understandable and it shows that for us who have become born to the spirit have truly taken the first step on our evolutionary journey to becoming daughters and sons of God. Even though Jesus says we shall be known for our love, today most of us are seen in the midst of a struggle as we learn deal with our new citizenship. We Christians have become citizens of two worlds and our struggle with this new reality can at times appear to outsiders as hypocrisy.

As Americans citizens of the material world we hold certain truths to be evident. Also as citizens of the Kingdom of God (KoG) we are beginning to become conscious of spiritual truths. Dual citizenship is always tough because loyalty is required from all the groups we are involved with. North American Christianity as a religion and like other worldly organizations tend to define themselves by who they are not. Thus because of our dual citizenship the charge of hypocrite will always stick and rightly so because we are born out of that world.

John 1:14  And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

2 Corinthians 3:16-17  Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

As citizens of God’s Kingdom our journey or pursuit is truly about becoming like Jesus. If Jesus demonstrated one thing it is that it is possible to live free from this world’s distractions, claims and desires and live a life fulfilling the will of His Father. As Americans however we hold these truths self-evident that God created all men to be equal and that we all are endowed with certain unalienable rights that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The question is which system can deliver on its claim?

The American experiment is still wrestling with that question and many Christians in America find themselves caught between two worlds. The advancement of civil liberties to all of its citizens is a beautiful work in progress. We have seen freedom of religion, full citizenship for the African slaves, voting rights for women, equality in the workplace and now our pursuit for equality of people having a differing sexual orientation. This is truly an evolving experiment of bringing to light liberating truths.

The Kingdom of God however starts with the premise that all of creation is good encouraging all of it citizens to relate in a framework of equality and love. We are baptized by one Spirit whether we are Jews or Greek, slave or free or male or female. Our status as children of God and our rights as citizens of the Kingdom has been guaranteed by the work of our first sibling Jesus.  We all have been made joint heirs because of the effort by our Father in heaven.

In some ways hypocrisy is good because it means that the individual is still wrestling with the decision and the reality of dual citizenship. However scripture indicates that a double minded person is unstable and a luke-warm person will be spewed out in the end. We have been given an all or nothing deal between the spiritual Kingdom of God and the earthly kingdom of America. Our choice is simple are we going to be known for love or for our hypocrisy.

As Americans we can focus on our pursuit towards personal happiness and as Christians we can focus on getting in right relationship with our brothers and sisters. Hypocrisy may be our current status but in the end we will be judged by which set of truths our life has evidenced. We cannot afford to live a life solely on the traditions and revelation of those that went before us. Each generation and each individual must make their own choice by pursuing to understand more fully the truths that have been previously revealed.

Hypocrisy and  Love calls to each of us. The pleasures, authority and the will of each kingdom beckons for our heart. I hope my words encourage each of us to examine and take stock of the evidence we have amassed thus far in our lives. Not only will God our Father and Judge review that evidence but the generations that follow us are and will continue to review those truths that we hold to be self-evident. Their acceptance or rejection of that evidence has a lot to do with us who present such spiritual evidence.

James 1:22-25 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. 

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October 6, 2012 · 12:42 pm

Relevance of Our Evidence

One of the tests for the admissibility of evidence in a court of law is that it must be relevant to a point of fact in the case. For evidence to be relevant, it must tend to prove or disprove some fact that is at issue in the proceeding. As a believer in God what is at center of everything is the relationship we have with God. Our very identity is at the heart of all our spiritual evidence. Therefore any spiritual evidence will tend to prove our relationship with God and confirm this possibility for all humans.

Mark 3:24  If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.

Mark 3:28-29 “Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; 29 but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation”

There are many facts concerning the authority and operations of God’s Kingdom. In order to be a member or even see this Kingdom in operation one must be born of the Spirit. This second birth or awakening opens us up to possibilities and understanding that is not seen by those who have only experienced the natural birth, which is common to all humans.

When we are slapped on the bottom and we are naturally awakened at birth and we breathed and experienced separation from our mothers. Our conscious was activated and the little “I am” began to exist. Prior to that birth we were one with our mother; a growth of her physical body. We evolved for nine months prior to that separation and then we continued to develop as a physical and separate entity. Everything we do after that natural birth is therefore evidence of our physical existence.

Now that we have experienced the quickening of the spiritual birth our lives likewise begin to show forth evidence of this understanding. Instead of a life of separation, Jesus (the second Adam) established a process within us that makes us one with God. Our development is no longer in the direction of separation but now it is in the direction of unity in God as with the rest of all of His creation. We now have become an agent of reconciliation towards God in the earth realm.

To deny that operation and its evidence is blasphemy. In the very way that our finger prints, social security number and credit card activity provides evidence of our physical existence our awaken conscience provides evidence of our spiritual relationship with God. However that is just the state of infancy. As we develop spiritually we come to understand that we can host or carry the very Presence of God within ourselves even to the point of perfect unity, as demonstrated by Jesus the master example.

The point at which our evidence becomes the work of God’s Holy Spirit is the point at which denial of our spiritual evidence becomes blasphemous. When we consciously understand that the little “I am” no longer lives in this house, but the big “I am” now resides here is the moment our lives shift from material living to spiritual living. When laying down our lives daily, dying to self, taking up the cross, becoming a living sacrifice and not my will but your will be done, becomes more than Christian clichés is when we become active citizens of God’s spiritual Kingdom.

The simplicity of breathing and smiling is very relevant evidence because it is God that is living through our lives. Healing the sick, cleansing the untouchables and making alive those that are dead are big and sensational presentations to the jury of our peers. Never the less is the ordinary light we so shine before men that remains as the preserving and reconciling agency in the material world.

Everything is relevant to a conscious that is awake to the realities of God’s Kingdom operating within. We have been made daughters and sons of the living God with the sovereignty to allow His will be done through our lives. As we develop and learn to host His Holy Presence we make relevant spiritual evidence of a unique relationship that is available to every person on earth.

Matthew 5:12-16 You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

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