Clear Communication & Darien

It was pointed out to me last night that I may have misspoken on Sunday. As I talked of the cup that Jesus told the disciples (and you and me) that they would indeed bear, what I hope was communicated was that they would later understand that he meant that their cup would bear an essence of the suffering and sacrifice of THE cup (the one and only atoning cup) that he cried out to the Father to remove in the garden, not that they were the same cup. Jesus was taking them from talking about his arrest, death, and resurrection (the one and only atoning cup) in Matthew 20:17-19 and with great intention uses cup as the metaphor, so they would know that true followers would have a SIMILAR, not the same bloody cup of atonement that only he could bear, cup that he predicts for them in verse 23. If I said they were the exact same cup, that was not my intent and I apologize because it would be heretical. There is one cup of salvation (Psalm 116) and only Jesus has drunk from that cup. However, we do have to be willing to bear and drink from a cup that contains the essence of its suffering and sacrifice. That was the point as He led us to understand the depth of servanthood -- that ours would resemble His which cost Him His life (vs. 28). Jesus said, “You will indeed drink from my cup.” So, the question that was posed is fair, “Are you ready to suffer and sacrifice for the sake of the Kingdom?”

While I am writing, I am trying to work through this Darien Black thing in my mind. Darien is the young man from Justin’s class who tragically ended his own life in the last week. I found out yesterday that there was a testimony given at his funeral that he had always told people that he got saved at a youth camp at The Bridge. This caused my mind to start racing. The first church camp of The Bridge in the summer of 2006 was in Eminence and there were some absolutely unforgettable events that took place there. Andy Sherrill’s talk along the river during the float trip on JOY (Jesus first, then others, then you), Derek Franklin getting bit by a poisonous snake and the frantic drive to the emergency room, and the youth band wowing us with their worship are all etched in our minds. Darien was a big part of that memory because he was the cow bell player in the band and he played loud and did not hit on the beat one time during the whole camp, but wow did he have a good time. It was fine and nobody said a word because he was new to church, and we were just ecstatic to see him so engaged. Somehow though, Darien got lost in the shuffle. He had not entered my mind for a long time until I heard of the tragedy. How can that be? How can people just slide into our frame of reference and back out again so easily. Apparently, he was dealing with things that nobody knew about. It makes me wonder who is in our midst right now that is dealing with things that nobody knows about, and maybe I am too busy to care? I pray that Darien’s family receive some peace from his encounter with the Gospel for a few days as he banged a cow bell way off beat.

Koinonia -- Missional Cell

Check out this excerpt from the book Total Church:
The New Testament word for community is koinonia, often translated by the now anemic word "fellowship." Koinonia is linked to the words "common, sharing, and participation." We are the community of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 1:9) -- sharing our lives (1 Thessalonians 2:8), sharing our property (Acts 4:32), sharing in the Gospel (Philippians 1:5; Philemon 6), and sharing in Christ's suffering and glory (2 Corinthians 1:6-7; 1 Peter 4:13). The collection of money by the Gentile churches for the poverty-stricken church in Jerusalem is an act of koinonia (Romans 15:26; 2 Corinthians 9:13). Our community life is celebrated and reinforced in Communion, where we participate (koinonia) together in the body and blood of Christ: "Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf" (1 Corinthians 10:16-17).

I challenge you to study these passages before we take a special communion on Sunday. Let's show up to church on Sunday recognizing that we are a collection of communities sharing in all of these acts of Biblical community.

Are we getting it? The rugged American cowboy, the independent, private American was a neat concept, but it does not make for very good church. We have to do this together in community. Big community, smaller missional community, and groups of two or three will be the church that God wants to see and bless.

We learn about koinonia at places like the Walk to Emmaus and other conferences, but it just never seems to get put into practice. Get into a missional cell and just be open to all God wants to do through that and watch God accelerate your love for Him, and your love for others. Isn't that what we are commanded to do? Let's enjoy living out these Biblical commands in the natural rhythms of our lives.

Missional Cell

Missional community (at The Bridge we call it missional cell family) is a must in 21st Century church. People really caring for people in our fast-paced lives must be intentional in a 'small-church community,' or it just really never happens. Discipleship is maxed out in these settings when the groups are on common mission for the Gospel. Also, church should be fun, and these groups have an absolute blast doing life together when they are functioning properly. The Bridge gathers on Sunday to worship the most high God and train these groups; then we scatter every day of the week with our MC folks and work with other cells (and other churches) to go on mission and care for needs.

Jim Belcher, the writer of Deep Church who I just saw in St. Louis a couple of days ago, tells a story in the book that proves these points. Jim's church is in a relatively upper middle class area of Orange County in California, and he told the story of Doug and Mattie who were rolling along in the American dream -- great jobs, a magnificent home, leather-seated cars, and lots of travel. Small problems, but life was good. They even went to church for good measure. They called it, "checking the box."
Then in January 2005, their world changed forever. Their son Nathan was arrested, convicted, and imprisoned on felony drug charges. Humiliation set in to the point that they had to put paper over their windows to get local media and neighbors out of their destroyed worlds.

Then, Doug & Mattie encountered missional community from a group based out of Redeemer Church where Belcher pastors. I want to emphasize that they did not come into the church through the front doors of a worship service. A couple that became aware of their need reached out and invited them to hang with their cell. They found the acceptance in the home environment exactly what they needed and they continued to come back (not exactly knowing why). Mattie said, "They immediately accepted us, loved us, and comforted us. They shared in our suffering. They prayed with us. It was incredible. They literally saved our lives." In some terminology that we use at The Bridge, all the folks involved became willing to "know and be known." The couple did not visit Sunday morning services for months after all that you are about to hear about. The church gathering on Sunday is not the story here. If they had walked into most larger church settings in America, those who cared would have 'put them on the prayer list' while others (who obviously don't care and have bad hearts) would have scoffed and gossiped about their failings as parents because 'good' parents don't have children in prison. However, the missional community group put their lives on hold for a couple they barely knew but grew to love quickly. This is the story, the difference maker, for the glory of God that can happen when MC is done correctly.

You might notice that this missional community was not pounding Doug & Mattie with the Gospel at this time. They were hearing the magnificence of the Gospel as they attended the home gatherings, but it was not directed at them. The turning point in the whole story happened through the group exhibiting agape love in a time of suffering and need. The prison was a couple of hours away from home, and due to limited visiting slots, to see Nathan on Saturday morning at 7 am, Doug & Mattie would have to leave the house at 12:30 am to get in line at 2:30 to receive one of the visitor's passes. It was a grueling, exhausting procedure week after week. Soon, they were physically and emotionally drained. However, one Friday a member of their missional cell told them to go ahead and go to bed and set their alarm clock. The member had discovered that he could go stand in line for them to receive the pass and Doug & Mattie could just show up at 7:00 am for the visitation. The group began to rotate doing this for them, so that they could survive the ordeal. "Who does this kind of thing?" queried Mattie. "What would motivate someone who barely knows us and has never met Nathan to reach out with such kindness and compassion?"

God really had their attention now, and they noticed as they studied Romans 3 that they had never heard terms such as justification and sanctification. Jim admitted that they had always attended church, but he "did not understand the depth and breadth of the Gospel. Over the years we heard lots of engaging pep talks on how to live better, improve our lives and serve God, but never was the Gospel clearly and consistently taught." Months later, as the Gospel was actively changing and transforming their lives, they began to attend worship services. Doug said, "We realized that the Gospel impacted every aspect of our lives. Our lives took on new meaning. It was and is exciting."

Remember, this all started with a couple (never named in the book) who was fully engaged in missional community reaching out to a broken couple and bringing them into the community with love and care. The story gets better as Nathan sees the change in mom and dad and is absolutely overwhelmed by the story of the people standing in line over night in acts of agape. Nathan heard that the hole in his heart that he had tried to fill with drugs and crime could only be filled with a restored relationship with God through Jesus Christ. He had his heart cut by the Holy Spirit and came to Christ, and now is leading a missional community that focuses on drug addiction and parole violators since his release from prison. He actually joined the church from prison (big picture of him on the screen in his orange jump suit with a smile on his face that only Jesus can put there and a recording of him confessing Christ and committing to the body).

This is what can happen in missional community and is what we have been trying to foster since the first days that we planted The Bridge in cell families. We have some stories like this one here, but too many people still want church life to be much easier than that. This missional cell that loved on Doug & Mattie invested DEEPLY into them. There was a cost in time, money, & self interests!! Agape love requires sacrifice -- and quite honestly, it appears that few have been raised by Christ to that level across the church landscape.

I wrote this blog because I received an e-mail for a prayer request for a couple who has been occasionally attending our Celebration worship services for a little over a year now. They have not connected with a missional cell. I don't even know if they have been approached by a missional cell -- if not, I am disappointed. Their list of needs blows away Doug & Mattie and the reason that they are hanging around is that they have heard that the people of our church care. Who is going to be the couple that does more than just pray for them (see Matt. 5:44-48, James 2:14-17), but reaches out and brings them in? Our people at The Bridge are doing awesome, but we must be more missional with the disconnected and marginalized. I watch our people in large gatherings and most us talk to the folks that we know well. That is comfortable and easy. Our version of Doug & Mattie have essentially been ghosts for over a year now. How long will they stick around? The staff could try and 'place' them in a cell, but that is not what works. What works is for someone to reach out and invite them to dinner with their group -- just dinner, so that they know somebody cares. Who will be in tune with the Holy Spirit and reach out and pull them into Deep Church?

Financial Rumors

I have been in the middle of the public eye for almost 30 years now and have been the topic of coffee shop and beauty shop gossip many times. Gossip, rumor, and innuendo are some of strongest supports to the Biblical notion that we are all born with a wicked and deceitful heart. Passing on rumor and innuendo without checking out validity of facts deeply grieves God. So much so that he lists it in one Biblical passage right next to murder in a list of practices that bar us from heaven. Gossip within the Body of Christ is most often the greatest enemy to the Gospel. People who are living far from God can’t stand the way “Christians” talk about each other.
Ordinarily, when lies and rumors that have no credence have hit the streets, I have always had a standard policy. LET IT DIE; do not respond. I have not addressed these things because it usually only adds fuel to the fire, and lies, rumors, and slanderous gossip usually go away because there is no fire, only artificial smoke.

Well, I am about to break that policy. There is a damaging rumor about The Bridge that has hung around for over three years now and is rampant right now that is not true and must be refuted. Listen closely people --
WE DO NOT ASK PEOPLE FOR ANY PERSONAL FINANCIAL INFORMATION (I.E. W-2's, CHECK STUBS, TAX RETURNS) FOR THEM TO JOIN THE CHURCH. We never have and we never will. There is not one person in leadership that has any idea how much money any member of The Bridge has or makes. This is a malicious rumor that was started by some people who would like to damage our credibility AND IT MUST STOP. If anyone reading this is a Christian and you have talked about this piece of misinformation without checking it out, you are in deep sin and are maligning the Bride of Christ, His body, the church. That will not go well for you when you see Him face to face. If you are not a Christian, I would ask you also to do the right thing and check this out before talking about it with anyone. There are 130 active members of The Bridge that you can ask, and they will all tell you just how ridiculous this falsehood is.
We do teach about finances at The Bridge. We do this a lot because Jesus did. He taught more about money than he did heaven and hell, so He must have thought it was important. Therefore, we teach about it, and we ask people to be obedient to the Bible on the subject.

Here is the covenant that every member of The Bridge signs:
Covenant #6 – To fulfill the New Testament command (1 Corinthians 16:2) for Biblical giving to the local church and to learn that I am not to store up earthly treasures, but heavenly treasures, I am committing to CONTRIBUTE a set and organized financial amount.
______ % of my gross income will be cheerfully given to The Bridge each week.
$__________ is going to be pledged to Gideon 300 per month.
Name___________________________ Date______________

This covenant asks that the member prayerfully commit to a percentage of their income (that we have no idea how much it is). If this is 1% or 50%, the person is allowed to join the church (see below for some more facts about the Biblical teachings). Also, we ask each member to make a pledge to help us pay our building off in three years. That is what the pledge to Gideon 300 is about. Every church asks its members for commitments to time, talents, and treasures in some fashion. We just get a little more specific with those areas, but we have no idea about our members’ personal financial business.

Here are some of the discipleship teachings that we convey about finances:
1. We teach the correct Biblical concepts that we should be open-handed with God's money. The New Testament teaches that when we become Christians that we no longer possess anything; all of creation is God's. A realization comes to us of a fact that has been there all along -- God owns everything. He is simply gracious enough to allow us to steward HIS money and creation. We are to be wise and not greedy with material things. Open-handed means that we put ourselves in a position where when it is time to help those in need, we can and do respond. The Bridge has done so locally by turning on gas and electricity for people and provided food for the hungry of St. Francois County. The local open-handed giving has been nothing short of astonishing. We have also assisted in building a fresh water well in Chacocente, Nicaragua, sent medical teams to three continents (including one of the first to arrive in Haiti along with a fresh water purifier so that people could stop dying from bad water), and are currently assisting in building 25 homes for the 1 million homeless in Haiti. We are sending money for the materials, and our next team of selfless builders will arrive there on July 5 to build streets, dig latrines, and a community building so that the residents will have a place to go to school and church.
2. On giving to the local church, we teach that we should be organized and open-handed there at the same time. 2 Corinthians teaches us to be organized in our giving to the local church and set aside a percentage for worshipful giving to our body of believers. That percentage should test our faith; it should be sacrificial and hurt a little. We teach that the Old Testament concept of the tithe (a tenth part) is a good starting point for that testing of faith and worship, but it is not commanded. We agree with Dave Ramsey, Crown Financial, Randy Alcorn (The Treasure Principle), Rick Warren, John Piper, Mark Driscoll and many other great Bible teachers that the tithe is too limiting to our open hands. We should learn to be extravagant and cheerful givers to our local body and trust that the church will glorify God in its stewarding of what God's people entrust to it. As God blesses our finances by increasing our standard of living, we should increase our standard of giving as Randy Alcorn states. Giving to the church and to other Kingdom work should be sacrificial, worshipful, and an absolute joy. We are still immature or have not repented and believed if we are controlling and political with our giving. Not giving or not giving with the proper spirit is just plain sin.
3. The Bridge is very open with its membership about the church's finances. The members receive constant reports as to where every penny is spent and an independent CPA examines every receipt in a yearly audit to ensure complete accountability. There are no fewer than eight checks and balances to ensure financial integrity. Five of those are completely independent of the church itself (CPA, two banks, an investment firm, and ECFA).
4. The Bridge is very lean in its spending and always will be. We hate debt. I think God hates debt for His people. We have some debt, but we are STRIVING to eliminate it quickly, and we will not borrow again. Instead of constructing a building a that is glitzy and glamorous, we saved over $2 million dollars by building a Sprung building giving us 24,500 square feet of ministry space without destroying our ability to do ministry. Our staff salaries are lean, and we budget 10% of our general budget to missions.
5. Most importantly, how we treat our finances should point us to the Gospel. Jesus was the greatest giver of all. He set aside his spot on the throne, came down and took on a stinky body like ours, and GAVE 100% to us for our restoration from sin and death. If the Gospel is transforming us to look like HIM, we should mirror this extravagant giving. How can we be stingy and selfish with a God who gave enough to endure the cross? Love should beget love.

We do ask our members for strong commitment. If I am reading the New Testament correctly, that is what Jesus did. We are not weird; we do not do strange things like this destructive rumor. If people will just come and find out instead of sneaking around the shadows and just talking about what they have heard, the truth will be known. If you spreading this gossip, please stop.

More from Jacob

The American church landscape is littered with three basic types of people. Since we often forget the Gospel as the centerpiece of our lives, the tendency for a long time now has been to teach and preach a kind of moralism or do-gooder mentality that has stripped the church of its First Love. This creates two of these groups of people. The first are the moralists who try to achieve righteousness on their own by doing better and trying harder to follow a set of rules. Then, you have the millions of people (most of which have left the church out of frustration) who despair because they can't seem to be good enough to follow the rules. The first group becomes legalistic and arrogant as the 'ones' who have it figured out. Jesus blasted these 'religious' people. The second group will never give the real church a chance because of their despair which comes out in many forms from anger to downright rebellion. The lack of Gospel-centering has driven both groups to extremes which are living far from peace and restoration.

Our look at Jacob in Genesis 32 showed us the answer to this problem. When Jesus initiates relationship, we should do what he did -- just hold on in meekness and humility and don't let go of your First Love. Listen to God speak through the prophet Hosea about this encounter between Jacob and God:

In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel;
as a man he struggled with God.
He struggled with the angel and overcame him;
he wept and begged for his favor.
He found him at Bethel
and talked with him there—
the LORD God Almighty,
the LORD is his name of renown!
But you must return to your God;
maintain love and justice,
and wait for your God always. Hosea 12:3-6

This says that Jacob WEPT (as a broken and contrite man) and BEGGED for the blessing of God. This is from one of the most selfish, self-centered men in history. Therefore, this should be our daily attitude as we are saved, are BEING saved, and will be saved. It is Jesus, the Lord Almighty - our first love, that brings us to daily repentance and then joy, peace, and restoration. It trying to follow a set of rules that leads to arrogance or despair. In contrast, it is holding onto Jesus and loving Him because He first loved us. Then, we stand up in humble power and love a dying and hurting world as ministers of reconciliation. This is the third group -- the deep and blessed group. Which group are you in today?

Kel's Health

Update -- The cat scan report came in today and she has two more nodules -- one in each lung. One is 6 millimeters and the other is 4. We have to wait 3 months and pray that when they take more pictures, none of the 3 are growing. This is not what I would have chosen, but as usual, I am not doing the choosing. Thanks for all of the prayers and loving attention. Christ will be glorified. See below for the original post.

Original
Actually, here is the straight scoop on Kelley's health, so that if you have somebody asks you, just refer them to the blog. I have already heard some crazy distortions of this.

She has not been feeling well for about six weeks now, and we thought she just had a UTI (bladder infection). When she saw a urologist, blood was discovered in her bladder. It is automatic procedure now to do a cat scan when blood is found in the bladder. The results of that cat scan gave us quite a shock. The bladder is still a mystery, but a 4 millimeter nodule (pretty good size, easy to see) showed up in the bottom part of her lung.

That is really all we know right now. There is no evidence of cancer at this point. But, we are in a tortuous waiting game. She will receive another cat scan in three months. If the nodules have grown, surgery will take them out immediately to be be biopsied. If there is no growth (she may have had this for 20 years), we repeat that process for 2 years (cat scans every 3 months). If they come out and are benign (growth does not necessarily mean malignancy), we are done. If it is malignant, they will remove an entire lobe of the lung immediately (and I am sure other ugly things start). If there is no growth in 2 years, we are done.

She is feeling fine. She ran a 5 mile race in St. Louis on Saturday and hosted lots of people at our house yesterday. We studied the magnificence of God together last night as we starting the Crazy Love study in our cell. That was sweet. I have a feeling that we will do a lot more of that stuff as the two years creep by.

It is a major sin in my life that I have taken a Proverbs 31 wife for granted. She was widowed as I chased basketball championships, and maybe a little as we have gone nutso for Christ by starting The Bridge. She has just always been so solid and there while I was at times wildly chasing dreams. I will now be solid for her if Christ reigns and rules in me.

Here are things you can pray for:
1. That we both draw closer to Christ minute by minute through our ordeal.
2. That HE be glorified every step of the way no matter the news.
4. That the current nodules stay at the same size they are now.
5. That the doctors get to the bottom of the bladder issue. That is what is making her sick.

Thank you for your love and concern. May Christ be glorified.

Am I Regenerated (Saved)?

Not long ago during a Q & A at a Sunday night Bible study called "The Story of God," someone asked a prolific question, "How do I know that I am saved?" Believing that our nation is largely one of false conversions, my immediate answer was a curt "wait a while." Yon Wibscov proceeded to give a very good answer about believing in the One who was sent and obedience and fruit and loving God and others, etc. But, I have been mulling and praying and reading since then and I thought I would share my thoughts. These are just kind of observations and Scripture rolled into characteristics that are both internal (things that you feel if God has redeemed you) and external (things that others see in you and probably make comment on).

Here we go in no particular order, but maybe some order:
1. Brokenness -- Psalm 38 & 51 -- I understand that I have deeply offended God with my sin. I am an unworthy slave. I have Godly sorrow (2 Corinthians 7:10). On my own, I have no possessions or rights (except what God grants me after restoration, then I am called a child of God, a co-heir with Christ). I am dead, been crucified, and no longer live.

2. Full weight on (in) Christ -- believe and trust -- nor longer rely on myself for righteousness. God grants us the faith to place our entire existence in the Gospel, in the capable hands of the risen Christ. I know I am nothing without Him.

3. Willingness for obedience -- I do not fight God's commands. Desire to learn. Never perfect, but willing. He speaks; I obey. If not,

4. Constant repentance -- "all of life is repentance" (Martin Luther). When we offend, the Gospel leads us to change, to turn around -- to go to war with sin. Jesus said in His first words in public ministry in Mark 1:15, "Repent and believe the Gospel." Covered in #2-4. I know that I just shifted from first to third person. Salvation is intensely personal, but there is always a "we" that functions in community toward these ends as well.

5. Distinct Changes -- Lovers of God, Lovers of people, on mission (Great Commission at forefront of every day). Repentance is a gift from God, so we move from selfish to selfless and it is OBVIOUS. Not because we are trying (however we do also have a role in working out this salvation with fear and trembling), but because it now who we are.

6. Fruit -- Jesus was clear that without bearing fruit, we are useless and to be burned up in the fire. Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5 goes along with #4). There will become a long history of fruit. The changes are not temporary resolutions; they are supernaturally instituted by the Holy Spirit, so they REMAIN. Serving God and serving others becomes a way of life.

7. Deep Satisfaction -- People and circumstances do not change our deep joy and satisfaction. Our joy is in the Gospel -- not people (they don't make very good gods), and not circumstances (they tend to unravel at some point whether we are saved or not). The Holy Spirit is rooted deeply in us, and so "neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-39)."

8. Love -- Kim Walker cries out in this video that, "WE ARE NEVER THE SAME AFTER WE ENCOUNTER THE LOVE OF GOD." CLICK HERE

I have a thousand other thoughts and I am sure that you do also, but I wanted to get these out there because I think people wonder about their status. These eight should resonate deeply with the regenerated man or woman. How did you do with the test?