I was sitting here eating my lunch and cruising through the world news trying to do my part to be a culturally relevant preacher. I came across this article on Fox News and decided to read it. Partly because I never hear anything about Will Smith in the news but mostly because I saw the word "Scientology."
The source is http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,316808,00.html if you want to check out the whole article. But it was the quote that I have pasted below that made me laugh and also wonder about the 2%.
"In this latest scenario, Smith seems somewhat won over after Pinkett already had taken the lead. Smith continues to defend Cruise and Scientology. Smith reiterated on "Access Hollywood" this week a similar idea he presented in a men’s mag this month: that Scientology and the Bible are pretty much the same.
He told "Access": "I was introduced [to] it by Tom and I’m a student of world religion. I was raised in a Baptist household, I went to a Catholic school, but the ideas of the Bible are 98 percent the same ideas of Scientology, 98 percent the same ideas of Hinduism and Buddhism."
My stock for Will Smith just hit the depression of 1929. I never really put stock in Hollywood or its counterparts but I have always had a fondness for Will Smith; his family values and ability to keep his wife and kids protected from the front page of the pitiful star magazine types. As far as his "Student of world religion" statement, he must be reading that children's bible that I read to my kids at night. Actually, that children's Bible is even more informative than Mr. Smith's comments seem to be.
Let's be honest no where does Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, or Christianity teach about aliens taking over our bodies. If my Scientology is a little off I apologize but I am not too concerned with studying the deep details of it because on the surface it has no validity and to waste time on something that does not have "The Ring of Truth" is time not well spent. However the version goes, aliens are somehow involved and the essential truth about Jesus is left out.
Buddhism and Hinduism are both based on works salvation very different from Judaism and Christianity and Judaism is waiting for a Messiah that has already come. There are hundreds of prophecies in the writings of the Jewish historians and prophets that attest to the truth that Jesus is that Messiah.
Will did say 98%. So, if we concede the numbers we could say that there is room for the 2% factor. I don't think we could fit Jesus, space aliens, and work salvation into 2% but say we could. That 2% is enough to kill you.
The root of this problem lies in the exclusive factor of Jesus Christ. It is not popular to confess that Jesus Christ is the way, the only way, to the Father. People would much rather focus our attention on their own merit. I am sure that Scientology does wonderful things for kids and education at some level, but as far as salvation goes, there is no donation large enough that can buy that. Christians were bought at a price and that price is the precious blood of Jesus Christ.
That's the contention and I am not going to speak about my faith as though I have it all figured out, but the Bible does tell us that there will come a time when people will not listen to what is reasonable and will only hear what their itching hears want to. I believe the truth is not that hard to find and those wanting for it to be something of their own liking pass it as they wave to Jesus flying by in search of the mother ship.
Friday, December 14, 2007
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Jesus Back in the Public Square...Maybe
Mitt Romney just delivered a speech today and the main issue was his religious convictions. He said some things that have caught my attention about the importance of God in our culture and the miss conceptions of Church and State as well as the poor judges in our court rooms. But the thing he said that made me smile the most was the name of Jesus. He did not say his name under some historical context. He said, "Jesus Christ is the son of God and the savior of mankind." I am interested to hear more.
Something else I am interested in as well is will the main stream media exclude that part (Name of Jesus, son of God, savior of mankind) from their reports. Some breaking reports already have. The washingtonpost.com had an overview of the speech and the high points but no "Jesus." Foxnews.com DID include that part and is were I received the above quote (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,315486,00.html).
I am waiting and watching to see.
Something else I am interested in as well is will the main stream media exclude that part (Name of Jesus, son of God, savior of mankind) from their reports. Some breaking reports already have. The washingtonpost.com had an overview of the speech and the high points but no "Jesus." Foxnews.com DID include that part and is were I received the above quote (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,315486,00.html).
I am waiting and watching to see.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Top 10 Vision Problems
I have learned a lot in four years and have much more to learn. There was a point in time that I thought I could just preach and even though I used to say things like, “Preaching is a small part of the minister’s work” it really never settled in until the work became a reality.
The most difficult thing is leading. A leader, at least a good one takes all the blame and none of the credit. That is easy for me, not because I am humble but because leadership is not my best side and I would much rather have all my pictures taken from the right. Therefore I am thankful for the words of Jesus to Paul, “...for my power is made perfect in weakness” 2 Corinthians 12:9.
The top ten things that can cause blurred or loss of vision:
10. Disobedience—There are some days that I would like for this to read disobedience towards the Preaching Minister’s instructions but the kingdom of God is not about me and there are times when I am wrong. The Church is a living breathing organism, literally, because each person who confess Christ as Lord and savior is a block in the building of the spiritual Church. When God’s Church (Big C) are not living in God’s will then the church (little c) will not produce His vision (Proverbs 29:18).
9. Laziness—Here I will spotlight laziness of serving and giving in the church and community. I could also say laziness of spiritual living but I addressed that under disobedience. We all play a role in God’s Kingdom. “We have different gifts, according to the grace given us” Romans 12:6.
8. Closed Ears—Jesus said, “…hearing they do not hear” Matthew 13:13. The point of His words and the parable is that the people had their heart closed. We must always have our hearts open to Christ and our brothers and sister. Canoe Creek is full of ministry teams and they all overlap meaning they have intersecting points and at those intersections there are red, yellow, and green lights. We all have to stop, proceed with caution and wait our turn. If people or ministry teams are not willing to hear their brothers and sisters out then we will fail to accomplish our vision due to a lack of unity.
7. Over Extending—Construction has begun and the new building will soon be completed and the greatest temptation will be to launch all kinds of new ministries but that might be the very thing that causes us to loose sight. Many Churches have done many things good and missed their opportunity to do something great. It is essential that we branch out in ministry as the need arises and we do it at the pace God enables us to. Christ’s mission in its simplest form was to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10).
6. Reactionary verse Pre-Actionary Preparation (Pre-Actionary, my word)—There are times when we have to punt and I recognize that punting is strategic. However our primary goal should be, to be a church on the move. Jesus Christ said, “…and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” Matthew 16:18. Capture a mental picture of that and make it a picture you look at for the first 15 minutes of each day. City gates in ancient days were designed to keep people out. Jesus sees his Bride as one who is on the move and taking the devil’s strongholds by storm, or faith.
5. Having a corporation mentality—CEO church, I think not. More and more churches are stealing ideas from the corporate world to “run” the church. Most businesses receive their principles of good leadership out of the scriptures whether they know it or not. “There is noting new under the sun.” When we are more concerned with numbers, human and financial, and our next project more than sharing the compassion of Christ with a single person then we have missed the mark.
4. Self centered thinking (Meism)—Jesus Christ died on the cross not you or me. It is about Jesus Christ and it is the work of every Christian to loose their self to Christ. “...whoever looses his life for my sake will find it” Matthew 10:39.
3. Re-duplicating—Yes I know that the word is redundant, that’s the point. Canoe Creek must follow the vision God has for us and not try and copy success. Creative ideas from our Christian brothers and sisters can be helpful but not always. “That’s not how they do it up north” or some sort of version of that is something I hear a lot of, but Canoe Creek is Canoe Creek and that is all we will ever be. While we build on the same principles of other churches that are successful we will build a house that looks very different.
2. Faithless planning—Church budgets and church plans without faith lead to nothing more than human accomplished goals. Bold initiatives lead to God glorifying feats! On anything we set out to do, when it is all said and done, if there is even the remotest possibility that we can say we did it then we have most likely missed an even bigger opportunity. Even if it hasn’t rained in two years we need to be plowing and planting the lower 40. Faith confidently awaits God. “...and even if I have faith that can move mountains” 1 Corinthians 13:2.
1. That’s how we have always done it—The methods change but the message always remains the same. There is a problem when the methods become the object of our worship. I have some older relatives that just recently moved and are struggling with the change. I empathize with them as I pray a younger generation will empathize with me if and when I grow less adaptable to the changes around me. Can you imagine what it was like when the Gentiles started going to Church. “8-tracs are the way of the future.”
The most difficult thing is leading. A leader, at least a good one takes all the blame and none of the credit. That is easy for me, not because I am humble but because leadership is not my best side and I would much rather have all my pictures taken from the right. Therefore I am thankful for the words of Jesus to Paul, “...for my power is made perfect in weakness” 2 Corinthians 12:9.
The top ten things that can cause blurred or loss of vision:
10. Disobedience—There are some days that I would like for this to read disobedience towards the Preaching Minister’s instructions but the kingdom of God is not about me and there are times when I am wrong. The Church is a living breathing organism, literally, because each person who confess Christ as Lord and savior is a block in the building of the spiritual Church. When God’s Church (Big C) are not living in God’s will then the church (little c) will not produce His vision (Proverbs 29:18).
9. Laziness—Here I will spotlight laziness of serving and giving in the church and community. I could also say laziness of spiritual living but I addressed that under disobedience. We all play a role in God’s Kingdom. “We have different gifts, according to the grace given us” Romans 12:6.
8. Closed Ears—Jesus said, “…hearing they do not hear” Matthew 13:13. The point of His words and the parable is that the people had their heart closed. We must always have our hearts open to Christ and our brothers and sister. Canoe Creek is full of ministry teams and they all overlap meaning they have intersecting points and at those intersections there are red, yellow, and green lights. We all have to stop, proceed with caution and wait our turn. If people or ministry teams are not willing to hear their brothers and sisters out then we will fail to accomplish our vision due to a lack of unity.
7. Over Extending—Construction has begun and the new building will soon be completed and the greatest temptation will be to launch all kinds of new ministries but that might be the very thing that causes us to loose sight. Many Churches have done many things good and missed their opportunity to do something great. It is essential that we branch out in ministry as the need arises and we do it at the pace God enables us to. Christ’s mission in its simplest form was to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10).
6. Reactionary verse Pre-Actionary Preparation (Pre-Actionary, my word)—There are times when we have to punt and I recognize that punting is strategic. However our primary goal should be, to be a church on the move. Jesus Christ said, “…and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” Matthew 16:18. Capture a mental picture of that and make it a picture you look at for the first 15 minutes of each day. City gates in ancient days were designed to keep people out. Jesus sees his Bride as one who is on the move and taking the devil’s strongholds by storm, or faith.
5. Having a corporation mentality—CEO church, I think not. More and more churches are stealing ideas from the corporate world to “run” the church. Most businesses receive their principles of good leadership out of the scriptures whether they know it or not. “There is noting new under the sun.” When we are more concerned with numbers, human and financial, and our next project more than sharing the compassion of Christ with a single person then we have missed the mark.
4. Self centered thinking (Meism)—Jesus Christ died on the cross not you or me. It is about Jesus Christ and it is the work of every Christian to loose their self to Christ. “...whoever looses his life for my sake will find it” Matthew 10:39.
3. Re-duplicating—Yes I know that the word is redundant, that’s the point. Canoe Creek must follow the vision God has for us and not try and copy success. Creative ideas from our Christian brothers and sisters can be helpful but not always. “That’s not how they do it up north” or some sort of version of that is something I hear a lot of, but Canoe Creek is Canoe Creek and that is all we will ever be. While we build on the same principles of other churches that are successful we will build a house that looks very different.
2. Faithless planning—Church budgets and church plans without faith lead to nothing more than human accomplished goals. Bold initiatives lead to God glorifying feats! On anything we set out to do, when it is all said and done, if there is even the remotest possibility that we can say we did it then we have most likely missed an even bigger opportunity. Even if it hasn’t rained in two years we need to be plowing and planting the lower 40. Faith confidently awaits God. “...and even if I have faith that can move mountains” 1 Corinthians 13:2.
1. That’s how we have always done it—The methods change but the message always remains the same. There is a problem when the methods become the object of our worship. I have some older relatives that just recently moved and are struggling with the change. I empathize with them as I pray a younger generation will empathize with me if and when I grow less adaptable to the changes around me. Can you imagine what it was like when the Gentiles started going to Church. “8-tracs are the way of the future.”
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