Do We Need Revival, Reformation, or a Return?
Recently I was having lunch with a pastor and as we talked about our belief that the church must look different going forward I wondered out loud if we just needed to return to the foundational principles that Jesus used when He was “God with us”.
Recently I heard someone say “we’ve been praying for revival for 8 years”. I wondered (quietly) maybe it’s time to get off your knees and start serving your neighbor.
I also heard someone say “we don’t need revival we need a reformation”. As much as I’m all for fresh revelation I don’t know that what we need is a new doctrine. If we were living out our current doctrine we wouldn’t be in the mess were in.
I intend to write more about this subject but Glenn Packiam posted an article at NEUE today entitled How Liturgy Can Save Your Soul and it stirred me up.
I would love your thoughts. First go and read Glenn’s post then come back and tell me what you think the church needs?
Speaking of Simple Songs
Where are all the simple songs?
I am going through all of my music and getting into a spreadsheet so I know what I have.
In the process I am remembering all the simple songs we used to play. The old vinyard songs, Eddie Espinosa songs. Recently my friend Ken posted “I am a writer of simple songs“. It seems everything is more complicated and I wonder if they are as affective in congregational worship.
Then I came across this:
I want to be a writer of simple songs.
Enjoy.
A Blanket of White
I love living in the mountains. The windows in the back of our house look out at the front range and every morning I thank God for allowing us to live here. This morning there is frost and snow covering everything. Though I don’t want to be out in it it’s beautiful.
I am reminded of Lamentations 3:22-24:
Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says my soul, Therefore I hope in Him!
His mercies are new every morning, His compassions do not fail, His faithfulness is great, so tell your soul; “The Lord is my portion, and my hope is in Him!”
He is the source and the substance of everything you need. Every need you have is found in Him. not with Him in Him. So whatever your need is press in, stay in His presence, because only there are our needs are met.
Bless the Lord, o my soul, And forget not all His benefits:
Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases,
Who redeems your life from destruction,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Psalm 103:1-5 NKJV
Have a blessed day.
Rebellion as Staying Put
The Jesus Manifesto is a blog that always makes me think, I don’t always agree with them however a big shout out to Matt Wiebe who posted this article last week. I couldn’t agree more.
The money quote:
mobility begins to look a lot like slavery, while stability begins to look a lot more like freedom than I would have imagined. True freedom isn’t a lack of limits, but rather an embrace of the limits intrinsic to our nature as embodied creatures. We are always located somewhere at some time. And I plan to stay long enough in one place to make a dent.
1 Corinthians 12:18 says “But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.
You don’t get to choose where you go to church. He sets each one of us in the place best suited for us to serve and grow into the fullness of our calling. How many times do you think people who have built something significant have wondered if “it’s time to move on”. Longevity matters. Persevere until God releases you. It’s worth it.
Well done Matt.
the Jesus Manifesto » Rebellion as Staying Put
A New Season
The final piece has come into place today so I can finally tell you what is going on.
Many of you have been asking “what’s up with your status updates?” I didn’t intend to be cryptic or give hints. It was really just what was in my heart or in my head at the time.
Let’s begin at the beginning so as to catch up those of you who are new to the blog or the mailing list.
In the fall of 1982 I received Jesus as my Lord and Savior. Immediately I knew I was called to ministry and have spent the ensuing years working out the call.
Since the very beginning I have immersed myself in church life and through serving the house have discovered what things I am passionate about and what things I don’t have the grace for. Two things have stood out to me and others. I was a pastor before I was a Christian and will be a pastor until I die regardless of title or job and I am a worshipper.
In 2001 Kim and I agreed it was time for me to take a step toward the call and soon after found ourselves in Sydney Australia attending HIllsong College. After two years of being fed, built up, and equipped. God spoke to me very clearly to lay down my dreams and serve “the man of God”. After much prayer we moved our family to Colorado Springs and planted at New Life Church. In the process I found out who “the man of God” was and began serving John Bevere. After an amazing 4 years of watching ministry work from the inside it is time for me to finally step out and pursue what God put in my heart so many years ago.
I have always loved the church and have no desire to be the next (insert favorite Christian artist here). My hearts desire is to see the body of Christ walking in the fullness of its calling. Jesus came to save the world through His death and resurrection not through His ministry. He trusted the communication of the means of salvation to 12 faithful men. We must begin again to ask God to send us faithful people so together we can build the church and serve the world. 1 Timothy 2:2, Ephesians 4:11-12.
When I left Messenger International at the end of January I didn’t really know what the next step was until one afternoon as I was riding my bicycle I decided to put myself in a position for God to move. Later that day I told Kim what was in my heart. When she agreed I felt real peace for the first time in a long time. 20 minutes later my phone rang. A church plant about an hour from my house asked me to come and help build their worship team. Why am I always amazed at the faithfulness of God? I am in contact with another church an hour in a different direction for the same reason.
It would be a huge blessing to have you partner with us in prayer as we put this whole thing together. Here are some prayer points:
- God has put us on good footing financially so I only have to replace a portion of my income. I’m looking for a place to serve like a coffee shop or night stocking at a store; something to bring in a bit of income and get me back in front of the unchurched.
- Pray for direction as I prepare the path of teaching. My first message will be on living a repentant lifestyle. I have ideas of where to go next but want the ideas of Heaven for building His church.
- Pray that God will send us faithful people with the gifting each of these churches need.
- Pray for resource at these two churches. Instruments, sound systems, projectors etc. etc. etc.
- Pray for the pastors and staff to catch the vision of recognizing, calling out, equipping, and releasing people into their gifting.
There will be more but that’s a good start.
Thank you for staying with me. It means more than I can express.
Blessings
Gary
A Football Game Gives Hope
This is being the hands and feet of Jesus, no preaching just living it out.
tangle Video – Video Details and Comments – tangle.com.
No Consensus on ‘Stimulus’ Bill
David Limbaugh
President Barack Obama has done more in the first three weeks of his presidency to validate the suspicions of his critics than I thought possible. But of all his objectionable actions, nothing compares to his falsely labeled “stimulus” bill, which he is trying to force upon us with fear and deception.
Just consider his smug assertion that “there is no disagreement that we need action by our government to jump-start the economy.”
Maybe Mr. Obama has been cooped up in the White House too long and hasn’t seen the dissent, such as that expressed in a strong protest letter signed by umpteen respected economists: “With all due respect Mr. President, that is not true. Notwithstanding reports that all economists are now Keynesians and that we all support a big increase in the burden of government, we the undersigned do not believe that more government spending is a way to improve economic performance.” The letter cites the failed record of “stimulus” spending in the Depression era and in Japan in the 1990s and recommends lower tax rates and reduced government as the best remedies.
But even if you accept Obama’s disputed premise that spending is the panacea, his bill fails his own criteria. It’s just smoke and mirrors aimed at blurring his larger goal of radically restructuring the economy. But he pleads urgency anyway, as if he were trying to set speed records for breaking faith with the electorate.
The blogger Calafia Beach Pundit trenchantly observed: “Very little of the bill involves immediate stimulus or anything that might be actually stimulative; only a little over 10 percent of the money gets spent this fiscal year, and about 30 percent gets spent next fiscal year. … About 30 percent of the money goes to transfer payments. … Only $20 billion would be spent over the next 18 months on highway construction; and about 20 percent of the bill doesn’t get spent until 2012-19.”
Obama already lost his fabled cool while angrily wagging his finger at us from the Democratic retreat in Virginia (exemplifying that bipartisanship he promised), scoffing at the charge that his bill was all about government spending.
He said: “What do you think a stimulus is? It’s spending. That’s the whole point!”
With all due respect, sir, that’s not the whole point. Even the “nonpartisan” Congressional Budget Office and your fellow Keynesians concede that not all spending has the same stimulative effect. But we know you know that, sir, and that you are not about to let this “crisis go to waste.” You have loaded up this bill with your party’s pent-up wish list of pet pork projects and political payoffs: $345 million for Agriculture Department computers, $650 million for TV converter boxes, $15 billion for college scholarships, and untold, obscene amounts for ACORN-like “community organizing” causes.
Making matters worse, the CBO concluded that the bill would hurt the economy more in the long run than if we did nothing. Even if the spending helped stimulate in the short run, there would be so much additional government debt within a few years that it would crowd out private investment.
Worse still, The Heritage Foundation’s Robert Rector says that of the $816 billion in new spending (based on the House bill), $264 billion (32 percent) of it “is new means-tested welfare spending,” representing “about $6,700 in new welfare spending for every poor person in the U.S.”
Outraged yet? Well, brace yourself, because Rector says: “The bill sets in motion another $523 billion in new welfare spending that is hidden by budgetary gimmicks. … The total 10-year extra welfare cost is likely to be $787 billion.”
So here we are, poised to have this fraudulent, socialistic legislative monstrosity crammed down our throats that A) many reputable economists dispute will stimulate; B) is the type of disastrous remedy tried and failed in the 1930s and more recently in Japan and surely would exacerbate and prolong this recession; C) even Keynesians would agree contains non-stimulative pork; D) would plunge us so much further into debt that we should all be brought before criminal tribunals to answer to our children; and E) President Obama has ominously bragged is only a down payment on further Draconian measures he plans to unleash in the future.
Social commentators have observed that baby boomers are spoiled, self-indulgent narcissists. I’ll say. If this legislation doesn’t prove that, nothing will. When will we learn we are not gods who can spare ourselves of all pain with some magic bullet fired from our self-proclaimed genius?
Isn’t it time we grow up, discard our hedonism, assume accountability and quit trying to buy our way out of this mess with our children’s money?
Posted by David Limbaugh at February 9, 2009 04:22 PM
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Cardboard Testimonies
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My Songs
