I am asked a lot about the end times. Everything from where is the United States in prophecy, to is Obama the antichrist? To answer most of the questions requires little effort. I personally have never found the United States listed as a specific nation in the Bible, and quite frankly, concerning the antichrist, they said the same thing about Khrushchev and Kissinger.
The real issue for me has more to do with the fact, “Are we ready for His coming?” One of the most penetrating questions I believe that Jesus ever asked in found in the Parable of the Persistent Prayer in Luke 18, when He asks, “nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”
Don’t quote me, because I don’t think I am a prophet, but I do wonder about that question in Luke, and several others that point to our readiness rather than Christ’s. In fact these are what I pray about and what I wrestle with these days. “Is the bride ready, is she spotless, is she ready.” And, “Are we more anxious to get out of here or to see revival before He comes.”
I will never forget what a friend said to me many years ago, when he challenged me by asking, “How can you disciple a planet you are so intent on leaving?” That one rattled my cage and shifted my paradigm then, and still does.
I have always heard that Christ would return when man would be in the process of destroying himself. I can honestly say it sure feels like that is happening most of the time. But on the other hand I have never felt such open doors and such clear invitations from the Holy Spirit to be bold about the proclamation of the Gospel and the discipleship of the nations.
Sure times are tough. And as Americans, we have never seen things exactly as they seem right now. But to the world, all of these shakings seem to mean something different.
Muslim Ministry
Having just returned from parts of Asia that are becoming, if not already extremely Muslim, instead of feeling oppressed and overwhelmed, I felt so empowered, so impassioned and prayer-filled to preach, proclaim and persist in my faith in Yahweh, not Allah, and to be ready to “give an answer for the hope that lies with me.”
In Kota Kinabalu, East Malaysia, which is a Muslim nation, I heard the voice of Islam, loud and clear. The mosques, that seemed as big as the mega churches in America, broadcast their calls to pray five times a day on their speaker systems. It was so loud it sounded like my neighbor’s stereo in Ocean beach where I live.
Yet, I also met so many Christians who know of Muslims that are coming to faith in Christ, and I even heard this one radical statement from one brother, “imagine the harnessed prayer power when revival comes to their nation, and the followers of Islam come to God and pray to Him using their disciplines of prayer, in their prayer centers currently known as mosques.”
Chicken-Little Christians
It seems like too many of us are waiting for the worst to happen as a prerequisite for the return of Christ. Waiting for more “doom and gloom,” and the proverbial “boot to drop,” we seem to be anxious for everything to fall apart as some kind of deeper motivation to make Christ come back.
Maybe there is another way to expedite the return of Christ. Matthew 24:14 states, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.”
There it is! Let’s worry more about getting the message out, rather than hoping the mess we are in will get messier. Let’s throw ourselves into the preaching of this incredible message of the kingdom. Let’s commit to take the gospel to every man, to every people, to every tribe, to every tongue, and to every nation, and then Christ will return.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Dead Bread
“When the waitress came to take our order. One of my friends, when asked what kind of dressing he wanted on his salad, abruptly stated to the startled server, “And I don’t want any ‘dead bread’ on my salad.” After letting the comment sink in, the sweet but stunned girl replied, “Oh, you mean croutons!” To which my friend simply nodded in confirmation.
That analogy has stuck with me all these years, and I remember it every time I order a salad that comes with “dead bread.” I actually don’t mind croutons that much, and have even purchased a bag when passing through the salad isle at the supermarket. There are so many flavors now: herb, parmesan, bacon-ranch, etc; all so conveniently located that I just reach out and take them as I pass by while filling my cart.
However, when applying my friend’s unflattering adjective to preaching, my heart is stirred over a phenomenon, which has gripped America’s pulpits in recent years.
I recall opening my mail one morning some years ago and reading my first advertisement for “dead bread”:
“Pastors, are you too busy to spend hours of preparation on your sermons? Tired of feeling the stress of having to come up with original ideas week after week? If so, for just $199.95 you can have 52 weeks of quality sermons crafted by homiletical masters, complete with illustrations! Your congregation is guaranteed to be thrilled with the results or your money back!””
CROUTON CHRISTIANITY
As you know, in Third Day we have felt and discussed this pain about “dead bread,” for years, maybe because I spent so many years thinking it was my job to feed others, to sermonize every week, sometimes several times per week. I do know that for most of those years I took my study and research too seriously. For over three decades as a teaching pastor, I became a well-oiled vendor at dispensing “dead bread.” It was even said back then, that any true handling of the Scriptures or honest preparation meant an hour of study for every one-minute of delivery of the sermon in the pulpit. By the time you had studied, researched, word-smithed, digested, and then double-digested the message you didn’t even know that the bread you were getting ready to serve up was such simply” dead” information that it produced little or now nutritional value.
Obviously, I still get chances to speak, teach, recant, rant, cajole, whatever, a lot in different places all over the world. But the thing that has changed in me, rather than my need to impress or “WOW the crowd,” with my anointed knowledge and teaching. I would really rather just genuinely connect with people, exposing them to my passion for a personal God, and hopefully stir their own personal appetite for them to go after Him.
For you guys who still teach on a regular basis, this is a subtle shift. First, please don’t take yourself or your gifts too seriously. Please handle all of your sermons and all of your preparation lightly or loosely. Keep in mind at all time, God may just have surprises and suddenlies for any meeting you might have called.
Quite frankly, by the time your group gets to your study or your service, they have already tasted the best. They have read the latest Charisma Magazine, the last top two best sellers from Destiny Image Publishing, have read The Shack and have listened to the last three podcasts from Bethel on their iPod.
That may not be a totally bad thing. Maybe their increased appetite for God has stirred them to consume all of that stuff. But it is just a matter of time, until they will get dissatisfied with the stale “day old manna” dispensed by others and want some of their own “fresh bread,” from the Father. And when that happens watch out.
Getting into a life of solitude with God without any religious props will ruin you for any one else’s food. Even as Israel was warned to not even try to keep a “crumb” of manna until tomorrow, God continues to promise us daily “fresh bread.” The late Henri Nouwen emphasized most of his life that we will never have true community until we first settle the issue of solitude and develop our own secret life with the Lord.
VISITATION OR HABITATION
I think what the Father is pursuing in His people these days is the revelation that their life in God is to be a habitation. Psalm 91:1, “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” The word “abide” there means to spend the night, or as The Message says it, “spend the night in Shaddai’s shadow.” In the NT, in John 15:7, “If you abide in Me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” And of course the word “abide” there means to live, to dwell indefinitely.
So, we no longer, “go do” devotions, anymore that we “go to meetings.” We enter into a life style of delightful communion and connection with our Heavenly Father. For years we “conference junkies,” were caught going from meeting to meeting to find the newest thing, when all along He was offering us “fresh manna,” spoon-fed to our needs.
I even knew of families who packed up everything and “moved” across the state and/or the nation in an attempt to position themselves where “God is moving,” or where they had heard a prediction, or prophecy that “He would soon be there.”
If it is time for anything, when everything is shaking, it is time to hotly pursue the face of God, and when heaven touches earth, we will not only want to spend time in His presence, it will become even become your “magnificent obsession,” and your “dangerous delight.”
MENTORING THE MESSAGE
I am involved in a several small groups in San Diego, and currently help facilitate a men’s mutual mentoring type group. What I am enjoying is the whole process of simply getting the guys to talk, releasing them and coaching them to openly discuss their journey with fellow travelers. So refreshing and so exciting is to witness when they even surprise themselves by what comes out of their mouths, such great insights and revelations and wisdom.
I find these kinds of settings do several things. When people are allowed and encouraged to openly share, they discover the treasure that is within all of them. Again, this is a deep process of self-enrichment when you are sharing a message with others and feel like you really have connected with the group and God and receive the amazing pleasure that comes from that.
When people are in gatherings where they can openly share, they also get encouraged to steward their own gardens or reservoirs more diligently, in order to get more, so they can give more. And then of course, the wisdom pools that are created as several people unpackage a Scripture or a concept, rather than all of the insight coming from one or a few individuals. It is literally stuff to write about.
One of the best ways to mentor this message that God wants to spend time with us, speaks to us and communes with us, it to keep facilitating these open “third day” meetings, where the DNA is about the potential, participatory “priesthood of all the believers.”
DAVID’S DETERMINATION
We are all getting the same passion David had for a habitation of God. “O God, remember David, remember all his troubles! And remember how he promised God, made a vow to the Strong God of Jacob, “I’m not going home, and I’m not going to be, I’m not going to sleep, not even take time to rest, until I find a home for God, a house for the strong God of Jacob,” (Psalm 132:1 – 5, The Message).
Where do you think He lives? What are you building Him? Let me pass along some thoughts from another Third Day brother, Brad Nelson in Oakhurst, CA:
“In Him, we live and move and have our being.
We actually exist in Him. When we invite someone to meet Jesus we are inviting him or her to consider living in Him. This makes more practical sense than inviting Him into our Hearts. We are not inviting them into an organization or into the ministry of someone.
Buildings are made of stone cannot exist within Him. Corporate institutions and man made organizations cannot exist within Him. Living stones are the only structures that can exist within Him. Our membership in Him is direct and real. We get to know Him and not about Him. Because knowing Him, "is" to know about Him. Jesus said to His followers I do not have a place. That is because He is the place.”
IN THESE TOUGH TIMES
Making a commitment to follow Jesus is a lot like the commitment we make when we enter into marriage, it is the commitment we signed up for when we said our vows. And when the going gets tough, sometimes just remembering the vows is the only things that keeps you going.
My second book, “Where Would Jesus Lead?” is at the publishers. Pray all goes well for an edit deadline and the publishing of the book. Also, the next book, “Welcome Home: Church as a Way of Life,” is being pieced together through a cooperative effort of some of my old mentors and what we wrote through the years about the church as a family and a “way” of life.
I am committed to "buy up my time" in these all important days and keep looking for and living off of "fresh bread."
Gary Goodell
May 2009
That analogy has stuck with me all these years, and I remember it every time I order a salad that comes with “dead bread.” I actually don’t mind croutons that much, and have even purchased a bag when passing through the salad isle at the supermarket. There are so many flavors now: herb, parmesan, bacon-ranch, etc; all so conveniently located that I just reach out and take them as I pass by while filling my cart.
However, when applying my friend’s unflattering adjective to preaching, my heart is stirred over a phenomenon, which has gripped America’s pulpits in recent years.
I recall opening my mail one morning some years ago and reading my first advertisement for “dead bread”:
“Pastors, are you too busy to spend hours of preparation on your sermons? Tired of feeling the stress of having to come up with original ideas week after week? If so, for just $199.95 you can have 52 weeks of quality sermons crafted by homiletical masters, complete with illustrations! Your congregation is guaranteed to be thrilled with the results or your money back!””
CROUTON CHRISTIANITY
As you know, in Third Day we have felt and discussed this pain about “dead bread,” for years, maybe because I spent so many years thinking it was my job to feed others, to sermonize every week, sometimes several times per week. I do know that for most of those years I took my study and research too seriously. For over three decades as a teaching pastor, I became a well-oiled vendor at dispensing “dead bread.” It was even said back then, that any true handling of the Scriptures or honest preparation meant an hour of study for every one-minute of delivery of the sermon in the pulpit. By the time you had studied, researched, word-smithed, digested, and then double-digested the message you didn’t even know that the bread you were getting ready to serve up was such simply” dead” information that it produced little or now nutritional value.
Obviously, I still get chances to speak, teach, recant, rant, cajole, whatever, a lot in different places all over the world. But the thing that has changed in me, rather than my need to impress or “WOW the crowd,” with my anointed knowledge and teaching. I would really rather just genuinely connect with people, exposing them to my passion for a personal God, and hopefully stir their own personal appetite for them to go after Him.
For you guys who still teach on a regular basis, this is a subtle shift. First, please don’t take yourself or your gifts too seriously. Please handle all of your sermons and all of your preparation lightly or loosely. Keep in mind at all time, God may just have surprises and suddenlies for any meeting you might have called.
Quite frankly, by the time your group gets to your study or your service, they have already tasted the best. They have read the latest Charisma Magazine, the last top two best sellers from Destiny Image Publishing, have read The Shack and have listened to the last three podcasts from Bethel on their iPod.
That may not be a totally bad thing. Maybe their increased appetite for God has stirred them to consume all of that stuff. But it is just a matter of time, until they will get dissatisfied with the stale “day old manna” dispensed by others and want some of their own “fresh bread,” from the Father. And when that happens watch out.
Getting into a life of solitude with God without any religious props will ruin you for any one else’s food. Even as Israel was warned to not even try to keep a “crumb” of manna until tomorrow, God continues to promise us daily “fresh bread.” The late Henri Nouwen emphasized most of his life that we will never have true community until we first settle the issue of solitude and develop our own secret life with the Lord.
VISITATION OR HABITATION
I think what the Father is pursuing in His people these days is the revelation that their life in God is to be a habitation. Psalm 91:1, “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” The word “abide” there means to spend the night, or as The Message says it, “spend the night in Shaddai’s shadow.” In the NT, in John 15:7, “If you abide in Me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” And of course the word “abide” there means to live, to dwell indefinitely.
So, we no longer, “go do” devotions, anymore that we “go to meetings.” We enter into a life style of delightful communion and connection with our Heavenly Father. For years we “conference junkies,” were caught going from meeting to meeting to find the newest thing, when all along He was offering us “fresh manna,” spoon-fed to our needs.
I even knew of families who packed up everything and “moved” across the state and/or the nation in an attempt to position themselves where “God is moving,” or where they had heard a prediction, or prophecy that “He would soon be there.”
If it is time for anything, when everything is shaking, it is time to hotly pursue the face of God, and when heaven touches earth, we will not only want to spend time in His presence, it will become even become your “magnificent obsession,” and your “dangerous delight.”
MENTORING THE MESSAGE
I am involved in a several small groups in San Diego, and currently help facilitate a men’s mutual mentoring type group. What I am enjoying is the whole process of simply getting the guys to talk, releasing them and coaching them to openly discuss their journey with fellow travelers. So refreshing and so exciting is to witness when they even surprise themselves by what comes out of their mouths, such great insights and revelations and wisdom.
I find these kinds of settings do several things. When people are allowed and encouraged to openly share, they discover the treasure that is within all of them. Again, this is a deep process of self-enrichment when you are sharing a message with others and feel like you really have connected with the group and God and receive the amazing pleasure that comes from that.
When people are in gatherings where they can openly share, they also get encouraged to steward their own gardens or reservoirs more diligently, in order to get more, so they can give more. And then of course, the wisdom pools that are created as several people unpackage a Scripture or a concept, rather than all of the insight coming from one or a few individuals. It is literally stuff to write about.
One of the best ways to mentor this message that God wants to spend time with us, speaks to us and communes with us, it to keep facilitating these open “third day” meetings, where the DNA is about the potential, participatory “priesthood of all the believers.”
DAVID’S DETERMINATION
We are all getting the same passion David had for a habitation of God. “O God, remember David, remember all his troubles! And remember how he promised God, made a vow to the Strong God of Jacob, “I’m not going home, and I’m not going to be, I’m not going to sleep, not even take time to rest, until I find a home for God, a house for the strong God of Jacob,” (Psalm 132:1 – 5, The Message).
Where do you think He lives? What are you building Him? Let me pass along some thoughts from another Third Day brother, Brad Nelson in Oakhurst, CA:
“In Him, we live and move and have our being.
We actually exist in Him. When we invite someone to meet Jesus we are inviting him or her to consider living in Him. This makes more practical sense than inviting Him into our Hearts. We are not inviting them into an organization or into the ministry of someone.
Buildings are made of stone cannot exist within Him. Corporate institutions and man made organizations cannot exist within Him. Living stones are the only structures that can exist within Him. Our membership in Him is direct and real. We get to know Him and not about Him. Because knowing Him, "is" to know about Him. Jesus said to His followers I do not have a place. That is because He is the place.”
IN THESE TOUGH TIMES
Making a commitment to follow Jesus is a lot like the commitment we make when we enter into marriage, it is the commitment we signed up for when we said our vows. And when the going gets tough, sometimes just remembering the vows is the only things that keeps you going.
My second book, “Where Would Jesus Lead?” is at the publishers. Pray all goes well for an edit deadline and the publishing of the book. Also, the next book, “Welcome Home: Church as a Way of Life,” is being pieced together through a cooperative effort of some of my old mentors and what we wrote through the years about the church as a family and a “way” of life.
I am committed to "buy up my time" in these all important days and keep looking for and living off of "fresh bread."
Gary Goodell
May 2009
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Could Christianity Survive Without the Bible?
72 say No 81 say Yes
Here are just a few of the comments I will provide more who say yes and more who say no in future posts...
The following are not necessarily my views, but they are reprinted here, to give you a chance to comment and add your views to the question. Could Christianity survive with the Bible?
A better question might be from my perspective is "Would the congregation you attend survive if you no longer had a church building? You are welcome to comment below on either or both questions.
No by Norma Budden
Christianity could never survive without the Bible. Christianity is based on Christ and the only place we read His story is in the Bible.
Today, while there are a multitude of denominations claiming Christianity, there is one common denominator between them: the Holy Bible. While people may interpret parts of Scripture differently than another, there are several statements which cannot be interpreted in any other way than as they are stated.
For example, the Bible states that, while good works are important, they will not grant us eternal life.
Unbelievers know how to treat people with respect. They help people who are facing a crisis, they donate to charities, they are hard-working, dependable, and honest people.
In summary, they can be all around "good" people but, unless they choose to follow Christ, Heaven will not be their final destination.
If the Bible was removed from the human race, good works may still abound for a while but, without having the knowledge of Someone watching over us, whether we do good or ill, how long do you suppose those "good works" would be in practice?
Humans need a guiding force to help them through the various situations they find themselves in. They struggle and sweat and basically need Someone more powerful than they are; Someone who can see what lies ahead and guide them in making the best decisions for their lives. Humans need Some one to share with. When times are bad, they need Someone to lean on (in secret, sometimes, so their sense of pride can remain in tact.) When times are great, they want to share with someone who understands just how they feel; how much they've sacrificed to get to a certain point, and the person standing next to them may not always fit the bill.
If the Bible was removed from society, Christ would be removed and, without Christ, there is no Christianity. Christ is already being eradicated from many schools and work place environments. Students and workers are not allowed to bring up His name and it's tragic because now we deal with the chain of events which has ensued: children bringing drugs and weapons to school while those around them live in fear, and workers cheating and killing their co-workers, to name only a few consequences.
When we turn on the news, regardless of the network or station, we receive so much bad news because people have gotten away from what is important to a moral existence: they've gotten away from the Christ-child and the Bible is still the number one selling book in the world. Imagine if it went out of production! Fear, pain, heartache, sorrow, sickness, and disease would abound like never before. There would be no faith, no hope, no joy and no reason for triumph. No one would want to live on the Earth ever again because, in essence, it would be a living Hell.
Yes by Ebey Soman
The Bible is the word of God. From the very Beginning God was here, before earth, moon and the stars. In John Chapter one, verse one it says "In the Beginning was the word and the world was with God and the Word was God." Thus it is impossible for the Bible to completely disappear from Earth.
Before the Bible as we know it was compiled, The "word of God" existed in the hearts and minds of the people. Abraham did not have the Bible, yet he was able to find God. So was all the patriarchs and the people that lived on this planet before the
Yes by Priscilla Cruz
My teacher told me that we read the bible because it is food for our souls and that it keeps us close to God and I believe her. Christians need to constantly feed their souls by ready the bible; it helps them grow and better understand God's work and plans. I personally read the bible when I feel alone and need to hear or feel God's presents. When you read the bible it is like being close to God; it is our door way to communicate with God and yes Christians need that or we will be lost. The bible gives christians us guidance from God; he had his followers write this book for us to refer to and study so that we will survve this world
Yes by Melissa Fineout
Of course Christianity could survive without the bible. Lets face it, most Christians today do not even read the bible. When a Christian does read a bible, oftentimes it is because a pastor or priest told them to, or it's the pastor doing it himself. Furthermore, the words of the bible have been skewed so many times by so many people that they hardly matter anymore-Unless of course you are running for presidency. Also, most Christians that read the bible these days are doing it to write their own Christian books, and if that is so, Christians could read those, more interesting books instead of the Bible.
Christianity could indeed survive without the Bible, it already does!
Ok, reader "What do you think?"
Here are just a few of the comments I will provide more who say yes and more who say no in future posts...
The following are not necessarily my views, but they are reprinted here, to give you a chance to comment and add your views to the question. Could Christianity survive with the Bible?
A better question might be from my perspective is "Would the congregation you attend survive if you no longer had a church building? You are welcome to comment below on either or both questions.
No by Norma Budden
Christianity could never survive without the Bible. Christianity is based on Christ and the only place we read His story is in the Bible.
Today, while there are a multitude of denominations claiming Christianity, there is one common denominator between them: the Holy Bible. While people may interpret parts of Scripture differently than another, there are several statements which cannot be interpreted in any other way than as they are stated.
For example, the Bible states that, while good works are important, they will not grant us eternal life.
Unbelievers know how to treat people with respect. They help people who are facing a crisis, they donate to charities, they are hard-working, dependable, and honest people.
In summary, they can be all around "good" people but, unless they choose to follow Christ, Heaven will not be their final destination.
If the Bible was removed from the human race, good works may still abound for a while but, without having the knowledge of Someone watching over us, whether we do good or ill, how long do you suppose those "good works" would be in practice?
Humans need a guiding force to help them through the various situations they find themselves in. They struggle and sweat and basically need Someone more powerful than they are; Someone who can see what lies ahead and guide them in making the best decisions for their lives. Humans need Some one to share with. When times are bad, they need Someone to lean on (in secret, sometimes, so their sense of pride can remain in tact.) When times are great, they want to share with someone who understands just how they feel; how much they've sacrificed to get to a certain point, and the person standing next to them may not always fit the bill.
If the Bible was removed from society, Christ would be removed and, without Christ, there is no Christianity. Christ is already being eradicated from many schools and work place environments. Students and workers are not allowed to bring up His name and it's tragic because now we deal with the chain of events which has ensued: children bringing drugs and weapons to school while those around them live in fear, and workers cheating and killing their co-workers, to name only a few consequences.
When we turn on the news, regardless of the network or station, we receive so much bad news because people have gotten away from what is important to a moral existence: they've gotten away from the Christ-child and the Bible is still the number one selling book in the world. Imagine if it went out of production! Fear, pain, heartache, sorrow, sickness, and disease would abound like never before. There would be no faith, no hope, no joy and no reason for triumph. No one would want to live on the Earth ever again because, in essence, it would be a living Hell.
Yes by Ebey Soman
The Bible is the word of God. From the very Beginning God was here, before earth, moon and the stars. In John Chapter one, verse one it says "In the Beginning was the word and the world was with God and the Word was God." Thus it is impossible for the Bible to completely disappear from Earth.
Before the Bible as we know it was compiled, The "word of God" existed in the hearts and minds of the people. Abraham did not have the Bible, yet he was able to find God. So was all the patriarchs and the people that lived on this planet before the
Yes by Priscilla Cruz
My teacher told me that we read the bible because it is food for our souls and that it keeps us close to God and I believe her. Christians need to constantly feed their souls by ready the bible; it helps them grow and better understand God's work and plans. I personally read the bible when I feel alone and need to hear or feel God's presents. When you read the bible it is like being close to God; it is our door way to communicate with God and yes Christians need that or we will be lost. The bible gives christians us guidance from God; he had his followers write this book for us to refer to and study so that we will survve this world
Yes by Melissa Fineout
Of course Christianity could survive without the bible. Lets face it, most Christians today do not even read the bible. When a Christian does read a bible, oftentimes it is because a pastor or priest told them to, or it's the pastor doing it himself. Furthermore, the words of the bible have been skewed so many times by so many people that they hardly matter anymore-Unless of course you are running for presidency. Also, most Christians that read the bible these days are doing it to write their own Christian books, and if that is so, Christians could read those, more interesting books instead of the Bible.
Christianity could indeed survive without the Bible, it already does!
Ok, reader "What do you think?"
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