Verse of Day

Hey all... this morning, after yesterday's Grand Opening of the Delhi Skatepark, I got up, met with Abe B, pastor of a new church plant in our 'hood, plotted musical stuff for their Grand Opening...

Grand Openings are kind of the theme of our life here. There are all these new marriages, Chris and Sheena just moved into a GREAT place (grand?) right across the street in, of all places 1325 Chase--the house we were trying to buy a while ago...

Today's Biblegateway verse was Romans 1:20.


I spent yesterday with people whom I respect, love, and work with. These are excellent people to me. They are new friends, and I prefer their company to that of many. They are not like me. They don't have a Jesus Fixation. I like them. I don't need them to affirm me, or my Fixation. My Fixation causes me to like them better and deeper the more I know them.

In fact, the very Fixation of Jesus makes me so happy to be with my friends, and to work all the more for them...

This verse says that those outside Fixation will not be able to criticize the justice of God on the day of Judgment. I say "yeah." But what excuse do we who claim Fixation say to excuse our lack of genuine affection for one another and those outside our self-affirming clubs?

"Sinners" flocked to Jesus. Why?
His reputation was mud. May mine be, too.
Sinners flocked to jesus. Jesus was drawn to them, too.

we are indeed without excuse, before God. None of us really wants to fight that fight. We know we're wrong and He's right.
But the Great News is that there has been a Grand Opening of God's heart of love to us. He is saying he wants a Grand Opening of our hearts, too.

I'm loving my Grand Openings. I need them.

Love.

Peter

Peter from St. Paul:
intriguing comments. Thank you so much.
shoot me an email and we can talk some about stuff. I'd love it. Thanks for the encouragement...

What Lew is always freaking out about...

When the Christian life becomes a life-
style and no longer a relationship with a Per-
son—

rather than growing in the grace and
knowledge of the Savior, we will develop in
the art of refining, polishing, and perfecting
the flesh.

Then we can have the programs
and activities, methods and formulas, strate-
gies and procedures, systems and theologies,
political involvement and community ser-
vice

...religious causes...

“how-to” seminars

and self-help books...

and even outstanding
character qualities—

all without Christ as
our sufficiency!

Our flesh is very creative
and knows how to make itself appear and
act spiritual. But it is still the flesh, and it is
rotten to the core!


Jerry Benjamin, Simply Singular: Is
Christ Prominent or Preeminent?, 22-23

Lew, are you losing it?

I'm going to have trouble articulating some of my reactions over the next few months.

A lot of you know that, over the last 5 years, I have toured around local church-meetings on Sunday mornings while hosting the Church for dinner, songs, scriptures, prophetic words, and spiritual ministry. During this time I have not enjoyed much of what I've experienced, frankly stated.

I've been waiting, open minded, for the Real Jesus of the Bible, who is all radical, to really "show up" in these settings.

He doesn't.

Now, you may be a pastor, or a church leader. You may be one of the dedicated, devoted, busy people who feel pain when I say that. I have felt your pain. You have felt your pain. But is it so inconcievable that we (american churchgoers) have really messed this thing up? That we've settled for much less? That we, as church-culturers, have sold out? sellouts.

We have. You have. and this is good news--that will cost a lot.

read this

and let's weep.

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Loving versus "Reaching"

Every time I hear Christians talk about "Reaching" the "lost" I get a little bit of throw up in the back of my mouth. Why?

You know, I'm around a whole lot of people in a week, lately. My two professions: Renegade Jesus People pastoral brutha, and Unpaid Rep for Effort Skateboards, land me in diverse groups. And one thing I'm getting is--INTOLERANT.

I'm getting intolerant of the condesceding way that well-intentioned, Christianized people talk about people who aren't Christianized... I see more Jesus in a day skating and repping to shops than I see in a week of the sunday schools I used to be supposed to organize.

I see people hanging in there.
I see people holding on for hope.
I see people living their dreams.
I see people sacrificing so others can have more.
I see people who suffer and don't complain.
I see people whose stories contain more danger and sorrow than mine...

and I see Jesus--the One from the Bible--scandalizing well-intentioned (we'll talk about how well, later) genteel folks by totally not judging the profanity and obscenity, depravity and despair, materialism and sensuality, of these people.
he isn't telling them what they already know.
he isn't reaching them with some package of truths...

He is LOVING them.
that means he takes care of them.
he shares with them.
he gives them what they need.
he doesn't "i told you so" them.
he doesn't cold shoulder them if they're gay, or lesbian, or on drugs, or smell bad, or have mental problems...
he also doesn't invite them to some meeting where their life is supposed to change.

so, so many of the people I know already have no problem believing in Jesus, outside the fact that the man just plain never shows up. He is repped by a church system that embodies the very things that Jesus railed on.

what a wierd planet.

So i hate the language of "reaching", when I am experiencing the Jesus of Scripture so much more powerfully among the "unreached" than I have among the "reached". Isn't this language evidence of a mentality? and this mentality... does it embody the Scripture in Matt. 9:12-13?

Jesus said it isn't the insiders that he came for, but the outsiders. In adopting the language of "reaching", and equating success with meeting attendance, haven't we become the very ones for whom jesus did NOT come?

In being "outside" i find: Myself. there. that's where I am.
I'm continually refreshed in my amazement at forgiveness.
I'm refreshed in my appreciation of the Biblical teachings on grace.
I'm broken by the story of the cross...
and the Spirit fills my life, and my mind...

less and less tolerant...

o how the fallen have become mighty.