Sometimes it helps to feast on wonder before speaking of it properly
Here’s a morsel.
“Murmuration” ~ A chance encounter and shared moment with one of nature’s greatest and most fleeting phenomena.
Lessons by a Chinese warrior, an ancient half-goat, and Jesus on what to do when you’re being chased by Satan
Earlier this year I finished The Art of War, a classic Chinese military treatise by Sun Tsu that has lived on for thousands of years in business moguls at each others’ throats. It highlights creating a position of advantage over the enemy. To its detriment, it conflicted with the worldview of servanthood interwoven throughout the life of Jesus Christ, leaving me wanting more than it could offer. The Art of War was very manipulative, but I guess when you’re at war (or commerce), the only rule is to win. On a side note, I thought one redeeming quote from the short book deserved some attention…
“Defense is for times of insufficiency, attack is for times of surplus” – Sun Tsu
In other words…
Defend when you are weak, and attack when you are strong.
That reminds me of when Christ addressed a group of Israelites at Caesarea Philippi in Matthew 16. Superstitious families would often trek to the base of the mountain to sacrifice to Pan, a half-man, half-goat breed of demon whose namesake birthed the word panic. The rumor was that Pan made his home at the bottom of a gaping hole in the mountain, and as they threw their sacrificial offerings into the abyss (nicknamed by locals as the “Gates of Hell”), the telltale sign of an answered prayer was for the sacrifice to disappear into the deep. But if Pan regurgitated the offering through the inverted waterfalls, you would leave the mountain in fear, knowing that panic would soon descend upon your home…and your children.
Enter Jesus Christ.
Jesus makes the same journey up to the mountain, but in typical style, turns his back on the Gates of Hell to address the crowd. He speaks about himself with unparalleled authority unheard of in that region since the shekenah glory of God used to fall upon Israel…
“On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (v18).
Jesus walks up to an accusatory demon and spits into its bawling mouth.
Classic Jesus.
More poignantly, Jesus understood the Art of War. Gates are a defense mechanism! It’s not as if they can reach out and bite you; gates can only shut you out. And in front of these gates, Christ promises to build the Church into an offensive onslaught, made up of those whom he has redeemed.
This changes everything for you.
When a victor can humiliate your enemy, it means you are not retreating anymore. The enemy is. And while you may feel like you are running from external forces outside of your control, compel your eyes to feast on the picture of the Victor, Jesus Christ, who stands defiantly in the open mouth of hell, just to poke fun at it.
In the words of Sun Tsu, defense entails insufficiency. So, do not be fooled by Satan’s insufficient attempts to derail you.
And if still you are unable to stand, let the King of Heaven’s armies hoist up your arms to walk with you.
8 ways to determine if a book is going to be a waste of time
Someone once remarked about how I always end up giving books I read four or five stars.
My reply was, “Well, I try not to read bad books.”
The problem is, I don’t read very fast—around 200 words a minute (one page). Since I’m such a slow reader, I don’t want to waste my time on the bad stuff. So here are some ways I go about sifting through the garbage in order to find the gold!
1. Read the cover
The book title doesn’t give a lot of explanation, but the subheading often explains in one tweetable sentence what the book is going to be about. For example, the book, Radical, by David Platt could be about anything. Radical Christians. Radical entrepreneurship. Radical eggplant soup. But one glance at the subheading, “Taking Back Your Faith From the American Dream,” carries a theme that focuses on sacrificial living.
2. Read the inlet
Usually, there is a short explication of the subheading on the inside of the leaflet, or on the back cover. These are generally excerpts written by the publisher trying to sell you the book. Even though they’re sometimes embellished (like gossip on Twitter), they still give a decent summary of what the book is going to be about.
3. Read the intro by author
If the concept of the book interests me at this point, I’ll read the author’s introduction. This usually has the author’s reason for writing the book, so you can capture a glimpse of the backdrop behind the book, how well it has impacted the author in the writing process, and whether it may or may not impact you in the reading process..
How the read the Bible, by N.T. Wright
Last weekend, I taught on the importance of obeying God’s word, then posted a follow-up on the devotional beauty of reading through Scripture for fun. But we should also remember that the Scriptures are more than fun. They are alive (Heb. 4:12). They are inspired (2 Tim. 3:16). They sanctify (Jn. 17:17). They renew (Rom. 12:2). They transform (2 Tim. 3:17). So we want more than mere pleasure; we want the power of God revealed through them.
But where do we start? And what do we do with it?
Below is a brilliant, six-minute explanation by N.T. Wright on how to read the Bible.
Obey! Obey! Obey!
Did my opening line make you more holy? I thought not.
Aimless repetition rarely gets the affections flowing.
Last night, I spoke on the importance of followers of Christ to obey the Scriptures. It was a wonderful night with a group of people who love Jesus. But I would be remiss if I didn’t speak to the people in the room who were not feeling the obedience vibe for different reasons than simply rebellion.
Some people just have a hard time reading the Bible.
Have you ever picked up the Bible, and struggled with applying the Scriptures to the practicalities of your life?
Have you ever been overwhelmed by the commands that appear on every page? Do you ever feel like a failure when you read your Bible?
If I can be completely honest with you, I get those moments too.
But I’ve learned that whenever reading the Bible feels like I’m reading a corporate financial review, it’s time to stop trying so hard to make something divine happen and just relax!
At that point, I curl up on the couch and read for mere PLEASURE.
Yeah, that’s right. Read without an agenda. Sit down with the Bible like you would a novel, stop analyzing everything so much, and just enjoy the God you are reading about. If you don’t know how to do that without a bit of guidance and structure, here are some old blog posts I wrote on basic Bible reading…
- What to do when the Bible commands you to do something (besides also doing it!)
- When you read Scripture, think of the Bible as a movie with a dramatic plot, and Jesus as the central character.
- Still having a hard time with both of those? Try this.
Over time, you may find yourself falling in love with God as you fill your mind with him. The more you fall in love with God, the more you will want to honor him with obedience.
But I just want to remind you that it’s ok to read the Bible just to read the Bible. You don’t have to squeeze it like a lime, hoping some divine juices will pour forth, and it’s ok if the building doesn’t shake every time you open to the book of Acts.
Perhaps God just wants you to stop the noise of your life for thirty minutes to curl up on the couch with him.
Cultivating Community
Our little college group in Carpinteria, California has been blessed with some rich community by the grace of God. I wanted to look closely to see if there were any elements that can be adopted by any community of believers. Below is what I learned over the past three years.
Here’s how it’s worked for us at Adorn…
There is commonality. We noticed that Jesus has been forming a common identity in us that brings us together. From this identity, he is tangibly expressed through knowing Him (in his word together), prayer (meetings), worshipping (God together), serving (each other), repentance (of sin to each other), eating (food together), etc.
Let me explain…
- Identity. When God brings you into a new family, and you begin to recognize this with others.
- Scripture. When you open the Scriptures…it’s like sitting at the feet of Jesus together!
- Prayer. Prayer changes things. It also changes our view of one another. I made most of my closest friends through prayer meetings. This is a great community builder.
- Worship. We build one another up with our common awe of God.
- Service. The most tightly knit people at Adorn also serve each other, or serve others with one another.
- Repentance. The transparency that one must undergo in order to confess and repent sin to another is incredibly transformative, not to mention a deep bonding experience for all parties involved.
- Food. Yup, every transformative time of community at Adorn always seems to have food, which, when the above elements are not enough to bring some people together, always seems to work wonders.
These are some bonuses characteristics that have helped us cultivate everything listed above….
- Regularity. Some of the moments of community listed above happen several times a week.
- Availability. In order to allow for regularity, Adorn doesn’t pack the year with a lot of frivolous events.
- Simplicity. We don’t make things too complicated or structured beyond what is needed, so that community can still happen organically.
By the way, even our corporate gathering is largely communal. Only a small part of it is teaching or worship, roughly two hours of our weekly gathering. But there are about forty people who are there for nearly eight hours doing life together in the ways described above, praying for one another, serving each other, confessing to each other, and eating with one another. As far as I can tell, this has naturally spilled over into our normal way of life as a core group.
Here’s some ways you can implement what happens at Adorn in your own life… Read the rest of this entry
Operation Lydia ~ community
Operation Lydia is a four-part series, which is a simple way to consider mission in the context in which you live. You can find a longer explanation here, the first post here, and the second post here. The following post is for part three, which is…
3. Frequent that place
Christian community should overlap with non-believers, and can be based on something you have in common with others (hobby?).
Acts 17:22-23 ~ “So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.”
If we were to break down Paul’s strategy at the Areopagus,
- He observed people
- He passed through where the people were
- He examined their context
Immerse yourself in your mission field!
Reproduction vs. Reciprocity (5 Reasons We Don’t See Discipleship)
Here was the Apostle Paul’s singular strategy for expanding the Kingdom of God,
Timothy, my dear son, be strong through the grace that God gives you in Christ Jesus. You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others (2 Tim. 2:1-2).
His strategy was Timothy!! Not only Timothy, but all the little Tim’s that Timothy would produce by following these simple instructions. Looking back on early Church history, and the Gospel’s explosive growth through Paul, it seems like he was doing a few things right. If we are doing a few things wrong (we are), then perhaps we should compare our modern methods of discipleship with tried, ancient practices.
5 reasons we don’t see discipleship.
1) We neglect mission, because we are satisfied with community
We have fine circles of faith, but those circles never overlap with non-believers who can experience the love of God, and have their questions engaged with, because we feel as though we’ve achieved everything within our subculture. We’ll begin to feel the repercussions of this when the crowd gets bigger.
2) We don’t pass on what we’ve learned; we flaunt what we’ve learned
We aren’t taking the time to pass on the things that have effectively kept us out of darkness, and equipped us for mission. When we are around people who ask questions, we would rather sound like some theological guru.
3) We obsess over non-essentials, instead of teaching “these truths”
We get bogged down in stuff like Calvinism and silly disputes over theology, which may be good, do not cause an immature Christian to grow.
4) We don’t invest into “trustworthy” people that will pass on truth to others
We surround ourselves with people who are on a similar level as ourselves for the purpose of having fun conversations. Yet we never have the opportunity to hand down what we’ve learned to younger Christians who actually NEED to hear what we know.
5) We do not teach others how to teach others.
At best, we only produce ourselves—we do not re-produce ourselves. We may raise up amazing people with what we have taught them, but if we do not TEACH them to carry on the same pattern with others in the same way we have done with them, they will die as sterile clones of ourselves, and not as disciple-making disciples of Jesus.
We want to chat theology with people in similar life stages who will make us feel more spiritual about ours, rather than teach and equip the people we are called to invest in to live their lives on mission for the Gospel of Jesus. Deep down, I think it’s because we are more concerned with feeling the reciprocity of friendship, than the reproduction of disciples.
Related articles
- The problem of growth and the need for discipleship (christopherlazo.com)
- Sterile Christians are Contradictions: On The Art of Discipleship (christopherlazo.com)
How do you know if someone is saved?
Catch yourself listening to people in different spiritual settings.
Do you ever unknowingly ponder the salvation of others based on what they say in conversation? I think we have an engrained filter that causes us to do this. Sometimes it’s awful because we end up attributing worth or disdain to people based on how they handle themselves in simple conversations, but perhaps with care….this tendency can be siphoned for edification, not comparison. Of course, all of this begs the question…
How do we know if someone is saved?
Do we just ask them? Consider some of these time-worn methods…
Do you think someone is saved because they said so?
Do you think someone is saved because you personally led them through the sinner’s prayer, and they said all the important elements, i.e., confessed their sin, confessed Jesus as Lord, asked God into their heart, and sealed it with Jesus’ name?
Do you think someone is saved because they’re members of a church roster, having been baptized, entered into the rolls, and confirmed?
Do you think someone is saved because you heard them pray at a prayer meeting, and were deeply impressed with their ability to articulate prayers?
Do you think someone is saved because they don’t live like they used to live?
Do you think someone is saved because they haven’t missed a corporate worship gathering in a while?
Do you think someone is saved, because they are able to articulate all the important doctrines about justification through faith?
Do you think someone is saved because they ran weeping to the altar to receive salvation during that outdoor festival you saw them at?
Do you consider someone to be saved because they sound just like John Piper, with everything they speak about lacquered in superlatives concerning God’s glorious, sovereign, eternal worth?
We size people up all the time.
I’m not tripping out over this yet. But I have a better question… Read the rest of this entry
Going somewhere else
Why do we put six months of diligent preparation into overseas mission…
…yet approach our own cities with such casual impromptu?
