Celebrities in the First Century

There were different types of celebrities in the ancient world, just like there are today.  Today actors and musicians are in the top tier of the celebrity world while war heroes are almost non-existent.  Politicians are up there while poets have a very limited following.

In the ancient Roman world politicians and generals were on the top as were philosophers and poets.  This hierarchy of the celebrity world exposes the core values of a society.  The ancients valued cunning in battle, winning victories, and conquering.  They also placed a high value on knowledge and learning among the elite.

When Paul wrote his letters, only a few years after Jesus had been crucified, the people in his churches had their own celebrities that they clamored to.  Some of them had probably had gone to the arena and seen gladiators who held a certain amount of popularity. Some had listened to local or international philosophers and pondered on what they said, admiring their knowledge and intimidated by their celebrity like popularity.

Paul came into their cities and stirred up things, becoming somewhat of a celebrity as well.  His name grew around the regions of the Mediterranean and people went to hear what all the buzz was about.  In short, Paul had become somewhat of a celebrity with a fair share of people who became his followers - some who became avid fans.

But his popularity was constantly under attack intentionally or unintentionally by others.  Peter, John, Apollos were some of those who stepped into Paul's territory without meaning any harm to him or to his ministry.  Following Paul and moving into the same cities in which he ministered, these three and others won the hearts of many of Paul's followers.

Apollos was an amazing speaker that won over the hearts of those who were seduced by image and charisma.  Peter and John gained celebrity status reputation by being the flesh and blood disciples of Jesus who had become the center of the Christian faith. 

Other preachers moved into Paul's territory with intentions of taking Paul's followers away from him.  Most of them believed they were doing service to God.  Among them were Jewish Christians who hoped to instruct the Gentile Christians in the Law of Moses, thus leading them to a "deeper and better" walk with Christ.  Others had secret and special revelations they wanted to pass on the the new Christians in Paul's churches.  Some used their preaching to gain access into villages and homes of Paul's followers so that they could live off other peoples' kindness and generosity.

Every one of these types of people came into Paul's ministry and knowingly or unknowingly set themselves up as his competition. 

Paul dealt with each of these in different ways - some of which is very surprising.

How to Prepare for Ebola

I have lived through several low level panics that send chills throughout communities.
-I grew up in a culture of Cold War.  When I was just a kid, our schools taught us how to duck under our desks in case of a nuclear weapon.
-Then when I was in a Florida college rumors got out that a title wave was going to wipe out Florida.  One student actually left school and went back to his home state. 
-In 1988 Jesus was supposed to return.  A NASA engineer wrote a pamphlet called 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988.  The feeling of excitement and/or fear permeated certain communities and individuals.
-In the late 1990s, many were convinced that the entire computer world was going to crash with Y2K.  As 2000 came and went, nothing happened.
-In 2011 people sold houses and left bills unpaid as Harold Camping told them that Jesus was going to return in May, and when May came and went, he predicted October.  Jesus didn't return.

People fear and these events give real possibilities for fearful people to hang their fears on.  It seems that people need to find things to fear in order to justify what they feel inside.  Fear of opposing political parties' presidents and politicians can meet a certain amount of their needs to find reasons to be afraid (whether real or imaginary), but events like those mentioned above are far easier to grab onto. 

As I write Ebola is the latest event on which people hang their fears.  False reports of children and health workers getting Ebola spread like wild fire on Facebook.com.  I've been through these fears before and there will be more in years to come, but having said that; I believe that history tells us that the day will come that we will face a real world changing event.  Will that be Ebola?  How should I prepare for something like Ebola or a comet hitting the earth or some other global disaster?

THE FIRST CENTURY PANIC

Jesus predicted a real life changing disaster that was going to come upon the people of his time.   Less than 40 years after he prophesied of the event, the Roman army tore down the temple and the city of Jerusalem.  The women were raped and the people were starved and killed.  This was a real event preceded by real fears, but a lot of that the tragedy happened because people were acting out on their fears.  

When people fear, they often give into irrational emotions.  Some jump on fear filled band wagons with others who fear the same, and as a group becomes unpredictable and sometimes dangerous.  In the mid 1st Century, bands of fear filled and angry people gathered together to resist the Roman dominance.  That rebellion was the beginning of the end for Judah.

Here are some suggestions for these times and the future fears we will face as a nation and a world.   These suggestions are based on what Jesus told his disciples about the coming tragedy they were going to see.

LOOK FOR REALITY

The reality is this: There may be a real event coming or else there is nothing but fear out there.  Jesus told his disciples that a day was coming when the temple would be destroyed.  That would be like telling an American that the White House was going to be destroyed along with New York City.  It was the epitome of disasters for a 1st Century Jew.  Jesus said the Roman army would surround Jerusalem and that there would be terror.  That would be like telling Europeans that their countries would be devastated and death was coming.

As events unfolded during the first Century, the disciples lived in a culture of fear and panic going on all around them.   They didn't know when Roman armies would destroy Jerusalem and they didn't know if they would live through the time of destruction.  People all around them lived in constant fear that something terrible was about to happen.

During their day, rumors would spread like wildfire and because rumors were so rampant, fear would rise to even greater levels.  Jesus told his followers not to be troubled and not to be deceived.  During these times of fear, it is easy to fall into the trap of fear and panic.  In Salem, MA when fear was growing in the early colony, Pietists lashed out, hoping to protect themselves from their fears.  So they slaughtered innocent women believing that they were witches bringing darkness into the colony.   Several years later, after the fear subsided, some of the accusers and judges apologized for what they did, but it was too late.

All these people lost track of reality and lived in their fears.  Even if real disaster is on the horizon, we need to keep a calm head and watch out for those who capitalize on fear.

DON'T LISTEN TO THE THOSE WHO CAPITALIZE ON THE FEAR

In Jesus time, leaders who rode the waves of group fears were either named or called themselves messiahs.  These leaders took dozens and sometimes hundreds of followers and led them into battle or into the desert to wait for God to act on their behalf.  Most of the times Roman armies were brought in to kill off the people and their leaders.  Acting out on their fears and stimulating the fears of the people always ended in disaster.

Jesus warned his disciples to avoid these leaders and stay away from them even though they were capable of gathering large numbers to them.

Today we have leaders and media talkers who capitalize on fear.  They tell us everything that is going wrong and paint bleak pictures of the future.  I believe that Jesus tells us to stay away from these people because they are misleading us.

DON'T LISTEN TO THE RUMORS

In the ancient times news traveled by word of mouth.  There were nothing to read that would be termed "Current Events,"  so rumors could get very wild and terrifying.  Today there is a certain level of fact finding that goes on in the media which helps but does not stop the wild rumor factories. Facebook has become filled with rumors that jump on the latest fears.  One such rumor stated that a class of Kindergarten kids (5 and 6 years old) got Ebola from an Ethiopian classmate.  These rumors spread as true events and the rumors tell us that the government is trying to cover up the true events.

After studying the dynamics of Urban Legends, I have been able to catch most of these rumors because they have a distinct aura to them - one of which is that many urban legends capitalize on fear, serving to give credence to unfounded fear.  In other words, if I am afraid that Ebola is going to reach my neighborhood and the people I care about the most; if I am convinced that the government is covering up the real story; if I have unconscious or conscious xenophobia (fear of outsiders - like they are taking over the country); all these dynamics can be encapsulated in a story that gives the worst case scenario - an entire class of kids coming down with the feared disease because of an African kid.

There were other stories that surfaced as well - each promoting and giving life to the fear that is around us.

Jesus said that there would be rumors in his day before things went bad and he told his listeners not to be misled.  When we hear rumors and "facts" about Ebola, don't just give into the hype.  Check the facts.

DO NOT GET SWEPT INTO THE PANIC

This is important.  Preceding whatever event will change life as we know it there may either be no warning (nuclear bomb) or there might be fear that builds up as people make more and more predictions and tell more and more wild stories like as in the case of Ebola.  Whatever the case may be, it is wise not to give in to the fear.  You may feel the presence of fear and as a result you may be certain that something big is on the rise, but chances are, your fear is unfounded.  Even if the predicted disaster is upon us, your fear is not your friend.  In the end, fear will promote you to believe wild stories (not good), and take wild action (really bad).

Fear causes people to commit suicide (as when the Stock Market crashed), sell off property (as when the rapture is predicted), build bunkers (big during the Y2K and after), or join in on some genocide (as has happened dozens of times throughout history).  Fear is not rational and just because it is in you (as it is in all of us) does not mean you should give into it.  Listen to the rational side of you, if it is there.

WHAT JESUS SAID ABOUT PREPARATION

During Y2K a lot of people built bunkers to protect themselves from certain disasters.  My brother in law stocked food 20 years before that because he was sure the apocalypse was coming soon.  His food went bad after a few years and he lost most of it.

Jesus told his audience that there would be suffering and that they should accept it without giving into all the hype and all the fear.  He also told them to be ready for the events that were to unfold; not by building walls of protection, but by building a life dedicated to serving others, because when the evil day unexpectedly came they would be ready to meet their maker.

Where Does Morality Come From?

I have heard many Christians imply or state outright that Atheists and Agnostics do not have a moral foundation.  Their assumption is that if you don't believe in God, you will follow your own self and your own self will automatically lead one on some crazy road to immorality and unethical behavior.  But is this true?  I am a Born-Again believer.  If I turn away from God, away from the Bible and away from His guidance, will I end up in some sort of journey to moral depravity?

Over the years, I have met wonderful Atheists and ex-Christians who in all appearances were very moral, true to their commitments, who love their spouses and remain faithful to them, and are genuinely very nice people and pleasant to be around.  I have also met some very pious Believers who have immoral habits, who are lazy at work, and who cannot be trusted.

I would venture to say that the Christians and followers of other religions generally have higher standards and expectations for themselves than unbelievers, but few if any live up to the standards they have set for themselves and for others.

People who fail to live up to their standards may realize that they fall from time to time and excuse their forays; they may inwardly deny they have issues; they may mentally beat themselves up; or they may admit they have issues and move on with their lives.

I had a good friend in Seminary who fell out of the faith.  He simply stopped believing that God loved and cared for him.  He stopped believing that God was relevant to his life or for any one else.  Politics overtook his life and my friend decided that political action and dialogue was far better and more affective in helping humanity than personal faith.  I was still young and in my 20s so my mind rushed to wondering how he would be able to live a life committed to his wife and dedicated to helping others. I expected his morals to fall apart; but his lack of faith seemed to have no effect on his moral path in life that I could see.

So where do Unbelievers get their sense of right and wrong?

MORALITY FROM WITHIN - CREATION AND NATURAL LAW

When the Apostle Paul wrote to the Romans, he had not yet met the church.  Paul was a missionary traveling further and further westward, and wanted to work out of Rome for his next missionary journey - in other words he was writing to ask the Romans to become his sending church.  But in order to do so, he wanted them to know the teachings he taught everywhere.  So he wrote a letter to the Church in Rome which in the Bible is called the Book of Romans.

One of the very first arguments Paul developed in the book of Romans was one that established that unbelievers (he called Gentiles) could by nature be just as moral as the people who were steeped in the Word of God:

Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law.  They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts...(Romans 2:14-15).

His argument concluded that God put His morals (His Goodness) in every human being when He made us in His image. However, no matter how much goodness God has bestowed upon us as His image bearers, sin perverts and corrupts what is good.  In fact, sin so corrupts us that some theologians claim that any vestige of good is completely destroyed - we are totally and completely depraved, as Jesus said, "Who is good, but God alone?"

According to these theologians, the only good that we get comes from God and is given to us in a relationship with Christ.

MORALITY FROM WITHIN - EVOLUTION 

The idea that evolution has given us an inner sense of morality is built on the premise that morality was and is necessary to the survival of the species.  The core of survival is individual self-centeredness. I need to survive, and to survive I need a group because a group protect me, as, "there is safety in numbers."   And because I need the group to survive, I will adjust my own needs enough to contribute to the group to make sure my group survives, because if my group survives, I survive.

It doesn't take too long for an individual to realize that independent and self-centered actions can hinder or destroy the group.  Independent behavior that threatens the group may eventually send me out of the group as the rest of the members will want to protect the group.  

Individualists who are too separated from their societies are not able to continue adding to the group and will be pushed out and will be unable to survive on their own.  So as extreme individualists are pushed out, the traits that help people bond with groups will dominate in the species.  Through survival of the fittest, those traits that keep us working together become morals that are internalized in all of us to one degree or another.  

Evolution says that morality is a part of my nature.  Today I internally know that murdering someone inside my group is wrong, as I know that taking someone else's wife or possessions is wrong; but my self-centered nature will take over from time to time and break the internal agreement I have with others.  In other words, although there is a sense of morality and a sense of need to serve the group and others in my group passed down from evolution, my self-centered nature can and will at times come out to overrule my morals and my duty to the group.  As with Creationists, I can either defend and justify my actions with excuses, or I may realize that I have done wrong and deal with it according to the ways I have been trained from childhood or from other experiences.

MORALITY FROM WITHOUT - LEARNING FROM OUR SURROUNDINGS

The above mentioned views are based within us, they are internal.  Some will believe one, some believe the other and some will believe that there is a combination of both.  Even someone who believes that the earth was created 6,000 years ago can see that there is an internal need to survive and to survive within a group - although they believe that this is something God put within humans at birth and from creation.

However, morality is not only something that is inward and natural to us, in fact, most of what I just stated about Evolution could also have been simply learned in my experience growing up.  From the moment I was born I was faced with one reality that stood out above the rest:  I needed others to survive - a mother, a father, a caretaker, or anyone who would make sure that I would continue to live. 

While infancy and childhood are mostly forgotten, the years are intense learning times:  From the moment I entered the world I learned that I had a group - a family that took care of me.  I knew that my group was important for my survival - they fed me and took care of me.  Without others, I would have died. 

As I grew older, my lessons from childhood stayed with me.  The lessons I learned as an infant reached out to the people with whom I went to school, to friends, to church, to work, and so on.  I learned that I belonged to the group that helped me to live.

Knowing that I needed others to survive, I adjusted self-interest to help my group survive.  Outside groups were less important to me and to my group.  In fact, other groups could be a threat or a perceived threat to my survival or the survival of my group.  And when other groups threaten me or my group, they are quickly deemed evil and may need to be eradicated.  And if I view them as evil, I will look for and see only evil in those other groups.  It will not occur to me that each one of those groups are in many ways, mirrors of my own group.  People in those groups who grew up in those groups will view my group as evil and will see only bad things in my group.  We see this in political parties, in tribal conflict, and in nations that argue or fight.

MORALITY FROM WITHOUT - LAWS AND FEAR OF PUNISHMENT

Besides lessons learned from childhood, there are other foundations for morality that come from without.  I have no desire to keep the speed limit when I am in a hurry.  In fact, I would love to take my car much faster most of the times, but because every ticket I had in years past cost me so much in insurance, today I keep within a few miles of the speed limit.  

Laws and punishments are important because they help keep individuals safe from hurting themselves, others, or the group.  Laws are written by the Government, by the State, by the cities, by churches, by corporations and businesses and by families.  Written and unwritten laws are made in every level.  

My workplace has a Code of Ethics as well as rules and regulations for employees and contractors. And my church has a Code of Conduct, Constitution and By-Laws.  These are needed for each group to work together in a common direction and to curb individualists, such as myself, from going in directions that are not serving the needs of the whole and may be destructive to the group (the company or the church).


As for me, I do not revere laws as much as I fear the consequences of breaking laws, so I generally keep to the speed limit.  I learned as a young kid that breaking rules have consequences as my parents disciplined me and as I learned what I could get away with and what I could not get away with. 

I have been created with internal morals that keep me from misbehaving in some ways and I have morals that come from without that keep me from doing wrong things.

MORALITY FROM WITHOUT - GOD

Religion or faith provide us with another morality that comes from without, and that is from God.  In religion there are rules that are placed upon us from a higher power.  Whether it is the Koran, the Bible, or the Book of Mormon, these writings serve as guides and rules for conduct and life.  Each one of these books are believed by their followers to be inspired by or given directly from God.

MORALITY FROM WITHOUT PLACED WITHIN - JESUS CHRIST

The Christian Bible tells us that "Jesus died for our sins."  This phrase is very popular in the U.S., but has lost much of its original meaning.  For many this phrase means that Jesus took our place for the punishment we deserved for sin, and this is true.  But when Jesus died for our sins, it was more than just paying the price for our failures, for when Jesus hung on the cross, the Bible says that he so identified with humanity, that we were there with him suffering, dying, and eventually rise again.

Here is how this all works:  I am crucified with Christ and I am raised up with Him, so I am dead and the life I now live is a life raised up from the dead.  When I was converted and baptized in Christ, I died with Christ and I died to sin and to the powers of this world.  Full Immersion Baptism (when one is completely buried in water) symbolizes the going down into burial and rising up to new life.  Pouring over the head type of baptism symbolizes the cleansing of sin.  According to the Bible, when I turned to Christ and was baptized, sin and the powers of this world no longer had a hold over me and I became free to serve God and to live morally in Christ.

When I died with Christ in baptism and conversion, I was raised up a new person, so that the life I now have I live by faith and in the power that God used in raising Jesus from the dead.  So I died, but but was raised to live for God.  The morals that I have that go beyond what I learned growing up and from society around me, I have from God who raised me from the dead in Christ.

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Galatians 2:20

WHERE DOES THE ATHEIST GET HIS/HER MORALITY?

So where do Atheists and Agnostics get their sense of morality?  I would say that many of their morals and commitments to others come from the same place Believers get theirs - learning from and growing up in families that cared for them and unconsciously taught them how to survive with others.  Believers add on such morals as come from their faiths; but a lot of the basics of morality come from our own common learning experiences growing up.

Memorizing the New Testament - Do Kids Really Memorize the Entire Koran?

I made a video about how to memorized the New Testament and suggested that 21 years is a good goal for most people who want to try (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJtG3nsjeWQ).   One of the comments was both encouraging and a bit critical at the same time.  The criticism was not necessarily at me as it was about people who don't memorize or who don't think they can do it.  The commentator claimed that Muslim kids were memorizing the entire Koran in Arabic within three years, so we can if we try.

So I looked up on the internet (what a marvelous tool) and found that there were indeed kids who memorize the entire Koran when they are young.  Some Muslims believe this is a miracle of Allah, others just believe these are smart kids.

Here are some of my thoughts:

-I admit it is an amazing accomplishment to memorize so much at such a young age.
-I am not so sure that kids who do not speak Arabic understand as much of it as is told us.  However, they have a lot of understanding because children learn languages far easier before puberty (and without accent) than those of us who are past puberty.
-The Koran has 77,701 words in it; the New Testament has 138,020 words in it.  So the New Testament has almost twice as much material to memorize.  When anyone is trying to keep up with past memory verses as well as memorizing new, this will make a big difference.
-It is possible to memorize every verse in the New Testament, make such boasts, but in fact only remember a small portion of it because people will forget verses that are not repeated over and over...and who wants to repeat over 70,000 or 138,00 words by rote each day, or week, or even month?
-In eternity, God will not ask us how much of the Bible we memorized (although it is a great tool), but how we served others.  In the larger scheme of things, I would rather be credited with helping people live better lives than memorizing the entire Bible and/or the Koran.  But having stated this, I do want to memorize a lot because I teach the Bible and find it very useful in my ministry of serving others as long as it is used to serve others and not to draw undo attention to myself or my abilities.

Eagle Brook Chruch - Gigachurch in Minnesota - Updated

EAGLE BROOK CHURCH

2014

For the past twelve years, my wife and I have been attending Eagle Brook Church in MN.  Since we started there, it grew and grew and grew.  Now attendance is in the tens of thousands.  I have been to other mega churches in other cities, and have had church growth classes from the "fathers" of the Church Growth Movement (at Fuller Seminary); so thought I'd like to talk about my experience at Eagle Brook.

To begin with, although I have talked with some of workers at Eagle Brook in different levels, this blog is more a commentary about my own personal feelings and experiences as an observer - one who has been a pastor of two churches in the past, one who has been to dozens of churches in dozens of cities and 4 countries.  Oh yes, and I have been to several seminars by leading mega church pastors including Bill Hybels at his church in Chicago.

THE MUSIC

 

The first thing one notices at Eagle Brook is the music.   If I were the pastor of a large church, I would have the same set up with music - the same kind of bands and the same kind of songs - at least most of the time.  Why?  Because it reaches people.  And for all that is said against large churches, one has to admit they are reaching people who need Christ.  I would venture to say that most critics and complainers are not doing that in their churches.

Having said all that, I will say that I am not a big fan of the kind of Christian Pop music that is played at Eagle Brook.  The music played at Eagle Brook is mostly borrowed from songs played on a local Christian music radio station that purposely targets women with children in their mid thirties.  I am afraid I don't fall into that category and with few exceptions I am not a fan of Pop music.  For me the best music came once in awhile during offertory when the band did something totally different.  But lately the offertory is no longer a part of the service and the song that went with it has disappeared.

(UPDATE: 9/2015, I am not sure where they are getting their music any more because I really don't listen to the local Christian station that much.  However, it seems to be the same style as when I wrote this 2 years ago.)

Personally, I would prefer more Blues, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Swamp Blues, Country and Southern Gospel, Gospel, Bluegrass, and most of all, some of good old fashioned hymns.  I can sing along with hymns and I can appreciate the sound of these other styles.  I am unusual (and I know this) in that I only like a small amount of Christian Pop; and the genres in music I do like and would like to hear may be too odd, reaching out to too small of an audience, and may not bring a lot of people into the church.  Even so, I would love to hear more of these other genres in church.

If I was pastor of a church that was willing to (and able to) try new things, I would try out more of these genres and include a few genres I am not too excited about as well, such as Hip Hop and Rap.

I think Eagle Brook is like a large company that grew because it was cutting edge.  I wonder if it may get to the point where cutting edge is no longer cutting edge?  Is their cutting edge in music becoming the norm?  The number of new people coming into church suggest that I am not right on this point - at least not yet - or perhaps it simply doesn't matter that cutting edge is becoming the norm.  

The quality of music at the campus I attend is amazingly good - top quality.  The band has been around for quite awhile and they gel.  Fill-in bands (which happen rarely) are not always as good and aren't always as tight - but bonding together comes with time.

Update - Christmas 2014:

I went to a Christmas service last night with my family.  I went to the main campus which is much larger than the other ones.  I appreciated the music and enjoyed the slightly different approach to songs than I am used to from my campus.  The drum was very heavy - perhaps too heavy because I couldn't hear the guitar solos as much as I would like to have.  The music reminded me of the Pseudo Folk Rock of Phillip Phillips, The Lumineers and Mumford and Sons.   One of my family members even pointed out that one or more of the musicians had suspenders on (like Mumford and Sons).  My family member doesn't like Phillip Phillips genre of music.  As for me, I enjoyed a different take on Christmas carols, and only one or two of the songs sounded too Phillip Phillips for me.

There was one solo which may have been one the best songs I ever heard performed live - "O Holy Night."  My family member was too turned off to the suspenders of the musicians and the music style of previous songs to appreciate the solo, but I loved it.

Upon reflection, you will have people who are turned off by different things.  That old expression will always be true, even with Christian and worship music.  You can't please all of the people all of the time.

Eagle Brook tries different things and I appreciate that, even when or if I am not impressed with all of the style of music I hear. 

THE OFFERING

Until recently, the church took offerings in their services and there is no way any church that passes out offering baskets can win with the stereotypical - "they just want my money."  Eagle Brook did about as good as any can by telling people over and over again, every week, that the offering is for people who attend regularly and not for first time visitors.  Nevertheless, there will be some who will complain that money is even brought up and that there is an offering. This complaining can't be avoided and if I were pastor of a church, I would most certainly steal what Eagle Brook used to say before the offering word for word.

But recently the church has taken the offering out of the service, leaving people with possibilities of tithing on line or in the back of the church at kiosks.  This is ideal for reaching that person who complains about churches wanting money, but I wonder if donations are going down as a result. I suspect that Eagle Brook may return to the old way of handing out money bags for the offering if what they are trying doesn't pay.  However, I am impressed with their attempt to reach those who need Christ, taking chances that few churches would dare.  It is a testament to their passion to reach people for Christ.

THE PRAYERS

Prayers at Eagle Brook are short, sweet and to the point.  For a church this size, that is good.  Furthermore, in any church of any size, if someone drones on and on up front in some personally centered prayer to God, my sleep apnea and snoring might kick in at a most unfortunate time.

CHURCH HISTORY AND OTHER CULTURES

Eagle Brook services and messages seem to ignore other cultures and church history. Creeds, traditional hymns and even denominational background (Baptist General Conference) are gone from every part of church services.  Ultimately I learn about myself, and can sing for my pleasure and God's glory, but I don't hear much about other times or other people.  I understand that this is a mirror of our society that focuses so much on the present and cuts away from the past.  I am reminded of legend of George Washington boldly cutting down his father's English Cherry tree (note that the Cherry tree was an English Cherry tree) and proudly acknowledging his deed. Modern readers see this as a lesson in telling the truth, but in fact, it was more a lesson in cutting down the past.  Cutting down the past is not just a church thing of the 21st Century; it is an American thing that has been with us in every generation since its beginning as we have left families and homes to come to the U.S. and build better lives.

Because we have such disregard for the past, it is only fitting that many churches follow the culture in this respect.  Is this wrong?  Studying missions in college and in graduate schools, I learned that although the Gospel is universal and unchangeable, we can change the clothes it wears.  As witnesses to Christ, we can adapt to different cultures and different ways to reach out.

When I was in the Congo for 3 years, I adapted somewhat to the culture, the music, and the ways of the Africans.  The Apostle Paul admitted that he himself was all things to all people that he might win more.  His gospel of Jesus did not change - only how he presented it and how he lived among the people.  Having said this, I don't want to get into debate taking this to extremes one way or another.  My point is this - Eagle Brook like so many other churches trashes the past in order to bring the gospel to more people who likewise are not tied to the past. 

THE PEOPLE

 

Eagle Brook is almost all White and seems to be middle class.  I remember studying Church Growth at Fuller Seminary and C. Peter Wagner telling the class that with rare exceptions, large (and growing) churches prefer uniformity in culture and race, because people are attracted to their own kind.  I cannot and will not fault Eagle Brook for doing and being this.  I am sure, the leaders know this is true and probably talk about it once in awhile.

As White as it is, Eagle Brook has a wide range of ages.  I have witnessed other growing churches with multiple campuses in the Twin Cities that are not only 99% White, but are filled with 20 and 30 year old people with few if anybody much older than that.

Should Eagle Brook make an effort to reach out to other groups?  I don't know if that is in their mission, but if they want to start a church downtown, in Uptown or some other places in the Twin Cities besides the outer suburbs, they may want to think about getting a little more diverse in hiring pastors and leaders.

REVIVAL

For many years in Seminary I studied past national and world revivals.  They fascinated me.  On one evening I had dinner with the world's foremost authority in and Father of the Church Growth movement (Donald McGavran) while at the same time taking classes with the world's foremost authority on spiritual revivals (J. Edwin Orr).  Both of these teachers had their differences.  Orr focused on spiritual renewal that came in waves from preaching and/or prayer that effected entire regions or countries; while McGavran took a business-like look at what works and what doesn't when building large churches.  Both of these men felt that God used their particular findings to help further His kingdom.

At the time, I believed that Church Growth by nature was not revival (I discussed this with Donald McGavran and he disagreed with me).  I felt that Revivals were shorter lived and effected more people in and out of different churches.  Church Growth seemed only to effect those coming into the church and Church Growth seemed less spiritual and more social science / business related. 

But I have since realized that God works very well in both and that both can be "revival."   There are a lot of people becoming Christians at Eagle Brook, so I think God is very much at work and I would consider this a modern day revival.

STEALING FROM OTHER CHURCHES

Smaller churches lose many of their people to churches like Eagle Brook.  Losing members to larger churches is also common in other cities as well.  This can be compared to Walmart coming into a small town and stealing customers from the local downtown businesses, thus shutting down entire downtown areas.

However, when smaller churches lose their members to large ones, smaller churches often call this sheep stealing, seeing their numbers dwindle and feeding their people to the bigger churches with many more resources, bigger budgets, TV screens, rock bands, and so on.  In a very real way, large churches like Eagle Brook are not unlike the Walmarts of God's kingdom.

The typical response I have heard from other big churches in other cities is that people aren't getting fed in their Catholic / Lutheran / or other churches.  So these people come to the big church to get what they lack and what they need spiritually.

Many smaller churches fault the bigger ones for being less personal, saying that people want to quit the smaller churches because they can be less responsible and less noticed in the bigger ones.  Although this might be true for some, I think  a lot of people joining big churches like Eagle Brook get involved in Bible Studies and service for the church.  So it is not all that different from the smaller churches as it seems.

I will mention briefly that there are very active Christians who leave smaller churches because they burn out in the smaller ones.  These are often people who could never say "no" and carry too many responsibilities in the smaller churches.

I was a pastor of two small churches - one in the country where I brought people in from around the church - the churches in that area didn't compete or steal; although I was told that there was a group of people who wandered from church to church - they, like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, were a wandering nomadic tribe of believers.  The other church I pastored was near Minneapolis where there was a lot of competition, but our focus was on things that larger churches in the area didn't do.  We had cultural diversity and ministered to the local Sudanese Refugees by sharing with them a big part of our church.

Smaller churches should stop beefing about sheep stealing and find ministry that they can do well.  God doesn't want every church to be big and we all have different ministries.  Serving Refugees was not glamorous and definitely hindered my church from growing; but it served God's kingdom and in a way that few others could.  Although we did not grow in Minneapolis, our church was affecting tens of thousands of Sudanese overseas.  So I would say to smaller churches: "Find what God is giving you and pursue it wholeheartedly - serve your community in ways that larger churches can't or won't - and get over the number game."

THE SERMONS

I teach at a local University in all things Bible, so I love sermons that are saturated in the Bible.  I want to learn new things and grow in my knowledge and understanding of the Bible.  Besides evangelism, that is my passion and that is the direction God has given me in this life.

We all have gifts that God has given us, and those gifts differ.  The preaching pastors at Eagle Brook will speak better than I do.  Their delivery is impeccable.  There are no "ums," and no going off on tangents or getting sidetracked in their messages.

The pastors are also marvelous at giving and using illustrations.  Having said that, I do want to mention, that Pastor Bob Merritt will use a lot of illustrations about his hunting experiences.  The illustrations fit well with the messages, but some of us are not hunters and don't relate much to the excitement he feels hunting birds and animals.

I like the vulnerability in the sermons that comes from the pastors - especially the lead pastor Bob Merritt, who openly talks about his humanness, illustrating sermons with stories from his less than perfect life.  His vulnerability connects people to him, helping them to see that pastors and godly people are real people.

The preaching at Eagle Brook is so consistently professional that I wonder how many hours each pastor puts in to preparation to get to the level they are.  I know some famous preachers of old spent 20 to 40 hours for every sermon; I spent 6.  For me to get to the level of an Eagle Brook pastor, I would need 12 to 20 hours per sermon.

The Apostle Paul did not consider himself a great preacher because his messages were filled with fear and trembling, without enticing words and leaving him looking weak.  But he knew that a message needed God's Spirit to speak through him. This was more important than delivering great messages. I often hear the voice of God in sermons at Eagle Brook - and there is no better critique than that.  Having said all this, there are one or two issues I do have.

First of all, I feel like the substance of many sermons is dictated by Pop Christian psychologists / writers / mega church pastors rather than the Bible itself; and for those sermons, I feel that Bible verses are brought in occasionally to support the message presented rather than the other way around.

I understand that Sunday morning may be designed to bring in the lost (much like the seeker-friendly services of Bill Hybels near Chicago) but when I started a small group for Eagle Brook, I was given a DVD by Andy Stanley to show to the group and to discuss.  This was hardly a deeper look into the Bible.  For my taste, Andy Stanley's messages were very much like the pop self-help messages on the "poppiest" of church service messages.

I don't speak for all the small groups, because I only led one group for about a year 10 years ago (the material I was given was what all the groups had).  And I don't know if small groups have changed in the past 10 years.  Also, although there are some weekend messages that are solidly built up in the Word of God, it is hit or miss at Eagle Brook. Some messages are rooted in the scripture and some seem to be more rooted in some Christian self-help book.

So the first issue I have is the lack of in-depth Bible teaching in all too many messages.   The second issue I have is that in two different messages, a certain Eagle Brook pastor confused stories from the book of John.  The pastor clearly did not know the book of John very well.  As a teacher of the Bible, and a dedicated member and supporter of the church I grieved a bit inside when I heard that pastor mix up the stories of the Bible. (update) However, having attended hundreds of services and listening to as many messages, this was the only goof up I have seen.

Although the pastors are great preachers, it is kind of obvious that some Eagle Brook pastors know the Bible more than others.  Still, I would like to see all of them submit their sermons each week to someone or panel to look for any scriptural discrepancies, add scriptural references, and help the pastors ground their messages to the best of their abilities in the Word of God.  In the book Galatians, Paul submitted his message to Peter and the Apostles for their approval when he visited them in Jerusalem (I am sure this was not easy for Paul to do - it may even have hurt his pride).  Even so, submission would help each message to be better grounded in the Word of God.

Secondly, I would like to see sermons focus a bit more on the source of our ethics, morality and decision making as Christians.  The Apostle Paul dedicated a huge proportion of his letters to the cross of Christ, explaining how that cross and the resurrection form who we are and how we should live in Christ as Christians.  Eagle Brook's messages encourage us to change toward a more godly lifestyle and acceptance of who we are - and that is good, but I would like to hear more about how that change is rooted in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, in the Word of God, and in his death and resurrection.

Update: 

I recently talked to one of the speaking pastors and asked him how many hours the pastors put into their messages.  He told me that they put 26 to 30 hours of work in for each message and Bob Merrit has recently told the church that he puts 40 hours a week into a sermon.  It shows.

TODAY'S EVANGELICAL ISSUES AND EAGLE BROOK

Eagle Brook seems to avoid some Evangelical issues of today's world such as homosexuality and abortion, but bring up pornography from time to time - maybe too much.  When I Googled Eagle Brook Church, I found discussions on homosexuality where some Gays felt comfortable and welcomed in the church; where some people felt the church ignored the subject of homosexuality; where some people said that there was plenty stated about the subject; and where some Gays were upset with Eagle Brook for something some pastor said.  In other words, there was no clear stand one way or the other on the issue that everyone heard.  As for me, I have never heard a message on any of these topics.

When I was a pastor I avoided those subjects because they were and are hot issues that divide the church, create hostility on both sides, and send people packing.  I know some out there will say, "So what? We need to preach the Gospel no matter how much it offends."  But the issues I have mentioned are overstated by many well-meaning Christians trying to make the world a better place.  Biblically speaking, these issues were not as central to the Bible as they are said to be by many today, who use and misuse the Bible to support one or the other doctrine.  That does not mean that these topics are not important and should be ignored entirely.

I am thankful that the pastors at Eagle Brook do not openly side with one political party or another, although I suspect they are Republicans - that's just what most Evangelicals are.  I could start writing more about this issue, but it would take too long and I have written elsewhere about Christianity and Politics (including the Principalities and the Powers).  I would only mention in passing that in politics, we are dealing with powers of this world that change and will change with the times. Furthermore, they will pass away.  But God's kingdom will endure forever.

Personally, I am glad they don't bring up these topics.  I have heard enough from well meaning Christians using rare verses that may or may not apply to today's issues, while ignoring hundreds of passages and verses concerning the care of and service to others less fortunate.

SERVICE TO OUTSIDERS

Eagle Brook sends a lot of money, people and resources to others in need throughout the world.  They are following what is important in the Word of God - part of what Jesus called "the weightier matters of the Law."   On the other hand, the religious leaders of Jesus' day focused on the small details of the Law, making them much bigger than they should have been.  Jesus told the rulers to re prioritize while not neglecting the smaller details.  As far as I can see, Eagle Brook more than passes in this area.

CONVERSIONS

Some will say that Eagle Brook makes conversion too easy and has very little follow up.  I disagree. 

I was raised in a nominal Christian environment and it took me time as a born again Christian to change and outwardly live as was expected (although I still don't get the outwardly right all the time). I think some are looking for young Christians to be all grown up right away.

Jesus gave a parable in three of the gospels telling us that when the word of God is planted, some grows and some die for different reasons.  It's like that everywhere in the Christian world.  I expect to see some Christians fall away.  I don't want to see it, but it is going to happen.

There will be shallow Christianity practiced by others.  I am not happy with that, but that's reality.

And there will be others who leave the church entirely.  That's the way it is.

On the other hand, there will be some who will continue in the faith and get involved.  Some will even become pastors, missionaries, witnesses at work and strong Christians.

My point is this: Complainers want to find bad things about big churches and will find bad things that are normal in all churches.  If those complainers won people to Christ, they too would find that a lot of their winnings will eventually leave the faith and others would judge them and point out that they too are less than perfect.

ON LINE MESSAGES

I have not been a fan of attending church by internet, but will have to admit that in my family it has been a great tool.  My son-in-law is in the music business and tours a lot in (and sometimes out of) the country.  Through Eagle Brook's internet site he is able to get a church service (the message anyway) on the bus or in some hotel.  My daughter who is in the entertainment business also travels a lot and is able to catch messages when she is not able to get to her church in NYC.  So for them and for so many others who cannot get out or get to church, I am thankful for Eagle Brook's on line messages.  But, ultimately, the Church is something that should be experienced in person.

CONCLUSIONS

Although I have studied church growth to some degree and have been to dozens of churches, my comments about Eagle Brook in this blog are only from one spectator's view.

Because Eagle Brook has so much going for it, I would send any seeker or new Christian to it before any other church.  Likewise, if my kids were still teenagers, and I was a die hard traditional hymn singer, I would still transfer to Eagle Brook for my kids' sake - no question about it.

But if someone wants a deeper level of Bible in the church services and messages or if they want more tradition and good old fashioned hymns, I would send them somewhere else.

What Is the Book of Job All About?

At the heart of the book of Job is a story of how the best religious and secular worldviews are never good enough to answer life's most basic question: Why does God allow good people to suffer?

BACKGROUND - THE IMPORTANCE OF STORY AND HOW STORY FORMS WORLDVIEW

Worldviews are collective - they build up around common stories and experiences.  In the U.S., we have many stories that are central to our common worldviews.  We have stories of ancestors seeking freedom and a better life.  We have stories of equality and possibilities, religious and political freedom, opportunity, and so on and so on.  We also have stories of broken promises and genocide to the people who were here before, and stories of slavery and oppression to others.

Different groups of people have different sets of stories that are important to each group.  Some stories seem to pass on better than others.  Most groups hold on to stories of persecution and suffering, so that even the most dominant and most powerful and most privileged groups believe that they are persecuted and denied the rights that they deserve.

In the heights of the Evangelical Right' political power, when it was the single most powerful voting block in the U.S., and when Republican leaders sought out the Evangelical Right more than any other group; the Evangelical Right promoted stories and published popular books that claimed that they were going through a tremendous persecution.  Their stories which were taken from small bits of redesigned history told them that at one time the country was at  a template of Christian morality and godly Christian ownership, but because of liberalization, pluralization, the media and Hollywood; the country was slowly going downhill and being taken away from the godly.  This entire story of losing the country is created and built up from many smaller stories through history and today.

Each individual story supports the overall story - which becomes a worldview.  And each story takes on a life of its own, shredding real history and what really happened, becoming almost mythological in nature; so that complex human beings filled with virtues and faults become larger than life heroes or villains.  Complex events are simplified to fit the story tellers' frame of storytelling and understanding.

Evangelicals are not the only ones who have hundreds of retold and redesigned stories.  Every group does.  Stories build the basis for our understanding of who we are in the world, who our enemies are, how we should live, how we should not live, what problems are and how to solve issues, and why things are the way things are.  Stories which build worldviews explain all this and much more.

Worldviews are personal - On an individual level, we all have worldviews built from many stories.  A 20 something girl has a hard time trusting men because she has had a few boyfriends that have betrayed her devotion to them.  Another trusts men entirely and looks to them to solve her problems.  Their individual experiences are filled with stories that told them that men were either good or bad.

One man trusts the government and police to help him when needed.  Another has learned that the system favors people of a different race, color or economic status.  Each person has individual and corporate experience that creates the trust or the distrust of the government and the police.

Worldviews tell us who we are - Both personal and collective worldviews tell us who we are.  They define the world and they define us. 

Worldviews justify what we do - Stories help tell us that we are on the right side of the world.  We are the good guys, others are not.  We are the ones who are moral, others are not as moral.  We have done right in the world, others are only as good as they are like us.

Worldviews guide us - Even though we have a bunch of different and sometimes conflicting stories, our stories build up the worldviews that tell us what we can or cannot do and what we should or should not do.  We may tell ourselves that the system will not let us get ahead or we may tell ourselves that anything is possible.  The weight we give to our stories and the stories we hold dear will determine what we believe is true about life and how we can or should act. 

Worldviews are by nature illusions - Stories that build our worldviews are rarely real stories - even stories from history take on a life of their own and change sometimes a little and sometimes a lot to serve their purpose as worldview builders.  The stories that build our worldviews reform and become better suited to fit the purpose they need to accomplish - to justify, to identify who we are, and to guide us.  As a result, the same story may be seen in different ways to different people.

The founding of America by European explorers and settlers was a wonderful event of a great beginning by heroes and iconic figures to many who followed.  But to those who were here before, it was the beginning of sorrow, broken promises, and genocide.

Even though slavery is now condemned by most people, in its day it was seen as a great way to build the economy and provide a service to the country through cheap labor. 

Worldviews are jealously guarded and protected - Even though they are by nature illusion, we guard and fight to keep the stories that build our worldviews.  We believe the worldviews we have are the right ones and the best ones, and we will fight and even kill to keep our stories alive and make sure that they are the most important ones.

ENTER JOB

Job lived in a world of worldviews just like we all do, and until one day shook everything he held dear, he believed those worldviews because they explained the world to him better than any other worldview.  But in one day, his worldviews fell apart and he was left in confusion.  On the other hand, his friends who came to help him were not confused - Job's situation could be easily explained through the worldview they held (the worldview that Job himself believed before tragedy struck him), and the explanation given by the worldview provided easy steps to healing and solution.

The Dominant Worldview in Job's Day

Worldviews blind us to things that contradict.  Worldviews tell us what to look for, and what we should look for is what supports our way of thinking.  Experiences and stories that do not support or contradict our worldviews are either explained away or ignored.  Experiences and stories that support our worldview add to our belief that our worldview is the best and the right one.  In Job's day, they saw that good people prospered and evil people eventually fell into hard times.  They saw that the world was just because God who created the world is just.  They saw that the righteous may suffer, but will always be blessed in the end.  They saw that the unjust my prosper, but it is only temporary and their sins would most definitely find them out and in the end they would die young or meet some sort of tragedy.  To say that experience was anything but this was to say that God was not just.  This is what they saw all around them, because this is what they were trained to see.

Most Christians today hold on to a very similar worldview.  Like the world in Job's day, we believe that justice will come to everyone and that the Judge of all the earth will be fair, but we believe that justice will come after death.  Any injustice in this world will be rectified in the world to come.

Job Challenges the Worldview

When Satan came before God in Job 1 and 2, he asked God to allow something unjust and unfair to take place.  The consequences of that injustice would shatter a worldview turning it upside down.  Suffering then became the best destroyer of this world's stories, leaving its story tellers looking like fools who build illusions and lies.  Does suffering do that today?  Or have we become so wise that we have the answers to suffering?

Job's friends were the story tellers and the builders and protectors of the stories passed on from generations.  They were the godliest of their time.  They were God' protectors and passionate warriors defending truth.  Job was to become their enemy who challenged that truth.  Job dared to put his personal life above the wisdom and the certainty of a worldview that defined life with such precision and such power as to never be doubted or questioned by good people - bad people? - maybe.  But not good people who knew better and who loved God.

In a nutshell, Job's friends tried to explain to Job things he already knew, but was beginning to doubt:
1.  Good people will be rewarded in the end.
2.  Bad people will be punished in the end.
3.  Truth is found in conventional wisdom and years of experience building a worldview that overrides all the personal experience of one person.

Job's personal experience challenged all this:
1.  Good people are not always rewarded for the good they do.
2.  Bad people can live long and good lives.
3.  The truths that we have come to believe are filled with holes that are left unexamined, unstated, ignored, neglected, and dangerous territory to go near.  The holes in the worldview are dangerous to go near because to examine too closely can tear down the entire worldview.  And bringing down the system brings chaos and destruction, fear and terror, and a world of unknown territory.

In reality, Job's experience should not necessarily bring down the entire worldviews.  Good people do generally prosper more because of their kindness and goodness.  Bad people in general are cut down earlier than necessary and face more calamities in life.  But Job shows us that these general truths are not universal by any means.

Today's Worldview

Today is no different than the day of Job except in this:  Our wisdom passed to us from good people of the past has Bible verses to support the worldviews given to us.  With individual Bible verses (often taken out of their original context) supporting good wisdom, the worldview itself can claim ultimate authority and perfection, never to be challenged and always to be protected.  But at heart, it is no different than in Job's day.  People still zealously protect the wisdom passed down to them from their spiritual fathers.  People still see individual personal challenges to the worldview as threatening and evil.

Today's Job would challenge how much "God has a wonderful plan for each one of us - for good and not for evil."  He would point out the tens of thousands of good Christians who are raped and killed in areas of the world that few of us care about.  He would look at the tragedies from life and from nature and question where God's wonderful plan was in allowing evil things happen to good people.  He would see holes in the worldviews that explain that all of this is due to Adam's sin and therefore somehow okay.  In fact, he would challenge God Himself, calling God to justify Himself before a court of law - this is what Job did.  Job would never had gone to such extremes when his life was good, but when he lost everything and life was so bad, he said things that he would never have allowed himself to say in his past.  And the weird thing is that in the end God sided with Job who challenged Him and not the protectors of good and the guardians of "truth," who believed that they were the ones protecting God's honor and God's sense of justice.

In the end neither Job nor his friends had the answers to suffering.  But in the end, Job was right in challenging the worldviews formulated and passed on from generations of good people.  Job was right in finding the holes in these worldviews and pointing out those holes.  In the end, there was and there is no known answer to suffering - it is hidden from us and wrapped up in the majesty of our God.

Preachers Who Steal

PREACHERS WHO STEAL 

When Jesus saw a widow give her last 2 cents to the temple, he told his disciples that she gave everything she had to the temple, and even though it was so little, because it was everything she had, it outweighed the money given from people who had a lot and gave large amounts of money.   (see Mark 12:41-44 and Luke 21:1-3).

In the passages preceding both of these accounts, Jesus condemned the teachers of the Law for pride and for devouring widow’s houses.  Devouring widow’s houses sounds a bit strange and has its share of explanations from various Bible scholars, who take this passage very literally and claim that these teachers found ways to physically enter widows' houses and steal from them.  I have never found any such custom in Israel in any legitimate source and those who claim the teachers had this practice base their findings entirely on Mark and Luke.

I don't think the ancient teachers entered the houses of widows to steal.  Rather, I believe that they were taking from widows' homes by living in wealth and in prosperity from the donations of the widows who gave everything they had to the temple.  

In Luke and in Mark, these passages are next to each other.  Context in the Bible is everything.  When passages and stories are next to each other in the Bible, it usually means there is a strong relationship between the passages - they were written to enlighten each other.  The passages in both Mark and Luke are meant to be together because they are addressing the same issue. 

The connection between the widow giving everything she had and the teachers stealing from widow is made even stronger because in both passages the "widow" stands out.  Again, context is important.  When words are repeated in the Bible, those words are meant to be looked at, and chances are, those words that are repeated are central to the story.  Both Mark and Luke want the reader to connect these two stories - the one about the widow who gives everything and the teacher of the Law who steals from widows.  

Out of poverty, the widow gave everything she had to the temple, which means she gave everything she had to those who lived from the tithes and offerings, which means she gave everything she had to the teachers of the Law, for the teachers of the Law lived off of the donations of the people who tithed just as pastors do today.  

Note that the Law did give permission for the priests to live on the sacrifices and tithes of the people who worshiped - this was proper; but because of greed, entitlement, corruption, and injustice; the poor were losing more and more while the priests and teachers of the Law lived “high on the hog.”  Jesus saw this injustice and this disparity and he addressed those who lived in the riches from giving widows.

So how did these teachers of the Law steal from widows?  Indirectly, they stole from them by living in wealth while those who donated to their grand lifestyle lived in poverty.

When modern preachers and teachers justify their wealth by saying that God wants us to prosper, chances are, they are living off of the gifts and tithes of those who are losing their homes, who live paycheck to paycheck, and whose families are falling apart because of insufficient income.

Is this the kind of prosperity that God would be pleased with?  Preachers who take tithes and offerings and who live in prosperity are just like the teachers of the Law in Jesus' day who, as Jesus worded it, entered into the widows' houses and took all they want.  Today's preachers do the same.