When I became a Born-Again Christian, I was baptized into the world of faith healing from a Charismatic point of view. I was taught that healing was bought for us on the cross and because Jesus took our sicknesses on the cross, we never need to be sick again.
I was taught that if I get sick, I should never accept it or mention that I am sick; but rather I should speak health into my body by saying positive things acknowledging my health because words hold power to heal or to make sick.
Through the years I abandoned a lot of what I was taught because I saw a cruel side to this type of faith healing; and to be honest, I thought it was better to err on the side of compassion for those who aren't healed than to punish the sick with a "you lack faith" trip. Love is more important than faith, and compassion is better than doctrine; but it always haunted me as to what Jesus said about faith. So I bit the bullet and studied every time Jesus mentioned faith or the lack thereof.
FAITH
We all know that faith moves mountains, but have you ever seen anyone move a mountain? So its a metaphor? Maybe, but then again, if God was planning to move some mountain, might he not use someone's faith to do so? So then it would be God choosing, and then using someone to accomplish the task. So does this mean that healing faith has to be tied to something that God already wants to do? Then can we speak healing into someone only when God wants to do it? Or can we any time? I was taught that we can any time. This verse seems to be very straightforward, but in the end is not as easily interpreted as it seems. I will settle on the fact that faith can do amazing things that are impossible in the realm of science and human existence.
Jesus never gave us a definition of faith or where it comes from. He simply recognized its presence or its absence and he knew what faith could do.
A LITTLE FAITH GOES A LONG WAY
Jesus compared faith to a mustard seed which is very small but grows into a large bush. When the disciples asked for more faith, he basically told them that they had enough faith, because even a little is all one needs. So then, faith is not about how much but rather it is how to use what we have.
LACK OF FAITH
Jesus' moaned because his generation was faithless. His generation was not all that different than ours in that aspect. Rather, every generation including our own could be called faithless in the same way if not more than the generation Jesus lived in.
Jesus also saw a lack of faith in his own hometown. This kind of lack of faith was brought on by jealousy, anger and downright hatred. People had Jesus pegged as a normal kid who became an adult within a family that everyone knew. For Jesus to fit into some messiah like character was not acceptable. Other towns that did not grow up with him could fit their hopes and dreams into Jesus, but not his home town. Other cities could make Jesus the figure who embodied their dreams and fantasies, but not his home town. They knew him as a part of a poor family.
Notice that these two examples show that the people who lacked faith did not accept or want Jesus around. They completely and entirely rejected Jesus and because of that, the Bible says that Jesus was limited in his miracles.
The disciples also lacked faith from time to time, however, besides one occasion, their lack of faith had nothing to do with healing. It had to do with food and with walking on water. Furthermore, when it came to healing and lacking faith, the disciples lacked faith as healers, not as those needing to be healed. No one who needed healing was ever denied because of a lack of faith. Only healers (the disciples) lacked faith in the Gospels.
THE PRESENCE OF FAITH
Anyone who came to Jesus desiring healing was healed. If Jesus told anything about faith to anyone coming to him looking for healing, he told them that they had great faith in coming to the healer looking for healing and expecting to be healed. Jesus looked for, encouraged, and found the presence of faith in others. The only people he ever saw a lack of faith in was his disciples - the healers themselves.
In other words, Jesus only told sick people that they had an amazing faith. He never told them they lacked faith. Ever!
When the disciples who were healers in training could not cast out a demon, they did not blame the father of the possessed boy or the possessed boy. They asked Jesus why they couldn't cast out the demon. Jesus told them that they - the healers - lacked faith and commitment. They should have fasted and prayed this thing out.
TODAY
What we see and hear today by faith healers is not from the Bible at all. The sick are blamed and turned away from healers who make money by selling books, by preaching. The healers transfer the blame for their own lack of faith onto the person or people who come to them in faith hoping to be healed. This practice and this teaching is not only unbiblical, it is cruel. This teaching has reached down into the pews and into the hearts of very well meaning Christians who hope to help their sick friends, but more often than not, hurt them instead.
I have heard the stories and have seen the hurt in people who had to deal with diabetes, tragedy, sickness, and the accusations of church members who tell them that they lack faith. I have seen a friend who won dozens to Christ become an outcast in his community because he went to them for prayer but was not healed. I have seen a man paralyzed from an accident publicly turned away from a faith healer, and told that he did not have enough faith.
These people in need did not lack faith. According to Jesus and according to his practice, the healers lacked faith but conveniently placed the blame on the victims - those who had faith to ask for prayer.
I believe in healing and believe that God heals today. I have been healed and have prayed for others who were miraculously healed. But this teaching and this practice that blames the victims must stop.
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Fear in the Bible and Fear Today
I have always had this feeling that things are getting worse and that
one day - probably one day soon - things are going to come to a head.
As I learn about history and about my own times, I realize that I am
not the only person who feels this foreboding.
This has helped to calm my fears, knowing that my times are no more threatening than the 50s when we feared nuclear war; or the 60s when we feared the breakdown of society; or the 70s when we feared the end of the late great planet earth; or the 90s when we feared Y2K; or the first decade of the 21st Century when we feared comets; or 2012 when the Mayan calander was about to end; or whatever other disasters or powers threaten our times.
Knowing that so many unfounded fears have always plagued us, and knowing that somehow life goes on, I have learned to curb my fears and to keep them in check. But someday, maybe one of my innermost fears will be realized.
This has helped to calm my fears, knowing that my times are no more threatening than the 50s when we feared nuclear war; or the 60s when we feared the breakdown of society; or the 70s when we feared the end of the late great planet earth; or the 90s when we feared Y2K; or the first decade of the 21st Century when we feared comets; or 2012 when the Mayan calander was about to end; or whatever other disasters or powers threaten our times.
Knowing that so many unfounded fears have always plagued us, and knowing that somehow life goes on, I have learned to curb my fears and to keep them in check. But someday, maybe one of my innermost fears will be realized.
FEAR IS GOOD
As
human beings living on this earth, we are created with an innate fear
of the unfamiliar. Worry and fear of the uncertain keeps us humans
alert and prepared for possible dangers. I believe that a good healthy
fear is needed for human survival and continuous growth.
FEAR IS BAD
But
like most good things, fear can also take some bad turns. Too much
fear can paralyze. Too much fear can also create tremendous evils by
turning nice, normal people into killers such as in the cases of the
many genocides that take place throughout history. I don't need to go
through even our own past in the U.S. with the Pietists, the colonists,
and so on, who have done untold evil acts because they feared. And to
those who think that their own group would never do that... It would do
that and probably did at one time.
Fear is a healthy feeling designed to help us survive. But it can become a monster.
Fear of the future has been with us since the beginning of humanity and it will continue until we end as a species; so it is no surprise that fear permeated the days of the biblical prophets.
THE ANCIENT WORLD AND THE SPIRITUAL
Bible prophets and what the Bible calls false prophets addressed the fears of their day. Some tried to ease the fears of the people, telling them that God was on their side and therefore would protect and deliver them. On the other hand, the other prophets capitalized on the fears of their day and told the people that by obeying God, they could escape the future doom or at least prepare themselves for the worst.
In the world views of that day, the natural world was so intimately tied into the spiritual realm, it was assumed that bad times and good times were caused by the gods or God - and only by that spiritual realm. So to avoid what they feared, it was imperative to please the gods or God.
In other words, there was no such thing as natural disaster. The spiritual effected everything. And because the spiritual world determined the events in the natural world, humans could get ultimate control of everything. We could determine whether or not the spiritual realm was going to reward or punish. Our dedication and obedience to the gods / God determined whether or not our fears would overtake us. So ultimately, by appeasing the spiritual beings, people could have ultimate control over the natural world.
Both godly and ungodly people of that day held on to these beliefs. The prophets did as well as the false prophets as well as the people.
Fear of the future has been with us since the beginning of humanity and it will continue until we end as a species; so it is no surprise that fear permeated the days of the biblical prophets.
THE ANCIENT WORLD AND THE SPIRITUAL
Bible prophets and what the Bible calls false prophets addressed the fears of their day. Some tried to ease the fears of the people, telling them that God was on their side and therefore would protect and deliver them. On the other hand, the other prophets capitalized on the fears of their day and told the people that by obeying God, they could escape the future doom or at least prepare themselves for the worst.
In the world views of that day, the natural world was so intimately tied into the spiritual realm, it was assumed that bad times and good times were caused by the gods or God - and only by that spiritual realm. So to avoid what they feared, it was imperative to please the gods or God.
In other words, there was no such thing as natural disaster. The spiritual effected everything. And because the spiritual world determined the events in the natural world, humans could get ultimate control of everything. We could determine whether or not the spiritual realm was going to reward or punish. Our dedication and obedience to the gods / God determined whether or not our fears would overtake us. So ultimately, by appeasing the spiritual beings, people could have ultimate control over the natural world.
Both godly and ungodly people of that day held on to these beliefs. The prophets did as well as the false prophets as well as the people.
THE TIMES
When
I read the prophets in the Bible, I discover individuals who usually
lived in fearful times. They and the people around them lived on the
edge of a terrible future, and the feeling of imminent disaster filled
the air of their day.
In the
midst of all the fear, there was a strong desire to find peace from that
fear. People wanted not to be afraid. People wanted "shalom" which
was rest from the tensions and perils of this life.
People lived with both fear and the longing for peace from that fear.
SOMETIMES THEIR FEAR WAS REAL
When the Writing Prophets of Israel began to speak, there were real threats to the nation's well-being.
Assyria
Assyria
was a nation growing stronger by the day, building a reputation as the
most violent and cruel nation to ever have existed. They took cities
without mercy, slaughtering, raping and torturing people without mercy.
Did I mention that they had no mercy? Israel lived under the constant
feeling that one day, Assyria would focus their evil attention on
them...and one day it did.
Babylon
When
the threat and the viciousness of Assyria had come to an end, Babylon
became the next power to be reckoned with. It was also vicious and even
more powerful as it took one city after another.
The Siege
Everybody
knew what happened in seiges. The stories were passed down to them
from generations and the stories came from other cities of their day.
Enemy armies came into the land and then stripped the land of all that was good. Those armies pillaged and raped as they went. Small towns were defenseless and therefore, many ran to the large cities with walls for protection. But the large cities offered only temporary relief from those armies.
Once inside city walls, the enemy army came and camped outside those walls eating and drinking, while inside the walls, supplies dwindled down to nothing. If the city held out in hopes of some kind of deliverence (either from God / the gods or other foreign armies less vicious), many turned to cannibalism in order to survive, while eating their own excrement and drinking their own urine.
Eventually, if no deliverence came, and usually it didn't, the city gates were opened and the enemy armies flooded in slaughtering, raping and pillaging.
Because they all knew the stories, the people knew the reality that faced them when any foreign army was on the move. Reports regulary came from different regions about the horrors taking place. As long as those other regions were far away, people had some ease. But Israel just happened to be in the center of where just about every army traveled, so fear permeated the air anytime an army was on the move.
TRUE AND FALSE PROPHETS
True prophets correctly discerned the times. Jeremiah told the people to fear the future and prepare for it because it was going to be bad. But Isaiah told King Ahaz not to worry when things looked really bad, because God was going to deliver Judah from armies already set against him.
IN THE 21st CENTURY
Today there are those who are doomsayers. "Everything is going downward and getting worse," they say. But is it really getting worse? I have always held Ecclesiastes 7:10 as a guide to this issue:
Say not, "Why were the former days better than these?"
For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.
Using this verse as a guide, I have learned that we sometimes glorify the past and we glorify the past's leaders. Using this verse I study deep enough into the past and into history and find that the past is not always as wonderful, as godly, as pure as it seems on the surface.
If I choose to read only certain books and articles, if all I read tells me how wonderful some time or era was, I will not learn the meaning to Ecclesiastes 7:10; but if I look well enough into any era or time, I will find that there people always feared what was coming in their day and that each generation had its share of problems and sins. Many generations faced far greater problems than ours.
Another lesson I get from Ecclesiastes 7:10 is that I should not allow the great days of the past to blind me to the great things happening now. After all, there will probably be a day when people will look back and say what a wonderful time the 2010s were.
The lesson I get from history is not to allow fear of the future and negativity of the present ruin today. Jesus told us not to fear the future because there are enough problems for us today (Matthew 6:34).
Enemy armies came into the land and then stripped the land of all that was good. Those armies pillaged and raped as they went. Small towns were defenseless and therefore, many ran to the large cities with walls for protection. But the large cities offered only temporary relief from those armies.
Once inside city walls, the enemy army came and camped outside those walls eating and drinking, while inside the walls, supplies dwindled down to nothing. If the city held out in hopes of some kind of deliverence (either from God / the gods or other foreign armies less vicious), many turned to cannibalism in order to survive, while eating their own excrement and drinking their own urine.
Eventually, if no deliverence came, and usually it didn't, the city gates were opened and the enemy armies flooded in slaughtering, raping and pillaging.
Because they all knew the stories, the people knew the reality that faced them when any foreign army was on the move. Reports regulary came from different regions about the horrors taking place. As long as those other regions were far away, people had some ease. But Israel just happened to be in the center of where just about every army traveled, so fear permeated the air anytime an army was on the move.
TRUE AND FALSE PROPHETS
True prophets correctly discerned the times. Jeremiah told the people to fear the future and prepare for it because it was going to be bad. But Isaiah told King Ahaz not to worry when things looked really bad, because God was going to deliver Judah from armies already set against him.
IN THE 21st CENTURY
Today there are those who are doomsayers. "Everything is going downward and getting worse," they say. But is it really getting worse? I have always held Ecclesiastes 7:10 as a guide to this issue:
Say not, "Why were the former days better than these?"
For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.
Using this verse as a guide, I have learned that we sometimes glorify the past and we glorify the past's leaders. Using this verse I study deep enough into the past and into history and find that the past is not always as wonderful, as godly, as pure as it seems on the surface.
If I choose to read only certain books and articles, if all I read tells me how wonderful some time or era was, I will not learn the meaning to Ecclesiastes 7:10; but if I look well enough into any era or time, I will find that there people always feared what was coming in their day and that each generation had its share of problems and sins. Many generations faced far greater problems than ours.
Another lesson I get from Ecclesiastes 7:10 is that I should not allow the great days of the past to blind me to the great things happening now. After all, there will probably be a day when people will look back and say what a wonderful time the 2010s were.
The lesson I get from history is not to allow fear of the future and negativity of the present ruin today. Jesus told us not to fear the future because there are enough problems for us today (Matthew 6:34).
Friday, May 16, 2014
The Upper Room in Minneapolis (Updated)
I have attended the Upper Room many times over the years, following my kids while they were in High School. But once they left home I stayed at my own church. However, last night I went with my daughter to visit the Upper Room for the first time in a few years and was able to experience worship.
2015 - I wrote the above paragraph a little over one year ago. Since then Upper Room has moved to Colonial Church of Edina and has changed some. I went last night again and need to update my experience a little.
THE HISTORY
The Upper Room used to worship in Christ Presbyterian Church (which is where I used to attend their worship), while the main church was facing a crisis. As I was told the story, the building belonged to the denomination which was welcoming certain teachings with which Christ Pres. did not agree. The dilemma then became this: the church leadership wanted to break away from its denomination but couldn't because the building belonged to the denomination. I don't know what ever became of this dilemma.
When I attended Upper Room in the past, hundreds of young people came and worshiped. The services and music seemed to be full of life and energy. And it grew.
Sometime after I stopped going, the Upper Room broke away from Christ Pres. for reasons I don't know - but I suspect that it did so because of the denomination's stands on certain doctrines and practices. When I visited last night, I realized that it had become a small part of what it was when I used to go.
2015 - Upper Room has grown and does a decent job of packing out the auditorium with White 20 something young families. The service was filled with the noises of children playing, talking, and crying.
THE MUSIC
I believe that the music is the one of two reasons the Upper Room continues to have 2 services that can hold 100 +. The musicians were top notch and the girl who led singing was as good as singers get. She was awesome.
The band was tight and did a great job with a room that wasn't designed for the best acoustics.
The song choices were great.
2015 - I only got to hear two songs, because I came late. The band was okay - something may have changed since last year - I am not sure. There was one woman in the band who had an amazing voice, but the main singer usually sang out of key. My suggestion would be to focus more on the girl with the voice and have her lead most of the music.
IMAGES
I think the Upper Room holds on to some of their Presbyterian past with icons such as centuries' old paintings, tile, and stain glass windows of Jesus provided in the background for the words of the songs. This may provide familiarity for people coming out of high church tradition, but it does little good for those who have grown up outside of the church or for those who were brought up in churches that were not steeped in ancient tradition. These images suggest that Jesus was a White European who looked like he lived in the Middle Ages. I appreciate the art involved but don't think its good for background in worship service trying to reach outsiders.
2015 - I didn't see the creative images last night, which is neither good nor bad in my opinion.
THE ATMOSPHERE
The Upper Room was a bit quaint. They had people from the congregation come up to the center of the room to drop off the offerings and they invited mothers to come forward to pick up flowers. They also invited people to come up to pick up homework sheets to be practiced in response to the sermons. The quaintness and feel of everything reminded me of a cutting edge 1970s church.
I felt like the Upper Room had devolved into a group where most of the people knew each other and focused on each other with little or no concern for outsiders. It had a family-like atmosphere that was not there years ago when it was in its heyday. But family-like may be dysfunctional or it may be healthy. I can't tell one way or another from an outsider's view. I only know that visitors like church to be more about them, and this family-like atmosphere made me feel like I wasn't in the family.
Furthermore, in between songs, the music was interrupted by a message about church finances directed to the insiders. As a first time visitor, I cared nothing for this and found myself thanking God that my daughter's boyfriend did not join us that day, because as a rare-church goer, if he hears anything about money, he will tune out the rest of the service.
To add to this feeling of being an outsider, there were no greeters at the door and nothing in the service that addressed visitors. I left feeling like the Upper Room had become a group of insiders that were not interested in me or in anyone else who may visit. This is an easy fix for any church - Get greeters at the door!
Upper Room had a lot going for them years ago. They still have a lot going on for them, but can do a heck of a lot better. They need to focus on those coming into the church. Perhaps the leaders should should go on field trips, checking out other growing churches in the area to get good ideas from them. I believe that Upper Room can make a big come back with a few small changes.
2015 - Because I came in late, I didn't get the greeters which would have been nice to help me find my way to the service. It was no big deal at all, but would have been nice for us late comers.
THE MESSAGE
It seems that too few Evangelical churches have women who preach, so when I saw a woman pastor stand up to preach I was looking forward to hearing her. But after the service, my daughter turned to me and said, "No offense, but what was she saying? She seemed to be all over the place." Unfortunately I couldn't answer her. For a good 25 to 30 minutes the pastor rambled on about "the soul," quoting extensively from a couple of books she obviously liked a lot, but for us, the book's quotes made no sense and neither did her message. She was "all over the place."
The pastor may have had a lot of interesting ideas, but they never came together very well. All pastors and teachers need to spell out messages step by step and clearly. They need to speak as if we (people in the seats) are needing things explained and simplified.
If I would be invited to sit down with the pastor to talk to her in person (its always easy to talk big when not face to face), I would give the following suggestions:
1. Reflect about the message. Was it just a random bad message. Sometimes pastors have a message that goes bad. I don't think this was the case however. The message was too far gone.
2. Find a class (better yet a string of classes) in a school somewhere to study how to preach. The pastor had passion for her message, and that is a great foundation for any message. A good class or two or three could help channel the passion in ways that the congregation can appreciate.
3. Study past preachers and what made them work.
4. Never quote more than a phrase or a sentence in a message.
5. Never quote more than 2 or 3 quotes in a message. People want to see and hear the pastor. I wanted to hear what the pastor had to say, not some author I had no appreciation for.
6. If you can't summarize an author in a way that we all understand, and if you can't make it your own and deliver it accordingly, then leave it out entirely.
7. Build material on no more than 3 concepts.
8. Focus on the audience and their needs. I felt like this message had nothing to do with anybody. I felt like it was trying to be philosophical and theological at the same time, but failed in both areas.
9. Stay more with the Bible and less with this attempt at philosophy/theology.
10. Find a team at church (without more than one "yes" person) that can critique each sermon in love and in support. Create a panel of judges who will listen to the pastor and tell her what works and what doesn't. Ideally, this team will hear the message before the final presentation.
2015 - The speaker was much better than last year's speaker. He used the scripture well. If I had one thing to say, it would be a suggestion that more time would be used in preparation for the delivery of the message. The speaker read most of his sermon from his notes on the podium. It would have been nice if he could have broken away from the papers and freed himself up to get more animated - he could be a good preacher.
CONCLUSIONS
Even though I had quite a disappointing experience, my hope and prayer is that the Upper Room will rebound. The Upper Room has the ingredients it needs to return bigger than ever and with all my heart I hope they will.
2015 - Judging from last night, I think the Upper Room is turning around and is growing.
Summary for them or any church lacking these things:
1. Get greeters at the door.
2. Brainstorm ideas about how to help new people find the upper parking lot. One church that meets at Northwestern University has people lined along the roads that flag in the rest. They dance and get real animated about their job as they direct people at every turn.
3. Focus more on non-Christians and outsiders coming to visit.
4. Make sure sermons are simple and to the point and get a team of judges.
5. Keep the music great. Upper Room's band may the biggest part of what's holding people at the Upper Room.
2015 - Most of this was last year's thought, and there is a lot I don't know about the Upper Room. Some of what I say may not hit the mark from others' points of view; but I would hope that like any great work, the leaders can examine and work on making a good work better.
2015 - I wrote the above paragraph a little over one year ago. Since then Upper Room has moved to Colonial Church of Edina and has changed some. I went last night again and need to update my experience a little.
THE HISTORY
The Upper Room used to worship in Christ Presbyterian Church (which is where I used to attend their worship), while the main church was facing a crisis. As I was told the story, the building belonged to the denomination which was welcoming certain teachings with which Christ Pres. did not agree. The dilemma then became this: the church leadership wanted to break away from its denomination but couldn't because the building belonged to the denomination. I don't know what ever became of this dilemma.
When I attended Upper Room in the past, hundreds of young people came and worshiped. The services and music seemed to be full of life and energy. And it grew.
Sometime after I stopped going, the Upper Room broke away from Christ Pres. for reasons I don't know - but I suspect that it did so because of the denomination's stands on certain doctrines and practices. When I visited last night, I realized that it had become a small part of what it was when I used to go.
2015 - Upper Room has grown and does a decent job of packing out the auditorium with White 20 something young families. The service was filled with the noises of children playing, talking, and crying.
THE MUSIC
I believe that the music is the one of two reasons the Upper Room continues to have 2 services that can hold 100 +. The musicians were top notch and the girl who led singing was as good as singers get. She was awesome.
The band was tight and did a great job with a room that wasn't designed for the best acoustics.
The song choices were great.
2015 - I only got to hear two songs, because I came late. The band was okay - something may have changed since last year - I am not sure. There was one woman in the band who had an amazing voice, but the main singer usually sang out of key. My suggestion would be to focus more on the girl with the voice and have her lead most of the music.
IMAGES
I think the Upper Room holds on to some of their Presbyterian past with icons such as centuries' old paintings, tile, and stain glass windows of Jesus provided in the background for the words of the songs. This may provide familiarity for people coming out of high church tradition, but it does little good for those who have grown up outside of the church or for those who were brought up in churches that were not steeped in ancient tradition. These images suggest that Jesus was a White European who looked like he lived in the Middle Ages. I appreciate the art involved but don't think its good for background in worship service trying to reach outsiders.
2015 - I didn't see the creative images last night, which is neither good nor bad in my opinion.
THE ATMOSPHERE
The Upper Room was a bit quaint. They had people from the congregation come up to the center of the room to drop off the offerings and they invited mothers to come forward to pick up flowers. They also invited people to come up to pick up homework sheets to be practiced in response to the sermons. The quaintness and feel of everything reminded me of a cutting edge 1970s church.
I felt like the Upper Room had devolved into a group where most of the people knew each other and focused on each other with little or no concern for outsiders. It had a family-like atmosphere that was not there years ago when it was in its heyday. But family-like may be dysfunctional or it may be healthy. I can't tell one way or another from an outsider's view. I only know that visitors like church to be more about them, and this family-like atmosphere made me feel like I wasn't in the family.
Furthermore, in between songs, the music was interrupted by a message about church finances directed to the insiders. As a first time visitor, I cared nothing for this and found myself thanking God that my daughter's boyfriend did not join us that day, because as a rare-church goer, if he hears anything about money, he will tune out the rest of the service.
To add to this feeling of being an outsider, there were no greeters at the door and nothing in the service that addressed visitors. I left feeling like the Upper Room had become a group of insiders that were not interested in me or in anyone else who may visit. This is an easy fix for any church - Get greeters at the door!
Upper Room had a lot going for them years ago. They still have a lot going on for them, but can do a heck of a lot better. They need to focus on those coming into the church. Perhaps the leaders should should go on field trips, checking out other growing churches in the area to get good ideas from them. I believe that Upper Room can make a big come back with a few small changes.
2015 - Because I came in late, I didn't get the greeters which would have been nice to help me find my way to the service. It was no big deal at all, but would have been nice for us late comers.
THE MESSAGE
It seems that too few Evangelical churches have women who preach, so when I saw a woman pastor stand up to preach I was looking forward to hearing her. But after the service, my daughter turned to me and said, "No offense, but what was she saying? She seemed to be all over the place." Unfortunately I couldn't answer her. For a good 25 to 30 minutes the pastor rambled on about "the soul," quoting extensively from a couple of books she obviously liked a lot, but for us, the book's quotes made no sense and neither did her message. She was "all over the place."
The pastor may have had a lot of interesting ideas, but they never came together very well. All pastors and teachers need to spell out messages step by step and clearly. They need to speak as if we (people in the seats) are needing things explained and simplified.
If I would be invited to sit down with the pastor to talk to her in person (its always easy to talk big when not face to face), I would give the following suggestions:
1. Reflect about the message. Was it just a random bad message. Sometimes pastors have a message that goes bad. I don't think this was the case however. The message was too far gone.
2. Find a class (better yet a string of classes) in a school somewhere to study how to preach. The pastor had passion for her message, and that is a great foundation for any message. A good class or two or three could help channel the passion in ways that the congregation can appreciate.
3. Study past preachers and what made them work.
4. Never quote more than a phrase or a sentence in a message.
5. Never quote more than 2 or 3 quotes in a message. People want to see and hear the pastor. I wanted to hear what the pastor had to say, not some author I had no appreciation for.
6. If you can't summarize an author in a way that we all understand, and if you can't make it your own and deliver it accordingly, then leave it out entirely.
7. Build material on no more than 3 concepts.
8. Focus on the audience and their needs. I felt like this message had nothing to do with anybody. I felt like it was trying to be philosophical and theological at the same time, but failed in both areas.
9. Stay more with the Bible and less with this attempt at philosophy/theology.
10. Find a team at church (without more than one "yes" person) that can critique each sermon in love and in support. Create a panel of judges who will listen to the pastor and tell her what works and what doesn't. Ideally, this team will hear the message before the final presentation.
2015 - The speaker was much better than last year's speaker. He used the scripture well. If I had one thing to say, it would be a suggestion that more time would be used in preparation for the delivery of the message. The speaker read most of his sermon from his notes on the podium. It would have been nice if he could have broken away from the papers and freed himself up to get more animated - he could be a good preacher.
CONCLUSIONS
Even though I had quite a disappointing experience, my hope and prayer is that the Upper Room will rebound. The Upper Room has the ingredients it needs to return bigger than ever and with all my heart I hope they will.
2015 - Judging from last night, I think the Upper Room is turning around and is growing.
Summary for them or any church lacking these things:
1. Get greeters at the door.
2. Brainstorm ideas about how to help new people find the upper parking lot. One church that meets at Northwestern University has people lined along the roads that flag in the rest. They dance and get real animated about their job as they direct people at every turn.
3. Focus more on non-Christians and outsiders coming to visit.
4. Make sure sermons are simple and to the point and get a team of judges.
5. Keep the music great. Upper Room's band may the biggest part of what's holding people at the Upper Room.
2015 - Most of this was last year's thought, and there is a lot I don't know about the Upper Room. Some of what I say may not hit the mark from others' points of view; but I would hope that like any great work, the leaders can examine and work on making a good work better.
Saturday, May 3, 2014
Returning to Jesus
In many of our Christian walks, we fall away for one reason or another.
There are different reasons and different ways we fall away.
Some of us stop believing entirely, no longer holding on to the beliefs we once held dear.
Some of us just stop living the life of a Christian, not realizing that our faith is no longer being put into practice.
Some of us just stop living the life of a Christian, realizing that our faith is no longer being being put into practice.
SIGNS OF BACKSLIDING
1. If you make excuses for bad behavior, for not going to church, and for not being a good Christian, chances are you have backslidden.
2. If you find fault with the church and people in the church, and criticize them, chances are, you are backslidden.
3. If Christians seem fake to you, and phony, like they are putting on an act, chances are you are backslidden.
4. If you no longer read the Bible regularly, chances are you are backslidden.
5. If you no longer pray regularly, chances are you are backsidden.
6. If you start justifying friends who do bad things, chances are you are backslidden.
7. If you justify or fall into sexual promiscuity, chances are you are backslidden.
HOW TO DEAL WITH BACKSLIDING
1. Admit you have backslidden.
2. Ask God to forgive you.
3. Rededicate your life to Christ.
THE APOSTLE PETER
Peter was in a boat when Jesus called to him into ministry from the shores of Galilee. Months later, after Peter denied Jesus and fell away from his faith, Jesus called him back into ministry - oddly enough, Peter Peter was again in a boat and Jesus again called him from the shores of Galilee.
The fact is, you need to return to that place when you were a good Christian; when you were at peace with God; when you felt His presence; and knew that your life was worth living.
God still loves you and He still has a plan for you.
Admit you have backslidden, ask God to forgive you, and rededicate your life to Him.
There are different reasons and different ways we fall away.
Some of us stop believing entirely, no longer holding on to the beliefs we once held dear.
Some of us just stop living the life of a Christian, not realizing that our faith is no longer being put into practice.
Some of us just stop living the life of a Christian, realizing that our faith is no longer being being put into practice.
SIGNS OF BACKSLIDING
1. If you make excuses for bad behavior, for not going to church, and for not being a good Christian, chances are you have backslidden.
2. If you find fault with the church and people in the church, and criticize them, chances are, you are backslidden.
3. If Christians seem fake to you, and phony, like they are putting on an act, chances are you are backslidden.
4. If you no longer read the Bible regularly, chances are you are backslidden.
5. If you no longer pray regularly, chances are you are backsidden.
6. If you start justifying friends who do bad things, chances are you are backslidden.
7. If you justify or fall into sexual promiscuity, chances are you are backslidden.
HOW TO DEAL WITH BACKSLIDING
1. Admit you have backslidden.
2. Ask God to forgive you.
3. Rededicate your life to Christ.
THE APOSTLE PETER
Peter was in a boat when Jesus called to him into ministry from the shores of Galilee. Months later, after Peter denied Jesus and fell away from his faith, Jesus called him back into ministry - oddly enough, Peter Peter was again in a boat and Jesus again called him from the shores of Galilee.
The fact is, you need to return to that place when you were a good Christian; when you were at peace with God; when you felt His presence; and knew that your life was worth living.
God still loves you and He still has a plan for you.
Admit you have backslidden, ask God to forgive you, and rededicate your life to Him.
Saturday, September 28, 2013
The Search for the Historical Jesus
Many of today's modern theologians are searching for the real Jesus. They are looking for the Jesus who walked in Galilee and taught his disciples and the masses. They want to know what he really taught and what he really did. They believe that the early church created and embellished stories, turning a real man into a god-like prophet/messiah.
These theologians (the seekers in this game of hide-and-go-seek) are mostly White men. Why that makes a difference, I don't know. Neither do I know why it is mostly a White Man's obsession. Nevertheless, they are looking for the real Jesus.
Jesus is hiding somewhere and they believe that with the right tools, they can strip away what the early church added (the Jesus of Faith) and find his hiding places, thus meeting the real Jesus - the Jesus of history. Jesus is hiding under a pile of Early Christian fabrication and exaggeration called the New Testament writings and the Gospels. But thanks to First and Second Century writings such as Josephus and the Book of Thomas, and thanks to modern scientific thinking and creativity, we are finding his hiding places by scaling back the layers of early Christian zeal and faith.
A common critique states that these men are only finding themselves in their search for Jesus and perhaps this is true to some extent; men like Morton Smith, who have concluded that Jesus was Gay was in fact himself gay. So it is likely that many seekers are finding their own selves - reading themselves into their studies. But I believe that many of these seekers are finding a Jesus who looks more like the areas of interest these seekers have. Let me explain:
Some scholars (such as John Dominic Crossan or Burton Mack), for whatever reason, might focus his studies on Cynics in the ancient world. They begin to see similarities between Jesus and the Cynics, so they pursue that direction more and more. Our scholars look for all the similarities they can find, and in the end will be convinced that Jesus was a Jewish Cynic. Our scholars are not necessarily modern Cynics or Cynic wanna-bees. But for some reason, our scholars stumbled upon or somehow were intrigued with the Cynics. It may also be that our scholars had little or no fascination with the Cynics until one day, while reading about Jesus, it dawned on them that from time to time Jesus did things Cynical. Our scholars then began to look for more evidence; and upon finding more, arm themselves with ways to disregard evidence to the contrary. Before long our scholars become convinced that Jesus was a Jewish Cynic.
Other scholars have discovered other parallels with ancient groups or individuals. And discovering those parallels, they become convinced that they have found the historical Jesus' true hiding place. So one seeker discovers that Jesus was a healer, another that Jesus was a political zealot fighting Rome's domination, another discovers that Jesus was a wandering prophet, and so on.
The weird thing is this: I believe by studying the past and by searching for the historical Jesus, our modern seekers are many times discovering, not so much the historical person of Jesus, but the historical expectations of the people of Jesus' day. Our scholars are helping us to see what people in Jesus day expected to see in Jesus, because they too read into Jesus what they needed to see; what they wanted to see; or what they expected to see. Their opinions and expectations were dictated by the world around them at the time. And because our present day seekers study the times of Jesus to help discover the historical Jesus, they come closer to learning what people in Jesus' day expected to see in Jesus.
The people in Jesus' Day were seeking to know who this Jesus was and where his miracles came from. The Gospels are filled with questions the First Century Jew asked such as, "Are you the Messiah? Are you the Prophet?" and "Who is this man?" The Synoptic Gospels highlight the discovery of the disciples in the middle of Jesus' ministry, "You are the Christ!" But even though the disciples learned that Jesus was the Messiah, their understanding of the Messiah was not spot on. In fact, it was considered demonic and serving the political needs of the people of Jesus day.
Like most in their world and like many modern day seekers, the disciples believed the Messiah was a political figure. The Gospels are filled with people who had different questions and answers that reflected what people expected to see from Jesus, and because they (like the disciples themselves) read into Jesus what their times and desires held dear, they did not truly find who Jesus was. They could only see in part. Metaphorically, they were like the blind man who being healed by Jesus saw men like trees walking - their vision was blurred.
So I congratulate the modern seekers for coming closer to discovering and joining in the opinions of those who saw Jesus and who asked, "Who is this man?" But to answer that question, they have failed.
These theologians (the seekers in this game of hide-and-go-seek) are mostly White men. Why that makes a difference, I don't know. Neither do I know why it is mostly a White Man's obsession. Nevertheless, they are looking for the real Jesus.
Jesus is hiding somewhere and they believe that with the right tools, they can strip away what the early church added (the Jesus of Faith) and find his hiding places, thus meeting the real Jesus - the Jesus of history. Jesus is hiding under a pile of Early Christian fabrication and exaggeration called the New Testament writings and the Gospels. But thanks to First and Second Century writings such as Josephus and the Book of Thomas, and thanks to modern scientific thinking and creativity, we are finding his hiding places by scaling back the layers of early Christian zeal and faith.
A common critique states that these men are only finding themselves in their search for Jesus and perhaps this is true to some extent; men like Morton Smith, who have concluded that Jesus was Gay was in fact himself gay. So it is likely that many seekers are finding their own selves - reading themselves into their studies. But I believe that many of these seekers are finding a Jesus who looks more like the areas of interest these seekers have. Let me explain:
Some scholars (such as John Dominic Crossan or Burton Mack), for whatever reason, might focus his studies on Cynics in the ancient world. They begin to see similarities between Jesus and the Cynics, so they pursue that direction more and more. Our scholars look for all the similarities they can find, and in the end will be convinced that Jesus was a Jewish Cynic. Our scholars are not necessarily modern Cynics or Cynic wanna-bees. But for some reason, our scholars stumbled upon or somehow were intrigued with the Cynics. It may also be that our scholars had little or no fascination with the Cynics until one day, while reading about Jesus, it dawned on them that from time to time Jesus did things Cynical. Our scholars then began to look for more evidence; and upon finding more, arm themselves with ways to disregard evidence to the contrary. Before long our scholars become convinced that Jesus was a Jewish Cynic.
Other scholars have discovered other parallels with ancient groups or individuals. And discovering those parallels, they become convinced that they have found the historical Jesus' true hiding place. So one seeker discovers that Jesus was a healer, another that Jesus was a political zealot fighting Rome's domination, another discovers that Jesus was a wandering prophet, and so on.
The weird thing is this: I believe by studying the past and by searching for the historical Jesus, our modern seekers are many times discovering, not so much the historical person of Jesus, but the historical expectations of the people of Jesus' day. Our scholars are helping us to see what people in Jesus day expected to see in Jesus, because they too read into Jesus what they needed to see; what they wanted to see; or what they expected to see. Their opinions and expectations were dictated by the world around them at the time. And because our present day seekers study the times of Jesus to help discover the historical Jesus, they come closer to learning what people in Jesus' day expected to see in Jesus.
The people in Jesus' Day were seeking to know who this Jesus was and where his miracles came from. The Gospels are filled with questions the First Century Jew asked such as, "Are you the Messiah? Are you the Prophet?" and "Who is this man?" The Synoptic Gospels highlight the discovery of the disciples in the middle of Jesus' ministry, "You are the Christ!" But even though the disciples learned that Jesus was the Messiah, their understanding of the Messiah was not spot on. In fact, it was considered demonic and serving the political needs of the people of Jesus day.
Like most in their world and like many modern day seekers, the disciples believed the Messiah was a political figure. The Gospels are filled with people who had different questions and answers that reflected what people expected to see from Jesus, and because they (like the disciples themselves) read into Jesus what their times and desires held dear, they did not truly find who Jesus was. They could only see in part. Metaphorically, they were like the blind man who being healed by Jesus saw men like trees walking - their vision was blurred.
So I congratulate the modern seekers for coming closer to discovering and joining in the opinions of those who saw Jesus and who asked, "Who is this man?" But to answer that question, they have failed.
Sunday, August 25, 2013
How to Memorize the New Testament - Getting Sloppy
My memorizing journey started out with a bang and ended with a whimper. I started memorizing every day of the week but went down to 5 days a week after a few months. At the time I was in school and reading the Bible for devotions every day, but found the time for working on memorization 45 minutes a day.
During that 45 minutes I spent about 5 minutes memorizing one verse a day and 35 to 40 minutes in what I call recover study. Recover study is going over 90 past memorized verses and refreshing myself so that I didn't forget what I already put to memory. I explain this all in a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJtG3nsjeWQ
Out of school I added to my Bible study. I was teaching myself Biblical Hebrew, reading the Bible and reading books about the Bible - every day. Years later, I cut down on memorizing to 4 days a week and then 3. By the time I had 20 years in, I was burning out and felt like I needed to cut back on something. I had memorized most of the New Testament books I wanted to and a few Psalms, so to keep my sanity, I quit memorizing but continued with all my other studies which at that time included preparing for sermons.
The memorizing helped me a lot through the years in my ministry. I quoted verses in sermons, and also found that memorizing had helped me to remember and find passages I wanted to use in life and in sermons.
Ten years later I stepped out of being a pastor for a short time (it turned out to be much longer than I planned) and I taught in several local Christian universities. But years without working on recovering scripture, while teaching in local universities, I began getting a bit sloppy in quoting the Bible. When students asked questions about any topic, I had chapters and verses (in their own proper context) to help support whatever answer I gave (of course I only quoted a verse or two - not a whole chapter). But those quotes began to get sloppy and I would forget what followed the verse I was quoting. I found myself paraphrasing more and more and quoting word for word less and less.
That's what happens when you no longer keep up with what you memorized; when you no longer recover scripture put to memory. And so after 10 more years of paraphrasing and being sloppy, I decided to go back to those books I had memorized, work through them again, get updated, memorize again if needed, test myself, push myself to be accurate word for word again. I returned to my recovery process.
LESSON LEARNED
Years ago, I pushed myself to memorize a good portion of the New Testament, and when I had enough, I quit. For some reason, it didn't enter my mind until lately, that I didn't have to quit entirely. At the time I quit I had a regimen of memorizing one verse a day which only took a few minutes. However, it took me up to 40 minutes a day to cover past books I had already memorized, which meant working through and testing myself on 90 verses a day on verses I had put to memory.
For some reason it was all or nothing for me - it hadn't occurred to me that I could stop memorizing verses and cut recovery time in half or less. It wouldn't be as good as a whole 40 minutes, but it would have helped a lot and helped me to quote better.
During that 45 minutes I spent about 5 minutes memorizing one verse a day and 35 to 40 minutes in what I call recover study. Recover study is going over 90 past memorized verses and refreshing myself so that I didn't forget what I already put to memory. I explain this all in a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJtG3nsjeWQ
Out of school I added to my Bible study. I was teaching myself Biblical Hebrew, reading the Bible and reading books about the Bible - every day. Years later, I cut down on memorizing to 4 days a week and then 3. By the time I had 20 years in, I was burning out and felt like I needed to cut back on something. I had memorized most of the New Testament books I wanted to and a few Psalms, so to keep my sanity, I quit memorizing but continued with all my other studies which at that time included preparing for sermons.
The memorizing helped me a lot through the years in my ministry. I quoted verses in sermons, and also found that memorizing had helped me to remember and find passages I wanted to use in life and in sermons.
Ten years later I stepped out of being a pastor for a short time (it turned out to be much longer than I planned) and I taught in several local Christian universities. But years without working on recovering scripture, while teaching in local universities, I began getting a bit sloppy in quoting the Bible. When students asked questions about any topic, I had chapters and verses (in their own proper context) to help support whatever answer I gave (of course I only quoted a verse or two - not a whole chapter). But those quotes began to get sloppy and I would forget what followed the verse I was quoting. I found myself paraphrasing more and more and quoting word for word less and less.
That's what happens when you no longer keep up with what you memorized; when you no longer recover scripture put to memory. And so after 10 more years of paraphrasing and being sloppy, I decided to go back to those books I had memorized, work through them again, get updated, memorize again if needed, test myself, push myself to be accurate word for word again. I returned to my recovery process.
LESSON LEARNED
Years ago, I pushed myself to memorize a good portion of the New Testament, and when I had enough, I quit. For some reason, it didn't enter my mind until lately, that I didn't have to quit entirely. At the time I quit I had a regimen of memorizing one verse a day which only took a few minutes. However, it took me up to 40 minutes a day to cover past books I had already memorized, which meant working through and testing myself on 90 verses a day on verses I had put to memory.
For some reason it was all or nothing for me - it hadn't occurred to me that I could stop memorizing verses and cut recovery time in half or less. It wouldn't be as good as a whole 40 minutes, but it would have helped a lot and helped me to quote better.
Saturday, August 24, 2013
Memorizing the New Testament - Anyone Can Di It
If you are reading this, you have stumbled upon something you may be quite willing and more than capable to do.
FACE YOUR LIES
I am convinced that that more than anything else, what holds people back from taking on such a task are lies that say they can't for some reason or another. And I am convinced the same lies fill many people who want to run 26 mile marathons but think they can't. Here are some basic ones:
- I don't have the time.
- I am not smart enough.
- That's just too difficult.
The truth is, you do have enough time.
The truth is, you are probably more than smart enough.
The truth is, it is not as difficult as you think it is.
The truth is, you are selling yourself short.
MANURE
I think most of the excuses we use are designed to protect our habits, whether those habits are good or bad. Think about it.
A friend used to tell me, "I know that I am in 5 feet of manure and it stinks, but I don't want to get out of it because it's warm." The metaphorical manure piles we sit in are warm because we are creatures of habit, and we get used to the habits we make for ourselves - even the bad ones.
Moving out of manure is not easy. We convince ourselves that we need and want the manure, and we think we are better off for it.
Think about the manure piles you have made for yourself - bitterness, overeating, love of money, lack of discipline, too much discipline, the desire to make everybody happy, being grumpy, feeling sorry for yourself, feeling better than others, getting attention from talking too much, getting attention from lashing out, turning inward, etc. and etc.
We build our piles and live in those piles. We get used to our piles and feel most comfortable staying in those piles, even when those piles of manure are self-destructive.
The excuses you use to keep from reading the Bible, memorizing the Bible, and praying more regularly are simply protection of your warm manure pile.
GEAR UP FOR CHANGE
Stepping out of manure is cold at first. You may have a moment of euphoria because you are clean for once, but believe me, you will feel cold and you will become tempted to return to the warmth of manure.
But in time you will be used to living a cleaner life.
FACE YOUR LIES
I am convinced that that more than anything else, what holds people back from taking on such a task are lies that say they can't for some reason or another. And I am convinced the same lies fill many people who want to run 26 mile marathons but think they can't. Here are some basic ones:
- I don't have the time.
- I am not smart enough.
- That's just too difficult.
The truth is, you do have enough time.
The truth is, you are probably more than smart enough.
The truth is, it is not as difficult as you think it is.
The truth is, you are selling yourself short.
MANURE
I think most of the excuses we use are designed to protect our habits, whether those habits are good or bad. Think about it.
A friend used to tell me, "I know that I am in 5 feet of manure and it stinks, but I don't want to get out of it because it's warm." The metaphorical manure piles we sit in are warm because we are creatures of habit, and we get used to the habits we make for ourselves - even the bad ones.
Moving out of manure is not easy. We convince ourselves that we need and want the manure, and we think we are better off for it.
Think about the manure piles you have made for yourself - bitterness, overeating, love of money, lack of discipline, too much discipline, the desire to make everybody happy, being grumpy, feeling sorry for yourself, feeling better than others, getting attention from talking too much, getting attention from lashing out, turning inward, etc. and etc.
We build our piles and live in those piles. We get used to our piles and feel most comfortable staying in those piles, even when those piles of manure are self-destructive.
The excuses you use to keep from reading the Bible, memorizing the Bible, and praying more regularly are simply protection of your warm manure pile.
GEAR UP FOR CHANGE
Stepping out of manure is cold at first. You may have a moment of euphoria because you are clean for once, but believe me, you will feel cold and you will become tempted to return to the warmth of manure.
But in time you will be used to living a cleaner life.
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