God - Give Me A Vision? Yes - it can and will happen!

It is interesting that every time I mention the need to consider evangelizing (whether at home or abroad – wherever God directs) people blanch and balk. Building God’s house is something that should be foremost in our minds and we should be asking ourselves how we can be of use to God in doing that. Instead, we have become contented sheep in a pasture. I am not saying that everyone is like this – but the majority of response is always the “don’t bother me” or “I evangelize by my life and example.” So, here is a question – Is this what God wants? Would want you to say? The Attitude that God wants you to have?

“Open my eyes, so that I may see the wonderful truths in your law.” 

Psalm 119:18

The Bible is filled with hundreds of examples of people being given a vision, like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Hosea, Jonah, Micah and more. Seeing God’s vision for your life is not a crazy thing, and many times not even miraculous. God often uses a mental picture to clarify the next step He wants you to take. I admit, that there are differences in people and the way that they think. Many are visual thinkers, able to read and picture the story in your mind. For others, this is harder and you tend to think in words and logic. For the visual thinker, seeing God’s vision is a Technicolor experience. But what if you’re not a visual thinker? How do you get God’s vision if you’re not a visual thinker?

The same way that you do anything else that you do respecting God – “Give diligence to present thyself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, handling aright the word of truth (2 Tm.2:15).”  After you've read the Bible and ask God, “God, is there anything you want me to see from this? Is there anything I need to know that I’m not thinking about?” And then you wait.  James 1:5 says, “If any of you need wisdom, you should ask God, and it will be given to you. God is generous and won’t correct you for asking.”  God wants you to ask him for advice, and he wants you to be specific and He’s waiting for you to ask!

Psalm 119:18 is a verse you should memorize: “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.”  Every answer to every problem you have or will encounter is in the Bible.  But you've got to read it, study it, memorize it, and meditate on it, and with that seek God’s vision for your life or even if it is  just for today.

What is keeping you from seeing what God wants you to do and then rising up to do something about it? What vision has God given you? What do you think you’re supposed to do about it? James 1:5 “If any of you need wisdom, you should ask God, and it will be given to you. God is generous and won’t correct you for asking.”

Jim

Troop Carrier or Luxury Liner?

The language of Matthew 10 envisions Jesus as a military commander sending soldiers out on a mission.  He summoned his disciples, and then he sent them out. In light of the needs before them and the danger around them, the disciples knew they were entering into battle.

In the late 1940s, the United States Government commissioned William Francis Gibbs to work with United States Lines to construct an eighty-million dollar troop carrier for the navy. The purpose was to design a ship that could speedily carry fifteen thousand troops during times of war. By 1952, construction on the SS United States was complete. The ship could travel at forty-four knots (about fifty-one miles per hour), and she could steam ten thousand miles without stopping for fuel or supplies. She could outrun any other ship and travel nonstop anywhere in the world in less than ten days. The SS United States was the fastest and most reliable troop carrier in the world. The only catch is, she never carried troops. At least not in any official capacity. The ship was put on standby once during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, but otherwise she was never used in all her capacity by the U.S. Navy.  Instead the SS United States became a luxury liner for presidents, heads of state, and a variety of other celebrities who traveled on her during

her seventeen years of service. As a luxury liner, she couldn’t carry fifteen thousand people. Instead she could house just under two thousand passengers. Those passengers could enjoy the luxuries of 695 staterooms, 4 dining salons, 3 bars, 2 theaters, 5 acres of open deck with a heated pool, 19 elevators, and the comfort of the world’s first fully air conditioned passenger ship. Instead of a vessel used for battle during wartime, the  SS United States became a means of indulgence for wealthy patrons who desired to coast peacefully across the Atlantic.

Things look radically different on a luxury liner than they do on a troop carrier. The faces of soldiers preparing for battle and those of patrons enjoying their bonbons are radically different. The conservation of resources on a troop carrier contrasts sharply with the opulence that characterizes the luxury liner. And the pace at which the troop carrier moves is by necessity much faster than that of the luxury liner. After all, the troop carrier has an urgent task to accomplish; the luxury liner, on the other hand, is free to casually enjoy the trip.

When I think about the history of the SS United States, I wonder if she has something to teach us about the history of the church The church, like the SS United States, has been designed for battle. The purpose of the church is to mobilize a people (Eph.4) to accomplish a mission (Mt.28:18-20; 2 Tim.2:2) Yet we seem to have turned the  church from a troop carrier into the church as luxury liner. We seem to have organized ourselves, not to engage in battle for the souls of peoples around the world, but to indulge ourselves in the peaceful comforts of the world. This makes me wonder what would happen if we looked squarely in the face of a world with 4.5 billion people going to hell and twenty-six thousand children dying every day of starvation and preventable diseases, and we decided it was time to move this ship into battle instead of sitting back on the pool deck while we wait for the staff to serve us more hors d’oeuvre.

Are we willing to obey the orders of Christ? Are we willing to be like him? Are we willing to risk our lives to go to great need and to great danger—whether it’s in the inner cities around us, the difficult neighbor across the street, the disease—ridden communities in Africa, or the hostile

regions in the Middle East? Are we willing to fundamentally alter our understanding of from a luxury-liner approach that seeks more comforts in the world to a troop—carrier approach that forsakes comforts in the world to accomplish an eternally significant task and achieve an

eternally satisfying reward?

-- The above cited directly from RADICAL, Taking Back Your FAITH from the American Dream, by David Platt pgs. 340-367, Mlutnomah Books, Scripture references are my own - Jim Hartman

God had it right all along!

God had it right all along!

Daniel Dennett, is one of the ’4 Horsemen’ of what is called the New Atheism. He recently delivered a lecture on a post-religious world. He outlined his ‘end of religion’ thesis and his vision of a (better) world free of its restrictions, guilt, irrationality, hypocrisy, and xenophobic hatreds. What became interesting, is while proclaiming with utter certainty the end of all religion, is a very religious atheist indeed. As his lecture continued, his statement sounded more and more like listening to a rather optimistic, naive, kind-hearted yet legalistic preacher. Here are some of the highlights of his talk:

• Moral Behavior: the entire thrust of his talk was an exhortation to good and decent and moral behavior. These are the sorts of values that should shape our behavior and our world, let’s commit to and work for them.
• Note from Jim GOD SAID - Lev 19:18; Mt.22:39 "Don't take vengeance on or bear a grudge against any of your people; rather, love your neighbor as yourself"
• Mission: he talked of the need to build a missionary movement. Let’s take the secular good news out to the world and make it a better place. His closing words were ‘Let’s do it’. The good news bit was negative – the end of all religion.
• Note from Jim GOD SAID - Matt 28:19,20 "Go to the people of all nations and make them my disciples. Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to do everything I have told you. I will be with you always, even until the end of the world."
• Worship: he wanted to inspire us with hymns and get us emotionally inspired, excited, joyful and happy.
• Note from Jim GOD SAID - Eph 5:19 "When you meet together, sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, as you praise the Lord with all your heart."
• Community: Dennett offered the vision of democratic networks emerging of people working towards a common vision of improving the world. He even suggested that this new atheist movement might consider buying defunct churches in which to meet (he didn’t say what they would do there. Sing atheist songs?).
• Note from Jim GOD SAID Act 20:7 "On the first day of the week we met to break bread together."
• Eschatological Hope: his whole lecture was built around a narrative of hope – a future vision of a better world (without religion) to inspire us to work passionately in the here and now to bring it about.
• Note from Jim - GOD SAID Gal 5:5 "For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness."
• Doctrine of Man: Dennett has great faith in humankind. He asserted (while also describing himself as an ‘objective engineer’ of the human consciousness) that ‘People just want to be good.’ Wow.
• Note from Jim - GOD SAID Pro 20:24 "Man's goings are of the LORD; how can a man then understand his own way? "

The above is recorded by Patrick Mitchell in Ireland on his Blog - FaithInIreland (with the exception of the GOD SAID portions inserted by yours truly). I thought it amusing that here is an atheist (someone who denies the existence of God), extolling the values and principles that Christianity has been promoting for more than 2000 years and the Bible since the beginning of man. Seems like God had it right all along!

"Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful;

but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened."

Rom 1:21

Jim

Missional Small Groups: Becoming a Community That Makes a Difference…

Missional Small Groups: Becoming a Community That Makes a Difference…

M.Scott Boren

BakerBooks

My story behind reading this book is interesting. I came across it reviewing my blogs one day and though eh...I'll order it. It wasn't that expensive and I've read other books like this one before. Like the author, I've been looking for ways to engage people more into being what God wants them to be. I had just gotten the book the day previous, and had skimmed through it. What I found peaked my interest even more. I intended giving the book a good reading more later in the day, but first I had a breakfast meeting to go to. When I got to the meeting, one of the guys couldn't make it, so it was just two of us. Low and behold, during the conversation, we began to speak about teaching those we were in contact with. Ah-ha, I thought. My chance to see if what I had learned so far would pay off. Wow - was I surprised. The discussion centered on the subject of this book. The more we talked, the more I thought, I wonder if he has read this book. I pulled the book out and he had not. So... I let him take the book.

A couple of days later, I was messaging with him, and asked him had he read it. He said not only that he had read it but that it was like he had always been reading it. It was affirming everything that he was thinking, and you could hear the excitement in his voice. So - I told him he could have it, and promptly ordered me another copy.

The book is well worth the money and time to read it! It will definitely enlighten you if you're into building small Christian groups and helping people better their lives. But be prepared to heat a different drum beat in this book.