Great article by Dallas Willard, via Allelon.
Month: May 2005 (page 5 of 5)
Erwin McManus makes an interesting point in An Unstoppable Force about the way God intends for the church to exist and engage in the culture of the day. Check this out…
This passage teaches us a very peculiar thing about God. His approach toward us is often to invite us to believe in him and move in his power. God’s first choice is to search for a heart that is wholly his and then strongly support it. But many times that is not the condition of our hearts. Often it is God who forces circumstances upon us in which it becomes necessary for us to rely on God’s goodness.
Since Israel did not have a heart to trust God, God hardened the heart of Sihon – made his spirit tubborn and provoked him to go to war against Israel. God did all of this so that Israel would begin to conquer and possess the land. In short, what God did was bless Israel by forcing them to engage in a battle that they were afraid to fight. (p. 42-43)
He goes on to say…
For two thousand years the church has been called by God to encounter culture through his transforming power. I am convinced that many of the global trends that have brought fear and concerns to the contemporary church are the very act of God, in a sense, hardening the heart of Sihon king of Heshbon. He will force us to engage in the battles at hand. He will do whatever is necessary to reorganize this planet until we have nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.
For two thousand years Jesus has commanded us to go and make disciples of all nations. We have, at best, given this command nominal adherence. It seems now that God has brought us to a place in history where he is bringing the nations to us. And while we may perceive that the challenge is intensifying, it is perhaps within this very context that the church will discover most powerfully what it means to go, conquer, and possess the land. (p. 43)
I know people who have said they are praying for a return to the power and influence of the first-century church. Then, as the conditions that are amazingly similar to the culture of the first century arise around them, they moan and whine that the church is being discriminated against, short-changed, denied its rights, or whatever the whine du jour is.
Could it be – and I, like Amos, am neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet; I’ve been chasing sheep and pinching figs all day long – that the very conditions we despise are the conditions that God is using to bring about the greatest days of the church around the world? Maybe not what we consider great, but what God considers great. There is a difference, you know.
Them there’s strong words, boy!
Yeah, I know…I reserve a good “dadgummit!” for only the worst of times! And this is one of ’em!
This is twice today that I’ve started out to compose pretty good posts (in my humble but correct opinion, anyway!) and had something happen to keep them from making it into the blogosphere!
Anyway, since I lost the inspiration, and since my muse, like Stephen King’s, has skulked back down to the basement and lit up a nasty cigar, allow me to to just post a series of links, in the great tradition of everyone’s favorite Canadian’s “contextless links”…
- Seth Godin says it’s not the fear of failure that holds us back from being remarkable. It’s the fear of criticism.
- You’ve gotta have a plan to deal with all that stress in your life.
- Whatever happened to Veggie Tales?
- Change or Die.
- Coffee snobs?
- The ultimate coffee road trip. This guy wants to visit every Starbucks in the world.
- The Ten Steps of Visioning.
- Uncovering your blind spots.
Today, we – my family – learned a hard, but valuable lesson in the difference between leaders and bureaucrats. (Hey, my wife is a public school teacher, ‘nuf said?)
The main difference? Leaders are professional when dealing with their people. Bureaucrats are petty.
Lord, deliver us from petty pretenders. Help us never become like that in our service for You and our leadership among Your people.
(Now please forgive me for that, Lord, and bless all the pygmies in the Congo. Amen.)
Yesterday was the first time in a long time the Redneck Gang got together for lunch. It was definitely needed and definitely a great time.
Started out with a road trip with the one and only (thank You, Lord!) Gary Lamb. When we were about two minutes from the place we were supposed to eat lunch, Tony called and said the place was closed down! Sure enough, there were letters on the door that said something about not being able to weather the current economic conditions and that the employees’ checks would be in the mail (yeah, right!) and other such stuff as that. One competitor had already capitalized on the situation by leaving a message to all former employees and customers about his restaurant right up the street.
Oh, lest I forget…we decided to go somewhere else for lunch, and decided to leave a note for the rest of the Redneck Gang. Now, Gary and Tony are gadget freaks, wired (and un-wired, as it may be!) to the max. Did they have anything to leave a note on? NOOOOOOO! But thanks to ol’ Luddite me and my trusty Day-Timer, we had real paper to leave a real note! Amazing!
(Need I remind you once more? I don’t need a PDA. I’ve got my Day-Timer, which requires no fancy writing, no batteries, etc. And besides, I’ve got my wife…who knows EVERYTHING and NEVER LETS ME FORGET!)
Anyway, to make a long story even longer and more boring, we finally made it to lunch, where we were joined by KenBob and Rob. Three Texas Burgers, one lunch pork chop, and one salmon Caesar salad later, we were stuffed, challenged, and encouraged. As usual with this bunch.
Thanks, guys, for doing what you always do best…being encouragers.
The last thing I read last night, just before succumbing to a NyQuil-induced slumber…
Even when we are paralyzed, Jesus asks, “Do you want to get well?” In our frustration we might explain how we have longed for healing and health but have been incapable of obtaining it. We might express our pain that no one cared enough to help us get what we needed. Yet two things become clear: What we have been trying to access for our cure may not be what we really need, and Jesus won’t fix what we want to keep broken. Paralysis in our churches has resulted in atrophy. We have too often been looking in all the wrong places for our healing and restoration. It’s Jesus who gets us up on our feet and commands us to walk. But first we have to answer his question.
-Erwin McManus, An Unstoppable Force, p. 21
The Redneck list continues to grow over there in the giant List o’ Links! Brian Bowen is the “Redneck Missionary” in the Macon, Georgia area. Every now and then, when he’s not setting up somebody’s network, Brian gets to meet up with the rest of the Redneck Gang for a chili dawg. Most of the time though, he’s pretty busy raising a family and doing a great work with 20- and 30-somethings in Middle Georgia. You’ll love the banner on his blog, not to mention the great story about the kid and his sword! Check out Brian’s blog.
Now here’s where the twist comes in…
The other “new bloggin’ redneck” is Roger Blackmore, and he takes over the title of the Oldest Bloggin’ Redneck from yours truly. And he doesn’t even talk like us. He speaks English. No, really! English, as in British English. And get this…if we get together with him for lunch, and we want “meet in the middle” somewhere, we’ve gotta go somewhere probably on the North Carolina-Virginia border. See, Roger is a church planter and pastor in Long Island, New York! You’ll appreciate Roger’s wisdom and his take on things. Look for Roger over here.