Reflections on Christopraxis

Misty Edwards Singing the Spontaneous Ballad of the Harlot

This song is a spontaneous ballad Misty Edwards often sings about the story of the Harlot from John 8.   It is on her latest ablum, "The Measure of Love."  This version done in the Prayer Room is as good as any.  She does such a great job of telling the story and bringing it to life. 

Reflection on Seeking God

To seek God
means first of all
to let yourself be found by him.
He is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
He is the God of Jesus Christ.
He is your God
not because He is yours
but because you are His.
To choose God
is to realize that you are known and loved
in a way surpassing anything you can imagine
long before anyone had thought of you or spoken
   your name.

  - Exerpt from Living With Contradiction: An Introduciton to Benedictine Spirituality by Ester de Waal

 

 

Motivated by a Vision That Transforms

“And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:18.

God motivates with a vision, set fixed before our eyes.  As we respond to this vision we are transformed into His image.  So often we make being a follower of Jesus overly complicated.

At the most basic level, a Christian is a follower of Jesus (Acts 11:26).  When we talk about being a follower of Jesus, we tend to ask, "What does a follower of Jesus do -- what do they look like?"  From there we start focusing on do's and don'ts of being a follower of Jesus.  A follower of Jesus prays, reads the Bible, goes to church, helps the poor. A follower of Jesus is not greedy, does not gossip, and avoids immorality.  This model solidifices a list of behaviors into a standard to which we hold people.  The next assumed task is to try to get people to act like followers of Jesus, which often is interpreted as applying the do's and don'ts to one's life.  This is problemmatic, because most of us are inconsistent in our following of Jesus, so that brings us under judgement and exposes us to the accusation of hypocracy.

This kind of thinking also leads to a tiered idea of being a Christian.  On the first level, we have those who merely acknowledge the title, and then those who have various degrees of religious behavior, and then those who talk about being a "follower or disciple" and then there are those who seem to genuinely start to resemple Jesus in the context of their life.  This last category we often call "saints" -- those who we suppose have some special calling or relationship with God, ignoring the fact that the term "saint" in the Bible is typically applied to all Christians.  This tiered model was never what Jesus had in mind.

Being a follower of Jesus is a statement of identity first, and a statement of action, second.  What we do flows out of who we are.

Christians are followers of Jesus (Acts 11:26, 1 John 2:3-6).  There are no tiers or categories implied here.  We either follow Jesus and His teachings, or we are not being a Christian.  Unless we receive Christ at our dying breath, we are expected to be followers of Jesus.  Being a follower implies we have taken the intentional steps in agreement with the one we are following.  This brings us to the idea of being imitators of Jesus.

Followers imitate the one they are following (Ephesians 5:1-2, 1 John 2:4-6, Luke 9:23).  They walk in his steps, and submit to his leadership.  It implies observation, which brings me to the next point.

We imitate Jesus by observing Him, by learning about him and his teaching, by interacting with him, and responding to him.  This fixing our gaze on Jesus works upon us to transform us.  (John 14:12; 2 Corinthians 3:18).  This is where motivation comes in.  We see Jesus, and imitate him, following him in his teachings and ways.  Sure, we do things, but first comes the vision to the one we love; the one we are following.  The vision motivates us toward transformation.

We can do nothing apart from our abiding relationship with God in love. (John 15:5; Gallatians 2:20; 3:3; Ephesians 3:17; 1 John 3:16-17, 24, 4:7-8).  Again, our motivation is found in a heart motivated by the vision, which in turn produces a desire to collaborate with God.

Again, this transformation does not take place according to our religious programs and curriculum.  God starts where the individual is at, and works on the necessary thing of the moment.  As confounding as this might be to our religious leaders, it is the way God works.  Keeping Christ central in our teachings and spiritual vision is the key in this process. 

Jesus summed all the "law and prophets" (scriptural teachings) up with the love commandment (Matthew 22:37:40) -- Love God with all our being, and love others.  John describes an abiding love (1 John 4:16-17).  I am reminded of the Misty Edwards refrain:  "God's in love with me, and I'm in love with God.  That's who I am, and that's who I wll be.  That settles it, completely."

Love is perfected in relation to others (1 John 4:11-12).  Love is relational.  Our Triune God embodies love.  We abide in God and God in us as we abide in love.  We love God as we love others.  The Kingdom of God is a kingdom powered by self-sacrificing agape love.  Jesus is the Servant of All (cf. Mark 9:35).  If we are to be followers of Jesus, we need to follow him in this kind of love (Matthew 16:24-25; 1 Corinthians 13:4-17). Love is the motivating force behind in the vision.

The ultimate question each follower of Jesus will be asked is, "Did you learn to love?"

I Burn For You

I Burn For You.  This is a short article by Misty Edwards on the love of God.  We hear things like this, but do we really believe them?  Yet, scripture tells us:

By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.  And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.  Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. 1 John 4:13 – 1 John 4:17

Jesus himself said:

He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”  Matthew 22:37 – Matthew 22:40

This is the reason Paul's prayer for the Ephesians shows up so often in notes and posts to people.  Love.  We cannot know it fully, yet we can be deeply rooted in it, and we can pursue love through our relationship with the God who is love.

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.  Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.  Ephesians 3:14 – 21

Divine Ethos Does Not Operate Without Pathos

I have been reading Abraham Heschel's "The Prophets."  In the section on Justice (great stuff!) I found some interesting observations. 

"The prophets did not conceive of the ethos as an autonomous idea, as a sovereign essence, higher in the scale of reality than God Himself, standing above him like a supreme force.  God to them was more than a more principle or a more exemplar." 

"There are no ultimate laws, no eternal ideas.  The Lord alone is ultimate and eternal."

"Mercy, grace, repentance, forgiveness, all would be impossible if the moral principles were held to be superior to God.  God's call to man, which resounds so frequently in the utterances of the prophets, presupposes an ethos based, not upon immutable principles, but rather His eternal concern.  God's repenting a decision which was based on moral grounds clearly shows the supremacy of pathos."  (p. 217)

"Divine ethos does not operate without pathos."  (p. 218)

"To the biblical mind the implication of goodness is mercy.  Pathos, concern for the world, is the very ethos of God."  (p. 219)

It seems that Heschel has identified a key to understanding the God of the Bible -- especially in the OT.  He refutes the hellenistic idea of justice and being unbiblical, and shows how all of God's concern for justice and morality is rooted in his pathos for man. 

"Cain, slaying his brother, does not receive the punishment he deserves.  Though justice wouuld require that Able's blood be avenged, Cain is granted divine pardon and protection."  (p. 220)

"A father is disqualified to serve as a judge.  Yet the judge of all men is also their Father.  He would be unjust to His own nature were He to act in justice without being compassionate."  (p. 220)

It seems so clear, yet we do not see.  "God is Love" (1 John 4:16).  He always has been and always will be.

God is Near

"Am I a God near by, says the LORD, and not a God far off?  Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them? says the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the LORD."  Jeremiah 23:23 – 24

"When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me, says the LORD..." Jeremiah 29:13 – 14

      I love those who love me,
      and those who seek me diligently find me. Proverbs 8:17

 

Book Review: 7 Commitments of a Forerunner: A Sacred Charge to Press Into God

It has been a while since I posted on this blog.  One of the things I have been doing over the last few months is reading the book, "7 Commitments of a Forerunner: A Sacred Charge to Press Into God" by Mike Bickle with Brian Kim.  This book is one of those life-changing books.  In order to review this book, I must first provide you with some background on the context of the book's message.

Two years ago, the theme of the International House of Prayer's Onething conference was focused on the second coming of Jesus.   I must admit that I struggled more than a little with this theme.  When it comes to eschatological (end times) preaching, I picture those wide-eyed preachers with signs saying the "end is near."   Honestly, some of my Christian friends seemed to react with similar caution and skepticism.  It is out of fashion to talk about Jesus second coming these days. 

I personally felt like I had to come to grips with this whole "Jesus is returning" theme.  In short, I realized that the Bible clearly teaches the second coming of Christ.  As Misty Edwards noted, it is not just theology, it is reality.  In addition to this, it tells us that (regardless of our understanding of those teachings) we should live as if His return could be any time.  Furthermore, scripture clearly teaches that there are some signs that will accompany the events surrounding His return, and that we should be aware of these.  In fact, there is a balancing influence that takes place when we realize that the fullness of the kingdom of God will not be manifest until Christ returns.  He is our hope, and that hope is a future tense kind of thing.  Paul summarizes it like this:

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly, while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. He it is who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds.  Declare these things; exhort and reprove with all authority.  Let no one look down on you.  Titus 2:11–15  (emphasis mine)

The counterbalance to all of this is that we are not merely called to be "marketing agents" for the Lord's second coming.  We are called to be disciples of Jesus, imitators of God.  We are called to be temples of the Holy Spirit, and to be Christ's bride, and to be friends of the Bridegroom.  We are called to love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, and our neighbor as ourselves.

If I were to summarize the primary points of the Onething 2008 conference they would be:

• Jesus Christ will return in reality.
• We are to expect it, and that some are living today who will see the day of His return.
• We as his people -- the Church -- are not ready.
• We need to equip ourselves and disciple people, so we will be ready.
• The "Sacred Charge" call to be forerunners, like John the Baptist.

An important side note is that the IHOP-KC folks are not adherents of the pre-trib rapture, where believers expected to be "taken up" prior to the Great Tribulation.  Their position is that the Church will be present throughout the end-time events, and will in fact, play a key role during that time.  I tend to agree.  If the believers alive when Jesus returns will be present, then that suggests we need to perhaps prepare differently than if we think we will be snatched out the last minute, leaving the rest behind. 

This brings us to the Sacred Charge.  When I first heard the Sacred Charge, it moved me.  It influenced the mission and vision and practices articulated on this blog.  This spring, I was moved to purchase this book, to see how Bickle has elaborated on the topic.  The Sacred Charge is summarized in seven commitments.

• Pray Daily
• Fast Weekly
• Do Justly
• Give Extravagantly
• Live Holy
• Lead Diligently
• Speak Boldly

Bickle and Kim's book is an easy read, and is a simple and practical call to a lifestyle.  The call to pray daily, involved more than just prayer, it involves immersing ourselves into the Bible with listening hearts.  It involved pressing into God and loving God with all our being.  Fasting is presented in a way that makes it assessable to anyone, as several types of fasts are presented.  "Do Justly" focuses on the outward aspect of loving God, as we love our neighbors.  They are not just challenging us to do good works, but to do good works as a result of our intimacy with God.  One of the valuable points the authors make is that our intimacy with God revitalizes us and helps us avoid burnout.  Calls to "Give Extravagantly" and to "Live Holy" involve a whole hearted commitment to God, where we commit 100 percent of our being to God.  We are to get our pleasure and fascination from God.  Again, the authors do not suggest a legalistic response, but rather, a partnership with God.  The sections on "Lead Diligently" and "Speak Boldly" are addressed to discipleship and leadership in ministry.  The section on leadership is worth the price of the book all by itself.  Bickle's 12 characteristics of a diligent leader are definitive for what it means to be a leader.  All of this is presented in a way so as to make Jesus the center. 

One interesting point comes out repeatedly in this book.  Bickle identifies seven spheres of society:  Family, Education, Government (politics, law, and military), Arts (entertainment and sports), Media, and Religion.  He observes:

"God has placed His people in each sphere.  Jesus has called us to bring His Word and presences to impact all seven of these sheres." (p. 106)

This is a point that could easily be missed.  Note, he does not say we are called to make all these areas look like the Kingdom of God.  Bickle does not call us to transform society.  In this way, his teachings are not in conflict with those such as Greg Boyd.  Instead, he is concerned with showing forth the love of God, and impacting those around us, wherever we are.  The fact is, God's people are involved with one or more of these spheres of society.  The point is that we "bring His Word and presences to impact" these spheres we are engaging at the moment.  In this way, the 7 Commitments are not a call to a hermit-like lifestyle.  Rather, it is a call to allow God into all of our life, and to let Him define our life as we seek to know and love him more.  One of my favorite scripture verses is:

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.  Ephesians 5:1–2

It is true, that as we press into God like this, we will be changed.  Our priorities will change, and we may even re-evaluate our life goals and work.  In the section on Speaking Boldly, Bickle challenges us to be prepared to meet resistance and rejection the more we seek to be a faithful witness to the truth of God. 

This book is something I think all followers of Jesus should read.  It cuts to the core of what it means to be a follower of Jesus.  We just need to realize that God is calling His people to prepare for His return.  He is calling us to participate in God's transforming love for this world and its people. 

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.  Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.  Ephesians 3:14 – 21

      The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.”
      And let everyone who hears say, “Come.”
      And let everyone who is thirsty come.
      Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift.  Revelation 22:17

God is an All-Consuming Fire of Love

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then I think a song is often worth quite a number of words, too.   These two songs together speak so well of the love of God.  

You Won't Relent - Misty Edwards from Forerunner Music on Vimeo.

All-Consuming Fire - Misty Edwards from Forerunner Music on Vimeo.

Pastor Greg spoke on this topic this week (May 8/9, 2010).  You can get the audio or video on the church website (should be available within a few days of this post).  Click here for Sermon Resources.  He makes the point well, and I have rarely heard this topic spoken on in this way.

You can obtain both of these songs on Misty Edwards' "Relentless" album, available through the IHOP web site, or iTunes.

... for indeed our God is a consuming fire.  Hebrews 12:29

By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.  And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.  Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. 1 John 4:13 – 1 John 4:17

He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”  Matthew 22:37 – Matthew 22:40

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.  Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.  Ephesians 3:14 – 21