The HEATHblog

Reasons We Gather…

noreply@blogger.com (Heath Watson) — Wed, 23 May 2012 18:36:00 +0000

“And let us not neglect our meeting together…” Hebrews 10:25

REASONS WE GATHER:

to remember that the universe, and our lives, do not center around us.
because when two or three gather is HIS name, HE is there is a special way.
to remember that the worship service doesn't begin at church on Sunday morning; it's every day and every where.
to spur one another on toward love and good deeds.
to remember that HE is superior our fruitless joys and fleeting thrills.
to be reminded of what our KING wants - valiant devotion & courageous love.
to center our lives on the transformational Gospel of Jesus the Messiah.
to equip the saints for works of service (i.e., to "live sent").
to see and experience God’s truth the way it was intended to be – i.e., in community.
to be reminded that nothing is ever truly ours unless it is given away (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity).
to remember that we are God’s blood-bought and redeemed people, created for “good works”.

Follow the tweets of Grace Church of Dunedin for more – GCofDunedin

When Churches are Courageous–A Story of Two Churches

noreply@blogger.com (Heath Watson) — Thu, 17 May 2012 15:22:00 +0000

Much like individuals, churches are inclined to become inwardly focused.

It may even be safe to say it’s a church’s default mode.

I mean, there’s a lot of things to worry about: there are bills to pay – mortgages, supplies, utilities, and salaries; most churches want to have great children’s and student ministries and put a lot energy and effort into that; they feel the need to improve, repair, expand their buildings and property; there’s continual A/V and lighting costs for churches wanting to have great sounds and visual effects; and most churches feel the need to keep up with the other church down the road – “They have flat screens in the kids classrooms…they have nice speakers…they’re building looks nice…we need to have those things too. Otherwise, people will want to go there instead of here.”

Oh yes, welcome into the unfortunate reality of the American pastor’s mind.

There’s a type of “keeping up with the Joneses” and self-preservation that can intoxicate a church’s agenda and productivity if it is not careful. Churches are called to reach their communities and the communities of the world with the Gospel (Matt. 28:16-20). Churches are called to be externally-focused, not internally-focused. And sadly to say, many churches succumb to pressure and loose their missional vigilance.
This is a story about a church, and a pastor, that had the courage to do something else.

In the spring of 2011, Grace Christian Fellowship in Largo, Florida decided to do something courageous. After much prayer and reflection, the leadership decided to plant a sister church just 10 miles north (in Dunedin, Florida) from its location in Largo, Florida. This would require sacrifice. Not only would they be giving up their Associate Pastor of 12 years, the Senior Pastor, Randy Evans, would invite the congregation to be a part of this venture as either “senders” or “goers”. Now, most pastors would encourage their church to be “senders”, but “goers”? This took a sacrificial trust in Christ’s promise to “build his church” (Matt. 16:18) that (sadly) many pastors and churches simply do not exercise.

Pastor Randy Evans, and Grace Christian Fellowship, courageously blessed the sending out of 3 of their elders (I was one of them) and about 80 faithful people to begin a new Gospel preaching and living church in the Dunedin area. Because of their sacrifice and willingness to be externally focused and deeply committed to the Great Commission, Grace Church of Dunedin successfully launched on February 5, 2012.

This Sunday, May 20th, Grace Church will be honored to have their sending pastor, Randy Evans, preaching the Good News from it’s pulpit at Dunedin High School’s auditorium. What a testimony of Christian courage and God’s provisions!

It’s a story that’s worth telling. And, hopefully, it will be the story told by other courageous pastors and churches.

The Bible is Not About You

noreply@blogger.com (Heath Watson) — Tue, 15 May 2012 00:53:00 +0000

Jesus as the true and better…

~ Taken from "What is Gospel-Centered Ministry?" by Tim Keller in the Gospel Coalition 2007 National Conference

The “Christian” Tourist vs. The Disciple & Pilgrim

noreply@blogger.com (Heath Watson) — Thu, 10 May 2012 15:25:00 +0000

What does it mean to follow Christ?

And how do we live out “Christianly” in our world?

One of the most influential books I read early in my Christian walk was A Long Obedience in the Same Direction by Eugene Peterson. (Don’t you love that book title!) In this little book, Peterson helped me answer the above questions.

The simple truth is that there is no quick fix or easy formula for Christian discipleship; becoming a disciple of Christ is a lifelong commitment of living with Christ as King rather than living in our own kingdom only to flirt with Christ-centered commitments and occasionally experiencing Christian renewal. Here’s a great quote from Peterson’s first chapter:

One aspect of [the word] ‘world’ that I have been able to identify as harmful to Christians is the assumption that anything worthwhile can be acquired at once. We assume that if something can be done at all, it can be done quickly and efficiently. Our attention spans have been conditioned by thirty-second commercials. Our sense of reality has been flattened by thirty page abridgments.

It is not difficult in such a world to get a person interested in the message of the gospel; it is terrifically difficult to sustain the interest. Millions of people in our culture make decisions for Christ, but there is dreadful attrition rate. Many claim to have been born again, but the evidence for mature Christian discipleship is slim. In our kind of culture anything, even news about God, can be sold if it is packaged freshly; but when it loses its novelty, it goes on the garbage heap. There is a great market for religious experience in our world; there is little enthusiasm for the patient acquisition of virtue, little inclination to sign up for a long apprenticeship in what earlier generations of Christians called holiness.

“Religion in our time has been captured by the tourist mindset. Religion is understood as a visit to an attractive site to be made when we have adequate leisure. For some it is a weekly jaunt to church; for others, occasional visits to special services. Some, with a bent for religious entertainment and sacred diversion, plan their lives around special events like retreats, rallies, and conferences. We go to see a new personality, to hear a new truth, to get a new experience and so somehow expand our otherwise humdrum lives. The religious life is defined as the latest and the newest: Zen, faith healing, human potential, parapsychology, successful living, choreography in the chancel, Armageddon. We’ll try anything – until something else comes along.

...Everyone is in a hurry. The persons whom I lead in worship, among whom I counsel, visit, pray, preach and teach, want shortcuts. They want me to help them fill out the form that will get them instant credit (in eternity). They are impatient for results. They have adopted the lifestyle of a tourist and only want the high points...The Christian life cannot mature under such conditions and in such ways.

Friedrich Nietzsche, who, at least, saw this area of spiritual truth with great clarity, wrote, "The essential thing 'in heaven and earth' is...that there should be long obedience in the same direction; there thereby results, and has always resulted, in the long run, something which has made life worth living." It is this "long obedience in the same direction" which the mood of the world does so much to discourage.

For recognizing and resisting the stream of the world's ways there are two biblical designations for people of faith that are extremely useful: disciple and pilgrim. Disciple says we are people who spend our lives apprenticed to our master, Jesus Christ...A disciple is a learner, but not in the academic setting of a school-room, rather at the work site of a craftsman. We do not acquire information about God but skills in faith.

Pilgrim tells us we are people who spend our lives going someplace, going to God, and whose path for getting there is the way, Jesus Christ. We realize that "this world is not my home" and set out for "the Father's house."

Gospel Humility by Keller & Lewis

noreply@blogger.com (Heath Watson) — Thu, 10 May 2012 10:20:00 +0000

C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity makes a brilliant observation about gospel-humility at the very end of his chapter on pride. If we were to meet a truly humble person, Lewis says, we would never come away from meeting them thinking they were humble.They would not be always telling us they were a nobody (because a person who keeps saying they are a nobody is actually a self-obsessed person). The thing we would remember from meeting a truly gospel-humble person is how much they seemed to be totally interested in us. Because the essence of gospel-humility is not thinking more of myself or thinking less of myself, it is thinking of myself less.
Gospel-humility is not needing to think about myself. Not needing to connect things with myself. It is an end to thoughts such as, ‘I’m in this room with these people, does that make me look good? Do I want to be here?’ True gospel-humility means I stop connecting every experience, every conversation, with myself. In fact, I stop thinking about myself. The freedom of self-forgetfulness. The blessed rest that only self-forgetfulness brings.
True gospel-humility means an ego that is not puffed up but filled up. This is totally unique. are we talking about big self-esteem? No. So is it low self-esteem? Certainly not. It is not about self-esteem. Paul simply refuses to play that game (I Cor. 4). He says ‘I don’t care that much about my opinion’ – and that is the secret.
A truly gospel-humble person is not a self-hating person or a self-loving person, but a gospel-humble person. The truly gospel-humble person is a self-forgetful person whose ego is just like his or her toes. It just works. It does not draw attention to itself. The toes just work; the ego just works. Neither draws attention to itself.

From “The Freedom of Self Forgetfulness” by Timothy Keller

Tim Keller Sermon Manuscripts

noreply@blogger.com (Heath Watson) — Wed, 09 May 2012 14:14:00 +0000

I’m very excited about this…

Overview
Logos is proud to introduce the Timothy Keller Sermon Archive! It contains over 1,000 sermons preached and taught by Timothy Keller: author, speaker, and Senior Pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, New York. In this massive archive, the transcriptions of his audio sermons preached at Redeemer Presbyterian Church—which work through numerous books of the Bible and cover scores of topical issues—will be made available for reading, searching, and study. That’s 22 years worth of preaching and teaching now available in the most advanced digital format anywhere!

Timothy Keller started Redeemer Presbyterian Church in 1989, which grew its attendance from 50 to over 5,000 people in the last 20 years and has become known as “one of Manhattan’s most vital congregations.” Keller’s sermons focus on the character, ministry, and work of Jesus Christ. The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive includes 1,233 sermons. With the Timothy Keller Sermon Archive, you can go deep into his sermons, or simply read the text. Either way, you get access to an amazing wealth of preaching material.

Please note: The sermons will be released in five increments: 1989–1993, 1994–1998, 1999–2004, 2004–2009, and 2010–2011. When the first of the increments ships, your card will be charged for the whole sermon archive. Then, you will automatically receive your content in the subsequent increments as free downloads as soon as they are issued. See the full list of sermons!

Key Features *
– Search every sermon for any topic you can think of in just seconds.
– View each sermon side-by-side with the text of the Bible.
– Studying a specific verse or topic? Find out what Timothy Keller has said about that verse by doing a simple search through your collection.

Order the Timothy Keller Sermon Archive over at Logos.com. And spread the word!

Reasons We Gather by Grace Church of Dunedin

noreply@blogger.com (Heath Watson) — Wed, 09 May 2012 13:45:00 +0000

“And let us not neglect our meeting together…” Hebrews 10:25

REASONS WE GATHER:

to remember that the universe, and our lives, do not center around us.
because when two or three gather is HIS name, HE is there is a special way.
to remember that the worship service doesn't begin at church on Sunday morning; it's every day and every where.
to spur one another on toward love and good deeds.
to remember that HE is superior our fruitless joys and fleeting thrills.
to be reminded of what our KING wants - valiant devotion & courageous love.
to center our lives on the transformational Gospel of Jesus the Messiah.
to equip the saints for works of service (i.e., to "live sent")

Follow the tweets of Grace Church of Dunedin for more – GCofDunedin

“The Dearest Place on Earth”

noreply@blogger.com (Heath Watson) — Wed, 02 May 2012 16:04:00 +0000

“Give yourself to the Church. You that are members of the Church have not found it perfect and I hope that you feel almost glad that you have not. If I had never joined a Church till I had found one that was perfect, I would never have joined one at all! And the moment I did join it, if I had found one, I should have spoiled it, for it would not have been a perfect Church after I had become a member of it. Still, imperfect as it is, it is the dearest place on earth to us… All who have first given themselves to the Lord, should, as speedily as possible, also give themselves to the Lord’s people. How else is there to be a Church on the earth? If it is right for anyone to refrain from membership in the Church, it is right for everyone, and then the testimony for God would be lost to the world!

As I have already said, the Church is faulty, but that is no excuse for your not joining it, if you are the Lord’s. Nor need your own faults keep you back, for the Church is not an institution for perfect people, but a sanctuary for sinners saved by Grace, who, though they are saved, are still sinners and need all the help they can derive from the sympathy and guidance of their fellow Believers. The Church is the nursery for God’s weak children where they are nourished and grow strong. It is the fold for Christ’s sheep—the home for Christ’s family.”

~Charles Spurgeon, “The Best Donation,” (No. 2234) an exposition of 2 Corinthians 8:5
preached on April 5, 1891 at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London, England.

Reasons We Gather: because when two or three gather is HIS name, HE is there is a special way.

noreply@blogger.com (Heath Watson) — Wed, 02 May 2012 15:55:00 +0000

“And let us not neglect our meeting together…” Hebrews 10:25

In Matthew 18:20 Christ promised us, “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” A simple reality about Christian gatherings is this: Christ presence is there is a special way. Of course we can experience the presence of God everywhere, for God is an omnipresent being (e.g., Psalm 139:7-10), having an unlimited presence and not restricted to a particular space. But, when God’s people gather in like-minded trust and adherence to the person and work of Jesus as the Christ, the presence of God is experienced in a unique way. It’s as if we are granted a taste of what is to come (Revelation 21:3).

As a pastor, I hope you find your way to your church this Sunday or to your Christian community whenever they might be meeting. Don’t miss out on the joy and power of Christian community. I believe Charles Spurgeon described the local church well when he said, “imperfect as it is, it is the dearest place on earth” (Best Donation, preached by Charles Spurgeon Dec. 13, 1891).

Justice or Injustice? Love or Hate? Whose Voice is Most Familiar?

noreply@blogger.com (Heath Watson) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 14:58:00 +0000

What if love and justice became flesh? What if hate and injustice became flesh? What would they say to us? Which would commend, which would rebuke, which sound more true, and whose voice would be most familiar us?

This video of spoken word demonstrates what this might look like...

The Voice of Justice from The Justice Conference on Vimeo.

Micah Bournes is a sweet spoken word artist. Check out his art at www.micahbournes.com.

Live Upside Down

noreply@blogger.com (Heath Watson) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 14:13:00 +0000

“These men who have turned the world upside down have come here too..."

Acts 17:6

The Gospel changes EVERYTHING.

The Marketing of Jesus by Derek Webb

noreply@blogger.com (Heath Watson) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 02:07:00 +0000

The following blog post is from Derek Webb. It's worth the read and consideration.

safe for the whole family: the marketing of jesus

we live in a world of categories. it’s a symptom of the nearly unlimited choices which bombard us online and offline every day. things must be organized, sorted, and categorized to be manageable. while this can sometimes be incredibly helpful, in other cases it can be dangerously deceptive.

an example of this deception is the category of “christian,” especially when used to describe goods or services. the word “christian,” when applied to anything other than a human being, is a marketing term. it’s an attempt to provide a short answer to a question for which there is no short answer. and hard as it may be, we must resist this impulse.

but you might say, “that’s not true. there is ‘christian’ education, ‘christian’ radio stations, ‘christian’ art, and ‘christian’ stores.’” and to some extent this is true. but this is not reality as much as it is a representation of the rules that we’ve created and are currently playing by. just because you label something doesn’t make it so. but your point might be that there is a cultural context for, and understanding of, this word when used this way — therefore, it is unnecessarily disruptive to try and change this, especially when it feels more like a philosophical matter, a matter of semantics.

i believe the stakes are much higher than simple semantics. if the word “christian” is to bear the weight we intend it to when using it in any of the above scenarios, it is more than worth our time to reconsider its meaning.

it seems to me that the two most likely intentions of using the word “christian” to describe anything other than people are:

the same thing we mean when we apply it to an individual: that this thing or action is “saved” or “redeemed.” while there is a sense in which all things are in the process of being made new, deeming a specific thing or action as “christian” goes beyond the scope of redemption. the reason is that when we speak of “christian” people the idea tends to be that they are “saved” and will therefore be in heaven (to the exclusion of other people). if this line of thinking is used when speaking of goods or services, it can (and should) be assumed that these also are the only goods and services we’ll find in heaven. for example, the music you hear on your local “christian” radio station will be the only music in heaven since it is the “christian” or “redeemed” music. the breath mints that you find in your local “christian” store will be the only breath mints we’ll suck on in heaven, and so on.

this seems ridiculous, especially since the only qualifier for the “heavenly” stuff we’re referring to is a person or group of people assigning a particular marketing category. it’s as if man has created a big rubber stamp and anything that we approve of as “christian” immediately receives the welcome of the heavenly hosts into eternity. since this structure of authority runs so completely contrary to anything found in the bible, let’s move on to the second most likely definition of what is meant when describing goods or services as “christian.”

the thing to which we’re referring to reflects the values or “heart” of the one doing or making it. for a moment this seems plausible. the art i make is “christian” because i’m a christian and i made it. the education i’m providing is “christian” because i’m a christian and i’m providing it. but if you think about this even for a moment you realize that this also makes very little sense. as a christian man, i am just as likely to lie or misrepresent god’s character and man’s condition in my art as anyone else. my “heart” is both redeemed and in the process of being redeemed, but what flows from it is still corrupt and corruptible. this being the case, to call my art “christian” is simply misleading. if what i make is a reflection of my “heart,” then i of all people am making “secular” art, as my “heart” is thoroughly “secular.” what i make is just as likely to be full of half-truths or lies such as art that carries no category. if this is the case, using the category “christian” in this way becomes meaningless.

while these definitions might seem illogical, here’s where it gets theological in its offense. using marketing categories in this way creates a fictional dichotomy in which there are “christian” things (read: good, right, true, beautiful) and “secular” things (read: bad, wrong, false, ugly), the idea being that you can implicitly trust and consume the “christian” things, and you would do well to fear and avoid the non-“christian” things. this sounds like a fine way to try and manipulate the behavior of a child, but this is no way for an adult to live, let alone an adult who has been set free to live and engage with all of what god has made.

while it might seem harmless to call stuff “christian” in order to sell it to those who have a cultural understanding of what you mean, it actually employs a very old form of manipulation. if you can cause someone to fear and immediately provide a remedy to that fear, you can get their money. it’s the oldest trick in the book.

the whole idea of a “christian” store is that you can walk in and consume anything on the shelves assuming that everything is right, true, good, and beautiful. it’s all spiritually beneficial for you. you can safely leave your powers of discernment at the door. it is all “christian” stuff — do not fear. the same goes for listening to “christian” radio. they even advertise to be “safe for the whole family.”

hopefully by now you realize that this is false advertising. those purporting to do and make “christian” things are making promises that the gospel itself does not make. there is nothing “safe” (let alone “for the whole family”) about the following of jesus. in fact, if done correctly, it’s much more likely to be quite the contrary. and worse, it excludes anything without the arbitrary stamp of “christian” to in any way speak to or about god.

but here’s the biggest danger of the marketing category “christian”: generally, it’s a bad advertisement for god. when i look at the redwoods of california, the mountains of colorado, or the rolling hills of tennessee, i don’t see any “cheesy” art. in fact, the entire first chapter of the bible marvels at god’s tremendous creativity, making all things out of nothing and all of it being, in his opinion, “very good.” how incongruous it is to find people made in the image of the great creator, even those redeemed by him, making art that has a consistent and unfortunate reputation for being unoriginal and generally substandard, typically chasing trends found in “secular” art, and turning out “guilt-free” alternatives within a year or two of the original.

the other major issue is that the content of almost all of what is categorized as “christian” art only covers the most spiritual 2% of stuff. it mostly only deals with transcendent moments of worship and the afterlife, while the bible gives us a language and framework to speak about all 100% of what god has made. calling art “christian” when it almost completely ignores the nuances of the seemingly “non-spiritual” details of modern life is a misrepresentation of god and his bible.

here’s a good rule of thumb for young artists struggling to understand what is permissible in making art: anything that jesus is lord of, you can and should make art about. and i hope that is rhetorical, since jesus is lord of all things (not just the most spiritual 2%). bono, the lead singer of u2 and a professed christian, was once criticized for sensual content in a u2 song. his response was, “are we going to let pornographers have the last word on sexuality?” culture is speaking on a wide range of topics, therefore those who claim to be in relationship with the one who made all things must make art about relationships, spirituality, family, the government, sexuality, everything. we must tell complete stories, not just the most “spiritual” parts, believing that that is the only content suitable to be called “christian.”

i simply do not believe that god can only use and speak through things that we rubber stamp as “christian.” nor do i believe that jesus wants us to live in fear, especially fear impressed upon us by those in our culture claiming to do so in his name. nor do i believe in our subculture’s system of false security, that god wants us to put our faith and security in marketing terms rather than in jesus, whose spirit both gives and animates our powers of discernment. exercising our discernment liberates us to live in the world god has made and engage with his creation without fear or dependence on meaningless words.

this is why we must stop trying to give short answers to complex questions. and if we must categorize art, let’s use terms that actually make sense. art is either “good” or “bad,” and not everyone will have the same definitions of these terms (nor should they, considering the subjective nature of art). you may find some art that is “bad” that you might consider “christian,” and some art that is “good” that you consider “secular.” i recommend that you consume what is “good” and avoid what is “bad.” put no trust in people selling you safety. don’t trust me. discern everything, all the time. but do not fear. do not be afraid.

Keep Nothing Back

noreply@blogger.com (Heath Watson) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 19:56:00 +0000

…The very first step is to try to forget about the self altogether. Your real, new self (which is Christ's and also yours, and yours just because it is His) will not come as long as you are looking for it. It will come when you are looking for Him...Keep back nothing. Nothing that you have not given away will be really yours. Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead. Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. But look for Christ, and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in.”
― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Jesus as Madman or Something Worse…

noreply@blogger.com (Heath Watson) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 19:18:00 +0000

Thinking through Lewis’ apologetic:

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”
― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Why Church Planting?

noreply@blogger.com (Heath Watson) — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 12:11:00 +0000

The vigorous, continual planting of new congregations is the single most crucial strategy for 1) the numerical growth of the Body of Christ in any city, and 2) the continual corporate renewal and revival of the existing churches in a city. Nothing else–not crusades, outreach programs, para-church ministries, growing mega-churches, congregational consulting, nor church renewal processes–will have the consistent impact of dynamic, extensive church planting. This is an eyebrow raising statement. But to those who have done any study at all, it is not even controversial....

Read more here - Why Church Planting? by Scott Thomas

The Resurrection and The Invitation

noreply@blogger.com (Heath Watson) — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 13:33:00 +0000

In Mark’s short, and probably truncated, account there is no sense of “Jesus is raised, therefore there really is life after death”…For anyone who has read the whole gospel, the strong implication is, “Jesus is raised, just as he told you he would be; in other words, all that he said about the coming of the kingdom through his own work, through his death and resurrection, has come true.” The resurrection completes the inauguration of God’s kingdom…It is the decisive event demonstrating that God’s kingdom really has been launched on earth as it is in heaven.
The message of Easter is that God's new world has been unveiled in Jesus Christ and that you're now invited to belong to it.

~ NT Wright, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church

The Resurrection and The Mission

noreply@blogger.com (Heath Watson) — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 14:31:00 +0000

In prep for RESURRECTION Sunday at Grace Church, I have been rereading Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church, by N.T. Wright, who is one of my favorite teachers/authors and one of the world’s top biblical scholars. It is well written, easily understood and worth reading (and rereading!). As with most of Wright’s books, it’s a little long, but I highly recommend it!

The main message of the book is that most of us have got the emphasis of the resurrection wrong. It’s not meant to assure us of life after death in heaven at some far away, “out of this world” or heavenly place, but to demonstrate the lordship of Christ over the whole world and his coming back to develop the kingdom of God on the new earth. “Jesus of Nazareth ushers in not simply a new religious possibility, not simply a new ethic or a new way of salvation, but a new creation.” (p. 67)

“In Mark’s short, and probably truncated, account there is no sense of ‘Jesus is raised, therefore there really is life after death’…For anyone who has read the whole gospel, the strong implication is, ‘Jesus is raised, just as he told you he would be; in other words, all that he said about the coming of the kingdom through his own work, through his death and resurrection, has come true.’ The resurrection completes the inauguration of God’s kingdom…It is the decisive event demonstrating that God’s kingdom really has been launched on earth as it is in heaven.” (p. 234). So, “The message of Easter is that God's new world has been unveiled in Jesus Christ and that you're now invited to belong to it.” (p. 352)

“As long as we see salvation in terms of going to heaven when we die, the main work of the church is bound to be seen in terms of saving souls for that future.” This why many Christians are bent on making converts rather than disciples and holding up “turn or burn” type signs on street corners rather than engaging non-Christians through relationship. Wright continues, “But when we see salvation, as the New Testament sees it, in terms of God’s promised new heavens and new earth and of our promised resurrection to share in that new and gloriously embodied reality – what I have called life after life after death – then the main work of the church here and now demands to be rethought in consequence…. if what matters is the newly embodied life after life after death, then the presently embodied life before death can at last be seen not as an interesting but ultimately irrelevant present preoccupation, not simply as a ‘vale of tears and soul-making’ through which we have to pass to a blessed and disembodied final state, but as the essential, vital time, place and matter into which God’s future purposes have already broken in the resurrection of Jesus.” (p. 197) So…”What you do in the present—by painting, preaching, singing, sewing, praying, teaching, building hospitals, digging wells, campaigning for justice, writing poems, caring for the needy, loving your neighbor as yourself—will last into God’s future [reality and kingdom on the new earth].” (p.193)

“Salvation, then, is not ‘going to heaven’ but being raised to life in God’s new heaven and new earth….For the first Christians, the ultimate salvation was all about God’s new world, and the point of what Jesus and the apostles were doing when they were healing people….was that this was a proper anticipation of that ultimate salvation, that healing transformation of space, time, and matter. The future rescue that God had planned and promised was starting to come true in the present. We are saved not as souls but as wholes.” (p. 198, 199)

“Resurrection doesn’t mean escaping from the world; it means MISSION to the world based on Jesus’ lordship over the world…. Jesus is now enthroned as the Lord of heaven and earth. His kingdom has been established. And this kingdom is to be put into practice by his followers summoning all nations to obedient allegiance to him, marking them out in baptism.” (235) “Easter was the beginning of God’s new world, the long-awaited new age, the resurrection of the dead.” (p. 244) “The message of Easter is that God’s new world has been unveiled in Jesus Christ and that you’re now invited to belong to it….Christian holiness consists not of trying as hard as we can to be good but of learning to live in the new world created by Easter.” (p. 253)

“Jesus is risen, therefore God’s new world has begun. Jesus is risen, therefore his followers have a new job to do. And what is that new job? To bring the life of heaven to birth in actual, physical, earthly reality.” (p. 293)

What a powerful and invigorating the message! The Easter message of Christ’s resurrection is a call to arms for all who believe in the risen Jesus. It’s a call to missional activity, reminiscent of Christ’s resurrection to newness and the biblical promise of a renewed heavens and earth (Rev. 21). This message is a transformational one that seeks to see all that we do in terms of this victory over sin, death and evil!

Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed!

May we live our lives like it’s true!

Resurrection and the Fact that Matter Maters

noreply@blogger.com (Heath Watson) — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 13:31:00 +0000

“The point of the resurrection…is that the present bodily life is not valueless just because it will die…What you do with your body in the present matters because God has a great future in store for it…What you do in the present—by painting, preaching, singing, sewing, praying, teaching, building hospitals, digging wells, campaigning for justice, writing poems, caring for the needy, loving your neighbor as yourself—will last into God's future. These activities are not simply ways of making the present life a little less beastly, a little more bearable, until the day when we leave it behind altogether (as the hymn so mistakenly puts it…). They are part of what we may call building for God's kingdom.”

~ NT Wright, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church

Why the Hoopla? – The Significance of the Resurrection

noreply@blogger.com (Heath Watson) — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 19:45:00 +0000

"He isn't here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen." ~ Matt. 28:6

As we approach the tail end of Lent, I’m getting more and more excited about our April 8^th resurrection celebration service at Grace Church. Christians enjoy Easter services very much; but based on my interaction with many of these Easter-Sunday-Church-Attending-Christians, I’ve witnessed we typically give much more attention to the death of Christ rather than the resurrection of Christ. Oh, we quickly affirm the resurrection as an orthodox Christian belief, but most Christians have very little reason or rationale behind the belief of the empty tomb.

So why did Christ literally and physically rise from the dead?

The 15^th chapter of 1^st Corinthians is the Apostle Paul’s lengthy treatment on the significance of the historical resurrection of Jesus. As you read the chapter you will find it to be full of rational argumentation (reason) for the validity of Christ’s resurrection. For Paul, Christ’s physical resurrection was not wishful thinking. It was actual and enormously significant because the entire Christian message culminates in the resurrected Christ – “…if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith (vs. 14)” and “if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins (vs. 17).” For Paul, if Christ has not risen, nothing else mattered!

Why? Why is the resurrection of Christ so significant? The short answer is that Christ’s resurrection ushered in the beginnings of the new world and the new humanity (the renewed world and renewed humanity) promised long ago in the Old Testament (Genesis 3:15; 2 Samuel 7:16; Isaiah 9:6-7; Isaiah 11:1-9; etc…). A humanity and world where sin, pain, and death are only in our past memories, not in our eternally present reality where peace, justice, and true life reign. According Paul, the resurrected Christ is the “firstfruits” of this new humanity; that we, though currently ailed by sin, suffering, and death, will one day experience a resurrection into a new physical existence much like Christ’s resurrected body (1 Corinthians 15:20-28). Here’s NT Wright’s explanation via Tim Keller:

"The message of the resurrection is that the world matters! That the injustices and pains of this present world must now be addressed with the news that the healing, justice, and love have won...If Easter means Jesus Christ is only raised in a spiritual sense--[then] it is only about me, and finding a new dimension in my personal spiritual life. But if Jesus Christ is truly risen from the dead, Christianity becomes good news for the whole world--news which warms our heart precisely because it isn't just about warming hearts. Easter means that in a world where injustice, violence and degradation are endemic, God is not prepared to tolerate such things--and that we will work and plan, with all the energy of God, to implement victory of Jesus over them all. Take away Easter and Karl Marx was probably right to accuse Christianity of ignoring problems of the material world. Take it away and Freud was probably right to say Christianity is wish-fulfillment. Take it away and Nietzsche probably was right to say it was for wimps." ~ N.T. Wright, from his book Simply Christian; as quoted by Timothy Keller in is his book The Reason for God.

Here’s a couple great articles on the Resurrection:
The Dartmouth Apologia -Charles Dunn on the Resurrection
Tim Keller – Why the Resurrection is More than a Story

Here's a couple quotes worth pondering from author, pastor, and scholar N.T. Wright on the resurrection:

“For Paul, the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth is the heart of the gospel (not to the exclusion of the cross, of course, but not least as the event which gives the cross its meaning); it is the object of faith, the ground of justification, the basis for obedient Christian living, the motivation for unity, and, not least, the challenge to the principalities and powers. It is the event that declares that there is ‘another king’, and summons human beings to allegiance, and thereby to a different way of life, in fulfillment of the Jewish scriptures and in expectation of the final new world which began at Easter and which will be completed when the night is finally gone and the day has fully dawned.” ~ NT Wright, The Resurrection of the Son of God

"The work of the church is to implement the resurrection of Jesus and thereby to anticipate the final new creation… We are called to be people of new creation now, in the power of the Spirit." ~ NT Wright, from his talk, “Resurrection and the Task of the Church”

And, lastly, check out Rob Bell’s video short, Resurrection. It’s a great summary of the significance of Christ’s resurrection:

Resurrection: Rob Bell from The Work of Rob Bell on Vimeo.

“My Garden” – Finding Purpose with Ed Dobson

noreply@blogger.com (Heath Watson) — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 14:37:00 +0000

The following short film, called "My Garden," comes from EdsStory.com. CNN.com is premiered the latest installment in the "Ed's Story" series back in February.

A former pastor, onetime Christian Right operative and an icon among religious leaders, Dobson has Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. When he was diagnosed, doctors gave him 3 to 5 years to live.

That was 11 years ago.

In the 1980s, Dobson rose to prominence as an executive at the Moral Majority, Jerry Falwell's evangelical political organization, which had influence with the Ronald Reagan White House. Dobson’s rise continued when he accepted the pastorate at Calvary Church in 1987. He cut a national profile, with Moody Bible Institute naming him “Pastor of the Year” in 1993. As pastor at Calvary Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, a position he held for 18 years, Dobson would regularly preach to 5,000 people or more on Sundays. Back then, Dobson said he looked at himself as a man filled with lessons, proverbs and, most of all, answers.

After retirement six years ago, the massive crowds went away. “I went from 100 miles an hour to zero miles an hour overnight,” Dobson said. “That was a shock to my system.”

Dobson said the answers vanished with the crowds, as did his purpose.

How did he cope?

Where did he find his purpose?

Check out the video...

“Whether it’s preaching to 5000 or meeting with one, I’m trying to take care of the garden.”
~ Ed Dobson

Watch more at edsstory.com.

The Mission to Ireland – St. Patrick, Leprechauns, and Green Beer

noreply@blogger.com (Heath Watson) — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 00:45:00 +0000

When it comes to St. Patrick's Day most people think of shamrocks, leprechauns, parades, and, ah yes, green beer! But who was the real St. Patrick? Did he enjoy adding food color to his beverages and dressing up in green attire? Well, I don't think so. What I do know is that St. Patrick loved Jesus and lived a very missional life!

Let's start with several misconceptions about St. Patrick...First of all, and this is surprising to most, Patrick wasn't really a Saint, having never been officially canonized by Rome (don’t try to tell an Irishmen this, he won’t like it!). And Patrick couldn't have driven the snakes out of Ireland because snakes are not even indigenous to Ireland. (Of course, most say “snakes” where simply metaphorical because he did drive the “demons” and “serpents” out, so to speak, when Christianity replaced paganism.) He was not the first Christian in Ireland and actually, he wasn't even the first missionary/evangelist to Ireland. A dude named Palladius had been sent in 430 A.D., approximately five years before Patrick began his ministry in Ireland. Oh, here’s a big one…green was not the original color associated with Patrick. It was blue! (I know, this is crazy!) Also, Patrick isn't Irish, he was Scottish! He was from what is now Dumbarton, Scotland (just northwest of Glasgow).

So here's what we do know about him. When he was a teenager, Patrick was captured in a raid and became a slave in the pagan country of Ireland. Far from home, he clung to the religion he had ignored as a young man. Even though his grandfather had been a Christian, some say he was a priest, and his father a town councilor, Patrick, according to his own admission, "knew not the true God." But forced to tend his master's sheep in Ireland, he spent his six years of bondage mainly in prayer, often reciting and reflecting upon the Lord’s Prayer. After his escape, here returned home to Scotland and devoted himself to theological studies.

It is believed that Patrick was in his forties when he returned to the land that had enslaved him some twenty years earlier. What an amazing demonstration of the transforming power of the Gospel, rather than animosity and hatred toward the land that had kidnapped him, he refused to return evil for evil and loved them with the message of the Gospel. He simply could not resist the call of God to go and serve his enemies! Familiar with the Irish clan system (his former master, Milchu, had been a chieftain, i.e. a clan leader), Patrick's missional strategy was to try to convert the clan leaders first, who would then convert their clans through their influence. (Some reports tell us that Milchu was one of his earliest converts.)

Though Patrick was not solely responsible for converting Ireland to Christianity, he was quite successful. He ministered all over Ireland, and it soon became known as one of Europe's Christian centers. Patrick died in his beloved Ireland, March 17th, about 460 A.D.

Daily I expect murder, fraud or captivity, but I fear
none of these things because of the promises
of heaven. I have cast myself into the hands of
God almighty who rules everywhere.
~ Patrick

St. Patrick’s Breastplate (a beautiful Christian prayer/hymn attributed to Patrick):

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through the belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness
Of the Creator of Creation.

I arise today
Through the strength of Christ's birth with his baptism,
Through the strength of his crucifixion with his burial,
Through the strength of his resurrection with his ascension,
Through the strength of his descent for the judgment of Doom.

I arise today
Through the strength of the love of Cherubim,
In obedience of angels,
In the service of archangels,
In hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In prayers of patriarchs,
In predictions of prophets,
In preaching of apostles,
In faith of confessors,
In innocence of holy virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.

I arise today
Through the strength of heaven:
Light of sun,
Radiance of moon,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of wind,
Depth of sea,
Stability of earth,
Firmness of rock.

I arise today
Through God's strength to pilot me:
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's host to save me
From snares of devils,
From temptations of vices,
From everyone who shall wish me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone and in multitude.
I summon today all these powers between me and those evils,
Against every cruel merciless power that may oppose my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul.

Christ to shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that there may come to me abundance of reward.

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness,
Of the Creator of Creation.

Other St. Patrick Links you may find helpful:
Also see - 10 Things You You Didn't Know About St. Patrick's Day
And be sure to check out this recent article on St. Patrick by The Resurgence - Vintage Saints: Saint Patrick
The True Story of St. Patrick – Relevant Mag.
St. Patrick: One of the Greatest Missionaries Who Ever Lived – The Resurgence
Patrick the Saint – Christianity Today
The Conversion of Ireland – Christian Classics Ethereal Library
The Confession of St. Patrick – Christianity Today
Will the Real St. Patrick Please Stand Up? – Joyful Heart

Oh yeah, and…:
How to Make Green Beer

Kony 2012. Good or Bad?

noreply@blogger.com (Heath Watson) — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 17:43:00 +0000

It seemed so simple.

A ruthless child abductor on the run and a grassroots campaign to ensure his capture.

When Invisible Children unveiled their newest campaign, Kony 2012, the world took notice. The Kony 2012 video, at the center of the campaign quickly, went viral, hitting 100 million views in only six days.

Celebrities and world leaders tweeted about it. You probably had multiple friends post on Facebook and Twitter about it. But just as quickly as the campaign went viral, a backlash of controversy started. People said that Invisible Children (IC) was going about their efforts to bring Kony to justice all wrong, that IC's methodology was flawed, that IC was being naive. Quickly, a rift opened between people supporting IC and people opposed to Kony 2012. So ... who's right?

Author Rachel Held Evans and Relevant Magazine chimed in recently to try to unpack the controversy surrounding Kony 2012, to figure out a way through all of the rhetoric. She carefully weighs the pros and cons of IC's campaign, and reminds all of us—regardless of our opinion—to maintain Christian humility and charity.

Is Kony 2012 Good or Bad? by Rachel Held Evans

What is the Mission of the Church?

noreply@blogger.com (Heath Watson) — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 02:58:00 +0000

The mission and responsibility of the church includes both the proclamation of the Gospel and its demonstration. From Jesus, we learn the truth is to be proclaimed with authority and lived with grace. The church must constantly evangelize, respond lovingly to human needs, as well as "seek the welfare of the city" (Jeremiah 29:7). By living out the implications of the gospel, the missional church offers a verbal defense and a living example of its power. ~ Missional Manifesto

For more - Monday is for Missiology: Credo Magazine asks "What is the Mission of the Church?"

“The Hole on Our Gospel” – Quotes

noreply@blogger.com (Heath Watson) — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 16:49:00 +0000

Richard Sterns, former CEO for Parker Bros. Games and Lenox, Inc., recent award-winning book, The Hole In Our Gospel, challenges Christians to expand their personal and transforming faith into a public and transforming relationship with the poor. "The gospel, or good news, proclaimed by Jesus was so much more than a private transaction between God and us," Stearns writes. "It was a vision of a changed people challenging and changing the prevailing values and practices of our world." Stearns hopes the stories, scripture and statistics recounted in "The Hole in Our Gospel" will inspire readers to see God's heart for the poor and respond with wholehearted obedience to a complete gospel. He offers numerous examples of Christians who creatively use their influence, skills and money to make a difference and encourages readers to consider how they can do the same. Stearns believes the combined efforts of 2 billion Christians worldwide, each doing his or her small part, can change the world.

Quotes from The Hole In Our Gospel:

Stearns contrasts this with the message Jesus lays out in the Beatitudes: The kingdom of which Christ spoke was one in which the poor, the sick, the grieving, cripples, slaves, women, children, widows, orphans, lepers, and aliens -- the 'least of these' (Matt. 25:40) -- were to be lifted up and embraced by. It was a world order in which justice was to become a reality, first in the hearts and minds of Jesus' followers, and then to the wider society through their influence.
-Richard Stearns, p. 16

A paraphrase from Matthew 25 by Richard Stearns: For I was hungry, while you had all you needed. I was thirsty, but you drank bottled water. I was a stranger, and you wanted me deported. I needed clothes, but you needed more clothes. I was sick, and you pointe out the behaviors that led to my sickness. I was in prison, and you said I was getting what I deserved.
-Richard Stearns, p. 59

Why did God make me? To love, serve, and obey Him. Very simple, yet extremely profound. If we all woke up every morning asking, “How can I love, serve, and obey God today?” it might change everything-it might even change the world.
-Richard Stearns, p. 94

What I have discovered in my travels to more than forty countries with World Vision is that almost all poverty is fundamentally the result of a lack of options. It is not that the poor are lazier, less intelligent, or unwilling to make efforts to change their condition. Rather, it is that they are trapped by circumstances beyond their power to change.
-Richard Stearns, p. 118

Here I want to make a key point: it is not our fault that people are poor, but it is our responsibility to do something about it. God says that we are guilty if we allow people to remain deprived when we have the means to help them.
-Richard Stearns, p. 123

Almost one in seven worldwide, 854 million people, do not have enough food to sustain them. This makes hunger/malnutrition the number one risk to health globally, greater than AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined. About 25,000 people die each day of hunger or related causes—9 million people per year.
-Richard Stearns, p.135

Every day, more than 6,800 people are newly infected with HIV and more than 5,700 die from the disease; that equals 2.5 million new infections per year and 2 million deaths. Perhaps the most disturbing fact of all is that AIDS has now left 15 million children behind as orphans.
-Richard Stearns, p. 148

Bob Pierce once said, “Don’t fail to do something just because you can’t do everything.” These are wise words to anyone overwhelmed with the magnitude of human suffering in our world. We are not asked to help all of them at once, just one at a time.
-Richard Stearns, p. 152

If we in the Church are truly dedicated to the Great Commission, then we will first have to do something about the “Great Omission.” We will never effectively demonstrate Christ’s love to the world, if we cannot first demonstrate it to the Church-the whole Church, and that includes those struggling just to survive.
-Richard Stearns, p. 187

The total income of American churchgoers is $5.2 trillion. (That’s more than five thousand billion dollars.) It would take just a little over 1 percent of the income of American Christians to lift the poorest one billion people in the world out of extreme poverty. Said another way, American Christians, who make up about 5 percent of the Church worldwide, control about half of global Christian wealth; a lack of money is not our problem.
-Richard Stearns, p. 216

The bottom line is that the commitment that American Christians, the wealthiest Christians in all history, are making to the world just about 2 percent of 2 percent – actually about five ten-thousandths of our income.
-Richard Stearns, p. 217

God has created each of us with a unique contribution to make to our world and to our times. No other person has our same abilities, motivations, network of friends and relationships, perspectives, ideas, or experiences. When we, like misplaced puzzle pieces, fail to show up, the overall picture is diminished.
-Richard Stearns, p. 251

FollowTheRabbi.com – Excellent Resource!

noreply@blogger.com (Heath Watson) — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 16:04:00 +0000

YOUR GUIDE ON A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WORLD OF JESUS.

www.followtherabbi.com

The teaching ministry of Ray Van Laan has be so enriching and enlightening for me throughout the years, opening my eyes to the first century world of Jesus more than anyone else. He’s the founder of the That The World May Know Ministries and the Faith Lessons video series, by Zondervan. He has also written the Echoes of His Presence as well as the introduction to the recently released, Walking in the Dust of Rabbi Jesus: How the Jewish Words of Jesus Can Change Your Life by Lois Tverberg. RVL has taught Bible classes at Holland Christian High School in Holland, Michigan for over 25 years. He is an ordained minister with the Christian Reformed Church. He regularly takes trips to other churches throughout the United States to teach and, since 1977, he has hosted more than 7,000 people on biblical study tours in Egypt, Israel, and Turkey. His DVDs, articles, and lectures about the life and times of Christ have helped to illuminate the text of the Scriptures and provided I cannot recommend him enough. Be sure to check him out!