Kingdom Rain

Christmas or Xmas: How much does it really matter?

2008-11-18T20:32:18+00:00

There are so many battles before us, as Christians (or should I write Xians?), what sort of issues rise to the top as being more important than the rest? There are battles such as, which bible version is the truly inspired version: King James, New American Standard, NIV (Necessary in Vineyard), New King James, etc. Oh, and there is the battle of pre-, mid- or post- tribulation. There is infant versus adult water baptism. How about whether the gifts are still in good working order? One of my person favorites is – are Christmas Trees really Asherah Poles and therefore I can’t have one in my house.

One issue that resurfaces this time every year is whether or not you can “X” our Christ in Christmas. This essential issue to the Christian faith is still not resolved (note the sarcasm).

Last week a pastor friend of mine was approached by a congregant who was SO VERY upset that a brochure had Xmas rather than Christmas. So, what is the true story? No one really knows – but I found a nice article you might want to read if it really matters that much to you.

Forcing Our Will on God

2008-11-06T19:17:38+00:00

As parents we learn a lot from our relationship with our children and how it mimics our relationship with God. Take for instance this toy. All three of my children loved to play with it. As they were learning about shapes it took them a little while to discover that the cube did not fit in the circular hole. Just because it did not fit did not stop them from trying (or forcing) to make it fit. Many times they became angry and frustrated that it did not fit. How does this relate to God and us?

As believers we are not immune from trials and tribulations, both from life and from our enemy. I’m sitting here writing this not having received a paycheck in 11 weeks. It would be all too easy to pick up my bible, look up all the verses that speak to prosperity and God’s provision. I can easily take the scriptures out of context and try to “force” them (the text, the word of God) to fit into my agenda, my desires, and my will.

Last couple of nights I have battled with insomnia, probably a little stressed induced. As I am lying there and channel surfing (on my soon to obsolete TV) I came across a certain Christian network. They just happened to holding a fundraiser and every night they have had a different guest speaker talking about how “if you give (to their agenda of course), your financial woes will be over because ‘GOD’s WORD SAYS SO.’” It made me angry, sad, angry, sad, enraged, confused, and angry again.

We cannot FORCE our will into God’s will. We must find God’s will and submit our will to Him.

As my kids learned which shapes fit into the corresponding holes, their little lives became so happy, they felt such pride and accomplishment. “Look dad, I did it.” How our Father in Heaven loves to hear those words.

Say A Little Prayer

2008-11-02T07:00:13+00:00

How many times have you ever bumped into a friend or talked to them on the phone, and they have told you about something hard that they are going through? You feel for them but you were on your way to somewhere or right in the middle of something so you throw out the "I'll be praying for you" statement. You were well-intention but truthfully, do you remember to pray for them? - Honestly!!!

Obviously, the best way to handle this situation is take 30, 60 or 90 seconds and pray for that person. At the very least right down their name, type it into you your phone or do something that will remind you and as soon as you have a little time (like when you are driving away) say a prayer for them and continue to pray throughout the day and weeks to come. Create a little prayer list and check in with that person to see if the prayer is answered. Praying for someone is low-impact with high-results. Live out the Kingdom.

Shower Power

2008-11-02T00:27:09+00:00

This year my kids started coming home from school with laminated pieces of paper with scripture versus on them. Since they are laminated they easily stick inside the shower. That way they can read and learn scripture when they are taking a shower. What a great way, I thought, to memorize scripture and it is not just for kids. Other ways I've heard of are taping a piece of paper to your bathroom mirror so you can memorize scripture while brushing your teeth.

The method is not what I am trying to drive home as much as reminding everyone how important it is to feed off the word. The promise to yourself to read the bible an hour a day, or pray for a half-hour, etc., are all well intentioned, but the vast majority of us fail within days and a lucky few make it a week or two. This is low impact with high results. Learn one scripture per week, 52 in a year. We are all busy but can we not take the time when we are doing something mindless and mundane and turn it into an opportunity to feed our spirits?

Evangelism with Power

2008-09-28T00:16:28+00:00

Taken from a two-disc teaching by John Wimber, entitled Evangelism With Power. On this, the first of two discs, John talks about the effectiveness of evangelism; evangelism that produces results, long-term results.

Listen to Evangelism With Power (mp3)

If you are interested in hearing the entire teaching, it is available from The Book Cellar (www.VineyardBookCellar.com or 714.777.5400).

The Kingdom of God - Part I :: Audio Teaching

2008-09-20T00:41:26+00:00

This audio teaching is excepted from a series that John Wimber did on the subject of "The Kingdom of God: Part I". The Kingdom was central to teachings of John and he had a passion to share it with the world.

It bothers me that so much of the Church of Jesus Christ today is so ineffectual, in doing the deeds of Jesus. When He said, "greater works than these would the church do." It bothers me that we are so preoccupied with the word that we forgot the works. It bothers me that we are such good students that we forgot to graduate and go out and begin doing the things we have been studying about. It bothers me that the church is such a good audience that it has forgotten that its called to be an army. It bothers me - John Wimber

God Is King, But Do We Know It?

2008-09-17T16:25:08+00:00

GOD IS KING. HE REIGNS ENTHRONED in glory with a sea of flaming angels bowing low before him and rising to shout his praises. From his throne he speaks and the galaxies are hurled into space. From his throne he orders the molten, gaseous stars, and directs the planets circling them. From his throne he place our earth into its orbit and rules the ages of our geological and historical life. From his throne he upholds all things and judges all things. Moreover, on the awesome final day each of us will stand before his throne and give an account of our lives to him.

I Never Even Cracked The Book

2008-09-16T17:53:00+00:00

Oh the bliss of youth. Within the last several month I've had 3 young people come and tell me that they got through 4 years of college and never opened a book. LIke that was suppose to impress me? "Wow, you can't read. You can formulate a conclusion based on text. Did you know that one day, SOON, you'll need to get a job, earn a descent wage and care for a family that God has entrusted you with?"

Our society is becoming increasingly visual and that has both negative and positive conclusions. The biggest negative is the loss of the written word. It should be of no great surprise though. It's not just lost on our youth, it's been lost on all of us. Sit down and have a biblical discussion with someone and you will be amazed at what conclusions people have come up with, as far as what the bible actually states.

About 10 years ago I had a discussion with a couple of pastors who were concerned about the lyrics of worship songs. Their concerns were that a large majority of Christians relied on song lyrics for their theology versus relying on the Bible.

It's time to turn the page!

How Loud Is Too Loud

2008-09-16T01:20:50+00:00

We have combined this Three Part article into one.

PART I

This issue comes up a lot. And the answer is often elusive. There are so many variables that go into the "feeling of loudness" for an audience.

If loudness is a constant issue at your church, you probably have a major problem. It's not a subtle issue of musical taste or style if people are complaining often. You have either a major technical or artistic problem.

Here's a summary of recent dialog on the subject:

• a bad band or bad mix will seem too loud at 85db. James Taylor and his top musicians playing the best instruments mixed well could run 100+ db and no one would complain. If you're running 92-95 and people are complaining the mix and/or band needs a tune up.

Worship

2008-09-10T06:12:17+00:00

What is the purpose of Yahweh seated upon his throne, dwelling in his heavenly palace with his angelic court and his earthly subjects gathered before him? The answer can be given in a word: worship. While most Christians would agree with this, at the same time, we are confused as to what worship is. For example, the average person does not got to church in order to give himself to God in corporate worship, but in order to get something our of the service. Thus, we have trained a generation of believers to ask, “What’s in it for me?” A successful, evangelical church, according to a well-known pastor, is one in which people’s needs are met in the atmosphere of a “religious supermarket.” It is no surprise then, that we select a church building loaded with aesthetics and sit in the pew to be inspired or even entertained. We end up judging the events of Sunday morning by whether our favorite hymns are sung, whether the choir is on key, whether the preacher is “relevant” (and brief), and whether people are friendly and remember our names. In other words, we view worship as designed to reinforce our basic selfishness, masked under “meeting our needs.”

True Discipleship

2008-09-10T05:59:49+00:00

In the ancient world true teaching and learning, what we would call “discipleship” today, took place as the teacher trained his pupils to be like himself. That is, they were to emulate him in all that he said and did. Unlike the modern philosophy of education, the ancient purpose of education was not merely to learn facts, evaluate them critically, and reproduce them on an exam; the purpose of education was to become like your teacher. Thus, his character and his behavior were as important as his thoughts. As the first century Stoic philosopher Seneca writes to Lucilius:

Muslims more numerous than Catholics: Vatican

2008-03-30T15:24:12+00:00

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Islam has overtaken Roman Catholicism as the biggest single religious denomination in the world, the Vatican said on Sunday.

Monsignor Vittorio Formenti, who compiled the Vatican's newly-released 2008 yearbook of statistics, said Muslims made up 19.2 percent of the world's population and Catholics 17.4 percent.

Holy Spirit - Part I

2008-03-10T14:02:39+00:00

Taken from a series teaching from 1980, John Wimber teaches on the Holy Spirit. This is the first of two CD's available at www.vineyardbookcellar.com. Whether you have or have not heard John teach, you will be deeply moved by this teaching.

Listen:
MP3
iTunes

Wimber's teaching influenced many Christians, both inside and out of the Vineyard movement. He is well known for a strong emphasis on "authenticity," and doing nothing for "religious effect." One of the key foundations of his teaching was intimacy with God, rather than religious habit and discipline. He also emphasized the idea that Church services should be casual, informal and led by the Holy Spirit, meaning that worship shouldn't include scripted prayers or structured liturgy. Another characteristic is in the area of teaching, which emphasized preaching extensively from the gospels and using Jesus as the model for Christian believers.

Another point which Wimber emphasized strongly was signs & wonders and the priesthood of every believer, that every Christian has the ability to prophesy and heal the sick. While this is not a new concept, Wimber was a key figure in the introduction of the concept that praying for the sick (or anything else) shouldn't be saved for special healing services, but should take place at every Church service, and out on the streets (by every believer). As a result, many Churches have prayer time after the sermon. (source)

AUDIO SERMON: Rest and Discipleship

2008-03-06T14:58:20+00:00

Matthew 11:28-30

Q: “How are you?” A: “Tired, really busy.” --- Most common words heard before or after every church service. We are living in a world, (primarily the US), that moves at a record pace. Computers, automation, smart phones, and unmanned vacuums have all – NOT – saved nor created more time in a day. Anxiety, nervousness, sleep deprivation are ruling forces in our everyday lives.

Taken from his discipleship series, Lance Pittuck (Senior Pastor, Vineyard Anaheim) addresses the necessity of REST as an essential part of being a disciple of Jesus Christ.

New Statistics on Church Attendance and Avoidance

2008-03-04T15:46:23+00:00

New Statistics on Church Attendance and Avoidance

With Americans pursuing a growing number of "church" options, some of the traditional measures of church health are being redefined. According to a new study released by The Barna Group, which has been studying church participation patterns since 1984, popular measures such as the percentage of people who are "unchurched" - based on attendance at a conventional church service - are out of date. Various new forms of faith community and experience, such as house churches, marketplace ministries and cyberchurches, must be figured into the mix - and make calculating the percentage of Americans who can be counted as "unchurched" more complicated.

Read study

Tribute to Larry Norman

2008-02-29T22:28:26+00:00

The passing of Larry Norman, a legend of Christian rock music I first became aware of at age 15, still has the power to move me at 52.

4/8/1947 - 2/24/2008

I feel like a prize in a box of cracker jacks with God's hand reaching down to pick me up. I have been under medical care for months. My wounds are getting bigger. I have trouble breathing. I am ready to fly home.

My brother Charles is right, I won't be here much longer. I can't do anything about it. My heart is too weak. I want to say goodbye to everyone. In the past you have generously supported me with prayer and finance and we will probably still need financial help.

My plan is to be buried in a simple pine box with some flowers inside. But still it will be costly because of funeral arrangement, transportation to the gravesite, entombment, coordination, legal papers etc. However money is not really what I need, I want to say I love you.

I'd like to push back the darkness with my bravest effort. There will be a funeral posted here on the website, in case some of you want to attend. We are not sure of the date when I will die. Goodbye, farewell, we will meet again.

Goodbye, farewell, we'll meet again
Somewhere beyond the sky.
I pray that you will stay with God
Goodbye, my friends, goodbye.

Larry

Being a Disciple: Basic DNA

2008-01-24T03:16:17+00:00

Audio Sermon

Lance Pittluck (Vineyard Anaheim, Senior Pastor) shares with us what the basic DNA is in regards to being a disciple of Jesus Christ. Text Used: John 15:15, Phil 3:10, 1 Cor. 12:13.

Available on iTunes and as an MP3.

FIRST RESPONSE: Radically Rethinking the Church with Alan Hirsch

2008-01-23T23:36:25+00:00

Radically Rethinking the Church with Alan Hirsch

I have recently met a quiet, intense radical Christian, Alan Hirsch, who wants to dismantle 1600 years of church history by reconfiguring the church as mission rather than the church as community extending or promoting mission. While this doesn't sound dramatic and seems to follow a whole line of current thinking on the church as a missional community, I assure you that Hirsch will not support most of the hip thinking on this subject today. So here we go, reviewing his book The Forgotten Ways. We may have more to say on KingdomRain.net as this conversation continues. Stay tuned and join in.

Overcoming Steeple Envy

2008-01-23T22:34:31+00:00

Overcoming Steeple Envy

I was still in my twenties when I first went to one of those denominational pow-wows for pastors. As a newly-minted assistant pastor, I circulated among the big boys and observed their way of talking shop. It was interesting to note how conversations always seemed to turn to the topic of comparative church size. I actually heard one man ask another: “How many ya’ runnin’?” I was a little stunned. Had I somehow wandered into a cattle rancher’s convention?

Now I’m much older and a senior pastor with a church of my own. Although some things about the professional ministry environment have changed since those days, one thing hasn’t: when it comes to church success, size still matters. It is a phenomenon sometimes known as “steeple envy”.

The Necessity of Community Part 1-6

2008-01-13T03:02:14+00:00

The Necessity of Community

This six-part study is excerpted from “The Necessity of Community” by Mike Safford.

Part 1: The Church in this Culture
Part 2: An Incomplete View of God and Man
Part 3: Community in the Creation Narrative
Part 4: Man is Created in God’s Triune Image
Part 5: The Necessity of Community
Part 6: A Dramatic Shift to a Healthy View