Be a Man of God... It's Easy, Right?

With the approaching of my two older son’s birthdays I wanted to do something impactful.  James is 15 and Andrew is 13. My younger son’s birthday is coming up in June, but being a toddler impactful looks like sprinklers or bouncy castles.  Since this was Andrew’s birthday in which he enter teen-hood,I wanted to do something that prepared him for his fast approaching manhood.  I wish I had done this for James at 13, but better late than never.  Because I don’t just want to prepare them for manhood, but godly manhood and because I wanted the most beneficial impact, I enlisted the help of some guys which have had huge impact on my life.  All these guys have been mentors, friends or both.  I truly believe one of the best ways to teach your children to follow God, after being the example yourself, is to surround them with other godly men and women. 

Here’s the rundown of the who’s who of godly men in my life (that have also been influential in my son’s lives, too.  That was the criteria.  It does no good for someone that affected me, to speak into my kids’ lives.).  They are:  Jeff Maness,  Andy Hazelet, CurtisMarshall, Thomas Hogan, Morgan Clark & Devon Arredondo.

I asked each one of these guys to record a short video and share one thing that God has shown them for what it means to be a man of God.  Then I sat and watched the videos with them.  Shared my own thoughts with them and gave them a special gift to commemorate the day.  I also intend to write each message into a small journal I bought them and give it to them on their next birthday.

What these guys had to share with my boys was without a doubt, amazing.  Since some of them don’t listen to instructions so well, there were actually more than 6 things, but here’s what they (collectively) told my boys about being a man of God.

Be teachable.

Be pure.

Be a man of prayer.

Be obedient.

Be in His word (because obedience is found there).

Be serious about the task of being a man.

Be a pursuer of righteousness and godliness.

Be a man of faith.

Be loving.

Be diligent.

Be gentle.

Be aware of who you run with (Be in Christian community).

Way more than I could have asked for or expected.  I love these guys.  And I love that they care for my boys and I enough that at the drop of a hat they’d do this for them.  Not only that, but that's a list I want to be living.

Trying to live that list, 

Bruce

Lazarus At Your Door!

First off, let me say that this is by NO means meant to call anyone out. This is 100% based on what I feel God has challenged ME with over the last few days. If you feel a twinge of conviction, it’s not me doing it. With that said, normally I don’t feel a need to defend or disclaimer stuff I say, but I felt it was important this time.

So the last few days Sarah and I have been presented with the task of helping one of her friends find a place to stay for a couple weeks, while she waits for her new apartment to become available. We’ve asked a couple of people and so far no luck. Keeping in mind that there are some absolutely valid reasons for not being able to accommodate her staying (i.e. accountability, etc…) and I’m not challenging any of them. Anyway, I was talking with my father-in-law about the difficulty of finding a place for her to stay and he brought up the parable of Lazarus at the rich man’s door. (Ftr, he’s a stinking smart guy. I’m really blessed to have him as a father-in-law. <--Heh, brownie points!) I’ve read that parable a number of times and have always read it as conveying the importance of listening to those that preach The Truth of God (that being that Jesus died to save us from our sin and reunite us with God). I’ve always read it as a warning to “listen AND act now, because later is too late.”

There are so many different commentaries as to why this parable is important and what Jesus meant by it, but as I talked it out with my father-in-law, it hit me a different way (mainly because he presented it differently). He pointed out that Lazarus, a poor man who was covered in sores (v. 20), lay in a place that the rich man had to pass routinely (probably multiple times) throughout the day. What’s significant about that fact is that the rich man never noticed him, never once offered to help, and never gave a second thought to him. That is until they sat across from each other, staring over the chasm of eternity. Then the rich man noticed Lazarus. I'm not going to speculate as to what the rich man's sin was that landed him on the far side of eternity, separated from his God. But, by his own request for Abraham to send Lazarus to “warn” his five brothers, Jesus makes the point that the rich man refused to listen to the teachings of Moses and the prophets. So where does that leave us as it applies to our Lazaruses and listening to what Jesus taught? Here's some of what He said:

On loving each other: So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. - John 13:34

On serving others: “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’ - Matthew 25:40

On our status among others (and serving): And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each others' feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message. Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them. - John 13:14-17

Here it is. We are called to love and serve others. Even when (and I'd add especially if) it is uncomfortable for us. To truly be love and community for others, we have to give generously and sacrificially. That's where Jesus lives. We say we follow Jesus then refuse the ones He loves. I follow a God that, in human form, lowered Himself to that of a low servant and washed His disciples' feet. Who hung out with the least of these and loved them. Who told us point blank that He came for the lost, broken and hurting. If that's the Jesus we follow, why do we make excuses and choose not to actually follow His example?  How do people that don't know Jesus experience His love?  Through US loving them with the love He gave us.

Even as I type this I am challenged with the excuses that I had for not reaching out and we (Sarah and I) are going to remedy that tonight.

Opening the door to my Lazaruses,

Bruce

SHIFTing Seasons

This is kind of a continuation of the blog posted on Jan 17 titled Biblical Guided Community v. Gospel Centered Community (HERE). This is the stuff that I wanted to culminate that blog with, but as I typed I realized that the length of the actual blog itself was only rivaled by the length of the title of the blog.  So I decided to hold it for another blog and HERE IT IS...


Over the last two years I was fortunate to see the process of building community played out in this amazing group of young adults, that banded together to allow God to form them into a community sometimes called theSHIFT.  Just to recap the community building process before we continue it's goes like this...


Fellowship  (Connection with other believers)
Seeking  (Two parts: Part 1 - Seeking Knowledge of God and God's purpose for the Group...often times occurs through study of His Word. Part 2 - Seeking God's Presence...often time through corporate worship & prayer)
Accountability  (to God and to the group -- can be a set of standards or an accountability partner or smaller community group)
Sacrifice  (The giving of yourself to the group and the giving of the group to others...culminates in the sending out of believers to find the lost and bring them into the fellowship of community and ultimately Christ).

Since the birth of theSHIFT God has placed it under the leadership of three different people.  I had the honor of being number two.  Since being released from leadership in theSHIFT and placing the reigns in the very capable hands of Sean Brink, I've been able to step back and see the bigger picture of the road God has led us down and have caught a glimpse of where they may be headed.

So here is what that process looked like in theSHIFT.

When God birthed the vision for theSHIFT in the heart of Curtis Marshall, there was literally a handful of young adults that would band together under this vision.  In the early days of theSHIFT, the group dynamic was fairly dependant on Curtis providing the atmosphere for fellowship.  He facilitated the environment and organized events that encouraged fellowship.  This was so necessary in those early days.  The connections to each other, the friendships developed and the commitment to group that grew out of those early days would be essential as theSHIFT moved forward in what God expected from them.  As the group began to build fellowship, this fostered a desire to seek what God had for theSHIFT as a group.  Through group study and discussion theSHIFT began to discover who God is, what it meant that He was relational and what He intended as the purpose for them. Eventually, as God revealed Himself to theSHIFT, they would begin moving into the early stages seeking God's presence and Accountability.  Soon after, God (and the military) would call Curtis away to Arizona.

As God moved me into my season of leading theSHIFT, it quickly became very clear that my role would be quite different than Curtis'.  While Curtis played a necessary role in facilitating and building fellowship (which meant he was very much a part of community), God made it repeatedly clear that I was not called to be community for theSHIFT (or even be part of it at times).  Instead I was called to lead them to a place where they built community themselves.  No doubt I routinely got to facilitate the the environment that encouraged community and often time got to be a part of it, but there was a distinct difference in the group dynamic and what God was doing in it.  I got to see theSHIFT as a whole desire more of God's presence and move toward a sincere desire for Accountability.  Smaller community groups formed, people met with each other, corporate worship became a regular occurrence and the group began to move toward selflessly give to each other.  This group of friends that cared for each other transformed into a community that loved each other.  As God began to call me away from theSHIFT to lead in other areas of ministry I began to see God calling the group to more.  People who had been long time SHIFTers left theSHIFT and a new generation began to emerge (which is actually quite common in a college ministry).  It was more than obvious that God expected theSHIFT to give to those outside the group.

As Sean Brink moved into leading theSHIFT, God began to change a lot of stuff.  The face of theFAMILY began to look different, community groups had a renewed vision, even the night theSHIFT met on changed.  Now, I can't honestly speak on where God is taking theSHIFT because He hasn't told me (and why would He?), but I can see that God had already started moving theSHIFT in a direction where sacrifice is going to be a major theme.  It seems to me that God is bringing theSHIFT to a place where they move from Biblical Guided community to Gospel Centered community.  This road won't be an easy one.  It will be paved with selfless giving, sacrificing personal comfort and resources and the giving of your whole self all for the purpose of bringing the lost into fellowship with Christ.  And although it won't be "easy", I know no better man than Sean Brink to lead theSHIFT through this next season.

Only God knows where theSHIFT is headed (and Sean as God reveals it to him), but from where I'm standing it looks to be an amazing journey and one that is covered in the presence and purpose of God.

Excited to see God move,
Bruce

Biblical Guided Community v. Gospel Centered Community

Ok, so it’s a new year, and over the last year my bloggishness has lacked in frequency.  I don’t make resolutions, but I do plan on more blogtivity, so bare with me.

Over the last couple years God has really been working the importance of gospel community into my heart and mind, but it’s only been this past year that I’ve REALLY got to see it played out.  Over the past year I’ve been fortunate enough to see this group of young adults (that I was blessed to lead within Element Church’s college/20 somethings ministry called theSHIFT) form this community of believers where the accepting & fulfilling love of Jesus Christ was actually experienced and lived out. 

Never before had I had the opportunity to be part of a group that lived and experienced life together, but these people did.  They shared in each other’s successes and failures, in love and anger, gain and loss…they lived life, together, across the entire spectrum.  Now, I’m not typically a formula person, but I’ve been so taken by what I got to be a part of that I have spent the last year trying to figure out the nexus between biblically guided community and gospel centered community.  Before I get too much into it, I think it’s worth mentioning that community IS church and church IS community.  At least that’s how it’s meant to be.  They are synonymous with each other.

I first got to see the building of genuine community in this young men’s group that was intended to be a Men’s Accountability Group for theSHIFT.  The group was called Iron Sharpens Iron, or ISI.  As I began to see community develop within theSHIFT, I was able to look back at ISI and see a pattern forming.  It wasn’t a program, but a process and although not completely identical, it had an air of similarity.  Genuine community within a group can’t be forced.  It only happens as the Holy Spirit draws the group together toward Christ.  Here’s the process that I saw take place each time:  Fellowship  à  Seeking  à  Accountability  à  Sacrifice

I really felt like this process is what the Holy Spirit was leading me toward and had been leading theSHIFT toward for a long time.  But, I had to have some biblical basis for it.  So where do you turn in the Bible when you need to read about community?  Acts, of course.  Here is what Acts 2:42-27 says:

⁴²All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer. ⁴³A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. ⁴⁴And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. ⁴⁵ They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. ⁴⁶ They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity ⁴⁷all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.

Here is how I feel like it breaks down:

Fellowship:  This is the building connections within the group and identifying commonalities with other believers and with the members of the community.  In verse 42 it says, All the believers devoted to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), 46 & 47 says, They met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and enjoying the goodwill of all the people.  This step is vital to the building of community.  Fellowship with others believers AND fellowship with Christ is what draws you to wanting more for yourself, but also for the group as a community.

Seeking:  Like I said, two parts that can happen separate or simultaneously.  The first is the seeking of the knowledge of God and purpose of God for the group.  This typically comes in the form of studying and discussing God’s word.  Whether it be in a discussion about personal devotionals, Bible studies, or listening to the teaching of His word, the point is that the community is seeking to know more ABOUT God and what he requires from the group.  Verse 42 says, all the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching.

The second part is the seeking of the presence of God.  This typically comes in the form of corporate worship and prayer.  As the community seeks to grow closer to each other and God, they are drawn by the Holy Spirit to spend time in worship together, singing God’s praises, calling out to Him and lifting up prayer.  Verse 42 says, all the believers devoted to prayer.  Verse 46 & 47 say, they worshiped together at the Temple each day…all the while praising God.

Accountability:  This is a difficult for a lot of people, but as the Holy Spirit leads you into communion with Christ and draws the community together toward God, the need to be accountable to the leading of the Holy Spirit, to those above you, those beside you and to the group itself becomes something you cannot deny.  You may try to skirt it from time to time, but ultimately if you want what God wants, you give in. Verse 44 says, all the believers met together in one place.  I think this was intentional.  Not only did meeting together in one place bring them unity, but it allowed for an atmosphere where everyone was present before everyone and ultimately would have to answer to the each other.  This does not mean that everyone in the group has to have complete personal knowledge of your life, but someone in the group should and the whole of your life should ultimately be transparent to everyone else.

Sacrifice:  This is the hardest part for most.  Sacrifice is not only the giving of yourself to the group, but also giving as a group to others.  This may mean time, money, property, could be anything.  Verse 45 says, they sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. And verse 46 says, they shared their meals with great joy AND GENEROSITY.   Here’s the thing though, sacrifice is awesome, but without the goal being to bring the lost into fellowship with the group and ultimately with Jesus, it’s useless.  Verse 47 ends with, “and each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.”  This was the result of the believers allowing Christ to invade their community and become the center of it.

I wanted to run through how I’ve seen this play out in theSHIFT over the last couple years, but it’s already too long, so I’ll post that in the next couple days.  Here’s the bottom line…

It is easy to get trapped in biblical guided community.  You can read God’s word, pick out the stuff that tells you what community should look like and model your group after it.  You can get together with friends, eat and drink, study, pray & sing worship songs together, meet all the time for accountability, even serve in the local soup kitchen together, but to what purpose.  To know each other better?  To secure your seat in heaven?  To pat each other on the back for how well you’ve beaten your struggles and temptations?  All the while people living next door are desperate for community and are headed for hell.  


Or you can allow the Holy Spirit to draw the group toward God, centered on Christ.  This will pull you out of your comfort zone.  You can and should do all that other stuff, but it has to culminate in the sending out of people from the smaller community into THE community to build fellowship with those in need of it.  This is what brings others into the greater community called The Church.  This is the seeking of the lost that Jesus was talking about.  If your group is focused on the lost being found and brought home, then your group is a Gospel centered community.

In Him,

Bruce

commUNITY: Love

Lately God has really challenged me to look at how I love Him, specifically what the outpouring of that love looks like. Through that I found myself kind of lost on how I actually show God my love. God's question was completely rhetorical and He eventually showed me that we are to show our love for Him by pouring it out on His people. Essentially, if we love God, we'll love the ones He loves (basically that's everyone else). He clarified through a number of ways (my devotional time, my youngest son) and I was able to flesh that out in a few previous posts. (My Son the Teacher & You Feed Them)

After clarifying the loving Him part, God started moving me toward what it means to love well and what forum is required for real, genuine love to exist. At theSHIFT we have a set of core values that revolve around four "Cs". They are Connection, Community, Challenge and Christ (my friend Thomas [BLOG love] has a great article on this if he'd ever post it). With that said I knew that community was important, but God began to show me just how important it is to this love relationship is. The idea is that when you connect people to each other and Christ, they begin to develop community with each other and Christ. Within community is where love, fellowship, accountability, worship, sacrifice and service to others occur. When that happens, Christ begins to challenge you to a place where you want to connect more people with Him. Then the cycle continues.

So, this post is meant to talk about community (there will probably be a few of them). I think the first thing that is important to get about community is that it's not just a place to hang out. Gospel community is a place where people that love each other, live openly with each other. They are honest and transparent within their community. They care about decisions others make and offer wise council and accountability. They gently, lovingly and firmly call each other out when one is engaged in sinful behavior. They worship, pray and fellowship together. They provide for each other generously and without grumbling. They don't backbite or seek to hurt others.

The key to community is love. Love is the foundation for everything. Christ identified two commandments in Luke 10:27, "You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind. And, Love your neighbor as yourself." Jesus reiterated the need for love within community in John 13:34-35, which reads, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." If you want to really know what community is supposed to look like, read 1 Corinthians 13:1-8, that's love and that's community. The New Testament is filled with places that the Apostles tell various churches what it means to live in community with each other and all of them say to love each other. In Galatians 5:14-15 Paul says, “The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.” In 1 Peter 3:8 Peter says, “Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude.” And in 1 John 2:10, John says, “Anyone who loves another brother or sister is living in the light and does not cause others to stumble.”

The point is this: Love is what community is built on. If anyone says they are a part of a community and does not display the action of love, they are a liar and are only there to under mind what Christ is building. Once community is developed and love flows outward from it, everything else comes naturally; accountability, servant-hood, fellowship, worship, and sacrifice.

The last thing I'll say about love within community is this:  the love within community should also draw and invite others in. The lost, unloved, unloveable and hurting should be attracted to community as a place where they will be accepted and loved. If people from the outside see your “community” and see jealousy, back-biting, gossip, selfishness, distrust and bitterness, they're gone. They won't come near you. That isn't community, that's the same thing that others, in the world, are trying to escape from. People should be able to find refuge, not refuse, in Christ's church.

God's Training Grounds

I just started taking classes toward a degree in religion at Liberty University. With that said, I AM PSYCHED, STOKED, EXCITED whichever you prefer. One of my classes is Contemporary Evangelism. One of the books I have to read for it is The Art of Personal Evangelism, by w. McRaney. This class and my first required discussion board thread has a lot to do with my last post "Are We Adding to the Church" (HERE) that I wrote after the Summit Leadership conference. So I thought I'd add a “part 2” of sorts, since it's still been on my heart.

McRaney identifies God's desire is to “have an eternal relationship with His people", evidenced by the fact that He created us to live forever. From the very beginning God established relationship. He gave Adam and Eve each other, then instructed that man should leave his mother and become one flesh with his wife. God also made sure He had an active relationship with Adam and Eve in the garden. Genesis 3:8 reads, “And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day...” This desire is expressed continually throughout the bible. In Exodus 29:45, God again reveals His desire to have relationship with His people by stating, “Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God.” God created us to have relationship with us and so we could have relationship with each other. He created us as vessels to pour His overflowing love in to and the fact that He gave us free will is evidence that He desired willing reciprocation of that poured out love.

But He didn't stop there. God also expects us to continue pouring out our love to others, our neighbors. In the same instance that Christ commands us to love God with all our heart, He gives equal weight to the command to love our neighbor. This is the foundation for community. God revealed His desire for us to live in community by establishing the desire and need for relationships and modeled it in the Trinity. McRaney speaks to this point by saying, “God was living in community with Himself as Trinity and created all things to enjoy the benefits of such community." God intends us to live in community, not only with other Christians, but also (and especially) with non-believers. Most often when the Israelites would turn from God he would send a prophet that was already a part of the community. Christian community is very important because it helps us to sharpen each other as believers. It also strengthens and prepares us to go to the unbeliever. C.S. Lewis describes Christian community by saying, “Consequently, the one really adequate instrument for learning about God is the whole Christian community, waiting for Him together.” We are intended to be united in relationship and community as one body. Our church should provide that relationship and community. But it should not be our stronghold, rather a training ground and a safe place to find comfort and support in between our attempts to bring others into God's community and a relationship with Him. That is where we become equipped and prepared to evangelize in today's world.

In Training,
Bruce