Lend Me Your Ear

As residents of a free nation, we have come to appreciate and maybe occasionally take for granted the right to privacy which our Constitution provides for us.  The right to keep your business “your business” is a foregone conclusion to most.  Ironically, in this social media driven age of ours, we often post things in the virtual world that we would not write on a sign in our yards, but one thing is for sure:  we all need somebody to be real with.  There are things which all of us tend to keep to ourselves, and certainly when it comes to disclosure of your most intimate thoughts, feelings, and dreams, discretion is a must; but having someone to share with is essential for emotional and spiritual health.

One passage of Scripture puts it this way: “Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed." James 5:16-18 MSG

Certainly not all of our thoughts are sinful, but if you look at it through one definition of sin which is "to miss the mark", many of my thoughts miss the mark on a regular basis.

Talking to someone about the thoughts that keep playing over and over in our heads is a great way to find balance in life and to still our sometimes restless souls.   A trusted friend, family member, or spiritual mentor can often point out the lies, assumptions, and falsehoods for what they are.  Relationships are supposed to make our lives better, so don't live your life alone.  And being around people is not necessarily the opposite of being alone.  Many people are social (being around people regularly) but never take the time to develop the close friendships necessary for a healthy life.  Let’s all take the time to be a friend and benefit from having real friends, too.  Let's make 2016 the year we open up our hearts, lives, and homes to others.

Simple Jesus, Boiling Down Your Religion Without Watering Down Your Faith

I hope you enjoy this unedited release of the introduction to the book which I have been writing for some time now.  I'm five chapters in and I am releasing this snipet as a motivation to myself to continue the work I have started until  it's completeion.  God Bless.

SIMPLE JESUS

Boiling Down Your Religion Without Watering Down Your Faith 

PREFACE

This book seeks to illustrate the inconsistencies that I have noted between the simple powerful example of Jesus and His first followers and the complicated web of modern day christian practices.  The discrepancy between the two is profound and seems only to be matched by the seeming unwillingness do something about them.  

These inconsistencies are at best ironic and at worst create a religion whose form lacks the simple lasting power to change lives.  In addition this book seeks to motivate the reader to a thought provoking soul searching quest for a simple faith laser focussed on relating to God and others the way he designed us too. 

I'm not coming at this topic from a theological or ecclesiastical perspective although I have a bachelors degree in Biblical studies and Pastoral Ministries.  Instead I am doing my best to come at the topic from a simple common sense perspective that seems to be congruent with the message and life of Christ.  

I consider myself to be a follower of Christ, but more accurately a friend of Jesus.  I have spent the last five years looking for, discovering and developing a relational faith with the Living Lord.  I hope to share with you some of what I have discovered.  

INTRODUCTION

While simple as an adjective make conjure up images of uneducated or unintelligent people, by definition it is much more of a compliment than a put down.  Simple reflects a lack of complication.  Complication in most of our lives takes on the form of drama and simply speaking drama drains the soul.  Simplicity reflects peace, solitude and tranquility.  Who among us doesn't need more of these? Simple in one sense can mean having a singular purpose and a narrow focus.  

In another sense it can mean free from vanity, guile, or ostentation. Both seem reflective of the nature and character of Christ.    Jesus by this definition was simple and I Believe that the path he walked and calls his followers to walk is meant to be one of simplicity. Not the "lets sell everything we have and move to a commune to reduce our carbon footprint" type of simplicity but a uncomplicated narrowly focused faith. One dedicated to the things which Jesus held to be most important.  

THE JESUS PROJECT

A few years ago in this very galaxy,  I took up the "extra church" practice of journaling.  I use the term "extra church" practice because journaling was not one of the things on the church I attended's list of "what you should be doing if you are really a good Christian".  I have noticed over the years that different churches have different expectations for their members. There are expectations of conduct, attendance, appearance, involvement, support, and the list can go on and on. But I digress. I took up the practice of journaling because I had started to notice an abundance of thoughts and feelings running the halls of my mind.  I had heard of the practice of journaling while reading one of the couple dozen books I was researching while I was the Adult growth director of the church where I ministered.  I wondered if the practice would help me get some of my excess thoughts and feelings out of the way so I could get back to the important things in my life. What I found was that when I dedicated the time to write them down,  the thoughts and feelings started to organize themselves into a series of themes.    As I started to concentrate on them, these themes had some serious familiarity to them.  I realized that there was an undercurrent of these thoughts and feelings that had been running through my head and my heart most of my life. An undercurrent which was meant to prompt me toward a different kind of life.  

In one of my three times a week, hour long journaling sessions (yes that used to make me feel like one of those super Christians) I was struck by a thought that provoked ovewhelming feelings of truth, purpose, and direction.  JESUS WAS CALLING ME TO A MINISTRY OF SIMPLIFICATION. In the moments that followed I was overcome with the desire to start a one-month long exercise that I eventually came to call the "Jesus Project". 

The gist of the Jesus Project was to spend thirty days only focussed on doing the things which I had found to be directly beneficial to developing a better relationship with Jesus.  All other things no matter how spiritual they might seem, or how prominent a role they had been playing in my life, would be set aside regardless of the expectations of others.  Now let me clarify I'm not independently wealthy so I'm not talking about a 30 day trip to the mountains to meditate and pray. I still went to work, played with my kids, and spent time with my wife and friends. It was the other "supposed to" sort of stuff and the time stealing habits of my life that I set aside.  What I discovered during the process changed my life forever and is the essence of Simple Jesus.  I hope it challenges your assumptions, solidifies your beliefs, and helps you tear down walls constructed by yourself and others that may be hindering your own spiritual growth and all that Christ wants to do in your life.  

Now I'm not a disillusioned, backslidden (if you theology permits) Christian seeking to bring others down but a simple reformist looking to lift others up with the hope inspire that there is an abundant life in Jesus that's not well represented by "Christianity".    I would challenge you at this point in the book to ask the Lord to guide and direct you in the pages to come. To cement to your heart truths that you need to grab ahold of and to help you let go of and lay down anything that may be holding you back from a deeper relationship with Christ.  Hold onto your seat because here we go!

BACK OF THE BOOK

If you have picked up a copy of this book and are starting to read this back cover, chances are you're already searching for something more or something less or at least some more clarity on what the "Christian life" is all about. Maybe you've had a relationship with the church that went south or have had an up close and personal encounter with the modern-day Pharisee. Maybe your experience with Christianity Seems far from Christ's promise of "my burden is easy and my yoke is light".  The good news is God wants this relationship with you far worse than you want it with him.  The fact that you're reading this right now suggests that you've already taken the first steps into a deeper walk with Christ.  And I pray right now that if you will continue reading this book that Christ will reveal himself to you in a way you've never known before a way that will change your life forever.

A Rich History Reborn

A Rich History Reborn 

Seaman Community Church was started in 1869 in North Topeka to meet the spiritual needs of the growing North land area as well as to reach out to the community at large.  Many of the members of the first generation of the church were community leaders of great reputation. 

The church was once one of the larger spiritual communities in North Topeka, but like most traditional churches in the community in recent decades, it has struggled to stop the decline in attendance.  As the culture has shifted, the church in America has largely stayed the same.  Congregations unwilling to change their approach and style have often found themselves being faced with the potential of closing the doors, not so much because of lack of funding, but because of lack of attenders.  

Churches today either need to be the best in their region at ministering to various demographics so that they can attract the most believers to their services, or they need to look to the hsitorical example of the early church and make sure that they are providing people the same opportunity to experience Christ's love, grace, and support through spiritual community as the early church did.  I believe that to do the latter will bring about healthy natural growth that is sustainable and not as subject to the ebb and flow of trends and popularity.  

Certainly these are dicey times to be a minister because of the ever changing culture we find ourselves in but God call's us to do what needs done not what is easy.  From what I have seen they are rarely the same.  

IF YOU GAVE UP ON CHURCH YOU ARE NOT ALONE

IF YOU USED TO ATTEND CHURCH AND MAKE ROOM FOR SPIRITUAL THINGS in your life, but now you have all but given up on church, Christianity, and God, you are not alone. In the last eight years the Christian population in America has decreased by 8%. At that rate, Christianity is now the fastest shrinking religion in the U.S. When the church becomes complicated, rigid, and judgmental, it becomes irrelevant; and the simple, life transforming message of Christ- along with the powerful effect of a relationship-based faith- gets lost in the mix. The real loser is the culture that now, more than ever, needs the church to be the family of God to so many in our world who are suffering from all types of broken relationships.

Well, where is the good news?  Over the last few months, God has been up to something at the oldest church in Topeka north of the river. Seaman Community Church (SCC), after seeing decades of decline, is charting a new course. They have decided to look to the historical example of the scripture and make sure they are providing people the same opportunity to experience Christ's love, grace, and support through spiritual community as the early church did.

A REFORMATION IS UNDERWAY. While music and ministry styles are modernizing, the most fundamental changes are coming in their understanding of just what a church is supposed to be from God's perspective. New ministries like a Third Friday night coffee house are providing opportunities for all generations to come together around a desire to live well, laugh often, and love much. The church is striving to become more of a family than an institution. Their desire is to love all generations closer to God with unique ministries to children and youth to start in the fall.

Check out their Core Convictions  and ask yourself if this is something you could really benefit from and would like to get involved with. What have you got to lose? Take the next step forward.  

Does Your Garden Need Tending?

As with every creative work, gardens don’t just happen.  They are started with intentionality and insight as to how they will look when fully grown and well tended.  There is a point where the creator lays out the rows and beds and plantings all with an eye for how they will look next to each other, complimenting each other, causing the splendor of the whole creation to be multiplied by the placement of each individual part.  The garden which I write about today is no different, for it was a creation of a master gardener who took great care to plant species of trees, flowers, shoots, and vines that would work well with the flow of the land, the river that ran through the garden, and the geographical limits of the area itself.  This garden was a marvelous sight to behold, each part working well with its surroundings and a pure delight for all those who ventured by to see.

As with every creation, there is a time when it reaches the pinnacle of its growth.  A time when everything is going so well that the creation itself deems the creator unnecessary.  Before long- and quite subtly- all types of invasive things started to grow, and it went unnoticed by the creation that the master gardener had not been to visit and tend it for quite some time.  Thistle, burr, and thorn alike made their way inside the garden, and even some of the garden’s original plantings outgrew their beds and started to take over parts of the garden where they had not been planted, seeking out the soil and resources of the surrounding beds. The once great garden became no more that a remnant of its former self.

Where there once was a great division between tended and wild, there was now but a blurred and very faint distinction.  As thistles, thorns, and burrs do, they choked out the growth of the plantings by dominating the space and the resources.  There was still beauty in what once had been a marvelous creation, but the wild had snuffed the majesty right out of it.  Until one day when the master gardener came to visit.  He had not been absent but merely watching from afar because, as with every creator, he longed to give his creation some space and freedom to grow.  But at just the right time, before all was lost, he entered the scene.  His heart ached for the pain of the plantings, seeing those which had been lost and those still entangled and entrenched by thorn and burr. He of course had the capacity to correct what had gone wrong.  After all, he was the master gardener.  In fact, he could have prevented all that had happened from taking place but, like a father teaching his child to walk, he had to allow the child to fall or the child would never learn how to get back up.  But now seeing the state of his creation, he reassured each plant and flower and vine that he would intervene if only they would but ask him.  Many did, and he immediately began the tedious job of pruning the garden back toward its original state.  The process wasn’t easy, and it was not without cost and pain to the plantings, for they were torn, punctured, and bleeding, but the gardener continued his work until the wild was removed and the garden was once again marvelous.  The gardener was spending his time not only walking the paths of his garden but also making new paths into the wild, removing all manner of invasive growth from any planting that would ask.  For it was now obvious that there was more than just this garden but a whole network of plantings beds of every type which the master gardener had been tending, each in its own state of disarray, each needing his loving and consistent hand to come in, restore, and connect them to his garden until one day, when all would be covered in the gardener’s creative plantings and marvelous landscapes.    

In my experience, much of the church in western Christianity is like that garden- invaded by all sorts of maladies.  The church has allowed doctrinal divisions, power struggles, suffocating debt, overbearing leadership, stylistic preferences, ungodly divisions between clergy and laity and much more to fracture it in ways that make the majesty of the early church a thing not often seen.  But Jesus, the head of the church, is within earshot, waiting for his creation to call for help so He can do the work of helping it return to its earlier productive splendor.  He’s not looking for us to return to the good old days of thirty of forty years back, but he is looking for us, His church, to stand up and be what we can be:  a true community of Christ-minded people looking to love him deeply and to love others in the same manner we love ourselves.  God has always used reformation to nudge His church back toward the purpose for which it was created, and He is marvelously at work doing the same thing now in a divinely splendid manner and in a variety of ways.  This work comes at a cost, for removing the wild often involves shrinkage, chaos, and short term loss.  But reevaluating priorities and realigning people with God’s plan for His church is well worth the cost.  I hope and pray that 2015 will be a year of returning to the Master Gardener for the western church.