Christians Just Do It

During the time I was at Cedarville University at the conference on Ethical Issues at the End of Life and Joni and Friends' conference on developing ministries to folks with a disability, I rediscovered several key things.

1. There is a lot of compassion, concern and love among Christians for those of us who suffer. There were many different kinds of ministries and offerings at these conferences.

2. That Christians are the greatest innovators and entrepreneurs around. Many churches and lay persons are starting new programs for the elderly, the disabled and shut ins. I recently learned a new term that is being used among universities and academics: "Social Entrepreneurs". It hit me that Christians have been "Social and Spiritual Entrepreneurs" for 2000 years. However, I rarely meet a Christian Innovator or Entrepreneur that has heard that term.

3. Christians have always been on the cutting edge of education. Harvard, Yale, Brown, etc were first and foremost Christian schools with a mission to train ministers and missionaries.

4. Quality schools. The 3200 student university at Cedarville has a beautiful campus, an innovative leadership and a caring, thoughtful faculty and student body. I rarely had to open a door myself because a student would smilingly open it for me. They were warm, inviting and unfailingly good humored. And they are sharp! My book on Listening for Heaven's Sake has been translated into Russian. I had it on the display table and several students looked it over. Two of them could read the Russian title!

5. On the cutting edge of spiritual and social change. It was Christians who led the Abolitionist Movement to free slaves and to free people from Communism and terror in Europe. Now we are working to protect the unborn and the disabled.

6. The power of volunteering. All nations are held together with the glue of social interactions and Christians still lead all other groups in charitable giving, political involvement, voting, volunteering to help those in need, helping in a crisis, supporting the poor, lifting the lives of minorities, etc.

7. In healing. Jesus was The Great Physician and Christians have built hospitals, clinics, Counseling Centers, and prayer stations all over the earth.

Visit Sweeten Life web page to discover how you can support all these activities.

What is a Disciple of Jesus?

When Jesus told His followers to "Go into all the world and make disciples He added ans important proviso: "Teaching them to do everything I taught you to do". WOW! That is a heavy assignment and I do not think most of the leaders I know even try to do that. In fact, few believe it is possible and even if it were would feel completely unable to accomplish it.

I minister to struggling Pastors and Christian leaders every week. Many are depressed, overwhelmed and frustrated. Few, if any, were prepared in seminary or Bible school for the daily, practical, real issues that confront them now as a Minister.

One Pastor told me he had never been taught how to do a baptism, a funeral, a wedding or any service. He had never seen anyone anoint a sick person with oil, comfort a widow, counsel and parent whose child had just been killed or led a church council, dealt with church conflict or advised a parent on discipline. All of which are the daily activities of all persons in ministry.

His entire seminary experience had focused on the teachers being "Talking Heads" who told him and his classmates how to be better "Talking Heads". No wonder seminaries are dying. With that kind of curriculum they need to die and be resurrected as schools that teach the way that Jesus did: through personal interaction, practice, feedback and making mistakes.

One of my ministerial friends told me a story about his first year in ministry that is bot tragic and funny. He joined the staff of a rather large church in the summer and shortly thereafter the Senior Minister left on vacation. The new man was supposed to baptize by immersion two adult converts in the local lake. The only thing that saved all of them from drowning was one of the converts who could swim well. (Perhaps this is a reason so many churches sprinkle now.)

As I think about the terribly inefficient and ineffective ways Christians try to operate I am struck by the fact that the church is indeed supernatural. Any organization not supported by the Holy Spirit would have died long ago with such pitiful training programs.


So, if a leaders has never been trained to DO THE STUFF how can he/she teach others to DO THE STUFF? Many Ministers stumble through and over time learn how to do the stuff but it usually takes a long time and a lot of pain. Why not do ti the way Jesus did and see what happens.

The Trinity

The classic creeds of Christianity have all emphasized the fact that we believe in the Trinity; three Persons and one God. We do not believe in three gods nor do we believe that there is only one name for God and that name is Jesus or The Father.

With the world becoming a global village we in Christian America have seemed to get sloppy about our theology. We seem to place friendship and harmony above clarity and principle. Thus, when we read about or get to know folks from other religions or persuasions who have a very different theology we tend to reduce everything to what we call "love" but is really "like".

I have some good friends who are Muslims. In fact I worked among Muslims in Asia and I "liked" them quite a lot. I "liked" some of them better than I "liked" some of the Christians I knew. But, I did not agree with these Muslims theologically. I agreed to disagree with them and I did disagree in an agreeable manner.

One of our friends confided in my wife Karen that we were different from most Christians. "You will listen to my story and my beliefs but most Christians will not listen to me. They will only talk with me if they can preach about their beliefs." Karen and I listened respectfully to this lady and her colleagues. We continue to have faith in the saving grace of God through Jesus Christ. We do not agree with the Muslim's hyper-works approach to salvation.

My Muslim friends treated us with warmth, care, concern and respect. I laughed with them, ate with them and shared counseling ideas with them. But I disagree with them on theology, salvation and healing.

The last lines of my post about "Hiding the Resurrection" was a quote from Matthew 28 that told the story about the Jewish High Priests who tried to cover up the resurrection. They paid some soldiers to say that the Disciples of Jesus came and rolled the stone away and stole His lifeless body. Here is the kicker: "that story is still circulating today" says the Gospel. And, it is told by Muslim scholars and laity all over the world. This is why we must base our faith on truth not whether we like a person or not.

I read a news story recently about a Muslim student who was offended that his diploma from Trinity University had "Year of our Lord" printed on it. He wants it removed. I hope they do not remove that statement. Here is my question: "What does he think the term "TRINITY" means?

Spiritual Warfare?

A Warrior Wears Amulets
The "blood wars" currently raging in Thailand are really spiritual in nature. The BBC writes a very interesting story about the violent "blood" rebellion going on today.

In the battle for Thailand's political soul - played out over several years by "yellow" and "red" waves of protesters - symbolism is probably the most important weapon.

A powerful belief in astrology and the supernatural ('saiyasat') co-exists alongside an increasingly commercial, globalised culture.

This is not just a frame of mind found in far-flung rural areas. Many of the country's top leaders, civilian and military, have actively participated in magical rituals to seek special powers and enlist them on their side.

A leading historian of Thailand, Chris Baker, and top economist and political analyst Pasuk Phongpaichit, have produced a paper entitled "The spirits, the stars, and Thai politics".

The blood of the common people is mixing together to fight for democracy

It outlines several instances of serious consultation by leading political figures - from former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra to the generals who led the coup against him in 2006 - with astrologers, spirit mediums and supernatural forces.

It details events such as damage to specific shrines and the smashing of a statue at the famous Erawan shrine in central Bangkok as efforts to either harness or distract spiritual forces at times of political tension.

"Of course this is not new; but there does seem to be a definite correlation between periods of military rule and upsurges of interest in supernatural influences on Thai politics," the authors wrote.

In the Secular Humanist West we tend to pooh pooh such sentiments but in the East they are central to life, love and politics. As a Christian, Teacher I have traveled to Asia many times and understand that Buddhism, Taoism and Hinduism are rife with spirits and supernatural beliefs. Where we Christians ask God to fill us with His Holy Spirit, the Eastern Mystics ask to be filled with many spirits.

In Yoga, for example, the practitioner is given a mantra to say over and over while meditating. That mantra is always the name of one of the Hindu gods, of which there are some 350 million. Thus, the mantra is essentially a way to ask those gods to fill the meditative person. This is why Yoga is not good for anyone but especially for Christians. Idolatry is never a good thing.

The blood wars in Thailand are in reality "spiritual wars" that call down evil spirits to do battle against other evil spirits. It is similar to Haiti with its Voodoo practices and are dangerous indeed for any of us to interact with.

Jesus and the Healing Philosophy

Jesus manifesto (Lk 4:14-30) and rejection in Nazareth (Matt 13:55-58, Mk 6:2-6)

Immediately after being baptized in the Spirit and having defeated the devil's attempts to subvert his mission by tempting him in the desert, Jesus returned to Galilee 'in the power of the Spirit' and taught in the synagogues. He went to Nazareth on the Sabbath and, in the synagogue, was given the scroll of Isaiah to read out. He found Isaiah 61:1-2 and read:

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me preach good news to the poor. He sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

He sat down and said, 'Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing'. They were amazed saying , 'Isn't this Joseph's son?'. He answered that no prophet is accepted in his home town since he perceived they were wondering why he didn't do miracles here as he had in Capernaum. Luke doesn't record any healing prior to this in Capernaum or anywhere else.

Matthew 13 and Mark 6 put this incident somewhat later in his ministry than Luke does. Luke puts it near the beginning of the gospel because of its theological significance. Matthew and Mark put the incident after Jairus' daughter. Mk 6:5,6 says he could not do many miracles there except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them because of their lack of faith, which amazed him. He referred to Elijah and Elisha healing non-Jews and the people became furious and tried to throw him off a cliff.