An older colleague and I have been discussing an article that he found recently. The article, entitled, Five Kinds of Christians appeared online just over a year ago online at ChristianityToday.com. The article presented the findings of a survey conducted by Leadership Magazine. After some banter back and forth about the general topics found within the piece, my friend and I entered into an interesting discussion about the following statement:

Another necessary shift is recognizing that the old metrics of success may no longer apply. Wilkerson says, “We need to spend the next ten years investing in the life of our surrounding community and finding ways to regain a hearing for the gospel. Instead of going to the nursing home and holding a church service, we’re just going to go and love and serve people for years and years, until the staff and residents ask, ‘Why do they care so much?’ This won’t result in 150 decisions for Christ in a year. You might not see results for five or ten years.”

I resonated deeply with what he said. I became convinced long ago that the “build it and they will come” mentality no longer works, nor is it applicable to the way actual ministry works. That is if we really want to follow the mandate of Matthew 6:9-13, where we are taught to pray for the fulfillment of God’s Kingdom so that it manifests on earth as it is in heaven.

Jesus spent an extraordinary amount of time building personal relationships. Most of the salvation accounts in the Gospels took place after a personal encounter between Jesus and someone lost. Jesus reiterated this when describing the concern the shepherd has for the one sheep that had been lost (Matthew 18 and Luke 15). Make no mistake, I still think that preaching to a mass of people remains an important way to spread the Gospel, but when the time is ripe for the real life change - personal and intimate interaction is needed.

This is where my colleague and I differed in perspectives. His response to this shift in strategy was much more pessimistic: “Can you see the Army, or any church doing this?” He figured (correctly) that to make this shift we would need to “view forward beyond the end of the next fiscal or program cycle” and that this would be where such a shift would stall.

At the beginning of this discussion I noted that the conversation was between myself and an older colleague, and this was intentional because I don’t think most leaders of the older generations are able to look beyond the end of our cyclical calendars. We are unfortunately tied securely to such calendars and our operational systems are largely dependent on them for every facet and function of our existence.

We do not have the luxury of the time that is needed for such relationship building. And if we did manage to carve out the necessary time in our own schedules, certain other things would suffer to the detriment of not only our statistical tributes, but also our status (value, sense of worth) in the eyes of administration.

A large portion of our (outside) funding requires us to push for the ramped-up statistics because more people equal more dollars and more dollars equal more people. It is a never-ending cycle, it seems. My concern is that continuing in this type of activity pulls us further away from the mission Christ set us to reach the lost.

Can you see the Army making and promoting the necessary change?

Rob Reardon

© 2009 Rob Reardon, all rights reserved.

O

ne of the best gifts God has given us is the ability to form and enjoy relationships. These take on many types including parents and children, personal friendships, romantic and professional relationships. Unfortunately, the joy and fulfillment of these relationships come to a crashing end when a loved one dies.

As Christians, we can find hope in verses such as John 16:22 which says, “So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice and no one will take away your joy.” Jesus was speaking to his disciples, preparing them for a time when they would “weep and morn while the world rejoices.” He prefaced His words with, “I meant what I said…” (John 16:19, NIV).

Jesus knows our life will include times of intense sorrow and pain as we suffer the losses of those we love. His words did not include quick and easy ways to pray this pain away, but, as I see it, an invitation to embrace our pain and grasp onto the hope that only He offers.

Later there will come a time when no one can take away our joy. In other words, now is not forever. Moreover, forever is coming and along with it comes permanent joy!

Jesus’ words are comforting and offer us an invitation to deepen our relationship with Him, a relationship that will never end. However, on this side of Heaven, coping with loss can feel at times unbearable, especially in the event that a death happens suddenly, such as the death of a child or in cases of a suicide, just to name a few.

Reactions to grief include physical, psychological, emotional, and behavioral symptoms that include weakness, loss of energy, loss of libido, angry outbursts, difficulty concentrating, fear, guilt, loss of ability to experience pleasure, and anxiety.

If you are traveling the road through grief (and towards joy), there are some things you can do to grieve healthy:

· Share your pain: As crude as it may sound, everyone experiences loss. Grieving with someone else can prove to lessen your feelings of loneliness and help you reclaim a fulfilling life for yourself.

· Know that the healing process is progressive and will include times of regression, in other words, healing from such a loss will not happen in a straight linear manner. There will be times (ok, days) of intense sadness, and even some days of happiness.

· Give yourself permission to feel: Those who study grief have come to one firm conclusion: Grief WILL be expressed one way or another. People who grieve healthy are able to admit these feelings, feel them, and grasp onto the hope that “now is not forever.”

In the meantime,
cry when you need to cry, scream when you need to scream, and laugh (yes, laugh) when you need to laugh. Do what you need to do when you need to do it.

· Keep decision making to a minimum: Expect your judgment to be clouded for a while. If you find that significant decisions need to be made now, find a trustworthy person to consult with such as a parent, pastor, friend, counselor, or teacher.

· Give yourself time to heal: In most cases, the closer you were to the person you lost, the more pain you will experience. Healing will come, but not tomorrow.

· Seek Comfort: For some this can be especially difficult. Accept help from those you trust. Healthy grieving always involves accepting love and support from others. Doing so is human and courageous.

Remember: NOW IS NOT FOREVER!

Jason Tompkins

When the term “Christian” is used, it conjures up different images ranging from the shoeless, homeless man on the street holding a hand-made cardboard sign to the Mega-church preacher in his $3000 suit, driving around town in a Cadillac to Mother Theresa quietly serving in the streets of Calcutta to the loud and often obnoxious guy with the bullhorn loudly condemning everyone to hell on the streets of downtown on a Friday night.

As the word “Christian” brings many different images to mind, so does the term “Salvationist.”
Some think of the good old days, replete with brass bands, flags and open air meetings. Then there are the Primitive Salvationists, the Neo-Salvationists, the Liberal Salvationists, the Conservative Salvationists and the images of establishment and abundance at various Temples and Citadels and Tabernacles even juxtaposed with the contextual poverty of the 614’s and NEO’s.

Are such labels a bad thing? “Why can’t we just remove the adjective and call ourselves simply Salvationists?”, some say. But I’m not so sure we can. In a Movement (another label) as large as ours, in as many different countries and cultures, led by a new and different personality every three years or so, the word we place before the term “Salvationist” often helps more than it harms. In this case, the adjective is a good thing.

The adjective prefacing “Salvationist”, that I have been thinking about lately, is “Emergent.” Much is being said of late around the idea of the Emergent Church and Emergent Christians. Standard bearers such as Brian McClaren and Shane Claiborne and others seem to have started that conversation and many of the people in my life are involved in it.

What can be said of an Emerging Salvationism? Or of an Emergent Salvationist?
Do Primitive- or Neo- Salvationists get the last or, for that matter, the next word as it relates to the future of The Salvation Army?

Can a new movement of Salvationists rise up, take the wheel of the ship, and say, “We are not letting you steer us toward the iceberg any longer!”

But is there an iceberg? Is anybody even driving the ship?

It seems to me there are a lot of people jumping off into life rafts, and it is the thought of friends of mine jumping off that is keeping me awake at night. You know people like them - attracted to Jesus and to the Mission of the Army, but feel there is no room for them in what is commonly called ‘The Salvation Army’ unless they also swallow a lot of additional stuff they have no interest in or connection with. And I’m not even talking essential stuff here, but rather doctrinal and traditional distinctives, fine print added to the bottom of the contract of serving God through our mission.

Perhaps they simply need someone to say to them, “Don’t leave! Don’t give up! Don’t head to the nearest non-denominational church! There’s room for you at the Army!” But maybe I am wrong. Maybe I’m too idealistic. Maybe I am simply naïve. Maybe it is simply not true to tell my friends who are considering leaving the Army that there is room for them. The reality is that far too often, there is not.

The Salvation Army in my neck of the woods is often coolly unconcerned about people who are about to leave, or about newcomers and outsiders who feel unwelcome. Personally I have no desire to disturb that part of the Army in any way. But as someone once wrote: “One doesn’t want to disturb a hornet’s nest unless, say, it’s hanging right in front of your front door and the hornets keep stinging your kids and scaring away your guests.”

What would be said of an Emergent Salvationist who picks up a broom and knocks the nest down?

Cory Harrison

© 2009 Cory Harrison.
All Rights Reserved

I

n a few more hours, Christians will begin the celebration of the risen Savior. Some will wake up in the wee hours of the morning to celebrate the occasion in the midst of a beautiful sunset.

The significance of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus is so important for us to know. And many Christians have very little understanding of the depth of meaning that was involved in the three days of Jesus’ salvific trip to and from the grave.

Jesus was crucified on Friday during the Passover. He was in the grave during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And he rose during the Feast of First Fruits. All three of these festivals happened in three consecutive days during this historic and theologically important occasion, which only happens about once per century.

The Passover begins on the fourteenth day of the first Jewish month, which is the month of Nissan. And the following Sabbath day, or Saturday after the Passover is the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is followed by the Feast of First Fruits which falls on the very next Sunday after the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

During the majority of years, the Passover does not fall on a Friday, which means that the first Sabbath comes a few days after the Passover, but on the occasion of Jesus death, burial and resurrection, the fourteenth day of Nissan happened to fall on a Friday.

When we know the messianic meaning of each of the three festivals mentioned, the windows to the eternal meaning of the festivals finding their true meaning in the person of Jesus comes into full view. And knowing the themes of each of the three feasts will give us the significance of their timing.

The theme of Passover is “Deliverance from bondage” as the lamb of sacrifice is killed. The theme of Unleavened Bread is “Lord, give us life from the ground” as all of Israel is praying that their gardens will produce life from the dead seeds that they have planted. And the theme of First Fruits is “Giving to God the first life that comes from the ground, and trusting him for more to follow.” During the feast of First Fruits all the people of Israel bring the first crops that grow from their gardens to the feast, trusting that God will provide more crops from where those crops came.

Jesus died when everyone was praying for deliverance from their sins. Jesus was in the grave when everyone was praying for life from the ground. And Jesus has risen when everyone is bringing the first of the new life from their gardens and hoping that more new life will follow.

There is no secret that God is an amazing God of plans and not merely a god of coincidence. Those who believe will follow Jesus into new life from the grave. Death has no hold on those who follow the risen Savior.

As Jesus said of his coming death on the cross in John 12:24, “… ‘The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”

Happy Easter!

In His dust,
Johnny

© 2009 Jonathan P. Gainey and Flock’s Diner.
All Rights Reserved

In response to an atheist on another website who believes that God cannot exist, and therefore seeks out Christian blogs to offer her negative opinions, I wrote the followingIt’s a bitter life for those who choose to see the world through the eyes of fundamentalism. And whether that is a religious fundamentalism or a non-religious fundamentalism, the words of one very wise person are true, “Fundamentalists are people who are angry about something. It doesn’t matter what is said or who says it, the fundamentalist will always only seek the points to argue, and never take the opportunity to genuinely and respectfully invite constructive debate.

It seems that no matter how a person puts forth his or her opinion concerning a set of beliefs, the fundamentalist will only seek to find points upon which to disagree rather than seek to understand the point of view of another, even if he or she could choose to respectfully disagree.

The greatest weakness of the fundamentalist is his or her inability to open his or her mind to possibilities. For two years, I studied with friends who were and are atheists and agnostics. Neither of us was ever convinced of the other’s view, but we all grew. We are still great friends and respect how we each view the world, though we choose to respectfully disagree. How can we do that? Maturity and a sincere desire to deeply care for the other person even when we absolutely disagree with the individual’s faith and worldview.

I can’t help but be a little intrigued by those who once refused to accept anything in the Bible as truth, until another non-God possibility is raised. For example, I have seen very educated scientists who have recently stated, “It may be a good idea to take a fresh look at the stories of the Bible. It may be that the stories are true. And those who claimed to see God and chariots, and people taken away into the sky were actually true stories about…aliens!”

And it really doesn’t offend me that people are more likely to believe in aliens than God. It’s human nature to only believe in what we can see. I don’t dislike anyone personally for thinking that way.

I am also very intrigued by the amount of Christians who now consider themselves atheists and agnostics. And the reason I am intrigued is because, in every one of these cases that I have personally witnessed, that person has done some serious soul searching. They are not flippant about their decision to give up faith. I still believe that their worldview has been distorted, but I respect their desire to find answers.

It cannot be argued that as Dr. John Lenox said to Dr. Richard Dawkins in “The God Delusion Debate” video, “The only thing that can be proven is math. Faith, History, and Science are all based on evidence, very convincing evidence in many cases, but still only evidence.”

In closing, please let me say, I know that we all have doubts about aspects of this world. Many of us struggle daily with what to believe or not to believe. Others have our minds made up. But those who know the true value of philosophy, either religious or otherwise, we are aware that those views are always changing, growing, developing, ebbing and flowing. That is not to say that we ebb and flow in and out of belief, but aspects of our beliefs are in a constant state of development.

Even my own theology is in a constant state of flux, not in and out of faith in God, but always developing. Some things that I believed were absolutely essential to my faith 5 years ago or even 6 months ago, I now see as non-essentials.

Fundamentalists are usually associated with Evangelical Christians, but fundamentalism is the close-minded faith of any belief, including athiesm. To get stuck in a belief that is without the benefit of constantly seeking truth will set any of us up for failure, hence the danger of fundamentalism.

In His dust,
Johnny

© 2009 Jonathan P. Gainey and Flock’s Diner.
All Rights Reserved