re|thinking end-times

Since we haven't posted a blog entry in a while, we thought we would re-post this thought-provoking blog entry that we stumbled across. Enjoy.

Groans from Within: Conversations on Joining God's Mission in the Way of Jesus...

How to Make an Eternal Impact... Kid-Style

A little girl decided to sell an old scooter that she had in the garage. A friend from down the street bought it from her for ten dollars.

The girl put the ten dollars into a glass jar. She is collecting money to give to her church's building campaign, called Impact (see previous post).

Her father asked why she was willing to donate the whole ten dollars. "You don't have to give all of it," he said. "Just give a part of it."

"I want to give the whole ten dollars," the little girl said. "The church needs more space for kids, and we need a bigger youth room, too!"

Lord, what do you want to do through me to accomplish your will?

Impact: kid-style

Kids at Emmanuel are learning that they can have an impact, too: through the power of a penny or through individual acts of kindness.

Every Sunday, until May 16th, children will be encouraged to give two kinds of special offerings to the Lord: Acts of Kindness & Service to Others, and Gifts of Money.

The children are encouraged to write their act of service toward someone on a piece of paper. They can put these offerings to the Lord in a special offering jug, which will be presented as an offering to God at Emmanuel's Impact Celebration on May 16th.

Our children are learning that anything we offer to God can be used for His glory and purpose!

Command them to be good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 1 Timothy 6:18

Evangelical Activism

An interesting article appeared in this month's issue of Faith Today, the magazine published by the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada. It points to a shift in the focus of evangelicals toward a broader view of the Gospel.

Author Bruce Clemenger had this to say about the social conscience of evangelicals following the establishment of a government social safety net that seemed to have replaced (displaced?) the Christian's responsibility:

Many began to “keep their faith to themselves” while serving in these agencies. Some began new ministries to fill emerging gaps. So there was a shifting and splitting of opportunities and expression which in turn led to the idea that faith was something that could be split from everyday life or that it only expressed itself in private or charitable terms. This again is shifting. There is a renewal of a broader understanding of the gospel and its implications for all of life – and with this latest shift, evangelical activism has been refocused.

I think he's talking about -- dare I say it? -- a servolution! Read the entire article here.

Matthew 5:13-16

What if we really lived the way that Jesus wants us to? Everytime I go back to the words of Jesus, and really reflect on my own life in light of his teaching... Well, if I'm completely honest, I fall way short. We all do. That's why we need grace. That's why, when he tells us to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world, his words are founded on what he says first: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:3). To be a Christ-follower is to recognize and acknowledge our own poverty of spirit before almighty God. We have nothing to offer Him, and yet He gives us grace.
The words that follow are about our response. If we have acknowledged our own poverty to God and accepted His grace through His everlasting mercy, then the change in our heart, the change in the very fibre of our being, changes how we look at the world and how we live in the world. A Christian is defined by their regenerated life (see Galatians 2:20), but we're fooling ourselves and just paying lip-service to Jesus if the new life He gives us is not demonstrated in every aspect of how we live.

The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. (1 John 2:4-5)

It is right to stress evangelism as the mission of the Church. It is equally right to stress "good works" and social justice as the mission of the Church. How can this be so? Evangelism and good works are like the two sides of the same coin... Faith in Christ and the resulting actions in the life of the believer are like the two wings of an airplane. If one is missing, what will happen to the airplane? That's what John is saying in the quote above. Knowing Jesus means obeying Jesus. Obeying Jesus means telling others about Him and caring for the poor, the oppressed, the sick, and the imprisoned... While salt of the earth is meant to preserve, and therefore act to arrest the decaying action of sin, light of the world is meant to actively display Christ and the holy, loving, royal kingdom of God's reign in the people and community that He has established.
Bible scholar and renouned preacher John Stott says it like this:

Good works are works of love as well as of faith. They express not only our loyalty to God, but our care for our fellows as well. Indeed, the primary meaning of 'works' must be practical, visible deeds of compassion. It is when people see these, Jesus said, that they will glorify God, for they embody the good news of his love which we proclaim. Without them our gospel loses its credibility and our God his honour. ("The Message of the Sermon on the Mount", John R.W. Stott,62).

What if we really lived the way Jesus wants us to? If you believe in Jesus, if you have acknowledged your poverty of spirit and believe that Jesus has given you new life, the challenge today is to act on it and to be the Christians that we say we are. The needs are all around us. Go, now, and shine your light.

Motivation - the Heart of Servolution

At the heart of servolution lies this important question: What motivates me? Am I really motivated to "seek first his kingdom and his righteousness"...? Do I pray with conviction the words given to us by Jesus: "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven"?

In the first chapter of his book Worldliness: Resisting the Seduction of a Fallen World, C.J. Mahaney writes this about being set apart from the world:

What are your goals? Do they drive you forward--to financial security, more friends, successful kids, a certain position at work, learning a craft or trade? Or do they drive you upward--to obeying and glorifiying God above all else? What gets you out of bed in the morning?
Try this: What dominates your mind and stirs your heart? Is it discontentment with your life? Longings for earthly pleasures? Does outward prosperity appeal to you more than growth in godliness? Or is your prayer life characterized by heartfelt supplications for God's will to be done and his kingdom to come?

Demonstrating sacrificial love, as Jesus taught us, isn't about trying to earn favour with God or boasting about the work we do for Him... It's the result of the internal change of a regenerated life through Christ. If we're really following Christ, if we're really focused on His eternal Kingdom, and if His love is really at work inside of us, then that is going to be expressed visibly in our lives.

The most loving thing that we could ever do for someone is to share the Gospel message with them, but at the same time, God cares about their circumstances now... If we don't show the world that we care enough to get involved, why would they listen to our message? God is a god of justice and mercy and love and compassion.



What motivates us? Is it to demonstrate those Godly characteristics and to invest in the eternal Kingdom? Are we working for the Kingdom as we wait for Jesus to return, or are we too focused on our own earthly kingdoms?




"He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." (Micah 6:8 NIV)

Compassion in Haiti

Please pray for the children in Haiti.

Click here for the latest update from Compassion Canada.

Follow You

Listen to it. Pray it. Share it.

You live among the least of these
The weary and the weak
And it would be a tragedy
For me to turn away
All my needs You have supplied
When I was dead You gave me life
So how could I not give it away so freely?

And I'll...
Follow You into the homes of the broken
Follow You into the world
Meet the needs for the poor and the needy, God
Follow You into the world

Use my hands, use my feet
To make Your kingdom come
To the corners of the earth
Until Your work is done
Faith without works is dead
On the cross Your blood was shed
So how could we not give it away so freely?

And I give all myself
I give all myself
I give all myself to You

Servolution is not associated with Youtube, Leeland, Brandon Heath, or whomever posted the video, and the opinions expressed in the youtube comments or any of its links do not necessarily reflect the views of servolution... We just think that it's a very appropriate song.

What Do You Have?

We're not all pilots with an airplane at our disposal, but the people that started Agape Flights are. They saw a need, they had the ability to meet the need, they prayed about it, and they began meeting the need. Their website states that "They help bridge the gap between the perception and the reality of things needed for missionaries to accomplish their calling to share the gospel of Jesus Christ and help the people around them". (see www.agapeflights.com).

The local news in Florida and even some networks have picked up the story of Agape Flights because they are flying critical supplies into Haiti, and are even flying orphaned children out of Haiti to their adoptive parents in the US.

This is an example of an organization--of people using their skills and resources--to shine their light for Christ in a very dark time. We're not all going to start up mission agencies or fly around the world, but we each have been given skills, knowledge, tools, resources, and time to use for the demonstration of the Kingdom and the proclamation of Christ.

The question is: What do you have?

Let's consider the example of the Apostle Paul, who, while in prison, wrote that his hope was for "sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in [his] body" (Philippians 1:20 NIV).

Do we have the courage to demonstrate Christ with what we have been given?

What do you have?

Perspective

Emmanuel's Wish Foundation is accepting donations for their Haiti container directly at:
The Teamworks Building
164 Innisfil Street
Barrie

Drop-off Saturdays 9:00am - 12:00pm

Donated items can also be dropped off at Emmanuel during normal business hours, or on Sunday mornings.
Emmanuel Baptist Church
4120 Salem Road
at Essa Road
Barrie

The Haiti earthquake is tragic, and the people affected need both immediate and long-term aid. We are very privileged and blessed to be able to respond, especially for the orphans that we have comitted to help.

The Bible says that God "comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God" (2 Corinthians 1:4 NIV).

Meanwhile, let's not forget this: "As we have opportunity, let us do good to all people" (Galatians 6:10 NIV).

The spirit of Servolution is to be aware of the social, physical, and spiritual needs around us... to reach out and to intentionally help others in their need, because we want to share the love of Christ with everyone. Don't stop offering a helping hand, a word of encouragement, or a visit or donation to the people and organizations right here in our own communities. Point people to the servolution website, where they can choose to explore the love of Christ further, or even decide to join this revolution of love and get involved! Read the About Us page to find out why we do what we do, and tell us your stories of how God gave you the opportunity to serve someone, or how God used someone to serve you in your time of need.

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

(1 John 3:16-18 NIV)

Speaking Louder than Words

I had the priviledge the other day to serve with the homeless, and it's amazing to see God show up in unexpected ways.

It happened in a casual conversation between a few of us volunteers and a homeless fellow. The client of the shelter was very engaging, well-spoken, and intelligent... We had a great conversation about life, addiction, and about God.

The interesting thing about the conversation was that there was another volunteer present who actively listened to our entire conversation. While we were talking about faith and the struggles that we share and how we rely on the Lord, this young man showed genuine interest and was engaged with the exchange. This was not the first opportunity to share with this non-Christian co-worker, either.

Our actions validate the good news... This young man is witnessing the love of Christ in action, and not only that, but is hearing about faith in Christ from an unexpected source, a homeless man.

Someone once said, let's just act and see what God blesses. Well, let's show God's love, then.

Let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

Seeing Before Believing

This is an excerpt from the new book In Real Time, by Mike Glenn. Mike is the Senior Pastor of Brentwood Baptist Church, a "mega-church" of several thousand members, just outside Nashville, Tennessee.

"As our critics have told us, we're so heavenly minded that we are no earthly good. We sing about heaven, and we talk about loving one another while we ignore the needs of our neighbours and fail to address the injustices that keep so many of our brothers and sisters enslaved. Our evangelistic fervour told us that the most important thing we could do was to reach the person with the message of Christ. The apocalyptic times we were living in, when the Cold War was at its hottest, meant we only had so much time. The preaching of the gospel was more important than programs to feed the hungry, alleviate substandard housing, prevent or treat disease, and improve education. As a result, churches were regarded as irrelevant to the real issues of people's lives. People stopped listening to the message because they saw no real ministry. This has been a major change in the work of the local church during my career. When I was beginning in ministry, you would open your Bible, and that's where the conversations began. Now no one will listen until they see the work you are doing. When someone see you putting a roof on a house, taking clothes to the homeless shelter, providing neighbourhood tutoring, they want to know what you are doing there. Only then can you tell them that your relationship with Christ compels you to show your love for others in real and tangible ways. This is counterintuitive to most churches I know and certainly feels backward to most preachers I know, including me. Our first inclination is to speak then act, but if we continue to do that and not recognize the change in the culture, we will be pushed farther and farther to the margins of the cultural conversation.

Let's be honest, who does this better than the church? In the aftermath of Katrina, churches responded faster and more effectively than the federal government. In many situations we are still engaged in a lot of different places that were affected. We feed the hungry and work with the homeless to restore to them the dignity of a working skill. We teach English as a second language and tutor at-risk kids. The list could literally go on and on. My point is not to provide a comprehensive list of mission and ministry opporunities but to help us undersand that what the culture is looking for is a natural strength of the local church. Where else can you find an organized group of volunteers with the necessary skills to povide the services required? Once churches grab hold of this strength, communities will respond...

For too long there has been a misleading gap between works and faith. While works certainly cannot earn salvation, too many of us took that doctrine to the erroneous conclusion that good works have nothing to do with an authentic faith. Good works are a natural consequence of an authentic faith the way an apple naturally grows on an apple tree. If the roots and trunk are healthy, the apple will grow. If the faith is healthy, the natural expression will be acts of love toward our neighbours. Without good works, the world has a good reason to doubt our faith."


(Mike Glenn, In Real Time: Authentic Young Adult Ministry as it Happens. Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing, 2009, 144-145, EMPHASIS ADDED).

Miracle at Walmart

A mom and her nine-year-old boy were living in their van... and then the van was towed away, and they were left homeless, with nothing but the clothes on their backs.

A pastor and some Christ-followers responded to the need. Watch the video:



Here are a couple of quotes from the video that speak for themselves:

You know, the "Call of God" is man's need. It's not waiting for some voice on a mountain top. If you've responded to a need, then you've responded to God's call. And that's it.

(Pastor Matthew Barnett, Dream Center)

I hope you do this in your neighbourhood, because this has been amazing, and you need to experience what we're experiencing.

(Mark Horvath, invisible people)

This is a tangible demonstration of the Kingdom by followers of Christ stepping up in a simple way. What an opportunity to show love to this young mother, and to use this opportunity to introduce her to the Gospel message!

Lessons from Pajama Boy

This is reprinted from the Advent Conspiracy blog.
View the original post here.

Lessons from pajama boy.

Last weekend I was putting my five year-old son to bed when he asked me a very big question. “Hey Dad,” he asked, “why do we love Jesus?” What transpired was a ten minute conversation with this little blue eyed boy in pajamas about the love Christ has for us. I’m not sure how well it went because when we got done he moved on to much deeper questions like why Spongebob loves Krabby Patties so much. I mean, maybe some of it sunk in. I hope it did. But for me, it was a gut check moment. Am I loving Jesus by Worshiping Fully? Do I even understand what that means? As you know, that’s the first tenet of [AC]. We really can’t give more, spend less or even love all until we get this one right. I think I often talk more about worshiping God with all my heart, soul, strength and mind than actually doing it. I often catch myself approaching the concept of worship in a very linear fashion. It’s something I do at church. It’s something I do in prayer. How robotic is that? Over time it feels more like I’m punching in my worship time with God, rather than making it something that is as common as breathing. So, last night I picked up the book again and read through it. If you haven’t picked a copy up yet, do so. I promise you it’ll be the best ten bucks you’ve spent in a while. It was for me. Reading it again reminded me why worship is so important and why Worship Fully comes first in this movement. It reminded me why I must be an informed co-conspirator. See, a co-conspirator is one who can share with others that something deeper is happening in the story; someone who understands what they’re doing and why they’re doing it. And while we rebel against the empire of more, in winsome and humble ways, we can invite others to say “yes” to the bigger thing that is happening in our midst. God is still in the business of redeeming and restoring--He is still making things right. And for some reason, He’s invited us into that story. It begins a conversation that goes beyond the holiday wish list and how much money we’re spending or not spending. Our prayer is that the book informs, for sure, but more importantly, that it stirs things up--in dorm rooms, small groups, living rooms, sanctuaries, offices,neighborhoods, and little pajama boys with big questions. From there, a whole bunch of us can then begin articulating what it is we’re saying “yes” to this and every Christmas. This is the conspiracy.
- Posted by Tony Biaggne on 12/15/09

What Matters Now

Here's a quote from the new eBook by Seth Godin:

"'Evangelist' isn't a job title. It's a way of life."

Get the free eBook here. More than 70 "big thinkers" contributed to this book, each writing about a single idea that matters as we head into the new year.

There's alot packed into this single quote, isn't there?

What Matters Now.

When God Moves into the Neighbourhood

Here's a great article by Shane Claiborne. It's an open letter to non-Christians, about Christianity.

What if Jesus Meant All That Stuff?

What do you think?

Serving up some Gospel Soup!

You would think that when you serve at an out-of-the-cold programme, God's main purpose for using you is to meet the physical needs of the homeless on a cold, winter night. No doubt, that's really high on God's priority list... just read Matthew 25! Then this happened:

This evening, while a group of volunteers were chatting during some down-time, we got to talking about why we were doing what we were doing. The conversation turned to spiritual matters, to God, to church...

When we pray that God would use us, watch out, because He will! Maybe not in the way you expect, either. This evening, doors opened for the Gospel to be spoken into the lives of other humanitarian volunteers. Relationships began to be built. Relationships built on trust and on a shared purpose.

Serving others to meet their physical needs out of the love of Christ is not the same as humanitarian work. We do it because Jesus loves us so much that the only response is to love him back and to love others, as well. This passage came to mind while giving that reason to the other volunteers:

In your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.

Go and serve somewhere, and watch for how God will show up!

Running the Race

Do you ever find yourself lagging in the spiritual disciplines as the week goes on? You know what I mean, right? After a great time of worship and the word in church on Sunday, you're motivated to spend time with God in the Bible and in prayer... But then, as it gets later and later in the week, it's seems to get more and more difficult to set aside the time to do that...

Some people say that as you grow closer to God, some things simply fall into place. Your character and actions will automatically reflect your transformation toward Christ-likeness. To a certain degree, that's true... The fruit of the Spirit will grow as you mature. But even mature Christians sometimes find it hard to walk the narrow path.

The Bible says that in order to follow Jesus, we need to be intentional about our discipleship. Paul says it's like a race, and that we should run in such a way as to get the prize. We can't simply make a decision to follow Jesus, and then coast. It takes effort. It takes intentionality. It takes obedience.

Just read John 14 & 15 and count how many times Jesus says that loving him means obeying him. Obedience is intentional... It's a decision that we have to make. Just like spending time with God through the word and prayer, service to others is a spiritual discipline and an act of obedience that we have to intentionally foster in our lives.

From the Heart - the Church that Loves

Living Water

Compassion, not Consumption.

Since 2006, Christians have been joining the Advent Conspiracy to "Worship Fully, Spend Less, Give More, and Love All".

One compelling success story is that by targeting global poverty instead of indulging in consumerism each Christmas, over 340 wells have been drilled which have drastically changed the lives of more than 200,000 people for the better!

(Graphic borrowed fromLiving Water International)

Not only are lives being impacted in real, physical, tangible ways... Doors are opening for the sharing of the gospel.

"Everyone who drinks this water will be thristy again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life" (John 4:13-14 NIV).

This is just one way that we can share the love of Christ and store up treasures in Heaven this Christmas.