Bible

Staying Grounded…

/ pastorlynnmalone / Leave a comment

Some of you may be wondering about the title of today’s blog—Staying Grounded. I’ve written about change the three previous blogs (click here, here and here to read those), and now I’m telling you to stay grounded? It’s hard to stay and change at the same time.

We’d prefer things “stay” the same but we know they don’t stay the same. Change is inevitable, and it’s imperative that we negotiate change in the most life-giving, constructive way possible. One of the ways we do that is by staying grounded. I did not say by staying still. I’m talking about staying grounded in those unchanging truths in which we find our being.

Joshua had one final task as the leader of the nation of Israel: to prepare them for the change from nomads and warriors to settlers and inheritors.

24 Then Joshua summoned all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, including their elders, leaders, judges, and officers. So they came and presented themselves to God.

2 Joshua said to the people, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Long ago your ancestors, including Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River,[a]and they worshiped other gods. 3 But I took your ancestor Abraham from the land beyond the Euphrates and led him into the land of Canaan. I gave him many descendants through his son Isaac.

Joshua 24: 1 – 3 (NLT)

14 “So fear the Lord and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord alone. 15 But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”

16 The people replied, “We would never abandon the Lord and serve other gods. 17 For the Lordour God is the one who rescued us and our ancestors from slavery in the land of Egypt. He performed mighty miracles before our very eyes. As we traveled through the wilderness among our enemies, he preserved us. 18 It was the Lord who drove out the Amorites and the other nations living here in the land. So we, too, will serve the Lord, for he alone is our God.”

19 Then Joshua warned the people, “You are not able to serve the Lord, for he is a holy and jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins. 20 If you abandon the Lord and serve other gods, he will turn against you and destroy you, even though he has been so good to you.”

21 But the people answered Joshua, “No, we will serve the Lord!”

22 “You are a witness to your own decision,” Joshua said. “You have chosen to serve the Lord.”

“Yes,” they replied, “we are witnesses to what we have said.”

23 “All right then,” Joshua said, “destroy the idols among you, and turn your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.”

24 The people said to Joshua, “We will serve the Lord our God. We will obey him alone.”

25 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day at Shechem, committing them to follow the decrees and regulations of the Lord.

Joshua 24: 14 – 25 (NLT)

It’s been seven years since the walls of Jericho came tumbling down after the people of Israel marched around it blowing trumpets and shouting. The rest of the book of Joshua tells us the nation of Israel spent those next seven years overcoming no less than 31 kings as they took possession of the land promised to Abraham all the way back in Genesis 12.

Joshua, who has been the spiritual and political leader of the nation, calls the nation together one last time to worship and express gratitude to God before dismissing them to settle into their inheritance. Joshua is old now and he sees the need to call them to a special place for a special reason to give them a special message.

Grounded in a Special Place

Joshua calls the people together at Shechem. Shechem was a holy place in Israel’s history. Shechem was the first place given a name in the Promised Land. Shechem was also the place where Abram (before he was Abraham) built an altar to God who called him out of Ur, and it was also at Shechem that Jacob built an altar and buried idols under the oaks of Moreh. Calling the nation together at Shechem was sort of like a homecoming.

You remember homecomings, right? I remember growing up that both sets of grandparents anticipated their annual homecomings. Packing up the care with chicken pie and chocolate cake, fried chicken and banana pudding we traveled to New Prospect Church in north Jackson Parish, or to Zoar Methodist Church in the far reaches of south Jackson Parish. We arrived to greet old friends and family we likely hadn’t seen since last year’s homecoming, and those old folks would share stories and remember. 

Homecomings are places to remember our foundations and our beginnings. Through the sharing of our stories, we recall where we’ve come from, and we are put in touch with those people and places that have made us who we are. Homecomings are also a time to share plans and dreams for the future. Homecomings are a way for us to stay grounded as we face changing times.

The homecoming at New Prospect Church has long since ceased, but every year, I receive a reminder from the organizers of the Zoar homecoming announcing a clean-up day for the old church. Every May, we gather there to worship, and eat, and catch up, and eat, and remember, and eat. There are no regular worship services there. Those have gone the way of so many little country churches. I used to make excuses for not going to that homecoming. It used to be on Sunday, so I had a ready-made excuse. They moved it to Saturday but still few people come. It seems we younger generations don’t see the need to be part of those homecomings anymore. Perhaps that’s one reason we’re losing our foundations. We’re not staying grounded. If we are to know where we’re going, we must have a clear understanding of where we’ve been. Joshua called the nation to Shechem to help them stay grounded, to remind them of their past.

Grounded in a Special Reason

Joshua had a special reason for calling them back to this special place. It was in this special place that Joshua reminded them of the covenant God made with the people of Israel. Joshua took this opportunity to renew the covenant for the fourth time in the nation’s history. God made the covenant with Abraham back in Genesis. God renewed the covenant with Moses after the exodus from Egypt while there were at Mt. Sinai. God renewed the covenant a second time at Moab after the nation ended its wilderness wanderings. God renewed it a third time here in the book of Joshua after the nation won battles at Jericho and Ai.

Verses 4-13 of Joshua 24 recounts the history of God’s deliverance of Israel. From Abram’s call, through the lineage of Isaac, Jacob and Esau to the deliverance from Egypt, Joshua tells the story of the nation. From the wilderness wanderings to Balaam’s blessing, to the most recent victories over these 31 kings, over six hundred years of the nation’s history is shared in a few short sentences. 

The story is Israel’s story. Even though it’s Israel’s story, Joshua reminds the people that God alone is the actor. Over twenty times in these few short verses, God is the subject in the sentences. God is quoted as saying, “I took, I gave, I sent, I brought, I struck, I delivered, I made.” Three other times the word “he” refers to God. Six times God “gave,” five times God “brought out of,” or “into.” “You” is used only five times, and each time, it’s the direct object. Here’s your English grammar lesson for the day—the direct object is the receiver of the action of the subject. The point is clear: Israel’s story finds its significance only because of the gracious acts of God, not by means of her own strength. Israel’s story is significant because it is connected to God’s story.

Each of us has a story. Each of our stories are marked, each in their own way, by dramatic, though sometimes tragic events fixed in time. Our stories are important aspects of our spiritual lives, and they are important to God because He is the author and the director of our stories. But our stories never have full meaning and significance until we realize and remember that it is not what we have done, but what God has done for us. Our story becomes powerful only when we connect it to the larger story of God’s redemption, when we build bridges from our story to the Christ story, and the subject of our story becomes God instead of ourselves. 

The Apostle Paul reminds us of the crux of our story. Here’s where we find our grounding:

Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. 2 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 3 All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.

4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) 6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 2: 1 – 6 (NLT)

If we are to negotiate the tumultuous winds of change, it will be as we stay grounded in God’s story. Joshua called the nation of Israel to this special place to remind them of the necessity of staying grounded in God, who is the center of every story.

How do we do that? Let me offer one suggestion—the old hymns. They have much to teach us. We love the new songs. Many of them are great, but if we only listen to new songs it becomes too easy to divorce our present and future from our past. We lose our grounding. Singing in the early church was a method of learning…the story…and the theology.

Grounded in a Special Message

While they were gathered at this special place for this special reason, Joshua seized the opportunity to give them a very special message. “Choose today whom you will serve…” is the message Joshua delivered that day. There had been a problem with idolatry in the nation, and Joshua needed to remind them that to claim the promise of God meant they needed to remove the idols from their lives. Joshua asks plainly, “Will you serve the gods of your ancestors, will you serve the gods of the Amorites whom you are among now, or will you serve the Lord?” Then, he goes on to say, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

The key word in the text is “serve.” To serve means to work, worship, or perform. Work and worship are closely connected. Whatever we give ourselves to most diligently is the thing we generally worship. We are by nature spiritual creatures, and we will worship something because we were created by God to worship. If we don’t worship God, we’ll end up worshipping something of our own creation.

If we spend our lives worshipping money, or fame, or position, or celebrity, or work, or sports, or even family we will come to the end of our journey with nothing left to do but bow before those gods and worship, for we have spent all our time, and all our lives pursuing them. Those are not the places to stay grounded. Stay grounded in God through our work and our worship to God.

Serving God doesn’t mean we become involved in every Christian activity the church or the world offers. Serving God is something much more basic than that. First, our service is to be exclusive. We cannot honor God and serve other gods at the same time. Jesus made that abundantly clear in Matthew 6:24. 

Serving God means we remove everything that competes for our loyalty to God—money, success, perfection, education, family, and even Christian activities. All these are means to an end; they are not the end. Staying grounded means removing the idols from our lives because God requires our exclusive service.

How do we keep these things from becoming idols? Money? By tithing. Success? By focusing on the Kingdom of God first (Matt. 6: 33) and then the success of others. Family? Go to church together!

Secondly, serving God must occupy our every attitude. We must die daily to self, and that is sometimes a long, slow, painful death. We realize everything we say or do becomes an expression of our allegiance to Him. The way we say hello, the ways we acknowledge other persons, the way we respond to the least, the last and the lost reflect our relationship to Him. We serve God by caring, by praying, and by practicing hospitality. God, in Jesus Christ, died to redeem us. Let us live to serve Him. That is how we stay grounded in changing times.

We’re not always so good at living to serve God, though. Think back with me to the Garden of Eden. God gave Adam and Eve the command to guard and serve the Garden. It was the same verb Joshua used on this day. Adam and Eve found no idol in the Garden to serve, they bought the lie of the Serpent, and ended up worshipping themselves. What a failure!

Unfortunately, we know Israel’s failure through the years because we have the record of the Bible. More unfortunate still, we know our own failure. We get selfish, proud and competitive. We have our own goals and agendas and we don’t quite make ourselves available to serve God. We try to serve Him while holding on to the things we want. We live constantly between the tensions of two worlds, and the between the gods of those two worlds.

As it was for the nation of Israel, it is for us today—the choice is before us. Which will we choose? Thank God, we have grace and the Holy Spirit to guide influence our decision.     

Let’s return to the old saying, “The times, they are a changin’!” Our lives are constantly changing. Our culture is constantly changing. This church, too, is changing. Successfully negotiating these changing times means we must stay grounded by remembering our history, by remembering our place in God’s story, and by serving God with all our hearts!

Until next time, keep looking up…

Are You Sure About That?

/ pastorlynnmalone / Leave a comment

Mark Twain said, “The only person who likes change is a wet baby.” There are a lot of reasons we resist change, but one of the primary reasons is the uncertainty that accompanies change. We like clarity. We like certainty. The familiar is comfortable, like an old pair of shoes broken in just right. It’s easier to stay put than to move. But, there’s a reason the windshield is bigger than the rearview mirror. Life is meant to be lived going forward not backing up. For the nation of Israel, there was more promise ahead than there was behind. So it is for us, too.

Crossing the Jordan River

In Joshua 3, the nation of Israel stood on the banks of the Jordan River ready to cross over and inhabit the Promised Land. God has raised up a new leader in Joshua, and with this new leader there is more than enough uncertainty to go around. Here is a little of the uncertainty I suspect the people were dealing with:

  • “Joshua is a great leader. He’s won some battles for us, but he’s no Moses!” How many of you remember the 1988 vice-presidential campaign? Sen. Lloyd Bentsen of Texas was pitted against Sen. Dan Quayle from Indiana. When asked about his experience, Quayle said he had as much experience as Jack Kennedy had when he ran for President, to which Bentsen quickly responded, “Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I was a friend of Jack Kennedy, and Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy.” I wonder if Joshua didn’t get some of that same kind of feedback as he prepared to lead them across the Jordon River.
  • Perhaps there was this uncertainty: “Is there going to be manna in the Promised Land?” Don’t forget. Six days out of every week, every month, every year for forty years the Israelites pretty much had one job—go out and gather manna. They had to wonder if there was going to be manna across the Jordon. (This is a good place to be reminded, there’s often a lot of good about where we are. It’s good to have manna, and sometimes all we need in that moment is manna, but the problem is we don’t really know what we’re missing.)
  • Maybe there was this uncertainty, too: “We’ve been nomads for forty years. We know how to move around. We know how to live in tents. Now, you’re asking us to become settlers. We’re not sure if we know how to be settlers.” (Personally, I resonate with this uncertainty. For 28+ years, Vanessa and I were nomads, moving every 3.66 years. Now, we’re settlers in our new home. It’s challenging! There’s a little uncertainty.)

Wouldn’t it be great if we knew the outcome for every decision we faced in life? What a gift to have a crystal ball that helped us look into the future to see what lay ahead of us as we stand at defining moments. But, we don’t have a crystal ball. We can’t know whether change will be for the better or for the worse, but because we don’t know doesn’t mean we don’t have to deal with the change brought by defining moments. Every change creates its own uncertainty. As disciples of Jesus Christ, our task is to respond faithfully to changing circumstances and changing times in ways that give life and testify to the Lord’s goodness, not only to changing circumstances in our own lives, but to changing circumstances in our world.

Uncertainty can keep us frozen. It can keep us from making decisions we need to make to move forward in life, and it can keep us from living into the fullness of God’s call and claim upon our lives. For forty years the Israelites had been frozen. The “Back to Egypt” Committee had quickly become the “Let’s Stay Here” committee, and without Joshua to lead them, they would have missed the blessings of the Promised Land. Joshua gave three specific instruction, and in his instruction, I think we learn a few lessons for our own lives in dealing with the uncertainty of life.

Joshua’s Instructions

Focus on God

First, Joshua instructed the people to focus on God. In the face of radical change, he focused the people’s attention on the certainty of God’s presence. We get stuck when we focus all our energy on the uncertainty of circumstances rather than banking on the certainties we already know.      

The people were given these instructions:

“When you see the Levitical priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God, move out from your positions and follow them. 4 Since you have never traveled this way before, they will guide you. Stay about half a mile behind them, keeping a clear distance between you and the Ark. Make sure you don’t come any closer” (3:3b – 4).    

The Ark of the Covenant captured the imagination of my generation through Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones in “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” Did you know there is a new Indiana Jones movie?

The ark represented the presence of God with the nation of Israel. Joshua’s instruction was a reminder that God was calling the nation forward. Stay connected to God. Keep your eyes on the ark. When it moves, you move. Go where God leads, for you want to be where God is. The Ark was a visible, tangible reminder of God’s presence. Joshua’s instruction was, “When you see the Ark move, you move.” That was his way of saying, “Stay connected to God. Go where God goes.”

The Lord Jesus Christ is the certainty we can bank on. He is faithful. Always has been, always will be. In changing times, in challenging times, in uncertain times we need to focus on Jesus. After all, life is God’s story. We need to be reminded that Jesus is the Changeless One amid all the changing circumstances. I love what the writer to the Hebrews says about Jesus Christ. He is, “the same yesterday, today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). 

 When we are anxious in coping with the change and uncertainty of life, there’s one reality we look for: Jesus. Where is Jesus in your story? Are you looking for that? Are you watching for Jesus? Do you ask how He might work in the midst of your life changes, especially when those changes are traumatic? Have you remembered the Lord at all? When we ask that question, we enlarge the frame of our life to include the only One who can help us.

In the midst of change, I think it’s key for us to “re-frame” the picture in order to include God in it. God doesn’t cause everything to happen, God doesn’t cause the tragedies that hit us, but God can redeem the worst circumstances if we have eyes and minds to see. None of our circumstances catch God by surprise. We wonder if God will be with us there. God is already in our future. God is already there. God goes before us making the way. We Wesleyans call that “prevenient grace.”

Prepare Ourselves

Secondly, Joshua instructs the people to prepare themselves—to get themselves ready. Verse 5 says: “Then Joshua told the people, ‘Purify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do great wonders among you’.”

The Hebrew word translated “Purify” is “qadash” which means “to be set apart/ consecrated.” The command was the same Moses gave the people back on the other side of the desert some 40 years before as God prepared to give the 10 Commandments. It was a way of saying, “Get ready for what God’s about to do among you.”

It was also Joshua’s way of connecting the people to their heritage. Joshua was able to call upon the past to affirm the leadership that preceded him, and us it move the nation forward. But, it was also necessary for the people to be ready to experience God’s great miracle. To the Hebrews, purification meant washing their clothes and abstaining from sexual activity for a season. It was also a time of fasting. It was a time of waiting on God, of listening to His voice.

Like the Hebrew people, we have to prepare ourselves for what the Lord wants to do in our lives and among His creation. We have to be ready even to face some uncertainty.

No matter how we try to stop change, we can’t. We look at our children, and on certain days, we want to put the brakes on their growth, but we can’t. We look around at our culture and we think, “Whoa! This can’t be happening,” but, it is, and no matter what we do, we can’t put the brakes on.

It’s always been that way, though. When the railroads were first introduced to the U.S., some folks feared that they’d be the downfall of the nation! Here’s an excerpt from a letter to then President Andrew Jackson dated January 31, 1829:

“As you may know, Mr. President, ‘railroad’ carriages are pulled at the enormous speed of 15 miles per hour by ‘engines’ which, in addition to endangering life and limb of passengers, roar and snort their way through the countryside, setting fire to crops, scaring the livestock and frightening women and children. The Almighty certainly never intended that people should travel at such breakneck speed.” Martin Van Buren Governor of New York

Our preparation, our consecration requires confession and repentance, both for individual sins and corporate sins. We’ve not always trusted God. We’ve, too often, looked too much like the world instead of offering the world an alternative. Honestly, we’ve spent too much time trying to create a Christian nation, and not enough time creating a nation of Christians—people who are faithful disciples of Jesus Christ. We prepare ourselves for God to do great things among us when we live as faithful disciples of Jesus Christ by earnestly practicing the spiritual discipline: prayer, Bible study, fasting, worship, service, generosity, et. al. Every time of spiritual renewal has been preceded by a time of prayer and preparation.

Take a Step of Faith

Finally, Joshua tells the people to take a step of faith. Verse 8 says: “Give this command to the priests who carry the Ark of the Covenant: ‘When you reach the banks of the Jordan River, take a few steps into the river and stop there.’”

The remaining verses tell us the Jordan River was at flood stage. Generally, the Jordan is a small, meandering river that can easily be crossed, and in places can be waded across. This time, however, it was the harvest season, and the river was flooding.

Why would God call them to cross over at such an inopportune time? Perhaps He wanted the people to know this was a miracle, this crossing was His doing, not their own. I can only imagine what the priests bearing the Ark of the Covenant must have thought as they came to the water’s edge: “We’re supposed to step into that?”

Honestly, it doesn’t take much faith to stay put. If we want to see miracles, sometimes we have to take a risk, but that’s okay because faith is risky business. As I’ve said before, I’m not afraid to fail. I’m afraid not to try. Some things work, some things don’t. Celebrate the ones that do. Learn from the ones that don’t. Along the way, we might just see a few miracles.

How do we take those risks? Author and church consultant Gil Rendle shares the story of a little boy whose chore it was to go to the barn in the dark to secure the farm animals before the family bedtime. He dreaded what lurked in the shadows on the way to the distant barn. His father gave him unforgettable advice. The lantern from the farmhouse would cast its light to the yard gate and no further. When he came to the yard gate, the lantern cast its light to the corral fence and no further. When he came to the corral fence, the lantern cast its light to the windmill and no further. When he came to the windmill, the lantern cast its light to the barn door. The wise father reminded the little boy that he had only to go as far as the light took him, with the assurance that the light would take him further at the next point of need. In the life of faith, we never know the second step until after we’ve taken the first one. We have to take a step of faith and trust God.

My friends, the Holy Spirit blows like a wind upon us, glows like a fire within us, and flows like a river through us. Mighty acts for God take place because of the certainty of that unseen but nevertheless real leadership of the Holy Spirit.

We can’t know with certainty HOW God will fulfill his promises in our lives, but we can know with certainty he WILL fulfill them. Amid the changing nature of this world, Jesus Christ is the changeless One, and the One who kept us yesterday and keeps us today, will continue to keep us for all eternity. Of that we can be sure!

Change: The Only Constant…

/ pastorlynnmalone / Leave a comment

Greek philosopher Heraclitus receives credit for the statement, “The only thing that is constant is change.” His companion statement, “No one steps in the same river twice,” confirms his underlying philosophy of life that everything changes. It’s interesting that Heraclitus lived circa 500 BC, a time when change and innovation was measured in centuries. We, conversely, live in a time when change and innovation is measured in years, and sometimes even months.

I’m old enough to remember when the iPhone was introduced in 2007. In sixteen short years, the iPhone is on its 15th or 16th iteration (I loose count…or, just really don’t care). AI (artificial intelligence) is developing so rapidly that even some of its developers are encouraging a pause on further development in fear that AI will actually be the final ruin of humanity.

Not only are things changing digitally, but they’re changing culturally, too. There is a correlation between the changes in information technology and the cultural changes, but the cultural changes were happening even before the onset of the digital age. I won’t make a laundry list here of the cultural changes taking place (it would be too long, it would invite too much controversy, you already know them anyway), but I will point out one event that has been a defining moment in the cultural shift: the Obergfell v Hodges decision from the U. S. Supreme Court issued on June 26, 2015.

This is not a post about same-sex marriage, but rather about the rapidity with which the culture has moved in its acceptance of other non-traditional expressions of human sexuality and relationships. I mean, seriously, it has been less than ten years since the Obergfell decision and the cultural conversation has moved toward transgenderism and gender fluidity so quickly that we more traditional types (including the church) seem to have been left steamrolled by the conversation. So, just what are we to do about it?

To attempt to answer that question, I go back to the crossing of the Jordon River by the nation of Israel after their 40 years of wandering in the desert post-Egyptian slavery (find the story in Joshua 1). The children of Israel were a peculiar bunch. They stood at the banks of the Jordan, looking across to the promised land—that land promised to their father Abraham generations before. This particular generation only knew the promised land from stories they learned around the campfire from their fathers and grandfathers, or from bedtime stories during the years of wandering in the wilderness.

This was not the generation who left Egypt 40 years before. That generation would not possess the land because they were a bunch of grumblers and complainers. They comprised the “Back to Egypt” Committee. Only 38 years before, that generation stood on the banks of the Jordon ready to cross. Moses sent 12 spies across the Jordon. They returned with glowing reports of a land flowing with milk and honey. But, some of the spies also saw giants, and a land filled with enemies too big to overcome. Only Caleb and Joshua had the faith necessary to believe the people could overcome the obstacles that lay before them. Unfortunately, that generation believed the ten spies over Caleb and Joshua. Their lack of faith prevented them from inheriting the promise of God. It also makes me question Moses’ faith and leadership, but that’s for another day.

My point is that we more traditional folks, rather than becoming our own “Back to Egypt” committee, must continue to live faithfully because we believe God’s best days are ahead, God’s future for the Church is ahead, the Promised Land is across the Jordon not back in Egypt.

Yes, this is a new day for the Church of Jesus Christ. I believe we can learn a few lessons from the Lord’s instruction to Joshua and the people as they prepared to cross. What are those lessons?

First, as we move forward, we must stay rooted in the Word of God:

7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do. 8 Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.

Joshua 1: 7-8 NLT

The key to living faithfully amidst the changes of life is staying grounded firmly in the Word of God. the Bible is our source of truth and understanding and we must keep our anchor in truth. Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life…” (John 14: 6). Yes, He is our Truth. He is THE Truth, but we will not know Him or the Truth He proclaimed apart from the Holy Spirit leading us to discover Him in the Bible. Yup! That makes me old fashioned, but Jesus revealed in Scripture through the power of the Holy Spirit is my anchor when all the world is changing around me.

Staying rooted in the Word guides me to humility as I seek to follow the example of Jesus. This was the power of Jesus’ leadership! After Jesus finished the Sermon on the Mount the people were astonished because he taught as one who had authority. Yet about himself Jesus said, “…the son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does” (John 5:19). Later in John’s Gospel, we find Jesus demonstrating His humility when He washes the disciple’s feet (read it here), and the Apostle Paul captures the essence of Jesus’s character in that great hymn of the early church:

5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

6 Though he was God,
    he did not think of equality with God
    as something to cling to.
7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
    he took the humble position of a slave
    and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,
8     he humbled himself in obedience to God
    and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

Secondly, facing the challenge of change demands that we be both strong and courageous. It wasn’t enough that God instructed Joshua once, but He repeated it three times. Change demands strength and courage.

One great example of these characteristics is Mother Teresa. Ninety tiny pounds, quiet, and meek, yet when this powerless nun came to the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D. C., on February 3, 1994, in a room filled with senators, congressmen, and world leaders at all levels, she spoke with incredible strength on the subject of abortion. Her strength did not come from worldly power; it came from her submission to God, her holy life—a life spent sacrificially, serving the dying.  

Portrait of Mother Teresa, Dublin – Ireland (Photo by Mathieu Polak/Sygma/Sygma via Getty Images)

Mother Teresa had the courage to speak to world leaders so authoritatively because of her inner strength rooted firmly in her humility. See, these characteristics are intertwined. One enhances the other. That’s why God would tell Joshua to be strong and courageous, and would remind him to stay connected to God’s word, to meditate on it day and night. They’re all related. We can’t find courage without strength, and we won’t know strength without humility. I remind us that we must never confuse arrogance with strength. Too often, arrogance is an attempt to cover up the inner weakness of a leader.

It takes courage to be obedient to God’s call in our lives. The nation of Israel was about to cross the Jordan River to inhabit a land full of foreign people and ideas. They would inherit a land that would challenge their belief system, and without the courage to be obedient to God, they would be swept away into idolatry and death. They would need a leader who had the courage to remain faithful to the word of God.

The church faces a similar situation today. We look across our culture, and we see something that’s strangely foreign to our values and belief system. It’s easy to want to turn inward, to stay where we are, where it’s comfortable and we know our stories. But, God is calling us to confront the culture, to share the Gospel, to live our faith in that strange foreign land. That takes courage!

Len Sweet reminds us that we live in a culture whose language is story, image and soundtrack. The problem is we’re still trying to communicate with 19th Century methods. Oh! We can’t forget the past. All who have gone before us were inheritors of the promises of God. It takes courage to study the past, hold onto the stories that are meaningful and true, and preserve the heritage those previous generations sacrificed to see come to fruition. The courage comes in preserving the past without living there, for God’s Kingdom is ahead of us, in a foreign culture and a strange land. We need leaders to move forward…leaders with humility, strength and courage who are rooted in God’s Word.

I pray I can be that type of leader as we live in the face of constant change. I pray that you can be, too!

Until next time, keep looking up…

Where Have You Been So Long?

/ pastorlynnmalone / 5 Comments

It’s been nearly two years since I’ve written a blog post. There are several excuses I can make for that being the case. First, Vanessa and I bought a business and, believe it or not, it is time consuming. Second, the title of my webpage is “Not the Perfect Pastor,” and I’m not a pastor anymore, so there’s that. Third, leaving the United Methodist Church was painful. It would have been too easy to process my pain and grief by expressing anger and bitterness about the state of the United Methodist Church. I didn’t want that to happen, so I refrained from posting anything here.

So, you might be wondering (you might not) why are you posting now? Honestly? Because I got an email last week from WordPress that included an invoice for the webpage. I figured if I was going to pay for a website I might as well use it. That, and I need to reestablish writing as a discipline. I’ve developed other disciplines over the past couple of years, but writing is one that I actually enjoy, so I need to do more of it. I’m also not preaching as much so even writing sermon manuscripts has been lacking as a discipline. So, I’m paying for it. Might as well use it. I enjoy writing. Why not write more? Maybe when I do preach again, my sermons will be better because I wrote as a discipline. Anyway…

A New Beginning

Today is a new beginning in writing for me. I don’t know what this post (or this page, for that matter) is likely to become. I mean, really, Not the Perfect Pastor doesn’t really fit anymore. Though I’m still FAR from perfect, wearing the pastor title is no longer appropriate, but this is the webpage I’ve paid for, so I’ll use it anyway. Even though I’m no longer a pastor, I believe I still have a pastor’s heart. I see it everyday in the work I do with the general public and with my staff. And, though I’m no longer a pastor, I’m still called to ministry. The ministry I’m called to now is not vocational in nature. Actually, it’s quite freeing to not be dependent on the church for a living. It frees a person (or at least it’s freed me) to be less subtle in speaking to the body of Christ. The love for the body of Christ still runs as deep, but with God’s provision coming from outside the Church allows one to speak more prophetically, perhaps.

Speaking prophetically. I’m certain that is one of the great needs of the body of Christ in this day and age. I don’t fancy myself a prophet, but if I sense a word from the Lord to the Church, I’m bound to speak it. It might be the only gift I have to offer the Church at this point in life. Perhaps that is how the Lord is still “calling” me to ministry. My prayer is that if the Lord is calling me to a prophetic ministry, that He will give me grace to speak in helpful ways that grow the Kingdom. I know how some (all) of the Old Testament prophets were received. If it still works the same way, I’m not relishing the call.

Oh, I’m open to being a pastor if that’s where the Lord is still calling. I’ve been in conversations with a number of churches that have disaffiliated from the United Methodist Church about serving as their pastor. Vanessa and I haven’t yet sensed the need in answering that call, but we’re open and those kinds of conversations will continue, so I’ve learned to never say never where God is concerned.

I’ve also been blessed to serve my new tribe (the Evangelical Methodist Church) by preparing informational literature for the denomination to share with UM churches that have reached out to the denomination asking questions about their future. It’s a small thing, no doubt, but it has helped to affirm the Lord’s continuing call in my life. I pray it has been helpful to others, as well. I also have the privilege of serving the EMC as a member of the Mission Status Board for a small church in West Virginia. What is that, you ask? It is a board established by the denominational leadership to give guidance to a local congregation in determining its future. Yes, those kinds of things can be done via Zoom. We do live in a changing world.

So, ministry opportunities abound, but writing needs to be part and parcel of all of them. So, I start writing again. Forgive me when I vent. Be patient when I share what I believe to be a prophetic word from the Lord. Be kind in your rebukes and rebuttals. More than anything, be strong in the Lord. He is our Rock and our Salvation. Join me in this new journey, won’t you?

Until next time, keep looking up…

Prayer is…

/ pastorlynnmalone / Leave a comment

If 2020 showed me nothing else, it showed me of my desperate need to pray more. I like to think I know all there is to know about prayer, but try as I might, I can’t seem to nail prayer down to a singular definition? I am supposed to be a person of prayer, and I know when I see someone praying, and I know what I do when (or if) I pray. I know the preacher does it, if for no other reason than that is says so right in the bulletin—the Pastoral Prayer. So, prayer is something done at a particular time and usually in a particular way, or a particular place for a particular reason. Prayer is all that, but that seems like such an inadequate understanding as I desire to go deeper in prayer in 2021. 

I take some comfort in knowing the Bible doesn’t define prayer anywhere. I know the Bible commands it. People like Jesus, Paul, Moses, David and Hannah exemplified it. I am invited through the pages of scripture to pray, and God commends it to us as a way to communion and wholeness. The Bible even describes prayer, but never once do I find a verse that says, “Prayer is…” If the Bible doesn’t define prayer, I wonder if I can?

The Lord’s Prayer

Though the Bible doesn’t specifically define prayer, its examples of prayer give me a clue in (at least) understanding what prayer is. For more than defining prayer, I want to learn how to do it. As a matter of fact, that’s exactly what Jesus was doing one day with his disciples. I’m not sure if we can definitively answer the question by looking at that encounter between Jesus and his disciples, but I believe we can get far down the road. Jesus taught his disciples to pray:

11 Once Jesus was in a certain place praying. As he finished, one of his disciples came to him and said, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

2 Jesus said, “This is how you should pray: “Father, may your name be kept holy.
    May your Kingdom come soon.
3 Give us each day the food we need,
4 and forgive us our sins,
    as we forgive those who sin against us.
And don’t let us yield to temptation.”

Jesus would, in the verses following these, continue to teach his disciples more about prayer, but first, it was Jesus’ own example that made his disciples want to know more about prayer. I remind us they were Jewish men who were steeped in the traditions of their elders. They likely spent every morning and evening repeating the prayers of their fathers, yet when they saw Jesus pray, there was something that moved heaven and earth and made them want to pray that way. I’m not sure what that was, but I see three things that begin to help me understand a meaningful definition of prayer.

Upward Focus

Let’s start where Jesus started: First, prayer is upward focused. In verse 2, Jesus begins with the “Father.” As we learned the prayer from the King James Version, it begins, “Our Father, who art in heaven…” Richard Foster says, “Simple prayer is ordinary people bringing ordinary concerns to a loving and compassionate father.” The upward focus of prayer is our acknowledgment that God is our Father, that God is the source of truth outside ourselves. After all, we don’t pray to ourselves–“Oh, help me, Me!” We look to God for understanding in this confusing world. This upward focus is our confession of dependence on the One who is abundantly more than we can even think or imagine.

This understanding is insufficient in and of itself, for how can we have an upward focus unless we have first been called to turn our eyes toward heaven? When we turn our thoughts upward, we acknowledge it is God who acts first in prayer. Our prayers are a reaction to God’s first seeking us. In Psalm 27:7 – 8, David sings these words:

7 Hear me as I pray, O Lord.
    Be merciful and answer me!
8 My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.”
    And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.”

The key is that God said, “Come and talk with me.” Without God first calling to us we cannot seek Him, and we can never experience the kind of prayer that ends in answers. We Wesleyans call that God’s prevenient grace—the grace of God reaching out to us before we even realize it. Prayer that is upward focused will move the hand of God because we have first been moved by the hand of God, and it will draw us deeper into a growing, on-going love relationship with the Lord.

Inward Focus

Yes, prayer is upward focused, but prayer is also inward focused. Verses 3 and 4 say, “Give us each day the food we need, and forgive us our sins…” In prayer, we do focus on our needs, but not in some selfish, prideful way. Actually, if we look up the words “pray” and “prayer” in Webster’s dictionary—although no one looks up words in a dictionary anymore—we find these definitions: “to implore, an entreaty, supplication.”

The words the Bible uses which are translated for us as pray and prayer in both the Old and New Testaments mean “to request,” and “to make a petition,” so prayer is asking God for something, and it is never selfish or sinful to concern God with the circumstances of our lives, and the needs we face. As a matter of fact, God desires that we should ask. Our asking is yet another way we confess our dependence on and our need for God.

The inward focus is not totally selfish when we understand that this prayer is consistent with the way Jesus lived. He was always occupied with the trivial things in people’s lives. He turned water into wine (and good wine, I might add) at a wedding. He fed hungry crowds, and he offered rest to weary souls. He ate with Pharisees and tax collectors. He stopped to talk to a woman drawing water from a well, and he healed a blind beggar named Bartimaeus. It is appropriate that he invites us to pray for our daily bread because all of our little daily concerns are important to him.

We must be careful, though, that this not become a shopping list we bring to God. It is a petition for survival. It is not, “Lord, let me win the lottery, then all my needs will be met.” Such a prayer would never strengthen our faith or draw us deeper into a relationship with him. Prayer is designed to strengthen the bond between us and the Father. Only as we call to God for daily provision, and only as God meets us at our point of need, will our trust grow. When trust grows, love grows. When love grows, the relationship grows, and that is what God desires.

There is more to this inward focus than daily provision to meet our needs. There is a spiritual aspect that must not escape our understanding. As we focus upward and God begins to reflect His love and holiness back into our lives, we begin to recognize our sinfulness, and our need for forgiveness. We pray for this deepest need of our lives. Deeper than the daily provision for our physical needs lies the need for God’s forgiveness.

Mark’s Gospel (Mark 2: 1 – 12) tells the story of a paralytic man who was lowered by his friends into a house where Jesus was teaching. The man obviously had a physical need, but Jesus saw a deeper spiritual need, the need for forgiveness. Jesus met both needs. As the crowd watched, Jesus looked at the man on the cot and said, “Your sins are forgiven.” The crowd, and especially the Pharisees, were stunned and asked, “Who can forgive sins but God?” Jesus, hearing their question, responded, “Well, just so you know I have power to do both, I say, ‘Take up your bed and walk’.” We, too, have both spiritual and physical needs, and prayer that is inward focused brings us an awareness of both. The greatest news in the world is that I am a sinner who can be saved from my sin.

Outward Focus

The Good News that we can be forgiven carries us deeper into the heart of prayer. Prayer that is first, upward focused that produces an inward change inevitably moves us to become outward focused. Jesus prays in verse 4, “just as we forgive those who sin against us.” Any prayer that is real prayer will touch our relationship with others. Jesus says we ask the Father to forgive us as we forgive others. It sounds almost conditional, doesn’t it? Well, it is! We cannot be in a right relationship with God and not have it affect our outward relations with others. How can we not forgive others if we have experienced God’s great forgiveness? God’s forgiveness renews and transforms us, and we then seek to be renewed in our relationship with others.

Richard Foster indicates that to forgive is the very nature of the created order. We must give in order to receive. We cannot receive love unless we give love. People may try to give us love, but if we are filled with resentment and vindictiveness, their offers will have no impact on us. We cannot receive anything as long as our fists are clenched. St. Augustine says, “God gives where he finds empty hands.”

God, The Pizza Man

Let me tell you about our love for pizza at our house. When the children were growing up it was our default food of choice (it’s become Mexican now). One of the greatest days of our lives as a family was moving to Junction City, Kentucky. It was great because Junction City had the luxury of pizza delivery. I know that doesn’t seem like much to most of you, but being raised in rural Jackson Parish, and serving my first pastorate in the same community, pizza delivery was something reserved for places like New York City and Chicago. It didn’t take us long to avail ourselves of pizza delivery in Junction City. Piping hot pizza a phone call away.

How many of you have ever ordered pizza delivery? Call the pizza place, the guy or girl answers and place your order, “Give me two large pizzas—one with pepperoni, one with double cheese. Malone is the name, and the address is 104 School St.” (that’s where we lived in Junction City). Hang up the phone and wait for pizza at your front door. Oh, we were in heaven!

Too often, that’s how we think of prayer. We treat God like the pizza guy. We call on God, place our order as though it was some shopping list, and we wait for an answer. When God doesn’t answer in a reasonable amount of time we get mad because he didn’t answer on our schedule. God didn’t meet our expectations. Forget the tip, buddy, I want a free pizza because it wasn’t here in thirty minutes or less.

God is not the pizza guy, and prayer is not akin to throwing out orders for someone to meet our expectations. What is prayer? Prayer is any intentional upward focus designed to bring an inward change that becomes reflected in outward relationships which produces an on-going, growing love relationship with God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Not sure that any of that qualifies as an appropriate definition, but it’s the one I’m going to work with for 2021. I’ll check back in with you in 2022 and see how it went.

May I also invite you to pray more in 2021? Here is the “Daily Prayer” app that I’ve put on my phone and will be incorporating into my prayer time this year. It might be helpful to you, too. If you don’t like that one, try “The Daily Office” app. You can download it on your phone, or use it right from your desktop or laptop. If you don’t like either of those tools, simply do a Google search to find one that fits your need. As has been said, “Pray as you can, not as you can’t.”

Until next time, keep looking up…

I Think I Need a Drink…

/ pastorlynnmalone / Leave a comment

I wrote last week about the draining nature of 2020 for me, and the reality is that 2020 has been draining for many people, so much so that they have been driven to drink! Nielson reported a 54% increase in alcohol sales the first week of the “stay-at-home” orders in the U. S., and three weeks later the World Health Organization warned that alcohol use would exacerbate the health-related concerns of the pandemic. Go figure (see here and here for more concerns)!

I ended, though, with the expression of my desire to be filled…to be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul had something to say about that idea, too! Those who follow Christ, Paul says, have “put on” a new way of being. This new way of being comes as a result of being filled…filled with the power of the Holy Spirit.

A CASE FOR WINE?

We don’t simply come to Jesus Christ for salvation and that’s the end of it. The Christian life is like my fire pit. DE7E8223-A03C-479B-B090-F8D65F778712Vanessa and I love sitting around our fire pit, but to continue to enjoy its warmth and glow, we have to keep stoking the fire. It’s a process that keeps the fire burning. So is the Christian life.

The Apostle Paul liked to use analogies, too. As he wrote describing the life of followers of Jesus Christ, he variously used a wrestler, a runner and a soldier. Those are all active people. We must do something as we participate in this walk of faith where we are becoming people of Christ.

Paul having previously cautioned the Ephesians about their behavior, says in 5:15– “Be careful how you live.” He says, “Don’t be foolish, but rather be wise. Take advantage of every opportunity.” Then, in verse 18 he cautions them to not “be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life.”

Some folks read verse 18 and think Paul is making a case against Christians drinking. Is Paul telling Christians not to drink? Not really. Paul wasn’t a tea-totaler, and he would instruct his protégé Timothy to take a little wine for his stomach (1 Timothy 5:23). We know wine was a common beverage in the first century, and that Jesus himself drank wine. Don’t forget that Jesus even turned water into wine at a wedding (John 2: 1-12). This passage is not a case against drinking wine. It is a case against getting drunk. More particularly, it’s a case against getting drunk as a religious activity.

There was in the city of Ephesus a great following of the god Dionysus. Dionysus was the Greek god of wine. The worship of Dionysus included drinking, drinking and more drinking with lots of frenetic dancing thrown in. Think “frat party” here and you’ll have a good idea of their religious service. Followers would drink and dance until they were drunk. The belief was that if they could get totally wasted they could open themselves to the fullness of the god, Dionysus. That’s the culture these new followers of Christ were coming out of, and Paul says, “You don’t have to do that!”

BE FILLED

Paul knew (and we know) that life is challenging. Between the time we come to trust Christ and the time we enter heaven, life happens. Life doesn’t go swimmingly just because we came to Christ. The problems we had before are likely the same problems we have after. The same temptations we had before are probably the same temptations we have after. The problem is that when we face the challenges that life presents us, we’re want to reach back into the old life and deal with those challenges in the old way. Paul tells the Ephesians they don’t have to reach back into their old life because in this new life there is a new way to be filled with the power of God. This new way is to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Paul says that rather than be filled with wine, be filled with the Holy Spirit. There are some who believe this filling by the Holy Spirit is one in which we get carried away in a frenzy. Paul isn’t talking about running up and down aisles, jumping pews or speaking in tongues. He uses a word that means to be “under the influence.” To be filled with the Spirit is to be under the influence of the Holy Spirit. Of course, we’re prompted to ask “How do we come under the influence of the Holy Spirit?” Paul’s use of the word helps us understand that, too.

The word is given as an imperative. That means it’s a command. It’s not an option. Being filled with the Holy Spirit is not something reserved for pastor’s and worship leaders. It’s something that’s intended for every believer. Every believer is given the Holy Spirit as a seal when we come to faith in Christ, and so it is God’s desire that each believer live under the Spirit’s influence. Rather than being under the influence of some alcoholic beverage, or the influence of some other outside source, we are to live under the Spirit’s influence.

The word is also in the present tense, which speaks of a continuous action. It’s not a one and done thing (sort of like my fire pit I mentioned earlier). This filling is meant to be an on-going process—an on-going experience.

A lot of people have had mountain-top moments on their journey of faith. A mountaintop moment is like Peter, James and John had when they went with Jesus up Mount Tabor and saw him transfigured (Matthew 17: 1 – 11). They wanted to stay there. In that moment, they were just so close to God. But, mountaintop moments fade because life is lived in the valley. This filling Paul talks about is meant to be an everyday kind of filling that sustains us through life in the valley. It’s meant to influence us every day. We can’t fill our cars up with gas once. We have to fill them up continually.

There’s one more interesting point about the word used: the word is in the passive voice. It means this filling is something that is done to us. We can’t fill ourselves. We can only put ourselves in a place where God can fill us. How do we do that?

GETTING FULL

First, we ask. Have we ever asked God to fill us with His Spirit? Every day we can ask God to fill us. Fill me as I go to work today, Lord. That’s what I do! Every morning, I’m continually asking God to fill me with His Spirit, to speak his word through me. You can pray these prayers, too:

  • “Fill me with your Spirit, Lord, as my spouse and I deal with this issue.”
  • “Fill me as I face my boss today.”
  • “Fill me as I deal with this health issue.”
  • “Fill me for _______________.”

If we’re not under the influence of the Holy Spirit, we’re going to want to revert to old, and even self-destructive ways, to face the challenges of life. Simply ask. Jesus said in Luke 11:13: “So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”

Second, we worship. Worship puts us in the place where we can experience the Holy Spirit. Paul says “singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts” (Ephesians 5: 19). Regular worship is part and parcel to being continuously filled with the Spirit. We experience God and are drawn closer to Him.

Third is fellowship—connecting with other believers. Paul stresses that fact throughout his letter to the Ephesians, and does so once again as he says, “Submit one to another out of reverence for Christ” (Ephesians 5:21). The Christian life is not a “one-person show.” We need each other. We cannot, and we will not, be filled with the Spirit unless we connect with the body of Christ and other believers.

Finally, we connect with God’s word—the Bible. When we open the pages of the Bible, the Holy Spirit feeds our souls. Just reading the words opens us to experience God in new and life-changing ways.

I hear some of you saying, “Well, I just don’t get much out of it when I read the Bible. I can’t feel anything we I read it.” Trust me. Just the act of reading the words opens us—even if we don’t feel it. Look, we’re not always going to “feel” God doing God’s work. Just because we don’t feel it, doesn’t mean He’s not doing it.

God is faithful and He will fill us. We just have to put ourselves in the place where we can be filled.

0A615C60-C567-4824-B5DD-4044B35A7F4D_4_5005_cSo, let’s all have a drink! Drink in the fulness of Jesus Christ through His Holy Spirit!

Until next time, keep looking up…

It’s Harvest Time (or, Starting with “Why?”, Part 4)…

/ pastorlynnmalone / 5 Comments

Let’s be frank. House church (organic church, simple church) is countercultural for us folks in the United States (most of the west, really). I’m okay with that, though, because if there was ever a time the Church needed to be countercultural, it is now.

Since I’m being frank, let me also say that if you should attend a house church, you’re not likely to find the music to be excellent (although if you come to the House Church Movement, you’ll find my daughter leading us with excellence), the preaching and/or teaching may not be as polished as one is accustomed to, and the youth/children’s program will be unspectacular.

These reasons (and probably a few more) are why there isn’t more house church focused church planting movements in the west. We like our high-energy music, our polished preaching and those youth/children’s ministries that are going to do for children what parents are so unwilling (or unable) to do for themselves. House church for too many people will lack the glitz and glamour that will reach a consumer culture.

That fact notwithstanding, I believe the house church model of church planting is perfectly poised to reach new fields that are ripe for harvest. The house church planting model is designed to be “close to the ground,” as in, rooted in relationships with neighbors and co-workers, high on interpersonal relationships, ingrained in the rhythm of the community, not restricted by money or funding and is simple in its administration.

Additionally, Covid-19 has changed the landscape of traditional church. By all accounts, most traditional churches are averaging 30 – 50% of pre-Covid attendance. Those churches that see a higher percentage are outliers. Based on what I’ve read, and conversations I’ve had with pastors, those percentages are not likely to change drastically for the foreseeable future. That’s because half the people believe the church shouldn’t be meeting yet, and the other half of the people believe the church should have never stopped.

The opportunity that exists for the house church in this environment is that the church can be where the people are. The new context is simply more conducive to the house church. The house church can meet in closed communities. The house church can meet in large apartment complexes. The house church can meet in dense urban areas where the cost of living (and the cost of property) is expensive. The house church can meet in college dorms. The house church can meet in places where the government has restricted public worship gatherings (it sure feels strange to write that sentence as I sit in the United States!). The house church can meet wherever there is a home and a facilitator.

For all these reasons, the house church model can revive an evangelistic zeal in the Kingdom of God for the west. Consider for a moment the rapid growth of the early church. Between Pentecost and 70 AD the church experienced the most phenomenal growth in its history, spreading from a mere handful of believers in Judea throughout the Mediterranean world. Most scholars agree that this growth was accomplished using private homes as the primary meeting place.

Consider, also, the following mathematical potential for a ministry such as The House Church Movement. Beginning with a single home congregation with an average membership of twelve people, allow for that one group to reproduce itself in the form of a second group after two years. Then, allow for each of those groups to reproduce during the next two years—and so on. Allowing for growth and loss within each group, yet maintaining the group average of only twelve members (a conservative estimate of group size), after 6 years, The House Church Movement would have 96 members. After 12 years, The Movement would have 768 members. After 15 years, it would consist of 2,304 members. After 18 years, 6,912 members. After 20 years, the overall membership of The House Church Movement would be 13,824!

Please understand, I hold no illusion that The House Church Movement will ever boast a membership of nearly 14,000 people. I simply offer these projections as a way of showing that this philosophy of ministry and evangelism has potential equal to, if not greater than more traditional models.

Please don’t think I’m trying to sell everyone on the house church model or The House Church Movement. I’ll admit that it’s even hard for me to move away from the traditional church model of ministry, but I feel called to this model and to this Movement because I believe that house churches take place where harvest happens–in the neighborhoods, in the work places and in the homes of both those who believe and those who do not.

Until next time, keep looking up…

No Needy Among Them (Or, Starting with “Why?”, Part 3)…

/ pastorlynnmalone / 1 Comment

I love what Luke writes in Acts 4: 32-35–

32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all 34 that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.

Can you imagine what that must have looked like?

As I began praying about a new church plant, I sensed the Holy Spirit calling me toward planting a “house” church. Initially, I interpreted the vision to be open to growing into a more traditional expression of the church—building, pews, administration, etc. As I’ve lived with and prayed over the vision the past two months, I’ve gained greater clarity as to where the Lord may be leading us as a new church plant. I am grateful to a group of 21 people who have consistently prayed for clarity in this unfolding work of the Holy Spirit.

It is not unusual for a new church to begin by meeting in a home. A small group of only ten or twenty people does not need a larger meeting place, and the costs involved in procuring any sort of space is often prohibitive. In this regard, a “house church” is understandable to many. But if they learn that it was the intention to continue meeting in homes no matter how large it grows, eyebrows will begin to rise.

The idea of the house church does not easily fit into the tradition of American discipleship. For generations, the idea of the church has been almost universally associated with a central meeting place—a church building. Even though the biblically informed disciple knows that the church is people, it remains almost impossible for some to escape the association between a particular local church and the building in which that church gathers.

When a society has grown up with an idea—a tradition that has been passed down from generation to generation—a departure from that tradition can seem strange or even wrong. I will not fault anyone who questions the practice shared in this vision, or any who are not convinced of its benefits, nor is this unfolding vision a condemnation of the longstanding tradition of churches meeting in large central buildings. Too many examples of excellence within that tradition, both historically and currently, can be mentioned in its defense. My intent is simply to offer another reason why The House Church Movement will continue meeting in homes, and to demonstrate that not only is the practice biblically sound, but it is a great model for meeting peoples needs.

A NATURAL SETTING FOR FELLOWSHIP

During a House Church Movement meeting, we will enjoy facing one another in a warm, familiar environment, rather than sitting in rows looking at the back of someone’s head while most of the activity takes place on a stage. We may also enjoy eating a meal together every week, sampling friends’ cooking, or sometimes bringing in pizza. We might enjoy drinking coffee or tea after a Movement Meeting while sitting comfortably around the living room, sharing in each other’s lives. We could stay late, discussing personal or church matters and doctrinal issues. Sometimes, advice or counsel may sought by one, and given in return by another, or even several. Sometimes, two or three may find a quiet place to pray together. It could be like a family reunion every week.

While this type of fellowship can take place in a sanctuary setting, in the home it is natural. And, even as The House Church Movement grows large in numbers, it never has to lose the familiarity and intimacy that can be experienced in a home’s setting. Instead, new congregations can be formed—teaching others how to experience this same rich Christian fellowship. There is little doubt in a hurting world that people are longing for fellowship and intimacy that a house church setting could provide.

A DESIGN FOR BIBLICAL INSTRUCTION

When the New Testament authors gave written instructions to the church, they were writing in light of what they knew the church to be—small assemblies meeting in homes. Consider: If the church were later transformed into something that had never been seen or anticipated by the authors of the New Testament, the instructions they gave to the early church might not be as readily applicable to the new form. As an example, consider this principle in light of all of the “one anothers” in the New Testament—the commands to know, love, guard, and care for our brothers and sisters in Christ (i. e. John 13:34-35; Romans 12:10; Galatians 6:1,10; Colossians 3:12-16; 1 John 3:16-17).

Certainly these are kept faithfully in many larger congregations, but one can hardly overlook the fact that increased size means increased difficulty in keeping them consistently. There exists the increased potential that some will fall through the cracks. It is evident that in order to keep the commands to love and care for one another, larger bodies need added structures and programs which, in turn, necessitate additional burdens of administration. I could multiply examples, but suffice it to say that in at least this one case, the instructions are much easier to follow consistently in a smaller gathering. I might even suggest that these instructions were designed for small gatherings.

Because no one falls through the cracks, needs are more readily known and easily met. I’m not sure there is a greater “why” for the house church, but there are still two more we’ll explore in coming weeks:

  • House churches take place where harvest happens, and
  • House churches raise up disciples to embrace the ministry to which they’ve been called.

Until next time, keep looking up…

The Bible Tells Me So (or, I’m Starting with “Why?” Part 2)…

/ pastorlynnmalone / 1 Comment

I remember as a teenager hearing about this mysterious entity called a “house church.” I learned there were actually these small groups of Christ-followers who met weekly in homes and called themselves a church. I thought it rather strange, and I was not discouraged in that thinking from those in the more “traditional” church in which I grew up.

Courtesy of The Toledo Blade

People can be very passionate when it comes to the discussion of house churches (or simple churches or organic churches–the terms are interchangeable). Some will argue, “It’s the only way to ‘really’ do church. After all, it is how the New Testament church functioned.” Still others will, with equal passion, argue that house churches are generally made up of disgruntled members from more traditional congregations, or of theologically quirky folks who are considered, well…just, odd. Add in the fact that house churches are not very prevalent in Western culture, and one has a recipe for misunderstanding.

So, here I am to try to help with any misunderstanding my current path and calling may cause. In part 1 of this series (click here to read), I shared about God’s call as the underlying “why” of this journey, but the why goes beyond God’s call (though that would be enough in itself). The second “why” that motivates me to move in this direction is because I believe the house church is biblical.

What? You don’t think so? If one thinks the house church movement is not biblical, that one must be compelled to discount the first one hundred years of church history. Here’s a brief survey of relevant Scripture:

44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, 45 and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. 46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. (Acts 2: 44 – 47)

42 Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah. (Acts 5:42)

7 Then Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. 8 Crispus, the synagogue leader, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul believed and were baptized. (Act 18:7)

20 You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. (Acts 20:20)

3 Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my co-workers in Christ Jesus. 4 They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them. 5 Greet also the church that meets at their house. (Romans 16: 3-5)

19 The churches in the province of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Priscilla greet you warmly in the Lord, and so does the church that meets at their house. (1 Corinthians 16:19)

1 Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker— 2 also to Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier—and to the church that meets in your home: (Philemon 1: 1-2)

I think you get the picture. The early church was a church that met primarily in the homes of believers. They didn’t have church buildings to meet in, so homes became the default location. Yes, believers met in the Temple and in synagogues, but not as an organization–those early believers were part of another institution. Following the biblical model in this transitional period in Western culture opens the door to a fresh move of the Holy Spirit. My favorite way to say it is “House Church–Church in the new, old-fashioned way!”

Please let me clarify something, though. The house church is not the only legitimate model for church. I would never argue that point. The Holy Spirit has used various expressions throughout history to advance the Kingdom of God around the world. The “institutional” church is in a time of seismic shifting, and it will continue to meet and worship and serve. Campuses have and will continue to re-open. Congregations have and will continue to pivot. Hooray!

I am not anti-institutional church. The institutional church has been incredibly good to me and my family. I am deeply grateful for the love, care and nurture I’ve received in the institutional church, and I cherish the friendships those years have developed. And, I’m still a part of the institutional church–the Evangelical Methodist Church is a denomination, after all! But, I am grateful that the EMC is committed to church planting, and to do so in new, fresh, creative ways.

It would have been very easy to simply drop all denominational affiliations…to say that denominations are an abomination (some theologically odd people might agree!), but I don’t believe that to be the case. It is important for me to be a part of the “institution” because it affords me a covering or authority and accountability. I need both. I reflect my submission to Christ through my submission to the District Superintendent and the General Superintendent of the EMC, and I am held accountable for the work of ministry by them, and others who serve the general church.

The House Church Movement is a ministry of the Evangelical Methodist Church, and though I begin as its pastor, we will serve under the Book of Discipline of the Evangelical Methodist Church. We will be accountable to them. We will report to them (but, they do not now, nor will they ever, own my house, or any other property the church might meet).

So, you see, this is not an anti-institutional backlash. This is a genuine attempt to reclaim a biblical model for doing ministry as the church. I pray you’ll join us on the journey.

There are three more “why’s” to follow:

  • House churches meet people’s needs.
  • House churches take place where harvest happens.
  • House churches reflect the priesthood of all believers.

I’ll unpack these in coming blog posts, but in the meantime, don’t forget to pray for The House Church Movement as we launch Thursday, September 17th at 6:30 p.m. Plan to join us if you’re in the north Louisiana area. Check out our Facebook page for more information.

Until next time, keep looking up…

Simply Jesus…

/ pastorlynnmalone / Leave a comment

It really is all about Jesus! It being, of course, the Christian faith. I remember a parishoner named Mr. Joe who, as he departed every Sunday, would simply say, “Just give ’em Jesus.” I think that phrase sums up what the Evangelical Methodist Church means when it states “We believe each person must acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus Christ and be born again before he/she is a true Christian.”

A Matter of Grace

We can search the depths of theology and philosophy and discover one verse which, in its essence, sums up all God offers His creation, and we find it in a late night conversation Jesus had with a Pharisee named Nicodemus. Of course, it’s John 3: 16—“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever should believe in him would not perish but have everlasting life.” Let us be careful not to let the familiarity of the words lessen their power.

We are nothing apart from faith in Jesus Christ, and it is faith in Jesus Christ that gives us new life, that transforms us from what we were (a sinner), to what He intends for us to be (a sinner saved by grace). I am reminded that a relationship with Jesus Christ is all about grace–God’s grace.

We Wesleyans walk the Wesleyan way of salvation. Along that Wesleyan way are several “movements” of God’s grace. One of those movements is of justifying grace. It is this justifying grace of God at work in that moment that one comes to faith in Jesus Christ. The theological term for that moment is regeneration.

John Newton, in his famous hymn Amazing Grace, wrote of this moment of regeneration:

‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
and grace my fears relieved;
how precious did that grace appear
the hour I first believed.

Newton wrote his classic hymn on a slave ship bound for England on March 10, 1748, as he endured a raging storm on the high seas. That evening, Newton cried out to God, and his life was forever changed. He wrote of that evening, “I cried to the Lord with a cry like that of the ravens which yet the Lord does not disdain to hear. And I remembered Jesus whom I had so often derided.”

Regeneration

Justifying grace (regeneration) is that moment in time when we realize that God accepts us just as we are, and we say “yes” to his offer of salvation, and our eyes are opened to the love and companionship of God. Justifying grace (regeneration) is about saying “yes” to God.

The problem is that we need help when it comes to a restored and right relationship with God. The Good News is that God wants to help. God didn’t come to offer us things (like money or power or success or possessions) that we think will make life full, or us happy. God sent His Son Jesus Christ to offer us a relationship that is a relationship of love that flows out of His self-giving nature.

Regeneration happens in that moment when we accept the relationship God offers in his Son, Jesus Christ. We are justified in that very moment. This moment of acceptance is commonly referred to as conversion. It is what happens inwardly at that moment when most people would say, “I’ve been saved!” But the phrase “I’ve been saved” does not mean that conversion is ended. Rather it means we have begun a more adventurous portion of the journey that is God’s salvation.

We can just as easily say, “I am saved,” or “I am being saved,” for conversion continues when we find new ways of accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Like when we come to a better understanding of ourselves, and when we come to a better understanding of the claim God is placing on our lives, but more about that in a later blog.

A Gift

Here is where it gets sticky and we have difficulty accepting God’s offer of salvation. Let me explain why. We have been taught all our lives that America is the place where hard work and determination meet opportunity to produce wealth and success. While there are exceptions we all could point to, we realize the American dream is fueled by hard work and determination. Gary Player, the legendary golfer and a South African, understood this attitude. He said, “The harder you work the luckier you get.”

The American attitude is an up-by-the-boot-strap mentality, and that attitude is what has made America great. Isn’t it ironic, then, the American attitude, that up-from-the-boot-strap mentality, is a major stumbling block in our acceptance of God’s offer of salvation. We know that hard work and determination are what make the measure of success, so we find it totally unreasonable that God would offer us salvation at no cost. Surely we have to do something to earn this salvation. We can’t do anything. But God does not give us something for nothing, and our salvation has come at great cost. It cost Jesus Christ his life.

All we can do is accept God’s offer or reject it. It is totally a free gift to us, and our acceptance of that offer is an act of faith. It is not our work, nor is there any work we can do to deserve or earn it.  This work is what Jesus Christ has done for us in the grand plan of God’s salvation. Listen to how the Apostle Paul describes it:

But now God has shown us a different way of being made right in his sight–not by obeying the law but by the way promised in the Scriptures long ago. We are made right in God’s sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins. And we all can be saved in this same way, no matter who we are or what we have done. For all have sinned: all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet now God in his gracious kindness declares us not guilty. He has done this through Christ Jesus, who has freed us by taking away our sins. For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy God’s anger against us. We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed his blood, sacrificing his life for us. God was being entirely fair and just when he did not punish those who sinned in former times. And he is entirely fair and just in this present time when he declares sinners to be right in his sight because they believe in Jesus. (Romans 3:21-26).

The faith that responds to this offer is an act of trust and self-abandonment by which we no longer rely on our own strength but commit ourselves to the power and guiding word of him in whom we believe.  Gratitude becomes the motivation for the life that follows the acceptance of this great gift.

God has given us the freedom to accept or reject his offer. He doesn’t interfere with that decision (that’s what makes a Methodist), but he does appeal to our intellect. Faith is not an unreasonable endeavor. When we engage our minds in the pursuit of God it is God engaging us, for how can we even begin to comprehend what does not exist. When we recall the testimony of countless saints who have gone before, it is God engaging our minds. God has given us the capacity for reasonable reflection. He engages our intellect as we make our decision.

God also touches our emotions. Gratitude and appreciation, love and compassion, joy and relief are all ways we respond with great enthusiasm, but we do not depend on those feelings for the foundation of our faith, for feelings wane. With each passing event of life we ride a roller coaster of emotions, but our faith in Christ is sure in the midst of life, and God touches our emotions to aid in accepting God’s great offer of salvation.

God makes this offer because He loves us. He loves us unconditionally. He doesn’t love us because we’re perfect. He loves us in spite of the fact we’re not perfect. If I might quote another old hymn of the church:

Just as I am, without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me.
And that Thou biddst me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

“But I can’t change,” you say. That’s what John Newton thought, too, until he experienced the grace that caused him to write:

‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
and grace my fears relieved;
how precious did that grace appear
the hour I first believed.

Accept God’s offer of grace, justifying grace, and His grace will continue to work through you and in you, taking you to the next step on the journey to full salvation.

Regeneration–it is simply Jesus!

Until next time, keep looking up…