The Biblical Ministry System

Recently I’ve been working to finish a Masters in System Engineering and I’ve been thinking on the ministry we are doing at Revival in Jesus way and my own time in the Word from a Systems angle. I think thinking of the Christian life as a system has value. Systems have inputs and outputs. Contain the inward parts that take those inputs and produce the desired output. So to bring a subject into systems thinking means really thinking about the desired output, what the needed input is, and then what exactly goes into the process in the middle to bring about the outputs.

In looking across the Bible especially in the gospels and Acts where we see disciples in action the pattern above seems to be very standard. The central part of the system stood out as I’ve been studying Matthew with a friend over the past couple of weeks. This pattern especially stood out as I’ve been working on chapter overviews and key points for Matthew 3 and 4.

In Matthew 3, Jesus is baptized in John’s baptism of repentance and then the Holy Spirit descends on Him in the form of a dove. While most people recognize from John the Baptist’s own words that Jesus did not need a baptism of repentance, John says “you should be the one baptizing me”, still Jesus chose to be baptized and mark his entry into Messiah work by that distinct mark. He then clearly and obviously received the Holy Spirit (this is the second baptism on the top of the Holy Spirit input). We can assume based on Jesus’ lack of doubt and embracing of the Father speaking to Him (“this is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased”) that Jesus clearly believed that God was His Father, that He was being called out by the Father for what He needed to do.

Following Jesus receipt of the Holy Spirit He enters into a preparation time. He is then led into the wilderness to fast for 40 days in order “to be tempted by the devil” Matt 4:1. Jesus is then led through specific temptations that test Him which He makes it through with flying colors. This reminds me of Peter’s time following his rejection of Jesus and being called to “feed my sheep” by Jesus or Paul’s departure to Arabia for some years following his conversion and receipt of the Spirit that he describes in Galatians 1:16-17. There is this deliberate preparation time in getting the person set for the mission this new Christ follower (or Christ Himself first) that happens.

There is then the setting of the environment, sometimes this is a given such as with the disciples Paul leads to faith who stay in their hometown but often following the preparation there is a leading into an environment in which to do ministry. For instance, in Matthew 4:12-13 Jesus moves His home to Galilee following Johns imprisonment. This is the place in Matthew we see Jesus really begin His ministry. In Matthew 4:16 prophecy is quoted showing that “the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light”. This statement is made specifically about Galilee Jesus’ new home.

Jesus then begins to go out and preach the gospel (4:17) and walks along the sea and picks up disciples. This too is what Paul or Peter do once they are settled into an area beginning to go out and share the gospel, healing the sick, casting out demons and taking on individuals for training.

As Jesus engages with the people being to draw to Him to hear from Him “so a report about him spread throughout Syria.” Matt 4:24, Jesus now has crowds He is engaging with and from which He finds future disciples. We see a similar pattern with both Peter, Paul and the disciples in Acts. Once they have begun to engage soon their are groups wanted to hear about their message and see for their selves the healing etc. I’m calling this the enticement stage in the ministry system.

The rest of the model is not explicitly seen in Matthew 3-4 but is hinted at. For instance, in Matt 4:19 Jesus calls Peter and Andrew and says He will “make them fishers of men” clearly indicating a sort of training program they are now engaging in and this is clearly seen through the rest of the gospel. This Apprenticeship is the discipling of individuals to get them to be Christ followers who are living as Jesus lived. So, the Apprenticeship part of the system has the whole loop in it, because this is what the disciple is being led through. It also restarts the loop, because now a new Christ follower has entered the Biblical Ministry System pattern.

The output of the system is in line with Matthew 28:19-20 and Galatians 5:22 (as one example of each) the clear goal laid out for the Christ-follower is to produce disciples and to have the fruit of the Spirit produced internally.

The Key and King represents that each step in the system is done in Jesus’ way. This is why in Acts one of the most common names (and my favorite) for Christ followers is followers of the Way. This points back to Jesus’ words saying He is “the way the truth and the life” John 14:6. So we find the details of each step by looking at Jesus’ life specifically. We can also learn from the disciples lives in Acts, as Paul indicates in Philippians 3:17 “be imitators of me, brothers and sisters, and watch carefully those who are living this way, just as you have us as an example”.

The final piece left on the diagram is the Word with Right Study and Right Obedience on the sides. This part is so key and often harped on by Jesus and in the New Testament letters as well as in the Old Testament. We need to rightly examine the word and then to go on and obey what it really says. There are not multiple ways of reading the Bible. There are not multiple valid interpretations on the vast majority of things there is the purpose and intent written by the author, inspired by the Spirit, that we are in fact meant to get to when studying and applying scripture. This is key to living out the Biblical Ministry System well and producing the results that God calls us to.

Interested in feedback if you have any and hopefully this can help a few people to be able to better grasp what it means to pursue Christlikeness.

Ethics from the Concentration Camp: Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Model for Ethics

Towards the end of his life after being sent to prison then concentration camps for having taken part in the plot to assassinate Hitler, Dietrich Bonhoeffer finalized what he called his life work, his Ethics. In this work we can see how he has fit together his Biblical worldview into a holistic ethical system. Being interested in ethics and philosophy as well as Dietrich’s amazing legacy for some time I was excited to get ahold of the work at our local library and it did not disappoint. I think Bonhoeffer provides a framework that we would well consider today as their is such a need for Christians to return to real discipleship and simultaneously stand for the truth in an age that has a quickly diminishing grasp on truth.

Overview

The overall philosophy behind Bonhoeffer’s ethics is breaking up life into four institutions and the principle of responsibility.

Responsibility Based Ethics

Responsibility is not dealt with until late in the written work but it is an important central principle for understanding the whole ethics. It is also the most controversial and possible that is why the work deals with it so late. Basically, responsibility based ethics is a departure from a kind of fundementalist rendering of Biblical ethics, where situations are all thought to be covered directly by scripture so that behaving ethically is simply a matter of obeying direct commands or laws. The principle of responsibility here though means that ethical decisions are made primarily in consideration of our responsibility to God and others, especially in the four domains. Scriptural mandates reflect these responsibilities and give the sure guide for decision making but decisions must also consider context. For instance, for Bonhoeffer lying to Nazi soldiers to protect Jewish persons hiding in your home is permissible and even the right action since the person doing so has rightly weighed their responsibility to others and God. Now, the common fundementalist argument against the sort of situationalist ethics this leads to is that objective morality is lost and morality just falls into subjectivity. However, to Bonhoeffer thinking in terms to responsibility does not make ethical decision making simply subjective. In fact, Bonhoeffer spends time mid-book to go through specific complex issues like euthanasia for instance, and showing there is a clear right and wrong answer taking the Biblical evidence and logically thinking through the responsibility one has.

The Church

The highest domain in Bonhoeffer’s ethics is the Church. Now, while Bonhoeffer specifically wants to refer to the Reformed Church he is general enough where one can look at the Acts Church and the clear importance of making disciples and easily fit into his overall thought. The Church Bonhoeffer writes follows Jesus in taking responsibility. Jesus took responsibility for the sins of the whole world and properly dealt with all of them. Bonhoeffer then executes what really is his central thesis to his Ethics, that we as the Church are called to take the responsibility for the sins of the generation and place we are in properly seriously and near the upmost responsibility for those sins to the extent that we do not execute our duty as the Church. The church is charged with now operating in a sense outside of the ethical realm as it is typically though about and proclaiming God’s reconciliation to sinners rather than seeking to fulfill justice. In the realm of the church our responsibility is to proclaim the word, by proclaiming Christ, that He, God, has become human like us and so can relate to us and reach to us, that He is Lord and so demands absolute obedience and loyalty that all would turn to Him. Finally that He has truly reconciled the world to God and this is the only way of reconciliation to God. Bonhoeffer states unequivocally that the evils of our day lie most heavily on the Church not in keeping with uncompromisingly proclaiming this message, and I would add in making disciples according to it. If the Church was acting as it should Bonhoeffer states then the evils we see would not be nearly as prevalent.

The Government

The second level of responsibility is to the Government. Bonhoeffer limits government to where Biblically it does seem properly limited to, to enforcement, to bearing the sword against evil. This means enforcing the good, ensuring good judges, a strong military and police that execute according to what is really right. The government does not create right and wrong, they are subject to it. The government is responsible to God for executing judgements on what is right according to what Bonhoeffer terms normal life. Normal life is pre-gospel life, it is basically being able to live as a just citizen in doing day to day activities. Therefore, it involves right behavior of people to each other but does not directly demand one form of worship or another.

Vocation

Vocation is made up of all the jobs and duties of citizens. It is taking care of the home, business, janitorial services, it is engineering, scientific research, being a doctor or military member etc. This is citizens doing work to promote the good.

The Family

Finally the family. Now this area being the sort of lower of the areas doesn’t make it less important, to Bonhoeffer all four domains represent distinct responsibilities we all have to some degree and that are all needed and ought to be set according to how God has intended them for a society to flourish. The family is the key foundational element that raises children to be good citizens and to enter into life and treat other people well. The family can also be a domain of the Church when real discipleship takes place.

Order Usurped

So, key to understanding Bonhoeffer is what he says about the order of these domains. Bonhoeffer believed that when one domain usurped the domains above it (like Hitler did to the Church in his day) or they fail to properly defend the realms below then they act against the natural order. They can only maintain that reality by oppression and when oppression is removed the order will return.

The Key to Seeking the Holy Spirit is Getting the Gospel Right

There are three main parts the mission of the Holy Spirit is typically broken into. And most Bible-believing Christians would be aware of all three, connecting, becoming and doing. Yet apart from the head knowledge agreement with this teaching, how much do people really “believe” in actions?

First, let’s talk about becoming. The question is becoming what? and how to reach that goal? it depends on what view of salvation one takes. Most modern churches believe in a sort of “simple gospel”, meaning that at some point one chooses to believe some certain facts and to repent and “receive” Christ, then he is saved, period. Even though, among them, many promote that one needs to grow after that, but the after story is not a must. Hence, under this gospel’s theology, there is no concrete goal of becoming and no specific method. When people don’t see reaching holiness and Christlikeness as a real goal of salvation from God, people won’t desperately seek help from Holy Spirit, the very helper God sends to us to help to accomplish our salvation to the end. In modern church, we seldom meet people who have specific time bound plans for major parts of their sanctification and mission. We seldom meet people who passionately share about how the Spirit helped them in being more holy in one specific area in the last month.

In terms of connecting, under this same theology’s influence (the simple gospel), people would think what’s difference if you connect more or less. I have seldom heard an evangelical Christian verbalize it (not one who fits into a church atmosphere anyway). But this is the natural logical conclusion. And people’s practice often is more honest than their lips. Although there are other motivations for pursuing God more, without this fundamental one, the effect is that the passionate Spirit-filled believers become the minority. The practice of connecting to God more through Holy Spirit more becomes a “hobby”, not a requirement. It means the passionate believer has no base according to this theology to tell left-behind believers “you should seek to connect to God passionately, otherwise,…”.

The third mission of the Spirit has also been stifled for at least hundreds of years. Jesus has only given his disciples one mission to do before He comes back, which is evangelism and disciple-making. And he set an example to show the principles and methods of his great commission. To make disciples of all nations is a very challenging task. The Spirit was sent to help disciples accomplish this thing, Together with function 1&2, this is the mission of God for saving the whole world, function 1&2 is the Spirit coupling with you in your salvation (justification, sanctification and glorification), function 3 is you with the Spirit accomplishing salvation with others. But when church lost her clear vision of this mission, the Spirit has often been begged to cooperate in various Christian-seeming projects that the Spirit is not even interested in, not main mission He was given to us to accomplish. And people are not really desperately wanting His help when the vision of Great Commission is lost.

In summary, it won’t work we just resort to emotional appeal “Don’t forget about Holy Spirit! Seek him, you will gain more power; or your life will experience more God.” The root issue is the simple gospel.

Jesus’ Description of a Kingdom Person

Over the past five weeks I’ve been going through a book study on Matthew’s Gospel and love the way he fits Jesus life into logical chunks that connect to Israel’s history. I think one of the key ways we learn anything is to learn to summarize well and Jesus life and teaching is no different. One interesting thing I noticed is Jesus’ teachings don’t just demonstrate the coming Kingdom and what He will do but He really builds the picture of what a Kingdom person or a true follow of Him will look like and do. Hope this helps you as you look to follow after Him better this next year and the summary helps in your own Bible study.

Like Moses Teachings on the Moral Life

In Matthew 5, Matthew shows us the first glimpse of what Jesus ministry was like by showing Jesus teaching immediately following His choosing the twelve disciples at the end of ch. 4. Jesus then strategically waits for a crowd to gather and begins teaching His disciples up on a mountain. You can imagine the scene Jesus is teaching His disciples and the crowds all have a listening ear to what He is saying to them. Jesus then goes into what many have called the strictest moral code ever taught. No doubt this made the disciples nervous to immediately be charged with such a strict code of what they should look like as His disciples and not privately but in front of all these listeners. Jesus finishes by saying they are the salt of the world, and catching the imagery perfectly a city on a hill giving light to everyone around. In the same way we as Jesus disciples are like that, these commands in Matt 5-7 are not just to help us realize our sin but real commands that should mark a disciple of Jesus before an onlooking world.

Like Joshua Teachings on Going Out

In Matthew 10, we see Jesus send out the twelve to do what He interestingly has been doing right before and then goes back to doing after they return:

Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.
— Matthew 10:1

These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them: “Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans;
— Matthew 10:5

Jesus just before:

Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.
— Matthew 9:35

And immediately following:

When Jesus had finished giving instructions to His twelve disciples, He departed from there to teach and preach in their cities.
— Matthew 11:1

Jesus has been training and instructing them until this point and has been leading them both by example and with exhortations interestingly if you read Luke 8-9 you get an awesome picture chronologically just before He sends them out. In Luke, Jesus performs some of His biggest miracles and challenges the disciples in their trust in Him as He calms the storm at the sea of Galilee, casts out a legion of demons and raises a child from the dead. Jesus as the master trainer and rabbi prepares the disciples well before getting them in action doing the same ministry He has been doing. His ministry at that time is still to Israel so He commands them to only go to the lost sheep of Israel but later He will send disciples out to the whole world (Matt 28:19-20). He sends the disciples out without any money but later He will tell them to bring a money belt with them and even a sword for protection (Luke 22:36-38). Finally later the whole gospel can be preached since He has been crucified, buried and risen again and having given the gift of the Spirit. Other than this we have Jesus setting an interesting pattern that was often followed in Acts. Jesus tells them to go from town to town, to preach the Kingdom of God has come, to cast out demons, to heal the sick and to go into the homes of people who receive them and to stay with them as they teach and proclaim the Kingdom. Further for those who do not receive the message they are told to simply dust off their feet and move on. There is a ton we can learn from examining the methods of the Master here for reaching out and especially when we see how disciples like Paul lived out the methodology as the took the gospel out in accordance with the great commission (Matt 28:19-20).

Like Solomon Wise Teachings on the Kingdom Person

In Matthew 13 we see what I like to call Jesus’ teaching of the Kingdom person. There is an interesting parallel here to the book of Proverbs and how Solomon describes the wise person. Here Jesus gives a series of five kinds of parables describing what a true disciple or Kingdom person of His looks like. Jesus’ teaching here follows Jesus being asked to show signs of His being the messiah in spite of Him having done miracle after miracle to show this already and Jesus family trying to come take Jesus away believing Him to at least be going a little overboard in His teaching. Thus Jesus launches into the teaching in Matt 13 discussing what a true follower of His is like:

1. The parable of the four soils: in this parable Jesus shows that there are four kinds of heart conditions in which people hear Him. One is hard ground and they hear, say they don’t understand and move on. The second is rocky ground where a person hears gladly but turns away at the first sign of persecution because they have no roots. The third is the person who hears but the worries of the world and desires for wealth choke out the truth. Finally the only soil that really bears fruit as it should is the soil that receives and begins bearing more and more fruit.

2. The parable of the tares: the parable describes the he situation of the Kingdom person. While ideally the situation would be good crops all growing together this garden has tares planted by an enemy in it. So now there are good plants and tares growing along side each other. As unideal as this is it is the situation we find ourselves in as disciples. Not all Christians or hearers of our message are pursuing or desire the Kingdom we are mixed up together often times not seeing what is in people’s hearts completely until after some time and growth reveals the truth.

3. The parables of the yeast and seed: The parables of the yeast and seed both have to do with something small representing faith put into something with amazing results. The bit of yeast causes the dough to become huge and the mustard seed cause a giant tree to grow out. So too in the Kingdom person or disciple. If we begin to put our faith in what God has said He will do in and through us we will see a life begin to grow out with the greatness we see in Jesus’ life.

4. The parables of the pearl and treasure: these next two parables have a theme in common as well. The person in the parable finds something worth selling everything they have to buy it. So too is the Kingdom life or the disciples life with God. It is worth selling all we have, giving up any and every dream to purchase it. This is what the Kingdom person will do.

5. The parable of the fisherman: finally the parable to the fisherman shows the end result of the Kingdom person. In the end God will take each person and look to see if that person is a kingdom person one desiring to follow Him. On this basis those who claimed to be disciples will be determined one from another, those who were truly Kingdom people will be “brought home” those who do not will be thrown out to sea again away from His presence. This parable should really inspire the fear of God is us who follow Him.

Like the Prophets Separate from Israel

In Matthew 16-17 Jesus begins to describe how He is going to be killed by the Jewish people. This is where Jesus first uses the word church (or assembly of disciples) and God the Father points Him out with Moses and Elijah standing there as the One who should above all be listened to. Jesus then goes into some statements about church or this separated community that will be founded now that Israel is clearly rejecting the Messiah. In this community we ought to learn from the people who are humble and really desiring to learn from Him. We are to each closely guard ourselves to be accurate and true to the word because God will severely punish anyone who leads one of His little ones astray. Finally, Jesus gives some words on church discipline which is based on forgiveness and repentance. If someone does wrong but confesses their sins and turns from them we ought to allow them back into the fellowship. This was so radical Jesus had to give Peter a parable to help him get it, to us who are forgiven much we also must be willing to forgive.

Like the Prophets Warning the Established Religion

Finally, Jesus demonstrates the role of Prophets like Jeremiah when in Matt 23 He gives seven woes on the things the Pharisees and teachers of the law are doing wrong. In summary they have started a system, that promotes themselves in roles above the rest and has become focused on the money coming in and their own image that they are even ignoring whole parts of scripture and they are unwilling to hear any criticism of the system to the point Jesus predicts they themselves will kill Prophets sent to them and later they prove this by killing Him. This section really ought to cause us to pause. How often to we hold certain teachers with so much respect we ignore whole parts of what scripture says because we don’t know what to do with them? How often do we let our churches be controlled by how they look to the world rather than cleaning the inside of the cup so that we are really seeking Him? I am afraid that Jesus really hits close to home in the Church today… And we should really think about how we can get back to the ministry He went about doing with His disciples…

The Call to Continue His Work

Finally, I want to discuss John 17 as I think it summarizes Jesus last thoughts before ascending to heaven well. John 17 is the longest prayer we have of Jesus’ in scripture, it is also the last prayer of Jesus since he prayed it just before He went to the cross.

Jesus starts off the prayer declaring that He had completed the work God had given Him to do in these disciples He had trained up and brought up Himself:

I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do.
— John 17:4

If there was a key word in this passage it would be the word “same” or “just as” just see below:

I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are.
— John 17:11

But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves.
— John 17:13

As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.
— John 17:18

The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.
— John 17:22-23

Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.
— John 17:24

Jesus called not just the disciples to this same work He was called to do but those who would believe because of their work in proclaiming the gospel:

“I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word;
— John 17:20

To summarize this prayer, Jesus called His disciples which includes us into this same amazing life and ministry He had lived. We too are to receive Him as described above to live as He calls us to and to share the truth just as He taught His disciples to. In this way we continue His work until He returns.

God and Evil: God’s Sacrifice to Prevent Tyranny

Often times today God is associated with Tyranny and the desire to rule over the world and every person with an iron fist, forcing His moral demands on us. This misunderstanding often crops up in an accusation of God that goes something like “why would God create us the way He planned to hold us to a standard that is so high?”. The accusation here being two pronged, on one side why is God being a Tyrant with moral demands and the other why did God decide to make us so capable of doing evil.

God’s Creation Decision

The other morning I was having my Quiet Time and meditating and reading about Jesus in the Garden of Olives and Romans 8. The first thing that stood out to me afresh was Romans 8: 18-22:

¹⁸For I consider that our present sufferings cannot even be compared to the coming glory that will be revealed to us. ¹⁹For the creation eagerly waits for the revelation of the sons of God. ²⁰For the creation was subjected to futility—not willingly but because of God who subjected it—in hope ²¹that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage of decay into the glorious freedom of God’s children. ²²For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers together until now.
(Emphasis mine)

Notice that this passage says God subjected creation to futility, that futility pointing back to what Paul is saying about sin entering into the world through Adam (And humanity in general). In other words God did something that allowed the world to end up in a sort of broken state. By creating free rational creatures God made the decision to not have a perfect world but one where there was not only choices to be made but where very good or very evil choices were possible.

Free will to the degree it is given allows good and evil choices. Think for a minute from God’s point of view. Nothing yet exists and you wish to make creatures of some kind, but you don’t want to create just any kind of creature but one’s that can understand and relate. Even one’s who can relate with you enough that they can have a real relationship with you. Not just relate to you but who will also be good rulers good leaders of other creatures. In order to do that you need to create someone who does not just do whatever you tell them like a robot or a enslaved person, you want someone who can really make the choice to follow along with you and see the goodness behind the decisions you make. In other words God did not want to create a created order based on tyranny even so-called good tyranny, with Him giving good orders and everyone following out of fear of Him without understanding. No God wanted free peoples at the top of the created order, people who considered His commands and called them good not just because they were ordered to do so but because they see the goodness of them and freely follow them. Without this kind of good order from the top there is no good created order.

The next thing that struck me was reading Luke 22:39-46 and seeing Jesus’ reaction as He wrestled with the thought He would be going to the cross the next day. In context, I think its important to see that for Jesus this was not just the night before His death, this was the night before His Father who He had loved and been with since eternity past was going to sit on the judgement seat of heaven and judge Jesus for the sins off all humanity (Isa 53:5,10). Jesus weeps here even to the point of weeping blood the verse says, and yet resolves to do the will of God. Why? What is happening here? Well, we need to go back to what we saw in Romans, God chose to create a world where sin would have its effect, He did not choose to create a world where people would simply be forced on the good line. He instead gave people a free will and as a consiquence man sinned. What we also know is that from the start God (including Jesus in the trinity) knew this was what would need to happen (Eph 1:4-5, 1 Peter 1:19-20, Gal 4:4-5). In other words God knew when He chose to make us free it would cost His life to have a relationship with us. He knew that this creation picture would require His everything, His own Son in order for it to be realized. Hebrews 12:2 tells us the Jesus endured the cross because of this hope that layed before Him, the same hope I believe that the Godhead had before the foundation of the world. That a free people was worth the possiblity of evil and it was then worth even sacrificing the Trinitarian relationship to sin and judgement and death for the sake of the “Sons of God” and all the glory that those good Sons and Daughters in fact would bring to His name.

What’s this got to do with Tyranny?

While God is often accused of Tyranny this could not be further from the truth. In face God values personal freedom so highly He would not have a creation without free will as a foundation. The free chosing of good alone is truly good and God from the foundation or base of the whole world points this out. This is also an accurate picture of sactificaiton Paul says in Romans 6:17-18

But thanks be to God that though you were slaves to sin, you obeyed from the heart that pattern of teaching you were entrusted to,and having been freed from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness.

When we choose to do God in the power given to us through the Holy Spirit and run after God’s good will we actively show the world the emense value of true free will. In America today we so need a free Christian Church that chooses to run after Christ and lives relying on the power of the Spirit. Jesus tells us to take up our cross daily and to follow Him, to love God with all our heart our strength and soul and our neighbor as ourself. Only through pursuing Him and in turn realizing our great need for His Spirit to enable us to really more and more get close to this sort of Christ-Life can we be the sorts of light and salt that transform our communities.

God Bless you today. Run after HIM.

Review and Summary of: Walk with Me by Bill Mowry

Bill Mowry is best known for his discipleship-oriented books and ministry with the Navigators. In the last few months, I have enjoyed going through his study Ways of the Alongsider and read a few books by him. This last read of his book Walk with Me left me enthusiastic about engaging with those I live, serve and work with by walking with them in Jesus’ way. I particularly like how Mowry uses acronyms and memory devices (as you’ll see). They help to really solidify the concepts and help you go back to them as you remember the memory devices.

Let’s explore some key points Mowry goes through from his extensive experience in discipling others:

Chapter Break down: (The first two chapters are an introduction 3-7 are five principles of the Walk or walking with others)

An Invitation
Start Walking
We Walk Heart to Heart
We Walk Simple
We walk SLOW
We walk deep
We walk on a mission
Live the Joy

First, the walk is something we are all called to do, to follow Jesus by coming alongside one another and intentionally helping each other to grow to be like Christ. Bill summaries this call in Jesus’ great commission to His disciples to “make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and teaching them to observe all I commanded you” (Matt 28:19-20). How do we accomplish this goal Jesus set out for us in our daily lives? By walking alongside with those around us in such a way that they can learn to know and follow Jesus more and more. This is not complicated as we sometimes think it is, its also a step by step process and not something we need to do all at once. It is intentionally coming beside another person with the goal in mind to really help them know Jesus and then acting on that desire in practical ways.

So, from the middle five chapters we see Bill’s overall recommendation is for us to walk alongside others in a way that is heart to heart, simple, slow, deep and on a mission.

Heart to Heart

In terms of the Heart to Heart aspect of walking my main take away is how to share with others in an intimate way by giving some TLC (TLC being Bill’s acronym for how this is accomplished). By being Transparent, Listening and Caring. Being transparent involves really sharing from our lives and our care for the other person in a way that really expresses our heart for them, our challenges, our joy. Listening is listening actively and really hearing what the other person is saying and Bill gives some good examples of this in stories from his life throughout the book. Finally caring is done through being empathic to what the other person is doing and in small practical ways that show the other person is important.

Simple

Bill wants to distinguish simple from simplistic. Simplistic is living by catch phrases that are shallow and don’t really cover the deep situations of life or meaning of scripture. Simplicity is “a reasoned and simply stated conclusion drawn from study or analysis”. He points out how Jesus simplified both the law and the prophets into just two commandments and the statement “love your neighbor as itself” yet He could also explain to the disciples on the road to Emmaus using the whole Old Testament. To simplify something well is to be Transparent about the truth explaining it completely. To be Clear so that it is communicated so the other person can understand and Usable, so the person is able to act on the truth. The wheel illustration is a great tool that accomplishes all three and gives a simple picture we can use to think about what a growing Christian life looks like. Understanding truth simply helps us to internalize it then give it to others.

SLOW

I wrote this word in all caps because, you guessed it, its a memory device! We should imitate Chirst in how He walk along side us by Serving excellently, Love accordingly, Observe to learn and Wait on God’s timing. When we observe God’s work in scripture we often see He works slowly, 3 years to bring up the disciples, 40 years to prepare the hearts of the Israelites in the desert, Jesus waited two days after Lazarous died before He went to bring him back to life. God waits and works slowly. This is explained well in the book by the two words translated “time” in the New Testament. Chronos which is the typical way we think of the flow of time and kairos which refers to the ideal moment or time for something to happen. God waits for kairos moments when the time is right to lead us further in our walks with Him. In the same way a good farmer knows the kairos for each crop on when to sow and reap. In the same way we should utilize the SLOW memory device to effectively help others grow in the timeline that will really maximize their growth. You can read his explanation of each element in the book but I especially like the love accordingly element here as scripture clearly discusses different ways we can act to love people who are in different situations. Such as in 1 Thes 5:14:

And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone.

Deep

My takeaway from the chapter on making our walk with others deep is Bill’s 5 H learing device. The 5 Hs are a really helpful tool for a well rounded approach to helping others:

Heart- We appeal to a person’s heart, observing them and how they are motivated. In this area some good tools are biographies of great disciples in history, scriptures about the impact and the purpose of the work (Bill lists more resources in the book).

Head- Head involves information. We help those we are walking with to understand the scriptures through Bible study and good books. Bill doesn’t mention it here but I think in this area good instruction on basic logic, apologetics and good books helping in life areas are also crucial head knowledge to help others grow.

Hands- A disciple is a disciple not just for what they know but in their acting on that knowledge and becoming more like Christ (John 14:21 is a good example of this principle). Hands has to do with real steps of faith based on the Heart and Head knowledge, the wheel gives a great overview of those broad areas these actions often fall into. In this area Dallas Willard’s VIM principle comes in. Vision Intention Means. These are three steps toward action in the Christian life. First we build the vision of what it means to follow Christ in a particular are (the first three Hs) then that person needs to take the initiative or intentionally commit to doing those things. Finally, we provide the means or tools that can help a person get started these can be things like the Navs Topical Memory System, Bible Studies, Going with them to witness to a friend etc. Based on a plan and that person’s current growth stage we can provide tools that help them move further in following Jesus.

Helps- The main two helps here are Accountability and Affirmation. We hold people accountable to the goals they set by lovingly asking about them Bill gives some great examples of this in the book. Affirmation is how we encourage people as they meet those goals they set and are convicted to.

Habits- Habits are the key to a Spirit led deep Christian life. Habits are the things we do regularly enough that they become a part of our lives. Bill calls them the grooves in our lives like the grooves erosion makes in geological structures. When the grooves exist then they will continue to wear into those areas of our lives forming amazing structures of God’s work in our lives over time.

On a Mission

Looking back to the beginning of the book we saw that everyone is called to walk with other believers (Matt 28:19-20). Since this is true our goal is not just to be beside the other person but as we are on Christ’s mission our desire is for them to get into the wonderful mission of God as well. Bill breaks this down into knowing God’s Macro mission (the big picture of what God is doing) and then doing what we can in the Micro mission (our own actions to pursue God’s macro mission in our own lives). The macro mission is what we try to describe in our Foundation Nine: Gods Purpose for’ His Creation: How to not live a life in vain. (hyperlink to episode). One particular way Bill talks about how we can engage in the micro mission is by sharing our faith through Inspiring, giving Insight and praying for Conviction from the Holy Spirit in the person we are sharing withs life. We Inspire by telling others stories of how God has worked in our life, by sharing ways our time with God has provided practical helps for instance in helping us be courageous in trials, faithful in difficulties, hopeful or joyful in life. Insight has to do with sharing our story of how we have come to know Jesus, through having a one-on-one or group Bible study with our non-believing friends and through sharing the Gospel story from scripture. Insight can also come in from providing answers to questions and difficulties our friend may have about the the faith, this is why it is so important to create an environmentin speaking with them where they can feel they will be heard we can do this better and help others to do this by understanding the truth and common questions well enough ourselves to be able to answer with grace and humility. Bill gives a ton of good advice on how to start a Bible study, how to create an open environment for discussion and how to share God’s story and our story effectively in the book.

Overall…

Overall I really enjoyed the book and think it is an excellent tool in grasping principles for living out the Great Commission and Great Commandment in our own lives today. Bill’s insight and experience in helping others really comes out in how he is able to create a picture you can even memorize as you go in reading it. His memory devices have obviously come from mastering the craft of communicating truth to others in a way they can really get their Hands into the work. One note of improvement would be in this book like some others today reasoning is talked about but little is said about the amazing apologetics resources available to really help disciples grow in understanding the faith wholistically. That being said if one takes those resources and adds them into the model in the are of helping the Head then the picture is just that much more complete in my mind.

I hope you will take the time to glean from his principles in the book and to check out his Ways of the Alongsider workbook as well!

Jesus Tells Nicodemous a Hard Truth

Today, their is a popular philosophy at the root of our culture that says biases, culture, background all shape what we can and cannot hear. In and outside the church we meet the doctrine of determinism when it comes to behavior and thought. If I do something wrong, look first at my family background, my history before judging what I have done. Jesus however seems to harp firmly on a different philosophy to Him we are responsible for believing and acting according to the truth regardless of our background and the degree we do not is sin which we should not have done and are responsible for.

A great example of this responisblity for knowing and acting is found in something Jesus said to Nicodemous.

Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony.
John 3:9-11

“but you do not receive our testimony”

To Nicodemus, a man who had come in the night to hear more from Jesus, Jesus says you do not accept my testimony or in other words we have presented everything before you that you need to receive the truth, yet you refuse to accept what we say. This accepting the testimony of Jesus is key and crucial to even taking the next step in following Him. The thing Jesus is arguing for is the common sense way in which anyone ought to look at Him and hear His words and know that this message and messagner are from God. Knowing this a person ought to listen to and obey.

In other words, Jesus is saying the one who does not purposely push Him to the side and ignore His teaching because of sin is the person who will be able to learn from Him and receive this wonderful new life. Whenever His teaching is ignored it is due to sin, this is the radical message of Jesus to the non-starter. It is not your cultural background or your group that keeps you from Jesus or that keeps His teaching from making sense. No, Jesus says it is your hard heart and your hard heart needs to get under control at this point if you wish to ever enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Running Calvinism through the Biblical Lens: Total Depravity: How the Common Understanding Misses the Mark.

This post will get a little more philosophic but I think it is so misunderstood today and a right understanding of it is necessary to really live out the faith well.

Three Cons of the Typical View

In Reformed thinking Total Depravity forms the T on the five key concepts known as TULIP. The understanding of it also shapes the rest of the concepts into an overall distorted picture. In at least common Reformed thinking I hear today Total Depravity is seen human beings having the total lack of ability and practical doing of good (outside Christ) and in fact only do evil. Now I agree with this to a degree as I think scripture clearly teaches that we are dead in our sins with out Christ (Eph 2:5), that all of our deeds are in the end unworthy of God and not “good” (Romans 3:10 and Isaiah 64:6). However, overall this view begins to go astray in at least common Reformed thinking in 3 related ways:

Con 1: It is too black and white in that it considers deeds either good or evil end of discussion. When some deeds clearly seem to be more neutral. An example would be choosing the salad dressing, it is not a good decision or an evil decision.

Con 2: Con 1 I think leads into a misunderstanding of how a person’s actions toward salvation might be necessary but not good.

Con 3: It doesn’t adequately allow an explanation for how Jesus’ disciples could in a sense progress in knowing Him before they were officially saved. This leads I think to an overall misunderstanding how we can as disciples of Jesus really act in ways that are progressing towards Christlikenss.

Given these cons what would be a Biblically adequate way of thinking of Total Depravity? As I said above scripture certainly teaches all of our deeds outside of Christ are sinful and not righteous. Isaiah puts it this way:

We have all become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
– Isaiah 64:6

And in Psalm 14,

The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man,
    to see if there are any who understand,^[a]
    who seek after God.
They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt;
    there is none who does good,
    not even one.
Psalm 14:2-3

Those Outside Christ Doing Good

So, then none of what we do is good and the non-beliver and the believer not acting in Christ act in an evil way all the time? I think scripture tells us this is true in a sense and not true in a sense. For instance one example that comes to mind is the Centurion Cornelius.

In the beginning of Acts 10 we read this Roman centurion was “a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God”. In fact, God’s noticing of these traits was the reason He sent an angel then Peter to witness to him. Peter’s conclusion is telling:

“Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.” Acts 10:34a-35

So, how can there be no one doing right, if there are people all over who fear God and do what is acceptable to Him?

Fallen Good vs. Good that God requires

I think the answer is found in our separation from God in all we do. When we look at the Biblical story we see that God set Adam and Eve up in a role to rule over the whole Earth (Gen 1:28) as His designated rulers under His overarching sovereign rule. Yet, at the very start humankind fell from this position by not trusting God and desiring to set up a kingdom of their own in a sense by becoming “like” God. From that moment on sin entered the world (Romans 5:12, 1 Cor 15:21). This sin is a corruption in our nature and also is a kind of living life separate from the ultimate source of life (Isaiah 59:2).

However there is still more complexity to good. As fallen people we have a desire to do good but ultimately no hope without Christ to truly fulfill it. Paul says that the law was given to people by God to show us two things, one that we know and desire to do good and two that we are helpless to do it.

So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.
Romans 7:12-15

So, our actions outside Christ always fail to meet the full sort of good that God created us for. The law shows that and as Jesus and the commandment to covet for instance point out true goodness comes from the heart out. It seems though that while all of our deeds are stained an unclean we can still do “good” relative to our state. The sad thing is this good is always related at its heart to a wrong view of God, and therefore to the world and everything else.

There are also layers of good and evil. We know this through simple reasoning murder is worse than a white lie and there are all kinds of degrees within different sorts of wrongdoing that we can clearly see are more or less bad. Without God ultimately all of our actions are evil in that they fail to truly acknowledge God as the trustworthy and good creator. However, our actions can also more or less act out the desire to do good that is still present within us and from scripture we see God notices that!

The Faithward Journey

My point is we are called to pursue Christlikness. Step by step being sanctified in this life from our current state to one where we could truly be called good. This involves doing good that is progressing toward the true good, call it sin stained good that is working out the stains. Christ has justified us in putting His righteousness on us before God and so we are considered righteous but the practical day to day working in of that righteousness, applying the indwelling Holy Spirit and Word to our lives and then action, is a process. Seeing our actions as good in the sense that they are moving toward the right yet still not quite where they should be is a huge “Aha!” moment, if we can grasp it we can see that work towards being in the Word towards sharing our faith, toward prayer, towards exercising spiritual gifts etc. can be an in-progress kind of good thing and that is actually just as it should be.

This can also help us in approaching non-believers because we don’t have to say your deeds are all completely evil in every sense instead we can engage people on how our actions fall short and are sinful in a real sense but that good actions in charity etc. are things God values.

Christian Foundations: And Why they are Important.

What is a Foundation?

Matt 7:24-27

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

A foundation is the base layer upon which a house or structure is built. When the foundation is strong, and the structure is built well then it brings stability and a long lastingness to the thing built on it. In Matthew 7 Jesus emphasizes the importance of a strong foundation on acting on His word by giving the example of two very different sorts of foundations. One is sand, sand is unable to hold anything for too long it shifts and does not bear weight well. When things were peaceful the house built on them stood ok but as soon as trouble hit the house went with it. As opposed to that there is the house built on a sturdy rock, the house buil on it was able withstand all kinds of turmoil because its foundation gave it the stability to keep from shifting.

The Idea of a Christian Foundation

Hebrews 6:1-2

Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.

Ephesians 2:19-21

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.

1 Corinthians 15:3-8

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.

A Christian foundation is the set of basic ideas that must be established before one can go on in growing in the Christian life. Notice how the Hebrews 6 verse talks about going on to maturity and the Ephesians verse talk about growing on after the foundation is set. This is important. While the foundation is important it is not everything in Christian growth! Too often we’ve seen churches that treat setting a foundation as if it in and of itself was discipleship OR they have said the foundation is all there is to the learning portion of discipleship and then it’s basically just Christian friendship. Neither of these approaches is correct. The foundation is essential but there is learning and real measurable growth that happens even after the foundation is set. The foundation must be set though in order for growth to really happen.

The reason for this is simple if we think of another example. Think of a plant. If one tries to water it and give it sunlight when the seeds have not been properly planted then all of their watering and efforts will be wasted because the first rain or harsh weather will cause the plant or seeds to be moved away. If the seeds are too deep they may never reach the top of the soil.. If the soil is not right the plant may not every get started or it may end up misshapen. In the same way Christians without a strong foundation are constantly moved by doubts and the regular push of life. They get stuck in trying to think through issues of the faith and never get on to living out the faith.

Topics in the Foundation

Scripture gives some specific things that go into this foundation. Some great verses for what make up the foundation are found in the verses above and in the sermons that are given in Acts. Topics that make up the foundation are things like: Repentance, God’s nature, salvation, the role and receiving the Holy Spirit, the final judgment, scripture and its importance, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus to name a few. I’ve broken up the topics to be covered in the following list:

Does God exist?
Can miracles happen?
What is the Bible?
Is scripture reliable?
What is God like?
What is God’s purpose in the world?
Deep down what are human beings like?
What happened in the Old Testament?
Was Jesus a real person?
What does Jesus claim during His life?
What do we know about Jesus historically?
Did Jesus rise from the dead? What does that mean?
Who is the Holy Spirit?
What work does the Holy Spirit do? How do you know if you received Him?
What is God’s plan for Christians?
God and government/work
What will happen at the end of time?

Practical Exhortation

When we are discipling others, we should make an effort to establish these topics in their mind and help them to grasp them and wrestle through doubts. Anne and I use a Bible study series that goes over a lot of these topics and then beyond them into growth related topics. We are also working on a podcast series that will be a good audio companion when studying these topics with another believer, The important thing is we are thinking practically, Biblically and systematically about our growth and the growth of those we are helping. We want to see others mature in Christ! So let’s set on to that purpose by setting a good foundation.

Podcast Series starts here:

https://castbox.fm/episode/id2800003-id295770370?utm_source=podcaster&utm_medium=dlink&utm_campaign=e_295770370&utm_content=Episode%2012%3A%20Foundation%20One%3A%20Five%20Ways%20You%20Can%20Prove%20God’s%20Existence%20to%20Others-CastBox_FM

Practical Systems for the Christian Life: Press On, By Taking the First Step

The Need for Systems

A system is a practical way of breaking down how to think practically about goals. As I’ve talked about before in the podcast and blog the Christian life like many other things is made up of one big goal that can be broken down into smaller goals. A system is just takes that method and gives processes that help to regularly do what it takes to make smaller goals and accomplish them. Often, we have many goals so simply trying to attack them, one at a time will eventually cause burn out and stagnation. There needs to be some consistent way we deal with the challenge of goals.

Decide what Needs Systems

In Life Coaching it is a common theme to break up one’s life into accounts or main areas based on priority. We want to start by determining what sort of things are most important to us. This step is fairly simple think if I were to die 5 years from now, what would I want people to remember about me. Or what would I want to have accomplished, what would I have wanted to maintain. In the Book Living Forward the authors encourage imagining your funeral, what kind of Eulogy would you want told about you? Write these out…

Here are some accounts in my own life for an example of accounts:

Personal Development

Family

Ministry

Work

Make the Big Goals into Small Goals

So, the next step is making smaller more manageable goals. What are the main areas that go into having a good marriage? As a Christian a great way to discover this is to do a topical study on the subject and then to see what the Biblical important things are in this area. You can do this by using a website/app like https://www.blueletterbible.org/ and looking up the thing you want to study. If I was studying marriage, I would look up words like marriage, love, spouse, husband, wife etc. Take 10-15 of the best verses type or write them out and ask yourself what is important according to God about marriage? Another method is to read some good books on the topic.

Here is an example (just an example my own account has more to it..) of smaller goals:

Personal Development

Wheel Life (for a refresher on the wheel https://www.navigators.org/resource/the-wheel-illustration)
Physical Fitness
Education

Marriage

Quality Time
Chores/Serving
Finances

Ministry

Guys to disciple
Blog
Podcast

Work

Certifications
Major areas of current job
Key Skills

Time-Bound Steps

Next you need to think about time. Manageable goals have a time limit that is timebound. So if your goal is for instance having a good marriage, then what is a timebound goal associated with that? Well say I know that spending time together is important for a marriage then I can come up with a timebound goal like “go on a date with my wife next Friday”. The key is beginning to make a habit of breaking down these bigger goals into smaller goals (logically) then breaking those down into time-bound steps that can be taken.

Now, for a System

Two great books on systems are Getting Things Done and Doing More Better. In these books the authors talk about how to do break out these areas like we’ve just gone over and then how to systematize them by doing things like arranging a day for regular review, utilizing tools like a simple calendar, task managing system etc. The important point is you want to keep putting manageable tasks in front of yourself.

So there you go! This is a simple break down to give you the idea, but I would encourage you to go on and read the referenced books to learn more and more importantly get started! It is not about getting it 100% perfect from the go it is about TAKING ACTION, because a journey is never accomplished if one never takes the first step. Alternatively, many small steps can often produce great results if we commit our actions to the Lord.

Let’s join Paul and “press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 3:14) in every area of our lives.