Mike Sehon

Spiritual Instruction

Romans 12:10-11, "In love of the brethren be tenderly affectioned one to another; in honor preferring one another;in diligence not slothful; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;" (ASV)

One of my quests lately has been to seek out a tangible, manifested, biblical expressed life for the Christ follower. In other words, what does "it" look like? I know there are many passages that give great instruction, but this one in particular provides you with 5 concepts that you can wrap your mind around. It also helps you to do a spiritual self-evaluation by providing real life metrics to determine how well you're doing. 

1) Love one another and be tender in that love... does this need expounding?

2) Putting others ahead of ourselves... when we live for our selves first, we miss one of the key points of christianity. It's not about us! I know this one hurts, but there are no other alternatives for the serious follower. Sure you can design your own way, but it's only self-deception.

3) Being busy and not lazy... I've always believed if you're to busy to be involved, you're too busy! On the other hand, an attitude of hoping someone else will take care of my responsibilities is always a lazy cop out. God hears no excuses!

4) Fervent (burning/boiling) in spirit... there ought to be a passion, a burning, a consuming something in us that over flows. It ought to show up all of the time. Some call it radical, but the bible says it's normal. If you don't have it, ask God for it! A good place to see if it's real in you, is the worship service... is there a passionate, manifesting, demonstrative worship boiling out of you or are you one of the ones that stand there and watch others boil?

5) Serving... did you know you can't serve God unless you serve people? How plugged in are you in the House-hold of God? "Pew-sitting" is never a biblical option that God will look over. Rick Warren said it best, "The Christian that doesn't serve is a contradiction". In other words we can't say we're doing well as a follower if we're not involved in service! Find your place and get busy.

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Normal

Ok... It's been a while since I posted, but was stirred this morning. I think God stirred my heart after several conversations yesterday with several different people. The thought I was rolling around this morning concerns the church (not our church, but the church in general, mainly in America for now). I began to think first how much God loves His church, has invested in His church, the provision He has made for His church (Bible, leaders and opportunities) and the great purpose he has for His church. It really is good stuff! If it hasn't yet, it ought to change our whole paradigm of what life is about and place eternity in our hearts. I got fired up!

Then... my heart began to be burdened for so many. It's like you have 3 groups of people to pray for. 

In the first group, you have those that "know" Jesus and are passionately living for Him and serving God with all they are and have! There is a fire in their hearts, a yearning in their being and a love for God that demonstrates itself at every opportunity. I think that is called normal christianity... 

Next, you have this group that knows, Jesus... they are saved, but their ember has gone out. There is more passion for the things of this world in their hearts than for the things of God. Over time they have let the cares and affairs of this world creep in and choke the word of life and so often go back. Their life becomes unfruitful, spiritually dry and lifeless. I really pray for these, because it really is a dangerous place to live. If one is not careful, they can even justify living that way. 

Then, you have this group that perhaps are attending a Sunday service now and then, but have no relationship with Jesus and don't see that there is more. They've been largely unchurched and thank God, haven't been tainted yet by religion. I think God really wants us to reach these so they can be like the first group! In fact I think God wants us all to be like the first group!

"

Then my prayer this morning... that God would make us all "first group" followers of Jesus. That our passion for Jesus would break out, that the Holy Spirit would be a fire in our hearts... that eternity would call from deep within us... you know, that we all would be "normal Christians".

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Heart

Contemplating His great sacrifice for someone like me... make our hearts like yours... that nothing would ever occupy your place in the heart of our being... thank you Jesus

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Going Back - II

42That day about three thousand took him at his word, were baptized and were signed up. They committed themselves to the teaching of the apostles, the life together, the common meal, and the prayers. 43-45Everyone around was in awe—all those wonders and signs done through the apostles! And all the believers lived in a wonderful harmony, holding everything in common. They sold whatever they owned and pooled their resources so that each person's need was met. 46-47They followed a daily discipline of worship in the Temple followed by meals at home, every meal a celebration, exuberant and joyful, as they praised God. People in general liked what they saw. Every day their number grew as God added those who were saved.

Talk about a culture/life style challenger! One of the first things that slaps you in the face is the intensity of the commitment the early believers held. When we look at this from our 21^st century, busy American life style, the first thing that comes to mind is, “how in the world did they live this way and keep up with everything else”? I think that one of the important things to see here is not that we want to “clone” what they did, but go deeper and grasp hold to heart of their motivation. The outward is always a revealer of the inward! In other words, they were only living out the deep change that had taken place inwardly! As difficult as it may be for our minds to wrap around this cultural change that took place, we still have to engage it to learn how to embrace all that God holds for us.

Here are a few heart challenges:

1. 42That day about three thousand took him at his word, were baptized and were signed up. They committed themselves to the teaching of the apostles, the life together, the common meal, and the prayers. – Do I find myself so taken in by God’s message that it radically restructures my desires? Schedule? Life? Do I find myself longing for connect time with God’s people?
2. 43-45Everyone around was in awe—all those wonders and signs done through the apostles! And all the believers lived in a wonderful harmony, holding everything in common. They sold whatever they owned and pooled their resources so that each person's need was met. – Has God so impacted my life that now what I own really belongs to God? Has God so impacted my life that seeing a need that I ‘can’ meet is God’s indication for me to do so?
3. . 46-47They followed a daily discipline of worship in the Temple followed by meals at home, every meal a celebration, exuberant and joyful, as they praised God. People in general liked what they saw. Every day their number grew as God added those who were saved. – Has “church” for me been reduced to only a Sunday experience or have I become the church, which dictates my focus, energy, life direction and service? Does my “doing life with other believers” cause others to want the same or do they see a difference between themselves and what I am?

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Going Back

Acts 2:37-42, “37Cut to the quick, those who were there listening asked Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers! Brothers! So now what do we do?" 38-39Peter said, "Change your life. Turn to God and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, so your sins are forgiven. Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is targeted to you and your children, but also to all who are far away—whomever, in fact, our Master God invites." 40He went on in this vein for a long time, urging them over and over, "Get out while you can; get out of this sick and stupid culture!" 41-42That day about three thousand took him at his word, were baptized and were signed up. They committed themselves to the teaching of the apostles, the life together, the common meal, and the prayers.”

Just thinking about “church” in general… not so much the methodologies or the arguments over emergent, organic or institutional, but the life. I’ve lived long enough to know God uses it all, inside and outside of the box. He just doesn’t seem to care about the limitations we place upon Him.

Anyway, I am more curious and hungry for the “life” aspects and the things that make a difference. What are the symptoms of the aspects and how can we evaluate our own ecclesiastical circumstances, not those of everyone else. I am feeding on just a few things from the passage above that help me to clarify those. I mean, what should I look for in my own life and the environment of the church I am a part of. That is what I desire! Here they are:

1. Brothers! Brothers! So now what do we do?" 38-39Peter said, "Change your life. Turn to God and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, so your sins are forgiven. – Is there a life-changing message that centers on Jesus? Is this where the searching leads us? Is that what people find when they visit? Is it causing me to follow God?
2. 40He went on in this vein for a long time, urging them over and over, "Get out while you can; get out of this sick and stupid culture!" – Is my day to day life changing or am I making excuses because of my circumstances? Is there a separation taking place inside of me that causes me to desire what God wants more than what I want?
3. 41-42That day about three thousand took him at his word, were baptized and were signed up. – Am I taking this message that changed my life to others so they may be changed too? Are we, as the church living examples of the changed life we’ve found in Jesus? Is it so real in us that others want it too?
4. They committed themselves to the teaching of the apostles, the life together, the common meal, and the prayers.” – Have I committed myself to the message and the church (people)? Am I more drawn to what happens outside the church than I am by what happens in the church? What is the evidence of my commitment?

 

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Relevant

Rolling around a thought this morning... There seems to be a great desire and effort among well meaning people to make God relevant to a lost culture... you know make Him fit! While I think it is wise to present Him in a relevant presentation or packaging, I think some miss the point by trying to make God relevant to people. I thought He is already relevant? He certainly is closely connected and appropriate to everything or any situation we could conjure up in our imaginations.

You see... When we re-mold God to fit anyone's world, we have at that moment offered them less than what He is. He is the God that creates and invents and anything He would add to our culture or world will be a step up and in the right direction. Again, wrappings can and should change, but the gift is unalterable. For the sake of simplicity think of this... cola is cola in any glass, bottle or can, but we never change the cola's essence.

God is relevant... what are you missing? Just a thought.

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Troubling

An article I read... Long, but something every "follower" of Christ should read.

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The coming evangelical collapse

An anti-Christian chapter in Western history is about to begin. But out of the ruins, a new vitality and integrity will rise.

By Michael Spencer

from the March 10, 2009 edition

  

ONEIDA, KY. - We are on the verge – within 10 years – of a major collapse of evangelical Christianity. This breakdown will follow the deterioration of the mainline Protestant world and it will fundamentally alter the religious and cultural environment in the West.

Within two generations, evangelicalism will be a house deserted of half its occupants. (Between 25 and 35 percent of Americans today are Evangelicals.) In the "Protestant" 20th century, Evangelicals flourished. But they will soon be living in a very secular and religiously antagonistic 21st century.

This collapse will herald the arrival of an anti-Christian chapter of the post-Christian West. Intolerance of Christianity will rise to levels many of us have not believed possible in our lifetimes, and public policy will become hostile toward evangelical Christianity, seeing it as the opponent of the common good.

Millions of Evangelicals will quit. Thousands of ministries will end. Christian media will be reduced, if not eliminated. Many Christian schools will go into rapid decline. I'm convinced the grace and mission of God will reach to the ends of the earth. But the end of evangelicalism as we know it is close.

WHY IS THIS GOING TO HAPPEN?

1. Evangelicals have identified their movement with the culture war and with political conservatism. This will prove to be a very costly mistake. Evangelicals will increasingly be seen as a threat to cultural progress. Public leaders will consider us bad for America, bad for education, bad for children, and bad for society.

The evangelical investment in moral, social, and political issues has depleted our resources and exposed our weaknesses. Being against gay marriage and being rhetorically pro-life will not make up for the fact that massive majorities of Evangelicals can't articulate the Gospel with any coherence. We fell for the trap of believing in a cause more than a faith.

2. We Evangelicals have failed to pass on to our young people an orthodox form of faith that can take root and survive the secular onslaught. Ironically, the billions of dollars we've spent on youth ministers, Christian music, publishing, and media has produced a culture of young Christians who know next to nothing about their own faith except how they feel about it. Our young people have deep beliefs about the culture war, but do not know why they should obey scripture, the essentials of theology, or the experience of spiritual discipline and community. Coming generations of Christians are going to be monumentally ignorant and unprepared for culture-wide pressures.

3. There are three kinds of evangelical churches today: consumer-driven megachurches, dying churches, and new churches whose future is fragile. Denominations will shrink, even vanish, while fewer and fewer evangelical churches will survive and thrive.

4. Despite some very successful developments in the past 25 years, Christian education has not produced a product that can withstand the rising tide of secularism. Evangelicalism has used its educational system primarily to staff its own needs and talk to itself.

5. The confrontation between cultural secularism and the faith at the core of evangelical efforts to "do good" is rapidly approaching. We will soon see that the good Evangelicals want to do will be viewed as bad by so many, and much of that work will not be done. Look for ministries to take on a less and less distinctively Christian face in order to survive.

6. Even in areas where Evangelicals imagine themselves strong (like the Bible Belt), we will find a great inability to pass on to our children a vital evangelical confidence in the Bible and the importance of the faith.

7. The money will dry up.

WHAT WILL BE LEFT?

•Expect evangelicalism to look more like the pragmatic, therapeutic, church-growth oriented megachurches that have defined success. Emphasis will shift from doctrine to relevance, motivation, and personal success – resulting in churches further compromised and weakened in their ability to pass on the faith.

•Two of the beneficiaries will be the Roman Catholic and Orthodox communions. Evangelicals have been entering these churches in recent decades and that trend will continue, with more efforts aimed at the "conversion" of Evangelicals to the Catholic and Orthodox traditions.

•A small band will work hard to rescue the movement from its demise through theological renewal. This is an attractive, innovative, and tireless community with outstanding media, publishing, and leadership development. Nonetheless, I believe the coming evangelical collapse will not result in a second reformation, though it may result in benefits for many churches and the beginnings of new churches.

•The emerging church will largely vanish from the evangelical landscape, becoming part of the small segment of progressive mainline Protestants that remain true to the liberal vision.

•Aggressively evangelistic fundamentalist churches will begin to disappear.

•Charismatic-Pentecostal Christianity will become the majority report in evangelicalism. Can this community withstand heresy, relativism, and confusion? To do so, it must make a priority of biblical authority, responsible leadership, and a reemergence of orthodoxy.

•Evangelicalism needs a "rescue mission" from the world Christian community. It is time for missionaries to come to America from Asia and Africa. Will they come? Will they be able to bring to our culture a more vital form of Christianity?

•Expect a fragmented response to the culture war. Some Evangelicals will work to create their own countercultures, rather than try to change the culture at large. Some will continue to see conservatism and Christianity through one lens and will engage the culture war much as before – a status quo the media will be all too happy to perpetuate. A significant number, however, may give up political engagement for a discipleship of deeper impact.

IS ALL OF THIS A BAD THING?

Evangelicalism doesn't need a bailout. Much of it needs a funeral. But what about what remains?

Is it a good thing that denominations are going to become largely irrelevant? Only if the networks that replace them are able to marshal resources, training, and vision to the mission field and into the planting and equipping of churches.

Is it a good thing that many marginal believers will depart? Possibly, if churches begin and continue the work of renewing serious church membership. We must change the conversation from the maintenance of traditional churches to developing new and culturally appropriate ones.

The ascendency of Charismatic-Pentecostal-influenced worship around the world can be a major positive for the evangelical movement if reformation can reach those churches and if it is joined with the calling, training, and mentoring of leaders. If American churches come under more of the influence of the movement of the Holy Spirit in Africa and Asia, this will be a good thing.

Will the evangelicalizing of Catholic and Orthodox communions be a good development? One can hope for greater unity and appreciation,         but the history of these developments seems to be much more about a renewed vigor to "evangelize" Protestantism in the name of unity.

Will the coming collapse get Evangelicals past the pragmatism and shallowness that has brought about the loss of substance and power? Probably not. The purveyors of the evangelical circus will be in fine form, selling their wares as the promised solution to every church's problems. I expect the landscape of megachurch vacuity to be around for a very long time.

Will it shake lose the prosperity Gospel from its parasitical place on the evangelical body of Christ? Evidence from similar periods is not encouraging. American Christians seldom seem to be able to separate their theology from an overall idea of personal affluence and success.

The loss of their political clout may impel many Evangelicals to reconsider the wisdom of trying to create a "godly society." That doesn't mean they'll focus solely on saving souls, but the increasing concern will be how to keep secularism out of church, not stop it altogether. The integrity of the church as a countercultural movement with a message of "empire subversion" will increasingly replace a message of cultural and political entitlement.

Despite all of these challenges, it is impossible not to be hopeful. As one commenter has already said, "Christianity loves a crumbling empire."

We can rejoice that in the ruins, new forms of Christian vitality and ministry will be born. I expect to see a vital and growing house church movement. This cannot help but be good for an evangelicalism that has made buildings, numbers, and paid staff its drugs for half a century.

We need new evangelicalism that learns from the past and listens more carefully to what God says about being His people in the midst of a powerful, idolatrous culture.

I'm not a prophet. My view of evangelicalism is not authoritative or infallible. I am certainly wrong in some of these predictions. But is there anyone who is observing evangelicalism in these times who does not sense that the future of our movement holds many dangers and much potential?

• Michael Spencer is a writer and communicator living and working in a Christian community in Kentucky. He describes himself as "a postevangelical reformation Christian in search of a Jesus-shaped spirituality." This essay is adapted from a series on his blog,InternetMonk.com .

Hope

I just finished reading a news article about the jump in the unemployment rate... pretty high! On top of that the stock market is tanking again. I just had to close the news site. Way too much 'bad news'. It'll pull you down if you let it.

This led to another thought... where do people go for hope? If you look around, most of the people you cross paths with everyday do not follow Jesus. The bible says hope deferred makes the heart sick... lot's of sick people! Then I thought of all of the people I know who do follow God... who are asking the same questions and saying the same things that the sick people are asking... stuff like, 'I don't know what we will do' or 'what if ....?' Then I got really fired up... what ever happened to believing God or faith that God can provide? 

This provoked me to think of something else... what if we're just as sick as the rest because we no longer know where to get our hope from? This would be a sad state for the church to be in... surely we haven't forgotten that our help comes from God! Listen, no trial is pleasant when you are going through it, but when you come through it your faith is pure... kind of like gold in the fire Peter wrote. Perhaps just a little turn of the head and see God for who He is... He really deserves it. Our hope is in God... not in man. Our hope is in God... he still can do all things and nothing is impossible for Him! This crisis time in which the church now lives 'around the world' can be the greatest opportunity ever afforded us if we'll see it through eyes of faith... if we'll seek Him... if we will believe. We can scatter in the winds of crisis or know that our anchor is in the One seated in the highest place... where winds don't blow. We can turn our worst fears into steps of faith that impact others for eternity and give them the true hope. Our hope in the One that was dead, but now lives, can make the difference if we'll share it. It really is only a decision away.

Where do you go for hope?

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soldier

I was thinking about some of the battles I've seen people facing lately... been praying for them! Thought of a passage from 2 Timothy 2, "When the going gets rough, take it on the chin with the rest of us, the way Jesus did. A soldier on duty doesn't get caught up in making deals at the marketplace. He concentrates on carrying out orders".  You know, we really are in a battle... It's so easy to lose sight of that fact sometime. I think one of the biggest weapons the enemy uses against us, to render us ineffective, is to help us forget that fact. What happens is we get so entangled in the busyness and business of day to day life... before we know it we've been set up. I pulled out 4 truths from this passage to help me... use them, don't just read them!

1. Who said it would always be easy, it gets tough sometimes, but Jesus set the example... roll with it!

2. We are soldiers in a real battle... don't forget that there is a real enemy who plays for keeps.

3. Our daily dealings can become the very thing the enemy uses to trip us up... stay focused.

4. I am on duty so remember why I am here... God's big plan, not mine!

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Bothered

Got up really early this morning thinking about God and what He wants to do… praying… asking for a fresh hunger in the hearts of His people to seek Him. I thought of a passage in James, “The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with.” Another translation says the prayer of this ‘type’ of person make a lot of power available! Would be easy to get focused on the power side of the equation, but did you notice it talks about the person ‘living right with God’?

Then I thought about prayer and what we ask for… really the Bible says we should pray (talk to God) about everything… many of us do, but is there enough invitation for the divine to come in and interrupt our lives? It’s like this, have you been bothered by God lately? What are the limits we place on Him as we speak and listen… you know it’s easy to ask for, but what about saying, “God what"? Does our talk time with God only cover the list of wants or do we allow Him in to bother us?

Might I suggest you and I need to be bothered by God? When was the last time your spirituality, thoughts or life was challenged because God was asking all of the ‘wrong’ questions? Let me encourage you to live bothered… let Him mess things up a little for you.

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