~ emerging thought in Montana ~

Labels: emerging church, exchanged life, Spirituality, worship

Posted by iggy at 5/06/2008 06:25:00 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Labels: confession, emerging church, exchanged life, fun, Humor, Love, Truth, worship

Posted by iggy at 2/28/2008 10:31:00 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Labels: Chris Pajak, emerging church, Rock, worship

Posted by iggy at 2/23/2008 02:34:00 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Prayer is seeking the heart of God... and that is the Power of Prayer...

But let's explore a bit of what this means and does not mean.

1. It means that we connect with the heart of God.

In connecting with the heart of God one will see God move in action. Some teach that we can by our prayers "move" God... yet it is not that our prayers "move" God in the sense that we make Him do our bidding, rather God is moved with compassion by our earnest prayer.

The Old Testament is full of verses of statements like in 1 Kings 9: 3. "The LORD said to him: "I have heard the prayer and plea you have made before me:"
In which God does something to honor the faith that was displayed. There are many other references in which God states plainly that He "heard the prayer" and responds to the prayer.

Now, again it is not about "moving" God as in some sort of controlling Him. It is the idea that God, being of great compassion responds to faith. This is more like when Jesus saw the people's faith and responded to it by healing them, which leads me to point two.

2. It does not mean we in our prayer have some power to make God do something.

We cannot "make" God do anything. God wants us to be subject to His will and never has God been subject to the will of man. Even Jesus stated that "I lay down my life" so even His death was by His own will. In no way is the "Power of Prayer" about that... most realize this outside of some in the Word of Faith movement... yet most of those have reduced Jesus to the equivalent of a "Soda Pop machine in the sky".

3. The Power of Prayer is the Union of our spirit and the Holy Spirit seeking out God's will and purpose so we may line up with it. It is about changing us. The "Power" is the Holy Spirit working in us... as we "pray".

Some claim we do not "believe in prayer" yet to say that is like saying we do not believe in clouds or the moon. It does exist so if someone objects to that "phrasing" is a bit silly. Yet, in agreement there is at no time one worships or believes that prayer is the end all of power in and of itself. Prayer as i have said is a connection. It is the union of mortal and divine and opens mere man to the Power that is God.

We must be careful not to worship the power of God at the expense of God, nor worship the power of prayer at the expense of God in Whom we are praying to.

Yet, the "power of prayer" as a phrase is not unbiblical, and as one grows more and more in Christ one finds that like we need the power of oxygen to use as "fuel" for our bodies, so prayer becomes as if it is the air we breathe... it is a life giving force if connected to the Life of Christ otherwise we are just as well shouting into the wind.


Blessings,
iggy

Labels: Amazing Grace, emerging church, exchanged life, Faith, friends, in Christ, prayer, thoughts, Truth, worship

Posted by iggy at 3/22/2007 06:19:00 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Pride: In the Name of Love

I was thinking about “revivals”. You know those good ole fashioned “evangelist” comes to town in a tent and preaches on hell and damnation… we all get emotional and hope the person we brought is listening (as we are too often too afraid to actually engage that person ourselves so we use a hired gun)… or that we wished we had brought someone to hear this man and feel guilty for not doin it. We hoot and amen and have a good ole time… but then after he takes his “love offering” he goes out jumps in the Winnebago he came in and scoots off to another town… and….

Nothing else happens…

Oh there is a buzz in the air for a short while… but if you are lucky the person that did go forward (not the ones who always go forward for every little thing) might even start coming once in a while… and that is great.

I saw these “great” prophets/teachers/evangelist/authors/whatever come to town and everyone raves on their ministry… oh people got healed… or thousands went forward and got saved… yet if that is so, why has nothing really changed in our fair city?

I mean if these thousands went forward and received Jesus then there should be a BIG difference I your town right? But, most often than not… we see no change…

So, I remember passing out tracts, I loved the Jack Chick one’s as they had those cartoons. I bought hundreds of them and passed them out here and there… and not one person came to Jesus…

I witnessed on the street. Mostly to JW’s who would be rude to me as I showed them through scripture Jesus was not an “angel” but held the same title as God… both claimed to be the Alpha and Omega… I was great in my presentation for I learned from the master Walter Martin… you know the Bible answer man… I could not afford Kingdom of the Cults but I would go to the Library or bible book store and read it there for hours… I listened to every show I could catch of the “bible answer man”. It was hard as many places I lived did to even broadcast him… but I took notes as I did…and when I did.

Yet, again with all my witnessing I did not see “fruit”. I was busy but not bearing fruit… so I took on a rigorous self discipline schedule… I fasted and prayed and kept a journal… I prayed and kept myself separate and holy… (Notice how I phrased that?) And with all this added work… nothing happened… I began to wonder if I was not saved… or that God hated me… or worse… God was a liar.

My heart was angry and hurt… all I did for God and nothing.

I was Elijah in the cave… “I am the only one”…. And instead of God reassuring me that there were others… There was no answer.

I taught and read and prayed and did all I could… until I heard on the radio a man speaking of the Grace of God… and I hated him… I wanted to show him how wrong he was about all his fluffy gospel… he taught eternal security and twisted scripture all over the place to fit his view… but something began to happen… Like the story of the Grinch…my heart began to grow as I listened…. And joy would appear… but I would stuff it down with hate and anger… for God was a wrathful God and if you did not keep yourself pure He would have no qualms in casting you into Hell… He hated sin…. Yet I knew instinctively that God also loved the sinner… and desired him to turn… and little thinks like “it is God’s kindness that leads us to repentance” drove me nuts! I began an earnest study about Grace and eternal security… I read the man’s book… and it made sense… but it was not the Bible… so I read Galatians, and other books… but the one I knew backed me up the most was Hebrews. So I read it… and carefully kept each thought and chapter in context… and found Grace…

I was shocked! How could this be? I prayed and asked God to help me to understand what was happening… for if I accepted this as truth, then I lost everything… my position at church… face with the people around me and what few friends I had? what about my wife? Would she understand? I was the “spiritual leader” in our house… and how could I switch in mid stream my belief system?

I then heard a voice… which personally I hate it when people say that… but I did… and a question was set in my heart as if someone was standing in the room with me…A sheep knows his Sheppard’s voice… and sometimes I get these penetrating questions…

I feel like Peter, “Who do you say I am, Peter?” asked Jesus.

The voice asked… “What is keeping you from accepting what you have just learned?”

I answered… in one word… as if I had no choice… “Pride.”

That was a true revival... it has lasted for over 15 years inside of me... exchanging pride for the Name of Love...

The Truth shall set you free.

Blessings,
iggy

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Labels: Bible, emerging church, exchanged life, Faith, Grace, in Christ, testimony, Truth, worship

Posted by iggy at 3/10/2007 05:00:00 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Thoughts on the harmony of being Uniquely Individual and being Part of a Whole

Within the thought that the many become one... and yet remain uniquely individual is the mystery of the Triune God... all unique yet in harmony as One. Also it is the idea of One Body (Jesus') made of many parts (us) becoming the Church (called out ones) to become as One... the Bride to be brought out in perfection to be the Wife of Jesus... we are one in Him as He is in the Father...

Of course if one does not believe in the Triune God this is all lost to you.

More so though it is that though objectively all experience the same type of experience... yet uniquely it is subjectively experienced... the objective and subjective are not opposed but in union with each other. In that the objective abstract becomes subjective reality...

People who come to Christ share the same experience... yet it manifests in different ways... I was drunk then became sober with my sinners prayer..."if you keep me sober tonight, I will see what I can do for you" (famous last words!) God showed me I could do nothing for me as He had already done it at the Cross.


I came to realize some time ago that there is two types of Gnosis...

1. The revelational knowledge that is common to man, yet gives insight to this worlds struggles. It contains wisdom for this realm... but is truly worthless for salvation and the Kingdom of God.

2. The revelational knowledge that is based on faith. Faith in believing that what is not, is, and will be as God said it.

One is not in harmony with the other; in fact they are diametrically opposed to each other.

One teaches power and authority to control and gain for one's self... the other is the idea of lowering one's self to serve and love the other as better than yourself. Both cannot coexist. One cannot seek knowledge for knowledge sake with out seeking God to give meaning behind and for the knowledge given.

The fall was not just about eating forbidden fruit, but about man's choosing to take knowledge for himself apart from God... to seek knowledge for knowledge sake and yet not understand what the knowledge is truly for. What Adam did was give up his birthright as first born to be a god unto himself... and lost his life, or rather the access to eternal life as the tree of life was now taken from his grasp as he was cast out of the Garden.

Adam sought knowledge apart from God whom he walked with in the Garden in the cool of the evening... Adam chose to sever his relationship over knowledge for knowledge sake.

To say that transformation is just my experience denies that it is for anyone that seeks God's knowledge. It denies that man can now walk with God in the Garden for the Garden is now Christ Jesus. "If any man be in Christ, he is a New Creation."

Blessings,
iggy

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Labels: Bride of Christ, emerging church, exchanged life, Faith, Grace, in Christ, Incarnational living, new creation, relational, worship

Posted by iggy at 3/07/2007 06:07:00 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

The Church would soon be healed of her sorrows, and delivered of her divisions, if she would for a while be silent; but the voice of a favourite teacher is heard by some, and the voice of another master in Israel is listened to by others, and so God's voice is lost amid the clamour of sects and the uproar of parties.

Oh, that the Church would sit at Jesus' feet, lay aside her prejudices, and take the Word in its simplicity and integrity, and accept what God the Lord only declares to be the truth. I invite the members of this church, and urge the members of all the churches to see this, that we cry unto the Lord for a blessed silence in His presence, till we sit like servants waiting for the Master's word, and stand like watchmen waiting for the Master's coming. Lord send that solemn silence over all your people now.

"When sheep stop their bleating and listen - maybe then - they'll hear their Shepherd's voice and do what He says!"- Anon

Words, words, words: we have so many words, and they are chaff, but where is THE WORD that in the beginning was God and was with God? That Word is the living and incorruptible seed. We want less of the words of man, and more off Him who is the very Word of God. BE QUIET and let Jesus speak. Be silent, that you may hear the voice of Jesus, for when He speaks your strength will be renewed. The eternal Spirit is with His people, but we often miss His power because we give more ear to other voices than His, and quite often our own voice is an injury to us, for it is heard when we have received no message from the Lord, and therefore gives an uncertain sound. If we wait upon the blessed Spirit, His mysterious influence will sway us most divinely, and we shall be filled with all the fullness of God.

Our strength will be renewed, if in silence we yield up to God all our own wisdom and strength. Brethren, I never am so full as when I am empty; I have never been so strong as in the extremity of weakness. The source of our worst weakness is our home-born strength, and the source of our worst folly is our personal wisdom.

Lord help us to be still till we have abandoned ourselves, till we have said, Lord, our ways of working cannot be compared with Your ways of working; teach us how to work; Lord, our judgements are weak compared with Your perfect judgement; we are fools, be our teacher and guide in all things. Crush out of us our fancied strength. Break our folly like Jacob, for after this sort shall you renew your strength.

Keep silent, you saints, till you have recognized your folly and your weakness, and sit in blessed silence as servants waiting for the Master's Word. For when he speaks your strength will be renewed most gloriously. More than ever before let your inmost souls be filled with trust in the one that never changes.
- Charles H. Spurgeon

So with that go be still and listen to God... meditate on His word and seek His presence. Be filled with the Holy Spirit and go forth in power!

Blessings,
iggy

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Labels: contemplation, Spurgeon, Truth, worship

Posted by iggy at 3/01/2007 05:15:00 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

I am sorry that I can't recall where I found these questions... yet somehow they stuck with me so I wanted to toss them out to see what some of you might consider. In a sense we the emerging church still need to work out our own "adiaphora".

Adiaphora literally means, "matters of indifference." it is the beliefs and/or practices which the Reformers regarded as being tolerable, in that they were neither express as clearly one way or the other in Scripture . For example, whether one wears a robe or a plain white shirt would be a "matter of indifference." This concept was important as it allowed the reformers to adopt a practical approach to differing beliefs and practices. It was a way of "agreeing to disagree" to ward off unnecessary confrontations. This would tie into the second question. Yet, before we do find these areas of "adiaphora" we still need to define the greater points that are foundational to Christianity.

What are the primary points of theology that must be safeguarded as foundational to Christianity?



What are secondary points of theology that can be accepted as less than essential for the life and mission of the Church?"


OK, let's discuss.

Blessings
iggy

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Labels: Absolute Truth, emerging church, exchanged life, Faith, Grace, hope, in Christ, Incarnational living, Judgmentalism, Missional Living, Truth, Works, worship

Posted by iggy at 1/17/2007 10:52:00 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

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Labels: Absolute Truth, emerging church, exchanged life, Faith, Grace, hope, in Christ, Teaching, worship

Posted by iggy at 1/11/2007 10:35:00 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

(This is at the end of the post on Chuck Colson, yet I thought it better to also have its own post. As I have stated a few times one cannot approach the postmodern mindset with modernity... nor can one approach the emerging church with modernity and begin to grasp what we are talking about... in a way it is different language... Yet I hope this will help some see that in thinking in a "relational model" we may have differing definitions that what is accepted in modernity.)



I was talking to someone and realized why the emerging church is sometimes thought of not believing in "objective truth" and stresses truth to be a Person... or personal... We do not define personal truth in the way a modern thinker would, which again is the language barrier I was talking about. We see personal truth as in the context of the relationship with Jesus. It is relational truth.

We are against "objectifying" Truth which is a person... It is like if one objectifies a woman... it dehumanizes her to a non person or object... in this case a sex object. In the case seeing Truth as purely objective would be like saying Jesus is only an object... like an idol of stone of wood... which to the emerging church is anathema and blasphemes.

I know the modern church would see it that way also if they thought of an object being worshipped over the creator. Again, personal truth is not how the modern mindset defines it to us. It is not "what ever you or I believe and makes me feel good is alright" but meaning we do not see Jesus as an object... but a person... and that is why it is personal truth... and relational truth. To quote one Baptist author, "truth is someone real, not something true."


Blessings,
iggy

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Labels: Absolute Truth, American Idolatry, emerging church, Teaching, Truth, worship

Posted by iggy at 1/04/2007 07:09:00 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post