"Unite Em All" or "My Tribe"

Christians who wonder about this weird old world will often have a certain tension within, resulting from walking between 2 extremes. On the one side is unity. On the other side is "doctrinal purity." I put that in " " because if we are sincere, we would call it my tribe. 

I have been criticized on both sides of the issue. I have been told at various points that I am "too accepting" and that "I am not unifying enough." Which one's right? I have no idea; maybe both. Maybe neither. This whole experience has caused me to do some soul-searching and digging into the differences between different groups. I soon learned that most of the denominations in my local area can be categorized within several schools of thought. I am going to list them below for those who are interested, but I will underline the text. The reason for underlining is because it's so dreadfully pragmatic and practical. If you want to avoid the tedious details, skip the underlined part and pick this up on the other side. 

Anabaptist. Within this category, we have Mennonites, Amish, Brethren, and independent churches like the one I attend. Almost all are Arminian, not Calvinist. Two main distinctions: 1. baptism for Believers. 2. A distinct view of 2-Kingdoms (separation of church and state) and Point 2 is significant because it's the most significant difference between them and the Baptists; if you are not a Mennonite and wonder why they look different or act differently, it can be traced to this belief. On a personal note, the second point is why I would still identify as an Anabaptist if asked.

Baptist. This category has a spectrum of denominations, from the Arminian Free-Will Baptists to the Calvinistic Reformed Baptists. These stand out for having beliefs in baptism similar to the Anabaptists'. The primary difference I can see is that the Baptists disagree on issues regarding church and state. Where the anabaptist pulls back from the state, the Baptist gets involved, for who better than a Christian to run things? 

Reformed. These churches trace their roots back to John Calvin; most are Calvinistic. Presbyterians usually belong here. Some of them take the predestination thing so far that they still baptize infants. The reformed Baptist is a unique denomination that could technically live in this thought, and the Baptist thought because it is Calvinist and believer's baptism oriented. To my way of thinking, some of the brightest theologians live in this thought school. 

Restoration. These churches had the ambitious goal of attempting to be the "church you read about in the Bible." Have they succeeded? In some ways, yes, the most popular "denomination" is the Church of Christ; they are not a denomination in the sense that there is no central controlling power, the local elders carry the most authority for the local church, they serve communion every Sunday, are led by a plurality of elders, and sing acapella, in these ways and the name, they are very early church like. What's unique is that they seem to hold to a doctrine that I call "hidden-forbidden." They abstain if the Sunday practice is not listed in the New Testament. For example, guitars in the NT? No. OK. They are forbidden in the church of Christ on Sunday morning. The final point is they are very dogmatic about a believer's baptism by immersion, and if a Baptist or Anabaptist were to join, they might need to be re-baptized by the Church of Christ; this will vary on a church-by-church or case-by-case basis. 

Charismatic/Pentecostal. These are like free-will Baptists in that they are Arminian and hold to believers' baptism, but they are not as two-Kingdom oriented as the Anabaptists. So, what's their distinctive? Unlike all the other groups listed, these believe in and practice or attempt to practice spiritual gifts, such as tongues and healing. There is a subtle difference between Pentecostal and Charismatic. The Pentecostal groups, such as Assemblies of God and UPC, have it written in their bylaws that a separate Baptism of the Holy Spirit exists, and tongues always accompany it. The charismatics, such as Vineyard and Calvary Chapel, do not agree with that dogma; they say that it can happen like the Pentecostals say or come gradually or with water baptism. Tongues might happen, or they might not. 

Phew! So, how many was that? Five. There are a lot more; I mean, I never discussed the Catholics, and of course, the Mormons are out there with their "3rd Testament." I learned a lot from a YouTube channel called "Ready To Harvest." So look him up; he will probably give you all the information you want on Christian denominations. So, what's a person to do with all these choices (mostly) claiming one scripture? Let's gameplan this out. 

Option 1. Let's start a new, unifying church! We are not a denomination. Hallelujah. If it takes off, then fast-forward one hundred years, and you will "roll over" in your grave as John Wesley, Alexander Campbell, and others have done with the realization that your novel "new" church is now yet another denomination. 

Option 2. I'm going to pick my tribe and stick with it. Fine, but as you walk along the chamber talking with your tribal buddies and chieftains, you will begin to hear an echo. Oh no! We have wandered into an echo chamber; we only listen to what we want to hear, and we might "gasp" be wrong. Depending on how far we take this, we might be horrified to consider that the Lord would save those outside our chamber without our permission. (OK, OK, last statement enlarged to show texture.)

Option 3. Screw it! I love everybody. Everybody, come in! Let's sup together. Oh, Sue, you don't like that Bible passage? I'm sorry, we won't go there anymore....Hi Bill? You mean you like the passage Sue hates but have another one that you hate, but she likes it? OK, I will skip both. Carl? What do you want? You don't like the first six chapters of Matthew?! (I think I have a headache.) OK, OK, got it. We have to stop using the Bible in our meetings! There is too much division when we do! (Last two statements enlarged to show texture this time.) 

Sigh, all these options are bad. What does work? Perhaps we protest too much to the church about the church and not enough to Christ about our lives. What I mean is simply this. Is it possible that Matthew 6:28-34 might also apply to a church context? Particularly where it says, "Seek first the Kingdom, and all these things shall be added to you." Might that apply to figuring out who to unite with and who not to? I think so.

Here's how it might work if you live in an area with no one you know. You desire to obey Christ, and you appreciate all he has done for you; you could simply ask him to show you who to have communion with. When he does, go there. During communion, look around and realize, THIS IS MY CHURCH! Is it really that simple? Maybe. Maybe we just make it complicated. 

I will close on a practical note that explains to you very simply where I am on the whole "unite em all" vs "my tribe" spectrum. 

As a principal, I will be happy to fellowship with anyone who adheres to what I see as Biblical Salvation. It's an order that goes like this. The unbeliever hears, believes, repents, and is baptized. Put practically, it's very important for me that every person is granted the choice to believe, and all believers get to be baptized. (This excludes me from the most hard-line Calvinist settings or infant baptisms. I am also really uncomfortable with settings that are dogmatic about the mode of baptism.) 

There is a deeper level of commitment than mere fellowship if you plan to do God's work together long-term, whether you contribute financially or in time. So, that's what I will address now. So far as committing to walk alongside or fellowship with on a regular basis, in terms of ministry or church, I apply the sermon on the mount. If I sense in my heart that there is no desire to apply all of it to their work, then I will simply not help in that work. Here's how that can look. Keep in mind that this is ONLY in the context of working with or supporting a church or a ministry for the long haul. This has NOTHING to do with relating to an individual person you have beef with. Matthew 18:15-20 is the passage that discusses that. 

1. Being poor in Spirit. This speaks to having an unselfish heart that makes the rest possible. A poor-spirited person has room for the Holy Spirit to work through him. Poor means lacking, so someone lacking in a selfish or evil spirit has room for God to work through the power of an indwelling Holy Spirit. This is the first beatitude, and the rest of them, as well as the whole sermon, build on this foundation, in my view. 
2. Love your enemies. Bless those in opposition to you instead of seeking revenge. This is reiterated several times. There really is no rational reason not to simply take Jesus at his word here.  
3. Marriage Fidelity. God really did intend for couples to be together for life. God wants vows kept. There is no way to overstate this. Practically, if a minister cannot be loyal to his own spouse, how can he be expected to be loyal to anyone? 
4. Honesty. God's people are expected to be the kind of people who are truthful in all matters, whether it be small talk at the gas station or testifying before Congress. This goes way deeper than the idea that "swear" is bad, but "affirm" is OK. (The two words mean the same thing, so how can this be the case?) I encourage you to read Matthew 5:33-37 through that lens. 
5. Prayer. The ministry or church in question should be the type of ministry that simply talks to God as opposed to showing off. (This seems trite, but sadly, it's not.) 
6. Ownership. At the end of the day, does the ministry own anything in this world, or are they stewards? (I'm not talking about who's name is on the deed. It's a matter of heart.) If they are the type to own, they are also greedy. They might try to "own" you someday or treat anyone harshly who tries to "own" their things. If they are the type to own, they will also be the type to worry. 

The sermon goes on for another chapter, but you get the idea. If I sense in my heart that a ministry or church does not have an interest in following one of these principles, I will usually not say anything about it; I will simply move on and support the ones who do. I am also only asking for an "interest" to imply that authentic desire, with corresponding effort, is seen. We all make mistakes; that's why I don't ask for a ministry to "do everything right." 

Anyway, for what it's worth, this is where I am on 02/17/24. PM me if I need correction or if you want clarification.

-Loren

The Art of Feeding a Lonny

Okay, okay, let's knock out all the disclaimers first. I am not a doctor; this is not medical advice, blu blah blah, etc. Furthermore, you might say, "But Lonny, you are still fat!" 😬 "Sure," I would reply, "but I'm working on it and taint as fat as I once was."  So, why, after all these disclaimers, would I write such a thing as the contraption below? What madness is this? Well, currently, it seems like a good idea to me to record this and lob it out into the wild West known as the internet in case it helps one person who is where I was and is also weary of the dizzying array of expensive diet plans that stop working as soon as you quit them due to the cost. Perhaps I will wake up from this state, realize this is a terrible idea, and then file this with Hilary's emails. If you are reading this, then that probably didn't happen. (FYI to anyone interested, I don't know where the emails are either, relax.)  I'm not a doctor; what follows is simply what I have learned and believed to be accurate. At the end of this article, I have named all the experts I have learned from who know this and can hold an intelligent, detailed debate about these sweeping statements. 

The Backstory: It was 2020, and I was in the emergency room. Earlier that morning, my blood pressure had registered very high, partially due to a faulty monitor and partly because it was high. I had borrowed a lisinopril and gone to work, but I was anxious over the issue and started feeling pressure on the chest and dizziness, so we went in. When we were there, I prayed and began to relax. The lisinopril kicked in, and everything went back to normal. The doctor said he didn't want to put me on a drug; he would rather see me change my lifestyle. Looking back, I was at a crossroads: to the right, lifestyle, and to the left, big medicine. That doctor did me a favor back then, and I should thank him for it. Unfortunately, I did not see it; I was scared and wanted medication. So, I got a prescription. I also tried the DASH diet the doctors recommended. Soon, I got fatter and needed a stronger medication. I weighed 260lbs and had a 43" stomach. Fat percentage, as measured by a free internet checker, was 23%. I am nearly six feet tall and built more like a football player than a runner, so I wore it relatively well, but still, the stats weren't good, especially for someone who was only 30.  

The Direction Change: I really was struggling with energy on the DASH. I was only allowed to have 6oz of meat per day, and I couldn't seem to get enough bread and vegetables to make up the difference; I soon started to cheat on it and ate whatever I wanted on weekends. One day, I came across a 30-day reset challenge by Frank Viola. He advocated abstinence from several things for 30 days as an exercise for spiritual discipline. One of those things was to only eat one meal a day, which I was already trying, and another was to only eat meat and vegetables; this was intended to break a sugar addiction. Little did I know how much of a game-changer this would be! At the end of 30 days, I felt better than I had for a long time. This started a long process of floundering about in the controversial world of paleo, whole foods, makers diet, keto, and even carnivore until I finally settled onto something that has worked for me. My current record is 215 lbs, stomach down to 35.5", and the current record according to the free internet checker on fat percentage is now 14%. My goals are 190 lbs, 32", and 10%, so I'm not done! Here is a small list of other side benefits I see when I stick with it: 1. No heartburn. 2. My migraines, which I seem susceptible to due to weather changes, allergies, and certain foods, have gone from debilitating to painful nuisances. Also, the frequency has tapered off. 3. My taste buds now like the foods that are good for me, like broccoli, and find foods like ice cream that used to be an addiction to be overrated. 4. I am experiencing some of the benefits of working out: increased energy, testosterone, and better muscle tone without actually having to work out. With all that said, I'm doing what you are about to read; feel free to use whatever you find helpful.

Restrictions: There are two things that the human body is not good at self-regulating in a modern world with fridges and pantries full of junk food. When I say self-regulate, I am referring to the idea of overeating. I have yet to see someone get too fat from eating a diet of nothing but bacon or steak. The body self-regulates these foods, and at some point, you simply cannot find room for the 6th pork chop! These foods are a mixture of protein and fat. Your body is made of protein and fat, so whether or not you want to admit it, you need to inhale those two for as long as you intend to keep your body. The two things the body cannot self-regulate are carbohydrates and time spent eating. 

You do not actually need carbs to live. This may be controversial, but let's think about it. Carbohydrates will raise your blood sugar, and you need some blood sugar. Carbohydrates beyond that will be used as energy. Either to go do something or horrors, to be stored for later. (Honey, my britches shrunk!) If you don't eat carbs, your body will use fat for energy and make blood sugar from protein through gluconeogenesis. So, what foods contain carbohydrates? Ice Cream! Cookies! Bread, milk, potatoes, carrots, bananas, broccoli, apples, etc. So, a mix of healthy and unhealthy. We want to eat some carbs to get the beneficial vitamins and fibers from fruits and veggies, but we don't want to eat too many carbs; well, we do because of ice cream, but we will control ourselves. By the way, the non-digestable fiber counts as a healthy carb for the sake of this exercise. We will not take chances when looking at food labels, so we'll count total carbs, NOT net. In nature, other things control our carb consumption. Vegetables and fruits tend to have a lot of fiber; this slows down how fast the carbohydrates raise our blood sugar. In nature, honey is surrounded by angry, stingy things that make us run really fast for a bit. 

In our modern, convenient age, we should intentionally regulate our carbohydrates. So this brings us to our first restriction: control your carb consumption. 0 grams of carbs or 5,000 grams per day? What's your ideal amount? I'm not sure because it varies from person to person, but mine seems to be around 20 grams daily; it lets me have a nice salad's worth of vegetables every day without causing any problems. So, maybe start at 100 grams for 30 days; if you don't like the results, try 50; if you still don't like the results, try 20. 

Did you know that a person can graze like a cow on a green pasture, but it's not necessarily the brightest idea in the world? Do you want to look like a cow? 😏I didn't think so. Furthermore, the things we graze on are not usually the best. Did you know there is a surefire way to lose weight that will not cost you anything in time or money with food prep? This thing is more powerful than any diet and will kill you if you stay on it too long. Of course, we are talking about fasting. When you fast, your insulin levels gradually drop to the point where you start using the fat from your body for energy. Surprisingly, with practice and drinking the right things, many people have learned to feel energetic, clear-headed, and even normal during a fast. So this is the second restriction: how much time per week do you need to eat? One way to control this is intermittent fasting; for example, All meals are between 6-10 P.m. This means the person will eat a large supper and possibly some snacks but then fast for 20 hours. Other ways are eating in 12 hours, fasting for 12, or eating 8, fasting for 12; you can slice it up however you want! I used to practice intermittent fasting but no longer do; I now prefer longer than a day fasts periodically. Why don't you start with the knowledge that you already fast overnight? Eat supper a little earlier or breakfast a little later, and see if you can get to a 20-hour daily fast. If your progress stalls with this, switch it up and don't do intermittent; try doing a 1-day fast every week, and keep adding fasting days as needed to keep the progress happening.  

Fasting and Carbohydrate control go hand in hand. The stricter you are willing to be with your carbs, the less severe you'll need to be with your fast to achieve the same results, and vice versa. 

5 Laws of Abstinence: The following are my laws of abstinence; as a general practice, this is what I live by, and this is the summary of how I personally and practically apply everything I have discussed. 

1. Avoid all grains. Modern processes and changes in the grains lead me to the belief that I am better off never eating any more corn, wheat, etc. I see no beneficial value in humans eating them; processes like sprouted wheat and sourdough probably make them less harmful, but I still don't see them as good. 

2. Avoid all seed oils. These can cause inflammation; we are better off using oils from fruits like olives, avocados, and coconuts and animal fats like lard, tallow, and butter. With all those choices, there is no need for seed oils. 

3. Avoid isolated sugar. What I mean by this is don't take sugar without fiber. Eat a whole apple, but don't drink apple juice, and no, don't eat honey. I drink a shake called HLTH code, but I do so because it has a lot of fiber with its minuscule amount of sugar. 

4. Track the carb, and stay under your control number of 20 grams in my case. In conjunction with the rules about grains and sugars, all my carbs are he ones, like broccoli, green beans, etc. Always go by the total carbs number, not the net carbs number, because we cannot trust big food, and it's "keto ice cream." Products like that will advertise a meager (net) carb count, but when studying the label, the total number is astonishingly high! 

5. Establish a weekly fasting schedule. For me, it is a 36-hour fast 3x per week. Establish what liquids you will allow yourself during your fast and stick to it. In my case, electrolyte water, regular water, coffee with cream, bone broth, and certain zero-calorie beverages like Zevia or, occasionally, a diet soda, even though those are not good for me.  

Cheat With a Plan: What about birthdays? Travel? Life marches on, and we lose focus, no matter how special we think we are. So, how to navigate it? Decide in advance what you will do. Here's what I do: I drop all the rules except one: to keep total carbs under 100 per day. I allow myself so much room because my fasting schedule will get me back on track. If I did not have a weekly fasting schedule, I might try to do a fast the day after. So, when cheating, make sure to fast when the cheating is over and keep counting the carbs. You can eat a little cake and ice cream for Amelia Bedalia's birthday, but you only need part of the bucket or pan, not the entire thing. Then, when the party is over, ensure you have a fast so the fat gets burned and not just stored indefinitely. 

Conclusion: Once upon a time, before the backstory I shared with you, I was healed from my high blood pressure in a way that I believe was miraculous, but the second time around, God chose to not use a miracle. Instead, he led me down this path, and I thank him for that because my physical and spiritual health improved so much more this time. What you have read has sounded like instructions on how you should eat, but really, it's not; it's a testimony. These instructions are my instructions to myself. You may borrow some of them if you would like, but you certainly don't have to. Finally, as promised, here are the experts I've learned from.

Nina Teicholz is a journalist who wrote a book called The Big Fat Surprise; it's a fascinating history lesson about how fat was vilified and why it shouldn't be. 

Gary Taubes: He is a journalist who wrote several books about low-carb living and why some of us need to do it no matter what the rest of the world thinks. 

Jason Fung MD: He is the best resource for information about fasting. If you plateau, are not feeling good during your fasts, or are afraid that fasting will kill you, anything along that line, his YouTube channel is a tremendous source of information with short clips and long lectures alike. 

Eric Westman MD: He is the one who taught me about total carb counts. His advice is convenient and easy to follow. It's beautiful in its simplicity. He is probably the Robert Atkins of this generation. The best way to get his information is to purchase his book, "End Your Carb Confusion."

Ben Bikman is a scientist at BYU University. He formulated the HLTH shake I mentioned earlier, and his book "Why We Get Sick" is probably the best science book on low-carb living. 

Ben Azadi: He has a program and a book called "Keto, Flex," but I primarily listed him for his talks on seed oils. Search "oil" in his "keto kamp" YouTube channel, then strap in. 

Ken Berry MD: He is a Tennessee boy, like me! Search his name on YouTube; his channel has a huge wealth of information, live Q&A's, questionable humor, and a great southern accent. This is the doctor you want to have a drink with; the problem is, when he's finished with you, you'll only be drinking water. 😏

William Davis is a cardiologist who explains the "grain problem" better than anyone else I've listened to, with 1 caveat: I disagree with his theories on evolution. That said, the science he presents is very fascinating to me, and his book "Wheat Belly" clarifies many things; I can't explain it, but you should start there if the grain angle interests you.

Tim Noakes: He is a South African scientist and didn't teach me anything that I hadn't already learned from the American doctors, but he is on this list because I respect a scientist who is willing to endure the character besmirching he suffered from the South African authorities simply because he refused to back down from the truth. His story is told in the "Real Food on Trial" book. 

Phillip Ovadia: He is a cardiologist. I have added him to this list because in his book, "Stay Off My Operating Table," He does a great job of assuring you that meat won't raise your risk of needing heart surgery; instead, avoiding processed foods will lower your risk. 

A Brazen Old Gospel for a Craven New World

Introduction

This is the most significant blog post I have ever written. As of now, and as pertains to this little blog on this lonely corner of the internet, this is my magnum-opus. It is more complete than all the other blogs I have written combined. Why? Because it is my latest attempt to share the Gospel in totality. I firmly believe that the Gospel changes everything about our lives when applied as taught in the New Testament. In fact, without a total grasp and belief of the Gospel, we cannot get saved properly, be good, do anything of lasting value, go to church correctly, or even suffer and die right! We will attempt to tackle every one of those issues through the lens of the Gospel. I hope you will find it helpful if you're willing to dive in. Before you do, though, here are a few things I want you to know:

1. Thank you. It is a long read; your willingness to read it means a lot to me.

2. I'm working on a book called, "The Tax Collector's Gospel." Hidden within this blog are quotes from the first draft of that book. This blog is also a preview or sneak peek into that project. 

3. The blog is broken into sections for a couple of reasons: I wanted all the themes to be in one place since they all fit together, and it will make it easier for a reader to digest one section per day or at whatever pace they desire. 

4. I have reading assignments sprinkled throughout, all highlighted in bold. You do not have to obey those, but it will add more clarity to the points if you do. 

5. What is a total belief in the Gospel? I believe it is when we read something Jesus said with such childlike faith, gullibility, and innocence that we actually attempt to do it or learn how to become it, as the case may be, even if the specific teaching appears idiotic to any rational mind. (Matthew 18:1-4)

I've been studying the Gospel according to Matthew, and I'm now in chapter 11. However, I still cannot find the sinner's prayer as I've understood it. The closest thing I know of to the sinner's prayer in scripture is in Luke 18:13-14, which was a simple beg for mercy that God heeded. Matthew might very well have been a disciple of Jesus but clearly did not know how to present the Gospel. For salvation is of utmost importance, get the people saved already! The details about Jesus' upbringing and the Sermon on the Mount can all wait. Or was Matthew right, and we are wrong? Shall we find out? Do we dare investigate this matter? If we do, let's keep going; if we don't, this is where we must stop.

In Matthew 10:5-42, Jesus sent his disciples out to share the Gospel. How he prepared them made this look like a dangerous mission. Christ warned that they were sheep amongst wolves, to be careful, but the Spirit would help them. Then he explained that anyone who loves their Father or mother more than him isn't worthy of him.

What would you say if I asked you to share the Gospel in just a sentence or two? Would you say something like this? "We were unable to save ourselves. Christ came and paid the price so we could be saved to Heaven for eternity. (John 3:16)" Would this accurately assess a scripture truth? Absolutely. Is it an accurate assessment of the Gospel, though? How else might one sum up the Gospel?

John the Baptist and Jesus Christ himself both took a crack at it. Interestingly, they both said almost exactly the same thing, and I paraphrase, "Repent! The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." (Matthew 3:2, 4:17). So, who's right? The John 3:16 version or the one that the Baptizer and Christ said? Well, Christ cannot be wrong. So... Perhaps we should re-learn the Gospel. Would this summary from him and John make any more sense if I did a quick word study and re-phrased it into American English that most of us can internalize? Ok, let's try it, "Change allegiance! God's Kingdom is here now."

Changing Allegiance

"It is a great thing when I discover I am no longer my own but His. If the ten shillings in my pocket belong to me, then I have full authority over them. But if they belong to another who has committed them to me in trust, then I cannot buy what I please with them, and I dare not lose them. Real Christian life begins with knowing this."-Watchman Nee.

An analogy may help us understand Jesus' version. There is a knock on your door. You answer, and a man named Smirnov says in a Russian accent, "The land you're on is being taken over by Russia. If you wish to live a life of happiness and peace, you should learn what it means to be a Russian. In fact, you need to switch allegiance and become a citizen of Russia." What would you do? Perhaps the very patriotic would fight this, for they like their old country better. I suspect most of us would learn how to be Russians, and we would switch our citizenship. Later, our new friend Smirnov would explain this to us, "Because Russia's capital is all the way over in Moscow, we are leaving the details of daily policing and administration in the hands of your local state. Your local police, schools, speed limits, and city government structures will remain unchanged. Obey them, but if they ever ask you to do something against Russian policy, you must disobey them to obey us!" All this changes where we pay our taxes, who we vote for, and how we vote. It changes everything except for the details handled by our local state. Why? Because instead of Washington DC, we now ultimately answer to Moscow.

Is the analogy I gave very far-fetched? No. Because a Kingdom did this to all of us, and for whatever reason, many of us missed it. Which Kingdom did this? The most powerful one in the cosmos; the Kingdom of God! The son of God knocked on our "door" and said, "The Kingdom of God is here. This calls for a change of citizenship."

Furthermore, this is not abstract; this is even more serious and real than if the Russians had done so. In the power hierarchy, you must say the most powerful Kingdom is God's. In a cosmically distant second place, America, then perhaps China, followed by Russia or India. Yet most of us missed this. This did not change where we paid our taxes, how we voted, or whose laws we obeyed.

Why didn't this pronouncement shock our world? Maybe because God's Kingdom is so cosmically different in its culture since it comes from the eternal realms. On Earth, you can often only see it with eternal eyes. Thankfully, Jesus spent all his ministry time showing us the ropes of being a citizen in God's Kingdom. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus spent all of it dropping truth bombs about what it means to be a citizen of His Kingdom. Each truth bomb was power-packed with meaning meant to be dug out and explored. Here are a few examples of how God's Kingdom is different in culture: It raises revenue for all its welfare and retirement programs by having its citizens help the poor instead of traditional methods like social security payments and IRAs. (Matthew 19:21) Physical death is a feature, not a bug. Instead of having death as a stopping point for all fun things that a person might do or a government might wish to do to him, the Kingdom of God sees it as a portal for entrance into the eternal realm where real life can finally start happening, without the distractions of sin and suffering! 

Another reason this pronouncement didn't rock our world is its inconvenience. When the devil learned he couldn't kill off Christians, he gutted their "gospel" instead. The Roman Empire, that superpower that Jesus launched his Kingdom into, was generally hostile to Christianity; there was persecution and torture at worst and ambivalence to Christianity at best. Then the emperor became a Christian, and the notion of a Christian nation was born. Now, think this through. The Gospel says that you are to switch allegiance and stay loyal to the Kingdom of God, even if it means physical death! The world kingdom sometimes thinks it also needs your commitment to the end! Why else would they contemplate a draft in a time of war? Which one will you give the first allegiance to? There is only one gold medal at an Olympic event and only one first place in your heart. You have only one ultimate loyalty you can give.

So, this posed a problem for the world kingdom. Those who believed the Gospel Matthew taught acted like disinterested immigrants. They were not patriotic enough to make good soldiers. So a compromise was reached. The nation of this world wants you on this side of the portal, but the Kingdom of God may have you on the other side. This way, the world attempts to share the number 1 spot with God's Kingdom. Can a Christian pull off this compromise? Perhaps a Christian can show deference to the world enough to satisfy it without compromising saving faith. However, there will be a spiritual compromise as well. All the times that the Kingdom of God asks you to do something in the physical realm that you do not do for the sake of your world's Kingdom will compromise you and your blessings in ways we cannot yet understand.

If you were an American living in Sweden for twenty years on a worker's visa, how might you vote if Sweden allowed you to vote? How might you go about buying and selling assets for yourself? Would your interests be different from your Swedish friends? In other words, would your vote be a vote that is best for Sweden or a vote that is best for America? If there is no clear answer on what's best for America, would you even bother voting? Please note, I'm not making statements about what you should do; I am asking questions to make you think instead, for there is no clear-cut answer on matters not addressed in scripture such as this one. Here's my point, if you believe that being the person on a worker's visa changes your priorities on who you vote for, if you vote, what you buy or abstain from, or anything else, then it would be good for you to remember that as a born again believer you ARE in fact on a workers visa! Therefore, you should start making those changes now. Don't let the fact that world kingdoms want you to be a citizen of theirs as well distract you. Humor them, and be a citizen where you can, but always remember your ultimate citizenship. Yet from the perspective of your first Kingdom, where you plan to spend eternity, you are on a worker's visa; when that expires, you enter the portal and leave that Kingdom to go home. In the same way that in our previous example, you would prioritize the long-term interests of America over Sweden when there was a conflict of interest, we should prioritize the interests of God's Kingdom over any physical one like America today or Rome back then. I would go so far as to suggest perhaps we have no business playing with any power levers, political or otherwise, in this world until we are reasonably sure that we know what God wants from us while we are here on our worker's visa. 

Another kingdom that we should be aware of is ours. All the things and people we refer to as ours make up our kingdom. My business, my family, house, car, etc. Everything we say about the world's kingdoms also applies to our own. We cannot have a primary allegiance to our kingdom and God's. We must choose one. Ultimately, Matthew's Gospel makes no sense if intended as the "modern salvation" gospel. If it is designed to flesh out what it means to be a citizen in the Kingdom of Heaven, then it is a masterpiece, and the Sermon on the Mount is a fantastic treatise on what it means to be an upstanding citizen in God's Kingdom.

Building a House

"To deal with the word of Jesus otherwise than by doing it is to give him the lie. It is to deny the Sermon on the Mount and to say No to his word...That is why as soon as the hurricane begins we lose the word, and find that we have never really believed it. The word we had was not Christ's, but a word we had wrested from him and made our own by reflecting on it instead of doing it." -Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

There is a calling for all human beings. This call is universal. Anyone who does not know how God wants them to reach out and help others should still be able to work on this calling. What is it? It is building your spiritual house. We will call this the spiritual house, the same metaphor Jesus uses in Matthew 7. Other ways to refer to it would be taking up the cross or walking with our God. 

What is the spiritual house? For that, let us read Matthew 7:21-29. Not everyone who says the name of Jesus will enter the Kingdom, but only those who do the will of the Father. We still know from John 3:16 that all who truly believe will be saved, so that begs the question, can someone disobey and still be protected by true belief? Maybe, temporarily. A prostitute, a drunk, and a conservative churchgoer might all become saved, but it would be unfair of anyone to expect them to immediately have obeyed all. There is much from the old life to re-train. The thief on the cross had little time to obey God, but he was saved, for his belief was true, and all the allegiance he had left was given to God. There was no time for him to stick around and learn about the Holy Spirit, being kind to enemies, etc. 

We are blessed to have the opportunity to know Jesus and believe in him while we still have time to work on the house. The sayings of Jesus and doing them is the foundation of rock on which to build. The hearing and not doing is the intentional desire to develop our own thing without foundation in God. The Lord allows us to create without foundation in this life, and we can look oh-so-good. Yet, it leads to ultimate destruction. Consider the young pastor who got a network of mega-churches, but his ministry went down in flames due to character flaws. Then there are stories of Christian leaders leaving the faith and Christian writers fighting over research material for books. All of these stories, when they leak out, damage a ministry, hurt its reputation, disillusion those who would otherwise be blessed by them, and cause mistrust. It's like the walls of a house that crack, creak, or sometimes come tumbling down or go up in flames. 

Building the spiritual house is for all of us who have changed allegiance. The foundation represents your God. The floor on top of that foundation represents your character. The walls represent your ministry. In my mid-20s, I had considerable walls in mind but could not make the blocks I laid stay on each other. They would keep tumbling down. My foundation was and still is Jesus Christ. Yet, I didn't have much of a floor; I was jumping ahead. Today we have a few low walls going up now, but it still needs to be a solid floor for me to live my fullest potential. This is what is interesting about the spiritual house. The foundation and walls go up simultaneously. What is the roof? Scripture doesn't tell us, but it might represent the finish. When your time on Earth is done, the cap is put on whatever you were building, and now that house is set for eternity. Then you can enter the next realm and do what is next there. If it turns out that your building has been made without Christ, the turbulence of going through the portal the world calls death will cause your house to collapse, for it has no foundation. 

We know from Matthew 7 what happens to those who build a house without any foundation in Christ. The whole thing comes down, and those people are barred from the Kingdom. What about the shallow Christians who have a lot of selfish building materials? Paul actually answers that in 1 Corinthians 3:11-15. If someone builds a wall on the foundation of Christ with wood, hay, or stubble, basically carnal things, those walls will be burned, and the person will suffer a loss but be saved. 

So the foundation is your God; if you have the only true God, then you have the only real foundation! The floor (character) is all that limits you. As I am using it, "character" means the collection of traits that make up the person. Your God will define your character if you give him enough time. In the previous examples, Christ was the foundation, but the floor let the wall down. In other words, something is in between the wall and the slab. That something does not have substance to support the wall you are called to have. That something is made of dirt. Selfishness, distractions, sins, and worldly things prevent you from building as high as God has called you. 

If we decided that Christ is our foundation, and we have done so, otherwise, we wouldn't have changed our citizenship back there, then we must learn from him how to fix our character so that the walls can be built the way they are meant to be. So, next, we will look at establishing character. 

Establishing Character

"There is nothing stereotyped about God's dealings with His children. Therefore, we must not by our prejudices and preconceptions make watertight compartments for the working out His Spirit, either in our own lives or in the lives of others. We must leave God free to work as He wills and to leave what evidence He pleases of the work He does." -Watchman Nee.

Before the glamor of the fancy high walls of ministry and the questions about what kind of siding, we must establish a floor of character capable of supporting these walls. The exciting thing about the spiritual house is that the walls and the floor are inexorably linked. In other words, your ministry becomes larger as your character becomes more like Christ. This is measured in God's eyes, not man's, for a mega-church built of straw can look more significant to man than a person who is a prayer warrior made of God's character and leading. Yet the prayer warrior's walls are much more valuable in God's eyes. The best way to learn how to fashion our character is to practically learn and apply the beatitudes; since it came from Christ himself, I cannot think of a better place to learn. 

Matthew 5:3

Jesus began this Sermon on the mountaintop by cutting right to the core of the matter. He said, "The poor-spirited are blessed because they are the ones who receive the Kingdom of Heaven." There are three parts to a person. On the outside is the body, the physical part. It can be seen with eyes and touched with hands. This is the part that hurts and bleeds like any animal. Below that, you have the soul. The soul encompasses the mind that processes, the will that determines to do or not do, and the emotions that feel joy and pain. The soul operates the body through those three levers. We do based on what we think, what we have willed, and how we feel. We begin to see how different we are from the animals at the soul level. No animal can process information and feel things to the heights and depths of a person made in the image of God. Deeper yet than the soul lies the Spirit. The Spirit is the core of the person. This is where the steady bent toward something comes from. This is where a person's sense of identity or self comes from. The notion that I am destined to do something great, and therefore I will push toward it to bring it to pass, comes from the Spirit. The Spirit is the notion producer at the core that feeds the soul information. 

What does it mean to be poor-spirited? It means to be void of our own notions about self or identity; what happens then is that we receive it from the Lord, hence, "Theirs is the Kingdom." So, this one is a lesson in letting go of ourselves; as Jesus says about life in Matthew 10:39, those who find it lose it, and those who lose it for him, find it. Think of being poor in Spirit as being willing to delete your corrupted software so God can download his through the Holy Spirit. Being willing is more important than being able. If you ask him to switch the software, he will work on doing so. 

Matthew 5:4

Jesus said, "Those who mourn are blessed because they will be comforted." How is grieving a blessing? Tragedy comes. It's excruciating to suffer loss. The Lord has not provided a means of preventing these painful disasters, but he has provided a way to recover. This recovery is mourning. Upon being struck with a crushing loss, we immediately have a choice: To release sadness or to contain it. We can choose the release and then receive the blessing of comfort. We can select the containment and receive the curse of depression. This is not to say that all depression is caused by bottling-up sadness, just that bottling sadness can and probably will cause depression. So how do we mourn as Jesus suggested we should? We find a way to be brutally honest before God and ourselves. I have already lain on a carpeted floor in my home or elsewhere away from crowds and just sobbed it out. It's not dignified, but this isn't about dignity; it's about releasing. We read about Jesus going to Gethsemane. There he prayed and released his sorrow and dread. He received strength and comfort instead. Find your own Gethsemane, recall the painful memory, and feel it fresh again. Tell the Lord exactly how you feel. Let the emotions come. Then speaking out loud, proclaim that you forgive the person that wronged you if that was the cause of your sorrow. Lastly, it is essential to remember that we are releasing these sorrows. Sorrows that are not released rot into bitterness and or depression. I reiterate this because if we only stay in Gethsemane in our hearts, we have not released the sorrow. You can let sorrow rot in two ways. One way is by ignoring it and never taking it to Gethsemane. This is where the term "bottling up emotions"" comes from. The other way is to stay in Gethsemane with the tears and pain and never leave. You cannot say you have released something if you never go without it, can you? The term "having a pity party" comes from this business of staying in Gethsemane.

Matthew 5:5 & 5:7

I am grouping these two verses together because meekness and mercy are related. Jesus said, "The meek are blessed because they will inherit the Earth," and "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain the same." We often think meekness is like weakness; they even rhyme! Yet, meekness is actually controlled power. What distinguishes a good, well-trained horse and a wild Mustang? Meekness. The tame horse is restraining his abilities by not running away or kicking you in the head. What differentiates between a great Pyrenees dog initially bred to protect livestock from wolves and a wolf that would cause you to trust your child around one and not the other? Meekness. The great Pyrenees typically doesn't try to bite your face off like a cornered wolf might. 

How does all this apply to us? We only have so much time in a day. How do we steward it? Can we ask God to help us be meek with our time doing the things the flesh wants so we can better spend time with him? Can we ask God to help us understand how much money from the job he gave us is ours to use as we wish? If we are meek, we can invest in Heaven with the rest by helping those in need. Those who are meek will inherit the Earth. There are a few aspects to this: good stewards can afford to take business opportunities that arise because they have been saving, so they "inherit" more of the current Earth. Those who are meek also have been investing in Heaven and will have more rewards in eternity. 

Mercy is meekness under pressure. If a great Pyrenees has a little terrier pulling his tail but only grumbles at him instead of biting his head off as he feels like doing, that's mercy! When someone wrongs you, do you feel the need to completely obliterate him, or do you remember that he is human? As long as he is human, we are called to treat him as we wish to be treated. (Matthew 7:12) Doing so when the devil tells you to do otherwise is mercy. Mercy also chooses to be meek with someone instead of giving him the justice we think he deserves. God says that we can decide how much mercy he shows us by how much we are willing to use for others. I think of the story of the man who was forgiven a large debt by his boss, then he threw another man into prison for a small debt. The boss then reinstated his debt and put him in prison as well. (Matthew 18:23-35)

Matthew 5:6 & 5:8-9

No hobby or sin fills you the way righteousness does. Jesus said those who hunger & thirst for it will get filled. Righteousness is anything of God. Everything else is less than, and those vary from carnal to sinful. Some of you have experienced the deep-seated satisfaction of fishing with a small person. Watching the joy on his tiny face when he catches bluegill, taking pictures of him with the fish, and engaging in all his chit-chat. The tangles and torn lines caused by taking someone like this trout fishing are not such a big problem when you see his glee at successfully pulling in a "big un!" A trip by yourself and spending time with God so that you recharge to serve better can be just as fulfilling. An average trip by yourself solely because you want it is a lot of fun, but the joy of it ends when the trip does. The unselfish trips were water, and the selfish trip was your favorite soft drink. It's not that soft drink is evil; it's just that too many indulgences are harmful. Also, soft drink "wets the whistle." Water actually fills in a way that eliminates the thirst. We should ask God to help us pursue righteousness in every activity as we live our lives. If a behavior cannot be made "righteous," it might be a sin and perhaps should be given up. 

I have included purity with righteousness simply because it's the other half of the equation. Righteousness is what we wish to be filled with, whereas purity is the kind of emptiness we want in order to make righteousness possible. Purity is devoid of the clutter that distracts from God. This is how they are related; so, any activity we cannot make righteous, we give up and further purify our heart and, therefore, our ability to see God. The peacemakers are empty-hearted, aka made pure and then filled with righteousness. Jesus refers to peacemakers as the children of God. Therefore I know he is not talking about "phony peace." What is phony peace? It's when people don't do stuff because they cannot or fear the consequences.

After World War 1, Germany badly wanted to kick France in the teeth, but she was out of money. After about twenty years to rest and recover, what did Germany do? She kicked France in the teeth! That wasn't real peace because if you look below the physical crust at the heart of the matter, Germany was frothing, boiling, seething, and whatever other "ing" you want to say. If you look under the surface of a genuine peacemaker, you will not see any of these "ings." You will see calmness from righteousness and purity; this person will manifest this calm in any situation, thereby making peace. "A soft answer turns away wrath." (Proverbs 15:1). "If someone mistreats you, hitting back isn't worth the effort; in fact, you can just let him do it again." (Matthew 5:39). These are all actions or inactions of a peacemaker.  

Matthew 5:10-12

Jesus said, "Those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness will be blessed because they will have the Kingdom of Heaven. You are blessed when others insult, spread lies about, or persecute you for my sake. Rejoice in this, and be glad, because you have a great reward in Heaven, and they did the same thing to the prophets who came before you." It looks like not even a disciple of Christ is beyond persecution. We live in a fallen world; a person may suffer many types of suffering during their time here, and persecution is one of those things. We cannot guarantee that we will never be persecuted. If you think about it, many non-believers get persecuted as well. It was a terrible thing to be an American pow in Japan. They got tortured and mistreated in many despicable ways; I would call that persecution. When you align with someone or something, there is always a possibility that you will experience some form of persecution from those who are aligned with something different. Since we cannot avoid it, we should not waste energy trying to. Now, we can choose the reason for our persecution. There is a reason for the persecution with a blessing attached to it. That reason is righteousness. As we have established before, righteousness, in a nutshell, is an agreement with the Lord. If you are persecuted because you agree with God, you will have the Kingdom. That is a huge blessing! If you are willing to be loyal to Jesus no matter what anyone says to you, about you, or how they persecute you, then you will have a massive reward in Heaven. 

When you are aligned with righteousness, you are Godly; this, by definition, makes you look and act differently from a world given to Satan. (When I say it's given over to Satan, I am referring to the fact that he has enough control over the world to offer it to Jesus when he tempted him in Matthew 4:8-9) Now, why would this incite persecution? Imagine flying toward Europe during wartime in the Royal Air Force. Imagine that your instruments went out, and you cannot tell where you are. You see a green expanse beneath you, rolling hills and farms, but you cannot tell where the enemy territory begins because the countryside all looks the same. When you hear the crack of anti-aircraft guns below and the whistle of bullets going past, then you know. You're different; you don't belong because you are from another Kingdom and are not welcome here. In this example, you are being persecuted for being aligned with the Allies. Practically applied, let us make sure that as we build our character floor, those things we are very committed to and willing to die over are, in fact, things worth being persecuted for. They should be downgraded to mere preference status if they are not of God. 

The rest of the Sermon is also great character-building material. It takes the themes from the Beatitudes and expands them with illustrations. As pure-hearted and righteous, we become like a light in the world, or salt, manifesting God's way of living. As people who know where we stand before God, we are willing to take disrespect without losing our peace. We abstain from things that hurt our pure-heartedness, so we see lust as a type of adultery and avoid it. In light of mercy, we remain ready to forgive as we wish to be forgiven by God. The list goes on; the point is, this is about becoming a type of person, an other-worldly person. No mere mortal can live like this. It's impossible! Only those who start by giving up and letting God have his way have a chance at having worthwhile character. It is this "giving up" that is, in fact, poor-spiritedness. If you don't start there, then the whole thing is hopeless. Why do I emphasize this? Because if you do this on your own, you will fail spectacularly. The first beatitude, when applied, makes the others possible. If we are unwilling to allow God to clean off our floor, that is our character, enough to get our walls bolted to Christ, then we cannot minister with an eternal impact, die properly, or even go to church properly. 

Doing Ministry

I do not consecrate myself to be a missionary or a preacher. I consecrate myself to God to do His will where I am, be it in school, office, or kitchen, or wherever He may, in His wisdom, send me. -Watchman Nee.

So, we have eliminated dirt and chaff enough from our floor that we have a little space where the only thing on it is linoleum hand-selected by the Lord! In that case, it's time to start working on the wall. As more floor gets cleaned, we will work on more wall sections. The character section was about releasing and becoming; the ministry is what we get to do. This is why many of us think it's fun; God has wired us to want a purpose, something to nurture, a fight to wage, etc. The difference between character and ministry can be summed up in this way: Character is becoming, and ministry is doing. Jesus told his listeners to go two miles if someone compels them to go one. (Matthew 5:41) Keep in mind that these listeners were Jews living under the boot of Rome, the possibility of a Roman who they hated forcing them to help carry a burden for a Roman mile was a real possibility. Becoming the kind of person who can willingly do that without losing their temper, raising their blood pressure, or getting depressed is character. To actually walk the second mile? Now that is ministry! As we can see by this simple example, we can only have an effective ministry if we have the character to support it. 

You should know that a cost is involved in building the walls God wants, and whether the walls are brick, stone, or concrete doesn't matter. God uses the best materials for his work, and his work is what we are setting out to do. There is no cheap option at this point; it's too late for that. If the cost is too high, we have to put this operation in neutral, slide back to the allegiance question, and settle into our personal compromise between Kingdoms. The problem with doing the ministry of Christ is that our Messiah will not stay within the comfy confines of the box we wish to put him in. Read Matthew 8:19-34. Did you see how many expensive things happened? The skilled teacher stated his intent; Jesus asked him how he felt about being more homeless than a fox or a bird. A disciple wanted to follow after he buried his Father; Jesus said, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead." Harsh. Finally, a group of people were face to face with the Messiah but asked him to leave. It costs money to buy new pigs because your God sends demons into them! Being a disciple can get expensive, or you learn to do without pork. Yes, Christians can eat pork. Most of the Jewish law no longer applies under the new covenant. (The list of what still applies can be found in Acts 15:28-29.) This is not to say that there isn't wisdom in the law. There is. For example, some nutrition experts are learning that red meat is healthier than pork. I digress; let's look at the principle of losing pigs again. 

In chapter 8 of Matthew, various human comforts were put on the line to follow Jesus. Let's see if we can list them. 1. You cannot have your Messiah your way. If he decides not to save you from the Romans, you must be ok with that. 2. When Jesus decides that your work involves lots of traveling, you relinquish the notion of a posh home. If God wants your living quarters to be less than a wild animal's, that's ok. 3. Family Relations, If God wants you to follow immediately, then you follow. Even if you miss your own father's funeral. 4. You have to relinquish your feeling of safety and control. When Jesus says to cross the sea, it doesn't matter if there is a hurricane; by God, we travel! 5. Income stream-if the Lord sees fit to send a few demons into the pigs you have spent so much time and money fattening up, that must be ok with you if you are to be a disciple.

A disciple is asked to give up anything that gets in the way of following Christ. For example, one might need to give up his home to travel and teach when he would rather have a comfortable homesteading life. Another might need to keep his home and invite many people into it when he would rather travel the world. However, you receive things that cannot be bought in exchange. Rewards in Heaven, eternal life, real peace and joy that transcend the shallow, fleeting happiness this world offers, and so on.

One cool thing is that for whatever seemingly perilous situation the Lord calls you into, you are safer there than anywhere else. Take, for example, the issue of being in a wooden boat in the middle of a great storm. When God has put you there, you are fine. In other words, whatever task God sends you into, he equips you to do it. In crossing the sea, Jesus gave his disciples a "storm-killing power pack." He used it for them. He did not rebuke them for waking him. He rebuked them for being afraid. Why were they afraid? Jesus was right there; they were fully equipped for this venture. Then, when the day finally comes that you leave this world, people say he or she dies, but it's not true. You have been deported to where your treasure and your God are. In other words, you have gone home.

Do we still think the Lord's ministry is worth it? If so, the next logical question is, what kind of walls does God want me to build? What is my ministry? What am I supposed to do? This is one thing that seems complicated and complex until our ego gets out of the way. It's pretty simple when the ego is gone: As you have received, give. So what have we received? The Lord has provided us with life on this Earth. To live this life, we have a physical body to interact with this world, a soul to feel, determine, and think with, and a spirit that, if we believe in God, has been occupied with the Holy Spirit. The body is vital for ministry because it's what we use to interact with this world, but it's not most important because when we are done in this world, we are done with this body. Those three parts make up us. We live life with them. Yet, we have been given other things, too, primarily time and talents. God will usually meet our physical needs by using those two things. We say, "Got a job; it pays the bills," but God provides for you by giving you the time and talents that make doing the job possible. 

Time and talents will also cause us to do ministry if our character can handle it. What if you're a wealthy man with a lot of talent for making money but little time or talent left for anything else? Your ministry then could be as simple as giving to the poor. In Luke 12:16-34 Jesus actually specifically recommended this ministry for the rich. The word "alms" in verse 33 explicitly means a gift to the poor. What Jesus listed as a side-benefit in verse 34 is that it takes some of the downsides of wealth in this life, such as the temptation to be greedy, and converts them into blessings in the next realm. So, what if you're living in an area or circumstance bereft of opportunity to give to other people directly? Imagine a person stuck in prison. What can he do for others? In Acts 16:25-31, Paul and Silas were in such a situation, so they sang and prayed; it was an effective ministry. What if you're alone and others cannot hear you pray? In Luke 22:31-32, Jesus realized that Peter needed intervention because Satan was planning to give him what-for. What was his solution? Prayer. Now, this is Jesus; what about a miracle? No. Prayer was his weapon of choice, and it worked. 

Based on the talents and time you have been given, give. That is your specific ministry. We only complicate it by thinking that there is a hierarchy of importance. We think of ministry and business as being distinct and different. Yet, there is no scripture to support this. There are cases where people are called to work in a non-profit way and others in a for-profit way. All honest work that helps others made in God's image is ministry. Remember way back when we read Matthew 10:5-42 in the introduction? The disciples were called to go out and spread the Gospel without physical encumberments, not even a spare set of clothes or a walking stick. They received the Gospel and the time to share it. Those they visited were called to give what they had received, food, clean clothing, shelter, etc. In this way, both sides were blessed. The for-profit ministers and the non-profit ministers. If the things you receive change, then so does your ministry.

One of the ministries Peter initially provided was to provide aquatic transportation for God himself with the boat God had given him through his fishing talent and work ethic. (Luke 5:3) The day came when the ship was no longer in Peter's life. Instead, he was given a message. So, he shared that message with others. (Acts 2:14-47) In both cases, Peter's ministry was effective. Notice the little sentence in verse 47? It says, "The Lord added to the church those who would be saved." Ah yes, whenever multiple people who make an allegiance change meet each other and become friends, there is a risk of church happening. 

Understanding the Church

"What determines our brotherhood is what that man is by reason of Christ. Our community with one another consists solely in what Christ has done to both of us. This is true not merely at the beginning, as though in the course of time something else were to be added to our community; it remains so for all the future and to all eternity."-Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

Before we explore the practical angles of church life and examine how a church might look in this world as part of our discipleship life, we should never forget that the Holy Spirit is an integral part of the Christian experience. It is not only crucial for the formation of character as it replaces our Spirit when we become poor in Spirit; it also is God himself indwelling and outworking us. Take, for example, the church; you cannot simply show up at church and ask God to meet you there by constructing your service in a certain way, either by lack of order or order to the extreme. These efforts to conjure up the Lord's presence are as futile as rearranging the furniture on a sinking Titanic. No, through the Holy Spirit, the Lord wants to live with you daily and dine with you. This means that to experience the Lord fully, a disciple will go to church with him and not merely attempt to encounter him there. The disciple constantly lives with the Lord and, therefore, doesn't meet him in the same way a new convert does. 

The church consumes so much of our Christian lives today that I believe it would be helpful to understand what the church is not. The church is not a ministry. I repeat, the church is not a ministry. Ministry is the walls of our spiritual house, and we have discussed them. Ministry can also be a collective effort; multiple people can work on the same project. However, it is a tragedy when one starts a ministry and calls it the church. It is probably ok to refer to your ministry as a church or a fragment of the church, for there is some truth in that. Now that those inflammatory remarks are out of the way, let's dedicate this entire section to understanding the church before we return to our house and put a roof on it. 

A ministry is a work that involves at least one person. In the previous section, we discussed that in the context of one person's ministry. However, a ministry can often involve multiple sincere disciples of Jesus. Some examples are non-profits that put on seminars teaching others about God, aid ministries, and counseling centers. What are the requirements to be part of a ministry team? You must be accountable to your fellow workers and committed to pulling in the same direction. If you cannot, you do not belong in that specific ministry; you should join a ministry going where you are going or strike out on your own, as the Lord leads you. Since ministry is what we do, a ministry is, by extension, something started by people, hopefully by the leading of the Holy Spirit. 

On the other hand, the church is something Jesus builds on a foundational knowledge of Christ. (Matthew 16:16-18) The Lord kept his word; see Acts 2:47. The church is something that I cannot contain or control. If the Lord wishes to add the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4:6-28 to his church, there is nothing I can do to stop him. It is her choice; if she knows the Messiah, she is part of the church, just as I am. This might be a grave disappointment to me, knowing that someone who has acted up so much in the past is allowed to be in the church. Still, it might be a grave disappointment to her to know that someone as self-righteous and stuffy as I have been in the past am allowed to be at her party with God. 

Let's explore the difference between collective ministry and church through the lens of fiction. Imagine with me a town, let's call it Newark, Montana. In Newark, we have a few Christians; amongst them, we have two visionary brothers. Both see a need, a work that the Lord would want to be done. One of them is Paul Pious and the other is Festus Frost.

Paul Pious sees a need for a place where people can gather to observe the sacred. He wants people to learn that spiritual reality carries profound gravity in how we live, both in what we do and abstain from. He starts the "First Church of the Sacred" and regularly preaches on "taking up the cross." His church consists of a small group of serious people who are the finest in their town. Everything they do is buttoned up and nailed down. There is never a lewd remark or a questionable beverage in their lives, public or private. They might think ill, but that's the thing. They have found such piety that all sins are corked and kept inside the soul. When observing all ordinances and modeling a holy life, these people in the "Sacred church" are the finest you will find. 

Festus Frost is a fine man attending "First Church of the Sacred." He desires sincere fellowship with all believers, and therefore, he comes. However, he keeps noticing in his New Testament that Jesus had a thing for parties! Paul has been teaching Festus a lot of doctrines and things Jesus said, but Festus is now starting to notice, in a new way, the way Jesus lived. Why, his first miracle was turning water into wine! Festus catches a vision. A vision for a church that holds to sound doctrine yet also explores the joy of the walk. He starts a new church! It's called "Living Waters Fellowship." Living Waters church shifts communion away from the melancholy and toward the party life. They have various speakers that emphasize aspects of Jesus' nature, a nature that showed joy and mercy. Yet, despite Festus' best efforts, some purity of doctrine gets lost, and there are hard feelings between his group and Paul's. As you can see, both groups have strengths and weaknesses. In fact, they might complement each other. 

Neither man wanted to have a fallout, but they had different visions, and now their churches are competing for members. Static in the air affects the community and leads to a third type of person. This person, whose name we do not know, sits at home alone on a Sunday morning; he opens his bible and reads the Beatitudes to his family; they discuss Jesus' way of teaching and how his points are so concise and profound. They also discuss the fine adventures Jesus and his disciples had. This man sighs and then turns on the TV. He loves the Lord, but he is absolutely done with the church! Or is he? 

High above and throughout Newark, all at once, and also past, present, and future, a loving God beholds the scene and desires that his church would recognize a plain and simple reality. The church of Newark, Montana, is not the specific ministry created by Paul Pious, nor the one created by Festus Frost, and it's definitely not a lonely man in front of his tv! The church of Newark is all those in this area who know the Messiah; it's all those who have knowledge of that foundational truth. The solution to all the tension is so simple; all it takes is for people to let go of the church and let God build it; the reason it doesn't happen is God loves man enough to let him do what he wills, even when he is breathtakingly stupid! 

How would that solution look in practical terms? Festus and Paul would come to believe that "Sacred" and "Living" are not churches but ministries they were called to start to host church gatherings. Those who attend those ministries would also come to believe that. The nameless dones would also begin to minister simply by giving as they have received. In truth, all parties would need to see the church of Newark as an all-encompassing church that includes all those who know the foundational truth. Paul and Festus would have to come to grips with the reality that their ministries might very well have people in them who are part of the ministry without being part of the church. All these things would be humbling and would call for repentance. Paul and Festus could and should bless each other to carry on because as you have received, so give. 

In the world, we have three types of church people. We have those who are part of the church that man built. We have those who are part of the church God created, and finally, we have those who are part of both. In Paul's church of the sacred, we might very well have a man who dresses correctly and abstains from any wrong thing. Yet he doesn't know the foundational truth about his Messiah, Jesus Christ, and his allegiance is still fastened, crafting his own reputation. He is part of Paul's church but not part of the church Christ is building. In Festus' living church, we might have a young girl who can sing wonderfully; she raises her hand in worship, dances, celebrates the love of God and is a fantastic member of Festus' church, yet she does not know the foundational message of the Messiah. Her allegiance has not been changed. Therefore, she is not part of Christ's church either. The nameless done does believe in Christ's message but is fed up with people, his allegiance is ultimately to Christ, and when he gets over his irritations and feels that Christ wants him to do a thing, he will. He is part of Christ's church but not part of any church that man has built. Finally, we have Festus and Paul, and the majority of their church members, good people, made good by the Lord, who heard from the Lord, did what he asked, and fellowshipped with each other; they are part of both churches. The Lord's church lives inside and outside the ministries of Festus and Paul. Whenever they can both be ok with this, they can peacefully pursue their respective God-given ministries without feeling tension or desire to compete. 

The striking thing about "church" in the New Testament is how little Jesus said about it in the gospels. It's almost as if when Jesus said that he would build it, he meant he would build it. If this is the case, then there is no need for us to have detailed instructions on how to make a church the way we have for building character. If the Sermon on the Mount is our lesson for character building, then we need a second lesson for building the church unless Jesus takes care of that for us, and he is.

If Jesus is building his church, how might an unattached person who thinks she's done with church experience church life? As you have received, give. Has God brought friends into your life? Has God brought resources into your life? Why not share them? Serve them communion, serve them a meal, and make it a habit to connect with them. After doing this regularly for three months, I expect you will find yourself very much experiencing church life. Or, perhaps, the Lord wants you to go to one of the two ministries in town specifically designed to host church meetings? You can give what you receive there too. 

How might a person fix the church gathering he's already in if he finds it too lifeless or to this or that? As you have received, give. Is the church too dead? Have you been given life? If so, come prepared to provide that life for the church! Spend time alone with the Lord so you can always receive more than you give. To be practical, share life by being authentic if there is a lack of authenticity. If it comes from a lack of love, ask the Lord to help you love the church as he has loved you.

Ministry and church are two collective enterprises, one of them is a call Jesus gave his disciples that I believe we should co-opt if we are also disciples, "Freely you have received, freely give" (Matthew 10:8). The other is a call for Christ himself when talking to his disciples. I believe this also applies to us if we are, in fact, disciples, "On this rock, I will build my church." (Matthew 16:18). When people minister as they have received, they experience the Lord's church. The Lord's church surrounds, includes, and overlaps our ministries. Ministry is the walls we are building for our spiritual house; the Lord's church is his gift to us, to provide us with family who helps us make the house. A strong brother to hold a wall steady while you get more nails. A caring sister who brings a fresh "broom" to sweep the dirt off your character floor. You get the idea. 

In conclusion, can Festus and Paul refer to their ministries as churches? Probably. It might even be good if it helps the people understand that this ministry is designed to be a place for activities for part of the Lord's church to happen. However, if it causes a sense of ownership, as in "this is my church; it's better than his church..", it's probably best to abstain from "church" when naming a ministry.

The Problem of Pain

"Pain is a holy angel who shows us treasures that would otherwise remain forever hidden; through him men and women have become greater than through all the joys of the world. It must be so and I tell myself this in my present situation over and over again. The pain of suffering and of longing, which can often be felt even physically, must be there, and we cannot and need not talk it away. But it needs to be overcome every time, and thus there is an even holier angel than the one of pain; that is, the one of joy in God." -Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

There is a space before death that is very uncomfortable. I am speaking of suffering. It may come from disease, persecution, natural disasters, or human mistakes, but when it comes, it is devastating. In the garden, our Lord wrestled with death and suffering; ultimately, he chose to take on both. I highly recommend reading or listening to: If God Is Good: Faith in the Midst of Suffering and Evil by Randy Alcorn. 

James, Jesus' little brother, both physically and spiritually, understood suffering. He said having multiple types of suffering is something to have joy in. It tests our steadfast belief in the immutable fact that God is good. What is a word for an unchanging belief in God's constant goodness? Faith. The suffering of all sorts tests that faith. This testing creates something called patience. What is that? It is consistency and endurance, and suffering increases it. So, suffering tests faith, and this makes patience, then what? Patience works within us. If we let patience do her thing, we become perfect and complete. Amazing! Who else is perfect and complete? God is. Suffering is the carnal agent in this world that makes us like God. Are we still sure that suffering is evil? (James 1:2-4)

This teaching from James means that when the devil throws stuff at us so profoundly uncomfortable that we run to our Gethsemane, we can hang onto our faith in a good God, knowing that by doing so, the devil is essentially helping us become like God, much to his bitter disappointment. This revelation from James also allows us to understand how it's true that when Paul says all things work together for good for those who love God, "all" includes suffering. (Romans 8:28) 

 

The Finish Line

"Christ is the Son of God. He died to atone for men's sin, and after three days rose again. This is the most important fact in the universe. I die believing in Christ."-The last known words of Watchman Nee.

"This is the end–for me the beginning of life." -The last known words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

Watchman Nee died in his prison cell, where he was being contained for the crime of discipleship in Christ. In one sense, he was alone, separated from his wife and church family, but with God at all times. We say he died in a Chinese prison, but we know that, like Christ, he rose to a new life! The words above were scribbled on a note under his pillow, found after his death.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer had spent the last days on Earth as a POW from an enemy Kingdom. That's how Hitler treated him for his steadfast belief in righteousness for all men and a church modeled after God, not Hitler. The short sentence above was uttered to a British POW when the guards led him to the gallows. He hung until dead, but then, as he said, he began to live like never before! 

Alone in the garden, he sweated as blood. He was in a unique place as God and man. He felt the anguish before it came as an all-knowing God. Yet as a man, he could not take it, that is, without God. He prayed, "Father, spare me this cup, but, if not, not my will, but yours be done." (Luke 22:41-44) This was a true man of God whose humanity was repulsed at the injustice, pain, and death about to be inflicted upon the world's only innocent man, yet the Spirit of God within him gave that up for the light at the end of the tunnel. 

Left to our own carnal physical devices, we see death and suffering as a bad thing. Yet, the final test of a complete gospel is that the inevitable physical death that comes for us, which we most fear and spend fortunes trying to prevent, is seen through the eyes of God. What happens when we see death as the Lord does? At the risk of sounding morbid, let's learn about death. 

In Genesis 2:17, the Lord warned that man would die the same day they ate the forbidden fruit. When they did, on that day, they hid from God and dressed in leaves. (Genesis 3:7-8) Yet, as we know death, they did not die. So we have a choice of belief here. We can believe that God was wrong or assume that our definition of death differs from God's. In Romans 6:1-11 Paul speaks of death quite a lot. Yet we never quite get the sense that he is coming out in favor of suicide when he encourages us to reckon ourselves dead in verse 11. Instead, he speaks of being dead to sin but alive in Christ. It appears that Paul learned to see dying the way God sees it. He even saw it as a good thing in certain situations. 

I have heard this from others and genuinely believe it to be true: In God's eyes, death is simply separation. Physical death as we are used to? That means you are separated from your physical body. It is actually an upgrade in lifestyle for the believer and a downgrade for the unbeliever. The death in Eden? That wasn't good. It was separation from God. They hid from him! The death Paul refers to in Romans? That is separation from sin, he even says, to reckon yourselves dead to sin. Now that is excellent news! 

So the great monster of death that we all feared? It's not such a monster for those who are part of Christ's church. Here's how it works for them: A disciple walks in the will of the Lord; in some ways, he is already dead. As we saw earlier in Romans, we are not alive to sin but are also dead to the world with Christ. (Colossians 2:20) What happens if we actually believe that? What do we have to lose in this world? Our physical body. Let's weigh the cost of that. Paul, writing 2 Corinthians 5:1-4 did. He realized that when we give up this body, we receive a new one. See also Philippians 1:21-25. Here Paul is torn; to leave this physical body is much better for him but not for his friends. 

What about our lifestyle? If we live in a free nation, we probably have a good life, and there are things and, more importantly, people we might not want to be separated from. Consider this: Our current Earth is a meeting ground between two worlds; it is a mixture of good and evil. It is at the end of our time here that our choice is cast; we can go to a new world with no evil or another world with no good. Those who believe have chosen a world with no corruption. It's a place where all tears are wiped away, where there is no more pain. Yet ultimately, our final dwelling place will be a place of happiness where all the purposes we were created for can continue on a new Earth with no handicaps, suffering, or evil. I highly recommend the book, "Heaven" by Randy Alcorn for much more detail on this beautiful place. Here are some scriptures to read and consider: 2 Peter 3:12-14, Revelation 7:9-12, Revelation 21 & 22. So what do you have to lose? 

Death is separation, so, in a nutshell, radical disciples such as those who have been described in this discourse do fear death. They do not, however, worry about a death anyone in the world can give, which is to separate you from your body. They only fear separation from God. (Matthew 10:28)

Conclusion

So, how shall we then live? If we are one of those insane people who actually believe the entire New Testament is the Gospel, it's a fair question. Let's summarize. 

1. Change Allegiance_We belong to an entirely different Kingdom. It will always come first, with no exceptions. The world Kingdom we pay taxes in can only be obeyed/honored as it is willing to not conflict with God's Kingdom. 
2. A Spiritual House_Our time on Earth is spent becoming God-like in nature and doing what God would have done. This ensures that our house stands and the time is well-spent.
3. Building Character_It's about becoming God-like by applying all the principles from the Sermon on the Mount. This is primarily done by letting God reveal selfish motives to us, allowing him to switch them off and replace them with his.
4. Doing Ministry_As, we have received, we give to others, knowing that by doing this, we get to be part of the glorious and ongoing march that God's Kingdom is having on this world, but we are also investing in our home country. It's a win-win! We know that the value of ministry is measured by the minister's heart rather than the actual work itself, so we don't waste time fretting about what we do or don't do. We merely share what we have been given by and for God. 
5. Church_We love the church but know that God is building her. Therefore we do not waste time bickering over who did what to whom, but instead, we focus on the work God called us to, our own ministry and character; we gladly walk with those whom God brings into our lives to labor alongside us as our local church experience. It is in ministering together and helping each other build character that we experience church, not in erecting some monument to our own greatness. 
6. Pain_No longer a thing to avoid at all costs or to fear, but rather something to endure as a treatment for a greater good. Our solution to pain is to talk to God about our desire for relief and then commit it to him as our Messiah did. 
7. Death_Is separation, we chose to only fear the death the world can do nothing about; that is our separation from Christ, and we avoid that at all costs! Separation from our own bodies is inevitable, and while we live prudently, we leave the timing of this inevitable death in God's hands. It's a minor detail that leads to beautiful things like a new body, an inheritance, being with God, and finally being home. 

-The end

-Loren Yoder