More from yesterday

I was thinking further about my post yesterday and I have had more thoughts without actually coming to any conclusions.

I think there is a paradox about God that despite the fact that he is knowable in Jesus, he is also mightily incomprehensible.

We can know him, but we will never have all of the facts or a complete understanding, at least not in this life. The finite cannot comprehend the infinite, and there is plenty of mystery about God the Father that has not yet been revealed to us.

It is not my intention to belittle this mystery or presume that seeing as truth is concrete that I must be right about all things, my ducks placed neatly in a row. I'm not claiming ownership of the truth, I only claim to be seeking it in Jesus Christ.

I want to know that which is knowable and live it, love it, radiate it.

God is just like Jesus

I am not comfortable with postmodernity...

In a world where so many people are culturally postmodern without being aware of it, I feel like the sore thumb sticking out, some cultural throwback to a bygone era. I'm not championing myself as enlightened or superior, I'm just saying that I often feel that I don't fit in or the world feels alien to me in ways that are subtle yet vast.

The underpinning thrust of postmodernism in all its cultural forms from art and architecture through to history and law is that truth doesn't exist in any objective form but is actually created through experience and belongs to the creator (i.e. you!)

This idea that the truth is unknowable has extended itself to God, and people, even followers of Christ, seem drawn into viewing God as they experience him. They make their conclusions about him based on their own ideology and interpret him through the lens of self, building their own personal mythology about God.

I can see how I have done this myself in my years spent in the church as I learned more about Christian culture and aligned myself with it's norms (painting my own mythology of God) rather than seeking to know what God says about himself.

Jesus spent a good deal of his teaching time declaring his oneness with God. He claimed to know God, to be from God, to be like God, to act like God. "I and the Father are one." he said.

For me this runs counter to the current cultural grain. God is not mysterious and unknowable. He was previously, but now he is fully revealed and explained in Jesus, who has interpreted and represented him fully.

And if God is knowable, then so is the truth, which is not vapour but solid stone.

If we know Jesus, relate to Jesus, learn about Jesus, imitate Jesus - then we are also knowing God the Father, because they are just like each other. This has massive implications for following him.

For example, if God is revealed in Jesus, then so are his motives, his thoughts, his plans and his idea of how things should be. They are clearly there, on the page, fully seizable.

The mystery and mythology we have shrouded God (and a godly life) in must give way to the revelation and truth of Jesus.

More later after I've chewed on this one further. Comments, criticism?

having the mind of Christ...

I've been thinking lately (which is never good) about having the mind of Christ on all matters. Well at least those matters on which Christ clearly revealed his thoughts and beliefs.

Recently a very good friend of mine started a sentence with "I don't know what I believe about..."

The issue she was weighing up is not relevant to this post, so I've omitted the rest of her sentence.

But her words have bounced around in my head for days as I have contemplated how difficult and awkward it is that followers of Christ end up with such different beliefs when we follow the same Lord (presumably) and read the same bible.

I am not criticizing at all - the very reason my friend's words have stirred in me is because I hold such strong views about issues of faith and often times after expressing these views I later see that the Lord has adjusted my thinking because I was wrong about a particular issue or I believed a false doctrine of some kind. Thankfully he is gentle and gracious.

My heart has decided to cast off any teaching that has not been modelled by Christ himself. I have begun pursuing Jesus as a student - as a disciple, reading only his words and contemplating only his actions, even discarding other books of the bible for now.

I want to have the mind of Christ.

I have been particularly challenged over the last 6 months that Jesus had a particular mindset when it came to healing sick people. I want to briefly list what I have been mulling over, even if just for my own sake.

1. There is no biblical record of Jesus turning anyone away who wanted healing. Anyone - regardless of their sinfulness, lifestyle, choices - anyone who came to see Jesus for healing got what they came for. His mind on healing is clearly made up - those who seek healing will find it.

2. Jesus never made any reference to illness being character-building. Any sick people who sought him for healing got what they needed, and he never told any of them to "suck it up" and come back when their attitude had improved or their lifestyle was more godly. His mind on this was clearly that God is glorified when people are healed, not when they suffer with illness.

3. Jesus expected his followers to heal just like he did. His mind on this is clear from his instructions when he sent out both the 12 and the 72 disciples. It is also clear from the lives of the early church leaders as they continued to heal the sick after Jesus had ascended to heaven.

4. Healing doesn't require foreknowledge or a prophetic word. While there are some biblical examples of this happening, Jesus operated in healing on the basis of knowing what God wanted and praying his will. He never told someone to wait while he sought God in prayer about their healing. His mind was clearly that God wanted them healed and would dish the healing out immediately.

I shudder to think what other MASSIVE issues I have not had (or do not have) the mind of Christ on at the present.

we three kings...

Which one were you following?

pigeon humour for Josh

immersion vs explicit teaching

Lately (well it seems like forever) I've been pondering how Jesus meant us to live. A large part of the musing has been over exactly how to move ahead as a disciple of Jesus, particularly in regards to making other disciples and teaching them.

In the great commission, Jesus said:

"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

In the kingdom, disciples make disciples. They do it through speaking the truth about Jesus, baptising people into a new life as a disciple, then teaching them. My thoughts lately have been on the methods of teaching to be used in making disciples, based on what I see Jesus doing and what I know as a teacher myself.

When I went through university, trainee teachers were all taught to utilise the immersion method of teaching, whereby you demonstrate the concept or understanding you want your students to learn. You display it in action, or visually. You surround the student with it, so that they naturally (by osmosis? lol) internalise the concept and do it without even realising they have learnt it.

However, when I began actually working in a school, I quickly learned from seasoned and experienced teachers that this type of teaching really didn't bear fruit. What I saw working was an explicit teaching model, where the display element of immersion was retained, however detailed analysis and explanation were also added. The student was again surrounded by examples of the concept being taught, it was being played out all around them. However this time the teacher explained why the concept/behaviour/idea was being displayed and how the student could implement it.

When I look at Jesus, I see him immersing the disciples in kingdom living. All day every day, they watched him heal the sick, preach God's love and mercy and confront human and demonic injustice. But rather than just let them catch on, Jesus explicitly taught the disciples the hows, whys and wherefores of being followers of Christ. He said:

"The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you... blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.

The disciples were taught plainly truth that others only heard through parables, and were pronounced blessed by Jesus for what they saw him doing (works) and what they heard heard him say (words).

I want to see this balance of demonstration and explanation at work in my life, and I want to see my faith characterised by true words and true works alike.

Peace.

Healing vids

If you are interested in healing or street mission, please avail yourself of these videos.

Watch, learn, emulate.

Healing on the streets of LA

Todd White and the other God Squad boys

www.faithforhealing.com

A guy I know in the US by the name of Greg Conrad has set up a very simple but profound website for those needing healing. If that's you, please check it out, and follow some of the links.

Jesus came to bring wholeness to you, your soul, your mind and your body. Healing is available to you because Jesus sacrificed his life in order to save yours. Jesus also NEVER turned ANYONE away who asked him for healing, so why would he turn you away?

Check it out: www.faithforhealing.com

I would also recommend you join the Christian Healing Forum in order to learn how to receive healing or how to serve God by healing others.

Happy healing!

Being a student of Jesus Christ

It probably sounds normal and par-for-the-course for any of you lot, but I've had this revelation lately that's been absolutely inspiring for my journey as a disciple of Jesus.

To boil it down, my revelation has been this: Jesus reveals God's will.

Instead of praying about God's will, in most situations I can know it simply by looking back at Jesus' ministry and what he revealed about God the Father.

This has lead me to see myself more as a disciple of Jesus, and to hold less tightly the doctrines on many and various subjects that I have been taught in church over the years. I have decided to live only according to what I see Jesus doing, and to be a student of his teachings, in action, word and attitude. I'm starting to believe that even the Old Testament and all of the writings of the Apostles only make sense if they are translated via the teachings and person of Jesus, and what he reveals about God our Father.

Everything else I have ever thought or believed is now up for questioning - does it stack up against the ministry of Jesus? Did Jesus do it? Did he teach it?


If not, then it is not necessary (or I daresay relevant) to our efforts to live as disciples or students of Jesus. I also have this amazing realisation that we will see astounding things happen in Rocherlea as we continue to cast off 'Churchtianity' as we have practiced it before and become radical disciples obedient to our Saviour's teachings.

Dunno if any of that made sense to read but I'm excited!

The gospel - show and tell!

I am finding that the more I look at this Jesus guy the more fundamental I'm getting in my views about life, mission and faith. I have been challenged to be a disciple of Christ - to pay extremely close attention to what Jesus taught and to become a student of it. The more I have done this, the more I have come to feel that so much of what we do and think is futile, even in our community mission efforts.

Recently I've had an idea that I have held for a long time challenged, and I'd like to share it with whoever would listen.

I'm not sure which historical group to attribute this to, but I was once told this proverb:

Preach the gospel at all times, and if necessary use words.

This proverb has been often quoted by me and my friends in our efforts to develop Christ-centred and sustainable mission. I have actively believed and spread this idea to others on many occasions.

As I look at how Jesus himself spread the message of the kingdom, I realise that the emphasis of works over words does not appear in his ministry. Because Jesus is the perfect representation of God and what God wants on earth, then it has to be understood that how Jesus did mission is also how we are supposed to do it.

So our efforts must be two-fold, if not three:

1. To actively love others through actions, hospitality, friendship, healing prayer, encouraging, supporting etc etc.

2. To boldly share the truth of Jesus to anyone who will or won't listen, whether or not they are offended. Jesus got taken to the edge of a cliff in order to be thrown off for speaking the truth of the kingdom in a gathering of Jews. He wasn't afraid of offending anybody. Jesus in fact taught his disciples that they would be hated and persecuted because of sharing his gospel. If we aren't despised by some in our mission, then are we really the aroma of Christ?

3. To realise that Jesus did these things on a ratio of 1:1 - the actions came with words and the words were supported by actions. What we have is a show and tell gospel - sometimes tell and show, but never just tell, and never just show.

I am challenged to add "tell" to my list of efforts within Rocherlea, because I firmly believe that if we want the results Jesus got, we need to do things the way he revealed.