Random Truths about God (Part 1)

Recently, I made some notes about God (as Father, Son, and Spirit). These thoughts did not originate in my brain--they came from Scripture, of course. The particular way these thoughts are worded are not mine either. These are deep, spiritual truths about God that have been gleaned from the whole story of Scripture. No simple proof text can be given to defend these, nor can any be given to disprove them. One must take into account the entire story of the Bible to see how these truths are in fact true. This is Part 1. Once all parts are posted over the next few days, I will give more details on the person and source who helped me pen these random thoughts. Feel free to comment.

Your friend on the journey,

Jason

-----------------------

God is neither male nor female, even though both genders are derived from God's nature. If God chooses to appear to us as a man or as a woman, it's because God loves us. Most of us would be embarrassed to admit that most of our visuals for God are very white and very male.

-----------------------

Do you believe you have free will? I do. God is not interested in prisoners. We're free to do anything we want to do. Just because God knows what we will choose to do does not reduce our freedom. Only God can set us free, but freedom can never be forced.

-----------------------

The Truth shall set you free and the Truth has a name. His name is Jesus. Everything is about him. And freedom is a process that happens inside a relationship with him.

-----------------------

Jesus chose to go to the cross--he wasn't forced, nor was he abandoned by God. Regardless of what he felt at the time, Jesus wasn't God's whipping boy; furthermore God never left him and God will never leave us. The story of the cross didn't end in Jesus' sense of forsakenness. He found his way through it to put himself completely into God's hands.

-----------------------

God is not merely the best version of YOU that you can think of. He is far more than that, above and beyond all that you can ask or think.

-----------------------

When God spoke himself into human existence as the Son of God, he became fully human. He chose to embrace all the limitations that human life entailed. Even though God has always been present in the created universe, he then became flesh and blood. Although by nature Jesus was fully God, Jesus was fully human and lived as such. While never losing the innate abilities and personality of God, he chose moment-by-moment to live as a human. This is why his name is Immanuel, God with us, or God with you, to be more precise.

-----------------------

Jesus performed miracles he did so as a dependent, limited human being trusting in Father's life and power to be at work within him and through him. Jesus, as a human being, had no power within himself to perform miracles. Only as he rested in his relationship with Father, and in their communion--their co-union--could he express Father's heart and will into any given circumstance. So, when you look at Jesus and it appears that he is healing the blind, he really is. But what we are actually seeing is Father; Father's life in him. That's how he lived and acted as a true human, how every human is designed to live--out of Father's life.

-----------------------

The Father, Son, and Spirit are not three gods, and they are not one god with three attitudes, like a man who is a husband, father, and worker. He is one God and he is three persons, and each of the three is fully and entirely the one. What is important is that if He were only One God and only One Person, then we would find ourselves in the Creation without something wonderful, without something essential even. And He would be utterly other than He is. We would be without love and relationship. All love and relationship is possible for us only because it already exists within Him, within God himself. God is love.

Explain This!

Recently, I received an email message through our website asking for a few books that we give away. He also said that he had some questions. I answered a few of those and then he sent some more. These new questions are pretty deep and reveal a sincere desire in his spirit to get to the truth about Christianity and the Church. I asked for his permission to post his questions here and get some responses from those who follow our blog. So read, and then click on "Comments" and leave your answers. Thanks for participating.

Simply,

Jason

--------------------------------

Thank you for taking the time to reply and for the very thoughtful answers. I appreciate this and the fact you understood what I was asking and why. I didn't want to be perceived as short or sarcastic.

Let's say I agree with what you have said yet there isn't a group of Christians who meet like you do, then what? What if you have visited virtually every church near you and they are not something you want to be a part of then what? If the Bible is true and Christians are forgiven and under "grace" why do so many pastors rule their congregations so fiercely and seem so unhappy doing it? Most believers I know are very unhappy. If they are really forgiven do they not believe it because I am thinking if they are really forgiven for their sins they should live like it. Those who are known as "sinners" seem gloriously happy compared to most Christians I know.

I am also having a great deal of difficulty believing many Christians (present company excluded) also because what I hear from them doesn't resonate with what I am told their Savior taught nor do I see many giving evidence in their life and I mean real genuine evidence that they have met the one they claim to worship. I hear them but it often sounds hollow.

I realize some of these you may not be able to answer so again I appreciate your time and thank you again for the Bible/book.

Want to Have a Regional Gathering?

Want to do a regional gathering sometime soon? What would it look like if everyone in our region got together one day this summer for a time of worship, praise, prayer, fellowship, encouragement, and Communion?

Take a minute to click the "comments" link below and leave a message about this. Give your ideas of when and where to have it. Give your ideas in support of doing this. Once you type in your comments, make sure to click the box that asks you if you want the follow-up comments emailed to you. That way you can keep up to date on what everyone is saying about this.

Thanks,

Jason

An Open Letter to the American Church

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Jesus,

Don't all of these "programs," "projects" and "plans" seem rather contrived? What Father has been showing me over the past few years is that His church is not in need of management of programming in order to grow and be successful. It simply requires faithful participation. The church of Jesus is an organic living thing that grows as the Head directs it.

We should be praying for growth and praying for us to see what Father is doing so we can join Him in His work, but to "program" it seems to be out of step with what Father desires. Our direct command was to make disciples. Jesus gave us the supreme example of how to do that. He didn't make up acronyms or programs to accomplish this. He simply lived His life in full obedience to Father and His direction. Jesus lived each day ready to speak Truth into the life of any person He encountered. He never encouraged any of His disciples to think up crafty ways to make disciples.

As a former paid church staffer, I fully know what happens when the church begins implementing seemingly "good" programs to accomplish biblical goals. They seem innocent and good in the beginning, but eventually they begin to be the very goal. Hence institutional church-ianity in America today.

As we together work to see Jesus be lifted up and His kingdom grow, my prayer is that we simply be open to the direction of Jesus each day, in each relationship, in each encounter without trying to affect the growth by our own efforts.

Simply,
Jason

Doing EXACTLY what Jesus would do

A man enters a store, owned by Mohammad Somial, intending to rob using a baseball bat as his weapon of choice. When the owner presented his rifle in his own defense the robber immediately
dropped his bat and dropped to knees begging for forgiveness. The store owner forgave on the spot and began to pray with the would be robber. As it turns out the robber needed food to feed his family and in an act of desperation made a bad decision. Something we've ALL done.

Mr. Somial did EXACTLY what Jesus would've done, he forgave, prayed and gave the man 40.00 dollars and a loaf of bread, and sent him on his way asking him to promise to never steal again.

What an example of Jesus on this earth. We should all take a lesson from this man, and apply it to our lives.

New Websites

I ran across a few new-to-me websites this morning and thought I'd pass along the URLs to you. I haven't read everything on all of these sites, but I thought some of it was interesting. Enjoy!

• Deacon and Usher's Weblog
• Letters from Leavers
• A Deconstructed Christian
• Lifestream

Where Is Our President?

As has been for years and years, the national day of prayer was held in Washington. Unlike years past our president refused to attend. That begs the question, why? One must conclude that he doesn't believe in Fathers power, or worse, Mr. Obama doesn't believe he needs Fathers help to lead our nation. How arrogant... Both are frightening to me. Now, more than ever we desperately need God's guidance in these times. If we are to remain the greatest nation on this planet, Father must be in control. Anything else...well...just won't do. My allegiance is to Father and him alone. I will remain faithful regardless of the ignorance of our leaders, and I use the term "leaders" VERY loosely.

Orange County Church Dumps Building for Houses

By Lillian Kwon, Christian Post Reporter. This article first appeared on The Christian Post's website on May 21, 2009. (click here for the original article)

There's no pulpit, no preacher, no sermon and not even an offering time. But for some 70 people, it's church.

More specifically – a house church.

Across Orange County, Calif., The Well hosts five autonomous house church gatherings. Around 15 to 20 people come together at each place prepared to share what God put on their hearts that week and to "bless each other."

The gatherings don't run on a set worship service schedule or with any specific curriculum. On one Sunday, one of The Well's house churches relocated and attendees spent that day helping with the move. That was their Sunday service.

"It's a little random because we don't know what's going to happen every week, but I like this more than preaching a sermon because when it works, you really see God doing it," said Ken Eastburn, pastor of The Well.

The Well may be one of the more unique house churches in the country. A nearly 60-year-old church, The Well was originally a traditional church called First Southern Baptist of La Habra. It drew upwards 700 people at its peak. But as the church experienced too many changes at the pulpit with pastors coming and going, attendance dwindled to about 20.

The congregation sold their building and began meeting in a 4,000 square-foot facility that cost thousands of dollars.

"It was ridiculous to spend that much money" on a building, said Eastburn who began leading the church in 2003. "Think about the millions and billions of dollars the U.S. spends on maintenance and buildings."

The shrunken congregation began praying about what to do next.

When one of the members proposed meeting in a house, Eastburn did not favor the idea at first.

But after googling "church" and "house" and meeting pastors who have adopted the house church model, he and the rest of his congregation felt "it made sense" for them to transition into homes.

"When the lease was up, we prayed, fasted and went into homes and we never looked back," Eastburn, a 48-year-old ordained Southern Baptist pastor, said.

"It was something unexpected. I wasn't looking for it," he remarked about the 2005 move. "We fell backwards into this model and I love it."

The lead pastor clarified that the transition was not prompted by finances necessarily but rather, it was "a God thing."

The transition from a traditional church to house churches has many advantages, Eastburn lists.

Most of the offering and tithes go straight to ministry works and service projects rather than to overhead costs and staff salary. Eastburn is the only paid employee in the church.

Also, there are no passive attendees. Everyone participates and the house church has the potential for creating authentic disciples.

"You can go to a conventional church and just sit there. It's much easier to hide," the house church pastor noted. But at house churches, "you can't just sit there for too long."

"Have you heard of the 80/20 rule? We have the 100 percent rule here. Everybody's involved," he said.

That kind of involvement and commitment could scare some people off. And it has.

Over the last four years, The Well has seen people come and go. While some leave because they miss the ordered structure of a traditional church, the worship or hearing "the big" sermon, many also leave because of the effort they have to put in when attending a house church.

"This is hard work. When you come to this group, you're expected to make a little sacrifice," Eastburn said. "You got to care about each other, listen to each other" and be open to sharing.

And as people open themselves up more, what typically happens is people's sins begin to surface, the Orange County pastor noted.

"You got to deal with it, or you run," he said, adding that The Well encourages groups to work together with the person when such situations arise. "A lot of people run."

"They'd rather run and not deal with it."

Another advantage to house churches is they're open source, Eastburn pointed out.

"I've heard some bad theology from the pulpit and you can't challenge the pastor right there," he said. In house churches, attendees have the opportunity to ask questions, challenge views, and even correct theology on the spot.

"Basically, anybody can put their two cents in," he noted, and "it's easy to edit on the fly and correct right there."

Eastburn currently has little concern for heresy considering they have less than 100 people and each house church is overseen by an elder who is grounded in sound doctrine. Any time a discussion may veer the wrong way theologically, Eastburn and the elders are present to steer them in the right direction.

"We're not saying we have the final word," the pastor added, "but we say 'this is aligned with what's accepted solid Christian doctrine.'"

Since moving out of the building, The Well has kept a low profile and spread only by word of mouth. But after four years, Eastburn realized they have a unique story to tell and other churches to help as more are considering transitioning into or starting a house church.

"This is something we're passionate about and we believe in this model and it'll grow," he said, noting that traditional church attendance is dropping. "God's going to use it."

"It's a powerful movement," he commented. "You can't really put it in a box."

Eastburn was a youth pastor for 13 years and has "done [his] time with the more traditional model" of church, having previously worked at a church plant of Saddleback Community Church – the megachurch of prominent evangelical leader Rick Warren – as well as other churches.

He has nothing against traditional churches or even megachurches and acknowledges that there are many people who could never attend a house church.

But, "if you really get it," he says, "it's hard to go back to anything else."

The Well currently has house churches in Yorba Linda, Brea, Tustin, Huntington Beach and La Mirada.

Home: No place for Bible study

County demands pastor spend thousands on 'Major Use' permit to host friends

By Drew Zahn. This article first appeared on WorldNetDaily's website on May 22, 2009. (click here for original article)

A San Diego pastor and his wife claim they were interrogated by a county official and warned they will face escalating fines if they continue to hold Bible studies in their home.

The couple, whose names are being withheld until a demand letter can be filed on their behalf, told their attorney a county government employee knocked on their door on Good Friday, asking a litany of questions about their Tuesday night Bible studies, which are attended by approximately 15 people.

"Do you have a regular weekly meeting in your home? Do you sing? Do you say 'amen'?" the official reportedly asked. "Do you say, 'Praise the Lord'?"

The pastor's wife answered yes.

She says she was then told, however, that she must stop holding "religious assemblies" until she and her husband obtain a Major Use Permit from the county, a permit that often involves traffic and environmental studies, compliance with parking and sidewalk regulations and costs that top tens of thousands of dollars.

And if they fail to pay for the MUP, the county official reportedly warned, the couple will be charged escalating fines beginning at $100, then $200, $500, $1000, "and then it will get ugly."

Dean Broyles of the Western Center for Law & Policy, which has been retained to represent the couple, told WND the county's action not only violates religious land-use laws but also assaults both the First Amendment's freedom of assembly and freedom of religion.

"The First Amendment, in part, reads, 'Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,'" Broyles said. "And that's the key part: 'prohibiting the free exercise.' We believe this is a substantial government burden on the free exercise of religion."

He continued, "If one's home is one's castle, certainly you would the think the free exercise of religion, of all places, could occur in the home."

Broyles confirmed the county official followed through on his threat. The pastor and his wife received a written warning ordering the couple to "cease/stop religious assembly on parcel or obtain a major use permit."

"The Western Center for Law and Policy is troubled by this draconian move to suppress home Bible studies," said the law center in a statement. "If the current trends in our nation continue, churches may be forced underground. If that happens, believers will once again be forced to meet in homes. If homes are already closed by the government to assembly and worship, where then will Christians meet?"

On a personal note, Broyles added, "I've been leading Bible studies in my home for 13 years in San Diego County, and I personally believe that home fellowship Bible studies are the past and future of the church. … If you look at China, the church grew from home Bible studies. I'm deeply concerned that if in the U.S. we are not able to meet in our homes and freely practice our religion, then we may be worse off than China."

Broyles also explained to WND that oppressive governments, such as communist China or Nazi Germany, worked to repress home fellowships, labeling them the "underground church" or "subversive groups," legally compelling Christians to meet only in sanctioned, government-controlled "official" churches.

"Therein lies my concern," Broyles said. "If people can't practice their religious beliefs in the privacy of their own homes with a few of their friends, that's an egregious First Amendment violation."

WND contacted a spokeswoman for San Diego County, who acknowledged the description of the incident seemed "bizarre," but who was unable to locate the details of the account. She simply could not provide comment yet, she said, until she could become familiar with the case.

Broyles said the WCLP is nearly ready to file a demand letter with the county to release the pastor and his wife from the requirement to obtain the expensive permit. If the county refuses, Broyles said, the WCLP will consider a lawsuit in federal court.

Broyles also told WND the pastor and his wife are continuing to hold the Bible study in their home.

Believe it or Not

On the news this morning May 27. A city in our Unites States of America wants to require a permit of a family wishing to host a Bible study in their own home.

As the government continues to impose on American families this is really no suprise. Don't think it can't come to your house, because it can if we don't take back our country.