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Here is the final paper for my graduate degree. It was interesting to write, since my professor is opposed to what I assert. Sip on a cup of coffee, read this, and get saved.

Lordship Salvation
Within the past two decades a debate has been going on amongst Evangelicals as to how a person comes to salvation in Jesus. Within this debate there are two main groups: One group believes that a person comes to salvation by faith alone, with or without making Jesus Lord of their life (I accept salvation, now I choose whether or not you are Lord); the other group maintains that salvation comes as a result of a commitment to Christ, and that following Jesus as Lord is an aspect of salvation (I choose to follow you as Lord, therefore, I accept salvation). This is a huge theological issue with large ramifications. I have prayed, read, and researched through various books, hoping to find out which group I belong to. Although, my answers are still in process, it is my intent that through this paper I will clearly demonstrate the theology I believe to be biblical.


Discipleship
Where does discipleship fit into this theological debate? Is it part of salvation?
First let us define discipleship. The word disciple is used throughout the Bible to mean: pupil or learner. The Pharisees considered themselves disciples of Moses; followers of John the Baptist were called disciples of John, this holds equally true for followers of Jesus who were called his disciples. Discipleship was always predicated upon a call from Jesus (Mark 1:16; 10:21) and meant undivided commitment to him, which was expressed in obedience to him. I. H. Marshall says, discipleship to Jesus “went well beyond the normal pupil-teacher relationship and gave the word ‘disciple’ a new sense. Faith in Jesus and allegiance to him are what determine the fate of men at the last judgment (Lk. 12:8f.).” (Pg. 285) Jesus expanded the definition of the word because the evangelists understood him to be more than a mere man, but God himself. The word does not appear outside of the gospels and Acts, but other NT writers refer to disciples in other terms including believers, saints, or brothers. Therefore, from the perspective of the NT a believer was a disciple; and belief entailed commitment to God through the person of Christ.

In the early church being a Christian meant being Jesus’ disciple. What does Christian mean other than Christ-follower? To follow Jesus is to be his disciple and to be a disciple is to be a Christian. Acts 11:26 says, “The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch;” furthermore, in Acts 9:2, and 24:14, Paul refers to the believers as “followers of the Way.” The word translated into “Way” is the Greek word hodos, which is the same word Jesus uses to describe himself in John 14:6 saying, “I am the Way…” Clearly the implications in Acts show that, (a) disciples of Christ were called Christians; they were not Christians first who then became disciples; and (b) Paul identified them, and himself, as followers of “the Way,” who is Jesus; thus, they were followers of Jesus.

Does discipleship necessitate Lordship? The answer is clearly: Yes. A disciple of Christ acknowledges him as “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28) Thomas’ confession is to be recognized as the high point of faith. Too, this confession is not solely Thomas’ but is included in the gospel to be seen as a normative response by a disciple to the resurrected Christ: You are my Lord and my God. Therefore, discipleship means Lordship, and Lordship means adherence to that Lord.

Jesus speaks to this saying, “Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I tell you?” (Luke 6:46) Jesus is here pointing out the opposite of a normal relationship to himself: If I’m Lord than you should obey me. He is making it obvious to the multitude, that his disciples were expected to obey him, since obedience to him was a demonstration of his position in their life. The Lutheran theologian and pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer makes this statement, “In the end, the first step of obedience proves to be an act of faith in the word of Christ. But we should completely misunderstand the nature of grace if we were to suppose that there was no need to take the first step because faith was already there. Against that we must boldly assert that the step of obedience must be taken before faith can be possible. Unless he obeys, a man cannot believe.” Later he adds his axiom, “Only those who obey can believe, and only those who believe can obey.” (Pg. 66; 70)

Biblically, being a Christian means following Christ as his disciple. There is no biblical evidence that people became a Christian without committing themselves to Christ in discipleship. Unlike our modern constructs, Scripture makes no difference between discipleship and belief in Jesus, or for that matter, a disciple and someone who is “saved;” belief in Jesus, and discipleship are biblically synonymous concepts. Likewise, “To be a disciple involved an unreserved and exclusive commitment to Jesus.” (Marshall Pg. 576) There should be little doubt that unreserved, exclusive commitment to Jesus means making him “Lord and God” of the believer’s life.


Discipleship: Pre-or-Post Salvation
Almost the whole of Jesus’ ministry was focused on what it meant to follow him, the cost involved, and the benefits to following him. Here are some passages that require our attention if we are to determine whether Discipleship, and therefore Lordship, is a Pre-or-Post salvation decision by the believer:

Mark 10:17-22 describes a scenario in which a rich young man questions Jesus about salvation. “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus then speaks to him of the commandments, which he claims to have kept. Then Jesus, knowing the true issue that is keeping him from following says, “go, sell what you own…then come follow me.” Jesus requires this man to choose discipleship, there is no middle ground; knowing Jesus mandates that he alone take primacy in the man’s life; he alone is Lord. This, as we see, is too much for him to accept, and Jesus freely allows him to go. When Jesus asks the man to sell everything and follow him it is not identical with salvation; it is not a work to achieve it. However, it is the indispensable beginning to the salvation life, which is Jesus. Bonhoeffer says, “Discipleship is the end, voluntary poverty the means.” (Pg. 75) Jesus does not say, “be justified by your faith,” but says, “obey me, demonstrate your belief, then become my disciple.” Too, this parable should be seen in sharp contrast to the parallel story of Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10) whose actions resulted in Jesus saying, “Today salvation has come to this house…” Why? Because his obedience is belief.

In Luke 14 Jesus puts certain conditions upon discipleship: “If anyone comes to me, and does not hate his own father, mother, wife, children…his own life, he cannot be my disciple;” “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple;” “So therefore, no one of you can be my disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.” (Vv. 26, 27, 33) Jesus is calling people to discipleship, to a commitment in him. He is challenging them to allegiance to either themselves or loyalty to him. It is clear that the disciple must have but one love, one Lord: Self or Jesus; and this decision is a condition of discipleship.

In Mark 8:34-37 Jesus says, “For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.” Jesus says only those who lose their life for his sake will save it. These verses share the common theme with Luke: Denial of self and adherence to Christ is required; if you are to follow Jesus he alone is Lord. But this verse takes it a step further and speaks of what a person must do in order to save his life; only “those who lose their life” for Jesus will save their life. Jesus is here putting a pre-condition on salvation. What else can this verse mean? William Hendrickson, speaking of this verse says, “It is only by losing oneself—looking away from self in order to serve the Master and his ‘little ones’ (Cf. Matt. 25:40)—that one can ever be saved…For the sinner salvation is impossible apart from obedience to this rule.” (Pg. 500) To what rule? An individual must make a commitment to Jesus, losing his life, as a condition of “sav(ing) it.”

In John 12:24-26 Jesus tells the parable about the Grain of Wheat. Speaking of the seed, which falls to the ground and produces fruit he says, “He who loves his life loses it; and he who hates his life in this world shall keep it to eternal life. If anyone serves me, let him follow me.” When speaking of the grain Jesus is here speaking of himself; however, he is also at the same time speaking of his disciples. D.A. Carson says, “But if the principle modeled by the seed—that death is the necessary condition for the generation of life—is peculiarly applicable to Jesus, in a slightly different way it is properly applied to all of Jesus’ followers.” (Pp 438-439) Once again Jesus is speaking of death, which brings about life; he shares how to save our life, by hating it, which is demonstrated by following him, throughout the NT this is called discipleship.

In Matthew 25 the evangelist includes a parable given by Jesus. Here we are told, “all the nations will be gathered before him” (v. 32) and he will separate them into two groups. One group will inherit the Kingdom, and the other group will inherit eternal fire. The large group is composed of people who should have known the condition by which Jesus would be separating them; they were expected to “love people” as an obligation to their relationship with Jesus. In the end, whatever the followers of Jesus did or did not do will be a defining mark for their eternal punishment, or being declared as righteous in God’s presence. Obedience is a condition to salvation.

Matthew 28:19 is another verse that speaks clearly about the importance of discipleship. “Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Here again Jesus speaks of discipleship as being the normative relationship of the believer to himself. Jesus could have just as easily said, “Go, and make people recognize me as Savior, baptizing them…then after this, help them make me Lord.” However, Jesus said, “make disciples who obey me.” Obviously Jesus knows the apostles must get this right; salvation is at stake. They will be the ones who teach the world what it means to be “born again;” and Jesus’ answer here: Discipleship. James Boice asserts, “This theology (Savior first) separates faith from discipleship and grace from obedience. It teaches that Jesus can be received as one’s Savior without being received as one’s Lord…Discipleship is not a supposed second step in Christianity, as if one first became a believer in Jesus and then, if he chooses, a disciple.” (Pg. 13-14) Furthermore, when we read Peter’s words to the crowd at Pentecost “Repent and be baptized” (Acts 2:38) one should clearly understand: only disciples were to be baptized.

Evidently, not everyone who calls Jesus Lord will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only those who do the will of his Father. What is the will of the father? To believe in Jesus, but to believe in Jesus is to commit to him, and biblically, this meant discipleship.


Language and Concepts: Static or Dynamic?
As Westerners (Greek in thought) our whole concept of life is based upon a static system of communication, and therefore, fixed systems of belief. Noted linguist Charles Kraft says this, “Much of contemporary western Christianity seems static.” (Pg. 237) This he concludes is a result of the way we express Christian thoughts: God is love, God is my Father, the Lord is my Shepherd, etc, are static. To demonstrate the contrast he offers these dynamic alternatives: God relates to me lovingly, God treats me as a good father treats his child, the Lord guides me like a shepherd guides his sheep, etc.

Hebrew, on the other hand, is a dynamic language (Likewise Greek is more dynamic than English). Commenting on this Dr. Kraft says, “Greek embodied much action in nouns which, when translated literally into English, result in an impression of staticness.” (Pg. 237) Using the example of the Greek word logos he argues that when John used it he was, like most bilinguals, translating a thought from his native tongue into another language. The Hebrew term John would have translated would have been the word dabar, and this word in its original context carries a dynamic meaning.
Language dictates our thoughts, and our thoughts shape our beliefs, and our beliefs direct our actions. Therefore, our understanding of words (language) directly effects how we view concepts; and this includes the concepts of: Faith and Belief. Leslie Newbigin says, “The language of a people provides the means by which they express their way of perceiving things and of coping with them. (Pg. 3)

Our static concepts effect our understanding of what salvation is. When most Christians speak of becoming Christians they point to a specific point in time. A common question amongst our circles is: “When did you get saved?” answer: Dec. 5, 1989. This is a completely modern paradigm. Nowhere in the NT does anyone point to a specific point in the past to prove his or her salvation. In fact, the NT always asks the present to validate salvation: Paul “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith.” (2 Cor 13:5) or “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed…continue to work out your salvation…” (Phil. 2:12).

The hermeneutical lens by which we approach scripture has a tremendous effect upon how we view its claims on our lives. Our practice will reflect our theology; thus, most Westerners equate being a Christian with knowing doctrines rightly. For example, during the McCarthy era when America was fearful of Communist spies invading their ranks, some advisors of President Eisenhower advised him to create a Christian test for all government workers. This specific test included numerous doctrines a Christian was expected to know in order to be a Christian. They assumed Communists would not know the answers to these questions. Evidently, to be a Christian one only needed to pass a multiple-choice questionnaire. Truman never allowed this test, but this was one of the contributing factors to changing the Pledge of Allegiance and American currency to include references to God.


Faith: Static or Dynamic?
Is the biblical understanding of faith dynamic? Faith is the means by which we are justified, so the argument goes. However, is faith a static event or is it a process by which the believer lives in a relationship with God. Luther derived his “Justified by faith alone” from Romans by using Abraham as his example; however, Paul does not go into great detail about the characteristics of faith, only that we are justified by it.

In Romans 4:3 we read “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Abraham’s faith in God is the very thing that justified him before God. Abraham believed God’s promise that “…from your own body will be your heir.” And “Look into the heavens and count the stars…So shall your offspring be.” (Gen. 15:5) Therefore, faith is what puts Abraham in right standing with God and not the law.

However, this is not the end of the story; it seems as if God is not yet finished with Abraham’s faith; thus, we get another foundational story in chapter 22. Here God asks Abraham to sacrifice the very heir God had promised to him. Abraham obeys God and God says, “Because you have done this…I will indeed bless you…and by your offspring shall all the nations of the earth gain blessings for themselves, because you have obeyed my voice.” (Gen. 22:16-18) Once again this is a story about Abraham’s faith.

If faith is a static event then why was it necessary for God to test Abraham’s faith? Wasn’t the requirement of the previously made promise to Abraham already fulfilled because of his faith? We must conclude that the answer is: no. The first promise is openly conditional; not upon Abraham’s belief, but upon Abraham believing. Again, the positive outcome of Abraham’s obedience was a renewal of the before stated promise; therefore, we must also presume that disobedience would have led to a denial of that same promise. Furthermore, Abraham did not point to the past as proof of his faith saying, “I’m already justified, the promise is mine whether or not I obey this command.” Abraham was required to demonstrate his faith in the present. Biblical faith is not a one-time event.

Likewise, Biblical faith is not described as an intellectual decision alone, but is exhibited through obedience. The book of Hebrews gives us the greatest amount of material as to what biblical faith is. It is “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Heb. 11:1) The author then highlights certain people who throughout the Bible displayed faith in God, and most of these through their actions of obedience (the smaller portion point to a faith without an action attached).

From these examples we can confidently claim that faith is a dynamic concept and not, as is popular in our theological paradigms, inactive. Moreover, faith is not, from Biblical examples, a purely psychological event; it is often equated with an act of obedience. As a result, acts of obedience are called faith, and faith is often determined through an action (although this is not always the case, it does not lessen the strength of the argument).


Jesus: Lord or Savior?
Much of the issue within this debate stems from this question: When is Jesus Lord, and when is he Savior in the creation of a believer? Those who hold that Jesus must be Savior first and then Lord after salvation, hold this principle because requiring a convert to “give his life to Jesus,” thus making him Lord, is seen as something other than faith, it is a work; and therefore from a NT perspective it is unbiblical.

In the NT Jesus is referred to by many titles or names including: Master, King of Kings, I Am, Servant, Son of Man, Son of God, Messiah, Teacher, Prophet, Lord, Lamb of God, and Savior. These titles sometimes refer to actual specific functions that Jesus is performing at a given moment, i.e. Teacher; his person or his attributes, i.e. I Am; or both, i.e. Lamb of God. The titles Savior and Lord are both titles that describe a function and attribute of who Jesus is (see Acts 2:21and 5:31b).
In the early church, including the writings of Paul, these two terms seemed fairly interchangeable. Apparently, as is common today, there was not a separation of the two titles for Jesus. He was not viewed as Savior or Lord; he is Lord Savior or Savior Lord.

However, out of the two titles in consideration here, Lord was the title and position the early church sought to establish in the lives of its earliest converts. Consider these verses: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven…” (Matthew 7:21) “For Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord of the dead and the living.” (Romans 14:9) “…so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend…and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” (Phil. 2:10- 11) Lord was the title used by the early church because it best defined Jesus’ high-ranking status in the cosmos. Marshall says this concerning the title Lord, “If Jesus was now Lord, it followed that the task of the early church was to lead people to recognize the status of Jesus. New converts became members of the church by acknowledging Jesus as Lord.” (Pg. 589) This agrees with, Romans 10:9, “If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Marshall again adds, ”Lord primarily expresses the exalted position of Jesus and this rule over the universe and especially over believers who accept his Lordship. It is thus especially used when the responsibility of Christians to obey Jesus is being expressed.” (Pg. 590) Why didn’t Paul say, “confess Jesus as Savior?” Because there can be but one Lord in a believer’s heart, God alone sits upon the throne of his Temple.

Confession of Jesus as Lord was the indicating feature in a Christian’s life. Therefore, submitting to the Lordship of Jesus simultaneously or as a pre-condition to salvation was normative within the early church; calling Jesus Savior and then deciding whether to make him Lord is a practice not advocated in Scripture, it is a modern distortion. A.W. Tozer makes this point, “We have no basis to believe we can come casually to the Lord Jesus and say, ‘I understand that you are the Savior so I am going to believe and be saved and then I am going to turn away and think about the other matters of lordship, allegiance, and obedience at some other time.’ I warn you, you will not get help from Him in that way for the Lord will not save those whom he cannot command. He will not divide His offices. You cannot believe in a half Christ.” (Pp. 14-16, 18-20) Regrettably, it seems in America we have advocated a half-Christ; 75% of Americans claim to be Christian, by what standard?


Conclusion
In the early church to be a Christian was to be a disciple of Christ. (Matt. 28:19). Jesus seems to emphasize this point with his various parables, which speak to conditions of a relationship with him; and this is his invitation to a relationship with him: in order to live you must die. Therefore, Jesus makes it clear that commitment is a condition of salvation.

Biblically, faith is a dynamic concept. Unfortunately, our enlightenment worldview renders this concept as fixed; this leads to the misunderstanding of salvation being a one-time event. As we follow certain characters in the bible we see that faith is an ongoing process. Likewise, justification through faith is also a repeated event in the life of the believer; thus, faith is about a relationship with God, through Jesus.

Belief infers obedience. Jesus puts the condition of obedience upon his followers. It is not enough to call him “Lord;” this conviction must be actualized within the life of the individual who believes. It is impossible to separate belief from action, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (John 14:15) Too, although not speaking about salvation James says, "Faith without works is dead." (James 2:26) Your actions indicate what you believe, as it is impossible to do anything (outside of external force), which is contrary to what you believe.

The title most commonly used by the early church as a designation of the person and position of Jesus within the believer’s life is Lord (Read Acts!). This is in agreement with Jesus’ emphasis on discipleship, since those who follow him must recognize him as Lord. Too, the NT writers had access to other words with which to define Jesus, but use the title Lord in pivotal verses such as: Acts 2: 21; 25; 34; 36; Romans 10:9, etc. Paul uses no other word for Jesus during his conversion. Paul says, “Who are you Lord?” (Acts 9:5) “What shall I do, Lord.” (Ibid. 22:10a) “The Lord said to me” (Ibid. 22:10b) He was then baptized (via. Matt. 28:19) calling on his name. (Ibid. 22:16) Why would Paul assume lordship was optional for others is if wasn’t’ for him? Clearly Paul recognized Jesus’ position in his life and consequently says we must call Jesus Lord. Moreover, to think Paul would say, “confess Jesus as Lord,” and imagine he intended believers to acknowledge Jesus’ Lordship of the cosmos, but not their life is a ridiculous idea. To suggest that Paul asserts Lordship as optional is a clear example of eisegesis.

Discipleship is not works! It is only by grace that we are saved and this by (dynamic) faith. However, our understanding of discipleship must recognize discipleship as God’s call to grace. Obedience is not works, “Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.'" (Luke 17:9-11) Discipleship is our duty to God. We are only doing what is expected of us, nothing extra.

Savior first theology is dangerously close to idolatry. In allowing people to consider whether or not God is LORD, and this after salvation, makes self-lordship optional. God is very clear there is but one LORD; as it is, this theology allows a person to choose if they will allow God to be LORD or not. And why would you make him LORD, seeing as your salvation is secure; you can escape hell and love the world too. Advocating anything but complete Lordship is idolatry; you cannot serve two masters, you must love the one and hate the other. The Bible is painfully clear at this point.

“Yet the outcome of the Reformation was the victory, not of Luther’s perception of grace in all its purity and costliness, but of the vigilant religious instinct of man for the place where grace is to obtained at the cheapest price.” (Bonhoeffer, Pg. 49) We have been unfaithful to Luther’s revelation; thus, turning justification of the sinner to mean justification of the sin. Salvation isn’t a doctrine; it’s a person.


Which sounds more like Jesus? Do you want to go to heaven? Then please mark the box on the welcome card; or, “Follow me.”


Boice, James Montgomery, Christ’s Call to Discipleship, Moody, Chicago, 1986.
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich, The Cost of Discipleship, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1959.
Carson, D.A., The Gospel According to John, Erdmann’s, Michigan, 1991.
Hendrickson, William, New Testament Commentary, The Gospel of Luke, Baker,
Michigan 1978.
Marshall, New Bible Dictionary, 2nd Ed, Intervarsity Press, Illinois, 1962.
Newbigin, Leslie, Foolishness to the Greeks, Erdmann’s, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1986.
Tozer, A.W., I Call It Heresy, Christian Publications, Camp Hill, 1974.

Here are some pic's from the college camping trip. It rained on us through the night, but as you can see the morning was incredible. We had the chance to baptize some of our friends in Shasta Lake.

Holy City for sale

Holy City is up for grabs.
The 150-acre ghost town tucked into the San Jose side of the Santa Cruz Mountains is for sale, RE/MAX realtor Jim E. Miller said Tuesday afternoon. The asking price is $11 million, Miller said.
Gone are the giant Santa Claus statues festooned with weird religious slogans, the peepshow booths and the radio station broadcasting William E. “Father” Riker’s racist diatribes. The last of the commune’s disciples died or apparently moved away years ago.
Tom Stanton — reportedly the only full-time resident and self-appointed mayor — has run a glass blowing business in the town’s old post office for 30 years. The property is owned by three retired contractors who purchased it more than 40 years ago to develop the land into a recreational park, but never did, Miller said.
Holy City was created in 1919 by Riker, an ex-waiter who billed himself as the “Chief Comforter” and “Wisest Man on Earth.”
At its height in the mid-1920s, Riker’s commune had about 300 disciples and Holy City boasted a dance hall, an observatory, a bottling plant, a radio station and a zoo on the 180-acre property. Visitors were greeted by music blaring from red loudspeakers while visitors lined up for the 50 peepshow booths, which had titles such as “The Legs of Queen Elizabeth.”
Many of the Holy City buildings were reduced to rubble by fires in the mid-1950s and Riker lost control of his commune. The town disincorporated in 1959 and, in 1960, a San Jose company purchased it with plans to develop the land.

In the course of writing several papers I need to define what the gospel is. Not a new subject, but always a gear turner, I would like to read your (graceful!) comments about my proposed: The Gospel in a nutshell. As always, sarcasm is greatly appreciated.

The gospel: the redemptive act of God for all mankind, achieved by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. This redemption is attained by belief in Jesus as the messiah; and is demonstrated through obedience to him.*

*By him I mean the head-Christ, & the body-the Church.
I understand belief and obedience as inseparable.

So when did evangelicals...



































become the enemy?

Can you have orthodoxy without orthopraxy?

Another day at UC Santa Cruz.


"The regents — making an official campus visit for only the second time in 40 years — were forced to cancel the remainder of their campus tour when roughly 150 students protesting a host of issues, from cuts in humanities programs to UC nuclear research, blocked the doors to a campus lecture hall aoround 4:30 p.m."

"The activists demanded the release of three protesters who had been detained inside by university police."

"In a scuffle at the hall's entrance, police pulled the three into the building and used pepper spray and batons to subdue the crowd outside. The three — two students and an alumna — were arrested; one will face three felony counts of battery against a police officer, according to campus spokeswoman Liz Irwin, while the others face misdemeanor charges of disrupting a public meeting. One officer was injured, though the extent of his injuries were unknown."


"With clusters of students blocking every exit to the new Humanities/Social Sciences lecture hall, administrators in the building used cell phones to talk to officials who were negotiating with student leaders outside to clear the way for the regents to leave."

"This isn't the best situation — people are essentially being held hostage inside," student leader Samantha Aranke told fellow students."

Don't trip, we'll be down there in two months. I've put in 5 different applications at the University. I want to meet these folks and put that passion to it's intended purpose: Jesus; and his church.

Pastor Ambushed by Hindu Mob - VOM sources/persecution.com
Pastor Bhadikar Barshi was on his way to conduct a regular service at his house in the Barshi area of Solapur district in Maharashtra state on July 5th, when two youths approached him. Asking him to join them in a prayer for a friend who had been suffering from a sickness over the past 15 years, the young men walked alongside the pastor for some time until a Hindu mob ambushed him. He was violently struck with wooden clubs all over his body and received a deep gash on his right eye. After hospital treatment, including stitches on his forehead, he was released and remains faithful to his ministry. Give thanks to God, asking Him to strengthen this faithful servant who is following his Master. Luke 9:23, 24

The preacher delivered a compelling message, but what made me send in my $1000 was this statement at the bottom of the screen:
"Send in your $1000.00 seed gift and recieve your free copy of The Secrets of the Richest Man who ever Walked the Earth."
Evidently for $1000 I can learn his secret.

"Discipleship means adherence to Christ, and, because Christ is the object of that adherence, it must take the form of discipleship. An abstract Christology, a doctrinal system, a general religious knowledge on the subject of grace or on the forgiveness of sins, renders discipleship excessive, and in fact they positively exclude any idea of discipleship whatever, and are essentially opposed to the whole conception of following Christ. With an abstract idea it is possible to enter into a relation of formal knowledge, to become enthusiastic about it, and perhaps even to put it into practice; but it can never be followed in personal obedience. Christianity without the living Christ is inevitably Christianity without discipleship, and Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ." (The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer pg. 59)

Interesting stuff.


By Clark H. Pinnock, Professor of Theology at McMaster Divinity College.
GOD AND THE OPEN VIEW
In contrast to other, more abstract approaches to theism, the open view of God is a relational model of understanding. In conventional theism, God is seen as an all-controlling and unchangeable Being who determines directly or indirectly all things that happen. He exists out of time and is unaffected by anything. He knows all things in advance and sovereignly ordains what he knows. The open view, on the other hand, sees God as a relational and triune God who exists as a community (Father, Son, and Spirit) and seeks loving relationships with creatures. In order for such relationships to be possible, God imparts genuine (or “libertarian”) freedom to human beings. This freedom allows them the possibility of loving God or of acting in ways unconstrained by God’s will. God chooses to achieve his goals by means of collaboration with humans rather than by predetermination.

















Second, I have noticed that the debate over the openness of God has opened up an area in which evangelical thinking needs to experience reform. Surely the glory of God does not consist of his exercising total control over the world but of his self-giving and self-sacrificing love. This is not just a partisan interpretation. According to the gospel, God has the properties of a lover, not the properties of a tyrant. While God is certainly the “most” and the “best,” there are different kinds of goodness and greatness. It is a divine perfection, not only to rule, but to be vulnerable for love’s sake. God is not an impassible Buddha, untouched by the troubles of mortal existence. We do not endorse the Aristotelian ideal of a self-sufficient God, who devotes his time to contemplating his own existence. We worship a God who became one of us and shares in our condition. 




We just got back from our camping trip to Santa Cruz. God did some wonderful things in all of us and we are all expectant of the new season ahead. Each day was filled with good God stuff and each night was filled with raccoons! (at one point there were 14 of them in the tree above my tent).

It is sobering to think we will be down there in 3 1/2 months. We are all challenged by this. However, where God guides, he also provides, so our task is to rely on God.

I am about to take my last class and am pressed to accomplish what I need to, but once again God reminded me through his word that he is the source of all my accomplishments.

Isaiah 22:8-11
Judah's defenses have been stripped away. You run to the armory for your weapons. You inspect the walls of Jerusalem to see what needs to be repaired. You store up water in the lower pool. You check the houses and tear some down to get stone to fix the walls. Between the city walls, you build a reservoir for water from the old pool. But all your feverish plans are to no avail because you never ask God for help. He is the one who planned this long ago.

1Peter 2:4
Come to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God's temple. He was rejected by the people, but he is precious to God who chose him.

Let us: ask God for help at all times being dependent on his ability to both test and rescue us from any situation; and remember to come to Christ (daily), since he is both living (not dead), and the cornerstone (the most important piece) of God's temple (you, me, us).

SANTA CRUZ — The number of killings is climbing.

It's not a return to the "Murder Capital of the World" era, when two serial killers ran loose in the county, but with 13 homicides already this year, 2006 could become one of the deadliest since the mid-1980s.

"We're on pace to have a very busy year," sheriff's Lt. Phil Wowak said.

The Sheriff's Office has investigated six homicides in unincorporated county areas since the Jan. 28 stabbing death of 23-year-old Chris Carr at a La Selva Beach house party. Santa Cruz police have arrested four people suspected in three homicides in the past month, and Watsonville police have recorded four homicides so far this year. No killings have been reported in Capitola or Scotts Valley.

According to Relevant Magazine
Vineyard City Church is a relevant church. I had my concerns, but my worries are behind me; I can now start inviting my friends to Vineyard knowing they will find relevancy here. They listed pastor Steve Schenk as the young adult pastor (this is important to know in the world of relevancy), so rest assured Buffalo is in for a real relevant revelation revealed rightly by Steven.


Something else struck me as I found out our church is relevant:





I guess pastor Mike is cool after all.
Who knew?

Well I've been back from India for over a week and have adjusted well.

Our trip to Chennai was incredible. Our group worked with a local Vineyard church there that has their hands in many things: sunday services, small groups, church planting, a weekly rock-&-roll concert (we played there--Sweet Home Alabama!), a school for fisherman's children, a shirt making group of widows, feeding of widows, etc. Basically, we helped them do what they normally did within any given week. Most of the team that went is going to Santa Cruz in January, so it was also a great team building time for us.

I am in the middle of 5 graduate classes in 5 months, so my blog is one of the low men on my totem pole. I was reading another guys blog who is in the middle of defining (for his life?) the apostolic five-fold ministry. Needless to say, I won't be unpacking subjects like that (by choice) anytime soon.

I'll have pictures up from our trip before 2007. Promise.

I haven't been a good blogger lately.





















These asian gals make it look easy.












Sadly, I am still learning how to spin many plates at one time. I have been praying, so the spiritual gift of platespinning is about to be released into my life. Please pray for an increased anointing of plate spinning in my life.


We leave for India today. We are staying there for two weeks and will be working with Acts of Mercy, which is a relief organization who has been working with Tsunami restoration. Not totally sure what we will be doing. We'll probably do similiar things to what we do here; however, there will be more Indian folks than we normally see in Redding.

*This is not a knock on people trying to spend money alone on the ills of the world; although I believe Jesus is the answer. Nor is it a knock on the people involved, although one of them said it, and they might all believe it. I only wanted to highlight the "Being good gets me to Heaven" thinking to the billionth degree.













Buffet's contribution of about $1.5 billion a year to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will be used to seek cures for the world’s worst diseases and improve American education, Bill Gates said Monday.

“There is no reason we can’t cure the top 20 diseases,” Gates said while appearing with Buffett during a donation ceremony at the New York Public Library.

The Buffett and Gates families, as well as onlookers, were beaming as the so-called Oracle of Omaha officially made his benevolence a reality.

“There is more than one way to get to heaven, but this is a great way,” said Buffett. He presented the biggest gift to Gates, and $1 billion donations to his own foundation and the foundations run by each of his three children.

Today is the first day of our (the Santa Cruz church plant +1) Daniel fast.
















We are taking the next 21 days to fast: meat, sugar, processed foods, caffeine (ouch), nicotine, alcohol, fried foods, and that’s right, burritos too!













We have also set up numerous prayer times for the fast, so that we stay focused on Him and not on what we are not eating: This Friday we will have a 24hr prayer time in which each of us (9 people) take shifts throughout the night praying (I drew 1am to 3:40am!?!!?); Sunday nights we will worship and pray together; each person will have a nation to pray for; and each member will share a prayer request for the group to pray for during the fast.
Too, we are praying for our trip to India. We go July 14-28 and are eager to see what God would have us do in this nation, both long and short-term. India has the greatest amount of unreached people groups (those who have never heard of Jesus!) on earth. God our Santa Cruz church wants to be a part of what you’re doing. What would you have us do?








We would love for you to join us; just a small buy-in cost: your life.

This has been an interesting bit of posting. Join in.
I dedicate this post to my friends.

Here are two churches that do a great job at raising disciples and releasing them to make more disciples. As a matter of fact, both of these churches have planted over 30 other churches out of their communities to various parts of the world (including Iraq & Redding!). What do they do that's so special: cool Sunday services, awesome music, relevant messages, fat salaries, great locations, best-selling books? Maybe. The one thing both of these churches focus on and measure success by: Christ-centered discipleship relationships through small groups.

Waco Texas: http://antiochcc.ccbchurch.com/app/w_page.php?id=1&type=section
Santa Cruz California: http://ctw.coastlands.org/

I just got done with a great class at Simpson U in World Religions. My prof. said some great things and one comment was really great. She said, "we've replaced discipleship with education." By education she meant a western school style approach to information transfer: teacher speaking to students.














With all of the "conversations" happening I still think this is one of, if not the main issue. How do we communicate the gospel vs. how did Jesus communicate the gospel? "Come follow me" vs. "Welcome to our 'What is a Christian' class;" or "Imitate me as I imitate Christ," vs. "Come, listen to my sermon on...."











Yeah, you got a degree in pastoral studies, and that's great, but who have you: pastored, loved, discipled, prayed for, admonished, reached out to, argued with, or released into ministry? Yeah, you preach to 1000 people each Sunday, but where are your (They would still do what they do without you paying them) Timothy’s?

Well, we are officially in fund-raising mode for our India trip. God was tugging on my heart about India, and after sharing my thoughts with others, God spoke through many “coincidences” and we are going to India hoping to find our next clue as to what God wants us to do.

Although the typical way of raising funds for missions is: bake, garage, yard sales, or support letters, I have always felt pressed to get out and work (any jobs that come up) for our support. “For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow. For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: ‘If a man will not work, he shall not eat.’” (2 Thess. 3:7-10). I don’t think inviting others to support us in our missionary endeavors is wrong; in fact, many people want to be a part of what God is doing in our lives and they might not be able to physically go, but can financially support us. However, we, like Paul, should contribute as much as we can so as not to be “a burden to any of you.”

So, last week we (Laben, Paul, and I) painted a two-story house for a woman in the church. We did a good job and did it for about half price, so she was also blessed. I had a great time hanging out with the guys “modeling” for them what (in part) Paul modeled to the churches he fathered: no spiritual bums please. “Or is it only I and Barnabas who must work for a living?” “In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel. But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this in the hope that you will do such things for me. I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of this boast.” (1 Cor.6; 14-15) “I would rather die…” Why, when he had all the rights in the world to be paid by the churches he started did he choose to “not have anyone deprive (him) of this boast(?)” WDPD

THE LAUSANNE COVENANT
Paragraph 9
9. THE URGENCY OF THE EVANGELISTIC TASK
More than 2,700 million people, which is more than two-thirds of all humanity, have yet to be evangelized. We are ashamed that so many have been neglected; it is a standing rebuke to us and to the whole Church. There is now, however, in many parts of the world an unprecedented receptivity to the Lord Jesus Christ. We are convinced that this is the time for churches and para-church agencies to pray earnestly for the salvation of the unreached and to launch new efforts to achieve world evangelization. A reduction of foreign missionaries and money in an evangelized country may sometimes be necessary to facilitate the national church's growth in self-reliance and to release resources for unevangelized areas. Missionaries should flow ever more freely from and to all six continents in a spirit of humble service. The goal should be, by all available means and at the earliest possible time, that every person will have the opportunity to hear, understand, and to receive the good news. We cannot hope to attain this goal without sacrifice. All of us are shocked by the poverty of millions and disturbed by the injustices which cause it. Those of us who live in affluent circumstances accept our duty to develop a simple life-style in order to contribute more generously to both relief and evangelism.
(John 9:4; Matt. 9:35-38; Rom. 9:1-3; I Cor. 9:19-23; Mark 16:15; Isa. 58:6,7; Jas. 1:27; 2:1-9; Matt. 25:31-46; Acts 2:44,45; 4:34,35)

So how do we reach 2,700 million people who have never heard of Jesus?












I know there are a lot of "how to do it right" books and we are emerging into a new missional era, but for some reason I can't help but think we're just complicating things (again-still).

"Аз съм лозата, вие сте пръчките; който пребъдва в Мене, и Аз в эяяя"

"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."

"Ich bin der Weinstock, ihr seid die Reben. Wer in mir bleibt und ich in ihm, der bringt viel Frucht, denn getrennt von mir könnt ihr nichts tun."

"I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you're joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can't produce a thing."

أَنَا الْكَرْمَةُ وَأَنْتُمُ الأَغْصَانُ. مَنْ يَثْبُتُ فِيَّ وَأَنَا فِيهِ، فَذَاكَ يُنْتِجُ ثَمَراً كَثِيراً. فَإِنَّكُمْ بِمَعْزِلٍ عَنِّي لاَ تَقْدِرُونَ أَنْ تَفْعَلُوا شَيْئاً.

"I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing."

"Mwen se pye rezen an, nou se branch yo. Moun ki fè yonn avè m', moun mwen fè yonn ak li, l'ap donnen anpil, paske nou pa kapab fè anyen san mwen."

No matter how many different ways he tells me I must admit--I have trouble with this one; "apart from me you can do nothing."













Oh, but I keep tryin'

Christ, at the last supper said, “take this bread, it is my body broken for you.” Do I dare say those words back to Him? How can I read these words “my body broken for You” and not realize that my life is not broken for Him. In contrast my life is given tactfully, thoughtfully, piece-by-piece, so that the pain, and therefore the joy, He experienced will not be fully repeated in me. How can we experience the fullness of Christ if we are not willing to follow His lead, our purpose: Total surrender to the will of our Father in Heaven.
We would do well to repeat these words to Him in prayer, “this is my body broken for You.” Of course even Christ Himself felt the despair that follows a prayer such as this or else why would He say “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me.” Often times this is where our prayer ends. We have asked that God have His way in us, but when it becomes too much we say, “enough.” Don’t we see this separates us from the fullness of God? We imagine God as the dispenser of “good” things “fun” times and prosperity. We cry out to God so we will never have to experience suffering. This however is the gospel robbed of its fullness, of its joy. It places God in an all too modern wardrobe.
Don’t we know that we would still be slaves to sin if Christ followed our example and said, “that’s too much, you’re asking too much.” But that is exactly why Christ is the example, the Teacher, the Shepherd, the Messiah! Where our prayers end is where His prayer begins, “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me.” Then He says the words that are not said enough by us, “Yet I want your will, not mine,” His body broken for us; an example of what our relationship with the Father should be like.
A culture's mantra: Expect More, Pay Less.



Paul had a different mantra.
Romans 12--1And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice--the kind he will accept. When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask? 2Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.

Thanks Barna
Activity That Does Not Concern Churches

In fact, the survey found some disturbing results concerning the priorities of pastors in how they measure spiritual health.

Stewardship is rarely deemed a meaningful measure of church vitality. Church budgets are typically set based on the assumption that the average congregant will give 2% to 3% of their income to the ministry. Consequently, the fact that only 6% of born again adults tithe is not seen as an indicator of lukewarm commitment.

Evangelism is not a priority in most churches, so the fact that most churched adults do not verbally share the gospel in a given year is not deemed problematic. Only one out of every eight churches bother to evaluate how many of their congregants are sharing their faith in Christ with non-believers.

When pastors described their notion of significant, faith-driven life change, the vast majority (more than four out five) focused on salvation but ignored issues related to lifestyle or spiritual maturity. The fact that the lifestyle of most churched adults is essentially indistinguishable from that of unchurched people is not a concern for most churches; whether or not people have accepted Jesus Christ as their savior is the sole or primary indicator of “life transformation,” regardless of whether their life after such a decision produces spiritual fruit.

Churches are prone to looking for indicators of serving people within the church more often than seeking signs that needy people outside the church are being cared for. In fact, for every two churches that consider the congregation’s breadth of ministry to people not connected to the church to be an indicator of spiritual health, there are five churches that focus on the amount of “in-reach” activity undertaken.

Pastors are nine times more likely to seek reactions to their sermon than they are to assess the congregation’s reactions to visitors.

Perhaps most alarming of all, pastors were 21 times more likely to evaluate whether people showed up (i.e., attendance) than to determine whether people experienced the presence of God during their time at the church.

"But how can people call for help if they don't know who to trust? And how can the know who to trust if they haven't heard of the One who can be trusted? And how can they hear if nobody tells them? And how is anyone going to tell them, unless someone is sent to do it?" Romans 10












"Whom shall I send?"
"Who will go for us?" Isaiah 6












Can you use us?
We'll go.

If the church won't teach them who will?

The final break-through to fellowship does not occur, because, though they have fellowship with one another as believers and as devout people, they do not have fellowship as the undevout, as sinners. The pious fellowship permits no one to be a sinner. So everybody must conceal his sin from himself and from the fellowship. We dare not be sinners. Many Christians are unthinkably horrified when a real sinner is suddenly discovered among the righteous. So we remain alone with our sin, living in lies and hypocrisy. The fact is that we are sinners! Pg 110. Life Together




Pseudo-communities. These are where people pretend to live community. Everybody is polite and obeys the rules and regulations. They speak in platitudes and generalities. But underlying it all is an immense fear of conflict, a fear of letting out eh monsters. If people start truly to listen to each other and to get involved, speaking from their guts, their anger and fears may rise up and they might start hitting each other over the head with frying pans. There are so many pent-up emotions contained in their hearts that if these were to start surfacing, God knows what might happen! It would be chaos. But from the chaos, healing would come…and it is then that the miracle of community can happen! Pg. 33. Community and Growth

Last night we had our Santa Cruz church plant meeting. It was a special time.











First, someone new joined our team and her name is Alana. She has been feeling God’s tug to join up and finally did. She is a great woman of God. At Yaks (our coffee shop) on Monday nights we give all college students 50% off on everything and it’s a chance to meet people. Alana has been coming down and closing with us, but all she does is wash dishes. She washes dishes from 6 to 10pm; most people would complain. We all volunteer at Yaks, but Alana inspires us all. Alana wants to start a church (Ukraine?); we want to equip and send her with a team from our SC church.











It was Laben’s birthday last night. He’s 24, but he’s also 1. We bought him his own German Chocolate cake with a 1 candle on it. He’s been walking with Jesus and walking with me in a discipleship friendship for 1 year. He’s grown. We all took turns telling Laben what things we admired about him and what we see God doing in his life. It was awesome. Most people never experience this within their physical family; most people believe the church isn’t a family. We are the church and we're family.










I shared with Laben what it has been like for me to have him as a spiritual son. It was special because my spiritual father was there, pastor Mike. It was also special because Paul, who is now following Jesus because of Laben, was there too. Four generations of disciples. Four generations of “sons.”

We love each other and couldn’t imagine doing life without one another. We are not hirelings. We are a family and we’re growing: people, who love Jesus and his church. We are the hope of the world.

February 21, 2006
Gunman still on loose in Watsonville's first homicide of 2006
Santa Cruz Sentinel
WATSONVILLE — Police are searching for the gunman in what they say was a gang-related shooting Sunday that left one man bleeding to death on the lawn of an apartment complex on the city's West side.
The victim, Arturo Ortega Cardenas, 31, of Watsonville, was shot several times in his upper abdomen and died at the scene, police Capt. Manny Solano said.










I wonder where this guy went to church. I wonder what church in the area was reaching out to him. I wonder if he knew Jesus’ love and forgiveness through God’s missional people. I wonder if anyone ever emerged into his neighborhood.











I wonder if this guy could go to church. For that matter, I wonder if this guy would ever get invited to church. I wonder if this guy could tell you what "missional" people look like.

"Your son' suffering is a challenge to God. India's (SC Gang member's) brokeness is an even greater challenge to Him. What is He going to do about His creation which is now so ugly and so painful? Satan used man and woman to spoil God's creation. God responds by sending His men and women--the missionaries--to begin to restore what has now become so ugly. The New Global Mission-Pg.85-Samuel Escobar
God give us the strength to be that church.

Last Wed. we took carnations to the Mall with tags on them saying, "Jesus thinks you're awesome." I’m not sure how many flowers we gave out, but it was something else seeing people walking in the mall with them. I hadn’t thought about it and admit it was odd handing flowers to other guys! Everybody seemed really appreciative of receiving the flowers though. We even had some people come and ask us for “one for their friend.” This is a great way to (a) get out and show God’s love (without a come to my church attached to it) and (b) show “The College Group” how to evangelize, share their faith, and confront others with God's thoughts about them, since Jesus thinks you're awesome!

Paul confessed Christ two weeks ago and he's about to hand flowers out!





Hasham (in the center) is still checking this whole Jesus thing out, but he was game to help.

This last week was pretty awesome.
Two new guys came to our "The College Group" small group and after I confessed my struggle with lust they opened up about sins they struggle with and have never confessed to anyone in "church."
The other "The College Group" small group never got to their discussion, because they go side tracked praying for Afghanistan and each other!
God has been leading us (Santa Cruz & The College Group) to go to India this summer; we (Santa Cruz folks) are wondering if this will be the location for our first international church plant?! (Dreaming big here folks) God confirmed India in some pretty funny ways. What's better is I won't be leading the trip, but my disciples will be. (See Acts 29)
At our Santa Cruz mtg I shared the values of our little community: Love...Go...Equip...We spent a large amount of time talking about loving God as living sacrifices (Romans 12) especially in the areas of purity and holiness. Looking at Paul's comments of "all things are permissable, but some things are beneficial" we agreed that we will judge things we look at or listen to by asking "is this permissable or beneficial?"
A few of us got together to pray last night and it was an incredible time of worship and prayer. We prayed for the church plants going out from this church (Buffalo NY & Santa Cruz), India, our community here in Redding, The College Group, and for more of a passion for Him and a willingness to give up our agenda for His.
This last week was pretty awesome.

February 7, 2006
Five Santa Cruz churches target of 'hate crime'

SANTA CRUZ — Vandals struck five Santa Cruz churches, a Christian bookstore and the historic Santa Cruz Mission Adobe on Saturday night in what police are calling a hate crime.

The vandals used a stencil to leave specially crafted messages and images about a half-foot across. One depicted a cross with an equal sign followed by a swastika. Church leaders said another stated "Abort Christ," a message one minister called "stunning and distressing."

Well we are off to World Mandate (last years photo) tomorrow morning at 3am! This will be the fourth year in a row I have attended the conference. Each year God totally opens my eyes to what he is doing throughout the earth; God's vision for his church is so much bigger than mine. Last year it was Steve (our church planter going to Buffalo NY) and I, but this year there will be 26 of us going to Waco Texas. Antioch church, who hosts the conference started it as prayer meeting for the nations and it grew to being an international church planting/missions conference. I am eager to see what God is going to do with those we are bringing. They vary from new believers, to older Christians who have attended church without vision, accountability, and community, and mature Christians who want God to ruin their lives at any cost. Everyone from the Santa Cruz church plant is going and I hope we catch the vision of what is possible through the local church (Antioch has planted close to 45 communities worldwide). We are going early to attend their prayer meetings, since a move of God doesn't come through anything else than deep, desperate prayer.

1 Cor. 1:27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

Well I'm halfway through my graduate degree in Inter-Cultural Studies (missions) and stumbled upon something really funny.
I have to write about 35 pages per class and most, if not all of this is double-spaced. Yesterday I found out I have written all of my papers 1.5 spaced not double-space. I did the math and I have written, on average, 9 extra pages for each class. I do enjoy writting, but I had to laugh at myself yesterday when I realized my "foolishness;" thank you God.