Starting Organic Churches – New Ebook!

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Body of Christ, Christ, Christ centered, Christ the Head, Christian Life, Church, Church Life, church planting, Eternal Purpose, expression of Christ, organic church

Starting Organic Churches  (FREE Ebook!)

A Short and Simple Guide for the Newbie

By Milt Rodriguez

It’s now very documented that over 60 million American Christians have left the institutional/traditional churches over the last ten years! What is going on? Are these folks dropping out of everything? Have they fallen away from the faith? On the contrary, they are looking for MORE! That is, they are looking for much more than they received from the institutions. They are looking for more of the life of Jesus Christ in His people. They are looking for more freedom to live by and serve this Christ. They are looking for a Family, a group of believers who share their lives together. In other words, they are longing for the authentic expression of Christ in and through His Body, Bride, House, Kingdom, and Community!

Milt Rodriguez and his wife Mary have been starting and planting organic expressions of this community since 1990. They have learned much through trial and error, making a ton of mistakes, and yet never giving up. In this ebook, Milt will share with you how to start such groups of Christians. Written both as a spiritual and a practical guide, Milt will share with you his knowledge and experience. If you have longing to experience this kind of life and want to help start new groups that have a much better chance of making it towards that goal, then this is the book for you!

In this ebook you will learn the following:

• Contacting some believers (and/or unbelievers) who may be interested
• Opening up your home (or someone else’s) for some initial gatherings
• Sharing your vision and purpose for starting such a community
• Meeting together on a regular basis to get to know one another (in and out of meetings)
• Gaining more of a revelation of Christ
• Calling for an experienced church planter to help lay the foundation of Christ
• Practical guidelines and steps to follow through which each of these!
• Many resources to use and apply (and edit) for your own use!

Special bonuses!

Future revisions and additions sent directly to your email!

Plus there is a very special offer that Milt is presenting at the very end of the book!

Help is on the way!  The book is NOW released.

Click Here to Download Your FREE Copy!

Christ in the Story

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Body of Christ, Christ, Christ centered, Christ the Head, Christian Life, Church Life, Eternal Purpose, expression of Christ

This blog post is actually a podcast!  The message is taken from the Infusion SoCal 2014 conference in which I spoke with Jon Zens and some other new co-workers in southern California.  What I attempted to do in this message is tell the story of the New Testament church.  However, I added some things.  Not to the story, but to my presentation of it.  One thing I did was to preach the gospel (which is Christ!) from Paul’s letter to the Colossians chapter one.  I did this throughout the telling of the story.  The other thing I did was to compare our popular messages preached and written today to that original message of the first century.

I hope that you will enjoy this message.  Please let me know your responses by commenting.  Thanks!

 

 

 

How Does God Make a Worker?

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Body of Christ, Christ, Christ centered, Christ the Head, Christian Life, Church, church growth, Church Life, church planting, Eternal Purpose

ANNOUNCEMENT!!!  OUR FIRST PODCAST EVER ON THIS BLOG!

A short time ago, ten crazy saints got together to hold a conversation on the topic of “How Does God Make a Worker?“.

For those of you who may not know, my wife Mary and I have been learning to plant organic churches for the last 25 years or so.  In the beginning we had absolutely no experience and had no idea what we were doing.  But we had a vision of His purpose and a strong desire to help see that purpose be fulfilled.  So, for several years we basically experimented on God’s people!  We learned what worked and what didn’t work.  We also learned that we desperately needed some experience in genuine body life ourselves!  After all, how could we impart an experience to a group of believers that we had never experienced (in an intentional way) ourselves?

Well, very fast forward several years and we finally received that experience and training and then were sent out to plant New Testament style organic churches ourselves.  It was still very difficult but we learned much along the way.  Now, we are having the glorious privilege and honor of training others to do the same!  These are all folks who have been in one of the churches we have planted for at least three years and been fully recommended and sent to us for training by their respective churches.

The recording you are about to hear is a session with those eight new workers.  I hope that it will give you a better insight into how God calls, prepares, and sends workers into his harvest.  Enjoy!

Note: By posting this we are by no means claiming to be experts in this field!  I don’t believe anyone is.  We are all still learning and with every church plant we learn new things.  After all, our Christ is so big and so vast that we will never stop learning to experience him and know him!

The Sending – Part 3

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Body of Christ, Christ the Head, Christian Life, Church, church growth, Church Life, church planting, Eternal Purpose, expression of Christ, God's Mission, Jesus Christ, organic church

Image courtesy of Danilo Rizzuti at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Welcome to part three!

In this final contribution to this extremely important and yet ignored and misunderstood topic, I hope to share some final thoughts on the more practical end of being called, prepared, and sent by the Lord Jesus Christ for His work.

The Goal and Purpose of the Sending

First of all, let me explain what I see as the goal of all sending. The goal is for the Lord’s work. But what IS the Lord’s work? Here again, this is an extremely misunderstood topic. This gross misunderstanding comes from a foundational lack of vision and revelation of God’s eternal purpose. It only stands to reason that if you do not understand the purpose of something, then you will end up abusing it. I have written quite extensively on this vast topic here. In a nutshell, God’s purpose is to have an expression of the fullness of His Son. To have an image or living expression of this gloriously full and rich Christ. This image or expression is referred to in the N.T. with many different pictures such as the Body, the Bride, the House, the City, the Vine, the New Humanity, the Community of God (or household), and many more. In other words the Church! Of course, when I use that word it is definitely not in the sense of any man-made or conceived of organization or institutional system.

In the mind of God, all roads lead to His Church!

This is the central thought of all of the scriptures. Christ and the Church.

You can easily see this if you (without religious bias) read the first two chapters of the bible (Gen. 1 & 2) and the last two chapters of the bible (Rev. 21 & 22). In Genesis you see the original purpose and intention of God for creating mankind (see Gen.1:26-28). In Revelation you see the fulfillment of that eternal purpose as typified in the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21 & 22).

So, considering this (and much more) we are definitely not stretching things at all when we make this statement: God’s work is to build His Church!

There is no other work of God. All “works” of God will lead to (in some way) the building and edification of His Church.

If you read the narrative story of the New Testament carefully (with spiritual eyes) you will see that this is true. God’s goal is that the all things would be summed up or headed up in Christ and this takes place in and through the Church (Eph 1: 9,10,22,23).

I know that some of you may be saying, well Milt, what about evangelism, and missions, and healing, and miracles, and helping the poor? Well, I would say that these are all good works but that they are to take place in and through the authentic expression of the Life of Christ on earth. In other words, the Church! Read the book of Acts people! It is the story of the early Church moving in and through the Spirit. It is the flow of the life of Christ out through His Body to the people caught up in the world system.

It is not the story of independent people doing independent things in an individualistic way!

It is the story of the corporate Christ (the Body) living and moving by His glorious life!

Wow! What a difference from most of what we have seen!

“I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” (1Co 3:6-11)

Here, we see that Paul very nicely breaks things down for us concerning the Lord’s work. There are those who plant and there are those who water. First of all, what are they planting and watering? The Church! That’s very obvious from the context. So, in general, we now can see that there are two aspects of the Lord’s work; planting and watering.

Planting and Watering

Paul tells us that he planted and Apollos watered. By looking at the ministries of these two brothers we can understand what that means.

• Paul, a planter, a wise master builder: Paul and his companions basically did two things. They preached Christ and planted churches. Of course, it was a different situation they had then from what we have here in the United States and the western world. But in some ways it is very similar. Paul was sent (in the beginning) to the Jews. Or, we could say, the religious folks. This caused problems because these people had a mindset and filters filled with religious baggage that hindered them from beholding the living Christ (see 2 Cor. 3). So, in that sense, he had a similar situation that we face in modern America. However, later he did go almost exclusively to the Gentiles and that was more like a situation we have in some of the present third world nations that are “heathen”. However, the goal was always to bring about the Church of the living God in different localities. Evangelism, healing, miracles, etc. had a purpose… that purpose was always to bring about the Body of Christ!
• Apollos, a waterer, a teacher: This brother had a real gifting in the area of teaching the Body of Christ (see Acts 18:22). Paul would send him places where he had planted churches so that he could encourage the saints through teaching the scriptures (see 1 Cor 16:12). Sometimes, this “watering” is simply for others to come and encourage the saints in a new or struggling church. We have seen this many times in our own experience. It is very powerful and very much needed! Some believers from one church can go and encourage (water) those in another church.

So we can see clearly that there are two general areas of the work; planting and watering. Notice with me that these “pictures” all have to do with Life!

Now, we will see that there are three areas (or stages) of the Lord’s preparation for a worker.

• The wilderness

• The community life

• The training

We can clearly see all three of these in the life of Jesus and in the life of Paul of Tarsus.

Of course, in the life of Jesus as the eternal Son of God he had already experienced “community life” and “training” before eternity. He received this experience by living in the community life of the Godhead. However, he still needed to have the “wilderness experience”. As a man he had never experienced an emptying of himself and a lowering of himself. He had never experienced the dryness of the desert before. He had also never experienced community life with humans before. Of course, he had much rich experience living community inside of the Triune God, but now he needed to share and live that same life, that divine life, with other humans! This, he lived out for over three years with the twelve and others. And then, as he had been trained by the Father, so he trained these others to go out into the world and do his work.

Paul also went through a similar experience. First, he had his “desert” experience when he departed to Arabia (Gal. 1:15-18). Apparently, he received his revelation of the gospel in Arabia and Damascus. Then, he received his community life experience in Damascus and in Antioch. Scholars don’t totally agree as to the length of time Paul spent as a brother in the churches but they mostly agree that it was around 11-14 years. The main point here is that he was not a new believer or a novice in the things of the Lord when he was sent out! The same is true of Barnabas, Silas, and all of the others. It appears that Paul was mostly trained by the twelve in Jerusalem (Gal. 1:17) and by Barnabas in Antioch (Acts 13:1). Barnabas had many years experience in the Jerusalem church and then some in Antioch.

The life of the local church being a “training ground” for workers before they are sent out is an almost completely forgotten and abandoned practice. Of course, the work itself (as we are describing it here) is also almost a completely abandoned practice! It is usually deemed that if someone feels called to “the work” of the Lord they must go into another institutional situation called a bible college. Of course, there may be some value to that, but in reality there is absolutely no substitution for the authentic community life of the organic Body of Christ! How can you impart an experience that you yourself have never had? Believe me, I am speaking from years of experience when I say that it simply doesn’t work.

Training

Then, we see both Jesus and Paul training new workers. Of course, Jesus trained the twelve for over three years. But notice how he trained them. He sat down with them and taught them how to study the bible! Right? NOT!!!

He simply lived by the life of his Father right in front of them!

They got to see how divine life is lived out in and through a human vessel. They got to see how divine life responds to all kinds of situations in the human experience such as: popularity, notoriety, misunderstanding, rejection, opposition, persecution, scorn, ridicule, and ultimately crucifixion. They got to see Him plant the first Church in and among themselves!

Paul also trained new workers. This happened while he was planting the church in Ephesus. He brought several brothers to Ephesus who were in the churches that he had already planted.

• Titus from Antioch

• Timothy from Lystra

• Gaius from Derbe

• Sopater from Berea

• Aristarchus from Thessalonica

• Secundus from Thessalonica

• Two others added later from Ephesus: Tychicus and Trophimus

Of course, he had taken Timothy with him on his travels after his third visit to Galatia. It is also believed by many scholars that these men went on to plant churches throughout Asia Minor. Some of these churches are listed in the book of Revelation chapters 1-3 and Colossians.

The Sending

As we have already seen, the actual sending out of workers into his harvest is not solely an individual matter. It is something that is done by the Holy Spirit AND the Church! When these believers were sent out it was because they were not loner, independent individualists! They were loved, supported, and prayed for by the saints in the churches.

“Now there were at Antioch, in the church that was there, prophets and teachers: Barnabas, and Simeon who was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus.” (Act 13:1-4)

Some Resources on This Topic:

Finding Organic Church by Frank Viola

The Untold Story of the New Testament Church by Frank Viola

The Church and the Work by Watchman Nee

The Glorious Church by Watchman Nee

The Acts of the Apostles by F.F. Bruce

Theology for the Community of God by Stanley Grenz

The Stewardship of the Mystery by T. Austin-Sparks

The Community Life of God by Milt Rodriguez

The Sending – Part 1

Tags

Body of Christ, Christ, Christ centered, Christian Life, Christo-centric, Christology, Church, church growth, Church Life, church planting

The Sending – Part 1

“As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.” (Joh 17:18)

This post is (hopefully) the first of a three part article on the mind of God concerning “sending”. This is, from my perspective, a very much misunderstood, misapplied, and downright ignored subject. For example, you dear reader, how many messages have you heard or read on the subject of God’s sending? Usually this topic is related to the modern concept of “missions” which literally has very little to do with “the sending” we see happening in the contextual story of the New Testament. Therefore, I believe that this series of blog posts will help to fill the void and (hopefully) will bring some light and understanding to believers who have not had that before.

The Sending of the Eternal Son

Most Christians are familiar with the fact that the eternal Son of God was sent into time and space by His Father.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. (John 1:1-4)

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:12-14)

We call this the incarnation. But there is more to it than just that.

“He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.”

(Mat 10:40)

Here we see two “levels” of sending. First, the Father sent the Son. Then, the Son sent His disciples. It’s very clear in the context that Jesus was here speaking to his disciples. Read the whole chapter and you will see that he is speaking to the twelve.

I don’t think that any sane believer would argue the point that the Son was sent by the Father. The question we need to ask is: what does it mean to be sent by God?

Joh_5:36 “But the testimony which I have is greater than the testimony of John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish–the very works that I do–testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me.

Joh_5:37 “And the Father who sent Me, He has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form.

Joh_5:38 “You do not have His word abiding in you, for you do not believe Him whom He sent.

Joh_6:29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”

Joh_6:38 “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.

Joh_6:39 “This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.

Joh_6:44 “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.

Joh_6:57 “As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me.

Joh_7:16 So Jesus answered them and said, “My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me.

Joh_7:18 “He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.

Joh_7:28 Then Jesus cried out in the temple, teaching and saying, “You both know Me and know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know.

Joh_7:29 “I know Him, because I am from Him, and He sent Me.”

This is just a very small sampling of the verses about the Son being sent by the Father in the Gospel of John alone! Obviously, Jesus held being sent by the Father in very high regard! We must keep in mind here that Jesus had some major hurdles to jump over pertaining to the Jewish mindset. Here are just a few:

1. The Triune God – the nation of Israel did not have the revelation of a God who is revealed as three Persons! They believed that God is one Person, not three who are one. That was some thing totally new as far as the Jewish nation was concerned. Remember that they were not even allowed to mention the sacred name of God let alone to call him Father.  The fact that He would have a Son was actually blasphemous to many in the first century.
2. The Son of God – by Jesus stating that he has been sent by the Father strongly implied that he was the Son of God and was divine Himself. This was a major problem in the Jewish mind. But yet he kept telling them over and over again that he had been sent by the Father.
3. Claiming to be the Messiah – here was another major issue. All of Israel was waiting for the coming of the Messiah, but this poor son of a carpenter just didn’t seem to fit the bill in their list of expectations.

When the Son presented himself as being sent by the Father he was doing so to validate what he said and did to the house of Israel. However, the very concept (reality) of a Father who is divine sending a Son who is divine, blew the minds who were listening to those words. Of course the divine Son did this on purpose so that only those who had eyes to see and ears to hear would understand. Only those who were “poor in spirit” (Matt. 5:3) would see and have the kingdom. It was only those who would empty themselves who could receive. And this brings us to one of the major aspects of The Sending.

The Sent One Must Be Received by Those to whom He is Sent!

This receiving requires an emptying of those to whom he is being sent. If the potential receivers are haughty, puffed up with pride, and full of themselves, then the sent one can never be received. The Sent One is the Son of God Himself! And yet how many rejected He who was sent from God? Why did most of the Jewish nation reject him? Because he did not live up to their expectations! They had major veils (filters) that were hindering them from seeing this One. They were looking for a Messiah who would overthrow the Roman government and take physical, political, and military control to place the nation of Israel into the seat of power. This poor carpenter’s son from a slum just didn’t fill that bill at all!

Many Sent and Many Rejected

Of course, the Lord Jesus was not the first one to be sent to the house of Israel. There were many prophets sent before Him.

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. “Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! “For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!'” (Mat 23:37-39)

Wow! What a powerful statement made by our glorious Lord!

“from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!’”

Can you apprehend this with me? The majority of Israel was not able to see (receive) Christ because they would not welcome He who came in the name of the Lord. Here, we not only see the sending but we also see the name of the Lord! In the next part of this series we will delve into what it means to be sent in the name of the Lord and many other aspects of The Sending!

Stay tuned for the next part of The Sending to be released soon!

Infusion NorCal 2015

Tags

Christ, Christian Life, Church, Jesus Christ, organic church event

 You are invited to a very special organic church event in Northern California!

Jon Zens and Myself will be holding a special conference for those interested in organic church life in Northern California.  The event will be held in Sonoma and will run April 3-4, 2015.  

If you are involved with a group that is desirous of returning to the life and purpose we see in the New Testament, this event may be for you.

If you are an individual believer who is looking to connect with others who have this same desire in your area, this event may be for you.

For more information and registration click on the link below:

http://www.infusionevent.org/

He Himself – Being and Seeing

Tags

Body of Christ, Christ, Christ centered, Christ the Head, Christian Life, Christo-centric, Church, Church Life, Eternal Purpose, expression of Christ

“Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.” (John 17:24)

Here, in the Lord’s prayer to the Father, Jesus reveals the very heart of God for his Church.  This is definitely the key to the Son’s glory, which was given to Him by the Father. First of all, we need to understand:

This glory is the goal of his prayer.

So, I think that we would do well to discover the essence of this “glory”.

What is the Glory of the Father and the Son?

If we look closely at this chapter of this gospel of John we will see some major points that are made throughout the prayer:

– mutual glorification (verse 1)
– authority (verse 2)
– eternal life (verse 2)
– knowing the Father and the Son (this is eternal life) (verse 3)
– accomplishing God’s work brings him glory (verse 4)
– glory is something that happens with the Father and the Son before creation (verse 5)
– God’s communication comes from the Father, through the Son to us (verse 8)
– everything is mutual within the Godhead (Trinity) (verse 10)
– the glory happens when there is oneness, which happens in the Name (verses 11-12)
– protection from the world and sending dependent upon oneness (verses 16-21)
– the glory has already been given to us for the oneness (verse 22)
– the oneness, which is based upon the love between the Father and Son, will be seen in the world (verse 23)

Now, we can combine these thoughts and get a birds-eye view of what God wants. There is a lot here, of course, but I am going to juice it down into one simple paragraph. (Tip – to see this more clearly, I suggest that you read John chapters 14-17 all the way through without stopping. This will give you a much clearer picture of God’s eternal purpose in Christ.)

The glory of God is the mutual fellowship (community life) that all three of the members of the Godhead share. This involves their mutual love, communication, attention, knowing one another, union, passion, dependency, giving and receiving, and much much more. All things within this community are mutual. They share all things, all content, all life, all love, all goals and vision, and all of the uniqueness that each one has. They share all things in common, you could say. Being three distinct Persons, they are completely one. This oneness of their life together is their glory. It is the source of their power, strength, and authority. Their goal is to share and express this glory with us! Yes, us, mere mortals! And the goal would include the expression (manifestation) of this incredible life to all realms; visible and invisible.

Wow!!!  What a goal!  What a purpose!  What a vision and dream!  Paul puts it this way:

“Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Col 1:25-27)

Do you see from this passage that the “mystery” is Christ in you, the hope of glory?

Do you also see from this passage the fact that Christ now lives in you (plural)?

This fact (reality) is the key to God getting what He wants.  He cannot have the expression of His Son without this LIFE of the community of God being in us and being lived out in us and from us.

Being and Seeing

So now we come to the critical part of this prayer of Jesus to the Father.  It’s the “how to” of him getting his glory revealed:

“Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.” (John 17:24)

Being with Christ is the key to it all!  Without the being there will be no seeing of the glory!  Yes, that means being with and seeing He, Himself!  And yet, all this time we have thought it was all about our prayer life and our bible study and our witness, and our church attendance, and our devotion to God!

Wow! How could we have missed the main point?  Maybe because it is so simple and so basic that it actually insults our intelligence!  We have to somehow figure it all out and then we will have something to boast about.  But God has made it so simple.  He just wants us to BE with Him!

It may be simple but it’s certainly not easy in this hyper actively complex world we live in.  It’s not easy to simply get together with God and just BE with him.  There are many obstacles and distractions that get in the way.  It’s not easy to simply “be still and know that He is God” in a noisy and intrusive world system.  But notice with me that your Lord deliberately hides himself away to be with the Father.  He was very intentional about it.  He knew that He could do nothing apart from the Father (John 5:19) and therefore He needed to be with Him.  Do we realize this as well?

Where Do We Fellowship?

Isn’t it odd that Jesus prayed to the Father that his disciples would be with Me where I am?  Wasn’t he right there standing (and praying) in front of them?  Why would he pray that they would be where he is (present tense)?  Have you ever wondered this?

I believe it’s because even though Jesus was with them in the flesh and in the natural world, he was also in another place simultaneously.  That place was inside of the Father!  I mean that quite literally, spiritually, but literally.  He was both in the natural world AND in the heavenly places at the same time!  How is this possible?  It’s possible because Jesus (just like you and I) is made up of a spirit, a soul, and a body (1 Thess. 5:23).  With his body and soul he functions on the earth, but with his spirit he functions in the heavenlies.  In fact, he is The Door (ladder) between heaven and earth! See Genesis 28:12-17 and John 1:50,51 for further insight.

Paul tells us that we believers are now seated with Christ in the heavenly places:

“… even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”  (Eph 2:5-7)

Sisters and brothers, do you see that this declaration is in the present tense?  We are right now, currently, at this time, seated with Him in the heavenly places!  This means that we (the Church) are also now in two places at the same time.  Even though we are on the earth, he wants to be with us right now in the heavenly realms.  He wants us to be with him and see him in that place that is not bound by space, time, measurement or anything else.  You can turn to He, Himself who lives inside your spirit right now and see his glory.

May we all take this as our glorious occupation!

“… but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”  (2Co 3:16-18)

 

Life as the Well – True Worship

Tags

Christ, Christian Life, Church, Jesus Christ, organic church, Worship

The following article will be included in an upcoming book entitled:
The New Day

“Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give Me a drink.””

“Why are You asking me for a drink?”
(Joh 4:7,9)

This familiar passage of the Samaritan woman at the well is one of my own personal favorites for many reasons and on many different levels.

• Jesus comes to a town of the Samaritans (Sychar) and breaks with Jewish traditions of not having any contact with non-Jews or semi-Jews.
• He not only speaks to a Samaritan, but to a woman. This is a double-whammy!
• He offers His life (the living water) to someone outside of Israel.
• But He does and says much more to this most “unlikely” of all women.

I would go much further and propose to you that what Jesus says and does here is way more than anything we could have thought or imagined. What He says, how He says it, who He says it to, and where it takes place are all very important factors here. In fact, I would dare say that this is one of the most monumental passages in all of the founding of the New Covenant! And it has everything to do with your relationship to Christ and His Church.

The Location

The city (or village) is called Sychar. Most scholars agree that this is a nickname for the city of Shechem which was situated at the foot of Mt. Gerizim, in the province of Samaria which is where the temple of the Samaritans was built. It also became their capital. The name literally means “drunkeness” because the inhabitants were known for their much drinking (interesting!).

This place is of note in the Scriptures:

• As being that where Abram first stopped on his coming from Haran to Canaan.
• Where God first appeared to that patriarch, and promised to give the land to his seed.
• The place where Abram first built an altar to the Lord, and called upon his name. (Gen_12:7)
• The land that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.

“And besides, do You think You’re greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well? How can You offer better water than he and his sons and his animals enjoyed?”” (Joh. 4:12)

This woman is banking on the patriarch Jacob, but One Who is much greater than Jacob is here! In fact, Jesus comes to this woman as the New Israel (Jacob) with His New Tribes (the 12 apostles) presenting a whole New Covenant. It’s no accident that this takes place at Jacob’s old well. Christ is bringing in the new and taking out the old.

The Persons

The Woman – We have all heard stories and sermons about this woman. We know that she was ashamed to draw water in the morning with the rest of the women because of her many husbands and immorality, so she came at noon time, etc. She was obviously hungry, thirsty, and desperate for a new life. But I can’t help thinking that there is much more to this woman. In fact, I believe there is much more to all of the women in the bible, especially in the New Testament. Could it be that this woman represents something or someone more than just herself? Could it be that this woman represents The Woman, the corporate woman that Jesus was looking for?

We know that both Paul and John descriptively refer to the Church as the Bride of Christ (2Cor.11:2; Eph. 5:31,32; John 3:29; Rev. 21:2,9). So I believe that we can legitimately see this passage with the Samaritan woman from the “corporate” perspective. Please note these points made in the passage:

• This Woman (Church) is very thirsty and she has been searching for life, fulfillment, and love in all the wrong places! (aka – “husbands”)
• This Woman has gone into religion and an alternative mountain and temple to find Him.
• This Woman had tried and tried to know Him and love Him in her own self, soul-life, and human strength.
• This Woman is still functioning and trying to draw water (life) from the Old Covenant which is external and temporary (2Cor. 3).

Brothers and Sisters, that Woman is Us!

The Lord Jesus – He comes to us as the only valid Life Supply. He comes to provide for our thirst for reality and life. He comes to us as the Real Jacob/Israel providing the Real well of life supply. He comes to us to reset everything we thought we knew about Him! He comes to us to provide the water of Life so that we could together, as a corporate Woman, become the living Well:

“But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”
(Joh 4:14)

In other words, this Woman becomes the living Well! Out of her comes rivers of living water.

“On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to Me! Anyone who believes in Me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.'”
(Joh 7:37-38)

Under the old covenant, the woman had to provide something out from her own self and nature. Her own soul (mind, emotions, will) was her only source for knowing and loving God. This kind of “life” is very thin and runs out quickly. She had many ways (husbands) to know and to live by, but it all amounted to dung. Only He could be the living water. Only He could provide spirit and truth. She needed some REAL water! And when she took Him in, He became within her the source (well) of that living water for all of eternity. Wow! What a Christ!

A Well for the Real Jacob

Now, this Woman (corporate) has become a Well to provide living Water to the very One who gave her that same Water! His request for a drink can now be fulfilled and satisfied.

For me, this has completely redefined true worship. Now, I see worship as Christ filling His Bride to overflowing with His life, and She giving Him a drink in return of this very same Life!

I Am Thirsty

I was there before creation
Before there was any “thing”
I was the Water of Life – the River of Life
And yet, I was thirsty…
My Father quenched my thirst and continuously fills me with his life.
In fact, I am the gushing spring and the deep well of his life.
I am the container of his life, love, and glory.

And yet … I am thirsty

The water within our fellowship was so abundant and so overflowing that We
wanted to channel it into new realms still uncreated.
So We masterfully crafted realms both seen and unseen so that the living river
would have gardens to water.
And my Father’s life which he had deposited into me flowed into this creation by
means of his Spirit.

And yet … I am thirsty

I watered the fruit bearing trees and the fish in the sea, the birds of the air, and
the cattle of the field.
But still I searched for somewhere to deposit the deep water that the Father had
given to me.
I was looking for a well …
So I walked down the hallways of history searching high and low, here and there
to find the container for Our life.
I looked in the Jerusalem of old. I looked in the wilderness. I looked in the
tabernacle. I looked in the temple. But all I could find were mere shadows of my
true well.

And still … I am thirsty

And then I found the most unlikely place. The most discounted, rejected, and
uncomely place.
And in the most unlikely place, I found her, the most unlikely woman.
A woman who was repulsive to the religious, unwanted by the upper class, and
persecuted by the pretentious.
And yet SHE was chosen by my Father before time to be my WELL!
She, and only she, could contain my Life!
For my living water can only be poured into a living person, that is, a living well!
And this well is made up of many living stones who all contain the water of my
life.
And I have washed them by my word and made them clean to contain this water.

And yet I … am still thirsty!

So I filled this woman, this well, with my living water so that from within the
deepest part of her, rivers would come gushing forth.
And she was abundantly supplied to overflowing.
And then I asked her:

“Woman… would you give Me a drink?
“For I am thirsty!”

Root Before Fruit

Tags

Christian Life, Church, deeper christian life, organic church

“I am the vine; you are the branches.”
John 15:5a

My wife and I came to Christ in 1973, when we were twenty years old. It was during the Jesus People movement in Southern California when many young people were coming to the Lord.

By the time we were twenty-one, we were the worship leaders at our church. We quickly got involved as cell group leaders and were having weekly meetings in our home. I also volunteered to take care of the tape ministry for the pastor.

I preached my first message in 1975 and it was on John 15; the vine and the branches. I had no idea what I was talking about! (Back then, of course, I believed I was an expert on that text). In the next fifteen or so years, we were very busy doing Christian work. I served as a deacon, an elder, a worship leader, and a preacher.

I did evangelistic work with street preaching, door-to-door, and tract distribution. I worked helping the poor through World Vision, a local rescue mission, and sponsoring Cambodian refugees. We also traveled and shared our music ministry and ran a halfway house for wayward youth.

By the time we turned thirty-eight, we were exhausted! We left the institutional church because we really felt that there had to be something higher that God wanted.

It was then that we made a startling discovery. After all those years, we realized that we didn’t know our Lord very well at all. Oh, we knew a lot about Him. We knew the Scriptures (at least we knew them along certain lines). But what had we been giving those people to whom we had ministered? Had we given them Christ? Or had we given them doctrines, rules, regulations, and systems of self improvement? Since we ourselves had not experienced Christ in a deep way, how could we give Him to others in a deep way? There was no lasting fruit to show for those 17 years of hard work.

So we dropped all “ministry” at this point in our lives. We were determined to know Him and His church in a whole new way. During the next two years we discovered (by revelation) that we had an indwelling Lord. Christ lived in us and we lived in Christ. And we discovered that we could know and experience the Christ who lived within us in a much deeper way than we ever thought possible.

The Lord then began to give us a vision of His Church. One that was much more in line with what we saw in the New Testament. And it didn’t look anything like what we had seen around us. But we only had a vision. We had not actually experienced it yet. That would not come until several years later. But the one thing we did discover by experience was that:

“Root Must Come Before Fruit.”

The Current Scene 

There are many groups of Christians today within the house church / simple church / emergent church movement that emphasize the mission of the church. These groups are filled with many people in their 20’s and 30’s. They are hungry for authentic Christianity. They are longing for spiritual reality.

Yet, as I see it, many of them are still putting the proverbial cart before the horse. They have placed mission and social action before a deep inward knowing of the Lord. They have placed the fruit before the root. And I can’t help but wonder if this “fruit” will last.

“Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” John 15:4, 5

The Tree of Life

What the Lord is talking about here is not missions, evangelism, or social action. He is talking about Life! God’s life. Divine life. Where there is life, there will be fruit (at least eventually). We love to focus on the fruit, but it seems to me that God focuses on the life. That is, the life of His dear Son. He knows that if life is flowing in the tree, fruit will be produced naturally, organically.

There is a very important reason why the Lord used the metaphor of a tree (or vine). He wanted to convey the idea of internal life being expressed. There is life flowing inside of the tree! Please don’t get the idea that there is nothing happening inside of that tree. Where there is life, there is motion. The sap is flowing; the bark and the branches are growing. Leaves and flowers are developing. But the fruit comes last.

What is Fruit?

In a word, you could say that a piece of fruit is a “life-pod.” It is a container (pod) that holds the excess life of the tree. This life-pod is for the benefit of others. It is eaten by other creatures for the purpose of providing energy and nourishment to them. Fruit does not benefit the tree itself.

“I have come that they may have life and may have it abundantly.” John 10:10b

The fruit contains the internal life of the tree. The fruit will reflect the quality of the internal life of the tree. But it takes time for the fruit to develop so that it is a true expression of the internal life of the tree. In other words, it takes a mature tree to develop fruit. This doesn’t happen overnight. However, if the tree is in the proper environment, and it is properly nourished and develops a strong root system, it will produce fruit much sooner.

Practical Application

Christianity has manufactured a huge “machine” which we call evangelicalism. This machine pumps out instant preachers, pastors, evangelists, and missionaries. This is the opposite of organic. It is mechanical. But what can be done to turn this tide? I would like to offer a two-fold solution.

1. Learn to know an indwelling Lord. Before you rush out to the mission field or to the inner city to “minister,” get to know the Christ who lives within you, experientially. Learn to touch Him and fellowship with Him in your spirit.

This is not doing nothing. This is not passivity. This is the tree developing a strong root system. The bark, branches, leaves and blossoms will display the life within as the tree matures. You will not be passively sitting around as the life grows because you are part of the Body of Christ.

How do you do this? First, you need some instruction. As an introduction, I would recommend the books on Spiritual Formation at http://www.HouseChurchResource.org. Second, you need to find a body of believers who are learning to live by Christ together. That’s the next point.

2. Learn to know your Lord in a shared-life community of believers. We learn to live by Christ by growing in Him together with a group of Christians who are all functioning under the headship of Christ in an organic way. Learn to be a brother/sister in an organic expression of the church where everyone serves one another. If you don’t know of a such a group where you live, then I would encourage you to fill out the “find an organic church” form at http://www.HouseChurchResource.org

Everyone who was sent out to work for the Lord in the first century was first trained by being a brother or sister in an organic church. Church life itself was their training ground. They were called, prepared, and then sent. Today, if someone feels called to “the ministry” they are immediately shipped off to Bible College. But God uses His church to prepare people for His work.

Now when I say “church,” it’s important that you understand that I mean a group of believers who are all functioning under the headship of Christ in a shared-life community. That’s the only “church” that the New Testament knows.

Our God strongly desires to have a living expression of His Son in every city in the world. This harvest is great, but the workers are few. Where are the men and women who are willing to actively pursue Him within the context of organic church life? Where are the men and women who are willing to learn Christ as non-leaders in a community of believers who are living and functioning under the vibrant headship of Jesus Christ?

God is raising up such young people in our day who want to know Him first before anything else. May He increase this work!

Knowing Your Identity – W.W.D.M.D.

Tags

Christ, Christian Life, Cross, Jesus Christ

“Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.”
(Rom 6:3-7)

“Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.”
(Col 3:2-5)

“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”
(Gal 2:20)

There is no doubt about it that we believers have a major identity crisis. We really have no idea who we are in Christ. We don’t know much about the New Creation, the New Man, or the New Covenant. But we do know all about the old creation, the old man, and the old covenant! What I am saying is that we know all about who we aren’t anymore. And it’s really difficult to realize, focus on, and experience our new identity in Christ while we are still looking at the old identity. The old man is really all we know, and therefore, we work really hard in the strength of the old man to improve the old man. How futile is that? I would say that is the definition of religion – man’s attempt at fixing man.

Three Aspects of the Cross

I believe that there are three aspects of the cross of Christ.

1. Redemption: this is the aspect that all evangelicals are familiar with. We all know and believe that Jesus Christ died for our sins. The Lamb of God took away the sins of the world. Thank God for this!
2. Our Co-Death: Paul tells us that we were crucified with Christ (Rom. 6:8-11). This means that our old man (the old creation) was crucified with Christ on the cross. That was the old Adam (race) that no longer lives because there is now a new Adam (or race). God put the old race to death on that same cross (1Cor15:22). This aspect of the cross is the topic for this blog post.
3. A Living Sacrifice: Paul tells us to present our bodies a living sacrifice to God (Rom.12:1). Jesus tells us to pick up our cross and follow Him daily (Lu 9:23). Paul said; “I die daily” (1Cor 15:21). This is the daily work of the cross in the life of the believer to bring about transformation.

Most Christians are only familiar with the first aspect; redemption. Most of us are totally unfamiliar with the other two aspects of the Cross. The second aspect, our co-death with Christ, is totally vital for us understanding our true identity in Christ.

God’s View of the Old Man

God has no desire to “fix” you. It’s sad for me to see the shelves at Christian bookstores lined with books on fixing the old man. “How to be a better_____” books are everywhere! Yet God has no plan for fixing us. He is not a home-improvement kind of God. He does not inspect you and then make a list and hand it to you and say, “okay, start working on this!”. He’s just not that kind of God. His plan does not involve fixing you in any way, shape, or form. He has never tried to fix Adam. His approach is totally different.

The Great Leveler

God doesn’t try to fix Adam, instead He crucifies him! He doesn’t try to fix the house, instead He uses His great Wrecking Ball, the Great Leveler – THE CROSS – to completely demolish the house. Adam was simply “unfixable”. He had to be done away with. Now listen to this:

God didn’t place His Son on the cross so you could get a clean slate and then turn over a new leaf and begin living a good, clean life. He placed His Son on the cross so YOU could be crucified with Him!

The Last Adam is also the Second Adam. Paul calls Him the Last Adam because He was the last one of Adam’s race. He crucified that old race on the cross. He is called the Second Adam because He is the first one in a totally NEW race. The first step in realizing and stepping into your true identity is a revelation that you have been crucified with Christ. The old you is now deceased. The person you know (as you) is dead as a doorknob! You are dead. Can I say it any more clearly? You are a corpse. The old you is all white, stiff, and decaying. Dead, Dead, Dead!

Now if this is true (and God says it is), then I simply must ask you a question:

Why are you spending all of your thoughts, energies, and time trying to repair this dead person?

Why are you attempting to fix yourself and why are you trying to fix others? By the way, this is what we do in the name of Christian “ministry”. I was involved with this for many years. Dead people trying to make other dead people look good. This is religious embalming. Trying to make dead people look good. You know, you can apply the makeup and comb the hair, but a corpse is still a corpse!

W.W.D.M.D.

I would like to start a new slogan. Remember a few years back the slogan and campaign called: What Would Jesus Do? There were bumper stickers, t-shirts, billboards, and the like. W.W.J.D. was all over the place. The premise was to think before you speak or act. When you find yourself in a particular situation, ask yourself; “what would Jesus do?”. This concept revealed a huge lack in our understanding of the New Covenant. In other words, Jesus isn’t here, but if He were, what would He do? Very sad. No understanding whatsoever of our new identity in Christ and the fact that we are in Christ and He is in us.

Anyway, I would like to start a new slogan:
W.W.D.M.D – What Would a Dead Man Do?

The next time you find yourself in a difficult situation, ask yourself – “what would a dead man do?”

There can be only one answer to this question: ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!!!

“I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”
(Joh 15:5)