Prosperity theology bugs me

I spent some time this morning talking with a family that are very precious to me. One of the things the husband brought up was how he is frustrated by the word "Christian", especailly as it relates to how people sometimes view and think of Christians.

As a new Christian he says he is getting tired of feeling like he is excpected to be perfect. So if you are perfect, please stop reading here. The rest of this blog might be offensive to you.

Where did this idea of perfect Christians come from. If our churches and meetings are full of perfect people what real impact are we having anyway. No perfect people should be allowed in church. Why? Because there are no perfect people. That way everyone should be welcomed in.

The message often portrayed in some churches is that you need to be perfect to attend. Then once you make a decison for Christ, you will have a prosperous and blessed life. Only the weak in their faith will have trials and persecution. I have a word I would like to insert here but I will choose a kinder word, nonsense.

I was reminded of a previous conversation I had with a health and wealth preacher in Alabama. He told me that no one has ever been afflicted with sickness and not been healed in his church. He had been there 15 years. Therefore I would have to assume he never has performed a funeral. Come on, lets be realistic.

To bring this full circle, here is my point. Should we really be suggesting to people that the people in the pews of our churches are perfect, and that by becoming a Christian, life will be a bouquet of roses. No we shouldn't!!! The more effective message is that Christ died for imperfect people and that He will be with us as we go through the trials and tribulations of life.

I agree with my friend that if this is the type of Christianity we are supposed to identify with, I wish they would come up with another name for who they are. Maybe we can call them...

Going deep with God

GO DEEP!!!!

Well I have started back at therapy and I can tell you, "IT HURTS!!!" There are times when he presses on trigger points that I think I am going to levitiate. Just kidding about the levitation, but not about the pain. But if I am going to find that healing he will need to continue to go deep.

Lately the Lord has been showing me something that is so important in ministry. So here it goes:
It seems to me that often in Christian circles we are content with leading people to Christ and talking to them about Jesus. Now statistics tell us that the average Christian leads less than 1 other person to Christ during their lifetime. There is something seriously wrong (I mean with what we are doing not that the statistics are wrong).

For those who are invloved in "evangelism" we can sometimes take the approach of leading someone to Christ and then moving on to the next person. There is a real problem with that approach. Here is why!!!

If the message we preach is forgiveness without repentance we are sharing a cheap gospel. In Luke 24:47 we find written, "Repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." I am understanding that it is not enough to just stand on the corner and tell someone they need to be forgiven or preach forgiveness, it is part of the message but not the whole message. The message we share needs to include repentance.

Repentance means to turn from the direction we are heading and go in the opposite direction. Repentance means turning and going towards God. It means we need to teach those who pray for forgiveness how to really go deep with God and learn from Him. Maybe I am wrong but I think the church has often been guilty of sharing a watered down gospel.

I know churches keep lots of statistics. I think the most important thing a church should keep track of is not how many new members they have, or how many new converts, but on how many disciples did they make.

Just like the illustration I shared about my therapist having to go deep to bring healing and help me to move forward with strength, the same thing needs to happen in our walk with God. We need to go deep and help others to go deep and become disciples of Christ. It requires more of us and of those we disciple.

How intimate is our relationship with Christ?

I was recently sharing what it means to be in a relationship with Christ, I used the following example. While at the home of friends there was a grandmother and granddaughter. I have been friends of the family for some time now and I said to the grandaughter "can you give me a hug?" This of course was done in front of others to illustrate my point.

The granddaughter came beside me and put her arm around my shoulder and then went and sat down. I then said, "can you give your grandmother a hug?" She walked over to her grandmother, wrapped both arms around her, put her head on her grandmothers shoulder, and told her that she loved her. It was beautiful to watch and to see the smile on her grandmothers face. It brought tears to her eyes!!

This illustrated the way we approach Christ. If Christ is just a casual aquaintance we will half heartedly reach out to Him and be sure to keep Him at a distance. But if we are like the grandmother and granddaughter the realtionship is different. It is one where we can wrap our arms around the Lord, trust Him, rest in Him and truly love Him. We can feel the warmth of His embrace.

Maybe you are trying to keep your relationship with Christ at a distance. Don't!!! Embrace the Lord and get to know Him more personally. You will find His arms are open and ready to wrap you up.

Take a leap!!!

I was thinking this morning about the journey of being a faith missionary over the last 10 years and I was reminded that my journey of faith started well before that. Over the next few days I am going to share with you some of the miraculous provison God has blessed us with over the years.

I remember vividly moving to Sussex, NB to go to Bible college. We had to move into a home that we could not afford as a full time student at college. While driving in the rental van to take what few belongings we had, my dad asked me a question. He said, "can you really afford this house?" My response was "NO". He then asked "have you thought about getting a border to stay in an extra room in the basement?". My response was, "That would be a great idea if I knew someone who was looking to board, but I don't really know of anyone."

Well we arrived in Sussex within an hour. As I walked up to the front door to unlock it and enter our house for the first time, I saw a note. On the note was written "you don't know me but my name is Susan. I am a student at BBC(the Bible college) and I am looking for a place to board. If you think this is possible, please let me know."

That is where my journey of truly trusting God began. I saw that I needed to step out into the unknown and that God would meet me when I took the step.

Maybe you are struggling to take a step out into the unknown. If God is leading you to do it, He will meet your need. You see this isn't a blind leap, it is a leap into the arms of God. He is able!!!

You were running a good race

You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? Gal. 5:7

Last night we had so much fun. Myself and four teens went to the local race track to see the races. Lots of cars going at high speeds and occasionally seeing some really incredible accidents made for some thrilling moments.

One of the best racers is known as "Smokin Joe". Smokin Joe is an old guy probably in his late sixties, skinny, and with a white beard that is about a foot long. They love him because no matter where he starts on the race track, he always finds his way to the front where he stays. He drives a bright orange #04 car.

Last night was no different, Smokin Joe was in the lead of the race with about 10 laps to go. Just as he came accross the start finish line the car behind him, #99, made contact and drove them both into the wall. The 99 car flipped over and gas was spilling out, smoke was flying and people feared for a fire. When the smoke cleared all the people saw Smokin Joe laying on the ground beside his car, he had managed to climb out but was a bit dazed. For Smokin Joe it meant the end of the night. He was not going to win this race and in fact would not finish the race.

I think that this same thing can happen to us in life as well. We can be running along and destined to win in our walk with the Lord. Then all of the sudden we get banged around by other people and find ourselves out of the race. We let our circumstances begin to determine how long we stay in the race. If that is you, get back in the race. Get back on track with God.

Well before the night was over, Smokin Joe did make his way back onto the racetrack. He was only able to race a couple of laps before his car finally gave up. But he made the effort to get back in the race. What a great example of what it meant to persevere.

Next generation...a reflection of us

Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Today is both an exciting and sad day. Why? My son, Ryne, is headed out for three months to work at a summer camp in Georgia. He is so excited to get invloved in hands on ministry.

When I think about Ryne and his journey I can clearly see people who have had an impact on him. One person is Mike. Mike has truly invested in Ryne and discipled him over the past year. Another person is Emily, my sons fiancee. She has such a heart for children and making a difference in their lives.

I have to evaluate what kind of an impact I am having on other people. It is easy to become focused on things that are really unimportant. The most important things we can focus on are God, family and others. We are given the privilege of walking on this earth to impact others.

The next generation is one I need to have influence over. I need to invest in them, befreind them and teach them. I need to disciple them.

I will miss my son not being around this summer but I am so excited to see how much he has grown this year and to hear about the lives he now will impact. It is an honor to release my son into ministry and to know that God is going to use him.

Update: My son will not be in Georgia this summer as he was denied entrence into the US. Makes you wonder who they let in and don't let in. Bizarre!!! I know God has something else planned for him.

Love your neighbour

Thursday night is our cell group that meets on the reserve. Last night we were few in number, just five of us, but we had a wonderful time together. Our topic of discussion was "How to Love Our Neighbour".

Matt 22:37-40 Jesus replied, “Love the lord with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbour as yourself. All the law and prophets hang on these two commandments.

I believe that it is not really possible to love our neighbour the way we need to unless we truly love the Lord. When we really love the Lord we will be in commmunion with Him, we will be in His word, we will understand how He loves people and He can reveal to us how to really care for our neighbours.

Sometimes we expect our neighbours to treat us the way we want to be treated. I think this is unrealistic. I think we need to be accepting of our neighbours and find ways to connect with them.

There is a very heavy burden on the reserves for those who don't know Him. They want their neighbours to come to know Christ. They want to know how to reach their fellow native brothers and sisters.

I think we all began to understand that if we really want to love our neighbour and see them come into relationship with Jesus, that we need to spend time with God, hear from Him, and then act. Find what God wants us to do and then do it.

1 John 3:18 “Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.”

Hooked on drugs

I spent three hours today ministering with a family who are going through some real challenges with their teen son. He is drinking, smoking pot and getting into fights. They called me and asked if I could meet with them to try and give them some wisdom.

We discussed how their son had gotten to this place. There were so many factors. We talked about different organizations that could help and different programs that he could potentially enter. We talked about a number of different options but we always came back to the same solution, Jesus!!!

Isn't it amazing how the only true and lasting answer is Jesus. I know it sounds simple but it is true. No matter what challenges we face, the ultimate answer is Jesus.

We concluded our three hours together by praying and asking God for His wisdom. We are asking God to move on his life in a new and special way. We know that God can transform his life by renewing his mind. We are praying that God would chase after him until he repents of this destructive behavior.

Maybe there are people in your life that you don't know what to do with and how to reach them. Lay them at the feet of Jesus. As a good friend of mine says, "Let Go and Let Jesus!!!"

Dinner conversations

Last night we were eating supper with the girls and they had a friend over. I had never met him before. He seems like a nice kid. He has lots of piercings and at least four different colors of hair. So I decided to get to know him a little bit better.

I found him to be a very honest and straight forward teen. I appreciate that. We talked about a lot of things and then I asked him about his church background. He shared that he had no use for religion. He said I don't have time to deal with that right now. He said I want to do alot of other things first and in a few years I'll deal with that if I feel like it.

I shared with him that he was making a big mistake because he was not guaranteed anything in life. His response was that he was smart enough to stay safe.

I asked him what would happen if he died and stood before God, what would he do. He said he would talk his way out of trouble and even if he couldn't that he could handle pain. I reminded him again that he had faulty thinking.

We never argued at all we just talked. At the end of our conversation he said, "Do you judge me for the way I think?" My response was, "No I do not. I respect your ability to do and choose what you want. But you really need to rethink what you have believed to be true. "

It is sad that so many people believe so many lies. They are deceived. They need the truth. In his case he has heard the truth. He spent six years in a Christian school and went to church every Sunday for years. I am glad that he was at my dinner table.

Trigger Points and Pottery

An updated picture of me from the meetings in Florida

Jeremiah 18:6 "Like clay in the hands of a potter, so are you in my hands."

I start back today with my therapist who treated me last year. He does a technique called trigger point therapy. This is basically how it works. John my therapist finds points in my shoulder and neck that he identifies as trigger points. When he pushes on them it causes very direct and sharp pain. He pushes hard for a number of seconds until the pain backs off and then releases. He then goes back to the same spot a few seconds later and repeats the process. He does this until the pain is not produced in the location.

There are times when he can't push deep enough using his hands. He then gets out a special "tool" (it is like the tool doctors use to check your reflexes) and really digs in. It really is not a pleasant experience. But, if he can hit on that trigger point enough and go deep the healing will come. That is what I am trusting for as I begin to allow him to work on me again.

Our spiritual lives are very much the same. First I must choose to let the Holy Spirit really go to work in my life. Sometimes we have to go through some very painful things in order to get healing. There are times when the Holy Spirit needs to go deep and we just want Him to go shallow.

Here's the real application as I see it. We need to put our lives into the hands of the master, the potter. He wants to mold us, challenge as and go deep with us. In His hands there is real safety and best of all healing. My therapist wants to help me find healing through the work of his hands. My Jesus wants you and I to find healing through the work of His hands. GO DEEP!!!!

Identity crisis

After rising early 2:30 a.m., I headed to the airport in Melbourne, Florida to head back home after spending a week in leadership meetings at our COI HQ. It was a wonderful week and a long week all at the same time.
I arrived so early that the airport was not even open yet. That was a first for me, to have to wait outside at an airport at three in the morning. It actually was a neat experience to be in a place where it was so quiet.
After a short wait outside the doors were finally opened and I was allowed to come inside. Once again I was all alone, just me and a security person.
Then when I went through security the screener told me that she would need to see more ID than my drivers license. She wanted to know if I had a passport, which I did have. She said it was necessary. Interesting I thought!!!
As I think about that experience I reflect on my relationship with Christ. I know who I am, and I know that He knows me. My identity is in Him.
Whats interesting for me is that my passport photo and drivers license look completely different. In fact my drivers license is more recent and looks much more like me. Though the one she used to check me through was my passport.
So the question is: where is our identity found and does who we present really represent who we are.
Well they are calling me to board. Finally.