one.yahweh

On Jacob

2009-12-08T09:35:00.000-08:00

But Jacob stayed behind by himself, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he couldn't get the best of Jacob as they wrestled, he deliberately threw Jacob's hip out of joint.

The man said, "Let me go; it's daybreak."

Jacob said, "I'm not letting you go 'til you bless me."

The man said, "What's your name?"

He answered, "Jacob."

The man said, "But no longer. Your name is no longer Jacob. From now on it's Israel (God-Wrestler); you've wrestled with God and you've come through."

Jacob asked, "And what's your name?"

The man said, "Why do you want to know my name?" And then, right then and there, he blessed him.

Jacob named the place Peniel (God's Face) because, he said, "I saw God face-to-face and lived to tell the story!"

Genesis 32:24-30

what a beautiful thing this is. to wrestle God... and win. i guess during this season of my life i feel like this wrestler. but i realize that i'm not wrestling with God. i am wrestling with myself.

you see jacob desperately needed God. he was fleeing from the brother from whom he had stolen a birthright and realized that his circumstances didn't look very promising. when he saw this angel, he wouldn't let go until he recieved a blessing from God. he realized that his own hands were insufficient to build his salvation. he knew that God alone could do this for him and he wrestled, he contended for it. he worked out his salvation with fear and trembling.

it reminds me of the story about the woman who wanted a healing from Jesus. she was a samaritan, the equivalent of a dog in hebrew society, and Jesus tells her this. she tells Him that even dogs get the scraps from the table. Jesus then proceeds to give her her request.

but she had to wrestle Him for it.

and so do we. we need to understand that what we seek after we seek after in desperation. its desperation that drives us to realize that our hands cannot provide our own salvation. its this desperation that somehow causes us to commit our lives and our hearts into sovereign hands, hands that ran red with our sins.

He wrestled for us, wrestled the keys of death out of damned hands.

now we must wrestle Him. our faith isn't just some free prize that were given and leave in the closet until sunday or our deathbed. its a precious bloody gift paid in full for every transgression we will ever commit. ever. ever. and ever. paul tells us to contend for it, run for it with perseverance, chase it, pursue it, wrestle for it. when God seems far, wrestle Him, seek Him, trust in His promises.

but we wrestle ourselves. we want to beat our old patterns, habits, addictions, curses, faults, deficiencies. NO! we can only wrestle God and cling to what He has wrestled for us and away from damnation. we cannot let Him go until He blesses us... not with material possessions, power or standing... but with the knowledge of who He is and what He calls us to. as long as we wrestle ourselves we will only defeat ourselves.

the irony is that when we pin God down we find ourselves in a place of complete surrender.

so maybe this is crazy, but it seems right. this late september its what i feel imprinted into the marrow of my heart and expelling the shadows of my soul.

so put on your pads, hit your knees, and contend for this.

Manifesto

2009-12-08T09:28:00.000-08:00

We are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood.

We are strangers, aliens, not of this world.

We are of another Kingdom.

Our president is "Our Father who art in Heaven".

Our national motto is "Hallowed be thy name".

Our pledge of allegiance is "Thy Kingdom come".

Our domestic policy is "Thy Will be done on earth as it is in in Heaven".

Our welfare state is "give us this day our daily bread".

Our foreign policy is "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us".

Our law enforcement is "lead us not into temptation".

Our defense department is "deliver us from evil".

Our political platform is "for Thine is the Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory, for ever and ever".

Our founding Father is Yahweh, the only God.

Our constitution is His Word.

Our President is Christ, the Lord and Giver of life.

Our declaration of independence is "Christ and Him crucified for our sins".

Our rallying cry is "Jesus is Lord".

No weapon formed against us shall prosper.

The gates of hell will not stand against us.

We are not of this world, of this nation, of this Babylon.

We are the Church, the lovesick Bride yearning for our soon and coming King.

And we are eternal.

Amen.

Thoughts on St. Francis

2009-12-08T09:25:00.000-08:00

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury,pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Amen

- Saint Francis of Assisi

-------

If anyone could be considered a saint in the eyes of God it would certainly be Francis. As we approach his feast day according to the liturgical calender (October 4th) there is much we can learn from his example and his method. Francis embodied the ideal symbioses of orthodoxy and orthopraxy.

Or right thinking and right living.

Francis was the son of a wealthy French merchant who renounced his money, name, and station in life to follow the words and the way of Jesus and serve the poor, the beggar, the cripple, and the least. He devoted himself to a life of poverty because of the Good News that the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand.

Francis was a social worker for that Kingdom.

Not under the name of a crown or even a bishop or pope, Francis's motivation came from the life of Christ and His command to love every neighbor (especially the most unfortunate) as himself. He founded an order within the Catholic church, the Franciscans, who live out this life daily. They take vows of intentional poverty and own little to no possessions. They waste their years providing for those wasted.

Francis's perspective was not the position of the wealthy and powerful Church. Neither did it make sense to his wealthy and powerful family. But Francis was a man who found the wealth and power in Christ Jesus. In His humility, poverty, and brokenness. And it changed the world. It brought the Kingdom to earth, and it continues to do so.

Orthodoxy informs orthopraxy.

Right thinking informs right living. And it changes the world. The Word of God isn't just to be believed, it is to be lived.

When Jesus asked Peter if Peter loved Him after His resurrection (John 21:15-17) Peter three times replied "yes master, you know I love you". Peter believed in his heart the resurrected Christ. Not only did he believe, but he also loved Him. He had walked beside God incarnate for the past three years. He had witnessed the miracles, the death, the burial, the resurrection. But he had also three times denied Christ, and his faith had faltered when we walked to Jesus on the sea.

Peter was a man just like us.

With doubt and fear, but also faith and love. Like us he believed in Jesus through faith, and he loved Jesus. He tells Him this three times. How does Jesus respond? "Feed my sheep". And as Peter represents us in so many ways, Jesus's command falls to us as well. Jesus command implies that our love for Him prompts us to action.

Matthew 25:31-46 talks about sheep. And goats. He separates the sheep from the goats not according to what they believed or didn't believe... but according to what they did and did not do. Is it really alright to just believe and stop there?

Now I believe entirely that we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Works don't merit our salvation, nor do they add to our salvation. But they are the fruit of our faith. Faith without works is dead. I believe in a literal Heaven believers will live in upon death. There will there no injustice or poverty, no prejudice or tears. Our eternal life will consist of worshipping Yahweh with the saints and angels, with the cherubim and seraphim. Orthodoxy, or right believe in Christ as the way, the truth, and the life is enough to lead us into this Heaven. But orthopraxy, or right living, is the key to lead that Heaven to this earth.

As Jesus commands us to pray, "Thy Kingdom come", so He commands us to do. Feed His sheep. Like Francis we must be aware that our mission is entirely counter-cultural. It makes no sense. Whatsoever. To deny ourselves and take up our cross to help the poor and fight injustice isn't very capitalist. And to do so in the name of the resurrected Jesus isn't very communist.

It transcends labels and countries and kingdoms.

If we the Bride were to become this foolish for Christ, then the world would truly see Him within us.

If we sold our SUVs and mansions and gave the money to the carless and the homeless... Thy Kingdom come.

If we stopped supporting politicians and their wars and instead worked to stand in the way of violence and political oppression... They will be done.

If we broke down our denominational differences and came together in one accord to uplift the name of the resurrected Jesus whether in tongues or in liturgy but in unity... One earth as it is in Heaven.

Brothers and sisters let us honor Saint Francis at the time of his feast by following his lead. May we feed God's sheep out of our own resources. May we love the most unlovely because He Loves us in our ugliness. May we uplift the name of Jesus with all our Christian brothers and sisters, and may we bring the Kingdom of Heaven to earth until the day Jesus returns to rule it and reign in justice and glory.

In His holy and resurrected Name,

Amen

On Weakness

2009-12-08T09:21:00.000-08:00

"And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me." - 2 Corinthians 12:9

In the months passed beyond since Bethany and I ended our year-and-a-half relationship, I have become more and more intimate with this verse. Especially the part about weakness. Like barbed wire becomes deeper and deeper imbedded into the flesh of a tree as it grows, so does this verse bear deeper imprint and meaning as I grow. As I grow weaker that is.

Man.

Not mankind in general, but we males specifically.

We have innate within us a desire to conquer. Whether that be through sports in swinging for the fence or dashing for the end-zone, on the battlefield in neutralizing an enemy or occupying enemy territory, in relationships in the process of wooing and eventually claiming the heart of a woman for his own, even among his friends in trying to prove that he is the best among them. This desire to conquer, to possess, to accomplish, to have strength is a huge theme in my own life. Its why I go to school, its why I lift weights, its why I read, its why I play chess and its why I play guitar.

Its why I hate weakness.

Because weakness goes against my very genetic predisposition as a man. I can't tell you how many times I scoffed at people I perceived as weak all the while desperately hoping others wouldn't view me as weak. I desperately wanted friends and foes alike to see me as strong, to see me as formidable. To see me as capable. I was, and still am, afraid of weakness. It terrifies me. It means that my world is beyond my control. It means I am not the author of my own story. I cannot write as gospel the narrative of my life.

In the wake of this understanding I find the true definition of faith. Faith is not something I have in myself regarding my ability to do anything I want to do, but rather a realization that by myself I can truly do nothing. I, a man who has within himself all the qualifications of masculinity, have learned that true power doesn't come through -

-the might of my arm

-or the blade of my tongue,

but by the measure of my faith.

A faith not in myself in all my ignorance and frailty, but in something beyond myself.

In essence, God.

And in particular, Christ.

And at the heart of that faith is weakness. For if I am to worship a resurrected Jesus I must take myself of the altar.

And thus Paul's thought, "I will rather boast about my weakness so the power of Christ may dwell in me."

Who in their right mind boasts of their weakness? Imagine if the United States responded to a declaration of war from an enemy country with:

"You guys can attack us if you want, but you better watch out because we don't have very many guns and our airplanes really can't stay in the air that long. Oh and those nukes we've been scaring you with? Yeah, they're duds. So you can still attack us, be don't say we didn't warn you."

Unheard of.

Or what man in his right mind would say on his first date with the girl of his dreams:

"So you ask why you should go out with me? Well I'll tell ya. I got pushed around on the playground every week in elementary school, I didn't stop bed-wetting until I turned fourteen, I can't do more than eleven push-ups at one time, I cried at the end of Titanic, and I am incredibly self-conscious about my receding hairline and persistent athlete's foot."

Think she would stick around for dessert?

But then again what God would say:

"I love what I have created, I have called it good. But my favorite creation, human beings, have continually and constantly broken my commandments and turned their backs on me repeatedly. Instead of eternally flexing muscle and showing them who's boss, I'm going to send my only Son with whom I am well pleased to dwell among them. But instead of kicking them into shape and condemning the greatest sinners while esteeming the religious faithful, He is going to walk alongside the greatest sinners and rebuke the religious faithful. And instead of leading a revolution to free my chosen people from the oppressive hand of Roman occupiers, He is going to die under those oppressors the death of a criminal all the while being mocked and ridiculed until His death. And through Him I will restore humanity to me."

Imagine what Lucifer thought.

But Sunday's a'comin.

Through His humility, brokenness, and subsequent death Jesus destroyed the powers of sin and death. In His weakness, power was perfected. Perfect power.

And so why is it so hard for me? Why do I fight against this weakness? It may be because I have to much faith in myself. But if the power of Christ is to dwell in me then that has to change.

For He was not only man. But God.

Though I will never be God, I deeply desire to be like Him.

So embrace weakness with me. Realize the power, the beauty, the wonder that accompanies laying down your life and taking up your cross.

And realize it is in weakness alone that this power, the same power that raised Christ from the dead, lives in you.

Grace and peace from Jesus Christ, the Lord and Giver of life.

The 21st Century Lost My God In High School Still Have Existential Longing And So I Recycle Blues

2009-05-08T07:53:00.000-07:00

Eco-Theology 21st Century Religion

I ran across this somewhere online last night... I have no clue as to who these gentlemen are or what they represent but they bring up a really interesting point about environmentalism being a state-sponsored religion for the 21st century. The theological meat of this program is past the ten minute mark, but the whole discussion is interesting and thought-provoking.

The most interesting part was when the older gentlemen talks about the secularization of this country, the existential longing for the purposefulness of faith, and the placing of that faith in the creation and not the Creator (my words, not his).

As our world grows more and more afraid of global warming and many in the church (emerging and otherwise) rush over to jump on the green wagon, what response should a rational believer in Christ take? Should we, like the fundamentalist evangelicals, take the position of the imminent destruction of the world and the glories of heaven superseding any motivation to better our present world? Or should we, like many emerging, mainline, and seeker-sensitive progressives, conclude that the kingdom of heaven is at hand and that it is our responsibility to prepare it and restore it to an original Edenic utopia?

Neither and both.

Here is why.

Christ IS returning. He has promised it and it has been prophesied. Every old testament prophecy concerning a myriad of aspects of Christ's life was fulfilled and in the same manner He left, He will return to rule with His creation and His kingdom will be without end. I would imagine many Christian denominations and creeds would affirm this promise as fact and at the very least potential. Whether or not this there is a rapture, a demonic one-world government, an unbearably long narrative, and poorly written dialog is not up to me or Tim LaHaye to tell you (although Nicolae Carpathia is a kick-butt name).

Not even the Son of Man knows the hour He will return.

But He WILL return. That is key. Christ is coming back to rule over this earth and not in a mere spiritual sense, in a literal and physical sense. An every knee will bow and every tongue confess sense. It may happen tomorrow, it may happen in a million years. It will happen. Yahweh will dwell among us and we will be with Him eternally. As it was in the beginning so will it be at the end. Eden will be restored and sin abolished. The lion will lay down with the lamb and the investor will lay down with Bernie Madoff. Heaven will be the perfect compression and merging of the spiritual and material worlds, both interacting in simultaneous harmony. As Chris Rice said, you can smell the color nine.

However there is nothing we can do it speed it up for slow it down. Yahweh is within the material and without time. Fundamentals like to put eschatology on a precise timeline while the Author of the universe works behind and beyond the veil of time, but Yahweh sees the beginning from the end and the end from the beginning. He is already present in the end just as He is present in the beginning and present in the present. Our intent on "going green" or "saving the (fill in the blank)" is focused on the man-made redemption of the earth, an endeavor fruitless and futile. The end is already determined because Yahweh is already there. The quasi-religion of green ultimately fails in providing something beyond this earth, beyond this life, to hope for and toward. In doing so it can only engender frustration and condemnation if and when the environment doesn't turn the expected corner. Creation is a reflection of the creator and the reflection is not the real thing.

But I'm not saying we should do nothing. Paul calls us to be here but not of here. As agents of this mysterious and invisible kingdom we have sacred duties to perform while were here. Heaven may be allot closer than we think and to miss out on the kingdom here for the kingdom there is a tragedy. For just as Yahweh is here and there so is His kingdom. The only difference is sin. Mankind's rebellion and subsequent fall from grace has erected an insurmountable wall called death between the kingdoms. Just because a wall exists does not mean that what is on the other side does not.

By pledging allegiance to Jesus we become ambassadors to this world, never knowing fully what is beyond the wall but only knowing that one day that kingdom will invade this and that the gates of hell cannot stand against the onslaught. For we know now in part and prophecy in part.

So what do we do about our world if we can do nothing on our own to save it but at the same time are also charged to be stewards of it and salt and light to it?

Act justly.

Love mercy.

Walk humbly with your God.

Many of the same corporations that pollute the earth also employ foreign workers at pennies an hour and often force them to work in inhumane conditions. Speak out against it. Support free trade producers and purchase free trade products. Act justly.

City governments in their quest for urban renovation destroy low-income housing in a bid to draw in business and more money. Take in the poor. Provide for the widow and the orphan. Act justly.

Many of the same politicians that detest polluting the earth have no problem aborting its babies. Make a stand. Talk with the pregnant and scared. Adopt. Act justly.

Many of the same politicians that detest aborting America's infants have no problem sending their adolescents overseas to fight vague wars and their adult criminals to death. Protest this. Be pro-life from conception to death. Love mercy.

Many of the same preachers lamenting the decline of institutionalized religion in America get stiff collars around different denominations, religions, and lifestyles. Love others for them. The sum of the law and the prophets is love Yahweh your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And love your neighbor, whoever that may be, as yourself. Maybe they don't deserve it. Love mercy.

Many Americans with European blood swimming somewhere in their veins react strongly toward illegal immigration to this country. Learn their language. Seek them out and befriend them. Work beside them. Maybe they have no right to be here. Maybe we don't either. Love mercy.

Prophets for profit use the gospel as resource for financial and political gain. Instead of sending your checks to them, send them to the inner-city mission feeding and clothing the widows and the orphans. This is a true seed gift. Walk humbly with your God.

Instead of condemning those with different beliefs, creeds and faiths, show them the living Christ. His hands and His feet. The truth makes all else pale in comparison. Walk humbly with your God.

Instead of stadiums, auditoriums, and mega-churches, fill empty and hurting hearts with the hope of the resurrected Christ. Christ in us, the hope of glory. Don't keep Him all to yourself. Walk humbly with your God.

This is how to save the world. This is the God we lost in high school, and the hope we desperately need to rediscover if we truly want to do something about our planet.

Grace and peace to you in Jesus Christ

copyright infringement

2009-05-01T07:52:00.000-07:00

what you are reading is pirated material

this is taken off of the mulberry house's "an unlikely insurgence" written by jack legg (the fellow to our left here). jack and timothy miller live just outside downtown springfield, ohio on mulberry street. they have an intentional community intent on penetrating their impoverished community through service and fellowship. hopefully jack will forgive me for taking it, i don't want to steal his thunder, but rather agree with him!

the homeless man jack refers to here may be the one we saw while driving to the mulberry house, he was on that intersection in a doorway. or maybe it wasn't. regardless, homelessness is faceless. but hope isn't. turn your eyes to Jesus.

April Fools

Jack Legg

(and everyone else I guess)

I felt kind of silly standing there. I had just parked my car illegally in the street, turned on my hazard lights, and stepped out on the sidewalk. I walked over to the doorway of the abandoned building and looked down at the pile of blankets. Wrapped in those tattered quilts was a human figure, barely discernable to the disinterested observer.

It was very cold out that night and I had stepped out to run an errand. As I passed the corner of Wittenberg and Main, I remembered the homeless men who frequently sleep in the doorway. I decided to stop at the corner on my return journey.

“Hey, how you doing?” I said to the pile of blankets.

It was quiet for a moment. I stood there shivering.

“Hello?” I asked again. Soon, the familiar face peered out from under the blankets and I heard a grunt.

“Listen, it’s real cold out here. I live on the next block and we have plenty of room. It is warm and we have a spare bed. If you want a place to sleep, or just to come in and warm up, you’re more than welcome to stop in. We won’t bother you or anything…”

He said no and pulled the blankets over his face again.

“Okay,” I said, “but this card has our address on it. If you ever want to stop in for some coffee or something, we’re home most of the time.”

I dropped the card on the sidewalk near him and said goodnight.

The act itself was almost foolish. It was simplistic, naïve, and somewhat reckless. Homelessness is a complex problem, and if one wishes to address it with any amount of effectiveness, he must take into account various intricacies and conditions of fallen man and society. The answer is never as simple as inviting someone into your home.

Or is it?

There is something there, I’ve found. There is something in the foolishness.

In the face of towering adversity, there is something to be said for simple acts of faithfulness. When swept away by trials, there is something to be said for quiet determination. When we encounter the scars of cosmic brokenness, mundane acts of love remind us who we are supposed to be.

So much of what we are supposed to be as God’s people depends on our willingness to cast off the “normal” patterns of the world and embrace peculiarity. Downward mobility over the ladder to success. Peace over aggressive expansion. Meekness over efficiency.

The way we live up to our potential is to live as fools. And when we are at our silliest, our purpose may be clearly focused.

April fools? I hope so.

the edge of reason

2009-03-16T07:32:00.000-07:00

there is a tendency for a skeptical, modern, information-addicted culture to want quantifiable answers and proof for every unexplained act of charity, every random act of kindness, every unwarranted act of forgiveness, every unexplained visible transaction between Yahweh and man.

yesterday a man gave a testimony at church about overcoming incredibly serious luekemia.

his recovery could not be described in any term less than a miracle. his story reminded me of the story in luke seven regarding the roman centurion whose servant was near death and who sought out Yeshua. "I tell you, I haven't seen faith like this in all israel" Yeshua had never seen such faith. the servant was totally healed.

and still i'm skeptical.

faith has always been hard for me, or at least the realizing that were talking about reality when we discuss the divine and not abstract thought. that our belief about this God influences our life on this earth... and determines our life beyond it. that the princes of the kingdom of heaven look like paupers in the eyes of the princes of the kingdoms of commerce, science, and government. that Yahweh did indeed create the heavens and the earth ex nihlo. out of nothing. that He was, He is, and He will always be. that He loves us, has a genuine interest in us, and gave Himself up for us.

thats some heavy stuff brother.

how can what we cannot see be the very thing we need to turn our eyes toward? i don't know. but i believe. you see, thats the beauty. faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen. without it, we wouldn't need it. if man had all the answers he would be god. and every time man believes he has all the answers, a totally new set of questions reveals itself. Yahweh is so much bigger than these primitive questions and answers.

one of my favorite theologians (aren't we all though?) is jim james, the lead singer of my morning jacket. in the song 'smoking gun' off their latest album 'evil urges', he makes a statement that deftly summarizes this: "faith can't prove what science won't resolve"

as long as there are questions there will be faith.

and as long as there is faith there will be hope.

and as long as there is hope there will be love.

and as long as there is love there will be Yahweh.

for Yahweh is love.

for Yahweh so loved the world that he sent his only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.

in the light of this my skepticism seems foolish. i don't want an entirely systematic faith, but rather a remarkably vibrant one. the less i understand the more i glorify He who gives wisdom liberally and joyfully.

i think the greatest concentration of truth and beauty rests at the edge of reason. a place so few are willing to go, but a place where those who do go never want to leave.

selah

relevance vs. reverance

2009-03-05T07:04:00.000-08:00

you've seen it.

wwjd. got jesus? faithbook. jesus died for my-space in heaven. jesus christ, he's the real thing!

all across america (and probably the world) christian book stores are filled with t-shirts, bumper stickers, and detachable pencil erasers bearing these (and a myriad of other) statements. proponents call it "witness wear" others call it "jesus junk". in the grand scheme of things, its the fuit of relevance, or the idea of adapting and translating the christian faith to our popular culture.

the whole trend started back in the late 1960s with the advent of the jesus movement. during this time young men and women, many of them dropouts of the mainstream american culture got turned on to Jesus. in Him they found a champion for the poor and oppressed, a healer of wounds and hearts, a passive resister to the establishment, a painter of an invisable but eternal kingdom free from war and hate, and finally a martyr for the cause. young adults gave up their dope, free sex, militiant politics, and religious apathy for the love of a God they could identify with. churches like calvary chapel in costa mesa, california began to see their sanctuaries filled with long hair, bohemian clothing, and wide-eyed youth tripping on the everlasting high. traditional hymns and music arrangements were traded in for the physcadelic sounds and melodies of the new laity. the master guitarist phil keaggy, radical hippie randy matthews, beatle drenched quartet love song, and street preacher/rock star larry norman led a groovy congregation in the opening stanza of a contemporary christian music.

around this time marketers realized there was a new market to exploit. the increasingly hip jesus movement had increasingly deeper pockets as it went more mainstream. jesus christ superstar, hardly a traditional passion play, exploded across broadway with godspell (an urban-bohemian retelling of the gospel of matthew) right on its heels. both were made into movies. mainstream musicians without deep religious ties began to grow hip to the new vibe. the doobie brothers told the world that jesus was just alright with them, norman greenbaum had a friend, and a reference, in Jesus, and johnny rivers and b.j. thomas came to the faith.

the advent of cable television also introduced america to jimmy swaggart, jimmy bakker, pat robertson, kenneth copeland, robert tillman, benny hinn, and a slew of charismatic fundamentalist televangelists. seeing the potential of a large and faithful constituancy, these preachers spoke beyond the jesus people and into any household with a television in the den and a bible on the bookshelf. charisma often translated into profit, and many of these men grew wealthy of the faith gifts of their followers. by the late eighties, when some of their elites were embroiled in sexual and financial scandel, a backlash began to develop against these men and their ministry.

recent years have seen the seeker-sensitive and post-modern/emerging church modes of thought influence the church today. they distanced themselves from the fundamentalism that came before them in order to appeal to those souls damaged by scandel, disbelief, and doubt. in the seeker-sensitive model (and to a greater degree in the post-modern/emerging church model) centuries of christian dogma and doctrine has been distilled down to be more comfortable and acceptable to a non-churched generation. in some cases, traditionally accepted truths about Jesus and the faith have been openly questioned and even criticized in an attempt to make the gospel as inclusive as possible.

all this is happening while young people are leaving the church in droves and generally not coming back.

now relevance isn't necessarily a bad thing. the apostle paul commands us to be in the world... but not of it. paul argued the case for Yeshua at mars hill in athens, using their methods of logic and reasoning, using their language, and even quoting their own poets. however paul never compromises his message.

his relevance is built upon a foundation of reverance.

i believe that the reason our churches arent holding the attention of a disenchanted generation is this - our relevance is missing reverance.

relevance can be found anywhere and everywhere. social networking sites, television, fashion, sex, drugs, rock and roll, hip hop, rap, magazines, books, films, friends. all these outlets offer things relevant to the modern human condition and expectations... but they don't offer anything deeper. since i firmly hold that faith in Yeshua alone is atonement for salvation and there is no other way, that faith holds a real value that nothing else can offer. true spiritual fulfilment and a loving relationship with He who created you can be found in no other source. if this is the case, and if this is what we believe, why do we use anything else in explaining our mission?

the gospel of Yeshua wasn't relevant in His own time and culture. He was killed for it.

and it didn't paralel popular culture in order to be accepted by that culture. instead it provided answers to anctient questions relevant to that culture. a messiah who would destroy the yoke of roman occupation of israel was a very serious desire of the hebrew people. a rabbi who would install his own eternal kingdom never to be invaded or overrun, not even by the gates of hell, and rule with justice and mercy.

Yeshua offered Himself as an answer to these questions.

His death was not the defeat of the roman empire, but of the empire of sin and death itself.

His kingdom was not an autonomous jewish state, but an everlasting spiritual one.

Yeshua did not just answer these questions, He embodied them. but He also elaborated on them, opened them up to the deep mysteries of Yahweh. for Yeshua and Yahweh are One. the literal kingdom of heaven was made relevant to the kingdom of man by an envoy that was equal parts adam and Yahweh. creator and creation. a symbolic marriage of the finite and the infinite. something beyond comprehension but so absolutely devestatingly beautiful that after two thousand years it has still yet to be fully understood.

we are responsible for how we respond.

does a call to take the gospel of Yeshua and use it to transfom our world tap into this reality moreso than the mystical sacrament of the bread and the wine? they rest equally astride an infinite plane. but they require one another.

relevance without reverance is weightless, and reverance without relevance is listless.

in truth, we need both to complement eachother. we need to be paul on mars hill, being in this world but not of it. that doesn't mean floor-length dresses, head coverings, and close cropped hairlines. nor does it mean binge-drunk, overdosed, whored-out nihlism. rather we need to remember our own marriage of soul and body. if we have the mind of Yeshua, the anointed One, within our physical mortal bodies, are we not in this world but not of it? if the same power that raised Yeshua from the dead lives within us, are we not in this world but not of it?

we must always be reverant before we are relevant. the world needs to see reverance out of christians if what we say concerning Yahweh is to be relevant to them. in a blasphemous world, catch-phrases, popular culture generics, and "pump up for jesus" conferences aren't going to achieve that. neither are hipper-than-thou magazines, short films, or books that deconstruct accepted tenents of this anctient faith in an attempt to appeal to a wider culture.

if we observe this deep mystery of Yeshua's infinite unfailing love with the most grateful and humble of hearts, will the world not wonder why we do? the language of the divine is not defined by its context in popular culture, rather that language is taught by those entranced and enraptured with unparralled grace and majesty and eternally caught in that balance.

selah