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I am Anti-White

I was writing a post for an assignment about racism in my Theology and Ethics of MLK class at Fuller Theological Seminary and thought I should share my thoughts more publicly. Check it out:

A popular Christian song is Mandisa’s “We all bleed the same.” In reflecting on my whiteness, I add, “but we don’t bleed as much.” Like Malcolm X mentioned, the African American who is more like the “field Negro” is bleeding on the streets (Video) while the “house Negro” is cozy with the master. Mandisa’s song highlights more problems than solutions and promotes whiteness. “Whiteness is a way of imagining the world moving around you, flowing around your body with you at the center” (Jennings, Fuller Magazine, 51).

To diminish racial issues today with a song like “We all bleed the same” is cheap reconciliation. Lee states, “evangelicals think forgiveness alone is sufficient in achieving reconciliation because this is what God did in Jesus Christ” (Lee, Fuller Magazine, 76). Whiteness has engulfed contemporary Christianity, neglecting the weak, normalizing oppression, and actually inviting others to join the fray as some sort of accomplishment (Jennings, 51).

We are not reconciling “them” to “us,” we are assimilating a “weaker” individual/group by perpetuating fear in a culture of conversion. Jennings is right to call intellectuals towards confronting the principalities of whiteness, greed and violence, and fear because “It is the evil that we are seeking to defeat, not the persons victimized with evil” (Washington, 87).

“What we need is a restless determination to make the ideal of brotherhood a reality in this nation and all over the world” (89). However, we cannot rationalize away our value of justice because, then, we just prove ourselves to be out of sync with core Christian values. The real issue here is “the integrity of the gospel itself and consequently, the integrity of our witness to the rest of the world – where the majority is blessedly nonwhite” (Pannel, Fuller Magazine, 48). It starts by exorcising whiteness from Christian intellectualism (Jennings, 51). This will happen in white reflection about whiteness, perhaps then we will all be antiwhite (Malcolm X, Playboy article in Cone, 101).

Where have you been alerted to your whiteness? A song? A movie? A friend? Sources: Cone, Martin & Malcolm & America: A Dream or a Nightmare, (Maryknoll: Orbis, 2018). Fuller Magazine #4, Reconciling Race. https://fullerstudio.fuller.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/fullermag-issue-four.pdf Malcolm X video mentioned: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kf7fujM4ag&t=62s Washington, A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr. (New York: HarperOne, 1986).

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FLINT needs Water!

Water.

It’s a resource that is a fundamental human right. A resource that we are not willing to see our neighbors lack. That’s why at West Court Street Church of God, we have been a Point of Distribution for nearly the entire length of the water crisis in Flint. With the recent decision made by the state government, every POD location is being closed once the purchased water runs out. The estimate as of this morning is that the water will be gone by Friday, April 13th.

We are going to continue to be the beacon of light we have been called to be in Flint. Starting immediately, we will be accepting donations towards our Neighbors First Water program. Neighbors First is a value system that we have at our church; it’s the humility that Jesus showed us, that we are to mimic. Our neighbors still need clean water; bottle water. So, we are going to give it out.

We are looking to start small – though this is a big issue! We are just today opening up to receive donations (both monetary and cases of bottled water – we are looking into the capacity to receive pallets). In the very near future, we will be opening our facility on Saturdays for a few hours (details to come) to distribute what we have collected – until it’s gone. Until there is no longer a need. Until the LORD tells us otherwise.

If you would like to financially contribute towards Neighbors First Water, visit our website at www.westcourtchurch.org/give and click on the “Make a Donation” button. In the prompts that follow, select from the drop down box “Neighbors First Water” and give as the LORD asks of you! Your funds will be used specifically for the purchase and delivery of water to Flint only!

If you are wanting to partner with us and donate cases of water: Please call our offices at (810) 238-2631. It is our intention to line our halls with water to ensure our community has what it needs!

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Oh, the Irony.

The Irony of Palm Sunday Weekend

The irony was not lost on me this past weekend. While the Church celebrated the triumphant entry of our King, Jesus the Messiah, the world watched as kids from across the nation, and around the globe, Marched for Our Lives.

The irony was not lost, as I read the verses covering the triumphant entry. The quotes of Psalm 118:25 and “Hosanna!” ring true. Save us! The people shouted. My lexicon listed as a definition for Hosanna, or Hoshia’na, the deliverance of God from external evil. So, we shout and sung, “hosanna!” as we craved for salvation from external evils 

The irony was not lost, as most could not put aside their political differences for even a second, to hear the voice of those in pain. The suffering children of our nation crying out. They marched because they don’t want to get shot in school. They want saved from an external evil. Their “hosanna” quite possibly louder than the Church’s over the weekend 

The irony was not lost, as I continued to look into the fulfillment of prophecy. Jesus rode the donkey into Jerusalem, but he did not just ride the donkey – he did so to fulfill the prophecy. That prophecy states that the king who lowered himself to ride that donkey, would disarm his people. He would take the chariots and the war horses, and break the battle bow. He would declare peace to the nations, from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth (It would flow from Him to everyone).

The irony was not lost as the March for Our Lives desires nothing more than to break the battle bow. They are not even calling for as much as a disarming of the people. They want to cripple the atrocities; the pain; the suffering that weapons of war would bring to a civilized population. They want their message to flow from sea to sea, and it did, as March for Our Lives had around 800 cities participating!

The irony was not lost as the Church welcomed her Savior, the King they needed over the king they wanted. The declaration of peace to every nation as far as the east is to the west (from sea to sea) to the ends of the earth (Zechariah 9:10) is something we realize will not happen until the consummation, but it is something we say we desire. Something that we cry for, hope for, long for and so we come before God singing and shouting “Hosanna!” in our worship services. 

The irony was not lost as children led the way, from sea to sea and spanning the globe, or the ends of the earth. Crying for peace. Longing for peace. And not just some abstract peace, but shalom, the Hebrew word used there that means an all-encompassing peace: well-being, prosperity, health… shalom. For crying out loud, they just want to go to school and not be shot...

No, the irony was not lost because in a consummated kingdom, children lead the way. That’s the image of Isaiah 11. The wolf will lay down with the lamb, leopards with goats, calves with lions, and a little child will lead them (Isaiah 11:6). The irony was not lost, but the hypocrisy was plentiful.

The irony is not lost as we go into Holy Week. The triumphant entry tells us that there is a king we want and then there is the King we need. Many who thought Jesus was the king they wanted realized he was not that king when he went to the cross. All they were left with is the King that they needed.

Now, I don’t believe in gun control. I don’t think it would work. It’s legislating morality. We could argue if individuals need AR-15′s, they have their use and they are not exactly the same as M4′s or M-16′s but they are similar platforms (see, it’s not very fruitful of a conversation). I’m also not a fan of arming everyone to the T or living in some Wild West scenario. What I’m tired of is hearing from “Christians” that they have the right to be armed – this is true in the Constitution, and no one is stopping you. They really aren’t; they just want to live, they are asking YOU for shalom. Realize this though, Jesus is the King that disarms his people, especially if he fulfills Zechariah 9. Especially if he would stop and make preparation to specifically have a donkey to ride into Jerusalem[1] on; we have to realize he at least breaks the battle bow. He establishes shalom. 

There’s too many people on the “right” that look down on the youth of today,… for advocating peace?! I get those on the “right” don’t like the rhetoric, but suggesting they should “walk-up” is victim blaming, suggesting they should learn CPR is appalling; why cannot we just love and support our children and do everything we can to provide them with safe harbor? To provide them with a “city of peace?” To provide them the closest thing we can to shalom before the consummation of the kingdom.

The point of Christianity is that we will see this consummated kingdom. Children leading the way. Wolves with lambs. Peace being brought to the ends of the earth. We ought to be aware that God is already working “out there” to make it happen! The March for Our Lives was more Christ-like than many think.

[1] Interesting side note: Jerusalem means city of peace in Hebrew.

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So that happened...

There have been many times throughout this transition to pastor the West Court Street Church of God where things just felt surreal. I still see the faces of the people I pastored in New Philadelphia, I still feel their struggles and the circumstances of their individual pains. I haven’t reached that point where I don’t expect to see their faces on any given Sunday. Needless to say, my heart hasn’t fully transitioned to Flint.

That changed a bit Wednesday. It was a great morning, I had the opportunity to travel to Mount Haley and fellowship with the ministers in the Midland area. I had lunch with a great man of God and evangelist, Rick Webb. I was riding a high; I was enjoying the connections that we are making in Michigan. Then I returned to the church in the afternoon to work on the message for this Sunday.

I pulled up to find the water distribution that is held nearly every day in our parking lot locked down. A man in a suite appeared to begin to question my arrival, but I believe I heard someone state my relation to the church to him. I was oblivious to what apparently had transpired approximately two hours prior. Gunshots, just a few doors down from our place of worship.

I recall the stories that were told when I was interviewing. The seriousness of the very real issue, suspected gang activity and drug related crime within the targeted one-mile radius of the church. One resident of Glendale Hills who was on the search team, pointed out a spot where he regularly heard gunshots as we toured the area. All of it, surreal at the time.

I could tell you some Army stories and try to pretend that gunshots just doors down from our place of worship doesn’t bother me. We could all point to Christians in the Middle East being beheaded for their faith and pretend that our struggle isn’t nearly as bad. But it doesn’t change the fact that residents in this community, right next door to our church, are awakened in the middle of the night, unsure if the ringing of gunshots is intended to do harm to their homes, their lives, or their families.

My heart isn’t big enough to hold the anxieties, fears, pain, struggles of this community. It breaks thinking that somehow, someway, we’ve just become accustomed to this. But, this is not normal. The reason we build communities and reside in close relation is for safety; for protection; for convenience. Not to live in fear, or worry, or doubt.

I met one of my neighbors last night as I cared for my lawn. I could feel the expression on his face because of the gunshots near our church. I also felt his joy as I told him that I was the pastor of that church. My words to him in his reaction to the gunshots as I told him I was the new pastor were, “Well they [and God] called me [and us] to change that.”

It’s real now. It’s all very much so… real. It’s time to see something happen; to experience the life that God has for us all. It’s time to build better stories here and now. I can’t do it alone, but I can tell you one thing: This is not the life God has for us.

If you want to partner – you know where we are at West Court Street Church of God. There’s a better story ready for us, let’s take it. Let’s grab ahold of it and be the change that establishes the peace of God. If you’re already doing something to create a better story – GREAT! Tell me how we can help you! We want to come alongside of you to see this city transformed; renewed; revitalized!

As I wrote this the news broke that another life was taken just over a mile northeast of the church via gun violence. This is lunacy.

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Dementia: A methodology for ministerial understanding and practice.

This paper was originally a project for the Fuller Theological Seminary class, Disability and Mission. 

This paper is about dementia and the call for the local church to become more aware of its effects on, not only the individual but also, the community. This paper draws from the experience the author had with his grandmother and her dementia, focusing on the void left in both his life, as well as hers. The intention of this is to show the reader the connections that are vital for the unity of all believers, affirming the connections made throughout the paper that a new definition is needed for dementia, as well as for the pastoral care that is given to those with dementia throughout their lives.

From Socio-Cultural to Theological Understanding

Through it all, my grandmother sat in a nursing home, wasting away. She was no longer married, having been divorced since before I was born. She should have been re-married, Ronnie was for all intents and purposes my grandfather. I could not bring myself to visit, but he was there every day, filling a void. I bought into a lie. I bought into the story that the world tells us. “She won’t remember you.” “She won’t remember your visit.” “It won’t matter.” Well, God remembers and she mattered to Him.

When my grandmother needed her grandson the most, I let her down. I could not fill her void even though I could see where she had filled a void in my own life. I just could not do it, because I was immersed in the chaos of the lie.1

           Our understanding of what dementia is has evolved rapidly. While we can pin down the science of it all due to the advances in neurology, dementia has been memorably termed the “theological disease.”2 Dementia raises great questions to our relationship with God. J.I. Packer wrote a book called, Knowing God, but when you begin to forget who you even are, how do you retain a closeness with the Creator of Heaven and of earth? Packer states that we are made to know God, that knowing God is to be the aim of our lives and that the knowledge of God is eternal life.3

           Dementia has been defined differently over the years. According to Martin Albert and Bracha Mildworf, “we are moving closer to the true definition of dementia.”4 Albert and Mildworf suggest that this is because who society has looked to in defining dementia has shifted. Priests were originally those who were called upon for diagnosis. This has since shifted into the scientific realm with the Enlightenment where dementia had found a home in psychology, but even psychology was not where dementia would stay. The more recent science of neurology has been the residence of the brain disorder. This means that dementia has long been a culturally defined phenomenon, as culture shifted, so too has the definition of dementia.

           This leads John Swinton to say, “The shape of dementia is inevitably flexible and permeable, always open to re-description.”5 Our current scientific culture labels dementia as a brain disease that is incurable and has a wide variety of causes and speeds of progression. The disease is known to be incapacitating of the brain functions, particularly of cognitive functions. Swinton says that, “Within this narrative of loss and inevitable neural destruction, the person will lose control of their emotions and their social skills, and their ability to interact appropriately will begin to decline, as will their motivation for the tasks of living.”6

           Dementia is not terminal even though the individual eventually loses intellectual, linguistic and cognitive functions. Here lies the transitory parameter in which we pivot the defining limitations dementia bestows towards the light of gospel message. Oliver Sacks says that, “Neurology’s favorite word is ‘deficit’…”7 In our post-Christendom society where the Enlightenment reigns supreme, people are all too eager to note what is lacking with, or within, a person. This is where theologians like Packer emphasize a little too much what we gain in a relationship with God versus what is bestowed. As Paul would tell the Galatians, it is not that they know God, “but rather are known by God.”8

                 While medical definitions aid a person in understanding the changes they, or their loved one, are going through, it is not the defining narrative for human life. To say that we know what dementia is without knowing the person with dementia9 is to err. As Eileen Shamy states, “dementia is not the name of any disease. Rather, it is a name given to a set of symptoms indicating a need for investigation by a competent doctor trained in this field of medicine.”10 Swinton can then succinctly state, “Medical definitions are helpful for medical purposes, but they may be considerably less helpful for working through the contribution of theology and pastoral care to the process of defining and responding to dementia.”11

           The theological way to define dementia is through our relationships with one another. Swinton purposes that we need a hermeneutical approach that requires a closeness with others. That relationship combined with experience has been shown to produce a resilience in the deterioration of the brain.13 Society may well actually have a cause in producing late-stage dementia due to the collapse of relationships. This is what makes dementia a theological disease.

Spirit – Body – Soul: A Constructive Definition

My mother liked to say that the woman she knew was gone. Like all that remained was a shell. She would tell me that once Grandma stopped being who we would recognized her to be, God had taken her to be with Him in paradise.

We are all born with a physical body that is best defined and analyzed in the sciences. We are not born with souls, contrary to the popular Christian belief.14 Paul wrote to Timothy that God, “who alone is immortal…”15 Human beings have no immortal nature; everlasting life is a gift from God, it is a gift that is bestowed because God knows who we are. Veli-Matti Karkkainen states, “the faithful God will remember the pattern that is me and re-embody it in the eschatological act of resurrection.”16

The beginning of the error that many theologians make is to state that the spirit and the soul are synonymous. This has caused many to believe in a fantastical soul-separated-from-the-body future where the body is “left behind” so that there is a harmonious sinless afterlife with God, anywhere else but on earth. Karkkainen posits that he does not believe that, “a ‘soul’ is needed to guarantee continuity between this life and the life to come, because, simply put, making the soul the locus of continuity doesn’t really explain much in the first place!”17

The “thing” that “gives us an identity that does not die is not our nature, but a personal relationship with God.”18 It is not your spirit, it is not your body (nature), and it really is not your soul. Soul is the word we use to make that connection with God a tangible object that humanity can hold. The hope of the resurrection is not for a detached spiritual fantasy, it is a very tangible bodily existence with God that exists for the whole person, not just the soul.

What we must understand is that when we talk about spirit, we are talking about worldviews. To say that we are “spiritual” means that we have a unique lens that we use to perceive the world around us. We even lose a lot of what it means to be spiritual in our individualistic societies because even worldviews are not individually held, rather, they are held within society. This is what is known as the “zeitgeist,” or the “Spirit of the Age.” Whether we want to accept it or not, Dallas Willard says, “You have a spirit within you and it has [already] been formed.”19

The whole concept of spiritual formation in Christ is not formation, but rather transformation.20 What happens is that your spirit dies (you die to self) and instead of your spirit prevailing, the Holy Spirit takes residence within you; this is transformation into Christlikeness. It is at this point, God knows you. He knows the whole you: your thoughts, your feelings, your choices, your body and your social context. Willard would call the factor that integrates these into one life is your soul.21 Your life in God is then awakened and Christ can shine upon you.22 Christ is now free to be the Lord of your life, guiding you like the Good Shepherd He is, into everlasting life with Him.

Considering dementia, the point is not that the one afflicted with dementia has forgotten God. The point is that God remembers who that person was before their brain ever began to deteriorate. With a disorder that so cripples the integrity of a person, who quite literally has begun to physically “die to self,” the evidence of their spirituality has never been a question of whether they understand, or they comprehend what is happening now, but rather that God has known who they are in Christ. God has “raised them with Christ”23 because of the grace He has given; not because of the works that are done in the flesh. Peter Kevern states, “Grace overspills our conscious nature; the liberating power of the gospel extends even to those who have forgotten what the gospel is.”24 God has purchased them with the blood of Christ and has made His dwelling, not in the individual alone, but within the community of believers he/she belongs to.

This is the element that we must begin to understand if we are ever going to grasp a theological definition of dementia, it is the community that God dwells within, not the individual. To reach this point, we must do away with our individualistic understandings of the faith. We must reach a level of immersion within the narrative of God if we ever truly desire to “know” what it is to think theologically. 

Soteriology & Eschatology

At my grandmother’s funeral, my uncle greeted me with a stern handshake, pulling me close to whisper, “You should be officiating this funeral, you knew her better than he does.” The truth is, I was not sure I really did know her. I wanted to believe I knew where she was and that one day we would be reunited together in the resurrection, but how could I be certain?

           It is at this point that if one is immersed within the community of God, why then would they be afflicted with such a horrendous disorder? Nancy Mace and Peter Rabins note that, “To struggle with such questions is part of the experience of faith.”25 To struggle with this one’s mind would turn to sin and evil. This paper does not pretend to go into a theodicy, but it is towards salvation and the plan that God does have for the culmination of this world that we turn.

           What is at the heart of God’s plan for the entire created order is found in the Hebrew word shalom. The essential backdrop for the entire redemptive work of God is found in the shalom that is represented in Genesis 1-2. As theology notes, after this is the “Fall” of Genesis 3 and then sin became the issue that God set out to “fix.” While theologically there is truth to this concept, the reality is that God sought to restore shalom. If one relegates the salvic work of Jesus to just the correcting of sin, we miss the point that reconciliation is meant for the entirety of creation, “the renewal of the cosmos so that shalom is restored.”26

           There was not a state of shalom the day that my grandmother was put to rest. Doubt, fear, and frustration clouded my judgment and questioned the salvation of my grandmother and myself. In moments like that, it is hard to place trust in the fact that Jesus is the Messiah, the one who opens up the triune life of God to humanity, or the one who restores all of creation to shalom.27 The fact that each of these events hold historical weight is easily dismissed.

           What we must be clear of is that there is a historical precedence that is set in the salvic work of Jesus. Jesus entered human history to begin a restoration of creation to shalom, and one day He will return to finalize shalom.        Jesus ushered the kingdom of God onto earth during his earthly ministry. “The kingdom of God, embodied and represented by Jesus, is the salvation that God brings into history.”28 This presents an ultimate truth to the believer who slips into dementia: God does not forget who you were, even if you do. He will restore you on that Day.

           This goes for all of creation. There will be a day where there will be no more pain, no more tears, no more crying. As it is written, “for the former way of things has passed away.”29 God will then make all things new again, including the “soul” of the one who suffered with dementia, as well as all the disabled, along with those who passed who were of abled bodies. We will all taste the resurrection of the dead, obtaining paradise; a renewal and return to the shalom of the created order that God intended from the beginning.

           This brings up an intriguing question: did God intend dementia to be a judgment? An act of God whose purpose was to make Him and His intentions known? The Egyptians were given such a judgment, seven to be precise, in order so they might know that Yahweh was God.30 One should argue that such a judgment was given, not only so that the Egyptians would know that Yahweh was God, but so that the Jewish people would realize as well. Is it possible to believe that dementia is a judgment so that humanity returns to his created function of community to restore the shalom of God? Peter Kevern concluded in a recent study that, “one possible dimension to ‘spirituality’ which is brought into relief by people with dementia is its shared, collective and social character.”31 A community is inflicted, not just an individual. Kevern goes on elsewhere to state, “it is clearly the natural domain of the Christian community rather than the formal machinery of the Department of Health.”32 It is not the world’s issue; it is the church’s.

Ramifications for Practice

The tears flowed from my face as I realized that I had spent all my energy ministering to my family (immediately following my grandmother’s passing) instead of processing her death and what it meant to me. The spiritual emptiness of who I was in that moment lingers years later. It was not until recently that the reality of who I failed to be would hit me and completely alter my spiritual formation in Christ. I failed because I stressed self over family, self over community.

Peter Kevern has done extensive work researching the spiritual care of dementia. His research is very limited due to “the available empirical evidence is overwhelmingly dependent on conscious, intentional meaning-making and communication by the person with dementia themselves; and/or the interpretative activity of the observer or companion.”33 Kevern is adamant that it is the church’s responsibility. Kevern explains how the balance of community effects our identity:

… we do not hold our identities as individuals, but as members of communities. As an infant, each human being is recognized by others before they come to recognize their own individuality and take personal responsibility for their thoughts and actions. As a person’s symptoms of dementia progress, the balance of responsibility again shifts back from the individual to the community; simply recognizing the social contribution of someone with dementia can help to maintain their recongizability as an individual person.34

           Dietrich Bonhoeffer is quoted as saying, “Christian community means community through and in Jesus Christ. On this presupposition rests everything that the Scriptures provide in the way of direction and precepts for the communal life of Christians.”35 Paraphrased this means that Christ exists in community through the church. It is the communal tasks of Christians to be there to fill the void of the lives of those with dementia. Stephen Post states that, “Our task as moral agents is to remind persons with dementia of their continuing self-identity.”36

           Bonhoeffer also stated, “It is easily forgotten that the fellowship of Christian brethren is a gift of grace, a gift of the Kingdom of God that any day may be taken from us, that the time that still separates us from utter loneliness may be brief indeed.”37 The loneliness that a person who is forgotten with dementia could very well be hell on earth for that individual. We are not sure what is left and what has been lost when it comes to those with dementia. This leads Swinton to state, “A person does not lose her self; her community loses her.”38

           Amos Yong is correct when he states, “disability is never only the problem for impaired individuals, but that it exists inextricably as a social (and even and especially, an ecclesial) phenomenon and reality.”39 Yong presents the argument that the Apostle Paul directed the inclusion of those with disabilities in 2nd Corinthians. The idea is that through weakness we are made strong for it is through grace that we are empowered for Christian living.40 This grace is as Bonhoeffer stated, the basis for our communities that we call church. Yong goes on to say, “my claim is that inclusion of people with disabilities in this context not only does no violence to Paul’s rhetoric but fits well with the overall intent of what Paul is attempting to do in this passage – which is to break down the elitist, triumphalistic, and exclusionary attitudes that certain Corinthians had developed vis-à-vis others in the congregation.”41

                 What the church today must accomplish is a robust ministry that attends to shut-ins. This cannot be accomplished merely by establishing a visitation schedule. There needs to be a robust relationship that is extended beyond the normal fellowship into the visitation. This means creating lasting relationships through vital fellowship of the saints today to effectively combat the deterioration of cognitive functions. It means singing songs they remember. It means reminding them of their favorite verses of Scripture. It means reminding them of who they are in Christ.

As, in faith, the person experiencing dementia is held and sustained within the affirming boundaries of human and divine relationships, they are re-membered. To re-member something is to bring back together that which has been fragmented. To re-member a person with dementia is to offer them the kind of relational environment which mirrors God’s loving, remembrance and unchanging embrace and, in so doing, draws back together the wholeness of the person whose life has been fragmented by the experience of dementia. Such a relationship both re-members the person and remembers for them.42

Conclusion

It has been the purpose of this paper to draw the conclusion that a heightened ecclesial ministry of relational building will provide a robust answer to the diminishing effects of late-stage dementia. While this paper has been anything but exhaustive, efforts to show the link between remembrance shifting from us to God, from communal to individual and back to communal, display the rationale for such a call to heightened ecclesial awareness. Without the Church, believers have no community to express their faith. The Church is the greatest gift God has given outside of salvation itself, for it provides for us the vehicle in which we become Christlike and the platform to display the gifts of the Spirit that show to the world whose we are.

NOTES:

1.     Excerpt from a sermon the author preached 12 February 2017 at the West Court Street Church of God in Flint, Michigan. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nv2L6bZPw1c

2.     David Keck, Forgetting Whose We Are. (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1996).

3.     J.I. Packer, Knowing God. (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1993), 33.

4.     Martin Albert and Bracha Mildworf, “The Concept of Dementia,” Journal of Neurolinguistics 1989, 4, no. ¾, 301-308.

5.     John Swinton, Dementia: Living in the Memories of God. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2012), 38.

6.     Ibid, 39.

7.     Oliver Sacks, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales. (London: Picador, 1985), 3.

8.     Galatians 4:8.

9.     Swinton, 44.

10.  Eileen Shamy, A Guide to the Spiritual Dimension of People with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias. (London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2003), 45.

11.  Swinton, 47.

12.  Swinton, 58.

13.  Tom Kitwood, Dementia Reconsidered. (Buckingham: Open University Press, 1997), 19.

14.  R.S. Anderson, On Being Human. (Pasadena: Fuller Seminary Press, 1982), 182.

15.  1 Timothy 6:16.

16.  Veli-Matti Karkkainen, Creation and Humanity. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2015), 345.

17.  Ibid, 349.

18.  John Zizioulas, “Doctrine of the Holy Trinity,” The Trinity Today, ed. Christoph Schwobel. (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1996), 58.

19.  Dallas Willard, Renovation of the Heart. (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2012), 13.

20.  Ibid, 14.

21.  Ibid, 30.

22.  Ephesians 5:14.

23.  Ephesians 2:6.

24.  Peter Kevern, “Community without memory?” International Journal for the Study of the Christian Church, 2011, 12:1, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1474225X.2011.598347, 48.

25.  Nancy Mace and Peter Rabins, The 36-Hour Day. (New York: Hachette Book, 2012), 375.

26.  R. Plantinga, T. Thompson, and M. Lundberg, An Introduction to Christian Theology. (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010), 262.

27.  Ibid, 264-265.

28.  Ibid, 275.

29.  Revelation 21:4.

30.  Exodus 7:17.

31.  Peter Kevern, “The spirituality of people with late-stage dementia,” Mental Health, Religion, and Culture, 2016 October 16, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13674676.2015.1094781, 8.

32.  Peter Kevern, “I pray that I will not fall over the edge,” Practical Theology 2011, 4.3, 283-294, 293.

33.  Kevern 2015, 5.

34.  Kevern 2011a, 48-49.

35.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together. (New York: HaperOne, 1954), 24.

36.  Stephen Post, “Respectare,” Dementia: Mind, Meaning, and the Person. Eds, Julian Hughes, Stephen Louw, and Steven Sabat, 223-234. (Oxford: University Press, 2006), 229.

37.  Bonhoeffer, 20.

38.  Swinton, 107.

39.  Amos Yong, The Bible, Disability, and the Church. (Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 2011), 88-89.

40.  2 Corinthians 12:10.

41.  Yong, 92.

42.  John Swinton, “Remember the Person,” Aging, Disability, and Spirituality, ed. Elizabeth MacKinlay, 22-35. (London: Jessica Kingsley, 2008), 34.

[apastornamedrob-blog]

A Day with Society for Equal Access: Disability in Missions

We only know as much as we are willing to expose ourselves. The lengths of this exposure are often what is labeled normal. Anything beyond those limitations becomes abnormal. The fear of breaking into the unknown leaves us paralyzed in our shallow reality. The world is bigger and more inclusive than that.

A look at an organization that provides for disabled persons shines a great depth of reality of just how shallow are our perceptions. For residents of New Philadelphia and Dover (Ohio), the disabled appear hidden or lost in the complexities of everyday life. They are there and the Society for Equal Access is bent on making sure their presence is not lost in the “normal.”

Mission and Vision

“The Society for Equal Access (S.E.A.) Independent Living Center assists individuals to become more independent within our community.”1 The center is a “consumer-controlled, cross-disability, private, non-profit organization operated for and by individuals with disabilities.”2 S.E.A. provides four “core” services that include (1) information and referral, (2) peer support, (3) advocacy, and (4) independent living skills. These services constitute the vision of how the mission will be executed. Kevin Hannahs, Executive Director of S.E.A., says that the goal of what S.E.A. provides is to keep disabled persons in the community, instead of having to move them out of the community to specialized facilities or centers.  

Services

Much of the community only sees the transportation vehicles that S.E.A. operates and does not realize the depth of commitment S.E.A. has in breaking down barriers that keep those with disabilities from being immersed within the community. Hannahs says, “unless it hits home to you” the reality of the lack of inclusion into society does not seem to bother others. Hannahs says that the reality is that we are all just temporarily abled and in a world where 90% of the population face aging, education is needed to move forward with essential services.

S.E.A. does transport the disabled to various appointments which is usually paid through Medicaid, though there are some self-pay clients. Hannahs and Ada Mears, Associate Director of S.E.A., report that over 600,000 miles will be logged this year (2017). Transportation is part of their core services and fits into their information and referral function. Facilitated by their fleet of twenty-six vans, nearly four-hundred round trip services are provided a week. These vans, to facilitated transportation of the disabled, are required to have alterations which cost up to $20,000, nearly doubling the purchase price. Many have been donated through the years, S.E.A. began with four vans back in 1989, but the organization purchased their first van last year, with another three vans budgeted for 2017.

Besides the transportation service, S.E.A. does various home modifications and community services. Most the services include providing appropriate access for the disabled, such as ramps and supplying appropriate referrals for door widening, among several other detailed intricacies that the disabled require. There are also peer support groups that are facilitated through the organization, as well as advocacy aimed at assisting the disabled in functioning within the community. Finally, education is a key product in assisting the disabled to transition into daily life within the community but also a portion of education resources is spent communicating the normalcy of disabled persons within the community to the abled.

Challenges

“Money is our biggest challenge,” reports Hannahs and Mears. S.E.A. is relying on grants and applies for ten to twelve a year. Grant monies are difficult to obtain and limit whom the organization can assist. Adding to the frustration of grant writing is the unique dynamics of each type of disability that the organization services. This causes a frustration when the parameters of operation encounter the deep passion that Hannahs and Mears both have for the organization’s goal. “People want something done and not just another referral,” remarks Hannahs.

Another great challenge S.E.A. faces is the fact that they cover an eight-county area. Servicing not only Tuscarawas County (New Philadelphia & Dover), but also Belmont, Coshocton, Harrison, Jefferson, Carroll, Guernsey, and Holmes counties is quite stretching. Three Independent Living Specialists, commonly referred to as “IL’s” by Mears, traverse this great area, attending to approximately two-hundred cases a year. This is increasingly difficult for the organization to provide as less funds are available to them each year. Adding depth to the complexities already noted, Hannahs remarks that Independent Living Centers may be a “thing of the past” in just a short ten-year period. Although speculative, this is something the organization must plan for to keep up with the demand for services.3

Strengths

These challenges are gladly faced by those employed by S.E.A., including Executive Direct Hannahs and Associate Director Mears. Mears remarked, “I don’t wake up disappointed about having to go to work.” The atmosphere of those who spend their vocational days at S.E.A. is remarkable. For the most part, employees of S.E.A. see their days as a community service rather than a monotonous grind. Obviously, it is work and some do see it as a job, but the philosophy behind the mission and vision of this organization keeps the dedicated staff focused on what truly matters: helping others. This causes Mears to confidently state that S.E.A.’s greatest strength is their employees.

What Makes S.E.A. Effective

Their great employees have made S.E.A. very effective. Hannahs and Mears reports that the organization consistently makes set goals. While “nobody’s here to get rich,”4 S.E.A. is still a company that must organize, maintain funding, and budget properly to properly report their non-profit organization. This is gladly accomplished because the people of S.E.A. are “people who want to help.”

One of the many services provided by S.E.A. is a program to build ramps onto existing homes for the disabled. Funding for this program mainly comes through the United Way, but a unique opportunity provided to the greater community is to fund ramps. United Way provides $8,500 a year for ramps, which pays for the materials on 15-20 ramps, which S.E.A. then is responsible for arranging the volunteers to build. Church groups from NewPointe and the United Methodist Church in New Philadelphia routinely provide the much-needed volunteer man-power to construct these ramps.

One group, the Geauga Youth Mission from Geauga County (east of Cleveland), paid for and provided a youth camp to construct twenty ramps last summer. This group provided approximately 80-100 youth and adults that worked on seven separate sites at a time. This was clearly a highlight of the ramp program that Hannahs desires to replicate with other organizations. Dedicated volunteers and funding would go a long way in improving the effectiveness of S.E.A.

S.E.A. exists to create a better tomorrow for the community it finds itself immersed within. Hannahs desires that none would slip through the cracks and that one day they, or the community itself, could sustain the disabled. Disability has no price tag6 and S.E.A. is limited in how and who it can help. Education is one of the extremely unique ways that S.E.A. is building a better community. Their program, The Kids on the Block, even aims at introducing today’s children with the realities that a more inclusive society includes those with disabilities, developing a new “normal” for all of us.

What Limits S.E.A.

The greatest improvement that could happen for S.E.A. is a steady influx of monetary donations. Like many non-profit organizations, S.E.A. is facing budgets that continue to dwindle while the services they provide continue to see increased demand. Hannahs notes that S.E.A. is continually being asked to do more and more. The good intentions of S.E.A. are only limited by the funding they can procure.

Reflection

Today’s Church must expose itself to the unfamiliar of disabilities. While my personal congregation has made crucial steps in addressing the structural composition of our property in terms of disability, it took an aging congregation and not the reality of disabilities all around us to move us toward the goal. While it creates an inclusive façade, the hearts of those worshipping within the congregation have yet dealt with the true goal of including the disabled within our midst. The same could be said of S.E.A.’s great work, if the people did not truly enjoy working with the non-profit, much of what they have done, and do, would be just a façade. That is not the case for S.E.A., but I fear it is the case for the church today.

For the Church, it is going to take “getting dirty.” S.E.A. is not afraid of getting out into the public, and even taking advantage of their situations8 to promote an inclusive society of dis/abled. The Church has for too long allowed itself to harden her heart around her privileged status and has too often forgotten the least of these.9 My day with S.E.A. has been an honor that has truly turned my eye to a critical one of creating a truly inclusive community.

Blind eyes and hardened hearts will keep us where we are currently. Organizations like S.E.A. exist to open eyes and melt hearts everywhere to a reality that will hit every one of us if we live long enough. Churches would be wise to take note and adapt to more than just their aging realities.

 NOTES

1.     This is the noted mission statement as per S.E.A.’s brochure.

2.     Ibid.

3.     Less Independent Living Centers mean more cases for specialists who travel to patient’s homes.

4.     Quote from Kevin Hannahs.

5.     Quote from Ada Mears.

6.     Quote from Kevin Hannahs.

7.     The Kids on the Block program was delivered to 900 school aged children in 2016. That number is expected to be 2,000 in 2017. Information given by Kevin Hannahs.

8.     Kevin Hannahs noted that schools love anti-bullying programs and it is implied by the author that this creates a wisely advantageous opportunity to present S.E.A.’s curriculum aimed at disability education.

9.     Matthew 25:40.

[apastornamedrob-blog]

Here’s What’s Good in Your Neighborhood

A fill-in for Al Roker was on the Today Show this morning. We all know Al Roker and his out cue to your local weather forecast, “That’s what’s going on around the country, here’s what’s going on in your neck of the woods.” The out cue is familiar and all the weather personalities since Willard Scott have had an out cue. Today, the young woman filling in for Roker, had her own out cue: “Here’s what’s good in your neighborhood.”

Here’s what’s good in your neighborhood

Now, I’m not a meteorologist, I’m a pastor. I won’t be giving you your forecast, but this is what we do whenever we cast vision. We try to see the bigger picture of what God is up to, and then we hone down to our local picture and get the forecast. We all love to see things happening around the world, but when they impact us so very little, they often lose some appeal or effect.

It’s been a while since I blogged, not years or anything, but I haven’t been as prudent as I hoped in having an active blog. Some of you know I will be starting with Fuller Theological Seminary here in just a week. It was a hard decision to come to, whether to pursue this degree or that one, and when it came down to it, I had to follow what God was calling me to. That said, let’s get back to the topic at hand. Let’s talk theologically about what’s good in your neighborhood.

I had a conversation on social media with a self-proclaimed atheist here recently who’s belief system was rocked by the death of his son. Personally, I wouldn’t say he was atheist, but rather agnostic in the way that we dialogued, but that’s not the point. The point was that at one point in this man’s life he was a believer and now he wasn’t. What happened in his neighborhood kept him from living a life devoted to Jesus.

“Your son is in a better place”

Now, we could argue and say that he didn’t really believe, or wasn’t secure in his faith. But friends, when it comes down to it, I know I don’t want someone questioning the integrity of my belief system – so why do we question the integrity of other’s beliefs? The ole’ golden rule works perfectly there. Unfortunately, a lack of theological integrity kept other believers engaged in doing harm to this man and his spiritual formation. What were they doing you say? “Your son is in a better place.”

We, who are believers, know this to be true (we assume the son was just a child). We assume that Jesus is holding that child in his loving arms. Our faith tells us so, not just a dogmatic instruction to be forced upon us, but our actual moving, dynamic, belief system tells us that that child is in Paradise. Paradise… a much better place, right? Absolutely, but here’s the problem: this place is supposed to reflect that one.

How is this place, earth, going to reflect Paradise to a man whose son has been taken away from him? Especially when all we can say is, “Your son is in a better place.” It’s not. There is a pain in this place that nothing save the supernatural love of our Savior can dissolve. The radical idea of shalom is the only way that this world can be a reflection of the one to come.

We could focus in on the tangible ways that this world is reflecting a perfection. We should. We, as believers, should be engaged in aiding these efforts to advance the prayer of our Lord, “Bring in your kingdom so that your will is done on earth as it’s done in heaven” (Matthew 6:10, CEB). Friends, this isn’t dogma. This isn’t a teaching that is forced upon us. This is a radical action that God desires us to partner alongside of Him in changing this world to be a reflection of the next.

It’s in the miracles we see daily. My wife and I have been praying for a dear couple who I officiated their wedding just a couple years ago. Their premature twin girls were facing a tremendous uphill battle but received amazing news Christmas morning! Nurses told them that it truly was a Christmas miracle. That’s a reflection of the next world shining here! That’s a foundation of shalom that can sustain the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Cornerstone of faith!

Shalom!

What we need is a foundation of peace (shalom). Jesus said that it was his peace that he gave to us; not as the world gives. We don’t tell others their deceased offspring are in better places; we find out how God is trying to make that man’s life better and we walk him through the darkness to it! We are called to be peacemakers after all; we, the children of God, should be walking others through pain, heartache, suffering, oppression, whatever is binding them, to peace. It’s at that peace that the real need in one’s life of Jesus as their personal Savior can and will have a lasting impact, a revolutionary impact.

God is doing his very best to make this life like the next. That’s the truth of what you are “born again” into. God has a vision for your life and the neighborhood that you reside within. He’s already moving in such a way that the tangible effects can be felt. Prayer is changing things.

A friend of mine, Tommy Miller, founder and pastor of Legacy Church is doing something amazing (he always is). Pastor Tommy has a vision to ignite 100 fires around our neighborhood. Not literal, spiritual. Prayer fires. Prayer to end divisiveness in churches. Prayer to end poverty. Prayer to end crime and addiction. Yes, addiction: friends if you think it’s not happening here, you’re wrong! Opiate use is crippling small towns and Tuscarawas county is one that is unfortunately gaining a bad reputation. 

There are people of God who want to see this world reflect the next!

This is how we start to see this world reflect Paradise. After all, it was a prayer of our Lord’s. He taught his disciples and us to pray that this world would look like the next one (heaven). How will it ever look any different if the people of God don’t start praying? Here’s what’s good in your neighborhood: there are people of God who want to see this world reflect the next!

Pastor Tommy has kindled 9 of the fires so far. My schedule has conflicted in meeting with Pastor Tommy in helping my brother get another fire started, but we will be joining the revolution. Change doesn’t happen because one of us prospers; change happens when a revolution takes place in our neighborhood. Join the revolution that Jesus began; be the church!

Our participation will be to utilize our prayer ministry as one of these fires. We have two crosses in our sanctuary by our altars. One is the cross of burden, the other of glory. We list our burdens on prayer cards and nail them to the cross until we can transfer them to glory. We want to see more on the cross of glory! It won’t happen until we start praying!

Pastor Tommy’s Facebook post detailing the 100 Fire vision: https://www.facebook.com/clmtommymiller/posts/1212900218765613?pnref=story

[apastornamedrob-blog]

What About Conscience? A better guide for voting November 8th

The Apostle Paul was a brave man of faith. We’re talking about a guy who went straight into the Lion’s Den of Rome, knowing very well that he would be put to death, so that the gospel of Jesus Christ would advance into the Western world. Paul was intent on spreading the gospel, “where Christ has not been named,”[1] mainly into Spain. He was a man of conviction, confident of his message – the message of Jesus as the Christ, and his calling to be the apostle to the Gentiles.

What he wasn’t always so sure of, was his conscience. You see he was surely convicted that the early Christian church was a heresy and needed to be eradicated from the earth. He was certainly under conviction that this Jesus was an imposter and that his disciples were making up the whole resurrection story. You see, his conscience was clear because of misguided convictions. He tells the Sanhedrin that, “I have lived my life with a clear conscience before God to this day.”[2]

In less than a week our nation will head to the voting booths, many with strong convictions. Convictions that tell us to vote for the lesser of two evils. Don’t get me wrong, some “Christian” convictions are clearly worthwhile to stand for and should never be forgotten when the power of shaping our future is in the hands of a democratic nation.

Clearly, Donald Trump is playing on the convictions of Republican Christians. Issues like abortion play to the heart-strings of die-hard politics of the “Right-wing” voters. Clearly, Hillary Clinton is playing on the convictions of Liberal Christians. Issues of social justice and “standing in the gap”[3] to give voice to the oppressed, tugging on the heart-strings of the activist side of Christians (or at least it should).

Here’s the truth of both of those: Those two will tell you whatever they think you want to hear. They will use your convictions to gain votes. Both candidates desire to build their own vision for our nation, an empire serving the causes they desire to impose on others. That’s right, either side you choose in the two party system is looking to impose their will on the other. That’s not ethically how Christians should live.

The same Roman church that Paul wrote to, giving us our best theological understanding of salvation, tells us to, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all people.”[4] Jesus himself warned us not to lord over others (imposing our standards is in fact lording over others) when He said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions use their authority over them. It must not be this way among you!”[5]

You see, it is precisely those convictions that people are feeling that will get in the way. It will cause you to have a misguided conscience. Sure, convictions are great to have and we need them, but convictions must be accompanied by a biblical conscience. You can uphold biblical convictions and enforce law, but isn’t that what got the Jewish people into the trouble they were in? Isn’t that how the Pharisees established countless laws that kept people from being able to experience the grace of God? They added rules here and there, crippling the experience of God in this life.

Your convictions are great. No matter which side of the political fence you stand on. Not killing unborn babies is awesome. Giving people of all race, creed, religion, sexuality, the same equal rights of life is awesome. (You could hash out the differences and nit-pick sure, but at their foundation these truly are great issues.) The problem is, we have polarized them and separated ourselves. Our convictions have left us with a godless nation, and somehow our consciences are clear about that?

The book of Hebrews tells us that our conscience is evil. Jesus can cleanse that. That cleansing gives us an “unwaveringly hope.”[6] Friends, I don’t see that hope in the political climate of America today. I don’t see that hope because we are so polarized that if “our side” loses, we will somehow lose hope? I’m sorry, but if you think that just because your candidate loses next week that hope is lost, you didn’t vote with the conscience that God desires you to have.

There is a fight that we are facing in this world today. It’s not a battle of ethics or moralities, but a spiritual battle against Satan: not people. I’ve heard this quote (which I believe is attributed to Donald Miller), “Glorify God, Demonize demons, love people.” We are so quick to demonize others, to put them down, to “lord over them.” Friends, that’s not the fight we are in.

When Paul exhorted Timothy to fight the good fight, he said, “To do this you must hold firmly to faith and a good conscience.”[7] He didn’t tell Timothy to hold to the faith and convictions, he said conscience. As a Christian, fighting the good fight, I cannot in good conscience vote for either of the candidates being forced upon us by the two party system. In good conscience I cannot vote for a candidate being investigated by the FBI. In good conscience I cannot vote for a candidate which such a demeanor who belittles others, all in the name of “locker room talk” or “telling it as it is.” That’s not how we keep our consciences clear.

This election has nothing to do with convictions. Have a clear conscience and vote for a candidate, write in a candidate if you have to, but don’t lie to yourself about upholding convictions. Chances are, the candidate your leaning towards, has either waivered in opposite directions or supported the opposing side before (Both Trump and Clinton have flip-flopped on issues like abortion and LGBT rights – do you really think they won’t again?).

This election season, we must remember that we are not building manmade empires. Those are destroyed by the Stone that becomes a mountain.[8] They are supposed to be obliterated by the kingdom of God in our midst: not supported, not encouraged and definitely not used to lord over others. We have a greater hope. I encourage you to vote in a manner that your conscious is clear, not matter how convicted you believe you feel. After all, it could just be gas[9].

Conviction drove the crowd to pick up stones; conscience caused them to drop them.[10]

WHO ARE YOU VOTING FOR PASTOR?

You may notice that I’m pretty careful not to endorse a candidate. I throw punches at both of the popular candidates not only in social media, my blog, but also from the pulpit. I honestly don’t think we can go right with either Trump or Clinton; both will send us spirally in a downward direction. Neither will “make America great again,” or move us forward.

Voting with my conscience, not just convictions, I am leaning towards the Libertarian candidate, Gary Johnson. Yes, leaning. I’ll be candid, I’m not sure. It was easy to vote before because I did vote with my convictions, but like others, it left my conscience unclear. I voted for Mitt Romney because of conviction, but my conscious was devastated! Why? Because he’s in a cult, the LDS church is an un-orthodox organization that he serves as an elder. How did we miss that? Because we voted with conviction.

I like the Libertarian drive to stick to the preservation of “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of happiness.” It gives me hope that one day, we will be able to live peaceably with everyone. Johnson may fall short of even an electoral vote, but at least my conscious will be clear.

Don’t let anyone tell you that a third party vote is a wasted vote. If the Green Party candidate, Jill Stein, gets a certain percentage of the vote next week, the Green Party gains millions in funding to continue opposing the two party system. Just because they likely will not win the election, doesn’t mean that it won’t start a revolution that dramatically changes America and the politics of our nation.

[1][1] Romans 15:20

[2] Acts 23:1

[3] Ezekiel 22:30

[4] Romans 12:18

[5] Matthew 20:25-26

[6] Hebrews 10:19-23

[7] 1 Timothy 1:19

[8] Daniel 2:35

[9] Man Mistakes Indigestion for Pastoral Call, Babylon Bee, May 20, 2016 http://babylonbee.com/news/man-mistakes-indigestion-pastoral-call/

[10] John 8:1-11

[apastornamedrob-blog]

What does it mean to preach effectively today?

Effective Preaching begins with taking a familiar text and making it unfamiliar.

But pastor, Jesus is the same today as he was yesterday and will be forever![1] We need the good ole’ preaching of yesterday. These preachers today are just trying to tickle ears![2] We need preachers that will tell people that hell is hot and Jesus is the only way!

That’s about right isn’t it? I mean in today’s church that is the majority of our flock, the congregants, the “members.” The problem is, half the people sitting in our pews today, don’t know these stories. They don’t know that story about Jonah that most of us take for granted. They don’t know much about Moses, or Abraham, or Noah,… except that he built a big boat. The problem that most of the people sitting in the pews week after week have, is they don’t know the story. They can’t make the story theirs and/or don’t understand how their story is now a continuance of the story that you are preaching to them.

But we aren’t just preaching to those who aren’t familiar with the story. We are also preaching to people who are all too familiar with the story. People who have hardened hearts around the gospel as they know it. People who have been formed a certain way to understand the world around them, and perhaps aren’t even disciples of Christ. I mean, it’s a book, there’s a lot of sinners who know more about the Bible than Christians who “belong to the church.”

We had a guest preacher this last week, Reverend Jim Wallick. I’ve known Jim for a while, we were ordained together. Jim graciously offered to help fill the pulpit while I tended to my wife and newborn son, except, we planned his service around the doctor’s plans on when the little one would come. Needless to say, he came early, and as some early babies do, he developed jaundice. So Jim was primed to fill in a tad bit earlier this week having already planned to preach a couple sermons in our most recent sermon series, Parables. 

Jim had the high task of preaching the story about the Weeds.[3] I’m sure Jim had heard a sermon before on that particular text, and he may well have even preached a message based on that text before. That’s the problem we face as preachers in smaller congregations who are tied to tradition, we preach familiar texts to the same faces week in and week out. Jim, though, took the text in a direction I wasn’t prepared for, he made the familiar unfamiliar. 

We often hear this text as the grounds to talk about the righteous and the unrighteous. We talk about the duality of our existence, how good and evil coexist in this age. Often, this is a message about God’s gracious favor to the weed and how He can transform that weed to a fruitful wheat plant. Jim didn’t preach that message, that would have been familiar, he made it unfamiliar.

Instead of the usual evangelistic message that the Weeds can often be, Jim delivered a message about the church. Jim handled the word excellently and told us that weeds look a lot like wheat until it comes time to bear fruit. You see, the wheat, once it bears fruit, bows. It’s the humility that, too often, Christians lack, that makes us weeds instead of wheat.

Jim contextualized the gospel to his audience. He examined the culture he was to deliver God’s message and adapted the familiar to make it unfamiliar, to make it memorable. As Timothy Keller points out in his text about preaching,  “Culturally appropriate rhetoric also makes sermons memorable.”[4] I’m going to remember that text because Jim dared to do something that most preachers won’t do, he made the text unfamiliar. 

It’s not about changing the gospel. It’s not about watering down the message. It’s about making Jesus relevant today. It’s about preaching for change for the lost, but also for the saved, the redeemed, the elect. Nazarene Theologian, Dean Flemming, writes, “This is the task of the church in every culture and age – to enable the gospel to address its world in transforming ways even as it utilizes the stories and cultural resources at hand.”[5] 

That’s what the delivered word of God should do every time. It should transform. I do not know about the rest of the congregation Sunday, but I feel transformed after Sunday’s message. Transformed because Jim dared to show me the visible and the invisible world around me, the Wheat and the Weeds. As Tim Keel points out, “How human beings exist and engage with the visible and invisible world around them is a struggle that is unfolding all around us.”[6] Jim showed us the struggle we have in our immediate context, he contextualized the gospel for us in our time. He didn’t just tell us that Jesus is the same today, as He was yesterday, and will be tomorrow, but he showed us how Jesus is the same today, yesterday and tomorrow. 

Jim showed us how we are struggling. He showed us what we need to be awaken to, the realities around us in the spiritual realm. He didn’t just tell us that hell was hot, he told us that if we aren’t producing fruit and humbling ourselves, we could possibly be the weeds that are to be burned at the harvest.

Preachers today need to get out of the comfort zone. We need to make the familiar unfamiliar. In order to deliver memorable and powerful messages, we must shape the message to effect transformation. This is no easy task. It means getting out of the box that we are in, expanding our horizons, not being afraid to read something outside of our own traditions. Not being afraid to deliver a message in a new unique way. Not being afraid to hear someone say, “That’s not how I’m used to hearing the gospel.”

 That’s my goal moving forward. Preaching is a craft that should be ever changing, ever transforming God’s people, starting with the preacher first.

[1] Hebrews 13:8

[2] 2 Timothy 4:3

[3] Matthew 13:24-30

[4] Keller, Timothy (2015) Preaching: Communicating Faith in an Age of Skepticism Viking. New York. P. 178.

[5] Flemming, Dean (2005) Contextualization in the New Testament. InterVarsity Press. Downers Grove. P. 53.

[6] Keel, Tim (2007) Intuitive Leadership. Baker Books. Grand Rapids. P. 123.

[apastornamedrob-blog]

Racial Reconciliation: A Piece on How to Start the Conversation

Hi, my name is Rob and I am a racist.

To be clear, I am a recovering racist. But how do AA meetings begin? Someone stands up, identifies themselves with their name and that they are an alcoholic. Not that they are a recovering alcoholic, but that they are still addicted. 

I’ve already lost someone who may actually read this. That’s okay, but if you think about it, if you were or are a racist, you likely learned the trait. Sure, addictions can be hereditary, but for the most part you don’t get addicted until you try something. Until you repeat something.

For me, I can recall watching a GI Joe cartoon movie, in which a black GI Joe character, whom I cannot even recall his name, was on some kind of a ledge or cliff and had to jump to escape the clutches of COBRA. I recall getting into the moment, and shouting, “Jump nigger!” My mother, appalled, made sure to remind me that that was not the son she was raising. 

I don’t know where I learned that word. I’m sorry if it offended you, but I want to be real. 

You see, I could defend myself. I could say, well I have a black friend (or friends). I could tell you that my uncle married a black woman, and had two kids. I have cousins who are black, which made it very interesting growing up going to the same school. Let’s just say there was some racism displayed by others that definitely began to teach me that I didn’t want to be that way.

I could continue defending myself and tell you that I went to an inner-city high school for a year, where I was the minority. Roger’s High School in Toledo, Ohio is 70.5% black, 21% white, and 3.7% Latino today[1]. I recall a moment, playing for the JV baseball team, where we went to an even more inner city school that was even more black, and being scared. Being reluctant. That team wore jerseys with rips and tears, and clearly didn’t even have the money our team and school had. We put a stomping on that team and quieting but quickly got back into our bus, joking of the racial tension that could be possible. Joking about being shot, or beaten up by the all black team (we were all white).

I could even defend myself further, and let you know that I served in the US Army. There was no white, black, yellow, brown; there was only green. At least that’s what the drill sergeants reminded us whenever there was a racial comment or distraction. The truth is, there was and probably still are racial issues even within our military.

These defenses do not hide or change my racism. Let’s be honest. These events and situations helped me be a better person who doesn’t look at the color of someone’s skin. But if I’m honest, I did. If I’m honest, there are times that I still do. If I’m real with you, I’m still a racist.

I write this because in order to get into real conversations with people who feel as if they are oppressed because of the color of their skin, we have to understand their reality (realities). Yeah, I get it, professional athletes probably aren’t as oppressed as they once were because of racial differences. Yeah, they probably make enough money to live above their oppression. But people still oppress others because of the color of their skin.

If I’m really honest, I’ll let you know that while in the US Army I served as a police officer. If I’m really honest, I’ll tell you that I probably let my racism show while performing the duties. If I’m honest, I’ll tell you that I applied to be a police officer in a major city and I remember the questions and the details about which areas were predominantly black and how that would change my effectiveness to be an officer of the law.

If I’m completely honest, I’ll also let you know that just because I had military training, real life experience serving as a patrol officer and patrol supervisor of over 10 units at the military’s largest installation (Fort Bragg, NC), I still was never hired to be a police officer in the civilian sector. You could read into that and say that our police officers have to be more qualified, but honest, most just need a 3-month training certificate. I honestly believe that there is some credit in the calling out of the racial injustice in our country today. I also believe that there is a lot more training our police officers could go through in order to prevent racial issues as well.

There is no amount of training or probation an officer could go through though to prevent racism. It’s there, it may be suppressed, the officer may overcome it, but just as I began this post, they are just a recovering addict. Not being afraid to communicate that may actually begin racial reconciliation in our country today.

You see, ultimately, it’s not about whether or not racism exists. It’s about acknowledging it, acknowledging that I (we) do not want it to continue, and addressing the actual concerns. We can make all the defenses we want: we have a black president, we have black friends, we are related to blacks. The truth is, racism is real. Racism is oppression. Racism is a disease, that even while dormant, may still be living inside of each one of us (black or white). 

It doesn’t get better by avoiding it. It’s like not going to the doctor because of that small bump on your back. You think it’s nothing, it doesn’t bother you much, but once it’s too late, you have a terminal illness. Friends, there’s a terminal illness that lies deep in us all, historically, and it’s name is racism. Acknowledge it.

[1] http://public-schools.startclass.com/l/70311/Rogers-High-School

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Ask the Pastor - 21 September 2016

I’m a little late this week collecting my thoughts for a blog post. Instead, I figured I’d share with you the document for our weekly Wednesday night series called, “Ask the Pastor” which I also accept insights and questions via this Tumblr blog. This is the format we like to do for some of our teaching and is a fun journey together through Scripture and church history. I hope you enjoy it!

Question: Burial or Cremation? Can you enlighten on which one should be done and why?

“I assure you that the time is coming—and is here!—when the dead will hear the voice of God’s Son, and those who hear it will live. 26 Just as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. 27 He gives the Son authority to judge, because he is the Human One. 28 Don’t be surprised by this, because the time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice. 29 Those who did good things will come out into the resurrection of life, and those who did wicked things into the resurrection of judgment” (John 5:25-29, CEB).

Why is it an issue?

Burial versus cremation would not be an issue save a rather gnostic-type thought about the afterlife. The up-front answer is to say that there is no concern or issue regarding whether or not a Christian can or should be buried or cremated. The issue can, or may, go back to a Jewish time during the Mosaic law, that would command the Jewish believers to not be like their neighbors in regards to certain things. Cleanliness, or rather a holy cleanliness, was of the upmost importance and the handling of the dead in Jewish thought makes one unclean. So for the Jewish people, this would be a more important matter. During that time, of the Mosaic law, pagans would often burn their dead – not because of cleanliness standards, but rather because they believe the spirit could travel to the heavens with the rising smoke from the fire. If that’s why you wish to be cremated, then no, it’s not the Christian thing to do.

Barry Callen, Church of God theologian, has this to say about whether or not Christians should bury or cremate their dead:

The Church of God movement has no specific ritual or traditional beliefs regarding the care of the deceased’s body. We believe that whatever is done should show respect. Decisions regarding the disposition of the body should be made according to the preferences of the family, in consideration of the wishes of the deceased, and in accord with local law. Both burial and cremation are acceptable Christian choices.[1]

This could flow from a rather popular belief that, as mentioned before, is actually rather gnostic in origin. That belief is that this world is to be annihilated at the consummation of time. This would actually be rather un-traditional in orthodox Christianity, although it is acceptable now. Historically, communities of Christians would bury over cremate. Take for instance the common thought of traditional congregational meeting place, surrounding the building would sometimes often be a cemetery. For us today, it might appear dreary or dark, but for Christians of that era it was a sign of the hope that they had for the resurrection of the dead.

The biblical hope is rooted in a bodily resurrection. Paul makes mention of this in Romans 8, where he talks about the redemption of our bodies. The Common English Bible actually translates this to say that we are waiting for “our bodies to be set free.”[2] NT Wright makes this case as he says, “God’s people are promised a new type of bodily existence, the fulfillment and redemption of our present bodily life.”[3] Wright discusses this idea of a disembodied afterlife as having suffocated the orthodox belief of the bodily resurrection. He goes on to say that, “The risen Jesus is both the model for the Christian’s future body and the means by which it comes about.”[4]

Ultimately, God is God. God can do more than we can ever imagine. The picture of the dry bones coming back to life is an amazing picture of the resurrection capabilities of God. In the end, God is capable of bringing back to life the body, regardless of what happened to it in this life. The Prophet Daniel wrote, “Many of those who sleep in the dusty land (earthy soil or dust of the earth) will wake up – some to eternal life, others to shame and eternal disgrace.”[5] When I consider this verse, I believe whether it is the decayed bodies or the scattered ash remains of the deceased, God is able to restore life and consummate the bodily resurrection.

Question: Predestination or not?

“We know this because God knew them in advance, and he decided in advance that they would be conformed to the image of his Son. That way his Son would be the first of many brothers and sisters. 30 Those who God decided in advance would be conformed to his Son, he also called. Those whom he called, he also made righteous. Those whom he made righteous, he also glorified” (Romans 8:29-30 CEB).

Predestination is unmistakably something in the Bible. We cannot say it is not biblical, it’s in the Bible! What it comes to mean to the individual believer is what has separated two trains of thought throughout theology (Arminian/Wesleyan and Calvinist). If I say that I do not “believe” in predestination, a Calvinist sees me as not believing in the sovereignty of God. If I say that I “believe” in predestination, typically an Arminian/Wesleyan believes I see God as a God who can and/or does condemn people to hell before they are ever born, leaving them without hope. What the problem is with predestination is when we have a hyper-sovereignty concept or a hyper-‘free will’ concept.

Calvinists are probably already rolling on the ground not capable of processing the possibility of “hyper-sovereignty.” Let’s get something straight from the get go, God is sovereign. Arminians and Calvinists both agree, it’s the details the two focus on. Kenneth Jones wrote, “Calvinists like to stress the Scripture passages which emphasize the power of God to keep one from falling. Wesleyans stress those which speak of the need for endurance.”[6] Let’s go ahead and get something else straight, God is patient with us and does not desire any of us to perish.[7] There is clearly more an issue of hardening our hearts around our own understanding of God and no desire to allow Scripture to be Scripture. Too often, leaps are made in theology without there being biblical support. Thoughts are “canonized” without ever the guidance of the Holy Spirit, or the opposing Scriptures would come to mind. God is sovereign and He does not wish any to perish.

You have a choice, or better put, a response. The will of God is what He desires us all to adhere to, as Jesus prays, “Your will be done.”[8] The will of God is that none would perish, but that does not mean that no one will perish. He has predestined the path, or better put The Way, as Jesus, the second person in the Trinity, the Son of God, is the way, the truth, and the life.[9]

When we choose The Way over our way, we transition from death to life, from this world to the next, a foretaste of glory divine. It is the Word of God that takes us from that dead in sin state to the live in Christ position. The Word of God made incarnate, or God with us, is Jesus. Prior to your exposure to Jesus (either experiential or through the revealed Word of God) you were predestined to an eternity separate from God. When you accept Jesus as the Messiah, the Lord of your life, you are now following the predestined path that God desires for you. The Way is predestined, not your way. If you usurp the authority in your life, that is to “backslide,” or fall away from the faith.

There is an initial salvation, but there is the ultimate salvation. There is a now and a not yet. There is still a redemption that we are waiting for and the call throughout the Scriptures is to be ready, to endure, to “follow” Jesus. It is a covenant agreement that God has made, and Barry Callen writes, “God [never] enters into an unconditional covenant with any individual or nation… Covenants are between two parties, and failure on the part of the human partner invalidates the relationship.”[10]

What God has desired to do within you, is to present to you a crisis moment. Jesus presents to you the kingdom of God, an alternate reality, a different way of living – the real way to live. No matter how you spin this, this is a crisis moment for someone pre-conversion, or as I like to put it, prior to being awakened.[11] You see, when the Word of God (Jesus incarnate) is presented to you, it divides your soul from your spirit.[12] Your spirit was formed in the ways of the world, we all have a spirit that needs separated from our soul, some darker than others. Contrary to popular belief, and even Church of God doctrine, the soul and the spirit are not the same. Once your soul is separated from the darkened spirit (controlled by the powers of this dark world[13]) then Christ, the Word of God incarnate, is able to ��shine” upon you and awaken you.[14]

This is an awakening, not a conversion! Is it possible to fall back asleep[15]? Yes, does God desire you to? No. He desires you to be transformed into the image of His son[16]! The Apostle John actually says, “This is how love has been perfected in us, so that we can have confidence on the Judgment Day, because we are exactly the same as God is in this world.”[17] We are to be like Christ, who is God with us, God in this world. In other words, God desires that Christ live through you, or more specifically, that the Holy Spirit becomes your spirit, your guide, your way for doing things, your way for viewing the world. 

[1] Callen, Barry, Following Our Lord (2008), Warner Press, Anderson (IN), 183.

[2] Romans 8:23

[3] Wright, NT, Surprised by Hope (2008), Harper One, New York (NY), 147.

[4] Ibid. p 149.

[5] Daniel 12:2, CEB

[6] Jones, Kenneth E. Theology of Holiness and Love (1995), 190.

[7] 2 Peter 3:9

[8] Lord’s Prayer, Matthew 6:10

[9] John 14:6

[10] Callen, Barry, Faithful in the Meantime, (1997), 78.

[11] For Jacob it was awakening to the reality that God was here. Genesis 28:16

[12] Hebrews 4:12

[13] Ephesians 6:12

[14] Ephesians 5:14

[15] Is that not what Jesus was concerned about His disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane?

[16] Romans 8:29

[17] 1 John 4:17

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APEST, Part 2: What is an apostle?

I used to think that the title of apostle was reserved for those select few who had visibly seen and came into contact with the risen Lord. Those who were blessed enough to have heard, seen, and handled (1 John 1:1) the “Word become flesh” first hand. I used to believe that there were no apostles anymore. I mean, it’s the LDS church that has “apostles” and we surely do not want to be like a cult. But, is that what it meant? Was the gifting of apostle reserved solely for the original twelve, and Paul?

If you cling to a confession, or are a cessationist, then you are likely to say yes. You would cling to the idea that only those specific men could be apostles. Except, Junia is listed (prominent among the apostles) as an apostle by Paul in Romans 16:7, and she’s a woman. Matter of fact, Barnabas (Acts 14:4, 14), Andronicus (Romans 16:7), Epaphroditus (Philippians 2:25), Silvanus (1 Thessalonians 1:1, 2:6) and Timothy (1 Thessalonians 1:1, 2:6) are all apostles. I don’t think it ended; I don’t think it ends; I don’t think it ever has an expiration.

“God has given his grace to each one of us measured out by the gift that is given by Christ” Ephesians 4:7 (CEB).

The Father gives the grace; Christ measured it out. Being an apostle, therefore, has nothing to do with the privilege that we have of beholding the risen Christ. It has nothing to do with us, it has everything to do with what God wants. It specifically has to do with God’s grace. It’s what we don’t deserve. It’s nothing that we seek out and nothing we can find on our own. It’s God’s gift and Jesus pours an allotment out to each of us individually.

That means nobody can choose to be an apostle. Jesus just measures it out to you. In other words, it’s the calling on your life. It’s grace, so it’s freely given. Being an apostle has more to do with the supernatural gifting that God has given to you, that is used in a role. Apostleship isn’t a gift, per se, like mercy or knowledge. It’s the role you use your gifts in, the ministerial role that God is calling you to. It’s how you use mercy or knowledge (examples of gifts, not exhaustive).

The purpose we are told this specific gift is given for is “to equip God’s people for the work of serving and building up the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12). Now, to be sure, apostle is given along with the other four APEST gifting roles (prophet, evangelist, shepherd and teacher). It’s part of the greater whole that we are intended to utilize for the advancing of the kingdom.

We haven’t utilized it though. We are afraid to utilize it. Along with prophet and evangelist (let’s be honest, today’s evangelists aren’t evangelists – they are teachers who come and preach to people who are already saved), apostles have been thrown out of the mix. The church that has been given everything it needs to survive and be a lasting revolution, has shot itself in the foot. It’s beyond time to realize that we need the APE back in ministry, beginning with the apostle.

Hirsch and Catchim say that an apostle, “is tasked with the overall vigor, as well as extension of Christianity as a whole, primarily through direct mission and church planting. As the name itself suggests, it is the quintessentially missional ministry, as ‘sentness’ is written into it.”[1] They believe that the apostle is the one who pioneers something. That something, in the case of the Christian, is the advancement of the gospel into a new culture. “But we’re a Christian nation” – no, we are not. Just no. Stop. Please. You’re making the job harder.

America is a post-Christian culture. It was meant to be that, Jesus’ name isn’t in the declaration, and neither is God’s. A title of Creator is used, but seriously, look around. We live in post-Christendom. We need more than just evangelism for a new age; we need an apostolic ministry. And not ‘apostolic’ as in women wear dresses down to their ankles either, apostolic as in a new pioneering movement that radically challenges and changes culture.

There’s nothing wrong with evangelism, but evangelism without an apostolic presence is exactly what’s gotten us into the mess we are in. The apostolic ministry sets the tone, guards the gospel and influences the culture by shaping the message for the time. Hirsch and Catchim inform their readers that the apostle creates a field, or environment for the gospel’s advancing. That field is completed through four steps.

Extends the Movement by Spreading the Gospel

Safeguards the Movement by Guarding the Gospel

Networks the Movement by Maintaining a Sense of Common Purpose in God’s People

Creates the Context in Which the Other APEST Ministries Emerge[2]

The problem with people who go around acting like prophets and calling people out on their sin, is there is no apostle to pave the path. There’s nobody that has preceded them to give those who hear prophets any inclination that there is a God, or that He’s patient with them and wants them to repent. The problem with evangelists “getting someone saved” is there is nothing in place to prepare those new converts, or newly awakened people as I call them, for the tough road of discipleship that follows. Apostles pioneer to make a way for viable ministries and evangelism to happen. The apostle provides the context; without the context all our efforts fall short.

We need more people in today’s church to provide the context. To scout the waters for fishing so to speak. Just as you would use a fish-finder today to take you to the school of fish, the apostle is the one who will set up all the other ministries of the church up for success. God is not done with His church; if He were, the trumpet would have sounded. If God’s purposes are not finished with the church, where are His apostles?

[1] Hirsch and Catchim, The Permanent Revolution, 2012, Jossey-Bass, Hoboken, page 8.

[2] Ibid. page 107.

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APEST - Part 1, The Grace Given Me by Christ Jesus

I looked for anyone to repair the wall and stand in the gap for me on behalf of the land, so I wouldn’t have to destroy it. But I couldn’t find anyone. - Ezekiel 22:30 CEB

Ask anyone at our congregation and they’ll tell you that I’m more of a teacher than I am a pastor. Matter of fact, I never score very high in pastoring/shepherding whenever I take spiritual gifts tests. It’s just not in my spiritual DNA. Does that make me a poor pastor? No, it makes me a different pastor.

He gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. Ephesians 4:11 CEB

I’m a teacher / apostle. That means that I connect the dots, I’m that guy that teaches in ways you’ve never been taught before (sure you may have, but that’s just what I hear). I’m also that guy that desires to see a ministry movement that is activated authentically with the Great Commission. 

Go. - Jesus

We somehow have overcomplicated a pretty simple idea espoused by the ministry of Jesus. Jesus embodies the entire gift spectrum, especially Ephesians 4:11. The fullness of Jesus is a body of Christ where there are apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers.

At the New Philadelphia First Church of God, our leaders have been studying a book called The Permanent Revolution by Alan Hirsch and Tim Catchim. Our idea of doing church has failed, precisely because it’s not authentic and is not the body of Christ that Jesus envisioned. The Church has become nothing more than man’s revolution, devoted to sectarian rifts. The revolution that Jesus began was to be permanent.

Everything that our church needs to exist, function, and reach others, is given to us within our walls (or within your membership, the congregation). Paul would be pretty displeased with us if he knew that there was a paid staff guy who ran every ministry. That’s just not how it works.

APEST is the fivefold ministry of Jesus. It’s the ministry we’ve been called to continue. The problem is, we’ve left behind the APE and focused on the ST. That’s great for the organization, but for the movement, we need a revival that exalts the entire body of Christ, including the APE (Apostles, Prophets, and Evangelists). 

The grace given to me by Jesus himself says that I’m a teacher. I’m also an apostle. That doesn’t mean what we’ve been taught it means, it means that I focus more on the “go.” You know, that little command Jesus gave before He ascended to the right hand of the Father? Apostles embody the “Go” or the “movement” within our organizations.

If we’re going to be moving, or call ourselves a movement, then we need apostles. More importantly, we need an apostolic ministry in addition to the already existing evangelistic ministry that Evangelicals espouse. It’s time to be Peter and Paul again. 

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If I was Colin Kaepernick’s pastor

You have armed me with strength for the battle;    you have subdued my enemies under my feet. (Psalm 18:39, NLT)

The above is the first tattoo Colin Kaepernick permanently had etched onto his body, a billboard for his faith. Colin Kaepernick is a confessing Christian. This man of God was not afraid to confess his beliefs leading up to his first Superbowl appearance. He has used his NFL fame to speak about his faith, and has even appeared at churches to share about his faith. I don’t know much about his faith outside of that, and anyone with Google can figure out that much.

So what is one to think when this man decided to protest a nation where it’s Christian base venerates its treasured symbols? I mean so many Christians in America consider the two synonymous; whether in their stated beliefs, or their actions and backlash.

Better yet, what would I do and say to Colin Kaepernick if I was his pastor?

First, I would have hoped that a stand of this magnitude had some kind of pastoral advice or guidance. Whether or not that occurred is speculation at this point, but I would hope that if this man is a confessing Christian that he considers someone his mentor in faith, his pastor.

If I was Colin Kaepernick’s pastor before he didn’t stand for the National Anthem.

If I was Colin Kaepernick’s pastor...

I would have counseled him before. Hearing his voice prior to his actions. 

If I was Colin Kaepernick’s pastor...

I would have been a part of his life and journey in faith and discovery.

If I was Colin Kaepernick’s pastor...

I would have had the opportunity to tell him how much my military service shaped my personal journey and what the flag and national anthem mean to me. 

If I was Colin Kaepernick’s pastor...

I would tell him that I was a military police officer, and that if I’m honest, he’s right. Police target people of color. They may not mean it, they may not want to, it may be part of their silent nurtured selves, but it does happen.

If I was Colin Kaepernick’s pastor...

I would agree with him that police officers have the least amount of training in consideration to the importance of their jobs. 

If I was Colin Kaepernick’s pastor...

I would have told him how uneasy I got during the annual Fourth of July holiday parade when time after time, the flag was carried by us and my family was part of the few who stood in recognition as it passed in front of us.

If I was Colin Kaepernick’s pastor...

I would get some time with him to inform him about the freedoms in this country and the greater oppressions prevalent around the world.

If I was Colin Kaepernick’s pastor...

I would walk with him to the immediate better future God has for him, and even the immediate better future God has for him in store now.

If I was Colin Kaepernick’s pastor...

I would have took the time to hear his passion and why he feels that this should be done.

If I was Colin Kaepernick’s pastor...

I would encourage him to find how he could use his platform, the platform that God has blessed him with, to communicate the need for change.

If I was Colin Kaepernick’s pastor...

I would respect the passion that he has for the issues he desires to be addressed.

If I was Colin Kaepernick’s pastor after his protest of the National Anthem.

If I was Colin Kaepernick’s pastor...

I would counsel him and encourage him however I could. I would let him know that God is with the oppressed, working for the good of those who love Him. I’d tell him if what he is doing truly aligns with God’s will - no one can back him down. “For if God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). I’d tell him that that was the advice given to the Apostle Paul as he went to assault God’s church: If it is of man, it will fail. If it’s of God, you will not stop it. Those were the words of Gamaliel to the then Saul of Tarsus, who would meet the risen Lord on the road to Damascus. 

If I was Colin Kaepernick’s pastor...

I would tell him that I love him and that God is genuinely for him. I would bring him into my office and let him know if there was anything that I could do for him and for what he is passionate about, let me know. 

I do that for everyone. I do it for the lady who doesn’t want to get a vaccination because she doesn’t think God wants us to, even though I get my yearly flu shot. I do it for the people who continue to live in sin even though I share a message about the dangers of sin. I do it for the one who has estranged relationships, who only steps through the doors of our church a handful of times a year, but still calls the church their home church, and me their pastor. I do it because Jesus said to care for His sheep, His children. I do it because I’m passionate about God’s immediate better future for us, for our communities, and for the world.

The Church of God and Racial Reconciliation

In 2015, at our National Convention that was held in Oklahoma City, OK, the Church of God General Assembly resoundingly passed a resolution concerning race. It opened with the idea that Paul espouses in Romans 12:15 that we should rejoice with those who rejoice, and mourn with those who mourn. If Colin Kaepernick is genuinely mourning the racial issues present in our nation, then as his pastor, I would equip him to effect change. Not that I would agree with how he does it, but that his platform is where he should speak from, because that is exactly the platform God has ordained for him in this season of life.

The Resolution on Race says this:

[W]e call on pastors and leaders to follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit to live out a countercultural lifestyle that works to expose and repent of the sin of racial division and acknowledges the suffering of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

What’s more countercultural than countering the veneration of the nation during Colin Kaepernick’s job? How better than to acknowledge the suffering than to directly oppose the system that enables the continuation of said suffering?

This is an issue of justice. Where is the justice? Justice isn’t just blindly obeying a national image and standard. Justice is order. Justice is lacking, and the Church of God affirmed that and pledged:

Justice--we acknowledge that ministers in our own General Assembly and fellow congregants have been victims of racial profiling, we stand for justice to be administered on their behalf in a fair and impartial manner, we urgently call for justice in all cases of racially-motivated violence, and we support those agencies and officials who enforce the law and administer justice equitably to ensure the safety and security of all of our citizens, congregations and communities;

It’s not that we do not support our police. We do. It’s that we cannot silence a voice of oppression just because we don’t think it exists, or that we have come a long way. If there is a passion and a disposition of mourning being held by any person, as a pastor I must insist on walking that person through to God’s immediate better future. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn (Romans 12:15).

The vision that the movement cast was this:

Vision of reconciliation--we commit ourselves as people of Christian faith to envision, strategize and work toward the realization of a reconciled church, nation and world.

If we are not for the current iteration of the United States of America, because of the racial division and oppression, then we are actively against her. According to our doctrinal position, we do not even dare follow the sectarianism that is represents anyway. Therefore, I wouldn’t be offended that Colin Kaepernick used his only voice he has been given, to stand against the very continuance of what the valid, and very real, oppression people of color see on a daily basis. I honestly believe God is for Colin Kaepernick, and even the stance he took (and is taking) against America, precisely because it’s not the America that should exist, that can exist.

In closing the resolution, the Church of God General Assembly said:

And, let us learn to listen to the stories our brothers and sisters share, express in word and deed our feelings of empathy, and commit to walk together as we boldly stand against every form of racism.

Does not this state that we should stand with Colin Kaepernick? A brother in faith, as regardless of which church or movement he belongs to, the doctrine of the Church of God is that every blood washed one is our brethren in the faith. 

We ought to be walking with Colin Kaepernick in this time. If I was Colin Kaepernick’s pastor, I would.

Disclaimers

There are current rumors going around that may lead some to deduce that Colin Kaepernick is now a Muslim. This is because he is currently in a relationship with MTV DJ Nessa Diab. However, Muslims are not private in the matters of their faith, Diab is not a confessing Muslim - nor wears any traditional garb. To speculate that Colin, who has confessed Christ, is a Muslim now is nothing more than gossip and is not a value any Christian should support.

Black Lives Matter, the movement most associated with racial oppression recognition in America, is not a Muslim or Islamic group. Muslims may support it, but Christians do as well. I say this because it is reported that Nessa Diab is affiliated with this movement, and could very well have influenced Colin Kaepernick in some way. That is not yet known though, and should be considered gossip as well.

General References and continued reading

http://www.christianitytoday.com/gleanings/2013/january/tattooed-49ers-qb-not-only-controversial-christian-in-2013.html

Resolution on Race - 2015 GA of the Church of God: http://www.jesusisthesubject.org/files/downloads/documents/ga/2015GAResolutionOnRace.pdf

Transcript of Colin Kaepernick’s interview post-protest: http://blogs.mercurynews.com/kawakami/2016/08/28/colin-kaepernick-anthem-protest-much-much/

Speculation that Kaepernick could possibly be a Muslim now (out of fairness of the disclaimer): http://www.wnd.com/2016/08/muslim-now-kaepernick-entered-nfl-as-christian-celeb/

[apastornamedrob-blog]

Why Colin Kaepernick doesn’t offend me

Jesus is not an American.

That may come as a surprise to some of you, but really it shouldn’t. Actually, Jesus is not a white middle class man dressed up in a robe who grew a beard and long hair either, although most depictions of Him seem to paint him as such. Jesus is not rich, by worldly standards. Jesus is not what most American Christians paint Him to be, nor display for the world to see. Jesus identifies more with pain, oppression, the poor, the crippled, the prisoners - the marginalized. Recently, there was an NFL player who decided not to stand during the National Anthem. The uproar that it caused made everyone forget that Tom Brady deflated footballs and had a huge shift in who everyone’s favorite person to hate was. Colin Kaepernick, the player who’s decision to sit down during the anthem, chose to do something about racial oppression. Did I agree with what he did? By no means, but I support his right to do so, and call for Christians everywhere to evaluate why they are so offended.

Thousands took to social media in outcry that Kaepernick isn’t oppressed. Well, that’s true, but he didn’t say he was, he said there was a national issue with racial oppression. People everywhere should at least be able to discern that we aren’t even hearing his heart and reason behind doing what he did (and will continue to do) because we are too busy exalting our opinions and ideas of what he should have done.

“All who lift themselves up will be brought low; and those who make themselves low will be lifted up” - Luke 14:11, CEB

Somehow, we have confused patriotism for Christianity. Matter of fact, we have confused piety and holy living for nationalism. This may come as another surprise, but it really shouldn’t because the average American Christian does not actually read their bible, but Israel was sent into exile precisely because their nationalistic ideals oppressed their neighbors. Yes, I am implying that that could very well be the case for America in our near future.

About reaching full maturity in Christ, “As a result, we aren’t supposed to be infants any longer who can be tossed and blown around by every wind of teaching with deceitful scheming  and the tricks people play to deliberately mislead others.” Ephesians 4:11, CEB

It may come as another surprise, because again it’s not like American Christians think for themselves - our culture tends to latch onto the next great wind of teaching (rapture theology, dispensationalism, prosperity gospel, etc - instead of actually considering church history) - Jesus actually teaches against nationalism as he curses the fig tree (a political emblem for Israel). But somehow, someway, American Christians cling to the idea of political Israel. 

The point is, we lack Christian maturity when we exalt political opinion above a genuine heart of Christlikeness. Christ is peace, the Prince of Peace, the peacemaker. But yet, when someone does something that goes against our hardened hearts and identity (which isn’t found in Christ) - our first response is to attack and never hear what is being said. Some would say that is a response of the ingrained sinfulness of our character, or as Paul suggested, “the things I do I don’t want to do” - it’s the I cannot help it syndrome. Yes, actually you can.

“Know this, my dear brothers and sisters: everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to grow angry.” James 1:19, CEB

Ours is to be a peaceful nature. To seek peace - to seek reconciliation. A Christian’s response to Colin Kaepernick, if they are of mature faith, ought to be, if he is “wrong”, how to reconcile him and peacefully usher him into God’s greater intentions and reality. Not to explode because he offended your idea of national pride.

Pride, notoriously, is the great cloud which blots out the sun of God’s generosity: if I reckon that I deserve to be favored by God, not only do I declare that I don’t need his grace, mercy and love, but I imply that those who don’t deserve it shouldn’t have it. - NT Wright

The psalmist tells us to “Seek peace and pursue it” (Psalm 34:14). Paul exhorts that, “If possible, to the best of your ability, live at peace with all people” (Romans 12:18, CEB). Yes, that even means people who you disagree with. The writer of Hebrews writes, “Pursue the goal of peace along with everyone - and holiness as well, because no one will see the Lord without it” (Hebrews 12:14, CEB). 

No one will see the Lord without it. 

To assume that Kaepernick doesn’t care about his country, is to exalt yourself over him. It’s to lord yourself over him, to dare to say your opinion matters more than his. Jesus told his disciples that it was the Gentiles (unbelievers who knew not the principles of God) that would lord themselves over another, but not so with them, if they were to seek greatness, they were to serve (Matthew 20:25-28). What Kaepernick desires is a better America than the one we have now. One that recognizes the racial oppression and actually initiates a conversation about it, instead of dismissing it. How can you serve Kaepernick instead of lording over him your position? That’s the question Christians should be asking themselves.

How else do you propose Kaepernick plays this out? Some people believe he shouldn’t do it during the national anthem played before football games. But, that is his platform. Where else can someone initiate a change if not from within themselves? From where they are familiar? Even Jesus told the man who wanted to follow Him after He exorcised the legion of demons out of him to go home - start there. Some call it disrespectful to our veterans and active service members. However, that’s not the case either.

The very fabric of our being, the supreme law of our land is the Constitution. A soldier declares that they will defend the Constitution. The Constitution was established, “in order to form a more perfect union, establish Justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity...”

So what do you do when you cannot visualize a more perfect union? What do you do when you do not perceive justice? What do you do when you cannot establish domestic tranquility? or welfare? Most importantly, what happens when a portion of our population does not identify themselves as receiving the “blessings of liberty”? 

That’s what soldiers protect, not the national anthem. The anthem points to things like the Constitution and the perseverance of our way of life. For Kaepernick, the national anthem is no longer in support of the Constitution and our way of life. But we do not want to hear that. We don’t want to hear that our beloved Constitutional being is being denied to an entire portion of our population. We just demand that it be honored by standing for a song. 

When you hear the broken heart, you hear Jesus. Leonard Sweet

Jesus isn't found in the pride of our nation. Jesus isn’t found in standing for a song. Jesus, believe it or not, very well may be found in the refusal to stand for that song. Jesus is not what we paint him to be.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to preach the good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to liberate the oppressed and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. - Jesus reading from Isaiah 61, Luke 4:18-19, CEB

What the world is doing is slandering a man with good intentions for doing the only thing he knew to draw attention to an issue. Instead of seeking peace with that man, American Christians everywhere slander him. Paul tells us to set aside anger, rage, malice, and slander (Colossians 3:8) - all things that are clearly on display regarding the outcry towards Kaepernick. Paul continues to say that the better option is to put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience (3:12). That is putting on Christlikeness, that is how Christ looks and how He should be painted for the world. They are also marks of bearing the Holy Spirit.

A friend posted on social media, “Practice what you preach”. I had argued this position with her some time before this, and a fair deduction could be that that was aimed at me. Regardless if she meant that, God does. God desires us to practice what we preach. If the Gospel of Jesus Christ is what you preach, then do not let your nationalism stand in the way. The Hebrews verse above spells it out all too clearly. “Pursue the goal of peace along with everyone - and holiness as well, because no one will see the Lord without it” (Hebrews 12:14, CEB). 

No one sees the Lord when Christians are exalting nationalism over racial oppression.

[apastornamedrob-blog]

Erasing Hell - Let’s Talk

Today, I had the great opportunity to sit down with a couple great pastors. Pastor Max Canfield of the Church of the Brethren in New Philadelphia, Ohio and Pastor April Conkey who is serving as the associate pastor under my ministry at the New Philadelphia First Church of God. We sat down to talk about the book Erasing Hell by Francis Chan and Preston Sprinkle.

Instead of blogging about this, we have recorded it for your listening! Check out our church’s podcast on iTunes  or go directly to our sermon page on our site here.

Be sure to leave some feedback! 

Grace and peace!

[apastornamedrob-blog]

Does God get what He wants? - A book review of Love Wins

“Rob Bell has gone off the deep end (Heck, 2011).” “Heretic or just insane (ProtesttheLeft, 2011)?” “Farewell,” tweeted John Piper (Wellman, 2012, p. 113). These are just a few of the remarks, headlines, and beginnings of reviews about the controversial book written by Bell, Love Wins. Most have been tweeted, blogged, spoken, and even printed, “without even [having] read the book” (p. 113). So I read the book.

What makes him so controversial? What makes him appear to be so divisive? In all honesty, the thing that makes him controversial and divisive is his willingness to question the norm. Bell is willing to have a conversation outside of orthodoxy, and to me, that’s perfectly okay. How else will you know orthodoxy if you cannot define the unorthodox?

Having grown up in the seat of Reformed theology, why would he not question the anti-intellectualism of modern day Calvinism. Just the fact that we call it Calvinism, a play off of a 16th Century theologian, should enlighten us to the idea that the thought process of today’s theologians are in the past. That is not the kingdom of heaven that Jesus ushered in, a church looking forward to complete redemption of creation. The ultimate authority of our faith is Jesus (Hebrews 12:2, New International Version). The tradition that too many theologians of today perpetuates produces cultural biases that, “frame the way we see, speak, and read” (p. 76). Jesus should frame the way we see, speak, and read – the salve for our eyes (Revelation 3:18, NIV).

James Wellman was persuaded by his publishers to produce a book reviewing Bell, Love Wins, and Bell’s influence in the emergent conversation throughout the church in America. In his interviews with Bell and his associates at Mars Hill church, Wellman says that it is Bell’s curiosity that makes people uneasy. It is his willingness to ask questions (350 of them in Love Wins) and not cling to tradition (p. 115). Bell is willing to pioneer a new understanding, or rather, an enlightened and widened view of who Jesus really is for us today, because he is willing to ask questions about how we have framed our theological understandings of Christian life.

I often have a love-hate relationship with Bell. Bell seems to have a willingness to over-spiritualize everything. So much so that the, “sacred is in the secular, and the two cannot be separated” (p. 20). He sees things that many do not, which often pushes me to attempt to understand where he is coming from. That makes me uncomfortable. That comfortableness is where the tension lies between hating and loving his thoughts. That is precisely why I do not believe he is a lunatic, a heretic, or that he has gone off the deep end. He has only asked me to get uncomfortable, to take God out of the box I put him in, and examine why I believe what I believe.

This is the thing: none of this is even new. None of the material that Bell presents is by any way, shape or form new. “I haven’t come up with a radical new teaching that’s any kind of departure from what’s been said an untold number of times” (Bell, 2011, p. x). Bell references Martin Luther’s questioning of God’s ability to save people postmortem in a letter to Hans von Rechenberg in 1522, “Who would doubt God’s ability to do that? (p. 106); Luther’s words, not Bell’s. Bell notes the universalist tint of church fathers Clement of Alexanderia, Origen, Gregory of Nyssa, Eusebius, Jerome, Basil, and Augustine (p. 107-8). He simply asks how we got to where we are today when voices such as these questioned the idea that only a few select got to heaven.

This is what he proposes: Does God get what He wants? Does God not want everyone reconciled unto Him? Bell confronts the exclusive nature of the Evangelical Church, basically comparing it to the sin of Israel, saying, “When the gospel is understood primarily in terms of entrance [heaven] than a joyous participation, it can actually serve to cut people off from the explosive, liberating experience of the God who is an endless giving circle of joy and creativity” (p. 179). The Evangelical Church has diminished that circle of joy and creativity to a “ticket to heaven” a “way to get past the bouncer and into the club” (p. 178). That’s what Israel did. Reformed theologians (Piper included) are simply afraid of Bell and a “new” Christianity taking over their “turf.” That is how the Israelites treated the Gentiles.

Tony Jones is said to predicted the impact of Love Wins, “with perfect pitch:

The ‘Calvinistas’ will attack Rob as a universalist.

Rob won’t care.

Christianity Today will write a review that expresses some serious doubt and hesitation about Rob’s new book, but they won’t entirely throw him under the bus (yet).

Rob won’t care.

Lots of people, like me, will blog about this.

Rob won’t care.

Some people will even leave Mars Hill church because they don’t like what’s in the book.

Rob won’t care (Wellman, 2012, p. 22).

Bell will simply be too focused on his relationship with Jesus being a catalyst for the transformation of others (p. 50).

References

Bell, R. (2011). Love Wins. New York: Harper Collins.

Heck, P. (2011, April 18). The Official Blog of the Peter Heck Radio Show. Retrieved September 16, 2015, from Peter Heck's Liberty Tree: http://www.peterheck.com/libtree/liberty_tree/view/847/_pastor__rob_bell_goes_off_the_deep_end

ProtesttheLeft. (2011, March 8). Protest the Left. Retrieved September 16, 2015, from The Virtual Protest of Everything Liberal: http://www.protesttheleft.com/2011/03/is-rob-bell-heretic-or-just-insane.html

Wellman, J. (2012). Rob Bell and a new American Christianity. Nashville: Abingdon Press.