14 comments (Add your own)

1. Sea Baits wrote:

"I'm good". It is such a challenge to stop telling folks who have not said yes to Jesus what to do. I think the biggest challenge in this for me is because there seems to be such a fine line between telling folks what they ought and should do in regards to Christ, and sharing the good news of God's kingdom. In a lot of respects, I guess I feel like I'm a sales rep for God's kingdom and I gotta "always be closing" (quote from Boiler Room). I think we as Christians often times forget that God, through the work of Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit, is the only One who truly "closes" the deal to salvation. So when we lose sight of that, we are tempted to "close" the deal for Him and get caught up with the "oughts" and "ought nots". I do think there is a time and place for the "oughts" and "ought nots", but I am strongly convicted that the "oughts" and "ought nots" is PRIMARILY the role of the Holy Spirit. Should He choose to involve us with the "oughts" and "ought nots" in others lives, which he occasionally does in the context of relationships, it is then an honor and we should view it as such.

Reminds me of a quote that says "People do not care about what you know until they know that you care."

As one of my boys always says, "Just my $0.02"

Mon, February 2, 2009 @ 1:17 PM

2. Alecia wrote:

Sounds good to me--also hard to do! Maybe we should operate on the principle of "if you build it they will come." If we build the church into a loving body where people see real people and real love in action, they will come. If we want that to happen each of us has to be that--an authentic person who loves authentically. Tall order for a bunch of sinners--but not too big for God's Spirit. Great job yesterday, Jason--thanks for your honesty. And the best commercials were the Bridgestone Tire Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head and Paulamalo's redo of the Mean Joe Green spot. Love the dumb Coke Zero guys!

Mon, February 2, 2009 @ 2:48 PM

3. casually speaking wrote:

I too see this challenge a great opportunity to get real with ourselves. So often I am so set on watching our children during and after church that I miss on opportunity to be "real" with even my close "friends".
I also think that there is a good time and a not so good time to unload life's troubles and trials. After just saying, "Hi, my name is .....Oh by the way let me tell you about my ......(hang-ups), bad idea. I see this much the same as a previous blogee about being in tune with the Spirit. Let Him guide my words and actions so that He uses what I say to others as a way to further His kingdom, not just to dump on a victim.
Oh by the way...I too thought Jason (aka Pastor Jason) did a great job as he lead us in what he noticed the Spirit leading him to say. Thanks.

Mon, February 2, 2009 @ 6:03 PM

4. vicky t wrote:

On behalf of my life group (as well as myself), I would like to say that you brought it this past Sunday! Our life group, which takes place right after church, had a 3 hour conversation about the sermon which included:

1. How we all felt that it should have lasted longer!

2. We appreciated you making yourself vulnerable. More importantly, modeling what humility and removing a mask looks like.

3. Our lunch included a discussion about the different masks that we wear and why we wear them. We also realized that what we consider to be our true face, is sometimes a false one created by lies and pain (Example: I am not social and never have been so I just dont open up. Thats not me). Putting on a true face calls for us to recognize our own faults, and ask for God to reveal to us the person He wants us to be.

So, in line with your question, taking on the challenge of making ourselves vulnerable servants to others would have amazing results both in our own spiritual journey, and helping others along with their own.

Tue, February 3, 2009 @ 7:08 AM

5. susan wrote:

I recall a time when I was with a group of brothers and sister and we were asked on a scale of 1-10 how were we doing. I sat there feeling like a 10 when the thought came to me that maybe I shouldn't say that.I was ready to wear a mask so as not to be judged. I was ready to say 8 or maybe 9 but what would that look like if I said 10. These were my friends.People that I know love me and I was going to wear a mask. I responded with 10 and I pray that I never be ashamed to say that I am a 10 when it is the joy of the Lord that is the source of my joy.

Tue, February 3, 2009 @ 5:05 PM

6. Jason Brown wrote:

There have been so many good thoughts posted this week. Thanks for the input and insight. Here's my $.02 as Sea Baits said above.

1. As Susan mentioned, part of what it means to be TrueFaced is to be authentic about the times when we are doing well. If we happen to be glad and thoroughly joyful at a moment when someone asks, "How are you?" we don't need to modify our reply, "Great!" We really are that. That was an important comment.

2. I've run into quite a few people this week who have wondered whether we should ALWAYS be honest with EVERYONE -- they've asked me whether this is what it means to be TrueFaced. I don't think this is what it means, though maybe God does want us to be generally more free in sharing our hearts. In one of the posts above, Vicky mentions the discussion she had with her Life Group. I think this is the place where we should "go deeper." It should be with people we trust that we pursue complete honesty. So, while God may be asking us to learn how to be more comfortable with honesty in general, I think that being TrueFaced has more to do with sharing our sin, fear, worries, etc. with people we know will show us grace. WHAT ARE Y OUR THOUGHTS ON THIS?

3. Casually Speaking mentions wanting to pursue deeper conversation with friends after church, but not doing it. I can totally relate to this . . . and I'm a pastor!! I would like to see us be more free in having these discussions -- especially if we want to. I want to encourage all of you to risk doing this with your friends. Perhaps they are just waiting for someone to take the lead in asking more serious questions.

That's all for now. Again, thanks for all your thoughts above

Wed, February 4, 2009 @ 4:55 AM

7. Bill White wrote:

When it comes to the 'how are you?' question, I struggle with how to respond. On occasion, when there's time, I'll give a thorough response, which sounds like this:

"Well, eternally i'm doing awesome - I'm saved by grace and heading home to be with Jesus, so I couldn't be better. This decade I would say has been the best of my life, so I'm doing really well there - worked through some major inner healing issues, found Christ in having kids, and discovered my calling - so that's good. This year so far has had some real challenges. Early in January I lost a little ground on some of the peace I was experiencing in Christ when I hit a real busy stretch at work, so I'd say maybe a 4 on a scale of 1-10. This week has been a bit blah - nothing bad, nothing super good, so I don't even know how to rank that. This morning has been excellent - a great walk with my boy to start the day, so I'm at a 9 today. And right now, well, I've dipped a bit because I've opened up my email and realized I have a couple of issues to deal with of my own causing and I'm aware of my sin again..."

I realize, that's a bit much for most people, so often I just say, "fine." But with Katy and with close friends - well, they get an earful.

Wed, February 4, 2009 @ 5:52 AM

8. Sea Baits wrote:

Touche Bill.

Wed, February 4, 2009 @ 6:21 AM

9. da' sciple aka THE GUY WHO BLOGS LONG wrote:

There's a parable concerning the difficulties of affirming both man’s free will and God’s all-encompassing sovereignty.

A sign above the door to Heaven boldly proclaims “Whosoever will may come!” However, once through Heaven’s gates, one will notice that the flip side of the sign says, “Only those predestined before the foundation of the world may enter.”

In my biblical study on the soveriegnty of God and namely His irresistable grace, I've come to understand the proper use of "telling folks who haven't yet said yes to Jesus what to do". Although we don't look for results outside the supernatural work of The Holy Spirit, we should remain faithful to evangelism.

I guess the term 'telling' is meant to be subjective and doesnt neccessarily include evangelism..?! If what's meant by 'telling' fits within the confines of instructing "those outside" to live by God's moral standard, and/or making judgments about their ideals, actions, and lifestyle; then yea - I can dig it. In fact I submit that 2 years isnt enough. Under the inspiration of The Holy Spirit Paul said don't do it, it's God's business:

1 Cor. 5:12-13a
12For what have I to do with judging 'outsiders'? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? 13God judges those 'outside'.... [quotations added]

Make sense?

However, if what's meant by "take a 2yr hiatus from telling folks who haven't yet said yes to Jesus what to do", is stop sharing the Gospel with the unregenrate... then I have to disagree. Jesus' last words in Lukes Gospel are:
Ch. 24
44Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled." 45Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46and said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

Like I said I'm not sure what was meant by the 2yr hiatus but... either way we need to (a) like Paul said for lack of better terms, take a lifetime hiatus from "telling" or (b) remain faithful to proclaiming the The Old Story - every chance we get.

Now regarding the time spent praying for and repenting of our own hypocrisy and becoming the kind of people Jesus wants us to be; I agree we should give ALL our attention to this matter, but not in replacement- morseso in conjunction with. It's part of a lifetime process we call sanctification and if we put aside preaching the Gospel for two years, in order to focus solely on the above, we may become useless in an area God has called us to be fruitful. The reason we werent raptured at regeneration was because God now wants to use us to go tell others. He'll help us with the dying daily/cross bearing and repentance from here til' glory.

Now that my friends... is my .02

Wed, February 4, 2009 @ 9:16 AM

10. Jason Brown wrote:

Great distinction to raise, da 'sciple. Completely agree we can never stop sharing the gospel and telling the story. I'm not advocating a 2-year hiatus from that.

As a matter of fact, I had a great talk with a brother earlier today and he was praying/thinking about what I really meant when I was asking for Christians to take a 2-year hiatus on angrily telling the world to stop being the world. He wondered whether what I was really asking for was civility, humility, circumspection, love and understanding when we Christians speak publicly. Like da'sciple above, he seemed to think it would be a good idea for Christians to take a lifetime hiatus (not just two years) on speaking to people outside the church in a demanding, judgmental, hateful way -- which we have done a lot of.

The other thing this person mentioned is that often times our anger is actually the result of fear. On Sunday when I asked why we Christians are so angry at politicians, the media and the homosexual community, he surmised that the bottom-line for most of us is fear. Ultimately there is something we are afraid of . . . and this fear manifests itself in anger. I thought there was a lot of wisdom in this

Wed, February 4, 2009 @ 9:39 AM

11. Greg Wallace Dolmage wrote:

This is all good stuff. I think one of the key ideas in this hiatus is not as much what we stop, but also what we are to do. The whole idea is really a change of focus. Instead of looking at the world and asking, "How is this place not Christian?" we look at a mirror and ask, "How am I not a Christian?"

How do I not behave like Christ? How do I not make the world a bit more like heaven?

This focus on the self, and lets say we do this for 2 years, will probably expose a lot of our brokeness, anger, bitterness, and fear. After two years of exposing this in our own lives, my hope is that we would develop empathy. Rather than curse the broken, we bless. Rather than get angry at the addicts, we cry for their pain.

Now imagine if all who proclaim Jesus as Lord did this together. It would be messy and difficult, but I believe there would be a lot of healing. And is far as evangelism goes, I would much rather walk into a church full of people who say, "I'm a sinner in need of the love and mercy of Jesus," as opposed to a church full of people that say, "We have got our act together so make sure you've got your act together."

Who better to proclaim the amazing grace of Jesus to the world then somebody who actually believes they are saved purely by grace?
Just some thoughts.

Thu, February 5, 2009 @ 10:09 AM

12. Alicia Ferrari wrote:

FINALLY!!!! I will be the first to say that, ever since I became a Christian (Summer of '86), our actions speak MUCH louder than words. Furthermore, I need to get myself right before God, before making others right before God. Working at Disneyland, truly makes anyone less apt to admit that they're a Christian with "right-wing" views. My relationship with others speak louder. My reactions to what they do, show more grace than me telling them what the grace of God can do for them. But, I NEED to have myself right with God. I NEED to "keep up with" my relationship with God. Not to sound unhumbled, but I would rather have my obituary read that those who I came in contact with, inspired, and encouraged, was by what I had done, rather than what I had said. So, keep up with encouraging us to get ourselves right with God, focus on developing relationships, rather than trying to "close that deal". It gives me MUCH grace and no guilt in being a Christian. Because, truly, it would be SO easy to point the fingers and pick out the faults, wrong ideals, and whatnots that don't measure up. BIG DEAL. I'm sure I do things that probably make God roll his eyes and say to me, "What ARE you doing/thinking!?!" But, instead, He just says, "Ok, that's just another area we need to work on." So, thank you for reminding me of this.

Thu, February 5, 2009 @ 8:14 PM

13. Jaime Lindsay wrote:

Growing up in a Christian home and in Christian schools, I had a major awakening when I realized the world did not reflect God. I had a rather liberal major I think, comparatively being that I went to a Christian college, and my studies forced me to look at the injustice in the world and see what was wrong with it, without much emphasis on Jesus. I found myself angry at God after spending time on skid row and in prisons seeing some very ugly circumstances. I was pissed. How could God let things get this bad? But really I was expecting the world to reflect what I had learned growing up about God, and yet it didn't. After working through some depression and struggling to see God and hope in this world, I realized I was looking at the wrong thing. The world does not offer me hope, Jesus does. The world is not a reflection of the way God meant things to be. His people are supposed to offer that. If I expect the world to be what it cannot be on it's own, I will always be disappointed and angry. I have been really moved by a verse at the end of Jonah. When Jonah is angry at God because he forgave a city of evil people, God asks him "Do you have any right to be angry?" Jonah says, "I do, I am angry enough to die." And God replies (me skipping around a bit) "Ninevah has more than a hundred twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left... should I not be concerned about that great city?" Generally people who can't tell their right hand from their left are kids.. people who don't know what is right and wrong yet. That has really helped me change how I view my world and those I interact with.

Sat, February 7, 2009 @ 2:31 PM

14. Michael wrote:

To jump off of what Greg said recently there does have to be more from us than just a shut mouth to the wrong and offense we see from others. I think another thing that would bring much healing to ourselves and to those around us is to acknowledge what is being done right by those same people we see as wrong; this is especially important in my mind when it comes to the body of Christ and it's many denominations.

We should recognize (both internally and verbally) the difference and good that comes from other denominations and the way they go about to serve and worship God. I think this is what Paul was trying to say in Romans 14-15:1-13. This would bring about reconciliation with ourselves to others who we claim to share the same blood and body with.

This two year hiatus will be though for me. If this is really going to happen I know I'll be needing some Christ followers around me doing this so we can support and encourage each other, there will be prayer needed, and the grace of God.

Sun, February 15, 2009 @ 5:57 AM

Add a New Comment

Your Name:

Your Email/URL (Optional):

Your Comment:

Enter the code you see below:

 

Comment Guidelines: No HTML is allowed. Off-topic or inappropriate comments will be edited or deleted. Thanks.