the drum|rob fairbanks

Eucharistic Mess

Jessica

Where does your allegiance lie?

    Why do we have different church denominations? I mean, I understand how they came into existence and the reasons behind it, but why?

    I think that having different church styles is extremely important because it can be hard to meet the vast variety of needs amongst us as individuals. We are strengthened when we come together with our differences. However, saying that, I think the church has been splintered rather than strengthened by its denominations. Instead of drawing closer together under one banner, Christ Jesus, we've separated off into factions, each claiming its own ways and rights. If we follow Christ, and are His, why do we claim alegiance to any other spiritual background? Why do we place our identity in anything other than Him?

    We are ultimately not Lutherans, nor Baptists, nor Presbyterians, nor any other denomination and we are not Non-denominational (which has become a denomination of sorts in its own right).

    What kind of a witness are we? One to a fractured church? If you have placed your faith and trust in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ then you have been adopted into the family of God. You are His. And as His body, you are called to be unified. As a follower of Christ Jesus, a son of the King, and a brother in the family of God, I'm done being defined by what denomination I do or don't belong to. I am His, and that's where I choose to stand. It's enough.

Zach

Yes, the Bible does critique your facebook posts.

   Today in class we talked a bit about social justice for the starving and extorted and powerless, talking through Nehemiah 5 and the situation there. Quick summary: the Israelites are extorting their own countrymen, and these countrymen complain to Nehemiah that they no longer have money for food and so are forced into mortgage and slavery. Nehemiah rebukes the nobles and officials, asks them to throw out their usurious ways, and then sets the example by feeding his fellow men and not taking the taxes and food he is due as the governor.

    There’s the example the bible sets—feed the hungry, redeem the enslaved, set a good example for everyone. This picture I pulled off a friend’s facebook page (someone I would consider a deep and sincere lover of the Lord) says something entirely different. If we feed the hungry, they’ll become dependent on us. I know this picture is only meant to be sort of funny, but it sends a powerful message that the Christians liking and reblogging can’t really mean, and yet we espouse all the time. I hear it from my parents, my home church, peers at Whitworth. We believe that everyone is offered the same opportunities and those who are poor simply didn’t take advantage of those—so it’s their fault they’re starving, suffering, powerless. It’s a completely American attitude, and yet we’ve pulled it in and started expressing it as part of our political views despite the way it contradicts everything our Bible teaches us.

    I’m looking at Nehemiah this way: we are the governors, the noblemen and the officials. Right now we’re Nehemiah, looking at the people and saying “you didn’t save enough grain to feed yourself. You made bad financial choices, went with the wrong mortgage, didn’t raise your kids properly. And if we feed you, redeem your children from slavery, and give you power in place of powerlessness, you’ll only become dependent on us and rely on our free handouts.”

    I’m exaggerating. Even the people who would trash food stamps and welfare programs help out at a homeless shelter from time to time, do laundry for the clothing bank. But in some sense we look at these things as beneath us—and therefore, the people who utilize the ministry as beneath us too. That needs to change. We need to become the biblical Nehemiah. 

Anna

I Don't Want to Hate the Church

      I venture to say, based on observations as far as I am able to see, more people are calling themselves Christians while more Christians are denying the title for all its negative connotations. Have you heard anyone claim their faith as “believer” or “follower of Christ” or “Jesus lover”? That’s dandy, and true. But the term “Christian” has been taken away from us, much as the symbol of the rainbow has. As a young person learning that I am in the midst of much needed revelation and change for “the church,” I fear the negativity toward the church. I fear for non-believers because it will keep them away, and for believers because of unforgiveness and bitterness toward those who have been getting it wrong. I fear the anger I’ve seen. I fear more splitting, more division dangerously close at hand within the whole Christian body. I pray it doesn’t happen that leaders who are making right changes due to convictions about how the church has been failing begin to find new titles. I don’t want to see a new movement rise up again only to lose itself in its mission once more. I want to see the church be taken back; for the term Christian to be taken back.  To bring them back to mean the body of Christ and Christ-like. The only way to know those meanings is through Christ himself and we find him in the Word, our Bibles, and in prayer. I think this means we must look at the broken church with a heart of forgiveness. Jesus saw the broken and flawed and he forgave them, then said, “now sin no more.” Forgiveness and correction. Jesus was, is, for the church, his bride, so I want to be, too. Jesus’ heart probably breaks for her, I want mine to, too. Let us lift the church back up to what it should be, not break it down.

   “And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had… they worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity- all while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.” Acts 2.44, 46-47

-Ashley

Joyfully Removed

    The Western church is no longer center stage in modern culture, and as we are shunted aside it seems reasonable to think that becoming more like the world will entice more people into our buildings. Then I come upon Jesus’ words, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Hold up, what?! Blessed are who? It might be a small stretch to equate marginalization and persecution, but I am beginning to think that being pushed out of mainstream culture could be the best thing that has happened to the body of Christ today.

    In his book The Forgotten Ways, Alan Hirsch points to the church in two different times and geographic areas, the early Christian body and the underground church in China. Both of these groups of believers became vibrant and large communities during harsh and unrelenting periods of persecution. Hirsch sees that “Persecution drove both the early Christian movement and the Chinese church to discover their truest nature as an apostolic people” and it “acted as a means to keep these movements true to their faith and reliant on God.”

    But how did these communities turn persecution to power to promote the Kingdom of God? James calls out from the Word, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds.” Think about that for a minute. This isn’t telling us to tolerate trouble or to “grin and bear it”, but instead be joyful in it—have a deep, indescribable emotion welling up in us whenever we face trials because of faith in the Lord Jesus. What if, instead of pushing back as we are pushed aside or fearing persecution for our faith, the Western church opened ourselves to the possibility of being collectively JOYFUL? How much more would we be able to point the way to the Kingdom of God if our joy in all situations shone through? Something attracted millions of converts in the early and Chinese churches. Maybe this joy in persecution promised to us by our living Savior can be the way we truly live into our calling as a missional and sent church. Maybe this strange joy from hardship can revitalize us and help us be the instrument and foretaste of the Kingdom we were meant to be for the world.

Kate

Going to the Margins of the Church - Nouwen

The below is a quote from Henri Nouwen.  Click "like" if you resonant with his vision of the church.

Those who are marginal in the world are central in the Church, and that is how it is supposed to be!  Thus we are called as members of the Church to keep going to the margins of our society.  The homeless, the starving, parentless children,  people with AIDS, our emotionally disturbed brothers and sisters - they require our first attention. 

We can trust that when we reach out with all our energy to the margins of our society we will discover that petty disagreements, fruitless debates, and paralysing rivalries will recede and gradually vanish.   The Church will always be renewed when our attention shifts from ourselves to those who need our care.  The blessing of Jesus always comes to us through the poor.   The most remarkable experience of those who work with the poor is that, in the end, the poor give more than they receive.  They give food to us. 

Ok, there is no "like" button...but if there were I'd like, like, like!

r

What is the Missional Church?

I am always poking around the web looking for resources that could be used to help understand the theology of mission.  Here is one that could be a great assest.  John Franke has be a bit of a harbinger of the emerging/missional movment.  He is bright and rooted.  Check it out.

 

Peace,

r

Christian Associates International :: Laying Down Roots

Here is a great story about CA and New Community church planter, David Von.  A real time picture of how missional church planting can happen. Click the Header to see the article.

rf

Galatians 6:9

posted by allie

Cut, Bled and Dry

By Kirsten

Nobody really understands the Holy Spirit. We read about the Spirit's role in scripture, we can recognize overtly supernatural interferences in people's lives, and we get an odd feeling every now and again, which we attribute to the Spirit working through us. One of the quotes that I have clung to in class is that "We are not in the world trying to prove Christianity is true, but we are trying to show the world what it would look like if it was true." What makes Christianity what it is? The Holy Spirit. How would people even know that Christianity was true? If they saw right through people to the Spirit that dwells within them.

The Holy Spirit has many names: Spirit of God (Rom. 8:9), Spirit of the Father (Matt. 10:20), The Spirit of Truth (John 14:17), The Spirit of the Lord (Acts 8:39). But, the Spirit is more than just some supernatural force that floats around inside of people; it works very tangibly in the person of Christ and in people all throughout the world. The point I am trying to make is that the Church has been in a state of disarray basically from its beginning. Even the churches that Paul started had a lot of problems. People try to force their ministries, and they die; they try to evangelize, and it gets awkward; they try to live holy and righteous lives, but they fail, etc. They do this all, oftentimes, without asking help from God Himself, the Spirit, the indwelling Helper. If we try to go at ministry alone, especially a radical new way of ministry, coupling the idea of sodalic and modalic ministry models in churches, we are going to need help. In fact, we are going to need such overwhelming power and strength that WHEN we fall, the Church will keep moving forward to the reconciliation at the end of all things.

This Church body thing that people are inevitably a part of as Christians, whether put together or broken,  is the art work of the Spirit of God. He is what empowers, heals, teaches, intercedes, fills, leads, and brings new life. If we try to do ministry without asking, we are going to bleed ourselves dry. We can only run so far without being filled again by the Spirit. If left to our own strength, our bodies would wear and die. But, with God living IN US, we can do ALL things. Ask for the Spirit, trust the Spirit, rely on and rest in the Spirit. Dwell with the King of Kings, and live again.