Overcoming Evil

In 1914, at the outbreak of World War 1, British author and social commentator H.G. Wells is credited with penning the phrase "The war to end war" in several of his published articles. 

• Yet, wars continue to wage!

In 1963, during a civil rights march on Washington, American civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech calling for an end to racism.

• Yet, racism continues to divide!

In 1990, in response to the international stock market crash, Australian Federal Treasurer Paul Keating described the Australian recession as "the recession we had to have." 

•  Yet, economies remain fragile!

In 2001, after the terrorist attacks in the US, President George Bush declared a 'War on Terror' in his speech to Congress stating, "We will not tire, we will not falter and we will not fail."

• Yet, terrorists continue to terrorise!
  

In 2013, during the Australian Federal election campaign, Liberal leader Tony Abbott pledged, "We'll stop the boats" as a commitment to end people smuggling.

• Yet, refugees continue to be displaced!

It seems we have learned little from one hundred years of endless conflicts, eloquent speeches, economic bailouts, evading terror and emigrating people.  Our best attempts to resolve human conflict has done nothing to change the human condition.  Our advances and achievements are unable to answer the universal question - "Why?" - about all the suffering in the world.  Our humanistic ideologies fail to compensate for our religious inadequacies.  If our past and present failings as the human race have taught us anything, it is that there are forces at work in this world that transcend our humanity and have corrupted our human nature and continue to disrupt the created order.  These forces are not of human origin but are manifested through human behaviour.  Until we acknowledge that the evil in our world is fundamentally a spiritual battle we will continue to fight against the agents of evil while not addressing the source of evil.  

There has been no conflict, no diplomacy, no sanctions that have ever had the power to destroy evil.  That's because we are fighting the wrong battles with the wrong weapons, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" (Ephesians 6:12).  The only time in history when a person possessed the power to overcome evil was when "The Word [aka Jesus] became flesh and made his dwelling among us" (John 1:14).

In the first century, during the reign of King Herod and Roman governor Pilate, a Jewish man named Jesus Christ affirmed, "In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).

In the garden before being arrested, Jesus Christ confronted the forces of evil as He determined, "Not my will, but yours [that is, God's] be done" (Luke 22:42).

In the moments before He died, Jesus Christ confounded the forces of evil as he stated before His accusers, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34)

In the days following His death, Jesus Christ conquered the forces of evil as His disciples witnessed His resurrection and heard Him say, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me" (Matthew 28:18).

In a time yet to be disclosed, Jesus Christ will return to earth and consume the forces of evil so "There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away" (Revelation 21:4).

The only way we can overcome evil and experience peace on earth is through a relationship with Jesus Christ who has the power to transform the human condition and restore the created order.  He has defeated the real enemy of humanity and has established His kingdom on earth.  Through Jesus "the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God have come.  The authority of his Messiah has come.  Satan, who brings charges against our brothers and sisters, has been thrown down.  He brings charges against them in front of our God day and night.  They had victory over him by the blood the Lamb spilled for them.  They had victory over him by speaking the truth about Jesus to others.  They were willing to risk their lives, even if it led to death. (Revelation 12:10-11).

Rise Up!

What happens when 170 Christian men from all over Victoria gather together for a weekend of teaching and fellowship?  For some, new friendships are formed.  For others, past acquaintances are renewed.  For most, the time away leaves them inspired.

What would happen if the same 170 Christian men returned home from such a weekend filled with the Holy Spirit?  They wouldn't just be inspired but would be transformed!  

Imagine the impact on their families, churches and communities!

During the final session of teaching the guest speaker invited the men gathered to "Rise Up in Power" and suggested that "Men need today a baptism of the Holy Spirit.  There are men in our churches who live somewhere between the Resurrection and Pentecost.  They have experienced the empty tomb but not the upper room."

That was the thought that resonated deep within my spirit!

It is time for men of faith to move beyond a knowledge of the Resurrection towards an experience of Pentecost where the power of the Holy Spirit is unleashed so that we will 'rise up' and become the husbands, fathers and leaders that God has ordained us to be!  

It is time for men of faith to desire more of Jesus than of ourselves so that God has total supremacy of our lives.  

It is time for men of faith to no longer "live according to the flesh [with] their minds set on what the flesh desires; but [to] live in accordance with the Spirit [and] have their minds set on what the Spirit desires" (Romans 8:5).

It is time for men of faith to 'rise up' and take a stand!
 

Making Things Right

Over the past couple of days I have been enriched and challenged at the Surrender:15 Conference in Melbourne as I interacted with a diverse group of Christians passionate about social justice.  Such a conference created a variety of spaces to explore a biblical basis for justice in the church and a practical expression of justice in the community.  Through prayer, bible studies, worship and workshops we were invited to journey together as the gathered community of God with the theme of justice under the title - Making Things Right!

The bible study I chose to attend captured my attention on the program because it focused on the life of Oscar Romero, one of my heroes of the faith, to give a context to the biblical theme of justice being studied.  However, the actual study challenged my expectations, presenting a very different learning style and interactive space that took me way outside of my comfort zone.  I resisted the temptation and desire to attend a different study on the second day because Holy Spirit challenged me to remain in this space to allow myself to be stretched through a different learning experience.  I'm glad I stayed!

Together, we journed through Romans 12:1-8, which coincidently is also one of my favourite passages of Scripture and has featured many times in my devotional life and preaching ministry. 

However, reading this passage through a lens of social justice instead of personal holiness or corporate worship or even spiritual gifts, reframes the context of what it means to live more fully "in view of God's mercy" as a "living sacrifice" in the world.  

Below are some reflective thoughts and questions that emerged for me from this study... 

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 

• What is your understanding of sacrifice? 
• Why is it that some people/groups are sacrificed more than others?
• Offering yourself as a living sacrifice changes the dynamics of power relationships.
• Romero was sacrificed while offering the elements of the Eucharist representing the sacrifice of Christ.
• Some people need to sacrifice for the good of others.
• The old sacrificial system required a blood offering - blood is the life of the body, so my 'blood offering' is literally offering my LIFE; that is, the way I live brings life to others.
• Reversal of sacrificial system - something or someone has to LIVE in order for others to experience the fullness of life.
• "In view of God's mercy" - Mercy must be seen for Justice to be expressed.

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. 

• What is the world specifically to you? - cultural, generational expectations and patterns; worldview and theology; exploitation; social structures? 
• We are a part of each other's transformation.

Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. 

• A part of Romero's transformation was seeing the abuse of his people - what was once seen as acceptable and good to society was no longer.   
• This led to religious and social conflict that he could no longer ignore.

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you:  Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought,

• Injustice is the abuse of power - a higher view of self over others.
• Has the church thought more highly of her position in the community than she ought?
• Are we overly obsessed with protecting our reputation at the expense of sacrifice?

but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. 

• Sober judgement helps us to more effectively engage the gifts that have been given to the body of Christ.

For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.  We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.  If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.  (Romans 12:1-8 NIV)

This study of Romans 12:1-8 may not have been a thorough exegesis of the passage but it was a thoughtful reflective journey through a different set of lenses.  The lens of justice made me look more deeply at God's mercy and more inclusively at God's world.  It redefined what it means to be a living sacrifice in a world of suffering.  It reframed personal transformation in the context of community transformation.  It challenged power relationships when one person or institution is elevated over another.  It put spiritual gifts in their right place to administer God's mercy and justice.  It restored righteousness and justice as an inseparable relationship to "Making Things Right!"

It also transformed me as I was challenged to engage in a space that took me out of my comfort zone and into community with other followers of Jesus on a mutual journey of discovery.

Adopting A Posture Of Learning

After 17 years of full time ministry one of the things I still get excited about is the continual pathway of learning that is expanding my heart and mind with new paradigms of thinking while stretching me with new experiences as I integrate what I learn into my leadership and ministry.

In my current unit of study I read a quote, in the context of language and cross-cultural witness, that aptly describes Christian discipleship:

"Christianity is so well demonstrated by those who take a learning posture." - Charles H. Kraft

A disciple is postured as a life-long learner

A disciple is submitted to the teaching of Holy Spirit

A disciple is committed to becoming like Jesus Christ

A disciple is determined to pursue the will of God

By adopting a posture of learning we engage in a journey of transformation and growth that not only changes us, but changes others when our learning becomes a shared experience.  I had a leader from my previous church once say to me mid semester, "We get the best of both worlds.  We get to learn from what you are studying without having to do all the reading!"  This was a real time affirmation that my posture of learning is about way more than earning a degree, but about making disciples and developing leaders.  In fact, my posture of learning is putting skin on my leadership platform - "to equip the people of God to do the work of the ministry to build up the body of Christ" (Ephesians 4:12).

John Maxwell teaches why a posture of learning is so important, “Your leadership, if it is not continually growing, can be a lid to the potential of your people. Why? Because you teach what you know, but you reproduce what you are. You can’t give people what you do not have. If you want to increase the potential of your team, you need to keep growing yourself.”  

How much more is this true for making disciples and growing the church?!

Transformed Worldview

I read a statement this week that was a powerful reminder of why Christians are called to share the Gospel: "The Gospel is intended to influence and change people at the deepest possible level - the worldview level." 

Accompanied with a previous statement by the same author - "A people's worldview provides them with a lens, model, or map in terms of which reality is perceived and interpreted" - the mission of the Church is crystalised! 

We are called to share a message of good news that transforms the hearts and minds of people towards a kingdom worldview, whereby their reality is seen through the eyes of God who "so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).  Such a transformed worldview provides a vision of a redeemed reality where despair is turned to hope, sorrow to joy, oppression to freedom, death to life!

Therefore, "let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story..." (Psalm 107:2)

Quotes by Charles H. Kraft, Anthropology For Christian Witness, Orbis Books 2011

To Change Or Not To Change

Everything involves change!  

Our entrance into life takes us from the security of the womb to the uncertainty of the world; our early childhood development transitions us from the nurture of the home to the culture of the school yard; our teenage years substitutes the instruction of our parents for the influence of our peers; adulthood expects us to convert an education into a career; marriage replaces our individuality with a partnership; and so, the pattern of change continues throughout every stage of life.

Resistance to change or rebellion against change in the natural rhythms of life may frustrate the process but cannot stop the paradigm.  Ultimately, change is not a choice but an inevitable characteristic of life.

As a Christian leader who is passionate about Christ followers and the Church fulfilling their redemptive potential and purpose, I fully embrace the necessity for change in both the physical and spiritual realms.  In his book Leadership On The Axis Of Change, Chick Yuill affirms the necessity for change as the primary role of the church, “God has brought His church into existence to be the supreme agent of change. Its mission is not to stop the future but to shape it.”  Yet, often the church puts up some of the greatest resistance to change and abdicates its prophetic role to shape the future by reliving the past!  It is for this reason that I cannot accept the status quo and will do whatever it takes to facilitate the change necessary to be the church God has called us to be.

Recently, while implementing necessary changes in my ministry context, I was confronted by strong resistance and rebellion.  My response, while maybe a little direct, expressed a determination not to be deterred by the naysayers.  After connecting the proposed changes to God's vision for our church, I declared to those refusing to let go of the way things were, "I'm not here to make you happy, but to make this work and I will do whatever it takes to make that happen.  But here is the tradeoff.  When this works, you will be happy!"  I am not sure how my response aligns with conventional change management practices, but it does express the degree of my "holy discontent" with opposition to change.

A healthy attitude towards change unleashes all sorts of possibilities for the church to be a transforming movement towards what could be rather than a monument to what once was.

“If we motivate enough people to invest in a changing church, we may well see a world that is radically changed for the better.” (Chick Yuill, Leadership On The Axis Of Change)

The Journey Continues...

"My prayer also Lord, is that you unite our church together in prayer, that those who haven’t yet experienced the intimacy of meeting with you here will be inspired to do so. Lord, speak into the hearts of your people. Help us become a praying church - a people so passionately committed to seeking your face. Father, I pray for revival in our church, ignite the fire within each one of us, unite us in prayer, for your kingdoms cause. Father, I get so excited when I think about the future of our church and this community as we commit our lives daily to you. I pray for patience, knowing that your timing is perfect. Use me for your glory. Lord, with all my heart I love you, I am yours, I surrender my life to you.”  (August, 2007)

Six years ago, the Lord took me and a group of like-minded Christ followers on an extraordinary journey of passionate and prevailing prayer as we established a 24-7 Prayer Room in the southern suburbs of Adelaide at the Noarlunga Salvation Army. Tomorrow, this journey takes another exciting turn as a new prayer room is dedicated and opened in the south eastern suburbs of Melbourne at the Cranbourne Salvation Army. The prayer I prayed at the opening of the Noarlunga prayer room resonates as deep within my spirit today on the eve of opening the Cranbourne prayer room as it did all those years ago!

Today, I also pray that you unite our church together in prayer at the Cranbourne Corps and pray that those who haven't experienced the intimacy of meeting with you will be inspired to do so.

Today, I also ask that you speak into the hearts of your people and to help us become a praying church - a people so passionately committed to seeking your face.

Today, I also pray for revival in our church. Ignite the fire within each one of us, unite us in prayer, for your kingdoms cause.   

As tomorrow marks the beginning of a brand new journey of prayer, may it also be the beginning of the transformation our church and a revival in our community as we commit to pray for the salvation of our city!

Client or Guest?

Recent conversations in some ministry networks I am involved with have got me thinking again about the labels we use to describe or categorise the people we engage with in ministry.  In my particular ministry context we refer to people who shop in our Thrift Shop as "customers", people who access our Welfare service as "clients" and the people who attend Church are generically referred to as "members".  While there is nothing inherently wrong with these labels, it is the label "client" that has sat uncomfortable with me for some time.  

A client by definition is "a person or organization using the services of a lawyer or other professional person or company."  Our clients are indeed people who use our services, but is that fundamentally who they are - "service users" (another label that creates even more discomfort in my spirit) and is that the primary purpose for our interaction with them?  The label client is a professional label that has been applied in a community service and church context to keep a professional distance between those who serve and those whom we serve.  Along with this label is usually an environment that reinforces this professional distance between our clients and staff.  This may work in a secular context, but I am seriously questioning whether it really fits in a church context.  

Church, at its best, is all about community and relationship where we participate in personal transformation, whereas, a client culture is all about them and us, where we engage in a professional transaction.  So, what's the alternative?

It was refreshing to here an alternative label used when listening to a colleague share about an exciting initiative of his church that creates community with some of the most vulnerable people in the Adelaide CBD through a ministry called Do Unto Others (DUOs).  He constantly referred to the people they serve as "guests" and the environment created reflects just that!  It is friendly, interactive and all about community, personifying the image I have of the early church.

Maybe if we interacted with the people we serve more as our "guests" than our "clients" we could replace the professional distance with personal relationships that demonstrate the love and grace of Jesus Christ through participation in a transformational community called the church.

Changing The Culture Of Generational Poverty

Today, I had the opportunity to attend a workshop entitled "Bridges Out Of Poverty" which provided a broader awareness of poverty and a deeper understanding of the values and vocabulary of those who are trapped in a culture of generational poverty.

There is so much to be learned about seeking to understand instead of judging, developing respectful relationships, and building capacity with those we seek to support in crisis.  However, I found myself kicking back against the final quote of the day:

"Whilst we can't and don't want to change the culture of Generational Poverty, we can work with what we've got."

Whether it be generational poverty or any other brokenness in our society, I refuse to accept that it "can't" change and reject the suggestion that we "don't" want it to change, when the culture of generational poverty is enslaving human beings to living a life less than that which they were created for!  We may seek an understanding of their culture to effectively "work with what we've got;" not to leave people where they are, but to give them a vision of an alternate reality and empower them to redefine their cultural paradigm.  This is not to impose change upon people who are bound by generational poverty, but to influence change among these people to break the cycle of generational poverty.

To simply "work with what we've got" with a spirit of resignation is to deny hope and to perpetuate hopelessness. Instead, God has raised within the spirit of The Salvation Army an unquenchable hope that dares to believe that lives really can be transformed.  Our founder believed in a God who loved the world too much to leave it as it was and sent Jesus to "change the culture" by establishing a kingdom of hope in a world of despair.  William Booth's 'Darkest England' scheme also refused to settle "with what we've got" but inspired a vision of hope and an audacious belief that The Salvation Army really could and should change the culture of generational poverty. 

We ought to believe in nothing less than the hope that Jesus gave through new life and be prepared to challenge any culture that offers less when responding to generational poverty today!

Culture Shift

I started reading the book "Culture Shift" by Robert Lewis and Wayne Cordeiro the other day, which is providing a helpful insight into church culture and a practical guide to "transforming [the] church from the inside out."

Right at the preface I was captured by the authors belief that "culture is to the church what a soul is to the human body."  In other words, as I interpret it, culture is a mirror into the soul of a church.  

I wonder if we spent more time cultivating a healthy soul than clothing the body with programs that make a church look good, whether we would begin to heal some of the internal sickness that inhibits the church from being a thriving organism.  Church activity that is the product of a healthy culture will always produce growth, but church activity that proceeds from an unhealthy culture will spread the sickness and cripple the body of Christ.

If the human soul reflects the core of who you are as a person, I wonder what reflection is cast by the culture of your church?  This is a challenging question that will require some soul searching by church leaders to stimulate the sort of culture shift necessary to restore the witness of the church to reflect the heart of Jesus Christ!

Transformed Lives

On a night like this when there is little of interest on television, I default to our ever growing DVD library where I find myself gravitating to movies with a common theme of life transformation, reflecting one of my many passions.  There is something incredibly inspiring about movies where a teacher or a coach take a group of troubled kids and radically transform their lives.  When noone else believes, they have faith; when everyone else see overwhelming problems, they see unrealised potential; when everyone else has given up, they stay committed.

I think what attracts me to these movies is that they align with my faith perspective that no life is too broken that it can't be restored.  I passionately believe in a God who is in the business of transforming lives.  This God went to extraordinary lengths to provide a pathway to restoration through the life of Jesus Christ.  Jesus affirmed this life transforming mission when he said, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." (John 10:10, NIV)  The fullness of life that comes through Jesus is both a present transformation and a promise of what is yet to come!

"But there’s far more to life for us. We’re citizens of high heaven! We’re waiting the arrival of the Savior, the Master, Jesus Christ, who will transform our earthy bodies into glorious bodies like his own. He’ll make us beautiful and whole with the same powerful skill by which he is putting everything as it should be, under and around him." (Philippians 3:20-21, The Message)

What Are You Reflecting?

"In our community it is so easy to focus on the tragedies.  God wants us to be a mirror of Christ to the world so that when they look at the Church they see Jesus.  When they look at the Church they see the solution not the problem."  (Dr. Robi Sonderegger)

Everytime we turn on the TV, open a newspaper or surf the internet we are confronted with a perpetual reminder of the brokeness of this world.  With such a saturation of bad news it is easy to be overwhelmed by the tragedies of the world and to allow all that is wrong in the world to dominate our thinking.  Clinical pyschologist Robi Sonderegger asserts that "whatever you focus your attention on you get more of," which supports the Apostle Paul's call to the Roman Christians to "be transformed by the renewing of the mind" (Rom 12:2) and to the Philippian church to change the focus of their thinking to all that which is good (Phil 4:8).  

Far from being a denial of reality or a new form of 'positive thinking' theology, it is a recognition of the truth that to a large extent we are what we think!  

As a redeemed people of God we possess the knowledge of the good news of Jesus Christ which has the power to transform our lives. If this life changing knowledge of God dominated our thinking instead of the evil of this world, then maybe our view of ourselves and the world would shift from brokenness to wholeness.  Maybe we would project an image of hope rather than perpetuate an image of despair.  Alter the image and the reflection will change.

Imagine if the Church turned its eyes upon Jesus and reflected His character to the world, so that when the world looked at the Church they really would "see the solution not the problem!"