The Church at the Gate

The Glory of God

2008-04-09T14:53:00.000-05:00

Originally written July 2004

There is an incredible verse in Ezekiel that says, "So was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord." (Ezekiel 1:28) This is such an incredible verse.

Imagine knowing about someone who you really want to meet. It could be the president or an actor or a Nobel prize winner. Some might be honored to have a statue of that person to remind them of their character or their fame. That statue would undoubtedly cast a shadow on the wall. The verse in Ezekiel is showing us an appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. Of course, a shadow of a statue of a major world leader is not much to speak about. However, the appearing glimmer of God's glory is remarkable.

This verse tells much about who God is. We are not seeing the fullness of God in this chapter. We are only seeing His glory, no, a likeness of His glory. Well, actually, the appearance of the likeness of His glory. We aren't seeing God in this verse but we are realizing that just a shadow, just a glimpse of a part of who God is is really more than we can see at one time.

Not too long ago I was doing a project in Ecuador. We were able to see many volcanoes in all of their splendor while in country. While there, someone said, "It would be fun to try and climb that mountain in a day, but it is even more awesome that I know the God who created that mountain in a day." Some of the people in Ecuador worship nature and they find their gods in the flowers and in the mountains. How much better to worship the God who created the flowers and the sun and the mountains. I don't worship the appearance or the shadow of some likeness. I worship the God whose shadow is too holy to gaze upon.

Meditation, Music, and the Psalms

2008-03-27T18:57:00.003-05:00

What kind of songs do you want to sing to God?

There are a wide variety of songs being sung in today's churches and I hope to provide some comments on the kind of songs I believe are not only culturally appealing but most importantly are God honoring.

To begin with, there are the "Jesus is my boyfriend" songs that have sappy, emotional, and disturbingly gender specific kinds of lyrics. Just read these lyrics:

Let me know the kisses of your mouth
Let me feel your embrace
Let me smell the fragrance of your touch
Let me see your lovely face

My favorite was the one that people used to sing that said "Your love is extravagant. Your friendship, mmm, intimate." I always hated that "mmm" part. Like I'm supposed to smack my lips and rub my tummy or something. To me, these kinds of songs are disturbing because any time one gender enjoys singing a song and the other gender deplores it, you are putting to much emphasis on sex and not on spirit. God never said He was a male or a female, He said He is spirit and those of us who want to worship Him should do so in spirit and in truth.

The next kind of music employs words such as Thee, Thy, Thine, Thou, and Ebenezer. Most of these songs have great theological meaning if you know the Hebrew meaning for El Shaddai or happen to be a King James Only kind of person. Again, most of these songs have great meaning and can often be brought back in to circulation to tie in the ancient church with the modern church or to spend a couple of minutes teaching on the beauty of music. However, these songs, though they had their day in the sun, are generally low on cultural understanding and relevance though they may be high on celebrating and teaching about God. These songs can still be used, but I hope they are used sparingly and only when you've got some time to explain what it's even talking about.

Finally, there are the Psalms. Oh, I'm sure there are dozens of other categories: punk rock worship, cowboy music, and even death metal, but I believe the Psalms are still our best model for music in the church. There are Psalms of lament, there are Psalms of gratitude, there are Psalms of despair. But all of them are human. They celebrate that God is God and we are not and that we need Him, we love Him, we worship Him. Not that we have to sing songs that don't rhyme because we are just taking the words straight from a Psalm and putting it to music (though there are some really good ones out there). Instead, the intent of the Psalms is what I want to see more of (or sing more of) when I am at church. I want the song to speak FOR me and that's what happens when I read a Psalm.

The intent of the Psalms (in my mind) is meditation. When we have music in the church it should really be musical meditation. There is celebratory meditation and even soulful declarations of our need for a Savior. The words shouldn't make me embarassed that I'm talking about entering some bed chamber of some king but that I love God and am loved by Him. We need some manly music, some "satisfy my soul and destroy my enemies" kind of meditation like David would have written.

I really like a lot of different music but when it comes to worshiping corporately with my church family I want the music to speak for me. I want to be able to ponder reflectively on the words and rejoice that God hears my cry.

Faith Propositions

2008-01-02T23:38:00.001-05:00

What do I really believe? Here are a couple of one sentence propositions for you to mull over. I will try to keep each explanation clear and concise. However, I realize this will make each proposition open to much critique. If you think any argument is shallow or needs better articulation, please let me know.

Proposition #1 - Religion is man-made.
It seems that most people desire to connect with the divine. The problem is that most people believe we should "make our own path" and not force our beliefs on others. This opens the door for religions to spring up from virtually every corner. Some choose established religions, others create their own from scratch. In the end, they make God in their own image rather than believing that we were created in His. Each religion will have to stand on its own merit, but since religion is "man's attempt to get to God", I find myself very untrusting of religion.

Proposition #2 - Some religions must be false.
Thanks to the philosophical "Law of Non-Contradiction" not every religion can be true. In a broad sense, there are basically only three kinds of religions: those that believe there is no god, those that believe in one God, and those that believe in many gods. Not all of those worldviews can be admissible. Even without exploring the evidence for or against each of those concepts (atheism, monotheism, polytheism), we must immediately ascertain that two of them are false.

Proposition #3 - Assuming there is only one God, only three major world religions stand out (and they all were started by Abraham, arguably).
Without trying to convince anyone that there is only one God, I only want to argue here that there are only three great monotheistic traditions and they originated from the same person. The oldest of these is Judaism, but even within Judaism there is a prophecy of a Messiah that will come (some prophecies even place the coming of the Messiah on or near the year of the birth of Jesus Christ and put him in Bethlehem, born of a virgin, from the line of Judah, Jesse, David, Benjamin, and Abraham...hundreds of other prophecies point to Jesus as the Messiah).
Christianity is the second of the great monotheistic traditions and teaches that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God. Jesus teaches that He didn't come to fulfill the beliefs of the Jews, not to abolish it. Jesus teaches that He is the way, the truth, and the life and no one comes to the Father but through Him.
Mohammed was supposedly the final prophet and he recorded the Koran hundreds of years after Jesus (and thousands of years after Abraham). Most of his story conflicts with the older Jewish and Christian texts and textually the stories are not consistent with any of the teachings of the previous "prophets". At least with Judaism and Christianity there is internal consistency even if Jews reject Jesus as the Messiah. So, Judaism is fulfilled in Jesus and Islam is inconsistent with the historical, theological, and internal reliability of Scripture. Christianity emerges as the greatest monotheistic religion ever, both in adherents and in believability.

Proposition #4 - Jesus is revered as a great prophet (at the very least) by more than half of the world's population.
Even if monotheism is rejected and Christianity (as a religion) is rejected, one cannot ignore the influence of the historical Jesus. Gandhi, a global Hindu leader, once said, "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." Muslims believe Jesus was a great prophet on the same level as Mohammed, they just believe that Mohammed came last. Jews also believe Jesus to have been a great Teacher. Christians obviously believe Jesus to be much more, but the fact remains, many people believe Jesus to be an important figure in their faith.

Proposition #5 - Jesus is central to only one world "religion" but would prefer to think of it as a relationship, not a religion.
Christians believe Jesus to be the Son of God. It is His life they try to emulate. However, humans are only humans so Christians are susceptible to impurity and mistakes. Jesus was fully human, but He has also always been and will always be, God. Therefore, Christians actually believe Christianity is the only God-made religion and Jesus is the only one who could have created a legitimate "religion" (or way, path, journey, etc.) worthy of humans to follow. Many people view religions to be many paths to the same God. The problem is, this portrays God as very passive and humans as having to work to get to God some time in the future. Christianity, on the other hand, believes God to be an active God who has made it possible for us to know Him now through faith and not works.

Proposition #6 - The only way to know God in this life and the next is to have a relationship with Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

These propositions are not meant to be a complete argument for Christianity. Instead, it is meant to provoke thought and conversation. Feel free to challenge me in any of these propositions.

The Power of Abusive Speech

2007-08-21T17:10:00.000-05:00

Originally written April 2004

I have been in seminary for a couple of years and I have been around many conservative, evangelical Christians who actually have no problem with certain words. Granted, they don't go around saying them often, but they see no problem with the s*word, the d*word, the f*word, etc. Basically, those who I have talked to about this have given three reasons they don't have a problem saying these words.

1) These are merely words that only have a meaning that society puts on them and in different societies there would be nothing wrong with them. For example, Americans have no problem with the word bloody. In Great Britain, on the other hand, this is just as bad as the f*word. In Great Britain, pissing means drinking, but in America this is a vulgar term for going to the bathroom. The list of societal words is long, but you get the idea.
2) Many people have said to me that they see no problem with the s*word because there is no rule in Scripture that that is a word we should not use. There are many words that are considered "curse" words that really are not preached against in the Bible.
3) As Christians, we are free in Christ and if we are among other Christians then there should be no problem with these words.

I believe this topic is an important one for 3 reasons:
1) Our very existence is because of the spoken word.
2) Jesus is the Word and He was with God from the beginning.
3) The Bible warns us of abusive language

I want to answer each of the disagreements that my Christian brothers and sisters have had with me on this issue. First of all, the argument that these words are not wrong because they are determined by society. There are a lot of missionaries who spend years studying a culture so that they do not damage their witness by the use of a wrong word or doing an obscene (to that culture) gesture. Just because society makes the rules doesn't mean we are free to go against them and use objectionable language because what's in a word? Words are very powerful, and even if it isn't an objectionable word like the s*word, they can still do damage. Telling someone they are stupid can do a lot of harm.

It is humorous, but depressing to me that my Christian brothers can make this argument when secular TV stations and movie rating systems are the ones bleeping out words or giving a warning not to take certain people to see these movies. Why do we let a lost world determine standards and then we go and watch something or even go so far as to say something that even lost people say is objectionable. At that point we have submitted to their measure of morals and we have failed to live up even to that standard. The Bible tells us to, "Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person." (Colossians 4:6) We are also told to, "Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe." (I Timothy 4:12) Are we setting an example when we let these words come out of our mouth.

Secondly, people have said, there is no s*word commandment in the Bible, but they fail to realize that we are to "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer." (Psalm 19:14) If we are disciples of Christ then we would want only the words that He would have us say come out of our mouth. A taste of what the words of God are like are found in Psalm 12:6, which says, "The words of the LORD are pure words; As silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times." Maybe they aren't so bad, but are they pure?

Finally, we are free in Christ so words mean nothing, right? Wrong! "It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery." (Galatians 5:1) And, "you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh." (Galatians 5:13) Don't use freedom as a "get out of jail free" card. We are told to be an example and we are told to be pure in our thoughts and words.

From the creation of the world God has placed a special emphasis on the spoken word. We were created by it. We are comforted by it. We are confronted by it. Sometimes we are cursed by it. Even Peter, Jesus' disciple, when he wanted to prove that there was absolutely NO alignment between him and that Jesus fellow, used curse words to reject his Lord. "Then he began to curse and swear, 'I do not know the man!' And immediately a rooster crowed." (Matthew 26:74) If that weren't enough, the Bible tells us that, "by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." (Matthew 12:37) If there is a question about whether it is right or wrong to say a certain word, just don't say it. Our reputation as the light-bearers in this world is on the line and you are destroying it with your careless word. Why else would Paul exhort Timothy in this way, "In all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, 8 sound in speech which is beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us. There is power in speech, let's use it wisely.

Here are some verses in scripture that I find helpful when thinking about God's will for our speech:
Ge 1:3; Le 19:12; Ps 12:6; Ps 19:14; Ps 59:12; Pr 4:5; Pr 4:24; Pr 10:19; Pr 17:20; Pr 19:1; Pr 26:2; Ec 5:6; Ec 6:11; Ec 12:11; Isa 29:13; Isa 50:4; Isa 59:13; Jer 7:9; Ho 10:4; Mt 5:22; Mt 12:36; Mt 12:37; Mt 24:35; Mt 26:74; Mt 27:44; Mr 14:71; Lu 9:26; Ro 3:4; 1Co 2:13; Eph 5:6; Col 3:8; Col 4:6; 1Th 4:18; 1Ti 4:12; 1Ti 6:4; Tit 2:6-8; Jas 3:9; Jas 5:12

Loving God

2007-06-21T00:00:00.000-05:00

Originally written August 15, 2005

I wish I could love God more than He loves me because He deserves it and I don't. He deserves more love, yet receives less. I deserve less love, but I get more. Rather, God deserves limitless love and He gets very little, I deserve no love, but God gives me His with no limits. That's what makes Him God. He can give unconditionally and without end and I cannot.

He is God because I don't deserve His love but He gives it anyway. I am not God because He does deserve my love but I can't give it unconditionally. He loves when we deserve His wrath and we hate in the midst of His love. I need His love, He wants my love.

Why has Western Science come so far?

2007-06-04T16:32:00.001-05:00

I am reading a book entitled Proper Confidence: Faith, Doubt, and Certainty in Christian Discipleship by Lesslie Newbigin. It is extremely academic, but I am finding it very interesting (I guess maybe I'm kind of academic to some extent). To give you a clue as to how academic this book is, on the very first page he uses the term moral opprobrium...hmmm...but, there is one thought that he has raised that I thought I might comment on.

He writes that "science has developed in Europe in a way that has far outstripped the work of ancient Greek, Egyptian, and Indian science because it was willing to take as its starting point affirmations rooted in the biblical revelation of God as creator and redeemer." I was recently in the largest Hindu temple in America when I last visited Chicago. It is a beautiful temple made entirely of marble. In the temple it is very interesting because they have a large hallway that is like a propaganda hall. There are large wall hangings that share the basics of Hinduism and the achievements of Hinduism. Everything is written in English because clearly they are wanting to paint Hinduism in a good light. It was interesting to see that they have a different perspective on who the "Father of Medicine" was, for example. They have a Hindu inventing or discovering just about everything but thousands of years before the West.

So, has Western science "outstripped" Eastern science? Has the West far exceeded the knowledge and discovery of the West? I don't know. I'm reading about this for the first time from Newbigin. The most interesting thing to realize is that Newbigin is true that Western science began from the starting point of God as Creator and Redeemer. Sadly, our culture has turned its back on the very One who was the inspiration for all of our current advancement and achievement. We have come a long way from the first and second centuries. We have come so far that science is now rejecting God. Science in the West began with a belief that God is there, but in the end it has placed all of its confidence in itself and has declared God to be dead. It is ironic that science owes everything to the very One it denies.

What is a Church Planter?

2007-05-15T17:06:00.000-05:00

After three years of planting churches in Boston, I am discovering more and more that I don't know what I am. Church planters have to be evangelists, shepherds, teachers, entrepreneurs, fundraisers, visionaries, counselors, disciplers, mentors, coaches, researchers, cultural apologists, theologians, friends, motivators, time managers, administrators, students, networkers, and servants. I may think of some more and just republish this post with the new additions.

Some days (like today), I am overwhelmed by my responsibility. Today, however, I met with a small group of pastors for the first time to begin holding each other accountable specifically for personal evangelism. Ultimately, we have been called ambassadors for Christ as though God were making an appeal to the world THROUGH US that the world might be reconciled to God. In view of all the other things that I have to do in a typical week, I can never forget that I am here (just like all believers) to make known the good news about Jesus Christ and reveal the story of God in the hearts and lives of the people I interact with.

Church planting is a daunting task, but when it boils down to what God requires of all believers, we should be following Christ every day. I'm sure I can accomplish my administrative responsibilities in a couple of hours a day and leave the rest of the day for personal study and personal relationships. Those are the important things.

Are UN or are you out?

2007-05-09T19:10:00.000-05:00

Originally written December 18, 2005 and I still agree with myself...somewhat. Enjoy.

Did the US wage a legitimate war in Iraq when we invaded in 2003? Were we right to invade when later we discovered Iraq did not, in fact, have any weapons of mass destruction? Have the 2,154 to-date American deaths in Iraq been in vain? Were they reckless and irresponsible or were they righteous and necessary?

These are questions that America has been asking since the first American casualty in Iraq. The questions we should be asking might go more like this:

Were there UN sanctions imposed on Saddam Hussein for nearly 12 years? Did he systematically reject them? Did Hussein reject the UN's Oil for Food offer? Did he expel UN weapon's inspectors in 1998? Was he trying to resupply his military with smuggled weapons from Russia and France? Had he ever used weapons of mass destruction?

On December 16th, 1998, in a speech to the American people, President Clinton explained his use of force against Iraq:
"Other countries possess weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles. With Saddam, there is one big difference: He has used them. Not once, but repeatedly. Unleashing chemical weapons against Iranian troops during a decade-long war. Not only against soldiers, but against civilians, firing Scud missiles at the citizens of Israel, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Iran. And not only against a foreign enemy, but even against his own people, gassing Kurdish civilians in Northern Iraq. The international community had little doubt then, and I have no doubt today, that left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will use these terrible weapons again."

He also said, "Iraq repeatedly blocked UNSCOM from inspecting suspect sites ... If Saddam can cripple the weapons inspection system and get away with it, he would conclude that the international community -- led by the United States -- has simply lost its will. He will surmise that he has free rein to rebuild his arsenal of destruction, and someday -- make no mistake -- he will use it again as he has in the past."

"In halting our air strikes in November, I gave Saddam a chance, not a license. If we turn our backs on his defiance, the credibility of U.S. power as a check against Saddam will be destroyed. We will not only have allowed Saddam to shatter the inspection system that controls his weapons of mass destruction program; we also will have fatally undercut the fear of force that stops Saddam from acting to gain domination in the region."

By 2002, the situation in Iraq had deteriorated further. The United States was conducting a war on terror and operating at a heightened threat level. Iraq was blocking all inspections that would allow the UN to conclude that there were, or were not, any WMD's. Our President took an oath that he would defend the American people from all threats both foreign and domestic and in a post 9/11 world he thought it imperative to address a very real, a very clear, a very present danger in Iraq.

Saddam was given 12 years to comply with UN sanctions. Resolution 1441, adopted by the UN in November 2002, revealed that "the Council has repeatedly warned Iraq that it will face serious consequences as a result of its continued violations of its obligations." What serious consequences was the UN talking about? After 12 years of telling Iraq that they better comply, the threat of force was the only serious consequence that was available to them. The UN wasn't willing to enforce its own sanctions. The President even went before the UN to plead with them to take a more aggressive stance on the situation in Iraq especially in a post 9/11 world.

Since the UN was unwilling to back President Bush in the War on Terror, Bush decided to do the hard, but the right thing. He declared war on Iraq. He couldn't wait 12 more years for conclusive proof to come in that there weren't any weapons of mass destruction. He couldn't wait 12 more years for the UN to see the light that Saddam viewed the UN inspectors as spies and he didn't want them in his country and would never comply even when his country was falling apart. With a small coalition of countries backing the US, President Bush declared war on Saddam.

Saddam was literally holding his own people ransom with the demand that we revoke all sanctions on his country. He was letting them starve when there had never been any sanctions on food. He was letting them die of diseases when there had never been any sanctions on medical supplies. He was crying foul to the UN because "1.5 million have died because of the sanctions" and when the UN started to weaken, President Bush and the American people punished the despotic dictator. We called him to task for what he was doing. When no one else would do what was right, we did and we should be proud of doing the right thing. The families of the soldiers who have lost their lives should be praised for their noble sacrifice.

Were we justified? Well, we brought down a ruthless dictator. We brought democracy to the Iraqi people. 70% of the Iraqi people voted in the national elections. Iraqi forces are slowly becoming an efficient fighting force. There have been no terrorist attacks on American soil since 9.11.2001. No weapons of mass destruction were ever found, but graves of mass destruction were. So do we stay the course and honor those who gave their lives in the pursuit of freedom and democracy and the war on terror? Or should we withdraw our troops because it's harder than we thought it would be, thereby effectively disparaging the sacrifices that have been made thus far?

The President's answer is final. We are fighting this war and we are winning. The UN can't share in the victory because they pulled out when it came to decisive action. What about you? Are you in or are you out? I think it's time we showed some unity in our country and get behind the effort to end terror and, as a bonus, bring freedom and democracy to a formerly oppressed people in the Middle East.

HR 1592

2007-05-04T09:16:00.000-05:00

The House voted yesterday in favor of H.R. 1592. 237 voted in favor of the bill while 180 voted against. The bill would add "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" to the list of groups protected by the federal hate crimes bill. The bill sounds inocuous enough, but in reality it would regulate what people say about homosexuality. It would essentially put a limitation on our freedom of speech to teach from the Bible that homosexuality is morally wrong from God's perspective. There is similar legislation working it's way through the Senate and if it's approved President Bush says he will veto the bill.

Here are some quotes from people opposing the bill.

Dr. James C. Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, warned that the true intent of the bill was "to muzzle people of faith who dare to express their moral and biblical concerns about homosexuality." If you read the Bible in a certain way, he told his broadcast listeners, "you may be guilty of committing a 'thought crime."'

The White House issued a "Statement of Administration Policy" shortly before the vote indicating that President Bush might veto the legislation, if it passes the Senate and is sent to his desk.
"The Administration favors strong criminal penalties for violent crime, including crime based on personal characteristics such as race, color, religion, or national origin," the statement said. "However, the Administration believes that H.R. 1592 is unnecessary and constitutionally questionable. If H.R. 1592 were presented to the President, his senior advisors would recommend that he veto the bill."

"This unconstitutional bill would effectively give the federal government authority to punish American citizens for 'thought crimes' — a concept that has Big Brother written all over it. There are already state and local laws on the books that punish violent crime against any and all Americans," said Boehner, R-Ohio.

"Our criminal justice system has been built on the ideal of equal justice for all," said Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, top Republican on the Judiciary Committee. "Under this bill justice will no longer be equal, but depend on the race, sex, sexual orientation, disability or status of the victim." “For example, criminals who kill a homosexual will be punished more harshly than criminals who kill a police officer, a member of the military, a child, a senior citizen or any other person,” he said. “All victims should have equal worth in the eyes of the law.”

The White House said state and local criminal laws already cover the new crimes defined under the bill and there was "no persuasive demonstration of any need to federalize such a potentially large range of violent crime enforcement."

What do you think about this issue?

Mawiage, That Bwessed Awangement

2007-05-03T02:23:00.000-05:00

Here is a post of mine that was originally written May 2004 on my other blog. I am discontinuing my other blog so over the next few months I will be randomly selecting the best of those posts to revive here on my main blog. Hope you enjoy.

The Princess Bride is my favorite movie of all time. One of the best scenes is when Buttercup is being forced to marry Prince Humperdink (I love the names) against her will. She really loves Westley but he has not come to her rescue. So Buttercup and Humperdink approach the altar as the organ plays. In the majesty and glory of the church the robed clergy turns and faces the bride and groom to embark upon a flowery speech about "wuv - twue wuv". His speech impediment is so out of place in such a majestic, awesome setting that it gets me rolling on the floor every time I see it.

Yesterday, May 17th 2004, was an historic day in our nation's history. The Commonwealth of Massachussetts established legality for same-sex marriages. This is the first state to legalize such unions and it won't be the last unless something is done on a national level. Hundreds of homosexual couples exchanged wedding vows with the full support of the state (and many churches -ie the Unitarian Universalist and others).

Buttercup and Humperdink's wedding proved to be a sham that is really funny. The tragedy that has occurred in Massachussetts is far from humorous. President Bush said, "The sacred institution of marriage should not be redefined by a few activist judges." I believe people need to understand that the judicial branch does not define marriage. In effect, the judicial branch broke several state and national laws so that they could make their own law that fits their agenda. This is a complete usurpation of the Republican form of government in our country. The legislature signs laws into existence. A "few activist judges" have effectively changed the law to advance the homosexual cause.

Not only is it important for us to understand the violations the judicial system in Massachussetts committed, it is also important for us to understand that even the legislative branch did not come up with the definition of marriage. The definition of marriage is found in Genesis 2:24 which says, "For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh." Throughout the Bible God tells us what a marriage should look like. No matter what the legislature, judiciary or the executive branches decide about this issue. Marriage will always be between a man and a woman.

If two men or two women want to be recognized by the state as a valid couple, don't call it a marriage. For that matter, if more than two men or two women (like in Utah) want to get married, don't call it a marriage. If these two people feel some kind of sexual need for each other and certain levels of intimacy, don't call it love. If two men or two women want to adopt a child, don't call it a family. If a congregation chooses to reject the claims of Christ and the Truth that is found in God's Word and prostitute itself to the opinions of this world, then don't call it a CHURCH. And, if we as a nation wan't God to bless us but we want to turn to our wicked ways instead of from them, then don't call this a Christian nation.

Prince Humperdink tried to rush through the ceremony because he was getting nervous that the hero would come in and save his true love. When Buttercup and Westley are reunited she confesses, "I got married, I didn't want to but it all happened so fast." Westley says, "It didn't happen. Did you say, 'I do'?" She says, "No, we sort of skipped through that part." "Then it never happened."

So many people view the church as a failure because we have sold ourselves to the world. You can't look to the church as the example of moral purity anymore. Our divorce rate is just as high as the world's. Our view of marriage is not as pure as it once was. No wonder we have come to a point where marriage is coming to mean so many things and nothing all at the same time. The Lord will soon come for His True Love and He will purify His Bride. I wonder how many in the church right now will be ready for His coming? Will we be a part of a sham marriage to the world or will we keep ourselves pure and holy in His sight? God's plan for marriage, for family, for church, for relationships is perfect. It is a dweam within a dweam.

Love Crimes

2007-05-02T10:13:00.000-05:00

This is a revision of a previous post.

Well, it looks like the new bill that (HR 1592) that is before the house right now could make it more difficult for preachers to speak out about homosexuality. The bill's wording would add "sexual orientation" (ie homosexuality, bisexuality) and "gender identity" (ie cross-dressing, transsexuality) as specially protected legal categories. Sadly, well respected groups that have been counseling homosexuals and bringing them out of a lifetime of bondage, such as Exodus International, could be shut down. Our efforts to love homosexuals to Christ would be reinterpreted as hate and discrimination and pastors such as myself could be prosecuted for messages such as the one I preached just this past Sunday if someone did commit a crime and then claimed that my message was the impetus for their attack.(click here to listen). I can't imagine anyone misconstruing my sermon for a call to arms against certain groups, but it could happen. Meanwhile, the general thought would be that pastors and others shouldn't "bash" homosexuality, when in reality all we are doing is showing that we have ALL sinned against God and that God has a better way. This is love, not hate. Our desire is to help homosexuals, alcoholics, or even someone going through depression to find God and to be known by Him.

I would encourage you to contact your congressmen and women and let them know we don't approve of this new bill. What is this world coming to when we desire very much to share the good news about Jesus and eventually we could be thrown into prison as a result? That's what this bill could do. It's like the "thought crimes" from Orwell's 1984 and soon the thought police will be at our door telling us that our love is hate. Talk about exchanging the truth of God for a lie.

Where Are All The Men?

2007-05-01T14:49:00.000-05:00

I was watching a Mark Driscoll video today on the calling to be a church planter. He said the mission of the church planter should be to find the men...an idea that I agree with, although I'm not always sure about how to do that. He mentioned that "the least likely person to go to church in the United States of America is a young man in his twenties." That's especially difficult for our church since we focus on university students in Boston, one of the least churched cities in America. The challenge we have of finding, equipping and discipling men in the university setting in Boston is tremendous. However, it must be our mission. I love the way Driscoll puts it:

"They are banging their girlfriend, they are blowing all their money...staying up all night playing world of warcraft, finding free porn on the internet and trying to figure out how to get a bigger subwoofer into their retarded car. Those are the guys who must first be gathered, they must have a swift boot in the rear, they need to be told that Jesus Christ is not a gay hippie in a dress and that they are dealing with the King of kings and Lord of lords.

You can watch Driscoll's video here.

Trading the Perishables for Nonperishables

2007-05-01T14:09:00.000-05:00

I've got 2 cans of tuna, a package of spaghetti noodles, 2 boxes of cereal, some canned soup, a big bag of brown rice and a few packages of ramen noodles (I just can't get seminary habits out of my pantry). In my refrigerator, I've got some summer squash and zucchini, milk, bread, cheese, and ketchup and mustard. I've got a lot of other things too, those are just the things that come to mind.

It's very interesting to think that the perishable items in my refrigerator are fresher and probably better for me than what I have on my shelves. I am constantly restocking my refrigerator, but there are things in the pantry that I haven't gotten to in years. However, if we had a huge blizzard (something that could still happen here in Boston even though it's May 1) I would want to stock up on the nonperishable items. It's amazing to see the shelves at the grocery store the day before a big storm. All the canned food items and gallons of water are gone! Forget for a minute that fresh vegetables and fruits are usually better for you, for this illustration, I am thinking more along the lines of the benefits of perishable versus nonperishable food items and also the fact that often fresh food tastes better but that's not always an indication of it's value. A fresh Snicker's bar would taste really good right now, but that doesn't mean it's better for me.

What am I talking about then? It's amazing to me that a crisis always brings people to God. People try to make it on their own and then when the world falls apart on them, they come running back for more of God. It's the same in the grocery store. Walking down the canned goods aisle is boring, but walking into the fresh market section of the store is exciting. All of the apples are stacked with care. The little sprinkler system comes on and makes everything look appealing. But in a storm, no one thinks to stock up on bananas because they know that within a couple of days those will go bad.

I think this is much like our culture. Cultures are perishable. Nations come and go, but God tells us that His Word will endure forever. During trying times like 9/11 and the recent Virginia Tech massacre, people seek out God, they attend a Christian gathering for the first time in years. These are the storms of life where people need to stock up on the nonperishables. Again, it's an incomplete analogy because in real life, fresh fruits and vegetables are usually better for you than canned fruits and vegetables. But, as I thought about my kitchen, I think about what I would need to survive and most of it is not in my refrigerator. What about a homeless person, what would you want to give him? Money? That's perishable. Food? That's perishable...he will need some more in about 8 hours. There is no point in giving him those things if you aren't also willing to share with him the nonperishable truth of God's Word. When people are in a storm of life, that is the best time to encourage to trade in their perishable plans and thoughts and beliefs that seem more attractive at first glance, and trade those in for the nonperishable truths of God that may not be as attractive at first, but are actually the essential ingredients to living an abundant life.

Happy Holy Days!

2006-12-12T10:10:00.000-05:00

I am emerging from my writer's block to discuss an issue that isn't a new issue. However, I recently received an email from Don Wildmon, founder of the American Family Association that raises this issue again in my mind. Frankly, I've had enough of it, so I decided to do a little speculative holiday rant. Mostly, I'm writing on this issue because I have gotten out of the discipline of writing and this is the issue that is on my mind. Most of my usual readers gave up on me months ago, so for both of you that end up reading this, I hope to give us some new insight into the issue of replacing "Merry Christmas" with "Happy Holidays".

As Don Wildmon and others have pointed out over the past few years, we are seeing an increasing trend in our country of retailers replacing our beloved Christmas greeting with a more generic, "Happy Holidays!" To some, this seems to be the first glimpse of what life will be like when the antichrist comes, but as my title suggests, the etymology of "holiday" is "holy day". What is the big deal about trading Christmas (I don't even go to mass) with "Happy Holy Day"? Of course, that's not what Gap means when they put "Happy Holidays!" on all their promotional material, but that's simply my first point. I don't care if someone wishes me a happy holiday. I'm going to wish them one too.

Pat Robertson made sure that the nation knew that Boston and DC and other places have renamed, or attempted to rename, their city Christmas tree to a "Holiday Tree", as if that were such a demonic thing. I wouldn't care in the least and, to be honest, I think I might actually prefer it. Why not remove the name Christmas from a tree that really has nothing to do with the story of Christmas. When I picture a nativity and when I think about the story that's told in Matthew and Luke, I don't picture Mary trimming her Christmas tree or Santa Claus bowing his knee to the newborn Christ-child. For that matter, the wise men have never been depicted bearing gifts of Starbuck's gift cards, and Old Navy Performance Fleece's. It seems that all of the holiday stuff that we do has been incorporated into our Christmas traditions.

Why not celebrate this holiday season by exchanging gifts and trimming your tree and spending time with family and engaging in holiday light wars with your neighbor and keep Christmas just for Christ? Celebrate your Christmas holidy by making a donation to your church or to a charity, serve a meal to a homeless person, adopt a family in need, invite people over for a Christmas dinner. Think about Christmas as the time we celebrate the birth of Christ. You give TO the birthday boy, not to everybody else. However, don't just think of it as any other birthday celebration, Jesus' birth marked the fulfillment of all prophecy by the incarnation of God into a specific time and place in history. That is worth celebrating! But that's not what everyone else means when they celebrate Christmas with us Christians. We could stand separating the two holidays and their various traditions.

Personally, I have no problem with a secular retailer or a city councilman desiring to be more universal and inclusive in their holiday greetings. In other words, I recognize the fact that a lost person will act lost. I'm simply tired of Christians acting like they are lost. I'm not offended by the commercialism and, in fact, I would do the same thing if I were in the business of selling something to Christians, Jews, Muslims and Hindus. They each have their holidays and festivals, we have ours. Let's give them their holiday and then give them Jesus too. Instead of cramming "the reason for the season" down their throats, why not give them a reason this season to celebrate the reason for the season with us?

What if Christmas was just celebrated by Christians and the holidays were celebrated by everyone else? What if Christians began interacting with the world they live in and stopped rejecting the world on one hand and allowing the world to influence them on the other. What if Christians revealed what Christians love rather than simply what they hate (Disney boycott, need I say more?) What if America was known to other nations as a religious nation and not a faux Christian nation (that think that that means Christians act like Britney Spears and MTV)?

Christians would be real. Christmas would be pure. Life would be harder. Abundant life would be better.

I am inviting Don Wildmon and Pat Robertson to respond.

Video Blog

2006-11-28T08:45:00.000-05:00

So I wanted to test my ability to do some video editing and video blogging. Here is my first video clip on my blog. I felt this was not only appropriate for the time of year, but also for my personality. I love this clip. I hope you enjoy it.

Nathan

TIME To Change The World

2006-08-03T13:24:00.000-05:00

I'm confused by some of Time's picks for the top 100 most influential people in the world. I mean, I don't listen to Daddy Yankee's music so I couldn't tell you if it was influential or not. It's sad, but I actually hadn't heard of Daddy Yankee before I saw his name on the TIME website. Others make a lot more sense. I mean JJ Abrams after all brought us "Alias" and "Lost" and the third (and the best) "Mission Impossible".

Then there are people like Bono, Condoleezza, Ralph Lauren, and Elie Wiesel...people who influence and inspire and pioneer and reform. What does it take to be one of the top 100 people who shape the world? Is that something to aspire to? What are the common elements in each persons life?

Yesterday I was talking with a couple of friends about what Cuba might be like if Raul ends up taking over for his older brother Fidel. Some people say that he will change things for the better, others think that the power will corrupt him even worse than it did for Fidel. My thought was, what if Raul had studied at a place like Boston University and had found a community of faith like The Church at the Gate that cared about him and shared Jesus with him? What would things be like in Cuba now? What if Osama had come to the US to study?

Obviously, when Raul went to school, The Church at the Gate wasn't around and he studied in Cuba anyway, but the reality is that the nations of the world are sending their best and most potentially influential students to the US for their education. We MUST invest in them. With 145 nations represented at Boston University, that MUST be our goal. Students are coming to the US from countries that we cannot send missionaries. Many muslim countries are closed to the gospel, but we have their future leaders in our country for 4-7 years. What will they be exposed to when the come to America? Hostility? Rejection? Selfishness? Greed? Corruption? Depravity? Debauchery? Or will they be welcomed by a young follower of Christ who shares their life with them and teaches them what it means to love God and love people? Will their lives be changed by what they find here in Boston to the point that they go back and influence their culture for Christ?

It's amazing to think what the possibilities might be for a church that makes disciples of college students. It could be the hardest church to start. Most people in the church may think it to be a ridiculous idea. The church has largely neglected students because they hear things like students are least likely to come to know Jesus, they don't have money, they won't commit, they can't be counted on, they are irresponsible, but while everyone else is thinking of college students as a weakness to their church I will be laying down my life for them because I know their strengths. They are mobile, networked, flexible, responsible, committed, energetic, influential, intelligent, and they are active in following Christ and sharing Christ with others. I get to invest in them for a few years and then see them go to the ends of the earth to share about what they've learned and to use what they've learned to be the best at what God calls them to do. They may not have money, but how much money does it take to build relationships.

I may never make the TIME top 100, and that will never be my goal in life, but I want to give my life making disciples of the nations by investing in college students. I have the opportunity and privilege to do that right here in Boston near the largest university in New England which has the eighth largest international student population in the U.S. What a great place to make a difference. It's time to change the world and I want to be a part of the revolution.

The Irresistible Revolution

2006-08-01T14:17:00.000-05:00

I just finished reading a book entitled The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne. Shane has really challenged me in a lot of ways with his book. He has a strict non-violence view that I can't totally jump on board with (which sounds bad, but I would need 5 minutes of your time to explain what I mean). He has some crazy thoughts on community and on social justice that I love and I hate all at one time. I disagree with him some, but mostly, I think he's got a lot of stuff figured out about the way we should be living our lives as followers of Christ. It's nothing new, it's just a call to living a simple life of a disciple.

There was one paragraph that my friend Josh and I discussed earlier today. Shane writes,

As we practice hospitality, there comes a point where the suffering around us drives us to ask what it would take to reimagine the world. We've all heard the saying "Give someone a fish and they'll eat for a day, but teach them to fish and they'll eat for the rest of their life." But our friend John Perkins challenges us to go farther. He says, "The problem is that nobody is asking who owns the pond." As we consider economics, some of us will give people fish. Others will teach people to fish. But still others must be looking at who owns the pond and who polluted it, for these are also essential questions for our survival. We must storm the fence that has been built around the pond and make sure everyone can get to it, for there are enough fish for all of us.

As Josh and I talked about this paragraph, we decided that our church should be involved in every aspect of this to some extent. Giving away clothing or a meal to a homeless person or a bottle of water to someone in need is something we can do to give. Teaching ESL to an international student or partnering with a group like SIFAT is the second part. Finally, doing something about the fences around the pond is the long term goal of what we are doing as a collegiate church.

This pond part is what excites me most. I do everything I can to invest in college students because these are the men and women who are going to be the decision makers and policy makers. They will be in education, in government, in business. In some countries, the corruption and greed of the government are keeping people from getting to the pond of health and the pond of essential needs. There are plenty of resources to go around, but it will be men and women of faith who can influence these governments and can teach social awareness that will make a difference in the needs of our different cultures. I get to play a small part, for a short amount of time, in shaping the thought of a small amount of young believers as they study here in Boston. My prayer is that God would be able to use me to influence people who will also be influential wherever they end up in life.

Plant a Church. Yeah, That Means You!

2006-07-29T12:03:00.000-05:00

So, if you've read much of my blog, you know I am a church planter in Boston. I didn't know much about being a church planter before I started, but I have learned a lot in the last two years. I now realize that there can never be a professional church planter. I also now realize that every follower of Christ should be involved in church planting.

That's hard to understand because there are a lot of things that every believer should be encouraged to do: caring for the homeless, looking after orphans and widows, having concern for the nations, loving our neighbors, promoting love and non-violence, etc. How can we have our hand in every one of those things? Honestly, there are only a few homeless people near Boston University and I don't know where to begin with orphans and widows. In reality, some believers, using their strengths and passions are involved in different things. One believer might open a homeless shelter, while another believer owns a business and is ethically responsible. We give to our communities in different ways. We express our love by our involvement in the community.

Church planting is different. I always thought of church planting as a vocation. A team of people see a need in a specific community where there is no church and they work together to meet those needs. The church planter is the guy. He's the leader. He's the guy with the vision and the direction. Recently, I was teaching about church planting to a group of teenagers in Chicago. There was a guide that I was supposed to follow as I taught over a period of five days. The guide said that most church planters have three things. They have a definite call from God. They are called to a specific people and they are called to a specific place. True, there is a vocation for people who want to lead new church growth in an area, but that's not all church planting is meant to be.

It's ironic because my move to Boston was after a long time of frustration with how the church sets it's pastors up as the ministers. My view shifted along time ago to realize that everyone in the church is meant to follow Christ and serve their community. Not just the pastor. And here I was allowing the same deception to creep in to my view of a church plant. Sure, we were basing our church on the idea that we were all there to serve each other and serve our community, but I still had the concept that the church planter is the man. He calls the shots.

I've found the truth. You may have found it already. I have a definite calling from God: to love God and to love people, and, to make disciples of all nations. That's my call, but that's not my call as a church planter, that's my call as a follower of Christ.

I have been given a specific group of people to reach out to. For me it's college students and young adults, but for you it might be a family member, a co-worker, a classmate, a roommate. It's whoever God has placed in your life. That is your specific group of people.

I have been given a specific place. Boston. I had to move from where I used to live and from what was familiar to me, but that's not the case for everyone. You don't have to go to another nation to make disciples of all the nations. You may not be called to move to another city.

My realization of church planting is that we all have a definite call, a specific place, and a specific people. Churches need to be planted in your community. They need to be planted in Boston. They need to be planted in Istanbul and in Chicago. And I need to be involved in planting churches. We just need to understand and apply the following:

I am the church and I have been planted with a definite call, in a specific place, to a specific people.

Church Planting and Catching Up

2006-06-11T05:37:00.000-05:00

Well, I can say I have been extremely busy. I just got back from a trip to Istanbul last night. I will be leaving today for a conference in Greensboro. My church is planting another church near Boston College so I have become the lead pastor at "the mother church". I have been developing our leadership at our church and have asked three new people to come on staff. I have been dating a girl for 3 and a half months now. I am preparing for a mission trip to Tokyo next week. I will be moving into my own apartment next month. Like I said, I have been busy.

None of that is to make excuses for not posting on this blog and I'm sure many of you will look back through the first paragraph and say something about my lack of blogging being about the girl. Honestly, I am trying to figure out how to balance my time. I want to keep things in perspective and I view this blog as important for me to express my ideas specifically about church planting. I know that there have been several people express their gratitude for a blog like this and so I want to be consistent with my writing for my own benefit and if it is of benefit to others I hope you will join the conversation.

I want to get things started again by asking a question. I will preface the question with something I have encountered and have been thinking a lot about over the past two years. I probably won't get much response to this post because most of my regulars have given up on me.

I have been thinking a lot about house churches. God has given me a vision of where we need to be as a church here in Boston and it's not house churches...at least not in the way that I am hearing about them. I am hearing some really good things and some not so good things and just because I haven't been led to do the house church thing doesn't mean I think they are completely wrong ideologically or that no one should do it that way.

Actually, I believe the most important aspect of our church is our time spent in the homes. We have weekly Community Groups that are for the purpose of fellowship and following Christ together with a smaller group of believers. My vision is that those CG's would be the first priority. Of course, there are people that come to our church that either understand that or they don't and the ones who don't are probably coming with their ideas that our Sunday night large gathering is the first priority...at least for them. And that's fine, the vision doesn't happen over night. Anyway, the point is, our church engages in "house church" without neglecting the regular gathering together of the ekklesia in our area. My concern is that in our effort to do something different that will connect with the next generation we will abandon some very important aspects of the church.

Another issue I have is that there are 300,000 university students in Boston. There are 16 million in the US. Very few countries in the world DON'T have a student studying in the US and the nations of the world are sending their very best to study here. As a church that is intentionally reaching out to college students, I believe there is a great harvest. I know the result of house churches is supposed to be multiplication...the very thing that we are doing in our church...but is that theory or practice. Is that happening with the house churches in the US? Is that happening in Boston? Jesus says that the harvest is plentiful, and I don't want you to think that I judge success by numbers, but shouldn't we be praying for a bountiful harvest? I believe there should be growth and, yes, even large numbers. The house churches that are isolated from one another, are they really New Testament in their concept? What is the glue that holds these groups together.

For us, our Community Groups are basically house churches and I want that to be emphasized above everything that we do as a church, but our larger gatherings are like the glue that keeps us together in the larger community. I'm not really making a big point here. I've just given you some brief thoughts about this question I have and I would like to hear your thoughts on the matter. Any questions. Any comments. I hope after such a long absence you haven't given up on me being a part of the blogging world.

Related Posts:
Why College Students?
Students Reaching Students

Writer's Block

2006-05-13T15:14:00.000-05:00

It's been a long time since my last post. I am really trying to discover where I want to go in the future with this blog, but I've got writer's block. Actually, I have been extremely busy and it's only getting busier and so I am having to cut back on some non-essentials. My blog was the first thing to go. I promise I will dedicate some time to this soon.

Nathan

Blogging New Orleans 2

2006-03-16T12:19:00.000-05:00

We arrived in New Orleans on Saturday night, March 4th and on Sunday morning we went to my former church. When I lived in New Orleans I volunteered as the collegiate ministry director for First Baptist Church New Orleans. It was great to return and see everyone that I had built relationships with over those two years that I lived in New Orleans. Along with my team, I heard an incredible sermon from Dr. Crosby. He has become the go to guy for a lot of the disaster relief that is happening in the city right now. It was inspiring to hear his perspective and to hear his humility as he mentioned how he felt like a cork floating along in the river of God's grace (or favor...I don't remember the exact quote, but both work). He mentioned how people all over the world are praying for the city of New Orleans and how the faith community around the country has poured out an overwhelming majority of the relief work. People are coming to Christ as a result of the love and help that has been offered by believers and God has blessed Dr. Crosby and people like Inman Houston and others that I remember from New Orleans with an overabundance of His favor. He is using them in mighty ways and I respect them for their faithfulness to be used by God in the midst of such devastation and tragedy.

As I heard Dr. Crosby speak, I remembered how I had prayed that God would awaken the city of New Orleans to His glory. For two years, I lived in total frustration at the debauchery and filth that surrounded me when I lived there. It was amazing to hear how God could miraculously use the devastation of a flood to cause people to turn to Him. I don't know WHY God would allow something like Katrina to happen to New Orleans and I won't admit that it was for judgment or for purification or anything like that. All I know is that God has used it to awaken the city of New Orleans to the glory of God and to the fellowship of His church. Not because I prayed it, but because it is His will.

For a couple of minutes, sitting on a pew again in the South, I was upset with God for not allowing me to suffer through the tragedy of Katrina and being used as his vessel to bring glory to Him as a result. I was envious of all of my friends there in New Orleans who are doing such incredible things for God there. I prayed so hard, but God didn't consider me worthy to be a part of the restoration of the city that I was so burdened for.

However (and that's a big however), I realized that the burden God has placed in my heart for the city of Boston is infinitely stronger than my burden for New Orleans ever was, and I cared greatly for that city. I remembered that I have also been praying that God would awaken the people of Boston to His glory and His will. Please don't think that I hope for tragedy or suffering. God is accomplishing great things in New Orleans in the aftermath of a great tragedy, but that doesn't mean the same will happen in Boston. And I'm certainly not praying for that specifically. I am praying that God will accomplish great things and awaken our city in whatever way that brings the most glory to Him. If that's through one person being faithful to sharing their faith with another, and living every day for the cause of Christ, and denying themselves, taking up their cross, and following Jesus, then I want to be that person and I want to encourage others to do the same. I want God to restore Boston to Himself one person at a time if that's His will or to do something huge. All I know is that my prayer for God would be glorified in this city and that people would be awakened to His presence WILL BE ANSWERED, not because it's my will, but because it's His will.

It will be accomplished and I am grateful that God has brought me to THIS city to be a part of what He is doing here. Thousands of people are praying for New Orleans and thousands more are awakened to His presence and I will not rest until the same happens in Boston. It won't be my efforts that restore the glory of God in this city, it will be God's glory invading our lives that will bring us to our knees again.

Blogging New Orleans

2006-03-14T14:58:00.000-05:00

I have been in the land where Sunkist's are available in every gas station and where Chick-fil-A's and Super Walmart's are on every corner. However, the South is also the land of hand dryers versus towel dispensers in every gas station, and the ubiquitous, meaningless church signs on every corner that say something like, "Do you spell your best friend 'd-o-g' or 'g-o-d?'", and where "all y'all" is in almost everyone's vocabulary.

Anyway, I just got back from doing disaster relief in New Orleans with a team of eleven from my church.

Unbelievable.

Eye-opening.

Devastating.

I will write a couple of posts about it over the next couple of days as well as some current stuff when I get a chance, but here are a couple of pictures to get you started. Just remember when you see these pictures that we are Katrina + seven months or so and it is still devastating there. Pray for New Orleans.

Ash Wednesday

2006-03-02T01:08:00.000-05:00

Two years ago on Ash Wednesday I spent the day fasting because I was hoping to determine what God was doing in my life. I did not even know that Boston was on the horizon at that time. However, God had been placing in my heart over the weeks prior to Ash Wednesday a desire for four different things: missions, pastoral ministry, collegiate ministry, and church planting. I remember going to see the Passion of the Christ with a group of friends that night in New Orleans.

Several months prior to that day, I had received an email from TJ Odom saying that he thought it would be cool if I could move up to Boston to help him with a church plant that he was working with. It wasn't God's timing and I didn't feel led at the time to move to Boston and so I emailed back and said thanks but no thanks.

The weeks prior to Ash Wednesday, two years ago, however, God began closing a lot of doors that I wanted to be open. With a list of about ten options on a piece of paper, I began crossing off the doors that were closing. There were youth ministry positions and other church positions as well as various other ministry possibilities, but one after one I began crossing off the invalid options. Finally, I saw only one item left on the list. It was the possibility of moving to Boston. I had not heard from TJ for several months at that point and was pretty sure the opportunity in Boston was no more.

So, on Ash Wednesday, armed with the knowledge that God was calling me to missions, pastoral and collegiate ministry and church planting, but not knowing when any of those might be fulfilled in my life, I prayed and fasted that God would show me His will. The very next day I was thinking about calling TJ just to see what was going on in Boston. My phone rang and it said, "TJ Odom" on the caller I.D. I immediately thought, "Okay God, what are you up to?" I answered the phone and after talking for a minute or two, TJ said, "Nathan, I want you to pray about moving to Boston to co-pastor a collegiate church plant with me.

I never thought that the four passions that God was putting in my heart could be wrapped up in one sentence, but TJ, without knowing what God was teaching me, described the very ministry description that incorporated all four. I didn't put all of this together until about an hour or two after his call, and so I told TJ that I would pray about this for a week and call him back and let him know what I was thinking. Within an hour, however, God brought back all of what He had been teaching me those previous months. I waited out the week just to make sure I was hearing God's voice clearly (as if there can be any doubt in retrospect) and by July of that same year I had moved to Boston.

Today, Ash Wednesday, two years later, I am amazed at how God has taught me so much about His will, His timing, and His passion. He has given me a glimpse of His heart for the city of Boston and I am following Him. A lot of people have been visiting this blog recently because a guy here in Boston has a blog where he has ranted against all the church planters who are moving to Boston "to save our heathen souls". I can only say that I will go wherever my God leads me. There is no question that God led me to Boston. I can't speak for all the other church planters moving to the area, but there are people that need to know Jesus in every city and in every country. I don't know why God calls some to certain areas, but I don't have to know. I can only speak for myself when I say that I don't condemn Bostonians. I have been given a message to share, a context in which to share it, and a glimpse of what God sees in Boston and I'm grateful that He brought me here to do His work. I want others to experience the leadership of the Spirit and the joy of the Lord that I have experienced in my journey to Boston. My motivation is not to save the heathen, my motivation is to love God with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love my neighbor as myself. If that is offensive to anyone, that's their problem, not mine.

Boston (42° 21' , -71° 7')

Spiritual Warfare Part 2

2006-02-24T01:02:00.000-05:00

Well, this week Satan has certainly been at work in the life of our church, but God has been victorious every time. I have heard dozens of reports of people in our church sharing their faith this week. Seven BU students decided to go and do surveys in the student center at BU on Monday. They talked to several people in depth about faith and what distinguishes Christianity from the other religions. Others have had conversations with people and sat down with friends to be intentional about their conversations. Still others have told me about some sacrifices they had to make in their schedule or in their comfort levels, etc. just to do what they knew God was asking them to do.

Another great victory that we are seeing happen has to do with discipleship. Disciple-making is our church's approach to reach the world for Christ and almost all of our leadership team have found someone to disciple and someone to disciple them and some of those relationships have formed in the past few days and weeks. Many of those that are being discipled by our leaders are unbelievers who value the time they can spend with an authentic believer. I don't know what you might call it: friendship evangelism, lifestyle evangelism, relationship evangelism. I just call it being intentional about the relationships God has brought us and we are seeing it happen.

This week has been extremely productive in every way. Our team prepared for a mission team from New Orleans that just arrived tonight. ESL and an Alpha course are both picking up steam on campus. I have been able to get a lot of things done on my to do list and at the same time have some quality time with a few people that I needed to spend time with.

On the other hand, there have been some major things come up that are obvious attempts by Satan to destroy what God is doing. Satan wants to steal the seed that was emphasized Sunday night when we talked about sacrificing EVERYTHING for the message of Jesus Christ. A couple of people in our church are even going through some things this week that would have been difficult for Job.

Sunday night I developed a head cold because I couldn't sleep all that night. My concern for our church was heavy and oppressive. I knew the storm would come in light of the gravity of the message and the amazing response from the church to sacrifice all for Jesus. I had trouble sleeping that night but Monday was a really good day (despite the cold that I was developing). Tuesday morning was HORRIBLE. I have never experienced so much frustration and for a couple of hours I was completely defeated and angry at life. Glory to God that He pulled me out of that and helped me to see that the circumstances of the morning were the spiritual forces that wanted to bring me down. They were succeeding too until my Father rescued me from it. The rest of the day was spiritually and logistically very fulfilling and productive.

Finally, I am encouraged by something that I thought was a negative thing at first. I have been traveling a lot and I have another trip this weekend (in 4 hours I head to the airport). However, God is doing a great work in my absence. Our leaders and others in the church are stepping up and taking responsibility for a lot of things while I am gone. Jessica will be leading worship completely on her own other than the instruments this Sunday. Josh is going to serve as my co-leader for the team we will be taking to New Orleans next week and he will be hosting the team meeting this Friday. Trisha, Anne and Dena will be doing most of the hosting of our current mission team (something TJ and I usually do). Others in our church will be spending time with the mission team and will serve alongside them. Others are planning upcoming events and my heart is overwhelmed at the things God is accomplishing through our church.

What a victorious week. I am encouraged. I am challenged. I am overwhelmed by God's amazing leadership and guidance and His beautiful presence here in Boston. This round fought here in Boston between Satan and God, as always, goes to God Almighty.

Boston (42° 21' , -71° 7')

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Spiritual Warfare

Spiritual Warfare

2006-02-20T02:00:00.000-05:00

Well, over the next two weeks maybe all of my posts will be catch up posts like my last one. I will be doing a lot of traveling and may not get to update everyone very often. I will be in a wedding this weekend and my church is hosting a mission team at the same time so I am making sure everything is ready for that to happen while I am gone. I think me being gone so much is actually doing some great things for our church. There is so much that is happening without me having to be around. So many people are stepping up and getting things done. It's been incredible to watch all of these college students take on more responsibility than most deacons I have known.

Over the next couple of days I will try to write down some thoughts about what I'm learning as I plant a church in Boston. Actually, I wanted to relay some of the stuff that happened tonight at church. TJ and I have felt incredibly burdened that about half of our church really needs to get to the next level in their faith. We have been preaching through 1 Thessalonians and tonight's message was from chapter 2 verses 8-16. The title of my message was "Sacrificing Everything for the Message of Christ". Paul said, "We were pleased to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives." The text revealed that sharing the message of Christ demands sacrifice, requires integrity, needs accountability, motivates others to share, and invites rejection.

This was an incredibly difficult message, and I knew that spiritual forces were rallying against me as I spoke. There were about five distractions during the first 10 minutes and after the last distraction I told everyone how important I felt this message was and that I fully believed that Satan was trying his best to distract us from this message. And so we paused and I prayed that God would be victorious in that place. Even as I prayed, God gave me a peace and I believe He helped us to focus on the message. There wasn't a single distraction after that. Praise God for circumventing the attacks of the devil.

This was a powerful message...for me! It brought a realization to my own life that I don't have as much urgency in sharing my faith that I need to have. Yet, God was reconciling the world to Himself through Christ and He has given us the ministry of reconciliation. Sure, I get opportunities to talk about my faith, but when was the last time I really sacrificed something to do it? How often do we keep a tight reign on our schedules, our rights, our agendas, our money, our resources, our time? We are so inflexible that we are missing opportunities everyday to reveal the goodness of God.

It also was a tangible awareness of God's presence with us tonight. Phones were ringing, the water fountain had to be unplugged because it was distracting, and there were other minor distractions. After we requested God's authority over the room there was perfect peace. Undeniably, He brought everything back in to focus so that we could learn from His Word. It was powerful!

Please pray for our church every chance you get this week. I told them that if they accepted the challenge to follow Christ and to be more intentional about sharing their faith, they were going to experience persecution, rejection, and even spiritual attack but that the Lord is with them. Please be praying for all of us that we will be bold, that we will rise to the challenge to share our faith, and that we will resist the temptation to give up when those attacks start happening.

Boston (42° 21' , -71° 7')