I will continue to write about what happens at Passion 06, but I’m going to focus more on the people I see, new people I meet, community groups, and breakout sessions. For what goes on in the main sections, Louie and the Passion team’s continued blogging at http://268blog.blogspot.com/ is more complete than what you’ll find here.
Also, most of the events beside the main sessions are in venues that don’t allow photography, so I probably won’t be taking that many pictures.
I need some sleep, so I’m not going to write much tonight. Main session with acoustic worship, Louie Giglio’s teaching, prayer triangles, Charlie Hall leading worship. Community groups (the size of a normal conference) and family groups (8 people). Also got to go to a Hymns: Ancient and Modern concert as a late night event.
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light,
on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.
You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy,
they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest,
as men rejoice when dividing the plunder.
For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor. Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire.
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.
Isaiah 9:2-7
I’ve had multiple reasons to do a lot of thinking recently about the church and its response to the world. I grew up in a church that while the Gospel was preached, was very much a museum for “saints.” Very few in the church admitted their failings beyond the recited public confession we all read aloud during each service. Those who did admit their faults were often seen as being a worse person for it and sometimes were even picked on because of their willingness to be open. That is not the way things are supposed to be. Romans 3:23 tells us that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” All. Not some. Not those who aren’t part of our church. Not the scary guy down the street. All includes us.
The church was never meant to be a museum for “saints.” Instead, the mission of the church is to be a hospital for sinners. 1 John 1:10 says, “If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” In Mark 28:31, Jesus told the religious leaders of his day “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Yet, to many people who have not been impacted by the power of the Gospel, the message of the church is not of love, but of hate.
The problem seems to be that many Christians feel that an important way that they bring the Kingdom of God to earth in a more visible form is through politics. Interestingly, that’s the same approach taken by the Pharisees in Jesus’ day. They felt that they could hasten bringing the Messiah to earth by keeping the law perfectly. Their hypocritical observance of the law caused them to ignore the people who God wanted them to help–the people on the fringes of society.
I firmly believe that the way to bring the Kingdom of God to earth does not revolve around voting for candidates from any particular political party. The Kingdom of God isn’t restricted to a single political ideology or approach to society’s problems. In the United States, no political party has it right when it comes to pleasing God through their actions. You can’t bring the Kingdom of God to earth by passing laws. The way to influence people isn’t by telling they’re wrong or by holding them to a standard that Scripture doesn’t apply to those outside the Kingdom. The way to change people is by love.
We’re all greatly loved by God, a love that knows no boundaries. The approach laid out by Jesus in the scriptures is to meet people where they are. When Jesus met the woman at the well, he knew that she had a questionable past and had been forced to the edge of society. Yet, his message to her was of hope and forgiveness, not judgment. There is a time and a place to judge, but that is reserved for between followers of Christ who know each other well and are doing it out of love and not out of legalism.
Today, the people on the edge of our society aren’t orphans and widows, as they were in Jesus’ time. The message hasn’t changed, just the people to whom we are to deliver it. I like how Bono of U2 fame put it: “If Jesus Christ were on earth you’d find him in a gay bar in San Francisco. He’d be working with people suffering from AIDS. These people are the new lepers. just like the turn of BC / AD. Don’t touch them, walk away from them. If you want to find out where Jesus would be hanging out, it’ll always be with the lepers.” Why don’t we live that out?
Advent is the four weeks leading up to Christmas when Christians prepare for the birth of the coming Messiah. During what tends to be the busiest time of the year, I like to stop and refocus what’s going on in my life. It’s not about shopping for the best gift ever. It’s about the coming of the Savior, the one who died to save us from ourselves and allow us to be reconciled to God. One way that I like to prepare for Christmas is by reading through the books of prophecy in the Bible, focusing on the prophecies concerning the Messiah. I’ve figured out my reading plan up until Christmas, and I’m sharing that with you. Feel free to join in. Expect periodic reflections to appear here.
I’ve selected chapters that flow well together for each day. Reading is 2-4 chapters per day and covers about half of Isaiah, some Jeremiah, all of Zechariah, and the Christmas story from both Matthew and Luke. The links on the passages will take you to that day’s reading courtesy of BibleGateway.com.
December 1: Matthew 1-2, Luke 1-2
December 2: Isaiah 1-4
December 3: Isaiah 5-7
December 4: Isaiah 8-10
December 5: Isaiah 11-12
December 6: Isaiah 40-41
December 7: Isaiah 42-43
December 8: Isaiah 44-45
December 9: Isaiah 46-47
December 10: Isaiah 48-49
December 11: Isaiah 50-51
December 12: Isaiah 52-54
December 13: Isaiah 55-56
December 14: Isaiah 57-58
December 15: Isaiah 59-60
December 16: Isaiah 61-62
December 17: Isaiah 62-64
December 18: Isaiah 65-66
December 19: Jeremiah 23, Zechariah 1-2
December 20: Zecariah 3-5
December 21: Zecariah 6-8
December 22: Zechariah 9-11
December 23: Zechariah 12-14
December 24: Matthew 1-2, Luke 1-2 (both in a paraphrase)
December 25: Matthew 1-2, Luke 1-2
Don’t plan out possible ways you could misspeak and how to recover from them. It’s too easy to make a Freudian slip and end up like this youth pastor from TX.
Caution: you wouldn’t expect him to say what he says.
JR, the pastor who founded Kairos Los Angeles has a challenging post on his blog. As someone who doesn’t show near enough love to the people around me, I really resonate with JR’s analysis of how things could have been instead of how things are. On a related note, I think Matthew 5:38-45 fits in with JR’s comments.
I know I’ve been bad about posting recently, but I wanted to put something up here thanking you all for making this summer awesome. The summer has had it’s ups and downs, but God is faithful and I know that He will never toss me anything that I can’t catch. So, to everyone I’ve worked with, my small group, friends, and everyone at The Gathering, thanks!
Last night was a fun night at The Gathering. John gave the sex talk, which is one of the best sex talks I’ve heard. You can hear it (once it’s posted as Part 5) here. Reminds me of Jim Pace from [nlcf]’s story about how the first two times he ever gave a talk about sex, his mother decided to come and visit. Talk about a hard message to give, especially since there was new (to her) information in it.
The event of the night was the guest appearance of This Holiday Life for the closing song during the service. Later that evening, they gave a concert. For those of you who have never heard of This Holiday Life, they’re currently on tour with Switchfoot and used their night off to come and play for us. They sound a lot like Switchfoot and put on a good, although short, show.