If you’ve been around City on a Hill for the last few weeks and haven’t heard about what we’re doing this Christmas then you must be totally out-of-it. In partnership with two other churches in Torrance, Hope Chapel Gateway and Pacific View Church, we’ve embarked on a journey to rethink Christmas this year. We’ve joined with hundreds of churches nationwide in the Advent Conspiracy movement (www.adventconspiracy.com). We’re tired of all the commercialism, syncretism of faiths and culture, and the hijacking of one of Christianity’s most celebrated occasions, the birth of Christ. So, we’re taking it back! Christmas that is. We’re conspiring together to take back Christmas, its celebration, its meaning, its spirit, its joy, its peace, its giving, its truth, its real purpose.
We’ve all been encourage to do three things this Christmas season. First, to tell the real story of Christmas to one other person. Perhaps you know a family member, a co-worker, or friend that just hasn’t heard the simple story of Christmas. Not the Santa story or the Frosty story or the Rudolph story, but the story of Jesus. What a conspiracy it would be if each of us simply told one other the real story of Christmas. Here we were also reminded that the Christmas story, the story of the birth of Jesus, includes us. Each of us has our own story of how Jesus incarnates (makes flesh) our lives. We can’t tell the Christmas story without telling our story because the Christmas story necessarily includes us. Second, to buy one less gift and give the money you would have spent away. Simple choose someone on your list and don’t give them as much or not at all. I’ve made this easy on those folks at CoaH who are in the habit of giving me a gift to say give my gift away to someone who really needs it. When you do this, make sure the person who doesn’t get their gift knows what you’ve done. Third, Do one act of service as a family to someone(s) in need. Serving together as a family not only helps those you serve but strengthens your family as well.
Thus far as Torrance has been rethinking Christmas mighty things have been happening. And the best part is that we’re hearing about those things. literally dozens of acts of service, giving to the needy, and Christmas storytelling are going on right around us. To check out what’s happening, and you won’t want to miss this, visit our blog at www.torrancerethinkingchristmas.wordpress.com and join in the conspiracy!
I was convicted this week in my personal time with God when I read Nehemiah 13:15-18. In this passage Nehemiah was upset with the People of Israel because they were not keeping the Sabbath holy. They were “burdening” and “profaning” the day they were to set aside for the Lord, “What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the sabbath day? Verse 17. In my meditation and reflection on this passage God convicted me that I hadn’t spoken to this issue in my (our) context as I should. The thing I felt strongly on my heart was that I had downplayed corporate worship at CoaH and for that I must apologize. In my attempt to highlight other aspects of our Christian faith and its disciplines I have not highlighted the importance of regular worship together with the body of Christ. Again, sorry.
So, where to go from here. I hope you’ll join me as together we begin to reclaim Sabbath as an important aspect of our Christian walk and faith. I’d encourage you to take a quick listen to my message from Sunday that will give more specific information how we might do this like Preparing to worship together, Coming more regularly, Listening and Responding, and Going forth from worship to be in the world but not of it. I know God will bless us from our efforts. Looking forward to seeing you on Sunday at corporate worship.
Sunday I preached my first message in this new sermon series at CoaH. And boy was it powerful if I do say so myself (feedback indicates this as well). Anyway, I wanted to let all of you out there in cyberspace know what you missed out on. By the way, my sermons are taped and on this site if you’d like to listen on-line so in reality you don’t really have to miss out. Back on point, I read the following from Erwin McManus’ book, Uprising, “We were created with a passion to live. When a person loses his will to live, he has essentially begun the first stage of dying. This is why some people live until their final breaths and others die long before their bodies are laid to rest…We simply assume that this is just the way it (life) is. We surrender ourselves to the mundane. It is not antipathy that defines us, but apathy. The first leads to the violent and abrupt ends of our lives; the second, to a tortuously slow decay. To be apathetic is literally to be without passion” (emphasis mine). Apathy, the lack of passion, slowly kills us. It’s not quick, it’s not easy, it is mundane and tortuously slow. A very difficult way to live and die.
Unfortunately, many of us live our lives in apathy. We pour our lives into jobs we don’t like and get nothing out of and at the end of the day mean nothing to us or anyone else. We waste our time, effort, money, and energy on things that don’t really matter and have little to no value. We keep ourselves busy with tasks, schedules, busy work so we don’t have to think about our pathetic apathetic lives, because when we slow down we just get depressed. We spend our money on things we don’t need to temporarily give us reason to live and find joy. We plan times to escape our dreary conditions with vacations, excursions, and activities just to run away from our bleak reality. And the list goes on! Still think you’re not living a tortuously slow decay in apathy?
So, what’s the antidote? Passion. But not just any passion but a passion that makes a difference, a soul passion. We may have a passion to vacation, a passion to play, a passion to succeed, a passion for good food but do these things matter or are we yet again running from the real issue, God? What saves us from a pathetic apathetic life is developing a passion for the one who created us to live with him now and into eternity, Jesus Christ. No other passion will do because no other passion compares.
I hope you will join us, City on a Hill, as we dive into discovering again or perhaps for the first time the God who will change our lives. My goal for this series is no secret and one you should know. It is that God changes you. I’ll do my best to pray and use God’s Word to communicate knowledge and information about him and give you tools to create and develop your passion for God but at the end of the day I can only do just that. I can’t make you more passionate about God, your faith, and your following. Only God himself through the power of the Holy Spirit can do such a thing. So, I’ll pray for you and encourage you and support you as God faithfully changes your life as you get to know him better. Enjoy the ride!
There is a phrase about being a witness or bearing witness. What does that mean? When I looked up the definition of “bear witness” it was broken down as “bear”: to hold up; support and the word “witness” was defined as: one who can give a firsthand account of something seen, heard, or experienced. I first learned about this expression when I was in college. It was explained to me that this idea originated from World War II and the persecution of the Jewish people. Because of the atrocities that transpired, there was a need for firsthand accounts or witnesses to share what had occurred so the world would know and these horrendous actions would not be forgotten.
This got me thinking about the verse in Galatians 6:2 that say “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” As human beings, we each need people to come up alongside us and shoulder the weight of life. There is a concept called, “facetime” where you are actually with someone not on the phone, texting, emailing, Skyping, etc…but are actually with that person…face to face. As humans we need this “facetime” with another person who will listen to us and bear witness to our life.
How can I bear witness to others in my life? At first I was thinking globally…then I realized that was a bit grandiose, so I began to narrow my focus…to my husband, friends, church partners, co-workers, etc…What is the most effective way to bear witness? It is simply being with someone and asking them how they are doing…really doing. It is about growing relationships so that the people I come into contact with feel comfortable telling me what is truly going in their life. It is about people allowing me to be a person that they can trust to bear witness to their life. Isn’t that what Jesus did? He was with people face to face and he is our ultimate role model for “bearing witness.”
So, my invitation to all of us is to reach out and risk being real with others and practicing the art of bearing witness…
-Christy Tercero
The last Wednesday of every month I attend a South Bay Pastors group called Gatekeepers. This morning was no different. When we arrived today we were put into groups and asked to discuss what “evidences” there should be in our community of the Kingdom of God. I said the greatest evidence of the Kingdom of God is that real needs are being met. It didn’t take long to get some push-back. I love these guys. “What about proclaiming the Gospel and telling people about Jesus?” “What about changing lives with the transformative power of proclamation?” “What about speaking about Jesus?” The questions flew! My brothers in ministry, and indeed I count them brothers and friends, were challenging me because I didn’t say anything about “speaking” the Gospel with our lips. One in my group said that there are a lot of “good things” the church can and does do but he’s more interested in doing “God things.” Another said that meeting needs is not necessarily Christian and isn’t Christian without proclamation of the Gospel, he meant spoken. It took a little bit of back and forth discussion before I realized the problem we were having. A problem at the foundation of our theological understanding of what it means to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus and live in his Kingdom.
They were doing, in my humble opinion, two things that many of us do in Christendom. The first is they were defining Gospel proclamation simply as speaking with lips and words. But Gospel Proclamation is way more than that. I argued that we proclaim the Gospel not only with our lips and words but also with our actions. In fact, often times Gospel proclamation with actions is much more effective than Gospel proclamation with words. I believe Jesus knew this and why he so often met the real needs of people as evidence of God’s kingdom having come. Francis of Assisi once said, “Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.” I love that! He understood Gospel proclamation to be way more than just words. When we deconstruct Gospel proclamation to just words then we’re really missing the point of Jesus. There certainly is a time and place for words and it is indeed Gospel proclamation but not the only sort.
The second theological underpinning they were speaking from was the delineation between the sacred and the secular. In our society, I think because we deconstruct everything, there has become a dichotomy between the things of God and things that are not. Hence the differentiation between “good things” and “God things.” But I argue that good things are God things and there is no need to delineate. When those who are in Christ reach out to those who are in need we are necessarily doing something “Christian” because we are, in the truest sense, following Jesus. A follower does what the one he’s following did. And Jesus certainly met the real needs of people around him and many times he did this with actions alone.
At City on a Hill we’ve really had to work through these two predominate theological biases carefully. But I really believe we’ve come to some healthy and accurate interpretations and philosophies that help us minister better to the community and advance God’s kingdom. So we proclaim the Gospel through actions and when necessary use words and we bring together the sacred and the secular as is God’s intention. We do good God things!
Okay, I’ve been thinking again. I know, bad news. But, does being a follower of Jesus Christ change you and should it? One of the biggest complaints I get from those outside the church (here meaning a group of Jesus followers) is that we act and look totally different then the one we follow, Jesus. It’s true. They say, “Jesus was so loving, non-judgemental, hung out with sinners, etc., etc. but you (Christians) aren’t like that at all. You don’t love, you judge all too readily, and you only hang out with others like you.” Well, there are two reasonable reasons for this I figure. The first is that their perception of Jesus and of us is in error. This is usually the answer we give ourselves which, conveniently enough, lets us off the hook allowing us to move on. The second is that, though perception may be skewed somewhat, we in actuality don’t really act and look like Jesus. So, is this a problem? Of course it is, silly! Why follow someone, their thoughts, teachings, philosophies, theologies, actions without the intent of becoming more like them? If we do that then all we’re doing is filling our head with knowledge about someone, not truly following. To follow literally means to “behave in accordance or agreement with someone,” to “imitate in behavior.” For real, I looked it up. By definition then if we don’t act, look, even think like Jesus then we’re not really following him are we. Then the name Christ Followers, even Christian, which means Christ Follower, is just a catchy name.
Therefore, I propose we do one of two things. We could change our name from Christians to “Christnizants.” That’s my own word combining Christ and Cognizant (feel free to us as your own). Christ referring to Jesus the Christ and Cognizant meaning “aware or; having or showing knowledge or understanding or realization or perception.” Really, I looked it up again. This way at least our name isn’t just catchy but actually has meaning and significance referring to who we really are and what we really do. We’re aware of Christ, we have knowledge of him but we don’t really need to act or look like him. This way we really wouldn’t have to do what Jesus did and hang out with sinners and fight against the established religious leaders and love those who aren’t like us. We could create little pockets of Christnizants all around the city that speak our own Christnizant language that no one outside of our click understands using words and phrases like, saved, fellowship, blood of the lamb, etc. Of course we would have to build fortresses to gather in with iconic beauty and extravagance. We could be exclusive and allow only those who act and look like us to become members of our Christnizant colonies. We’d know they’re ready to join us because they use the Christnizant buzz words; zeal, brother, walk, and others. We’d create Christnizant schools where our children would be safe from the “world out there.” We’ll hire Christnizant professionals to continue to give us knowledge and heighten our awareness of Christ enduring 20 to 30 minute messages once a week, say on Sunday, so we don’t loose our connection altogether to Christ. Wow, the more I think and dream about this the better it sounds. This might actually work!
Or, we could continue to use the name “Christian” and start following the Christ.
The biggest news story in the last couple of weeks, by far, is the resolution that was passed at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s (ELCA) bi-annual National Conference whereby they made way for gay clergy to serve as pastors within the largest Lutheran denomination in America. {click for the LA Times story on-line http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-lutherans-gay22-2009aug22,0,2461772,print.story}.
What’s the big deal you ask? Well, let me respond simply with two words, “Biblical Authority.” The big deal is this, the Bible speaks against the act of sex with one of the same sex. If we begin to pick and choose what we like and don’t like about Scripture we have strayed into dangerous territory. As those who follow Christ and see the Bible as the authoritative source for normative and holy living we must respond to this blatant disregard for Biblical authority appropriately. So, what’s is the appropriate response? As I taught last night at worship I outlined three groups to which we are obligated to respond. For the entire recorded message please visit www.coahsb.org and click on sermons 090830.
The first group we respond to is the homosexual community. That’s right, it’s not the church, not Lutheran’s or non-Lutheran’s but those whom the ELCA has chosen to capitulate and teach falsely. How exactly do we respond to this group of people whom God loves? Three ways. First with love. And by love I mean selflessly with the best interests of those whom we’re loving in mind, namely the homosexual. First, we need to communicate that being homosexually oriented is no sin at all. Second, we must not make the act of lying down with another of the same sex “The Issue.” The issue here is not homosexuality but Biblical authority. Unfortunately for the homosexual community they have been singled out and by implication have become the issue. Shame on the ELCA for their inconsiderate action here. Correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t Jesus the issue? Third, we must make clear that this is a Discipleship issue not a Salvific issue. Ones salvation isn’t in jeopardy if one is acting homosexually. Its ones relationship with God that is in jeopardy. Ones follow-ship not salvation.
The second way we respond to the homosexual is with truth. In many ways the ELCA has taken the easy way out by disregarding Scripture. From an emotional standpoint I believe it would be easier to just tell people what they’re doing isn’t sinful and to keep on doing it. I have a very close homosexual friend and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wanted to just say to them, “You know its okay to act on your thoughts and feelings, God doesn’t really mind, plus his love and grace will be sufficient for you anyway.” At some level this sounds right to me and it would certainly be easier to say this than speak the truth. But am I doing my friend a favor? Not at all, to the contrary I believe I would be doing them a great disservice. We must teach God’s truth even when it is difficult.
The third and last way to respond to the homosexual person is with compassion. Compassion is the act of loving. It’s making yourself available to wrestle through life’s issues no matter how difficult. My friend and I meet regularly to talk about what it means to be a homosexual Christian. We don’t always agree, we rarely leave one-another without crying, but in the end we share compassion. Not only do I help them but more often than not I’m helped in my walk with Jesus as well. This is a much messier process than simply giving up on Scripture and doing the easy thing. But I’m committed enough to my friend to walk the messy route together.
Another group of folks we must respond to are those who don’t know the Lutheran faith. As Lutherans, LCMC or not, we’re subject now to scrutiny. Our Christian friends will be outraged and our non-Christian friends will think we finally got something right. In the end we need to be able to communicate clearly that we are Christians with a Lutheran flavor. We must give an adequate defense of our faith as we are encouraged in Scripture. We are indeed under the microscope. The last group we must now respond to are what I call ELCA sojourners. There are the ones in the ELCA who are now set adrift by their denomination. Pastors and lay people, churches and individuals, many will struggle in the next weeks and months. We must respond to these with understanding and compassion, love and a viable alternative. Many have had their faith shaken and we must be available to help root and bring back.
At the end of the day, I am saddened but not disheartened with the ELCA’s decision. Saddened because of the lives that will inevitable be hurt but not disheartened because I don’t put much stock in human institutions especially mainline denominations. It is the kingdom of God in which I trust. The love and grace of Christ the Son of God, and the promise that he will build his church and the gates of hell will not stand against him. So, my prayer today is the same as been since Jesus taught the Disciples to pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” And ultimatley trust it will be!
I really don’t consider myself a critical person but oh was I so this weekend. Case in point. I was driving home on Saturday down Prospect and a cab was double parked into the slow lane as I was approaching Camino Real. I really wasn’t in a hurry, had no place to go but it still ticked me off. I had to slow and eventually stop and allow the traffic to clear in the second lane so I could pass. I felt the heat rising but didn’t pay any attention to it and before I knew it I was laying on the horn and gesturing my disapproval to the cabbie. He did likewise. For the rest of the afternoon my mood was affected. This set off a critical spirit within me. Looking back on the incident I sure let things get out of hand and it was simply because I allowed myself to be critical and negative when I should not have been in the first place.
The thing that got the ball rolling was my criticalness of the cabbie and my negative attitude. Looking back I identified the thoughts I was thinking as I came upon him double parked. How dare he, how inconsiderate, isn’t this illegal, etc., etc. I was really negative about the situation. Here’s the thing. I’m responsible for my own thoughts. So, instead of thinking negatively and critically I could just as well have thought positively, seeing the best in the cabbie instead of the worst. Thoughts like, this guys really thoughtful about his fares, it must be difficult to pick up a ride here on this busy street, what a hard worker putting in time on a Saturday, would have led to a much happier outcome. And to think, this all started with a few poor thoughts.
So, I’m on a mission this week to change my attitude with better thoughts. Thoughts that look for the good in others before critizising, thoughts that focus on the positive instead of the negative, thoughts that are rightly optimistic and accepting, thoughts that align with the thoughts of God. I have, in my limited memory bank, stored a text from the fourth chapter of Philippians which encourages this kind of thinking, “Finally Brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if there is anything excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things…and the God of peace will be with you.” I’ve come to realize when my thoughts are critical and negative they affect my feelings toward unhappiness. However, when my thoughts are encouraging and positive they affect my feelings toward happiness. I’d much rather feel happy than otherwise and one way I can help this come true is to be aware of and adjust my thoughts. Give it a try and see what happens.
When it comes to what we believe about God’s promises most of the world would see them like Mark Twain when he says, “Better a broken promise than none at all.” We see God’s promises as nice little sayings to help us through the rough times of life but rarely do we believe that God would actually come through on them. Rarely do we give credit to God for being faithful to his promises. Rarely do we even remember what God has promised us. Perhaps herein lies the problem. Maybe, just maybe, it’s not that God doesn’t fulfill his promises but that we need to change our perspective. Perhaps our motto should change, our philosophy, our thoughts, our beliefs, our expectations of God’s promises.
Think about it. What if God is actually a promise keeper and not just one who idly makes promises he can’t keep? What if God was faithful to all of his promises? How would our lives change? Would we be different? Would the world around us be different? Let’s explore this a little further.
A promise is simply a declaration assuring that one will or will not do something. A promise is easy to measure then, the declaration is either fulfilled or not by the one declaring it. For instance, if I promise I’ll meet you at Starbuck’s today at 4:30 I’ll either be there or I won’t. If I’m there I fulfill the promise if I’m not I break it. Furthermore, a promise is also easy to tell who is at fault for breaking it. There is only one to blame, the one who made the declaration. If I declare it I’m solely responsible to make it happen or not happen. There is none other accountable, none other to blame. I choose to be there at 4:30 or I choose not to be. So, it is indeed easy to judge whether God is a promise keeper or not based on these criteria. What God does and who God is.
The first criteria we judge God’s faithfulness to his promises on is what God does. He’s either there at 4:30 or he’s not. This is an easy criteria to judge. All we need to do is look back at the promises God has made and ask if he was faithful to them. He either is or he isn’t. For instance, after the flood of the world God came to Noah and promised he would never flood the entire world again and as a sign of his promise he put a rainbow in the sky. The question we ask here then is, has the world been flooded since? If the answer is no, God did what he said. If the answer is yes, God did not. If you want to know whether God is a promise keeper take some time to read through Scripture and challenge God’s promises throughout history to see if he does what he promises to do.
The second criteria we judge God’s faithfulness to his promises on is who God is. The question we ask here is, “Can God make a promise he can’t keep?” To answer this question we must go to the core of who God is, his character, his makeup. If God is not a promise keeper than he is a liar and an unfaithful God. But can the God of the Bible be a liar? Can he be unfaithful? Not according to Scripture. God, by his very nature cannot lie and cannot be anything but faithful. To be God he must be faithful and just and true. For if he were not these things he would not be God.
This is a bit difficult to get our minds around so let me offer you a quick analogy. What separates us, human beings, from other animals is the ability to think rationally. We can deliberate and rationalize and make decisions and feel. The rest of the animal kingdom cannot rationalize or emote like human beings can. So, no matter how close we feel chimps are to us they are still not human. So, one way to tell a human from a chimp is can the animal rationalize? If it can’t its not human. Similarly, one way to tell God from humans is, can the being lie, be unfaithful, cheat, etc. If it can its human, if it can’t, by its very nature and character, then the being is God and only God. God cannot lie or he would not be God.
“Better a broken promise than none at all,” I say no! A broken promise hurts and brings pain. A broken promise lifts up only to tear down. A broken promise brings false hope. A broken promise evidences a broken God. We know better! It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that God does keep his promises and is a promise keeper. He can’t do anything other. So, don’t buy into anything less. Trust in what God has promised to do or not do and trust in his faithfulness to come through. Trust today in his words spoken centuries ago to Jacob, “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Amen.
