oasisCHURCH

PART 2: Acts 29 Theology & Practice

It is fitting that Chad posted his brief article on Jesus being the radiance of God's glory just before I make this post, because Acts 29 mission begins with having a good and proper Christology. Christology answers the question, "Who is Jesus, and what has he accomplished?"

Chan Kilgore (Acts 29 planter of CrossPointe Church in Orlando, FL) led sessions 2 and 3 on Monday, and explained the theological foundations of the Acts 29 Network. The short answer to who Acts 29 is theologically is... first, Christians; second, Evangelicals; third, Missional; and fourth, Reformed. There are theological issues that are primary and there are some that are secondary. Acts 29 churches call these "closed-hand issues" and "open-hand issues". In the closed-hand are the things that are not up for debate. After careful study of Scripture these are things about which Acts 29 churches are unwavering. In the open-hand are things that the churches have convictions about, but are not willing to go to war for them. In the open-hand there is unity in a diversity of interpretations.

Closed-Hand >>> Some examples of things that are in the closed hand are: the Trinity (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit); the inerrancy of God's Word (the Bible); Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation; the Bible speaks of a literal hell; total depravity (meaning, everyone is sinful and in need Jesus for salvation).

Open-Hand >>> Some examples of things you might find in the open hand are: styles of worship; charismatic or non-charismatic; eschatology (view of the end times); tongues and miraculous gifts of the spirit; when and how baptism is conducted.

Christology
As I mentioned above, before Acts 29 discusses ministry practice and methodology, there is heavy emphasis placed on Christology. This is because theology must determine your methodology. In order to plant a healthy and biblical church your methodology must flow out of your theology. Think of the importance of this point. If a church's theology is focused inward (me-centered, or us-centered), or focused on a soapbox issue, or ANYTHING but Jesus, who is the radiance of God's glory, then the direction and methods of said church will follow closely behind the theology. For instance, a church that focuses the majority of its theology on end-times will have ministries, classes, conferences, sermons, and songs that are centered around their particular view of the end times. A church that focuses the majority of its theology on the people of the church will tend to have ministries, classes, conferences, teachings, and songs that are centered around self-help or how-to-acquire things such as good health or prosperity.

The first four priorities in a God-centered theology are these:

The Father - His Redemptive Mission
>> His own glory
>> The Gospel

The Son - Christology
>> Incarnated - "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14)
>> Exalted - One of the things we must come to understand is that today we do not worship the Christ incarnated, but the Christ exalted. Sometimes our only image and understanding we have of Jesus is from the incarnated years he spent on earth in humble surroundings. Because of this, many people learn that to be a Christian simply means you are supposed to be a nice person who loves people no matter what their lives are like by trying to identify with their cultural experiences and perspectives in a non-judgmental and empathetic way. But what appears to be lacking in our understanding of Jesus is that when we next see Him, He will not appear as a humble, marginalized, Galilean peasant. Rather, we will see the exalted King of Kings, with a tattoo down his thigh, a sword protruding from His mouth and fire blazing from His eyes, coming to make war on the unrepentant of the world. So in these days before Jesus' second-coming we are not merely to relate to people but also command them to repent of sin and bend their knee to the King of Kings, Jesus Christ. Mark Driscoll says "we labor with the exalted Christ, which gives us authority to proclaim the gospel of freedom. And we labor like the incarnated Christ, which gives us humility and grace to creatively demonstrate and proclaim the love of Christ to fellow sinners in our culture." (Confessions of a Reformed Rev., p. 43)

The Spirit
"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." (Acts 1:8)

The Body - Ecclesiology
"...as the Father has sent me, I am sending you." (John 20:21)
>> Elders
>> Deacons
>> Members called to be on the mission of God (missionaries)

I will write some more on "ecclesiology" in the next post, but I will close this one with a quote from Chan Kilgore. He said, Christology and Ecclesiology are in essence one in the same; we are simply the body of Christ at work.

PART 3 >>> Mark Driscoll on Qualifications of the Church Planter

Radiance

This will be, hands down, one of the shortest posts I have ever composed. There is a reason for this. Recently I have been struck by an obsession. When most people consider an obsession they usually think of something rather negative. However, what I’m about to describe to you is what I think is a rather healthy obsession.

The reason for the brevity of this post is mostly because I want to give you a statement to ponder in the hopes that the truth of those particular words rattle your judgment and in turn alter your perceptions. This post comes in parts so please take a moment to consider each part carefully. Before you go any further, pray that God would help illuminate His purpose in what you are about to consider.

Part One

Ask yourself this question: “Who is Jesus?”

Go ahead and make a few responses in your mind. Once you’ve come up with one, or several, responses to this question get out your Bible. Go to Hebrews 1:3. Below I’ve listed the first portion of this verse in several different translations:

NIV – “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being…”

ESV – “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature…”

NLT – “The Son reflects God’s own glory, and everything about Him represents God exactly…”

MSG – “The Son perfectly mirrors God, and is stamped with God’s nature.”

Part Two

Consider what it means that Jesus is the radiance of God’s glory. That statement has become my obsession over these recent weeks. I just can’t get over or past that thought nor do I have any ambition to do so.  That's why I would call this a healthy obsession.  It is merely becoming obsessed with God's glory as he displays it in every single work that He has ever done.  Just the notion that Jesus radiates God’s immaculate glory is astounding. I really think it is a life altering thought when you take time to meditate on it. So I want to challenge you to do that. Then I want to challenge you to respond. If we call ourselves Christians we should, in all respects, have much to say of Christ. So please take time to mull over both parts of this little “challenge”, for lack of a better word, and then tell us what you come up with. Share how you responded to Part One before and after you considered Part Two. By doing this the hope is that we will all grow and be encouraged in our knowledge, love, and passion of celebrating God as He is.

I look forward to hearing what is laid on your hearts.

with love

chad

Acts 29 Boot Camp PART 1

April and I returned home on Tuesday evening from two intensive days in Orlando, Florida where we attended the Acts 29 Boot Camp (a conference for church planters). When we got onto the airplane Tuesday evening it was sunny and 93 degrees. When we got off the plane it was 40 degrees and raining. Welcome back to Ohio!

But we are excited to be back. And we are excited to unpack for you all of the things we experienced on this very brief, but important trip.

In the next series of posts I will attempt to recount a brief summary of each main session, including the one-on-one assessment April and I received with a few current Acts 29 planters.

>> Who is Acts 29?

The following is a brief description taken directly from the Acts 29 web site.

Acts 29 is network of pastors from around the nation and world whose dream is to help qualified leaders called by God plant new churches and replant declining churches.

If you have a dream to plant or replant, we will assess your fitness to pursue that dream. And, if you are a good fit with our network we will strive to assist you with friendship, coaching, and resources that will help you successfully serve Jesus.

Simply, we love Jesus and if He has called you to serve Him in church planting we would love to serve you.

Ideally what normally takes place is that someone who senses a call and desire to plant a church will connect with Acts 29, go through a rigorous and extensive application process via the internet and phone conversations, attend a "Boot Camp" conference where other Acts 29 network planters can meet the applicant face-to-face and assess them through getting to know them better and asking questions. Then the network decides whether or not the applicant is a good fit for the Acts 29 network of church planters.

April and I recently connected with some people from the network and began the conversation and the process of assessment. Our circumstance is a little different from most people who join the network, because we are already a couple of years into our church plant. But we feel that involvement with Acts 29 could be a tremendous help to us as we continue to grow and seek God's direction.

>> Missional

If you were to attend an Acts 29 Boot Camp you would hear this word a lot. Acts 29 churches are churches who are actively pursuing and living out the "missio dei" (mission of God). A missional church is described as one who has accepted the call of Christ to go into the lost world as a missionary to the people around them.

In our first session at the Boot Camp Scott Thomas, new director of Acts 29, shared about how there are basically three types of churches today: [1] Institutional or Traditional churches, [2] Contemporary churches, and [3] Missional churches. It is important to be able to identify the characteristics of a missional church and then determine whether or not our church is truly living out those qualities. We were given a little quiz to help us see where we might fit.

Basically, the missio dei or "mission of God" is this (read the statements below and test yourself to see if you could be recognized as a missional church member):

I am sent by God as a missionary into my own natural relationships, activities, community, and occupation or school (Matthew 4:19; Acts 16:20; 17:6).

I acknowledge my purpose is to take Christ to the lost (Matthew 28:18-20).

I am boldly encountering my culture like Christ (Luke 7:34).

I am actively seeking to be trained and equipped as a missionary through my church community (Ephesians 4:11-16).

I am dependant upon the Holy Spirit to use me as an agent for evangelizing the lost world (Acts 1:8).

I am developing relationships with the lost for the purpose of sharing Christ's offer of eternal life (Matthew 5:13-16).

I am entering into relationships as the means to influence others in their journey toward Christ (John 15:12-17; 1 John 4:19-21).

I am helping others to find Jesus in their own way and timing, rather than forcing them to "turn or burn" (1 Corinthians 9:20-23).

I am affected in every area of my life through a calling by God to be an agent for the gospel (Acts 4:13, 31-35).

I am practicing my faith in community -- groups of people together (Acts 2:42-45; Philippians 1:27).

I am worshipping God in an authentic, personal and evangelistic way (John 4:23-24).

Acts 29 is very upfront about the importance of the relationship between the Gospel, Culture, and Church. The gospel is the most culturally relevant message there is in any day, any generation. When the gospel is preached and demonstrated to a culture by people who are aware of and living inside that very culture, then it will begin to draw lost people to Jesus, and the result is a church. That church is a fellowship of people who not only exist for themselves, but are actively living and carrying out the mission of God. In fact, if this fellowship of people are NOT missional, living and carrying out the mission of God, then it cannot be called a church. The church is not just "the people of God", but "the SENT people of God".

I will close this post with a quote from one of the Acts 29 Boot Camp speakers. Ed Stetzer (an amazing dude with a wealth of knowledge, wisdom and experience on church planting) said this: Evangelism is telling people about Jesus. Missions is understanding them before we tell them.

PART 2 to be posted soon >>> Acts 29 Theology

music_review: STAVESACRE

Fresh from the studio, this is the 5th full length album from the Huntington Beach foursome. Stavesacre is a band that has been a top fiver in my listening wardrobe for a few years. Singer, songwriter and author Mark Solomon has taken the band through many twists and turns musically from their original sound on the debut album "Friction" to their 2002 self-titled album release. In a music scene full of plastic, manufactured sounding "modern rock" and even screamo indie rock, "How To Live With A Curse" is fresh and innovative. In their most anticipated record to date, "How To Live..." spirals lyrical intensity and melodic indie post-hardcore for a powerful sound and feel that is embodied by the last song, "Kill My Darlings":

Leave it all behind
Nothing here is mine
But – IwantitIneeditInurtureandfeedit
Kill my darlings, once and for all time
Because nothing here is mine
Nothing here is mine
I leave it all behind

And that’s how you live…
That’s how you live…
That’s how you live with a curse.

Other songs include "Fear and love", which starts out evoking an early 80s ballad, but quickly shows its' relevance and that postcore sound comes drifting back in. "The Trouble with Being Born" is a witty, grity, hard track with a simple but riveting jam. "It's Beautiful (Once You're Out Here)", which stavesacre also created a video for this featured track, is a personal call by Solomon to experiece God.

"How To Live..." is another album by the best rock band you've never heard of (but indie fans know as a staple) that envelope themes like the sovereignty of God, personal battle with sin, and the loss of confidence in nationalism and politics as a means for purpose.

WWW.HOWTOLIVEWITHACURSE.COM
WWW.STAVESACRE.COM

Pastoral Retreat

This Sunday morning April and I will be flying to Orlando, FL to attend a conference for new church plants called the 2006 National New Church Conference. In conjunction with this conference we will be attending Boot Camp sessions for an organization called Acts 29 Network. Acts 29 is a network of church planters who exist to help new churches begin on a healthy and solid foundation. They assess people who have the desire to plant new churches and help them count the cost for what church planting involves. There is a possibility that April and I will have the privilege of joining this network of church planters, which simply means (for Oasis) that we will be connected to over 60 different church planters who have worked through the Acts 29 assessment process and are currently planting a new church somewhere in the world. This connection is strictly relational. It has nothing to do with denomination, nor is there any kind of structural connection. It just means that we will have access to the wonderful resources Acts 29 provides to help young churches grow strong, particularly in the areas of leadership.

This is one of the primary reasons why we are attending this conference at this time. April and I are in our 4th year of planting Oasis Christian Fellowship (3rd year of Oasis-Meigs; but that’s a longer story) and in that four-year time we have not taken time off to attend a conference together like this one. As a husband and wife team who are pastoring a church plant, it is time for such a thing as this. And we are looking forward to it.

Additionally, as a church this is a timely thing to do. We are experiencing a season of growth as a fellowship in Meigs County, and in that season there will be important decisions that will need to be made for the good of the fellowship, therefore good, strong, Godly, biblical leadership is essential. The main focus of this event will be workshops on helping church planters develop biblical leaders.

We will be gone for two days, returning on Tuesday night. At this Sunday morning’s gathering Travis Jones will be leading the time of worship through song, and Chad Dodson will be leading the study from Romans 3:21-26. I have talked with both of them this week, and their hearts are being prepared even as you read this. I know God is stirring in them and you will see the passion that is developed from their preparation flow out from them this Sunday.

April and I look forward to reporting to you about the conference, which is exactly what we will do next Sunday. Our gathering on April 30 will be an exciting one, as it is a Celebrate KIDS! Sunday. Pray for us in our travels. We will be praying for you as well.

Jesus Christ

This Sunday at the Oasis gathering in Middleport we will be providing for everyone who comes a document that addresses most of the common questions regarding Jesus Christ's life, death, and resurrection. Everything we are as a church revolves around the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The entirety of Christianity is built upon the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Simply put, if Jesus did not rise from death then Christianity is not just a misconception, but tragic delusion which countless people throughout the ages have followed, arranged their lives around, and even died for. It would be utter foolishness.

In the document you will see 20 prophesies (promises given by God to Old Testament writers 400-700 before Jesus lived on earth) that were fulfilled in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

The most recent whimsical anti-Jesus fad of modern news-media and documentary writers is the Gospel of Judas, a document supposedly written by Judas, the betrayer of Jesus Christ, although it would have been very difficult, being that it was written long after Judas's death.

Sometime in the 1970s, in a cave in Egypt, a copy of the "gospel of Judas" was discovered. The circumstances of the discovery have been described as shady, with those who owned the copy asking for large amounts of money for the manuscript. For decades, no one was willing to pay for the purchase due to its uncertain origins. The thought process most likely was, why pay so much money for something that is inauthentic? But eventually the gospel of Judas manuscript was purchased by a foundation in Switzerland. The existence of the manuscript was made public in 2004, but the actual release of the content of the gospel of Judas has been repeatedly delayed until now.

Before the discovery of the gospel of Judas, the only reference to it was in the writings of a 2nd century Christian named Irenaeus. He wrote that the gospel of Judas was the "invented history" of a long line of heretics and rebels against God.

As you have probably heard on National Geographic or any number of mainstream news channels, the essential message of the gospel of Judas is that Jesus wanted Judas to betray Him because it was necessary to fulfill Jesus' plan.

It is nothing new for someone to write a "gospel" in an attempt to disprove Christianity or show that Jesus arranged his life around the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. These "other gospels" in no way diminish the Word of God. We must always remember this. The Gospels and the epistles that are included in our Bible were written by first century persons who actually knew the Lord Jesus Christ personally. The books in your Bible were not written well over 100 years after the fact of the resurrection. The writers of these other gospels were not there and never knew Jesus. But so many jump on the bandwagon to trust in what they say over the eyewitnesses themselves.

Another attempt to disprove Christ is this: some people have suggested that the prophecies that were fulfilled by his life, death, and resurrection are either coincidences, or like I mentioned above, that Jesus meticulously arranged His life in such a way so as to deceive people into thinking He was the fulfillment of the Old Testament promises. But any reader of the Bible will notice that there are too many parallels between the promises and Jesus' life, and they are way too specific to be anything but coincidence.

There are simply too many specific promises that Jesus fulfilled in his life, death, and resurrection; many of which he would have had no control over (unless, in fact, he really is God), such as being born in Bethlehem. What these things do in fact prove is that only a sovereign and omnipotent God could accomplish what he has accomplished in Jesus Christ. All attempts to disprove the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus have miserably failed and fallen by the wayside. Eventually, a few decades later someone stirs them up in another futile attempt, but with the same results.

Even the prominent, old Jewish leader Gamaliel, who was among those who were against the rising movement of Christianity and those who preached Jesus as the Christ (or Messiah), made this statement, which still rings true today:

Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered. So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God! (Acts 5:35-39 ESV)

I love what the text says happened next. Take encouragement from what it says next, in light of all who oppose the gospel in our day and time.

So they took his advice, and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.

Hey, at least they are not "beating us" and demanding that we stop speaking in the name of Jesus..... yet. Even so, may our response be the same as the apostles of the first century.

Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.

"Counted worthy to suffer..." Wow.

"Every day..."

"They did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ."

Follow-up Thoughts for Romans 3:19-20

This past Sunday I promised to type a few thoughts concerning the last two verses in the section we were studying last week.

"Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin."

What is this paragraph saying? First of all, I think it is an appropriate summary of all that Paul has been saying in this section (from 1:18-3:20). Everything that we have seen so far in the book of Romans has pointed us to the incredible need we have for a rescue from our condition of sin and rebellion against God. Romans 3:19 tells us that the Law may have originally been written for and entrusted with one people directly, the Jews, but the whole point of the Law is to stop every mouth and make the whole world accountable to God.

Everyone in the whole world is guilty before God. Why? Because of sin. No one, not one person, will be able to raise a legitimate objection against God's judgment. This means every mouth will be stopped. Therefore we ought not fear the voice of any man. All of this ranting and railing and philosophizing (over things such as the Gospel of Judas) will come to an end. Every mouth will be stopped. And every person will be accountable to God.

Now, verse 20. What does "through the Law comes knowledge of sin" mean? At first glance it seems like an easy answer. You might say that it means the Law tells us about sin and teaches what sin is so that we know how to live and how not to live.

But the question still remains - why can't we be justified by works of the Law? Verse 20 says that by works of the Law no human being will be justified. Because the law doesn't just tell us what sin is, it brings about the knowledge of sin (the sin that is inside of us by nature). It reveals what is already there. That's why we cannot be justified by doing works of the Law. Because there is not a number of good works that will ever be enough. Sin is still there.

Paul says later in Romans 7:7-8 that the Law itself is not sin. But if it had not been for the Law he would not have known sin (it does not mean that sin would not have been there, just that he would not have even been aware of it). So he says, "Sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. Apart from the Law, sin lies dead."

You see, it's still there. The law does not create it. It merely reveals it. It makes the rebellion in our hearts against God known to us; it brings it out into the open.

Here is an example. My son Brock has recently developed a desire to be "in the know" of everything that goes on in our house. He has recognized that sometimes Mommy and Daddy have conversations without him, and he wants to be involved in those. We will say, "This is just for us to discuss," and we will find him lurking around the corner and listening in. Lets suppose Brock goes out to the mailbox to retrieve our family's mail. On the way in the house he glances through the envelopes and post cards and thinks nothing of it. He tosses them onto the table and begins walking into the other room. However, as he tosses them down his eye catches a glimpse of one of the postcards in the stack of mail. At the top of the card in bold letters it says, "FOR PARENTS ONLY". Suddenly there is something that arises inside of him that wasn't there before. That same stack of mail that he had little interest in looking at now has become very enticing, and very tempting. Why? What is different about it? He has become aware of something that is inside of him, and he now has a decision to make because of this knowledge. Now, are the words written on the postcard sin? Of course not. But through those words comes the knowledge of sin. What was always in his heart has been revealed because of "the law" (a desire to read the postcard now that he knows he's not supposed to).

This is the way the Law works. Paul says that sin was seizing an opportunity that was already within him. The Law reveals the death that is already there. It stirs it up. Without the Law, the death just lies dormant. Either way, it is still there. And justification, salvation, rescue is still needed.

Thanks be to God, there is incredibly good news for us. Rescue has been provided in Christ. Believe in Him for your righteousness. Trust Him, not yourself. Righteousness is a gift. You cannot earn it.

Your thoughts?

My Daughter is an Ambassador for Truth

Today as I was making lunch for Kaylee, my 5-year old daughter, I was singing a little ditty from the Willy Wonka play (yes, they are still in my head). I was singing, "Who can make the sunrise..... the Candyman can..."

It wasn't long before she interrupted me and said, "Dad, that's not true. You should sing it like this: Who can make the sunrise..... the Candyman can't, but JESUS can!"

I know, now you'll have the song in your head all day after reading this, but at least the lyrics will be more accurate. : )

Oasis Movie Night This Sunday

This Sunday will begin the week that Christians observe as the last week of the life of Jesus Christ on earth before his death on a Roman cross and his resurrection back to human life before his ascension back into heaven.

So this Sunday night, April 9 at 6:00pm we are going to be hosting a viewing of The Passion of the Christ movie on the big screen at the American Legion building. We thought this would be a great way to help us get into the appropriate frame of mind for the celebration of Easter on April 14-16.

One obvious question is, “What about the kids?” Yes, we will be also having a different movie in a different room for the children, which will be age appropriate for all children. So you do have the option of bringing your children with you if getting babysitting on Sunday evening is a problem.

Make yourself a note. Bring friends. Bring family.

It's HERE!!!!

Opening day has come. Yes, I have the Reds/Cubs game on in the background of my study this afternoon.

Something else I am very excited about this year is the Athens Sandlot Baseball League. Brock will begin playing in the 7-8 year-old league this spring and into the summer, and of course I will be coaching. The Sandlot League has an excellent philosphy of teaching the game of baseball to young players. They are successfully getting young boys (and girls) excited about the game of baseball in an age when it has appeared most young kids could care less about the game, much less enjoy watching it or playing it. Last Saturday over 250 kids came to be evaluated for placement on a Sandlot team.

One example of how the Sandlot League has promoted excitement for the game is by creating quality ball diamonds for the kids to play on. Not only are they top notch, they are mini-replicas of major league fields. They have a Fenway Park replica (see below), a Wrigley Field replica, and a Jacob's Field replica. Work is in the process for additional fields.

Let the game of summer begin!!!