The portion of today's prayer that caught my attention...
"You have destined us to bear much fruit. But we have been barren. (p. 19)"
How do we measure our own potential? Where do we draw the line between fruitfulness and a performance mentality?
Will movies like The Passion become in the twenty-first century what stadium crusades were during the twentieth century?
Will spiritual films of a "new breed" succeed in introducing people to Christ in ways that gospel tracts, door-to-door evangelism, and revival meetings just can't any longer? Is it possible that our visually-oriented culture will be more "open" to the message of Christ via the big screen than they are to other types of presentation?
I don't see these as replacing the potential of a person who's a "living testimony," but can they effectively open the door for those seeking?
"Surely You have not yet done all that You will do to increase the maturity and fruitfulness of Your people...Impart Your life and patiently bring forth the good fruit of transformed communities."
Lord, forgive me for my impatience when it comes to how people and churches grow. I'm the one who needs the increase in maturity and fruitfulness -- you deserve no less. Transform our community of faith, Lord, but transform me first.
"We want a greater salvation than merely being ready for the best afterlife. Save people so thoroughly that we come to walk, breathe and speak in the life of Jesus." [p. 17]
I am already saved; I am in the process of being saved; I will one day be saved. According to the scriptures, all three are equally true and equally important. In the 70's it was common for people to speak of salvation as "fire insurance" -- I know... it's hard to believe. In the 90's we began re-emphasizing the importance of "working out your own salvation..." That's it. Salvation is a verb, not a noun -- a process, not simply a prize. If the life of Jesus is the goal and standard by which we measure God's saving work, then all of us still need saving.
Yesterday marked the third year since we began conducting a traditional Ash Wednesday service, including the imposition of ashes. As far as I can determine, the observance had never previously taken place during the church's 95+ year history. Why start? Because more and more evangelical Protestants are interested in reclaiming traditions and ancient faith-practices that disappeared after the Reformation and Great Awakening. This, mixed with how the power of symbol is returning to the Church, led to some intentionalized efforts to slowly introduce the Christian (liturgical) year into the life of our congregation.
For as long as I can personally remember, the Christians I encountered always considered the observance of Ash Wednesday as "something that Roman Catholics do." But that is quickly changing.
In a society where the wearing of a cross is considered everyday jewelry, I'm discovering that believers are looking for meaningful ways to visually identify themselves with Christ in the midst of their culture.
Sidebar: Will we see more of this? Will believers look for new ways to visually or outwardly identify themselves as followers of Christ? And if so, what might some of those new ways be?
Although receiving the ashes was completely voluntary (we even offer an "option" for people to simple take some of the ashes home in a specially marked envelope), I was deeply moved by how important this symbolic act has become. Over 90% of those in attendance came forward to have an ash cross traced on their foreheads. As moving as this was for them, I think it was even more so for me!
It's hard to describe the incredible sense of honor and humility I felt yesterday when I looked into the eyes of each dear one, applied the ashes and pronounced a blessing over them as they began their Lenten journey. Wow! And although I thoroughly enjoyed watching Mel Gibson's The Passion, later in the afternoon, it was this experience with God's people, in front of the altar that most left a mark on me.
This was the thought from today's prayer guide that grabbed hold of me:
"Declare your peace with power. Disclose your love with such magnificent intensity. Without such a work of powerful revelation of Christ and His love, we will cycle through another season of shallow renewal." [p. 16]
Cycling through another season of shallow renewal -- regrettably, I confess I've experienced far too many such seasons in my life.
We've been experiencing several days of rain here in the high desert of the Mojave. It's quite unusual, and I noticed yesterday that our church's preschool playground is completely covered with a couple inches of water (bad drainage). This reminded me how I've heard it explained before that many people's spirituality is "a mile-wide and an inch deep." In my own life, I'm grateful that below the surface of that "inch", there's a growing number of potholes! :D
Today Lent begins... and so also begins my 40 days of blogging along with the prayer guide the churches in our city are uniting around -- Seek God for the City 2004: Prayers of Biblical Hope. Here's the portion of today's prayer that seemed to resonate the loudest:
We ask You to do what you have done before. Forgive our sin. Infuse us with new life. Revive us yet again. We are not asking to be cheaply pardoned for a moment of religious relief. We are seeking the genuine joy of knowing we have been changed by Your life. [p.15, italics mine]
Having grown up within the charismatic vein of the Church, I've always found it interesting to notice what people are prophesying (the "forth-telling" variety, not the "foretelling" type). Along those lines, I found Benjy's blog post interesting. I wonder how many Emerging Church leaders would agree with it's content...
In small churches throughout America, the only (quantitative) growth that many pastors see is when new babies are born into an existing family! ;) j/k
Now that we're living in a post-Christian society, many folks are wondering what's in store for America? Will we slip into a spiritual dark ages? Perhaps not -- and our "hope" is coming in a wide variety of color! Christian immagrants are not only changing America, they are changing American Christianity (do I hear an "amen?"). Specifically, their influence is beginning to "de-Europeanize" the Christian faith here. Many have been pointing out that the "center" of Christianity is moving south (i.e. into the Southern Hemisphere) -- specifically Africa and South America (see my blog on "Christianity Heads South"). Anyway, after recently reading an article by R. Stephen Warner in The Christian Century, I began to see this shift from an additional perspective. Here's an excerpt:
Mexican immigrants comprise the largest group of immigrants, and they are overwhelmingly Christian. Others come from predominantly Christian societies, including El Salvador, Guatemala, Ecuador, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and the Philippines. They also immigrate from growing Christian nations, including Ghana, and from multiple-religion countries such as Korea, Vietnam, India, and Lebanon. A few Christians stream in from Europe. Finally, there are Arab-American Christians who have left the Holy Land.
Of those who arrive with no religious preference, such as those from Korea and China, many later become Christians. Seventy-five percent of Korean Americans are Christians, and approximately a third of Chinese-Americans are. A variety of polls and sources show that two-thirds of new immigrants are Christian.
I see this as fantastic! We've known for years that churches from other nations have been sending missionaries to the U.S. And the trend for believers to immigrate into this country will definitely have an positive impact on our nation, it's laws, and (eventually) perhaps even its morality. My only point of concern is that I hope existing churches, denominations and groups will actively pursue relationship and dialog with these believing immigrants and the communities of faith which will inevitably be formed as they come. Believers from abroad have a refreshingly different perspective about our faith and living it out. They are not tainted by the consumerism, materialism, and individualism that has infiltrated the American Church. And maybe they will be the key -- the key to helping The Church in American to figure out how to truly become a missional church.
Jeffrey is our "middle child", and would have turned 15 yesterday. Although the emotional wound Ingrid and I suffered when we tragically loss Jeffrey (13 years ago) has long since healed, the scar that remains can sometimes still be painful -- and it has been the last couple of days.