Church Signs

This past Sunday I tried to explain how most Christians don't know what the real Gospel is ; and I used some church signs to prove that we've been sending the wrong message. There's a Baptist church just out of Garner that posts the number of persons saved and baptized the previous Sunday. One church sign reads, "You will suffer." another reads, "No Catholic priests serve in our children's ministry." Still another sign reads, "If you've been waiting for a sign - this is it!"; and yet another "Go to church!" Then there's that very familiar one - "Jesus Saves".

Now imagine that you're among the unchurched and you're driving by reading these signs. What attracts you to "You will suffer"? Do you really want to be another notch in the belt of that Baptist church that keeps count of the number of people they've rescued? And what about that Jesus Saves sign? You know some Christians and they're no better off than you are. What does Jesus save them from? Divorce, disease, or addictions? Maybe what that sign really means is that Jesus saves money on car insurance with Geico. Lord knows He's been commercialized enough!

It's no wonder people aren't flocking to beat down our church doors. We don't seem to walk our talk and others see right through us. So what is this Good News that we have to share with the lost?

Jimmy asked that question the other week, and received the typical answers about how Jesus was born of a virgin, lived a perfect and sinless life, was crucified and died and rose again so that we can be saved. That's true. The sign, "Jesus saves" is the truth. But it's a worthless truth because the world is so chaotic that it seems to be out of control - not under the control of an omniscient, omnipotent Creator. When someone has to beg for food and sleep under bridges at night, they have little hope for more than surviving another day. They don't want an eternity of more of the same. And that's the sad part, because eternity doesn't have to be that way.

There are three types of people that need to hear the gospel. First, are those who've never heard it. Second - those who have become numbed and distracted by Satan and can't comprehend the Gospel. And third - those in the Church who've been taught the wrong gospel. What's the wrong gospel?

Take Mike Murdoch - a televangelist, who every time you tune into his show, he promises you'll be blessed if you'll obey God and send in a $58 seed this week. A month ago it was $144 - a one-time faith offering. Next week it will be another figure that God has given him. That's the prosperity gospel. Then there's the late Jerry Falwell's gospel of a just and holy God who is coming back soon with a flaming sword. On the other extreme is Joel Osteen with a gospel of self-worth. What each of these men preach is true, but that's not the gospel that Jesus preached. Jesus' first official words were, "Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is near."

Jesus didn't go around preaching about rebirth and salvation. He didn't preach prosperity. He didn't preach that there were many paths that all lead back to Him. Jesus preached the Kingdom of Heaven. That was His only message, His purpose for coming to Earth. And that is the message the Church needs to start preaching.

I'm not sure that I even understand the Kingdom gospel myself, because I've been brought up in religion. We've been taught that our job is to preach salvation through Jesus to everyone we meet - but that's not what Jesus told us to preach. He told us to be witnesses for the Kingdom. People should witness us being different than everyone else.

Our (Christians) problem is not Satan or sin - for Jesus took care of that at the cross. It's not power, for if we needed power, God would have sent power instead of His Son. Our problem is ignorance. Scripture says that for lack of knowledge, His people perish. Jesus said that He was the Gatekeeper, and that those who belonged to Him, recognized His voice and entered into His fold. What the Church has focussed on is the Gate, not what's on the other side.

It's like John Z coming up with a great new recipe for a meal at his restaurant. He wants people to come and try it for himself, so he advertises something like this: "We're proud to offer a wonderful new pasta dish that is to die for! You're going to love it! And when you come to our restaurant, I want you to notice how beautiful our door is. Observe the degree of detail and artistry in every corner of the door. There is no other door like it anywhere in the world! You're going to be impressed by our door!"

Christians have focussed on getting to the door, but have been reluctant to see what's on the other side. Jesus came to get us on the other side of the door so that we can experience the Kingdom God promised us. To make matters more confusing, the gospel is not Heaven. We've really been told little about Heaven. But Jesus did speak a lot about the Kingdom. "The Kingdom of God is like....."

To understand what the real Good News is - we've got to go all the way back to the beginning, when God said, "Let us create man in our own image and let them have dominion over the Earth." It was God's plan and purpose to extend His Heavenly spiritual kingdom to a visible physical realm. He wanted spiritual offspring to dominate (steward) this physical world, so He created us with spirit, soul, and physical body. Our job is to mimic on the physical world, what God does in Heaven. But we know the story - Adam and Eve sinned and gave up our inheritance to Satan. The world we were supposed to dominate began to dominate us. Consider plants - plants were intended to be used by man; but now plants like tobacco, the opium flower, and grapes dominate the lives of millions of humans.

Jesus, the second Adam, came to restore God's original plan by reclaiming what Adam lost. He lived a life that personified God's plan for how man should live. We weren't created to be servants of God, but children. Scripture says that we are kingly priests - and that's what God intended for mankind. We have His authority to rule the earth - not one another but in cooperation with one another. Through Jesus, we have a restored relationship with God - we are now saints and brothers of Christ. We are princes - Christ is King - and the King rules His kingdom through us - guided by the Holy Spirit who lives within each believer. God desired from the beginning to live with us and Jesus restored the Spirit that walked with Adam in the Garden so that He walks with us today.

Jesus didn't come to establish a religion, but to restore a relationship. Religion is hard work, but Jesus said that His yoke was light.

Jesus taught that "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for their's is the Kingdom of Heaven." He said that we're all in spiritual poverty - but God hasn't given up on His original plan. "Blessed are the meek." We've been beat down by a fallen world and imprisoned by religion into believing we're slugs undeserving of grace and mercy. "Blessed are the lonely." Deep inside, we know that there has to be more to our existence than a life of trials and failures. We're blessed, because Jesus came to do something about our circumstances!

If we really understand what has transpired, we might be more effective witnesses. We have the authority to reclaim what Satan stole from us. We have the power to affect people's lives - which is why I'm so excited about Up To The Table. When we meet someone who's hungry, we ought to be able to meet that need because we're able to tap into God's economy - if we will learn how His economy works. If someone needs a coat, we ought to provide him one. If we're having trouble in our marital relationships, we have access to God's counsel through His word and prayer. Everywhere we go, we take God with us. Every time we encounter difficulty, we have the power to change our circumstances by listening to His Spirit and doing what He tells us to do.

Imagine what a relief that is. In a way, Joel Osteen is pretty close. We're important to God, His children, no less. This earth is our eternal home, and we are ambassadors for our Father in Heaven. We have the power we need to change our circumstances. We have a restored relationship with a Father who values us so much that He never gave up on His original purpose of extending His Kingdom through man.

The Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that we now have the Holy Spirit walking with us just as Adam enjoyed; and that He will help us to exercise our office as kingly priests and to enjoy the privileges of being citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. I'm still trying to absorb this knowledge.

I Had A Dream

Sunday morning between 5:50 and 6:10 AM, I had a dream. I know, because that's when I woke up and looked at the clock, waiting for my alarm to go off.

In my dream, it was Spring, the Sunday after Mother's Day; beautiful, like this past weekend. The Carpenter's Shop was again meeting outdoors on Sunday mornings, only this time it was not at the pastor's home but behind an old church building at the intersection of a residential community. We must have met early because the church allowed us to use their grounds and to pull folding chairs from their basement to sit on.

On this morning, Laura and I pulled into the parking lot. I carried a cooler of soft drinks and water in the back of my car, and while I went around back to open the car, Laura went over to say hello to Katy and Russ. Shelly brought over some pans that were left over from our last cookout, and we began to talk waiting for our other members to show up.

It wasn't long before one of our infrequent visitors showed up; and I thought that I'd better go get more chairs from inside the church since our crowd was almost doubled with the new arrivals. A large family can do that to our small congregation. The visiting family had brought along Chris Kisgen, a former member of our praise band. Chris had a violin with him - although I didn't know that he knew how to play one.

When I came back with the first load of chairs, we had more new arrivals; but these were people I'd never met. A couple of guys helped me bring out more chairs, and still more people were showing up. Tired and thirsy, I thought about getting a soda from my cooler, but realized that there weren't going to be enough drinks for everyone who'd already shown up. So I pulled out a dollar bill and inserted it in the soda machine located outside the back of the church. I reached in and pulled out my soda, turned around, and there was a line of people waiting their turn to buy sodas. The man directly behind me was Hispanic. We smiled in greeting, then I walked over to find Jimmy or Shelley to see if they knew where all these people were coming from.

As I rounded the corner of the church, I saw maybe a hundred people milling around waiting for the worship service to start. My first thought was that there were nowhere near enough chairs for all these people. Most of us were going to have to stand. I began walking towards Jimmy when I thought I recognized Freddie Watkins and his wife; but upon getting closer I realized that though they looked like the Watkins', these too were strangers. In fact, a lot of the people that I saw looked vaguely familiar but as I looked closer they were all indeed strangers. And the crowd continued to swell.

There were so many people, I was having a hard time finding any of The Carpenter Shop crowd (if we can be considered a crowd). While looking around for someone I recognized, I heard a violin tuning up. Turning around, I saw Chris Kisgen and behind him were six to eight guys, each carrying a stringed instrument. The leader was a tall, stern fellow who appeared to be one who expected perfection from his musicians. Of course, being built the way I am, my next thought was that I hope these guys don't expect us to be able to take up much of a collection from The Carpenter's Shop gang. I hoped they were doing this as a ministry, but it bothered me that we couldn't support ministries because of our small crowd. I guess I wasn't counting on the visitors chipping in - it's just the way I dream.

I listen for awhile until the ensemble is tuned and then Chris begins to play the most beautiful melody on his violin. The strings come in and I'm listening to the equivalent of the Philharmonic Orchestra! These guys are awesome and the music sounds as though we're inside a perfectly balanced accoustical music hall.

Turning, I see a large group of Hispanics standing at the back along the treeline. A group of Caucasian men stand near the string band. We listen and then people begin to sing along to "I Need Thee Every Hour". And as I listen, I realize that the singing is just as beautiful as the music! In fact, it's the most beautiful choir that I've ever heard.

"I need Thee every hour
Most precious Lord;
No tender voice like thine,
can peace afford."

The voices rise, and I wander around to the front of the church and witness now two or three hundred people, lining the sidewalk four to five deep, singing:

"I need Thee, O I need Thee
Every hour I need Thee"

And I think, "This is powerful! People can hear us for blocks! We're going to wake the neighborhood!" "Fantastic!"

"O bless me now my Savior -
I come to Thee"

Everyone is singing, and still more people are coming. We're now lining the sidewalk from the corner, up the hill in front of the church and out of sight over the hill. On the opposite side of the intersection, people have begun filling a vacant lot. These people knew to bring their own chairs - but everyone was standing and singing,

"I need thee every hour,
Most gracious Lord;
No tender voice like thine
Can peace afford.
I need Thee, O I need thee;
Every hour I need Thee!
O bless me now, my Savior-
-I come to Thee."

The singing fades, but the instruments continue to play. The leader of the group quotes a verse of scripture and a new song begins, one I've never heard of but apparently we all knew it in my dream. It too is beautiful. "I think to myself, where did all these people come from? How did they know to be here?" A voice answers and says, "They're here because they heard about The Carpenter's Shop".

"Really?", I think. "Just for what we're doing?" "Yes" was the reply. I'm looking around at hundreds of people, and get this impression that some of these people are here because they heard about us and wanted to be part of what we're doing. Others had heard and just wanted to be part of the experience. Still others didn't know what had drawn them here, but they wanted to be where God was moving and today He was here in front of a church that wouldn't open it's doors to TCS. And I wondered, "Who's showing up at the other churches in town today? Everyone is here!"

The music was so beautiful and so powerful that I didn't have time to worry about enough drinks, or enough chairs, or whether Jimmy was going to be able to deliver a sermon equal to the praise these people were giving. I just wanted to be part of it, so I burrowed my way through the crowd to the front row. Beneath my feet, the sidewalk was crumbled and grass grew in the cracks. Across the way, the houses were older and less affluent. The people around me were wearing the best they had - some in suits, others casual. And we smiled at one another. They didn't know me and I didn't know them, but I knew that these were brothers and sisters I'd spend eternity with.

I remember that I didn't feel special to be part of The Carpenter's Shop; I felt special to be there that day and to be part of what God was doing. For miles, our voices carried; and passing cars stopped and people got out and joined us. And the last thing I remember is a teenager approaching down the street and calling out to me, "Hey, do you know where I can get a seat?" I yell back, "You'd better bring your own!" And I woke up and looked at the clock and read 6:10. It was one of those dreams you don't want to awaken from.

This dream was the most spiritual experience I've had in more than a year. I got up, showered, got dressed and headed off to Rex Hospital to meet Laura for her cat scan. From the time I backed out of the garage until I was two miles from the hospital, I remember nothing of the trip. In twenty minutes I'd driven from Butner to Raleigh and must not have encountered the first red light. All during that time I'd replay that song, "I Need Thee Every Hour". It was my worship yesterday morning.

A lot of the symbology in that dream hasn't been lost on me. The lack of a church home, the emptiness of a church building, strangers united for a common purpose, the way six or eight musicians could sound like an entire orchestra; my focus on the trivial when something much bigger is going on......

And wouldn't you know it? When I get to church, we end up talking about some of the same things I'd dreamed! The Lord truly does work in mysterious ways. I'm truly looking forwards to the time He draws crowds to TCS because of what we're doing for Him.

Two Doors

I read somewhere that there are only two doors in our lives. One is marked "Security", the other is marked "Freedom". If we choose the door marked Security, we lose both.

I've chosen the Security door most of my life, and guess what? I have neither freedom nor security. Amazing how that works!

So I was sitting around the other day worrying about how I was going to juggle all the balls in my life at this time and I heard God say (yes - He spoke to me), "Worrying is a waste of time - get busy and do something!" Well, I thought I was busy juggling, but that doesn't count.

And for the past couple of days, my mind has been filled with ideas for Sea Tree, ways to make more money, and ideas for Up To The Table - a non-profit focussed on getting healty foods to the poor and hungry.

I'm too young for a rocker and too old to let any more time get away while I play it safe and let life happen to me. I'll take what's behind door number two Bob!