On Partnering with Para-church Ministries: A Model for Discernment

When Jesus prays for us directly in John 17:21, He asks the Father that we as believers would be one just as the Father is one. Jesus asks the Father that we, the broader body of Christ, live in complete unity to let the world know that the Father has sent Jesus – to see God`s glory! Clearly it is in God’s interest that we partner with other Christians and work together.

John Wesley, in his sermon on the catholic spirit, cites 2 Kings 10:15, ‘if your heart is as my heart then give me your hand’. Thomas Oden explains that Wesley’s major thesis on the catholic spirit is that ‘being of one heart, even though not of one opinion, reaches beyond human antipathies and cultural differences’. People who are shaped and formed with divergent modes of thinking can still be united. Wesley recognizes that ‘how we think’ is formed by our circumstances and cultural experiences.

While Wesley was unquestionably committed to the essentials of classical Christianity, ‘he resisted the notion that they could be captured in a single unalterable linguistic form’. He urged followers to operate within the dictates of our own conscience. When seeking truth, confessional statements are limited. So Wesley raised questions that ask whether one has become ‘personally accountable to the core of Christian teaching.’ If believers are opening their hearts to the transforming work of God and open to that self-examination, then Wesley would say, ‘extend to me your hand’. In light of this Wesleyan ethos, we seek to live in that unity with Christian partners.

We also seek to be discerning in developing relationships that help us optimize partnerships for God’s glory. But, Scripture and experience also tell us that sometimes there is real wisdom in not partnering. In Acts 15:35-40 we see an example of such wisdom when two key leaders who had been working closely together, developed different visions about how to best move forward. Rather than feel they must stay together in the same locale, they saw that for the sake of the gospel, it would be better for them to not work so closely together. There is no implication of anything wrong in this realization. In fact, both ministries seemed to be optimized apart from each other.

Wise discernment often depends on asking the right questions. The following questions are intended to be a tool for churches and church leaders as they consider partnerships with para-church organizations and other Christian groups.

Confessional Compatibility
Is there anything within the organization’s doctrine or statement of faith that conflicts or contradicts historical orthodoxy?

Is there anything about their beliefs and emphases that contradicts our Free Methodist Articles of Religion
and our collective convictions about the Christian life (The Christian Life in the Manual)? Would an outsider think that our church believes or emphasizes things we do not if their first or only contact with us was through this group?

Discerning the Spirit

Does the mood &/or ethos of the organization complement ours?

Is there anything about this group/person that raises flags in those in your church known for having the gift of discernment?

Are there any concerns morally, ethically, financially, legally that plague the organization?

Even if there are concerns that are flagged, what elements/truths might be benefit your ministry – or at least need to be incorporated, even if you do not develop a formal relationship with them?

Would I be comfortable with my church or my personal identity being associated publicly with this ministry? I.e. How would I feel about a caption with the two names together on the front page of a local paper?

Is there a good chance that this group/person is so different from us that divergent visions/priorities may well raise questions and debates that will take everyone’s attention away from central Gospel priorities?

Is the leadership of my church prayerfully on board with this association?

Who has endorsed this organization or ministry publicly in their marketing materials?

Is there anything that makes me feel uncomfortable in working with this organization or association?

Seeking the wisdom of others (Prov 15:22)

Have I consulted with my peers in my network, accountability partner, LISTSERV or NLT to thoroughly reference the association or organization?

Who can I contact personally to further reference this ministry?

Objectives and outcome of partnership

What are the parameters, benchmarks or guidelines, we need to put in place for this association to best function

What long term benefit will this bring to our local church vision?

What long term benefit will this bring to the spiritual maturity/discipleship/sanctification of our church?

Free Methodists in Canada and Social Drinking

by Greg Pulham

There has been a great deal of conversation about what the Scriptures say about “social drinking.”  It is frequently a topic that arises when I teach our foundational course on FM polity.  Here is my take.

First, the Scriptures may indeed be read in such a way to allow for social consumption of alcohol.  But I’m quite sure it makes no prescription that we must or ought to drink socially. 

I think what the Scriptures say about this issue is well captured in the principle statement from para.630.2.6 of the Manual:

As Christians we believe that life is full, abundant, and free in Jesus Christ (John 8:35; 10:10). Therefore, we commit ourselves to be free from whatever damages, destroys, or distorts His life in us.

Following that statement of principle is a statement of how we, as FMs, think that principle ought to be applied. 

Because Christ admonishes us to love God with all our being and our neighbour as ourselves, we advocate abstaining from the use of alcoholic beverages (Mark 12:30-31). The abuse of alcohol, a legalized drug, is damaging to individuals, families, and society.  It is unpredictably addictive and its destructive effects cannot be fully measured.  Its abuse leaves a trail of broken marriages, family violence, crime, industrial loss, ill health, injury, and death. As concerned Christians, we advocate abstinence for the sake of health, family, and neighbours.  Moreover, we see the adverse social consequences as so pervasive that we seek by advocating abstinence to make a united social witness to the freedom Christ gives.

Clearly, “advocating abstinence” is the stated way in which we as FMs in Canada seek to handle this issue of social drinking. 

[I would remind that members of Conference and members of local churches have covenanted to live by these provisions of the Manual (see para.151.2 Requirements of Membership and para.161 The Questions for Membership #4).]

Here is my question:  How can I effectively advocate abstinence if I don’t abstain myself? 

How can I advocate for monogamy when I have multiple spouses at home?  How can I advocate for integrity if I don’t keep my promises?  How can I advocate for Jesus Christ if I bow down and worship idols?  It’s like saying, “Drinking is okay for me, but you ought not to do it.”  I’ve never found this to be a persuasive way to advocate. 

The Scriptures may well allow social drinking, but it certainly doesn’t command it.  For FMs in Canada, we’ve covenanted to advocate abstinence.  If we as a movement want to change how we apply the Biblical principles, then we need to re-articulate the statement “we advocate abstinence.”  I do not look forward to that discussion. 

Learning to Fail

Over the last year there seems to be more of a buzz on learning to fail. Two articles on this subject in the Globe and Mail caught my interest. One was back in April, written by a Business Correspondent and the other in August, highlighting Canadian writer, Paul Tough’s new book. 

Amanda Lang`s article in April titled, “Why we need to teach our kids how to fail” refers to Sports Canada`s decision to coordinate the efforts of 56 national sports bodies in a long term athlete development program to promote fun over winning. She summarizes from this material that the originators of this program say this is a necessary step since losing “makes kids feel bad.” The columnist is very critical of this program and argues how this philosophy plays out in Canadian culture. But for our purposes, she claims that “failure is a natural process of elimination that clears the path to success.”

Most of us have heard of Edison’s numerous attempts to make a light bulb. It is said that he was once interviewed by a reporter who asked if he felt like a failure after attempting 9,000 times. His response: “Now I know positively 9,000 ways that the light bulb will not work.’

Edison seemed to have subscribed to the same philosophy as Lang, as does Paul Tough. In the Globe and Mail interview which features Tough’s new book, How Children Succeed, he claims that what really matters is not IQ nor affluence, but the ability to fall down and get back up again.  He calls this grit: “resistance, persistence, perseverance, stick-to-it-iveness and passion.” By his description, grit could be called character. Wente, who summarizes Tough’s book, says that what Tough has learned “is that two kids of equal abilities can have wildly different outcomes.” The grit scale determines people`s capacity to stick with something despite setbacks.

A couple of thousand years ago, Paul said something similar. I love the way the NLT says it: “We can rejoice, too when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character….” It shouldn’t surprise us when we hear God’s eternal principles being echoed as new revelation to a new generation. It should remind us of God’s timeless relevance. Grit as Tough calls it, or character as Paul calls it, strengthens not just our effectiveness and success in life, but for those of us counting on God`s faithful love, “our confident hope…that will not lead to disappointment.”

When Helping Hurts

A book review by John Vlainic

 

Even though I remember thinking of myself as from a “poor” family when I was a child, I know that I, even then, was part of the “rich” of the earth.
 
  I am realizing that my formation to this point in life has rather poorly equipped me for serious obedience to the concern throughout scripture that God’s people share themselves and their resources with the poor. Sometimes, I have tried to be gracious about it, and said, “That’s something another part of Christ’s body does well.”  
 
As well, I have seen attempts at helping, which seemed, even to me, to likely be counterproductive in the long haul.
   
How good, then, to learn of a wonderful introduction to the matter which strikes me as:

• biblical (with a special focus on Christ as King and Christ’s Kingdom, and on the over-arching grand Story of the Bible)
• humble (the authors admits many of their own errors, and are gracious throughout); there is tremendous humility here!
• in touch with “systems” thinking  
• aware of how “culture” works in human life
• clearly “both/and” in tone
• nuanced (i.e. they do not pretend that issues are simpler than they are)

It is: Steve Corbett & Brian Fikkert, When Helping Hurts: How To Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor (Moody Publishers, 2009).

 

They blew many of my assumptions about ministry to the poor, the nature of poverty, and so much more right out of the water. The more I listened, the more I realized how little I know about this. I learned much about a host of kinds of paternalism well-meaning Christians like me engage in.

 

One of the ways in which the authors are most helpful is in unpacking the real dangers (and potentials) of the short term missions trip that is so popular these days. If you want to do short term missions without doing long-term harm, pick up this book. It will raise a host of new (and good) questions. This book is revolutionary in my thinking. I hope that time will tell that changes will have taken place in my living and serving.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When the Devil went down in Ephesus

by Dale Harris

I’ve been spending a fair bit of time in Acts these days, and feeling like it's a book I’ve read a dozen times but never seen before. One of the episodes I find particularly fascinating is the account of Paul’s visit to Ephesus.

If you recall: the Holy Spirit arrives in Ephesus and in its wake we see stuff happening that would make the best of Frank Peretti look like Casper the Friendly Ghost. The Seven Sons of Sceva are beat black and blue by a demon-possessed man (19:14); dabblers in the occult perform public burnings of their paraphernalia (19:19); the silversmiths of a pagan goddess incite the mobs to riot (19:28). I mean: the Gospel’s beating the bushes and the demons are scattering like so many startled sparrows.

But Frank Peretti aside—and this is a point that I’ve never seen Frank Peretti address, or Screwtape, or Dr. Faustus for that matter—whatever else they're about, the Ephesian exorcisms are about issuing God's challenge to the oppressive economic structures that promote systemic evil.

For instance: it’s an assumption on my part, but not an outrageous one, that the Seven Sons of Sceva have set themselves up as Exorcists for Hire, and this is why their interview with the devil goes so painfully wrong (the fact that Sceva is styling himself as a ‘chief priest’ in Ephesus is highly suspect). Bob Larson leaps to mind, here.

And this isn’t an assumption but just a plain reading of the text: the economic value of the books burned in Acts 19:19 works out to about 136 years wages (say 6 million dollars?). A lot of Ephesians have sunk a lot of money into occult junk over the years.

And most telling of all: the reason Demetrius and his colleagues start a riot is because they’ve seen the economic writing on the wall:  if people abandon Artemis for Jesus, they’ll no longer need the silver images that are their stock and trade. I don’t suppose a good racket has ever died without a fight, and this must have been a lucrative racket:  Ephesus, you understand, was home to the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient World.

I’m pointing this all out because if you want to take the Book of Acts seriously, you can’t escape the conclusion that confronting the demonic is on the Church’s to-do list. But if I were to write a “theology of exorcisms” based on the Book of Acts, one of the first chapters, I think, would deal with oppressive economic structures, the “powers and principalities” that exploit and dehumanize people in ways that seem so normal to us—even necessary—but are best understood as “demonic.” And then I would try to draw lines between what’s happening in Acts 19 and the Church’s call to both name and provide alternatives to these ways of doing business. Economic systems are by nature spiritual, I’d say, and economic structures are demonic when they make money ultimate and people a means to an end.

And then I’d brace myself.

But I’d also point out that in Acts 16 we see the same thing happening. Paul performs an exorcism (16:18), freeing a girl from demonic possession. But it’s not just a demon that's being excised here.  It's also the economic exploitation this girl's been suffering at the hands of her pimps. Because when the men who made their living off her “prophetic utterances” find out that their “hope of profit is gone," Acts says, that’s when the metaphorical excrement hits the proverbial air-circulation device.

By Acts’ reckoning, it seems: helping the vulnerable escape economic exploitation—girls the sex trade, say—or children the sweatshop—or workers the tyranny of the bottom line—or shop-a-holics the clutches of Mastercard—by Acts reckoning, at least, these are all ministries of exorcism with the potential to raise hell.

Great Introduction to Paul (& Christian Thought)

by John Vlainic

N. T. Wright has a relatively small, readable survey, Paul In Fresh Perspective (Fortress Press, 2005). This one is not for those who love exploring footnotes. But it does contain many careful distinctions about Pauline and Christian thought.

As with Wright’s Evil and the Justice of God, this book is extremely helpful in getting at the “big picture” of the whole of scripture, even while it touches on many particulars.

Wright provides (gracious) corrections to popular teachings among evangelicals (and many Free Methodists too??). Here are some of them, posed as questions.

CROSS: What “freight does the word “CROSS” cary for Paul?

ELECTION: How has Paul reshaped and reworked the election of Israel?

JUSTIFICATION: Does Paul use “justification” to refer to how a person gets saved, or to something else?

HOLY LAND: What does Paul understand as “Holy Land” now? Has the old covenant to Israel been replaced?

RAPTURE: What did Paul mean in his one use of a “rapture” image for when Christ appears?

APOCALYPTIC: What is “apocalyptic” and how does Paul use it?

PISTIS CHRISTOU: Does Paul think we are justified by “faith in Christ” or by “the faithfulness of Christ”? [e.g. Galatians 2:16]

JESUS AND PAUL: Different or same or ________?

CHRIST AND THE EMPIRE: How would Paul feel about our passive, relatively submissive reading of Roman 13? What does the Gospel say to pagan culture?

ETHICS: How does Paul understand ethics for Christians – rules to be kept?

Contents

Preface

Part I THEMES
1 Paul's World, Paul's Legacy
.....1. The Three Worlds of Paul
.....2. Fighting over Paul's Legacy: Perspectives Old, New and Different


2 Creation and Covenant
.....1. Creation and Covenant in the Old Testament
.....2. Paul: Three Central Passages
..........(i) Colossians 1.15-20
..........(ii) 1 Corinthians 15
..........(iii) Romans 1-11 3. Evil and Grace, Plight and Solution
.....4. Conclusion: Jesus within Creation and Covenant


3 Messiah and Apocalyptic
.....1. Introduction
.....2. Jesus as Messiah in Paul
.....3. Apocalyptic in Paul


4 Gospel and Empire
.....1. Introduction
.....2. Caesar's Empire and Its Ideology
.....3. Jewish Critique of Pagan Empire
.....4. Paul's Counter-Imperial Theology
.....5. Conclusion


Part II STRUCTURES
5 Rethinking God
.....1. Introduction
.....2. Monotheism: The Jewish Roots
.....3. Monotheism and Christology
.....4. Monotheism and the Spirit
.....5. Scriptural Roots, Pagan Targets, Practical Work
.....6. Conclusion

6 Reworking God's People
.....1. Introduction
.....2. Election: Jewish Views of God's People
.....3. Election Reshaped around Jesus
.....4. Election Reworked around the Spirit
.....5. Redefinition of Election Rooted in Scripture
6. Conclusion

7 Reimagining God's Future
.....1. Introduction
.....2. Jewish Eschatology in the First Century
.....3. Eschatology Reimagined around the Messiah
.....4. Eschatology Reimagined around the Spirit
.....5. Eschatology in Context
.....6. Conclusion

8 Jesus, Paul and the Task of the Church
.....1. Introduction
.....2. Jesus and Paul
.....3. The Work of an Apostle
..........a. Servant, apostle, set apart
..........b. Redefinitions in practice
.....4. Conclusion: Paul and the Task of the Church

Notes / Bibliography / Indexes

A Story of Healing

by John Vlanic

I was taking a pastoral student intern with me on some initial visits in our Hospital. As we came onto one of the floors, the nursing staff told us we had a new patient with one of the progressive neuromuscular diseases (e.g. Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, Huntington's and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease). This person seemed to be suffering a great deal – not physical pain, but spiritual suffering. The family had told the staff that the woman’s faith was very important to her. But now she could barely communicate. The best she could do was one-syllable gasps.

The student and I went in and tried to make Jesus “present” in every way we could. After explaining who we were and doing other things to “connect” I asked if we could read a psalm with her and pray with her. She responded with what was clearly a “yes.”

As I closed my Bible after reading a Psalm of trust, the woman, with great intensity, blurted out something that sounded like “Fie!” I told her I wasn’t getting it and asked her to repeat. Again, “Fie!” I said that she must be very frustrated with being no longer able to speak clearly. All we got was “Fie.” The student and I tried several possibilities, but all were clearly bad guesses. All we got, again and again, was a passionate “Fie!” We didn’t have a clue.

Suddenly I heard myself asking the patient, “Do you mean James 5?” There was a sound that was clearly an enthusiastic “yes!” I asked, “Are you wanting us to anoint you with oil in the name of the Lord Jesus and pray over you – as mentioned in James 5” She clearly did.

I told her we would be glad to do that, and excused myself to ask the nurses for some oil.

When I came back to the room I took time to assure the patient that I did believe that the Lord Jesus was going to heal her. I assured her that God is greater than we are, and so too are his healing ways.

Then it occurred to me to mention that in the Bible we see references to several kinds of healings.

Some are of the “James 5” type, where there is a clear physical reversal of the sickness. I agreed with her that this was the type I would long for if I were her, and that we joined her in wanting it for her. So I read from James 5:

Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up. 

We let those words soak in. Then I explained that in the New Testament we also see what I call a “2 Corinthians 12” kind of healing. And I read:

A thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.

I explained how, though we do not prefer this way of being healed, we do know that suffering – even deprivation – has long been an important tool for building Christ-like character, for healing our inner lives, and for finding deep joy of the sort most people never come to know. There are many scriptures that speak of this.

Then I mentioned a third kind of healing, the “Revelation 21” kind. We read:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.” And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

I told her that she could stake her life on that promise! Then we prayed and anointed her in Jesus’ name, sure that he would indeed heal her – in one or more of those ways or another that flows from his great love for her.

Before we left, I used “scaling” with her – to give us some kind of base line for our next visit. If 0 represents “I feel totally abandoned by God; I’m in utter despair” and if 10 represents, “I feel God’s presence with me so much that it’s almost heaven,” where was she on the scale from 0 to 10? We heard (and verified) that it was 6. We talked very briefly about that and assured her we would be back in a few days, and would continue to pray for her on our own.

A few days later we went into this patient’s room. She was clearly as ill physically as before. If anything she seemed a bit weaker. We talked with this dear woman with whom we had cried out to God for healing. Soon I referred back to our time of prayer a few days earlier. I mentioned the fact that we had been praying for her in the meantime.

I also spoke of the humbling fact that we know neither the full details of God’s ways nor God’s timing in all these things. Eventually we shared a Psalm of trust, and expressed our confidence in the fact that Jesus was indeed healing her.

Before we left, I did the scaling again, hoping that with no visible positive change since we had anointed her and prayed, the 6 would not have turned into a 1 or a 0! We were a bit afraid about what we might learn.

But the patient blurted out something that sounded like a 10! I asked if she was saying “10” and she verified that she was. I inquired, “Are you telling me that you sense the presence of Jesus with you so powerfully, and that you have such peace in him that a 6 is nowhere near good enough to describe how Jesus has touched you?”

Again the response was an enthusiastic “Yes! Ten!”

So we prayed with her again, thanking God for his faithfulness in already healing her in a powerful way, and looking forward to the Day of final healing, and any other way he’d be pleased to heal her in the meantime! 

Back in the office afterward, the seminary student and I tried to unpack some of what we had experienced. I said that I guessed that this woman had so read and re-read the Bible over her life that even though she (and we) wanted “James 5,” she knew with peace and certainty that “2 Corinthians 12” can happen if “James 5” doesn’t, and that “Revelation 21” surely will one day!

It was clear to both of us that a 2 Corinthians 12 healing had indeed taken place in this woman’s life. It was clear that now, in her weakness, this woman was strong!!

The student and I speculated about what might have been the case if this woman had not been a biblically informed Christian. She might well have believed EITHER:

● “healing is not for me; Jesus only did that back in Bible days” [which is FALSE; he does heal today]

OR

● “if I just have enough faith, and the right minister anoints me, God will always give me a miraculous, bodily, visible healing; if he doesn’t, it’s either because I don’t have enough faith or I haven’t gone to the right pastor” [which is also FALSE – even the Apostle Paul didn’t get the healing he wanted – though God did heal him; and I can point you to faith healers who wear glasses or contacts. 

One of the key things this woman taught me is that when we find ourselves broken, it will make a world of difference whether we have read and actually internalized big chunks of scripture. It might mean the difference between an existence that is almost hellish, or one almost heavenly! We’ve already speculated about the result for this woman if she had not formed a biblical mindset.

Of course, the healing she received was the work of the Spirit. But I am sure that a life-time of reading the scriptures helped her to know to ask, and ask boldly, AND to know that the fact that God didn’t take away the “problem” in the way she had asked did NOT mean that he was not powerfully at work in her!

I saw the follower of Jesus in her room many more times. I myself was strengthened by the marvelous healing Jesus had done in her, was doing in her and would finally complete on that Day!

Her body wasn’t “fixed” in this world. But what amazing “good health” God gave her in her final days here!

Here’s the bottom line from all of this. Our God is a healing God! He has more ways of working his healing grace in our lives than you can shake a stick at! I assure you, he’s doing it, and he wants to do more of it! He does it in the three ways outlined above and many more.

Think of how our bodies work (auto-immune system, antibodies, etc.), or medicine & medical science, healing fruits and herbs from God’s creation.

And think of Prevenient grace (the grace that “goes before” we commit to Christ and awakens our hunger for God) and Regeneration (newness of life when we are “born again”). Think of the miraculous healing of lives as people grow in Christ-likeness! Think of the miracles of forgiveness and reconciliation (with God and with people).

Think of the Lord’s Supper, through which God keeps touching us and strengthening us. Think of Scripture and worship. There’s much, much more.

So ask him for what you think you need.

And be assured that he will give you what you do need (note that we did not say “want”).

And, if you can only “see” as my patient did, I predict that you will eventually recognize that, to allude to Ephesians 3, what he gives you is “abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine.”

So: Thank him!
Ask him!
Trust him!

Our God is a healing God!

Being Watchmen - or Women

Having asked what we as a church can do for the community, a local high school principal replied, “Be a watchman to the community.” She explained that the church was needed to help with acceptance of diversity in our neighbourhood and educate against prejudice as this region has faced changing demographics from immigration.

I ran across the word watchman recently in Ezekiel. God says to Ezekiel, “I have appointed you a watchman to my people.” The radical nature of Ezekiel’s commission means that God makes his tongue stick to the roof of his mouth until He gives him a message, at which time it is loosed!

OT prophets, such as Jeremiah and Ezekiel, shared in a commission that was in fact intercession. OT scholar, Donald Leggett tells us that “a prophet is one who speaks from God to people and to God concerning people.” The prophet is “intoxicated with God” and lives deeply that connection. When people insist on living in defilement, whether it be prejudice or lack of appreciation for God’s gift of diversity, or any sin that dishonours God`s creation, God reluctantly gives us over to those desires. The prophet lives God’s pain through tears and pleas for God’s people and to God’s people.

The prophet’s connection with God is deep but so is the tension. Jeremiah speaks about that tension in chapter 20:9, “But if I say I’ll never mention the Lord or speak in his name, his word burns in my heart like a fire. It’s like a fire in my bones! I am worn out trying to hold it in! I can’t do it!” The prophet’s driving passion is deeply imbedded to motivate to action. That`s also what happens with Peter (John 21). But before Peter can be commissioned to action, Jesus leads him to his driving passion by first bringing him to a place he doesn`t want to go.

N.T. Wright helps us picture this moment between Jesus and Peter. The disciples are shivering, tired and hungry from fishing all night. As they approach the shore, they breathe in the welcoming smell of bread and fish already simmering on the hot coals. There was Jesus, smiling with an open invitation to join Him for breakfast. This is the third time Jesus appears following His death and resurrection. It’s an intimate gathering with friends.

You can imagine how Peter must be feeling. He hasn’t been alone with Jesus since before His death. Peter is probably reflecting on his determined and emphatic promise to follow Jesus to death in chapter 13… and then his terrible attempt when given the opportunity in chapter 18 – when Jesus is being tried and intended for the crucifixion and Peter denies him three times. Peter is fully aware that Jesus knows what happened – that Jesus is aware of how he messed up. Now, Peter is alone facing Jesus.

And Jesus in His wonderful way, crafts the moment for the deep healing of memories and extension of forgiveness. Three times Jesus asks Peter if he loves Him and probably not coincidently, three times Peter confesses that he does. Commentators discuss how Peter’s three denials in chapter 18 match Jesus asking three times whether he loves Him as a sign of completion. Probably the most profound part of this exchange is that Jesus goes to where the pain is. It’s that place that we instinctively want to resist but without going there we can’t move on and be commissioned. It’s like people who resist going to the dentist even though they can’t bear the toothache anymore; like the virus-ridden software on a hard disk that needs to be removed for it to run at maximum efficiency.

Jesus helped Peter find love through hurt and past failures and gave him a chance to express that love. That’s what He does for all of us when we let Him. Our connection with God is our response of love by going to those places of resistances and, just like the prophets, becoming “intoxicated with God.”

That`s how we become watchmen and women.

Henri Nouwen describes it as “responding to personal struggles, family conflicts, national calamities and international tensions with an articulate faith in God’s real presence. It’s about us saying no to every form of fatalism, defeatism, accidentalism and incidentalism.” Our task is to discern, to discover and then to announce to the world how God is working through our church, our community, our world.

Once Peter lets Jesus lead him to those places of resistance, Jesus gives Peter an opportunity to share in the same commission that was given to Him. “As the father sent me, I am sending you.” Sending us. That’s the commission Jesus gives.

Here’s the thing. Peter is already a follower of Jesus before this encounter in John 21. He has already been invited to follow and even been referred to as the rock on which Jesus will build His church. This encounter brings a fresh commission.

Being a watchman or woman is established and rooted in a foundational love for Jesus and then being privileged for commission.

Wrestling with Thoughts about Things that Hinder

by Beverly Kay

One of the congregations in our region recently went into transition. When the pastor came here, his family had to find accommodations because this local church had felt the need to sell their parsonage at one point. Churches without a parsonage are no longer an unusual situation. Actually there was a season when pastors were strongly encouraged to buy their own homes so that they had some equity when they came to retirement. Fine, but this is now one more thing for pastors and their families to consider when in the process of seeking God’s direction for their ministry and life – the sale or rental of their house, carrying a mortgage.

Okay, so maybe that is life in the 21st century. And I will grant that with or without owning one’s home there is always risk and an element of faith in picking up and moving, trusting God to meet all one’s needs in the process. And it is true that pastors are not the Levitical Priesthood who were not to have an inheritance of their own land, but were to receive the LORD God Himself as their inheritance, trusting the provisions for their needs to come from the rest of God’s people. But somehow in trying to make sure that we rightly provide for the retirement years of our pastors and missionaries, I have this feeling that we have been too easily motivated by fears rather than faith. Often choice seem to have been birthed out of old hurts and resentments, rather than out of a life fully surrendered to the good and perfect will of God for our lives.

There seem to be more things that have snuck in to keep a pastor’s family from openly and honestly seeking God’s direction for their ministry and that of their congregation. I have often heard concerns about where children are in their education and an unwillingness to up root them. I have seen some refusing to leave a position yet because of a spouse’s great job with benefits and pension they weren’t willing to let go of. Others have looked to move to a particular region because of a desire to be closer to aging parents. Where is the faith factor; the willingness to forsake all to follow whenever and wherever God leads us, trusting that He will supply all our needs and those of our family? Aren’t we called, as Disciples of Christ to seek first His Kingdom and His Righteousness, not worrying about the things that the unbeliever chases after? Aren’t we called to deny ourselves, to take up our cross and follow Him? Aren’t we encouraged to throw off everything that hinders (along with those sins that so easily entangle) to run the race set out before us (not the path we have chosen) while we let Christ be our leader, our example of the fully surrendered life?

How can we have healthy, fruitful churches if our spiritual leaders are tied down by earthly bonds? How can we disciple others to follow after Christ if we are following our own goals and dreams, rather than submitting them to the Father’s will? Maybe we need to return to letting the Bible dictate how we lead rather than common business practices of our day. Just some thoughts as I wrestle with where we are at as Pastoral leaders in this post-modern era.

Clean Hands, Dirty Jordan

by Dale Harris
(first appeared on Terra Incognita, June 4, 2009)

Apparently by the time the Jordan River reaches the Dead Sea these days--what with the nation of Israel diverting 60% of her flow, and the nation of Jordan allowing septic tanks to seep crap into her water basin, and the nation of Syria maintaining some 40 dams on her major tributary--by then there's little left but a putrid trickle of raw sewage.

Miles up stream, spiritual tourists still come to be baptized gloriously on the same banks where Jesus himself once fulfilled all righteousness; down stream, here, today, you couldn't enter the water without serious health risks.

Not that anyone would want to.

The stench, they say, is nauseating.

I get that this crisis is shrouded with all sorts of political and social issues that defy a quick fix. Like a serious water shortage in the nation of Jordan. Like decades of political strife that have prevented these nations from cooperating on a solution. Like climate change, and economics, and a rapidly collapsing water table across the Middle East.

I get all that. And this morning, to be honest, I had a warmer, longer, more luxurious shower than I needed to. So who am I to blog?

But still, seeing the Jordan river pillaged and polluted like this should pierce us to the heart. Because some two millennia ago, the people of Judea came out to this river when they heard John's voice crying in the wilderness: "The promises of Isaiah 40 are now being fulfilled!" This is where they were drenched with the same water that Israel miraculously crossed when the nation first entered the land under Joshua. Here they enacted the burning cry of their hearts: "We want to be made new as the people of God."

And this is the river where we caught our first glimpse of the one in whom and through whom God would fulfill all the Messianic promises of Isaiah 40. Here we first saw the Beloved Son on whom the Spirit rests, who would provide comfort for the harried exiles, renewal of the covenant people, straight paths for the Creator's reign over his creation.

But if we read Isaiah to the end, we see that when the Messiah reigns in righteousness over his people, it will mean restoration and healing for the hurting creation. The desert will burst into fecund, verdant, joyous life. Isaiah 41-- the same Isaiah 41 that Jesus' baptism was somehow meant to fulfill--Isaiah 41 says it like this: "I will make the rivers flow on barren heights... I will turn the desert into pools of water."

Somewhere, I think, Christians forgot that when we saw Jesus emerge dripping from the Jordan, we were witnessing good news not just for us, but for the whole of the broken creation.

And we need to remember. Because the tragedy of this dying river is being played out all over the planet right now, as our greed, waste, materialism and idolatries continue to pillage the rivers and lakes and wetlands of our world. (After it's quenched Las Vegas' decadent water fountains and California's thirsty vegetable gardens, the Colorado River doesn't even make it to the Gulf of California anymore.)

May the stench of the dirty Jordan teach us to long once again for that promised day when God will restore all things under the reign of his Christ; but may it also convict us that our life together as the baptized people of the Creator can and should translate into healing shalom for his creation today, even as we hope for his future Coming.