Every Generation Needs a New Outlook On Mission

Schemes

“Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”

“…in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.”

 

            We’ve all been had. Isn’t it a terrible experience? Worse yet is being duped and not knowing it. That is deception. It is possible that we are being deceived right now. We exist to lead all generations to love God, one another and the world in the Spirit of Jesus. We are to love and lead, lead and love. I truly believe that is God’s intention for the church. There are, however, real principalities and powers organized to combat our loving and leading. How do we confront these powers?

            We confront dark power by loving. We love God through worship and obedience. We love one another through fellowship and service. We love the world through missions. We confront the powers by loving those difficult to love through the Spirit of Christ. Greg Boyd wrote, “The way we fight principalities and powers is by loving those who are unlovable, those who are against us, and putting on display the character of our God and His Kingdom because His character is revealed on Calvary.” We are called to love and lead in the power provided by the Spirit. This is a call to spiritual struggle. Love is a battlefield.

            We confront dark power by leading wisely; by being aware of the schemes. We can avoid being outwitted by living humbly and thoughtfully. From time to time it makes good sense to explore some of the powers’ schemes. My next message series begins October 27 and will be titled, Schemes. We will explore common hindrances to loving and leading in the Spirit of Jesus. The arsenal is full so this series will not be comprehensive. I have selected six schemes that are common to churches like ours. We will explore the schemes: cynicism, nominalism, parochialism, factionalism, materialism and fatalism/universalism.

 I would love for you to be an engaged part of this series. I’d love to hear your thoughts on spiritual warfare.  Twitter, Facebook and Blogger work fine. Send a letter. Email me @ msnowden@fbcwaco.org. Carrier pigeons and smoke signals are cool. Thanks!

       

 

The Priesthood of the Sacrifices

As you come to him, the living Stone – rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him – you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:4-5

 

                Baptists cherish the doctrine of the priesthood of the believer. The notion is not unique to us. We believe that it is rooted in scripture and it is shared by other Christian groups. We are right to cherish and protect the doctrine. It is fragile.   The doctrine has been damaged by the individualistic spirit of the age. This is antithetical to the plain teaching of scripture. No wise priest ever swaggered into the holy of holies because it was his “right”.  Priesthood is about the individual before God, the individual in community and the community of faith declaring Jesus in the world. The doctrine is individual, communal and missional. It is up, in and out. It is a doctrine primarily about our grateful response to our gracious God.   

The chief functional of a priest is sacrifice. Any spirituality divorced of sacrifice lacks the thick blooded vitality that is necessary to stand in blinding wind of secularism. We are the Order of the Priests of Jesus Christ. Our call is a call to cheerfully sacrifice. The New Testament calls me (us) to sacrifice:

MySelf – Romans 12:1

My Music - Hebrews 13:15

My Deeds – Hebrews 13:16

My Money – Philippians 4:18

  I am using these sacrificial passages in the New Testament to shape my priesthood. I am often a shabby priest and I do not want to be. I really do not want to be a swaggering priest.  My prayer is that we allow the biblical language of sacrifice to form our ideas of priesthood. I believe that will make a profound difference in the way we live out our faith. Maybe “battlin’” Baptists will one day be known as “sacrificin’” Baptists. We will see.

 

 

Signs Signs Everywhere

We had our church’s business meeting last night. We meet for congregational business four times a year. We always mix the nuts and bolts meeting content with something fun. Last night was desert pot luck and intergenerational game night. Molly Kat calls this, “The night I get to play Wii with Mrs. Betty.” As I was sitting in our fellowship hall waiting for the action to start a friend told me about a church he recently passed in a neighboring Texas city. It promotes itself as a church, “uniquely created for seniors age 50 and better.” My friend (who is better than 50 by the way) was not a bit pleased.

Google the phrase, “not your grandmother’s church.” You will find a list of churches clearly targeting those 30 and “better = younger”. It seems like the generational rift in the country is so common that churches are openly putting the bitter signs of segregation over their doors. I wonder if this is not a tacit admission that we don’t believe the gospel is powerful enough to bind us together. We need help!

Strangers in Babylon: What is Worship Leadership?

http://www.baylor.edu/player/index.php?id=205678&gallery_id=9367

I enjoyed working with Eric Mathis. He is a fantastic guy and Samford University is lucky to have him. I you are a church music leader The Alleluia Conference at Baylor is worth your time. My friend Taylor Sandlin will be the preacher next here. Come on!

Stranger is Babylon: What is Worship?

http://www.baylor.edu/player/index.php?id=205683&gallery_id=9367

Seeking The Welfare of the Temporary City

                My family spent a few days with Mission Arlington and Mission Metroplex this week. FBC Waco’s youth were there working with Rainbow Express.  Meredith is a volunteer in our youth ministry, I am their pastor, and we want our own kids dealt in early so we made some calendar time and went. We love Jamie McCallum and our youth.  Watching my daughter watch Tillie Burgin was a gift I’ll treasure.  It was a great experience.

                Mission Arlington is a fantastic group of humble and very normal people. They don’t try to act like angry prophets or heroes. They are joyful and loving. They take a genuine interest in the kids that come to volunteer and labor for their spiritual formation.  If you are a student worker I can’t recommend a partner in ministry more highly than Mission Arlington.

                I carried a bag full of helpful ideas away from our experience. There wasn’t anything novel about the ministry. They do ancient things well. They have fleshed out a missional lifestyle that is attractive and contagious. Tillie Burgin says more profound things accidentally than most of us pastors do on purpose. She was teaching from Hebrews on night and was focusing on God’s sturdy trustworthiness when she tossed out a reference to 13:14 – “For here we have no lasting city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.” I know the context of the verse is about Jerusalem and the importance of Jesus’ death taking place outside the city but the extension of the principle was pretty amazing. Here was a lady pouring out her life for a city she was convinced had an expiration date. She, like Abraham, was looking for a city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.  She seeks the welfare of a temporary city while looking toward the city illuminated by the face of Christ. This approach makes a profound difference in the way we engage the mission of God. I can think of three immediate implications:

1.       It encourages humility.

2.       It encourages hope.

3.       It encourages two winged engagement (social ministry and evangelism).

Help me think about additional implications. Email msnowden@fbcwaco.org or comment on www.brokensteeple.com