Isaiah 40: If you're feeling weary, turn to God and He will give you peace

I thought we'd take a short break from Romans today.

I saw some pictures of the first good snow in Boston. I was instantly reminded of a good friend of mine who moved there, who hates the snow. All I heard was complaining and misery every time it snowed. So, seeing a picture of snow also instantly made me think of her misery.

Here's a secret: when you imagine someone else's misery, you begin to feel miserable. Even if it's someone else's misery and not your own...just my imagined perception of her feelings on seeing the snow made me begin to feel miserable (even though I'm nowhere near the snow and sitting in 70 degree weather).

I could write a very long article on thoughts, and how they impact both your energy levels and your feelings. That's an article for another day, but I'll sum it up here: if you start thinking of someone else and how they're stressed, or telling yourself you should feel stressed because the situation is just so hard or the worst or you'll never make it through (notice: all only thoughts up to this point), you will physiologically start to feel stressed yourself (a feeling). And if you let yourself do this, without stopping yourself in this pattern, you will not only find yourself in a spiraling cycle of negativity and bitter acidic thoughts, you will feel physically tired as if you've been fighting a battle all day, or reacting to real stress. Because you have. Your body can't tell the difference between imagined stress in your mind and real life stress around you.

It is exhausting to live in stress during most or all of the day, every day.

Scientific research is full of negative outcomes that result from stress. Not only do you feel physically tired, you probably don't have the energy to work as well towards your goals. At the same time, stress eats away at your self-esteem, so you're also probably less likely to think you can achieve them, leading to depression or a depressed outlook on life. Also, it's well known that stress breaks down your immune system, so you're more likely to get sick. You can look up the rest for yourself, but it's quite clear: stress sucks. It destroys your body and your mind.

I've been there. If you're struggling, I've been there.

A few years back, I was around a very negative person and got into such a negative spiral of thoughts every day just from adopting their judgments and opinions, or at least imagining what they would say in every situation, that I lived in constant stress. I went through my day in a mix of fear and harsh judgment. I got to the point where I was terrified to be home alone, and terrified of my thoughts. And all because I let my thoughts spiral out of control.

I've learned a lot since then and now have much better ways of thinking in place. It took time, years actually, and didn't happen overnight, but my point is if you start imagining others' emotions or negative thoughts, it will spark your body and psyche to think they are your thoughts, and you will wear yourself out.

If you are living in an emotional war zone or otherwise have a constant drain on you and you just feel weary, know that you are not alone. It does get better.

This is turning into a rather dark post, and I know there are lots of reasons people can feel weary. Especially around the holiday times. Maybe you're burned out emotionally or financially from Christmas. Maybe you're burned out from traveling and just want a rest.

Getting back to seeing the picture of snow, part of me yearned just a little to have snow for just an afternoon to be able to play in it. But as soon as I thought of my friend and my imagined dialogue of her stress and misery, guess what? I felt immediately weary and miserable


So it was a relief a few posts down when someone posted this part of Isaiah 40 (v. 31):

Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength;

They will mount up with wings like eagles;

They will run and not get tired;

They will walk and not become weary

 If you are weary...the Lord is like a breath of fresh air. A sip of cool water. A sweet moment of stillness. 

And just like that...I was immediately refreshed. Felt new and relaxed and at peace, as if I'd had a brief, much-needed drink of cool water.

 I urge you this holiday season to take just a breather every day. Find your stillness. Rest in the Lord. Whether it's a moment in quiet prayer or just appreciation, taking the time to eat right or stretch your body, take care of yourself. Your body and mind are worth it.

Here are some things I've found that have helped me this holiday season. And if you have fallen off the wagon up to this point (it's okay! I did too!), just try to work these in when you can. Be easy on yourself. After all, you don't need to beat yourself up - the rest of the world will do that for you. You need to take care of yourself, as if you were caring for an injured friend.

• Yoga (I love the mindset this puts me into. I do it more for stretching and meditation than a true workout, but I feel so peaceful and stretched, as if every muscle is happy. I also feel much more in control of my life, and it's a gentle reminder to take care of myself).
• Eating healthy. Hard to do over the holidays but when I begin eating crappy, it really does throw off the rest of my day. I feel sluggish and 'uggghhh'. So I make the choice to eat healthy because I know it will make me feel better.
• Exercising. Stretch your body when you can, and do something fun to work up a light sweat. Your body needs it to be operational, so take care of your body in this way as much as you can.
• Christian meditation. This is something I've decided to try after many of the other Christian techniques (praying, going to church a lot, reading the Bible) failed me. Just doing those other things doesn't bring me closer to God. But I love reading the Bible as if it has a message for my life right now.
• Get good sleep. If you're not giving the body the rest it needs, it won't feel well-rested the next day, and you won't be as likely to take care of yourself in other ways.
• Know that God is in charge. Let Him be. Give up, and let Him control things. He will work things out beyond what you could imagine.

The rest of Isaiah 40 is great too, and absolutely speaks on this theme of refreshment after feeling weary.

v. 1-2 - Be comforted! Your warfare (emotional battles; worries about finances; stress in general) has ended.

Wouldn't it be great if someone told you that? Your problems are over. Rest now, dearest. Your battles have vanished. You can rest in peace.

v. 2 - even if you battles are emotional, and you're burdened with things like guilt or shame, it has been removed! A weight has been lifted from your back! You are free! In fact, you'll receive double the blessings from the Lord as any emotional burden that was there!

So, not only the joy of freedom (which, if you've been emotionally bearing a hard burden, in itself is the prize), but will be receiving many blessings on top of that! It would make a person think, what did I do to deserve this goodness?

v. 3-4 used in reference to Christ often, through John the Baptist.

This really speaks though to the restitution Christ brings. Lift up your face, you with tears and Christ will wipe them and make you joyful again. If you're burdened, He will bring you peace. He fixes all the bad in the world (even while he was with the world, he did so many miracles of healing!) See passages in Revelation about the world being made right. The Lord takes places or hearts that are low (the valleys) and brings them back up to level. He takes all the inequality in the world and makes it level and right again.

And who is the one doing this? Not us (the flesh referred to in the passage), but God. And if you've been in those low, weary points, you know how thankful you are when God makes things right. How thankful we are when anyone makes things right, but the fact that God can correct all of it, all the injustice...that makes Him so amazingly good, beyond all understanding.

Think of someone who not just makes you feel better when you're down, and then goes to your best friend and does the same thing, and then goes to someone else who has so much trouble and burden that no one thinks they will ever get better. And that person makes that suffering person completely better and happy. Wouldn't that person who is making everyone better be amazing? Who helped not just one person, but people over and over?

And God does this over and over, and over. So far beyond our comprehension. Who can help not just people but right whole systems of corruption.

Isaiah 40: 10-11 paints just this picture of God's goodness, and the way He cares for us.

v. 17 All the nations are as nothing before Him; they are regarded by Him as less than nothing and meaningless.

I wish I could instill this in people, and quote this at every "God Loves America" meme. God doesn't love America. He loves people, and people everywhere. God could care less about America as a country defined by boundaries.

The rest talks about how awesome God is. We admire earthly things but to God they are trite and meaningless. Instead, look up - God created the stars, much more amazing than anything on Earth (and as Star Wars lovers, we know just how awesome they are). Scientifically speaking, stars and star systems are very complex. God's handiwork is far beyond anything you or I could create, so we need to worship Him.

And yet, as numerous as the stars are, as easy it would be to get lost or feel like you don't matter...God knows each star by name. And as Star Wars lovers, we also know that each tiny or backwoods planet can be important, can be holding the fate of the galaxy. It's like that with people too. Each one of us is worth an infinite amount. Each one of us has the potential to have a great effect on the rest of the human race, much greater than we could ever know or guess.

The Lord God knows you. He loves you. You are not lost in the crowd to Him. He not only knows your name, He knows all your details. He cares about you. He will personally send His power and spirit to refresh you when you are down or weary, and you will ever after have a spring of guidance and peace within you. You will never be the same again.

Trust in Him today.

Romans 13: Obey the government, without badmouthing, unless it contradicts God

Dear Lord God, I seek you today.  I open my heart to you, God and father of all, on high on Your throne. I ask you to do with me as you will today, to use me, for I am willingly your servant. I am looking for you, God, trying to find you, searching for you. Trying to hear Your answers. Please rest heavily on me today, your hand across my shoulders, steering me with your wisdom, guiding me with your words. Whisper to me today, Oh Lord. Don't let me search in vain. You say you are like the northern light for those who search for you, that if I search, there you will be found. I pray you guide my study today. I pray you would turn me in the directions you want me to be turned.

Dear Lord God, I pray for [the gift of] your presence today. I'm seeking you and I pray that I would find you. I pray you guide my study today and turn me in directions according to your will. Renew my heart, Lord; refresh my heart and mind with the everlasting light and goodness and peace of your waters [spirit]. Conform me to your will. Help me to be a good person today, a servant and representative of you Lord. Along with your messiah and servant Jesus, I humbly ask this. Amen.

I finally moved on to Romans 13, after getting stuck on Romans 12 and reading it again and again...and again. You know what I'm talking about: you sit down at your computer intending to read the Bible, the last passage you read (Romans 12) is up so you decide to start with that to summarize and get your mind in the mood before moving on to the day's reading, and then someone interrupts you before you get to the end. This has been my life for the last several days.

So, on to Romans 13.

The summary: obey the governing authorities, because they are put in place by God.

I'm not sure what to think of this passage. This immediately brings to mind Divine Right, where kings used this passage and others to justify doing whatever they want (usually bad things). I think the message is quite clear from the rest of the Bible that you're supposed to follow your conscience over any rules, that you're supposed to stick to doing good, and not do evil, even if commanded to do it. In fact, this passage draws the distinction between good and evil also (see verses 3-5), with the idea that the rules that are not expressly evil are good.

So, this passage means we should follow rules, even rules we think are trivial or stupid, as long as they don't violate God.

One great example (and story I'm reminded of) is the story of Daniel. In it (see the Book of Daniel in the Bible), 4 Jewish youths are taken away to a foreign land (Babylon), to serve a foreign king (Nebuchadnezzar). The new land has lots of new laws, some of which contradict what they must do for God. How do they continue to worship God properly?

In this age, too many Christians seem to give the answer of "replace the government with one we like, and disrespect the one in power." Talk bad about the president and about how he's "ruining the country". Ignore or fight most laws, even laws that have nothing to do with them. However, this is not the example we see of Daniel and his friends (or of Joseph, another story of someone struggling to follow God in an environment of non-Godly (as in not following the Jewish God) ruler and laws.

In both cases, Daniel and Joseph, both humbly follow the laws of the land, unless it contradicts a direct decree of God. Instead of personally badmouthing or ignoring laws or rulers they don't like, by contrast, they are very quiet on the subject. When asked, they refuse to say anything bad, and in turn, they not only survive in a foreign culture that does not place their God at #1 (read: America, which is as it should be - in a land of freedom of religion, secular laws should not place the Jewish God at #1 even if I believe in him but instead should be focused on equality), they actually thrive. They both move up the governmental ranks until they reach pretty much the highest possible positions in their societies, second only to the king himself.

Now, some can argue it was only because God had a specific plan for His people in each case which required them to be in high positions, so that is why they survived and advanced. With only two examples, we'll never know for sure. However, the whole point of the Bible is not just to tell stories of how God interacted with His people in the past (which then makes it historically interesting but not relevant to our lives, a thing of the past only), but to be a living document, or relevant to us today. Usually this is taken to mean we should use the stories in the Bible as examples for us, a clear lesson to be learned.

If that is the case, then we should follow in Joseph and Daniel's example, and follow the rules set by our governments, with no complaining, as long as they do not violate one of God's directives. And when they do, we disobey them quietly, continuing to do as God commanded, but not stirring up trouble. After all, much of the New Testament condemns initiating strife, instead commending keeping peace.

Many Christian conservatives want to make the government of the U.S.A. a Christian government. This will never, and should never, happen. Mostly because when it comes down to it, churches can't even agree on the rules within themselves, which is why we have different denominations. So many Christians want the laws to be the Laws of the Bible/God, yet they can't agree on what they are (plus, this is an aside, but any time there are set laws, human tendency is to start to force people to rigidly follow them, such that the laws become important but the spirit behind the laws or the original intention is forgotten or even opposed! This is exactly what Jesus fought against - in His words, it's clear that the intention behind the law, and God, is much more important than the specifics of the law itself).

How do I apply this?

So, how does this fit in to Star Wars? How does this fit in to being a Jedi (or Jedi in training, even if I'm not one yet?) Theoretically, as a Jedi, I'm devoted to helping all people, to ensuring basic rights for people and protecting the innocent, regardless of if I agree with their views or not. A Jedi should also theoretically be humble, not bragging about their skills (see Romans 12: fits right in!), and I believe not stirring up strife. But how do you stay quiet if you disagree? Is it wrong to express your views? And if you express your views once and people ignore or brush them off, then what? I don't think staying silent is the answer, but I do think expressing your views in a polite way is required. But then if people ignore you again? At some point, continuing to express your views (even if polite) becomes a nuisance, or can stir up strife. What then? Some of the greatest changes were brought about through civil disobedience (politely but repeated efforts). I'm not sure how to reconcile the two.

In any case, I'm sure humility is key, along with politeness and respectfulness. You should try to see where the other party is coming from, but that doesn't mean you can't still have your own views. You should always express them politely.

I guess the answer is, even if you think something is ineffective and wasteful, don't oppose it unless it has the potential to hurt people down the line. And then, both as Jedi and as followers of God, we are supposed to stand for all our fellow men, especially the downtrodden and poor, so we must oppose it. Often, these directives will hurt someone down the line. Otherwise, even if we don't like it, we must calm ourselves and learn to accept it. In some sense, accepting things we don't like is part of entering adulthood. I guess that's what meditation is for.

Romans 10-12

My heart's desire and my prayer for you is for your salvation. You have a zeal for God, but are living in a fantasy, not the real world.  You sought to establish rules of righteousness, but they're your own, not God's, so you're not following God's rules of good. Christ is the answer, and completed the rules which lead to good -  He is the new good.

How do I apply this to my life? Is God speaking to my last post? Does this mean we shouldn't have rules we try to live our lives by?

But then, if we don't, it's easy to go off track. Hard and fast rules give you something to stick to, and help eliminate shades of grey.

The rest of Romans 10:
Believe in Jesus. Confess that he's the Lord and believe God raised him from the dead, and you will be saved, regardless of if you're Jewish or not.

Evangelism is important, because people can't be saved if they don't hear. And yet, there will be those who do hear who refuse to believe.

Romans 11:
As Christians, don't be arrogant towards Jewish people who don't accept Jesus, because God saves who he wants to (there is a remnant that will be saved). They were God's special people first. And if they then decide to believe, then they too will have eternal life with God.

-I don't feel like this message is directed at me, but I do like messages of unity.

Romans 12: all about the betterment of ourselves.
Live purely and holy, renew/open your mind. Build towards good. Be humble. Use what faith you're given.

God has made everyone to be different, so accept those differences, and use your own gifts to help. Some gifts are: the ability to speak God's mind/will, the ability to teach, to be generous, leadership, mercy.

Devote yourself to others, and be humble.

Be sure to have mindfulness of your own actions/perseverance, fervent towards the Lord, serving him, rejoicing, continuing in hard times, praying often, helping others in need especially other Christians, and generally being hospitable to everyone.

Do and speak good to those who cause you hardship instead of cursing them. Feel with others - celebrate with their joys and mourn with their losses. Bring peace. Don't take revenge (let things go). Pursue good, and you will overcome evil.

-Love this. Romans 12 is pretty much the Jedi passage of the Bible. It's all the good directives of the Jedi in one passage. Do good to others and don't meet evil with evil but instead with good. Be constantly transformed/renewed (and how else do you do that except by 1) continuing to learn and trying have an open mind, open to being changed by new experiences and knowledge, and 2) constantly staying in touch with God so He can fill you and enlighten you?)

The Code: What I Believe

I thought I'd lay this out in a straightforward manner, mostly for myself. These are the things I believe to be true.

To be honest, I'm terrified to write this. I know a lot of other Christians believe differently (though if they each made up a list, their lists would all look different from each other). I know Spouse believes differently, and might be aghast, and give me the "how could anyone believe that?" line I dread (with either "that's stupid" response or "I can't be married to you if you believe that, because only [insert your choice word here...awful, horrible, etc.] people believe that". I'm afraid this will inspire arguments and disagreement even from non-Christians.

But, in spite of that fear, I need to do this. I need to learn how to conquer criticism. In some sense, if everyone's list is different, even though everyone thinks they're right, and some people shout very loud and accuse others very loud, what gives them a leg to stand on? Who says their list is better? Of course, that promotes the idea of relativism, particularly moral relativism.

Which is one thing I've been told can't exist with Christianity. After all, there's only one morality: God's morality. He decides what's good and what's bad. And any other morality, or the idea of everyone having their own morality, is wrong, because then someone could have a completely evil morality and it would have to be considered fine (if all are equal). Because, if some are better than others, who is deciding the absolutes of which qualities are "better"...unless it's God (or some inbuilt morality within us). A relative morality system either says all are equal (which then makes it meaningless) or hints at a God. And if there is a relative morality system where all are equal, then there is no moral God (which goes against everything I think most spiritual and religious people feel about God - we know God is there and wants us to do Good. In some ways, God is a manifestation of a higher calling to be our better selves). But, we can have no "better selves" without God. Without God, there is no morality period, and who cares what we do with our lives because ultimately it doesn't matter.

In fact, Star Wars has an absolute (Black and White) morality. This is one thing I love about it. I just read an article about how the prequels could have been good, basically if they made both the Jedi and the Sith into extremes (the Jedi representing absolute control, and selfless devotion to the common good, and the Sith representing passion and individualism) as "the bad guys" and only the moderate middle path, the one Anakin tries to take, into "the right path". I didn't like this article, because Star Wars is built on Black and White morality. Good is good, and evil is evil. You can turn the story into one about the benefit of grey areas, and it could still be a good story, but it won't appeal to Star Wars fans because that's not Star Wars.

Anyway, all that's beside the point.

Here is the Code I Believe. I can even call it the Christian Code (because it makes me a Christian, and I will adhere to this in times of doubt, and even use this as a shield to weather criticism by other Christians!). If you are a Christian, please see above - you will have a different code than mine. If you are not a Christian, please note that not all Christians believe this things, and some add different elements to their lists. This is in no way representative of all Christians, only what I believe.

The Code: What I believe

• There is a God who interacts with people. I've seen this quite clearly in my own experiences. I've had very clear messages from God for my life. Every time I get really far off track, He sends me a reminder that He is there. (using the word "He" but really God could be a "She" too.)
• There is value to pursuing good. I feel this strongly, both from my background, and my perception of God. We all do, which is why as humans we construct stories the way we do, with good guys and bad guys, and having something to aspire to. If there is no value to pursuing good, then there is no morality, and what's the point? And if there is a morality system in place, then there is value to pursuing good.
• If God interacts with people, from the content of interactions, it's clear He's trying to help us, and has future knowledge and a desire for us to be better. He may give messages, or hope to help through a situation, or guidance towards personal growth. He may give dreams about the future. He may give a message for someone else, in order to save them. In other words, God's interactions with people show that He cares about you and I. He tries to make or mold peopleinto our best selves. (Is that any different from the Jedi?) He also has them care about each other. It's not just ourselves in isolation growing into our best selves, but connecting each of us to others and to the world around us (the Force, anyone?)
•  God loves us. How else could you explain listening to someone else's problems 24/7 night and day, being there at a moment's notice, and always trying to help them and care about them, and never once being impatient or snapping at them in anger? You would only do that for someone you love. So God loves us and cares for us individually, yet cares for us collectively. In other words, we are meant to be connected with other people, and with the world around us. I don't know if that's a mandate from God per se all the time though or just when He has us do it.
• God endows some people with special powers. Or speaks very clearly to some. Don't ask me how this works; I don't know. I don't know if those people are simply created better conduits for hearing God or not. These are the Prophets in the Bible.
• God promised the message of a Messiah and sent him.: Jesus. Yeshua. Jesus Christ. A conduit of His power, but an extra special one at that.
• We need to listen to Jesus, and follow him. If he truly is someone who has the greatest amount of God's power, then he has some knowledge or closeness with God that we don't. So we should listen to him. Read his words, and do what he says. Believe what he says about God, because he knows better than we do!
• Our number one goal should be listening to God and serving Him.

I think I will put this in a more numbered form, because it's clearer.

The Christian Code: the real Jedi Code

1. Our number one goal should be listening to God and serving Him. 
2. Do good to others and the world around you. 
3. Be connected to others.  Make connections. Star Wars also promotes strong friendships.
4. Always be making yourself into a better person. Even in ways in which you don't want to or think you need to change. God will give you instructions...Follow them and take them to heart. 
5. Keep an open mind, and accept that your feelings, thoughts, and views will change over your life. This is a good thing. Let your heart be changed, softened, broken. That's the only way you can reach new mental heights.
6. Accept God's messiah Yeshua (Jesus).
7. Work towards accepting all of God's morality. You don't accept all the words of the Bible...yet. Be teachable. Work to accept the hard parts of what God says as well as the easy parts.

Self-confidence Skills

I was reading an article on Self-Confidence. They say self-confidence can be learned! So don't worry if you don't have it yet. View yourself as learning, go easy on yourself, but at the same time make a decision to do better, or to pick back up where you left off.

Here are some of the things I've learned from the article: (by the way, read the original article here at https://www.mindtools.com/selfconf.html)

I really want to learn how to:

• Admit mistakes and learn from them, rather than trying to cover them up and hope no one notices. Currently, I feel scandalized when I make a mistake, that it somehow proves I'm not fit for the job or it makes me worth somehow less as a person. Christian Perspective: Everyone has mistakes. Mistakes have no impact on your worth, because you have infinite worth (everyone does). Admit them and learn from them to become a better person. Yes it's a blow to your pride, but nothing else. You are still infinitely precious to God.
• Do what I believe to be right, even if others will not approve or think lesser of me. This goes back to not doing things for crowd approval but for God approval. Hard but I want to stick to my convictions! How do you deal with the social anxiety of going against a crowd? I think you would truly have to not care about the people who are judging you in order to succeed. If you want to impress them, and are trying to better yourself in their eyes, then it will be impossible to do something which would make you less in their eyes. This goes back to knowing you're already of infinite worth. You don't have to impress anyone, because that's just a short term solution anyway.
• Being willing to take risks and put myself out there. What's the worst that could happen? I look silly or stupid, and embarrass myself. Well, that goes back to others' approval. And with practice, you learn to think on your feet better (though is that just another way of trying to avoid embarrassment?) Again, you have to not care. You have to be putting yourself out there because you enjoy it, or because the end result will get you something you value or enjoy. Either way it comes down to you and your goal, not the other people involved. People will always have opinions whether you are sensitive to them or not, and many will be negative.

When you picture yourself, can you picture yourself as a self-confident person doing these things? Some I can, some seems like a comic absurdity.

Another idea: that if you learn and work hard, you can succeed in a difficult area. I think the challenge for me is, to be honest, I don't want the difficulty. I want it to be easy. I don't want to struggle. And most of the things I want, I don't want enough to endure struggle for.

Do you believe that you can cope with what's going on in your life, and that you have a right to be happy?

• Yes to both right now, though spring is going to challenge me. I'm a little worried about how I'll be able to cope with adding a new baby to the family and being pretty much the sole caretaker to two children, especially with a current child who not only doesn't listen when you say no but intensifies the undesired action. I'm just worried I won't have enough hands to be everywhere at once and that my oldest will get into all sorts of things they shouldn't and basically run wild. I'm also not sure how I'll handle the lack of sleep from the new baby coupled with the oldest's energy, as I already have a problem handling the oldest's energy, and I'm not that drained yet on sleep.

How we feel about our lives and our ability to handle things depends on:

• the approval of people in our lives around us (can't control)
• Do I feel like I'm acting like a good person?
• Do I know I'm a competent person?
• Do I think that I'm good at competing successfully if I put my mind to it? (oho no...I definitely feel intimidated on a playing field! I guess I have to reframe and realize every situation every day is a playing field, and I do great. I guess it comes down to fear of being judged, or fear of being shown to be the lesser one when I compete).

 Ready? Here's how to get more self-confidence.

• Take an honest look at where you are, and where you want to go. I think I've outlined both pretty clearly above.
• Get yourself in the right mindset, and commit to starting and staying with it. Realize it's not going to be easy. In fact, it may involve hardship, but you can endure it, you will endure it, and your goal is so valuable that it's worth more than every bit of hardship you encounter. Realize also that starting is just the first hard part, and that there will be times where you want to quit. Maybe hardship will make you want to quit. Maybe you'll forget about it or be busy. These things will come up, but commit to staying with it. And make this commitment starting out. Put a post it or an inspirational screen saver or message on your phone if you have to.
• Inspire yourself and build your image of your own competence. You do this through achievement. Feeling incompetent? Achieve something. 
• List the 10 best things you've ever accomplished in your life.
• Asses your strengths and weaknesses honestly, and think about how that has led you to be where you are in life, and how you can use who you are as a person to go in a positive direction from there. Realize you're going to have to use your strengths, and try to bolster or work with your weaknesses. Remember, everyone has their own learning style...work best with yours. Try to foresee where you might find opportunities, and where you might face threats.
• Think about the things that are really important to you, and what you want to achieve with your life. Work your goal into the big picture. How will it help get you there?
• Manage your mind (this one is very Jedi-like): commit to positive thinking even during times where you're afraid, and really picture how you'll look and feel when you're successful.
• Make a list of the 1st steps for each goal, and then for each list the skills you'll need to complete it. Don't worry if it's a skill you don't have yet; you can learn it. Figure out how you can acquire these skills confidently and well.
• Start small, keep it with stuff you can succeed at to build your confidence. It's okay to make mistakes because you're trying something new. Then slowly start increasing the difficulty of your goals (but by then you have a whole bunch of tasks you've succeeded at under your belt to give you the confidence you know you can succeed!)

1 Thessalonians 2...Don't Let Wounded Pride Turn you Into Being Nasty, and Don't Give A Christianity Sales Pitch

We're working our way through 1 Thessalonians in order to learn how to break the image that Christians have today and learn how to live authentic lives as our own selves...but as Christians too.

Too much of Christianity is associated with a certain image that I've termed Cultural Christianity...You probably know the people. The ones who only listen to Christian music. They are pastors' kids or their parents work in different positions in the Church, and they've never been outside of the church and are super-Christian-y. White, middle class, Republican, dressing in the latest fashions. Their biggest sin, or the only thing they ever mention in accountability groups is "I don't pray enough" or "I don't read the Bible enough." (they would never mention that "I struggle with unChristian thoughts" or "I have an anger issue" or any real sin). They sweep stuff under the rug, which does no favors to either non-Christians (who then associate Christianity with a bunch of rules like "you can't drink or have premarital sex", which it isn't; it's not a rule-based system at all. We threw that out when Jesus fulfilled the Law. It's about grace instead, being forgiven by God for your sins) or to Christians actually struggling with real things (who then worry "am I a bad Christian because I struggle and no one else seems to?").

A Christian is anyone who's made the decision to follow Christ. I don't have a lot of good to say about Cultural Christians. Even if you grew up in a faith, or grew up in church (hey! no one can change their background or their parents, or should be made to feel ashamed of where they came from), strive to be an individual. That's what sets us apart as people, makes others like us as friends, and ultimately is what makes others interested in Christianity...because they see our lifestyle is somehow different, somehow fuller and more joyous even in hard times, and want what we have.

My thoughts: This chapter is all about us and others, and how we interact.

• When others oppose you unfairly: v. 2 - don’t let rough treatment from others (or others mistreating you, even if they’re supposed to be Christian!) turn you from the right path! If the path is given you by God, or you’re sure you’re doing God’s work, be sure of yourself in God and continue doing what you’re doing and say what needs to be said regardless of what the opposition will think or say. (reminds me of Shane CLaiborne and the sit-in for the homeless in the one story about the abandoned Catholic church that the archbishops warned not to go to - in fact, reminds me of all civil disobedience/passive resistance!) They’re just mere people just like you, just opposition players opposing God through you.  There’s something I admire about the Shane Claibornes, the people who are not going to do it in an offensive way but are going to do God’s will, no matter the situation. At least that’s how I perceive them, but I’m sure in some real life situations they’d have to give in...because that’s real life.
• There’s several ways they can turn you from the right path - you could let their “no” be the final word and stop your action, or they can discourage you from then believing that the right path from God is actually the right path, so your own emotions and doubts turn you aside.
• Why don’t we go ahead and say our piece more often, regardless of who’s against us? I think it’s because we view them as an authority figure, one who we’re afraid of the consequences. We’re afraid they have the power to destroy us, either with their words, or our lives, or our friends/innocents with their power. Although I think a lot of times we’re afraid of consequences which don’t actually happen (people sometimes aren’t as brutal as we think they are, though sometimes they are).
• Like the Pharisees, a lot of times people in “authority” positions view themselves as authority figures and think they know best, and they get very upset and vicious if you don’t view them the same way, or if there’s any challenge to them. I guess you then just have to view them as “vipers” the same way Jesus did, even if they are so-called religious leaders or in positions of authority. Jesus didn’t mind butting heads with them even though it eventually led to his death - should we be prepared for sacrifice too? esp. if the Viper in question is a powerful authority figure? or should we realize Jesus spent a whole 3 years butting heads, so he backed down some? or did he not, just continue to passively resist them and continue doing what he was doing, like healing on the sabbath, but no blatant confrontations?
• How we as Christians should present the Gospel (and how many false Christians don’t - i.e. televangelists, or people who are trying to get your money):  v. 4 heart-wise, we’re supposed to seek God’s approval only, not be after the approval of the crowd (fame is fickle anyway and crowd approval doesn’t last, especially in an age of social media where they just move on to the next big thing). Yet I think a lot of pastors are after crowd approval - they say stuff they think will appeal to their crowds, try to retain people and grow their numbers through things like bug music and light shows. Image is all about crowd approval. I think a lot of pastors actually are bent on crowd approval. Except when talking to non-Christians - then it’s “we need to take a hard line and say the hard truth about things like homosexuality etc.”
• v. 3 - Gospel message supposed to be free of error, and free of deceit - I don’t think either of these are true by most cultural christians. I think error comes from imparting the cultural christian “laws” along with the Gospel messages, or pseudo-Biblical bits of wisdom that aren’t actually in the Bible. And I think plenty of people are just concerned about building numbers, converting more souls, without actually caring about the person (or really caring where their soul! goes) so there is a hidden agenda. One, because then you’re kind of famous as the “person who’s converted a lot of people”. So it’s a pride thing. And those are only the well-meaning ones...the ones who are not well meaning really are after your money, or your time (and the most excessive examples of these are cults). In fact, I think any time a Christian interacts with a non-Christian, or for many cultural Christians, goes to an area of a different Christian denomination, there is the secret or not-so-secret goal of converting them. No wonder so many muslims and jews feel threatened simply being around Christians...because even if they’ve told one Christian they’re not interested, they know they’re going to hear the sales pitch again and have to refuse it again (and refusing it over and over gets tiring, even if the people are polite)...and some of the people are not polite, and in fact, they probably don’t know that the person they turned down the first time probably didn’t accept their answer but is instead plotting secretly how to convert them, and every interaction in the future will be subtly geared towards pushing them closer to Christ...How do I keep from turning into these people???? They sound so horrible when I write it from this perspective, yet it sounds like pretty much every Christian I know…
• v. 5 pretext for greed...somehow I feel like so many Christians presenting the Gospel message are greedy. Either for money or their pride is involved, so they’ll be nasty if you reject it (see above comment on Vipers)
• You, whether you feel qualified or not, are approved by God to carry his message. Powerful vote of validation! I often don’t feel qualified, either because I wasn’t Christian for long enough, or was born in the wrong faith, or even because I’m not a cultural Christian and don’t listen to Christian music or know Christian bands and a lot of the terms or concepts they throw around and take for granted.
• Don’t see yourself as above others - v. 6 The NASB says it as “nor did we seek glory from men”. The MSG says it as “we never...tried to come across as important.” SO MANY power hungry people in the church!! I feel like so many are megalomaniacs. In fact this whole paragraph in the MSG is awesome. Talks about not being aloof from people (yes, pastors try to mingle with everyone especially newcomers, but there’s certainly in-group and out-group cliques in the church. Some churches are worse than others in terms of people being aloof. And shy newcomers...you have a whole book on this, about how they’re only approached awkwardly but left out of a lot).
• I think v. 8 really nails it - we’re not just supposed to pass on the Gospel Message, but share our lives with these people. How many Christians, if we inquired into their private lives, would hesitate or hide some? The whole accountability “the only sin I do is I don’t pray enough” thing. Definitely goes against street preachers too. Even in Acts, when the apostles had to leave quickly after only giving a crowd the message, I think they were sorrowful and regretful of that, that circumstances had them leave before they could share their lives, but they would have otherwise.
• v. 9-10 against support raising - the early Christians really worked hard to be blameless in others’ eyes, so others couldn’t accuse them of anything. These days Christians shrug it off as “well of course I’m sinning or my life doesn’t look wonderful but we all sin”. Christians definitely don’t care about appearing blameless before others! In fact, they really don’t care what non-Christians think of them, or almost take pride in the fact that non-Christians think badly of them! Kind of “well that’s just the world attacking Christ” rather than it being their own image or words or actions. After all, some of the meanest people I’ve known have been devout Christians, and I know many people have been hurt by Christians.
• Guide and encourage others (not sure if this was before the Thessalonians came to Christ or afterwards as new Christians). Still, that’s what this passage advises towards others - gentleness (like a parent), guiding, encouraging. If more people were like this, Christianity would have a lot more reception!
• Other people, esp. once you become Christians, will make you suffer. Your own countrymen (and sometimes, by extension, other Christians) - people who are supposed to be on your side. Yet, even the Jews persecuted Jesus and the prophets, so the holiest of God even had that happen. Moral: people suck. It is human nature to be mean and shut down what we don’t understand, to mock or ridicule, or want to destroy it when we see it flourishing against our efforts or against our pride. See Vipers bit above. It really comes down to the idea that that’s not a new thing, that happened all throughout the Bible, it happened 2000 yrs ago, and it happens today. People in authority especially have to be careful that they don’t fall in love with their authority. And know that they will get what’s coming to them from God - and put your purposes aligned with God’s, and not with theirs, and take care that you’re not misled by them (because that is their true purpose, to shake you off your path any way they can)
• Last few verses: obviously they really built a relationship with these people! You miss a relationship with friends (even new friends), not some people you preached a message at. More evidence we’re supposed to be building on a deeper relational level.

My takeaway:

• No deception or smoke screens. You’re not selling anything. Just live your life as an example, and people will want it. It doesn’t depend on the words you say, though if people ask, be willing to tell them.
• How do I present the Gospel and still respect a person’s “no”? I think just by trying to live as an honest example and provide (by example) something they desire and are interested in, rather than trying to push on people. So once an overt rejection, then give up trying to push them closer to Christ unless asked...instead, try to make Christianity in your own life so appealing that they want what you have, and want to draw closer to it. So hard to put into practice though, especially because my tendency is to push/lecture when I believe something’s right!
• Make sure my faith is grounded squarely in the Bible and not in pseudo-Bible cultural Christianity or feel-good sentiments (working on this)
• Be after God approval, not crowd approval. Yes it will cause some anxiety to go against the crowd, but aggressively pursue God. Say what needs to be said, regardless. You can handle the consequences (with God’s help). Even if the person opposing you is an authority figure or organization [scary!]
• People suck. Human nature sucks. People, because of their pride, get offended and work to shut you down. If it happens to you, remember that it happened to the apostles in Jerusalem, to Jesus, and the prophets too.
• I have been qualified by God to be entrusted with this message. So don’t think I’m not qualified! even if sometimes I feel it. God has trusted me - what other approval do I need? Not from Christians (though it’s hard, because I know what cultural Christianity approves of and what they don’t). So try to ignore other people’s opinions of you or your actions - who cares what they think?

1 Thessalonians: you're not perfect in your faith, and don't expect to be...Grow to be stronger

1 Thessalonians

Why: I decided to do 1 Thessalonians because if I remember right, that (along with Timothy) is basically a how-to manual for becoming deeper Christians, along with how to set up a church (or, in other words, what should living like a Christian look like in the world? How should the world affect us, and in what ways should we not be affected or be different?) I thought it fit right in with our “How to live as authentic Christians” mindset.

My thoughts: I read both the NASB and the Message (2 ends of the spectrum - the NASB being the most literal, the Message being the most "just get the ideas across in modern day vernacular" and not quoting at all, to help the ideas sink in better).

• It’s addressed to people who are already Christians, and good Christians at that. So, no salvation message repeat needed. I’d like to think of myself that way - that the good work was started when I became a Christian (planted a seed), and even if we’ve toiled or floundered, we did receive the message, and this is going to help us become better Christians.
• I don’t feel God’s grace or God’s peace with me on a regular basis yet, but hopefully over time those feelings will develop.
• What life should look like: continuing to toil for God even if we are frustrated or not seeing fruits, trying to hold on to the idea that God will come through, and working to have patience (with ourselves/our lives, aka perseverance) which will eventually lead to hope (that sureness that God will come through)
• the MSG: God has chosen me (and you) for something special (or the NASB, just the idea of God choosing us) - at this point, kind of hard to feel, but exciting encouragement. The MSG says “When the message was preached, it wasn’t just words. Something happened in you.”[the NASB talks about power] - good reminder. I’m remembering “that’s right, there was power, there was a change, there were all those strange occurrences. God’s power, the power of the Holy Spirit.” So, far removed from it it’s easy to forget, but I need to remember God’s power (to heal and do miraculous things, and send messages you shouldn’t know - all the weird ESP type stuff) and that God is powerful (the one who can do these things is powerful, and to make us His agents in the world...He chose us, that’s really humbling/awe-inspiring).
• The MSG also says “The Holy Spirit put steel in your convictions.” I need more resoluteness in my convictions.
• v. 5-6 who can we imitate? It is great to have authentic Christians to imitate. I also read something by one of my friends recently that said that it was great to have other Christians to encourage, keep accountable, be praying for you, give you guidance, and just be friends. There will also be periods of your life where you are giving these to someone, and periods where you’re receiving these. I love this. I need someone to give to. I also love the idea of someone praying for you - it makes me feel so loved to know someone thought of me and has me “covered” (through my joys and my trials)
• the MSG: In imitating authentic Christians, you imitate God - how powerful!
• The MSG: “Your lives are echoing the Master’s Word…[good thing!] The news of your faith in God is out [scary! I feel so exposed! But that’s theoretically what we’re going for here!]”
• We’re the message - not the words we say, but as as people, how we live our lives and treat others. It makes me feel important, and unique/as an individual
• More part of the Christian life: receiving others with immediate welcome, no questions asked, making people comfortable. Also deserting the idols of our past - comforting, because it’s a choice. We all started out that way, everyone did, placing our value and happiness in other things. But we can choose God and Christ. Don’t return to our old lives - take info from it, but not values.
• God is the true God. any other God system or place of happiness, while it seems tempting and may even give a partial answer, is not the best answer. Only God gives a whole and complete fulfillment, peace, and answers. Everything else has some degree of falseness, or incompleteness.

My takeaway/Things to work on:

• Keep toiling for God. Peace, hope in Him...those come over time.
• Need more steel in my convictions
• Find some good Christians to imitate, and try to impart my own good Christian lifestyle to those around me (or think about 1-2 specific people to invest in)
• The role of Christians: encourage, keep each other accountable, give gentle guidance, pray for, welcome people with love unconditionally
• I’m important as a person, along with my actions and choices- my life is a testimony about God to others (and that may be all the testimony they get, even if they never hear a verbal message). God, the ruler of the universe, took the time to choose me, love me, and touch me with His power, investing some of that power in me. So remember where the true value/God is, and put my efforts and hope there, and not in false things I used to think would give me the perfect life or find happiness, because no matter how good it looks, everything else is false.

Update

...since it's been a while.

This is why I have a sign on my desk that some friends made for me that says "Welcome back!" It is both a warmth, and a "you've been away and we realize that and don't expect perfection, but there's work to be done, so let's get started."

Here's the update:

Prayer update:

• Spouse and I finally started our home group/Bible study! I'll say it again, because it's been a year and a half in the making: Spouse and I started a home group/Bible Study!!! And even though there's only one other couple right now (in fact we hold it at their house), it's everything we dreamed of. We found ourselves opening up, being honest, and showing what it honestly looks like to live like Christians, or how to follow Christ living in the world we do. We talked a lot about cultural Christianity and the unspoken social rules that aren't even Biblical (like don't smoke, don't drink, etc.) but that people take as law and look askance if you violate. We talked about do you have to go to church as a Christian? and what should church look like, especially in terms of more ritualized traditions vs. more spontaneous traditions and the benefits and drawbacks of each. We laughed a lot, and sympathized a lot, and said some things you'd never hear "Christians" say (except we're all Christians there, so Christians, ahem, do say them). We shared some about our pasts, and some things we were taught (in church! by well-meaning but clueless people) that were hurtful or misled us. Prayers for both community and Bible Study answered!

In my life Update:

• I've been working on this idea of living life as an authentic Christian. What does that look like? If you throw out the picture of Cultural Christianity (you know the people I'm talking about, the ones who only listen to Christian music, who can be nice or not but whose only sin or struggle they ever admit is "I should pray more" or "I should read the Bible more" (i.e. no real struggles ever)), that's all well and good, but what do you replace it with? What does living an authentic life, or being yourself, and being a Christian look like? I know in my own life, many times I don't even tell people I'm a Christian, or I'll get labeled with Cultural Christian and immediately tuned out or shunned. And heck, I don't really want to associate with those people either. It's unfortunate the label of "Christian" implies that automatically these days. I want to tell people, I'm not a "Christian" as you think of it, I just believe the Jews were right and their messiah came! In other words, trying to strip the word "Christian" away from all the extra baggage we've come to associate with it, and just get down to the bare essentials. Even if I'm not a fan of cultural Christians, I'm thinking it's best to look at it as choosing to follow the Jewish Messiah who called himself Yeshua. I just wish there was another term, since the word "Christian" or any mention of Christ or sin immediately turns people off and stops them listening. It closes down any dialogue, and that's a mad thing in my opinion.
• Also working on being more time-organized. I'm space organized, Spouse is time-organized, and I think it would help my life to be time-organized. Less stressful, for sure. So that's neither here nor there, but it's another thing in my life the last couple weeks.

In the Footsteps of the Prophets: Jeremiah 26

Getting back to it after a long period of time...

Some thoughts, after I randomly opened to Jeremiah 26:

• Thinking of Jesus as another prophet may give us new insights, even though as Christians we know he's not just a prophet (a mouthpiece of God) but much more, God's son himself. How does Jesus continue in the tradition of the prophets? How is he different?
• I'm not very familiar with the prophets myself, so maybe it would be worth it to study them and read not just their books but know their history. Most of what I remember reading from the books is the Lord reminding people to obey His law after they'd turned away, or bad things will happen. Either they do turn back (and they return to good things), or they continue doing their own ways/bad things and bad things happen. Repeat.
• Is Jesus's message different from the other prophets? How so?
• I think he has the same message of "repent and turn back to God" but note that it's "to God", not just to the actions of doing the law (which can be done completely atheistically - they're just actions, so it depends where your heart's at. They can be done just to be done and check them off the list, or they can be done with the goal of pleasing God. Though the importance should be on pleasing God, not on the action itself). Jesus also promises punishment to those who do not, but unlike in the Old Testament where physical punishment or enslavement is coming to future generations, it's punishment not on this earth but in the eternal realm.
• v. 8 - the priests and false prophets are like the Pharisees with Jesus, those who were supposedly serving God and entrusted with His word were instead abusing it, and wanted to kill the real person who was speaking God's word (Jeremiah or Jesus). In both cases, all the real servant did was speak God's word - they were innocent otherwise, and they didn't threaten any violence, yet they were both threatened with death. Just goes to show you how far people will go to protect an ideal they believe in (even if that ideal is serving themselves/greed, or they get so attached to the specifics that they miss the seed of that ideal when it's presented before them). And just like Jesus, the ruling officials must get involved when the priests/prophets want to kill him. However, perhaps because the ruling officials are Jews and not Romans as in the later case, they relent and decide not to kill him, perhaps out of fear that he really was speaking for God and that they would be punished, something the Romans (being pagans) would not fear.
• Uriah is another true Jewish prophet; however, we don't have an Old Testament book written of his sayings, perhaps because he prophesied the same things as Jeremiah so while true (confirming each other), there was nothing new to write down. Or maybe just his writings didn't survive.
• Poor Uriah! He fled to Egypt, and wicked King Jehoiakim sent a bounty hunter after him, and they found him, brought him back, and killed him and buried in a common grave. Jeremiah was spared that fate because some of the high king's officials admired him or were his followers.

So, how can we apply this today?

• Speaking God's word can be dangerous. There will be plenty of people who are supposed to be on your side who are secretly greedy/power hungry/etc. who will feel threatened and try to undo you with everything they have. They may even try to have you killed, or in our Internet age, more likely discredited. And they're doing it all to preserve their sinful lifestyle or their own selves. Don't be surprised if even powerful church leaders try to stop you.
• Speak it anyway. The prophets usually weren't spared death (Uriah is more the norm than the exception), as Jesus points out ("...just as they killed the prophets before you"). Still, God's word and God's plan is more important. It's hard to have that eternal perspective though.

Doing this as a real Bible study:

• What does it say? That Jeremiah went to a crowded place of worship and told everyone there to repent or bad things would happen, that those supposedly serving God wanted to kill him, but the officials decided no. However, another prophet in the same position was killed (murdered and disrespected). Also, a previous prophet (Micah) had said the same things a century before, and so people didn't want to incur the wrath of the Lord by killing Jeremiah.
• What does it mean? I see a person serving the Lord, and "people of God" against him. Serving their own interests instead. I see some value in knowing history and measuring yourself and what you think God is saying against what came before, because God is unchangeable. I see the prophecy as concerning Jerusalem in 70 A.D., but maybe there's an earlier destruction of the temple in between those two. I see the elders more as self-serving (trying to preserve their own lives) rather than preserving Jeremiah because they've sought God, but you can't really tell from reading it. They could be sincerely repenting.
• How do I apply it?
• Well, what do I do when someone criticizes me? Do I rip them to pieces or actually listen? Actually, I either listen and get depressed or get defensive, and I actually don't think of attacking the other person, but I know many people do. The real thing to do though, the real solution, is to be pointed towards God - point your heart towards him and seek, trying to discern. I don't think God will punish anyone truly seeking Him, because those are the faithful and righteous.
• How well do we look at our history to avoid making mistakes? (haha, most people don't even know history!). Do I tie what God is saying and doing in my life to my own past history with Him? Sometimes, I believe what He told me, though I'm never sure I've interpreted things right, so I don't lean on my own understanding 100%...I treat it more like a hunch, or inside knowledge.
• How does this tie to Israel today? I have a real heart for the situation in Israel today. I'm not sure of the best solution, nor am I 100% pro-Israel anti-everything else all the time, but I do think the Jews need to be preserved, in the fairest way possible that hopefully dignifies everybody involved. I don't remember what the last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation, says about Jerusalem - I think it says it will become a central hub and everyone will gather there. I don't know if Old Testament prophecies still apply, and of course there's debate over whether prophecies written about "God's people" (the Jews) apply now to Christians, or Christians and Jews, or still just the Jews, but that's all beside the point. I don't know which Old Testament prophecies are left unfulfilled...I know some in Daniel and some in Isaiah. I'd have to look up others.

Response to My Last Post (on a New Church Structure)

Spouse's response: sounds like you have some good ideas, but it sounds like a "crazy people" church. Many churches that have that structure have gone off the deep end theologically. So you really don't want just anybody getting up there to preach, because they could take some pretty horrible positions and use the Bible to justify them. Many churches get around this by requiring someone who preaches to be somehow ordained.

Good point, Spouse.

So, how to get around that? I do want anyone to be able to get up and preach, as long as they are Biblically grounded. I don't want them to have to have a seminary degree, though they should be knowledgeable of the Bible and basic Christian beliefs. I also don't want people to get up there and push an agenda, using the Bible to support it - the idea is preaching on the Bible itself.

You could have a requirement of the number of times they have to attend before they can preach, and have some sort of governing body approve them. This would probably involve knowing the topic ahead of time and getting to know the person. However, this puts more power in the hands of a governing body, rather than little small groups within the larger group being equal, with each small group able to do what it wants. (so that gets around the idea of "you'd need a governing body anyway to make the church's decisions".). You could do it as a small group model, where the group leader must approve of the person, though that definitely puts the power in the hands of one person, and if your group leader didn't like you, you'd be unable to preach.

So I guess a small governing body of people chosen by the church would be the best option. Although then people would choose their friends instead of the best leaders. The governing body would be small enough to be doctrinally consistent (even if they come from different denominations, as long as there are no major differences in theology) but large enough to not hold to just one theology and consider all else wrong, and large enough to incorporate a diversity of opinions to balance each other out. Grr, having to set up a government here, which is exactly what the Founding Fathers went through when they set up the United States - how to set up a government which fairly represents the people and their wishes but doesn't ramrod over a minority? In this case, it's how to set up a board which represents a diversity of opinions but not so diverse that you become inconsistent with Scripture and thus stray theologically.

Perhaps publishing by-laws, or defining theological lines? Of course, those theological lines would be broadly drawn (e.g. no official stance on whether baptism is necessary for salvation, or infant baptism, or transubstantiation, or any other non-salvation-oriented denominational issue), but would be clear on certain basic Biblical beliefs, the set that someone MUST believe in order to be considered a Christian.

If I Started a Church, It Would Be Revolutionary and Unlike Anything You've Seen, and Here's Why

Who is Church aimed at?

This post (and yes, the title question will be answered - keep reading) came about because I was reading an interesting blog post yesterday about how to be a Christian pastor. Written by a pastor with a PhD and specialty in pastoring, whose job is to teach future Christian pastors, that carries a lot of weight. He said (and I'm paraphrasing here) that a pastor's job is not to provide moral truth, and not to provide teaching, but to provide God's truth of His son Jesus Christ (in other words, the message of the cross...every sermon?).

I know as a believer, it gets tiresome to constantly hear the salvation message when I already believe. Of course it is important, and we should hear it occasionally to remind ourselves of it, but I don't believe believers need to hear it every sermon, because we're already converted. We already agree with it, so there's no need to harp on it or convince us.

So I found that I fundamentally disagree with this pastor, and realized that's because I realized I believe church's function is for a different audience (believers) than he does (non-believers). Which brings up the question:

"Why should Christians go to church?"
 This one is easy to answer - Christians all know the "right answer" is "Because we should, because the Bible commands us to." But, thinking about it, the better question is:


"Who is Church aimed at?"
Which ultimately comes down to how you picture an ideal Christian and their lifestyle, and what that looks like in the modern world. This is something I spend a lot of time thinking about.

If you've seen my last couple posts, you're probably aware that Spouse and I are considering starting a Bible Study, and at one point, I had the feeling God said "think bigger". What is bigger than a Bible Study? A church. The thought that God might want us to start a church is a very scary thought to me, as someone who grew up with a fear of people and someone who doesn't have any sort of seminary degree (and neither does Spouse). So the thought is intimidating, but if God wants to bring it about, He must think it's necessary, so who am I to argue?

First, let's consider the Christian community (and this is what I consider the christian church as a whole, consisting of everyone who has made the decision to follow Jesus, encompassing lots of denominations). I'm thinking mostly of the Christian community of the early church, described in the Book of Acts. 

• There are people who have made the decision to follow Christ, who've been around a long time and seen a lot of miracles done and people converted.
• There are new believers who are thinking, "okay I've put my trust in Christ but I don't know much about being a Christian...so now what? I want to learn more from someone."
• There are people hanging around who may have varying degrees of interest in Christ but are not yet Christians. They're just people's friends or acquaintances, who are kind of curious about Christianity.
• Then there are the people we're interacting with:  healing, preaching to, helping. The poor, whether physically or in spirit.

So I imagine the time of an ideal Christian would be spent something like this:

• in corporate or private worship (an outpouring of praise or thanks to God)
• in corporate teaching (learning/modifying our views of God)
• praying (deepening our relationship w/ God)
• Seeking God through reading the Bible (growing on our own journey)
• interacting with and uplifting our neighbors  (both non-Christians and other Christians)
  
  
  So, I see a Christian's time spent during the week as praying and reading the Bible in order to self-grow. So then, why meet for church? It's true that the Bible commands us to meet with others, saying it is good. And it feels good to talk to like-minded people, especially when you're feeling down or have some questions about things. It's especially good when you get to talk to someone encouraging, who is very nice and yet knows more (or can talk to God with you and beseech God for you) and so can give you advice.
  
  The Answer Is:
  
  During the week, I see a Christian reading the Bible and praying fervently, and volunteering with non-Christians and spending time with both Christians and non-Christians, but probably more on a one-on-one basis. Meeting also with one person in a discipling relationship, though every discipling relationship is a two-way street for learning from the other person, asking questions, and growing in faith. New Christians are probably being discipled by Longer Christians, but at some point you'll go from meeting with someone where you ask most of the questions, to meeting with someone else where you'll be able to provide a lot of guidance for their questions.
  
  On Sundays, I think Christians should meet together to worship corporately (that, at least, is the same). But, and here's where it's different, I think church should be an informal setting, a place to socialize and come together, followed by a teaching meant for all Christians there.
  
  Here is how I'd structure "church" (meant for believers, and those interested in Christ):
  Sunday Morning (just because most people already have this time set aside for "Church"):
  

  •  The primary audience is Believers
  • Start with a potluck breakfast. So yes, you'd get fed at church, and eat while you listen. People socialize with other Christians (people who share the same joy and outlook as they do), the people they haven't seen all week. This is a time for catching up, encouraging, asking questions, setting up lunch dates, etc. Short prayer before eating.
  • Corporate worship (this is the same)
  • People share testimonies of the week. Anyone who has a story of something great God's done or doing may share. This is meant to encourage and hearten the members, because we often don't even know what God is doing in the same part of the city next to us! If we don't see people regularly or it's not our group, we don't know, and it's cool to hear of miracles or conversions or great stories of God working. This setup naturally brings us closer to God and at the same time magnifies His greatness (whereas regular church, you just sit and listen, by nature not doing any of these things). Similarly, hearing your testimony could encourage people who have been discouraged that week in their own work. This works to break down walls between people (none of that just showing up to church and leaving, keeping everyone separate from each other and feeling like you don't know anyone). It serves to keep everyone at the same status (what the New Testament commands, and we don't do today!) and opens an intimacy through shared struggles and great works.
  • Short or long teaching where everyone just listens (like a sermon), but not just by one pastor. Throughout the week, anyone in the congregation (get rid of status; we're all Christians, so we all have the same status! No one preacher). So anyone in the congregation who might like to teach that week lets the group know, and after prayerfully considering all the possibilities, the group picks one (either through consensus or drawing lots). So that person stands up and gives a teaching meant for all the believers. This isn't a chance to just talk, but is only meant for someone who feels all believers need to hear something or correct a misconception.
  • Group prayer, where either everyone in the group prays at once, or people take turns praying for different issues throughout their lives, the community, and world. This is more of a focus on the community and world, as throughout the week, you're praying for people in your own life.
  Now, this structure does not give the Gospel Message to new believers. The reason most churches right now focus on giving the Gospel Message through preaching is a church service is seen as the primary way to convert someone. Most people may branch out to their friends and form a relationship, but don't know how to give the Gospel message themselves, so they invite that person to church and let the preacher do it for them. 
  This is a major problem.
  Every Christian needs to be able to give the Gospel message. It will always be scary, and we may need several versions of it, but really we're telling people why we believe. Our experiences will always be more convincing to a friend than listening to a sermon. Also, the time when a person needs to hear that message may not coincidentally fall on Sunday morning at 10 AM or whenever your church service is. They may go through an issue in their life where they need that message now. So if members were equipped, we would be able to give that message when people need to hear it, and not force them to wait for Sunday morning.
  
  The other problem is that when a church pastor is the only one to give that message, it means they must preach the salvation message every Sunday, in case there's a new person (because no one wants to miss the chance for someone to hear the Gospel message). However, 99% of the time, it's the same old crowd of believers only, and no new people. So you're boring your congregation.
  
  
  I believe to fix this, you would have a separate service or time set aside for people interested in checking out Christianity. While Sunday morning would be primarily a time for believers (although anyone would be welcome, because as believers we live an open lifestyle where people who see become curious or see God's works for themselves and want to join - it is not our amenities or music setup or our riches which attract members, which is what churches are doing today - they are selling those products, not God, and those are what are meant to attract new people. Disgusting.), you would always have a pastor available at a designated time during the week to give the Gospel message to anyone who showed up. This would catch the few people who weren't given the Gospel message through relationship with a friend, and for some reason if a particular Christian was unable to give the Gospel message to a certain friend or acquaintance, they could always attend with that person (going together, because community is what draws and anchors people), and the pastor would give it. Similarly, people in the community who simply heard and didn't meet other people first could come and hear the Gospel Message. So, it would be like a movie showing the Gospel Message every week, at this time.
  
  
  The benefits of this method are:
  1. The person acting as a pastor wouldn't feel the pressure of having to come up with a new sermon every week - which I feel is too much of a load on one person anyway! You can't force creativity every week, so you'd get better quality sermons if you rotated the load to other people.
  2. The congregation members would not be bored by the Gospel message they already know every week, but could attend the Gospel Message presentations if they chose.
  3. The pastor would get really good at presenting the Gospel Message, and sermons would be much shorter.
  4. The emphasis is more on community and individual relationships, which is what draws people anyway, and gives more responsibility to the individuals and God as it was in the New Testament, and less on power structures or fancy trappings to draw people, which are easily abused (I've seen it happen more times than I can count, especially pastors abusing their power or leaders letting it get to their head and lording that over other people, which in itself is unbiblical and causes people to hate Christianity). And the whole "pursuit of the American Dream of wealth advocated as Christianity" is definitely Not Biblical.
  5. It keeps people more involved. Everyone now has a stake in church, so it's less of something you show up to and more of something we're all working to keep going. So people are less likely to fall away, and it spreads the load to many shoulders, making lighter loads for the leadership.
  6. It builds intimacy, because you're hearing others' struggles and problems during Testimony time, but also their successes, and seeing the different ways God acts. So it helps me see more of God's power, helps me see how God can act in different situations (so if I have a hard situation that I haven't seen God in yet, or have different experiences with God, it's not treated as strange or lesser. No one right way.), and helps me appreciate the diversity God put on this earth. And hearing others' problems is a great way to get to know people and feel close to them in a short time.