Cwillz Spills

About a month ago (I’m a little behind on my Reader) Greg Boyd posted his review of The America Patriot’s Bible.  It’s  version of the Bible that puts American nationalism next to the scripture.  As far as I can tell, the commentary misrepresents the historical truth of history and of the Biblical narrative.

Part of Boyd’s take, fully available here:

* Perhaps the most famous verse in the Bible is John 3:16 which tells us “God so loved the world he gave his only Son…” This inspires the commentators of the Patriot’s Bible to quote Colin Powell on how “the United States has sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders.”

Really? Really?? With all due respect to the bravery of American soldiers, are you really suggesting that in sending soldiers to war, the United States is acting like God did when he sent his Son? Would you be willing to grant this parallel for every nation that has sacrificed young men and women in war, or is it just the United States that is God-like in doing this? Don’t Russians and Iranians love their children too? And aren’t we tip toeing dangerously close to blasphemy when we compare our nations military with the sacrificial love of God? Just wondering.

* Jesus statement that “if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed” (Jn. 8:36) inspires a page long commentary on the Bill of Rights, with an ominous emphasis on how the “wall of separation” between church and state today is threatening freedom of religion.

Really? Doesn’t the wall separating church and state protect the freedom of religion? But more importantly, are we to actually believe the freedom Jesus was talking about had anything whatsoever to do with political rights? Why didn’t he say so, since his audience happened to have zero political rights. He could have inspired a violent political revolution, similar to the American Revolution, if he’d connected his freedom with political freedom.

Wait a minute: this is exactly what many in his audience wanted and expected Jesus to do. How did Jesus respond? He rebuked them, telling them instead to love and do good their enemies. It’s kind of what got him crucified. His “freedom,” like his Kingdom, apparently is “not of this world.” Nevertheless, the Patriot’s Bible succeeds in accomplishing what Jesus’ audience could not. Jesus becomes the champion of political freedom after all! Patriot’s Bible — 1. Jesus — 0.

Thank you, Greg for posting this.  I hope that all of us will see that our first and only real allegieance must be to Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.

May the Lord’s will be done,

CWillZ

Krista Tippet and Zondervan recently teamed up to host a discussion with Charles Colson, Greg Boyd, and Shane Clairborne about Evangelicals and politics.  There is great input from all three, exploring the tensions that I like to  flesh out with my friends like Neil, Adam, Jennifer, Scott, Ben, Dauthan, Bryant, my small group, and others.  Here is a small taste:

The full versions are available(web stream or MP3 download) on the Speaking of Faith site and on iTunes for free.

A few of my thoughts:

1) I want to be like all 3 of these men when I grow up.  Each has been very faithful with what God has given them.

2) I felt a little bad for Chuck Colson because I think he didn’t get a chance to speak as much.  Maybe that isn’t true, but I really wanted him to say more.

3) Notice there are honest and somewhat should-be abrupt disagreements between these men (the most obvious being Shane’s blatant anti-military stance), but it is clear  that these guys are on the same team.  Hopefully the core group of people that follow each of them agree on that.

4) Greg’s story about mixing nationalism and faith really hits home with me.  It bothers me deeply that many Christians I know’s view of Christ is inseperably entangled in Americana.  See this post.

5) Where are the women? Momma T!

6)Where are the minorities? Discussion about Dr.King does happen quite a bit in the session, which is a starting point for the necessary inclusion of minority voices.

7) Colson is a tough old man and I love his fatherly tone when he suggests that others need to have the courage “take a political stance” and go from there.

There seems to be a big tension between Augustinian thought and Jesus thought, or at least the expressions from those who emphasize one over the other.

Which one of these men would you vote for if all three were running for president?

May the Lord’s will be done,

CWillZ

Adam is a good friend of mine that is also involved in student ministry. Recently I was visiting him during a small group meeting at his apartment and sneaked some footage of him teaching a lesson that we LOVE!

Nice.

More on the Righteousness Window (shout out to Carl Ellis) here.

May the Lord’s will be done,

CWillZ

I have this passage from Luke’s account of the last supper on my mind recently. This night one night was so dramatic! Lots of surprises and important details in a few short pages.  It would have been terribly long and difficult for Jesus and the disciples. The evening begins.

The meal has been served, the cup and bread were given as signs of a new covenant.  Jesus confers (gives) the Kingdom to this group of young men.  To (Simon) Peter, who he told that he was going to be the rock on which Christ’s church is built (Matt 16:18), he said (Luke 22:31-34):

31“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you^[a] as wheat. 32But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

33But he replied, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.”

34Jesus answered, “I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.”

The footnote in my bible tells me that the “you” in verse 31 is plural, so it should read “Satan has asked to sift y’all”.  Satan had asked to sift the group like wheat.  Indeed, the group was shaken and Judas, who had given into evil was separated from the group for good.

Another interesting thing about being sifted is that is separates groups into individual parts.  This group of young followers of Jesus had become a clump that was closely bonded.  Sifting would have been a painful breaking apart of the group.

During that sift, Peter (the Rock on which Christ had chosen to build the Church) even denies Jesus just as Jesus told him.  The disciples are broken apart, and the leader of the group denies Christ 3 times!

Sift.

When Christ restores Peter, he gives him the task of taking care of the church and feeding the his sheep. It may not be obvious to us, but it is so much easier to feed the sheep if they are together!!  The disciples had been sifted, broken apart, and painful separated from each other.

Today, Christians all over the world are broken apart. Some will not have anything to do with each other. There is one true God and all of us who trust and live Him belong the same family.  There are no Baptist, Catholic, Methodist, EV Free, Methodist, Reformed, Non- or Inter- Denominational churches but one (1) body of Christ that spans the globe and time. It is time to be one.

If you are following Christ, listen carefully. God builds his church by bringing together that which Satan has broken apart. That is the rock that this house is built on.

Jesus, pray for our faith that we may not fall. Bring us together for your sake.  Take the sifted and baked with us how you wish. Teach us to strengthen our brothers and sisters as we turn back to you.

May the Lord’s will be done,

CWillZ

p.s. Did you hear about the guy that fell in the sifter last week?

He is fine.

This is for my students that recently attended an evangelism equipping weekend called Dare 2 Share.  We learned that there are 3 levels of sharing your faith. The first was telling. The second is explaining. The third is discussion.  Greg Stier used (overused IMO) a surfing term “shredding the gnar” for taking the hard but best road of discussing your faith and being willing to engage in the difficult questions and doubts that will arise.  Students were asked to immediately share their faith even before the weekend was over.  The Lord moved in our lives and in the lives of the people we have been talking to about our God.

Students and other fellow evangelists, I have some words for you. Some things not to forget:

1) John the Baptist and Jesus both preached repentance and baptism for the sake of the Kingdom.  Repentance is leaving life as you knew and and being baptized is joining with Christ as a part of his Kingdom as a forgiven person. Saying some words is not the same as walking out of a life of death into a life of freedom and light. As you tell people about Jesus, don’t forget that he told us that we would probably die, suffer, be made fun of, and be misunderstood for following Him.  Are they ready to do it for real?

2) The Kingdom is good news indeed. God wants things to be right between you and him, you and others, and even the whole world.  His way is what we are signing on for. It is not our way, but much much better.  Sometimes we can’t see that, but trust Him.

3) You are being saved from hell and being released from sin, but you are also being brought into a life of faith that is lived out in love and obedience.  God’s will for your life is about today as well as tomorrow.

4) The Gospel means a personal relationship, but it also means joining in doing things God’s way and having the privilege of being a part of a movement and purpose existed before time and has changed the lives of millions already.

5) If you don’t have answers, it doesn’t mean your faith is worthless. We were made to search for God together.

6) The power that raised Christ from the dead is alive and works through us.

7) If God is asking you to tell someone about Him, do it.  Do it well. That is your part. It is the Spirit’s who changes hearts.

I love you guys and am amazed at what God is doing through you.

May the Lord’s will be done,

CWillz

Days, weeks, months, years, decades, centuries go by after Israel had been told that a Messiah would come. The anticipation turned sour. Some doubted that it would ever happen. Others spent their lives projecting all of their hopes onto this predicted and fateful moment in history. Much like how we wait for Him to come again today, some people had outrageous expectations while others could fester little more than bland nonchalance towards the coming Messiah.

So when that day–the day–arrived, what were they to think? The symphony that is the course of history–human and cosmic alike–took a new tempo and changed keys. Silence was broken as the God allowed himself to be birthed just as you and I were. His eyes opened, his body was wiped, and his mother probably wanted to yell at Joseph during her post-natal hormone rage, but she knew that it was not his fault.

It was the Father’s fault. She and her husband started to care for God, who chose to be caged inside of the flesh of humanity. Gracefully the Child screams and cries for food and warmth. Most babies miss the comfort of the womb. This one also missed the privilege of being in the form of God and being in heaven with the Father. He would soon feel just how cold, alone and ungrateful the world could be. He knew in that moment(indeed He had always known), as He experienced the human condition as a human, what the next 33 or so years had in store.

The day he was birthed was the down payment for a very costly and humiliating life. This humiliation was the only real hope. If He cared, and He does, He was the one to do this.

Israel gets their Messiah, and the Conductor marks a downbeat to a new tune. The orchestra of creation is stirred and sits up straight. Something in His eyes communicates that this is going to be beautiful. Celebrate well today — God is with us!

May the Lord’s will be done,

CWillZ

This is one of those words I have read time and time again and pretended to know what it meant.  Malleable.  I looked it up about a week ago and have been thinking about it since.

Malleable means “able to be hammered or pressed permanently out of shape without breaking or cracking.”

In January I sat around a table with other Christian Ed seniors from Taylor.  Somehow the conversation turned to motivation and how “God got a hold of us”.  Our professor highlighted the extremes (paraphrase):  “For some people it like God just whispers in their ear, for others it is like God knocks them flat on their face.”  When he said the last part, I involuntarily agreed aloud and my contemporaries noticed laughingly.

God is a good father and knows what we need much better than we do.  At just the right time, He will move in our lives in innumerable ways.  I hear God in whispers, but God also gets a hold of me driving me to my knees and face. Sometimes — sometimes often–it is like God needs to pound us out to shape us like a metalworker beautifies his art or makes a tool for a specific job.  I often imagine my close friends watching what God is doing with/to/in/through me and cringing like parents who have to let their children go into surgery.

Malleable.  Able to be pounded on without breaking or cracking.  Sometimes I wonder just how hard and how long God needs to pound.  I think that the next blow will break me.

“Just trust me,” He says.  He works and works.  It hurts.  The work is all his.  It’s like getting a root canal.  When he is done, its often sore for a while, but its better. Again, its what you need/ed.  When the hammer falls, it is our option to surrender and ask that His will be done.  In surrender, we love and trust that His pounding is making us into what he wants and needs.  His pounding will not break or crack us if we surrender to Him.

May the Lord’s will be done,

CWillZ

On May 18th, I was handed a diploma holder and a towel as I walked across the stage during commencement from Taylor University. The towel is a reminder from the alumni association to follow Christ in serving others in humility (John 13).

The thing about the towel is that it’s value is somehow connected to its use.  A towel is used for drying, and a rag is used for cleaning.  If your life is like a a towel or a rag, you will occasionally get wet and you will get filthy — but that is part of being useful.

Revelation’s warning to the church of Laodeica is: “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” This passage is said to refer to usefulness by implying that hot and cold water are moving.  Hot and cold water have their purposes, but stagnant, lukewarm water quickly becomes useless and nonpotable.

Part of our purpose is to actively and usefully clean up the world we live in.  But how does water make itself hot or cold?? How does a towel get used for the good?  How does a rag become a used and filthily fulfilled rag?

To be used by God, we have to allow him to take us, use us, and to humbly be his:

Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.

Repent, sit and be God’s, read this chapter.  Take on life to its fullest.

Be hot, be cold, keep moving, be useful.  Be filthy and used from cleaning up a world in need.

May the Lord’s will be done,

CWillZ

“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14

This verse was the focus of a book that an informal group of friends and I read in high school called The God Chasers by Tommy Tenny.  We read the book together, prayed for each other, served our community, had fun (at times way too much).  This was just one of the ways that God got a hold of a group of us as young people in Columbus, IN.

Often this motley crew would hang out or meet without specific agenda, sometimes just to pray for each other, people close to us, our city, our country, our families, against spiritual attacks.  We longed to see God come and have His way.  We also spent time studying the Bible and digging into things that were important to us.

Some of our prayers were answered immediately, others seemed to be ignored.  From what I can remember, many of mine got answered in a much better way than what I asked for.

I remember several of our leaders in the various ministries that we were involved in would often tell us that they really thought that God was going to use our generation of young people in big ways.  In those few years, we saw many of our friends come to follow Jesus for the first time — all to the glory of God. 

Today I think about where that group is and what God is doing with us.  I rejoice that many of us our still about the business of the Kingdom, many of us in some form of ministry.  Here is where a few of us from this group are serving today:

John Bundick is Youth Director @ Hartford City UMC.  He has an iPhone and pushes students to love without ceasing.

Jon Boriss is a doing a creative arts internship @ 2|42 Community Church in where he claims to work with the best middle and high school students ever in Whitmore Lake, MI.

Tim Hollowell teaches at John Marshall Community High School (IPS), in Indianapolis.

Lindsey Bodine continues to love students at North View Assembly of God in Columbus, IN.

Katie Proctor is Youth Director @ Faith Luthern Church in Andover, MA.

Many of our friends continue to faithfully seek God and love others in their churches, communities, and online.

I am very happy to be a part of a generation of people who started as young people and are now spending our lives advancing the Kingdom by leading and loving others. 

On behalf of all of those mentioned here and the countless others, thank you to all of our youth workers, pastors, volunteers and parents.  Every time you hosted a club, youth group, donated, prayed for us, took phone calls, or encouraged us you were teaching us how to love and live. 

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9

A note to all of us:  Keep going.  It is worth it.

May the Lord’s will be done,

CWillz

Last night we watched Amazing Grace, a movie that portrays the life of leading British politician William Wilberforce and his fight to pass bills leading to the abolition of the slave trade.  While I have not checked into the historicity of the film, I trust that it is at least conceptually accurate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abolitionism

As a young man, Wilberforce was faced with the dillema of choice between life of ministry or of politics.  He had a good life as a young statesman, but was inspired by his pastor John Newton, who was reformed former slave trader and writer of the hymn “Amazing Grace”.  For him, it was very apparent that the solution to the dillema was ironically obvious.  God’s will for ‘Wilby’ was to proclaim God’s justice and greatness through his work as a statesman (MP, Prime Minister). 

There are many great lessons to write about from this film and this truly inspired event of history.  I will name a few today and tomorrow I will post about what is actually on my heart heavily after seeing this film.

1) You often must change the culture before you can change laws, and even then it will be costly.

2) The kindness of a spouse and good friends can inspire the weariest of souls.

C) We are terrible sinners.

$) Christ is an amazing savior.

5) Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.

May the Lord’s will be done,

CWillz