A Community of Life

Last week, I asked the men to read Chapter 11 once more and highlight their favorite passage.  I also asked them to be prepared to share that passage as well as explain why it meant so much to them.  I enjoy doing this, because it allows me to see the heart, and soul of the men in a way that very rarely gets seen in our hectic life.

I would love to tell you who made the comments, but we made a promise to one another that what was said would be kept in the men's group.

One of the first comments was sparked by a paragraph in Pg 170  about our lives being so hectic, that we rarely have time for community.  Isn't it community we actually want?  We create these virtual communities called Facebook, Twitter,  etc. etc. etc. . . .ad-inifitum, to replace the true sense of community that is shared around a table with brothers and sisters in the Lord.  His profound plea; we need to seize every opportunity to fellowship with one another.

From that one remark, the morning moved in a delightful affirmation of the joy of finding the LOVE of Christ in one another.  The restoration and rebirth we have in Christ brings us into a community of life, and love.  Our greatest joy is found in making decisions that are based upon what Christ wants us to do.  This gift has nothing to do with our righteousness, but the tender mercies of the Creator who loves the dead, and dying.  It goes to our identity with one another.  Is the creator our identity our are we doing this on our own power? Are we willing to give up everything to allow Him to fulfill his purposes in our life?   Is there a distinct difference between us, and those who don't know Christ?  What fills up our days?  If we are more concerned with our own personal needs, we won't know the peace that is born of a life of true community.  What makes Christianity attractive? What is the benefit of a life surrendered to Christ in the context of living an uninhibited life?  Christians aren't immune from sorrow, despair, tragedies of every ilk, so what is the big difference?
I ask you, and myself these questions paraphrased from the comments each man offered this morning.  They weren't questions when they were offered up.  Yet, as each man spoke his heart, I found myself asking myself the question that these comments engendered.  I am only now, after 47 years of calling myself a Christian, beginning to lay hold of some of the answers.  Everything I thought were answers so many years ago, have been stripped away.
Wes Yoder, makes the comment that we need to bury the crud in our life in the coffin we've built for ourselves.  Actually, I'd need a dumpster to handle all of my mess.
I'm so thankful for the men in our fellowship, and their willingness to share their hearts.   We still have three more people to share their favorite passage, but we'll do it next week.

Of Coffins, Death, and Life

I apologize for taking so long to write this blog.  I've been busy at home doing a bathroom remodel, trying to get ready for my children to come visit at Thanksgiving.  So, this blog is a little overdue.

As all of you who attend the Men's meeting are aware, Chapter 11 is my favorite.  The first time I read the book, I had to share this chapter with Pastor Eric.  There are so many deep, fundamental truths within the beautiful story of his Grandfather's Coffin.  It touched me at a level that goes to who I am as a builder, tradesman, and more so,  as a Christian.  It's a somber chapter, in that it deals with the issues of death and dying.  I can't help but wonder how many of us are really ready to die.  What happened to the sure knowledge that this life begins with a road sign pointing toward death?  The entrance, and exit ramp on this highway called life, are sure.  The minute you breathe, you are confronted with the inevitability of death.  It is how we live in between the start and the end, that makes a difference.  What Wes Yoder makes abundantly clear, is that it is our bond with the community of life, that makes the difference.

For those who've faced death head-on, there is almost a serene acceptance of what is just beyond that last breath.  For myself, my moment came as I was returning to Las Vegas on a  Boeing 727.  It was a military contract flight, and the weather conditions weren't the best.  The cross winds on the airfield were borderline, and we'd already been circling in pattern for over an hour.  The sun was beginning to set as we flew over Mount Charleston in our approach.  We were at 11,000 feet when suddenly the air disappeared beneath our wings.  The huge aircraft dropped flat for a second or two, then the #2 engine above the fuselage had a compressor stall.  The left wing dipped, and I looked out the window to see the desert floor rushing up towards us.  You would think that with an aircraft full of military men, expletives would be flying all over the place.  I can tell you I only heard two or three, "Oh, S....s."   What I did hear was a few men calling out 'Mom,' and a whole aircraft load of "Oh God, Oh God, Oh God."  I was bracing myself with the arm rest as the wing began to curve dangerously  upward,  and through tear filled eyes, I could see individual mesquite bushes below me.  The man next to me tried to brace himself, and crushed my hand in his attempt to find the handrail.  I felt the bone in my pinky finger crack, and his fingernails biting deep into my flesh.  I still have the scars to show for it.  I looked into his eyes and suddenly knew what death looked like.  It often comes upon you without warning, and when you least want it.  As you can tell, because you're reading this, we didn't die. The pilot managed to regain control of the plane, and restart the stalled engine.  I sure didn't want to clean that cockpit.  The rumor mill has it, that when she regained control of the flight, we were at 3,000 feet AGL. In flight terms, another thousand feet, and we'd have been a pile of burning metal and flesh on the desert floor just outside of Nellis Air Force Base.  Needless to say, when we finally landed, the entire passenger compartment erupted in applause.  Even the stewards and stewardesses applauded.  Good job, Dale.

Since that moment, death is a lot less frightening to me.  You see, while that plane was sliding sideways through the sky, I was sliding toward a place I had thought myself ready to go to.  Except, I didn't feel ready. I was told by my buddy who left his handprint in my flesh, that my eyes were as wide as saucers, and I was shaking like a leaf.  He swears, my only words were, "I'm sorry."   My problem is, I don't remember saying it.  I don't remember anything, but silently asking God to forgive me of my sins before I die.  I don't know who or what I as apologizing for.

I'm ready to die, now.  Not in a morose anticipation of death as an escape, but in a joyous expectation of what lies ahead.  Yes, I resist the pain I know comes with dying, but the actual passing doesn't scare me.

The men who attended Sunday's meeting know how I want to die, they know how I want to be remembered.  Still one thing is for sure; what I want I may not get.  Dying is an extremely personal thing.  All I know, is that I don't want a bunch of uncircumcised Philistines burying me either.  Thank you, Bro. Wes.  We need to have some kind of dignity brought back into the interment of our loved ones.

Your homework assignment for this coming Sunday is to re-read chapter eleven and highlight the ONE passage that spoke to you.

See you there.

Doing Church Better

If you haven't figured it out by now, I love the men in our fellowship. I eagerly look forward to any opportunity to be with them. Whether it is during the week, or in the process of doing 'Church,' I thoroughly enjoy every one of them. Yesterday's Men's group only served to reinforce my opinion of them. Last week, I assigned them to read chapter 10 once more and be prepared to explain one way we could “do church better.” It was a trick question, and I knew they would figure out what I was asking.  I also know from experience, that there are groups where the answers would be akin to things like: We could be friendlier. We could tone down or turn up the music. We need to shorten or lengthen the service. Change the carpet, move the pulpit, get a new Pastor. Our men knew what I was asking, and their answers were the kind of answers that reveal how we view ourselves.

I'm not going to waste a lot of time saying who said it, but here is a list of what was said.

• We could be more committed to one another and God. We need to come together to pray more.
• We need to give each other a greater degree of significance.
• We need to increase our devotion to one another, and take responsibility for our own actions.
• We need to strengthen one another and be more concerned with the welfare of others.
• We need to be interested in others.
• We need to do what we can do and stop waiting for others to do it
• We need to love more.
• We need to look outward toward the needs outside of our fellowship.
• We need to listen to the Holy Spirit more, and use His gifts more.

There were more people there, but some of the men repeated what others had already said. We barely made it around the table, so there wasn't much time for me to sew everything up into a nice neat bundle.

Chapter Ten of Bond of Brothers is a tough chapter. If you read my last blog, you know why. All across American, and to some extent, the World, we've faltered in our understanding of what 'Church' is. Church has become a verb instead of a noun. We've tacked it onto the end of our illustrious name we give ourselves, and we expect people to be able to discern the difference between our name and what we do. I believe it is why, except for a chosen few, 'church' is nothing more than two or three hours a week.

The reason it fails as a social experiment, is because you can't 'do' church. You are either the 'called out' or you aren't. You can have the most magnificent building, unending talent, genuinely interested leaders, and fantastic entertainment, but in the end you will have nothing more than an over glorified social club that does wonderful things in the guise of religion. Wes Yoder understands one thing that has somehow been lost in our attempts to 'do' church. The 'Church' is people, and we were made to have relationship with one another through Christ. That is why it is called a 'Body' by the Apostle Paul. The life's blood that flows through us, and holds us together, is the blood of Jesus. It is His Holy Spirit that bonds us together at a molecular level. Without the Holy Spirit, we are nothing more than individuals being held in a 'christian' shaped cake pan. We may have all the ingredients, be completely devoted to one another, and even mingle together, but until we've been mixed together to the point to where you can't tell us apart, we haven't attained.

Don't get me wrong, I believe God loves our unique qualities. You can't make a cake with flour only. A cake is made up of a host of ingredients, but until they are blended together, they are individuals that are barely palatable apart. So, to the men who pointed to our need for more of the Holy Spirit, my hat is off to you. It is the Holy Spirit that teaches us to love (1 Thessalonians 4:9) . Every effort to love by your own strength is noble, but if will fall short of the LOVE that you are capable of in Christ's Spirit. Dinner and Conversations without Christ's Spirit are nothing more than what men and women have done through the ages when they've met around the fire with nothing else to do. As Christians, we are told why we come together, and it would surprise you what that reason is. Why? Because so many fellowships and denominations have missed the point. A matter of fact, Christ never instructed us to meet together once or twice a week. HE EXPECTED MORE! He never provided us a model for how to 'worship' him except for one short sentence, “they shall worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.” That was all the instruction for worship he gave us. Why? Because all the previous instructions were still valid, but unheeded. If you don't do what you've already been told to do, why tell you to do anything more. His instructions were simple; Be Holy, love Justice, Love HIM, and Love one another.

Those of you who argue over form, music, style, size, and a host of other insignificant things, you need to revisit the Holy Spirit. Those things pale in the Presence of God. Even Solomon when he was desiring to build a temple for God, understood that the purpose of the Temple wasn't to house God, but for us to approach Him. Our fellowship, and Worship services, are for us to come to him, gain strength from one another, and then go out into our daily lives with His Spirit within us. The Church is waiting for us to come in, and the World needs Christ to come out with us. Anything less than HIS Spirit is a waste of time.   

What's Wrong With The Church?

Chapter Ten of “Bond of Brothers,” is my second least favorite chapter in the book, and at the same time, my second favorite chapter.  I don’t like the way it makes me feel, but it definitely makes me think.  It’s an awkward love/hate situation.  At one moment, I think I know what Wes is thinking, in another I’m convinced he doesn't know what he wants. Brother Yoder paints a dismal picture of the modern church, and at the same time, holds out hope for the future.  His complaint is that the men in the church are hopelessly isolated, insulated, and without real relationships.  Pastors are in need of friends, the brothers are less than transparent, and love is sadly lacking.  From the master generalizer, (myself) I respectfully say: NO, tain’t true.  I was glad when one of the Brothers in our Men’s group, simply said; “He comes from a different background than us.”     SO TRUE! 

Don’t get me wrong, I fully appreciate Bro. Yoder’s observations. The worldwide church is a conflicted, split personality, working against itself across the spectrum of human endeavor.  All you have to do is watch enough Christian programming on TV, and listen to enough Christian radio shows, and you will pick up on the same issues that Brother Wes is deriding.  The Church has broken off into diametrically opposed factions, who spend their time lobbing canon shots at one another hoping to sink the opposition’s vessel of reason, or at best blow up their self absorbed delusional fantasies.  He paints the picture of a soulless, empty church stumbling along like a blind man groping for the truth.  Most of us would agree with him, if we were half-honest with ourselves. Somewhere in his rants and irritation, is the theme of the book; we have failed to find the power of relationship with one another through the love of Christ. It is a bleak picture, unless you happen to be one of those healthy fellowships.  If you are one of those healthy fellowships, can you endure a thorough self-inspection?  If during the inspection, you discover something is wrong,  are we willing to repent even if we think we’ve been doing things right?  Can the Lord chastise us through the voice of an author who’s never stepped foot in our church?  Are we really alright?

This morning I gave the men a homework assignment that asked; Can we do ‘Church’ better?  I can’t help but wonder if we’ve been doing it this way for so long, we don’t really know that it’s broke?  Maybe a better question would be; is it broke?   So many of the comments this morning were right on the mark.  Is it possible for us to discern when we are messed up?  What if you aren’t messed up?  What if you are doing all the right things, how would you know?  Is the size of a fellowship the measure of its success?   Can you be a ‘mega-church’ and be a ‘real’ church?  Is a small church better?  Is a large church better?  What is the measuring stick?  If size were the issue, then I imagine a church of twelve families would be considered a failure.  Yet, in His miraculous three-year ministry, Christ moved through this life with a core group of twelve men.  In today’s world, he would hardly warrant a listing in the phone book.  There has to be a better measure of whether a church is doing the right things.

Introspection and self-critique are two different things.  Introspection is based upon your own perception of you.  Reading Bond of Brothers, and evaluating yourself by the things Wes Yoder says, will not lead to change, because you are still looking at yourself from your own point of view.  It’s easy to offer up excuses, reasons, and give yourself pardon for who you are.  You can convince yourself that you are already doing things right.  However, if we read books like this one with an open heart to embrace the good things put before us, we won’t need to focus on what is wrong with our church.  When we look at ourselves in the mirror of what Jesus did, if we truly become envious of the life He lived, we will gravitate toward what we desire instead of avoiding what we don’t like.  I am saying this, because I believe our fellowship is  genuinely open to the leading of the Holy Spirit.  Can we do things better?  Yes.  Are we headed in the right direction?  Yes.   All you have to do is look how far we’ve come in the short time we’ve been a fellowship.  Is it a reason to sit on our laurels?  No.  I am hopeful for the Church.  I am more than hopeful for the church in Harrison, and I am convinced of the viability of our own fellowship. 

Brother Wes, I would like to invite you to our fellowship. We have a Pastor who is more than a friend.  Before we begged him to go ‘full time,’ he owned and worked in his own business.  He knows the savagery of working all day and then coming to church on Wednesday nights dog tired, and beat.  He knows what it is like to live on nothing, work your guts out, and then have someone ask you for more money than you have in your bank account.  He’s not the only Pastor like that. Harrison, Arkansas is filled with men like that.   Bro. Yoder,  I think when you are a man of your professional stature, you move in circles where the clichés abound, and men lose touch with one another.  Our men work hard.  We strive against a failing economy that isn’t of our own creation, to provide for our families with meager incomes.  We openly declare our weaknesses, addictions, and past addictions without fear of judgment to one another. We depend upon one another to be honest and help us grow.  Our men range from those with Masters Degrees, to those with a GED. Yet, we break bread with one another in a sincere desire to give life to one another.   Twelve-year-old boys sit down at the same table with men in their sixties.  We believe that if we ever feel we’ve attained, the Holy Spirit will stop talking to us.  We believe He put his gifts within us to perfect us.  He is the anvil against which we are formed.  I pray that we never say we have arrived, or grow tired of moving beyond the last revelation, but at the same time, I don’t accept the criticism that the Church has failed.  I don’t believe we are on life support either.  Televangelists, and Radio personalities are not indicative of who we are.  I don’t believe they are indicative of 80% of the churches in America.  In our own felIowship, I personally see God’s Spirit moving us to that place in Him where we can be truly effective.  Our men believe that each successive generation needs to know that there is more to add to the equation.  As long as we are here, as long as boys hold the promise of being men, we owe it to one another to seek to be better, to do it better, and to be more like our big brother.  PROOF:  We are reading your book as a study. 

Here at Real Ministries, and at many other fellowships in our fair city, relationship, and friendship have been our guiding principles from the very start. 

For those of you who weren’t there this morning, I asked everyone to read the chapter again and identify one thing we need to do better.  I know, it’s a hard chapter, but it should spur us on to become more like Christ.  

At The Heart of Betrayal

Our Men's group moved into Chapter Nine of “Bond of Brother's,” Sunday. I wasn't really ready for it. 

One of the things I've learned over the years as a teacher of men, is that they will only get as much as I've prepared for. I'm not just talking about study preparation, but also prayer combined with abstinence from things I know contaminate my spirit. This Sunday's Men's Group confirmed that once more. My work schedule over the last two days before Sunday, had put me in a negative sleep situation. Add a little bit of watching the wrong TV shows, and a dose of laziness, and you have the perfect recipe for failure to get the point across. I admit it, I have become a man of routines. My spiritual life depends upon that machine working according to a set routine.  I broke that routine in a major way this weekend, and needless to say, I don't think we made it to where we needed to be. Thankfully, the Pastor took it on out into the morning's service, and put it all together.

The subject of Chapter Nine, was betrayal. Live on this planet for more than a year or two, and you will experience betrayal. If suffering is inevitable, betrayal will probably be the source. Those who hold to a utopian idea of walking through this earth in utter bliss, unaffected by greed, power, or lust, have never met a human being. Those secular humanists who believe you can 'educate' mankind into a wonderful state of happy godhood, ascend into a state of perfection, and live above man's petty vices, forget that not all men want to be educated.  What do you do with them, kill them?  There goes your utopia if you know what I mean. 

Those who hold this life dear to their heart, will eventually come face to face with the reality that someone they love, love's this life more than they do. In this fertile ground, is the seed of betrayal. The truth is, the only one who can betray you, is the one you love. We reserve our worst punishment for traitors. Why? Because at the heart of it all is relationship. At some point, you trusted someone, loved them, and hoped for the best from them. Betrayal destroys all three. You expected better of them. You feel betrayed, because you believed in them. One of the saddest commentaries on this modern age, is that we put our trust, faith, and hope into people we don't even know. PROOF of that was the huge flap over the young movie actress who was caught having an affair with her director. Twitter and Facebook came alive with thousands of posts expressing the sorrow these people felt at being betrayed by the actress.

THEY DIDN'T KNOW HER!!!!!!!

They'd fallen in love with her romantic movie persona. They thought the person she was pretending to be was really her. Auuuuugggghhhhh!! We elect Presidents based upon what we think they are, and then become outraged when we discover they aren't. We call them liars. As Christians, we lift up ordinary men, and women until they assume messianic levels, and then hang them on a cross when they reveal their weakness. In every country, in every government, tribe, or family, is the desire to lift to greatness those of exceptional ability, heart, or spirit. At the heart of it, is the assumption that surely there is someone better than us. Surely on this planet, there is a human being worthy of the love and adulation we mortals can lavish on those we deem greater than ourselves. We want to believe this until we are ultimately betrayed.

There is only one who has withstood the temptations of power, lust, and greed. There is only one who is worthy of all praise. The problem is; He's not standing right in front of us. Hollywood, books, schools, and even false teachers, have tarnished his image. Jesus alone is what we are looking for. Even then, when we find him, we find ourselves looking for more, something better, something . . . .real Then we find betrayal.

At the heart of all of this, is another word that puts everything into perspective: forgiveness. You can say all the right things, do all the right things, profess Jesus till your blue in the face, but if you don't forgive, you won't be forgiven. Forgiveness overcomes the sorrow of betrayal. Forgiveness is the healing balm of Gilead. Forgiveness is the divine nature at work within us. Forgiveness is the one gift that gives both ways. Forgiveness has one amazing power that elevates us to being Christlike more than any other gift. If you forgive, you absolve God of having to do anything about the betrayal. While Vengeance is the Lord's, FORGIVENESS is yours. You have the power to change God's mind by simply refusing to let the wound fester and become infected. When you forgive someone of their sins against you, you remove retribution out of the picture. You wipe their slate clean. HOWEVER, if the idea of holding your grudge appeals to you, un-forgiveness is like a double edged razor, it cuts both ways. The cup of vengeance is full for the one who offended you, but your own hatred is a full cup already.

When we began Chapter Eight, there were those who wondered how sorrow could be good. In chapter nine, there were those who wondered how betrayal could bring about anything worthwhile. Let God be your answer. WE say that God loves unconditionally, but without conditions, he would not be capable of that kind of love. He loved us while we were yet enemies. To be His enemy we had to have been against him. It is in this deep mystery of life, that we discover the truth I've been trying to share with all of you for the last four weeks. Everything we've experienced, the Creator has experienced in measures beyond our understanding. Imagine his great sorrow as each successive generation denies him, refuses to do what he expects, and fails to trust that he will do what he says he will do. These feelings are at the heart of betrayal. HE knows what it feels like, because he's been betrayed. Now imagine his great joy at forgiving us of those sins. Joy's heights can only be measured against sorrow's depth. Faith is measured against those things which task it, and hope can only be measured against the hopelessness that calls it forth. These are the source of our power in Christ Jesus. At the moment of our worst betrayal, hope can rise up. To protect ourselves and those we love, we forgive. To move away from the sorrow, we can trust that God will work it all for our good.

For those who weren't there Sunday, read chapter ten.