Wednesday, September 29th, 2010

Just had to share as I’m soooo excited!

Sept. 29, 2010

Just had to share as I’m soooo excited!   

 I went to Olive Garden late afternoon to EAT (love their Linguini and Meatballs) and study Joshua.  It’s so cool how God speaks to us in His Word and sometimes even when we’re studying a particular thing, He uses it to venture off into other areas as His Word truly is Living!  Here I am studying Joshua and feeling a bit perplexed in how it relates to me in this 2nd chapter.  Because of the study Alex and Candi have, I sat there asking the Holy Spirit with more intention how it might apply to my life.  Anyways, God started pouring out things to me with regard to His care and intimate love for me; a further needed healing from what I’ve already been receiving at The Way.  Seems like The Way is breeding ground for experiencing personal and intimate love from our Lord Jesus!  My waiter, David, kept coming to my table and I noticed him trying to check out what I was writing and my Bible being opened to Joshua.  I was a little self conscious because of the spread of material I made on the table, but tried to dismiss being too concerned.  Well… he finally stopped and asked if he could ask me what I was writing and I had the opportunity to share that I was writing how I’ve gone through some difficult stuff, but how God has been caring for me.  I also shared how I hated to appear religious, because I’ve had my fill of religion and churchianity, but that God has become personal and intimate.  He opened up and said he noticed I was reading Joshua and because of that Book, he and his wife named their son Caleb, because of Caleb having the courage with Joshua to go into the land of Canaan and return with good report rather than fear.  He also shared that his dad was a Pentecostal preacher and although he loved his parents there was stuff.  I told him that I came from Pentecostalism and saw a lot of bad stuff and including abusive power and control, but I also knew the Holy Spirit was real.  I was able to tell him about The Way and how we believe in the Holy Spirit without the craziness and that there’s an emphasis on Servant Leadership rather than power and control.  I also had the privilege to share about Datron and it’s miracle and that we also get to meet at Datron!

In short, I left him the bookmark I had from the Servant Leadership Institute and briefly told him to check out the website for more information and then left a great tip!  I left with such a “bless your socks off” heart in that I actually had opportunity to share.  There have been other times people have asked me what I’m writing and I’ve gotten all tangled up trying to make it concise and relevant.  This time it just flowed and I was SO happy I had a place to point David to and a tool to use!  Plus, it’s a cool looking tool!  : )

Please feel free to share any of this information with Art Barter or Kathy Sivba if you think it would encourage them.

My heart is overflowing with gratitude to God!!!!

Love you guys!  

Melody Bollinger 

But if from there you will seek (inquire for and require as necessity) the Lord your God, you will find Him if you (truly) seek Him with all your heart (and mind) and soul and life.  Deuteronomy 4:29

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Monday, September 27th, 2010

Your Money or Your Life: Living as a Christ Follower in a Culture of More

The Pharisees were influential. As a religious and political party, they had more power than the Moral Majority or the Tea Party ever dreamed possible in the United States. Their name meant “to separate.” First, the name was designed to insult them as they were booted out of the Sanhedrin, the governing party, for their right-wing beliefs and strict religious ideology 120 years before Jesus. Second, in the time of Jesus’ public ministry, the Pharisees were the insiders and the power brokers of what was considered right and holy.

They carefully observed the Torah, even providing oral interpretations of the first five books of the Old Testament that would govern all kinds of behavior in almost every kind of situation. They were respected by most as reliable guides of right religion, but not by all. One particular and increasingly popular person had a problem with them, and the Pharisees had a problem with that one person. His name was Jesus.

What was the problem? Jesus saw right through their religious talk, holier than thou attitude, and justifying behavior. He saw their heart and he knew most of them were lovers of money instead of being lovers of God (Luke 16:14-15).

The Pharisees wanted more and more power. If a thing represented power, they wanted it. If it was status, they wanted it. Above all, they wanted wealth. In their day (and ours), wealth bought you certain privileges. The Pharisees certainly could identify with modern day Americans striving to move from survival, to sustaining, to hopefully succeeding in their financial goals. They could identify psychologically as they sought significance in a seemingly meaningless Roman world of idols and power mongers. What they were unwilling to do was to leave those aspirations and attachments behind while attempting to live in spiritual unity with God. So they lived as hypocrites and charlatans, living as a lie to even themselves (Matthew 23).

To all those in listening distance Jesus said, “None of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.”

WHAT? YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING! That is what the Pharisees thought too! The Bible says, “The Pharisees heard all this, and they ridiculed him.” That’s right; they mocked him, scoffed at him, filled with looks of derision and scorn.

So Jesus pulled a “Jesus” and told a parable of Lazarus and a rich man. You can read about it in Luke 16:19-31. The parable is full of contrasts and reversals. The poor man is named; the rich man is not. The rich man is dressed in expensive clothes; the poor man is dressed in “sores.” The rich man has a proper burial, while the poor man has none. By the end of the story, Lazarus, the poor man, is looking down from heaven, and the rich man is the one looking up, begging. Two worlds (rich and poor) within two worlds (life and beyond life) that are connected by the experience of death – wow! What drama!

What was the point of the parable? The rich man did not harm the poor man in any way. The rich man is not disdainful of Lazarus. The rich man’s sin was that he simply did not see the poor man as significant! His attachments to his wealth clouded his vision and impaired his ability to see the other like God sees others. The danger of not giving up all your possessions is that you will not see what God sees, you will not hear when God speaks, and you will not love whom God loves. If you are unwilling to see what God sees, hear when God speaks, and love whom God loves, Jesus says you can not be his disciple.

God sees the invisible suffering in this world and He wants all of us in the Church, as the embodied Christ, to see and then make visible, the visible suffering in the world. Paul writes to the Christ followers under Timothy’s care to be content in their present status with food and clothing and not strive to be rich for the “love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith.” (I Timothy 6:9-19).

In the age of consumption where greed is considered good, the followers of Christ must store for themselves treasures that will make a difference on earth as it is in heaven. Paul closes his letter to Timothy with a reminder to those who have in I Timothy 6:17-19, “command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and read to share, thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life.”

For His Kingdom, a church for the sake of others,

Fr. Tony Baron

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Friday, September 24th, 2010

Your Money or Your Life: Living as a Christ Follower in a Culture of More

Gospel of Luke 16:19-31

Being a Christ-follower means a series of choices between life and death, light and darkness, others and self, accumulating or dispensing, contentment and striving. The choices you make in the course of your life will determine if you are indeed a disciple of Jesus or simply a religious person who claims to know God. Both kinds of people can look good to others, but only God knows the heart! In parable form, Jesus speaks to us about living as a Christ follower in both a secular and religious consumption for more, more, and more.

I. Understanding the Tension of Living in a Culture of More (The Big Picture)

A. The Tension of Survival, Sustaining, and Succeeding (Financial Issues)

B. The Tension of Searching, Seeking, and Striving for Significance (Psychological Issues)

C. The Tension of Sustaining Spiritual Unity with God as a Disciple of Jesus (Spiritual Issues)

“So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions. Salt is good; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; they throw it away. Let anyone with ears to hear listen!” – Luke 14:33-35

The Context of Luke 15: The Parable of the Lost Sheep, the Parable of the Lost Coin, and The Parable of the Prodigal and His Brother illustrate that we are or have been LOST, even though some may not know they are lost. (Tax collectors, sinners, Pharisees, Scribes and Disciples were in the audience)

These parables also show us the love of God always seeking to reconcile us with Him:

1. Lost Sheep: “There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous person who need no repentance.” – Luke 15:7

2. Lost Coin: “There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” – Luke 15:10

3. Prodigal: “But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found” – Luke 15:32

The Context of Luke 16:14-15 The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all this, and they ridiculed him. So he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of others; but God knows your hearts; for what is prized by human beings is an abomination in the sight of God.

II. The Parable that Provides the Reasons to Live as a Christ Follower in a Culture of More (Luke 16:19-31) – (The Necessity of Giving Up All of Your Possessions)

A. If you don’t, you will not see what God sees

B. If you don’t, you will not hear when God speaks

C. If you don’t, you will not love whom God loves

III. The Practice of the Parable for Every Day Christians (Practical Application)

A. You are charged to be content with what God provides you (I Tim. 6:6-19).

B. You are challenged to see, then make visible, the invisible suffering of this world.

C. You are called to serve God, by serving others, particularly the invisible sufferers of this world.

TABLE TALK:

• Jesus, in this story of the rich man and Lazarus, illustrates how difficult it is to love God and your neighbor when one’s treasure is great wealth and possessions. Imagine yourself in the scene of Lazarus and the rich man. With which character do you identify more? What would you like to ask each character? Try asking Jesus how you can let go of your attachment to money, intelligence, and privilege. What would it mean to relinquish everything to God?

• Read Luke 18:18-30. Friedrich Nietzche wrote that, with the absence of God growing in Western culture, we would replace God with money. Discuss how the love of God has been replaced with the love of money in our society. Then read Luke 19:1-10. Why was Zacchaeus not asked to sell all of his possessions?

• An Attachment Test to Possessions (Am I addicted to my possessions?)

o Do I feel that the amount of money and possessions I have right now is sufficient for my security, or do I feel I’d really be better off with more?

o How do I feel if someone or something threatens to take away my possessions? In a typical, how much time, worry, and energy do I spend trying to hold on to these things?

o Do I ever find myself making excuses, denials, or playing other mind tricks to rationalize acquiring more possessions?

o Have friends or family reflected that they think I’m more attached to some of these things than I myself feel I am?

o Have there been occasions when I’ve wanted to hide some of my possessions from others because I really think I have too much?

o Have I ever made any resolutions to ease the importance I give to possessions?

o Have I resolved, for example, to contribute more to charity or to be more giving than receiving, only to find myself behaving in the same old ways?

o Have I ever gotten to the point where my feelings changed from simple desires to real compulsion, a demanding need that truly seemed out of my control?

o Where and when do my concerns about possessions kidnap my attention and eclipse my concern for: love of God? Love of others? Love of myself?

The Way Christian Fellowship, Fr. Tony Baron, Teaching Pastor, September 26, 2010. Our website is www.findtheway.org.

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Monday, September 13th, 2010

God’s Gracious Gift: The Lost and Found/Luke 15: 3-10

I don’t care how many GPS systems a car is equipped with, I still manage to get myself turned around and lost in new places. Getting lost seems to be a common experience. It is one of those things that is just part of life. Over time, we all develop mechanisms to deal with getting lost or even with losing something that is precious to us. Often these mechanisms are more reflective of the world’s system than of God’s kingdom.
I am pretty sure that Jesus knew of our penchant to get lost and our knack for losing something. He also knew that our ways of dealing with this topic are quite insufficient.

What are some of our common misconceptions?

• We value the myth of the self-made man. Akin to Bear Grylls, the star of the Discovery Channel series Man vs. Wild, we struggle, overcome odds, and ultimately are left to our own to find our way back to civilization. This is not a biblical picture.

• Religious people can’t be lost. Yet, Paul in 1 Tim 1:13-14 says the complete opposite.

“Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.”

• Just keep going. This is the proverbial “if-we-keep-going-we–will-hit-something-we-recognize-attitude.” It is also known as the way to get permanently lost. It does not work.

• And finally, we often believe the myth that talking at people will get them back on track. However, most often the avalanche of instructions serves to confuse more than to instruct.

So, what did Jesus do to help the lost sheep?

• He went after the lost sheep until he found it. There is no “Lamby vs. Wild- attitude.” The sheep is lost! It is helpless and directionless. It needs the shepherd to find it! Not vice versa.

• He joyfully put the sheep on his shoulders and went home. He did not lecture, admonish, shame. He silently picked up the frightened sheep and carried it. This is a picture that is repeated throughout the Old Testament.

“Save your people and bless your inheritance; be their shepherd and carry them forever.” Psalm 28: 9
“He tends his flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.” Psalm 40:11

• He celebrates in the assembly; the end goal to restoration is joy shared by all! The presence of joy is one of the marks of the kingdom.

Comparing His way and our ways demands that we take another look at how the Body of Christ understands the issue of “Lost and Found.”
• Do we go looking for the lost or do we expect them to find their way to us?
• Do we gently “carry” the lost or do we drag them kicking and screaming?
• Do we talk at them, or do we love them?
• Do we rejoice together over the one that has been found?

I pray that this closer look at the Parable of the Lost Sheep informs and transforms the way in which each one of us approaches those who have been lost.

God’s peace,
Dcn. Kirsten

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