I'm back

I didn't know it was possible to go a week without internet, and it wasn't at all my plan, but i did. My family just got back from our annual Oklahoma Christmas vacation to see other family. We had a blast.

Can I just say thank you Jesus for using broken people. Thank you. More sooner than later

Bible-Study, Texas Hold-Em, and Cigars

So I was talking to a church planter recently, and he shared with me that weekly, he does a Bible-Study, Texas Hold-Em, and Cigars with several guys, both believers and unbelievers. And as I began to think about this, I thought, you know, what is more Christ-like? If Jesus were living today, where would he be? Because I suspect He wouldn't be hanging out in our church buildings all the time.

This area church planter is not really concerned about pleasing religious people. His primary concern is reaching people who do not know Jesus. The Gospel is more important to him than pleasing his critics. And I think about Jesus, and I think about all of His critics...the religious people who said, "Jesus, how can you hang out with sinners? With drunkards? With tax-collectors?" They even called him a glutton and a drunkard, though we know Jesus was not, because He did sin. But He was not concerned by the comments of His critics. He was concerned with revealing Himself to people who needed Him.

I think this is a lot to think about. I think we, as Christ-followers, should look at the life-example of Jesus and allow Him to serve as our example. I think we need to look at our gifts, the passions God has blessed us with, and then ask ourselves, "How would Jesus live my life?" And we should begin to live this way, asking God to help show us how we can share His love with our world.

"Come to Us - Free Christmas Gift Wrapping" - I suspect we've lost our identity...

I'm looking forward to tomorrow - no Starbucks, just a lunch meeting with friends I get to learn from who are wiser than I, and an afternoon spent in some coffee shop getting some odd stuff done and writing my first Christmas letter.

So, on my home, I drive by this church. They have signs outside that say, "Free Christmas Gift Wrapping Saturday December 15."

I must preface this by saying there are different approaches to ministry, and God can use all for His glory, but I can't help but think there's a better way. I feel the western church is caught in a "come to us" mentality. We make it our goal to do everything we can to get people in our doors. And I'm not sure this should be our goal. As I read through scripture, I see a church in action, a church that realizes its calling is not to ask people to come to their buildings, to come to their services, but a church that realizes its calling to go to people, to serve people. At Jacob's Well, it is our goal to equip and mobilize believers to see themselves as missionaries where they are at and figure out what they may look like.

In our culture today, too many people have been burned by the church - they've had bad experiences and don't want to go through it again. It's a near impossibility these people will go to a church building, or anything church-related. So the church must recognize its calling to go to people.

Instead of asking people to come to us, to have their Christmas gifts wrapped by us, to come to our services, why not go to them? Can you imagine what it would be like, if instead of trying to get a few people from your church to volunteer to wrap gifts at a certain time on a Saturday afternoon, you mobilized the entire church to go out - to offer to wrap presents for their friends, others in their houses, apartments, and dorms - and when you do this, you have the opportunity to reach people who would never grace a church building with their presence.

We must, as a church, as followers of Jesus, realize our calling is to go - and go does not simply mean across the world - it means across the hall, the street, the city - it means to see yourself as a missionary where you are at and find ways to show the love of Jesus in tangible ways to friends and family and neighbors. This is what it means to go. I pray that the western church is recaptured by her mission to go. I pray God would use Jacob's Well as a catalyst for this type of movement in Minnesota.

The Golden Compass

I should begin this post by just saying I have not read the Golden Compass, nor the other books in the trilogy, but I do plan on seeing the movie when it comes out.

I want to encourage believers to wait a few minutes before jumping on the Anti-Golden Compass train. I know the author is a self-proclaimed atheist, and I also know that at the end of the 3rd book, the children kill God. I've heard the magistirium is supposed to represent the church. I've seen the groups on facebook calling believers to "not support the Golden Compass." I've heard the fuss. But let's think about this for a second.

Believers are called to engage the culture around them. The appropriate response to the movie the Golden Compass is NOT to "not support or watch it." Boycotting the Da Vinci Code was not the appropriate response when that movie came out either. As believers, we need to ask ourselves, "What good does it do to boycott these things and protest like we often do? Does it serve to advance the kingdom of God and let people know about Jesus?" Because advancing the kingdom of God and letting people know about the Gospel of Jesus should be our goal. If it is, boycotting is not the best way to go about this. We must be engaging the culture, watching these movies, reading this books, because we must know where people are coming from so we can then find ways to communicate the unchanging Gospel in a way the culture can understand and relate with.

This is nothing new. This is something ancient, just something I believe has been lost in the western church and simply needs to be rediscovered. Paul did this in Athens in Acts 17. He walked around the city, noticed their idols and gods, and found a way to communicate the unchanging Gospel in a a culture different from his own. He also showed he was familiar with the poets and philosophies of the culture of Athens by engaging in conversation with their stoics and philosophers, as well as quoting some of their owns texts.

Paul engaged the culture so he could communicate the Gospel in a way that connects with the culture. We are called to engage our culture in the same way. Movies and books such as the Da Vinci Code and the Golden Compass present believers with opportune times to engage culture and point people to Jesus. I pray God will raise up believers who recognize He has called them to this and instead of boycotting and protesting, rise to the occasion and engage people where they are at, pointing them to Jesus.

Captivated by Christmas Carols

I have been captivated by the lyrics of Christmas songs - not Jingle Bells and Deck the Halls - but Christmas songs about Jesus. The Christmas season is a happy time to spend with family, a time to be filled with joy, a time to remember what we are thankful for. And I know this may go without saying, but we must, must, must remember the real reason we celebrate.

I think I'll let the lyrics of these songs speak for themselves. The word Savior appears over and over and over again. Jesus didn't come down to earth 2,000 years ago to pat us all on the back and tell us how good we are and to keep it up. He came to save sinners. He came to save humankind from the mess we are in. He came to free those enslaved to sin, to transform them to slaves of righteousness. He came to free those consumed with self, to empower them to a life abandoned of self and consumed with Him. He came to restore communion with God that was broken. He came to redeem.

"Down in a lowly manger
Our humble Christ was born
And God sent us salvation,
That blessed Christmas morn" (Go Tell it on the Mountain)

"Long lay the world
In sin and error pining
Till He appeared
And the soul felt its worth" (O Holy Night)

"Silent night holy night
Son of God love's pure light
Radiant beams from the holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace" (Silent Night)

"Nails spear shall pierce Him thro'
The cross be borne for me for you
Hail hail the Word made flesh
The Babe the Son of Mary" (What Child is this?)

"God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen,
Let nothing you dismay;
Remember Christ, our Saviour,
Was born on Christmas day,
To save us all from Satan's power
When we were gone astray.
O tidings of comfort and joy,
comfort and joy,
O tidings of comfort and joy." (God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen)

"No more will sin and sorrow grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He'll come and make the blessings flow
Far as the curse was found,
Far as the curse was found,
Far as, far as the curse was found." (Joy to the World)

"O Holy Child of Bethlehem,
Descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin and enter in;
Be born in us today!" (Oh Little Town of Bethlehem)

Hark! the herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King
Peace on earth and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!"
Joyful, all ye nations rise;
Join the triumph of the skies;
With angelic host proclaim
"Christ is born in Bethlehem!"
Hark! the herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"

Christ, by highest heaven adored;
Christ the everlasting Lord;
Late in time behold Him come,
Offspring of the virgin’s womb.
Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see;
hail the incarnate Deity
Pleased as man with men to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the newborn King"

Hail! the heaven-born Prince of Peace!
Hail! the Son of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings,
risen with healing in His wings.
Mild He lays His glory by,
born that man no more may die;
Born to raise the sons of earth,
born to give them second birth
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the newborn King" (Hark the Herald Angels Sing)

Box seats in the snow

So yesterday, my roommate Ku comes in my room and says, "Nate, I have an extra box seat ticket to the Timberwolves game tonight. It's yours if you want it." And so last night I watched my first sporting event from a box seat with some bros from the house. Good times had by all.

And today, I woke up to see snow! And it's still coming, which means it's donut time for the Sebring. This truly is a blessing our brothers from the south can only envy.

So the weekend has got off to a fantastic beginning, and I trust it's only going to get sweeter. I am anxious and eager for our Sunday Gathering tomorrow morning. I believe God is going to move in some special ways. I'm excited to also get everyone back together for a few weeks before Christmas!