BLOB 4/22/10
Though there are a couple resources and further discussions I do want to post about last night’s study of Ephesians 5:1-22 because time is short and coffee is fresh I just want to get up the downloadable lesson and “Coffee Talk” card. Had a great night last night, so fun to see everyone, meet new folks, and get after studying the Bible together. Check out the below links for the good stuff:
Downloadable Inductive Study of Ephesians 5:1-22
Coffee Talk For Ephesians 5:1-22
Staying in Omelas?
When Rory asked me to post something explaining why I personally was excited about 501’s involvement in the Habitat for Humanity project my first thought was: “Well, because that’s where it’s at, man! For believers in Jesus, that’s where the rubber meets the road!” But then I remembered I was supposed to be explaining my excitement, not just expressing it (hence the “all caps”). So here goes:
There’s a story by Ursula LeGuin called “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas.” It tells the tale of a city in which everyone is perfectly happy. It is not a morally perfect city, for there seem to be no objective moral or ethical standards. There is no true religion, no government, no crime. Sounds like a story that starts off intriguing and gets boring quickly, right? But LeGuin knows that such perfection is impossible for us to conceive in any meaningful way. So she ends her description of Omelas with a final detail: the city can only remain in its happy state as long as there is one member of the community in unceasing, uncomprehending misery. A child, kept in a corner cellar, entirely without human contact and living naked in his own waste. At their intellectual coming of age every citizen of Omelas is made to observe this suffering child. Most of them choose to remain in the city that pays for perfect happiness with a single life. But some choose to walk away, to search for a city that can achieve perfect happiness without a sacrifice.
There are many ways to read and interpret this story, of course, but as I re-read it over the weekend several thoughts struck me at once. Here they are, in no particular order:
- Do Christians try to create an Omelas out of the church, all the while ignoring the state of the unbelievers in their community?
- Are we hiding in church, using it like a doctor’s lounge, while we wait for the One who will finally usher in an eternal state of perfection?
- Is not walking away from the needs of another the consummate act of selfishness? After all, those who walked away from Omelas couldn’t live with the idea of their happiness coming at the expense of another, but they only cared enough to preserve themselves from the uncomfortable reminder. They didn’t care enough to save the child because they would have sacrificed their own happiness by so doing. So they didn’t really care about the suffering of the child. They cared about how the suffering of the child made them feel.
That train of thought led me to remember a quote from John Stott in Alexander Strauch’s “Love or Die: Christ’s Wake-up Call to the Church: ”A true love for people leads to labor for them; otherwise it degenerates into mere sentimentality. “ This was followed closely by Francis Schaeffer’s declaration: “Man is more than a soul to be saved.” Both thoughts rooted in the truth that “faith without compassion is dead” (James 2:17).
Knowledge of the right isn’t enough: even the demons know and tremble. We must act out, work out our faith. To borrow a phrase from the music of my past, “luv is a verb” (DC Talk). The proof is in the action. When I consider that Christ died for us—was for a time separated from his Father for us, an experience so painful that the Son of God asked to be spared—I am ashamed of how selfishly I hold on to my possessions, my time, and my comfort.
But maybe most of us at 501 don’t need to be reminded of the command to love our neighbor. Maybe we have been champing at the bit, looking for direction and purpose beyond our own edification, hoping to find out what 501, our beloved miscellaneous body of believers, is actually for. Maybe with the opportunity presented by the Habitat for Humanity project we are rising joyous, inspired, to a resounding battle cry! An opportunity for action, taken by believers, a working out of our faith, a response to Christ’s call—remembering that what we do for “the least of these” we do for Him. We revel in the opportunity to glorify the name of Christ, and to demonstrate His love to those who cannot be easily reached by words alone.
Opportunities to act on our principles are crucial to our faithfulness and experience as believers. When I was a kid my mom made me memorize and perform Tennyson’s “The Charge of the Light Brigade.” I hated it. Well, the performing part, that is. The poem itself I found moving, inspiring; I felt that the words reached my soul. It tells the story of 600 cavalry soldiers who are accidentally commanded to attack a force much larger than they. With unflinching obedience, even though they know the orders cannot be accurate and that they stand no chance, the horsemen courageously ride into battle. The final two stanzas read:
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
Volley’d and thunder’d;
Storm’d at with shot and shell,
While horse and hero fell,
They that had fought so well
Came thro’ the jaws of Death
Back from the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of six hundred.
When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wondered.
Honor the charge they made,
Honor the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred.
I became aware of my longing for identification with something greater than myself, a longing for a righteous cause, the moment I finished reading that poem. It’s a longing that has never flagged, and I don’t think I’m alone in this desire. God made us this way, with the knowledge that we were made for more than our own existence, a conviction —which was what T.S. Elliot was saying in his poem “The Hollow Men” :
“Between the idea
And the reality
Between the motion
And the act
Falls the Shadow
For Thine is the Kingdom
Between the conception
And the creation
Between the emotion
And the response
Falls the Shadow
Life is very long
Between the desire
And the spasm
Between the potency
And the existence
Between the essence
And the descent
Falls the Shadow
For Thine is the Kingdom
For Thine is
Life is
For Thine is the
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.”
Together we can defy the whimper; empowered not by our own strength, but by the might of the compassionate agent of our own salvation. In doing so we identify what every individual longs for and what every organization requires; we declare our cause, our meaning: to work out the effect of our understanding of spiritual reality on our physical reality. We must have both faith and works to be complete, to be three-dimensional believers, and to be fulfilled in our faith (James 2:20). Why am I excited about the Habitat for Humanity project? Because as the walls of that home go up—when we’re working out our faith—there’s going to be rubber all over the road.
Habitat Home…..Floored
The East parking lot of FBC has been ringing with the tock, tock, tock, of hammers all morning as the “Over the Hill Gang” set to work. Outside the home we are building is taking its first baby steps toward completion, by tonight a floor will have been laid.
There are many steps to go in preparation for our first 501 work day April 10th when we will raise the walls, but it is exciting to start to see this project of sacrifice and service take shape.
The team work and selflessness of the folks we are partnering with is incredible. The “Over the Hill Gang”, a group of six retirees that know houses volunteers their time to build at least 2 days every week to prepare the home for us to do our thing on Saturdays. I had the chance to meet our crew bosses Steve, James, and Misty, who will be directing our Saturday work crews, an incredible team of folks working full time on this deal to get it done.
Crew Bosses Steve, Misty, and James
We still have much work to do. The floor laid and walls raised are a result of the funds we have already contributed. Let’s continue to boldly both give from what we have been blessed with and ask others to join us in giving to this effort that will literally change lives and tangibly glorify God in our city.
We are on our way!
Wanna Be a Part? Click Here
501 Donates Habitat Funds to “Break Ground”
501’s Habitat build kickoff went great Thursday night 3/18/10. Needing $5000 from the 501 community to begin construction, the 501 gave over $9000 in donations and pledges.
As we look to give of our time, effort, and resources in serving our city in Jesus’ name Thursday was an awesome first step toward the $35,000 we are working to raise to provide a home for a family here in Little Rock.
This Tuesday workers arrived at the work site to set the piers for the start of the build…we are underway!
If you are interested in more information about this project click here. If you want to be involved, or want to give toward the effort, please email Michele Burns @ mburns@fellowshiponline.com .
501 Habitat Kickoff 3/18/10
We’ve been talking for over a month now about 501 partnering with Habitat for Humanity of Pulaski County to build that organization’s 100th home.
This Thursday is the time for action. We are set to “break ground” on the home here at our Kirk Road campus April 5th (Monday after Easter) and to do so we as 501 need to have $10,000 cash on hand…that’s right, $10,000 of the $65,000 we need to raise.
Through matching funds pledged we’ll hit that target if we generate at least $5,000 over the next three weeks. Though there will be a time later to raise funds from others, this first $5,000 is coming straight from our check books at 501. This whole building process will be such an opportunity to give together SACRIFICIALLY of our time, our effort, and our money and thus show forth AND experience the grace of God (2 Corinthians 8:1-9).
So bring your checkbooks this Thursday! Looking forward to the growth this exercise in generosity will bring. I’m excited to grow in that alongside all of you!
PS: Check out this sermon series form Mars Hill Church on Generosity, it’s good stuff.
The BLOB 3/12/10
Last Night 3/11/10
Had a great time at BLOB last night, really enjoyed digging in to Ephesians 3:14-21 with the rest of the folks. If you missed it you can download the text and the study as a PDF below (think we are going to work to do that for all of the BLOBs both past and future). Anyhow, my favorite part of the study was the discussion that sprung up about “faith”.
We started the study of the text with the understanding that it is Paul’s prayer for the Ephesian church to live the IDEAL experience of following Christ. Considering the text in this light and comparing what Paul writes to our lives can be at the same time both exciting and daunting. Paul walks through a progression that gets us to this Christ-centered ideal, and cynically our initial response was “sure…that sounds easy.” The fact is though that all of the action carried forward in Paul’s prayer is of God, making its fulfillment in either the church at Ephesus or in our lives completely God’s to accomplish. The issue then is deciding if we really believe God meant what He lead Paul to pray for these people, and if He means it for us.
We talked about busyness, distraction, sin, discouragement, and loneliness; in other words: “real life”. Paul’s ultimate hope for these people (and the ideal experience of Christ in which to hope) is that through Him we would “…be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Eph 3:19) In “real life” this ideal often feels very far away. It was this feeling upon which our discussion on faith turned. In a world of tolerance through the scrubbing of absolutes we are taught both overtly and by consequence of the culture within which we live that the ONLY arbitration of “trueness” is that of our emotion.
We all agreed that quite often the Truth in scripture does not feel all that true at all. And maybe that is where a definition and utility for faith can be found. Maybe understanding the application of faith in our world is as simple as acting as if God’s promises are true even (perhaps especially) when they do not feel as if they are. Applied to the text last night and the anticipation of God filling us with all His fullness that action comes down to prayer and patience. Prayer that we would know Him as Paul prays we would and patience on God for Him to bring about what He promises in His time.
Know I left last night more resolved to wait on Him, and hope in the result of the action God Himself has promised His people.
The BLOB Ephesians 3:14-21 WebStudy
Digging Deeper
In considering Paul’s prayer that the Ephesian church would be strengthened in their “inner being” in Ephesians 3:16 we took a brief look at the Doctrine of Regeneration.
The concept of “inner being” is accessible to us at face value. We understand the meaning of one’s “heart of hearts”, true character, core, deepest self, truest nature etc. But what we may not see in Paul’s thought of their “inner being” was his understanding of just what type of truest self the Ephesian church possessed.
Christian doctrine is derived from the systematic study of the breadth of scripture to understand God’s complete revelation of various truths about His nature, creation, character, activity etc. The Doctrine of Regeneration states that scripture shows that Christianity is not about believing or doing but about becoming: when someone truly sets Jesus as Lord, God does something to them and in them, changing them radically. Through God’s activity our old nature which was that of rebellion and animosity towards God is destroyed and replaced by God with a new nature of sonship/daughtership: a core nature that loves God and delights in the things that are of Him and please Him.
Below are some scripture references and resources that continue to dig deeper into the foundations and implications of this incredible FACT: that “…if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come.” (2Cor 5:17). Hope this helps your study, would love to see all of us dig deeper into how this changes EVERYTHING about us, our lives, how we relate to our God.
Scripture to Study:
Books:
Renovation of the Heart: Dallas Willard
He That is Spiritual: Lewis Speery Chafer
The Mortification of Sin: John Owen
Christian Beliefs: Twenty Basics Every Christian Should Know: Wayne Grudem
Sermons:
Mark Driscoll on Faith in Your New Birth (Streaming or Download)
Tommy Nelson: Systematic Theology: Soteriology I: The Doctrine of Salvation
Tommy Nelson: Systematic Theology: Soteriology II: The Doctrine of Salvation
Tommy Nelson: Systematic Theology: Pneumatology II: His Work and the Believer
Our Angelic Audience
Several BLOBs ago we were studying Ephesians 3:1-13 and we cracked a couple of huge cans of worms open we did not have the time to really delve into. The can opener used was vs. 10 that talks about the church being used by God to show His “manifold wisdom” to the “rulers and authorities in the heavenly places”. The essence of the truth Paul is describing is that in creation we are not alone. Along with they physical realm which God created and with in which we exist (See Gen.1-3) God also created the heavenly realm populated by the angelic host (Col 1:15-17). The purpose of ALL of creation (and redemption for that matter) is to show forth the greatness and glory of God. Angels are a part of this design and were created primarily to worship God. And God is so great that the praise of these eternal beings will go on forever and ever. Scripture also teaches that though these angelic beings are glorious and powerful, they are not omniscient and in fact grow in their spiritual knowledge of God as they observe His work of redemption in history with mankind. Angels actually are better equipped to worship God by watching Him work in our lives. It makes sense that God should be worshiped in “stereo”. Does He deserve any less? How insufficient is our praise towards Him in the incarnation of Jesus for example. We have no grasp on His deity, just how humble God is to become a man. But the angels saw the Son rise from His throne in glory and condescend to be a little baby lying in a manger. How much more fervent is the angels’ Christmas proclamation to the shepherds “Glory to God in the Highest” when we consider what they saw Jesus do, glorified in heaven just 9 months prior? 1 Peter 1:12 says that angels long to look into our redemption, a fact that Paul understood in both the importance of his message as well as his mission. He understood that his life was lived not only to bring praise to the name of God before men, but before the very angelic host themselves. In looking at the presence of the angelic realm and their observation of our redemption there were really two avenues of thought that I want to provide resources to dig deeper for ourselves:
1) Incidence in scripture where we observe the angels in attendance
2) The doctrine of Angelology and its corollary Spiritual Warfare
1 Angels in Attendance
Last night we looked at the role of angles in creation and the worship of God to understand Paul’s meaning in Ephesians 3:10. Here are the basic truths discussed in understanding this passage:
- God created the angelic realm in advance of the physical creation of which we are a part
- Purpose of all creation is the showing forth of the greatness and glory of God
- The chief role of angles is that of eternal worshipers
- Though angles are spiritual beings they are not omniscient
- Angles grow in knowledge and hence worship of God by watching the redemption of humanity and the building of the Church
- Not only are we used to glorify God before men here on earth, we are also used to glorify God’s name before the angelic host
- Angles are in a position to more fully appreciate and worship God for His humility and love, having seen Jesus the Son in glory, give that up to become a man, live sinlessly, suffer and die for the salvation of mankind
We referred to a couple moments in history where angels were present to observe the activity of God and bring more praise, below is a more comprehensive list of where the presence of the angelic host appears in scripture. Take some time, look it up and maybe even consider what the angels would have seen about God from their perspective that would have informed their praise.
Scripture of Angels’ Observation
- At Creation: Job 38:7
- Giving of the Law: Galatians 3:19, Acts 7:53
- Birth of Jesus: Luke 2:13
- Temptation of Christ: Matthew 4:11
- Jesus’ Resurrection: Matthew 28:2
- Jesus’ Ascension: Acts 1:10
- Jesus’ Second Coming: Matthew 13:37-39, Matthew 24:31, Matthew 25:31, 2 Thessalonians 1:7
2 Angelology and Spiritual Warfare
I’m going to get outta the way and let the big dogs eat on this one. Below are a couple of links to literature and sermons on this subject I have found incredibly helpful. Though this teaching is not directly from Fellowship and is thus not the church’s “official” position it is very close if not right down the line. We’d include postings to Fellowship’s material if it was available on line (Fellowship Institute is a great way to get at this truth here locally, check out this link). Check out these links to books to read on the subject of angels and spiritual warfare. I have found this teaching incredibly helpful for me personally.
Books:
Systematic Theology: Wayne Grudem
Sermons:
Tommy Nelson on Satanology (Streaming) I would recommend listening to WHOLE Systematic Theology series available on his site as well.
Mark Driscoll on Spiritual Warfare (Series Streaming or Download)
Hope these resources help. I loved the time spent with our BLOB that night. A lot of the power of the scripture we studied that night I think is in the consideration of OUR mission and message in light of OUR story. Hope you keep drilling deep, hope you cut out that time to hear God speak. MANY are watching.
BLOB Rater 2/27/10 Ephesians 3:1-13
Really loved last night, it was fun to finally get back to BLOBing. Would love for you guys to use the rating system below AND the comment section to share with one another what God was doing in you through our time together last night. We love feedback for sure, but would like to see this more as a tool to share our experience with one another so PLEASE take some time to leave a comment for our mutual encouragement as a 501 community.
Also want to provide the follow up information promised during our master teacher time. Last night in the set up of the text we were studying we cracked a couple of huge cans of worms open we did not have the time to really delve into. In looking at the presence of the angelic realm and their observation of our redemption there were really two avenues of thought that I want to provide resources to dig deeper for ourselves:
1) Incidence in scripture where we observe the angels in attendance
2) The doctrine of Angelology and its corollary Spiritual Warfare
1 Angels in Attendance
Last night we looked at the role of angles in creation and the worship of God to understand Paul’s meaning in Ephesians 3:10. Here are the basic truths discussed in understanding this passage:
- God created the angelic realm in advance of the physical creation of which we are a part
- Purpose of all creation is the showing forth of the greatness and glory of God
- The chief role of angles is that of eternal worshipers
- Though angles are spiritual beings they are not omniscient
- Angles grow in knowledge and hence worship of God by watching the redemption of humanity and the building of the Church
- Not only are we used to glorify God before men here on earth, we are also used to glorify God’s name before the angelic host
- Angles are in a position to more fully appreciate and worship God for His humility and love, having seen Jesus the Son in glory, give that up to become a man, live sinlessly, suffer and die for the salvation of mankind
We referred to a couple moments in history where angels were present to observe the activity of God and bring more praise, below is a more comprehensive list of where the presence of the angelic host appears in scripture. Take some time, look it up and maybe even consider what the angels would have seen about God from their perspective that would have informed their praise.
Scripture of Angels’ Observation
- At Creation: Job 38:7
- Giving of the Law: Galatians 3:19, Acts 7:53
- Birth of Jesus: Luke 2:13
- Temptation of Christ: Matthew 4:11
- Jesus’ Resurrection: Matthew 28:2
- Jesus’ Ascension: Acts 1:10
- Jesus’ Second Coming: Matthew 13:37-39, Matthew 24:31, Matthew 25:31, 2 Thessalonians 1:7
2 Angelology and Spiritual Warfare
I’m going to get outta the way and let the big dogs eat on this one. Below are a couple of links to literature and sermons on this subject I have found incredibly helpful. Though this teaching is not directly from Fellowship and is thus not the church’s “official” position it is very close if not right down the line. We’d include postings to Fellowship’s material if it was available on line (Fellowship Institute is a great way to get at this truth here locally, check out this link). Check out these links to books to read on the subject of angels and spiritual warfare. I have found this teaching incredibly helpful for me personally.
Books:
Systematic Theology: Wayne Grudem
Sermons:
Tommy Nelson on Satanology (Streaming) I would recommend listening to WHOLE Systematic Theology series available on his site as well.
Mark Driscoll on Spiritual Warfare (Series Streaming or Download)
Hope these resources help. I loved the time spent with our BLOB last night. A lot of the power of the scripture we studied last night I think is in the consideration of OUR mission and message in light of OUR story. Rate the BLOB below and COMMENT to share maybe how God is shaping your understanding of how He is shaping you, your life, and your message.
BLOB Rater 1/29/10 Ephesians 2:11-22
We’re using this tool to get us interacting over what God is doing and what we are experiencing in our individual BLOBS on Thursday night. Please rate your experience from the night and BE SURE TO LEAVE A COMMENT as well to expand what you thought, learned, and how you encountered Jesus through that time. We’re not looking to collect data, but rather share our experience to keep pursuing the idea of “one anothering” that is ours as part of Jesus’ Church.
This week we studied Ephesians 2:11-22 moving from Paul’s reminder to the Ephesian church in 2:1-10 of the grace by which they have been saved to the position of closeness to God they have been brought to by the workings of Christ. In a pursuit of God without temple, empty ritual, or superstition Paul reminded the church that God was dwelling in them and amongst them as they were being built together in Christ. Prayerfully we are experiencing that same nearness progressively as we pursue holiness and real community. What’d you think about last night? What stood out? What have you resolved to apply?
RATE YOUR BLOB!!!!!!!!!!
501’s Back!
Just want to send a shout out to you 501′ers that were there last night for Refinery. So great to see you guys after a long break!
Its been a great month or so for me thinking and praying about where we’ve come and where we are going. I’m so excited for what is ahead.
Over the break I read a book by Mark Driscoll, Confessions of a Reformission Rev.: Hard Lessons From an Emerging Missional Church. Great book about his perspectives and theology of ministry refined by experience bringing Jesus to the broken city of Seattle through the founding and growth of Mars Hill Church. He’s got some thoughts that I think are right on concerning the position of Jesus’ Church in current and emerging culture and how we as the church ought to engage, serve, and love our cities for Jesus’ glory and our joy.
One of the pull quotes from that book that struck me in the context of the great things God has been doing in the birth of 501 was this from page 32 where he is asking churches to consider the question, “Will your church have a mission of community or be a COMMUNITY OF MISSION?” Driscoll says that while community is a great thing to aspire to if that is the ultimate goal it will be found to be an insufficient one. Instead, he says, members of a healthy, obedient, and Spirit led body of Christ
…see their church community as existing solely for God’s mission, and they accept that the only way to have a healthy community is to pursue God’s mission of reaching lost people because community is an EFFECT of mission but not an EFFECTIVE mission.
I know 501 is still a new little baby community of faith, that many of us are just getting to know one another as well as getting to know Jesus and yet as we mature I am excited for this next phase of our growth. Young as we are I think it is time to consider how part of our growth might be outward to seek and invite others in to this community of faith that is knit together through the Life we have in Jesus.
So good to see you all again, so good to be moving forward again, so good to have before us the mission that will bring us together!