Pastor Steve's thoughts

I’ve been reading through the book of Luke with Ryan Welch on Wednesday mornings. It’s been refreshing to read through this gospel. While reading Luke’s gospel, I remembered a principle that Dr. Howard Hendricks emphasized at Dallas Seminary. He would say something like this, “In essence, we usually read the gospels and concentrate on the message of Jesus. Don’t forget to study Jesus’ methods.” So how did Jesus do evangelism? I think it is helpful to observe Christ’s methods and to find timeless principles. Basically, evangelism is telling the good news of Christ to a dying world.

I tried to think about the methods Jesus used. Here are some that I thought of.

Asking Questions: Jesus asked people questions to guide them into truth. In Luke 10, a scribe asked Jesus what it takes to have eternal life. Jesus answered the question by telling the story of the Good Samaritan. Then Jesus asked the simple question, “who acted like a neighbor?” Good questions can help people think through spiritual issues.

Sent Out the 72: In Luke 10, Jesus sent out 72 disciples to preach the good news. Christ was not afraid to delegate.

Trained the 12: Jesus spent time with the disciples so they would be capable of fulfilling the mission. Acts 1:8 says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Jesus trained the twelve to be witnesses and they spread the good news of Christ. His training method consisted of teachable moments and on the job training.

Performed Miracles: The miracles that Christ performed validated his claim to be the Messiah. His miracles convinced some people of his claims but others rejected him.

Teaching: Jesus was a master story teller and used parables effectively. Matthew 22:33 says, “When the crowds heard him, they were impressed with his teaching.” People enjoyed listening to Him [Mark 12:37 NASB]. If we want people to listen to the gospel then we must present the message in a way that connects. Jesus was able to grab their attention.

Loving Unbelievers: Jesus loved unbelievers and spent time with them. Matthew, the tax collector, threw a party for his unbelieving friends. The purpose of the party was to introduce his friends to Christ. Jesus was criticized by the Pharisees for spending time with sinners.

Gathered Large Crowds: Jesus attracted large numbers of people and they followed him. Christ-like character attracts unbelievers. I see Jesus finding lost people and gathering enormous crowds of unbelievers. He operated on a “one on one basis” and “with the multitude.”

Meeting Needs: Through out the gospels, Jesus met ordinary needs. Obviously the most important need is salvation and Jesus offered forgiveness to those who believed. He had compassion on the large crowd following him and he provided food for them.

I read Tracy's blog about reading books on vacation. Over the last six weeks I've read the following books.

--Team of Rivals, The Political Genious of Abraham Lincoln. By Doris Kearns Goodwin: Awesome book if you like history

--How to Lead & still have a life. By Dale Burke: Good book for anyone who leads.

--Just Walk Across the Room. By Bill Hybels: Good book and very motivating

--The Archaeology of Early Christianity. By william Frend: Boring. Very Boring

--The Winner. by David Baldacci: Good Fiction Read

What books have you read recently? Good and Bad.

A pastor in Springfield asked me an interesting question. Here's the question: "Would anyone notice if our church disappeared?" If our church ceased to exist would any city officials notice or members of the community? The people who attend Grace would notice but would anyone else?

As I contemplated the question, I didn't like my answer. My fear is that we are only making a difference in our "holy huddle." Furthermore, I'm not sure anyone outside the church would be affected. I would like to say our church makes a difference in the community and the people of Eugene would miss us.

What would it take for our church to make a significant impact? Realistically, our church is more inwardly focused than outwardly focused. As a whole, we care more about our church programs than we do about spiritually lost people. It still seems to me that a large portion of people are far to content...content with this an inward focus. Okay...maybe I'm being to hard on us. Am I?

On the other hand, let me share three positive examples that I've observed recently.
1. Jason Schar is the chairman of the Elder board and he presented the gospel to one of his employees a few weeks ago. He drew the bridge diagram and explained everything. Good job Jason.
2. Bob Kintigh presented the gospel to one of our church neighbors. Good job Bob.
3. I've seen Ben & Debbie Bauer introduce themselves to new people at our church. They did more than just exchange names. They showed genuine care and concern. Ben and Debbie went the extra mile.

Back to the inward focus vs. outward focus. I suppose the key word is balance. Our purpose statement reflects this balance: TO LOVE PEOPLE WHERE THEY'RE AT AND HELP THEM FOLLOW JESUS. The first part is an outward focus and the second part has an inward focus. The statement reflects a balance between Evangelism and Discipleship.

On the one hand, I'm not sure anyone in the general community would miss GCF if we ceased to exist next week. However, I might be surprised.

The National Geographic Society is releasing a translation of a document called the Gospel of Judas. This document fits into the category of Gnostic writings which were prevalent in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. I haven’t read the gospel of Judas but I have read some of the other Gnostic writings. (This is an important issue because the foundation of Christianity is being attacked. On a popular level, the Da Vinci Code reflects the ideas of liberal scholars. My goal is to inform you of the issues.)

Many of the Gnostic materials were discovered in 1945 in the desert of Egypt at a location called Nag Hammadi. The literature eventually made its way to scholars who translated the material. The Nag Hammadi materials included 5 separate works that have been categorized as gospels: Truth, Thomas, Philip, Egyptians, and Mary. The Gnostic material claims to be written by an apostle such as Thomas. The validity of this claim will be addressed in my next blog.

Who were the Gnostics and what did they believe? Scholars often debate what Gnosticism is and who they were. However, it seems that some basic beliefs come to the surface. I will try to briefly summarize their views.

1. Some Christians (only Gnostics) have access to special knowledge that leads to salvation.

2. The universe is dualistic (Anything physical is evil and Everything spiritual is good). Therefore, God has no contact with anything physical. Gnostics believed in two gods. One god was evil and created the physical world. The other god was a good father and purely spiritual.

3. Jesus existed in two beings: the living Lord and Savior Jesus, and a human substitute Jesus. The human substitute Jesus was nailed to the cross but the real Jesus was not. The Gnostics believed that human flesh was evil and therefore the real Jesus could not have been a man.

4. The New Testament canon (the bible we have) is insufficient. Additional secret knowledge is a key to salvation. Therefore, the Gnostics added their own writings to the bible.

5. Gnostics believed that females needed to become males to enter God’s kingdom. (Gospel of Thomas 114).

The Gnostic writings were vehemently denounced by orthodox Christians. Early Christian writers are often called the church fathers. Some of the church fathers who wrote against Gnosticism included Irenaeus (130-200), Hippolytus (170-236), and Tertullian (160-220).

The Gnostic writers composed their material well after the apostles. Their beliefs stood in direct contradiction to the teachings of the apostles. Thus Christian leaders stood firm against the Gnostics and labeled their beliefs as heresy.

In “The Gospel of Judas” it is asserted that Judas was not a betrayer of Jesus. Judas helped save man kind by collaborating with Jesus to hasten the journey to the cross. Is there any validity to this idea? Not at all. The eye witnesses who wrote the New Testament stated that Judas betrayed Jesus.

Next Blog: Do the Gnostic writings belong in the bible?

I read through the book of 1 John today. It seemed that every other word John used was “Love.” I ran a quick search and found out the word “love” is repeated 68 times. John’s repeated emphasis upon loving God and others is clear in this epistle. Not only are we to love God but we should not love the world.

1 John 2:15-17 says, “15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.”

Let’s define what John means by world. John uses the phrase in a figurative way which was very common in the 1st century. Today we might say “from the sports world” or “from the world of politics.” The Apostle John uses the term in a negative sense. For the apostle, the world system of beliefs and behavior is at odds with God.

Here’s a question to ponder. What are the implications of this verse?

“Why are Christians so Intolerant?” was on the cover of the magazine I received this week. The sub-title was “and other tough questions non-Christians ask.” I must admit that I haven’t read the article yet. But the cover made me think. How did the general public gain this perspective and how pervasive is this line of thinking.

Perhaps a definition of intolerant would be helpful. One dictionary says intolerant means: Unwilling to tolerate differences in opinions, practices, or beliefs, especially religious beliefs. In one respect, I believe Christians are intolerant. We believe that the cross of Christ is the only way, that Jesus rose from the dead, and so on. Paul says that the cross will offend people (1 Corinthians chapter 1).

My assumption is that many people perceive Christians as intolerant in the sense of disrespectful. This issue at hand may not be opposing opinions colliding. The issue could be opinions discussed in a rude way…a way that is filled with anger. I think the Matthew Shepherd incident demonstrated this. A few Christians displayed signs against homosexuality. I can’t remember the exact wording but I did sense that a hatred that arose in the crowd.

On other hand, maybe an opinion concerning morality stirs up guilt. A different opinion about eternal matters can cause people grief or anger. It reminds people that they have turned their backs on God.

Here’s my thought. As a church, we want to welcome people. This doesn’t mean that we affirm their philosophical beliefs or moral choices. If a person attends our church who believes in reincarnation, we should be able to dialog with them in a respectful way.

What do you think. Are Christians intolerant or do others over react?

Saturday morning I saw a father screaming at a basketball official. The 7th grade basketball game was turning ugly as emotions reached the pre-volcanic levels of Mt. Saint Helen’s. The father in front of me criticized most of the referees decisions. His anger became evident as his blood pressure boiled and his face turned red. When the buzzer sounded his team had lost and the crowd began to disperse. You would’ve thought the Ducks lost another game. My first thought was, “I’m glad he’s not a member of our church.” lol But what if he was? I would say something like, “I understand your frustration with the basketball team. Maybe there is a better way to look at these things. I prefer to look at this from a comparative perspective. 250,000 people live in our county and they don’t know anything about this game. There are millions of people starving and dying from Aids in Africa. Perhaps the game isn’t that important.”

I don’t have kids in middle school anymore but I’m still coaching basketball at the 8th grade level. I want to be a part of instilling values into kids by using basketball as a metaphor for life. We teach kids to make good decisions on the court and after practices we talk about life decisions. We encourage kids to decide now about drugs and alcohol. Make good choices now. Maybe when you’re an adult you won’t be an embarrassment to your own children at their sporting events. Perhaps sports has become our national religion.