Yep, The cool Dr. Todd Hunter is back online and from the looks of him he has taken the pill. From the bowls of Boise, he has created a new ministry called Three Is Enough (TiE). He envisions TiE groups to take shape form Boise to the ends of the earth. He has entered the TiEtrix.

He states in his welcome post:

In one way TiE (Three is Enough) is the culmination of a lifetime of thinking about the intersection of The Gospel, culture, church, kingdom, spiritual formation and evangelism. In another, more humble way, it comes from the closing chapter of my upcoming book from IVP—Christianity Beyond Belief: Following Jesus for the Sake of Others. In CBB, I try to lay out some of the practical outcomes which surround one’s understanding—or misunderstanding—of the Gospel. Much of the conceptual work for the first section of the book comes from my D.Min. dissertation which was titled: Re-hearing the Gospel: Toward Improved Practices for Evangelism and Spiritual Formation.

So go ahead at take a look. Click here and you will be on your way. Don’t forget to take your pill before you make the leap.

One of the goals of worship is intimacy, which means: belong to or revealing one’s deepest nature to another. Below are some thoughts about a possible Sunday Worship Journey using the Old Testament Tabernacle as a visual.

The Tabernacle
The Tabernacle was a picture for Old Testament Israel of the centrality of God. God was their God, not one who was “out there” somewhere. He was centrally located. Each Jewish person having access to him. The church has often allegorized this picture giving each part, each color, even each thread some meaning which departed from the text. Understanding that Israel thought in pictures, we are left to interpret what these pictures meant to the worship of Israel.

Outside: The Call to Worship
People tend to come to a corporate worship service with lots on their minds. As an example, if they are new parents, they have had to hassle with getting the kid or kids ready to come to church. If they are older, they may have a marriage relationship problem, or a kid problem, or a health problem, or a financial problem. You name it they may have it. They are effectively “not there.” They are “outside.” As a worship team it is important to recognize this and call them to worship. This is an invitation given directed toward the people of God as they have gathered. Acknowledging that we have all come from different places physically, emotionally, spiritually, financially, and socially may alert the church that we are all here in the “same boat” as it were. Songs like “Come, let us worship and bow down…” or “Don’t you know it’s time to praise the Lord…,” or many others, are calls made to the people of God to begin the process of corporate worship. Scripture readings and the selection of songs for this part of the service is extremely important. This “call” sets the tone for the whole corporate gathering.

Outer Court: Engagement (drawing near)
The worship leader (team) now begins the process of connecting the people who have been called to worship with God. Songs which express love, adoration, praise, jubilation, intercession, or prayer are often conducive for this part of the musical worship. It is important for us to journey toward God in worship. It is not useful to parachute directly into his presence. We need the process so we are prepared to have an audience with the creator of all the universe. It was in the outer court that folks gathered and celebrated the forgiveness of sins.

Holy Place. Expression (physical and emotional)
Here we praise God for who he is. We begin to use more intimate language. We may even become animated or quiet and still. Inside the Holy Place there were three items:

The Showbread. Among the Jews was generally made of wheat (Ex. 29.2). The showbread consisted of twelve loaves of unleavened bread prepared and presented hot on the golden table every Sabbath. They were square or oblong, and represented the twelve tribes of Israel. The old loaves were removed every Sabbath, and were to be eaten only by the priests in the court of the sanctuary (Ex. 25:30; Lev. 24:8; 1 Sam. 21:1-6; Matt. 12:4).

The Lampstand. The tabernacle was a tent without windows, and thus artificial light was needed. This was supplied by the candlestick.

The Incense. Incense is seen by other authors of Scripture as prayer as in the beginning of Psalm 141.1-2, Revealtion 5.8; 8.3-4.

O LORD, I call to you;
     come quickly to me. Hear my voice when I call to you.
May my prayer be set before you like incense;
     may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice
(Psalm 141.1-2).

And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints (Rev. 5.8).

Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel’s hand (Rev. 8.3-4).

It seems to me that these items may had suggested for Israel the part playing that is involved between God and his worshipers. Showbread and light demonstrate what God is for his people. Incense may have been understood, because of the simple act of breath, as the breathing in of God’s presence.

Holy of Holies: Visitation (Giving time for God to visit)
The Holy of Holies (only entered once a year by the High Priest) was the arena which housed the Ark of the Covenant. It was a perfect cube. It was the place of God’s residence on earth as Israel understood it. There was a veil which separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. In the New Testament this was torn from top to bottom as referenced in Mark 15.38. This implies that all (because we are all priest) have the right to access the presence of God. It is the part of worship that brings us into the very presence of God. When we arrive, we need go no further. The worship (leader) team should be especially sensitive of when this point has been arrived at and stop (even though there may be other songs in the music set). To finish a set may be a high priority for the worship leader or team but the music is only a vehicle to bring us to the presence of God, when we arrive, it may not be needed any longer. We may wait while God communicates to us. We are not waiting for God to make us his mind to visit us. This is often implied by the suggestion that “…now we should wait on the Lord.” I believe that we should train the worshipers that this is a time when God will move in their lives. He may want to speak to us corporately. He may want to speak to us individually. He may want to bring salvation. He may want to heal. He may want to deliver. He may want to…

Response
There is a phase of worship which is produced by being in the presence of God. It is response. We have received, we respond by giving (money, love, hospitality, information, etc.). It may be very appropriate to continue the worship by “receiving” the offering. It occurs to me that it may not be appropriate to bring people to a place of intimacy with God in which he is visiting and then immediately take a break. This would be like making love with a spouse and building to a chanchedo of intimacy and one says to the other, “let’s stop and get a cup of coffee.”

We must create a way for the people of God to come to intimacy, receive, and then give before we break the moment with fellowship, announcements, etc. A finishing song of celebration often allows the worshipper to explode with expression and produces a more productive time to break, if breaks are necessary at all.

Heightened Reception
The journey can continue with the teaching of the word. The spirit of the worshipper is now refreshed by the presence of God. Now we can listen, learn, and interact with his life changing word.

All Is Well That Ends Well
The end of the corporate service is as important as the beginning. Ministry time may be appropriate. Whatever the case, we must summarize and send the people of God on their way with some exhortation. In a traditional church one might sing “Onward Christian Soldiers” rather than “Holy, Holy, Holy” at this point. If we just close with no instruction about what has occurred or what may be expected, with no exhortation for life situations, it leaves a somewhat tainted taste in the mouths of the worshipper who may not be so anxious to return at the next appointed corporate worship time.

The traditional Christian view of life is get right with God by saying a sinner’s prayer, then wait for him to rapture you away from this awful, sinful world, or die and go to heaven. Sound familiar? This story has captivated the church and is the story that many, many Christians live in.

There is another story and it is well articulated by Tom Wright in his article from Time Magazine. Go ahead, take a look, which story do you want to live in? It’s your choice.

I echo Tom Wright’s view in my book God’s EPIC Adventure:

If you went to the streets today or within the corridors of the church and asked what Jesus meant by “repent and believe,” you would most likely hear that he meant “Give up your private sins (most likely sexual, alcohol, and drug abuse) by accepting Jesus and gain some “inner peace” by believing a body of dogma and joining the local church at the corner of walk and don’t walk so you can go to heaven when you die.” God’s EPIC Adventure, 187.

AND

With the resurrection of Jesus, God created a new world and sent Jesus’ followers off to announce it to the world. If you go to the resurrection chapters in Luke 24, or in Matthew, or Mark, or John, and say, “What do the evangelists think this stuff means; why are we telling this story?” The answer is not, “Jesus is risen again, therefore, we can go to heaven when we die and be with him.” It’s interesting they never say that, those resurrection chapters. Rather, they say, “Jesus is risen from the dead. Therefore, God’s new creation has begun, and you are commissioned to go off and make it happen.” That’s the emphasis. And it’s a new world of justice and freedom; it’s the exodus world, the return-from-exile world, the world where Jesus already reigns as Lord, it’s the world with good news for all, especially, as in the New Testament, for the poor, 213.

Also see Tom Wright’s Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church

As a biblical thinker I must admit that I have some problems with what seems to me like a list of practices or disciplines that must be accomplished in order to be an authentic believer. A new kind of “pull yourself up by your spiritual boot straps” or “how to become more like Christ with ten easy disciplines.” This appears to me to be a new set of “boundary markers.” I am not against moving toward Christian maturity by putting into practices certain disciplines. What I think should be the focus is practices that are clearly mandated in Scripture as the priority then other “disciplines” that may be proposed. (There is no agreement on what a list of spiritual disciplines should be). We use the word “spiritual” as an adjective to specify what kind of disciplines one is speaking about. The term “spiritual” is not used in this way in the New Testament. Rather spirituality is defined in terms of the Spirit. A person is spiritual to the degree that he or she lives in and walks by the Spirit within a community of faith.

I believe that Biblical practices, those that we are admonished in Scripture to follow, will form people in a way of life. Our churches have been lax in providing such instruction for its community because our culture holds a deep-seated belief in the freely choosing, autonomous individual who out of rational self-interest forms his or her own way of life. Spiritual disciplines seem to lean heavenly on individualism in the sense of gaining some “inner” strength that makes the outward person stronger. The conduct of a Christian is not the result of simply an effort to become better. Rather, by incorporation into the Body of Christ, our individual growth takes shape. It seems that God’s intention is that Christian behavior is to be reinforced and upheld by the friendship, company, teaching, counseling, and loving criticism of other Christians (by alleloning). To try to be an individual working on becoming spiritual is not a sign of becoming truly human, but is a sign that the old life of bondage still dominates. Paul has argued in Colossians that the Colossians were free to follow Jesus. Jesus had defeated the principalities and powers to deliver freedom to his people.

In Colossians chapter 3 Paul provides a refreshing program of living for Jesus. The prohibitive list is twofold: the abuse of sex and speech. The new life has no more sexual immorality, no anger or violence. However, there is a catch, trying to stop the old lifestyle without recognizing that the old powers have been defeated only brings failure. Living the “new life” stands squarely and firmly on the work of Jesus in his life. The reality of living between the times is played out in this and other like passages.

Put to Death (3.5-6). Paul’s imagery moved from death and life to putting clothes on and off.

Put to death . . . whatever belongs to your earthly nature. The Greek tense in this command suggests a decisive action, as if Paul said, “Mortify it! Do it now! Do it resolutely!” The list of evil activities flowing from humankind’s earthly nature includes

• Sexual immorality: Sexual intercourse outside of the marriage relationship (Illustration: 1 Cor. 5.1ff).
• Impurity: The general word for immoral activity, which shuts a person off from God’s presence. The opposite lifestyle is found at Matthew 5.8
• Lust (pathos): Uncontrollable passion which leads to sexual excesses
• Evil Desires: Illicit craving
• and Greed (or insatiable desire; sexual greed), which is idolatry

Rid Yourselves (3.7-9). Though the Colossian Christians used to walk or live in these evil ways, before they came to know Christ, Paul commanded that they do so no more. Now you must rid yourselves of all such things. The word “rid” (apothesthe) means “to put off” like a suit of clothes. In its ethical use here it means “throw it off like a dirty shirt.” Repulsive habits—anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language–do not fit or suit the community of faith. They are unbecoming to followers of Jesus (cf. Eph. 4.17, 31).

• Anger (orgen) is a chronic attitude of smoldering hatred
• Rage (thymon) is an acute outburst. Thymos elsewhere is rendered “outbursts of anger” (2 Cor. 12.20), “fits of rage” (Gal. 5.20), and “rage” (Eph. 4.31).
• Malice (kakian), the deliberate intention to harm
• Slander (blaspheian), “railing or evil speaking, defamation of character”
• Filthy language (aischrologian) is shameful or abrasive speech.

Put on New Humanity (3.12-17). Because of their new lives in Christ all believers are called on to clothe themselves in virtue, letting Christ’s peace rule them. His Word should dwell in them richly, and they should do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus. Again Paul called on believers to take a decisive action:

Clothe yourselves (endysasthe). We must remember when we read these passages that the “you” is plural. Paul did not have the individual in mind first and foremost, he had the community in mind. Again, it is fair to say that God’s intent is for us to be formed in his image within a community where our individuality can truely become all it was meant to become. Because they have “put on (endysamenoi) the new self” (v. 10), they should live accordingly, with appropriate attributes and attitudes. Paul listed the abuses of sex and speech and now in contrast to them, Christians—as God’s chosen people (cf. Rom. 8.33; Titus 1.1), holy (”separated to God”; cf. Col. 1.2) and dearly loved (cf. Rom. 5.8; 1 John 4.9-11, 19)—are to have several virtues. These include

• Compassion (splanchna oiktirmou). Concreate acts of mercy
• Kindness. Benevolence in action; or generosity
• Humility, A lowly attitude toward God; cf. Phil. 2.3; 1 Peter 5.5,
• Gentleness(prauteta). Meekness, a consideration for others and a willingness to waive one’s rights.,
• and Patience (makrothymian), long suffering which endures wrong and puts up with the exasperating conduct of others rather than flying into a rage or trying to get vengeance.

We don’t want to make spiritual disciplines another religion of this “present evil age” when in reality we live in the “age to come” becoming what God has created us to be as his people (community and individually) for the sake of the world.

Over the last few months (October 21 and December 17), the Barna Research Group has surveyed folks about their belief in several well know Bible stories. In the survey they conducted belief about the following stories were quarried.

Survey respondents were asked if they thought a specific story in the Bible was “literally true, meaning it happened exactly as described in the Bible” or whether they thought the story was “meant to illustrate a principle but is not to be taken literally.” Six renowned Bible stories were then offered to adults for their consideration.

October 21

• The resurrection of Jesus. About 75 percent (75%) of those surveyed believed this story to be literal.
• Daniel in the lion’s den. Almost two-thirds (65%) thought this story to be literally true.
• The parting of the Red Sea. Just a shade less that the Daniel group, sixty-four percent (64%) believed this story actually happening.
• David and Goliath. Sixty-three percent (63%) found this story to be literal.
• Peter walking on water. The percentage of folks who took this to be literal was sixty percent (60%).
• The six days of Creation in Genesis. Those who accept this as literal was also 60%, but the breakdown was interesting. Seventy-three percent (73%) of the sixty percent who believed this story had not attended college, while only thirty-eight percent (38%) who attended college believed the story was literal.

December 17, 2007

• The Virgin Birth. Three our of every four people survived (75%) believed this story to be literally true.
• Turning water into wine. About seventy percent (70%) accepted this story about the event at Cana as having actually occurred.
• The feeding of the 5,000. Two out of three people, sixty-eight percent, (68%) view this story as factually accurate.
• Noah and the flood. The percentage was sixty-four percent.
• Eve and the Serpent. The survey results reads, “In total, 56% of adults believe that the story of the devil, disguised as a serpent and tempting Eve to sin by eating the forbidden fruit, is literally true.” I always find this interesting in that the text of the story nowhere identifies the serpent as Satan. So, it seems in this case, that the fifty-six percent who believed this story, believe it in a way that the story itself does not present. I often ponder how many things we believe about the stories are not really in the stories.
• The Strength of Sampson. Less than fifty percent (50%) believe this to be factually true.

How People Live Stories
Barna concludes from these statistics that Americans struggle with “the concept of truth, the nature of God, and the value of the Bible in personal decision-making.” He also notes that there is a “significant disconnect between faith and practice” and that the Bible has become “a respected but impersonal religious history lesson that stays removed from…life.”

Within modernity, we have presented the Bible in such a fragmented way that it is amazing that anyone believes any of these stories. As Barna points out, believing the stories and applying them is two different things. Maybe the problem is with the process. Usually the text of Scripture is presented and then a suggested “one-size-fits-all” application is given by the presenter. This supposedly is to keep the text from just becoming something one only believes to become something one actually does. The problem is the fragmentation of such an approach. Both a fragmented presentation of isolated verses used in a prooftexting fashion and a presentation of stories independent from their context or shuffled within the context of the books they come from produce a fragmented or quilted follower of Jesus.

What if we tried another approach. What if we stopped trying to apply parts of Scripture to our lives and discovered the Story of Scripture and how as an actor/actress within that story we are to play out our part in his EPIC adventure. How would that change the way in which we present the Story/stories of Scripture?

Reading the text is important. To that end I am preparing a reading program called Reading the Bible Without Additives in 100 Days, using Today’s New International Version’s presentation of the text in The Books of the Bible™ as the text to read.

Go to Reading the Bible Without Additives in 100 Days for more information.

Here are two audio presentations presented by Tom Wright from Reformational-UK, June 2007. I based my first book God’s EPIC Adventure on his five-act-play model. The second recording starts off a bit low in volume, give it a moment and it will brighten up.

Thinking about God in Tommorrow’s World

Whatever did St Paul do with the Kingdom of God