It’s been a while since I started a discussion on Christian fundamentals. It’s time I got back to it. Check out the begining post as well as this one about the real Jesus and this one about defining fundamental.
So why do I feel the need to go down this path? Well, that’s a long story (and this is a long post). Some of it I’ve aluminated here in other posts, but I’ll attempt to put it all together here.
Though I had grown up in church and had been taught the Bible throughout childhood, my Christian journey began in earnest after my sophmore year in college. It was then I met up with members of the Cincinnati Church of Christ, a part of what was later to become the International Churches of Christ (ICoC). I started to go to some Bible studies and eventually entered into a personal Bible study series. I was then confronted with the realities of discipleship and commitment. I realized that my casual, simple, vague ‘belief’ was not enough. God demanded all of me, all of my heart, mind and soul, and if I was to be sincere about this Christianity, I must change. Frankly, it was a tough decision. Life as I had been living it was pretty good, if dull. Things were relatively easy outside of the challenges of school, but I always felt as if there was something more. What I saw in front of me as a true Christian was purpose, meaning, joy, community and depth, all of which I lacked and longed for. But along with it came responsibility to God for my actions, challenges to stay on the narrow path and an obligation to care for others. Was I willing to take the challenges with the blessings? I ultimately decided that I had no choice. I loved God and could not turn away now, not knowing what I do. I could not go back to the content simple life of a man who didn’t know better. I was baptized on August 26th, 1988.
What a whirlwind followed over the following years. I found friends like I never thought possible. People that I could share my darkest secrets with (and did) and get help, compassion and understanding in return. I remember those college days with great fondness. Those were formative years and I was surrounded with great young men and women. I’m blessed to still have relationships with a couple of them here in Columbus, a few others I see from time to time in other cities. We had great passion for being our best for God and helping each other do the same. We were involved intimately with each other’s lives. When one would fall, we would rush to help him up. We were together constantly. The passing of time has probably put a certain gloss on those years, smothing over the bad times. I know that we made mistakes in our zeal, but my experience was overwhelmingly positive.
After college, I entered the singles ministry and later met my wfe to be. She enthralled me from day one. Again, I was surrounded by incredible men and great relationships. They gave me advice on how to express my growing feelings for her and still keep the relationship pure. Without these men and their advice, I know that the start of my relationship with Maria would have been much more difficult as my emotions and passion would have most certainly overcame my convictions about God’s standards.
We got married and moved to Detroit at the same time. We were blessed to be discipled by the same couple for 4 years. Their example of marraige and family had a great impact on me. I have always looked up to them and admired them. Their two incredible children are grown and gone and they stand as a testimony to their faith and perseverance. They stood by us and helped us through many an early marraige crisis. We were able to call them at any time (and did) with a problem and they were there for us. I don’t know where we’d be without them.
We left Detroit in 1996 to come to Columbus on a ‘mission team’. We were two of 25 that came from Detroit, Chicago, Cincinnati and Cleveland to start a new church. We had great dreams of turning Columbus upside down with God’s message. We would build a church that would restore true Christianity here. Those first years were incredible. We grew from 25 to about 125 in around two years. In those first weeks we met daily, sharing about all the ways we had shared our faith with people, who we met and how they had responded. Amazing things happened. The OSU gymnastics coach (and USA Olympic assistant coach at the time) had been told of our new church by an ICoC member when he was at the Olympics in Atlanta. Later, that person left his name and contact info with our minister, who lost it. But on campus shortly before our first service, the minister’s wife met a tall white man who said he was the coach they had been trying to find and he’d love to come. He gave her his number. Later, when she called to follow up, though she had reached the gymnastic coach and yes he had met someone in Atlanta, he said had never heard of her. He came to church and turned out to be not tall and white, but short and black. Neither remembered ever meeting the other, but there he was.
Maria and I moved here without jobs and without savings. We found out the day we left that she was pregnant with baby #2, and we had no insurance. We lived in my sister’s basement for a month while we looked for jobs and a place to live. We found a man that rented us a 3 bedroom townhouse with no references becuase he just ‘knew we’d do fine.’ Maria got a job quickly with a temp agency and within 6 weeks I had a fulltime job with a fledgeling design firm. Their insurance would cover Maria’s pregnancy, a great relief. Our incomes were higher and our expeses lower. It seemed that God was with us.
I mentioned that the couple in Detroit ‘discipled us’. The ICoC had been founded on the principle of discipling relationships, amoung other things. The principal there was that a more mature Christian would mentor, or ‘disciple’ you as you grew as a Christian. As you can tell, I benefited greatly from these realtionships. If it weren’t for these men over the years, I would not be who I am today, not even close. Unfortunately, there were terrible abuses of disipling, incorporating ‘one over another’ authority into the mix. Discipling relationships as they were originaly are almost non-exsistant in out churches today.
I grew up as a Christian as the ICoC grew as a movement. We were small, in only a dozen or so cities when I became a Christian in 1987. By the year 2000, we had a church in every country that had a city of over 100,000 people in it. We had a passion. We were going to do as they did in the first century, win the world. Evangelism was our priority. We went to the malls, we knocked on doors, we talked to our neighbors, our co-workers, stopping people anywhere and inviting them to study the Bible or come to church. We were tied together through discipling. We all had disciplers that told us how to live for God. Smaller churches were Discipled by larger, older ones. We were expected to follow God’s standard in the scriptures for giving, sharing and avoiding sin. We were challenged if we didn’t. God’s standard was high and ours were expected to be as well. It was exhilarating. I felt as though I was a part of something big and meaningful. We had a God ordained job to do.
If it all sounds a bit arrogant, presumtuous and condesending, well, it was that too. I remember proclamations that we were the ‘one true church’ and that God would draw all true Christian to our movement, ‘The modern day movement of God.’ Many stupid and unloving things were said and done in the name of God, the mission, unity, obedience to leaders or other things. Many folks were hurt. My wife and I escaped much of that, thankfully, but we have known others who were not so fortunate. We were criticised for these abuses, but we brushed those people off as ungodly persecuters. About a year and a half ago, a leader named Henry Kriete wrote a 41 page paper titled “Honest to God” listing and challenging these abuses and calling us to change. It sent a shock wave through our churches. Many leaders resigned or were fired, many people left the churches as they learned of thses things. Many disciples, emboldened by the times, spoke out harshly against their leaders, inflicting the same pain on them that they were so angry over. Discipling trees and leadership structures were dismantled. All leadership above the church level is gone.
At this time, I too was pretty shaken up. I was forced to consister what I believed and why. What was truly important? Did one really have to have a discpler to be saved? Sounds silly, but at one time I might have agreed with that. How about quiet times, tithing, what church to go to? I have resolved many of these, but how to identify God’s church is one that still eludes me. During the past 17 years the idea that I belonged to something big and meaningful was a powerful one. The sense of mission and unity was amazing as well. Frankly, I miss those things. A little part of me longs for a return to the old days, when we were going to save the world. I want a bigger dream.
It seems to me that there ought to be a core that defines Christianity. Things that we can rally around. Things we can unite in. Those things must come from scripture and they must be clear cut. If we simply try to find those things that there is no argument over, we wil have a soggy, milktoast, limp, lifeless religion that does God’s power, might, love and conviction a grave diservice. Christ did not come to earth to get beaten senseless and hung on a cross so we could unite in the idea tha ‘God is love’ or some other such platitude. No, he died that we might live, truly live. I used to look around at the world of ‘Christianity’ and scoff, amazed at their stupidity. I now look with more sober judgement, for I realize that I am stupid to. But I also look and wonder, is this all there is? Arguments and debates over trivial things. Is this the best we can do for a God that loves so much?
No, I am conviced that if we are to call ourselves Christians, we must do more. We must try harder, go farther, sacrifice more and love more radically if we are to do God’s sacrifice any justice. I will not be content with mere contentment and warm, happy feelings. I refuse to believe that this is all there is. I refuse to give up the idealism and dream of a united church. The question is, what do I do with it? What can I do with it?

Justin at Radical Congruency had a post the other day about ‘E-mail church’. He addresses the idea that church is more than a building and a schedule of meetings. Do we really need to meet to have ‘church’? Isn’t it church when we gather for dinner, meet to pray, just talk about God or even email, blog or chat? I think so. God’s church is all about the people and the relationships they develop. In the first century they didn’t have snail mail or books in the way we know them, let alone telephones, email, instant messaging, video conferencing, magazines, TV, electrinic buletin boards, blogs, etc. 30 years ago or so, Christians could not have imagined having relationships without a telephone, 60 or so years before that letters may have been indespensible, maybe 120 years earlier you had to go next door.
I know that I have come to rely on the thoughts and pespectives I get from others online to help me in my relationship with God. I can’t imagine life with out these e-relationships, this e-church.

Virusdoc posted his latest (Part IV) in his seies of posts on testing the exsistance of the Christian God. Frankly, as I said today in the comments, I didn’t think that this would be a fruitful search. He’s looking, as a scientist, for a hypothesis and an experiment to prove that God exists. People have been wanting this kind of proof forever, why sould he be smarter than the millions before him that tried?
But today he hit on something that was golden:

… these passages make the prediction that each and every individual can obtain real, personal, and tangible evidence of the existence of God by doing something ridiculously simple, yet apparently quite valuable to God: seek Him. Ask Him to reveal Himself. Suspend your disbelief long enough to open your mind to the possibility of His existence. If the God of the Bible exists, then He will respond to this tiny act of faith by revealing himself.

So there it is, a simple test for the existence of God. Why didn’t I think of that? Go check it out. And don’t forget Part I, Part II and Part III.

I had started this post a few weeks ago but never finished it. It bears completing, bringing some unfortunate closure to the events in my church over the past few months.
Well, what I had feared has happened. The deacon who stepped down just a few weeks ago told me on Thursday (5/27/2004) that he will no longer be worshiping with us. The reasons are the same as they were when we spoke that night. If that blow could be said to have brought me to my knees, this one put me flat on my back on the mat, out cold. I’m begining to come to now.
This is now the 4th man in the past year that I’ve grown close to and opened my heart to that has left my fellowship. These men and I have shared our hearts, gut wrenching feelings and deep wrestling about God and truth. Most imortantly for me I’ve felt a connection with them, a bond, that I’ve found hard to make with others. And one by one they’ve left, two to other states and two to other congregations.
I was, frankly, a real grouch for several days. This one has been perhaps the hardest. Not because we we the closest, we weren’t. No I think it was finding another who I felt I could share with and loosing them. I need these kind of men, these kind of relationships. It’s almost unbearable to think of going on without them. But the thought of giving my heart all over again only to have the rug torn from beneath my feet is nearly as unbearable. Will I give my heart only to find them coming to the same conclusions and going their own way? The urge to run and hide is great. It’s safer, but not better.
The joy of earlier in the week (5/24/2004) was quickly snatched away. From hope and encouragement to dispair in one swoop. Ironically, I was excited to share the results of that night with him. I knew of his pain for our church, and I hoped that it would give him some encouragement and hope. I guess it was too late for that. We will still remain good friends, and can still have those talks. But I know that without the regular meeting together at church, it will be more difficult, and it won’t be the same. I hope I’m wrong.
It is another loss for our spiritual family, but because of the actions of the deacons on Monday (5/24/2004) I have renewed hope for our congrgation. We must act quickly to stem the tide. I fear the enemy has gotten a real foothold, and he won’t be easily removed.
Since writing that, the leadership team has gotten together a few more times. It’s been encouraging, and I am begining to see a bond develop between us. There are still some real questions in my mind, some real differences in opinion on where to take the church, but I remain hopeful. Frankly I am glad to see the diversity of the group. I think it will mean, if we can really listen to each other, a healthy leadership for the church. If only we can see the wisdom and value in each other’s words.
We’ve begun to visit the members as well. My first will be tomorrow morning. I am anxious to hear what they have to say. Lot’s of lessons in listening coming up. If you’e the praying type, adn you feel so moved, please say a prayer for the leadership here in the Columbus Church of Christ to be able to listen with humble hearts. It’s so easy to dismiss without a proper hearing.

I have edited my comments on the Deacon’s meeting of a couple weeks ago. One of the men, reading my comments, suggested that I should be careful to distinguish that these are my own feelings and impressions, not those of the group. An excellect point. I am only one man, and this is only my blog.
“The thoughts, opinions and feelings expressed here are mine and do not necessarily reflect those of the Columbus Church of Christ, it’s Deacons, Ministers, Evangelist or ministry leaders.”
That’s said slightly tongue in cheek, but in reality it’s very true. I can not and should not attempt to speak for the group. (I should point out here that he didn’t have any objections to the content of what I said, just that I be careful who I attribute things to) So I changed a little of the wording to make that more clear and I will be more conscious of that in the future. Where we make clear cut decisions and commitments I will state them, where they are my thoughts, feeligns or impressions I’ll make that clear as well.

Monday night was a monumental night, or at least it could have been. Time will tell. The deacons of the Columbus Church of Christ (myself included) met with the evangelist to discuss the state of the church and its future direction. Decisions were made that will effect the lives of many here.
Last week the deacons had met for only the second time since our appointment back in November of last year. Prompted, at least for me, in part by the resignation of one of our own and my personal feelings about that, we got together to talk. No real agenda was put forth ahead of time, but it seemed we all had much on our hearts. At the forefront of each of our minds were the spiritual health of the church and the shallowness of the relationships between the members.
At the end of the night, we had decided that we could no longer sit on our hands and watch. We, along with the evangelist and campus minister, were the appointed leaders of the church. If we did not act, who would? We decided that we needed to take our place as leaders beside the ministers and work side by side with them. We would not meekly ask to be included, nor would we arrogantly demand to have our say. Rather we would, as leaders approved by the congregation last fall, assume the place we should have from the start. It was time that the church had a cohesive leadership team.
In our ICOC family of churches, our pattern had been one of top down, hierarchical leadership. There was one man at the top of the church with several levels of leaders under him. Frankly, in my view it has shown itself to be a failure, but not because of the caliber of men placed in leadership. For the most part they have been spiritual men with great hearts. No, it has failed, I believe, because God did not design man to carry such a burden. Moses learned it from his father in law in Exodus 18, the NT speaks of a variety of leadership positions, each with it’s own focus and expertise in Ephesians 4, implying that it requires a diverse group of leaders for a church to reach maturity. Even through the upheaval and awakening of the last year, the Columbus COC was still effectively operating under that old paradigm, with the evangelist in the position of making the decisions. He’s a good man, but it is not right for him to carry that burden alone nor is it good for the church to be limited to his perspective. It was time for a change.
So it was with a little trepidation that I approached Monday night. Somehow, I had been appointed spokesperson for the group (though it would not be long before the others spoke up). I feared that my words would either be too soft or be taken as an attack on his character or abilities. I prayed a lot about it before the time came.
When it did, frankly it was a bit anticlimactic. He was very open to the idea, almost relieved. He expressed that he’s felt quite alone, out there making decisions by himself. He’s longed for advisors. He was eager to work as a team, even saying that he considered himself no more than a deacon with a focus on preaching and evangelizing, much as the rest of us have our own focus on the youth, campus, administration and the poor. As far as he was concerned, he indicated, we stood on equal footing.
We left that night, adn while I felt that we were not yet completely unified, we were committed to becoming so. We acknowledged there is much to talk about and decide and much work to be done. First on our hearts, however, were the people of the church, their well being and their relationships. We made the following commitments:

• We committed to meeting every other week.
• We committed to going out in pairs and meeting with each and every member of the church to talk to them about their faith, our church and how they’re doing. We would do little talking and a lot of listening.
• We committed to making a point to talk to each other man in the group at least once a week, to deepen our relationship and build our unity.

As we left there was a feeling expressed that this could be the beginning of a new era in our fellowship, a turning point if you will. Perhaps it will amount to nothing, most, if not all, of that depends on our follow through. As of this moment I am cautiously optimistic, with the emphasis on optimistic. Honestly, it the most optimistic I’ve felt about the church in a while. May God grant us the strength and courage to follow through with what we’ve begun. He has placed His children in our hands. You might say that as leaders we are in some ways God’s teachers, babysitters and daycare workers. “These are my children.” He says, “Could you care for them and make sure that they get home safely?” It’s a humbling responsibility when you look at it that way.

Shrode at the Thinklings posted twice this month (here and indirectly here) about having daily quiet times. I agree with him on the importance of a consistent time with God, both in prayer and Bible study. Acts 2:42 says that the first Christians were devoted to 4 things, and prayer and the scriptures (if you interpret the ‘apostles teachings’ as scripture) were two of them. Frankly, it’s all too easy for me to get independent and self-reliant and start skipping or abbreviating my quiet times. Prayer time comes much easier for me. I’ve just never been a bookworm, and reading my Bible is no exception. If you visit here regularly, you know I’ve been posting my notes from my Bible studies. You can visit here and see that I’ve been less than regular in that. It’s a constant challenge for me, but one I will continue to try to rise to.
Taking Shrode’s words as a starting point, I wanted to comment here on the idea that it must be daily. I hear that from nearly every Christian who speaks of it. To challenge it seems almost sacrilege. Frankly, in my 15 years as a disciple, it caused me a bit of grief and guilt. When I’d miss a day of Bible reading, I felt less a Christian. If I didn’t pray enough, I felt less a Christian. To some degree, my Bible study was out of obligation, not desire to learn and know God.
To cut to the chase, I think we place too much emphasis on the ‘daily’. There are many of folks like me who aren’t readers. We risk damaging those folks by criticizing them for not reading daily. A commitment to the Bible isn’t a commitment to a schedule. Frankly, in recent years as I’ve realized that missing a day or too doesn’t necessarily say anything about my commitment to the scriptures. There was a time as I came to that realization that I swung the other way and didn’t read much at all. Since then, however, my desire to read has actually grown. It’s now about me learning about God not punching my spiritual time clock.
Most of the Christians of the first century (and probably many centuries after) actually couldn’t read and there was no Bible or scroll available to them. A select few had them and could read and I imagine that the others cherished every bit of time they could spend at those men’s feet listening to God’s word.
We need to resist the temptation to put quantifiable measures on one’s spirituality or commitment. (To be fair to Shrode, he wasn’t saying that we can or should do that. His main point was only that we commit to read, among other things.) Not that we shouldn’t talk about how much we read or what we’re learning, but it’s just not as simple as daily or not, it takes knowing someone to make a comment on their commitment to scripture. Some will take this freedom and abuse it, saying they don’t have to read and so don’t ask them to, but those folks aren’t really interested in a commitment to the Bible anyway. But I think there are plenty of committed, sincere disciples who just don’t read every day.