vacation is over
Posted by Todd Engstrom in personal on January 14, 2009
the last night of vacation is always kind of a let down. you have to pack, clean, and start the engine revving to get back at it. also, why do i tend to feel more tired at the end of vacation…isn’t it supposed to be restful?
all in all though, it’s been fun to be back in the northwest and spend time with my family. the only bummer is that i don’t know yet when i will be back…hopefully it is shorter than a year!
Old Stuff – Disciplined Spirit Part 2
Posted by Todd Engstrom in christianity on January 13, 2009
Number 5
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Nehemiah 1
1The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah Now it happened in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, while I was in Susa the capitol, 2that Hanani, one of my brothers, and some men from Judah came; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped and had survived the captivity, and about Jerusalem. 3They said to me, “The remnant there in the province who survived the captivity are in great distress and reproach, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are burned with fire.” 4When I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven. 5I said, “I beseech You, O LORD God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who preserves the covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, 6let Your ear now be attentive and Your eyes open to hear the prayer of Your servant which I am praying before You now, day and night, on behalf of the sons of Israel Your servants, confessing the sins of the sons of Israel which we have sinned against You; I and my father’s house have sinned. 7″We have acted very corruptly against You and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses. 8″Remember the word which You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful I will scatter you among the peoples; 9but if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though those of you who have been scattered were in the most remote part of the heavens, I will gather them from there and will bring them to the place where I have chosen to cause My name to dwell.’ 10″They are Your servants and Your people whom You redeemed by Your great power and by Your strong hand. 11″O Lord, I beseech You, may Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant and the prayer of Your servants who delight to revere Your name, and make Your servant successful today and grant him compassion before this man ” Now I was the cupbearer to the king.
Nehemiah did some absolutely astounding things for the Lord, but what I want to point out is how Nehemiah’s activity and success in leadership were sourced in his contemplative, disciplined heart. His great character was developed prior to accomplishing what he did for the Kingdom of God.
Specifically, there are four things I see through this passage:
1.) Nehemiah knows God’s character and personality (verses 4-5)
a. Nehemiah’s heart was moved as God’s heart is moved, and it pains him grievously to see the state of Israel.
b. He spent time in the Word of God to know His character, and time in prayer where God’s face was revealed to him.
2.) Nehemiah confesses not only individual sin, but corporate sin as well (verses 6-7)
a. Because of the knowledge that Nehemiah has about God’s character, he understands who bears the responsibility for the current situation.
b. Confession is not simply a personal act…what would it look like if we were men and women who not only accepted responsibility for our own sin, but also the sins of former generations?
3.) Nehemiah knows God’s promises revealed through the Word (verses 8-9)
a. This again highlights Nehemiah’s command of the Word of God.
4.) Nehemiah asks God for success after all these things (verse 11)
a. Only after all these things does Nehemiah pray to be heard.
The major point I have learned from Nehemiah is that his inward disciplines of prayer, fasting, meditation and study preceded and directed his active and outward disciplines of leadership and ultimately his great accomplishment of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.
I hope that we are becoming men and women like Nehemiah, who are being developed in the character of Godliness through discipline prompted by the Spirit of God. We must understand the point of a disciplined life is not discipline itself. To think this is to act like body-builders: people who confuse physical conditioning done to obtain purposeful strength and make the physical conditioning (or some grotesque simulation of it) the end in itself. Rather, discipline is useful only to the extent that it causes you to be more of a disciple: a follower of Jesus.
unChristian 5
Posted by Todd Engstrom in books, christianity, church on January 13, 2009
Chapter 5 is title “Anti-homosexual”, and the thesis of the chapter is that Christians must become known more for there love of individuals regardless of sexual brokenness, rather that against the sin itself. I understand the basic premise, and agree with the conclusions, yet the latter half of the chapter is subtitled “A Biblical Response” which is woefully lacking in biblical content and exegesis. If the authors’ desire is to change the hearts and minds of Christians, then this section ought to include more than mere opinion and quotation, but actually resolve a biblical argument for the “complexity of the issue”. This is still my main beef with the book as a whole: a woeful lack of biblical and gospel engagement to the findings of their research.
Below are a few of the quotes that stuck out:
- “Our concerns about preventing the advancement of homosexual rights often translate into a desire for unrealistic boundaries on people’s lives” ~Page 97
This argument is definitely an interesting one, and is the issue concerning the legislation of morality. It would seem that the authors would be in favor of extending political rights in order to create greater personal freedom, and yet we must draw some legal lines for legislation of morality. The sticky question is where. All legal authority is based on some definition of morality, and we must decide at what point on the scale we draw the moral line. The issue is enhanced, however, because in an American context, this is both a moral issue and a personal rights issue, and the two certainly collide here. The majority of Americans would side with a more conservative stance on morality, and yet the minority is advocating for personal rights, which is in part why the conversation is so muddled.
Basically, I’ve confused myself, but the bottom line is political engagement on the issue is a very complex topic. The next quote will resolve something of my opinion on the issue…
- “You change a country not merely by bolstering its laws but by transforming the hearts of its people” ~Page 106.
A hearty amen to this comment…for too long the Evangelical right has thrown countless resources at reforming a nation through political engagement. Political engagement is absolutely necessary and the call of all Christians in a democracy, but we must understand that it will never have the power to transform, only to conform to morality, which is no saving grace at all.
When political posturing becomes our the Churches primary means of engagement, and not focusing on the call of believers to make disciples (baptizing and teaching), then we have put our trust in a false savior. I believe the call of the authors to be correct as they invite individual and ministerial engagement with homosexuals, rather than political and pulpit posturing. Platforming is a dangerous bedfellow for Christians and the Church when it is not accompanied by a similar commitment to relational ministry.
- “Born again Christians are more likely to disapprove of homosexuality than divorce” ~Page 94
This is an unbelievable frustrating statistic, more from the perspective of the political posturing of the “pro-family” stance of most evangelicals. The abject failure of the church in the area of marital fidelity should shock us, and force us to remove the plank in our eye first. Perhaps we ought to demonstrate our commitment to the sanctity of marriage within the church before defining it outside the church…
This chapter was probably the weakest I have read so far, most likely because the scope of the issue is beyond the book. It did whet my appetite to delve more deeply into the complexity of biblical engagement in the politics of this issue.
Old Stuff – Disciplined Spirit
Posted by Todd Engstrom in christianity on January 12, 2009
Number 4
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2 Timothy 1:7
“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but of power, of love, and of self-discipline”
Most people love parts one and two of the Spirit God gives us, but part three tends to be their least favorite, and likely it is glossed over because we have already heard about the good stuff, power and love. We are, however, forced right here to deal with the naked truth that God’s gift of the spirit to us is also on of discipline, or being of sound and sober mind.
There are two major points that I want to address with this particular verse that inform us about the nature of Spiritual Discipline.
1.) The Spirit of Discipline is God given, not man derived.
-This flies in the face of much of the preaching around Spiritual discipline. The end of the view of spiritual discipline as something we do ourselves ultimately leads to self-righteousness and robs God of His due glory.
-The spirit of discipline is not reading Scripture daily, having a quiet time every day, and fasting regularly. These are specific manifestations of the spirit of discipline. When we confuse acting out the fruit of the spirit of discipline without the spirit itself is exactly the point when we become Pharisees, holding the letter of the law and not the spirit.
I would encourage you, rather than to go on a crusade for a week saying “I’m going to get up tomorrow at 6 a.m., read my bible, and pray for an hour and a half”, to instead begin humbly asking God that He would begin to reveal in you the spirit of discipline, and give you the ability to fix your hope on His grace. Pursue the inward heart change rather than the outward expressions of that heart. As long as we continue to pursue the outward expressions of discipline devoid of the spirit of discipline, we will continually fail.
Ultimately, as we begin to experience this spirit of discipline, the result will be the centering of our life on the grace of Christ, and a mind tuned moment by moment to the will of God, ready for the action of sharing the Gospel.
2.) The nature of the Spirit in us is one of discipline, and our process of sanctification should exemplify this truth.
-God has given you the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit is disciplined, therefore you should exemplify these traits as you work out your salvation.
-As we grow in our faith, the Spirit is more manifest in our lives, and therefore fruits of the spirit ought to be more manifest as well. If discipline is not evident in your life, we need to ask ourselves some serious questions.
-Quite simply, discipline is not inherent in our nature, which leads to most of us really disliking the idea of discipline, I think because it carries a lot of baggage with it by intoning the idea of drudgery and boring work. Most of us think of our failed quiet times, our inconsistent Scripture reading, and our inability to memorize Scripture.
Mission as organizing principle from The Forgotten Ways
Posted by Todd Engstrom in assimilation, church, missional on January 10, 2009
This blog articulates well the idea of mission as central to small group and church sustainability. I consistently wrestle with the concept of assimilation into mission rather than ministry, and the most effective means to accomplish this end.
I’m not sure I’m ready to abandon wholesale assimilation to ministry as a pathway to mission as Hirsch suggests (this is the route that I took, as well as many missional practitioners that I know), but the principle is important to understand.
Sustainability in community is driven by the size of the mission and vision. Groups that are internally focused tend to turn on themselves, and ultimately die. This creates an approximately 2 year life cycle of small groups, which is pretty standard lifetime for assimilation based churches. Once your means of attraction becomes outdated or fails to adapt, thus drying up your source of new individuals, your church is essentially doomed to die.
Only when small groups catch an initial vision to be externally focused will they endure beyond this life cycle, in my opinion.
Read all of Hirsch’s thoughts here:
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