9:31 AM Posted by Justin Manny

Light

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Sorry I haven't blogged in some time. I guess it needs to be moved up my priority list.


I've been wrestling with some stuff lately. I don't know how to answer the questions I have. So I'm trying to process it and see where God leads me. I am seeing major inconsistencies between what Jesus told us to do, and what we as the modern church actually do. I believe that a lot of it has to do with the disservice we did ourselves in developing an entertaining church experience for some many years. I remember thinking that the programs we have planned and what not are in competition with TV and movies and other things like that, so we need to make it as entertaining as possible, get people in the door. For the most part, that has worked pretty well. But I don't think we realized what it would do to the person attending the program. We have created a generation of consumers, well not created, but enabled. Everything about American culture is driven by consumption. The clothes we wear, the cars we drive, the food we eat, and now, the religious programming we partake in.

Things I've been reading have opened my eyes a bit. There are way to many things Jesus commanded, (and that's commanded, not suggested), that we can't do in the way we have programmed Christianity. It is impractical to expect people to care for orphans and widows by coming to a Sunday morning service, sitting in chairs, facing forward, singing some songs, hearing a message, giving some money, taking communion, and going home. And yet, church leaders are confused about why it's hard to get people to serve, and be like Christ.

Our religious experience has been confined to a 1 hour block on Sundays, a two hour block sometime during the week, and occasional praying while driving because the song on K-Love made think about praying. But Jesus didn't command that, and early church sure as heck didn't live like that.

Jesus said in Matthew 5,
"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house."

This idea of light in through out the Bible. A simple search on www.youversion.com (best online Bible out there, and for iPhone! www.youversion.com/download), shows that Jesus spoke about light through out his whole life. Light is something that reveals, shows what is there. It illuminates.

But for light to truly be effective it has be introduced to someplace that is dark. If you go into a dark cave, a flashlight can reveal every nook and cranny. But then I remember being a kid at church camp, and being away from home the first time, and they always made you bring a flashlight. And as kids, we would always turn on our flashlights even when we were in the well lit chapel. Why? They were very uneffective. We really didn't make it more light. But it was after chapel, when we left into the dark Florida night that those flashlight became our lifeline. The flashlight illuminated the path we were walking.

I feel like the church has become a room full of people with flashlights. We have a light, and it's shining, but we're in a room with lights already blazing. We try to illuminate what is already light and it's not effective. We need to leave that room. We need to look for the dark caves and crevasses, (I just wanted to say crevasse).

And this is where I'm struggling. We as church leaders think that our program is the most important thing, and we spend the greatest bulk of our time on planning music and videos and lights. But is this effectively being a light going into the cave? I have never seen a cave move to where there was light. Jesus even says that evil men hide from the light because they don't want people to know their deeds. We need to take the light everywhere with us. And where we go needs to be places that need light. Sure I'm saying go downtown and bring light to the homeless dudes like Chris Colson does. But what about your office? What about your high school? Your family? Your annoying neighbor that always parks his car in your grass?

Truthfully, I'm changing my terminology. From here on out, the word "church" needs to be sacred. In Greek ekklesia meant and gathering of people. So it's time to shift it back to that, and only that. It doesn't refer to a building anymore. You don't "go to church" anymore. You are the church. I am the church. We are the church. And the church is the light of the world. Let's call the building where gather something else. The word church needs to be sacred and specific about us, not our location. This change in terminology will help people understand that Sunday morning is a gathering, it's not church. Church is an army of Christ followers that are forcibly taking the light into the dark. And if you aren't doing that, if you haven't been in the dark in a long time, if you only hang out with other Christ followers, what are you thinking?!!?! Jesus COMMANDED us to change the world, to illuminate the dark, to heal the sick, feed the hungry, cloth the naked. He definitely did not command us to sing three songs listen to a sermon and go home.

If you read this, Thank you. I'd love to hear what you think. That's why blogs have comments. Let's start a discussion. I want to know what you think. I want to know of dark places we can all go and be the light.

(2) comments |

9:37 AM Posted by Justin Manny

Project 7

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Project 7 is a new organization that I want to support and advocate for. Let me give a little bit about them. The organization started because some guys were talking about the 7 deadly sins. And they realized that if we as people were to act in exactly the opposite of each of these things, then the world could change. So they create consumer products, bottles of water, mints, gum, t-shirts, and 50% of the profits from their items will go to a non profit organization that meets one of the seven needs. The 7 areas are: Heal the Sick, Save the Earth, House the Homeless, Feed the Hungry, Help those in Need, Build the Future, and Hope for Peace.


The thing that stands out is that people are aiming to change the world for the better. They are attempting to do something that is bigger than them, or money, or their small lives. We as Christians should be doing that. Our culture needs to have people speaking out for the oppressed, the downcast, the orphan and widow. Let's all jump on this idea. It's easy. IF you buy gum anyway, buy the project 7 gum. The bottles of water are at Caribou Coffee in Anderson Towncenter. Let's, as humans, start living for something bigger than us. It's not that hard.

For more info on Project 7 go to www.project7.com

(1) comments |

2:15 PM Posted by Justin Manny

It's not about you

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As Christians, I feel like we should be constantly serving, no questions asked. Our faith gives us a responsibility. Until we understand that, are we really fulfilling what it means to be a Christian? This week, I've been disappointed by things, that normally wouldn't get to me. I'm just seeing the selfish nature of human beings. The fact that we look out for ourselves first and foremost.


Why is that OK? Why isn't our inclination as Christians to be serving like Christ.

So, I was bringing some stuff into the church. I had 18 bottles of juice. And at least 6 people saw me making trip after trip, 4 bottles at a time, and never said, "Hey let me help you." Most of those people had the time. They had nothing going because long after I was done, they were still hanging out. Where is the servant nature in the church? Why do we feel like it has to be a big organized thing for us to serve others?

Another thing going on is the non-commital nature of people that I am noticing. When I get volunteers to help me, I want them to own there role, and look at it as an offering of service to God. But the disappointing thing is that people are too afraid to commit to a long term of service. Or if something else comes up, then this service takes the back seat.

Is that what pleases God? Are we supposed to look at service in the church as a job, something that can burn us out? Or are we supposed to look at everything we do in service to the church as an offering of praise and worship to God?

Worship of God is not only singing. Giving is not always money. When we became Christians, we were supposed to die to ourselves. But I feel like we as modern day Christians die to ourselves, when it doesn't get in the way of ourselves.

Being a Christian is not going to be easy. That's a given. That's a plain fact. In America, we want you to become a Christian and here is the easy way we do it: don't worry about commitment to anything to big, or hard; just make sure you come to church when you can; don't worry about serving, we understand your job is stressful; make sure that what you do at church is feel good about yourself, and have fun.

It's more than that! It's not going to be easy. DIE TO YOURSELF!! Daily. It's not going to be an easy thing. And once you have it, model it so others see it.

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10:05 AM Posted by Justin Manny

iPhone type correcting

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So, this happened a little while ago, but I was thinking about it and since I'm always so serious on the blog, I thought I'd share this. I was sending a text message to my friend Jimmy to tell him I couldn't hang out because I had people in town. I was typing quickly on the awesome iPhone touch keyboard and accidentally hit "e" before "p." When I did that, instead of "people" it filled in "epilepsy" and I accidentally hit send. Needless to say, those were two things that are not similar.


In another note, I watched a webinar yesterday about the awesome new tool from the people at youversion.com called You Version Live. It is awesome! It's going to allow anyone with an internet enabled device to interact with the live church service as it happens. If you don't have an online bible that you use, or you have a smart phone and would like an online bible to read when out and about, you version is the cat's pajamas! To get the app on your phone, direct your browser to www.youversion.com/download and it will direct you to correct version of the app for your phone [i.e. iPhone, Blackberry, Android]. If you have a phone with just internet, the mobile site for youversion is great as well.

I plan to try to integrate You Version Live into our service as soon as it is released on October 8th, so keep your eyes open and look for you version.

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12:21 PM Posted by Justin Manny

Part 2

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So, I ended up waiting a month to blog the second part. Part 1 talked about why I don't like tracts. Part 2 addresses the complaint that we didn't play very much Christian music at the Carnival during CT09.


Ok, it again goes back to the fact that people need to be met where they are at. We were trying to draw people in and if they heard contemporary Christian music, they aren't going to get into it.

We were able to get people line dancing, and talking and grooving because we attempted to meet people where they were. Nothing we played was controversial. We simply want to be welcoming. People will open up when they are comfortable and that was the goal.

It's time now for action. Time to follow up. Let's get back into those people's lives.

(1) comments |

2:36 PM Posted by Justin Manny

Christian in a postmodern world

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First off, man, 6 weeks is way too long to go between blog posts. I'm gonna be surprised if anyone even reads this one. So, I'm apologizing for my lack of blogability.


Now to some things that have been swirling around inside of my head. I was just having a conversation with a friend of mine about some comments we got on our CT09 event here at the Mount. The comments were a bit disheartening to me.

There were two. First, someone expressed disappointment in our not passing out tracts at the carnival. For those that don't know, tracts are a little brochure that basically point out the plan of salvation. Some make you feel bad and think you are going to be going to hell, and other things. These used to be an effective way of evangelizing, now they are an effective way of wasting paper and causing litter. Here's why this is my opinion. We live in a culture that is post-Christian. What I mean by that is, while there are Christians in America and people who claim to be Christians, most Americans don't live with the same set of basic foundational principles that the Christian worldview is based on. This postmodern culture is full of the relative. What is true for you is fine, but it's not true for me and therefore carries no wait on what I believe or how I act. This culture does not carry with them the basic principle of sin. They don't understand that human beings are fallen, broken people. Postmoderns have the idea that human beings are basically good. Christians understand that every inclination of hearts is to evil, as Paul says. We are broken sinful, in need of a Savior.

So a tract that says you are going to hell because of your sins and you need Jesus makes sense to a Christian worldview, but seems like nothing to someone that doesn't even think there is sin. Our job then as Christians is to fill in the gap between our worldview and the postmodern worldview. We can't expect a tract to even be useful until we show the reason you need a Savior. I understand that some tracts start there. But this is a creation, fall, redemption issue. Those have to be established belief before the need for Jesus is ever even important. As a final thing, were you converted by a tract, or by someone who loved you enough to be there and to answer all of your questions and show you what love is, who God is.

The second thing, well, I'm going to make that a post for another day. Possibly tomorrow.

Just know that our witness now has to be a more all inclusive attempt than it has ever been before because the presuppositions of those around us is completely different than ours.

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3:03 PM Posted by Justin Manny

Lighthouse

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Man it's been a crazy month of June. We had Ovations, Live It Out and Full Throttle all this month, all back to bak to back. While it was crazy, I wouldn't trade it for anything. The stuff that happened during this three week stretch was awesome.


The thing I had the privilege of doing was going to the Lighthouse Youth Services Boy's Home on Saturday. Of all the things I did, during this month, that was where I saw Christ in action. My small group is committed to spending time with these boys. They come from all around and have basically no family. They live in this home and the budget for activities during the week is about $100 for 13 boys. It's hard for the workers. So we went in, took them some food, played some games, (I still can't believe I lost the cornhole tournament), and really hung out and talked with these boys. Sure they were rough around the edges, but they were still teenagers that needed love.

Andrew, from my group, started talking to a boy named Andrew. They seriously talked the whole 3 hours they were there. Andrew came back to group this week and just talked about how awesome it was to become close with someone who needed it, and how it happened that quickly. It's cool to see it. Every member of our small group that made it to the house had meaningful interactions with one or more of these boys.

To me, this is the way the church should be. A bunch of boys needed some love and attention and shouldn't the church be there to do that. We are committed to doing this on a regular basis. We may not see the same boys every time we're there, but we know that anyone who ends up in that house needs some love and attention.

I want to challenge you, if you read this, to find a place like this you can serve. Lighthouse is not a Christian organization. All the better for us to bring the light of Christ to all those involved. We got to interact with the workers and show what it meant to be a Christian. Where ever you are, find a place where you can volunteer. It's what Christ would have done.

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4:04 PM Posted by Justin Manny

Live It Out

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Man, this as been a long week so far and it's only Wednesday. Live It Out was awesome! The kids were great. And the funny thing about it, it's premise is "I'm gonna take in the teachings of Jesus and then the only thing I can do as a result is Live it out." I think that's something we all need to understand.


I'm going to say this, but I'm not going to apologize. Being a Christian is not about going to Heaven. There, I said it. I feel like we as Christians, (myself included), have come to a place where we just look forward to heaven. Yeah, we know the world is fallen and we are to be a light in the world, but really we just look forward to heaven. I don't think that is what Jesus intended. When Jesus spoke about the kingdom of God, he was talking about us, Christians. When the Kingdom of God comes... Why is it that now we just think about being in Heaven? Why do we think about that's when life will be great? Jesus called us to make life great now, here, for everyone, not just me.

That's the real problem, isn't it. Selfishness. Why is it that everything that we think about always involves us? I am always thinking of myself. Here is my radical thought, if we stop being selfish and start being the Kingdom, then we can be more effective at bringing Heaven to earth. That's our job right? To be the Jesus that people come in contact with.

I talk about this a lot, if we get onto this kind of topic, but I think about in Exodus. God calls Moses to go to Pharaoh and demand the Israelite go free. But Moses is a little but timid about that. But God says something to him and Aaron that will alway stick with me. He basically said, you guys, when you are in front of Pharaoh or Israel, you are to be like God to them. What I see from that is that we are the only example of God people may ever come in contact with.

Man, Heaven is a reward. It's an unearned reward. But man, I want to live like I need to earn it. I want to live like Jesus did. Jesus was the start of the Kingdom on earth. We spend more time and effort on making sure our houses look nice or we have our school work done, than really spend time begin like Jesus to people. Where is our sense of urgency. I love that my job is about bringing Jesus to people. But honestly, sometimes it makes it harder for me to find people to bring Jesus to. I think that's why I am passionate about finding time, wherever I can to touch some ones life. Man, we need to "be" Heaven here on earth, live like you have a purpose and not just this need to consume. Then let's see what God can do then.

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8:46 PM Posted by Justin Manny

New Attitude

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So, it's time to turn over a new leaf. All of us. Anyone who is a Christian, it's time to act like one. It's time to really make a difference. It's time to stop being a spectator and to get a move on. There are tons of people all around us that just need to be loved on. Time to do it.


I feel pretty guilty. There's a guy who come to our church. He usually stands in the back by the sound booth during the service. I hadn't seen him in a few weeks and then this week he was back. But he was on a crutch and had a back brace on. I asked him what had happened, quietly cause it was during the service. He told me that he had been in a motorcycle accident. He had broken his back in two places, fractured his leg in two places, and broke his collar bone. And then he told me that a good friend of his who had been with him died in the accident.

I didn't know what to say. I mean what do you say. He looked broken, emotionally. I told him that I would be praying for him. But the worst thing is, I don't even know his name. I can't imagine how he must be feeling. I went to pat him on the shoulder to comfort him and he grimaced in pain. I'm such an idiot. He just told me he had broken bones and I pat him on the back.

I've been thinking about him since Sunday morning non-stop. I want him to know that when I said I was praying for him, I really am, all day long. And I want to stop being the guy who spends 5 seconds saying hi to people and I don't even get to know their name. I think though, I want to thank God that he was back at our church. We need to now be the family he needs, and rally around him.

(1) comments |

12:35 PM Posted by Justin Manny

The 10 Things I Learned On Memorial Day Weekend (And Should Have Twittered About)

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I probably could have Twittered these 10 things during the weekend, but regrettably I did not. But I feel strongly that these 10 things will leave you with knowledge that you had never considered before, maybe even about yourself.


10) The word "Amen" can be used as a synonym for the following: Yes. Thank You. Umm. Uhh. Also. I don't know what to say right now. Is it almost time for the reception. Next. Go Reds. (I had never heard amen so many times in my life).

9) IKEA is only fun when you get Swedish meatballs at the halfway point. We went to get some baby stuff. Jill also had wanted to get some curtains on sale for 10 bucks. But we went on Saturday and they were only on sale on Sunday. So I went by myself on Sunday, also not as fun. People looking for sale items are crazy.

8) In a related topic, I always pick the longest line for check out. Or the person in front of me always has a major problem or meltdown or they can't read prices on things. And I have the problem of being too nice. I just wait. I could switch lines and get done earlier, but there is always this point where I think, "I've been in this line long enough, I'm gonna wait it out. They have to almost be done. Seriously."

7) I did Twitter this but, they make Swedish fish in multiple flavors. I had only seen them in red, and they were awesome. But orange! Man, incredible. On closer examination of the packaging though, the fish are not made in Sweden but CANADA! I thought I was eating authentic IKEA swedish fish only to see that they are in actuality Canadian fish.

6) I have a carpenter bee pandemic at my house. They are everywhere. Sure they don't have stingers, but man they fly inches from your face. They think you think they have stingers. If you just stand there long enough they give up. But anyway, I bought this bug killer stuff called SEVIN. It's a dust that a professional bug killer told me would kill carpenter bees. All you have to do is blow the dust up in the carpenter bee holes and and thy will get it on their fur when they go in the hole and it will kill them. They did not tell me that the stuff was eerily similar to the pathogen that infected Jack Bauer. This poor bee was going out of it's mind. And it was a slow agonizing death. They bee forgot how to fly. And it just writhed on the ground in pain for seriously 2 hours. It actually made me feel bad. But that bee wass eating my porch railing, so he got what he deserved.

5) I have determined that painting is the best type of home improvement. It has immediate impact. It's easy. When I get started, I just want to keep painting. I asked Jill If she wanted a yellow house. She told me to put the roller down.

4) I have a spot in my heart for the Orlando Magic and a spot in my brain for the Cleveland Cavaliers. I can't explain it, but if both teams could win, it would be awesome. I'm almost wishing Boston had beat Orlando so I could whole heartedly cheer for the Cavs. Game One I say to myself, I want the Cavs to win. They lose. I didn't watch game two except Lebron's game winning shot. But the other night I wanted the magic to win, and they did. Seriously I am conflicted.

3) Benjamin Button's case definitely was curious. But it showed me that every one wants to make the most of the time they have, even if it moves backward. Plus Brad Pitt is cool. And the special effects that made brad look old, and put his head on a body double was incredible.

2) Kennedy is growing up way to fast. Waving was enough for me for one week. But then she proceeds to crawl and pull herself up to her feet. I can't handle it. Seriously, too much for me. When she can walk I am going to freak out.

1) I learned my friends Darrell's dad is not doing well. He has bone cancer. He's had it for a couple years now. Some days he's good. But lately things have gotten bad. He has some cracks in his vertebrae. I told Darrell I would be praying for him and his family. But I immediately said, "I know that's not a tangible thing to make you feel better." I was sad by that. I know prayer is the answer, but it doesn't make me feel better. The fact is that cancer is still there, hurting his dad's body, and the families emotions. It made me think about my friend Kristi's blog that I read last week. She had been struggling with the fact that babies in Uganda die if their mothers can't produce milk. She was trying to figure out how God would let that happen. Just like how I can't understand why God let's good people get cancer, painful bone cancer. But Kristi said something, and it stuck with me. She said most of the suffering in the world that humans face is self-inflicted. The problem for Kristi is kids and babies dying of malnutrition while I have so much food that I get sick from eating so much, like at a Chinese buffet. And that just reminded me of the fact that our world is fallen. We are selfish. And while bad things happen, they are not because God wants them to happen. These things are a result of our sins. And the other thing, when I cry out to God in my pain, he hears me. He hears my prayers for Darrell and his dad. He knows the pain just like us. He sees everything we see and more. So I told myself that prayer is a big deal. I get to talk to the creator of the world and He listens. He hears me. He knows I'm not happy about the world being fallen. He knows I want everyone to understand what He is and what He's done for us.

I thank God for all the things he taught me this weekend. And I will continue praying all the more earnestly for God to pull us out of our fallen world. But truthfully, I know God wants all of us as Christians to make the world into the world He intended on our own, because that is free will.

Thanks.

(3) comments |

11:19 AM Posted by Justin Manny

Mission

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At Orange, I learned quite a bit. But something really has stuck out to me. This statement: Without a Strategy you can never fulfill your mission. Hmm. That's not exactly it, but it's close. Understanding that a mission is important, but you have to have a way to make it happen.


I think the God has given us a mission. It's a simple one, Love in such a way that it points people to God. Live in a such a way that people see there is something different about you. What Jesus modeled to us was the love to go to the poor, outcast, marginalized. We must do that as well.

It's easy to say that mission. Really easy. But how do you do it? That is where strategy comes in. I went to a breakout session about missions, and I got excited about the idea of strategy. I see a lot of churches, doing a lot of good things, all over the world. I see this as a good thing, for sure. But I also see a better way of doing missions. What do we try to do with a normal person we meet? First we try to build a relationship, right? I think missions is exactly that. An on going relationship with a community. I know what you are thinking, "how is this different than what you were talking about? Our Missions Minister has a great relationship with everyone of our missionaries all over the world." I'm not doubting that. But I'm challenging us to more.

Here's a metaphor. Imagine an airdrop, like something the UN would do with food or medical supplies. They have identified a need, let's say food. And so they send a plane to country X and drop boxes of food with parachutes to the people that need it, and bam, they are eating. But pretty soon the food runs out, and they have to do the exact same thing again, and again and again. And let's think of who is involved, a pilot, and the crew of people that push the food out of the plane. I think that this is what our mission trips are like now. A certain person is pumped and passionate about a certain cause or need. They are the champion. And they rally a small crew of people around them. They say, "let's go fix this problem. Let's drop this them food and clothes and medical supplies." So they do, and then they leave. When they get back and people ask, "How was they trip? What did you do?" The answer is, "Great, we dropped some food and clothes and medical supplies and played with some kids." The question is then, What was the result? Well, we dropped off food and clothes and medical supplies and played with kids.

Now let's imagine a different way. So let's look at a bridge. A bridge connects two place, that would not normally been connected. Things can travel both ways across a bridge. And most importantly, building a bridge is a major undertaking. It takes a lot of time. It takes all kinds of different people, architects, planners, skilled laborers, scuba divers, unskilled labors, and the list goes on. But once the bridge is built, travel is so easy. And a bridge only goes from point A to point B. It doesn't go to a lot of places at once. I think a better strategy of missions is a bridge building strategy. If we as a church became committed to one thing and the whole church was involved. Children, youth, students, young adults, senior citizens all working together to build a bridge. Every trip you take, every project, every fundraiser, all for the same place. Your adults take a trip to visit your bridged community, your youth go visit the same place. You have to bet that when those kids get back, when the question comes up, "How was the trip?" it also includes, "How was John and Paul and kids at that place." Then, the missions effort unites the body, rallying them around the same causes. And now results are measurable. It could be, "this trip we dug a well and ran piping to allow the water to be transported. next time we want to build a school and help them set up a field where they can grow rice and vegetables." And then also things like, "Sue couldn't even talk last time I was there and now she sings beautiful songs."

When there is a strategy, not just a mission, amazing things can happen. Imagine if instead making a small impact in 10 place, we made a lasting impact on 1. Make your impact go from a mile wide and an inch deep, to an inch wide and mile deep. Invest in one place with all we have, and really make a change. Imagine if we could tell someone else that we are here all the time to walk with them on the journey. And we can't be so prideful to miss the fact that they have a lot to offer to us.

The reason this was at Orange was because could we imagine the way something like this could rally a family. The guy leading the breakout told a story. He said a man and his wife were planning a trip to Africa for their family. But it was during his three kids spring breaks. He didn't want to take the fun away from his kids. He wanted them to make the choice. As the trip drew nearer, the dad came and reported that all the kids were in. They were going to miss a cruise with friends, trip to the beach, and other fun things. When asked how he "convinced" his kids to go, he said, "We have some kids we support in the place, and I just had to tell the kids that if they went, they would get to see Simon." This is a way that missions can draw the family together. They can all rally around the same thing and grow together as the serve and become more and more selfless.

Jill and I plan to get Kennedy a Compassion Kid very soon. We want her grow up seeing that there are way more important things in life than possessions. We want to start rallying around the same thing now, so that when she has the opportunity to go to the beach or to continue a relationship that changes the status quo, then we want that.

I want to challenge you. All 12 people who read my blog, (Hi Mom!), let's start making a difference. Let's not do something that is easy. Let's do what's right.

(4) comments |

9:57 PM Posted by Justin Manny

Orange

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So tonight begins Orange Conference 09. I love the way these leaders look at their faith, and their role in extending their faith to others. Reggie Joiner talked tonight about opening it up, understanding the we are not trying to get families perfect, but we are just trying to help people understand that they are a part of a larger story.


He talked about Deuteronomy and the passage that is know by the Jews at the Shema. "The Lord our God is One. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul, and with all strength... For I Am the Lord Your God, who brought you out of Eygpt."

This got me thinking a little bit. Moses is giving a farewell address to Israel, and it always comes back to the fact that God brought them out of Egypt. Israel understood they were the next step in larger story. They always described God, Yahweh, in terms of what He had done. He was the God of their ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They constantly looked at Him in terms of His promises, plans, and actions.

How do we now look at God? I'd like to think that I understand where I fit. I do see the things God has done, showing His power and grace. But I need to live like I am the next chapter of the story. I need to be open to what God can do through me to continue His plans of redemption for our culture.

I see God working in what is called "Redemption History." He wants to restore mankind to the relationship he had in Eden. It's about restoring the relationship with God and man. I want to spend my life as that message.

I'm excited about what the next two days hold for me. I'm excited about seeing what God is doing. And like Bono says, I want to find what God is doing, and do that, because you know that is blessed.

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1:09 PM Posted by Justin Manny

The Divine Pursuit

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So our new sermon series is entitled the divine pursuit. I laid out the new image for it and it looks a little something like this. I've already gotten a lot of questions about how this represents the divine pursuit. So I wanted to sort of explain my thought process.


Well, it starts in Genesis 1. There God created the earth. He made a lot of stuff. Importantly enough, he made man, Adam. God desired relationship. He had that with Adam, but He also understood that Adam could use some relationship with other earthly beings. So he let Adam name some animals. Well all the animals. Can you imagine the amount of time that would take. But in Genesis, it's two verses [2.19-20]. It makes me laugh cause the NIV says God parade the animals "to the man to see what He would name them." Ha! God probably knew already, but I can see Adam standing there going, "Dog, Cat, Snake, Antelope, Elephant, Giraffe, What the!, umm, Duckbilled platypus." Anyway. That's the beginning of the relationship, God pursuing a relationship with man.

Fast-forward, Exodus. God gets his people out of slavey in Egypt. He wants them to see that He is what it's all about. In fact, the people of Israel get this pursuit so much that they associate God throughout the whole OT as "the One who brought us out of Egypt." This is a pivotal moment in God's relationship with man.

But as we constantly see, Israel screws it up. They become to oppressors. They had been slaves in Egypt, now they had their own slaves. And God cannot deal with that. This is why Israel gets exiled to Babylon. The Babylonians were God's punishment for Israel's sin. Isaiah saw this coming, warned them, but also knew that God would again redeem His people.

Isaiah is the promises of God to Israel. His promise of redemption. His promise of a Messiah. God does not want his people to be enslaved. Israel began looking to these writings for hope. Hope that God had not abandoned them. And He hadn't.

To me, the cross is the ultimate showing of the divine pursuit. God had a problem. Sin separated His people from Him. Blood of a spotless lamb was the price of forgiveness. But single lambs here and there was not enough. There had to be one final offering to cover the sins of all. Something big, grand and unexplainable.

Jesus, God in flesh, was the only sacrifice that could cover up the sins of man, bring them back into relationship with God. The cross is where the divine pursuit concluded. His pursuit of man is the cross. We can get that forgiveness that we had searched for in so many other ways.

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10:57 AM Posted by Justin Manny

The Medium Is The Message

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I'm working through reading this book by Shane Hipps called The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture. I'm going to be honest, it was not what I expected. It has really started changing how I look at our world. It's funny, because while showing the dangers of our new instant access culture, he wants us to understand that we cannot pull out from it. We have to learn to use these technologies for our benefit while keeping constant look at how it is effecting us.


Ultimately, the medium will always shape the message. Our job as the church is to not damage the gospel. A look through history shows how advances have changed the gospel. The early church was an oral community. They would tell stories to keep things in their minds. They told the same things again and again, sharing collectively all of the information. Then the printing press was invented and it changed everything. Now knowledge could be stored outside of the mind. This allowed people to not need others to learn things. They could simply read by themselves and withdrawal from others. A positive effect was that the letter's of Paul, which were full of abstract ideas not easily accessible in story form, now began to hold more weight. People could intellectually follow his arguments and Paul began to ascend to prominence in the canon. This marked the major shift form the community environment of early Christians to the individualistic ideas that we are still seeing right now.

The irony in the situation is that all the things in Paul's letters were written to communities of believers. All the references to "you" were plural, more like "y'all" or "yous guys."But the medium had effected the way the message was processed. We now see it to be Paul speaking directly to me personally, apply it to you only. That misses the point. Early Christians only thought of how to live out their faith in community. No one is an island.

Now to the challenge. God knows everything. God knew how things would effect Christianity. God used media for His message as well. Things like prophets, Moses, burning bushes; these were God's media. Jesus was God's media. And in continuation of that, we are now that media. The church is the media that God is using to connect people to Him. So, how has this medium changed message? How are we the message? People will make contact with God through the church now. Is their experience a good one? Do they feel judged? Do they have more negative ideas of the church because of me? Ultimately, if you are a Christian, then you are the message. You are the gospel to those you meet. How are you at being the message.

Last night, I wasn't great. I was talking to Tim Peace and Matt Trapp in the church parking lot. A car pulled up and lady asked if we had a few bucks to spare for gas. And none of us had any money. I felt like I failed. What if that was her one contact with church? I want to start carrying cash just for that reason.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that we are God's chosen medium for reaching our culture, so what are we doing to live out that message as good as we can?

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10:07 PM Posted by Justin Manny

Twitter

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So, I think we should all use Twitter. I've read what people have said about who it could be useful for churches, and I must say, I'm on board. I'm all about leveraging technology where ever I can. I enjoy reading what the people I follow have to say. It's less work than Facebook, or mySpace. It's kinda like a miniblog, right on your cell phone.


But here's why I am sold on it for churches. Churches run on information. If the information doesn't get out, that's bad. If it's not received in a timely fashion, that's bad. Twitter is a simple and most importantly, free, way to get information right to members cell phones or computers instantly. Let think about this. It's Saturday Night, about 9pm. You realize that the terrible winter storm that is coming is going to be hitting any second. At 11pm you realize the roads are too dangerous for early morning drives. You Twitter an alert out the says, "We are canceling early service due to the weather, but still plan on doing the 10 and 1130." Now any one following that feed has up to the second information sent directly to their cell phone or computer.

Here's the catch. The people that get the information are only people that want it. Oh, and standard text message rates do apply. So don't set too many things to text directly to your phone. It could get pricey. Oh, did I mention it was free. I know on a weekly basis that our church sends out a mass email, probably to many people that visited our church once and haven't been back in years. With Twitter, no managing the huge contact list. If someone wants the info, they decide to follow it. When they don't want it any more, they unfollow it. Simple.

I don't think that Twitter is for everyone. Only people that are relatively tech savvy. But man is it fun.

By the way, you can follow me on Twitter by clicking on the thing on the right bar of this page. The church has one too. Go to twitter.com/mtcarmelchurch. Follow it and get info of what is going on.

Not too deep a blog this time. More of an advertisement.

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1:18 PM Posted by Justin Manny

They like Jesus

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From I have seen around me and in things I read, people have respect for Jesus.  And they are people you wouldn't expect sometimes too.  True, the most important thing is to understand that Jesus is the son of God, who died for our sins.  But many people who haven't got to that point still look at His teachings and see truth and power and love.    Yet these same people want nothing to do with the church.  Why is that?


I think that the modern American church is off center.  I believe that most of these churches exist to be a social club.  People come to be seen by others, talk, listen to some music, try not to fall asleep during a sermon, and leave.  I don't think God intended the church to be like that.  I feel like the church is supposed to be a revolution.  It's supposed to turn the world on it's head.  Jesus didn't call us to be good sermon listeners.  He called us to something radical.  I think the something radical is what draws people to Him.  The main tenants of Jesus teaching in the Gospels lead me to some conclusions. [1] We are supposed to be counter-cultural.  I don't mean we should withdraw from the world, I mean we go places that others won't.  Jesus healed lepers.  The vicious fast moving skin disease made these people social outcasts.  They were unclean.  Yet Jesus went to them and met their needs.  He ate dinner with tax collectors.  These were Jews that went to work for Rome and ripped off their own people.  These guys got rich off of the mistreatment of the Jews.  Yet Jesus knew they needed someone to reach out to them.  [2] Jesus challenged the status quo.  The Pharisees and Sadducees are seen as the bad guys in the New Testament, but really they are guys that took the relationship with God and distorted it.  Jesus would not put up with their stuff.  He had many a showdown with them.  So in summation, we need to go where our culture won't, [the poor, the oppressed, the downcast], and we need  to stop keeping business as usual.

I firmly believe that it is time to rethink the way we are as Christians.  If you aren't reaching out to others, what are you doing?  If you aren't serving, what are you doing?  Our world is incredibly attuned now to helping others.  AIDS is something that has really hit our generation.  The world wants to end the AIDS crisis.  Look at Product(RED).  I also belong to ONE.org.  They want to attack and end world poverty.  Where is the church on these issues?  Why aren't churches creating these cultural pushes and awarenesses? 

What could happen in the world if Christians really became Jesus?  We are the only Jesus that many people will come in contact with.  Are we doing Jesus justice?  Do people see Jesus, or an intolerant person unwilling to hear other peoples' views?  Do we as Christians know any nonChristians?  If not, is that a problem?  I say yes.  I say that if we just hang out with Christians, how can we reach the world.  Most people the need Jesus the most won't "come to church to get saved."  We need to take our own responsbilities seriously and reach out to the those who need Him.

Here are some practical things I'm trying to do, because I am very bad at these things as we.

[1] Become a regular somewhere.  I go to City BBQ at least once a week, sometimes more.  Because of this I'm getting to know the people the work there.  Do I blatantly talk to them about "getting saved."  No, but one day the relationship that is being fostered may lead to discussions that could lead to that.

[2] Talk to strangers.  I think I'm becoming my Dad, but I've started cracking jokes to strangers in checkout lines, and anytime I talk to someone I don't know.  I find that when people see you in a good mood, not ticked about waiting, or whatever, that can have a profound impact on their life.

[3] Be open to conversation.  Man, I like talking to people that don't think exactly like me.  I like having to explain my position.  I don't like forcing my position on others, but if a conversation is happening, I like to push and be pushed on.  The key to conversation is not what you say, but what you listen to.  Listen.

Do I think the church is a horrible place today?  No way.  I just see areas where we need to be more like Jesus.  By building walls and rules, we are cutting off people from what they really need, and that's Jesus.  Let's be relational.  Let's be accepting.  Let's be Jesus.

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3:17 PM Posted by Justin Manny

Snow Days!

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So with the inclement weather, I was able to do some reading, watch some movies, and of course, get out and shovel my driveway of snow.  As I was shoveling away, I realized I was not the only one that got that idea.  Many people were outside going at the ice and snow all around.  One guy had his snow blower out and was going up and down the side walk, the length of the entire block.  It got me thinking, should I be reaching out like that.  So I shoveled the lady across the streets sidewalk.  Then I shovel my next door neighbors driveway.  Then I did another across the street.  Then I did two doors over's driveway.  It was hard work, but it was totally awesome.  We were all talking and hanging out, all us neighbors.  I don't usually go out of my way to talk to my neighbors, but lately I've been feeling like it should be all of our callings as Christians.  I look at how Christ went to others who most of the religious would have passed by.  We need to spend as much time as possible simply making the world better.  Building relationships does make the world a better place!  So I thank God that I got snowed in.  I thank Him for the opportunity I got to serve others.  I thank Him for the people around me, and I hope they got to see a little bit of Him in me today.

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10:35 PM Posted by Justin Manny

Change is Coming

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This is my first post of the year.  It's been a long time since I had time to sit down and do this.  Since I couldn't sleep, I thought I'd blog.  But after pre-ordering the new U2 album on iTunes and check facebook, I apparently only have 39 minutes to get out a lot of thoughts that have been plaguing me of late.


I'm struggling with what the American church has become.  I'm struggling with how, now, for the most part, we are consumers first.  I'm struggling with how being a consumer has change the expression of the church.  I realize that the marketing machine of all the large corporations have done an incredible job of telling us that unless we buy this specific brand of soap, no one will like us, or girls will fling themselves uncontrollably at you.  Why have we become consumers?  When did the shift happen for being active in producing things to simply buying products that make our lives easier.  Here's an example.  My sister, who lives in Florida, is mesmerized the Snuggie.  If you do not know what the Snuggie is, well you are missing out.  The Snuggie is a blanket with arms in it.  They say, "Oh blankets are so inconvenient.  When you are sitting on the couch, they slip and slide off, and your can't change the channel on the TV cause you have to take your hands out to use the remote.  But with the Snuggie, you are wrapped in a cocoon of warmth.  Simply call this number and for $19.95, we'll send you a Snuggie in one of three colors.  But wait, if you call in the next 5 minutes, we'll throw in another Snuggie free!  Plus, if you use your credit card, we'll throw in two book lights so you can read books in the dark, just pay shipping and handling!"  So, when I see that commercial, first I think, "Man, a Snuggie!"  But then I realize, wait a minute.  This blanket that I have is doing a perfectly fine job of keeping me warm.  Why do I still want a Snuggie?  That's marketing.

Why are we quick to change what we do when things are hard?  Why do we change when something doesn't go how we thought?  Well, that has to do with the messages that are sent to us in ads everyday.  And I see it coming over to the church.  I see people coming in to be entertained.  But if the music isn't how they want it to be, or the message didn't have enough jokes, they complain.  If something isn't exactly how they want it, they'll leave and find another church.

I tired to find some where in the Bible where it said things about Christian going church hopping.  I couldn't find anything.  I also looked through all of the letters of Paul to see where he said that church was about making myself feel good.  Couldn't find that either.  I looked for references to singing only upbeat songs with catchy lyrics and a smooth melody.  I never found it.  But what I did find was, Paul, being beaten and shipwrecked and stoned and bitten by snakes and ran out of town and hunted down, because he was a Christian.  I found a man named Stephen, who was so bold in what Christ had called him to do that he let the Jews stone him to death.  I saw James saying that we are to love our neighbors, no matter what, and that includes the guy who just cut you off on the interstate.  I think the most important thing I found was Jesus.  Not the guy with the white robe and light-blue beauty pageant sash.  I saw a Jesus who went where other people wouldn't.  I saw a Jesus that challenged the religious right, people that were more concerned with following every letter of the law than the heart of the law.  I saw a Jesus who preached that the Kingdom of God was coming and that it was going to rock the world to it's foundation, and it was going to bring people to their knees.

Why was the Kingdom of God so much more active in the book of Acts?  Why were the first century Christian so ghung ho that a martyrs' death was welcome?  When did Christianity become about safety, and hanging on till I get to go to heaven.  Jesus called each of us the Kingdom of God.  We can bring that to the earth right now.  The Kingdom of God is a giving up your Saturday to go downtown, every week, and talk to homeless people.  The Kingdom of God is loving a girl who is pregnant, no questions asked.  The Kingdom of God is not being satisfied with poverty, but fighting to make the world free of poverty.  The Kingdom of God is something that should be advancing into enemy territory, not waiting inside their church building till it's time to go to heaven.

Our culture has started to make a difference to those who need it.  Why is the church not on the forefront of these issues?  Why isn't the church more concerned about AIDS?  Why doesn't the church want to care for God's creation?  When did the church become aligned with on specific political ideology?  Change is coming.  For the better.  And if we don't wake up, and look at what we call important, it's going to change without us.  And in the process, a whole generation of people who are making a difference in the world may miss out on the church.   They don't want to sit and consume.  They want to do.  The want to get their hands dirty.  They do it because they know all people are equal, not because they are called by the God who made us to what he is doing.

Bono said in his speech at the National Prayer Breakfast in 2006 that God is on the move.  He is going to the place he has always been.  He's going to the poor, the downtrodden, the broken, the enslaved, the marginalized.  Are we going with Him?  Are we being the Kingdom here on the earth?  It's time to bring the change to the world that God is calling for.  If we don't God will use others.  And I don't know about you, but I'm tired of consuming the American church.  I'm ready to be an active participant in the Kingdom. I'm going to make a difference.

Thanks for reading.

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