As you well know, Christmas in today’s world consists of a number of components:
Trees, yards, houses and stores decorated with millions of colored lights;
Traditional and contemporary Christmas tunes floating from every radio, TV, CD player, and PA system;
People hustling through the mall and bustling about attending family gatherings and work parties. During the Christmas season there’s a strong focus on children, the family, good will and generosity, and lots of good times. But what is of special interest today is something that we have been told much of our economy is based on, the giving of gifts. This year there seems to be some disappointment on the way. While merchants count on holiday shopping for up to a third of their annual sales, most analysts predict a lack luster retail season, with no more than 3 to 4 per cent growth. (CBS News) “We think it’s going to be the weakest Christmas since the early 90s,” said Ethan Harris, chief U.S. economist at Lehman Brothers (MSNBC news Report).
Perhaps, like me, you’ve wondered where it came from, this annual obsession of heaping gifts, this frantic tearing away of multi-colored wrapping paper to find out an answer to the all-important question, “Did I get what I wanted for Christmas?” It seems that there are very few people in America who could possibly believe that Christmas could exist without giving and receiving gifts. Haven’t you ever heard someone say, “We’re broke this year, so we won’t be able to have Christmas”? Interestingly, it appears that we can have Christmas without Christ, Christmas without God, Christmas without church - but not Christmas without gifts. Some may even go so far as to say that at least two of the three major fruits of Christmas (Love, Joy, Peace) are present at Christmas-time because people show Love by giving, and those who receive the gifts experience Joy – at least if they like what they’ve been given. I believe the only way to experience lasting Love, Joy and Peace is through the Gift of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. So as we give gifts this season ask your self have you recieved the ultimate Gift ever given? It would be a shame to do all that giving and miss the Gift of God.
Anthony Goin
Monday, December 8, 2008
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
The need of Community
When we think about church we normally think of a large group of people in a single location to worship God and study scriptures. This can be described as the facility or institutional mindset of church where the location and size of our facilities has an impact on what we are able to accomplish. While that describes the majority of churches in the world, it has not always been that way. This mind set creates a church that is a place and not a people. Jesus’ desire was for His church to be a people, His body and not an institution. The early church was not restricted by this institutional mindset. Instead churches were based around household communities. It was not until 313 AD that churches became more institutionalized. Prior to that time Christians had a “community mindset” as they predominantly met in homes and shared more time and resources with each other than is typically done today. They lived in tight-knit communities of faith and practiced their beliefs together on a regular basis. They were constantly aware of their need for community and of the needs of the community because they spent more time with fewer people. “A study of Acts reveals that community was fundamental to, not optional for, early Christians (Gorman p. 37)”. For the first several thousand years of man’s existence community was the foundation of identity. Until the last 150 years people did not see themselves apart from their family or spiritual connections. This stands in stark contrast to our surrounding culture today which promotes individuality and self-sufficiency. “Self fulfillment, autonomy, rights, freedom, self centeredness these are the facets of negative individualism and the factors that mitigate against community (Gorman p. 46)”. It is made very clear in scripture that we have a God-given need for community. The first need God noticed for Adam was his need for community. Genesis 2:18— “It is not good for the man to be alone…” God created the very first community when he created Eve to accompany Adam on the earth. Since community is a God-given need and because our culture has done an outstanding job of destroying it, our need for community is greatly increased today. “A study done by Daniel Yankelovich in researching American society found that “a me-first, satisfy-all-my-desires attitude leads to relationships that are superficial, transitory, and ultimately unsatisfying (Gorman p. 47)”. “One of his surveys showed that “70 percent of Americans now recognize that while they have many acquaintances they have few close friends and they experience this as a serious void in their lives (Gorman p. 47)”. Ever since the first couple, community has always been important to humanity. The identity of the Israelites was based on being the people of God. When you read the Old Testament you can’t help but notice the lack of individuality in their culture. The family unit was of primary importance. Their household was foundational to the development of their identity. They took on the job of their ancestors and worshipped who they worshipped. Community was a means of existence and survival. The two most common punishments in Leviticus were death and excommunication from the people. Both were viewed as equally horrendous in the eyes of the people. Jesus knew the importance of community and communicated while here on the earth. He predominantly traveled with a community of 12 other men as he ministered to the masses. Through this community with Jesus and with each other these men firmly tied their identity to God. We also see this strong sense of community in the book of Acts. When Cornelius became a Christian the rest of his household followed no questions asked. When Peter preached at Pentecost and the people responded and were baptized it is important to note what followed. (Acts 2:42-47) The believers devoted themselves to prayer, fellowship, the breaking of bread and the teaching of the apostle. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. The very first church was planted and had a new identity because they were connected with God who is community within Himself (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). Today when you ask someone about themselves they will typically link their identity to their job for instance, “I am a policeman.” Our identity reaches far beyond occupation. There is a spiritual reality working behind the scenes that these very first Christians were aware of and it is that identity is formed in community through a process of spiritual transformation with others. What is also important to remember is that the early church met in homes. Why is this important? It is important because they were able to be better connected with fewer people. These smaller communities of the faithful were able to meet each other’s needs, study God’s word together, and actually get to know each other on a deeper level than we normally can today in assemblies of several hundred people. In Acts 20:20 Paul summarized his ministry as going from “house to house.” In Romans 16:23 Paul mentions the church that meets at Gaius’ house. In Matthew 18:20 Jesus says, “For where two or three come together in my name there I am with them.” The community that God intended for his people was to be fruitful and growing. We must create community! It is a mandate for our churches to be successful.
Anthony
Anthony
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Mentorship
A discipleship system that is important in accomplishing the great commission is called Mentorship. Mentored is defined as a person being guided and protected by a more mature person. Mentorship also refers to a developmental relationship between a more experienced mentor and a less experienced partner referred to as a protégé, or apprentice
Level One: Mentorship through Modeling
And so we come to the next most important aspect of discipleship, and here is where we start to see some of the principles of mentorship starting to show. I am talking about a very important thing called 'modeling.' What is modeling? It is when the teacher not only imparts the knowledge verbally, but acts it out in real life. And the first place we are all exposed to this is in the home. I am sure you have all heard that old saying, "Do as I say, don't do as I do." We all tend to be guilty of it at times as parents. We want to instruct our children in the right ways, but our actions don't line up with our words. We do not "practice what we preach."
It is a known fact that generally Pastor's kids are the most rebellious and disorderly kids around. One would think that having a father who knows the Word so well, they would grow up perfectly. But this is not always the case. The bottom line is that as a parent, you are disciplining your children in more ways than one. And in the end, they will not become what you try to teach them. They will become WHAT YOU ARE
That is because the teaching process involved in modeling is a lot more powerful than that involved in verbal instruction. The best teaching method is the one that not only tells the student what to do, but shows the student also how to do it. He is given an example to follow, a pattern to apply, a method to act out. And the best place for this to happen is in the home, where the child starts to imitate the parent. Each little child grows up wanting to be like Mom or Dad. Paul mentions this in the following verseEphesians 5:1, ‘Be therefore imitators of God, as dear children.’
It is in the nature of children to not only accept what their parents teach them, but also to try and copy their parents. And so you see the little girls stealing mommy's makeup and trying to make themselves pretty. And oh what a chaos and waste it is when they get their hands on it. And the little boy tries to use his dad's tools to fix things. But nobody can stay angry at that kind of behavior. It is the highest form of praise when your children show that they want to be just like you. This is true discipleship through mentorship.
.
Level Two: Mentoring hands on Training
This level of mentor means a bit more involvement by the trainer. And so it has become very much the ‘in thing’ these days to get yourself a personal trainer. If you want to do physical training and you have the money, you hire yourself a personal body building instructor, who will put together a set of exercises and routines for advancement. The instructor will spend time with you, showing you how to do them and correcting you when you go wrong. This means the instructor is not now only imparting knowledge to you, but actually getting involved more intimately in the training process. The instructor is not only telling you what to do, but is actually showing you how to do it. In other words, your mentor is now starting to add some modeling activities to the training mechanism. You are being given both theoretical and practical training.
The teacher is imparting to you a small piece of their knowledge and experience to help you attain a goal that you yourself have set. You have told your trainer that you want to attain a certain level of fitness; that you want certain dimensions; that you want to reduce to a certain weight, or attain a certain weight. And your trainer has put together a training course especially for you, to help you reach your goals.
Now for many people this is what they would call a mentorship relationship. The trainer is not there so much to teach you everything from scratch, but to help you go from where you are right now, to a goal that you want to obtain. But I want you to realize that this too is only the second level of mentorship.
Level Three: Mentoring through teaching disciplines of the Faith
There remains yet another level of discipleship and training that not many people reach. And it is this last method of training that I would like to emphasize and expand on in this study. The Apostle Paul spoke of this quite clearly in the following passage:
1 Corinthians 4:15 For though you have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.16 Therefore I urge you, be imitators of me.17 For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who will remind you about my ways which are in Christ, as I teach every where in every church.
Paul applied a more sound principle to mentorship that the Bible calls Discipleship. This is a word that we do not use much these days, because it is too intense for most people to accept, and is often considered old fashioned or obsolete. In Bible times the term was used freely and understood freely. I think the part that most of us do not like about this word is the fact that it is based on and contains the 'D' word, the word ‘discipline’. That is a word most of us like to avoid, because it has too many negative connotations.
Jesus' Use of Mentorship
I want to look at the life and ministry of Jesus and the disciples that he made when He walked the earth. You can clearly identify in Jesus' ministry the three levels of mentorship or discipleship that we spoke about earlier. The lowest level was that found amongst the crowds who followed after Jesus and pledged their faith in Him. They were known as disciples, but they never did get to know Jesus in any kind of intimate way.
Then there were the seventy whom Jesus sent out to preach the gospel and to perform miracles. These were given more personal attention and were given greater power and authority than the crowds. But they still were not part of that small group that Jesus poured the most into.
And there were of course the twelve, whom Jesus gave the most personal attention to. They not only heard Him preach, but actually lived with Him and went everywhere that He went. These were a unique group who indeed were the most qualified to take upon themselves the term 'disciple.' And because they were so close to Him they went one step further, to become Apostles. Jesus gave everything that He had to the 12. He imparted to them everything that the Father had given to Him. And then they were in a position to go on and become even more. So He encouraged them to not only become like He was, but to progress even further. He told them the following before He left
John 14:12 Most assuredly, I say to you, He that believes in me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to my Father.
The Ultimate Goal of Mentorship
This is the ultimate goal of all mentorship is to impart all you have to others, and then to encourage them to go on from there and to become even more than you are. Anybody who would be a trainer or master of others must have the same mind that was in Christ. And if you are not prepared to impart to others all that you have, and are not prepared to encourage your disciples to go on and exceed you, then you are not qualified to take the position of mentor, master or trainer. By the same token, if you desire someone to mentor you, then you had better be prepared to go a lot further than just being a student and one who learns from your mentor. You had better be prepared to follow it through all the way to the end. You had better be prepared to pay the price and take the risk of losing your own identity to become all that your trainer is. For only then will you be able to rise up not only to the level of the one who has trained you, but even higher, so that you can repeat the process and train others in the same way.
Level One: Mentorship through Modeling
And so we come to the next most important aspect of discipleship, and here is where we start to see some of the principles of mentorship starting to show. I am talking about a very important thing called 'modeling.' What is modeling? It is when the teacher not only imparts the knowledge verbally, but acts it out in real life. And the first place we are all exposed to this is in the home. I am sure you have all heard that old saying, "Do as I say, don't do as I do." We all tend to be guilty of it at times as parents. We want to instruct our children in the right ways, but our actions don't line up with our words. We do not "practice what we preach."
It is a known fact that generally Pastor's kids are the most rebellious and disorderly kids around. One would think that having a father who knows the Word so well, they would grow up perfectly. But this is not always the case. The bottom line is that as a parent, you are disciplining your children in more ways than one. And in the end, they will not become what you try to teach them. They will become WHAT YOU ARE
That is because the teaching process involved in modeling is a lot more powerful than that involved in verbal instruction. The best teaching method is the one that not only tells the student what to do, but shows the student also how to do it. He is given an example to follow, a pattern to apply, a method to act out. And the best place for this to happen is in the home, where the child starts to imitate the parent. Each little child grows up wanting to be like Mom or Dad. Paul mentions this in the following verseEphesians 5:1, ‘Be therefore imitators of God, as dear children.’
It is in the nature of children to not only accept what their parents teach them, but also to try and copy their parents. And so you see the little girls stealing mommy's makeup and trying to make themselves pretty. And oh what a chaos and waste it is when they get their hands on it. And the little boy tries to use his dad's tools to fix things. But nobody can stay angry at that kind of behavior. It is the highest form of praise when your children show that they want to be just like you. This is true discipleship through mentorship.
.
Level Two: Mentoring hands on Training
This level of mentor means a bit more involvement by the trainer. And so it has become very much the ‘in thing’ these days to get yourself a personal trainer. If you want to do physical training and you have the money, you hire yourself a personal body building instructor, who will put together a set of exercises and routines for advancement. The instructor will spend time with you, showing you how to do them and correcting you when you go wrong. This means the instructor is not now only imparting knowledge to you, but actually getting involved more intimately in the training process. The instructor is not only telling you what to do, but is actually showing you how to do it. In other words, your mentor is now starting to add some modeling activities to the training mechanism. You are being given both theoretical and practical training.
The teacher is imparting to you a small piece of their knowledge and experience to help you attain a goal that you yourself have set. You have told your trainer that you want to attain a certain level of fitness; that you want certain dimensions; that you want to reduce to a certain weight, or attain a certain weight. And your trainer has put together a training course especially for you, to help you reach your goals.
Now for many people this is what they would call a mentorship relationship. The trainer is not there so much to teach you everything from scratch, but to help you go from where you are right now, to a goal that you want to obtain. But I want you to realize that this too is only the second level of mentorship.
Level Three: Mentoring through teaching disciplines of the Faith
There remains yet another level of discipleship and training that not many people reach. And it is this last method of training that I would like to emphasize and expand on in this study. The Apostle Paul spoke of this quite clearly in the following passage:
1 Corinthians 4:15 For though you have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.16 Therefore I urge you, be imitators of me.17 For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who will remind you about my ways which are in Christ, as I teach every where in every church.
Paul applied a more sound principle to mentorship that the Bible calls Discipleship. This is a word that we do not use much these days, because it is too intense for most people to accept, and is often considered old fashioned or obsolete. In Bible times the term was used freely and understood freely. I think the part that most of us do not like about this word is the fact that it is based on and contains the 'D' word, the word ‘discipline’. That is a word most of us like to avoid, because it has too many negative connotations.
Jesus' Use of Mentorship
I want to look at the life and ministry of Jesus and the disciples that he made when He walked the earth. You can clearly identify in Jesus' ministry the three levels of mentorship or discipleship that we spoke about earlier. The lowest level was that found amongst the crowds who followed after Jesus and pledged their faith in Him. They were known as disciples, but they never did get to know Jesus in any kind of intimate way.
Then there were the seventy whom Jesus sent out to preach the gospel and to perform miracles. These were given more personal attention and were given greater power and authority than the crowds. But they still were not part of that small group that Jesus poured the most into.
And there were of course the twelve, whom Jesus gave the most personal attention to. They not only heard Him preach, but actually lived with Him and went everywhere that He went. These were a unique group who indeed were the most qualified to take upon themselves the term 'disciple.' And because they were so close to Him they went one step further, to become Apostles. Jesus gave everything that He had to the 12. He imparted to them everything that the Father had given to Him. And then they were in a position to go on and become even more. So He encouraged them to not only become like He was, but to progress even further. He told them the following before He left
John 14:12 Most assuredly, I say to you, He that believes in me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to my Father.
The Ultimate Goal of Mentorship
This is the ultimate goal of all mentorship is to impart all you have to others, and then to encourage them to go on from there and to become even more than you are. Anybody who would be a trainer or master of others must have the same mind that was in Christ. And if you are not prepared to impart to others all that you have, and are not prepared to encourage your disciples to go on and exceed you, then you are not qualified to take the position of mentor, master or trainer. By the same token, if you desire someone to mentor you, then you had better be prepared to go a lot further than just being a student and one who learns from your mentor. You had better be prepared to follow it through all the way to the end. You had better be prepared to pay the price and take the risk of losing your own identity to become all that your trainer is. For only then will you be able to rise up not only to the level of the one who has trained you, but even higher, so that you can repeat the process and train others in the same way.
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