Young Adult Ministry

Very Interesting video…

I saw this on http://www.youngadultsagblog.com/ and had to share it. Really good stuff. Really interesting and enlightening. I think you will enjoy it.

Amazing Motivational Video

An Opportunity to Brag on My Friends…

I want to take an opportunity today to brag on my friends. To be perfectly transparent, there is nothing in this world that scares me more than the idea of being lead pastor at a church. But I have a number of friends who have not only stepped up to the challenge, but are excelling in the face of fear and difficulties and turning their world upside down for Jesus. I want to apologize if anyone feels left out of this list. Its not in anyway meant to be comprehensive. Here are four men, under the age of 35, that I admire and think you should too!

Brian Fulthorp – Brian and I met in seminary. We were put into an accountability group together and have been great friends ever since. Upon graduation from seminary, Brian and his wife Debbie moved to Arizona where they took a struggling, very small, home missions church at the Grand Canyon. Brian and Debbie have a wonderful heart for people and are giving their lives to an area that will never foster or grow a large church. They sacrifice and follow God’s voice, which is definitely easier said than done. Both of them are wonderful preachers with hearts for missions. You can follow them at their blog http://sunestauromai.wordpress.com

Sam Puente – Sam and I were roommates for a while back in college. He and his wonderful wife Ester have spent the last several years working as youth and associate pastors in Alvin, TX. Last year they felt the call of the LORD to plant a church in Kemah, TX. Kemah had just been ravaged by Hurricane Ike, but Sam and Ester were undetered. They now have a core group meeting, with a October showcase date, and an official kick-off set for January. You can check them out at www.ethoschurch.com

Brian Eggenberger – Brian and I went to college together and were R.A.’s together. At 24 years old, a church planter asked Brian to move to Sugar Land, TX and be his youth pastor as he planted a new church. Brian agreed, but within a few very short months the pastor learned he had cancer and passed away. In the wake of this tragedy, the church rallied around Brian and asked him to be their pastor. Today, Freedom Church is a growing churh in Sugar Land, and you can read more about it at www.freedomchurchintl.org

Dave Watts – Dave was the Head R.A. of my dorm my first semester of college. We both have a very similar Royal Rangers background, and are avid pervayors of the “African Bull Dance.” Dave and his wife Angela pastor First Assembly of God in Anahuac, TX. Anahuac is a very small community that was also ravaged by Hurricane Ike. The church building itself sustained amazing amounts of damage, including the almost complete anihilation of the sanctuary. Dave and Angela have worked extremely hard to bring life back to the community and the church. They recently finished all of the repairs on the church building and are leading a vibrant and growing congregation.

So those are some of my friends, who I am really proud of. But they are just a few of the many people who are doing extraordinary things for God. What about you?

Review of “Myth of a Christian Nation,” by Gregory Boyd

Gregory Boyd, Myth of a Christian Nation (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2005). $19.99, 207 pages. Reviewed by R. Ryan Beaty, M.Div.

In the wake of continued convolution between the evangelical church of Jesus Christ and the American civil religion over the past decade, many have been left to ponder the location of the line that separates American and Kingdom of God citizenry. For millions of individuals the mixture of politics and gospel proclamation are welcome bedfellows that fit with each other in a way most naturally. For many others however, the cohabitation of these two great forces is as polarized as oil and water. In this book, author Gregory Boyd goes to great lengths in order to demonstrate not only is there a difference between authentic Christianity and the American civil religion, there is an insurmountable expanse between the two, making the notion that the United States or any other nation is a Christian nation both crass and mute.

For Boyd the differences between what is kingdom of the world and Kingdom of God are stark. Where as it is undoubted that God uses the nations of the world at times for His purposes along with establishing the leaders of the worldly kingdoms (Romans 13:1, 3-4), the world also remains very much under the control of Satan and his demonic influences in nations (Luke 4:5-7, 1 John 5:19). Also, though all humanity holds membership in one or more kingdoms of the world, Christians are to as the scriptures say and live “in but not of the world” (John 17). The kingdoms of the world function through the exertion of “power-over” policies, that is elevation through the subduing of others. Worldly kingdoms and people put others down, carry out acts of destruction, and are selective in their morality as it suits their individual and national interests. This is illustrated time and again through out the history of the world and

Boyd enthusiastically supports a position of “power-under” influence, being the posture of leadership taken by Jesus and repeated by the followers of Christ in the early centuries. Illustrating the overwhelming difference, Boyd repeatedly refers to the world as ruling through the sword while Christ rules with a towel. Boyd asserts that service to others; the idea of the greatest servant being the greatest of all – a concept completely foreign to the kingdoms of the world – is in fact the only way that followers of Jesus Christ should seek to advance in life. With this as the guiding principle for Christian life, it makes it impossible for the believer to participate in most of the world’s devices. It is only through “power-under” servant leadership that the Kingdom of God is ultimately advanced.

It is important to note that the author recognizes that much good can at times come through the “power-over” approach. The problem is that that “power-over” tactics, while dealing with the manifestation of issues, can never touch the heart of the problem. Will any homosexual person be led to the LORD and experience subsequent life change by outlawing gay marriage? Will young people be better equipped to control lust by mandating an abstinence only sexual education course? Undoubtedly some, and maybe a lot of good, will come from “power-over” tactics, but Christ did not come so that the kingdoms of the world would be better. If that were the case, there would have been no need for Him to die. At any time He could have ordered the legions of angels at His command to overthrow the earthly governments. Instead he came to demonstrate that life change occurs through service, subjection, and submissions to each other.

Boyd believes that most Americans that also identify themselves as Christians are disillusioned by the foundational myth that America was at one time a Christian nation, and that it is our responsibility to, as the popular bumper sticker slogan declares, “Take America Back for God!” He wonders (as do I), when this time in American history was? Was it 50 years ago, when Jim Crow laws dominated the south? Was it 100 years ago when women were not given the same rights as men? Was it 150 years ago when blacks were still enslaved? Was it 200 years ago as Native Americans were being systematically annihilated? When was this time in American history when the great commandment to “love God and love your neighbor,” which sums up the Christian life, lived out?

In Boyd’s final chapter, he provides the much-needed practical application for the theory of the book in the form of five tough questions concerning Christians and violence. Three thoughts come to mind as I review it. First of all, where Boyd was quick to address Christians and military service, the naturally logical progression of this line of thinking moves to Christians as police officers. This topic was never discussed and I believe the book is poorer for it. Secondly, his conversation on non-violence leading to passivity was excellent. It was an honest approach to his own life: where he is, wants to be, and a thorough explanation of how though Christ taught non-violence, never did he teach passivity. More conversation needs to be had on the topic of laying down ones own life, but overall it was a complete discourse. Finally, Boyd discusses the idea that the oppressed are better off after the oppressor has been disposed. For both the author and I, this is a difficult discussion, but one with modern applicable examples – Gandhi and M.L. King – that shed light on the right way to function.

This book was straightforward and easy to read, capturing my attention from the very onset and never letting go. It was consistently poignant, thought provoking, and at times enraging, while remaining encouraging and hope inspiring. For Pentecostals and Charismatic it is especially enjoyable as Boyd’s Pentecostal background comes through in his writing, establishing an identification that was disarming. The themes of this book will undoubtedly be challenging to most American Christians as it attempts to deconstruct much if not all we have been taught about our history and roll in society from an early age. It teaches us a way that is painful and uncomfortable, a way of the gospel, transformed lives, and submission to others. This work will call all readers to some level of repentance and point them, whether they choose to walk it or not, towards a better way of the cross.

Drugs, Cheating, and America’s Past-time

Earlier today we were alerted that two new names had leaked from the Major League Baseball Performance Enhancing Drugs Report. You know, the one that was supposed to be kep completely confidential, yet has been anything but. The names we found out about today were Manny Ramizez (who earlier this month finished a 50-game suspension for testing positive for a fertility drug used in masking PED use) and David Ortiz. Manny obviously was no big surprise, and at this point neither was Big Papi. I had kinda figured Ortiz was like Prince Fielder, a fat-boy with hand-eye coordination, but I am not shocked at this revelation. Which causes me to wonder, what should be our response to this? Should we be outraged that the cornerstones of the 2004 and 2007 World Series Champion Boston Red Sox were and are cheaters? Have we become desensitized to this? Did we ever care to begin with?

Furthermore, should this list, in it’s entirety be made available to the public. As it is new names from the list are appearing every four months or so. Currently four players have been identified since March, Ramirez, Ortiz, Sammy Sosa, and Alex Rodriguez. Shouldn’t they just get it out there and get it over with? For some players it will definitely ruin their reputations, while other will be vindicated. People like Rogers Clemens, who the court of public opinion has already convicted, has been confirmed not to be on the list.

I guess we really have to ask the question, “Do we care?” On the one hand, of course we do! We want baseball to be clean. There is something romantic about baseball. It is our national past-time and we want all of its glory. The cathedral stadiums, the day-night double-headers, the jerseys with no names on the back. We want that pure, clean feel to the game. Baseball is a part of all Americana whether we are fans or not.

But on the other hand, cheating has always been a part of baseball. Pitchers try to scuff the ball, get it wet, or rub other foreign object on it to make it do ungodly things. Some pitchers cheated all the way to the Hall of Fame. Drugs have also always been a part of baseball. If it isnt HGH this decade, its steroids in the 90’s, cocaine in the 80’s, etc. These are large, grown men whose entire jobs it is to stay in a constantly hyped state of being in order to do the most difficult thing in sports to do, hit a three inch in diameter rubber corked ball wrapped in string being hurled at them at 95mph from only 90 feet away, three-out-of-ten times. I am not saying I excuse it, but I understand it.

I guess I am just over it all. The Hall of Fame talk is entirely too much for me now. Who gets in? Who doesn’t get in? We have to either assume they all cheated, and not let cheaters in, meaning an entire generation of ballplayers will be absent from Cooperstown, or forgive and forget and vote on all of them based purely on their results.

So what do you think? Should we forgive and forget, or banish everyone that has ever been connected with PED’s?

Why I Love the Assemblies of God

As I have stated in previous posts General Council is starting next week with its nearly 25,000 attendees. Never before will Orlando, FL have been filled with such loving people and such bad tippers! I love General Council, and am extremely fortunate to be attending for the third time in my relatively short ministry career. Some ministers spend their entire lifetimes as members of our fellowship and are never able to attend our biannual meetings. So I have been thinking the last two days, why I love General Council so much, and I think it’s the same reasons why I love the Assemblies of God.

First of all, I am proud to be a part of a classical Pentecostal fellowship. The last 100 years have seen the greatest revival and evangelism of souls in the history of the world, save maybe the first century. Prior to 1900 there may have been and extremely small smattering of Pentecostals worldwide, but now there are over 600 million, one tenth of the world’s population. The vast majority of these people are those that have been brought out of sin and death and seen the light of Jesus Christ. Not only that, but the power of the Holy Spirit has accompanied so many as healings and deliverances have acted as a sign to unbelievers, ministered to believers, and set the captives free.

The presence of Spirit empowered prophetic witness is the catalyst for the next thing I love about the Assemblies of God, our missions emphasis. Assemblies of God world and home missions is the envy of every denomination. We have the best missions programs, promote missions better, and put more missionaries on the field than anyone. Ministries like Chi Alpha, Latin America Child Care, Boys and Girls Missionary Challenge, Speed the Light, Royal Rangers International, and the list goes on and on, provide ministry at home and abroad that is completely unparalleled anywhere else in the church world. We don’t have to limit the number of missionaries we can send out, put them on a waiting list, or send them ill equipped. Our missionaries are provided for through our amazing church people and the auxiliary ministries we support.

The next thing I love about the Assemblies of God can probably be found in other fellowships as well, but is still a selling point for me, and that is friendships. The greatest friendships of my life, with the exception of a small handful, have all developed with people I have become acquainted as a member of the Assemblies of God. Whether it was in youth group, Royal Rangers, AG universities, or other district events, I can honestly say for the most part, “I am AG and so are my friends.” (though I definitely LOVE my non-AG friends!) And as someone who has been in over 20 weddings, that’s a lot of shotgun style churches!

Finally, I love the Assemblies of God because of our representative governance. Some have said its not biblical, that we should cast lots to decide who are leaders are, but I trust the Holy Spirit enough in our people to make Godly decisions. It’s amazingly freeing to have a say as a credentialed minister in the constitution, bylaws, and doctrines on which our fellowship was founded and now operates. I enjoy going to district and general council and attending the business sessions. I am someone who learns best through interaction, and so when people have the chance to talk and debate it definitely sparks great interest for me and generates quite a bit of brain wattage going on. By having a representative governance it also means we can disagree with each other and still be in fellowship together, and while I wish there were more room for this on certain issues, I am grateful for what we have.

We have a great fellowship that ministers to a lot of people. Are there things I wish we did differently? Absolutely! But there is so much that we do right I can have nothing but love for the church of which I am a fourth generation member.

What about you? What do you love about being in the Assemblies of God? If you are not AG, what do you love most about your fellowship?

Pentecostal Distinctive: An Oxymoron

Distinct (def.): distinguished as not being the same; not identical; separate

Lately I have been doing a lot of thinking about our Pentecostal Distinctive. Assemblies of God General Council starts next week, and one of the resolutions to be voted on is a reaffirmation of tongues as the initial physical evidence, as well as a mandate that it be preached, taught, lived. Even though I believe tongues is the initial evidence I find this resolution ridiculous, but also realize it is of little to no ultimate consequence.

As a result of my processing this through, I have come to believe that the term Pentecostal Distinctive is an oxymoron. To start, lets get everyone on the same page. When I use the term Pentecostal Distinctive, I am referring to the Baptism in the Holy Spirit with the initial physical evidence of speaking in tongues. It is a long-standing definition that has its roots in the early years of 20th century Pentecostalism. In those days Pentecostals stood a part from the rest of the church because of the Spirit empowered expression, and were often treated as second-class members of the church universal. There are countless stories of early Pentecostals being mistreated by other Christians, thus form a Pentecostal identity or distinctive. It may be however, this ill-suited term plays a huge part in the variety of beliefs among ours and other classical Pentecostal fellowships which exists today.

For so many their problem with initial evidence is not the Biblical evidence (though there is much conversation on the subject), but the disjointedness between the Biblical purpose and the modern expression. Last week I was speaking with a friend of mine about this topic. His comment to me was, “The power and purpose of Pentecost has very little to do with Acts 2:4, and everything to do with Acts 1:8.” The purpose of Spirit baptism is for prophetic witness to the nations. The fact that Christ chose the sign of Spirit baptism to be tongues further confirms its validity, that as Spirit baptized believers we speak the languages of all nations as a sign the gospel is for all nations. It’s our Pentecostal inclusiveness!

But look what we have done. We have cloistered ourselves off from the rest of the Christian world. True there has been a Catholic-Pentecostal dialogue over the last several years, but until the early part of this very decade the Assemblies of God’s official position concerning the World Council of Churches and National Council of Churches were that they are the “whore of Babylon” spoken of in the book of Revelation. I do not mean to pick on the Assemblies of God, my fellowship and my empoyer, because all Pentecostals have taken this stance. We have created the PCCNA (Pentecostal and Charismatic Churches of North America) of which none of the member churches are also members of the NCC. Also I am not contending that we should join the NCC and overlook all of the things they participate in we may have a problem with. However, being one of the very few Assemblies of God to have participated in NCC events over the past 50 years, I would say a dialogue needs to be opened.

Next week’s resolution is just another reminder of how our Pentecostal Gospel of inclusion has become one of distinction, separating ourselves from each other and the Church Universal.

Our Response to the Continuing Issue of Race…

I am caused to think about this more with the events of the last week concerning the arrest of Henry Louis Gates, a Harvard University professor. The officer, Sgt. James Crowley, has flatly denied the allegations that the arrest was race related, and the majority of evidence seems to support his position. Ultimately, we will never know what was in his heart at the time. This entire incident does serve as a reminder that race is still a very real issue in our culture, and even with a black president, is not going away.

I am concerned about the ways issues of race has affected our society. For instance, I believe that issues of race has cast an unfair, general distrust of police officers. Police officers are frequently portrayed in film and media as racists, corrupt, uneducated, mean, and bloodthirsty, most often picking on and exploiting minorities. Without question there are some officers like that out there, but they are no where near the majority. Nobody likes getting a ticket worse than me, but thank God for men and women who are willing to act justly on behalf of our communities and nation. Not every police officer is Mark Burman.

Is there any end in site to overwhelming racial tones within society. Is there any way we could just get the son of a KKK member to marry the daughter of a Black Panther? Wouldn’t that solve everything?

Gnostic Pentecostalism

Do you remember when you were a little kid and you had not yet discovered the joy of sharing? Having been raised in a home full of babies, I can say with authority that one of the first words children learn is “mine.” The toy is mine, the food is mine, and mommy is mine. Whether it truly is theirs or not, in the minds of young children everything is mine! As adults we learn to share, gain joy through the victories of others, but still there remains this element of what is mine. As Americans this sense is heightened because of our culture of rugged individualism. It’s the attitude that won the west. My pride, my land, and my success. The same approach to life now exists in the church. It exists with stupid little things; my pew, my parking space, my style of worship. But it also flourishes in major things. My personal prayer language. My spiritual gift. My private time. My personal relationship with Jesus Christ. My calling. My burdens. My ministry.

I am afraid we have willingly, yet unknowingly, become Gnostic Pentecostals. Gnosticism, an ancient philosophy that has seen ebb and flow over the past 2000 years and most recently resurgence, is a belief system founded in the divinity of the individual. Among Gnostics, while God in some form and roll is present, we are the main characters of this play, not He. Life to the Gnostic is thus all about us. It is my unfortunate observation that Pentecostals have adopted this stance, evolving Christianity into a personal exercise rather than a community activity. We have assumed the roll of lead character, ironically replacing the Holy Spirit by whose presence we are named!

We have taken everything that was supposed to be “He” and “we” and have turned it into “me.” For instance, consider the ordinances of the church. Water baptism is no longer a public profession of faith. We invite a couple of friends over to someone’s backyard and make it a private affair. Now baptism is special to me. Do you see how this is problematic? Water baptism was created by God to be the first opportunity for a new believer to demonstrate to the world their newfound faith in Christ. It is the biblical altar call. What about the shameful approach we have adopted for the Lord’s Supper, the most communal thing the church is supposed to do? The bread and wine are left at the door of the auditorium for you to take at you leisure as you enter or exit the building. Early church members died because they dared to gather together and as a community be united by the broken body and shed blood of Jesus Christ. Even in the best of circumstances the Eucharist has become a once a month tradition in which we use 10 minutes of service time to ask forgiveness for our sins, not come together in our mutual faith and dedication to God the Father.

Look further at the most basic tenet of Pentecostalism, Baptism in the Holy Spirit, as it has been twisted into a selfish exercise. How many times have you heard or know of preachers who have taught that the purpose of the Holy Spirit is for empowerment to overcome sin in an individual’s life. This is a distorted reality. Holy Spirit empowerment comes to the individual for the gain of others, so that our lives may be a witness of Jesus Christ. To relegate Spirit Baptism to personal entitlement is to trivialize His work in the world.

Beyond Spirit Baptism, what about the gifts of the Spirit? My friend Matt Bell said it best in a recent blog when we commented,

I do not know when in church history the gifts of the Spirit became privatized but it has and will always bother me. Through seven years of theological education I have taken countless “personal” spiritual gifts inventories and been encouraged to practice my “personal” prayer language. While not necessarily an evil, the focus on the personal (at least the way we do it) seems to minimize the corporate. The only gift that seems to be private in Scripture is the prayer language, but, even that has public consequences.

Pentecostals are consistently guilty of privatization and absolutizing subjective spiritual experiences. There is nothing worse then talking with someone who has “heard from the Lord” but you know there is no way God would have said that. When you try to reason with them (yes I said reason) they recoil saying that you wouldn’t understand cause you were not there. Never-mind that Paul clearly states that any subjective experience is to be judged by the Scriptures and mature Elders. These folks know better because that is just your interpretation of what Paul said – Pharisee.

Privatization of the gifts of the Spirit and absolutizing subjective spiritual experiences is not only wrong but bordering the spirit of anti-christ. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 12:7, “to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” while throughout the book of Acts almost every time someone is “baptized in the Spirit” it is in a group setting. Look at 1 Corinthians, is not Paul correcting the use of the gifts in a corporate worship service? Paul explains, “now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues.” (vs. 27-28)

Can you see the constant attention on the “me” instead of the “He,” along with a definitive diminutivation of the “we?”

I guess we should not be surprised. For the most part, Pentecostals have what my friend Dan refers to as a “crisis of discipleship.” For the past 100 years our poor eschatology has fueled our evangelistic efforts. We have appropriately felt burdened to win the loss, but because of our dispensational understanding of end-time events and our faulty comprehension of Christ’s imminent return (Don’t misunderstand me, Christ’s return is absolutely imminent, but has been imminent for 2,000 years and may be imminent for 2,000 more) we took the approach of, “Get ‘em saved, get ‘em saved, get ‘em saved, don’t worry about discipleship, Christ will be here any second,” and are left with a biblically illiterate church.

Is it any wonder that even our pastors get lost in Gnostic Pentecostalism? Is it any wonder that older ministers don’t know when to pass the baton and younger ministers try to take off running the race before they are ready? WE ARE A SELFISH CHURCH! How dare we get angry that the morals of our society are crumbling when we were the ones who let it get this way. We are like the one in Christ’s parable about the talents who hid his talent because we were more concerned about protecting ourselves than doing the work of the master (Matthew 25:14-30).

We are Gnostic Pentecostals. The Holy Spirit’s power is for me, so that I can live my life, to make sure that I get myself into heaven.