Manufacturing Jesus: A Plea For God Centered Pastors and Youth Rally's

Being a youth pastor I receive all kinds of mail from many customized ministries. The brochure is typically very flashy, with bright colors, and pictures of people doing radical stunts like sky diving or bungee jumping. The phrases are bold, short, and verb happy. They all come with the same motives and package; to try to sell a manufactured experience of Jesus. They promise to “move” your youth to the next level of Jesus through cutting edge music, energetic speakers (going no more than 15 minutes), a flashy pyrotechnics show, and all the glittery smoke one can imagine. The really successful ones will provide a brief leadership workshop for all youth pastors and their youth workers, that will equip you to increase your youth group and maintain a deep and fervent passion for Christ. In one mailer I found the group brining in a motivational speaker with wonderful credentials for the world, but no connection to the church.

I was not surprised by this considering the slippery slope many of these ministries are riding on. This is devastating to me and I find myself getting disgruntle every time I receive an invite to a three day weekend of hype for Jesus. What is even more disheartening is to watch so many youth leaders and youth fall for it hook, line, and sinker. I yearn for something genuine. I long for something real, and so do my youth. We long for an authentic time with Jesus.

We Are The World

One night I was driving down the road on my way to town pondering this very issue. I found myself trying to figure out why the church is allowing this and what to do about it. My conclusion as to why is simple; we have bought into the “worlds” way of doing things. We run our churches like corporations. We treat worship like a concert (and have made that into a billion dollar industry). We write self-help books on “How To Live Your Best Life Now” or “How To Have a Purpose Driven Life.” Our souls are perishing on fast food sermons that are cheap and quick. And if “I’m not lovin it“, or if I do not feel the “we treat you right” atmosphere, then I will leave and go find a place that will cater to my needs. And rest assured, there are many churches out there to choose from. In the words of the most beloved Michael Jackson (who would be welcome as a worship leader in many of these churches), “We are the World!”

[Of course if our churches are living this way, then it is no surprise that our “youth retreats or youth workshops” are run with the same philosophy. They are just mere shadows of what is going on at the home church.]

Blasphemy and Unbelief

Many of today’s churches believe we must manufacture and assemble our worship services to a “relevant Jesus“. Which means our music must be contemporarily subjective and our sermons must not go above the ankles in the theological swimming area. The reason being is that people “now a days” do not want to hear sin preached from the pulpit and have a lustful appetite to be entertained. Our attention span can only handle information in 10-20 minute sound bites and we must make sure it is uplifting and positive. Anything outside of this will kill the church.

Blasphemy! This very idea is rooted in the unbelief that God is the one who increases and maintains His church. This unbelief takes form in the presumption that man is in control of our salvation via power of manipulation or persuasion. Many evangelicals preach this untruth in the church today. For example, a very influential evangelical of today wrote in his top selling book, “If I can push a persons emotional buttons, I can get them saved.” (paraphrase) To think that we have the ability to save somebody from their complete depravity is not only pampas and arrogant, but is not biblical in any means. The bible teaches something completely contrary to this.

In Acts 2:38-39, Peter concludes a sermon to all who were listening in Jerusalem at the coming of the Holy Spirit, with a call to “repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all the Lord our God will call.” Further on in Acts 2:47 it says, “ And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” Peter preached the gospel of Jesus Christ and trusted that God would add to the church. The two go hand in hand. He did not do a dance or bring in the hottest Messianic Jew to sing a self-centered ballad about God. He simply preached the word. The Lord was adding those whom He was calling. And he was calling them by the testimony of His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus is the word (John 1:1-8). Christ himself is the good news and the truth unto salvation (John 14:6).

Jesus Was A Magnet

Jesus was the center piece of His ministry. Every time he spoke, people by the droves flocked to hear and marvel at his teaching, preaching, and healing. In the gospel of Matthew in chapter 4:24 it says, “… Great multitudes followed him- from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.” (cf Mathew 8:1, 18; Mark 3:7,8) They followed him because he healed the sick and taught with authority (Matthew 7:28-29). When he spoke there was power that spawned life in the soul of the lost in concordance with the given promise of His Father (John 6:37,44, 64). Those whom He was calling heard and responded with a sincere heart because the Father was drawing them to add to His church (John 6:44-47). Simon, who was called Peter and his brother Andrew dropped their nets and left immediately when Jesus said, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (Matthew 4:19) In verse 21-22, we see the same thing with James and John. They immediately dropped what they were doing and followed Christ after he had called them. Those who hear the gospel (the good news of Jesus) and respond are the fulfillment of the promise in John 6:37, “All that the Fathers gives Me will come to Me.” Jesus is the magnet if you will, that will draw all whom the Father has given to be redeemed for His church. This is still happening today and is still the means in which God is building His church; namely, putting Christ on display through His word and in the lives of His believers.

Putting Jesus On Display

The solution is simple; gives us Jesus. The means is just as simple: put him on display. And what I mean by putting him on display is to preach the word of God! Give us the depths and riches of His truth. Take us diving into the deep end of the vast sea of theology and doctrine. Sing songs that remind me of His greatness in power and wonder in mercy. Tell of the cross, the wonderful cross, in which he bids me to come and die and find that I, may truly live! Equip me with what I need to live a life that puts Christ on display through the truths of his word ( i.e. expository preaching). Don’t be afraid to take me on a 50 minute hike through the mountains and valleys of scripture. Trust the Holy Spirit to sustain me and my youth as we wrestle with the hardships of the text. Do this that we may live with a passion to make Christ supreme! This is what I long for in a youth event! No smoke, no hype, no cutting edge shallow Christian band, no motivational speaker that uses dead business principles in the living church. Just give me Jesus, my blessed Jesus, who is more beautiful than any glitter and comes completely and self-sufficiently intact. Put Christ on display and He will add to His church. It’s a promise!

O Beautiful Savior

A few days ago I began reading John 1 in my quiet time. I began to ponder the significance of the first chapter in how it describes who Jesus was and is to us. I was amazed at the how John intertwined Jesus’ eternality and supreme authority over creation in such a brief text. As I was somewhat meditating on the text, I happed to be by a piano. So I decided to write a hymn. It took me a few days to work everything out; however, “O Beautiful Savior” was the final product. I hope you enjoy the overflow of a well spring of truth that captured my heart in one of the sweetest times I have had with God.

[I had originally took the words to an older hymn called “O Beautiful Savior” and arranged my own music to it. I was not satisfied with that and felt that God and myself would be better served if I wrote a hymn for my generation. I kept the title because it was the only thing I could think of while I was experiencing God’s truth. I have included John 1:1-18 beneath the song for you to read and consider.]

O Beautiful Savior
Meditation of John 1:1-18

v.1
Jesus eternal, before the foundations, in the light of the Fathers love.

In the company of angels, and love adoration, left Your throne to bid Your Fathers will.

v.2
King of creation, Lord of the nations, in the darkness brought the light.

Our hearts reviled You, crucified You, yet in Your joy endured our plight.

v.3
In perfect submission, a life of affliction, on the cross was crucified.

Satan’s defeated, my sin is forgiven, and the Father is glorified!

v. 4
Alive and risen, in supreme exaltation, sitting at the Father’s side.

Interceding, always pleading, for His saints whom he reconciled.

Chorus

O beautiful Savior, King of all glory, Son of God full of grace and truth!

Let glory and honor, praise adulation, ascribe to Your name in all the earth!

John 1:1-18 (ESV)

The Word Became Flesh 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

6There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. 10He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

14And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 John bore witness about him, and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.'" 16And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

Five Points of Pondering: Refreshing A Weary Soul

1. Resurrect your hope in the resurrection.
(1 Corinthians 15:50-58)

“52b For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality….. 58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”

Recently, texts like this one have spurred my heart to imagine the glory I will taste when Jesus returns. Paul reminds me that death is swallowed up in victory and that my body will be changed into a glorious one that will never perish. Cancer will have no dominion over me. Fear will have to place in my heart. My sin will die to holiness and righteousness, and I will be forever happy in Christ. Drink from texts like these often and you will live radically for Christ and your soul will not grow weary.

2. God has promised to make you competent for your task.
(2 Corinthians 3:4-5)

“Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, 6who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”

Just as our salvation is by grace and not of our works, so is the capability to minister to the world is not of our own. We do not rely on our own cunning ability to persuade or our physical strength to endure. We are made sufficient for every task by the will and grace of God. Therefore, go and do the work of God knowing He is at work and doing all that he desires; even if it looks as though you fail 90% of the time.

3. There is a fountain of joy in ministering to the saints in the mercy of God.
(2 Corinthians 4:1-5)

“1Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart.”

In the last several months, in my weariness, I have had several opportunities to serve the downcast and ill hearted. On one occasion, a brother in the Lord had just gone through an incredibly invasive surgery removing cancer. As I sat and visited with him, I asked him how his spirit was. He looked at me and calmly said, “Good.” From that I gleaned an immense amount of hope. I worshiped God in spirit and truth in my car on the way home from the hospital. He was so confident and secure, even though cancer threatens his mortality. I would have never been able to enjoy that if I had not been willing to leave what I was doing to go and be with him and his family during this time.

There have been other times when I have been able to help counsel families or help the grieving over the loss of a son. In every circumstance, by God’s mercy, I served someone’s needs and received joy in the process. These acts of service not only glorify my King Jesus, but also help me not to loose heart.

4. In every moment, pray! (Luke 18:1-8)

“And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.”

At the beginning of this year I had a goal of praying continuously. I wanted to commune with God in every moment of my day. I wanted to have the sweet fellowship that Enoch had with him. I wanted to be able to grow in my affections for God and his wonderfulness. When I was praying with this kind of intensity, no matter how difficult or restraining my life got, I did not grow weary. I was so amazed by it, that I made a mental note of how God was so sustaining me through prayer.

Needless to say, my mental sticky note was lost and I began to cease from praying as often and with as much intensity as before. In doing so I became weary. Just as Jesus explains in this parable of the persistent widow, God hears the cry of the righteous and will not delay long over them. Being in constant prayer keeps you continually communing with your sovereign God who hears you and acts on your behalf. The more you commune with God the more your faith increases and your heart waits eagerly for Him. Without a consistent prayer life, the other points are in no effect. Prayer is the glue that holds it all together. Therefore, pray continually and do not lose heart.

5. Eat from the bread of Life! (Matthew 4:4)

"4But he answered, "It is written,"'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. "

Watchman Nee had a wonderful habit that developed into a proverb, "Bible before breakfast." He understood that the need for the soul to be nourished was of far greater value than the mortal body. It is amazing how I have lived as a spiritual anorexic for so long. Not very often have I neglected to feed my stomach day in and day out. But far to many times I have gone without properly feasting on the word of God to the nourishment of my soul. If you do not eat you will faint and grow weary. Your body will wither and eventually shut down. So be your soul if you do not continually feed it the bread of life and refresh it from the fountain of living water. Your quiet time is your feeding time. Imagine how sweet our commune with God would be and our display of his glory to the lost, if we feasted on Him as much as we eat in this world. It would be amazing!

There are so many other scriptures that better explain the truths I am pointing to here. But, these are the ones that have been given to me in my meditation and pursuit of joy. I hope these help anyone who reads this blog.

Weary In The Work, Not Of The Work

There is a blessed joy that almost always leaves an impressionable mark on my soul that feeds me in my days of trial. Simply put, the joy is communing with loved ones over a cup of coffee. This joy is simplistic in means, but perplexing in its results. There is something to the robust smell of coffee that tends to convince my spirit, that there is a new day dawning and hope is just around the corner. I cannot explain logically why this is, except that maybe it is as if God uses it to remind me that his mercies are new every morning. I think it stems from the wonderful memorials God has given me with my parents while we are on holiday at their house. My parents are early risers and have a wonderful habit of getting up and making breakfast for the family. My mother or father, I’m not sure, concocts the perfect blend of coffee and water whose aroma pursues every corner of the house. One of my favorite things about going to bed at night is waking to the delightful smell of coffee beckoning me to get up, and see that the Lord has kept us all through the night, and desires us to enjoy one another. And that is exactly what we do over breakfast. Our fellowship is sweet and encouraging. The other day God gave me the same kind of experience with a close friend in a local Starbucks.

One of my closest friends happens to be my pastor. Because of our busy schedules, we rarely get to spend time just conversing on life and ministry. A few days ago God allowed a thief to shatter the back passenger side window of their car and steal his wife’s purse. After Dave arrived home he needed me to take him into town to get his other car that was left at his school. “I’ll buy you a cup of coffee,” he offers me as we are getting in my car. I would have taken him regardless of the offer, but it was one I could not pass up. I love coffee (especially Starbucks) and I love sitting down with Dave for a time even more.

I ordered a decaffeinated coffee with a shot of cinnamon with room for cream and sugar. Dave ordered a hot chocolate. We sat at a small table with the entry way to my backside and on the left. I could see the barista creating drinks and setting them on the counter. A warm breeze would brush against my back every now and then as customers would enter. It was approximately 6pm when we arrived. The day was cooling off and the sun was beginning its trek down for the night. The smell of coffee and the sound of people conversing in the background triggered my home holiday memories. My shoulders began to relax and my soul was feeling a bit tender. And then I began to think about Dave’s day.

To have someone violate your life by stealing what God has graciously given to you is overwhelmingly frustrating and angering. Anyone who has had someone steal from them knows how distasteful you feel towards that person, and the wrath you would put upon them if you had the opportunity. Nevertheless, Dave’s perspective on the entire incident was grateful. “It’s not cancer,” he says to me with his eyebrows raised and his lip perched up on the left side. “It could be a lot worse.” he continues to say. I agree nodding my head as he went on speaking of a number of things that could be worse or that could have happened. In all of those hypothetical scenarios, God was always at the prefix. God could have let this happen, or God could have let that happen he would say. And then he would follow in some form or another; “God was merciful.”

As he was speaking, my heart was absorbing the grace that God gave him to recognize His goodness in robbery. It was almost as if Dave’s love for God poured out of him and on to me; and I was able to drink refreshingly. Add to that the heart warming environment with its sounds and smells; God was moving in side of me. It was just what I needed.

For the last 6 months or so my spiritual walk has been lethargic at best. I put in a lot of hours at work and in the ministry and see little earthly return. Here lately, a lot of the youth I am ministering to, either at school or at church, have just stopped short of being insulting toward me. And some of my kids at school have surpassed insulting me and are moving on their way to assaulting me.

I am also finding that the more physically tired I get, the more out-of-wack my spiritual life becomes. My quiet times with God have often been too quiet. There are times when reading the bible is like running in place; sure it’s good for me but I’m really not getting anywhere. There are other times when I want to read, but seem to get preoccupied doing something “more important.” My prayer life goes from inner violent screams pleading with God for mercy and repentance, or thunderous songs of praise to God for being my chosen portion; to quietly falling echoes from a bottomless pit barely whimpering words of thankfulness. Moreover, I have an enemy, which is like a roaring lion, looking for every opportunity to feast on my faith; leaving me in a bloody pool of anxiety, being nursed by the whore of unbelief. Many nights I go to bed feeling as if I have failed my family, my church, and my God.

Dave said in his sermon a two Sunday’s ago, “You can be physically tired and a good nights rest will help you. If you are spiritually weary, only God’s grace cures that.” I believe he is right. I needed the grace of God to fill my cup. And Dave pointed me, by his words and actions, to the only thing that would satisfy my soul; God’s promises. Let me show you what I mean by the example of the apostle Paul.

The apostle Paul in Galatians 6:9 says, “9And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”(ESV) In the context of this verse we see Paul encouraging the Galatian church to help bare one another’s burdens. The burdens he speaks of here are circumstances or issues that are extraordinarily heavy and cumbersome. We are all aware of the many burdens that have attached themselves to our hearts, plunging our spirit down into the depths of fatigue; spiritually and physically. Paul is encouraging the church to fulfill the law of Christ with a unified passion to love one another, by walking side by side daily in each others burdens.

This love manifest itself in strengthening one another with words of encouragement; pointing us to our holy happiness (Acts 15:32). It is enjoyed by being stewards of Gods grace, serving one another in deed and prayer, and by putting others interest above our own (1 Peter 4:10; Phil 2:4-6). It is marveled at by the world and made to display the worth and value of Christ, so much so, the elect cannot resist it (1Thessalonians 1:3-5; John 17:20-26), and the world can only say “you must belong to Jesus!” (John 13:24).

Paul encourages us not to grow weary nor loose heart in doing good. The good he is ascribing to is a God honoring, Christ exalting, love adoring, demonstrating genuine faith kind of good. This kind of “doing good” seeks to sow in the hard places. It seeks to visit the sick that are dying and minister to the distraught family. It labors to provide food for the hungry and shelter for the homeless. It strives to preach the word accurately and with authority to a generation that has bought into the American dream and has no concept of real pleasure. It goes all out to make Christ shine as beautifully glorious in the darkest places of the human heart. It sits in a coffee shop listening to a brother fatigued in the ministry. And doing hard things can get wearisome if we toil on our own. That is why Paul says to sow in the spirit; not your own spirit but the spirit of God. If you do so you will reap what is good; namely eternal life.

Without making Dave sound like a prosperity gospel preacher (a false gospel he abhors), he sowed in the Spirit that day in Starbucks. His faith and love for Christ poured out of him like a fountain and was offered to me. He did the “good thing” Paul talks about in Galatians 6:9. He could have easily gone home and went to bed or read a book or visited more with his family. But instead he sought the company of another brother and the fellowship of a friend. He listened and advised and we shared common struggles in our daily walk. In doing that he encouraged me and gave me what I needed to continue in the faith. And I believe he reaped an eternal reward. If you were to ask Dave his thoughts on the conversation, he would probably tell you he enjoyed himself as well. This is a bit perplexing if you think about it. While he was sowing, he was reaping. There is joy in doing good for others.

I find it amazing how an hour and a half with a brother in the Lord and God’s promises can be as refreshing as cold lemonade on a hot Texas day. I left Starbucks not only encouraged and relieved, but with another memorial of God’s sustaining grace. There are times when I will become weary in the work. But it is times like these that help to not become weary of the work. I know I am striving for a greater cause; even in the most minute of things (1 Corinthians 10:31)

There are a few lessons I have learned from all of this after further meditation. In my next blog I will give a few ideas that have recently helped me in my walk with God. Be good and God Bless.