Begone, Word Verification! Begone.

I've taken off "Word verification for comments".

I'm done with wasting time on deciphering and typing those letters. I figure I won't waste your time either. Unless I get spam. So I'll get back to you on that.

Have a great weekend. If you are a member of a church, take joy in it. If you are at Christ Church NYC, then read, mark and inwardly digest: Colossians 3:1-11.

:)

Evangelism: 7 Possibilities (#7)

The 7 Lie and 7 Possibilities can be read as one by clicking HERE.

7. God wants people to surrender to Jesus.

God directs your steps, calls his own, and leads as he pleases. Some want help. We simply need to open the Bible and speak of Jesus. Thats what happens in this story. But it would mean no good thing for the Ethiopian unless he surrendered his life.

36As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water. Why shouldn't I be baptized?" 38And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him.

In fact, so important is this surrender, that later textual editors wanted to 'seal the deal'. So presumably they added another verse, V37, putting words in the Ethiopian's mouth. But those words aren't necessary. The oldest manuscripts are enough: "Look, here is water. Why shouldn't I be baptized?"

In other words, "why shouldn't I right now surrender my life to Jesus?"

That's the prayer, right?

Here endeth the lesson.

Thoughts or suggestions?

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Evangelism: 7 Possibilities (#6)

The 7 possibilities are built around the story of Philip and the Ethiopian in Acts 8:36-40.

6. God wants us to speak about Jesus.

In the end, we open the Bible to see Jesus, by whom and for whom the universe was created. We search the Scripture knowing that in them there is eternal life because they testify about Jesus. So the eunuch, already reading the 'gift' text, then asks the 'gift' question: V34

The eunuch asked Philip, "Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?"

The answer is 'someone else'. And Philip doesn't drop the ball: V35

Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.

We preach Jesus Christ as Lord.

I once heard a Bishop in Sydney say that Christians get ourselves in all sorts of trouble because we primarily preach forgiveness (instead of Jesus); we preach grace (instead of Jesus); we preach life (instead of Jesus). Smart observation.

Thats why you are here in Manhattan this week.

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Evangelism: 7 Possibilities (#5)

The 7 possibilities are built around the story of Philip and the Ethiopian in Acts 8:36-40.

5. Engage with the Words of the bible.

This gift falls in Philip's lap. And Philip, we find out, takes the gift. The gift: The eunuch happens to be reading one of the most extraordinary verses in the Jewish Scriptures? Isaiah 53

Acts 8:32-33 Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this:

"Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter
and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he opens not his mouth.
In his humiliation justice was denied him.
Who can describe his generation?
For his life is taken away from the earth.

This passage, is, of course, central in the work of Jews for Jesus. No other passage in the Jewish Scriptures testifies so strongly about Jesus. Jesus is the embodiment of all Israel, that he might justify many. Jesus suffers judgment as Israel suffers judgment , to heal many. Jesus is raised to life, and he includes us in him. Jesus is the Servant. But first, he has to die unjustly like a sleep about to be slaughtered.

My point here is this: If we are going to introduce people to God, we must introduce them to what he said. The Bible must be engaged. There is more to say, and that more is next...

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Evangelism: 7 Possibilities (#4)

The 7 possibilities are built around the story of Philip and the Ethiopian in Acts 8:36-40.

4. The truth is: Some people want help.

We tend to think of everyone as self sufficient, and not needing help. But some want help! V30-31

So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?" And he said, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

You see it often on the subways and buses in NYC: people reading the Bible and other books. A good question: "Do you understand what you are reading?" with the intention of inviting them to discuss with you.

I have a guy at church who doesn't yet believe, but is always asking good questions about what he is believing. He really embodies someone who says: "How can I, unless someone guides me?"

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Evangelism: 7 Possibilities (#3)

The 7 possibilities were delivered to encourage the Jews for Jesus Summer Campaign volunteers last week. They speak into the 7 lies... The 7 possibilities are built around the story of Philip and the Ethiopian in Acts 8:36-40.

3. God has, at times, lead people directly.

A special moment, this is. It is early in the life of the church, and as a Jew, I suspect that an Ethiopian eunuch is the last person that Philip might think of to speak the gospel to. Maybe it’s a special moment like this that requires special prompting. V29

The Spirit told Philip, "Go to that chariot and stay near it."

This is a description of what happened, not a prescription for today.

But I wonder if a Jews for Jesus campaign in New York City is a special moment like this in reverse. And there may be some of you that know Christ's prompting in this way this week. I've never had a prompting like Philip. But you may have.

Take it.

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Evangelism: 7 Possibilities (#2)

The 7 possibilities were delivered to encourage the Jews for Jesus Summer Campaign volunteers last week. They speak into the 7 lies...

The 7 possibilities are built around the story of Philip and the Ethiopian in Acts 8:36-40. The story is a description of then, not a prescription for now. but I seek to draw general things as they come up.

2. God has his own people and calls his own people.

We know that from John 10:14-16. But see it in V27-28:

So he [Philip] started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet.

He is an Ethiopian. And he is a eunuch. He is the most unlikely to accept Jesus as Messiah. And yet he is reading the Isaiah with some level of hunger (we find out later). And Philip has been called to speak to him (v26): Jesus calls his own.

So as you stand at the Subway or in Brooklyn, look at each person and think – Jesus may have this person in mind. As you see the Prophets or the Torah being read... this could be a person Jesus has in mind.

Who are the unlikely people today to accept Jesus as Messiah? Not Ethiopians eunuchs, but the Jewish people -- the very people for whom Isaiah was written!

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Evangelism: 7 Possibilities (#1)

The 7 possibilities were delivered to encourage the Jews for Jesus Summer Campaign volunteers last week. They speak into the 7 lies...

The 7 possibilities are built around the story of Philip and the Ethiopian in Acts 8:36-40. I fully recognize that the story is a description of then, not a prescription for now. I try to take care with that, drawing out the general things as they come up.

1. God has our life and movements in his hands.

The mere possibility that God is sovereign over my life and movements is of great comfort. It means that he has me were he wants me, and has the power to take me to where he knows I need to be. For Philip, it was concrete in the moment, and specifically revealed to him by the Spirit. V26

Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza."

My friend David L (a student at TKC) and I went to Washington Square Park on Good Friday to speak with NYU students about Jesus (A good day to do it). Before we started, David and I read Acts 8:36-40 without nativity: we know that there is no promise that the Spirit would speak to us like he spoke Philip. But we affirmed the sovereignty of God over our life and movements. So we asked God to lead us to the person who he wanted us to speak to.

5 said No.

Cloud said Yes.

Yes, Cloud is the child of hippies.

Cloud is 23, college-educated and temporally homeless. We went together to a local restaurant and we talked with him about his life, and we shared Jesus' story with him. David invited him to church, and Cloud walked 70 blocks to get there on Easter Sunday. And then he shared a meal with a family from church.

God has you were he wants you.

We need to see God working and vocalize it...

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What makes God look Glorious?

This video clip is John Piper at his God-given best: Strong, profound, pastoral and devastatingly simple.

These three minutes settle the matter for me: I will not give ground to the prosperity gospel, and I will speak openly against it. There is too much at stake. The alternative life (suffering in and for Christ) has a Power that the proponents of the prosperity gospel cannot and will not understand.

(Warning: there is a profoundly sad story mentioned at 1:30, for the sensitive).

H/T Christine

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Wikipedia -- Is it this easy?

Are you a Wikipedia Editor?

I'm not.

But I have now made two remarkably bold (?) edits on a Wikipedia page. I'm astounded at how easy it is to change the information that people read.

A month ago, I found an error on the Wiki page of Peter Jensen. I corrected the publish date of the Archbishop's book At the Heart of the Universe. To 1991. These things matter, right?

And tonight, I removed a pejorative term from the St Helen's Bishopsgate Wiki page in London. Someone had written "St Helen's Bishopsgate is a bigoted conservative Evangelical church in the city of London."

Anyone want to guess which word I removed?

Are you a Wiki editor? Whats it like? Got any stories to tell?

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Evangelism: 7 Lies (#7)

This is the FINAL post of the 7 lies. The 7 possibilities are coming. Read Acts 8:26-40 to prepare for them.

7. You’ll never be any good.

It is true that there is giftedness. And you can think of the people in this room who seem gifted at it, right? And you wonder what it would be like to be like them. But the lie is that that giftedness is the end of the discussion. 'I’m not gifted, so I won’t do it.'

But in 2 Timothy 4:5, Paul reminds (an un-gifted?) Timothy to do the work of an evangelist, maybe because he didn't see himself as one:

But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry...

So giftedness, then, is only a part of the discussion.

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Pic by CMc$

Evangelism: 7 Lies (#6)

The 7 lies and then 7 possibilities were delivered to encourage the Jews for Jesus Summer Campaign volunteers last week.

6. Saying something to someone is the end of the business.

We can so believe lies 1-5 that when someone... anyone... shows any interest, we get so excited that don’t do anything else after a short conversation about Jesus. But how will I follow up that contact? How will I introduce them to community? What are the next steps?

Imagine if we all opened a new restaurant where very few people come in at first. And then finally someone comes in a looks at the menu, and everyone gets so excited that we run out the back to have a celebration and talk about how good it is that someone looked at the menu.

Go the full distance with people. This requires, of course, a new level of love and new level of organization.

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Pic by Chris&AmyCate

Evangelism: 7 Lies (#5)

The 7 lies and then 7 possibilities were delivered to encourage the Jews for Jesus Summer Campaign volunteers last week.

5. Comfort is the basis for making choices.

I take it that you are here (Jews for Jesus) because you haven’t believed this lie: Getting up early; sorties; contacts; hostilities.

Many people choose comfort unless they are being paid. Then, and only then will they will work hard. In contrast, Hebrews 12:2 says:

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

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Pic by DieselDan

Evangelism: 7 Lies (#4)

The 7 lies and then 7 possibilities were delivered to encourage the Jews for Jesus Summer Campaign volunteers last week.

4. Timidity is incurable.

The lie (expanded) is this: That timidity is incurable, and that you are then locked into a certain attitude as you stand there talking to people in Brooklyn or Times Square or wherever you are. You are timid, and so you cannot (and will not) do things that non-timid people do.

One of the significant people in my faith was shy. In many ways, I think that his gift was was shyness, as was his curse . Shyness made him a brilliant reader and thinker. And more than that -- he was approachable to some because he was shy. At the same time, he often wanted to withdraw and avoid people.

He knew that God had fashioned him that way, and yet he also knew that the devil wanted him to debilitate him with shyness. So he would force himself to have meaningful contact with people for Christ's sake.

In 2 Timothy 1:7, Paul says to Timothy --

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

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Pic by Chris&AmyCate

How much did you pay for Harry?

I am $US22.75 poorer for buying Harry (That $A25.70 for my antipodean readers).

I'm wondering if I was ripped off, or am I good?

How much did you pay?

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A Question for you...

A Question...

What is at the vortex of Perfect Weather, Sunday July 22, 2007 and Central Park, NYC?

Answer: Harry Potter.

We spent all afternoon in Central Park with a group from church yesterday and it was clear to anyone that Harry was being read by the hundreds in Central Park yesterday afternoon.

It felt like a Yo-Yo Craze for adults. (Remember the Yo-Yo Craze?)

Excuse me for a moment, I have to go and buy me a copy...


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Evangelism: 7 Lies (#3)

The 7 lies and then 7 possibilities were delivered to the Jews for Jesus Summer Campaign volunteers last week.

3. You can just love people in.

Very popular today: you love people in. You 'be Jesus to people', rather than 'speak Jesus to people'. And so you say very few or even no words.

I find this phrase interesting: Just be Jesus to people and they will see Jesus in you. It is an appealing way forward, particularly in a world that distrusts evangelicals. But it's odd.

Jesus was just Jesus to people and they killed him.

And Jesus was just Jesus using words all the time. You see the Devil knows the power of words. (1 Corinthians 1:18 Romans 1:16) and doesn't want you to know the secret.


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Pic by d-4ce

Evangelism: 7 Lies (#2)

These are 7 lies of the devil with regard to evangelism; and then 7 possibilities from God. I delivered these to the Jews for Jesus Summer Campaign volunteers last week.

Lie #2. People change like rocks change.

i.e. Never. And if they do, it’s unusual and not to be expected – like a landslide.

But the devil wants you to think of people like rocks. And what do you do with rocks? You stare and them and do nothing. He wants you to think this, so that you’ll do nothing. Or be like a geologist: stare and study and discuss, but expect no change.

But I reckon people are shakier than that. They are more like a reed in the wind, blowing here and there. Most people, I don't think, have a particularly compelling reason to believe what they believe. Some do. Many do. But most don't.

After all, didn't Jesus speak about how it feels and what happens when one builds a house on sand?

So I often say to people: "You aren’t really sure about that, are you?" And "you know that what Jesus says is good and worthwhile!"

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Pic by d-4ce

Evangelism: 7 Lies (#1)

These are 7 lies of the devil with regard to evangelism; and then 7 possibilities from God. I delivered these to the Jews for Jesus Summer Campaign volunteers last week.

First, let me be clear: I am not putting words in the devil's mouth. I haven't had a little chat with the devil on the side. He never took me out for a quiet beer on the Lower East Side to discuss his clandestine ways. I am (as CS Lewis did many years ago), extrapolating this from Scripture.

Lie #1. The message you speak is like a rented budget car.

Here is the lie: The message of Jesus is OK, but it ain’t that good; not by itself. It’s good that you have something to drive around your life in; and its certainly better than no car. But it’s not really that good and not that worthwhile. It gets me from A to B, but you may find better transport.

And so you feel you have to apologize for it.

I've rented budget cars from budget dealers, and I say things like – 'Well its all we needed; it's an economic choice; the smell isn't so bad once you get used to it'.

The devil wants you to believe that the message is sub-standard. But in Colossians 2:16-19 and 2:9-10, we hear the truth:

In Christ Jesus, you have fullness in all wisdom and understanding. (...) For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.

And like the Colossian Church, you will be tempted to think otherwise.


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Pic by d-4ce

Evangelism: 7 Lies and 7 Possibilities.

A friend of mine called Shaun is this week running the Jews for Jesus summer campaign here in NYC. Shaun, together with his wife, are friends ours from Church. Shaun and I meet regularly to pray and share our ministries with each other. I was privileged to address the volunteers this morning and offer them a reflection: Evangelism: 7 lies of the Devil, 7 Possibilities of God (from Acts 8.)

If you are keen to hear them, I'll share them.

Getting on the Subway in NYC...

I've just got home, and there has in the last hour been an explosion at 42nd St and Lexington Ave. Right next to Grand Central.

There is apparently smoke billing out of the subway. Right now, I can hear some sirens etc coming uptown. It sounds like everything is OK. Apparently only one guy was injured.

And terrorism it ain't.

However, I work about 10 minutes north of the explosion. To get home each evening, I can either catch the 6 subway downtown through the explosion site. Or I catch a bus downtown. As I rule, I catch the bus.

But if I had caught the subway today, I would have been right in the middle of it.

Cool.

I wonder what’s happening there right now.

In a few minutes, I'll be getting back into the subway for a meeting at 34th St. So I'll let you know. Lets hope that there aren't any more. Really not that keen to be stuck in a subway underground tonight…

Famous last words…

(I’ll let you know when I am back…)

Irony

Does anyone else think it’s ironic that Christian people use the word 'Christianese' to describe Christian jargon?

Personally, I think its tops. And a gentle smile comes across my face whenever the word is used.

See also here.

A (Counter-Intuitive) word of encouragement for anyone tired in ministry.

Preparing a sermon on Colossians 1:24-2:5 for Sunday has got me thinking.

I am becoming increasingly convinced that most answers to our deep questions come in counter-intuitive forms. And you'd expect that since we believe in Grace.

What do I mean? Let's say I have a question to answer, or an issue to solve, or something deep and conflicting within my heart that I need resolved. Here is a path I could try:

A. Discern the most intuitive answer, and then...
B. Do the exact opposite.

I want revenge, so I'll seek forgiveness.
I think shopping will make the pain go, so I'll give away that which I hold most dear.
I want to set more boundaries, so I'll say Yes more often.
I want to be first, so I'll plan on being the last.
I want to be great, so I'll plan on being a slave.
I want pleasure, so I'll choose pain.
I want to live, so I'll choose the Cross.


In the spirit of counter-intuition, I offer this reflection for those who are tired in ministry:

My Pastor in Chicago, Bill Leslie, said he often felt like an old hand-operated water pump, the kind still found in some camp grounds. Everyone who came to him for help would pump vigorously a few times, and each time he felt something drain out of him. Ultimately he reached a place of spiritual emptiness, with nothing more to give. He felt dry, desiccated. In the midst of this period, Bill went on a weeklong retreat and bared his soul to a spiritual director. He expected her to offer soothing words about what a sacrificial, unselfish person he was, and then perhaps to recommend a sabbatical. Instead, she said:

"Bill, there’s only one thing to do if your reservoir runs dry. You’ve got to go deeper."

He returned from that retreat convinced that his faith depended less on his outer journey of life and ministry than on his inner journey towards spiritual depth.

From Philip Yancey’s Reaching for the Invisible God .

Discuss.


Pic taken by Brian U on Flickr.

Wedding Tomorrow.

I realized that I have not posted in quite some time. I’d better put something up before I lose every reader. I have been back in NYC for 10 days, but have been catching my tail. I was privileged last weekend to be the (English) speaker at a Chinese Church that gathers in Flushing, Queens. We went Upstate NY, and we explored some parables that provoke. A hungry group of people (for the Bible, that is.)

I write to ask you to pray for two friends of mine. Laura and Clint are members of Christ Church NYC and they getting married tomorrow in Brooklyn. Great news. It will be the first wedding that I will witness in NYC (very different to St Ives, huh?). It shall be a privilege to pronounce them husband and wife.

Laura was one of a few people close to being a student when Laurel and I came to NYC 18 months ago. So she is very special to both of us. The work that exists now at Christ Church NYC amongst students was built around her and only one or two others. She’s a friend.

Clint will be joining us on staff next year at Christ Church NYC. He’s already being doing great work with a group called Student Venture. Clint will be in a kind of MTS role (let the reader understand) before they both go to Theological College next year. Great guy!

2PM Saturday, Brooklyn, NYC.