It's a God Thing

My ears have been tickled at this phrase over the past few months regarding its meaning and the effect it has on its user. Every now and then, in a state of perceived contentment, as somebody shares a big win story-one in which the outcome was obviously favorable—the story will be bow tied with a: “it’s just a God thing”. What is a God thing? I wonder who first coined the phrase and how it became airborne. Admittedly overanalyzing the phrase, my follow-up impressions are: 1) are their certain God things which have always been established? 2) What are not God things? 3) Could a God thing for me be a bad thing from somebody else’s perspective? 4) Why “thing”. 5) When it’s not God’s, whose is it? (And so on and so forth…) Without trying to be critical, but merely specific, my thoughts go to Colossians 1:17:

17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
NASU

If 1) He is before all things, and 2) all things in Him hold together, then very plainly, all things are God things. All individual “things” become apart of a much bigger story which in the end, is the ultimate THING. So…Suggestion: Be cautious in identifying any singular event the thing you declare as one of those “God’s things”. For potential lies to only see Him in the positive. Rather, let’s be unified in a God who is wholly BEFORE, holding life together, intent on revealing all little something as mile markers to the thing: the journey story of salvation.

Amen?

-Deep thoughts by a shallow guy-
mn

Near and Far

If our lives were a case study, if we were a lab rat, we would recognize obvious trends that result in consistent outcomes.
FAR: In the moment of temptation, we have a free will choice coming on the heels of expected symptoms. When we choose far (meaning: far from the will of God), it is a choice for and towards self. We choose to indulge our laziness, lusts, and sin. The instant fallout of this is DISCONNECT FROM GOD. Amazing though how this also trickles into disconnect from those closest to us. It’s as if we deplete instantly our compassion, love, and mercy focusing, instead, that energy into sin. Once we fall, attempts to restore those tanks end miserably. We are then empty of the presence of the Lord, and simply put: full of ourselves.
NEAR: When our energy is put instead to the storage tanks which only Christ can fill, then our desires for self fulfillment are limited, and promises of presence (Isaiah 11) are fulfilled. Literally, drawing near to Christ results in a physical experience of Him reciprocating drawing near to us (James 4:8).
Why would we ever choose far? What motivation is there for that? Why are we so much like Paul, who does what he does not want to do.
Lord: forgive us. Replace our empty, vain, pursuits and replace them with the filling of you.

- Matt Newman

Para-Church ministries

As we launch into our new series on Vintage Church, we have posed a looming question of “What is the Church”. In reflecting this question, one quickly will go the opposite direction asking: “What is not the Church”. In particular…lets ponder a biggy: “What about para-Church ministries?” Are para-Church ministries the Church?
This question lies near and dear to my heart. My parents have been in full time ministry with Campus Crusade for Christ for 35+ years. Hundreds to perhaps thousands have come to Christ through their commitment, faithfulness, and leadership. The question we pose however is not whether or not para-Church ministries like these have been blessed by God or are effective, this goes without saying. The question we ask is: are they the Church.
I like the definition Pastor Mark Driscoll (Mars Hill, Seattle) gives to what makes up a Church. He says:
The local church is a community of regenerated believers who confess Jesus Christ as Lord. In obedience to Scripture they organize under qualified leadership, gather regularly for preaching and worship, observe the biblical sacraments of baptism and communion, are unified by the Spirit, are disciplined for holiness, and scatter to fulfill the Great Commandment and the Great commission as missionaries to the world for god’s glory and their joy.

Operating under this definition, I think it is clear that para-church ministries such as Campus Crusade for Christ, New Life Ranch, Young Life, and Lightbearers are NOT the Church. The beautiful thing about organizations such as these however is that GOD IS USING THEM FOR KINGDOM MOVEMENT. They have clearly throughout the past 100 years been some of the most significant missional movers in Western Christianity.

So-what-do-we-do-about-it?
I think we call these ministries for what they are: When done right, they are missional arms of effective Churches. In no way is it wrong to support or be involved in these. We should back them with our time, effort, and finances. They should not however become a replacement for the Church but rather a pipeline too it. The most healthy para-Church ministries I have seen are the ones who come alongside the Church, pushing new believers into its Discipleship and Accountability strategies. In this, para-Church ministries live out that which they are defined for (para-Church: of the Church).

Deep thoughts from a Shallow guy-
Matt Newman