HC Blog

Follower of Jesus and Lover of the Church

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 10:28:30 -0700

Recently Newsweek did an article called “A Christian by Any Other Name”. They were commenting on the movement of what Christians are calling themselves these days “followers of Jesus”. And though I love the title, I believe (as the article portrays) many who use it are not understanding it.

First, I think calling ourselves “followers of Jesus” is a great title. Why? Because it does remove the denominational ties (which can be seen as only “religious” ties) and it separates us from political ties. Now, I’m not against denominations or politics but unfortunately in our day and age if you call yourself a “Baptist” or “Methodist” or even “Evangelical” it means something to the hearer that you many not intend to communicate. You have to spend time defining it but when you say “follower of Jesus” it is fairly clear (after all the early followers of Jesus called themselves just that).

But. Yes, but. Many who are using this “branding” are saying they follow Jesus but not the church. Now that can be good or bad. I don’t follow a church as if it is my god or sovereign so in that sense I follow Jesus but not the church. But if I say I follow Jesus and don’t belong to any church body then I’m not really following Jesus. You see, in the NT it is the church that Jesus loves. It is the church Jesus even died for (Eph 5). And even when Saul was persecuting the church, we find Jesus saying that Saul was persecuting Him! Jesus identifies himself with the church (Acts 9:4). Jesus loves the church and to say I love Jesus but hate the church is an oxymoron, just like saying I follow Jesus but not the church.

We must be careful not to go to either extreme. We can’t have the church as our identity and think that being a member of it somehow gives us points with Jesus or even forgives our sins. But we also can’t think that being separated from the church makes us more like Jesus (even if we have had some bad experiences in the past). On the contrary, it is to deny the very things He loves and to do damage to our own souls for we were not meant to live the Christian life alone.

As a matter of fact (and I’ll end here as I could go on and on), when you look at the NT virtually all the commands are in the plural. Thus indicating that you were never meant to follow Jesus on your own but in a body of believers! For more reading check out this article and this review of a book by Mark Dever. Dever goes so far as to say “If you call yourself a Christian but you are not a member of the church you regularly attend, I worry that you might be going to hell.”

Wow! What do you think? How important is the church? Can you really love Jesus and not His church? What do you think of the title “follower of Jesus” for yourself?

Justice and Modern Day Angst

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 11:07:50 -0700

The headlines are filled with “celebrities” making apologies. Everyone from A-Rod to Madoff, Spitzer to Bishop Williamson, and even in recent history with Clinton and Nixon as rehashed by the Frost/Nixon film (which was phenomenal by the way). And it seems that our culture is getting pretty tired of it. One such person is Joe Queenan who wrote an opinion article on his angst against such things.

The bottom line is that Queenan is angry that these people even say anything. He suggests that they get a gag order or at least have to walk around with a sock stuffed in their mouths. His reasoning is because their apologies don’t do anything, they don’t change anything. He even reflects on his own father who beat him growing up while he was drunk. His dad tried to apologize later in life but he said “Sorry, Pop: No dice.”

And while I agree with the basic premise of his statement, “genuine contrition requires restitution” (which can also find biblical support in the story of Zaccaheus), I don’t believe he has a good solution to the problem of justice! Queenan, along with the rest of the world, longs for justice. They want to see all wrongs made right. They want to see “sins” paid for but they many times deny the very thing (or more appropriately “Person”) that will give them that!

People want justice because it has been placed into them by a just God. And yet people want to deny the reality of Hell and that God is a God of wrath and judgement. They prefer to have a god of their own making who is just a forgiving and loving God who let’s do whatever we want, which is nice until you get sinned against and then you don’t want that kind of god! I agree with Miroslav Volf, a Yale theologian, who said “if God were not angry at injustice and deception and did not make a final end to violence--that God would not be worthy of worship.”

You see, we really want Hell to be real. We really want God to be just. Because that is the only place we find “ultimate restitution”. And yet, we really don’t want that because we know deep inside we have “restituting” to do! This is where the power of the gospel comes in! The cross is central to understanding justice and peace in our world! The cross shows that God is serious about injustice and sin. So serious that He would send His Son to die for it! If I put my trust in Jesus then my sin and injustices that I have committed have been poured out on Him so that Hell is not an option for me anymore!

You see, the cross is the only solution to injustice in the world. For at the cross, my restitution was served by Jesus for me! And it is the cross that helps me deal with injustice now because it tells me that God will one day make all wrongs right and will put an end to sin and injustice. It is only in understanding this that I can deal with injustice and also keep me from vengeance and the taking up of the sword to retaliate. As Keller has said “loss of belief in a God of judgment can lead to brutality.”

Mr. Queenan, that desire for justice and resitution is right and has been placed into you by the design of a loving Creator. But the solution is not a sock stuck in the mouth of these men, including your father, but the cross nailed to the hands and feet of Jesus!

You and Cultural Impact

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 10:03:15 -0700

We are sitting in one of the, if not the most important city on the planet: Hollywood. Out of this city flows a lot of what is consumed by culture around the world. And our world knows this as one article said, commenting on why same-sex marriage is an important movement here, “We could not have this cultural, social change in Fargo.” Our world sees this but I wonder if we as Christians really do? Christians like to talk about changing the world but that change has to begin where we live. And we have a great opportunity in where Jesus has placed us.

Now, we can sit back and attend a church service, maybe even attend a Community Group occasionally and go about our merry little lives. But in doing so we are missing the greater goal that Jesus has placed us here for. We were saved, became Christians, to serve. As Jesus Himself said “I didn’t come to be served but to serve and give my life as a ransom for many”. We are sent out as rescuing and restoring agents of people and culture. We are to make something of this world. How are we doing?

As you and I evaluate that question we have to cast our vision longer than just two years. The HC has been in existence only a year and a half and this is no time to make lasting change. Our vision must be long term. To change things for worse can take a day but change long term must take much, much longer. The only thing you can do with Rome in a day is burn it! Andy Crouch, in his book Culture Making, aptly said “any change that will profoundly move the horizons of possibility and impossibility will almost always, by definition, take lots of time. The bigger the change we hope for, the longer we must be willing to invest, work and wait for it.”

How do we do this? We have to live out the gospel in this city. We have to begin to demonstrate that we care about more than just ourselves. As Lesslie Newbigin put it (as quoted by Nancy Pearcey in Total Truth), “The gospel is not meant to be a disembodied message. It is meant to be fleshed out in a congregation of men and women who believe it and live by it.”

This all starts with you doing something for the people of this city. Loving them as Jesus would with sacrifice, effort and compassion, especially to the least of these. And without ulterior motives of stroking your ego, building connections or easing your conscience. This doesn’t involve crazy, out of this world, Mother Teresaesque service but it is a lifestyle of commitment. It involves living for something greater than yourself, living to make Jesus look good and valuable to the surrounding culture.

To help with this endeavor we have many means of cultivating this lifestyle of service in order to see the gospel proclaimed, Jesus glorified and our city looking more and more like the Kingdom. Every third Saturday of every month we will be doing prayer walks around our city to pray and ask Jesus to mend the brokenness of our city and to mend our own brokenness (10AM starting at my house). Also we have ongoing ministry opportunities at hope4hollywood. Finally, you have the opportunity to look around you, see needs and pour yourself out for the people of the city.

An excellent example of this was one of our community groups decided to join others in the city to help build a garden for both the beauty of our city and the helping of the poor to grow their own food. ABC7 even took notice of this and you can see the video here. This is an excellent way to start. And it is more than a community service project, it is a lifestyle of looking for ways to serve and care and demonstrate the love of Jesus! Ask God for ways you could better our city and see the gospel go out as a result!

St. Patrick and Church Planting

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 09:50:58 -0700

Today is St. Patrick’s day and unbeknownst to much of Hollywood, this is a day to celebrate the planting of churches!! The real “Saint Patrick” wasn’t even a saint, he was a church planter around 390 A.D, just a regular guy who loved Jesus (See Resurgence for a good article on Patrick from which I got much of this info). He got saved at 16, taken as a slave to Ireland where he brought the gospel and fought for justice among the Celtic people.

He went to a people that the Roman Catholic Church deemed beyond hope! Patrick was reaching people that everyone else had given up on and had basically written off as a lost and dying culture. But Patrick fought through the antagonism of the existing church and the hard-heartedness of the Celtic people and planted over 700 churches. He then fought to end slavery and see justice served among the people. He also used their culture to convey the truths of the gospel.

Patrick said, “I am a servant of Christ to a foreign nation for the unspeakable glory of life everlasting which is in Jesus Christ our Lord.” So, St. Patrick’s day is a day to celebrate church planting and the mission Jesus has called us all to here in the city!

For Further Study:
• At www.ccel.org there is a free copy available of Patrick’s book Confessions.
• Steve Rabey’s book In the House of Memory is a good introduction to Patrick and Celtic Christianity.
• Thomas Cahill’s book How the Irish Saved Civilization is a fascinating historical look at Patrick and the implications of Celtic Christianity on western history.
• www.ChristianityToday.com/history is the site for Christian History and Biography magazine, which is a wonderful resource that includes an entire issue on Patrick and Celtic Christianity.

Calvinism Changing the World!

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 19:45:35 -0700

Time magazine just released their ideas on what ideas are changing the world: #3 is what they call “the New Calvinism” (to see difference between old and new check out this article). Now, I fully agree, but to be honest I wouldn’t expect that to make Time Magazine’s top 10?! And while the typical characterizations of Calvinism as God being the author of sin and such are typical straw men, I have to say I’m pretty excited. For to have Time take note of this it must be making some wakes in our culture!

When we planted the HC, I felt that we were joining a tidal wave of a movement where God was doing something really special, especially through church plants who were reformed in their theology. In 2006 the Economist ran a story titled “Christianity is collapsing everywhere but London.” The point of the article was that though Christianity was declining in Great Britain as a whole, London was growing. That same year, CT ran an article on how young reformed (aka Calvinistic) church plants were shaking our country.

We are part of a movement, possibly even a great awakening of sorts that is hitting the cities of America and the world. And this movement is being spearheaded by reformed church plants! Let’s continue to pray and watch Jesus work through His church!

Our Country is Getting Less Religious and Why I’m glad!

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 09:04:25 -0700

By now you have probably heard of the study that has been released on the religious pulse of the US: it is beating much slower. Now, this shouldn’t come as shock to anyone, whether inside or outside the church. But from reading the research and articles commenting on them, I’m actually pretty excited about it! (You can see articles here, here and here. You can also find a review of a new book I’m reading by William Lobdell on people vacating the church. He is the former LA Times writer I keep up with)

If you’ve ever heard me speak or read much here you know that I draw a distinct line between what is religion and what is the gospel. Religion is damning just as much as irreligion. As a matter of fact, when I read my Bible I see Jesus condemning the religious and reaching the irreligious. Basically religion is about me and what I need to do for God and the gospel is about Jesus and what he did for me. The gospel thus doesn’t leave me stationary and stagnant but rather motivated and passionate about obeying Jesus because I am loved and accepted by HIm because of what He did for me.

What is interesting about this study is that as the mainline churches are being vacated, the evangelical churches are growing. What does that mean? Well, eventually people realize that if being part of a religion doesn’t change me and has nothing to offer me besides just affirming who I already am, then I’m wasting my time. Where there is no gospel, no truth, then people will eventually stop. And that is exactly what is happening.

So what does this mean for us? It means that more and more people are open to the gospel (especially when you differentiate it from religion). They want good news. This is evidenced by the fact that church plants like ours are growing, especially in urban centers. We live in the least churched state in the country and likely the least churched city as well (less than 1/2 of 1 percent in Hollywood).

It is in this kind of society that the church explodes, especially when the Christians get missional living. This is where they begin to contextualize in such a way that the lost hear and see the gospel lived out before them. This is where we engage and get involved with our city so that we are around unbelievers so that we can point them to Jesus. When you don’t have to deal with religion and its baggage then you have a clearer path to the gospel!

New Tracts

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 09:44:25 -0700

Finally, I found them! I’ve been looking for good tracts for over a year now and other than Piper’s “for your joy” ones I had found none. Piper’s is good but it is a little long and was looking for something more succinct and holistic. “What do you mean by ‘holistic’”? By that I mean one that presents the gospel in its entirety, a more diachronical approach than a synchronical approach.

A synchronical approach to the gospel is taking it from an angle of systematic theology. This means you do something like the Romans Road where you simply pull verses about sin, Hell, cross and need for a response. These are not bad but I find that people, at least in my city, are more interested in the story of the Bible, hence dia (through) chronical (story). I want to communicate the metanarrative of Scripture which is Jesus. Thus this approach looks at it from beginning to end with creation, fall, redemption and restoration.

This new tract is called “the Story” which is appropriately named. It starts in Genesis with Creation and harmony and describes the fall and its results. It then tracts through to the promised rescuer Jesus but it doesn’t end there like so many. It points to the coming restoration, the New Earth. Getting our souls saved is not the totality of the gospel, it includes an eternal dwelling on the New Earth where Jesus restores all things the way they were and we are with Him forever!

Check out this new tract here. I’ll have some for our prayer walk on Saturday if they come in the mail in time!

Ahh, Memories!

Mon, 9 Mar 2009 09:38:51 -0700

Here are some pics of a year ago when we first started at Gardner:

First services at Gardner a year ago

Sarah’s shower for baby Calvin who will be a year in week in a half

Baptisms last year . . . btw we ordered our own portable baptistry with heater so no more Barksdale kiddie pools or random apartment complex pools that all were freezing!

Tools for the City

Fri, 6 Mar 2009 11:33:23 -0800

I was thinking today of what I had with me as I transverse the city of Hollywood and what things I should I have with me as a missionary and contributor to this city. Some are pure functionality, some are for the good of the people of the city. These are not in order of importance, just wrote them down as they came to my head. Feel free to add to the list:

1. Quarters: You don’t have to drive long here to know that quarters are of necessity for parking.

2. Sunglasses: It is SoCal afterall.

3. McDonald’s Arch Cards: it is good to put $5 on a few of them to hand out to those who are hungry. I have a philosophy of not handing out money because I feel that might not actually be loving if they use it for drugs or alcohol. The arch cards have no amount on them so they won’t be able to sell them. If I have time the best thing to do is take them to eat and sit down with them.

4. Bus Tokens: these are good to have as well to give away. You’ll find people saying they need to get somewhere and need money for the bus. This again keeps me from handing out cash.

5. HC Business Cards: these are good to have on hand when you do give things away or if you are in conversation with someone and want to invite them to church.

6. Tracts: just found some really good ones this week that I’m ordering (hard to find good ones). These are helpful when you have had the opportunity to talk about Jesus and you gotta go or they do. Good to have church website on back.

7. Non-Plastic Bags: these are both pragmatic and helpful for others. First it is good for our city to not have to take the plastic bags at the grocery store. Also they can be handed out for people who need them on the streets.

8. Cell Phone: this is more pragmatic but also good for connecting with people. I’ve found that having a facebook application and Twitter application on my phone allows me to keep up with people and know what they are doing during the day. I feel I’m getting to know people better as I see what they are doing all day. Plus if you are out and about and want to meet up or have a question you can just send it out. You can also use your phone for taking pics of the city.

9. Ipod: when their is no one to talk to and walking around this can be a good resource. Good worship tunes are good but honestly I prefer listening to something like “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” to get the angst and anthem of our city. That song describes our city very well.

10. Hand Sanitizer: this allows you to shake hands with and put your arm around someone when appropriate. If talking to someone homeless you may feel distant but you don’t want to be that way. You want to treat them like fellow human beings with dignity.

11. Bible, Prayer Journal and Times: always good to have something to read with you no matter if you are walking or driving. It seems you always have to wait for people so you can read your Bible, pray for people on journal or read the latest on LA in the Times.

12. Heart Full of Grace: as you reflect on the grace of Jesus it moves you to pray for and serve the city. It helps you realize that people are short and selfish because they are living for themselves and they need Jesus. This helps you be patient and have the heart of Jesus for the city!

For the Love of the City, Let em’ Run!

Wed, 4 Mar 2009 09:11:52 -0800

Last Sunday was supposed to be the LA Marathon . . . that was until churches got involved. It had been this way for 24 years but now it has been moved to Memorial Day. Now, I have no idea what it is like to run a marathon (my brother-in-law runs in these things) but I can’t even fathom doing this on Memorial Day. Can you say dehydration and heat stroke??

Why am I writing about this? Well, the title of a recent article I read was called “I’d rather be running”. It is basically an article on angst against the churches of LA not wanting to have the marathon run on a Sunday. And I’m actually with her on this one and I’m a pastor in this city. These churches were upset because the marathon not only killed their attendance but also made it difficult for people to get to the churches.

The problem for me is that this is again fuel for the fire of antagonism against the church in our city. The church, in general, doesn’t give a lick about the city. Also the church seems to think that “church” is about a Sunday morning event. What about doing . . .

1. Canceling a Sunday morning (gasp) and instead meeting in community groups that Sunday. Or maybe even gathering on that Saturday night previous (gasp).

2. Participating in and maybe even serving at the marathon (gasp). This would teach your people to look outside the holy huddle and church clan and do good in the city. It might even, I dare say, provide opportunities to communicate the gospel as I’m sure they’d be interested in why you are doing your “church thing” on Sunday.

Now, I’m all for Sunday gatherings (I am a pastor after all). But the church can’t be equated with a simple gathering point. It is vital and good but not so sacred as to not be moved or changed locations for.

What do you think? Am I crazy here? What would you suggest?

Parenting in the City (Part 2)

Tue, 3 Mar 2009 21:37:14 -0800

The next generation that we will pass Christianity’s torch to will be our children. This sets a somber tone to our task of parenting. But while it is somber, it is also exciting! As a father of four I find that raising my children here in the city provides some of the greatest lessons and, honesty, provides some of the most interesting conversation starters. I take each of my three oldest out on what we call “daddy dude times” and “daddy date times” every week individually. These times allow me to sit down with them, grab some ice cream and talk about their life and growing up here in the city. As I mentioned in the last article, it is challenging here but I feel it is the greatest environment for raising them.

I wrote previously about the negatives of raising them here like the financial strain, the physical logistics and the complexity of educational choices. And these are very real and are in addition to the already social stigma we receive by having four kids (though having four dogs would win you an award of outstanding citizenship). Yet each of these only forces our involvement as parents even more. We have to find things to do as a family that are more interactive and cheap, we have to pile in our stylish mini-van to get places and we have to be heavily involved with our twins at school. These things only cause us to be closer. Plus we don’t have to commute anywhere so my time as a father is not wasted in a vehicle on the freeway. In many ways, the city forces us closer together.

Also, raising my kids here in the city gives me a certain rapport with my children. Though I’m sure they will try to find someway to explain to me how I don’t understand real life, living in the city makes those arguments moot. Raising them here and living out my faith here shows them that I can handle life in the most difficult circumstances by His grace. It shows them what Christianity really looks like in the real world. Though cultural Christianity still exists even here, it is extremely minimal and thus they grow up seeing hopefully not a religious life of attendance and verbiage to creeds but a vivacious walk with Jesus. For it seems that in the city you both love and walk with Jesus or you don’t.

Also raising my children here makes them more resourceful. They learn how to navigate and use different means of transportation from driving, to riding the bus, to riding the subway to just plain walking (and no, I’m not letting them drive yet). They learn as well how to navigate through life’s difficulties and how to deal with different types of people. The city teems with people who are very different and diverse. Thus my children learn to interact, not be shocked and be respectful.

One final note for this article has to do with the diversity element as well. Raising my children here gives them exposure to and appreciation of different cultures. We live at the intersection of Little Armenia, Thai Town and Los Feliz village (which is the “hipster” and young professional sector). We live on a street where it seems the whole world has converged. I have neighbors from Armenia, Greece, Russia, Japan, and Israel (to just name a few). I have a cab driver, real estate worker, widow and even an orthodox Jewish Rabbi living on my street. The city is far from being monoculturalistic and cultural zoning is out the window. Unlike most families outside the city, they don’t live around people like them and are thus not the majority but rather the minority. And what is great is that it is like a little taste of the New Jerusalem on the New Earth where Jesus will have people from every tribe, tongue, people and nation that He will have redeemed. I think about that often as I walk around my city and we continue to pray that these very people will be the ones worshipping on that day with us!

Parenting in the City (Part 1)

Mon, 2 Mar 2009 09:32:05 -0800

Being a parent is an exciting adventure. Add to that the environment of the city and you have quite a combo.
I love my children and enjoy being with them but what I notice in Hollywood is that the feeling is not mutual. People see us with four little kids and they wonder what is wrong with us (add to that the ol’ mini van and you would think we were from another planet). We experience this everywhere we go. I recently was at my dentist and after they called me “a man of the clothe” (which I hate but laughed nonetheless) they began to debate the delivery down the road at Kaiser here of eight children. They were commenting that if that was them then they’d either run down the street naked out of their minds or get on a plane and escape to a far off destination. I then told them I had four and you would think I was from Mars. Another time I was walking into the YMCA and had the four kids with me. As I entered the door a guy was coming out and he looked completely shocked. He said to me, “Jesus, you have five kids”? To which I replied, “No, I have four kids but I do have Jesus as well.” He just stared at me with this blank look.

But what I have found is that there is no other place that I would rather raise kids than here in the city. I was recently listening to a sermon by Tim Keller called It Takes a City to Raise a Child and resonated with a lot of his experience. I would like to begin to share some of that with you here over the next couple of months. But to begin it is appropriate to acknowledge some of the difficulties of raising them here. Not only is there ridicule but also there are financial difficulties. It just plain costs a lot of money to live here with kids. I know this first hand from moving here from Alabama where I actually owned something I lived in and it had this thing called grass and a fenced in area where the kids could run amuck. Also there are physical logistics with just getting around, especially at the age of mine right now (5,5,3,1). Traffic is always a hassle and just trying to walk to the grocery store up the street is like playing Frogger (if you don’t know that game, think early 80’s). Also, you can’t just let them play in the front yard because they could try to play Frogger themselves in the street. Finally there are educational issues, especially if you don’t home school. Private school is not even a thought on the radar for price and public can be a tough go if they don’t allow your involvement. Jesus has been extremely gracious to allow our kids to get into a local charter school that welcomes our involvement.

Let me add just one of the positive elements here and contribute more on later articles. One of the greatest advantages of raising the kids here is the fact that they are raised in the “real world”. What I mean by this is that they see life for all it is, both good and bad. Many kids growing up elsewhere have this urge to go to the city to “live it up” and experience life in the fast-lane. But when they are raised in the city they see the end result and it is not always pretty. There is not a day that goes by that my kids don’t see someone homeless on the street. These opportunities allow me to explain to them the consequences of choices and the bankruptcy of the pursuit of this world. When my kids get old enough to move out and hopefully make their own commitment to following Jesus, they will have seen all the world has to offer and honestly, the sinfulness of sin. At the same time they will have seen, hopefully, the Christian faith lived out in some of the most difficult arenas. All of this makes the task of parenting even more difficult but in the end I believe all the extra effort will be worth it.

Q&A From Sunday on Jesus and Restoration

Sun, 1 Mar 2009 20:04:11 -0800

This Sunday we had some great questions that I couldn’t get to so I will attempt to answer them here. The others that I did answer can be found on the podcast in itunes or at the church website

1. We are commanded to do good to those who can give us nothing in return, does that mean we are to give change to every beggar on the street? How do we pick and choose?

I’m going to deal with this question and others in a series after Jonah called Mercy. For now I would say that first if you are pouring yourself out and already showing mercy that your conscience should ease you at everyone’s request. If you don’t pour yourself out and are selfish with your money and don’t give it away then you have a right to feel guilty.

Second, I would say that there is no clear reference for when but wisdom does apply. I suggest that one does not give out cash to people. The point is to love your neighbor and loving your neighbor may not be giving them money but may be bad for them. Why? Because they could use the cash to get more drugs or spend it on what they really don’t need. I carry around McDonald’s Arch cards with $5 on each. Bus tokens are another good thing to carry around. At times I’ll take them into a store to get them food and converse with them.

2. What does death to self look like today, tomorrow, in March? Especially in light of our book of the month about Christian Hedonism?

Death to self is Jesus’ call to take up your cross and follow Him, and don’t forget He adds the phrase “daily”. This means that you deny and turn your back on trying to find joy and satisfaction in you. You turn to find joy and satisfaction in Jesus and His Word as a result.

Let me give you an example in the area of personal devotional life with Jesus. When my alarm goes off in the morning I have a decision to make. Will I get out of bed and spend time with Jesus or will I roll over? Now, what gets me out of bed (ie. die to self)? Sheer obedience and will power won’t last long, maybe a few mornings. What gets me out of bed is Christian Hedonism. I, by faith, decide that it will be of greater joy to get out of this bed and spend time with Jesus. I decide that Jesus is better than sleep so I roll out with the anticipation that Jesus will honor spending time with Him and enhance my joy.

3. Do we actually change when the Spirit indwells us? How does sanctification fit into this issue of grace?

A Christian does change and becomes more and more like Jesus. The question is how does that happen? The basic answer is the Holy Spirit. But practically what does the Spirit do? How does He grow us? This is where grace fits in.

The Christian doesn’t change by simply striving to be more holy. Many times this results in changes but not lasting changes. Many Christians strive for the by product instead of the actual product of change. The more we strive to understand grace and be overwhelmed by it the more our lives will change as a result. The more we look into the mirror of Jesus’ grace, the more we will reflect Jesus in our lives.

A good recommendation for reading on this is “Holiness by Grace” by Bryan Chapell.

Q & A From Sunday on Death, Burial and Resurrection of Jesus

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 11:58:17 -0800

Sunday we examined the claims of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection. The following are some questions that were texted in. Some of them I got to on Sunday morning, some I did not:

1. If Jesus just had a turban on his head when he was buried why do so many people believe the shroud is credible?

I thought about this in my study this past week. From all the research I’ve looked at, Jewish burial customs didn’t include anything over the face or shoulder area. Egyptian burials were completely wrapped with a type of shroud but not Jewish. Palestinian people believed that the spirit of the person hovered over the face of the dead for about 3 days and departed once decay started to set in. This would by why they left the face exposed, so that the spirit could see the face. The whole “shroud” thing is really a misguided passion, typically of the Catholic church, to find and posses relics. The idea is that these relics, like a possible shroud, would bring healing power and such which is not in anyway true according to the Bible.

2. You talked about the account in John being accurate but how are we sure that the OT is accurate? How do we know that the prophecies of Jesus weren’t written after the time of Jesus in order to match the events that happened?

First, I would say that both secular and religious people alike agree that the OT was written way before the time of Jesus in the form we have in our hands today. I don’t know of any scholar that rejects at least the historicity of the documents to a time before Jesus. Now, they will debate the exact date and the accuracy of the stories but they would all agree they were written before Jesus’ time. Second, we have the recent discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls that verify that at least a few hundred years before Jesus these documents existed called the OT or Hebrew Bible. They even found a scroll from Isaiah that matched virtually word for word with the latest scroll they had which was nearly 1000 older! Amazing accuracy which tells us we can trust what we have in our hands as accurate.

3. Was Jesus really homeless? I thought His mom and brothers were still alive.

Yes his mother and siblings were still alive at the time of Jesus’ death. His step-father, Joseph, was from all indications deceased by this time as he doesn’t appear in the record anymore after Jesus hits teen years or so. Now Jesus wasn’t always homeless, it was only his last 3 years or what we call His public ministry. From the moment he was baptized by John and gathered disciples he became a type of itinerant preacher. He mostly reached out to the homeless types and would thus contextualize to living around them. Also, he would travel many miles from his hometown and transportation was only on foot so as he went deep into the night (John 3 seems to indicate he was seeing people quite late) he would not travel home but simply sleep where he was. Jesus himself said “I have no place to lay my head”. We do know that he may have stayed at Lazarus’ place occasionally when he was near Jerusalem.

4. Do skeptics try to explain away Islam’s claim to truth as much as they do Christianity?

From what I’ve seen the answer would be no, although Islam clearly has its skeptics especially with the Jihad elements. I believe people don’t criticize them as much because for one they may get taken out. I’m serious. When cartoonists in western Europe depicted Muhammad the Muslim world was really to go postal on them. So fear may be a good reason. But more than that it is the fact that Christianity is so much a part of our culture, a lot more so than Isalm that makes it a target. Also Christianity as a whole is much more influential in the western world than Islam. Basically, if you are a larger target you’ll get more shots. Add to that the exclusive claims of Jesus and thus Christianity in an inclusive world and you have arrows flying left and right.

5. How much do you try to persuade people the folly of the wrong views of the resurrection when they don’t believe?

I believe we need to be people who listen and hear out the questions people have about Christianity. I believe I Peter 3 tells us to always be ready to give an answer. And to give an answer you have to hear questions. Right? We need to be proclaimers of the truth that Jesus in fact did rise again but we also need to deconstruct the arguments that are put out there for why he didn’t rise again. Truth is a rational thing, is it not? Therefore we need to be rational in conveying the truth and helping people with their doubts and errors. We don’t just slam down truth in other areas of life. We show them what is true many times by showing them that what they believe is false. I recently took a car in the shop because I had fluid leaking and heard what appeared to be a hose that busted. I took it in and told the guy I thought it was the coolant (as if I know anything about cars, I get afraid everytime I put air in the tires). He showed me the coolant and that it was fine and the hose and how it was fine. He then showed me the A/C unit and how the hose had busted there. He had to deconstruct my false views in order to show me the true view (because in my arrogance I would have sworn it was the coolant if he hadn’t had shown me otherwise).

6. Why do some pictures in history show only Jesus with nails piercing Him and the others tied up to the cross with ropes?

Well, first off a lot of the medieval artwork is jacked up. Some of it is great but a lot of it is twisted. For example, I’m sure you’ve seen the “man-child Jesus” with a halo over his head. Freaky. As Mark Driscoll said, “If I was the parent of that child I’d sleep with one eye open”. Now, the pictures of the thieves being tied instead of nailed is not accurate as far as I can tell. In all my reading of the history of crucifixion I don’t see anywhere where people were tied. The soldiers did this for a living and like a guy who changes tires for a living they did the same thing every time. They nailed them there like the guy who drills the bolts in to a rim to keep the tires on. He doesn’t decide one day to just tie the tires on, he always drills. That is what these guys did. From an artwork standpoint I’m sure these guys depicted it this way to bring Jesus, who would be in the center of the art, to the forefront. It emphasized his suffering over theirs which though not accurate does give artistic emphasis to Jesus.

Horror Films and Fear

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 11:25:33 -0800

In case you haven’t noticed, the horror genre for films has really taken off in recent years. According to a recent article I read, 2009 will be even brighter or rather “darker” than ever. Every month this year we will see the release of at least one horror film. Everything from “My Bloody Valentine” to “The Unborn” to “Jennifer’s Body” to such mainstays as “Friday the 13th”, “Final Destination”, “Saw”, and “Halloween”. The interesting question about culture is, why? Why are these types of films getting more and more popular? Why do you see them? Why do I enjoy seeing this genre occasionally?

As you know, our society is tremendously unstable. Fear is abundantly present. So why would people want to be more afraid? I believe there are a couple of reasons why this is the case such as escapism and the desire to feel. But I believe the rise in horror films (and their success) is primarily due to the fact that fear is very present today. That sounds odd but I think it is human nature observation. We have this capacity for fear that God gave us that can be used for good but mostly is used for bad. Good fear is really an adrenaline rush in our body to prepare us to flee or fight. If your house is on fire you will find that your fear will drive you to run even harder to get out and that is a good thing, a God designed thing. Yet, people are not having this kind of fear but fear of losing themselves, their identity.

You see, what we are most afraid of as a society is losing our identity. That identity is many times wrapped up in jobs, money and material possessions and when those are threatened then so is our very identity. And if your identity is being attacked and you are afraid there is nothing you can do to really “stop it”. The only option is to substitute that fear with a greater fear, hence the rise and success of horror films. People are finding something else to be afraid of and it helps them to forget the fears they already have (similar to the escapism idea).

But as a Christian, our identity is wrapped up in Jesus and so we have no true reason to fear our current economic disaster. You see, Jesus experienced the horror of horrors. He went into the belly of Hell itself and came back for you. As we observe the horror He faced and realize it was what we should have faced and that now we receive His joy and acceptance, and as a result we are changed, converted. Jesus’ death was the ultimate horror film that we never have to face because of His grace. We don’t need to fear anymore! The greatest horror man could ever face has been taken care of for you if you have put your life in the hands of Jesus! That is something worth rejoicing in!

Thoughts on Kids and the City

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 10:59:28 -0800

I know, it’s been a while. Sorry. Life with four little ones and planting a church tends to absorb much time, thus leaving the blog to hover in nothingness for about a week. But today has been an interesting experience and I wanted to share some thoughts and experiences with kids and the city.

I began my day with getting breakfast ready for my three oldest before twins headed off to school. Humorously, Caedmon started talking about guns. He was pointing at a picture with him with a today gun in Alabama. Honestly, he looks like he is ready to go postal on somebody as he has this look in his eye. He was telling his sisters that he was going to shoot birds with the gun, to which he reminded them that “daddy shot birds when he was a little boy”. Then I found that I had an N.R.A member and a P.E.T.A member in the same family.

Sadie began to tear up as she said Caedmon couldn’t shoot birds because they wanted to go home to their mommies. I then tried to describe Genesis where God gave us dominion over animals. I said, “God gave us . . . “ and Caedmon quickly added “guns”. Not to be outdone, Sophia added that Caedmon could shoot “hohawks” (I’m not sure what that is) because she is scared of them (I guess I would be scared too).

Then I went to my dentist and after they called me “a man of the clothe” (which I hate but laughed nonetheless) and were working on my teeth they began to debate the delivery down the road at Kaiser here of eight children (was supposed to be seven and they found a surprise one that was hiding: peekaboo). They were talking about if that was them they’d either run down the street naked or get on a plane and escape to a far off destination. I then told them I had four and you would think I was from Mars. And though I can surely understand the fear, it is still interesting that people here are basically afraid of kids.

I find this shock about everywhere I go here. Recently, I was walking into the YMCA and had the four kids with me. As I entered the door a dude was coming out and he looked completely shocked. He said to me, “Jesus, you have five kids”? To which I replied, “No, I have four kids but I do have Jesus as well.” He just stared at me with this blank look.

This is why we need Christians in the city and specifically Christian parents in the city. We need Christians in every area of work in our city to begin changing it and seeing it become more and more like the place Jesus created it to be. Don’t underestimate the value of your work here, no matter how mundane you may see it being.

I’m excited to see people getting engaged in the church and getting married. I’m even more excited to see some of our married couples starting to have babies. We can make a difference here just by treasuring little ones as a gift from God, which they are. To see them as Psalm 127 says “they are a heritage from the Lord . . . blessed is the man who fills his quiver of them”!

Thoughts on Election and the Hudson

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 09:40:30 -0800

The following are some thoughts by John Piper on events over the last two weeks. I found them very helpful:
The President, the Passengers, and the Patience of God
January 21, 2009 By John Piper
Read this article on our website.
Sometimes we are so overwhelmed at being treated better than we deserve that we must exult in the all-sovereign God—the God of birds' flight and Obama’s rise. When King David pondered how many were God’s “wondrous deeds,” he said, “I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told” (Psalm 40:5). That’s the way I feel watching God’s public mercies in the last few days.
Have you considered how unlikely was the crash of USAir flight 1549 in the Hudson River on January 15—not just the rescue but the crash itself? Picture this: The Airbus A320 is taking off at an angle—maybe 30 degrees. It’s not flying horizontal with the earth. Not only that, it is flying fast—not full speed yet, but perhaps four times as fast as your car would go at top highway speeds.
The geese are flying horizontally with the ground, more or less. They are not flying in a cloud like a swarm of bees. They fly level with the ground, often shaped like a V. In view of all that, what are the odds that, traveling at this speed and at this angle, this airplane would intersect with the flight of those geese at that very millisecond which would put a bird not just in one of those engines, but both of them?
Two laser-guided missiles would not have been as amazingly effective as were those geese. It is incredible, statistically speaking. If God governs nature down to the fall (and the flight) of every bird, as Jesus says (Matthew 10:29), then the crash of flight 1549 was designed by God.
Which leads to the landing in the Hudson River—which is just as unlikely. The airbus now has no thrust in either engine. The flight attendants said it was as quiet as a library in the plane without the sound of engines. The plane is now a 77-ton glider with its belly full of fuel. Captain Sullenberger decides to land in the river. Anywhere else would mean one big fireball.
He banks and misses the George Washington Bridge by 900 feet and glides the plane into a perfect belly landing. A few degrees tilt to the front or back or the right or left and the plane would have done cartwheels down the river and broken up. On the water, the flight attendant does not let passengers open the rear door. That would have flooded the cabin too fast. The emergency doors and front doors provide exits for everyone and the plane floats long enough for all of them to climb out. Ferry boats are there almost instantly. The captain walks the aisle twice to make sure everyone is off. Then he leaves. Later the plane sinks.
If God guides geese so precisely, he also guides the captain’s hands. God knew that when he took the plane down, he would also give a spectacular deliverance. So why would he do that? If he means for all to live, why not just skip the crash?
Because he meant to give our nation a parable of his power and mercy the week before a new President takes office. God can take down a plane any time he pleases—and if he does, he wrongs no one. Apart from Christ, none of us deserves anything from God but judgment. We have belittled him so consistently that he would be perfectly just to take any of us any time in any way he chooses.
But God is longsuffering. He is slow to anger. He withholds wrath every day. This is what we saw in the parable. The crash of Flight 1549 illustrates God’s right and power to judge. The landing of the plane represents God’s mercy. It was God’s call to all the passengers and all their families and all who heard the story to repent and turn to God’s Son, Jesus Christ, and receive forgiveness for sin.
I am writing these thoughts on the evening after the inauguration of Barack Obama, the first African-American President of the United States. I cried twice today. There were two points when I was overwhelmed by the magnitude of it all. Once was when I prayed with some brothers after Obama’s speech and was overcome with the sinfulness of my own racist background. The other was in trying to express my emotion to an African-American brother about what this must mean for him.
As much as I reject Obama’s stance on abortion, I am thankful to the bottom of my soul that an African-American can be President of United States. The enormousness of it all is unspeakable. This is God’s doing. The geese were God’s doing. The landing of Flight 1549 was God’s doing. And the Obama presidency is God’s doing. “He removes kings and sets up kings” (Daniel 2:21).
And I pray that President Obama has eyes to see. The “miracle on the Hudson” and the “miracle in the White House” are not unrelated. God has been merciful to us as a nation. Our racial sins deserved judgment a thousand times over. God does not owe America anything. We owe him everything. And instead of destruction, he has given us another soft landing. We are not dead at the bottom of the Hudson.
O that Barack Obama would see the mercies of God and look to the One whose blood bought everlasting life for all who trust him. The parables of God’s mercy are everywhere. The point of them is this: God is a just and patient Ruler, and Jesus Christ is a great Savior. Turn. Turn. Turn, O President of the United States and passengers of this planet.
Full of thanks for all God’s mercies,  Pastor John

The Inauguration and Cities

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 10:36:32 -0800

I watched the Inauguration from a mechanics shop today. Not quite my plan but interesting nonetheless. I think I waited on my car to be worked on twice as long because the mechanics were watching it with me! And though there were many intriguing events that happened like the nervousness of Obama as he fumbled over the swearing in (thought it demonstrated humility and a real sense of seriousness as he was so nervous) and then there was Aretha Franklin wearing who knows what on her head. But what really caught my attention was the thousands if not close to a million people lined up in the “mall” area! What a mass of humanity!

The crowds got me thinking about not only the New Earth and New Jerusalem that no doubt will look like this, but also what could be in our cities today. I read an article on how urban life is taking center stage as we are now having an urban president. Obama claims the urban title and has lived and gone to school in NY, LA and Chicago (the 3 largest in America). Now my interests go much deeper than urban sprawl and urban space as this article does. I think of the strategic nature of cities and the need of more Christians here.

Pastor Mike and I were talking Sunday and he was telling me about how 1 out of 24 Americans live in Los Angeles alone. And with the development at Hollywood and Vine we are about to have the most densely populated area in all of the US here in Hollywood (yes, traffic will be horrible but throngs of souls will be here). Urbanization is a real thing and people are moving into the cities left and right, especially as our economy dwindles and affordability becomes more real (though I debate that point).

What we need is more Christians on mission living in the cities for as the cities go so goes the culture. Let me encourage you to read two very good articles on the city by Keller. This one is on the theology of the city and this one on being a Christian in the city. He says we have four responsibilities being in the city:

* WORD (Ezra). Ezra recovered the Word for the people. Preaching, discipling, teaching. evangelising in a way contextualised to the concerns and capacities of the people of the city.
* DEED (Nehemiah). Nehemiah made the city safe and functional. Mercy and Justice! Holistic ministry. Safe streets, good jobs, decent housing, good schools.
* WORK (Esther). Esther rose high in a pagan society but then used her position at great risk to work for justice in society and for her people. A key part of city ministry is to equip Christians to work distinctively as Christians in their vocation.
* COMMUNITY (Jeremiah). Jeremiah's letter (chapter 29) told the exiles to neither assimilate nor separate but live out their lives as a community 'seeking the peace of the city'. So we are not only to be 'witnesses' by our individual lives, but by the beauty of our communal life. a) Generosity with money and simplicity of life, b) races and classes loving together over barriers, c) sexual purity and respect shown by men/women to one another in relationships.
So, what benefit do you see for living in the city as a Christian? How can you and we have a greater impact for the kingdom of Jesus?

HCO9 Homeless Count

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 10:15:17 -0800

Each year Los Angeles does a head count of the homeless in our city. This happens so that we can get maximum federal funding to help, raise awareness of the need in our city and target housing and services to fit the needs of the homeless. Many organizations like Hope Again, which we work with here in Hollywood, are maxed out and we need to demonstrate a need for further help.

We need volunteers to help count the homeless of our city, especially here in Hollywood. You say, but why should we do this? Well, in collaboration with the reasons listed above, it is a great opportunity to demonstrate our love for the city and to interact with other people from our city. Though we could form an HC team I have decided not to in order that we might be put on different teams to interact with as many people as possible.

Go to the following site to register to volunteer. We will work on Thursday Jan 29th from 8pm to midnight. In the “additional comments” section, be sure to add that you want to be part of the Hollywood Team so that you are put with others from the Hollywood community. Remember we want to exist for the glory of God and the good of the city, not just for our own good. We want to be a church that not only proclaims the love of Jesus but demonstrates it as well! Hopefully we’ll have a huge turn out from the HC and make our presence known that we care!

Adultery 2.0

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 03:12:15 -0800

The above title was taken from an opinion article in the Times. If you thought the god of choice wasn’t sex in our city then try this one on for size. Ashley Madison is a dating service website unlike you’ve ever seen. It prides itself in being a place for married people to hook up and commit adultery. And you may think that only a few would go so far as to join this site. Think again. Try 3.2 million members. And guess where the vast majority of people are from who are members? Yep, Los Angeles.

The worship of sex is spiraling out of control. The founder of the site says that he actually “preserves more marriages than breaks them up”. Really?! He argues that people are married and aren’t having good sex and because of the economic times they can’t afford a divorce. Thus he provides a service where they can get their sexual pleasure and still be a financial unit (I use “unit” lightly).

This piece of work who founded this company claims to be a “happily married father of two”. I wonder if he would want his kids on this site? Sadly, he probably wouldn’t mind. And I wonder what his wife would think if he was availing himself to the “services”. I don’t care how much married people say “it is fine with me” they are lying to themselves and searing their own conscience. God made us sexual beings that connect on a very deep level with sex. That is why it is beautiful and reserved for marriage. We are tearing our souls in two by such shenanigans.

One lady was interviewed and this has to be the saddest commentary on our culture. She said,

“A few weeks ago, I had a fantastic meeting with someone who's been married for 15 years and has three children," Jackie said. "I met him at the Four Seasons on Friday night and we met up again Saturday morning and went to Vegas for two days. I didn't really care that the guy's married. He has no desire to leave his family, and I have no desire for a commitment. So it's ideal.”

I feel for this lady and this man. They know deep down that they are miserable and they are taking others with them. Our city needs to see that there is a God named Jesus who exists and who, yes will judge them for such sin, but also one who offers what they really want: Him.