The short answer is that we consider the time when we are not meeting as a congregational to be intentional space left open for kingdom activity.  We are not a program-heavy church because we believe most of the work of reaching in and reaching out with the gospel happens more effectively outside of church meetings than within them.  

For example, we like to keep the church calendar reasonably light so that you have time to be discipled by a more mature believer or to disciple a younger believer; so that you can spend time in your front yard and build gospel-sharing relationships with your neighbors; so that you can invite acquaintances into your home to experience the way the gospel shapes your family or friendships; so that you can visit the same coffee shop or park or library each week and engage others in conversations about life, death, and the gospel.

In other words, our church schedule is intentionally light so that you have time for intentional kingdom work.  The New Testament’s vision of the time we do spend together is for church leaders “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12).  

So why even bring up this question?  Because we do not, by nature, live intentionally.  Our natural inclination is to waste time rather than invest it.  We knew this as a family regarding the time my completion of seminary afforded.  I am terrible at wasting time, and the only reason I have not squandered everything that has been freed up is because Rachael and I planned out how to use that time for investing in our relationships within the family and in seeking to be a blessing to others.  We have tons of room to grow, but the last two months have been rewarding because of a small degree of intentionality.

Now that we are in the swing of summer, perhaps it would be a good time to pray through this question with your family or close friends: “God, what would you have me to do with the free time I have outside of church?  What are you equipping me to do to share your gospel with other believers and non-believers?”  You may even decide to set goals for the next two months: how many more hours per week should you be investing to nurture your intimate relationships?  How many non-believers would God have you invite over for dinner?  How much time should you be spending to encourage younger believers or pursue more mature believers?

My prayer is that the intentional space we leave in our church calendar would free you toward an intentional summer for sharing in Christ more deeply with family and other believers and in building relationships that will enable you to share it with those who do not believe.

Pastor Chris

Such questions present more material than one brief article can address.  Yet enough significant differences exist between slavery in the ancient and American contexts that we can at least clarify what Paul is and is not saying underneath his advice to slaves.  Here are some of the major distinctions:

–Unlike the American version, slaves in the ancient world had the opportunity to purchase their freedom, typically around the age of 30.  Paul alludes to this common practice in the verse above, and the church at Corinth was likely comprised of many former slaves.

–Treatment of slaves in antebellum America was by no means uniform, but could be generally described as ranging from unkind to inhumane.  In the ancient world, however, slaves had a wider and often more positive range of experience.  Certainly some were treated cruelly and worked nearly to death.  But many were taught and practiced law or accounting or medicine, and continued in these professions as freedmen once they purchased their freedom.

–Politically speaking, the United States had a democratic system in which the people could change a system like slavery through elected officials.  The Roman Empire, under the Emperor’s rule, had no such structure, rendering protest movements largely powerless.

–While Paul does not decry the institution of slavery outright, he speaks plainly against many of the practices associated with American slavery, for instance, calling “kidnappers” or “slave traders” sinners under God’s judgment (1 Timothy 1:10).

If Paul had been an American in the 1850’s, would he have argued for abolition?  Many evidences suggest that the answer is yes.  Though we must guess at how Paul’s views may have worked out in a different scenario, we do not have to guess at how he saw the gospel changing everything within the existing structure of slavery.  He urged Philemon to release his slave Onesimus for the sake of kingdom labor, viewing him “no longer as a slave but more than a slave, as a beloved brother” (Philemon 1:16).  And as we saw on Sunday, he saw the gospel reversing the perception of slave and free.  “He who was called in the Lord as a slave is a freedman of the Lord.  Likewise he who was free when called is a slave of Christ” (1 Corinthians 7:22).

Biblical scholars point out that this gospel-informed view of slavery could only lead to the demise of the institution as the gospel spread.  Paul’s radical vision of God’s people unified in Christ would not allow for distinctions based on male/female, Jew/Gentile, or slave/free.  Let us continue to apply this vision of community to our current context that Christ’s gospel might be on full display as we experience life in him together.

Pastor Chris

1) What do you do?

2) Who do you know?

3) Where do you live?

4) What do you own?

This connection came into focus for me earlier this week when my morning prayer and evening reading converged in an unexpected way.  In the morning I was meditating on the prayer Jesus taught his disciples, especially the phrases regarding God’s kingdom: “Your kingdom come…” and “yours in the kingdom and the power and the glory.”  I have a general idea about what those kingdom references mean, and was praying accordingly.  

That evening I read in 1 Kings 2 about the transition of rule from David to Solomon.  Here is the nutshell: dying David warns Solomon about everyone who “done him wrong” (Southern version), like Shimei the son of Gera, and after he takes the throne, Solomon has all those people killed.  It was a challenge to glean spiritual insight from political vengeance, at least, anything more than “Thank you, God, that I will never have to do that.”

The following morning, the connection between the previous day’s prayer and reading hit me like a Mack truck.  I went back to 1 Kings 2 and read again the bookends of Solomon’s score-settling: “So Solomon sat on the throne of David his father, and his kingdom was firmly established” (1 Kings 2:12).  “So the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon” (1 Kings 2:46).  Solomon’s acts of establishing his kingdom were tantamount to his kingdom “coming,” so that Israel could say of him, “yours is the kingdom.”

This association between Solomon’s executions and the Lord’s prayer was disturbing, to say the least, especially when other New Testament texts regarding the final establishment of the kingdom of God flooded my mind.  Paul says that Jesus “must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet” at which time “he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power” (1 Corinthians 15:24-25).  In John’s Revelation we read of Jesus as King of kings and Lord of lords who will lead the armies of heaven, wielding a sharp sword “with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron” (Revelation 19:15).  

In other words, when we pray “your kingdom come,” the end result of our request is the vanquishing of all God’s enemies.  And this does not simply mean a handful of egregious offenders, like Solomon did.  God will bring final, eternal judgment to all who refuse to bow to him as King.  This is a terror-filled prospect.

Our response to this frightening prayer is not to avoid it, but to supplement it.  Along with our prayer that God would conquer his enemies on the final day is our prayer that God would have mercy on his enemies now, making them his friends.  We do not want our family member, our co-worker, our neighbor to be as Solomon’s enemies when he took his throne.  We want them to be reconciled to the King.  So we plead for mercy, and we proclaim the good news that mercy is available before the King comes, for the conquering King first came as a suffering servant to offer clemency to all who would trust in him.

Trembling before his justice and his mercy,

Pastor Chris

As we think about how to address this reality, I thought I would share insights I received from two ministry veterans in this area as well as an update on what God is currently doing in our outreach ministry to the neighborhood.

First, the insights.  In the last article I mentioned a city-sponsored event I attended for faith-based organizations, where we were blessed to hear from Noel Castellanos, CEO of the Christian Community Development Association.  Afterwards I was able to speak with Noel about our desire to address the twisted perspective of men and violence that our neighborhood children have.  Noel, who is Latino, took a deep breath and said that changing such perspectives is a matter of long-term, discipling relationships.

Not surprisingly, this is exactly what Kit Danley had told me a few hours earlier.  Many of you know Kit, who has been working with children and families in low-income neighborhoods for more than 30 years.  I’m sure she could talk about ministry strategies for a week straight, yet her simple, big-picture words were the same as Noel’s: long-term relationships.  Both confessed that this is not easy, but it is the only way to see the gospel make lasting change.

What are we doing now toward this end?  In answer to many prayers, God has assembled a group at Whitton who are ministering to adults each Tuesday night through English language learning.  Typically more children than adults show up, so there is also a handful of Whitton folks who feed, play with, and teach the gospel to these children.  I see these two groups as having ministry beachheads for the development of long-term, discipling relationships.  

Regarding the adults, Tomas Barrera leads a Sunday evening time of worship in which the 4 to 8 adults who gather sing praises to God and hear from God’s word as Tomas teaches.  I have the privilege of meeting regularly with Tomas, and am excited about the work God is doing in and through him.  If we are to build long-term, discipling relationships with our Spanish-speaking neighbors, meetings like the one Tomas is leading will always be necessary.

Regarding the children, God has graciously brought 8-10 children who will show up to any event we have, even a graduation open-house!  These children seem to feel more at home at Whitton than anywhere else, and we should be deeply thankful for that.  A small handful of women are currently investing in these children through extra-curricular activities, whether trips to the museum or Peter Piper Pizza.  In light of the tumultuous waters ahead for these pre-teens, such consistent investment is essential if they are to break the tragic cycles of their older siblings.

These ministry beachheads have been possible because of consistent outreach ministry from past years.  I believe God wants to use these as segues into a new season of long-term, discipling relationships in our neighborhood.  Pray for the gospel to penetrate the lives of these Spanish-speaking adults and their English-speaking children as we point them to Jesus.  And pray for how God might call you to join in the work he is doing in our neighborhood.

Excited to see God’s work expanding,

Pastor Chris

“Only be strong and  very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law  that Moses my servant commanded you.  Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success  wherever you go.  This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but  you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.  Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous.  Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

“Yes.”  

“I have never hit my wife.  Why would I ever do that?” 

“Because she talks mean to you…because she doesn’t cook your food right.”

This was the conversation taking place in my van on Saturday as I drove some of the neighborhood children to and from a local museum.  It all started when I asked these 4-12 year olds what their favorite music was.  The name they repeated was Chris Brown, the pop singer who in June will stand trial for allegedly punching, biting, and choking his then girlfriend, pop singer Rhianna.

“But how could you like someone who beats his girlfriend?” I asked.  “Because it’s cool” was the reply.  “Would you think it was cool if somebody beat you?”  “Yes!” the pre-teen girls answered in unison.  “Don’t you think it would hurt?”  “No,” they replied.

After telling them what I would do if I ever heard about a young man hitting them, I proceeded with the question about my relationship with Rachael.  The fact that they assumed the pastor of the church beats his wife-for messing up dinner, no less-left me incredulous and heart torn.  There are enough effects of poverty to grieve already, as the children who come consistently to our church are often sleep-deprived, unattended, and undernourished.  But the relational poverty they experience-living in homes and attending schools where all types of abuse are normative-shows us how much work is ahead of us in calling our neighbors to be disciples of Jesus.

What can we do?  What is our response to the relational poverty these children experience?  That is the million dollar question which requires more than a simple article.  But as this conversation with our precious neighborhood girls has churned through my heart over and over since Saturday, there are two things I know for certain: first, we must have healthy, safe, gracious, nourishing, gospel-centered individuals and families in our church.  And second, we must find ways to include these children into our families and communities of friendship.  

This was reinforced to me on Tuesday when I attended a “Faith-based Summit” sponsored by the City of Phoenix.  The keynote speaker expounded Jesus’ interaction with the poor in Luke 4-5 and stated, “The poor don’t need another program-they need relationship.”  This must drive the way we approach our neighborhood.  The answer to the physical, relational, and spiritual poverty of our neighbors is gospel-drenched individuals and families who will commit to being in the lives of these children.  This will likely take place through programs like our current English language class, but the aim is long-term investment into their lives that will pave the way for Christ’s transforming power.

So what can we do right now?  We can hold fast to the gospel.  We can come to grips with our own poverty and grapple with “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).  And as this gospel shapes us into grace-rich individuals and families, we can pray as a church, “God, how would you have our families and communities of friendship share your grace with the families in our neighborhood?”  I expect God will give us some big answers to that question.

Please pray for our neighborhood, especially the children,

Pastor Chris