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Nathan Creitz

I help disciples make disciples.

Archives for April 2011

Pursuing Jesus’ Mission with Jesus’ Means

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Every year (especially around Easter) I hear of another church doing something crazy to get people in the door of their building:

egg drop

◊ One church gave away a car.

◊ One church surprised random attenders with a shopping spree.

◊ One church dropped Easter eggs on top of people’s heads from a helicopter.

Somehow I don’t think that Easter eggs or Oprah-like bribery is exactly what Jesus had in mind when He told us to make disciples of all nations. Jesus has given the church a specific mission and He has also given us the means to pursue that mission.

In order for the local church to bring glory to God and be obedient to Jesus’ commands we must use Jesus’ means to pursue Jesus’ mission.

The Spirit of God

Jesus told His disciples that He would send them the Holy Spirit as a Helper. Just before He ascends into heaven, Jesus says to His followers, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Because the Spirit of God indwells us, the local church has received supernatural power, spiritual gifts, encouragement, guidance, wisdom, comfort, and strength. These are all gifts that do not come from human abilities, innovation, or training (though by God’s grace He has given us those things too). In other words, anyone can have leadership skills or marketing skills but only the church has the Spirit of God dwelling among them and empowering them to pursue the mission.
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The Mission of the Church

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Do I really need to write about the mission of the local church? Is it even conceivable that there is confusion as to what the mission of the church ought to be?

Yet, from where I am sipping my coffee there are dozens of churches within walking distance that are not pursuing the mission to which they have been called. To make matters worse, many of the churches that are pursuing a God-given mission are doing so in ways that do not give glory to God. These churches use programs and plans to manufacture “success”.

It is important, then, to not only understand the Biblical mission of the church, but also the resources God has given us to pursue that mission.

The Mission

Probably the clearest articulation of our mission is found in Matthew 28:18-20:

Then Jesus came near and said to them, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’ ~ Jesus

This isn’t the only commissioning statement made by Jesus. In the Gospel of Mark He tells us to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation.” In the Gospel of Luke He tells us that we are “witnesses of these things.” In the Gospel of John Jesus says, “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” Jesus placed a lot of emphasis on mobilizing his followers to fulfill the mission.

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Good Friday > Earth Day

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Today is both Earth Day and Good Friday. For some people, Earth Day is of primary importance. Others are only talking about Good Friday and think that people who celebrate Earth Day are pagan nature worshipers.

But maybe an emphasis on the cross and on creation is appropriate for a day like today. In Romans 8, Paul writes the following:

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us. For the creation eagerly waits with anticipation for God’s sons to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to futility-not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it-in the hope that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage of corruption into the glorious freedom of God’s children. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together with labor pains until now. And not only that, but we ourselves who have the Spirit as the firstfruits-we also groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. Now in this hope we were saved, yet hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees?  –  Romans 8:18-24 (HCSB)

The cross brings hope and the promise of healing to all of creation. The suffering, the corruption, and the futility we experience in the world is a direct result of the creation turning our collective backs on our Creator. It started with Adam and Eve’s first act of disobedience but every denial of God since then has contributed to the mess.
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Does the Holy Spirit Speak Through My NIV?

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I recently had an interesting conversation with someone named Dan about the value of exegesis and the role of the Holy Spirit in helping us understand God’s Word. I made the argument that faithfully studying the context, author, purpose, audience, and even the languages can help us to more fully understand a text. This doesn’t negate the role of the Holy Spirit in illuminating the words on the page but I think these language and contextual tools are helpful.

Dan said,

I agree that there is certainly value in studying the original language and historical aspects of a text, but I would lean toward those being nonessential, because ultimately The Bible is nothing but words without God’s Spirit working in the heart of the reader/hearer.”

I wouldn’t say they are nonessential. I would even say that they are essential because without them we wouldn’t even have an English translation. Further, I would say that the more questions we ask of a text and the more we can use cultural and contextual and linguistic tools to help us answer them, the more faithful we are as students of the Word.

When we get a letter in the mail it’s helpful to know the author, the recipient(s), the subject, the purpose, etc. Why wouldn’t we also employ what we know about a biblical text to help us more fully understand the message? Especially since that text is from a culture years removed from ours today. There is a lot of insight that can be gleaned just from doing 5 minutes of research from a commentary or with a word study. Again, no seminary education necessary just a healthy desire to meditate on and study God’s Word.
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The Resurrection Was A Mass Hallucination! Really?

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The resurrection of Jesus is hard to believe. The most we can expect for someone to return from the dead is minutes, not hours, and certainly not days. If someone claimed to have been dead for three days we would find it hard to believe and hard to prove. Much less if it happened nearly 2,000 years ago. How would we even begin to think historically (and rationally) about such a claim?

Yet, the resurrection is the most plausible explanation for the historical “facts in evidence”. In his book, The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach, Mike Licona does an amazing job of outlining a) how to conduct historiographical research and b) how the resurrection of Jesus is the best explanation of the “historical bedrock” that is accepted by virtually all New Testament scholars (which includes Jewish scholars, liberal scholars, atheist and agnostic scholars, evangelical scholars, etc. who study the Bible for academic purposes).

Historical Bedrock

So what is the historical bedrock? Licona informs us that apologist and theologian Gary Habermas has completed an academic review of 3,400 scholarly books and journal articles written on the resurrection of Jesus since 1975. An overwhelming majority of those scholars, whether skeptics or believers, will grant a high probability of historicity to the following four events:
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