“This Little Light Of Mine; I’m Gonna Let It Shine!”

Insights Into The Covid-19 Church Era –Part XXXXVII

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good or anything except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.” (Matthew 5:13-15)

During darkened times, revival flourishes. A candle in a well-lit room may not even be noticed. It is lost in the light! That is a good place to be! That’s heaven! Light a candle in a densely darkened room, the same candle looks amazingly bright. John 1:5 states, “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not comprehend it.” Darkness cannot comprehend nor overtake light. A light from a star thousands of light years away that has traveled through millions of miles of darkness can still light up our night sky.

The 1960’s & 70’s were dark days in American history. The United States witnessed non-violent civil rights marches that met violence, the assassination of political leaders, rioting and burning off our cities. Woodstock, hippies, and the drug and sex revolutions hit America. While women burned their bras supporting Women’s Liberation, men were burning their draft cards protesting the War in Vietnam. The Beatles, rock music, and heavy metal bands replaced swing bands of a previous generation. School activities, intramural Sunday soccer, music lessons, and competitive traveling leagues replaced church activities. There were mass marches for Civil Rights, Gay Rights, Anti-War, and Pro-Choice and Anti-Abortion positions. President Nixon and his Vice President Agnew reigned in disgrace. America looked unhinged. Yet in this darkness, turmoil, corruption, anxiety, and social and political unrest came the Jesus and Charismatic Movements. The Holy Spirit touched the counter-cultured hippie generation and the institutional church that needed reviving. Amongst such darkness came light.

The very first four verses in the Bible read, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light; and there was light. God saw the light was good.” Over a formless, darkened deep surface, the Spirit of God moved and created light. Even in darkness God can create. He’s done it from the beginning. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever, so he will continue to create and continue to move even in the dark.

The current U.S. President gave a dark, gloomy, inaugural speech. You thought Barry McGuire was still singing “Eve of Destruction” again. Four years later we find ourselves in a world-wide pandemic, our economy severely challenged, political institutions ravaged, and tens of thousands of tweets, lies, Covid-19 deaths, high unemployment and a Bipolar Presidency. As darkness appears, light is fading. The Moral Majority led by Jerry Farewell, Pat Robertson, and others who sought a high standard of morality for all political offices have given way to the next generation, the Jerry Farewell Jr.’s who have fallen and justify the ends over the means. It is getting darker.

As it darkens, the lights that were once lost in the light, the individual, everyday believers in Jesus, are beginning to be seen again. The feeding of religious institutions is slowly giving way to nurturing and equipping the saints for works of service. The Covid-19 pandemic has changed our world. Political, educational, and religious institutions are all being challenged. America is trying to figure out how to do “school”, how to do “church”, how to dine out, how to bar hop while social distancing, and how to play “professional sports” without a present fan base.

I sense it will get darker before it get’s brighter. A dark season is ahead of us, but we have a light, Jesus Christ, who will brighten our way. I believe the church will function effectively “small” before it functions “large” again.  We are in a new church era, the Covid-19 Church Era; I call it. The body is made up of cells. Cells bring life. Cells that bond together create functioning organs. Healthy organs support a body. So is the body of Christ, the Church. Let your light shine!

Church’s Influence: It’s All In The Numbers?

Insights Into The Covid-19 Church Era –Part XXXXVI

“It happened while Apollo was at Corinth, and Paul in Ephesus… they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, and when Paul laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking with tongues and prophesying. There were in all about twelve men.” (Acts 19:1-7)
Each day the number of Covid-19 cases is posted on the corner of the television screen during newscasts. Tens of millions have been infected by it worldwide. Hundreds of thousands have died. The number of cases going up or down affects what restrictions are imposed or lifted. Penn State’s Beaver Stadium holds 106,000 for a home football game, but Pennsylvania restrictions in August limits only 250 maximum can attend! Other restrictions have prevented groups to be as small as 25 or even 10! Churches scream because almost every congregation is over 25! The 10 limit would even eliminating the 12 disciples from meeting!

It’s the end of the summer, and what has been the church’s influence on this Covid-19 pandemic so far? Has it prepared itself to respond to the need of record breaking unemployment, and possible evictions, and economic hardships? It’s had all summer to do so! Unfortunately, the only time the church makes the news is when it complains about restrictions and the government infringing on their rights. America keeps looking to its government to be its savior during this pandemic. They expect the government to come to the aide of a overwhelmed healthcare system, to feed stimulus money into the economy through our pockets, to regulate the distribution of the vaccine when it comes, etc., but what are they expecting from the church as an institution? The United States citizens have seen for almost 9 months into the pandemic the U.S. government still failing to govern or lead. They have also seen the institutional church fail them, for the only thing important to the church seems to be the size, not the safety, in meeting in large groups often in old, poorly ventilated buildings. The church is known for “service”, but having a “church service,” a structured program with a sermon, on a Sunday in a building is more important that “serving” others who are unemployed, homeless, and hurting. Something must change!

Small Groups today have become Bible Study groups that rehash the lead or teaching pastors sermons. Introduced 50 years ago as cell groups, each cell group was an independent organism unto itself, which brought life. Together, they jointly formed a local body, the Church. Cells are where you find life in a body. They are diverse, function differently, and are independent of one another, but dependent on each other. Unfortunately, the church has institutionalized them through micromanagement. They’ve become puppets where church hierarchy pulls the strings.

Jesus never birthed or built a mega-church to outdo the Jewish Temple. He poured his life into 12 individuals. He equipped them for works of service, which are recorded in the book of Acts. Paul, too, never built a mega-church. He invested is local believers who took the reigns and responsibility of the group as a community, not an institutionalized organization, when he left.

Instead of trying to achieve large numbers, the church needs to allow the Holy Spirit to work in small numbered groups, or cells. Will the church allow organic life to return to these groups to again become an organism? Can these cells jointly work together, not through institutional logistic, but through the leading of the Holy Spirit to becomes arms, legs, organs, etc. of the body of Christ? Can we lay aside our complaints and become pro-active in ministering to needs? Will we reach out to our neighbors, our sphere of influence, to help meet needs when they lose their jobs, cannot meet their mortgage, live under the threat of eviction, and wonder where their next meal may come, or will we opt to maintain our old wineskin mindset that we need to build mega-parachurch ministries to meet needs?

To Busy To Evangelize?

Insights Into The Covid-19 Church Era –Part XXXXV

“But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” (2 Timothy 4:5)

Mandating that our church buildings be closed to prevent the contagious Covid-19 from spreading was an eye opener for most Christians. If we couldn’t “do church”, what were we to do? Because we had gone “to church” for years, church was our social life as we embraced American Christian culture. We listened to Contemporary Christian Music, Christian radio, watched Christian television, attended Christian concerts, loved Christian worship, etc., etc., etc. You got the picture!

Engrossed in their culture, Covid-19 exposed that Christians had no idea what to do when their church doors were closed. They had lost touch with the outside world. To them, evangelism meant bringing a non-Christian to “church” to hear the “good news” professionally delivered by an evangelist.

Historically, John Wesley questioned George Whitefield for witnessing to miners in England at the end of their shifts. He felt evangelism should come from the church pulpit until he personally saw Whitefield work his magic in those minefields. Impressed, Wesley repented, and began having outdoor “Camp Meetings” for the sole purpose of evangelism which changed history.

In my youth, I was always too busy “doing church” to evangelize. I attended Sunday School and Sunday Morning Worship and returned for a Sunday Evening Service. Prayer meetings were on Wednesdays, Choir practice on Thursdays, Youth Group on Fridays, and Men’s and Women’ groups on Saturdays.

Like Wesley and so many others, I felt I needed to invite people “to church” to hear the gospel, not personally take the gospel to them. If the church building is closed, sermons streamed, and parishioners self-quarantined, how are you to spread the gospel? No one stands on a soapbox with a bullhorn or hands out tracts anymore. The wine of evangelism needs new wineskins. Let’s think out of the box, away from the building and be creative.

Today, most people don’t know their neighbors. A couple took on their neighborhood by baking pastries, cookie, breads, etc. and placing them on neighbor’s porches during the Covid-19 pandemic. People, looking out their windows, waved in thanks before retrieving their goodies while practicing social distancing. As restrictions were eased, they met the couple at the door, masked, and verbalized their thanks. As mandates eased, people received their goodies while sitting on their porch, masked, and still social distancing. Discussions over how the pandemic affected them were shared; relationships were built. Today their neighborhood interacts with one another and is receptive to the original bearers of “goodies” and those who tell them about the “good news.”

As shown in an earlier blog (June 4, 2020) my 4-year old granddaughter sent home made cards, glitter and all, to anyone and everyone, then receiving cards back. It opened doors of communication, which could open doors for evangelism.

If you can’t go “out” for diner, “exchange” home made meals with neighbors. You eat in the safety of your own house, but you eat someone else’s cooking! Your “favorite dish” soon becomes someone else’s “favorite dish”. When restrictions and mandates are lifted, inviting one another over for a meal or a cook out comes natural, and opens another door for evangelism.

“Friending” someone on Facebook is a big deal, because it means acceptance. You are accepting them as a trusted person to communicate with you. You build relationships through those communications. Through various forms of social media you expand your platform of communicating. When they passed from acceptance to trusting you, then you can share the “good news.”

We should never be too busy to share the “good news” of Jesus with anyone. Since lifestyles have been slowed down by Covid-19, lets find new innovative ways to share the gospel.

A New Wineskin: Consensus, The Process

Insights Into The Covid-19 Church Era –Part XXXXIV

“Some of the sect of the Pharisees who had believed stood up, saying, ‘It is necessary to circumcise them and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses.” (Acts 15:5)

If “consensus” is a new concept to the Covid-19 era Church, how does it work? What is the process? Let’s look at Acts 15 and examine how the Holy Spirit got a divided Church into an united Church by going the same direction:

Problem: First define the problem/challenge. “Some of the sect of the Pharisees who had believed stood up, saying, ‘It is necessary to circumcise them and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses,” was the charge. The converted Pharisees of the faith argued that the Church, the ecclesia, should put the new wine, the Holy Spirit, back into old Jewish wineskins, the Mosaic Law, but Jesus had taught, “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. No one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.” (Mark 2:21-22) Pouring new wine into old wineskins,” is dangerous, because the results could be “both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined,” and this new Holy Spirit led movement would be short lived. I weep thinking of how many times throughout history we, the Church, have done this to the spirit of revival, but the 1st century Church did not respond that way; they sought new wineskins for this new wine.

Process: 1) First, hey heard testimonies from live witnesses. Peter, Paul, and Barnabas told story after story of how the same Holy Spirit that fell on them at Pentecost and in Damascus was the same Holy Spirit that ell on the house of Cornelius and other Gentiles throughout Asia Minor, which was well received. 2) Second, they verified it with scripture. James read the “word of the Prophets”: “After thee things I will return, and I will rebuild the tabernacle of David which has fallen, and I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, so that the rest of mankind may see the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by My name,’ say the Lord, who makes these things known from long ago.” 3) Third, they used common sense; they did not spiritualize it. James comes to a simple conclusion, “It is my judgment that we DO NOT trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles.” 4) Finally, they set direction. Paul, Barnabas, Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, real, respected men are sent with a letter verifying their decision and direction to the rest of the Church. Rather than judgment; grace flowed. 4) The response: “They went down to Antioch; and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. When they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement.”

Application Today: Problem – We cannot present our problems and differences as part of a “blame game” discrediting one another, but look at it as an old wineskin that needs replaced, so new wine can flow in and out of it.  Process  - We need to hear live testimonies of how the Holy Spirit moved in individual human lives, how we either supported or resisted that movement. Scripture – What scripture applies to the situation, not proof-texting or giving a theological exegesis, but looking at the passage as a whole, in context to what the Spirit of God is saying. What wineskin is He showing us? Common Sense – Let’s not theologize it, indoctrinate it, or make it “law” (an old wineskin). Is it a common sense solution? If so, then use your common sense. Direction – Now move the group forward towards a common goal; no longer stay stagnant. The Tabernacle constantly moved when in the wilderness; if not it would never have left the Wilderness of Sin nor entered the Promise Land. Faith solutions demand movement. Response – “Rejoice” by “encouraging”! If all you do is complain, oppose, judgmentally tear everything apart, you will never move forward. Quit being negative! “Encouragement” goes so much farther to bring unity!

Conclusion: Big problems that have divide the Church over the centuries actually have simple, common sense solutions if we allow the Holy Spirit to show us new wineskins into which to place the new wine of the Holy Spirit. Jesus’ first miracle was changing water into wine. The wedding guests wondered why the host let the best wine for last! There is better wine for days to come, but we MUST allow the Holy Spirit to reveal new wineskins to us in which to house it. Consensus is a process that can help us find direction.

A New Wineskin: Consensus

Insights Into The Covid-19 Church Era –Part XXXXIII

“They went down to Antioch; and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. When they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement.” (Acts 15:30-31)

America and the church is divided. Polarized is a better term, for there seems to be no middle ground. The 1st century church had mastered the art of “consensus” with great success, but what happened? The church has become one of the most fragmented institutions on planet earth. Riddled with hundreds of different denomination or sects, each group believes they possess the divine truth and will not compromise. There is no middle ground, and they refuse to meet or concede to middle ground to settle an issue. What is this consensus?

First, it “is not” majority rules. Gandhi said, “I do not believe in the doctrine of the greatest good for the greatest number, for it means in its nakedness that in order to achieve the suppose good of fifty-one present, the interest of 49 percent may be, or rather should be, sacrificed. It is a heartless doctrine and has hurt humanity. The only real dignified human doctrine is the greatest good for all.” The goal of consensus is having everyone going in the same direction even if they agree or not, but that is not easy. Currently here in America forces opposing one another bang heads, causing tremendous headaches instead of one person turning in humility and both going the same direction. Peace seems almost incomprehensible today.

Second, it is not compromise. It is making a decisive decision that is best for the whole group at that moment and begins to move the group forward together. Our Congress and Senate operate on a two party system, and are getting little done because they refuse to compromise. They think compromise means “giving in” or “giving up” because of loss of power. Consensus is never about power; it’s about motion in the same direction.

Third, Godly consensus only works when both parties are willing to “lay down your life for the brethren.” This may require laying down your agenda, your cause, for the sake of the group. That takes humility. It’s not admitting that anyone was right or wrong; its admitting that you are willing to serve the other. You are allowing the Prince of Peace to bring peace through the dove of peace, His Holy Spirit, who will guide you to truth. What direction do you move? The direction the Holy Spirit guides you. That’s what led the church in the 1st century.

In the Pre-1st century Middle Eastern world there are only two kinds of people: Jews or Gentiles. You are one or the other. You could never be both, and there was no middle ground between them. This attitude still exists in the 21st century as the Arab/Israeli conflict still rages. There has been no compromise or political solutions between the two camps. Yet there was a settlement in the 1st century when believers met in Jerusalem to settle the “Gentile Question” that the newly birthed Church faced. Acts 15:7-11 records, “After much debate, Peter stood and said, ‘Brethren, in the early days God made a choice among you, that by the mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe. God, who knows the heart, testified to them giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did us. He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. Now, therefore, why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? We believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.’”

The “us and them” mission became “our” mission since both had experienced the same goal: salvation through the grace of the Lord Jesus!” Even today, why do we place ”yokes upon the neck of other believers that we are unable to bear ourselves?” Debate over theology, church doctrine, church dogma, pre-, post-, or mid-tribulation theories, etc. have gotten us nowhere; laying down our lives for the brethren will get us anywhere and everywhere the Holy Spirit directs.

When the cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night moved, the Tabernacle and God’s people, Israel, moved with it. When the Spirit of God, His Holy Spirit moved, God’s people, the Church, moved with it. Only if the Church can come to a consensus today will it move when the Holy Spirit wants it to move. Let’s look farther into this topic in our next blog.

Why Is The Church Resisting Change?

Insights Into The Covid-19 Church Era –Part XXXXIII

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold new things have come.” (2Corinthians 5:17)

America education has been forced to embrace change. Keeping children safe by practicing monthly fire drills and bi-monthly active shooter drills are educational pillars. Kids count on daily free or reduced school lunches. If a special needs student needs help, the Law mandates that it’s met. Yearly, schools promote new pilot programs and revised curriculum. Public education is use to change, but 2020 has been extra ordinary!

American business has also been forced to embrace change. About the time you get to the top of your trade, a competitor challenges you. If you don’t embrace change or new trends, your sales, assets, and revenues will decline. Not only that, but new software to be used with improved hardware changes almost daily. Business is use to change, but 2020 has been extra ordinary!

The sports and entertainment industry has been forced to think outside the box after massive cancellations of major events due to Covid-19. Major professional sports and concerts, once drawing thousands, now perform before empty stadiums and arenas with cardboard cut outs to replace live fans. The NBA plays in a “bubble” and artificial crowd noise is piped over public address systems. Since Americans love to be entertained, the entertainment industry is getting use to change, but 2020 has been extra ordinary.

The church is a different story. Since “Behold new thing have come,” is part of being “a new creature in Christ,” you would think that the church would embrace change. Wrong! After temporarily experiment with virtual reality, they ran back to their pews in their buildings to do their routine order of worship that required listening to a sermon, giving financially in an offering, and staring at the back of heads of people sitting in pews in front of them, as soon a restrictions were lifted. Why does the church reject change? Why did they belly ache, “we got rights,” instead of adhering to mandates put in place to save lives and stop the pandemic?  If they were Pro-Life, why did they portray the attitude that elderly lives don’t matter; the economy does?  As the church rejected change, the year 2020 became a whopper!

Why does the church resist change? Probably because the church is composed of people who like familiarity and order! We don’t like surprises, so we dutifully follow our bulletin, sit and stand when told, read printed prayers, sing the doxology in unison, passively listen to the sermon, and sing hymns by composers who died a century and a half ago. We know when to shake hands, smile, and greet the pastor when going out the door. It’s like the movie “Groundhog Day” as everyone returns each week to do the same routine.

What if Christians got radical, rejecting the familiar, and began listening to the Holy Spirit to tell them what to do. The first believers in Jesus were told to remain in Jerusalem until the Promise of the Holy Spirit came upon them. They knew not what to expect, but they were obedient. The Holy Spirit came in a way they never dreamed, and life was never again routine, boring, or a Groundhog Day experience!

If the Church is you and me, then the question becomes why are we (you and me) as Christians currently rejecting change and running back to what is familiar when restrictions are lifted? “This is the day the Lord hath made,” why aren’t we embracing it? Why aren’t we trying to define the “new normal” instead of it dictating restrictions to us? Why aren’t we embracing blogging, texting, tweeting, FaceTiming, Zooming, and other forms of social networking when it is the new technology of our generation? Luther, Wesley, and other Reformers embraced Guttenberg’s printing press and Dwight L. Moody and Billy Graham embraced radio and television. Look how the world changed because of their use of the technology of their times! Through the Internet, the World-Wide-Web, communication happens globally, instantly. If we use it secularly, why not use it to advance the kingdom of God? That requires new mindsets, new ideas, a release of creativity, change.

If Christians are to change the world for Jesus Christ, they got to get out of this passive mode, embrace change, and use it to advance the “good news” of Jesus Christ without being religious. That’s the challenge, but it will require change. Are you ready to change?

New Normal: Counting The Cost

Insights Into The Covid-19 Church Era –Part XXXXII

“Which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it?”  (Luke 14:28)

Part of the new normal in the Covid-19 era is counting the cost.

Teens hang out with friends. College age adults date and party hearty. Adults work, play sports, and love family outings. Elderly adults play cards and hang out a Senior Centers. The Cost: What is the cost during this Covie-19 pandemic? Catching the disease and spreading it to others? If you catch it, you may be asymptomatic or mildly infected, or you could become severely ill, hospitalized, quarantined in I.C.U. while placed on a ventilator, or even die. Is it worth the risk? Is the status quo worth paying the piper?

Feeling infallible some see no cost and the coronavirus as a hoax.
Some see a minimal personal cost that they will get over and possibly building up antibodies.
Others with vulnerable physical preconditions see it as a great risk that may cause a hospitalization, isolation, and possibly face death.

These are our options. If only symptomatic, we feel comfortable and safe. We overlook that it is highly contagious. You may not have respiratory problems, but your asthmatic neighbor or family member does. Getting pneumonia like symptoms could be fatal. No one person can stop a pandemic, but one person can cause one. Stopping a contagious disease must be a group effort.
Essential workers have been honored as heroes because they counted the cost. In spite of not having proper PPE, Personal Protection Equipment they went to work, then self-quarantined in hotels to prevent giving the disease to their family. They dealt with personal loss when fellow nurse and doctors contracted it. These heroes are shocked at America’s complacent attitude towards wearing masks, social distancing, washing their hands, and refusing to party or bar hop in crowds. They’ve seen the infallible fall, the casual believer believe when placed on oxygen or a ventilator. They take it seriously; we should too!

Not taking it seriously has a cost. As the rest of the world sees its cases decrease, its hospitalizations and death rate fall, the lackadaisical American attitude is feeding the pandemic, stripping us of a way of life, affecting our economy, and causing million to contract the disease while killing tens of thousands, while Americans remain callous.

Where is our empathy? We are not infallible. Just because we do not personally know someone with Covid-19 doesn’t mean it is a hoax. Why aren’t Americans fighting this pandemic? Wearing a mask, washing your hands, social distancing, avoiding groups is not difficult. Stubbornly many refuse to comply to state and local officials requesting they do those things to curb the suffering and dying. The cost has been much greater when we don’t comply. Rebellion and opposition only compound the problem, forbids flattening the curb, and force the “new normal” to stay with us. We can beat the contagious Covid-19 through an united effort while thinking of not only our personal safety but others. We must extend compassion, empathy, and sympathy to others.

Christianity is based on high standards: Jesus paid the cost for your sins, even though He was sinless. He was willing to suffer and die not only just for you, but for others! I John 3:16 instructs Christians, “We know love by this, that He (Jesus) laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has the world’ good and sees his brother in needs and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? (I John 3:16-17) Laying down your life may be as simple as wearing a mask, washing your hands, social distancing, and staying away from groups. This is how we can show America the love of God. Let’s begin doing those simple acts of love.

New Normal: “Going Out” Is “Take Out”

Insights Into The Covid-19 Church Era –Part XXXXI

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold new things have come.” (2Corinthians 5:17)

PreCovid-19 Era: Remember singing, “Take me out to the ball game; Take me out with the crowd. Buy me some peanuts and crackerjacks. I don’t care if I never get back, so let’s root, root, root for the home team. If they don’t win, it’s a shame. For its one, two, three strikes you’re out at the old ball game”?

Covid-19 Era version: “Take me out to the ball game. Take me where’s there no crowd. Buy me some peanuts and crackerjacks. I don’t care if social distancing ever comes back. So we will virtually root, root, root while live streaming. Not going live is no shame. For it’s one, two, three strikes your out if you test positive again!”

Covid-19 stripped the church of its building, education of its classroom, and even baseball of its crowd! Due to isolation and self-quarantining, we have forgotten what “going out” means.  My wife and I use to “go out”, have a date night! Those in their teens and twenties would go to the movies; they’re closed; go to a restaurant; sorry Take-Out Only, go for a romantic moonlit walk or a hike; people are everywhere because hiking is one of the few family activity options available. Miniature Golf allows for social distancing from tee to green, but there are always backups! Couples going “Parking” at the edge of a precipice overlooking the city or town or back a long, dark, isolated country road may become popular again, but not parentally approved.

For married adults during this Covid-19 era, “Going-Out” means ordering “Take-Out” so they can “Stay-In” and watch yet another Netflix or streamed online movie while snuggling on the sofa when the kids are in bed. Ooops, they just announced that I will become a grandparent again! What will this world look like for the high school graduates of the class of 2038 now being birthed because their parents “Took-Out” when “Going Out” when deciding to “Stay-In”? Will there even be High Schools? Will virtual sports and online gaming replace the Pre-Covid-19 Friday night High School football games?  Will “cheerleaders” go the way of the dinosaurs? I am sure social life will be totally different.

We are in a historical transition period. The Pre-Computer/Pre-Internet days are gone. Board games will be found only in moldy attics or “posted” online in Wikipedia. Almost everyone has fogotten what a telephone book with white and yellow pages looks like. A “party-line” will not be remembered as a telephone term, but a social term used by college students for an upcoming drinking party. We will not be doing “virtual” weddings, funerals, family reunions, etc. forever. We are just trying to figure out how to be “virtual” today; heaven knows how all this will shake out and look like five to ten years from now.

The church is one of the slowest institutions to embrace change. Christians feel they must meet in a designated building (a church) to follow a several hundred year old “order of worship” (do church) with passive participation while financing the institution (be the church). We use to “go to church,” but virtually where are we going? We use to “do church,” but is Zooming & Social Networking doing church? We use to “be the church,” but “being” means living, so how is the church going to become a living organism again if it is stripped of its institutional structures?

I believe Church Revival can come through a metamorphic process. Pre-Covid-19 church structure is like a caterpillar, slow, cumbersome, multi-segmented, but a ravish eater, it’s consumes a lot in order to grow. In fact it can cause an infestation if not checked. Eventually it spins a cocoon. Inside, hidden from the world, it begins a total transformation of structure and purpose. When it is revealed, it is no longer a caterpillar, but a butterfly. Structurally, it has a hard shell and wings. Its purpose is now to fly, to soar towards the heavenlies. As a caterpillar it could only see at ground level; now it has a totally different perspective both in the heavens and on earth.

The Church just may be entering the cocoon phase of its earthly journey. It has defined its current identity, but senses a coming transformation that will change its appearance and purpose. As the Bride of Christ, appearance is monumental; the purpose will be preparation for the return of the Groom, Jesus Christ, for His Bride.

The future, as I see it, is all about change, whether we like it or not. Strap yourself in, for we are about to go for a ride!

New Wineskin: Investment In Believers

Insights Into The Covid-19 Church Era –Part XXXX

“Go make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”  (Matthew 28:19)
“Christ gave some as apostles, as prophets, as evangelists, and some as the pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for works of service, to build up the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity in the faith, and in the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:11-14)

We are willing to go into deep debt for a secular college degree, a present investment to prepare for one’s future. I invested in a four year Bachelor’s degree to get my job as a public school teacher and a two-year Master’s degree to maintain it. That investment turned into a 40-year career. With the effects of Covid-19 on our economy and a fluctuating job market, job security has become obsolete.

Before the pastor’s sermon each Sunday, the saints hear the financial pitch to invest in the kingdom of God. In what are they investing? How does that investment affect them personally? Old Wineskin budgets reveal an investment in staff salaries and benefits, mortgage and maintenance for a building, insurances, office expenditures, worship team expenses or new choir gowns, program costs, missionary funds, and a small benevolence fund. Professional staff development comes through attending “Leadership Conferences”, popular Pre-Covid-19 experiences, but church leadership is also measured by academic degrees and courses. What is missing here is the investment into the laity, the saints for works of service.” Old wineskins dictate that the staff gets paid to do the work; we don’t train the laity to do it.

Most Bible Studies, Sunday School Lessons, and sermons are academic dissertations to a passive audience that really don’t “equip the saints or works of service,” or call them into action. When Covid-19 closed down their building and programs, most Christians were clueless what to do. They had not been prepared to do anything but be passive, so they passively sat on their sofas and watched virtually prepared academic sermons. Although using new technology, the old wineskins produced the same old results, the old wine of passivity. Old wine seeks old wineskins, and Christians ran back to their pews once Covid-19 restrictions were lifted. How much of your local church budget goes towards “equipping the saints for works of service?” What services are they performing? Ushering, Nursery, Janitorial Duties, Parking Attendant, etc.? What services are for professional staff only?

What new wineskin is available? Ephesians 4:7 states, “When He ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives, and He gave gifts to men.” What were those grace gifts? The passion and heart of a apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher to be released through believers in Jesus to bring unity in the body and advance the kingdom of God. The Great Commission says we are to make “disciples” not “professional leaders” by “equipping the saints” for the express purpose of doing “works of service.”

Instead of rushing our twenty-year old believers into leadership roles, the Church needs to equip, train, and mentor them by walking by their side as apprentices. If they have a heart of an evangelist, have them walk the streets with an older, more mature evangelist. If they have a heart to shepherd and care for the flock, the body of Christ, have them co-shepherd with an older, more mature shepherd. If they have the heart to teach, have them “walk” with a teacher, not academically, but practically as the disciples did with Jesus. If prophetic, have them spend time with seasoned prophets. If apostolic, have them walk the walk beside another mature apostle. We who are older in the faith must learn to put the mantle we wear upon other younger believers. When the mantle finally fits them, it is imperative we release them.  After a time of practicing it alone, they may begin to invest in someone younger and newer. This investment will not be determined in dollars and cents, but in time and effort.

Instead of rushing our twenty-year old believers into leadership roles, the Church needs to equip, train, and mentor them by walking by their side as apprentices. If they have a heart of an evangelist, have them walk the streets with an older, more mature evangelist. If they have a heart to shepherd and care for the flock, the body of Christ, have them co-shepherd with an older, more mature shepherd. If they have the heart to teach, have them “walk” with a teacher, not academically, but practically as the disciples did with Jesus. If prophetic, have them spend time with seasoned prophets. If apostolic, have them walk the walk beside another mature apostle. We who are older in the faith must learn to put the mantle we wear upon other younger believers. When the mantle finally fits them, it is imperative we release them.  After a time of practicing it alone, they may begin to invest in someone younger and newer. This investment will not be determined in dollars and cents, but in time and effort.

Instead of rushing our twenty-year old believers into leadership roles, the Church needs to equip, train, and mentor them by walking by their side as apprentices. If they have a heart of an evangelist, have them walk the streets with an older, more mature evangelist. If they have a heart to shepherd and care for the flock, the body of Christ, have them co-shepherd with an older, more mature shepherd. If they have the heart to teach, have them “walk” with a teacher, not academically, but practically as the disciples did with Jesus. If prophetic, have them spend time with seasoned prophets. If apostolic, have them walk the walk beside another mature apostle. We who are older in the faith must learn to put the mantle we wear upon other younger believers. When the mantle finally fits them, it is imperative we release them.  After a time of practicing it alone, they may begin to invest in someone younger and newer. This investment will not be determined in dollars and cents, but in time and effort.

Instead of rushing our twenty-year old believers into leadership roles, the Church needs to equip, train, and mentor them by walking by their side as apprentices. If they have a heart of an evangelist, have them walk the streets with an older, more mature evangelist. If they have a heart to shepherd and care for the flock, the body of Christ, have them co-shepherd with an older, more mature shepherd. If they have the heart to teach, have them “walk” with a teacher, not academically, but practically as the disciples did with Jesus. If prophetic, have them spend time with seasoned prophets. If apostolic, have them walk the walk beside another mature apostle. We who are older in the faith must learn to put the mantle we wear upon other younger believers. When the mantle finally fits them, it is imperative we release them.  After a time of practicing it alone, they may begin to invest in someone younger and newer. This investment will not be determined in dollars and cents, but in time and effort.

Throughout Paul’s journeys there is recorded a ton of young men who he names in his letters in whom he had invested in. By the time he would leave a town, he built up believers so they could stand alone, even in the face of persecution. He never had to call in “professionals” to minister of his new converts in a new city; he equipped the locals before he left. If a clergy properly equipped his laity the 10 years he is at a local church, he should not have to be replaced when he leaves or retires. A body naturally reproduces new cells over time to replace old ones and remain healthy.

Christians must ask themselves in this Covid-19 era not into what are they truly investing but into whom they are investing and how. That is a new mindset, a new wineskin.

Obedience Is Better Than Sacrifice

Insights Into The Covid-19 Church Era –Part XXXIX

“To obey is better than sacrifice.”  (I Samuel 15:22)

The Covid-19 generation has yet to learn the meaning of sacrifice. Americans born in 1915 witnessed World War I, the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918, the Great Depression of the 1930’s, and World War II, which all required great sacrifice for survival. The stood in soup kitchen lines and had victory garden. Although our current generation lives better than anytime in the history of man, we’ve lost the meaning of sacrifice. When Covid-19 hit, the government bailed everyone out, preventing soup kitchens. Americans responded by screaming or their “rights” while becoming callous to sacrificing for others. Many refused to even wear masks or give up partying for social distancing, a small sacrifice to prevent the spread of a highly contagious disease.

Of great concern is America’s attitude toward obedience. Many are willing to practice civil disobedience to gain their rights by marching in mass for civil rights. Another segment of the population revels in rebelling, focusing on the restoration of Confederate memorials and preserving the Rebel flag, and refusing to follow mandated restrictions when fighting Covid-19. Even the evangelical branch of the institutional church has joined in refusing to follow some mandated restriction claiming their right of the Separation of Church and State.

Last post we proposed that the Covid-19 era church needs to rediscover new wineskins filled by the Holy Spirit because “When the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth, for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak, and He will declare to you the things that are to come.” (John 16:13) The new wineskins will come when the Holy Spirit speaks, so we must be obedient.

If the Holy Spirit instructs us to read and follow Matthew 25, will we respond by feeding the hungry, clothing the homeless, giving drink to the poor, take care of the sick, do prison reform and not only release many prisoners but house, nurture, lead then to Jesus, and disciple them? Will we accept the stranger, the currently jailed immigrants, their children, and DACA recipients? How? The Holy Spirit will instruct, guide, and direct us in creating new wineskins to hold this new wine of love and compassion.

How will we respond if the Holy Spirit tells us to earn back the trust of the non-Christian public by being willing to “love our neighbor as ourselves,” (Matthew 22:39) or better yet be willing to “lay down our lives for our brethren” (I John 3:16)? How? Again, the Holy Spirit will instruct, guide, and direct us in creating new wineskins to hold this new wine of love, compassion, and unconditional acceptance.

How would we respond if the Holy Spirit tells us to give up meeting in our buildings, because He wants moveable tabernacles not immovable, stationary Temples or physical structures, and wants us to expand 21st century technology to become a world-wide Church under the banner of King Jesus rather than a splintered factions of disunity. Since every attempt organizationally in the past has failed, how are we to do it organically? Of course, you know the answer: the Holy Spirit will instruct, guide, and direct us in creating new wineskins that will prepare the Bride, the Church, the “ecclesia”, the community of believers in Jesus Christ, for His, the Groom’s return.

But all this requires obedience to the leading of the Holy Spirit, not just sacrificing. I’ve witnessed the institutional church rebelling against the Holy Spirit during the Charismatic movement. It was not pretty and was devastating. When God moves, obedience is mandatory if the Church wishes to produce good, lasting fruit. Man’s human nature since sinning in the Garden of Eden is to rebel, to be disobedient. The very Children of God He freed from Egypt became known as the Children of Disobedience when in the Wilderness of Sin. The Church’s Covid-19 generation does not want to earn that title. “To obey is better than sacrifice.”  Let’s begin listening, obeying, and putting new wine into new wineskins!

New Wineskins: Taking Care Of One Another

Insights Into The Covid-19 Church Era –Part XXXVIII

“Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your one”, and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.  (John 19:25-27)

One of Jesus’ last acts as a human was to take care of his mother, a widow. Taking care of widows and orphans was central to the 1st century Church. Even though Jesus had a brother James, He entrusts His disciple, John, known as the Beloved with his mother’s care. John obediently responds.

Care is organically person-to-person. When organized it has the potential to be institutionalized where it loses the person-to-person touch and eventually becomes a “for profit” institution. Take for instance, caring for the sick. Jesus always cared one-on-one no matter if it was Peter’s sick mother-in-law, a person with highly contagious leprosy, or multitudes of people who sought him. When Jesus physically touched them, healing flowed out of Him. Over the centuries the church built mission hospitals. Later the responsibilities of these hospitals shifted to communities. Eventually they became institutions that have produced “for profit” networks. The church has been pushed out of the evolution of today’s healthcare system.

This same evolutionary path has directly affected eldercare. Families took care of the elderly. The church build “old folks homes” and governments established “poor houses” for the elderly. Today Assistant Living Facilities offer cottages, apartments, in house care, and critical care as a “for profit” institution, which have eaten up most family’s potential inheritance.

Today, Americans count on their government to bail them out. When unemployed, homeless, needing healthcare, and not having insurance, they do not look to the church; they look to their government. Covid-19 has exposed how the church has given up much of its ministries to sectarian influences. Although Americans fear socialism, the church is not filling the void since it has little to offer. What “new wineskins” does the church have to offer in this Covid-19 age? How should the church be responding to a disease requiring self-quarantine and isolation? What would Jesus do? Although highly contagious, Jesus still physically touched those who had been self-quarantined with leprosy, and they were healed. Although not very hygiene, He spat in mud and applied it to the eyes of the blind, and they saw. Lazarus died physically, yet Jesus verbally called him out of the grave. Speaking and believing with authority and physically touching brought results, but that would take a new wineskin mentality for us to activate.

Hispanic families often house three generations under the same roof. Grandparents parent grandchildren as parents work, but Covid-19 can ravish a family when just one gets infected. How should the church respond to a disease that can infect several generations under the same roof?

If we stood at the foot of the cross, what would we do with Jesus’ mother? Have her apply for a cottage in the Assisted Living Community? Since all the adults have to go to work, how would we take care of her when she is ill or gets dementia or Alzheimer’s? When home, we would show her love, but we are an active family. The Covid-19 Stay-At-Home order has made us reevaluate and reexamine our family values. Whose responsibility is it for childcare or eldercare?

The 1st century’s answer to this was a new wineskin called the “ecclesia”, the community of believers in Jesus Christ, the Church. The Covid-19 era Church needs to rediscover this wineskin because “When the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth, for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak, and He will declare to you the things that are to come.” (John 16:13) The new wineskins will come when the Holy Spirit speaks, so we must be obedient. The topic of our next blog!

New Wineskins For Women

Insights Into The Covid-19 Church Era –Part XXXVII

“God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27)

Old wineskins have been cruel to women. Adam and Eve were always meant to be one, to be equal peers. Eve did not come from Adam’s head nor feet, but his side. God’s divine will is to establish horizontal, peer relationships, not hierarchal controlling ones. God came to earth in the flesh through His Son, Jesus, divine, yet human, to be Adam and Eve’s peer. He would walk, talk, and breath like every other human. Jesus would “lay down His life for the brethren” (I John 3:16) not dominate over them.

As a result of sin, Eve would birth children through pain and Adam would toil to earn anything. By Abraham’s time, Sarah’s wineskin was reduced to being a baby factory. Being barren was a disgrace. Finding herself barren, Sarah talks Abraham into having a child to Hagar, her handmaid, which produced Ismael. The fruit of that wineskin is not good: centuries of Arab/Israeli conflicts. Did Sarah believe this oppressive wineskin could ever be changed? No! She laughed when strangers, angels, suggested she would be with child in her elderly age. Sex and age mean nothing to God. If God promised Abraham children, old wineskin would not stop him. Through two childless, elderly people he provides a new wineskin that would produce the linage and heritage of Jesus, God’s only begotten Son.

The old wine of judgment against women caught in adultery or having a child out-of-wedlock was severe producing a wineskin of prejudicial judgment leading to stoning one to death as we have seen in the previous blog. God’s new wineskin was to impregnate a virgin with His Holy Spirit to produce a Son, a divine human. He also supplied a “righteous” man, Joseph, to stand by her side through tough times. Again, I emphasize, Joseph did not dominate or stomp on her by dissolving their relationship. He stood beside her. The fruit of this wineskin was good: the birth of a Savior for mankind.

Women are still placed in bondage by old wineskins. Today’s Pharisees proof text I Corinthians 14:34-35, “Women should keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission as the Law (old wineskins) also says. If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home.” Why would a woman go to a Christian Bible College unless she is looking for a future husband? Often forbidden to be an elder or a pastor, she is encouraged to be in children’s or youth ministry. Old wineskins demand that she “submit” to higher church authorities or her husband. They have dethroned her from being by Adam’s side as his equal peer.

We are not to have a relationship with God through another human like a priest, pastor, or husband. The Levitical priesthood, an old wineskin, no longer exists. Every man and woman has direct access to the Father through the Son, Jesus, and through “the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name. He will teach you all things.” (John 14:26) “When the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth, for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak, and He will declare to you the things that are to come.” (John 16:13)

A woman may be forbidden to speak under an old wineskin format, but the Father wants to be heard by all of His creation, “male and female”, so he created a new wineskin through the wine of His Holy Spirit whose role is to teach “male and female” as their “Helper.” Helpers stand beside you, not over you. They walk with you, wear your shoes, and identify with you.

This Covid-19 church era demands change if it expects revival; the discarding of old wineskins and the creation of new ones. The wine of His Holy Spirit will fill new wineskins by “teaching you all things.” A new wineskin is reinstating our sisters in the Lord, our Eves, beside our brothers in the Lord, Adams, as equal peers who listen to the Holy Spirit for themselves.

“He who has ears; let them hear!”

Old To New Wineskin: Freeing Women In Jesus.

Insights Into The Covid-19 Church Era –Part XXXVI

One of the most harrowing scriptures of old wineskin judgment law is recorded Numbers 5:11-31. A jealous husband could make his wife’s life pure hell, even if she is innocent.

The Lord spoke to Moses, “Speak to the sons of Israel, ‘If any man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful, and has intercourse with another man, and it is undetected, hidden from her husband’s eyes, and there is no witnesses against her or caught in the act, if a spirit of jealousy come over him and he is jealous of his wife when she has defiled herself, or if the spirit of jealously comes over him and he is jealous or his wife when she has not defiled herself, the man shall bring his wife to the priest with an offering of one-tenth of an ephah of barley meal; he shall not pour oil nor frankincense on it, for it is a grain offering of jealously, a memorial, a reminder of iniquity.

The priest will have her stand before the Lord. He shall take holy water in an earthenware vessel and take dust that is on the tabernacle’s floor and put it into the water. The priest shall let her hair go loose, and place the grain offering of memorial in her hands, which is the grain offering of jealously. In the priest’s hand is to be the water of bitterness that brings a curse. He shall have her take an oath and shall say to the woman, ‘If no man has lain with you and if you have not gone astray into uncleanness, being under the authority of your husband, be immune to this water of bitterness that brings a curse; If you, however, have gone astray, being under the authority of your husband, and if you have defiled yourself and a man other than your husband, by having intercourse’ (then the priest shall have the woman swear with the oath of the curse, and the priest shall say to the woman), ‘the Lord make you a curse and an oath among your people by the Lord’ making your thigh waste away and your abdomen swell; this water that brings a curse shall go into your stomach, and make your abdomen and your thigh waste away.’ The woman shall say, ‘Amen, Amen.’

The priest shall write these cures on the scroll and wash them off into the water of bitterness. He shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that brings a curse, so that the water which brings a curse will go into her and cause bitterness. The priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy from the woman’s hand and shall wave the offering before the Lord and bring it to the altar; and the priest shall take a handful of the grain offering as a memorial offering and offer it up in smoke on the altar, and afterward he shall make the women drink the water. When he has made her drink the water, if she has defiled herself and has been unfaithful to her husband, that the water which bring a curse will go into her and cause bitterness, and her abdomen will swell and her thigh will waste away, and the woman will become a curse among her people. But if the woman has not defiled herself and is clean, she will then be free and conceive children.

This is the law of jealousy: when a wife, being under the authority of her husband goes astray and defiles herself, or when a spirit of jealousy comes over a man and he is jealous of his wife, he shall then make the wife stand before the Lord, and the priest shall apply all this law to her. Moreover, the man will be free from guilt, but that woman shall bear her guilt.’”

Old wineskin judgment: Being beautiful could be a cure. A jealous, over protective husband could bring her total humiliation. The purpose of bringing her before the Sanhedrin, the Jewish governing body, was to find her guilty. The penalty was death by stoning. If innocent, she would “be free and conceive children.” She would be instructed to go home and have intercourse with her embarrassed, jealous husband in order to conceive children! How romantic is that?

New wineskin grace: If innocent, she would enter a side room off the Court of Men in Herod’s Temple to give a wave offering of thanks. Technically, being in the Court of Men, as an innocent woman, she would be equal to all her male peers. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatian 2:28)

The woman caught in the act of adultery was being dragged to the Sanhedrin for judgment when the Pharisees wanted to trick Jesus because they knew she was guilty. Jesus set the standard, “He who is without sin can throw the 1st stone.” Technically, He was the only one there qualified to throw it, but chose not to do so. Instead, He offered her the new wine of grace. She became the new wineskin that accepted it, and it changed her life. She was freed!

New Wineskins: Joseph, Mary, & Hester

Insights Into The Covid-19 Church Era –Part XXXV

“This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to Joseph, but before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly. As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 1:18-20)

Grounded in tradition, battling “old wineskins” is part of the Jewish faith. Tradition has preserved the Torah, given by Moses, and the Talmud, a collection of rabbinical interpretations. With the love of his life, Mary, pregnant, and not being the father, Joseph could “break the engagement quietly,” but chose not to “disgrace her publicly.” Being “righteous,” he did what was right. An angel tells him to “take Mary as your wife, for the child was conceived by the Holy Spirit.” Joseph could have yielded to an old wineskin to quietly put her away, or yield to a new wineskin by standing with her. Because the Trinity conceived this child, Jesus would have a heavenly Father, be His only begotten Son, and would be conceived by the Holy Spirit. Jesus’ birth in a manger, the flight to Egypt from Herod’s wrath, and His teaching as a young boy in the Temple are all fruits of this new wineskin. After those events, not much is known about Joseph. Being a “righteous man,” He would say, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” By allowing new wine to be poured into the new wineskin of his life, he would be recorded among the “righteous.” What an honor!

Hawthorne’s 1850 novel, The Scarlet Letter, exposed the Puritanical wineskins of early New England. Arthur Dimmesdale, a young Puritan minister, fathers a child to Hester Prynne but opts to keep it secret. When Roger Chillingworth, Hester’s husband, returns home to a pregnant wife, he devotes his life to finding who fathered the child, so he can seek revenge. Dimmesdale is eaten up by guilt. Hester not only survives her punishment of wearing a scarlet letter “A” or “Adultery”, but transforms her image where the public thinks her “A” stands or “angel” for the way she raised her child. Chillingworth and Dimmesdale shrivel under the old Puritanical wineskin of judgment. The new wineskin of being faithful and pure in raising her child, redeems Hester.

The woman caught in adultery and Mary Magdalene’s stories illustrate new wineskins. Guilty, both should have been stoned to death according to old wineskin Law which demanded judgment. Instead, the new wine of grace was extended to both. When Jesus said, “He who is without sin, throw the first stone,” none could throw their stones because “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” The old judgmental wine would find them guilty. But all her “accusers” were gone. Jesus extended the new wine of grace by telling her to “go and sin no more.” What would that look like? Read passages about Mary Magdalene and you will see.

How would this grace work today? A girl discovers she is pregnant, The scared father leaves her high and dry. She wonders how she will support and raise a child as a single parent and bear the guilt of birthing an “illegitimate” child? Where is the church in all this? Their old wineskin would demand he repent of her sin before the congregation, just like Hester. Not supported by family, church, or friends, she feels hopeless. A secret abortion becomes an option. What would be a new, better wineskin? A supportive church community built on trusting relationships that would teach her mothering techniques, help meet needs as a single parent (like the 1st century Church who took care of their widows and orphans), babysit to free her to have some “adult” time, to give positive fellowship, etc. would help. In other words do I John 3:16 of laying down your life for your brethren.

Like Joseph, we need to offer new wineskins to difficult situations where old wineskins solutions no longer work. We need to replace the old wine of judgment with the new wine of love, acceptance, and community.

Jesus & Paul, Two Jews, Too Diverse?

Insights Into The Covid-19 Church Era –Part XXXIV

“A Samaritan woman came to drink water. Jesus said to her, ‘Give Me a drink,’ for His disciples had gone away into the town to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink of me, who am a Samaritan woman?’ For Jews had no dealings with Samaritans.” (John 4:7-9)

“For Jews had no dealings with Samaritans.”  Bias, discrimination, and racism existed in Jesus’ time. 1) Sexism: The Jewish mentality was women were baby-factories, reproduction machines. If they could not bare children, they became social outcasts. Just as Sarah, Abraham’s wife. 2) Racism: Jews stayed to themselves. If they could, they “had no dealings with outsiders.” Samaritans were considered outsiders to them. Jesus broke through the norms of bias and racism. Jesus not only directly talks to a woman requesting that she serve him a drink; he offers her, a Samaritan, “living water.”

Incredibly, He reveals to her, a Samaritan woman, that He is the Messiah before He reveals it to his own intimate 12 disciples. When Jesus or Paul entered a town, they sought a Jewish synagogue first because “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God or salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” (Romans 1:6)   Jesus breaks those norms by revealing his Messiahship outside the house of Israel first to a Samaritan, in fact a woman!

The result: Because of her testimony, her town comes out to hear Jesus, and invites him, a Jew, to stay with them, Samaritans, for two day!  “Many more believed because of his word; ‘We believe because we have heard for ourselves and known indeed that he is the Savior of the world.’” (John 4:41-42)  This first Non-Jewish revival would set the foundation Paul built his ministry upon.

Paul, a Jew’s Jew, a Pharisee of Pharisees, a defender of the faith, converts to following Jesus. He, too, goes to each town’ synagogue to evangelizes, but get rejected, so he take the “good news” to the gentiles “who gladly receive it.” He write to the Galatians, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, …; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatian 2:28)

Today’s church overlooks or denies racism among its ranks. The 1st century churched faced it heads on. A council in Jerusalem met over the “Gentile” Question: Can Gentiles Be Saved? If so, they are equal to Jewish believers and must follow Mosaic Law; believers of Pharisee background believed. The council concluded, “God knows peoples’ hearts, and he confirmed that he accept Gentile by given them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us. He made no distinction between us and them, or he cleansed their hearts through faith. So why are you now challenging God by burdening the Gentile believers with a yoke that neither we nor our ancestor were able to bear?” (Act 15)

 “God knows peoples’ hearts,” and racism is a heart disease that affects the whole body, clotting life-giving flow. It causes spiritual heart attacks, which can be deadly. It blinded and anesthetized Southern Christians into justifying slavery. Only after a major Civil War could the church say, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man…; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatian 2:28) If we are “all one in Christ Jesus,” then we are all equal peers and joint heirs.

A new wineskin for this Covid-19 era is peer equality. Only when bias is gone, racism eliminated, and discrimination no longer in existence, can true peer equality flourish, and it can only exist through the transforming, redemptive, forgiving power of Jesus Christ through His Holy Spirit.

Under an old wineskin, only one man can be on top of the church’s hierarchal pyramid. If a White church and a Black church decide to merge together, who becomes the “Lead” Pastor? In most cases, racism will raise its head. Under a new wineskin where there is linear leadership, everyone, as equal peers, walks with their brothers and sisters, either in front to be the “point man” to protect while leading the group into possible danger, or beside, arm-in-arm in support as an equal, or behind, protecting or cover one’s back. With no hierarchal pyramid, no one is “over” another. The willingness to linearly lay down their life for their brethren will surely defeat racism, bigotry, and prejudice.

American Church’s Blind Eye Towards Culturally Diverse

Insights Into The Covid-19 Church Era –Part XXXIII

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatian 2:28)

- Indians were call “natives” because they are the only “native” American we have; everyone else immigrated to our soil. Thousands of Europeans have passed the Statue of Liberty on their way to Ellis Island in New York
- in the search for freedom of religion and starting a new life, yet…
- We have annihilated the American Indian, robbing him of his land, life, lifestyle, and dignity.
- We brought Africans to America against their free will as slaves.
- We are building a wall trying to prevent our Hispanic neighbors from moving North.
- … and where was the Church in all this?

- The church attempted/forced the “native” Indian to convert to Christianity by creating Indian Schools.
- The church in the South proof texted scripture to justify slavery to preserve their economy.
- The church ignores the plight of families being broken up, while detaining young children in fenced facilities away from their parents. The breaking up of families has had long term damaging affects on the Black family; how is the breaking up of Hispanic families going to affect their family structure in the future here in America.

America history now praises those who were part of the underground railroad, advocating for freedom for slaves from slavery, but today’s White evangelical Christian communities condemn cities of refuge on the West Coast even though the concept of Cities of Refuge is Biblical. They also oppose new immigration in America from our neighbors south of our border. 150 years later, they oppose any underground railroad bypassing Trump’s southern border wall.

So if the church believes in evangelism, in cultural diversity in its ranks, as peer acceptance in Jesus no matter of race, religion, social status or sex, it will need to create some new wineskins to accept the new wine of tolerance, forgiveness, generosity, loving ‘our neighbors’ as oneself, peer acceptance, and diversity. Old wineskins no longer tolerate this kind of wine.  Old wineskins have produced White churches, Black churches, Hispanic churches, Oriental churches, etc. by race and social status. Old wineskins and attitudes have forced the United States into a Civil War 150 years ago. Those same wineskins and attitudes that reject this new wine could also bring us to the brink of another Civil War if we don’t repent.

John the Baptist cried, “Repent, repent, or the kingdom of God is at hand.” Repentance is the turning from the old to the new. Repentance demands rejecting old ways, old attitude, old wineskins if we are to embrace the new wine of the Holy Spirit and what He has. If we are to unite as the Bride, the Church, in preparation for the Groom, the return of Jesus, we better have our lamps full, our wicks trimmed, and have a time of self-reflection and repentance before the Groom comes.

Christians risked their lives establishing the Underground Railroad. Christians have been honored by being called “Righteous Gentile” by the Jewish faith for hiding and saving Jews during World War II. Christians need to again risk their lives to correct social injustice, stand beside our Black and Hispanic brothers in Christ who are working and living in America. The Church wants revival, but revival comes with a price. Is the American church willing to repent and be willing to pay that price? That is the question the Covid-19 era Church must ask itself.

Covid-19 Is Culturally Diverse; Why Isn’t The Church?

Insights Into The Covid-19 Church Era –Part XXXII

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatian 2:28)

Covid-19 is culturally diverse; it infects anyone and everyone. While the rich and middle class hunkers at home, the minimum wage, hourly worker is deemed essential, working at grocery stores, drug stores, and meat packing plants, but all are susceptible to the disease.

But the Church? I helped a white pastor start an inner-city church in the midst of Black and Hispanic communities, yet we remained a White church in a White Christian culture. Our old, renovated church building had a large Sunday School room on the 1st floor and the sanctuary on the 2nd. Sunday School was at 9 a.m., worship service at 10, done by 11:30.

As the White church fled to the suburbs, a Hispanic congregation bought the building. They advertised church at noon, but no one showed up until after 1 and the place didn’t rock until 2, and went until 5! The 1st floor became a veranda for socializing and dinners. Although the congregation was made up of Mexicans, Guatemalans, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, and San Salvadorians, I couldn’t tell the difference.

I got to go to South Africa in the 1990’s when apartheid defined three social classes: European White, African Black, or “other” called Colored, mixed breed. I spent a weekend at a White church in Pretoria and a weekend in a Colored church at Fishhoek outside Capetown since South African churches are also segregated.

Jerusalem in Jesus’ time was a melting pot of diverse Jewish culture: Hellenistic Jews, Orthodox Jews, Remnant Jews, etc. At Pentecost, Christianity was a predominantly Jewish faith until Saul, converted to Paul, would evangelize the Gentiles in Asia Minor. By the time of Constantine’s conversion, the Church became Romanized and lost its Jewish influence.

Like Covid-19, Christian evangelism can touch anyone and everyone as a response to the Great Commission. The 1st century Church was about building relationships and communities. Paul scouted a city’s culture before evangelizing. When Paul saw the temple to the Unknown God, he utilized it as an opportunity to tell them about Jesus. In another city he taught against idols. Local craftsman revolted and kicked him out of town for ruining their economy.

Persecution caused the 1st century church to scatter. With an universal message, diversity soon became its strength as Jews, gentiles, slaves, and freemen, males, and females all became peers in this priesthood of believers. Will it take persecution to make today’s Church diversify, to become multi-racial, multi-lingual? Should the church today be more community based, or will we continue to drive miles away to attend church. We need to make Church be our neighborhood in order to make it a 24/7 community. Peer acceptance and equality must become a quality of the Covid-19 era church if it is to move forward, thus the need for new multi-racial, diverse, peer accepted wineskins.

Faith and Covid-19; A Conspiracy Theory Or Reality?

Insights Into The Covid-19 Church Era –Part XXXI

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for.” Our hope is that either Covid-19 is a hoax, not real, or it will just go away if it is real. Faith is “the evidence of things not seen.” Unless you personally know someone who has or had Covid-19, it is hard to believe that Covid-19 is a pandemic in spite over 4,000,000 positive tests and approaching upwards toward 200,000 deaths posted in the upper corners of television screens. Unlike the infamous Black Plague that wiped out 30-60% of urban residence, until we see carts of dead bodies being picked up in our streets, it is hard to believe that Covid-19 even exists.

As of this writing I do not know of any family member, even aunts, uncles, and cousins on either side of family tree who have been tested positive for Covid-19. The only exception is a daughter-in-law who is a nurse in Philadelphia who volunteered to help with public testing in a highly contagious city and caught the coronavirus. She recovered in two weeks.

Our local swimming pool hosts bathers and suntan enthusiasts who do not wear masks, thinking they are invincible. Unmasked, weekend backyard parties are prevalent everywhere. No one in the long line at the ice cream parlor sported a mask, even though it is State mandated. “No Shirt; No Shoes'; No Service” has been replaced by “No Mask; No Service.” Everyone is scared to enforce it, fearing they will loose the little business that is trickling in.

Not witnessing carts retrieving the dead does not mean Covid-19 exists. With isolation being a method of treatment, we don’t get to see the disease fully blown. Television is finally airing patient and medical staff testimonies. Their method is simple: The coronavirus is dangerous. Use masks, social distancing, hand washing, and isolation when needed.

Not being able to physically see something at the moment, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Seeing the unseen is the essence of faith. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for.” The key word is “substance.” Faith has a “substance” component. “Substance” is tangible. What can we do that is “tangible” to obtain this hope, which is the elimination of this disease? Things like respecting others, “being our brother’s keeper”, by “laying down our lives for our brethren,” by thinking “more highly of others than ourselves.” How can we do that? Through simple gestures like wearing a protective mask, social distancing, proper hygiene, not being part of large gatherings, etc.

One hope I have is not having a loved one with the coronavirus who gets drastically ill, hospitalized, and placed in an ICU unit. I hope they choose self-imposed quarantine over mandated quarantine in a hospital situation with the possibility of a lonely death away from loved ones. I am asking each of us to put some “substance” into our faith during this pandemic.

Instead of allowing the disease to be so divisive, let’s use some wisdom. That wisdom of self-care, being our brother’s keeper, thinking more highly of others above ourselves, and laying down our lives for others will go much further in brining unity among us, not division. Let’s move forward in unity.

The Silence Is Deafening

Insights Into The Covid-19 Church Era –Part XXII

“He who has ears; let him hear.” (Many New Testament References)

The public is awaiting the government’s response. It’s the same old, same old, blah, blah, blah: social distancing, wearing masks, washing hands, and do not congregate in groups. Not listening to sound advice, Covid-19 spreads. The public wants directions on how to properly socialize during a contagion, how children can return safely to school and parents to work, and how to keep the economy flowing without being susceptible to the virus. It is like the government has been blindsided like the rest of us, not knowing how to respond, appearing clueless, and contradicting itself.

Meanwhile, the laity, the congregants, the believers in Jesus are waiting for church leadership to respond, but only getting silence. When forced closed, the church moaned that they had the right to assemble, the right to free speech, and the separation of Church and State. When restrictions were lifted, they responded by returning to the status quo by performing their “Groundhog Day” Sunday Services in their marginally empty church buildings where social distancing was no problem.

With unemployment at its highest in history, “temporary furloughs” are becoming permanent job loses. With dwindling manufacturing jobs, the service industry is also being severely hit. Economic recovery will take time. How are we to sustain healthcare, our greatest employer, when paycheck-to-paycheck hourly workers already pay outrageous premium, annoying copays, and unreasonable deductibles. Here we are, a ½ year later, and no one yet seems prepared.

How is the Church preparing for the large number of unemployed among their ranks, evictions are about to become a reality, and there is a surge in homelessness? Are soup kitchens again going to feed the hungry? Who’s going to take care of the elderly, the widows, the single moms, the orphans, homeless, needy, and poor? Are we to be our brother’s keeper? When the 1st century church responded, they boasted that “there was not a needy person among us!” How is the 21st century, Covid-19 church responding? Silence prevails as the church reestablishes it old, outdated wineskins while filling it with old wine. Everyone seems to be floundering.

Church let’s be proactive instead of reactive! Let’ begin to make some noise. Let’s rattle some pots in preparation to minister to the hungry. Let’s bang some hammers and make power saws sing with Habitat For Humanity to be prepared to build affordable housing. Let’s glean necessities to store in our storehouses to be released during economic hard times. Let’s prevent the virus from controlling us; let’s begin to control it!

Mr. Rogers, Help!

Insights Into The Covid-19 Church Era – Part XXI

“One of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, ‘Mater, which is the greatest commandment in the law?’ Jesus replied, ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment, and the second I like unto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 22:35-40)

If you grew up watching Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood, you heard Fred Rogers sing:

I have always wanted to have a neighbor just like you!
I've always wanted to live in a neighborhood with you.
So let's make the most of this beautiful day,
Since we're together we might as well say,
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?
Won't you be my neighbor?
Won't you please,
Won't you please?
Please won't you be my neighbor?
Written by Fred Rogers | © 1967, Fred M. Rogers

Fred Rogers always invited you to be a part of his life, his experiences, his neighborhood where he could share his wisdom with you in the simplest child-like ways. Compared to the complexities of adulthood and daily life, Rogers could make life simple, inclusive, and understandable. He introduced you to common people and to their positive assets, strengths, and feelings. They were not magical, but real people you would meet in your daily routines.

Once, America was made of neighborhoods, but the concept of people living with one another, accepting one another, giving to one another, and helping and supporting one another has dwindled to a memory for most of us. As a kid, living in the city, our doors were never locked. Even if we were away, people often  stopped to visit, made their own pot of coffee, and left a note before leaving. You made meals for one another. You gave chicken soup to sick neighbors, talked over the fence, and had backyard picnics. Today that same neighborhood has both locks and bolts on their doors. Everyone stays indoors, secluded, away from one another. Instead of picnics, there is a fear of drive-by shootings. The neighborhood has changed. The neighborhood grocery story and Laundromat is past history. Tied sneakers hang from the telephone wires singling drug use. “Block Watch” signs warn of vigilante neighborhood security watches.

With the Covid-19 pandemic, isolation is prevalent. With the fear of your neighbor being a contagious carrier, you totally avoid them out of precaution. Due to social distancing regulations, you no longer talk over the fence, you text. Mothers who have babies or toddlers need to talk to other adults once in a while, but now have no time to talk to their neighbor since their older children are virtually homeschooled and need monitoring with their schoolwork between diaper changes. Mothers are exhausted.

It is so easy to get self-absorbed when isolated. Your world can shrink to one, you! Afraid to expand your world at this time, it’s ‘”every man or woman for themselves” while in a survival mode during this crisis.

Fred Rogers continues to sing, “Won't you please, Won't you please? Please won't you be my neighbor?” What does “neighborhood” mean to the Covid-19 generation? We are in a period of redefining what being “social” means and how to be “social” without being a threat of infection.  We want to take care of ourselves and our family, but Jesus’ words “love thy neighbor as thyself.” because “on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets,” keeps ringing in my ears.  Like everything else, are we suppose to compose a “virtual” neighborhood. I already belong to one of those, but know hardly anyone in my actual neighborhood.

We are all still struggling with the concept of being safe, yet being social. Where is Mr. Rogers when you need him? Help!