“YEAST” DRIVEN BREAD IS “KNEADED”; BUT GOD’S “LIVING BREAD” IS “NEEDED”!

There Ain’t No Pharisees In My Church, Right?

“’Be on guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.’ Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”  Matthew 16:11-12

There were two predominate sects in the Jewish faith at the time of Christ, the Pharisees and the Sadducees.  The Pharisees would be described today and right wing evangelical fundamentalist in the Church today while the Sadducees would be “the others”, or as in the eyes of the Pharisees, anyone who isn’t like “us”. That pharisaical attitude is alive and well, in fact, alive and strong in the Church today, going far beyond the sects of Christianity that I have pictured.  Every Christian sect thinks they have the inside tract on “true” theology.  That is what makes them different from the rest.  The “proper” discernment of “truth” is what sets them apart from the rest of the body of Christ, as if the rest of the body of Christ is in error.  Hmmmm, 99.99% of the body of Christ is in error, but we are not! Does that make sense when looking at the body of Christ as a whole?

Jesus warned about the “teaching” of the present day institutionalized religious leaders.  In the Jewish tradition, the Talmud, which is an accumulation of “interpretations” of what the Torah was said was larger than the Torah itself.  Take a high level graduate course on “Theology” at a seminary, and you will see what I mean.  The simplicity of the gospel is expounded in complexity as theologian upon theologian proposes their interpretation upon scripture, dissecting it historically, grammatically in Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, or whatever, and against other philosophies and interpretations.  The “yeast” is rising. 

When the children of Israel were freed from centuries of slavery, they did not have time to use “yeast” in their bread, because yeast takes time to rise before it is baked.  They didn’t have “time,” for God was on the move.  Once freed, they didn’t bake bread like they did in Egypt because God supplied “manna,” a godly bread substitute, daily.  They still did not have time to bake bread with yeast, for God was still on the move led by a pillar of fire by night and a cloud by day.  He was on the move 24/7.

“Revival” is when “God is on the move”!  When revival hits, the Church doesn’t have time for committee meetings, counsels, position papers, defining dogma and doctrine, and months and years for seminary training.  God is on the move.  There is no time for the “yeast” to rise!  During revival, the Holy Spirit supplies fresh “manna” daily to his people.  There is no need, nor time, for yeast. 

So what is the “yeast”?  According to Matthew 16:12: “the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” During revival the Holy Spirit becomes the teacher, not the doctrinal church hierarchy of its time.  The Holy Spirit teaches simple truths clearly, powerfully, and quickly to the masses in unity.  These simple truths are what I call the “apostolic” teaching that needs to be reinstated into the Church, the truths that transcends the Pharisees’ and Sadducees’ teachings in today’s Church structures. They are the “same” truths for every “sect” or part of the body of Christ, the Church, that do not differ because of the “yeast” of teaching that always brings division and sectarianism in the Church.  They are truths, powerful truths, freeing truths, truths of grace, mercy, and forgiveness, simple truths, easy to understand, easy to apply in one’s everyday life, truths that apply to every believer in Jesus Christ anywhere.  They are truths that unify the body of Christ, not divide, and no one sect or group has the inside scoop on what they are.

As we move toward revival in the Church, these truths will be opposed by the pharisaical “yeast” of our day, the entrenched theology of distinct sects within Christianity.  As we have seen in previous blogs, revival features a “flat world” approach of equality of peers, the priesthood of believers, not a pyramid type clergy/laity structure.  Pyramidal clergy/laity structure produces “yeast” because naturally it has time to “rise”, usually in the form of “traditions”.  Jesus warned of these “traditions of men.”  With time, in a pyramid form of structure, “yeast” will naturally rise.  During revival, there is no time for “yeast”.  The Holy Spirit teaches for that moment in time to his people in that moment of time, the simplicity of the gospel, the good news, to bring freedom from bondage no matter if it is secular or religious.  Religion is leery of revival; the secular unsure of it, but both end up opposing it.  Revival is always on the move!  But once the season of revival is over, with time, the “yeast” sets in to digest, interpret, and theorize the revival, rejecting most of the revival’s universal truths, and implementing some of the truths over the period of several decades when it makes it their norms, although watered down in form and truth. 

Want revival? Beware of the “yeast”!  Prepare to be on the “move” when there is no time for “yeast” for rise.  When in the dessert of daily living, “yeast” bread will bake when heated forming a protective crust, but “manna” bread will bring life, freedom, and must be picked daily.  Old manna rotted. “Yeast” laden bread is “kneaded”, but God’s living bread, daily manna, is really what is “needed” each day because God’s people were on the move. Jesus said, “I am the bread of life.”  Let me tell you, Jesus’ bread is “yeast”-free, pure manna, Godly nutrient!

A Paradigm Shift In The Way We Look At Teaching

A Look at Kent Hunter’s “The Future Is Now: How God Is Moving In The 21^st Century Church

I came across an ebook by Kent R. Hunter of Church Doctor Ministries entitled “The Future Is Now: How God Is Moving In The 21^st Century Church.”  I would like to quote from this source since it is so good, and then add a few of my analysis to it.  

From Chapter 8 – Focus On Health: Who You Are…And Become, Hunter says:  “One of the secrets about changing the culture in your church is to understand how people change.  First, most churches operate from a position of Greek philosophy. Churches work hard to help people grow. But they often start with a false premise about how people change behavior. The approach is: right thinking leads to right behavior. This is a Greek approach to understanding reality, and it comes from Plato who, of course, was not a Christian. On the other hand, Hebrew thought is diametrically opposite to Greek thinking. The Hebrew mind sees the world differently: right behavior leads to right thinking. Obviously, Jesus was a Hebrew. In fact, that is why He did things that may at first seem strange to us. For example, He said to His new disciples, “Come follow Me” (behavior), and, then, “I will teach you to be fishers of men (and women)” (Matthew 4:19) (right thinking). This has a major impact on how 21st century healthy churches will shape and guide the lives of new and young Christians. (I did not use the word “instruct” on purpose.) Hands-on, involved, interactive learning — doing — will be as important as content".

As a public school teacher I know the power of “field trips” vs. book learning.  Getting down and dirty cleaning up trash and recycling is more powerful than studying Chapter 7 on Recycling.  Slushing through a creek discovering little creek critters is a greater educational tool than looking at their pictures and reading about them in a textbook.  I have always been a proponent that “experience” is more powerful than head knowledge.  This has been true in my spiritual walk.  Although I have read through my Bible several times, earned a Master’s Degree in Biblical Studies, I have learned that I can not understand a spiritual principle until I have “experienced” it.  Studying the power of the Cross, the Blood of Christ, and Jesus’ sufferings academically can be painless, but experiencing their principles in one’s life is life changing because there is pain in the Cross, there is suffering in the Cross, and there is transformation in the Cross, something we all can experience.

Mark Virkler has come to our local church several times. One trip he taught us about the lamad method of teaching, having one’s students actually “experience” what they are learning, the Jewish approach, rather than the European head approach to learning.  He instructed how we are to let the Holy Spirit teach us a passage, then experience it.  Jesus’ teaching style was not to birth and establish a rabbinical school, a theological college, or a seminary in the Western World mentality, but to walk and talk with twelve uneducated men through field trips, object lessons, and parables.  In Acts the Sanhedrin marvels that these “uneducated men” spoke with such “authority” after being taught by Jesus and His Holy Spirit.

When my one son became a man, he tried to seek out a spiritual male mentor, but could not find one nor did the church have one to offer.  It offered men’s Bible Studies, gobs of books on Christian topics for manhood, and even a men’s retreat, but no man would come forward to “walk” with him through his faith journey as a young man in his “daily life.”  The Church does not need to establish another “Big Brother” or “Mentoring” PROGRAM.  The men of the Church need to just come forward and walk the walk, side by side, day in and day out, 24/7 with their young brothers in the Lord, instructing them through practical every day experience the Biblical principles that are keystones to our faith.  “Modeling” is always an effective tool of teaching. What better way to teach the Christian walk, than to actually walk!  That’s the way Jesus taught.  He still did it after his death and resurrection when walking on the Road to Emmaus with his disciples and promised the release of the Holy Spirit to “teach them all things” when he returned to His Father in heaven.

An informal walk, sharing your personal stories, revealing the spiritual principles you have learned through your walk or journey through life with Jesus can not only be a powerful evangelistic tool, but also a pastoral and teaching tool!

“Hey, got a minute? Let’s go for a walk….. I have something I want to tell you about…..”

Why The Five Fold As The Next Movement or Revival to the 21st Century Church?

A Review Of History From Dr. Bill Hamon

As the Church faces a new century and new movements of God, how will it respond?  Dr. Bill Hamon claims, “When this occurs [a new movement], some of the pastors and denominational leaders will take a neutral attitude, ‘Hold steady; do nothing; wait and see.’  Others will accept the new truths and ministries and incorporate them into their own teachings, ministry, and ways of worship, but some will reject and condemn the movement.

Those who do not like the movement and want nothing to do with it will find examples of ministers or members who have been confused or hurt by their involvement in the movement to prove that it is not of God.  They will also focus on little phrases or particular teachings of the leaders of the movement and make them sound unscriptural, out of order or cultic.  Those who oppose and persecute the movement will declare publicly that it is not of God and forbid their members to participate. The leaders of past movements, independent groups, and denominations will finally issue an official document declaring that this movement is not condoned by them and is therefore not of God.  Those who were leaders of God’s established order until the new movement came along are the ones who fight what is new the hardest.¹”

 So why do I, the author of this blog, propose the five fold as the next movement of God.  Hamon takes a historical view at this proposal.  Hamon has charted the change produced by the Restoration Movement since its inception in the 1500s with the Reformation.1

                  Year Restoration Movement               Major Truth Restored

                  1500 Protestant Movement                      Salvation by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8,9)

                  1600 Puritan Movement                           Water Baptism, separation of Church and State

                  1700 Holiness Movement                          Sanctification, Church set apart from the world

                  1800 Faith Healing Movement                   Divine healing for the physical body

                  1900 Pentecostal Movement                      Holy Spirit baptism and speaking in tongues

                  1950 Latter Rain Movement                       Prophetic presbytery, praise and worship

                  1960 Charismatic Movement                      Renewal of all restored truth

                  1970 Faith Movement                                 Faith confessions, prosperity

                  1980 Prophetic Movement                           Prophets and gifts of the Holy Spirit

With this Hamon also teaches that in each of the last five decades of the twentieth century, one of the five fold ministries (Eph. 4:11) has been reemphasized or restored, and certain Biblical truths and ways of worship have been reactivated in the Church by the Holy Spirit.²

                  Decade Five Fold Ministry                  Movement/Revival

                  1950’s Evangelist                                 Deliverance Evangelism

                  1960’s Pastor                                       Charismatic Renewal

                  1970’s Teacher                                     Faith Teaching Movement

                  1980’s Prophet                                     Prophetic Movement

                  1990’s Apostle                                     Apostolic Movement

I, the author of this blog, have personally experienced the effects of all five of these movements during my life time.  Because of the institutional mentality of the church, I have seen the church make “offices” out of the five fold, usually held by positions of leadership, usually the senior pastor, bishop, staff, etc., not the grass roots laity.  When there is a movement of God, it affects the grassroots of every believer, the priesthood of believers, not just the institutional hierarchy. This, I believe, is the biggest change to Hamon’s chart.  God’s Spirit through this next move of God will continue to be upon all flesh. (Acts 2)

I believe the Holy Spirit is shaking out, developing, teaching the five fold as passions and points of view that, when equipped, developed, and released, can bring maturity in individual believers while bringing unity among the five if they are willing to “lay down their lives for their brethren.” (I John 3:16).

The five fold will bring accountability to the Church unlike it has experienced since the first century because its foundation is on “service”, different passions “serving” each other and receiving the “services” from each other.  This accountability is based on “relationship” not on hierarchy of position of power or influence.

I agree with Kent R. Hunter and Dr. Bill Hamon that the wind of change, the wind of the Holy Spirit, is blowing, and we are seeing just the beginnings of the next great move of God upon the 21^st Century Church.

 ¹ Dr. Bill Hamon, Prophets and the Prophetic Movement:  God’s Prophetic Move Today  (Shippensburg, Pa: Destiny Image, 1990), 107.

 ² Ibid., 44-45.

Equipping Series – Part III: Teachers

“Ephesians 4” Call To Equip The Saints For The Work Of Service As A Teacher:

I believe the five fold passions and points of view are in every believer in Jesus Christ since the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ indwells them.  So how do we allow the artesian well of the Holy Spirit to surface the teaching spirit that is in all believers?  That is the calling of the five fold ministry of the Church.

If it weren’t for the teacher to teach and set a standard through the Logos Word, The Bible, there would be chaos and no foundation of one’s faith. How can we, the 21^st century Church allow the creative teaching spirit to arise in believers, aiding, caring, developing, and then releasing him to produce fruit for the Kingdom of God?

I certainly don’t have all the answers, but encourage you to ask the creative Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ to give you “revelation” of who He is and how to show that to others.  I only offer a few suggestions:

Be Grounded in the Logos Word:  A five fold teacher must be Biblically based, a disciplined reader of the Bible, a hungry student of the Bible, and one willing to have the “revelation” of “truth”, a revelation of “Jesus Christ”, by the Holy Spirit who Jesus promised would teach you “all things.”  Loving to memorize the Bible is an effective tool.  “Knowing” in his “knower” that he “knows” that he “knows” the Word, the Bible, will allow him to quote scripture whenever needed.

Minister out of the Rhema Word:  But working out of just knowing scripture will only bring “legalism,” making him a Pharisee, like Saul before he became Paul.  A five fold teacher must Live the Logos Word, which I call the Rhema Word, the living out in practical daily life.  Jesus wants us to not only be hearers of the Logos Word, but doers, of the Rhema Word.  Jesus wants a “living gospel” with power from on high.  Jesus “lived out” the gospel to a tee, fulfilling the Logos Word by being the Rhema Word to mankind.  The five fold teacher must live out what he teaches in his daily life, or all is in vain.  Saul, the Pharisee who knew and could quote his Logos Word, became Paul, the apostle, who lived out the Rhema Word of a crucified, yet resurrected and empowered Savior, Lord, and King.

Teach Out of Practical Experience, Not Academic Theology: Jesus never founded a Theological Seminary, Bible College or School, nor training center, not even a Rabbinical Center.  He just walked with 12 men teaching spiritual Kingdom of God principles through practical living.  He took them to harvest fields to teach them about the sower & the seed, to the sea of Galilee to teach them faith by walking on water, taking them in the midst of a hungry multitude to teach them his Father’s provisions by feeding the 5,000, and making them visit an empty tomb to teach them the power of the resurrection.  If it wasn’t practical experience, it wasn’t spiritual truth.  That is the difference between the five fold teacher and today’s academically driven Biblical teachers.  You not only need to be able to quote the scriptures, but more importantly teach their principles by living them out!  Jesus, the Teacher, is the prime example of how to do it.

Releasing The Rhema Five Fold Teacher:  The worst thing to do after training or equipping someone is then to stifle their vision, their enthusiasm, their drive, their passion, and just let them sit back. RELEASE THEM TO SERVE!  You have equipped the teacher for the “works of service”, so let him serve!  Let the teacher teach through service, practically living out the gospel. Let them do what drives them: Teach by doing!  Don’t tie a noose of academia around their neck demanding academic degrees.   Don’t place restraints on them that the other four in the five fold could do for them.  They need not have to birth, nurture, give prophetic insight, or see over developing Christians.  The passions of the others can aide them in the development of these baby Christians by releasing them to teach and live the Word.  Release them.  Will we ever think one is “ready” for teaching? Probably not; will they make mistakes? Yes, of course, we all do, but the evangelist will energize those with calling to teach through their excitement for birthing, the pastor/shepherd will nurture and care for them, the prophet will continually refresh his teaching spirit, and the apostle will give proper oversight, “seeing over” what and how the Holy Spirit is doing in the teacher’s life.  The teacher will submit to the ministry of the other four as they minister to him bringing proper accountability in his/her life.

Church, let equip, nurture, care, then release, while continuing serve the teacher bringing accountability, and we see a “new day” in a “new way” that the Church does church!

Equipping Series: Part I - Evangelists

“Ephesians 4” Call To Equip The Saints For The Work Of Service As A Evangelist:

I believe the five fold passions and points of view are in every believer in Jesus Christ since the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ indwells them.  So how do we allow the artesian well of the Holy Spirit to surface the evangelistic spirit that is in all believers?  That is the calling of the five fold ministry of the Church.

If it weren’t for the spiritually birthing process of the evangelist, most of us would never have heard the saving gospel of Jesus Christ and how it would transform our lives, dramatically.  That evangelistic spirit is in all who believe in Jesus Christ as their savior and Lord.  How can we, the 21^st century Church allow the creative evangelistic spirit to arise in believers, then help to nurture it, care for it, develop it, and then release it to produce fruit for the Kingdom of God?

I certainly don’t have all the answers, but encourage you to ask the creative Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ to give you “revelation” of who He is and how to show that to others.  I only offer a few suggestions:

Walk The Walk With Believers:  Actually invite those you are mentoring, preparing, and equipping to bring forth the evangelistic spirit to your home to have an informal time of conversation, modeling how you can talk about one’s faith, how you can have people share their narrative stories about their faith or lack of faith, and what to do with their responses.  Model how to bring the conversation back to Jesus and our need for Him, inviting your guest to accept Jesus as a friend, a listener, a savior, a lord, a care taker, etc.  Show scripture like “The Romans Road”, so you know how Biblically to lead to salvation, if needed.  Encourage them after they make a decision for Jesus to share their new narrative with someone else to solidify their experience.  Then welcome them back A.S.A.P. to share their new walk with you.  If you model the power of one-on-one evangelism, they will feel more comfortable when they are placed in that situation.

Live The Walk, Inviting One To Walk With You:  Most people are lead to the Lord by personal contact with a believer.  Believers must walk the walk in their daily lives and walk with others in theirs.  Walking beside nonbelievers in their daily walk allows you to build trust, help them when they fall, practice your faith in needed situations, and learn to just be “real” with people, not “religious”.  Soon they will see a difference, hopefully, in our life compared to their, and a need for a savior and a change, and then have a model from which to begin their new walk when they feel the need for Jesus.  The price: time!  This method takes “time” and “commitment”, but the results are astounding and fruitful.  Practice this living out your walk around the fellowship of believers as your equipping process before being released to walk it out with non-believers.

Personal Narratives Are Powerful:  We all have a story, a personal narrative, an unique tale that pertains only to us, created by us, and lived by us.  No one else has your story, but there can be some commonalities to everyone’s stories.  Personal narratives allow people to know who you are, how you became that person, and what is important to you because of your story.  In other words, it exposes you, makes you vulnerable, and allows others to see who you were B.C., Before Christ, and after you have known him.  The most powerful evangelistic tool you have is your story because it is how you lived life, and its meaning to you.  You don’t need tracts, nor huge Crusade meetings in sports venues, nor Billy Graham television reruns.  All you need is your own story, for it is powerful, meaningful, which offers life, the life in Jesus you now live.  Practice telling your story to believers as an equipping process to build up your confidence and comfort level.

Birthing Is A Process, Not A Religious Practice:  A true evangelist majors in birthing!  They love new things.  They love starting new things.  New project stimulate them.  Taking someone or something from the “old” to the “new” brings them joy.  Allow people whose evangelistic spirit has risen to birth, start, initiate prayers, visions, insights, and directions that the local congregation as a whole is doing.  Their contribution to the “body of Christ” is not just “biological evangelism”, but the entire birthing process.  They know how to handle “birthing pains”, spiritual contractions.  They can be like Barnabas, the encourager, because they can encourage one to see the birth beyond the birthing pains.  They have a vital role in the body to the body of Christ.

Release The Evangelist:  The worst thing to do after training or equipping someone is then to stifle their vision, their enthusiasm, their drive, their passion, and just let them sit back. RELEASE THEM TO SERVE!  You have equipped the evangelist for the “works of service”, so let them serve!  Let them do what drives them: Birth!  Don’t place restraints on them that the other four in the five fold could do for them.  They need not have to shepherd, teach, give prophetic insight, or see over new converts.  Their passion is to win the lost and birth things in the Spirit of Jesus Christ.  Release them.  Will we ever think one is “ready” for ministry? Probably not, for we are called to just let them “do it” after being hearers and seers of what they were to do!  Will they make mistakes? Yes, of course, we all do, but that is the role of the shepherd to give pastoral advice and direction to the evangelist, the teacher to teach truth into the evangelist’s life, the prophet to refresh the evangelist’s spirit, and the apostle to give proper oversight, “seeing over” what and how the Holy Spirit is doing in the evangelist’s life.  The evangelist will submit to the ministry of the other four as they minister to him bringing proper accountability in his/her life.

Church, let equip, nurture, care, then release, while continuing serve the evangelist bringing accountability, and we see a “new day” in a “new way” that the Church does church!

Is God In Our Public Schools? “Service” Opens Doors – Part III

 “Service” Opens The Doors; The Church's Role In Public Education

At a recent prayer meeting, participants prayed for God to be in our public schools, claiming that the Word no longer can be taught in our schools as the downfall for the public school system.  The evangelical church has help feed the mantra of the secular world that “bad teachers are the cause for failing schools in America.” I would like to refute two myths: 1) God is not in our public schools, and 2) Bad teachers are the cause of America’s failures.  I would like to finish by showing what I believe is what the Church’s role should be to the public American School System.  In this last blog of a three part series lets look at……

What should the Church be doing in all of this? “Serve” the public school, not just criticize. 

Most schools are looking for volunteers to serve.  Youth ministers could hang out in the cafeteria, helping the school with Lunch Duty, crowd control, and getting to know the kids.  Guidance Offices would love to partner with Youth ministries to help single parent students, students whose parents don’t parent, the lonely kid, the abused kid, the kid just looking to get a break or be loved, etc. There are a lot of opportunities for the Church to serve rather than taking the high elitist role and only criticize.

They key to the First Priority Club’s success came in Dee, a parent whose oldest daughter came to the club. Dee volunteered as an adult chaperon/advisor.  After all three of her girls made it through Middle School, entering the High School, Dee made a key decision to stick with the Middle School program because she loved the kids.  She volunteered for over a decade as her own children graduated from High School. She help initiate all the “service” project outlined in an earlier blog even though she came from a strong “evangelistic” church.  Because of her willingness to serve, the Period 11 Club time opened up an opportunity for her and her colleagues to come and freely share the gospel to non-church kids in a public school setting.

The Church also needs to be a “Barnabas”, an "encourager", to encourage and support already over worked, over burdened, stressed out teachers who have to meet State Academic Standards, yet treat their students not as statistics but as precious children. Teacher’s are always on the defensive now, very seldom getting any thanks, praise, or respect from the general public for what they do.  A positive email, thank your card, or even parental phone call would go a long way.  I have discovered those who practice this are also phenomenal parents and whose children are great students.  Administrators are leery of Christian organizations or churches, because few of them serve, but most of them criticize and make it look as if public schools are their enemy, not their ally.

The Church can institute “respect” for authority back into its members and encourage their youth in the importance of a good education.  With all that dedicated teacher do, parents should honor and lift them up when talking about them around their kitchen tables. 

Do Church Youth Ministries “equip”, train, or prepare their youth to “serve” their non-Christian peers in school?  Most churches don’t want the rift-raft, the feared bullies, those in the trailer park or housing projects to influence their children, so they don’t want their Youth groups to reach out to their peers, inviting them to their Youth group.  I know this to be the attitude in most Christian churches today.  Churched parents want their youth to be  “protected” from the world.  Church Youth ministries should be preparing their youth to be salt & light in a mission field of their schools rather than protective organizations to shield the youth from the world.  Most “Good Church Kids” are lousy missionaries, not knowing what to do when with their unsaved, un-churched peers.  They can raise money and go on a mission’s trip to a third world country, but they have not been trained how to deal with the daily mission’s trip to school.

Most public school administrators look at most religious organizations as kooks, and frankly, I don’t blame them.  Rather than being served by them, they get preached at, usually in a hell-fire-and-brimstone format. How can any administrator respect that? Christians who have infiltrated the schools system through service are always welcomed from being on PTA’s or PTO’s at the elementary level, volunteered tutors to struggling students, clerical or teacher aides, duty coverage volunteers, etc.

Public Schools do need prayers; don’t we all?  What Public Schools really need are Christians with the heart to “serve”.  Through their service, little eyes are watching, learning, benefiting, and eventually giving in service too, because a servant is also a teacher.  Students learn to serve by those who serve them, who model how it is done.  The Church needs to repent of its elitist attitude, its isolationist attitude, its critical attitude and begin to do what Ephesians 4 calls it to do: serve!

Is God In Our Public Schools? “Service” Opens Doors – Part II - Bad Teachers?

 Who Really Are The Bad Guys?

At a recent prayer meeting, participants prayed for God to be in our public schools, claiming that the Word no longer can be taught in our schools as the downfall for the public school system.  The evangelical church has help feed the mantra of the secular world that “bad teachers are the cause for failing schools in America.” I would like to refute two myths: 1) God is not in our public schools, and 2) Bad teachers are the cause of America’s failures.  I would like to finish by showing what I believe is what the Church’s role should be to the public American School System.  In this second blog a three part series lets look at……

Bad teachers are the cause of bad schools and America’s failures.  American respected and honored education in the 1960’s & 70’s because of our space program, encouraged higher education in the ‘80’s with Reagan-omics, but something happened in the ‘90’s.  Teachers became America’s scapegoat. Education became the blame for many of America’s vices.  The mantra was birthed that bad teachers produced failing schools.  If we would only get rid of the bad teachers, the American Public School System and America society as a whole would be better, so we were told.  With the new century the attitude continue to prevail, but Americans looked to the Public School System to fix itself because they had no idea what was wrong or how to fix it.  Now in the second decade of the 21^st Century, the public still blames bad teachers, expects the system to fix itself, and is taking away the resources needed to do education reform due to budget cuts and heated political battles.  We have looked to Education in America to be the savior of America academically and morally. 

Actually the morals of America have decayed over those three decades.  The family structure has disintegrated, getting an education is no longer revered, respecting government officials and teachers has totally eroded, challenging authority rather than respecting authority is the norm, and enablement for good grades rather than a work ethic to “earn” good grades has brought a downward trend in America’s success in education. Students aren’t allowed to “fail” in a failing school system even though they are doing little to pass.  All this contributes to what looks like failure.

I have seen dedicated teachers who spend hours after school tutoring needy students at the expense of spending time with their own children.  I have seen teachers give financially as a “Secret Santa” to buy a gift for a child who will have a bleak Christmas without it.  I often remind myself that there are student in my classroom who look to school as a safe place to be when there are many dangers at home and on the street, a place to find acceptance by his/her teachers rather than rejection he/she gets everywhere else, a place to be fed properly when there will be no prepared meal for them at home, a place where they get smiles from their teachers and encouragement when they get nothing but criticism and rejection at home.  Most English teachers I have known spent weekends correcting essays to bring excellence at the expense of their own personal families. During budget cutting years, I have seen teachers take pay freezes and pay cuts rather than having programs cut that will benefit students.  Are these people the cause for the decay in education? I think not.

What of the proverbial exception, that “bad teacher” they must get rid of.  It takes five years for a teacher to become a Master Teacher, on top of his/her trade.  Most bad teachers quit way before  their fifth year, or they are eaten alive by their students.  Beginning teachers will have challenges because they too are learning, learning the art of teaching.  I have seen battle worn teachers who have been so battered down by lack of support, being over worked, under paid, who crumbled to the demands of the system hang on too long so they could reach retirement.  Now, Pennsylvania just passed a law where older, good teachers, could be furloughed for economic reasons.  With School Boards money has become more important than having good quality teachers teaching their students.

Personally, my student teaching experience was a nightmare.  I nearly quit after my first year teaching through discouragement.  I then became part of a creative "team teaching" approach, learning from Master Teachers around me, and my last year of teaching I was honored as Spring Grove Area School District's Teacher of the Year, being honored locally as well as at Shippensburg University.

I personally experienced only a hand full of “bad” teachers over my 40 years, and they either quit or were screened by administration by their fifth year.  America needs to look at what is eroding our moral system, our family structures, our work ethic, the very fabrics of our society and address them.  They need to quit looking at a government system, the Public School System, to be the Savior for America’s societal ills.

Is God In Our Public Schools? “Service” Opens Doors – Part I

 The Dispelling of A Myth

At a recent prayer meeting, participants prayed for God to be in our public schools, claiming that the Word no longer can be taught in our schools as the downfall for the public school system.  The evangelical church has help feed the mantra of the secular world that “bad teachers are the cause for failing schools in America.” I would like to refute two myths: 1) God is not in our public schools, and 2) Bad teachers are the cause of America’s failures.  I would like to finish by showing what I believe is what the Church’s role should be to the public American School System.  In this first blog of what will now be a three part series lets look at……

God is not in our public schools:  After 40 years of teaching in the public school I can boast that God is there.  Ephesians 4 instructs the church to “equip the saints for the work of the service.” Service is the key to the Church’s influence in our schools.  Where I taught for 40 years we have established a club, First Priority, in the Middle School where the administration looks upon it as a "service" oriented club rather than a religious propaganda club.  They serve! They bring food for Teacher Appreciation Day making the faculty feel special. They distributed hot chocolate and cookies to every student coming off the bus on the day before Christmas vacation as they teachers with students form a musical combo, called the Snow Flakes, playing Christmas carols. To practice the principle of “washing feet”, the club washed the windshields of teacher’s cars one morning.  Members of the club have placed a piece of gum or candy in every students locker letting them know God loves them and inviting them to their club. Each year began by participating in Meet You At The Pole where students gathered around the school’s flag pool and prayed for their school while buses dropped off students wondering what was happening.  Peer pressure is immense at the Middle School level, and it took a lot of guts for a 13 year old to pray out in the open.  Because of service, the club found favor with the administration who then allowed them to have an optional assembly at the end of the year that featured a worship band and a speaker laying out the gospel.  The administration has allowed the club to offer a club period time where anyone could come and hear the gospel shared unashamedly, drawing as high as over 150 students in attendance. Kids who were in inschool suspension were even allowed to come.  Not one time have we ever had a complaint about these activities.  The club is student run under volunteered adult supervision. 

When my children went to their public school they held impromptu prayer meetings in the band room every morning. Two students were part of a worship band they named Obsession because of their obsession to worship. They had the opportunity to play Delirious’ “White Ribbon Day” song backed by the schools 350 voice choirs as the finale of their Spring Choral Concert producing not a dry eye in the auditorium.

My friend, Tom Sipling, birthed a “60 Second Kneel Down” program where students would kneel down in front of their locker to pray each day in public and private schools. This happened all around the world.  Students are more vocal and bold about sharing their faith today than their parents did when I had them over 35 years ago.  God is working in our Public Schools.

Student’s know what teachers are Christians and which teachers aren’t by the way the teachers live out their lives, run their classrooms, share openly, and care for their students on a personal level.  Often, as an English teacher, I would get compositions from students sharing their faith, lifting up and honoring people who have influenced their lives in a positive way during our “Hero’s Day”, and shared their faith in writing personal narratives.

In spite of the Church's attitude about Public Education vs. religious education, God is alive and well in the Public Schools of America if the Church is willing to serve.

We looked at he first myth that I wish to dispel today; we will look at the second tomorrow.

“Passion” Released Brings “Productivity”

The Power Of the Teacher in the Five Fold

When Jesus was on earth, if you were Jewish, you would follow a rabbi, a teacher, who would instruct you on the teachings of the Torah and Talmud.  You became a “follower” of him, thus the 12 “followed” this young rabbi named Jesus and became known as his “followers.”  Jesus taught those who followed him about the kingdom of God.  Parables were his most effective tool, for some understood them, others were baffled. What gave some understanding and others frustration? 

Once Jesus asked them, “Who do you say that I am?” Only Peter got the correct answer, the Messiah.  Then Jesus tells him that “flesh and blood” did not reveal this, but the “Spirit” did.  Most of Jesus’ teachings were misunderstood while he was alive. His disciples argued over who would be the greatest in this kingdom, looking for a political Messiah.  Only after seeing their Messiah die for them on the Cross and miraculously raise from the dead, ascending into heaven, and receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost did they finally “understand” Jesus’ teaching, because Jesus had told them that unless he goes back to the Father, the Holy Spirit can not be released, but when released, he will teach them all things.  The key to teaching in the Five Fold is allowing the Holy Spirit to do it, and the physical teacher is just a vessel in the process.

I Corinthians 2:10-16 fills us in about the role of the Holy Spirit as a teacher:  “…..but God has revealed it to us by the Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him?  In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.  We have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.  This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.  The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment: ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.”

On my way to earning a Masters Degree in Biblical Studies, I had to take “theology” courses, which comprised of studying what Biblical scholars had studied and debated over the centuries.  Often the content was hard to understand, complex in speech and word, based on quoting one “scholar” against another over supposedly Christian principles and doctrines.  Often I would have to read a paragraph several times before understanding its meaning.  You have to be an “academic scholar” to understand it, that is why it is a “graduate” course.  On the other hand when I received the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, my first reaction was to read through the Bible allowing the Holy Spirit to teach me.  I saw the threads of truth about Jesus, salvation, the Holy Spirit, the revelation of the Father, and more throughout all sixty-six books.  I highlighted them in different colors as truth continued to be unveiled to me through the Holy Spirit.  This learning had simplicity to it, not the complexity of what later became theology.  This learning brought life to my daily living, not isolation in Academiaville.  This type of learning challenged me to “walk out” my faith journey in my daily living with my actual neighbors and friends, not seclude myself in bookwork.   Passages that once were only theological in nature, often misunderstood by me, now became revelations that brought understanding and life.

After forty years of teaching, a Bachelor’s Degree, two Master’s Degrees, and thirty additional graduate course credits, I have come to realize that it wasn’t necessarily all those degrees that made me the teacher I am, though they had some merit, but the “passion” that was in me.  Did it take me almost four academic degrees to “understand” grammar, literature, poetry, and the writing process that made a difference in how I reached my students, or was it the “passion” with in me, that love for language that developed in me, the yearning to write and grammatically write well that touched my students?

I contend the “power” of “effectiveness” of “teaching” came “from within”!  Student’s responded to me when they saw how I “valued” what I taught.  Just teaching the subject for the subject’s sake became lifeless, meaningless, of little value, but teaching my passion spilled over to become the passion of my students.  Because I love to write, my passion for writing soon became “effective” as my students became willing to not only let ideas flow from their pens, but were now willing to spend endless hours laboriously editing their work to produce a composition, an essay that would be well written, a piece to be proud of, a treasure to be honored and shared.  “Passion” released brings “Productivity”.

The Church needs to “release” the “spirit of teaching” among its “saints” again, so that the passion from within them will spill out, overflow, to others.  Although the content is important, the passion that drives teaching that content is what is “effective”.  Students remember teachers who “inspired” them as well as the content they taught.  The Church needs to “release” the Holy Spirit to again be its teacher creating many “Road to Emmaus” for its believers, again revealing the truths it has dug deep to find, understand, and teach, again “releasing” those truths with understanding spiritually and in their practical lives, and again establishing apostolic teaching to bring unity in the body of Christ.  Holy Spirit be my teacher, be my passion! I release you to teach me and the Church as a whole.

Why Does Learning Have To Be Academic?

How Do We Learn To Experience Life?

In America we equate academics with book learning, head knowledge, degrees earned, but how do we learn most of our life skills?  We can read self-help books or how-to-do books, but usually we learn through experience.  We learn to speak a particular language because of those around us speaking that way.  We learn to eat by first being fed and later wanting the independence to do it ourselves.  We don’t learn to walk through the academics; we learn through trial and error.  We don’t learn to ride a bike by reading and studying on the physics behind balance, we hop on the bike, get pushed by a parent, and learn through experience.  At 16 we read the rules on driving a car, but that doesn’t teach us how to actually drive that car; our parents sitting beside us saying “gas, no break, no gas, no turn right, right, right, no break….., etc.” teaches us. 

So how do we teach life skills.  In public school we would have to read a text book and take tests on what we read.  In Church we would read Sunday School or Children’s Church material during our lesson.  But how did Jesus teach?  What textbook did he use? The Talmud? The Torah?  The intellectuals of his time who knew those books spend countless hours debating their meanings.  Today, we Christians still do the same, debating countless hours over Biblical interpretations.  Those books are need for moral and spiritual direction, but most learning is done through experience.  I can’t spelunk because I never went spelunking although I have read about it.  I can’t water ski because I never went water skiing, even though I have read about it and may understand the physics behind it.

“When I grow up, I will never be like my parents,” we boast until we are adults parenting and eat our words because where did we learn parenting?  We learned it from experiencing it as a child through our parents.  How do we learn to be a “Christian”? Do we learn it from reading books on Christianity, Discipleship, Sanctification, etc.? Usually we learn it from being around other Christians whom we model.  That is why Christian fellowship is so important to the Church.  So as Christians, in a sense, we all are teachers, for others are watching, modeling, critiquing.

Now I do not want to minimize Bible reading and studying, reading devotions or devotionals, or even reading Christian literature, for we desperately need that. I contend that most of our learning is from experience, so maybe we, as the Church, need to reexamine how we teach the saints in their development toward maturity in Jesus Christ.  The ultimate goal is not to have someone go into full time ministry through Bible College and Seminary, but have someone grow in the image of Jesus Christ, so others see Jesus in them and their lifestyle.  The best way to teach lifestyle is to live, and to live is to experience.

“Failing Christian Schools, Christian Teachers, Christian Students?”

Who Is To Teach the Poor?

Jesus said that we would always have the poor, but I ask then, “Whose responsibility is it to educate the poor?”  Often the poor remain in their economic state because they cannot or do not take the opportunity to be educated.  At the public middle school where I teach, we just showed our 8^th graders the video Separate But Equal about Brown vs. the Board of Education lawsuit and the unanimous Supreme Court decisions that ushered in integration in the late ‘60’s.  In the Bible belt South, Whites, who were Christians, did not believe it was their duty to educate the Negro; in fact during the height of slavery it was even forbidden because, at least, they recognized the power of education.  In this country, because the Church was unwilling to educate the poor, the responsibility has fallen on secular government to meet the need through our public school system.  Again, because of lack of action and not meeting its responsibility, the Church has given up its influence in society to the local secular governing body.

So I ask again, “Whose responsibility is it to educate the poor?”

Christian or parochial schools in America do not function on “the Great Commission” principle of “going out” or even “reaching out” as it has adopted a “separate and proud of it” mentality. Quoting that we need to be “in the world, but not part of it” rather than “the Great Commission”, the gospel is not going out into public schools like it could be, thus the Church is failing in its calling.  The Church does not look at public schools as a field ready for harvest, which it is, for it is filled with thousands of students needing a Savior, needing directions, needing love and acceptance.  Public school administrators look at “religious” groups as complaining, dissatisfied, a threat, and possible law suits rather than as “servants” aiding in the education process.  

Christian schools can be dogma centers for their local religious persuasion.  Because I believe in the Baptism in the Holy Spirit and the evidence of speaking in tongues, I cannot teach at our local Christian School because the leaders have written it into their bylaws.  As scary as it may be to a public school administrator if I began rattling off tongues instead of Shakespeare, the issue of speaking in tongues is not a prerequisite or a term for not hiring me in the public school. The Baptism in the Holy Spirit actually gave me more love for the lost, more compassion for the hurting, more drive to fulfill the “Great Commission” in a public school setting, making me be more “salt” and “light” to a bland and dark world, and because of it I have become a better teacher, reaching out my faith in a secular setting!

Like our churches, Christian schools invite people “in” to their buildings and society norms and rules, not reaching “out” as the “Great Commission” commands.  If a student doesn’t follow the Christian school’s moral codes, he is dropped and returned to public school who is forced to deal with what the church could not do as an educational institution.  Many look at public schools as “failing” schools filled with “failing teachers”, but I contend that if a student can’t see the love of Jesus and the compassion of Jesus toward him in a Christian school filled with Christian teachers and Christian students who are taught about “missions”, Christ’s love, and the “Great Commission”, then Christian schools are “failing schools”, Christian teachers are “failing teachers”, Christian students are “failing students” in what is most important to their Christian faith and heritage, sharing Christ’s love to the lost!

Politically, “vouchers” are the answer to the “conservative, religious, right” politician, because it would funnel more money, originally marked for public education, into religious institutions if the student and his parents choose to do so.  But is Christian education about receiving more money to build a bigger institution, or about reaching out to the poor student from a dysfunctional family with no direction or purpose who will probably challenge authority figures and break the Christian school’s moral codes in his rebellion, only to be expelled and sent “back” to the educational field they tried to flee?

So I ask again, “Whose responsibility is it to educate the poor?”

Retooling: Education Reform In Our Churches?

The 21^st Century Retooling of the Church – Part XXXVII

How do we retool teaching in the 21^st Century Church?  What would Sunday mornings look like if we allowed the people who are congregating together to “experience” Jesus rather than just “hear about” him?  What does “learning about” Jesus even mean?

Who Is Jesus?

Answer: the Son of God, the Living Word, the Alpha and Omega, the First Fruits, the Sacrificial Lamb, the Resurrection and the Life, Hope Eternal, the Apostle of the Church, the King in the kingdom of God, the Groom coming for his Bride, etc., etc., etc.  All “academic” correct answers, and I can provide scriptures to back every title given above.  Using a Concordance, a “study” of the names of God and the names of Jesus can reveal academically “who Jesus Is”, who “I AM” as God identified himself to Moses. A Commentary on those names would also aide in our understanding of what “scholars” have thought about his names. Through massive amounts of “studying” the true Jesus, the Historical Jesus, the Christian-Judean Jesus, will be revealed to our understanding.

Answer: Jesus is the light that erases the “shadow of death” from the valley in the 23^rd Psalm; Jesus is like the sunrise and sunset of each day, contrasting darkness to the colors of blues, oranges, and reds that splash across the painted sky we call the beginning and the end; Jesus is like the sweet sound of silence, softly singing songs so graceful only the spirit within us can hear. The poet shares through his five senses how he has “experienced” Jesus. The Songs of Solomon, is not just a “hot romance book” in the Bible, but a poetic tribute by a man known as the “wisest” man of his age who “experienced” God as his father David had, who was known for having “a heart” for God for he, too, had “experienced” God.  Solomon was known to be “wise”, not intellectual, in his approach to “experiencing” life!  Who better to write a romance book than a man who “experienced” hundreds of wives!  Would that make for a reality tv show today! 

Jesus asks his disciples, “Who do you say that I AM?”  They reiterate what others have said, “a prophet, John the Baptist, etc”, but Jesus refocuses them again, asking them “out of their experiences” of walking daily with him, “but who do you say that I am?”  Previous Old Testament scripture is not expounded on proving Jesus’ existence, but he wants to validate the “I AM” through their experience!

How would people in your congregation share their “experience” in Jesus? Through “testimony”, prose, the telling of “their story”, or poetically, the internal examining of their story? 

Greg Bachman, my poetic cousin, defined the difference between “prose” and “poetry” as different points of view, or way we look at things.  Prose takes an object as a starting point and “expands”, externally, on it, thus a believer starts with “salvation” experience and expands on how it effected his faith walk, his spiritual journey through life to this current point called today.  Poetry, on the other hand, takes an object and “examines” it “internally”.  The focus is on the object and remains on it, digging for insights, revelation, and new truths about it, thus “salvation” becomes an experience one examines through his six senses, our spirituality being the 6^th sense, discovering all kinds of truths, revelations, and insights of what “salvation” means to “us” through our “experience”.

We need to bring the two worlds together in the 21^st Century Church:  The “experiential” spiritual world of the Living, Rhema, Word is in danger of becoming heretical if not grounded on the Writing, Logos, Word.  On the other hand the “educationally” sounded and grounded academic world of the Written, Logos, Word is endanger of stagnation and death if it is not vitalized by the Living, Rhema, Word.  JESUS IS THE WORD, both written and living!  He is the “living” embodiment and total fulfillment of the “written” word!  Only until the 21^st Century Church embraces and accepts both the written and living “words” and written and living “worlds”, can it begin to be effectively united in word and deed.

The Westernized church fights to remain the academic defender of the “original meaning” of the 10 Commandments, like America fight to be the academically defender of the “original meaning of the founding fathers” when molding our Constitution.  The church needs to “live” the 10 Commandments; Americans need to “live” the American dream or ideal.  Without “experiencing” the 10 Commandments or the American Dream in our lives, we never really “own” the vision or purpose of its “original meaning” no matter what that may be!

As teachers in the five fold in the 21^st Century Church, we need to allow those we teach to “own up” to their experiences of their faith in Jesus, not only “expressing” but “living” that faith.  True, that “experience” will be grounded in the written Word, the Bible.

What would you think Sunday mornings “church services” would look like if we unleashed the believers to share their “experiences” in all kinds of forms rather than listening to our academic exegesis on Jesus and other religious topics!  Could we handle a Sunday morning if it became a release time for believers to minister to one another, through one another, sharing with one another traditionally or creatively, than just being a music & sermon lead service?  What if……. Daydream for Jesus!

Retooling: Education Reform In Our Churches?

The 21^st Century Retooling of the Church – Part XXXVI

As a public school teacher it hit me this week that No Child Left Behind is killing the creativity of the American student from “experiencing” life and true learning.  We “teach about” subjects, so that they can reiterate correct answers on standardized tests which supposedly judge our worth and effectiveness as educators, but we do not allow the students to “experience” subjects any more.  I am teaching a poetry unit, being pressured by the Administration to teach about “figurative language” because it will be on the P.S.S.A. Test and is a State Standard, so I have vocabulary tests, worksheets, and reading assignments because the P.S.S.A. Test, oops, Assessment, is only TWO weeks away! I must get this material “in” before testing time.  In TWO weeks my students should be able to “reiterate”, “spew forth” the knowledge I gave them “about” figurative language, but in the process they never “experienced” it.  Due to the deadline, we didn’t have time for that!  We must get over all the State Standards prior to testing, for the results supposedly measuring their “Yearly Progress” in an effort to make EVERY student “Proficient”, no matter what academic ability they possess.

This week I had a “monkey wrench” thrown into my fast track of P.S.S.A. data driven lessons; my cousin, Greg Bachman, came in to my classroom, read his original “Poems My Cat Wrote”, explaining that shy people are great poets because they look inward, middle-schoolers are great poets because they know conflict, peer pressure, the power of relationships, topics the general population can relate to, reinforcing that everyone has a poem; they just need to write it down.  Students were fascinated as a poet “shared his personal stories” through the point of view of his cat in his poems, giving practical tips on how to “daydream” in school effectively (a novel concept), and then being “released” to experience the power of allowing that “daydream” to flow onto paper as their own unique poem. They EXPERIENCED Poetry! Not only that, they were “allowed” to daydream in school, something they already did, but to do it in a non-destructive manner. These “daydreamers” became focused because of “experiencing” the lesson.

The shy student blossomed producing powerful similes, majestic metaphors, awesome alliterations, creative forms of onomatopoeia, words that rhymed at the end of the line or in the middle, poems that followed form or broke “free” in verse.  Students, who did not have to recite the definitions of “figurative language” terms, produced figurative language in and through creative forms of poetry.  The P.S.S.A. Tests on Reading or Writing do not have sections for displaying one’s “creative experiences” through the application of figurative language, opting only for multiple-choice questions in an attempt to identify or interpret them.

The Church is not too far away from that model too!  Sermons professionally and formally teach “about” topics; Sunday School lessons basically do the same only through a layman. We talk about topics like “forgiveness”, “prayer”, “loving your neighbor”, the “Cross”, “redemption”, “salvation”, “sanctification”, etc. usually reiterating or spewing scripture passage after scripture passage to “justify” our “knowledge” of the topic so that it appears “Biblically based”.  But after the sermon or class, how many of our students can reiterate or re-spew those scriptures back to us without reading their notes if they took any?  The so called “Bible” teacher hopes their students will “apply” the head knowledge, scripture driven, lesson just taught, but never has a tool for measuring the success or failure of the lesson.  As a teacher we feel good if the lesson is well organized, scripture supported, well presented, and what appears to be well received by our passive listeners who never move and often never flinch when in their chairs.

I propose that the 21^st Century Church has to retool the way it looks at teaching and being a teacher.  We have taught “about” Jesus way too long!  We have taught “about” the Bible way too long! WE NEED TO EXPERIENCE JESUS, EXPERIENCE THE BIBLE!  We need to make the “historical” Jesus the “current” Jesus in my life.  We need to make the written word, the Bible, the living word, the Rhema word!  If our sermons or teachings do not allow our students or parishioners to “experience life in Jesus”, then “we have sinned”, for we have missed the mark! As powerful as reciting scripture is, if all our students, parishioners, can do is spew scripture mechanically but do not “live out” or “experience” those scriptures in their own lives, we have missed the mark. 

Americans are quick to judge the public schools as “failing schools” because of the results on “standardized tests” while “failing” to realized they are killing the creative spirit, the work ethic, the power of problem solving, the spirit and drive to excel that made America great, opting to only focus on the lower end of the bar to make “every student proficient” by what ever date.  Maybe we should also label most American church as “failing churches” because they are killing, or at least minimizing, the desire, nurture, and development of their common believers to “experience” their faith in Jesus, opting for the Western civilizations view of intellectual, academic, education of knowing “about” something rather than “experiencing” something.

I know my students will do well now on their P.S.S.A. test in figurative language, thanks to Greg Bachman, because they have now “experienced” it, “owned” it in their personal lives, and that ownership and experience will translate into the “knowing” the right answers on their test.  As a Church, we need to “experience” our personal faith in Jesus and own up to it before we can even understand corporately what it means to be the body of Christ. As the 21^st Century Church, we need to “experience” Jesus, the Rhema living Word, instead of just reciting the Logos written Word individually and corporately.  We need to quit talking “to” people about Jesus, but allow them to “experience” Jesus! That is the Church’s challenge as teachers for today!

Retooling: Teaching, Theology “Divides”; Application “Unifies”

The 21^st Century Retooling of the Church – Part XXI

Are you “Pre-Trib”, “Mid-Trib”, or “Post-Tribulation” in your theology of the “End Times”.  Are you an Evangelical, Fundamental, Pentecostal, Main Line Denominational, or an Independent in your label of Christianity?  Do you believe in “once saved, always saved” or do you believe that salvation is a process where one “works out his salvation”?  All these are “theological” differences that divide the Body of Christ, producing heated debate and “draw the line in the sand” divisions.

On the other hand the “application” of spiritual principles through “service” (the central motivation for the five fold) always bring “unity”.  I remember worshiping beside a lady at a Jesus Rally in the ‘70’s who claimed to be a Byzantine Catholic, not having any idea what a Byzantine Catholic was or stood for, but I do remember us worshiping in “unity” together not caring about any labels that usually brought division theologically.  Service Project days where several churches get together to clean up, fix, repair, etc. local communities through “service” always erase labels and brings “unity”. Rather than most meetings of the local Council of Churches encouraging a “dialogue” over their differences to create an atmosphere of “tolerance”, it would be far more effective if they just “serve” one another, creating an atmosphere of unity of purpose.

Application of the gospel can bring resistance, though; usually from the theological communities opposing their effort.  Jesus always had the Pharisees criticizing what he was “doing”, and the Sadducees looking over his shoulder. Only time has changed, but not the forces of opposition.  The Pharisees argued that it was not proper to heal on the Sabbath theologically; Jesus just applied the principles of healing and healed no matter what day.  He fed the masses when they were hungry, healed those who were ill, delivered those who need deliverance.  He just “did it”, applied the truth, not argued over what was the truth. The Pharisees of today’s Church will still oppose the application of the gospel somehow in an attempt to bring disunity.

The five fold is to “prepare the saints for the work of the service”; it is to release the saints to apply their faith in everyday situations through “service”.  Its purpose is to bring the Body of Christ together, not divide it, to bring believers in Christ into the maturity of being “Christ-like”, to bring the fullness of the gospel to a dying world and a struggling church.

I, personally, propagate application over theology. “Doing” gets things done; “arguing” and “debating” always stalls the “doing” process.  Like Niki’s slogan that when wearing their sneakers “Just Do It”.  The 21^st Century Church should follow that when being a Christian, a follow of Jesus Christ, one should “Just Do It”!  That is called “application”, the “service” that the five fold is equipping the Church for….. for the “doing” of the gospel.

Retooling: Teaching, An Application

The 21^st Century Retooling of the Church – Part XX

Teaching is not just dispensing information but more importantly the application of that information.  You can teach grammar, but if you don’t apply it to editing in the writing process, it doesn’t make sense.  Often students gripe, “Why do we have to learn this?”  Until the learner buys into the application of a principle, it is difficult to teach that principle for them to apply.  This also applies also to the Church.  Why learn all these Biblical principles if one is not willing to apply them?  If you just “study” them, it becomes “religion”; if you “apply” them, it becomes “life”.

“Book work” produces theory and theology, not necessarily application.   In science class, one can read and memorize science facts, but applying them in a laboratory situation is far more effective.  We, the Church, have fallen into this trap of “book work” in teaching the Bible as a book to research, memorize, and analyze through literary criticism, producing theology. In many churches, men’s & women’s group, small groups, share groups, etc. base their gathering on “studying” a how-to live a Christian life/principle book, often learning about a topic, but not necessarily actually applying it.  Educational degrees are based on theology.  Walking out one’s faith is based on application.

Don’t get me wrong, or misread me; the Bible is the core, the basis of everything the Christian teacher teaches. My emphasis is on “application” of those Biblical truths.  In the gospels, Jesus “applies” the Word when battling satan in the wilderness, as Jesus refutes, but “the Word says….”  Satan knows the word too, but theologically twists it, and, of course, never applies but opposes its principles. Jesus wins the battle because Jesus IS the Word made flesh, the Living Word, the Rhema Word.  When you “live it”, you “apply it”. Jesus IS the “Living Word”, the “Applied Word”.

In the Gospels, you don’t see Jesus leading weekly Bible studies, but walks with his disciples showing applications of the Kingdom of God principles as he goes.  He is not in a classroom setting, but a real world setting.  Because He had not yet “fulfilled” the Word, he often taught in parables that were only understood by his disciples after his fulfillment or after the Holy Spirit was released by Jesus to teach the understanding of his kingdom of God principles and parables.

If the 21^st Century Church is to be retooled, it has to recognize who “The Teacher” is.  Of course, Jesus is “The Teacher”, but upon his ascension to heaven, he sent His Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus Christ, to earth to teach the truth of the gospel so it can be an applied, living gospel. Instead of Theologians being the teacher, the 21^st Century Church has to recognize the Holy Spirit as the teacher, for the Holy Spirit lives in the heart, the life of each and every believer in Jesus Christ.  Revelation comes through the Holy Spirit to every believer making the Logos Word, the written word, the Rhema, or living word.

Retooling: Teaching – From Facts To Faith

The 21^st Century Retooling of the Church – Part XIX

A major retooling has to occur in the way we “teach” our faith, the kingdom of God, and the Gospel, or Good News if we are to impact our constantly changing word in the 21^st Century.  The church still operates under the medieval mindset of head knowledge of facts being poured out by an educated clergy upon the uneducated masses, the laity, causing a class distinction, a division in a Church whose foundation, Jesus’ will, is to be unified.  What freed the medieval church from this entrenched mentality came with the technology revolution of the printing press that freed the believer from hearing the oral dogma of the Church from their pulpits to allowing the Holy Spirit to teach the Logos, or written Word, to the masses through the printed Word.  The masses, or laity, then began to allow the Holy Spirit to release the Rhema, or Living Word, back into the Church as its members, the laity, began to have the desire to “live out the Word”, and the Great Reformation was birthed.  Spiritual life began to come back into the Church.

Today the Church still feels the tension between the medieval design of only the intellectually trained teaching the word and allowing the Holy Spirit to instruct the masses, the laity, how to walk out this Living Word.  I chuckle how the male dominated leadership structure in churches allow women to raise their children in a godly manner daily through mothering at home and maybe even permit them to teach the children in a Sunday School, Children’s Church setting, but will not allow women to teach adults because it is only men’s work, as if women are intellectually inferior when it comes to instruction the ways of God. 

My dad has always proposed that the way you bring up a child in his first five years is the path the child will follow for the rest of his life.  If the child is raised Roman Catholic, he will remain in the Roman Catholic tradition; if raised Protestant, he will remain Protestant.  The Roman Catholic Church, realizing this truth, is the only major Christian organization to institute a massive successful system of parochial schools to train their children in their intellectually driven religious dogma.  They teach their members to respond to the gospel intellectually through their clergy for the rest of their lives, thus the medieval system of education is deeply entrenched.  I feel the 21^st Century Church needs to break out of that mold.  We will look at the power of teaching our children in the next blog.

The 21^st Century Church needs to learn how to release facts into faith, a written Word of Laws into a living Word of Grace and Mercy.  The five fold approach would help instruct the Church in “equipping the saints for the work of the service,” for it is a pluralistic approach with evangelists, shepherds, prophets and apostles along side teachers and walking with fellow brothers and sisters in the faith in service, then releasing them to serve. This walking out one’s faith in daily life with other brethren by your side in service, to serve, rather than the clergy/laity mentality established in the medieval Dark Ages, is a novel idea in the way we do Church, particularly in the Western World.

Jesus taught by experience, not by intellect.  He wants you to experience the Cross (Take up your Cross and follow Me), experience inner healing, physically, mentally, and spiritually, experience faith, not just talk about it, experience relationships since He is a relational God. To “know about God” is one thing, but to “experience” God is quite different.  The key to changing the 21^st Century Church’s mindset is to recognize that the Church must “experience” God more than it needs to “know about God”.  I guarantee you, we will know more about God when we experience God.

Retooling: Teaching – Field Trips?

The 21^st Century Retooling of the Church – Part XVII

Going on field trips is always better than in-classroom experiences.  Even studying the topic of the local sewage plant was better on the road than in class.  Experiencing the Holocaust by walking through the National Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. proved way more effective than just reading The Diary of Anne Frank out of one’s literature books.  Experiencing history rather than just reading about it has always been the goal of a social studies or history teacher.

The same is true with the Church if it is to be retooled for the 21^st Century.  Experiencing Jesus is more important than just reading or listening to a sermon about him.  Experiencing faith is always more powerful than reading about faith or hearing a lecture about it. 

Field trips are recorded throughout the New Testament:  The Road to Emmaus with the disciples being taught along the way, the parable of the Good Samaritan along the road, Phillip and the Ethiopian Eunuch trying to decipher the mysteries of the book Isaiah, the woman at the well, Zacheas sitting in a roadside tree, Saul getting knocked off his horse receiving the revelation of whom he had been persecuting, are only a few of the recorded field trips, but every situation proved to be powerful.

How would taking spiritual field trips throughout the neighborhoods surrounding our church buildings effect what goes on inside those buildings? What would the church learn if it “hung out” with its neighbors instead of investing hours in committee meetings?  What effect would the church have if the Men’s Bible Study decided to hang out at a local bar just talking to the men there and allowing the bar tender to not play “pastor” to his despairing visitors for at least one evening.

Servicing opportunities like meeting the needs of the widows, the elderly, the ill, and the poor always produces powerful fruit.  Even the serenity of a men’s fishing trip, like the disciples experienced on the Sea of Galilee, has its impact.  The church has had a mindset for centuries that the lost needs to come “in” rather than the church being sent “out”, yet the Great Commission is all about being sent out.

Even if a scholar has studied the scriptures, read all the books on theology of salvation, but never personally experienced the saving gospel, all his knowledge has been in vain.  If he has had read volumes of books on evangelism, but has never lead anyone into the saving grace of the Lord, all his reading has been in vain.  The “experience” is always better than the “head knowledge”. 

Maybe instead of “rethinking” about the 21^st Century Church, we need to be “experiencing” the 21^st Century Church.

Retooling: Teaching – Theology: “Gag A Magot”!

The 21^st Century Retooling of the Church – Part XVI

The suffix “ology” means “study of”; the prefix “theo” means god.  “Theology” = “Study of God”! Really? How do we study about God?  Western thought advocates through head knowledge.  Jewish thought advocates experience through the heart.

When earning my Master’s Degree in Biblical Studies through Christian International, I had to take a theology course.  It was one of the most intellectually difficult courses that I have ever attempted.  On a given topic, theologian after theologian was quoted on what “they thought” the meaning of a passage to be usually in a dialogue only a trained graduate level intellectual could understand.  Often I would read a paragraph two or three times until its meaning became clear. Instead of an survey through the Old Testament or New Testament course, which is considered an undergraduate course, graduate level courses focus on key beliefs or motifs as theologians over the centuries debate its meaning. 

My concern was always how does these “advance” courses advance our “Christian walk” in the Lord. Do these courses cause a believer to be a better “doer of the Word”, not just a listener. Usually not, because they are all head knowledge.

Yet in Christendom today, our leaders are still “developed” and “promoted” on what they learn, not how they apply it.  Then they try to “dispense” their knowledge through sermons which we have been told is the keystone of a Sunday morning service.  In some segments of Christendom, churches envy if they can have a pastor with a Doctorate Degree.  In many churches, staff is always taking “courses” to promote their positions and careers.

If we are to retool the 21^st Century Church we must ask, “Did Jesus propagate this strategy?”  Even though Jesus was called rabbi, or teacher, he never founded a Bible School, a Theological Center, or a University; he chose 12 misfits, who the leaned of his time quickly recognized as being “untrained”.  Jesus always battled the Sadducees and Pharisees, the intellectual religious leaders of his day.  He was NOT one of them, in fact opposing them.  Would Jesus oppose the clergy/laity system today if he was physically here? Probably.

Jesus “walked the walk”, not just “talked the talk” nor “debated the debate”.  He took his disciples on constant field trips to teach lessons of “the kingdom of God is like…..”  He taught them how to “experience” the kingdom of God, not “understand” it.  Now don’t get me wrong, the Holy Spirit, who has been sent to be our teacher, reveals the “mysteries” of the gospel to those who seek it, but knowledge of those “mysteries” is only good if they are applied to the walk of faith a believer is taking.

Today if a person is serious about his faith, we say he is “called” into the ministry, having him leave his local congregation to be trained at a Bible college, then a Seminary, only to be sent somewhere else, usually not returning to the local congregation, which first developed him.  I believe the five fold is to “equip the saints for the work of the service”, at least that is what Ephesians 4 states.  I believe the local body has been “called” to “equip” the local body to “serve” the local body. For that to be done, the 21^st Century Church has to be retooled to have local believers impact their local community.  We will look at this challenge in following blogs.

Vision Series: Part III – The Teacher “Sees the Written Word Become The Living Word”

 The Vision of the Teacher

“Without Vision The People Perish”

One of the major premises of my study of the five fold ministry in the Church is that the five fold is not necessarily offices, but passions, or points of view.  What passion drives a person in his love in and for the Church?  Through what glasses does the believer see things? What is his vision?

The sermon has often been the standard of teaching throughout Church history.  The “hearing of the Word of God”, the reading aloud of the Holy Scriptures, has been pivotal in most church services throughout the ages.  Often though, the way and method of teaching the Word, the Bible, in the Church has become “legal” rather than “living”.  Legalism divides the Church; a Living Word unites the Church.

Today’s Church needs their teachers to break from the Westernization of an “academic” gospel to a more Jewish, Lamad, approach of living out gospel.  The passion of a five fold teacher is to help a believer in Jesus Christ “walk out” his faith journey in his practical life, rather than becoming a Biblical academic scholar.  Jesus never founded a “seminary”, nor a “Christian Bible College”, nor formed “conferences” in hotels during a week or weekend where his 12 disciples or the many new followers gathered to hear His faith message. Jesus walked by their side, in practical living, teaching practical Kingdom of God principles from practical everyday experiences.  People knew how a sower sowed seeds, a harvest was gathered, how to draw water from a well, etc., and Jesus took those experiences to teach His believers kingdom truthes.

The teacher sees the written Word, the Bible, as not only a written document, but a “living” document to be walked out in each believer’s life.  Westernization has taught us Christians how to “talk the talk”, (defend the Bible, refute untruth, debate its meaning through our interpretations, and divide the Church through doctrine), but the Lamad, or Jewish mindset, is to “walk the walk”.

The five fold teacher “sees” what is needed to teach the “walk” that is founded on the “talk”.  If the Word is not a daily practicality in a believer’s life, it becomes mundane theology of only academic value, open for academic debate, that produces division, not unity in the body of Christ.  The early teachings were based the “Apostolic Teachings” which were simplistic and brought unity in the body.

Acts 15 displays the division of “legalistic” teaching of the Pharisees in this new movement of God, verses the “living” teachings that both Peter and Paul witnessed in the living out of this new faith in questioning if Gentiles could be believers and should they be circumcised in this new movement.  Peter and Paul had to share testimonies of the spiritual “visions” they had seen over the question, and the practical “living” that the Gentiles were experiencing, the same faith journey as they had witness in their own personal lives.  The issue was settled in unity through the living Holy Spirit.  “Legalism” fell to “Life”!

The five fold teacher “sees” how to teach “life lessons” that exemplify the Truth of the Written Word, the Bible, the anchor of one’s faith in a practical daily walk.  John I states, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”  The Word became a living Gospel when Jesus came to earth.  He taught us how to walk out this Word in his daily life which is recorded in the Written Word, but the Father sent the Holy Spirit to teach us how to “live out” the Word in each individual believer’s life.

The five fold teacher has to teach individual believers how to walk this walk through the leading of the Holy Spirit.  He has to teach the individual believer to trust the Holy Spirit who was sent to teach him or her all truth.  The believer can then go the to Word, the Bible, and ask the Holy Spirit to teach him/her truth, and how to “live it out”.  The goal of a teacher should be to develope the believer to become independent of their teacher, and dependent on the Holy Spirit to develop him/her into the maturity and fullness of Jesus Christ through their personal reading of the Word, the Bible.  Then the Church will see staggering results in maturity of its believers.

The evangelist sees the “needs” of the lost; the pastor/shepherd sees the “needs” of the newborn; and the teacher sees the “need” to make the written Word, the Bible, a Living Rhema Word in every believer’s daily life. 

Teaching Or Preaching

A Fine Line

In the world of public education, as a teacher, I am told that I need to pretest my students to see what they “know” or “don’t know” about the subject that I am about to teach, to see if they have any prior knowledge and/or experience with that subject, then teach the subject, and conclude with a post test to evaluate or assess what they have comprehended from my lesson.  Unless you are in a Bible School or Seminary somewhere, where they are to teach by this model, you will probably get most of your religious training through sermons by your pastor or staff.

Most preachers assume the lack of knowledge by those to whom they are directing their sermon (although I have heard literally hundreds of sermons on some of the same topics over my life span.  You can get over 80,000 free sermons on www.SermonCentral.com ).  I have never been to a church that has asked their people in the congregation to give their “prior knowledge” on the topic of the sermon that is about to be delivered.  The sermon is then very academic, point by point, backed by scripture after scripture, as most in the congregation sit there comatose, a few taking notes that will fill up their Bibles until the binder breaks. I think preachers would be petrified of the results if a posttest were given a week after the service to see how much had been retained!

Preaching has become the religious form of lecturing, expounding the knowledge of the presenter upon the unlearned one.  As an educator, I am taught, and I have learned from first hand experience, that lecturing is the most ineffective way of teaching (ask any college student), for lecturing just puffs up the presenter’s ego that he knows more than you do and is gracious enough to share his knowledge.   Hands on experiential lessons are always a step up. Learning “about” a given poem, doesn’t compare in effectiveness as “experiencing” the poem.  Learning “about” forgiveness through a sermon, doesn’t compare in effectiveness of actually “experiencing” forgiveness.

Christian teachers, preachers, and pastors need to learn and teach that “the Holy Spirit” is the teacher, not themselves.  That is a totally different mindset. When Jesus asked Peter, “Who do you say I am”, Peter gives all the answers of what other men and scholars say.  When confronted personally, he gives the correct answer, “You are the Messiah”!  Jesus then reveals the source, the teacher of the lesson, “Flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, The Holy Spirit did.”  The Holy Spirit has been sent by Jesus and His Father to teach and reveal to His believers all Truth!  Let’s begin to allow The Holy Spirit to “teach” and “reveal”, and we become only facilitators or vessels to guide the lesson as the Holy Spirit directs.

If the Holy Spirit is in each Christian, then allow that Spirit from within each person to teach and reveal the truth that is needed in each individual’s life.  The Holy Spirit knows how to bring forth the truth of the lesson, always revealing Jesus Christ in it. 

In an internet age, facts can be “Googled” on almost any given topic, but what the person has to determine is if that fact is truth.  You can find people on the internet who have denied that the Holocaust during World War II even existed, but the truth is that it did exist by the countless accounts of people who have “experienced” it personally. The key to this generation’s learning is distinguishing false facts from true facts.  The Holy Spirit has been sent to be that mediator to “teach all truth” to believers in Jesus Christ. Church “teachers” need to allow the Holy Spirit to teach, and be as amazed as those learning to see the “posttest” being “truth” and “life” exposing the “revelation” of Jesus Christ in their personal life and in what they do!  Their fruit will expose their new knowledge of that truth and revelation.  This is what “wisdom”, as Solomon discovered and recorded in his book called Proverbs, is all about!  The “truth” and “revelation” of that different mindset is what we, as teachers, must learn before we teach it to those under our tutorage.