Next Christians by Gabe Lyons

• Christian ideas have ruled and dominated the public square.
• Those days are moving behind us.
• How will we realize this vision of being Christian in a very post-Christian setting?
• The church might not be as highly regarded as it once was; Christians might not be looked at as favorably as they used to.
• We have one of the greatest opportunities ahead of us.
• God has a plan we are walking into.
• God has been guiding us and helping us better understand our world in order to do great works for Him.
• There’s hope in the new generation.

Characteristics of the Next Christians

1 –Provoked

• Instead of being offended they are provoked to engage.
• They don’t condemn people, they get with them.
• They have a mentality that governs that…the stories that come out of the Gospel.
• Luke 19, Zacchaeus. Jesus didn’t avoid, He engaged.
• He did one of the most intimate things you could do in that culture, eat with people.
• In John 4, he engaged with the woman the well.
• He healed lepers.
• He healed the Roman centurion’s son.
• Jesus engaged people where they were at on their journey towards Him and helped them move forward.
• The Next Christians don’t run away form the problem, they run into it.

2 – Creators

• They aren’t critics, they are creators.
• When they show up they create things that correct systemic issues that have led to injustice or brokenness.
• Next Christians don’t talk about what’s wrong, they do something about it.

3 – Called

• A generation is starting to recover the idea of calling and starting to understand vocation.
• They aren’t working for a paycheck, they are looking at how they are investing themselves and bring a new mentality to their work, how they invest their talent and resources, etc.
• It changes the way people work and approach their work.
• They see their work as their calling.
• This is happening in every channel of culture.
• The church is the only channel that convenes the other six channels of culture.
• When we start to support one another, can you imagine what is possible?
• It’s one of the greatest opportunities we have.
• It’s the dawning idea that’s coming to bear.
• What does it mean to send people into the various channels of culture equipped and called to bring Christ to bear in their work?

4- Grounded

• We can’t do any of this without our anchor in Christ.
• In Christ we immerse ourselves.
• We have to immerse ourselves in Scripture; we have to be intimate with God.
• We realize without a deep connection to Christ we will be lost.
• That grounding only comes through discipleship and community.

5- in Community

• We must have a community, the church coming around us.The church may look different.
• The church is coming back to life in new channels and new locations.

6- Countercultural

• We’re not a subculture, we are joining the existing communities and networks in the world.
• New Christians are showing up and adding value to the conversations that are happening.
• We’re being a counter culture for a common good.
• The common good was an idea that, as Christians, we should care for all people regardless of race, class or relgion.
• We care for anyone.
• New Christians care about the good of all people regardless of whether people get saved or not.
• It’s not counter-cultural in an antagonistic way.
• We’re dong things that advance the good of everyone.
• They’re showing up in every place and every corner of society and it’s creating a new experience with Jesus and Christians.

what the soul is in the body, that Christians are in the world - Letter to Diognetus

• We have to be creative and provoked, and when we do that, good things happen.
• Christianity is no longer the center with everything running through it… we are the periphery.
• Our best days lie ahead.

Crazy Love: Overwhelmed By A Relentless God by Francis Chan

     Lukewarm people tend to choose what is popular over what is right when they are in conflict.  They desire to fit in both at church and outside of church; they care more about what people think of their actions (like church attendance and giving) than what God thinks of their hearts and lives.

     Lukewarm people don’t realy want to be saved from their sin; they want only to be saved from the penalty of their sin.  They don’t genuinely hate sin and aren’t truly sorry for it; they’re merely sorry because God is going to punish them.  Lukewarm people don’t really believe that his new life Jesus offeres is better than the old sinful one.

     Lukewarm people love others but do not seek to love others as much as they love themselves.  Their love of others is typically focused on those who love them in return, like family, friends, and other people they know and connect with.  There is little love left over for those who cannot love them back, much less for those who intentionally slight them, whose kids are better athelets than theirs, or with whom conversations are awkward or uncomfortable.  Their love is highly conditional and very seletive, and generally comes with strings attached.

     People who are obssesed with God are known as givers, not takers.  Obessed people genuinely think that others matter as much as they do, and they are particularly aware of those who are poor around the world (James 2:14-26)

     A person who is obsessed with Jesus is more concerned with his or her character than comfort.  Obsessed people konw that true joy doesn’t depend on circumstances or environemnet; it is a gift that must be chosen and cultivated, a gift that ultimately comes from God (James 1:2-4)

     People who are obsessed with Jesus aren’t consumed with their personal safety and comfort above all else.  Obsessed people care more about God’s kingdom coming to this earth than their own lives being shielded from pain or distress.

Radical: Taking Back Your Faith From the American Dream by David Platt

           “It is the way of Christ.  Instead of asserting ourselves, we crucify ourselves.  Instead of imaging all the things we can accomplish, we ask God to do what only he can accomplish.  Yes, we work, we plan, we organize, and we create, but we do it all while we fast, while we pray, and while we constantly confess our need for the provision of God.  Instead of dependence on ourselves, we express radical desperation for the power of his Spirit, and we trust that Jesus stands ready to give us everything we ask for so that he might make much of our Father in the world.

            Think about it.  Would you say that your life is marked right now by desperation for the Spirit of God?  Would you say that the church you are a part of is characterized by this sense of desperation?

            Why would we ever want to settle for Christianity according to our ability or settle for church according to our resources?  The power of the one who raised Jesus from the dead is living in us, and as a result we have no need to muster up our own might.  Our great need is to fall before an almighty Father day and night and to plead for him to show his radical power in and through us, enabling us to accomplish for his glory what we could never imagine in our own strength.  And when we do this, we will discover that we were created for a purpose much greater than ourselves, the kind of purpose that can only be accomplished in the power of his Spirit.”

Good to Great In God's Eyes by Chip Ingram

Chip Ingram -- Good to Great in God's Eyes from bakerpublishinggroup on GodTube.

Letters From A Skeptic by Dr. Gregory A. Boyd

We tend to become the decisions we make.  The more we choose something, the more we become that something…. The more we choose something, the harder it is to choose otherwise, until we finally are solidified-eternalized-in our decision.  The momentum of our character becomes unstoppable.  We create our character with our decisions, and our character, in turn, exercises more and more influence on the decisions we make.

The Safest Place on Earth by Larry Crabb

If you have caught a glimpse of what community could be and find yourself weeping over what community now is, God’s word to you is this:  “Be strong.  Don’t give up.  I am with you.  The glory of the spiritual community is being slowly revealed and will one day fill the heavens.  Never settle for less.”

If your heart cries out for an experience of Christ that changes the way you relate to others, the Spirit is carrying your groans to the throne room.  God’s answer may require that we patiently seek out a few people who are weeping over the present state of Christian community and will risk everything to see the glory revealed.  It may require that we disturb some parts of the evangelical establishment by not cooperating with their efforts to achieve less.

        
But it will certainly require that we remain involved with certain folks we’d prefer to avoid or permanently leave.  Getting along with fellow Starbucks lovers is easy.  Offering spiritual community to hard-to-enjoy relatives and friends is not.

        
In any serious attempt to build true community, we will wrestle with confusion, disappointment, and occasionally, excruciating agony of soul.  Those struggles will compel us to fix our eyes on unseen reality-the Spirit is at work, and to believe in a better day ahead-Christ is coming back.

        
Our journey together to God will bring us to a point where a choice among three options must be made.

            1. Go mad:  Keep trying to make present community completely satisfying.

           

            2. Back up:  The search for intimacy is too risky, too dangerous, with uncertain and meager rewards.  Find a comfortably safe distance from people, wrap yourselves in a Christian blanket, and live there, safe and smug.

            3.  Journey on:  Stay involved, not everywhere, with everyone, but somewhere, with a few.  Don’t give up on at least a couple of relationships.  Die every day to your demand for total fulfillment now, in anything.  Accept the ache in your soul as evidence of maturity, not neurosis.  Discover the spiritual passions beneath the ache that are strong enough to sustain you in forward movement and to keep heaven in sight.  If you put all your eggs in the basket of present community, even at its best, you will be of all men most miserable.  Freely lust after the day that is coming.  Let that hope keep you on course. 

          
Expect to discover the point of this life and to experience the spiritual joys available now, to get an unforgettable taste of Christ, to feel the Father’s arms around you, to feel the Spirit within you.

Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright

"The point of the resurrection…is that the present bodily life is not valueless just because it will die…What you do with your body in the present matters because God has a great future in store for it…What you do in the present—by painting, preaching, singing, sewing, praying, teaching, building hospitals, digging wells, campaigning for justice, writing poems, caring for the needy, loving your neighbor as yourself—will last into God's future. These activities are not simply ways of making the present life a little less beastly, a little more bearable, until the day when we leave it behind altogether (as the hymn so mistakenly puts it…). They are part of what we may call building for God's kingdom."

"...left to ourselves we lapse into a kind of collusion with entrophy, acquiescing in the general belief that things may be getting worse but that there's nothing much we can do about them. And we are wrong. Our task in the present...is to live as resurrection people in between Easter and the final day, with our Christian life, corporate and individual, in both worship and mission, as a sign of the first and a foretaste of the second."

We Really Need Energy Groups

By Jim Lane

Many of you already know of the tragic death of our friend and NCS brother, Leo Stephens, who ended his life two weeks ago at the age of 46. Leo was a devoted husband and father and an active member of the NCS Manchester, Vermont chapter.

Please pray for his wife and their four children, ages 10-17. Leo truly loved the Lord, and we take comfort knowing that he now has found peace.

Before moving to Vermont a few years ago, the Stephens family lived in Charleston, SC where Richard Belser was their pastor. Rev. Belser gave the eulogy at Leo’s funeral on May 22^nd, entitled ‘The Way Through the Woods’. I attended the funeral and was so impacted by the eulogy and its relevance to NCS men generally that I wanted to share it with all of you. I encourage you to read it as a powerful reminder that Jesus promises He will show us the way through our ‘woods’ - whatever darkness or troubles we are experiencing - if we wait for Him. (Click here to download a PDF copy of the eulogy).

This incredibly sad situation is compelling NCS Chapters across the country to get the word out about the importance of Energy Groups. God never designed us to go through life alone. Energy Groups provide a place where you can show up and find safe, transparent and real friendships as we live life together. Even if you are not struggling right now, there may be a brother who God has uniquely qualified you to help find the way through a difficult time. If you are not already connected with an Energy Group, please contact your Chapter leadership to find out how to join a group.

Posted by Paul Michalski on 6/7/2010 6:47:32 PM

http://www.newcanaansociety.org/Get-Involved/NCS-Blog/Message-from-NCS/June-2010/Why-We-really-Need-Energy-Groups.aspx

The Way Through the Woods

Click here to read a eulogy by Reverend Richard Belzer for a 46 year old father of four

SACPC Men's Breakfast, Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 0630 am

Food, fellowship, and following Christ with a small group flavor!
No reservation required. Bring a friend.

SACPC Men's Retreat 2009

WHEN
Friday, March 13, afternoon golf TBA, dinner TBA, Session 1 1900
Saturday, March 14, Session 2 0800, Session 3 1230 ending at 1400

WHERE
Fort Caswell, Oak Island, NC

WHAT
Fellowship in Christ and playing golf

WHO
You and any men you invite, neighbors, coworkers, family
Speaker: Reverend Rob Campbell, New Beginning Christian Church

HOW
$75.00 payable to SACPC Men's Retreat at the church office
www.sacpc.org

Praise Habit David Crowder

There is a sign in my favorite restaurant, 1424, which happens to be located directly across the street from my house, that hangs by the bar and states, in black letters on a pale-yellow background, “You Are Here.”…You often here or encounter inspirational art convincing you to live as if today is the last, to engage each moment as if it were all we had, but usually this is married to the idea that it is. That this is it. There is nothing more than now. All we get is what we suck out of this moment. But I disagree. I read, “You Are Here,” and I am equally inspired to be fully present in this moment, but it is not because that is all I have but because I am bringing something more. I am bringing the very kingdom of God. I read, “You Are Here,” and I, ignoring the dramatic punctuation of finality, think, “The kingdom of God is sitting at this bar, waiting to bring something better.”

We are to be rescue. We are to be redemption. We are to carry the story of God to the ones waiting. To the ones with their hands on their chest, begging you to notice that things aren’t right. And this is praise. You are the note sounding in a thousand different rooms. There are chords and reflective surfaces around you. There is context.

Why Men Hate Going to Church David Murrow

Because the church does not need men’s gifts, they feel rejected. George Barna interviewed Al Perkins, a nominal churchgoer:

"When you reject the things I stand for—excellence, strategic thinking, progress, efficiency, vision, controlled risks, bottom-line performance—you reject me. I used to take it personally, but I’ve minimized the anger by making my church involvement less of a priority."

Holy Discontent Bill Hybels

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10

"We were all created to do good works. I was created to good works. Just as confidently, I'm here to tell you that you were created to do good works, which explains how I know that you have a holy discontent banging around in your brain somewhere--if you're alive and kicking today, then there is a specific work that you are expected to do. There is a set of tasks with your name on it that God has given you to accomplish, and long before you actually arrived on the scene, God planted certain seeds in your soul that he remains whole-heartedly committed to watering, growing, and making into something meaningful, if you will let him.

The danger in opting out of the holy discontent pursuit is that in doing so, you also opt out of tackling the good works God has wired you up to accomplish. The goal, friends, is to cultivate your soul's soil so that this doing-of-good-works process can unfold in your life--or, as you might say, to opt in. There is no greater satisfaction this side of heaven!"

Blue Like Jazz Donald Miller

"I know now, from experience, that the path to joy winds through this dark valley. I think every well-adjusted human being has dealt squarely with his or her own depravity. I realize this sounds very Christian, very fundamentalist and browbeating, but I want to tell you this part of what the Christians are saying is true. I think Jesus feels strongly about communicating the idea of our brokenness, and I think it is worth reflection. Nothing is going to change in the Congo until you and I figure out what is wrong with the person in the mirror."

Donald Miller

Wild at Heart John Elderedge

"The only way to live in this adventure-with all its danger and unpredictability and immensely high stakes-is an ongoing, intimate relationship with God. The control we so desperately crave is an illusion. Far better to give it up in exchange for God's offer of companionship, set aside stale formulas so that we might enter into an informal relatiohship...David-a man after God's own heart-also walked and warred and loved his way through life in a conversational intimacy with God."

The Way of the Wild Heart John Elderedge

"You see, what we have now is a world of uninitiated men. Partial men. Boys, mostly, walking around in men's bodies, with men's jobs and families, finances, and responsibilities. The passing on of masculinity was never completed, if it was begun at all. The boy was never taken through the process of masculine initiation. That's why most of us are Unfinished Men. And therefore unable to truly live as men in whatever life throws at us. And unable to pass on to our sons and daughters what they need to become whole and holy men and women themselves."

Under Construction

This life, therefore, is not righteousness but growth in righteousness,
not health but healing,
not being but becoming,
not rest but exercise.

We are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing toward it;
the process is not yet finished but it is going on;
this is not the end but it is the road.
all does not yet gleam in glory but all is being purified.

-Martin Luther