Here's a cool repost from our friends at afterlife.tv:

If you don't know them, they are committed to a vision of doing church differently. I'll try to dig up some of their awesome material on religion bytes. Totally inline with the philosophy of this blog.

Keep Going - Don't Stop!

Hebrews 12:1-2
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.


In the Greek Olympic games of old, a unique race was run. The winner was not the runner who finished first --- it was the runner who finished with his torch still lit!

There are times in our lives when we feel like we just can't continue in the race. These are precisely the times when the enemy loves to assault us to the point of breaking and torment us saying "You'll never make it to the finish line, you may as well just quit now". This is the time we need to cling on to God's promises! The Lord will soon reward our diligence for all our toiling here in this world. Paul said, "Let us not grow weary in well doing for in due season we shall reap if we do not faint".

Let's allow God's wonderful promises to strengthen and comfort us in each circumstance so that we can run the race --- not to finish first, but to run together, side by side --- the flame of our torch reaching the finish line blazing brightly with fire for Him!

Reflection Question's by Pastor Joe:

1. Have you grown weary?
2. Do you need to allow God's promises to strengthen and comfort you today?

Sample Prayer / Commitment:

"Dear God thank you for showing me that its not what place I finish that matters but that I finish...strengthen and comfort me today and help me to keep pressing on toward the finish line. In Jesus name, amen."

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post #4: Some Rambling about Church

I created this site for a certain type of person—those who can’t stand the way we do church. Frankly I have more in common with those people than I do with the Christians I grew up around. I don’t want to dwell too long on that here but churches are full of sinful human beings that are searching for something. I’ve found something and quickly stopped attending. It’s not that I don’t think we need fellowship; it’s just that I think church is a terrible environment to get it.

When I found God again it wasn’t in a church but at a men’s retreat at a youth camp. I know people who first met God in a park, a base ball stadium, a car, a parking lot, at work, in a tent, an opera house, and a bar, but I have never met a person who met God in church. Well, in truth Mike Miller met God in church when he was young, but it was a revelation seminar. He was in the middle of pummeling a kid, and apparently smacked him so hard the kid invited him to church. Mike was so shocked he said yes. A week later his whole family got baptized. But I think that might be a rare instance.

I feel a little bad for some Christians who can’t imagine Christianity outside the confines of Church. I know I’ve made one cry once by talking about my ideas on the topic. God has not abandoned institutional Christianity though it doesn’t look like anything he’d have designed. Churches themselves are an amazing study into God’s willingness to meet us half-way. I hear people talk about the perfect will of God verses the permissive will of God and it seems a bit optimistic. This is a fallen world and it’s a bit difficult to believe that Gods perfect will is ever accomplished here.

It seems to me more likely that God respects our choices and works for good despite how little we understand Him. Perhaps the best thing Christians could do with their time right now is get to know God. Without that we have no context for all the other trappings of religion. We end up worshipping the regulations instead of God. We become frustrated when we bounce of the glass ceiling of our own misconceptions about God.

In closing let me say this, I don’t want to be negative in this blog but most of us would be so much more effective at reaching people if we just told people who God is for us right now. Graham Cooke is famous for saying God is the kindest person he’s ever met. Not a day goes by that God doesn’t do something kind for Graham. Now that’s a relevant thing to tell someone. That’s powerful, applicable, and timeless. It beats the socks off of, “Jesus is going to come and send anyone who isn’t perfect to hell.”

Sorry for the random rants, I’ll make it more positive next time.

Post #3: Poetry, Beauty, and the Gospel

Now that I’ve posted #2 something has become clear to me. I’ve been working to synthesize my beliefs into something that can be easily stated in the hopes that it will have an impact on people who aren’t reached by standard Christianity. The reality I’m confronted with is that the more I pear away the less impact it has. Faith, spirituality and truth are intangible and must be gleaned from the midst of things like poetry, song, and sunsets. The truth isn’t out there, it’s written plainly in the subtext between the lines. It’s in the marginalia.

Have you ever seen a movie and thought it was stupid or boring and then later watched it again and really liked it? There is a veil that covers our eyes and we think we know what’s going on but we don’t. 2 Corinthians 3: 7-18 explains it brilliantly but that’s of little use if you don’t believe in the bible.

I know, I named this site Mere Faith so I might want to try to explain Christianity in its pure form. Especially considering all the frustration I express about the rules, regulations, and doctrines, which have clouded faith behind religion. But it’s truly confounding. How do I explain beauty to a blind person? If I study for years to explain to you exactly what H2O is you will know it in your mind, but it means nothing until you are dieing of thirst. Which are you when you seek God—the scientist or the man dieing of thirst?

Here’s the thing. You can make a religion out of anything. Music, politics, sports, you name it. What we don’t often consider is that the bulk of Christianity is a man-made religion. True spirituality is rare among Christians; we are too busy worshipping regulations. Rules and regulations are easy to explain and often comforting compared to the chaos of a godless universe.

So the task set before me is difficult. This site is dedicated to the intangible. You don’t need religion, that’s just the search for God, what you need is to meet God. You don’t need theology, that’s the study of God; it’s easier to ask God about Himself directly. The bible assures us that God is everywhere, all the time*. Just talk to Him.

If you want to know more about this topic check out the book, “Where’s God?” by Bill Jastram. Available through:
Tualatin Foursquare Church at 503-603-0303,
PO Box 1027
Tualatin, OR 97062
Tualatin4square@comcast.net

Texts referenced * Psalm 139: 7-10

Post #2 The Simplest I can State the Gospel

The Gospel

A restating of Christianity as I see it

Christianity is a journey and a process that begins with rebirth and matures through several stages.

Christ’s life is not only true as written but it represents greater Truth as a whole. His work is broken into four parts.
1) Leaving heaven and being born into flesh to live perfectly.
2) Suffering and dieing on the cross for our sins.
3) Rising again from death, and walking again on earth.
4) Ascending to heaven where he intercedes for us.

His eventual return to earth to meet His bride is an outcome of His work.

1st The first part of his work represents relationship. That is key to fully understanding everything else He did. The purpose of living so long among other humans is to give ample opportunity to know people and be known by people at a very deep level.

2nd Christ meant it when He did the work of the Cross, Resurrection, and Ascension. You really are dead to your old life. It was a counterfeit life anyway.

3rd You must follow Him into what you were designed to be. You were designed to be perfect and somewhere inside you desire to return to a perfect intimate walk with your creator. So this journey requires you to seek the desires of your heart. In Christ’s resurrection you grow into your place in His great commission. You must also learn God’s timing and rhythm.

4th Comes your place in the battle. In His ascension you are empowered to fight what is set against you. This is the path of warfare and deliverance, but it is also the path of healing and counseling. To heal someone is to fight for them. To share the Gospel with them is to set them free. To council them is to open their blind eyes.

The great commission is our co-mission with Christ. Christ claimed in Luke 4 that his mission statement was to—heal the sick, restore sight to the blind, set free the captive, and proclaim the day of the lord. Actually, He said He was anointed to do those things.

So this is the mission left to us, but not to us alone. We have each other and we have the Spirit of God to mentor us at all times. For some time many have claimed that our place was to introduce others to Christ and let Him do all the work in them. However, we are called the body of Christ which would support the idea that Christ will work though us to accomplish His mission.

As a person grows in Christ we should be less of a factor and Christ will work more and more directly. Therefore, I see the value in making a couple points here. If what we are doing as a religion doesn’t involve, healing, restoring, setting free and proclaiming Christ then it isn’t the real deal. The bible clearly states that “where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom.” If anyone comes to you with a religion, or religious belief that isn’t about freedom and joy ignore them, that’s not Christianity.

These are rebellious statements to make in this day and age, but they must be said. Never let anyone tell you that your version of a relationship with God is less than their religious practices. I had a relationship with God long before returning to formal Christianity and the final lesson of it all has been that God wanted a relationship with me. I’ve had some great mentors but had I trusted my own relationship with God I could have cut years out of my training.

Nor should any of us let the hypocrisy of others be an excuse to not have our own relationship with God. I’m saying it plainly; every good thing you’ve been tempted to believe about God is true. He is too good to be true. Others may make it about so much more, I do it all the time because I put my relationship in the context of my own journey but it’s not needed. Have a relationship with God, that’s it. Let Him work out the details.

Post #1

I have a crazy theory that athletes actually grow closer to God simply by virtue of the training. They get up everyday and follow their passion, take the risk of competing, and win or lose they have an identity that is derived in part from their physical being. That's a little superficial but it beats taking your identity from your job. Sure there are lots of non-athletes in a similar place but I've just always thought that athletes were in the process of learning about who they really are, which is a journey toward God. As I grow up I’m learning that many people are far ahead of me on the journey of self discovery without having a Christian Religious context to it.

I personally didn't find any traction in my attempts to learn who I was until I rediscovered God but that doesn't mean God isn't taking other people through exercises, and trials outside a religious context, which are actually all about God. God turns some people from a dependent into an ally before he introduces himself.

To people taking this different path to God I seem ultra-religious. I've become very holistic (non-western, non-compartmentalized) about my life. All of the things that I'm passionate about seem to me intrinsically wrapped in and around my faith. In fact the things that are moving farther from my faith walk are the things most people would consider as religious. I'm less churched than ever and I'm ever more irreverent by the day. I started rejecting dogma and now I don't give a hoot about most doctrine. I'm actually having a hard time calling myself a Christian at this point. Not because I don't love Jesus, but because He didn't call his followers that. The Greeks at Antioch started calling them Christians about 100 AD. I prefer to think of myself as a citizen in God's kingdom. I think it's important to believe in Christ but some who are saved won't know his name, so the most important thing is our relationship with God.

Anyway, it’s impossible for me to tell who is on a path toward a salvation and who isn't. Still there is a lot of suffering out there, and I want to do something about it. I’ve learned the hard way that we can easily ruin someone’s life by helping (enabling) them. Not everyone who crosses my path is mine to help. I have to pray and ask permission before I help or I will get in the way of what God is up to. The main thing I can give is grace and compassion.