East End Ecclesia

One thing that is shared by all of humanity is that we tell stories. All cultures have myths, stories, and parables that are shared through out generations.  It is our stories that shape our society, that shape our world views. Some within philosophy talk about an over arching story that is the foundation of our beliefs, this over arching story is referred to as our “meta narrative.” Our Meta narrative is an underlying story about reality that shapes how we interpret and understand all of reality. I will give a quick example from literature to help illustrate this idea.

When you read anything you begin by reading individual words. These words only make sense by their relation to surrounding words that make up a sentence. We understand a sentence based upon its place within the greater thought or paragraph. But each paragraph gains it’s meaning from the greater story at large. To transfer this to reality. Specific facts and events are like words, that are understood in relationship to surrounding facts like a sentence. These combined facts or events make up a theory. These theories are understood in light of our “meta narrative” or the over arching story.

In the instance of science, all scientific work and discovery is borne out of a shared narrative. A scientist must first hold a “meta narrative” that describes reality to be coherent, that rationality exists, that the physical world is not illusion, that reality is governed by laws, among many other things. Scientific testing would be futile if, say, one believes that reality is governed by inconsistent chaos. If that was so then one would have no basis to assume that if a test produces a given result, that the same would be true tomorrow or in another location. Even basic things such as the continued existence of the physical laws are accepted based upon the assumption that these laws are constant and will not change tomorrow and were the same thousands of years ago. You cant “prove” that the physical laws will remain tomorrow, for tomorrow hasn’t come, you can only assume that they will remain based upon a “narrative” that states that the universe will remain constant.  Also all scientific discovery is borne out of “premises” that come from an accepted narrative about the physical world. It is out of a scientist’s narrative that he forms his hypothesis, he then goes out and tests his hypothesis to formulate a theory. If science was based solely upon “facts” as some propose, then no scientist would be able to form a theoretical hypothesis to test. Also if one did not hold a “meta narrative” that tells the individual that humans have trust worthy rational cognitive abilities, that humanity has the capability to have empirical connection with reality, or even that the physical world exists and is not an illusion, that person would have no reason to even begin down the road of scientific testing and investigation.

Hopefully you can follow what I’m saying here. I’m not a scientist (so I’m sure I’ve butchered the scientific process) but I wanted to use the example of science because it is often the scientist that excludes himself from being foundationaly rooted in narrative presuppositions.

But the reality is we all interpret facts and events in light of a greater story. Just last week my wife and I were sitting in our living room and we heard sirens in the distance, while multiple military helicopters flew over our house. Immediately one would begin to formulate a story in order to understand the “facts”. I could speculate that the sirens are from police vehicles, and the number of sirens seem to mean that something bad has happened. The existence of the military helicopters could mean that a war or attack has occurred. I would then formulate a story to understand the facts. A possible story could be that “Pittsburgh is under attack from a terrorist group” which would account for the sirens and helicopters. Now I could then talk with my wife who has a different story. Let’s say my wife has read the paper and saw that the G20 is in town and that there is expected to be thousands of protesters in Pittsburgh. My wife tells a different story. Her story leads to the conclusion that because the G20 is in town the sirens and helicopters indicate that there must be a protest going on nearby. As I pit my story against her story I would conclude that her story better takes into account the given evidence and I would change my story (unless I’m feeling really stubborn and unwilling to admit I’m wrong!)

You see the reality is, whether it is waking up and walking down the stairs expecting to see what existed there the day before or determining whether the holocaust really occurred and if it was a bad thing, we all need stories to make sense of the facts.

In light of this reality many today conclude that since we all have different stories no one can claim to know what is true. We are all left with different interpretations based upon different, but equally valid, “meta narratives”. I completely disagree with this assertion. Just as I could begin to refine and change my story to better reflect the evidence given the superior explanatory value of my wife’s story. I believe that we can engage other “meta narratives” taking into account our shared experience, and begin to refine our stories to come to a fuller understanding of Truth.

We all hold some type of grand story that shapes how we interpret things, how we perceive things, what we value, what we despise, even determining how we live our lives. The question is “is our story the right account of reality?’

In light of all of this, I find it very interesting that the core of the Christian message is a story. It is a story about God, humanity, meaning, and purpose. It all culminates on a story or “Good News” about a God that entered into our story, through His Son, who was crucified, and raised for the redemption of the world. If how we perceive things, interpret reality, even live our lives is borne out of a foundational story, then the Gospel message is given as an alternative story that when accepted would change everything. Now I personally believe that the Gospel is not just a “good story” but that it is the “true story”. I also believe that the Gospel should only be accepted and adopted as our foundational narrative if it is True.

If putting your faith in the Gospel is nothing less than accepting the Gospel as the true “meta-narrative”, then the Gospel can do nothing less than Change Everything about our lives. The only way one could “accept” the Gospel while not finding their whole world view (perceptions, values, and daily lives) radically transformed, would be for them to accept the Gospel as “a” story not “the” story.

Now I haven’t laid out any arguments for the “Gospel” being the true foundational story, but instead I’m trying to show us all that everyone builds their entire lives off of a narrative, and we all must ask ourselves what that narrative is. For the Christian, is the Gospel just another “story” that you have placed within some other greater narrative, or is the Gospel your foundation that all other “stories” are understood through? In other words is the Gospel a paragraph, a chapter, or is it the grander story of your life. For the non christian. It is a false stance to write off Christianity because it is foundationaly based upon “stories” while you claim that you follow “facts”. We all ultimately determine truth based upon foundational “stories”. I ask you to try to truly understand the Gospel story, and begin to understand your “meta narrative” to honestly seek to find out if the Gospel is not the true “story” to interpret all of reality through.

As a Christian I believe that we are called to defend the faith. To me this is not an option. Clearly reality exists, so there is a true account of reality and there are false accounts. If you hold a view (which everyone believes something) you should hold a belief because you believe it to be true. Now if your belief is true, then you should share that view and hold onto it unless your view is proven to be false. Now in the Christian understanding of truth there are things that are essential to our world view and there are things that are “non-essential” that ultimately do not effect the foundations of our beliefs. I say all of this to say that we all must draw a line in the sand. But as Christians we must decide where the battle lines are to be drawn.

In 1 Peter 3:15-16 we have one of the foundational passages for “Apologetics” the defending of the faith. In this passage Peter tells us to be prepared to give an answer for the hope that is in us. The Greek term we translate as “answer” is the Greek work “apologoi”, which is where we get the term apologetics. So as you can see in this passage we are called to “give an answer” or defend the hope we have. So if you take this passage as being universal, then we all must draw a line in the sand. But the question we all must ask is where do we draw the line? In the name of defending the faith some Christians have drawn the line so far back that they act as if defending their chosen translation of the scriptures equates to defending the true faith. Too often Christians can begin to fall into the trap of believing that every belief they hold is an essential. I have run into many Christians that hold their view of the end times as fervently as they hold the physical resurrection of Christ. This is very dangerous. When someone begins to make all of their views “essential”  then if one of their views begins to be disproved, their entire faith begins to crumble. Also as Christians begin to defend a “non-essential” as “essential” many on the outside may be left denying the faith because they deny a chosen “non-essential” as apposed to denying something “essential” to the faith.

One of these battlegrounds surrounds a chosen “literal” interpretation of the first 3 chapters of Genesis. My fear is that many scientists are not dealing seriously with the Gospel because they cannot get past the many vocal apologists arguing for a 60,000 year old universe as if their interpretation of Genesis is essential to the Christian faith. The problem is that instead of having to face the evidence for, say, the resurrection of Christ, they are bombarded by argument after argument for a young earth. Now I’m not saying that it is wrong to defend a given view of creation based upon your understanding of Genesis. What I am saying is that this must be done with humility, recognizing that if you are wrong then it doesn’t change the fact that God is real, He is creator, and that Jesus is raised.

I’ve begun thinking about this as I read a book by Francis Collins (the head of the Human Genome Project). Collins is a Christian and proposes a view called “Theistic Evolution”. Now I don’t necessarily agree with “TE” but I’m also not a scientist. What I find enlightening is the fact that if Evolution is true, nothing essential to the Christian faith is in danger. The only thing in danger would be our chosen approach to interpreting Genesis 1-3.

To go back to 1 Peter 3:15-16, what is our hope? Is our hope found in a literal 6 day creation, is it in a pre or post trib rapture, is it in premillennialism? I would argue no. Our hope is found in a Sovereign personal Creator God, a creation with purpose and intention, a God who came into His creation to bring redemption, a Messiah who was truly man and truly God. Our hope is found in a Messiah who historically and literally died, was buried, and physically raided from the dead. Our hope is in a Messiah who will historically return and establish His kingdom for all eternity. Now there are some other essentials that make up the Christian hope. But we must step back and decide whether we are placing our hope in an interpretive tradition or the essentials of the Christian faith.

I ask, have  you drawn a line in the sand? Where is that line drawn? Are you being prepared to defend the Hope that is the Gospel, or are you arguing to defend a tradition that has been handed to you? There are many things that I would not consider as essential but hold as very important. It is very important to have “in house” discussions and even debates concerning biblical specifics. Hey, even what I’m writing about right now (where we draw the line) is not an essential, but that isn’t keeping me from trying to persuade others concerning my view. What I’m trying to propose is that when it comes to defending the faith, we must not create a stumbling block to the unbeliever over a “non-essential”. We need to let the non-believer stumble upon Christ. After all isn’t Jesus where the Christian hope is summed up?

I will close this post with a quote from St. Augustine concerning the literal interpretation of Genesis.

“In matters that are so obscure and far beyond our vision, we may find in Holy Scripture passages which can be interpreted in very different ways without prejudice to the faith we have received. In such cases, we should not rush in headlong and so firmly take our stand on one side that, if further progress in the search for truth justly undermines this position, we too fall with it.”

I would love to hear your thoughts on where the line needs to be drawn.

Back when I played Rugby I was always the team “hit-man”. What I mean by this is that if there was a particularly large or “dirty” player on the apposing team, I was the one who was supposed to “make sure to contain that player.” I remember one particular game in which the opposing team had a rather large and imposing player that was purposefully seeking to injure some of our key players. Mid way through the match my coach called me over and told me to do whatever I could to “take care of” that particular player. Now of course I tried to fulfill my assignment within the rules, but this was Rugby so there isn’t much you aren’t allowed to do!

As I think back, the reality is I was never told to watch the occasional small guy who was not impacting the game. I was never told “hey Eric that slow passive guy wearing #3 isn’t doing much, make sure you hit him hard every time he gets the ball.” No in Rugby just as in other sports, you focus your resources on stopping the biggest threats.

To take the analogy further, when a nation is at war it always seeks to focus it’s limited military resources on the areas of greatest threat. This reality has given me great excitement while working to plant E3.

If what is true in Rugby and war is also true in the spiritual realm then God is up to something big in Pittsburgh’s East End. I say that I’m greatly excited because as soon as I think we have weathered the storm and I begin to think we have pressed beyond the opposition, a new wave of attacks come our way. I’m not going to lie, trying to get this church up and running in inner city Pittsburgh has been incredibly hard, some times scary, and often frustrating. But one of the things that keep me excited is the fact that God has shown me again and again that He is in this and the enemy has shown me again and again that he doesn’t want this to happen.

A realization I had a while back is that Satan is not like God. Ok now I know that we all know this, but I think we often miss the implication of this reality. Satan and his deamons are limited, created beings. This means that they are not omnipresent (able to be everywhere), they are not omnipotent (unlimited power), and they are limited in number. So if Satan or his fallen angels are attacking one person, that means that they cannot be attacking another person at the same time. If the enemy’s resources are being used to attack one area, those resources are not available to attack somewhere else.

Now Satan is fallen and twisted but from all I know, he is not stupid. Just as no coach is going to use his best players to contain the worst player on the other team. Or just as no general will expend his resources to control a region that has no strategic value. Satan is not going to use his limited resources to appose Christians that are not a threat to his agenda.

As much as I would like for things to come together more easily up here and often I wish things would finally work without having to have so many obstacles. I realize that if things just happened easily with no opposition, deep down I would be disappointed, because that would mean that the enemy is not threatened by what God is doing through us in this city.

Now there have been days that I’ve contemplated giving up, wondering if this is all worth it. But then I prayer walk my neighborhood and see all of the lostness, all of the pain, violence, poverty, hurt, and brokenness. Then I’m reminded that this is God’s kingdom and these are God’s children that Jesus died for. I’m reminded that Jesus is Lord and Will Take Back His Kingdom and has by grace allowed me to participate in His great mission. So, yeah I’m often tired and frustrated, but I love the fact that the enemy is ticked and I’m reminded that Christ will build His Church.

When my coach would call on me to handle the big threats from the opposing team, I would take that as a great honor. Sure I got beat up and often injured trying to handle these other players. But man did I feel proud of my broken nose, or black eye, because these battle scars came from getting to go up against the best the opposing team had to offer. In the same way I’m beginning to understand (in a small degree) Paul’s boasting in his persecution, because when the Lord puts us in the face of great attacks, it is a great honor.

I say this to encourage those of you who have stepped out in obedience to God’s calling and have faced attacks and opposition from the enemy. Stand strong, because it is exciting to know that the enemy views you as a threat. When you have that “spiritual” black eye or broken nose, wear it with honor, because the Lord has entrusted you to go up against the best that the enemy has to offer.

A fairly prominent claim found throughout scripture is the reality that Jesus is Judge and will return in judgment. Now you would never know that this was a prominent claim by looking at popular Christianity in the west today. But if you skim through the scriptures or read any of the Church fathers you would find that the return of Christ in judgement is central to the Christian hope.

I think in the church today we often shy away from talking about the judgment of God because we don’t completely understand what this means. Naturally we love the concept of the mercy of God, we love the idea of God’s awesome love, but we don’t seem to have the same zeal for God’s judgment. Well there may be some fundamentalist Christians that seem to have zeal for God’s judgement, but I think their zeal may be wrongfully directed. The idea that Jesus is judge and is coming back in judgment is connected to the biblical hope of God coming to restore His kingdom over all creation. When the scriptures say that God is to judge it means that God is going to “put things to right.” Many in my generation love to talk about “Social Justice”. Which is a good thing. But what they are so often missing is that you cannot have “justice” without “judgment”. To seek justice is to infer injustice. Which means that something is wrong and that wrong needs to be made right. When we see such things as child sex trade, genocide, and events such as the Holocaust. No one sits by saying, “it is a shame these things are occurring but we don’t want anyone to be judged.” No we want to see justice, which also means we want to see judgment. As I walk the streets of my city, every day I’m reminded how jacked up things are. And just in case you haven’t left your house for a while, things are not ok in our world. The good news is that the risen messiah of God is not going to sit by, allowing things to continue as they are. No He is coming back as Judge, restoring order and justice to His creation. He is coming back to restore all things to their original intent. The coming judgment of God gives us hope knowing that the evil we see in our world today is not just a hopeless reality of life, but a perversion of God’s created order that will one day be dealt with bringing restoration.

Now it is easy for me to point out the most horrific realities of human history or to rejoice in the coming judgment against the systemic evil in the world. But it is another thing when I begin to include myself as part of the system. Now I know that this may shock most of you, but I’m not perfect Actually I’m pretty jacked up. There are aspects of myself that disgust me. I don’t want to be left as I am. But I have good news, God is judging me. The difference is that I’m being judged in light of the atonement paid by Christ on the cross. God is not going to leave me as I am, no, he is putting me to right. But instead of being condemned as part of the false system that is going to be destroyed, I’m being restored by the one who is both Judge and Savior. The way I see it, is that through the offer of Grace given to us by Christ we are allowed to “Repent” or “Return” turning from the corrupt system of the world escaping the coming judgment that will come upon all creation. Yes we all are judged, but if Christ really did pay our punishment on the cross, those who accept His offer are judged without having to face the consequence of our turning from our creator.Their is judgment without punishment because the punishment has been paid.

So as I look at the insecurities, the hidden evil, the horrible thoughts, and all the other things that I so much dislike within me. I can have hope knowing that the one who has rescued me from eternal serperation from God is also the one who is judging me (putting me to right) with grace. As I walk the streets seeing all of the perversion, violence, and injustice surrounding me, I can proclaim a message of hope because we have a God that is not going to sit idley by. No we have a God who is the great Judge and will vindicate His people and restore His creation.

My son (Judah) will be 2 in July. He is in a really great stage. His personality is really beginning to come out, he talks nonstop (Coleen seems to be more fluent in his language), and he loves to go for walks outside. I love when we go out shopping or walk around the block and I hear this sweet little voice saying “daddy hand, daddy hand.” When we go anywhere Judah wants to make sure he is holding Daddy or Mommy’s hand. Now I’m pretty sure by the time he is 16 this may not be the case, but for now it is pretty sweet. As I look back at my journey in planting EEE in light of my walks with Judah I’ve realized a powerful truth.

To be honest I felt a calling to plant a church in Pittsburgh for a while before I actually stepped forward to begin this journey. I fought God’s calling because I was afraid, not so much about planting a church or moving back to Pittsburgh. I was afraid that I would make the wrong decision. Actually the fear of pursuing the wrong path has been with me as long as I’ve been in ministry. It seems that when I feel God calling me to something I always begin to question “what if I begin to pursue this and it is not what God was calling me to do?” I had this idea in my head that if I would happen to pursue a path God had not laid out for me I would end up so far down the road that I would never be able to return to the true calling God had for me. The funny thing is I was so afraid of disobeying God’s call to do something, that I would decide to do nothing, which is certainly disobedience to God’s call.

I would love to tell you that if you are prayerfully pursuing God’s calling you will never misread His call. I would also love to tell you that as I’ve stepped out and began down the path of following God in planting this church I never tried to pursue a wrong direction. But the reality is no matter how well intentioned we are we will miss read God’s calling and I’ve spent a lot of time trying to go down dead end roads while planting East End Ecclesia. I’ve pursued locations that ended up not being the right location, I’ve pursued facilities that ended up not being the right place, I’ve written countless numbers of pages laying out a vision and strategy that are now in the scrap pile. This journey has been far from being a brisk stroll down a clearly marked path. But one thing I can say for certain is that every time I began down the wrong path God has redirected me to the path He has laid out.

As an example, I spent about 3 months trying to make connections, acquire a facility, and begin a weekly bible study in a neighborhood called East Liberty. I was sure this was the place we were supposed to plant. It was a great location in the center of the East End and it was at a cross road for many of the East End neighborhoods we are hoping to reach. Yet we are now planting our church in another neighborhood called Lawrenceville, in another section of the East End, with a different strategy on reaching the diverse neighborhoods of the East End. How did I get to this place? It was by grabbing Hold of the Father in prayer and continuing to walk in light of His call.

I’ve come to realize that stepping out on mission for God is much like Judah stepping off of our porch to go for a walk through the neighborhood. If Judah and I were going for a walk down to the corner store, Judah’s only responsibility is to hold tight to his daddy’s hand and keep walking. Judah is a bright young 22 month old but he still hasn’t figured out how to get around the East End yet. Of course it doesn’t matter if Judah knows exactly how to get to the corner store or the playground, actually it doesn’t even matter if he knows what our destination is. The only thing that matters is that he keeps walking and holds on to daddy’s hand. Now when Judah and I go for a walk he doesn’t always keep on the path to our destination. He often gets distracted and begins to head towards roads other than the one we are taking.

As I walked with Judah I began to wonder, what type of father would I be if as we walked Judah began to head towards the busy street or go down the wrong road and I responded by saying “well son, stinks for you that you decided to head down the wrong road and I let him head into traffic or get lost down some side street.” I’m guessing you would not think too highly of my parenting skills. Just so you know when Judah tries to go down the wrong path, I hold on to his hand a little tighter and redirect him down the path we are taking.

As long as Judah is walking and holding his daddy’s hand he knows that daddy will lead him to where we are going.

If this is true about a child and his fallible daddy, how much more will this be true when we walk with our Perfect Heavenly Father. As we step off our porch into the great journey of Mission with our Father, we are responsible for two things, to keep walking and to hold tight to our Daddy’s hand. I can attest to this in my own experience planting EEE. I’ve started down many “wrong” roads, but as I hold on to the Father in prayer He has continued to be faithful to squeeze my hand a bit tighter and redirect my steps.

I want to challenge all of us, if you feel God has called you to step out on mission for Him, you may not know what it will look like, you may not even know where you are going, but you can have confidence that as long as you are holding tight to your Daddy’s hand He will not allow you to go too far down the wrong path.

Do you truly trust our Heavenly Father? If so get off the porch, hold tight to your Daddy’s hand, and begin walking.

· Day 40: Closing

o “For yours is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory forever.”

o If you have ever been to a church that uses the Lord’s prayer as part of their liturgy, then you
have prayed this as the ending to the prayer. This closing is not part of the original manuscripts.
Most scholars believe that this was a closing that early churches repeated after reading the
Lord’s Prayer. After time, what was placed in the manuscripts as a “side note” eventually
worked its way into the text itself. Even though this closing sentence is not part of what Christ
had taught, it is still a theologically solid statement or prayer. This statement is a reminder that
it is all about God, it all belongs to God, and it is all because of God. It is HIS Kingdom, it is HIS
power, and it is HIS Glory. The danger comes when we take what God is doing through us and
begin to treat it as if it is our own. If East End Ecclesia has any value at all, it is because it is
God’s church and it is His will to establish this church. If God is not the one that is motivating
the establishment of East End Ecclesia, then it should not be established. If East End Ecclesia
exists for anything other than God’s Glory, God’s Kingdom, and God’s mission, then pray that
we will no longer exist as a church.
o Today pray that we would be reminded that God is sovereign and He is Lord. Pray that we
would always remember that He will establish His church and His Kingdom, and we are called to
be tools by which He will accomplish these things. Pray that we would trust in God’s power, not
our own, to accomplish His will. Pray that this church would truly be established for the Glory of
God and not for our own glory or recognition. Pray that we would truly be His church and that
we would truly become the church that God intended.
We are so very grateful for you faithful prayers over the past 40days. Please continue to keep the city of
Pittsburgh and East End Ecclesia in your prayers as we seek to join God in His mission to bring restoration to
the city of Pittsburgh.
“You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us
through the prayers of many.” 2 Co 1:11

· Day 39: Ephesians 6: 11-12

o 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the
devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the
authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of
evil in the heavenly places.

o It is critical to remember that our ultimate enemy is not physical, but spiritual. This is something
that has become quite real over the past year in preparation to plant East End Ecclesia. Sure we
have faced many physical setbacks and trials as we press on toward the mission set before us,
but the greatest trials we have faced have not been physical, but have been spiritual attacks.
Though the attacks of Satan that we have faced have been hard at times, there is also a bit of
encouragement found in these attacks. The reality is, Satan is not God. He is not omnipotent or
omnipresent, and he is limited in his resources. So if he is using his resources to attack you, he
isn’t using those resources somewhere else. So in other words Satan will not waste his time
with you unless you are a threat. So even though I have seen many attacks coming from the
enemy, I’m encouraged because this means what we are doing is a threat to the enemy. With
all that being said, the frequency and amount of attacks have been taxing. There have been
many days in which I have been left worn out, beat up, and ready to quit. There have been days
in which all I could do is drop to my knees and ask God for the strength to endure and seek
Christ for protection from the enemy.
o Today pray against the attacks of the enemy. Pray that God would provide protection for all of
those involved with this new church, along with those who will come along side of us as
leaders. I ask that you would please pray also for my family, that Judah would be protected, and
that Coleen and my marriage would be guarded from the attacks of the enemy. Pray that we
would not be discouraged by the attacks that will come, but be encouraged to press forward
giving no credence to the enemy.

· Day 38: 1 Timothy 4:16

o 16 Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will
save both yourself and your hearers.

o Paul tells Timothy to not only keep watch on his doctrine but also to keep watch on how he
lives. Teaching sound doctrine is important, but living a consistent life is also very critical. In
more “theological” terms, it is critical to maintain both orthodoxy and orthopraxy. We live in an
age where we have witnessed the destructive effect caused by ministers whose lives do not
follow the message they preach. There are very few things that can hinder the Gospel more
than the moral failings of those who stand as representatives of the Gospel. I remember
hearing of a man who came up to a pastor and claimed “I would possibly believe in Jesus as
redeemer when I actually see a life that looks redeemed.” There is a sting of truth in what that
skeptic proclaimed. When our lives reflect the restoration found through Christ, our message
has power because the audience has actually seen that which we proclaim.
o Today pray that God would protect us from temptation and sin. Pray that our lives would be a
testimony of the transformative power of the Gospel. Pray for me that the message I preach
would not be hindered by the life I live, but instead the life I live will bring validity to the
message I preach.

· Day 37: 2 Timothy 4: 3-5

o 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears
they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away
from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 5 As for you, always be sober-minded,
endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

o The time that Paul is speaking of surely has come. We live in an age where churches have
grown immensely by “slightly” altering the Gospel in order to meet the desires of our culture.
Right before this admonition to Timothy, Paul commands young Timothy to “preach the Word”
and to reprove, rebuke, and exhort. It is not as hard to exhort, but it is slightly less pleasant to
reprove and rebuke according to the Word of God. The question we must ask is, “Is it God’s
desire for us to establish a large church at any expense, or to proclaim His Truth at any cost?”
Don’t get me wrong, I believe God’s word proclaimed clearly is very powerful and many
churches have grown immensely while unashamedly preaching the word of God. But ultimately
our responsibility is to be obedient to God, proclaiming Truth, even if it may hinder growth.
There were many prophets during the time of Jeremiah who had many followers because they
spoke what the people wanted to hear. Yet Jeremiah spent his entire life proclaiming the word
that God had given him without even one person ever repenting. Even though he did not have
success like many of the other prophets of his day, he was not a failure because he was faithful.
The temptation will always exist to accommodate the message to appease the masses. But if
East End Ecclesia is truly going to be the church that God intended, then we can never
compromise the message to fit the desires of the masses. The question should not be “does it
work” but instead it should be “is it True”.
o Today pray that we would remain faithful to God’s Word no matter what the cost may be. Pray
for me that I would preach the whole council of Scripture, even the parts that are less
appealing. Pray that we would never sacrifice obedience to God’s Word for the sake of numbers
or growth. Pray also that we would see growth that is because of obedience to the Word, not in
spite of His Word.

· Section 5 “Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.”

o Paraphrase: Lord protect us from temptation and deception and keep us pure in the midst of the evil around us. o Focus 5 days praying that God would protect us from sin and compromise, as we establish East End Ecclesia.

· Day 36: John 17: 15

o 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.

o There seems to be 2 common responses to culture when it comes to the church. The first is a response of retreat. These are the churches that say that the world is so evil we must separate from it in order to remain pure. These churches often refuse to go to secular establishments, refuse to have non Christian friends, and often create a parallel “Christian” culture so that they will not have to involve themselves with the messy secular culture around them. This response has an appearance of wisdom, but it forgets that God has not just called us to be holy, but also to be on mission. The other error in this response is that it places trust in the external environment of the individual as the primary source of sanctification, instead of the internal work of the Holy Spirit. In other words by their actions they are saying that it is your environment that makes you Holy, not the work of God within you. On the other hand some churches respond to culture with a mentality of compromise. These are the churches that often say that we need to relate to the secular world in order to reach the world. In some ways this is true, but often for the sake of being “accepted” by the surrounding culture they accept many of the fallen aspects of the surrounding culture. In the effort to “connect” with the world they begin to “conform” or resemble the fallen world around them. This verse is part of a larger prayer that Christ prays for His disciples. In this part of the prayer Jesus is praying that we would not be separatists, yet also that we would not be conformists. In other words we are to be like Christ, who did not remain distant but instead came into the fallen world walking among fallen men. Though Christ “incarnated” or came into fallen human culture, He also remained pure, reflecting God’s perfect will “within” the culture of His day. o Today pray that we would not retreat from the messiness of our city. Pray also that while in the midst of the fallen culture we would remain distinct, reflecting God’s intentions not the city’s perversions.