Every now and then THE MESSAGE version of Scripture just NAILS it for me. Paul's description of his fatherly heart for the Corinthian believers is one of those passages (1 Cor. 4:14-16)

I'm not writing all this as a neighborhood scold just to make you feel rotten. I'm writing as a father to you, my children. I love you and want you to grow up well, not spoiled. There are a lot of people around who can't wait to tell you what you've done wrong, but there aren't many fathers willing to take the time and effort to help you grow up. It was as Jesus helped me proclaim God's Message to you that I became your father. I'm not, you know, asking you to do anything I'm not already doing myself.

As I read this I need to ask myself how I'm doing on the "fathering scale".... with my natural children, my spiritual sons and daughters, and with believers around me who are sometimes not all that I'd like them to be. How are you doing relative to this standard?

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Adapted and summarized from material published Dr. Stephen Crosby[i]

Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. (Romans 13:1-2 NKJV)

It is important to understand the Authority of the Kingdom, but much of what we have been taught, or have merely accepted seems to fall short of a true understanding. Abuse of authority, Bibliolatry and such have invaded much of our understanding in the Evangelical Church.

Crosby suggests that we need to understand that there are levels of authority, clearly ranked. They are:
1. Sovereign authority – The imperial authority of the Lord in His person.
2. Authority of His Word
3. Legal Authority
4. Authority of Conscience
5. Authority of Family
6. Functional Authority
7. Delegated Authority
8. Authority of Custom

Sovereign Authority
Sovereign authority rests in the person of Christ. No man, church, organization, leader, mentor, disciple, spiritual father, pastor, wonder worker, apostle, nor prophet has the right to usurp this authority in an individual believer’s life, nor come between the believer and the Lord in some misguided semi-mediatory concept of spiritual covering and mentoring. His sheep belong to Him, and Jesus declared that “his sheep hear his voice and know him”. The first authority in the life of the believer is the sovereign authority of Jesus as he speaks intimately to his followers. But can we really trust individual believers to hear this voice? This is much like an older questions posed by the Church. Can we really trust believers to read and understand the Bible? In response to that question, for a significant period of time the Bible was kept in a locked case at the front of the Church. Only the priest could understand and interpret.

The Authority of the Word
Christ is the incarnate logos. The Scriptures are literally an expression of His person. When illuminated by the active work of the Spirit, they are just as alive as is His person and require the same submission.
No subjective dream, vision, prophecy, insight, etc. is of the same stature of the revealed will of God in Scripture. Everything stands or sinks based on the Word. First generation, resurrection-witnessing, dead-raising, miracle working apostles taught the Bereans, and they were commended for checking things out with the written word (OT).

Legal (Contractual) Authority
This level of authority deals with civic affairs, legal matters, contracts, etc. Jesus taught: “Render unto Caesar…” All authority is established by God. Short of causing us to deny our faith or curse God, the believer is to comply with civil authorities. When required to choose between deep moral conviction on a moral issue, or compliance with the civil authority, the believer must make his choice and live with the consequences of being morally right and legally wrong.

Authority of Conscience
But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin. (Romans 14:23 NKJV)
who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them) (Romans 2:15 NKJV)
There are many areas of life in which the Scriptures are silent, vague, unclear or in tension. In those areas, our conscience is the higher authority to which we must yield. Some examples of this area might be:

• Types and styles of music
• Wearing makeup
• Tattoos and body piercing
• Movies
• Church membership
• Clothing styles
• Ethics in raising children

The Westminster Confession gives some excellent direction for dealing with these areas.

1. Nothing contrary to Scripture can ever be true.
2. Nothing in addition to Scripture can ever be binding; in may, however, be true.
3. In essentials, conformity; in non-essentials, liberty; and in all things charity (love and kindness).
   

When left to conscience and individual’s choice may well be wrong, leading to error and even personal pain. The nature of growth in a free atmosphere of the Spirit is the freedom to be wrong. We are not free to sin. But we must be free to make big mistakes. Freedom and respect of an individual’s intrinsic worth requires risk. In this area we have the right to be wrong, mistaken, and even stupid. It is the price of liberty. Making others come to our point of view on marginal issues is not our calling. Our call is to lay down our lives for one another, not coerce each other into ideological and behavioural conformity.

Authority of Family
God established the family as an institution before the church, its offices and ordinances. The family is the smallest Church unit. The church and its leaders have no authority to tell you how to run your family except in those matters that are explicitly sin. Church leaders can implore, offer wisdom and advice, but they may not demand compliance.

Functional Authority
I sometimes wonder what would have occurred if Jesus had used the same approach the Church uses so often. Something needs to be done. Someone needs to do it. Let’s ask for volunteers – and any “warm body” will do.
Authority is based on ministry, and ministry is based on death and resurrection. When authority exceeds ministry, it is positional and has no spiritual substance. Functional authority originates in the area of my expertise. It is the place of effective service, activated by the Spirit.
Three areas serve as the source of individual functional authority:

• Birth (natural talents: general grace given to all humanity)
• Learning (training and experience)
• Supernatural gifting.
  

The Church pretends to be good at number 3, but needs to recognize the role of common grace.
Consider the following example:
You are in a tragic car accident. Your arm is lying ten feet away. Three people are bystanders: a person who by birth is very caring, a Hindu female doctor specializing in Trauma, and a prophet. Who would you want to take charge of the situation? The functional authority in this situation clearly should go to the trained doctor.
Crosby suggests that every hour of every day there is grief, pain, hurt, abuse and confusion happening in the Church, caused by people who either do not understand the principle of functional authority or who are too insecure to acknowledge it. Most of the teaching about submission in the New Testament has to do with mutuality and not with positional authority.

Delegated Authority
This is the first level of authority at which any mortal has authority in relationship to another mortal on earth. Delegated authority is not necessarily dependent on age, ability, training or giftedness but assignment from higher authority.
John is delegated the responsibility for directing traffic in the parking lot. The bishop arrives and tries to park in the area reserved for first time visitors. Who has the authority in this situation? John does – authority has been clearly delegated to him, and this is HIS domain.

Authority of Custom
“When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” This quote is from patristic literature. It was advice given by the church fathers to Christians who asked how they should behave when visiting a church that did not share the same practices as their own.
Every local church has its own distinctive, emphases, and calling. There are often “unspoken” expectations of how a Christian should “behave”.
Paul did not expect congregations in different geographic areas to necessarily have the same sensibilities on all issues. Consider the matter of women’s head coverings in 1 Corinthians 11. Many people today often ignore the most important part of the whole passage: “We have no such custom, neither do the Churches of God” (1 Co. 11:16). Christian liberty needs to yield to local custom when a potential conflict arises.




[i] Stephen Crosby, Authority, Accountability, and the Apostolic Movement, pages 77 – 94
Copies of the book are available from Steve’s web page at www.stevecrosby.com

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Too bad Jonah never had a chance to learn Emotional Intelligence.

1:1-3
Fear generates either FIGHT or FLIGHT. In the case of Jonah there is panic and flight.

• Decisions made in “fear mode” are:
• Precipitous, costly, wrong, selfish,
• have serious consequences for self and others

Jonah becomes disengaged and uncaring (sleeping during the storm).

1:12 ff
Confession, although somewhat forced leads to release and courage to act. Can it be at this point that love for his fellow man has returned? “Perfect love casts out fear!”

1:12 ff
With being discovered and ultimately cast overboard would there necessarily have been feelings of rejection and a certain amount of “self-loathing”?

2:1-9
Jonah’s prayer:

• v.4 – distress à hope
• v.9 – thankfulness

3:1-4
What emotions was Jonah experiencing in 3:4 when he finally began preaching judgement upon Nineveh? Pride? Self-Righteousness? More anger?

4:1-3
Jonah becomes ANGRY again.
He expresses disappointment and depression (sadness in the extreme), “Take my life!”

4:6
Extreme happiness over a relatively little event, the growth of a plant for shade.

4:8,9
The happiness is short-lived and gives way to depression and anger.
There is “self-justification” of his angry state.
Sadly the story of Jonah ends with lack of compassion where there should be great joy!

If you have some insight or thoughts on Jonah's emotional life, why not leave a comment? Click the comment link below.

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As we discussed our reactions to Amos chapters 1 - 4, there were a few questions raised for which we did not have ready answers.... so here's a homework assignment for the serious. Find an answer or weigh in with your opinion.

1. What is the meaning of the "for three transgression and for four..." repeated as a formula for the various judgements? (Major Dave offered to begin research on this one).


2. What was so serious about Edom burning the bones of the King? (I think I heard Jay volunteer??? Maybe!??)

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This summer, Michael attended a two week kind of camp called Summit this Summer. It was held just outside of Colorado Springs, Colorado. There were about 180 young adults there during his session from all over the United States.
Participants attended classes in the mornings, afternoons, and evenings. The program also included free time for discussion groups, sports, and some sightseeing.
Michael writes: “What did I like best about my Summit experience? Was it the whitewater rafting? The chance to meet people from all over who were preparing to enter college or university? The chance to fly on my own across the country? The chance to attend great lectures by people who were really qualified and made it all so interesing? Was it those great sports times playing outside with everyone? Or was it the great food they served?
I went to Summit for the teaching. Here’s some of what touched me the most:
Dr. Norman Geisler gave us twelve reasons why we can trust the Scriptures. Another speaker showed us lots of stuff that support s things that happened in the Old Testament, like the Flood.
Mark Cahill’s presentation on why we should do evangelism really made me think about how I need to speak up more often.
There was that great video about abortion that galvanized my convictions about being pro-life.
Dr. Nobel gave us an important warning about how secular universities often treat Christian students: Be prepared!
A presentation on the goals of radical Islam got me thinkin’!
Hey thanks to all of you who prayed for me and for the three churches which ended up giving the exact amount needed to cover the cost of Summit! I’m motivated to continue learning what I can about God, the Bible and how I can defend and talk about my faith. I am now in a junior college (for two years) here in Quebec and working hard with no sightseeing or sports time.
I miss Summit!
Michael Pinney

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As a group we've been reading our way through Hosea. I find these passages about judgement very difficult to read, particularly during period in my life when God is increasingly trying to teach me about grace. My reading of Hosea 11 yesterday left me completely dry. So today, before I read, I asked God to open my eyes to see what He had for me in this passage. WoW. It was like seeing though new eyes.





Reading from The Message version, I began to see how God reacts to MY disobediences, rebellion and rejection.

• He loves me and calls to me "My son".
• He sticks with me and rescues me from human bondage.
• He pulls my wagon.
• He lifts me, like a baby, to His cheek.
• He bends down to feed me.

What an amazing set of images of Father God!

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Is BIGGER always BETTER? I must admit that I can instantly think of a number of examples that elicit an immediate and resounding "YES!" If you were a betting person, where would you place your money in the combat being prepared in the image displayed here?

Any yet Bigger is not necessarily better in every domain. Let me briefly champion "LITTLE".

Fifteen minutes down the road from the Starbucks where we do Church is the largest church in the province of Quebec: Église Nouvelle Vie. I love to declare with some sense of cryptic pride that I am the founder and leader of the smallest Church in the province of Quebec. By Biblical definition ("Wherever two or three are gathered in My Name...)... So I lead two small churches, one with two members, and one with three members.

Tuesday we sent one-third of our Church on a mission trip to Belize. Our little Church funded a big piece of the travel expense, and have the privilege of blessing Daniel with enough "mad money" to be a big blessing to those he will serve in Belize. Our smallness has helped us to to build meaningful relationships, disciple Daniel, and finally to release him with some real experience under his belt.

Thank God for the Big Churches. Thank God for the small Churches.

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The Church of St.Arbucks now has a "semi-official" T-Shirt. Actually a friend of mine was at a conference in Vancouver, saw the shirt and thought of me. The logo reads: "Sacrificed for me. (Heb. 10:10)"

We're a small Church, and have serious fun in moving ahead with the Great Commission mandate. Jesus said we were to "Go into all the world and make disciples", which by definition in this same text, are those who "obey the teachings of Jesus". We are listening carefully as God speaks through Scripture, and continually asking ourselves what is "obedience that God is calling us toward"?

Daniel, now 17, is co-founder of Winds of Hope Church. I'm so proud of the growth he has been showing, and often taken back by his insights and questions. Yesterday, he was intrigued by Jesus' words to his disciples: "If they don't receive you, shake the dust off your sandals and go somewhere else." How do you think we are supposed to apply that in your living next week? I think I know!



Some people are curious about How you do Church in a Starbucks. The formula is really quite simple... and here's the trick: It's in the DNA.
Dynamic Truth: We believe that God actually can and does speak to us through His Word without the need for a sermon. So each of us reads, and re-reads the same passages of Scripture all week long. When we come together we share what the Spirit of God has revealed to us.
Nurturing Relationships: We look after each other. When one hurts, we all hurt. When one rejoices, we all rejoice. We spend time checking up on each other. How has the week gone? How is the family doing? How have you been doing with "homework"? ( the obediences to which God is calling us).
Apostolic Mission: We are at Starbucks because we want to live out our experience of God in plain view. We are GOing to where the people are. The "attraction" model of Church does not seem to have much biblical authority behind it. We are praying to be light in the darkness, and trust God to show up. We are to be his witnesses... that is to see and report what we see Him doing at Starbucks... that's much easier than thinking that we actually have to do it.

This week we're all reading Psalm 12 - 17. If you can't join us at Starbucks on Tuesday, why not add your brief reflection of what God says to you through these reading by posting a comment on this blog. We'll bring your insight along into our discussion.

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A new kind of Church, or perhaps just something so old it actually seems new.

Montreal is a city-paradox. It is the most post-modern, post-Christian city in North America, but many of its landmarks, street names, and historic sites are named for Christian saints. With a view to creating an effective and alternative approach which would build bridges to a post-Christian city, we are launching out in new adventure in mission, Winds of Hope.

If this all seems rather unconventional, you could think of our Church in more traditional terms.

Recently, our spiritual family has begun referring to our gathering as the Church of St. Arbucks. You see, our Church comes together at least once a week at the local Starbucks. “Good friends, good time, and good coffee!”

What does time at the Church of St. Arbucks look like? Mostly, it looks like every other table at Starbucks. A few friends sitting around a table engaged in conversation. Our family comes together to talk about how the week has gone, what the Lord has been saying through Scripture, what new obediences the Word has called us to. We always spend time in prayer and blessing one another.

At the moment, St. Arbucks (Winds of Hope) meets in Greenfield Park. There are usually 3 or 4 of us together. The dream is to network a few other groups. Live anywhere in the Greater Montreal area? Interested in having a taste of some great coffee and a new expression of Church? Drop me an e-mail, and we'll get together. The expanding dream includes a few French Churches, plus a couple of youth Churches, and at least one downtown location... maybe Crescent Street or St-Denis (depending on language).

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9 Be quick to give a meal to the hungry, a bed to the homeless--cheerfully. 10 Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it: 11 if words, let it be God's words; if help, let it be God's hearty help. That way, God's bright presence will be evident in everything through Jesus, and he'll get all the credit as the One mighty in everything--encores to the end of time. Oh, yes! 1 Peter 4:9-11 (The Message)

One of the benefits of being a “simple church” is that we have no overhead costs: no paid clergy, no building costs, and no salaried positions. God tells us that we must learn to give and be generous with all that He provides. Gifts, tithes and offerings received from the friends and members of our Church are pledged to help other churches and missions both within the province and around the world.

In the past 6 weeks we have been able to receive and pass along $850. In doing so, we have encouraged the ministry of a “faith missionary” in Ontario, helped finance an evangelistic outreach of a Church in Shawinigan (Nouvel espoir), and supported a mission trip to Mexico.

This is just the beginning. Personally, I am convinced that if we continue to live generously, that God will pour into our storehouse from His abundance. Faithful in little, we will eventually be trusted with much. And what we really want from God is to play a part in the great harvest He has planned for this province.

Live as though being generous really matters. It does in God’s economy.

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