The Gospel According to Matt

On Christianity, Civil Responsibility and the Role of Government

mattsummers — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 14:46:31 +0000

Growing Strong as God Followers

mattsummers — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 13:31:03 +0000

This morning my devotional reading included Psalm 119:11 which says “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” Likewise, Psalm 1 explains that the one who lives a “blessed” life delights in God’s law and meditates upon it day and night. This catalyst for spiritual growth is woven throughout the fabric of Scripture.

As I considered similar passages, I started asking myself what other disciplines, practices and lifestyles might enable us to grow ever stronger as God followers.

Five Fundamental Lifestyles:

1. Contemplation & Adoration of the Creator

2. Consideration & Emulation of Jesus Christ

3. Service & Sharing with those in Need

4. Proclamation & Propagation of Christian Thought & Spirituality

5. Responsibility & Accountability within a Christian Community

___________

6. Dying to & Denying Oneself (via Jacob Walsh, www.eology.wordpress.com)

What do you think? What would you add to the list?

Creating Culture for Missional Movements (via Dave Ferguson)

mattsummers — Thu, 20 May 2010 21:52:13 +0000

Today we had the privilege of attending a Pastors’ Luncheon hosted by the Aspen Group; and had the opportunity to hear Dave Ferguson speak on “Creating Culture for Missional Movements.”

Dave’s Big Question: Can we start something to reach people who won’t come to any church, under any circumstance?

Dave’s Guess: 50% of America can be reached through common church venues; but 50% of America simply will not come to church, no matter how contemporary//relevant//positive the environment may be.
We have to recover the biblical idea that following Christ means “going & sending” people in the missional sense (Genesis 12; John 3; Luke 12; Matthew 28).
Lovers of God have always been a “sent” group of people.

Four Ways to Create A Missional-Movement Culture:

1. Find a way to ORDAIN every Christ-Follower.

We are ALL a chosen people, a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9).
We have to give our people permission to live “on mission.”

2. Learn to lead with a “YES.”

Don’t automatically say “No” to every idea. Develop the “Yes” reflex.
It might get messy, but it’s the only way to start a “Movement.”

3. Teach people to GO, not just to BRING.

Plant the Gospel before Planting a Church.
Missiology before Ecclesiology.

4. Be both INCARNATIONAL and APOSTOLIC.

We can’t just go into the world with the Gospel, we have to coach others to go into the world with the Gospel.
Discipleship = Deepening + Sending + Reproducing.

For more, we highly recommend Dave Ferguson’s and Jon Ferguson’s book Exponential: How You And Your Friends Can Start A Missional Movement. This book tells the story of one of America’s most influential churches while sharing ideas and concepts for planting, not only a church, but also a movement of churches.

For another review of Dave’s talk and the Aspen Pastors’ Luncheon click here.

The Bookends of the Gospel: Society & Salvation

mattsummers — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 18:39:44 +0000

Like bookends, Jesus begins His ministry with an explanation of the Gospel, and ends His ministry with an explanation of the Gospel. What is “Gospel?” Simply put, it’s God’s “good news.” So what are the bookends?

Luke 4:18-19: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Mark 16:15-16: “He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”

At the beginning of His ministry, Gospel is clearly defined in “social” terms. At the end of His ministry, Gospel is defined in “salvation” terms. Are these mutually exclusive? Why must progressive Christians embrace only the first part of the Gospel, and why must conservative Christians embrace only the second part of the Gospel? Both are part and partial to the whole Gospel!

Excerpt from “Blue Like Jazz”

mattsummers — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 13:11:44 +0000

“A friend of mine, a young pastor who recently started a church, talks to me from time to time about the new face of the church in America–about the postmodern church. He says the new church will be different from the old one, that we will be relevant to culture and the human struggle. I don’t think any church has ever been relevant to the culture, to the human struggle, unless it believed in Jesus and the power of His gospel. If the supposed new church believes in trendy music and cool Web pages, then it is not relevant to culture either. It is another tool of Satan to get people to be passionate about nothing.” (Donald Miller, Blue Like Jazz, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2003, p. 111.)

DNA of a Dangerous Church, Part II; Mike Breaux, Synergy 2010

mattsummers — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 15:48:04 +0000

Breaux’s Personal Mission Statement from Micah 6:8

(1) Act Justly; (2) Love Mercy; (3) Walk Humbly

Do you know who you are?

#1–Gotta know who I am

-The “me” I pretend to be…

-The “me” I think I should be…

-The “me” others want me to be…

-The “me” I’m afraid to be…

-The “me” I fail to be…

-The “me” I am MEANT to be…

Ephesians 2:10; 1 Corinthians 12:4-6

#2–Gotta know why I do what I do

“Search me O God”

John 5:30; 1 Thessalonians 2:4

#3–Gotta know what I want to accomplish

Luke 9:51

#4–Gotta get alone with God

Luke 5:15-16

#5–Gotta Share the Load

Mark 3:14 (1) with Him (2) Send them Out

#6–Gotta Take Time to Enjoy Life

“When your strength is gone, your joy is gone.”

“The Joy of the Lord is my strength” –Nehemiah

(1) Divert Daily; (2) W/Draw Weekly; (3) Abandon Annually

#7–Gotta Never Stop learning

Proverbs 18:15; Ecclesiastes 10:10

DNA of a Dangerous Church, Part I, Mike Breaux, Synergy 2010

mattsummers — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 15:39:09 +0000

“The worship of safety emasculates greatness.” –Max Lucado

“What if faith, not fear, was your response to whatever you are facing?” –Mike Breaux

DNA #1: Passionately Love Jesus

DNA #2: Ruthlessly Eliminate Ego

DNA #3: Courageously Go Against the Flow

DNA #4: Selflessly Extend Compassion

DNA #5: Unconditionally Trust God

“Will we “Unconditionally Trust God?”

John 14:1, Revelation 3:7-13; Joshua 1:9; Ephesians 6:12; 1 John 4:16-18

“To TRUST is to be absolutely convinced in the reliability of God.”

A Note to Crossroads (Our Church Family)

mattsummers — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 19:49:29 +0000

Like me, I imagine that you have been rather troubled by the catastrophic earthquake that has taken place this past week in Haiti. Death estimates range from 50,000 to 500,000 depending on the source. Beyond the dead there are millions of people without food, water, basic shelter, and the protections that we are accustomed to here in the United States. We are truly a blessed people—and those who are blessed are expected to bless others.

At all of our weekend services, this weekend, we will collect a disaster-relief fund for Haiti. The organization that will receive our offering is called “Food for the Hungry” (www.fh.org). This particular organization is Christian, is recommended by respected Christian leaders, and has very little overhead/administrative costs. According to their website: “More than 91% of their total income, including commodities, goes to field programs,” (http://www.fh.org/who/finances). They, in turn, will direct the money to Haitian relief as quickly as possible.

During our offering times this weekend, we are going to designate all loose change to “Food for the Hungry” as well as any designated gifts. For instance, if you are regular contributor to Crossroads, and you give $200 every two weeks via our offering envelopes, and you would like to designate another $50 to Haiti Disaster Relief, then you would write $200 in the “current expense” box on your envelope, and $50 in the “other” box, and then include a check for $250. However, if you are not a regular contributor to Crossroads, but you want to put a $50 bill into the offering plates, then your $50 will go to “Food for the Hungry.”.

This morning, as we were getting our oldest son ready for School, we asked him if he had his money for the book fair. He said, “No. I’m not going to buy that book. I’m going to save my money for our Haiti offering at church.” Although it is a book he’s been wanting, he decided to make a sacrifice for those in need. At Crossroads, we do a lot to serve our broken neighbors in Joliet—and we will continue to do so—but now is the time to give basic food and water to our neighbors to the south, in Haiti. I hope and pray that you will give with a cheerful and generous heart.

The Problem with the “Prosperity” Gospel

mattsummers — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 18:44:10 +0000

As in my previous post, you can find a great article here about “one of the worst religious ideas ever.” It’s an article in the Washington Post, and though I don’t know what the author believes in general, I think her critiques of the “prosperity” gospel, as well as the WWJD concept (see previous post) are spot on! The article is written by Cathleen Falsani for a Washington Post Editorial.

The Problem with WWJD

mattsummers — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 18:34:08 +0000

I’d like to encourage you to read a great article here about the problem with the WWJD movement. Although there are serious theological problems with WWJD, this particular article talks about some of it’s practical problems.