Christ Incarnate in the Culture?

Are we Going to engage our Culture?

In the beginning the Word already existed. He was with God, and He was God. He was in the beginning with God. He created everything there is. Nothing exists that he didn’t make. Life itself was in him, and this life gives light to everyone. The light shines through the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it”. So the Word became human and lived here on earth among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father.” (John 1:1-5; 14 NLT)
…”having a form of godliness but denying its power” (2 Tim 3:5).

ARE WE STUCK ON LIVING Christian PRINCIPLES?

God never called us to to live by Christian principles. He calls us to live in relationship with the Living God, Jesus Christ. We are to literally live an incarnate life moment by moment. Asking God to help us when we fail to get up quicker than the last time we have failed. Incarnation living is to live life from not our own self or our own desires. Incarnation living is to represent in a bodily form Christ who is supplying our life from within as our source. When we embody Christ to those around us we are representing the pierced hands, feet, and speared side of Christ. We are helping people to the heart of God through in living form being who Christ is and all that he has done by Grace not representing oneself, we represent a Kingdom here on earth because Christ who is our King reigning and ruling from our hearts as a channel of His kingship to those of another kingdom. We make the subjective,objective and through having God’s interests, thoughts and feelings live them through our Human spirit that has been regenerated inwardly to outward representation of the Throne of God that is with in us now. When we are sensitive to the Holy Spirit, who is our Source that has internally transfigured us from within. We are by every moment the reality of Christ to the world by manifesting the Glory from within our very lives demonstrate plainly, relevantly, and practically the bodily form of God upon this earth from our new hearts and new nature. Our new nature with in us was birthed from above and from within ourselves so it does not depend upon our own effort to have God be channeled or flows out from us. God the Holy Spirit is the Living Water that will flow through us to make obvious and apparent who God is and what He has already performed and accomplished. The unfinished work of God is to emerge the Finished work of God to the Lost and depraved world around us through our lives as we are the manifestation of the invisible God. We are the visible and external embodied truth of God for God’s Truth lives within us we can be the personification of Christ who has preeminence of our lives. This means that we live the personal qualities of God’s nature that lives within our new hearts and by our new Christly minds.

What is Incarnational Living ?

Incarnational living finds its source in the love and concern of God for His creation. God proved, in a real way, His care for humankind by becoming human being. It must be this love of God that embraces us and motivates us, in turn, to care for others.

Without giving up His divine character, Jesus became fully immersed within the culture of the people to whom He brought the excellent News. He was part of the culture, yet transcended it. He lived contentedly surrounded by the culture, yet was a representative of transformation. The incarnation is a difficult to comprehend and exist within the world of the un-churched culture. We must make the Great News culturally relevant to them, and take it into their world.

Outreach to the un-churched must consider the issues of incarnation by going where people go, and living in their world. The methods we use to reach them must be based upon developing authentic relationships that are living. We must model a lifestyle of Christ-likeness in the context of friendship and serving people as Christ has served us. The church must meet the needs of the un-churched within the world in which they live, instead of confrontational evangelism, practicing servant evangelism and living an incarnate life as living epistles that can be easily read, overflowing with the life of Christ from within as a follower of Christ.

Because Jesus is love incarnate, He chose to leave the glory of heaven and dwell among men. Think about this… God the eternal Son became man to dwell side by side with each of us that he created! Now we must prove through our lives that man can still dwell eternally side by side with God.

Incarnational living is not just about remembering an event in the past but the events of the future as well. We must come to realize that the best days are ahead of us, not behind. The Kingdom of God is just around the corner. We must stop yearning for the good old days and begin to look forward with joyous anticipation and excitement that the best is yet to come. God is yearning to be incarnate in your life…today and in all your tomorrows. The Kingdom of God is just ahead of us. It is time for us to look farther down the road. The fullness of His Glory is still yet to be revealed !!

Jesus, the God who became man, is our example. Without giving up His divine qualities, He nevertheless became fully immersed within the culture of the people to whom He brought the Great News. He was part of the culture, yet transcended it. He lived happily within the culture, yet was an agent of transformation. Are willing to be also agents of transformation today with our lives and engage culture.

Incarnate Defined:

Incarnate can be defined as:

To represent in or as if in bodily form; to embody: To represent in bodily or material form to include; to integrate: represent; materialize; externalize: make external or objective, to turn outward; To direct interest, thoughts, or feelings into a channel leading outside himself or herself. make external or objective, or give reality to, make manifest: To show or demonstrate plainly; reveal, exhibit, make plain, clear, obvious To make manifest or apparent to represent in or as if in bodily form: body forth Readily seen, perceived, or understood materialize : emerge To take physical form or shape. To cause to become real or actual , objectify: To make objective, external, or concrete, make external or objective, or give reality to, personalize: To take (a general remark or characterization) in a personal manner. To attribute human or personal qualities is to personify Make personal or more personal, personify: To think of or represent as having personality or the qualities, thoughts, or movements of a living being from within

One of the weaknesses of the Church today is that we preach and teach people principles without the relationship. We teach so much head knowledge and bible doctrine on one extreme or on another extreme share stories that contain little or no biblical truth nor how to apply it relevantly in practical Christian living through the Word of God. These extremes are so prevalent in the American or Western church that we have disengaged from the culture and put bars on our churches to keep the sick or those that don’t dress like us, act like us, talk like us, behave like us, or who really doubt and are just as skeptical as Apostle Thomas, which Christ came to seek and save out of the religion to bring them into a relationship. The church mostly has become institutionalized or become so established in organization it has lost its organic nature. The church is Christ’s Bride and is living we can try through religion t

o over program, make it consumer friendly, or become a movement of together through the organism of the Body of Christ here on earth. Instead it has become a refuge from the World, as an alternative to Changing the world by turning the World upside down by operating within the world but not of the world through living Christ incarnate to the lost and dying world.

The western church is big on ten step programs, “how-to” methods and acrostics to illustrate memorable ideas. There is a place for establishing principles to change negative behavior. However, we are not called to have a relationship with principles, but a living God. Living by principles is the equivalent to living by the law in the Old Testament. It is rooted in the Greek system of learning and is dependent upon our strength instead of being led and empowered by the Holy Spirit. Principle-based living is powerless living. This makes our Christian experience a religion instead of a relationship. “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law” (Gal 5:18).

We read about principle-based followers in the book of Acts, “The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people” (Acts 5:12-14). There was a group of followers who liked being taught but never entered the game. The prophet Jeremiah tells us about the nature of God and His desire for every believer.

This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the LORD. (Jeremiah 9:23-24).

When are we Going to Engaging our Culture?

When the church embraces this mandate, how does it engage the culture around it? On the one hand, everyone within the church interacts daily with the culture in which they live. On the other hand, the church exists as a subculture that is out of step with larger Western society. We as the Church have tended to be reactionary rather than missional. We are known for building high walls around our churches and doing in-reach really well with programing our people like prisoners are programmed in institutions. We have our unspoken rules in the church, that sound like prison programing instead of freedom and Grace. This lack of missionary spirit has contributed to the churches mass marketing approach and consumerist culture. Every culture that has no missionary presence will eventually become a secular society. We are loosing ground every day with thousands of churches closing or declining in attendance rapidly. If we do not wake up and sound the alarm we will look around ten years from now and wonder what has happened to the CHURCH.

Instead of engaging the culture in which we exist, we have been prone to long for the return of 1954. Rather than incarnate the body of Christ within our present culture, we tend to stand against the culture and chastise the deterioration of society.

Should the church seek to be relevant to the culture in which it exists? On the one hand, the Church must always be distinct from the world in which it exists. We must, for instance, be distinct in the way that we treat one another, as our love for one another is a witness to the power of Christ within our community. On the other hand, we can not be the body of Christ incarnate to this culture if we do not become part of this culture. Christ came into our world and entered a particular time and place. So we as the church becomes Incarnational, the body of Christ manifested within the culture of our missionfield which is everywhere we are in the culture.

One might argue that the church should be wholly distinct from culture, that the culture within the church should be formed only by scripture. This argument would be stronger if it were possible for any church to remain distinct from its culture.

Friend, have you been guilty of living a life based on principles instead of knowing the One who authored the principles? Invite Jesus to be Lord over your life and begin to spend time with Him every day. Ask the Holy Spirit to lead and guide you through every moment of your day.

In His Grace Forever,
Pastor Teddy Awad, CMHP
Young Adult Crisis Hotline
and Biblical Counseling Center
410-808-6483
theodoreawadjr@comcast.net
http://yacrisishotline.tripod.com/
http://youngadultcrisishotline.blogspot.com/
youngadultcrisishotline@comcast.net

People are not perfect and neither is the Church!

According to research conducted by Lifeway and North American Mission Board, people seem to like Jesus, but not His church…

• Seventy-two percent of the people interviewed said they think the church is full of hypocrites.
• Seventy-one percent of the respondents said they believe Jesus makes a positive difference in a person’s life.
• Seventy-eight percent said they would ‘be willing to listen’ to someone who wanted

Here’s the church, and here’s the steeple, open the door and see all the people.

 
Is that what people actually think of the Church?

Is it a building with a bunch of people who use big words and have crazy doctrines?

The people are boring, the worship service is blah.

The sermon is condemning and you leave church feeling the same way you came, now condemned and a little confused.

Why do I even bother going in the first place?

Is this why people stay away from church?

All of these are vital questions for us together to honestly address our poor image as the church. Our image to the world around us. Our job is to bring the Bride home. We have been a great task, that is, a passionate love for the Bride of Christ, and the working with all our heart to bring her home and present her spotless and chaste. To this we give our lives, that Jesus Christ might be pleased with the one upon whom he has pledged His love. I believe we must work with the church of Jesus Christ, because the only way to do biblical missions is to through a biblical church. We must do everything according to Scriptures. It is true. The door is open more than ever before. I think about the countries that have not been reached, but if we are going to walked through the door, we must do it biblically. We must return to Scripture, not the methodologies of men. First, I want to talk about finding the church, in other words, stopping the slander. If you want to be endeared to me, then treat my wife with the greatest respect. If you want to be on my bad side, then slander my wife.

These references and stories below are not to slander the Bride of God. They are to Awaken us to the Gideon call to let God use you. The least expected person and filling it with the power of God as instruments of His Glory. We are just ordinary men and women who can lead the Revolution. The Cross-cultural revolution is burning in a few places. Let us find these places and become ablaze by the Word of Grace. The Grace Revival always begins when we look at ourselves with honesty and then repent when we are made aware where Grace is not working in our life. Look to Grace to do the work in our lives which will overflow to others. The revival will only come if the Bible is the explanation not human performance or man made solutions. Our Part is not to be critical abut God’s Bride, we are to make the changes necessary that we think need to be changed. I ask God is this just my opinion or is this your opinion Lord. If it is the Lord Jesus’s Opinion then I champion the cause of Christ. I place myself in the Flow of God and allow him to use me to make a impact in the church I attend.

I believe the church has a responsibility to be a shining light for the world to see, reaching out to those people who are lost (Philippians 2:15). The church should be the first source for those that need the love of God in their lives. But what is the driving force behind most young people’s attitude against the traditional church? Is it fear? Do they believe in God less now a days? Are they looking for answers instead of just  behavior modification?

It’s all too much when all God wants is just you.

I have talked to friends who don’t think they need to go to church to be a “Christian”. Many have been hurt by Pastors; they feel that they don’t know how to preach to their situations and problems or having to dealing with pre-marital sex, dating, drugs and peer pressure. Or they’re concerned with pastor’s begging for money, believing every time they come to church they’ll be badgered to open their wallets and give them something that folds not jiggles. Although this maybe true for some churches–meaning that it’s not the church for you–every church is different.

The one thing that is abundantly obvious to me is that church should be a place of worship. It should be a place that every one will experience the presence of God whether they realize it or not. It should be a place where you feel welcome. It should be a place where you feel at home. It should be a place where the refreshing Word of God is taught–not what the preacher saw happening in the hallway or some manmade doctrine, prohibiting makeup or pants. It should be a place where God is always present. It doesn’t matter what you wear. God wants your heart. Now if all of these things embody your church than you have a great church, if this is not the case, especially teaching the Word of God, then run, and run fast.

What does the bible say about going to church? Is this a must for “Christians” to attend a local church? I believe that it is essential as a believer to fellowship with others in a setting that allows you to grow in Christ (Hebrews 10:24-25) to be in an environment that is suitable for your personal growth. People are not perfect and neither is the Church. I think people forget that as children of God. We too have problems and situations that frustrate us, disappoint and even sadden us. The church needs to reestablish itself as place to build people up and not tear them down, there needs to be a new paradigm within the Church. Many churches have realized this, but many have not as well. They continue playing church and only reaching those that are in arms length, sitting in their pews.

Times have changed and the Church has to change right along with it, based wholly on God’s word.
I remember having this conversation while in college, concerning the problems with churches.  I learned about God, I learned His word, but I never learned to love this place called church. I learned that it was very ritualistic and some people believed in order to go to heaven you needed to go to church. Or in order to be a good “Christian” you had to be there every time the doors opened.

Now as a Father, I am overcome with the responsibility of teaching my children the value of being a “child of God” and not someone who goes to church every week. I want them to have a personal relationship with God that transcends the ideal of church and its doctrine and all that it entails. I want them to see the imperfection as well as the Godly attributes that people have. I want them to learn to study and read God’s word for themselves and not to wait for Sunday morning to hear the word.

For me, the Church is a place of fellowship, experiencing corporate worship in unity with other believers (Psalm 133:1). I don’t know about you, but I feel going to church is an important part of my walk and I don’t ever want to miss hearing a fresh new word, but I don’t feel guilty if I don’t make it every Sunday morning or Wednesday night, because the idea of church is not about the building, it’s the body of Christ as a whole, expanding His kingdom.

Do you want to expand HIS KINGDOM?????

Effective Biblical Counseling

 

1-877-702-2GOD

Everyone needs spiritual direction and Godly Counsel at some time in their lives. God did not make us to live totally isolated, independent lives one from another. God uses the analogy of sheep to describe us. Sheep are animals that need a lot of care. God is the Chief Shepherd, but He also appoints others under Himself to aid in the care of the flock.

There are specific situations where getting Godly Counsel is appropriate:

· When you face major decisions such as marriage, career choice, and spiritual direction.

· When you face crisis issues such as divorce, job loss, major or long-term illness, financial loss, the death of someone near, and physical, mental, emotional, verbal, and sexual abuse.

· When you face unresolved conflicts such as in family relations, employer-employee relations, other social relations, church relations, and civil relations.

· When you face addictions such as substance abuse (drug, alcohol, nicotine, and food), sexual addictions, work, ministry, or entertainment addictions, and fantasy addictions.

· When you face uncontrolled negative emotions and thoughts such as fear, anger, jealousy, bitterness, hate, suicide, depression, doubt, and guilt.

· When you have difficulties with sleep such as needing excessive amount of sleep, getting too little sleep, or having nightmares and excessive daydreams.

· When you experience physical problems without a known physical cause.

· When you become spiritually unsure or confused about your salvation from sin, your relationship with God, your spiritual future, or living a proper spiritual life.

Which Counselor?

We should begin by understanding that there are various levels of counseling:

First, there is the friendship level. If you have a minor problem, you may go to a close friend for advice.

Second, there is the authority level. In certain situations you may seek the counsel of your parents, the boss, a pastor, a minister, civil or governmental authorities.

Third level is that of trained counselors. A trained counselor is someone who has specific training in the area of the problem that you are experiencing. God may work through all three of these levels.

There are also different general approaches to counseling. The sociologist will emphasize the importance of the influence of society as it molds the character of your life. The psychologist will emphasize the importance of "self" and the factors which influence "self-esteem". The psychiatrist will emphasize the importance of physical and chemical factors which influence your mental and emotional states. The biblical / pastoral counselor will emphasize importance of both the Living and the written Word of God and their influence upon your nature, character, and your inner life.

Effective Counseling

First, effective counseling is to be Jesus-centered. David declared, "Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory" (Psalms 73:24). He also stated, "There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD" (Proverbs 21:30). Therefore, in a general sense, all good Godly counseling must come from the LORD. Furthermore, the life, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus must be the grounds for counsel. His life is our example. His death is our victory over sin. His resurrection is our assurance of new life. His ascension is our basis for victory over the enemy. The counselor’s only hope in counseling is for the Spirit to intervene in the life of the counselee. When the Spirit of God intervenes, miracles occur, and God changes our lives.

Second, effective counseling is to be Scriptural. Paul tells us that the Word is the basis for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in right living (II Timothy 3:16). David said, "Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counsellors" (Psalms 119:24). The Bible is our instruction manual. It is our guide for life. Things go wrong when we fail to follow the manual. James declares that we are to receive the engrafted Word that is able to save our souls (mind, will, and emotions) (James 1:21).

Third, effective counseling is to be spiritually inspired. Solomon, in a dream, asked for wisdom, and God gave it to him (I Kings 3:9, 12). God also promises to give us wisdom. "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all [men] liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him" (James 1:5). Wisdom is the ability to see from God’s perspective. However, one must not only see from God’s perspective, one also must be able to communicate what God wants communicated. Therefore, one must be filled with the Holy Spirit. The counselor needs to be like Stephen. "And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake" (Acts 6:10). Good counseling should have Isaiah 11:2 as a motto.

Fourth, effective counseling should be discerning. The enemy may appear as an angel of light (II Corinthians 11:14). Therefore, the counselor should test the spirits (I John 4:1). 

Fifth, effective counseling should be judged for accuracy. Th

e Word says, "Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety" (Proverbs 11:14). There should be no "Lone Rangers" in counseling. Most counselors have some blind spots that are seen by others, but not by themselves. The enemy also is more likely to attack the lone sheep. Those in counseling should be willing to submit to counseling themselves if needed.

Sixth, effective counseling is mature. We should heed the warning from Scripture. Rehoboam turned the people of Israel against him because " . . . he forsook the counsel which the old men gave him, and took counsel with the young men that were brought up with him, that stood before him" (II Chronicles 10:8). Mature counsel also knows when to feed milk and when to feed meat (I Corinthians 3:2 and Hebrews 5:12). Mature counsel has learned to discern between good and bad (Hebrews 5:14). Mature counsel is stable (Ephesians 4:13-14) and exemplifies the counsel of Christ. The result of spiritually mature counsel is that you learn the difference between what is right and what is wrong, repent, and receive freedom.

Seventh, effective counseling is progressive. God does not always answer us when we ask. "And Saul asked counsel of God, Shall I go down after the Philistines? wilt thou deliver them into the hand of Israel? But he answered him not that day" (I Samuel 14:37). Sin blocks the receiving of God-inspired counsel. Sin in your life also may block you from making progress. The counselor always desires that you make spiritual progress. However, when the counselor discovers a wall of resistance in your life, he may be unable to give the counsel that he would like to give until that wall is torn down. God may say, "Do what I have told you to do before I give you any more instructions." Christian counseling is to address the wall of resistance in love and with the authority of Grace.

Eighth, effective counseling is to be conviction based not naturally opinionated. My opinion is to be what God says in His Word, this takes time and maturity for an individual to have his opinions processed through the Cross of Christ and through God’s Word.  Paul said, "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine" (II Timothy 4:2). The primary reason that most people need counsel is that they, in some way, have not obeyed God or have not been taught to follow the Spirit. These are usually from independent effort to live by our own abilities in self-sufficiency and reject the grace of God, this to live off the mark and path of God’s will. Therefore, one must come to see the roots of sin before he can get very far on the road to recovery.

Ninth, effective counseling needs to speak the truth in love. The truth will convince individuals in their minds  and then cause a turning of their mind from one direction to another about the direction they are on. "For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death" (II Corinthians 7:10). Paul declared that he had a clear conscience before God and man (Acts 24:16). Once one receives a clear conscience, he can see clearly to make a stand. David said, "He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD" (Psalm 112:7). Paul declared, ". . . for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day" (II Timothy 1:12). He also exhorts us, "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord" (I Corinthians 15:58).

Tenth, effective counseling must be prayer-centered. The Christian counselor will begin the session with prayer. When Christian counselors pray, God often brings to the surface the real issues. When Christian counselors pray, you receive deliverance, healing, and direction for your life. When you pray you may receive forgiveness for your sins, eternal life, and confidence that God will continue to work in your life.

Eleventh, effective counseling must deal with the whole person (spirit, soul, and body). We need to realize that each of these areas is interrelated. Moreover, when spiritual issues are dealt with, the other areas are dramatically effected. John wrote, "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth" (III John 1:2). When you confess bitterness as sin and forgive the offender, then depression may leave and the symptoms of arthritis may also disappear. When you turn worry over to the Lord, then the confusion leaves and stomach trouble leaves.

The Whole Person Approach

Where does Whole Person Counseling get its name? The Bible speaks of the whole person as being spirit, soul, and body (I Thessalonians 5:23). The spirit pertains to the spiritual part of man and involves a relationship with God and other spiritual beings. The soul pertains to the psychological and social aspects and involves the mind, will, and emotions. The body pertains to the physical part and involves the senses of hearing, seeing, smelling,, and tasting, and feeling. Whole Person Counseling is based upon the concept that these three parts of man (spirit, soul, and body) have a profound influence, one upon the other. What we believe and what we think has an enormous effect upon our mental and emotional stability, our physical health, our relationships with others, and our overall degree of success in life. Therefore, Whole Person Counseling looks at the relationship between each of the parts of man, recognizing that counseling must deal with the Whole Person in order to have a positive, lasting effect upon one’s life. By God’s grace you may set each part (spirit, soul, and body) in its proper order and achieve victory over many of life’s most difficult problems.