The Process of Coming to Know God (in an authentic way)

I was listening to Mark Driscoll's audiobook of "Religion Saves: - And Nine Other Misconceptions" - a series he did at his church based on questions people in his congregation were asking.  Driscoll's book provided answers in response to some misguided ideas that religious people have about God - ideas that distract from a real, living relationship with God.  You can read more about my thoughts on Religion Saves and the audiobook version of it at the end of this blog post...

So... what about my title? "The Process of Coming to Know God (in an authentic way)?"

One really interesting thing I took away from "Religion Saves" was Driscoll's take on the "process of salvation."  This process, referred to in latin as the "Ordo Salutis," is simply the process by which God reveals Himself to us, and how that revelation leads us to loving Him.

Driscoll is an avowed supporter of predestination - he believes that God has purposed, in advance, for us to come to know Him.  Before reading Religion Saves, I didn't really feel comfortable with the idea of God predestinating things into our lives, but I think I took something positive away from the book. Let me share what I learned from Driscoll's teaching on how a person makes a transformation from being 'dead in their sins' to 'walking with a perfect God:'

1. "Election" - A perfect (pure) God reaches into time, choosing to save us. We are literally dead at this point, like one who has just flatlined in cardiac arrest - dead on the desert pavement. Heart rate zero. We are doing nothing at this point - we cannot even ask to be saved, because we're DEAD!  We're just laying there dead in the death of our sin.  As far as we are concerned, our imperfections are an insurmountable, paralyzing chasm separating us from a Holy God. We are clinically dead, and it is only God who can, and does dispatch the paramedics.

2. "Injection" - God gets us the medicine. He brings out the paddles. God brings the CPR. While we are still dead, he pushes 3:16cc of Epinephrine and fires 200 Joules through the defibrilator paddles.  We can neither resist nor ask for this treatment - our state of "clinically dead" gives God implied consent, and he bears His weight down on our chest, working to pump our un-beating heart; we can neither accept or deny this: we're dead.  God gives us the antidote to the death we are suffering - he proclaims the Good News that we don't have to die in our sins, but that we can call on Jesus to be saved. Although death surrounds us, we need not be condemned to the grave eternal. The Good News is that God loves us - we need not run from Him.  While we're running down that dark tunnel into the abyss, He calls us back to life:  "Wake up!  Come back to me!"

3. "Regeneration" - This is the intensive care unit. God revives us. We need simply turn away from deathly sins and believe in God's real efforts to love us.  Doing so gives us a pulse, and a huge gasping inhalation of air, like a baby taking its first breath after the doctor gives that loving tap on the back!  Once we are in the ICU, and awake enough to be coherent, we are offered a contract of care with our Surgeon.  He offers us a new heart, one that will not just take us off bypass but will last us; He offers a heart that will not bring us swiftly to death's door once again.  We must simply "sign on the line," giving up our broken heart, our heart so impaired by death, and receive the transplant.  Note - He is not giving us a brain transplant, but a heart transplant. Receiving this new heart is called being born again.  This new Heart acts as a conduit.  It allows the good to flow into us, from God's own perfect Spirit.  Our new heart is not bent on seeking out poisons, but delights in the new life it has been given.

4. "Conversion" - Tragically, some people read the word conversion and believe that conversion is the process whereby people are turned into robots for God.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

Out of the Intensive Care Unit, our new lease on life, our new heart, motivates us and enables us to choose God in a new way, unlike ever before. Instead of the trans-fat triple-stack heart-attack binge food we've been living on, we suddenly have a sweet tooth for what's really good...
Something has changed in us: whereas before, we felt pangs of guilt every time we took in some bad cholesterol - we knew it was killing us.  So we tried to fix our guilt, but alas, the guilt just made us binge all the more!  We were in a deathward spiral...
Yet now, we have faith in God's message and his Truth. The miracle we have experienced transforms our life - and we will never be the same again. In two words - we repent in our actions and have a faithful belief growing from our new hearts.  We are not ruled by the law and guilt, but rather, we can see bright light in our future, and we act and prepare accordingly.

IMPORTANTLY: Nothing in the process of "conversion" is meant to be shown externally (i.e. in actions) before the new heart has been fully accepted on the inside.  If you were a couch potato before, then nobody should expect to see you with ripped muscles and 6-pack abs out of nowhere just because you stopped eating chips!  If you were a liar before you received your new heart, chances are you will drift towards that tendancy as you set off.  God would never ask you to put on a false front or have you pretend to be healed and perfect, while you are still bandaged and in pain.  You are imperfect.  I am imperfect.   God is a god of process.  He loves our growth process.  Walk it out - don't fake it out.

5. "Justification" This is the truly exciting part! We take ownership of our new status. We are no longer "heart attack victims" but we are renewed and healthy. We stand before a perfect God and instead of saying "look at what I have done to show my excellence," we say "I know I am declared pure by what Jesus has done for me, and I have done nothing to earn it." God accepts our plea for, and full acceptance of his abounding mercy, and we obtain an amazing new legal standing before God. The sin that had condemned us to eternal death is wiped out by God's perfect payment. We can say with certainty "I KNOW where I will spend eternity - I will certainly spend it in the presence of the God I know and love!"  Do you have that certainty today?

6. "Adoption" - God welcomes us into a family unlike any other. Unlike gangs or cults, we discover God’s enduring family, the church.  The church is like a fitness & dietary centre for the cardiac survivor.  In this place, in this family, you can rediscover health, in a welcoming atmosphere.  You will be challenged, supported, and comforted.  You join "the called out ones" - just like the ones called out of the Matrix.  ((It's worth saying - it's important to ensure you find the real family and not get trapped into a gang or some group that claims to be God's people but is really a brood of snakes!  Jesus advised simply: "by their fruit you will know them."))

7. "Sanctification" - Being sanctified means "fully making use of something according to its original purpose."  For example, BBQ sauce is sanctified when it's used on steak, not when it's used as car fuel or as an ice cream topping.  God has a purpose for your life - a wonderful and deep niche that only you can fill.  Listening to God, and hearing from His people, you can discover this purpose and enjoy living in it.
In this stage, we undergo ongoing growth in holiness, becoming increasingly like Jesus. (We don't become religious people or slaves, we become friends of God.)  We don't just kick the junk food; we discover a lifestyle of health that we enjoy. With our health, we go on to do many more things we could never have done in our sickness. We discover "kayaking, mountain climbing, exploring and scuba diving" which were never options for the cardiac-arrested in sins.  All in all, we discover what we are meant to be as people - we discover the meaning of life!

8. "Perseverance" - Life grows on and on.  It deepens.  Our relationships with people become healed and we discover intimacy like never before.  We walk out an ongoing love relationship with Jesus as Christians.  We "fight the good fight" and stay on our guard, now that we are aware of the trick traps which could lead us into death again!  We desire to help those we find in cardiac arrest, and show them what they've been missing.  We expand a new kind of thinking - what Jesus called The Kingdom of God (link to MP3 by Tony Fitzgerald of COTN).  We help others realize that God is for them, not against them.

9. "Death" - Although our body goes into grave, an amazing, real beginning occurs. The essence of who we are (both our soul and spirit) goes to be with Jesus. This is not clouds and cream cheese, this is life, more than you have ever imagined! If God is the one who created everything we see through the Hubble Space Telescope, then He surely has much for us to discover in "Heaven"- much more than harps on clouds.

10. "Glorification" - We receive a resurrection body according to Jesus’ example.  Although it defies standard logic, much of what Jesus did defied logic... Jesus' resurrection body apparently enabled him to do things like walk through walls or locked doors...{& more})  Our spirit and soul are reunited in this resurrection body.  One thing to note here - despite what magicians and cults teach - God's desire is not for us to be able to walk through walls in this life!  Rather, we are to go through the doors he has opened for us.

What do you think?  Write me via my contact form at the bottom of this page!

Audiobook Review - "Religion Saves" by Mark Driscoll

Firstly, I want to say that the audiobook of Religion Saves is less engaging than I had hoped (the narration by Driscoll himself seems a bit unpolished and is less than exciting.) That said, the content is certainly worth consideration for the Christian seeking clear answers to advanced-topics, or to a seeker who can cut through the noise to hear what's underneath.  Also, I got the book for free, since Crossway was giving it away in February, so I can't really complain!

People say about Driscoll - you either love him or you hate him.  I like him!  My observation is that he is very "in your face" - but that can really be an advantage at times. The topics under consideration in the book lend themselves to direct confontation, rather than tip-toeing around.  He presents a balanced view, and makes known his personal biases.  I recommend the book to anyone interested in the topics he covers, or if you want more content than is provided in the Youtube videos he does which cover the same topics.

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Notes: 1. Article on Driscoll's book - Ordo Salutis

H2O: A Journey of Faith

Hi everyone,

My friend Balazs Csongradi, a pilot trainee from Hungary, just showed me this awesome set of videos called "H2O: A Journey of Faith." It's a humble yet dramatic/cinematic look at our life's quest to quench our inner thirst, and it shows how the real-deal Jesus came to meet that need.

I'm going to call "H2O" a superior hybrid cross between the successful
"Alpha" basics series http://www.alphausa.org/
and of "Nooma" - the cinematic teaching vids (click for my fave: 002 Flame).

This set has a lot to offer and is cuttingly relevant for today's generation, who have never heard about the REAL Jesus. In one of my favourite episodes, #10, there are a bunch of crazy churches we are told to avoid: a girl is having a nightmare that she walks into a church, the preacher is yelling at a guy (fire & brimstone style), and the guy in the pew bursts into flames! It was totally hilarious!!! They just stand religious paradigms on their head and cut to the core of the thing.

You can find out more about the video's producers & can buy the DVDs online at

http://www.cityonahillproductions.com/our_work.php

Also, on a semi-related note: in case you haven't seen it, check out my Youtube-guru channel & playlists.
http://www.youtube.com/user/scriptures4life#g/p

• In my Youtube playlists, don't miss "A New Law" by rockofaegis, Cardboard Testimonies, Wedding Dress, Baby Got Book, Delilah skit by Tim Hawkins, and "How to Worship" (I love it!).

Please keep in touch and let me know if you find blockbusting music, videos, or books of this class. I'm trying to keep a pulse on it.

Cheers,
-Danny
Twitter @dvanderbyl
http://sites.google.com/site/dvanderbyl/dan-s-nexus

Response to "Marriage and Premarital Sex: Christianity Today’s Village Green" by Matthew Lee Anderson

**This is a response to "Marriage and Premarital Sex: Christianity Today’s Village Green" by Matthew Lee Anderson (MereOrthodoxy.com)**

Matthew Lee Anderson wrote:
Mark Regnerus’ answer to non-merital sex is, not surprisingly, the most compelling. The best way for young people to avoid non-marital sex (as he rightly identifies it) is for them to get married. It’s a shocking idea, I know, but the more you think about it, the more sense it’s going to make. Trust me.

LOL. The first thing that popped into my head was the Christian classic "I Kissed Dating Goodbye." Somebody gave me that book while I was in my late teens and I summarily round-filed it. It wasn't until I was married that I reopened the book and found some great concepts therein. The irony was not lost on me.

I see extramarital sex as a symptom, not the true problem itself. If we continue to try and just treat the symptom, the problem will only effuse sin in other ways. The problem is a lack of good relationship modelling, a lack of community (family) support, and a lack of intentional accountability.

To combine thoughts from Winner (I have not read the book but read the reviews / summary) and Regnerus, my thoughts are three:
1. First, we need to present a compelling picture of Biblical marriage to youth- by example.
2. We need to communicate what God has intended for marriage and sex, and finally
3. We need to give youth some good leaders (including parents) that they can be vulnerable with and accountable to (by their own choice).

As Christians, we know that God wants the BEST for us in every area, including sexuality. We know that the World's idea of sexuality is trash and a hollow shadow of the richness that God designed.
(As someone once put it, "Yes, God is trying to take something from you. He's trying to give you a feast and take away your dirty sandwich!")
We need to STOP skirting sex-talk and we need to preach about how wonderful God intended sex to be. We need to take ownership of this topic back from the world. We need to talk about it from a young age - right now the World is winning the race to present its ideas about sex to children's minds.

Secondly, after having presented youth with something to hope for, we need to encompass them with a compassionate and yet perceptive and bold community that looks out for them (cf Matthew 10:16). The community needs to span age ranges and needs to be able to talk about sex. It needs to be able to listen to a teenager scream at the top of their lungs "I WANT TO HAVE SEX RIGHT NOW!!!!!!"
If youth have a community that will let them express how they are truly feeling, and will even give them the tools with which to express those feelings (words, art, music, what have you), it will give the community a chance to reach into young relationships and offer suitable defences that will protect youth from actions they would later regret. The key is that, with youth, you can not prescribe restrictions and walk away. You need to involve them and aid them, and ultimately leave the informed choice up to them. But finally, just like any other part of the Christian life, youthful uncommitted relationships with hormones raging will certainly have much poorer outcomes when conducted in isolation than when they exist in a supportive community ecosystem.

I would like to see a survey or some statistics about whether people who married young regretted it, or whether they were more incompatible with their mates over the long term than those who waited until later in life (when, presumably, they were more stabilized in who they were, and therefore there were less surprises for their mate.) I look into the past and see people marrying at much younger ages (12? 14?). Did it work well then? Certainly, the tradition of marrying young lasted a long time. It seems it's only recently that we've taken on this trend of marrying later in life, well past the time in life when hormones rage at full boil. If Christian adults can find ways to help (sexually-struggling) Christians successfully marry at a younger age, while keeping in mind that people change markedly from say age 18-25, then we certainly should. Perhaps one way of achieving this is to drop the huge costs of big weddings off our radar. I seriously doubt there's a correlation between cost-of-wedding and marital success! ;)

To add one more thing, I know a woman who only ever seriously dated one man before marrying, and she is so pleased that she never had to go through the many great heartbreaks of dating-as-usual. I believe her route was much better than my experience of serious dating and serious heartbreak. While it's obviously hard to prescribe, I think that we need to encourage youth to look critically at their potential mates. We certainly need to empower them to be able to say after few low-risk dates "This isn't what I was hoping for. This isn't everything God has for me. Goodbye." We need to empower youth with a positive self-image - that is - we need to ensure that they know how Father looks at them: passionately and full of pride (Matthew 3:17). What I'm saying is this: when youth stand firmly on their footing with God, they are much less likely to go looking for a mate that will prop them up in dysfunctional ways, and they will much less need to fill their gaping spiritual emptiness with the salve of sexuality. With a positive image, they will look lightly on failed dating trials and heavily on choosing a life partner, not vice versa.

I'd love to see more on this issue - it's simply terrible to pass on the dead-end message to hormone-infused youth "wait until you've graduated from university and then you can address those hormones, if you're lucky."

My Response to "Why Churches Should Not Market" by Matt Farina

**This article was written in response to a post written by Matt Farina called

"Why Churches Should Not Market" **

Re: Matt's Article:
1. To Matt: I appreciate you taking the time to think about and write about this topic.

2. David's comment on Matt's article has a good point - we need to strike a healthy balance between reaching out to new people and really living with the ones we are currently walking with. I find a great parallel to the "God Does Not Post To YouTube" video. (*see bottom for note*)

I took some marketing when I did my business degree. Marketing means, basically:

1. Finding a need or niche not being well met by others
2. Creating or improving a product that will truly meet that need
3. Communicating that the solution is now available to those who you sought in step 1 (the niche).

A common misunderstanding of marketing is that it's simply about putting on an infomercial and pushing crap to the masses. That's simply scamming, not marketing, in the purer sense.

If we look at that model, then the church could learn something. Again, let's look how Jesus "marketed:"

1. Jesus knew and understood his audience - i.e. the woman at the well.
2. Jesus was certain that he had a "product" they really needed - i.e. living water (himself, relationship, healing, wholeness, holiness)
3. Jesus communicated the solution to the right audience at the right time in history, etc. He introduced what he (still) offers in the context of the troubled history of Israel and moreover mankind. He communicates his "product" via disciples and discipleship. Via relationship.

Mass marketing (such as tele-evangelism and flash-flood salvation spectacles in Africa) doesn't seem to fit Jesus' style. Although some are surely saved by these methods through God's mercy, Jesus was definitely into deeply knowing people, and cutting them to the core with healing truth (like a surgeon.) In the early days of the church (Pentecost), people were mass-converted, and that's ok. We don't have statistics for how many stayed on after the big event. But observation tells us that if they were not discipled afterwards, then they most likely fell off the bandwagon after the raising of the dead and the speaking in tongues quieted down.

Basically, people love spectacles, miracles, shows, and flashy things. It allures them for a short while. But what keeps people in a church family is tight, meaningful, loving relationships. Add to that critical and inspired consumption of God's food (the Word) and you have a sustaining family. Nobody wants to jump ship when they know in their heart that they truly are part of a family. You can choose your church, but you can't really escape being adopted into a family once you truly are grafted in.

In conclusion, I'm saying - Jesus told us to make disciples (students) of all nations, and He would build His Kingdom. He told us to love our neighbours and our enemies. He showed us not to accept lukewarm teaching or languishing existence.
Our "marketing" processes should be driven towards:
1. Understanding the World's needs (not just the 'wants' they say they have, nor simply the things they are too lazy to do themselves)
2. Sacrificing ourselves to produce a product _____ (love) that truly helps Them (and helps them know God)
3. Communicating that we offer this _Love_ to our personal niche. Each of us has a sphere where God has put us, where we know those people's needs and hurts. It is in that sphere that we can have the greatest chance to show people the love of God.

Perhaps we just need to look at "the low lying fruit" in a different way. Perhaps the best way to do the Commission is right around us as we speak.

(*A note on the "God Does Not Post To YouTube" video: I am certainly not advocating going Amish! My take on the videos is just that, for me (an über geek, technology lover), it reminded me to focus on real relationships. It told me that I should try to avoid technology consuming my real life and those real chances to relate to the people around me. I still love technology and I think God's servants have posted lots of cool stuff to YouTube ;)
For the record, I met Matt on Twitter - so technology definitely does have the chance of making new relationships.

-Danny
More about me at http://sites.google.com/site/dvanderbyl/dan-s-nexus

Hating Those We Don't Know

If anyone out there has seen The Brick Testament's treatment of Deuteronomy 13 (and following), it might remind you that there are so many people in this world who dismiss God out of hand, never giving him a chance.

I just finished reading Lamentations last night and I could hear the tears of the unwritten half of the story (i.e. God's point of view.) It's so easy to hate someone you don't know - and so many athiests hate God while not even knowing His true nature. All they see is things on the surface that they quickly use to judge God as evil.

So, after all that, I came up with this little paragraph - I think I'm going to call it "the pretext to the Golden Rule:"
In the beginning, the first thing God told the man and woman to do was to Know each other in the Biblical sense. The Serpent came along and told us we needed to know in the cognitive, intellectual sense. We still have a lot to learn from "Life 101."

It's easy to quickly gather some facts and seem like you know a lot. It takes much more to deeply know someone, to know God, personally.

To be continued...

Why Yada Know?

The Hebrew word for "to know" is transliterated "yada." So, yada know that before we start!