Dietrich Bonhoeffer - Part 1

As part of my theological studies, I am required to study the lives of certain theologians - who are/were they, what influenced them, what shaped their doctrine and understand what made them tick? 

 

Diedrich Bonhoeffer is the first one on my list and from what I've read so far, I'm speechless; except for maybe a whisper of "Wow!" every now and then. For a guy who achieved his doctorate at 21, who wrote books that would shape future Christian culture, who would stand in courageous opposition to Hitler and the Third Reich - and he was executed because of it - and all this before he turned 40! Let me share with you...

 

Diedrich was born in 1906 into a middle class German family. By age 14, he told his parents he wanted to study to become a priest. By age 21, he wrote his first book 'Communion of the Saints' from which earned him his Ph.D. During the next 18 years, he would go onto write "Life Together", "The Cost of Discipleship" and "Ethics" - all of which had major influence on Christians since. As Hitler rose in power, Diedrich opposed the state-run-church and preached/taught in the 'underground' church called the Confessing Church. It was here that Diedrich had influence amongst German believers. He ran their 'underground' seminary as well, teaching and training future preachers. He travelled to the USA twice and occasional trips to London, where he preached and lectured. On his second trip to the United States, he knew he had made a mistake. His burden for his countrymen in Nazi-Germany was one that troubled him immensely and he knew God was calling him to suffer with them and oppose Hitler from inside Germany, come what may! He was a courageous man.

 

His theology was lived out in his actions. His theology became his convictions and his convictions became his legacy. Some men can tell you exactly what they believe, with subheadings and definitions, with Diedrich, you just need to look at his life - and that's what makes me utter "Wow!"

 

His theology was simple - Jesus suffered. He suffered for the sake of us, humanity. He refers to God as the God of weakness - not because He is weak, but because in His great power, he submitted to death on a cross and suffered what needed to be suffered for those that needed help - all of humanity. Diedrich concludes that we ought to be like Jesus; in that Christians should act when they see injustice, it's not enough just to speak against it. Christ's example compels us. In the case of Hitler, he felt that by doing nothing about the killing of innocent Jews, he would be more guilty than if he did something that would stop him, even if that meant killing him. Such a thought process messes with many believers and still causes controversy within Christian circles today. But the fact remains - an injustice is an injustice and Christians have an obligation to act for truth and for what's right.

 

He believed that Jesus, and more importantly, the cross of Christ, had to be the centre and origin of all theological thinking in a Christian's life. Jesus and His lordship isn't just for one part of a Christian's life, but it's the foundation of every area in a Christian's life. Jesus, Lord of all.

 

He believed that the 3 propositions - the holiness of God, the sinfulness of man and the person/work of Jesus were the 3 pillars to a Christian getting saved, a Christian living out his days and a Christian growing into maturity. God is Holy, Man is Sinful and Man needs Jesus. He said that men are called to God by grace, live daily by grace and grow into maturity by the same grace. The mistake is that grace is left at the door of initial salvation and what's left is a Christian who lives out his days in utter frustration. It starts and ends in, by and through God's grace.  

 

He had a problem with cheap grace; and often spoke about how it was opposed to costly grace. Not that a believer is indebted to God - but he firmly believed that true grace looks like something - a changed life that lays down one's life for the sake of others. He believed that Christians need to be involved in social issues, political issues - Christians need to stand up and be counted and fight for those who have no voice - as Christ did on humanity's behalf. And even if it costs you your life, as it did Christ, then so be it. 

 

After all...

 

"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ lay down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters." - 1 John 3:16 

 

Part 2 coming soon...

 

 

What does a healthy Living Church look like?

I used to think Living Church or a Church on Fire (as Charasmatics would call it in the 90's) was a busy local church. My church would have Cell Groups, Prayer meetings, Worship workshops, Sunday School training programs, Soaking Sessions, Friday Outreach, Youth Meetings, Youth Rallys, Feed the Poor outreach, Hospital Visitation Groups, Word Equipping Meetings and Staff Meetings happening all the time. (Eish - that is quite a mouthful!) "Wow! Things are happening here all right!" and "God's moving and we're just facilitating what He's doing in the city" were the mantras from our pastors.

 

Besides the Sunday morning and Sunday evening gatherings, there was a constant buzz amongst all of us...we were alive and kicking, but barely. What I didn't care to admit to myself (or anyone else for that matter) was that many of us were exhausted. "Come to Jesus and you can be free, just like us," we'd tell our unsaved audiences....except we weren't that free. Or happy. Physically and mentally, we were finished. It flipping was hard work. And I didn't even have kids at that stage...I can only imagine what my friends with children were going through with all the demands parenting come with.

 

The problem was that the local church I was part of was so busy organizing itself so it can run itself so it can be successful at living by itself was doing anything at reaching anyone else....it was servicing just US - the local church!!! By the time we were finished making each other better singers or Sunday School teachers...we had very little time and energy left for our own families. Let alone the lost and dying souls in our city? (and sport!)

 

I now believe a healthy living local church is one where each one who belongs to that local church is OUT doing what he or she has been given by the Lord to do. If someone in my local church has a desire to build up strong marriages and has a kick-ass marriage course....then he/she must take that OUTside the local church. If some in the local church feel they'd like to be part or join in...then so be it. But surely it can't just be the same 12 couples from that same local church that came last year. Do you get my point?

 

A living church might seem quiet - hardly any buzz - because the people are not bringing their energy and effort IN, but rather they are using it OUTside; each one doing what they believe God has put on their hearts to do....whether it involves cooking classes, piano training, marriage enrichment, dance and theatre...He has given us gifts and talents - not for us (or even just the local church) - it's not for you - it's for the glory of God - to make Him famous amongst those who don't know Him yet.

 

Happy living!!

(Disclaimer: I'm certainly not against staff meetings or theological Bible studies - but get the point. We can't just be about servicing ourselves. We have to be on about how to reach those outside of the local church with what God has put inside of us!)

An un-deferred Heart

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick…” - Proverbs 13:12

Any part of your life in which you have no hope for, is under the influence of the devil.  The devil’s influence can’t exist in a space where there is faith and hope. Hope is a sure-footed, firm-rooted-standing on the concrete of what God has said and on what you are trusting for God to do in an area of your life.

There is nothing worse than a hopeless Christian. It stinks of unbelief. And it’s the opposite of the way He’s designed us and designed His Kingdom. He has created us to breathe the oxygen of hope and faith. It’s what fuels us.

A sick heart is a heart depressed; it’s a heart under a dark cloud of misery, pain and defeat. The greatest enemy to a believer is unbelief. When unbelief leaches onto the heart of a believer, it sucks out all hope and faith.

So I say again: Any part of your life in which you have no hope for, is under the influence of the devil.

What’s the opposite: Any part of your life in which you have dreams, hope and faith for, is not under the influence of the devil.

So, whether it be with your health or your finances or your marriage or your children or your job situation or your ministry or your purpose in life – every area of your life – ask yourself: Have you lost hope in what God can do in that area of your life?

So let me throw some faith and hope your way:

The Bible says that:

·         “We are hidden with Christ in God.” Eternally secure, forever safe and forever His. Our safety is ultimately due to His grip on us rather than our grip on Him. We are in His hands and nothing is able to snatch us out.

·         “Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world.” We have an enemy on the outside; but we have an all-powerful King on the inside and there is nothing that can take Him by surprise.

·         “You are all sons of God, through faith.” By design, He has made me in His image. New creation, righteous heart, godly desires, kingdom dreams – this is who we are! We are like our Daddy in Heaven.

Transformation comes when the mind is renewed to God’s truth. The heart will become healthy again and lose all of the enemy’s influence when we deposit faith and hope into it. “No mind has seen or eye heard or mind conceived what God has planned for those who love Him.” As sons, we are His beloved and He has dreams and purposes for us! Let not your heart grow sick with fear and unbelief. Rise up. Shake of the dust. And stand firm in your God.

The Scandal continues...

When sharing Christ one-on-one with people, I invariably share what he's done for me and I share what He's made available for anyone who would just believe. Admittedly, the most common response is "Yes, I believe in Jesus. But I need to sort myself out first, get my mind right and then start going to church." #confusedlookonmyface

 

Did they not hear what I was saying? Or maybe it's their way of trying to end the awkward conversation?

 

Even after sharing the GOOD news of the FREE gift for those who would JUST believe, the default response is about their need to sort themselves out and turn their life around - almost as if they've been pre-conditioned to the stereotypical belief that before they come to Jesus asking for forgiveness, they need to stop sinning to some degree. I mean, lest we forget the old adage: God helps those who help themselves! (Still haven't found that one in the Bible.)

 

What makes the good news so good, is that actually God helps those who CAN'T help themselves. That's why it's called good News and not good Advice.

 

Let me tell you a story of how good this is: Suppose your life is represented by a white carpet in a bedroom. As time goes by, you spill all sorts of things on this white carpet. Over time the messy food and drinks, the red tomato sauce and the black shoe marks make this carpet shine like a Vegas neon light show! It's becomes anything but white. The problem, is that God expects white. And I mean really white; it must be a clear shining sparkling diamond pristine white!

So you and I resort to our default: A boer maak a plan! We get down on our knees with some good old fashioned Preen and carpet soap and we shampoo the hell out of that carpet. We scrub till our knees and elbows are purple. But alas, no clean shining sparkling diamond pristine white carpet. It's still a mess. Nothing you can do can make your carpet clean.

 

When the good news is believed and we surrender ourselves to trying to help ourselves in order for God to help us, He rocks up and doesn't whip out a special formula carpet shampoo folks. Not on your life!! You know what He does? He takes that carpet with his bare hands and rips it out of place and tosses it in the dump bin. He replaces your carpet with a brand new, never been seen before, ultra thick woolly clear shining sparkling diamond pristine white carpet. He gives you a brand new carpet! PLUS...this carpet is mess and stain resistant. No matter what falls on this thing, it can never be stained again. Wow!! (And I guarantee it's not made in China.)

 

We are unable to clean ourselves. And we're equally unable to keep ourselves clean. The good news is that God doesn't expect us too either. In Jesus, He has provided the perfect solution  to cleaning us up. He makes us brand new. He perfects us forever. He gives us a clean heart. He makes us righteous and even calls us righteous. He gives us the very righteousness of Jesus as a gift. And nothing can stain Jesus' righteousness; not even you! He doesn't do this for those who sort themselves out. He does this for those who realise they can't sort themselves out and that they desperately need HIM to do the sorting. This is the Gospel. This is Good News!

In my own experience, I have found the best way of sharing the Gospel is by using as little Christian-ese as possible and instead, tell a story (like I have above) to illustrate the Gospel of God's work on behalf of those who would believe.

 

So whether it's my hair dresser, customer or work mate; I've found that stories work best. I mean, after reading the above story - didn't it work better for you too?

Christ usurped

It's very easy for something to usurp Christ in one's heart. 

When one gets saved, the heart encounters Him. The journey of discovery, the singing of the worship songs, the reading of the scriptures, the unveiling of truths, the adventure in prayer....He becomes your everything. It's terrific. He's terrific. He truly does become your everything, your heart beat. Ask any Christian.

Then time goes by. The period is different for everyone. But after some time and many church meetings and cell groups and youth rallies and conferences and cd preaching and Christian television shows and and and...our Christianity can begin to revolve around something, anything, other than Him. It looks like Him. It points to Him. It extols Him. It's about Him. But...it's not Him. Ask Matt Redman about the time when "the singing about Jesus" usurped the person of Jesus. Worship had slowly turned to performance. Ask the guy who found more satisfaction in uncovering truths in the written Word in study than he did in encountering the living Word in intimacy. 

Something usurps the preeminence of Jesus in the heart. And it happens subtley too, not on purpose. I heard a preacher say the other day that a day came when he realized the he actually got to a point when he started to worship the worship more than he did worship the Lord. The actual music, the action, the time of singing to Him became of more importance and satisfaction to his soul that God himself. 

It takes humility to admit it. It takes an open heart to see it. 

"I'm coming back to the heart of worship, it's all about you, it's all about you JESUS." - Matt Redman, Heart of Worship (song)

Has a "Jesus" something usurped Jesus in your heart?

Motive: Surpise Surprise!

Motive is a powerful thing. It reveals the heart. It reveals intention.
 

As a young Christian, I was hungry to be used by the Lord to minister to people. And so I was encouraged to “seek His face”. The preacher would teach us that being with the Lord in prayer and spending time in His presence was the key to flowing in signs and wonders. The scripture encourages us to be “as bold as a lion” as we “walk by faith”, trusting the Holy Spirit to move as we believe. Praying for someone’s sprained ankle while in the queue at the store or praying for a blind person’s eye to be opened while they pass by in the mall; it’s no problem if you know it’s going to happen. So how do we make sure it happens? “Seek His face!” and  “Press into the supernatural by spending time in His presence” was what we were taught. 
 

Matt Redman wrote a song in the 1990’s called “Heart of Worship” and it’s a glimpse into the journey of him working out the motives of his own heart. In it he sings “I’m coming back to the heart of worship, its all about you, its all about you, Jesus.” For a time, Matt, who is an extraordinary musician and anointed in leading believers into the Presence, began to use worship as a means to an end. What was once times of intimacy and adoration, turned into something else. His goals changed over some time and so he then began using times of worshipping the Lord to become more skilled, more anointed and to (in his eyes) garner more favour from the Lord so that God would use him. A time came where Holy Spirit revealed his heart and showed him the folly of it. "Heart of Worship" became his song of repentance and constant reminder of what worship was to be all about.
 

 

Spending time with The Lord as a means to an end is the wrong motive. Is it wrong to desire to serve people with the gifts? No. Is it wrong to desire to be used by Him? Certainly not. Those are God-given ambitions. May all in the Church have these desires to be used to touch a lost and dying world! But they are secondary to your love relationship with Him. Intimacy with the King is priority number one. We spend time with Him because we love Him. No other reason. No other agenda attached. Him alone.  
 

 

So ask yourself: Do you spend time in prayer because you enjoy being with Him? Do you spend time in worship because you love to adore Him?
 

Or do you spend time in prayer and worship SO THAT you can be empowered to live a supernatural life or SO THAT you can be a better preacher or SO THAT                                (you fill in the blank)?
 

 

I admit it. Some time ago I fell into the same trap as Matt. I was reading my Bible, spending time in prayer and soaking in times of worship as a means to an end; until the Lord graciously showed me my motives.
 

 

Won’t you join me and let our hearts return to Heaven’s motive: “I’m coming back to a heart of worship. It’s all about you. It’s all about you, Jesus.”

Real Freedom

I write this as a Christian man and on behalf of Christian men. I write this as a Christian man who is tired of doing church. I've had enough of meetings. And I suspect, you have too. Other guys who've been saved as long as I have, echo these sentiments. We desire the real. We want to see God's real power displayed. We want to experience real freedom. We want to bless the world with real demonstration. We have grown tired of hearing what happened in so and so's church in Texas and in India and in Ghana. We want to experience it for ourselves! 

I'm tired of having to put up with theologies that explain why God isn't doing. But I'm also tired of defending my theology of why God should be doing. I'm tired of discussions and debates. When Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, he said he hadn't come to them with wise words or eloquent speech. He had come to preach Christ crucified and demonstrate the power of the Kingdom. Please God, can we get back to preaching the simplicity of the Gospel and demonstrating the real power of God to and amongst it's hearers. 

One of the pressing issues on my heart at the moment is Christian men's struggle with their lust for pornography. I desire to see men, who dearly love Jesus and who long to serve Him with everything they have, be totally and utterly freed of this sin. Will we forever be caught in Romans 7:15 or can the promise of Galatians 5:1 become a reality?

Please follow with me, and keep in mind the context of addiction to pornography:

"How God anointed Jesus of Nazereth with the Holy Spirit and power, and He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with him." - Acts 10:38

"Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working." - James 5:16

The word "healing" (Acts 10:38) and "healed" (James 5:16) are the same Greek word. Both mean physical healing. The same word is used throughout the gospels describing the healing miracles JESUS performed. The point is this: Healing is a reality that scripture says we can walk in; here and now. Pornography is an oppression by the enemy, like sickness, and it can be healed! The brain can be rewired. The soul can be made whole. The pain that porn is being used to mask over can also be healed. Freedom IS possible. Healing IS possible! 

Men who are controlled by pornography and feel they are the only ones battling the way they are, are hugely mistaken. Did you know that 25% of all Google searches are porn related? It's an epidemic!! It's not just you my cuzzie. The problem is that with pornography comes the shameful and embarrassing stigma and men are wary about admitting what they do in secret, lest it comes out into the open. So men have been fighting it. For years. Alone. Is there freedom? If they are at all honest with themselves, they'll tell you, no. 

One of the keys that I've experienced to being free from porn is the decision to confess it. Having a pastor or a friend in whom you can get real with, is priceless. Confession of sin is bringing it out from the darkness and into the light. Sin doesn't have power in the light. It's exposed. It becomes unappealing and the mystery of it disappears. 

I believe that James understood this when he spoke about confession of sin. Healing, REAL healing (actual freedom, actual deliverance...the real deal) comes when we confess and are prayed for. The freedom that is available to the kids of the Kingdom is something we can experience and walk in. It's not just some pie in the sky that we will hopefully come into once we get to Heaven! No, sir. It's Heaven's reality that is available to us here on earth. Jesus was not lying when He said we can experience abundant life. That abundant life includes abundance of the soul. Freedom from pornography and the control of its lusts and evil desires. In my journey, a continued walk of confession and vulnerability with my Christian friend is important. Freedom from addiction doesn't equal never-sin-again. The flesh will always have its lustful appetites, but the confession of it in the light disarms it's appeal.

Yes my friend, with man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible!

I'm challenging my fellow Christian men: Find a Christian friend you can trust with your heart. Open up to him. Confess your struggle with pornography. Pray together. Put James 5:16 into practice and believe God for the healing that brings freedom. We have an obligation to our sons and fellow men in our generation, to stand up against this epidemic that's destroying souls, ending marriages and polluting minds. May it begin with us. May it begin with us receiving and walking in the real demonstration of freedom so that we can be ministers of freedom to others.

Will the real men please stand up?