In Ephesians 4:14-24, the apostle Paul is clear that the Ephesians can no longer keep on carrying the old baggage from the lives they were leading in the past, which keeps them in places of darkness, ignorance, and hardness of heart (4:18). Instead, they need to learn that the Christian life is about the process of putting away one and putting on the new (4:22). 

That is to say, whatever is corrupt or harmful, or whatever prevents us from seeing reality clearly, or whatever keeps us in a state of alienation from God and ourselves, whatever leads to insensitivity or to a lack of compassion, or whatever keeps the vices of arrogance and deceit, or greed and recklessness – put it away! This is not what it means to learn Christ. Rather, learning Christ involves learning who Jesus was and what he did; it means learning what Jesus himself was all about, allowing Jesus’ whole life, his teachings and character, his death and resurrection, to have their full effect on us, Learning Christ involves the whole person! 

It will not necessarily mean sitting around a table in a seminar room, or about feeling a certain way, though these things can be important. No! Learning Christ will mean actually doing and saying the specific things Jesus did and said!

The late Dallas Willard of Southern California University asked a question that may sound a bit shocking at this point, but also so apparently evident: he asked a conference of church leaders once when was the last time they had heard of a group or a church of any kind have a meeting to discuss how they were going to teach people to do what Jesus said and did? In what church did they see that happening? Roman Catholic? Pentecostal? Lutheran? Evangelical? How were the people in these churches (and others) learning to do what Jesus said and did, or how were they learning what Willard calls the “curriculum for Christ-likeness”?

That’s a good phrase! And it prompts us to ask: how we enrolled what Jesus taught? How are we learning Christ? What courses do we need to take?

Whatever they are, may we find ways to sign up!
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Pastor Andy Kinsey
 

Better Together.  Isn’t that ultimately what we all want?  Isn’t that, if we are truly honest, what is at the heart of being human - a desire to be recognized for who we are and a part of something that makes us and those around us better?  A common cause. A common belief. A common purpose. 

Some people would disagree.  Some people would perpetuate the idea that it is a “dog eat dog world” and it’s everyone for themselves - every man, woman, child, dog, cat and canary.  Some people would continue to believe the story that fear and shame tells us by putting us against one another; constantly comparing us to each other in one way or another.  Some people would say “I don’t care anymore.” Some people take on the world. Some people hide from the world. CHURCH, WE ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE SOME PEOPLE. Are we? 

In Ephesians 4, Paul writes a letter to the church.  He doesn’t hold back. He gives them the piercing truth of who they are and how they are to be as the church.  This letter is not written to those outside the church. It is not written to those who don’t know or don’t follow Jesus.  It is written to believers; to those who have said yes to Jesus. It is a spiritual fitness accountability check-ist for the church.  Let’s see how we do on the spiritual fitness checklist.  

First, who is writing this letter?  The apostle Paul - not a first year seminary student, or someone with no background, experience or foundation in what and who Jesus was about.  Not someone with very little experience in all things Jesus and not a rookie church planter. This is Paul we are talking about.

Where is he writing it from?  Prison - not on the sandy shores of the sea of Galilee, or in some immaculate synagogue or cathedral in the safety and comfort of his own home office or study.  He is in prison.   
How does he approach us, I mean the church? He says, “I beg you…”  Not “I think this is a good idea,” or “hey you might want to consider,” or “this is your friendly reminder…”  He says, “I beg you!” One of the greatest spiritual fitness coaches of the church is begging us, I mean the church, to pay attention and get it right. 

Do get what right?  What does he beg us, I mean the church, to do?  To lead a life “worthy of the calling to which you have been called.”  Jesus has a call on our lives; a mark, a reason, a love claim, a purpose, and Paul is saying, lead a life worthy of what Jesus has on you.  Lead a life that honors Jesus. Lead a life that models Jesus’ teachings. 

What does that look like?  How are we, I mean the church,  to treat each other? “With ALL humility, gentleness, patience and bearing with one another in love” (v. 2).  The text doesn’t say, with “some or limited humility”, or “with conditional gentleness.” It doesn’t say, with “measured or calculated patience.”  It says “with ALL humility, gentleness and patience” we are to bear with one another in love. WITH one another. Not for one another, in spite of one another, because of one another, in competition with, or against one another.   With one another in LOVE. Not in judgement, ridicule, or criticism. Not in envy, arrogance, or spite. 

Paul then says, “make EVERY effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”  Every effort. Not partial effort, not half way effort. Not only when I feel like it, or when it's convenient for me and my schedule effort, and not if I can do it from my comfort zone effort. The text says, “make every effort to maintain unity...” 

Effort.  That is the key to any fitness routine, workout regime, or health plan.  It is the key for any athlete at any age or skill level. Effort. Whether physical or spiritual, it takes effort to make it happen or see results or have an impact.  It takes effort to be the church. It takes effort to follow Jesus, to help one another, come alongside one another, promote one another, share the burden or load with one another.  It takes effort to respond to or interact with what goes on in our world. It takes effort to keep the main thing the main thing, and keep hold of that which unites us more than that which divides us. 

When we can do that, we embody the essence, purpose and character of Jesus.  When we do that, we are a togethering church and there is no telling what God will do with a church like that. 

Can you imagine what would happen if more churches would exist, pray, teach, lead and maybe even follow out of “all humility, gentleness, and patience, and bear with one another in love?  If more churches would put forth the effort to be spiritually fit rather than spiritually right or spiritually superior? 

What might God do in and through a church like that?  Let’s be the people of God willing to find out. Amen.

Pastor Jenothy Irvine 

It can bring great joy and reveal great sorrow.  It happens at the grocery store, the gas station, and in the line at Wal-Mart.  It can fill a heart with gladness and drain a heart of bitterness. It happens in the car, the school drop-off line, and in the cafeteria.  It happens at work, at McDonald’s and on a bike ride or walk along Greenway Trail. It can make you feel strong and on top of the world, and uncover just how very small you really are.  It is deeply personal and deeply communal.

It has grown churches by the thousands and split churches just as fast.  It has helped and healed people of all makes and models. It has hurt and shunned people of all different makes, and models. It can bring people together and drive them apart.

It’s purpose is obvious yet too often goes unseen or taken for granted.  It’s power is unmatched yet, too often untouched. It’s place is everywhere yet too often unrecognized, therefore presumed nowhere. 

You know it when you experience it but too often you aren’t awake or aware enough to even notice it.

What am I talking about?  I am talking about worship.  Worship - the feeling or expression of reverence and adoration for a deity; the act(s) that make up a formal expression of reverence.

How is your reverence workout routine going these days?  Are you working your reverence and adoration on a regular basis?  What do you find most helpful? Most challenging?  

Like any other physical fitness regime, if your cardio isn’t up to par, all the weights, strength training, and yoga bending won’t get your through the long haul.  You need endurance. You need to build your stamina. In the physical fitness world that means cardio training - getting the heart rate up, working it, letting it recover, and doing it again.  Building your lung capacity and muscle endurance. In the spiritual fitness world, your cardio is your worship and if your worship is lacking your spiritual life is lacking.  

Worship is the core of spiritual fitness.  It is the beginning and the end of all the rest and impacts everything in between.  The purpose of worship is both simple and complex, and while we need not overthink or over analyse it.  We DO need to understand, pay attention to, and trust the purpose, power, and place of worship in our lives as individual followers, as a gathered and intentional community of believers, and as a people of a much bigger movement.

In Ephesians 5, the Apostle Paul is reminding the followers of Jesus to keep the main thing the main thing.  He instructs them on how to stay connected and committed to Jesus, the church and one another. This is done through worship. 

Worship is both a pouring out and a filling up and it takes both for it to truly shape our lives into more of what God wants them to be. It is cyclical in that we come and worship in order to show God our reverence and adoration while at the same time in the showing, in the pouring out, we are filled back up with what we need to keep on keeping on.  And somewhere in all that is the holy mystery that connects us to each other and followers around the world. 

And like any fitness program or healthy lifestyle, we can’t expect to practice only once a week or twice a month and call it good. That’s not enough to develop strong spiritual fitness habits.  Practice makes perfect - in the spiritual just as much as the physical. In this case, it is not “you are what you eat.” It is “you are what and who you worship.”  

Paul is reminding the church to pay attention to and never underestimate the power of worship.  Because the power is not contained in the four walls of this gymnasium of the soul, i.e., the church.  The power is not limited to pastors, musicians, praise teams, sunday school teachers, bell ringers, organ players, or the good prayers.  

The power of worship flows in and through you by the power of the Holy Spirit. The power to change someone’s bad day at work or at school.  The power to give hope to someone overwhelmed by life. The power to keep us humble and mindful of others. The power to build up rather than tear down.  The power to be a part of God’s unfolding plan.

Everything has its place and there is a place for everything.  Worship is no different. Worship has its place too. Where? The obvious answer is right here - in the church, in this room called the sanctuary (although I kind of like gymnasium of the soul).  

For a spiritually fit follower of Jesus, the place of worship is not only in the church.  The place of worship is in God’s created world and within you - within each one of us and therefore the place of worship is everywhere - all times all places.  The place of worship is a state of mind and heart. So whether you are inside or outside these walls, you are in a place of worship. Whether you are on your bike or swinging a golf club, you are in a place of worship.  Whether you are by the campfire or in the coffee shop, you are in a place of worship. That being said, hear what I am not saying. I am NOT saying you can worship just as well on the golf course, soccer field, or baseball diamond as you can in the church.  I am NOT saying you can worship just as well at home in your jammies, or on the road as you can in actual church. I am saying, worship must take priority and be worked on in your heart and in your mind. 

I pray for the day, we as followers of Jesus, will say not only is there a place for everything but a place for everyone and everyone has a place...that place is  worship.

May it be so.
Pastor Jenothy Irvine 

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We cannot imagine the Christian life without asking Jesus himself to teach us to pray (Luke 11:1b), for we all need to learn how to pray. No one is an expert. Indeed, Paul himself in Romans said he had forgotten how to pray (8:26). And I have a feeling that there are times in our own lives when we do not know how to pray either. There are times when we come to prayer without knowing what to say, or even what our deepest needs are; we sometimes don’t even know what we are doing (Romans 8:26a). 

It is a reason why we are humbled in prayer, for we know that we cannot have access to God apart from God’s own gracious self-giving. We cannot fully pray unless we realize that the Spirit is also praying for us (Romans 8:26b). 

There is humility in knowing this: we are not the ones who control the outcome of God’s ways. God is not at our beck and call as some kind of cosmic bell-hop. If this is our image of God, then prayer has ceased to be prayer. It has become more about our presumption than our humility. 

Hence, the challenge and the invitation to pray: to ask, how am I going to grow in prayer? What do I need to be doing to cultivate prayer in my life? What will help me to mature? What practices do I need to develop? From morning devotion to table blessing, from meditation to praying for others, from silent-listening to the Lord’s prayer itself: there is no one way to pray, but there is the way Jesus himself taught us to pray; that is, there is the way that Christ himself provides for us the example of prayer, reminding us that he is with us always (Matthew 28:20).

What first steps do we need to take in prayer? How may we do so to become spiritually fit?
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Pastor Andy Kinsey

​The primary role of a prophet in Israel was to know God and to communicate that knowledge in ways that would help the people of Israel flourish, to return to God and stay in love with God. The primary role of a prophet was to announce this knowledge so that people would also know God and love God (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). The problems came when the people would forsake this knowledge of God and forget God and God’s ways.

And that is what made the prophets so upset. Not that God had changed God’s ways, but that the people had changed their ways and left God!    

This is what makes the prophet Jonah so unique: the role seems to be reversed. Jonah is the one who doesn’t want to change; he is the one whose heart is far from God, angry with God because God is doing what God does – act righteously – and angry with God for who God is – merciful! 

It is a role reversal. Not to mention the fact that Jonah is preaching to a foreign country, to Israel’s enemy: the Assyrians in Nineveh. 

Now, a word we sometimes use to describe this anger or resentment in Jonah is a good German word (perhaps you have heard it). It is the word Schnadenfreude. Jonah reeks of Schnadenfreude. His whole demeanor is dripping with it. And what that means is that Jonah has this attitude problem, this kind of outlook upon others, wanting to see them ruined or destroyed or wanting them to get what he thinks they deserve.

Indeed, it is a deeply spiritual problem, and it is a problem that can corrode the soul, as does Jonah’s.

How may we allow our resentments and angers to get the best of us? How may bitterness poison our relationships with God and each other? How may there be a Jonah in us all? 
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Pastor Andy Kinsey

It is a story we have all been a part of.  We have all said no, not yet, or “I will never” and whether we knew it at the time or not, it was something God was working into the story of our lives and in turn the story of God’s restoring love for humanity.

Jonah was unlike any other prophet and his story is told unlike any other story.  One of the twelve prophets, Jonah is atypical in the book of prophets. More reluctant than Amos, more fearful than Jeremiah, less confident than Hosea or Isaiah, Jonah was a prophet all to himself. 

While others tell history and contain much biographical material, and stand firmly on Israelite soil proclaiming God’s Word to God’s chosen people, God had to chase Jonah a bit first.  Then God told Jonah to speak God’s Word in a foreign land to sworn enemies of God. It is a wild tale, with only a small portion being prophetic word and a large portion being a lesson in how God both pursues and persuades; never giving up and always using opportunities, moments and experiences in our lives to reveal God’s presence and purpose...to reveal that place where worth and purpose reside.  Our worth - God’s purpose. 

If you knew anything about Nineveh, you would run too.  Nineveh was a long-time capital of the Assyrian empire - the largest empire ever to rule the Middle East in ancient times.  At its largest, it stretched from Iran to Egypt and as far north as the Caucasus Mountains. It took three days just to walk across this massive powerhouse city.  

Nineveh and its king were the most powerful political and military force in the known world of the time.  As such it represented to Jews the cruelty of Assyrian warfare and iron rule. They were an evil, ruthless people.  If you are Jonah - you might be thinking it's one thing to give my own people bad news of their behavior and God’s expectations, but it's another to speak such truth to the enemy.  Not the first place I would want to go. 

Jonah gets a bad rap but if we are honest, I am certain, not many of us would have done any different than he did.  That is why I think there is a Jonah in all of us, and we too run in the opposite direction sometimes.

Why do we say no to God?  Perhaps we are afraid of what God is asking us to do or be?  Maybe we fear failure, judgement, or criticism? We tell ourselves we don’t have time, we aren’t trained enough, we don’t know enough.  We tell others we are busy, it someone else’s job, or its just not our thing. We may not run away to timbuktu Tarshish like Jonah and we may not physically run, but we run in other ways - emotionally, spiritually and even mentally turning our mental focus and energy elsewhere.  
We say no for all kinds of reasons but mostly I think we say no because we are afraid to say yes.  We are afraid to do what we know is good, true and beautiful in the eyes of God. We have been conditioned by culture, social norms, governments, institutions or even long standing good intentioned traditions - if they say no, we say no.  We are afraid of how we might be perceived, treated, left out or labeled. We are afraid we might have it all wrong. We are afraid of being vulnerable with others and with ourselves. We are afraid of pressure and expectations. And so we say no.  

No is easier.  Yes is hard. No is safe.  Yes is risky. No puts us in control.  Yes puts God in control. No is small and manageable.  Yes is big and colors outside the lines. 

I invite you to think about what you are saying no to and by saying no what are you actually saying yes to.  When we say no to God are we not saying yes to our selfishness, our limited understanding, and our narrow sighted perceptions?  When we say no to the ways we are to treat others, those the bible calls our “neighbors;” the least, the last, the lost; the widows, orphans and children.  When we say no to them, are we not saying yes to fear? Our fear of the other? Of what is different or unknown? When we say no to peace, forgiveness, and unity, are we not saying yes to division, hate, and shame? When we say no to surrendering all that we are to God, are we not saying yes to that which takes us farther and farther away from God?

I don’t know what God is asking you to do with what you have, who you are, or where you are in your life.  I don’t know where God is asking you to go with your relationships, your vocation, your decisions, retirement, future, investments of time, money, and skills.  I don’t know where God is asking you to go with your heart, mind and soul.  I don’t know how God is calling for your attention, or asking for you to say yes, but I do know God did not give up on the prophet Jonah, nor does God  give up on the Jonah residing in each one of us.  

Wherever you are beloved, working on your yes or searching through your no, God will chase you - pursue and persuade you.  Not as a threat or punishment, but because you have something valuable to offer. God has something to say through you and your life.  God has a promise that is bigger than you but that needs you in order for it to be told. 

It is time the Jonah in us stops running. 

Pastor Jenothy Irvine

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​As a pastor, I often receive questions about God when tragedies happen, or when accidents take place, or when tyrants and bullies try to force their plans on others and seek to crush the opposition and no one seems to be held accountable. Sensitive persons will ask, time and again, why is God silent? Why doesn’t God do something? Is God really just? Is God really concerned?

We need to understand the Parable of the Wheat and Weeds in light of these questions. Indeed, there are several parables in Chapter 13 of Matthew’s Gospel that are not direct answers to these questions but are indirect ways that speak to how God rules over this world and seeks to rescue it.

For example, in the Parable of the Sower, we hear about the way a farmer scatters the seed on all kinds of ground. The farmer scatters the seed, but it does not always take root. Nevertheless, the farmer (i.e., God) plants the seed deep within those who will respond. The promise is that the seed will someday bear fruit, but that it will take time (13:18-23).

The Parable of the Mustard Seed is also part of this section. The mustard seed, of course, is one of the smallest of seeds in the world, but it also takes time to grow, becoming one of the biggest of shrubs, providing shelter for birds Again, such growth does not happen overnight, but when it happens it is full and beautiful (13;31-32). A similar thing happens when a woman bakes bread: it takes time for the leaven to rise (13:33-34).

And the Parable of the Wheat and Weeds? Well, if these other parables are about waiting, then this parable is also about waiting: it is about servants who want to act quickly, especially in the face of wrongdoing; but it is also about a farmer whose patience wins the day; i.e., it is about a farmer who is willing to let God have the final say, even when the temptation to rush to judgment is so present. For who wouldn’t want to go after the enemy who sowed weeds among good seed? Who wouldn’t want to settle the score right then and there (Matthew 13:25)? After all, isn’t it tempting to want to get out the Roundup or Weed-B-Gon and simply spray the weeds and get rid of the problem once and for all? 

The problem is, as the farmer says, when we do so we can kill the good stuff too (Matthew 13:30). This is nothow God works. We can do more damage by pulling up the weeds too soon than by letting the weeds and wheat grow together until the harvest (Matthew 13:29). Yes, it will take more time, but the wait is worth it. 

That’s what Jesus is teaching. How may we not rush to judgment and thus do more harm? How may we trust God in God’s judgement? How may we live with the confidence that God is working for our good?
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Pastor Andy Kinsey

Not making good is why we typically call the younger son “prodigal,” or “wayward” in the parable of the prodigal son. The problem is that this is really not what prodigal means: To be prodigal means that you spend and spend until you have nothing left; it actually means extravagant recklessness (Tim Keller). 

It is why there is really more than one prodigal in this story. In fact, we may want to consider how extravagantly reckless the father’s love truly is. For what is more prodigal, more reckless, than the father’s preemptive forgiveness, than the father’s all-embracing, extravagant love toward both his sons?
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Typically, when we read this story, we read it through the lens of American individualism, which means that when we read this story, we read it as a story of individual repentance: it becomes a story about how “I” as an individual can no longer find “my” way. “I” am lost. And then one day, when “I” come to my senses, when “I” decide to go back home. “I” say “I” am sorry. “I” then return home, receive a banquet in “my” honor, and “my” family’s love exceeds all human reason.

There is nothing wrong with this understanding of the parable of the prodigal son. As individuals, we do lose our way; it is part of the human journey, no matter the age!

My wife Peggy and I got lost hiking last week in Brown County. Take wrong turn and oops! We are not in Brown County State Park in anymore! Even with GPS, we can get lost! In fact, I heard on the radio the other day that we all are getting worse at finding our way because of GPS! That is, we all are losing a sense of direction – both internally and externally.

What are way we are lost today, or cut off from community, from family? How we may return home and be reconciled? What are the ways we may read this story as a story of reunion and come to our senses?

Pastor Andy Kinsey