Shane Ash

I’ve never been a great skier, especially not cross-country skiing. No matter how hard I tried to control those thin skis, point them, move them, glide them, it always ended the same…me, face-down in the snow. But today I figured something out…submit to the skis. Today I finally submitted…and became slave to the ski. To be slave to the ski is to respond to them, follow them, let the glide lead you, feel what is happening under you…and respond with balance.

While I was on the trail today I was reminded of Ephesians 6 when Paul encourages the church at Ephesus and all other believers who would read these words to be “…slaves of Christ doing the will of God from the heart.”

“Being a slave to Christ may be the best possible way to define being Christian. We are, as believers, slaves of Christ. You would never suspect that, however, from the language of Christianity today. In contemporary Christianity the language is anything but slave language. It is about freedom. It is about liberation.” John MacArthur continues, “Personal fulfillment, personal liberation, personal satisfaction, all bound up in an old term evangelical Christianity, a personal relationship. How many times have we heard that the gospel offers people a personal relationship with Jesus Christ? What exactly does that mean? Satan has a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and it’s not a very good one. Every living being has a personal relationship with the living God of one kind or another, leading to one end or another. But what exactly is our relationship to God? What is our relationship to Christ? How are we best to understand it? Being a slave to Christ may be the best way to define a Christian.”

Slave to Christ…responding to His leadership within us, sensing the subtle movements of God, and responding with obedience.

Dear New Beginnings Church,

As our leadership team met this past week, I left with a renewed sense that 2010 is going to be our best year yet…a year of witnessing God’s reign among us. Here are a few reasons we are hoping this year is filled with moments of seeing the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth as Jesus prayed for in Luke 11:2.

Our vision is clear: We are beginning to focus on the things that matter: mercy, justice, faithfulness (Matthew 23:23, Micah 6:8). We have set our sight on becoming a community devoted to living-out Christ-likeness. This Christ-like living is a God-and-others focused life. It is living every moment of everyday aware of the “God with us” and our responsibility of taking this hope to the world.

Our strategy is improving: We are looking forward to this year and the forming of “new communities” within our gathered church. The strategy is simple and taken straight from the story of the early church. It is continuing the practice of the gathered church and the re-emphasizing of the scattered church. It is moving ministry back into the mission fields of our neighborhoods, work-places, and routines of life. This is the year of releasing and equipping our people into shared Kingdom ministry.  We are looking forward to communicating this vision further in “The Church” preaching series beginning January 3^rd.

Our understanding of success is changing: We are learning that real Kingdom “success” is not measured by numbers or dollars but is measured by the stories of mercy, justice, and faithfulness being lived out among and around us. Success is not measured through short-term objectives, but through a long-view dedication to shaping generations and culture. This is the year of prioritizing our responsibility to families, the base-line for culture and the generations to come.

Our commitment is deepening: We are beginning to see the level of commitment deepen among us. We are hearing and experiencing stories of compassionate giving to others, watching people care for one another in sickness or job transition, and seeing numerous people volunteering in local social-services or compassionate ministry centers. These actions combined with a humble “God with us” attitude are the visible Kingdom of Heaven among us today.

As we continue to walk in the leadership of the Spirit of God this next year, it is crucial that we live in a posture of prayer, asking for Kingdom eyes and ears, being attentive to the stories of God among us, and eagerly responding to opportunities to live out Christ-likeness.

May the God who made us, loves us, and lives within us…lead us into His future.

Pastor Shane

Yesterday in our Old News is Good News series we continued this on-going story of God…where it started…and where it is going.

Something I tried to highlight yesterday was the moment in Acts 2 when Peter was passionately preaching about “this Christ whom you crucified.”

It was an incredible moment of truth for those in his audience that day…an “ah ha” moment culminating all of Jewish history and their present experiences into one.

“Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” Acts 2:36

Peter’s call for response to this truth was to “repent and be baptized.” Or in easier and more literal language,  ”change your actions and become a partner in this work.”

The invitation is still the same today…change your life and become a partner in this Kingdom work.

What would happen if this “message of salvation” was central in our preaching? What if we were calling people into a life of Kingdom partnership rather than to an altar of personal experience? What if we called people to a change of behavior rather than just a change of belief? What if we let go of controlling people through our programs and structures and released them into partnership with the leading Spirit?

Just wondering…what would happen?

The last 18 months of my journey in this new gig called pastoral ministry, has been a simultaneously intense struggleand joy. Deep within me…at the root of the calling I have responded too with my life…is a desire to re-teach, re-commit, and re-shape the people who claim to follow Jesus.

It is not hard to look around and see that we the Church have settled, stymied, and ceased to be consumed with the life-altering truth of a Creator God who loves deeply and desires to be with us.

As I read through the stories of God’s past, and recognize One who is desperate to be known by his creation (in whom he took the greatest of risks…the imago dei), I am overwhelmingly convinced that it is worth trying to change “the Church.”

It is worth the time of re-educating ourselves about the history of how we arrived at this point in the story. It is worth the frustration and criticism of others while evaluating everything we assume is “church.” It is worth the energy it takes to create new parables and find stories in our own culture that tell of the God who won’t quit loving.  It is worth the rejection of others when they hang on to promoting their reputation, position, title, denomination, or church-brand over the Kingdom. It is worth having less for ourselves because we give more to others. Frankly, it is worth life itself…because true living is to be found in the Kingdom.

So out of 18 months of struggling, leading, succeeding, failing, erasing, changing, growing, building, and getting to know one another…comes a beautiful picture of what could be…should be…will be.

January 2010…re-teaching, re-committing, and re-shaping the people who call themselves Christian.

The Church

…is people and their God-glorifying stories.
…is both gathered and scattered.
…is a narrative of God.
…is in constant movement.
…is a covenant community.