New Wine

“Soon afterward Jesus began a tour of the nearby towns and villages, preaching and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom of God. He took his twelve disciples with him, along with some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases. Among them were Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons; Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s business manager; Susanna; and many others who were contributing from their own resources to support Jesus and his disciples.” Luke 8:1-3 NLT

Recently, I came down with some sort of virus. I was sick for a week and a half - draining, coughing, aching, and having no energy. During that time, I was confined to the couch…mostly because I had no energy to do anything else. Normally, if I am sitting on the couch, I watch a lot of TV. It passes the time. This time, I felt really convicted to not watch the junk that I am normally drawn to. So instead, I decided to re-watch The Chosen. If you don’t know what The Chosen is, it’s a series of episodes on the life of Christ. You can download the app and watch it for free. I love it.

As I watched, I noticed how Jesus included the women in his ministry. He took them with him on trips. He included them in teachings and the experiences. They were frequently there, serving and joining in. As I thought about this, two thoughts popped into my mind.

First, Jesus was always surrounded by people. He went to weddings, dinners, crowds followed him everywhere. He was always surrounded by both men and women. During those times, custom would dictate that the women would hang with the women and the men with the men. How ingenious! If the women weren’t part of the group, who would minister to and disciple the other women in these gatherings? Jesus needed the women in his group to continue to share the gospel to places that He or the men in his group couldn’t normally go. And, some of these women had tremendous influence. Not only did they minister during these functions, then they went home and ministered in their homes and communities.

Next, including women in his teaching was complete out of the box thinking. It was unheard of in Jesus’ day for women to be disciples. Women were frequently not educated unless it was in their home. Jesus encouraged them to join in and learn of God. He included them on purpose. He stepped out of the cultural box to bring the change that needed to happen.

Jesus said “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the wine would burst the wineskins, and the wine and the skins would both be lost. New wine calls for new wineskins.” Mark 2:22 NLT

This was new wine — everyone is a disciple, no matter what their social standing, race, or gender. Trying to fit that into the customs of the day would have definitely caused cracks in the old wineskins. He didn’t try to force this new wine into the current system. He did what He knew needed to be done so that His Father’s Kingdom could flourish. He created new wineskins.

How many times do I look at what I can see with my eyes and make decisions on “what is normal?” How many times do I try to do what Jesus is telling me to do (new wine) by cramming it into the old way of doing it? It’s not going to work. When I try to take the “new” that Jesus is giving me and put it in the “old” that I am comfortable with, I dilute the new and water down the Message. I water down Jesus.

Oh Jesus, I know this is my tendency. My humanness wants to feel safe and not take risks. Please help me to step into the “new” that you call me to, no matter what the outcome. Please help us all. Pour out your Holy Spirit on us so we follow your lead. We love you, Amen

It's Not a Program

18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations,[b] baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20 (NLT)

One of the hardest parts of planting a disciple-making church is that we don’t actually know what we are doing. Most of us don’t really know what it means to make disciples. There aren’t many true disciple-making churches as models…which actually turns out to be a good thing. Why? Because it’s not a program. You can’t make it a program. It’s connecting with people and meeting their needs where they are. And what is their biggest need? Jesus. There is no agenda. Just love. And therein lies the problem. Love doesn’t come with an agenda. EVER. It doesn’t come as part of a program. It comes from your relationship with Jesus. It comes from the Holy Spirit.

Here are a few things Called2Be has learned so far about planting a disciple-making church. It takes lots of prayer, trust in God, pleading for the Holy Spirit and obedience to what God is saying. There is no program. There is no plan to follow. The only thing we can do is to pray, listen and act on what we are being told.

As you can imagine, this is hard. It’s hard because well….I am a planner. Now, there is nothing wrong with planning as long as you understand you are not in charge. You have to be willing to change your plan on a moment’s notice if you are listening for the Holy Spirit. It’s hard to do that. Especially when it is an organization doing it. God has truly blessed our little group with people who when they think the Holy Spirit is leading, will change our plans on a dime and do what He’s saying. Some examples of that? When one of our members experienced the death of his Mom, we cancelled our church service and all went to the funeral. It meant so much to him. That is discipleship.

When another member who has cancer needed help, we cancelled our outing and all showed up at her house to help her unpack (she just moved), cleaned her house and went and bought her groceries. During this event, I got Covid. My husband and I couldn’t go. This amazing disciple-making church went anyway because that is what the Holy Spirit was saying to do that day. That is discipleship.

It is our human tendency to focus on things like the number of people attending your functions. This is very deceptive. The miracles are in the heart. The miracles are in the sacrifices we make to love on and help others the way Jesus asked us to.

So what does a disciple-making church look like? It looks like a group of people who are praying, asking for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, spending time in the Word and then going. Going where? Where ever Jesus says to go that day. As we spend time in our world, whether at work, in our neighborhood, running errands, with our people, we ask ourselves every time we encounter a human “Did Jesus put him/her in my path?” “What is my role right now? How can I help? How can I love?” “Jesus, what do you want here?” (That praying while you are watching is huge.)

Sometimes our role is to not be a jerk when things don’t go our way. Sometimes our role is simply to connect with their eyes and let your eyes smile at them. Sometimes Jesus sends folks who want to know him but don’t know how. What should you do in all of these cases? Pray. Engage. Participate. Share life together.

The lie we believe is that we don’t have anything to offer. This is a lie straight from hell. If you are in a relationship with Jesus, you always have something to offer. Every day Jesus gives you something. That is something you can share. You don’t have to be an expert. You just have to be in love. With Jesus. He’s amazing.

Just Do It

27 So God created human beings[d] in his own image.
    In the image of God he created them;
    male and female he created them.

28 Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”

29 Then God said, “Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food. 30 And I have given every green plant as food for all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, and the small animals that scurry along the ground—everything that has life.” And that is what happened. Genesis 1:27-30

These texts come after the story about creation. God created everything we need for life. He gave us light, air, food, animals and he created companionship for Adam.

As I read through this the thought crossed my mind.... God created all we needed to thrive. He provided for what we would need to “be fruitful and multiply.” He didn’t tell us to go figure it out. He didn’t say, “Look, here’s what I want you to do now go make it work.”

He said, “I’ve taken care of what you need. Now go and be fruitful and multiply.”

He does the same thing with us today. He provides and he says “Go share my love. Tell others about me. Be fruitful and multiply.”

Often we sit around waiting for the right time, the right situation, the right talent, or the right _________________ (fill in the blank). We have it backwards. He has provided for us. Now, we need to just do it. And in case you are wondering….He’s provided the Message, the Gospel. That’s all we really need.

No matter where you are, what you are doing, employed, unemployed, single, married, rich, poor…..you’ve got what you need to share Jesus…..what do you need? Only Jesus!

Choose

…then choose today whom you will serve. Joshua 24:15 (NLT)

The last couple of months have been hard. We’ve had two family health emergencies for two parents and the sudden death of an employee. It’s been an overwhelming six weeks. During this time, Nick and I, by the grace of God, have been able to stay connected spiritually. We’ve been praying and seeking God in all of this. We’ve been able to trust Him and hold there. Until…..

Until one day one of the family members called and initiated a not so nice conversation. There were accusations and very little listening. You know how these go. I’m sure we’ve all had them. Stress goes up, things are said and we’re off to the races.

I really struggled with this. I was hurt. Then I became angry and the old Elaine, the one God has been slowly removing, surfaced. I wanted to retaliate, remind the person of the facts, and an assortment of other things that kept circling through my head. Ever been there?

But, I knew I couldn’t. I was a child of God. That is not what He would have wanted. I started praying – a lot. As I prayed I heard Him speak. He said “I see you. I know you are hurt. But I have called you to something else. I have called you to die to yourself.” And I had peace. For a minute.

The next morning, the voices in my head started again and they were relentless. No matter how much I prayed, they kept coming back. I quoted scripture. I sang songs. But the voices would not stop. I asked God to take them away….but at the drop of a hat I was mad all over again.

One night, I woke up in the middle of the night and there they were….hounding me again. I said “God?” And I heard “Choose.” And I did. I said (out loud) “In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Satan go away.” I then started thinking about Jesus and singing a song about Him. I went to sleep.

The next morning, I was fine. Voices gone. They try to sneak back in now and again but I am now actively choosing Jesus every time. As I pondered all of this, I realized a couple of things.

We are walking through some hard stuff. All the while I was holding on to Jesus and had a peace that was truly miraculous. Then, this one little thing happened and sent me off into a wasteland. As I processed I realized that Satan knows us so well. He knows how to distract us from abiding. He knows our weaknesses and will exploit those at any chance.

I also realized that I can pray and I can read the Bible and I can sing to distract myself but in my heart, I need to choose. I need to choose the path that Jesus wants for me. There are a lot of things that are going to happen in our lives that are wrong. There are things that are going to happen that are horrible in this world. Geez, just a minute listening to the news can send anyone spiraling. We have a choice to make. How are we going to live our lives….on the inside…where no one can see it but God? How are we going to live out being a disciple of Jesus? We have to choose Him. Actively, not just with words but in our hearts. No excuses. Not matter what.

Let Me Introduce You.....

We loved you so much that we shared with you not only God’s Good News but our own lives, too. 1 Thessalonians 2:8 (NLT)

What do you think would happen if I walked into the room, walked up to two complete strangers and said “Let me introduce you”? They didn’t know me, I didn’t know them and they had no clue why they would want to know each other. I think they would be polite (maybe), walk away, think I was crazy and never speak to each other (or me) again.

We’ve been processing what it looks like to plant a disciple making church. The thing is, it looks really different than how most churches get planted. I won’t go into all that here but the big thing is you have to be a disciple yourself. You can’t introduce someone you don’t know to someone you don’t know and expect anything to come of it.

So what are the first steps? You need to know Jesus. Personally, intimately and currently. Let me share another analogy. Say I have a ton of head knowledge about Abraham Lincoln. I am an expert in the facts about his life. I’ve read tons of books, given speeches and written about him. I walk into a room and his wife is there. Who would know him better? His wife, of course! She knew all about him because she lived with him. She knew who he really was inside and out. And who better to tell stories about him and share him? It’s the same with Jesus.

In order to share Jesus, not just the Jesus you read about, but the Jesus who IS, you have to spend time with him, know his heart, what he thinks, what motivates him. You’ll have stories about him because you’ve lived life together and shared experiences. You’ve seen him for yourself (Job 42:5)

The second thing we do on a regular basis, is try to share Jesus with complete strangers. Yes, sometimes God calls us to do this but most of the time, he wants us to be living life with people. He wants us to be present, sharing in the ups and downs and loving each other. He wants us to be invested and to really care about the people we are discipling. He wants them to see Jesus in our lives, not just hear about him from our words.

Even if you know Jesus and you know your friend, introducing Jesus to someone needs to be bathed in lots and lots of prayer. We, especially in the Western world, want to do things quickly and efficiently. We want to check the box. Discipleship isn’t like that. Building relationships is never a quick process. It is intentional and it takes time.

Why am I sharing this? Because my prayer for us post COVID is that we assess what our lives are all about. Let’s not get back to business as usual. Let’s lean into the plan Jesus laid out when he was here. Live life with people; sharing, caring and growing all throughout the ups and downs with those God has placed in our lives. When we do that, Jesus, in all his glory, will shine through. Not because we awkwardly introduced him but because he is a part of who we are.

Thankful

We loved you so much that we shared with you not only God’s Good News but our own lives, too. 1 Thessalonians 2:8 (NLT)

I went to a Christian boarding school during my high school years. I loved going to school there but I was definitely a rebellious teen and didn’t want to have a lot to do with the religious “establishment”.

During my junior year, I was friends with this guy. Most of his friends called him Seenarine. He was fun. We hung out at times and for the most part I enjoyed our friendship. One thing that I remember as a little bothersome was he would frequently talk to me about Jesus. He kept saying that Jesus wanted to be my friend and that he wanted me to get to know Him.

I don’t recall being really interested in this but he would mention it during our conversations, walking the halls of the buildings, during the sporting events.....you get the idea. One day, I think I was expressing my disbelief that God was involved at all and he said “Why don’t you test it? Ask him for something and see what happens.”

At the time I worked part-time in the school auto body shop as a Teacher’s Aide. The “office” was gray. It was always dusty and dirty and bare bones as far as chairs, desks, and office supplies was concerned. There wasn’t even a trash can in the office. So, I prayed “Lord, if you are there please send something new for the office.”

A couple days went by. I forgot about the prayer. One day I went to the office and as I was working I went to throw something away and realized my trash can was missing. I said out loud “Hey, who took my trash can. It was brand new. I just got it!” Then it hit me. The trash can had showed up in the office right after I prayed. I didn’t even notice it. It wasn’t until it was gone that I realized that God had answered my prayer.

All these years later I still remember this like it was yesterday. It was my first realization that God was real and he did want to be in a relationship with me. It was such a little thing but the profound movement in my soul was undeniable.

Why am I sharing this on Thanksgiving? Because as I look back over my life I realize that God showed up over and over again so our relationship would grow. It took years for me to commit my life to Him and become a disciple that makes disciples. But He never stopped trying to get my attention. I am thankful that He loves me that much.

There are so many circumstances and people that were put into my life so I would learn to love Him. I am thankful for people like Seenarine who were willing to share their love of Jesus with me so I could see Jesus. I am so thankful for this God-journey.

I bet if you thought back through your life you would see God’s hand leading and guiding you too. I bet you would remember the times that He showed up and touched your life so you too would fall in love with Him.

I can’t think of anything more worthy of thanks. Can you?

Help Wanted

He said to them, “There is a large harvest, but few workers to gather it in. Pray to the owner of the harvest that he will send out workers to gather in his harvest. Luke 10:2 (GNT)

The other day I was on a ZOOM call with someone sharing Jesus. As we talked, questions were asked and answered, stories shared and Jesus became a little more known. PRAISE! At the end of the conversation, my friend thanked me and said that our conversations were changing his life. This made me really uncomfortable because it wasn’t our conversations, it was the Holy Spirit. I shared that with him.

As I thought back over that moment a few days later, I realized something. If I had not said yes to this “job”, someone else would have. God has openings all over the place waiting for people to fill. And there are people willing to fill them.

This “job” of sharing Jesus can be filled by anyone. The job description would look something like this:

Required:
Love Jesus
Love People
Be willing

Skill set:
Able to pray for direction and whenever you come across something you don’t know (which is always)
Spend time reading the Word. When unsure of where to find a text, able to Google Bible texts to share
Willing to spend time with others (whether in person or via Zoom depending on the circumstances)
Understand your job. Your job is to share. The Holy Spirit’s job is to do everything else.

God has openings everywhere. In every neighborhood, every workplace, every family there are “Help Wanted” signs. When life gets harder, more signs are posted because more people need comfort.

Do you want to hear something really cool? I believe the more inexperienced you are, the more you get to see Jesus move. When we are more dependent on Jesus, the Holy Spirit fills in where we can’t. It is a life altering experience to watch. This is definitely the most exciting “job” I’ve ever had.

All In

Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am. Send me.” Isaiah 6:8 (NLT)

I’ve been thinking about Isaiah lately and this verse. Isaiah’s ministry was not easy. He had to go to a corrupt nation and tell them they were corrupt and they needed to change how they did things. He predicted their destruction. He predicted that nations would conquer them and to make matters worse, they thought these nations were more evil than they were. It wasn’t an easy job. Imagine trying to do this today?

But I don’t think Isaiah looked at that when he volunteered. He came face to face with the Holy One of Israel and he was changed. You see, when you come face to face with Jesus, when you get to know him and understand deep in your soul what he has done for you, something happens to you. In the depths of your being you are changed and suddenly, the things you thought were important aren’t important any more. The things you focused on become blurry and the things God wants you to see become prominent.

There is a pull inside you that draws you to a different list of accomplishments, to a different set of values, to a different definition of success. And while you know that this definition will not resonate with most people, it’s okay. Because you no longer want to satisfy anyone else but God.

This is what happened to Isaiah when he came face to face with the Holy One of Israel. He had no choice but to volunteer because he was so overcome with who God was, nothing else mattered. This is still happening. All around there are people who are saying to Jesus, “I’ll do anything. Send me.”

This is what discipleship is all about. It is not about a technique. It is not about a program. It is not about trying something new because you are tired of the old. It’s about digging deeper into your relationship with Jesus because you know there is so much more to this life than what you thought. It’s about being so overcome with love for Jesus that you say “Here I am. What do you want me to do? Send me.”