The Perfect Christmas Story: The need for a Consistent Gospel

December 25th, is known by many as the day that Christians celebrate the birth of the Messiah Jesus. Granted there are many who claim Jesus is the Christ yet do not attribute any value to December 25th and cite a variety of reasons.

We see nighborhood lawns decorated with the nativity scene, a moment to reflect on a time long long ago when a baby was born in a manger in a little town called Bethlehem. Yet, we also see the roadways packed with traffic, the shopping malls cluttered with frantic shoppers, and consumerism having a sort of parade that competes with the values that were later taught by this baby Messiah.

It seems that this celebration is a bit inconsistent. Although it does not stop there. The sad reality is that the distorted celebration of the Messsiah's birth is bred by a distorted storyline. Logically, it only makes sense that if the story itself is completely confusion and inconsistent the product or action it will produce will be the same.

So...what's the Christmas story you know or have heard? As Christians, this story, which is the gospel that our Messiah was born into this world to bring to men (John chaper 1), should be of vital importance. We must understand it, live it, and reproduce it, after all, Christian does mean "little Christ's", right?

In my following of Christ, I have done everything I could to present this message to the world, whether it was simply living a life that glorifies Christ or radically proclaiming the message from the rooftops (sometimes quite literally), I have been willing to entertain other understandings of this message- in an effort to understand the consistency of the gospel message- or for this message- the perfect Christmas story.

Recently I had made a habit of attending a local Unitarian Universalist congregation which is a group that seeks to exhibit a message of understanding that faith is subjective and it is through willing to allow others to grow that "god" is realized, or quite possibly in their belief, the lack thereof. One day their minister delivered a message in regards to what it is a Unitarian Universalist believes, and he quoted an article written by Reverand David Bumbaugh, a professor at Meadville Lombard Theological School in which he said:

"Unitarian Univeralists have, I believe, an implicit faith position that has evolved over time as a result of our engagement with the world, a faith position that we seem reluctant to make explicit. It is a faith position that seeks to provide a sense of meaning to our existence; a position that challenges us to live responsibly in the world and to engage the challenges constantly confronting us"

I continually attended these meetings, and I will admit I always had a sense of "holy frustration". I have continually quoted to others in Christ that I feel the UU position is one that keeps peoplein a room running in circles denying the fact that their are walls. Many of these congregants are very intelligent and have been dismayed with the unreasonable, inconsistent, and often times unreliable message that the "Christian Church" has offered. I had a meeting with their minister and he told me how he was led away from his position as a Christian pastor by means of studying and realizing certain parts of the message didn't sit well with reality. This saddened me. Although, it is sadly true that many Christians and churches fail to offer a consistent and reasonable message that demonstrates our explicit position in Christ. Do you know your foundation, can can you explain it?

Again and again, I realize that much of the distortion of the Christian message comes from presuppositions built upon presuppositions. A presupposition is an assumption that comes beforehand or to something that is taken for granted in advance. In Christian communities this is challenged as inserting something into the text or your own interpretation. This is clearly demonstrated when I meet with the Mormons who offer a new gospel in an effort to restore the message of Jesus Christ. The sad truth again is that, YES, the gospel does need to be restored but without faulty presuppositions that are ever clear in their tradition, traced back to why Joseph Smith even prayed to God for wisdom. Many friends in different streams of Christianity offer faulty presuppositions when they take something I say and add to it (for example, if we are living in the new heavens and new earth therefore there is no longer any need for the gospel). Also, many challenge true Biblical teachings based on what they have always felt they already knew or what seems logical and the only right way, to them! Faulty presuppositions come up in any Bible study, especially when dealing with morals and ethics, yet these same false views have led to dispensationalism, the history & theology of the Jehovah Witnesses, and many other brands in the Christian church.

As Charles Spurgeon put it, ""I believe a very large majority of church goers … are merely the stolid, unthinking, slumbering worshippers of an unknown God". Unfortunately, many of the scholars are sitting in circles amongst each other and giving truth to yet another quote by Mr. Spurgeon, "A lie will go round the world while truth is pulling its boots on". A great read concerning this is A Road Back to Preterissm by Kurt Simmons. (This article can be found at Preterist Central.com).

To be quite honest. I am sick of hearing about shoppers killing another shopper over a toy around the celebration of the Messiah, I am antagonized by killings in my area, at the mall, around the Christmas season, and I am bothered by the nonsense story that has taken place of the true gospel story. So what do I resolve to do? Attack back! As much as the ways of this "world" seek to attack the kingdom of God which is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, we in the kingdom of God must wage war as well. How ready is your armor?

I truly believe we can fix the problem by missionally living out what I have come to call an emerging profitable Christianity which is demonstrated with a consistent message. Make sense? That is exactly it! We must let the good news become good news, not an odd quirky story of spiritual nonsense that "works for you". Are you willing to not only explain the perfect Christmas story that began when that baby was born in Bethlehem, but also live in its reality today?

Take a look at Luke chapter 2. A man named Simeon was waiting for what? The consolation of Israel! And he would be alive until when? Until he seen the Lord's Christ! And what did he prophesy about the child?

"Soveriegn Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for the revelation to the Gentiles and for the glory of your people Israel...this child is destined to cause the rising and falling of many in Israel, and to be a sign spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too".

and of course it doesn't stop there. Concerning the prophetess Anna the Scripture says "she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all where looking toward to the redemption of Jerusalem". Immediately we read of Jesus growing up and going about the Father's business proclaiming the fullfillment of prophecy and proclaiming the nearness of the kingdom of God.

I must question. Is this the gospel message that you are being taught? I always hear a subjective, out of context, personal salvation- might I dare say boyfriend jesus message in many churches rather than the fulfillment of prophecy to Israel, salvation of Israel, which would be a light to the Gentiles. That is what is in Scripture.

In a decaying world outside the gates of the kingdom of God, many Christians offer dirty water as the message of Christ:

in once sentence it is said, death is destroyed by Christ and now we have eternal life, yet we say we cannot be living in the realities of the kingdom because people still die. Many say we are in the presence of God, yet when we die we will go into His presence. Some speak of hell as being an eternal place, yet the Word says Hades will be thrown into the lake of fire. Many preach that we are the kingdom of God, and then speak of a yet future kingdom of God. The Scriptures say that sin is what leads us to Jesus, and that the Gospel is eternal, yet many preach a false hope of a kingdom without sin, and therefore without the need for Jesus.

We must get with the program! We are not offering the healing of the nations that is so desperately needed, and can be found in a consistent gospel message- or in this case the perfect Christmas story.

The good news is that an emerging profitable Christianity is on the horizon. Sometimes we must emerge amidst the nonsense, and truly offer something profitable- this is the remnant always spoken of in the Bible.

GOOD NEWS:

A CHILD WAS BORN, A SON WAS GIVEN, AND HIS GOVERNMENT IS ON HIS SHOULDERS, HE IS CALLED WONDERFUL COUNSELOR, MIGHTY GOD, EVERLASTING FATHER, PRINCE OF PEACE. THE INCREASE OF HIS GOVERNMENT AND PEACE WILL HAVE NO END FROM THE TIME HE WAS BORN TO FOREVER (ISAIAH 9:6-7). HE HAS SET UP A KINGDOM THAT HAS AND WILL CONTINUE TO CRUSH ALL OTHER KINGDOMS, BUT HIS KINGDOM WILL ENDURE FOREVER (DANIEL 2:44). THIS IS A KINGDOM OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, PEACE, AND JOY IN THE HOLY SPIRIT (ROMANS 14:18). YOU CAN BE SAVED FROM THIS PERVERSE GENERATION BY FINDING SALVATION IN HIM (), THANK GOD HE FULFILLED THE PROPHECIES (LUKE 21:20-22, HEBREWS 9:28; 1 CORINTHIANS 10:11) TO BRING SALVATION. IN THIS WORLD WHICH WILL NEVER END (EPHESIANS 4:21) AS GENERATIONS COME AND GO (ECCLESIASTES 1:4) WE HAVE THE ETERNAL GOSPEL (REVELATION 14:6) WHICH WILL CONTINUE TO BE THE HEALING OF THE NATIONS (REVELATION 22:2) AS WE INVITE PEOPLE TO COME INTO THE KINGDOM OF GOD (REVELATION 22:14-17) BY BEING REBORN (JOHN CHAPTER 3).

I hope this bears fruit in your life, blessings in Christ,
Pastor Michael Miano

Give us men in the pulpit...that fear God & think the gospel good enough for anybody & make no apology for preaching it-A.T. Robertson

P.S.- Here is a brother in Christ's blog that discusses the same stuff but probably a bit more clearer than my crazy mind works. :)

http://ultimatereality-revdannyfoster.blogspot.com/?spref=fb

Life as a Pilgrim

Well, this Sunday was a blessing. Annie, my co-conspirator in “turning the world upside-down”, and I went and did some open air readings from the Word of God, and had good discussion time- that’s what I call Church! The night before, I did some studying and really going through my mind and heart, and couldn’t get the topic of “pilgrim” out of my mind (this may have had a lot to do with my reading the Pilgrim’s Progress by Paul Bunyan earlier in the week).
So, I did as I usually do and researched. Conspire magazine is now online (http://www.conspiremagazine.com/) and sure enough this month’s topic was Pilgrimage. Wow!
A Pilgrim is described as someone who is in search of home. This caused me to think a bit, first off we know that the Word describes our home as a heavenly one (Hebrews chapters 11-13), also we are told to live as pilgrims.
So with that said, I began to dig a bit deeper. What really are we in search of? “Seek first the kingdom of God (Matthew chapter 5)”. Psalms 84:5- says that blessed is him whose heart is set on pilgrimage. Well, since I am not on pilgrimage for Jerusalem or Mecca, what really should be captivating me?
Our heavenly city as described in the book of Revelation is the presence of God. The presence of God is the kingdom of God. In Hebrews we read that the saints endured all kinds of torture to obtain and invite others; to this new city, thus the presence of God.
Being me, and being critical of all things, I still wanted to dig a bit deeper. How can I express this is my life, how can I explain and be an ambassador of this kingdom, if I don’t know the characteristics and how to define it??
LOVE, DYING TO SELF, RESTORATION, RENEWAL, REVIVAL, PASSION (PURPOSE), IDENTITY. – Characteristics of the kingdom of God!
Reading through Shane Claiborne’s book- Jesus for President (an awesome depiction of what life is like in the kingdom of God); I was loving the chapter titled: A Peculiar Party. He said, “we need to be about discovering lost relatives and forgotten ancestors”.
I thought that made a great point. As Christians we need to realize that we must begin to explain and re-iterate the kingdom of God properly. In our society, what do most conversations consist of- family, friends, activities, views, …that’s pretty much it. So how do we explain or world?
THE SAME WAY! Tell about our family in Christ, our holy days, our activities, etc…
This just once again puts into thought my vision of Christians as master storytellers, just like our Savior.
Let our pilgrimage be expressions of His presence.

What is this?

Yes, thats the title, because that is what I am sitting here saying about this whole thing we call "Church". Suprised?
Well, its been a while since I blogged so a little update...I finished reading "An Irresistible Revolution" (yes, the book was awesome, thats a whole other topic in and of itself). I have been listening to alot of Francis Chan sermons, so I have been getting fed some serious Spiritual meat. Also, been delving into mennonite studies and New Monastics. So, its safe to assume, this will be a "radical" blog.
Main thought- WHAT IS THE GOSPEL?
So lately I have been thinking, what really is the good news? Is it the Spiritual "pie in the sky" message many preach, or how about the plain and simple, "social gospel"? It's very clean that we need to be clear on this because Scripture makes it quite clear that there are true and false gospels out there (2 Corinthians 11:4 & Galatians 1:9; and the devil is not a complete idiot to try and pass off something that is totally out there).
Yes, I put my study skills to use. Through studying I realized that the true Gospel of Christ Jesus is very Spiritual and also very practical, but in no way is the gospel tracks of I have seen the gospel of Christ. So I have taken a vow not to hand out these "gospel tracks" anymore. Bye Bye, "This could be your last 5 minutes alive" (that was the title of my latest set of 100 tracks).
As Christians would should be displaying the "kingdom of heaven on earth". Thats what this is all about "the kingdom of God" (refer to my first couple blogs). We yell to the unbelieving masses, "There is another way!!!". Most people are unsatisfied and are living a life totally outside God's best for them. Basically, feeding the pigs (read through Luke 15:11-31).
Th ultimate message of the Gospel of Christ is "come home", be who God created you to be, and live the life God has predestined for you. Why you ask? Because you know that this world has nothing to offer, look around, look within yourself...Let's be real!
Here is a brief essay I wrote the other day titled "A Compromised Mission".
Have we, the Christians compromised the mission? Do we focus on seemingly insignificant things in an effort to avoid having to deal with the real issues (lets say post-modernism)? I.E.- Materialistic culture, apathetic Christianity, lukewarm faith which has led us to a lack of persecution, lack of care and concern for the lost, this new version of "churchianity". Or even worse, do we focus on these things as a cover-up because we like what we have now, rather than going back to the ways of the 1st Century church? Look at the fruit then!!!
I always say "its not necessarily what you do that is sin, but rather what you dont do". Think about the gospel centered life, is it about being a sinless puritan or rather in the gospel a message of a whole different way of life? Doesnt scripture teach us that God will prune us of sin? Was sin a NT church focus? What does the church in China have to say about "our gospel"? What do they focus on? The mission! What if we focus on the mission, and allow God to do the work in us, rather than have a self-centered, create a partal sanitized life gospel?
Dont compromise the mission!!!
What about our faith is worth dying for? What is the "gospel"?
The unbeliever says- "wow this life sucks!"
Christians following Christ should be yelling back- "There is another way, the kingdom of
God stands in opposition to the ways of this world that dont lead to happiness. Where this world leads to death and destruction, the gospel of Christ leads to peace and abundant life!