David Kenney

This may sound weird for a pastor to say, but short of Christmas service, I love Good Friday service the best. I guess that is why my wife and I have always had one. Getting out of the car last night on our way into church – we both commented how weird we both felt. We were going into the service, but we were not “in the moment.” Preaching a sermon prepares you for the event. The study and the planning is the “lead in” to the experience, so that when Good Friday comes you are… well…. ready.

I walked into the church hoping that the leaders had worked to help me get into that moment.

The reason why I love this service is because it’s the preamble to Easter morning. How can you get excited that Christ rose from the grave, if you have not first considered that Christ died? It’s like watching Empire Strikes Back without having first watched A New Hope. (you’d be so lost)

Good Friday is an important part of the story because otherwise Jesus was just a teacher and prophet. If he didn’t die for the sins of the world, then he just came to say some nice bumper sticker sayings and to pose for his twenty minutes of fame.

Good Friday is a pinnacle of the bible story because the moment his blood was shed, a new covenant was created. I think a lot of us would agree that Jesus is also our high priest, but do we understand what that means and how it relates to how we live in the new covenant?

Look at Hebrews 7:12-13

For when there is a change of the priesthood, there must also be a change of the law. He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar.

Jesus was from the tribe of Judah, not the tribe of Levi. Traditionally only men from Levi were ever high priests, so the author of Hebrews reminds us that our high priest is a key indicator that: new priest = new change in the law.

Typically we think of the bible in two parts: the new testament and the old. But in reality it’s broken more visibly by the cross. Everything that takes place before the cross (including Christmas) is under the Old Covenant – but everything after the cross takes place in the New Covenant.

Read verse 18 and 19

The former regulation (the law) is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.

That verse is more crucial than most of us realize. With a new priest and a new law brings a new covenant, but sadly most Christians still try to live with parts of the Law in their lives. We preach the importance of following the 10 Commandments and the importance of the 10 percent tithe as if THOSE were the things that we can “do” to complete our salvation process.

But the gospel is only GOOD NEWS if we realize that Christ DIED to absolve us of a broken system. How can you can I live in the joy and freedom of today if we are still held to the rule(r) of yesterday? It’s like Jesus gave you a brand new, off the show room floor, Jaguar XK series, but rather than drive it … you have it in the garage on blocks trying to “fix it.” And Jesus is out in your drive way saying “Let’s GO!!!!!”

Still not convinced? Read…

²³Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; ²⁴but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. ²⁵Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

Jesus is able to save… completely. How? Because he always lives to intercede for us.

I know you want to cling to the law because it’s a nice livable standard. We like rules and boxes, it makes everything so much easier. (or so we think) but it also cripples at the same time as it defines. Phillip Yancey says,

“Legalism stands like a stripper on the sidelines of faith, seducing us toward an easier way.”

But really if we call ourselves Christians and Jesus is our High Priest, then we need to live within the “red letters” of the bible and “Figuring out just how to relate those radical red letters in the Bible to the complex issues in the modern world will be difficult, but that’s what we’ll try to do.” ~ Tony Campollo

The equation for your salvation is Jesus + nothing. This Good News should change every aspect of the way you live. We are children of the new and free and joyous gospel of Christ and perhaps if you still allow your sin to control you, perhaps if you don’t feel compelled to tell others about Christ, then consider this dismaying observation…

You have never fully understood what you were set free from.

Sometimes I feel like we tell people that saying the sinner’s prayer saves us from Hell. So then our goal becomes rescue workers for people who don’t see the the upcoming cliff. But the problem then becomes a lot of people don’t even believe the cliff exists – so why do they care that they be saved from it? If salvation is all about after you die…then what does it matter to how we live today?

The good news of the cross is.. no more sacrifices, no more atonement, no more apologies to God for screwing up. That system doesn’t work.  As soon as you confess your sins to God and say “I won’t do that ever again…” you wait all of four seconds before you sin again.

The purpose of the law for us today becomes a measuring rod for those on the outside of God’s grace. Can you measure up? Can anyone? Nope. And I would argue that even people who don’t believe in Heaven or Hell, still believe in living a “good life.” But the problem is … we can’t.

Nobody can.

So we live lives of self-defeat. Dr. Phil makes millions because he understands that none of us feel good about ourselves. We all have issues – and whether people know it or not it’s the issue of trying to “measure up.” Sadly the world is desperately trying to live to be “good enough” when Christ already died to make us perfect.

Here is the rest of Hebrews 7

²⁷Unlike the other high priests, (Jesus) does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. ²⁸For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.

Read this:

Your sins are forgiven

All of them

Forever

God doesn’t see them

Your relationship with God is perfect, no matter what you have done – or will do.

You are not being measured.

New High Priest

New Covenant

Good News

Take the keys and drive!

America’s Top 15 Most Innovative Churches of 2008 according to Outreach Magazine and The Church Report.

1. LifeChurch.tv (Edmond, OK) :: Craig Groeschel
2. Mars Hill Church (Seattle, WA) :: Mark Driscoll
3. Granger Community Church (Granger, IN) :: Mark Beeson
4. Flamingo Road Church (Cooper City, FL) :: Troy Gramling
5. Seacoast Church (Mt. Pleasant, SC) :: Greg Surratt
6. Saddleback Church (Lake Forest, CA) :: Rick Warren
7. Mosaic Church (Los Angeles, CA) :: Erwin McManus
8. Fellowship Church (Grapevine, TX) :: Ed Young Jr.
9. North Point Community Church (Alpharetta, GA) :: Andy Stanley
10. Willow Creek Community Church (South Barrington, IL) :: Bill Hybels
11. National Community Church (Washington, DC) :: Mark Batterson
12. NewSpring Community Church (Anderson, SC) :: Perry Noble
13. Community Christian Church (Naperville, IL) :: Dave Ferguson
14. Elevation Church (Charlotte, NC) :: Steven Furtick
15. Healing Place Church (Baton Rouge) :: Dino Rizzo

In 2007 it was…

1. Willow Creek Community Church (South Barrington, IL) :: Bill Hybels
2. Saddleback Church (Lake Forest, CA) :: Rick Warren
3. Fellowship Church (Grapevine, TX) :: Ed Young Jr.
4. North Point Community Church (Alpharetta, GA) :: Andy Stanley
5. LifeChurch.tv (Edmond, OK) :: Craig Groeschel
6. Granger Community Church (Granger, IN) :: Mark Beeson
7. Lakewood Church (Houston, TX) :: Joel Osteen
8. Mars Hill Church (Seattle, WA) :: Mark Driscoll
9. The Potter’s House (Dallas, TX) :: T.D. Jakes
10. Seacoast Church (Mt. Pleasant, SC) :: Greg Surratt
11. Mosaic Church (City of Industry, CA) :: Erwin McManus
12. Mars Hill Bible Church (Grandville, MI) :: Rob Bell
13. North Coast Church (Vista, CA) :: Larry Osborn
14. First Assembly of God (Phoenix, AZ) :: Tommy Barnett
15. The Church of the Resurrection (Leawood, KS) :: Adam Hamilton

Recently Pastor Mark Driscoll was on Nightline talking about the 10 Commandments. You can watch the segment here>

The interviewer started off with how America seemingly worships at the altars of those in music, sports fashion and politics. And while I agree that we can “idolize” those people, I don’t know that they ever take “center stage” in our lives as being the one thing that we look to for comfort and protection.

Mark Driscoll said, “an idol is someone or something that occupies the place of God in your life,” he said. “[It] gives you identity, meaning, value, purpose, love, significance, security. When the Bible uses the word ‘idol’, that’s what it’s getting at.”

But then Driscoll clarified if with “If you worship alcohol you become an alcoholic. If you worship food, you become a glutton. If you worship pleasure you become a sex addict,” Driscoll warned. “All the modern vernacular is really not dealing with the root issue of idolatry: Something or someone is preeminent other than God.”

THAT I would agree with. I think a modern day idol is something that you turn to for grace, protection, salvation, forgiveness, love… it’s something you turn to when you need to fill a need in your life.

I don’t know that you can compare that to loving a musical artist like U2 and Michael Jackson.

Driscoll then drive through Seattle comparing things like corporate jobs, starbucks and the Sea Hawks to “human sacrifice for position and lifestyle.” And while I can see on the one hand how some of those things can give a person identity – I think when ASKED a person might disagree.

You see, in the ancient times, when the bible was being written, I think people knew quite well who their Gods and Goddesses were – and they still had their own jobs and sports heroes on the side. There was still a separation from the deity that they worshiped and the lifestyle they lived. But it seems now, Pastors have to “tell us” what our idols are, like we don’t know.

“The Seattle Sea Hawks may be your idol.” Hmmmm, I’ll have to give that some serious thought.  If that’s true my priorities are out of whack. [well, who am I kidding. I like the Chicago Cubs]

And I am in no way countering what Driscoll said, this isn’t just HIS philosophy, pastors have been saying these same things for years.

“All Hail King Homer.”

But I think a lot of people give 40-50 hours a week to their career, but they don’t give their life to it. I think a lot of people drink Starbucks coffee or attend sports games, but they would not reach out to those things if they were hanging from a burning building.

I would actually flip this conversation to the other side. How many people really have ANYTHING that they would call their “salvation?” I think there are thousands of people searching for significance and purpose. I think there are whole lost generations out there without security or love and that if it came right down to it….the life of a corporate job, a venti coffee and tickets to tonight’s game…are just falling into a bottomless pit that can not be satisfied.

Driscoll says that our jobs, our appetites and our addictions can become our idols and he is right, but I argue that I bet a lot of people if honestly faced with the question… would have nothing that they could call their “worship.”

Or perhaps in our shedding of gods and goddesses, the truest “god” in our lives is becoming…ourselves. Perhaps when it really comes down to it, the thing that we are really counting on saving us… the place where we find the most security and love is in the self.

Gap 1969 jeans is asking right now… what were you born to do? I hear this statement on American Idol and America’s Got Talent all of the time. People holding a dog, dressed as a giant flower dancing to disco by Abba and they tell the judges, “this is what I was born to do.”

Patrick Robinson says he was born to “explore” and “figure out a new path.” He argues that our world can be as small or as massive as you want it to be. In essence he is saying that “reality” can be anything he makes it, which in essence is saying…it’s not fashion or gap jeans that has become his idol…it’s himself.

In our desire to shed the pantheons who ruled our ancestors, WE have become the very things we were running from.

+ Read Scott McKnight’s response here >

Currently Rob Bell is on his Drops Like Stars Tour and will be continuing off and on for the next year. Recently, he sat down with Boston Globe staff writer, Michael Paulson and gave this interview on the tour. I have pulled out some of the more interesting highlights and wanted your take on some of Rob’s phraseology. He is often criticized as being a liberal and of watering down the gospel by not preaching a “turn of burn” gospel. Pastor Mark Driscoll [ironically pastors a church by the same name as Bell] recently called Pastor Bell a “heretic” at the Convergent Conference.

To his credit, a 2006 article in the Chicago Sun Times called the charismatic Bell the next Billy Graham. A year later, TheChurchReport.com named him No. 10 on its list of “The 50 Most Influential Christians in America.” He made TIME magazine in December.

And Bell is well aware of his critics, “If a pastor is asking questions about theology, that alone upsets churches that have been around for 50 years,” he says “Somebody told me there’s somebody out there doing seminars against me.” He grins. “Wow — I’m helping somebody out there pay their bills.”

If you’d like to know the “current usage” of evangelical, you can read this Wikipedia article. [here]

Interview with the Boston Globe:

Q: What does it mean to you to be an evangelical?

A: I take issue with the word to a certain degree, so I make a distinction between a capital ‘E’ and a small ‘e.’ I was in the Caribbean in 2004, watching the election returns with a group of friends, and when Fox News, in a state of delirious joy, announced that evangelicals had helped sway the election, I realized, this word has really been hijacked. I find the word troubling, because it has come in America to mean politically to the right, almost, at times, anti-intellectual. For many, the word has nothing to do with a spiritual context.

Q: OK, how would you describe what it is that you believe?

A: I embrace the term evangelical, if by that we mean a belief that we together can actually work for change in the world, caring for the environment, extending to the poor generosity and kindness, a hopeful outlook. That’s a beautiful sort of thing.

Q: Is religion a part of that?

A: At the heart of the Christian story is resurrection, the belief that this word is good, and that, as a follower of Jesus, a belief that God hasn’t abandoned the world, but is actively at work in the world. Even in the midst of what can look like despair and destruction there is a new creation present.

Q: Do you preach, or perform?

A: I came up through your standard go-to-seminary path, served as an apprentice pastor, did weddings and funerals and hospital visits, but I always veered toward creating things. I was always setting stuff on fire, building things, bringing in piles of dirt. And I started to realize that there’s a dimension to the sermon in which it’s a kind of performance art. Over the years, I’ve realized that I have as much in common with the performance artist, the standup comedian, the screenwriter, as I do with the theologian. I’m in an odd world where I make things and share them with people.

Q: Presumably your events have a different goal than those of a stand-up comedian?

A: At the heart of the historic Christian story has been an insistence that every individual matters. So I think, for a lot of people, just hearing you matters. There are great causes of our day, and we can each take a small role and do something about that.

Q: I’m struck by the fact that I don’t hear a lot of explicitly religious language, or mentions of Jesus, from you.

A: I think we have enough religious people who are going around trying to convert people. My guard is up when somebody is trying to convert me to their thing. Are you talking to me because you actually are interested in this subject, because you care about me as a human, or am I one more possible conversion that will make you feel good about your religiosity? I don’t have any embarrassment about my religion, and it’s not that I’m too cool, but I would hope that the Jesus message would come through, hopefully through a full humanity. If you have something to say, whether you’re religious or not, if it is truly Christian and Jesus-centered, then it will help and be interesting and compelling to people, regardless of their world view. But I’m not just interested in talking to Christians. I’m interested in what does it mean to be fully human.