Show Me Your Faith

originally posted on www.crosswalkchurch.com

Do you ever get a specific piece of Scripture stuck in your brain? And once you do, you see challenges and opportunities for it everywhere? This past week James 2:18 (NLT) has been hitting me: Now some may argue, "some people have faith; others have good deeds." But I say, "How can you show me your faith if you don't have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds."  On my initial reading, it seemed so basic I did not think about it too much. But the next few times I read it through I realized it is basic, but it has great depth as well. And it became more of a challenge. First, notice that James is talking about showing faith. Showing does not mean to prove it, but rather to exhibit it. Next, note how James doesn't say "I will show you my faith by attending a church" or "I will show you my faith by avoiding sin." It is good deeds which exhibit faith. Of course attending church and avoiding sin are important, but they are just a part of the response aren't they? Works don't earn us eternal life, but they are important to who we are and who God wants us to be. In his book James: Faith that Works, Kent Hughes notes: "Faith and works are like the wings of a bird. There can be no real life, no flight, with a single wing, whether works or faith. But when the two are pumping together in concert, their owner soars through the heavens."

Here's the thing, James isn't saying anything we don't already know is he? I don't think there are many people living in America, Christian or not, who doesn't think this is a major part of what Christianity is. Or should be. Our faith in Christ reflected in what we do and who we are. And yet are good deeds what Christians are known for in the US? How can we show our faith to the world if it is not? To show someone our faith does not mean to prove it with words. It means to exhibit it through actions. To demonstrate it. Now the media doesn't help a whole lot, you can't turn on the morning news without seeing negativity and Christians seem to generate our fair share if it. But on the other hand, if Christians were better about doing good deeds, perhaps people would think about some Christians they know and dispute the negativity. 

Want an example? Remember a few years back when people decided to boycott Chick-Fil-A because they did not support gay marriage? The big Christian response was to organize nights to eat chicken sandwiches as a show of support. Imagine for a minute if the Christian response was to take all that media attention and organize nights to feed the homeless. Buy THEM a Chick-Fil-A sandwich. To show America that whatever we feel about homosexuality is just a small part of who we are. To show America that what defines us is our love for God, our faith in Him, and what that response looks like. (And what it looks like is much more than spending money to feed ourselves.) To be known for what we stand for, not what we stand against.

So now you are probably asking yourself "well what good deed is Crosswalk doing?" It's simple, we are trying to help create opportunities for the church (all of us together) to do good deeds in ways you may not normally have access to: This Saturday is another Refuge where we will be serving food and holding a worship service for the hungry at Washington Park. E-mail Pastor Gabe if you want to volunteer. Pastor Angel is training people to visit prisons and equip inmates for reentry to society. E-mail Pastor Angel for more information. Our annual Trick or Treat is coming at the end of the month. This is a service to the community to give kids a fun, safe place to trick or treat and have fun. It is something for the entire church to get involved with. This Sunday we will have sign ups in the parlor and bins to collect wrapped candy for the kids. There is a team of Crosswalkers who visit people who can't leave their homes - email John Strole if you would like to be trained for that. Even within the church we have opportunities such as food prep on Wednesday nights and serving coffee on Sundays. E-mail me if you can help there. And with the holidays coming up, there are lots of great opportunities: We will be partnering with Sunnyvale Community Services to provide food and gifts for people in need (more information on that will be coming soon.) Know someone alone for Thanksgiving? Invite them to your house. Have some spare blankets? Go to St. James park in San Jose and give them to someone sleeping outside. There are Crosswalkers who volunteer time with several non-profits in the area. Just this morning I saw someone pray with a crying child. I love it, the opportunities are everywhere!

I have no doubt this Scripture was stuck in my head for a reason. The passage before it, James 2:17 says, So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. I don't feel challenged about whether I do enough good deeds, but rather if my faith produces good deeds. Neither faith nor its resulting good deeds can be forced. Good deeds should not simply be about attending this event or that event, they should be an outward reflection of our heart for God. Something that is constant in our lives. They aren't for show. They aren't to gain entry to heaven. They aren't out of obligation or duty. They start with faith. Faith in Jesus produces good deeds. What is your faith producing?

Trying to Follow,

Mark

The Heart of Worship

originally posted on www.crosswalkchurch.com

What does it mean to choose sacrifice? It is one of the guiding points of our vision statement and probably my favorite of the bunch. But it's also the toughest for me. Choosing sacrifice is not about putting other people before yourself. It is about choosing to follow what God has in store for your life instead of all the things society teaches us to want; to sacrifice our worldly and selfish wills and pursue God's will for us. It is cultivating a mindset that doesn't say "it's all about me and what I want." I don't think many people have that mindset intentionally, but I think it is an underlying thought process which guides many of our decisions.

Take worship for example. Often times I look around when worship starts and think "where is everyone? They are missing the best part!" I think worship is an integral part of what you experience on a Sunday. Why? Because it is about God and not about us. One thing I appreciate about Pastor Dave is that his heart is not to perform for us on Sunday, it is to lead us in our worship of the LORD. Worship is not about us hearing great music, it is about lifting up our voices together in community to celebrate and praise our God and Father. I think of worship as an opportunity to let go of all our concerns, troubles, and distractions in our lives and just focus on God and His greatness.

A few years ago I heard Pastor Mike Pilavachi of Soul Survivor church speak about worship and his experiences. If you have not heard of Soul Survivor, it is a large church in England where worship leaders/composers such as Matt Redman and Tim Hughes got their start. Pastor Mike spoke of a time where he felt the congregation and the worship band had lost their way. He did something drastic, he eliminated the band and sound system. It was just the worship leader, Matt Redman singing a capella. It was a challenge from the pastor for the congregation to engage with God during the time of worship and to do so with their hearts instead of their eyes. He challenged them to be "participants" in worship instead of "consumers." He asked the congregation “When you come through the doors on a Sunday, what are you bringing as your offering to God?” At first the congregation and the leader struggled and there were moments of awkward silence, but eventually they got it and the band was slowly reintroduced.

This experience was not just for the congregation. The worship leader Matt Redman was affected - you can read about his perspective of it all from an article on the Christianity website. From this experience he wrote the song "The Heart of Worship" which illustrates how the "me" thought process can invade our lives, and the importance of worship to be all about Jesus. The importance of choosing to sacrifice oneself.

When the music fades, All is stripped away
And I simply come, Longing just to bring
Something that's of worth, That will bless Your heart
I'll bring You more than a song, For a song in itself
Is not what You have required, You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear, You're looking into my heart
I'm coming back to the heart of worship
and it's all about You, it's all about You, Jesus
I'm sorry Lord for the thing I've made it, when it's all about You
it's all about You, Jesus.

What a beautiful illustration of his experience and his heart for God which we can all learn from. Worship has been on my heart a lot lately, especially as we look through the Psalms in our current teaching series. I look forward to the opportunity to worship the LORD along with all of you.

Trying to Follow,

Mark

Pray for Me

originally posted on www.crosswalkchurch.com

Prayer can be funny because it messes with your pride. I admit it, I have a hard time asking for help. Asking God to change me is tough enough, asking others to pray for God to change me is something I don't do. I may ask others to pray for my circumstances, but to pray for me to change is tough because that involves admitting to other people I need to change. It is a vulnerability which is tough to face. But last month a group of us Crosswalkers went to a missions conference in San Diego and everything changed for me because of Matthew 9:36-38: When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.  Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."

In this passage, Jesus is traveling around sharing the Good News and there are crowds gathering to hear Him. As it starts in verse 36, it is important to note that Jesus had compassion for the crowds - that is where it starts, He cared about them and wanted to help them. They needed guidance, they needed leadership. He knew His short visit to these lost sheep would not be everything they needed. He wanted to provide them with guidance because He cared for them. He wanted to "send out" workers who could be with the crowds. Important to note that the word used here for "send out" is the Greek ekballo and "send out" is not nearly strong enough. Ekballo is to violently throw, to cast out. This isn't sending out an e-mail. Some translations use "release" - but this is not release as you would a fish. Ekballo is like an athlete releasing a javelin; like a pitcher hurling a pitch. Think of that imagery for a minute and what Jesus was conveying by using ekballo. I don't know about you but I see a missionary being sent like a weapon towards the enemy.

Now, Jesus could have easily stayed with the crowds and been the shepherd they needed. Or He could have told the disciples to do so. But what is interesting is that He told them to ask God for workers to ekballo to the fields. Why does He tell His disciples to pray? Why doesn't He pray Himself? A prayer from the Son of God is certainly more effective than any prayer the disciples could have said. And isn't the Lord of the harvest aware of the need already? If not, isn't it "on God's time"? I don't know the answer to that. But I do know that Jesus knew prayer was needed and would help - and it is not just a request, it is a command.

Author and missionary Andrew Murray says this about the Matthew 9:38 prayer: "Without this prayer, fields ready for reaping will be left to perish. And yet it is so. The Lord has surrendered His work to His Church. He has made Himself dependent on them as His Body, through whom His work must be done. The power which the Lord gives His people to exercise in heaven and earth is real; the number of laborers and the measure of the harvest does actually depend on their prayer." In other words, the number of workers in the field is directly related to our prayers. We must pray in order for the harvest to be plentiful. So the question becomes "are you praying for workers?"

Now this is great but what does it have to do with my pride and prayer? Well, as many of you know, my wife Alise and I are drawn to being missionaries internationally. We have essentially structured our lives towards this future goal. But we also feel like God is holding us back for now, which is fine because we love being here and workers are needed everywhere. In this time of waiting and preparation though, we have not asked many people to pray for us. It's a tough thing to ask for. It's not easy to admit that we need prayer. We all love to pray for other people because often their problems seem more significant than our own. Maybe we even think that we can do it on our own. But that isn't the case - the workers need your prayers. And as followers of Christ we are all workers in His field. So here I am asking that while you pray to God to ekballo workers, please include us in your prayers. The workers of the fields need your prayers.

Trying to Follow,

Mark