The Kingdom of God & Christian Education--a longer opinion

A few years ago, we were challenged to revision how to teach Bible at CSCS. In that process, I became convinced that it was not that we need a completely new and regenerate Bible Department, but that we need a new and regenerate view of “why Christian education”, “why Bible” and “why we emphasize Spiritual Life” (or Student Ministries as we call it at our school).

I believe that a revolution needs to happen in our perspectives of ourselves as a school; as individuals at the school; or our students and their parents; of our position in this city, state, nation and world; and in the realm of Christian education.

The perspective that I feel we need to have can be described in a “we should not be” perspective or in a “should be” perspective”. I will attempt to project a positive vision of what we could be rather than a vision that appears to be reactionary to what we currently are.

• Since we are Christian schools we need to look at things from the perspective of Christ—the One whom we follow and are equipping and empowering our students to follow. Jesus Christ taught us to pray that God’s Kingdom would come and His will would be done on this earth as it is in heaven. Our overall prayer for our Christian schools, as institutions and as bodies of believers, needs to be that God’s Kingdom would come and His will would be done on earth in our day, in each student’s life and in every class that graduates from our schools. Our prayer and ambition in and through our Christian schools is that God’s Kingdom would come and His will be done in all the policies, operations, budgets, curricula and decisions at that our schools make so that His will would be done in our lives and in the lives of our students; and that we as individuals and an institution would be His instrument through which God’s Kingdom comes and His will is done in our cities, around our states, throughout the country and to the ends of the earth.
• Jesus, before leaving this earth gave His followers some instructions on how to see His Kingdom come and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven. He said this:

All authority and power has been given to Me and you will receive that power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You are to go and be My witnesses to all the earth, beginning in Jerusalem, then Judea and Samaria and ultimately to the ends of the earth. You are to preach the Good News to everyone, making disciples of those who believe and baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach them to obey everything that I’ve commanded you. And be sure of this: I am always with you and will work with you until the very end of this age. A combination of translations

I believe that our Christian school can play a more instrumental role in the advancing of God’s Kingdom and will on this earth without changing many of the programs, but in rather changing perspectives and filters. I believe that if we filter our current policies, budgets, programs, curricula—everything—through such a filter that it will truly make our school distinct in the Christian Education community, in the competitive community of education in the region and in the Kingdom of God. I suggest that we say the following:

In order that the Kingdom of God may come and the will of God be done in our day, in this generation, both in our lives and around the world, we will make disciples of our students and empower them with spiritual programs that are age appropriate, academically sound, and biblically consistent. They will be taught by biblically spiritual men and women who are academically, relationally and culturally prepared to teach them at each level. We will then provide complementary programs of excellent education as well as quality athletics, fine arts and training in leadership, service and ministry. We will do this so that upon completion of a students time at our school, our students will be young men and women who are skilled, empowered and prepared to continue to advance the Kingdom of God and His will for them individually and their generation and to the ends of the earth.

Outreach to the Poor in the Book of Acts

One of the things the Lord is working into the new church we are a part of is a heart for the needy and broken in Colorado Springs. As a result, I’ve been thinking about church outreach to the poor and needy and wondering what the early church in Acts did regarding the poor and needy in the community. The Book of Acts is one of my favorite books in the Bible. I’ve taught parts of it from the pulpit in a previous church, and have taught the first half of it with a group of students in one of our internship classes at the school for the last two years.

One of the things that has continually come up in our various studies of the church in Acts 1-6 is their community and how they lived that out. This very idea came to my mind as I pondered the early church’s response to the needy in the community. Here’s what I found:

• Alms Giving: The early church followed the Jewish pattern (which seems to have been confirmed by Jesus) of giving alms to the poor. This practice is incidentally seen in the narrative. In Galatians 2:10, Paul mentions that in one of his initial visits to Jerusalem to verify the Gospel he has been preaching, that the only thing James, Peter, and John stressed to him was to make sure that he remembered the poor.
• The Poor in the Church: Besides alms giving, I don’t find anything that specifically points to them having programs to the poor in the city. It seems however, that one of the notable things about the early church was that there was no poverty within the church. In nearly every study of the early church that I’ve had with my students, this idea (and its semblance to Communism) has become a matter of discussion. This issue of Communism versus Community sounds like a great topic of another debate or blog. In almost everyone of the places in Acts where it describes what the first church looked like, these phrases or ideas are presented:

• “the believers were together” or “were of one mind” (Acts 1:14; 2:12:44; 4:32; 5:12)

  “they had everything in common” (Acts 2:44; 4:32)

  there are people selling their possessions (Acts 2:45; 4:34-37)

  “there was not a need person among them” (Acts 4:24)

• I also found a number of things about their distribution of resources to the needy:
  o The believers gave their money directly to those who are in need (Acts 2:42-47).
  o The believers gave their money to the Apostles (church leaders) to be distributed to those in need (Acts 4:32-5:11).
  o The church (under the direction of the Apostles, then later the deacons), distributed food and resources to the widows in the church on a regular and systematic basis (Acts 6:1-7).
  o The believers took up offerings (apparently on the first day of the week), gave it to the church elders who sent it to other congregations who were in need (Acts 11:27-30; 1 Corinthians 16:1-4; 2 Corinthians 8-9).

So, the summary of what I think the local church should do about the poor and needy in the community is:

Paul said: “so then, as we have the opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” (Galatians 6:10 ESV). Following this pattern, I believe that outreach to the poor and needy begins in the church. It is clear that the early church focused the attention of their giving to the needy on those within their midst. Likewise today, no one in our churches should go with their needs unmet. It is my perspective that this is a short coming of the American church. If we focus on the needy, it’s usually the needy in the community. I believe that we should focus on those who are needy in our churches first. Our focus needs to flow from community and relationship with each other. Our help for the needy in the church should not be punitive, but compassionate and generous. Self-help training through small groups and courses on financial stability are great, but should not necessarily be prerequisites to receiving financial help, but should be part of generally helping to create financial stable congregations. If helping the poor within our churches becomes normal and expected and done well, then it will have the following byproducts:

1. The reputation of the church will become one of being a caring, generous, loving group of people. This will be in contrast to the condemning reputation of Republican and Conservative Christians today whose message is “you’re poor because you are lazy or have done something wrong”.
2. The reputation of the generous church will be one of the church’s greatest advertizing and recruiting points. I believe that second to the wooing and conviction of the Holy Spirit, the community and oneness of the early church was their greatest drawing point. People were attracted to the church because they loved and took care of each other.
3. As a secondary point: if the Christian church took care of their own as the Bible describes and if they cared for the poor and outcast as the Bible also talks about, American wouldn’t need to be a welfare state. After all, the care for the poor, broken, needy, and outcast in the community really is the job of the church not the government.

Should churches have community outreach programs…yes! However, I the best biblical precedent is to care for the poor in the church, then take care of others as a second priority.

The Kingdom of God and Christian Schools--brief

Oh, that Christian schools would be focused and intentional as such (see “democracy as a tool for evangelism”), rather than seeking to be popular and touchy feely. Rather than striving for more students, a larger empire, more state championships and an increase of news reports on us, we need to be focused on the Kingdom of God coming on this earth as it is in heaven in our day, in each student’s life and in every class that graduates from our institution. Academics, athletics, fine arts and student ministries are to be the tools through which we reach this end. They are not ends in and of themselves. An excellent education from a biblical Christian perspective for lifelong service should not be a sales pitch to reach a niche market, but a means to another end—God’s Kingdom come in our school, in Colorado Springs, around Colorado, throughout the United States and to the ends of the earth.

What you do
Thunders so loud above your head
That
I can’t hear what you are saying.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson

Our boards ends statements, our advertising, our curriculum development, budget meetings and decisions all should begin with such a statement as this:

• In order that the Kingdom of God may come in this generation…to the world, we will teach these subjects; have these athletic programs; train our students in the fine arts; and prepare them for leadership, ministry and service.

OR do we say:

• We teach these subjects have these athletic programs, train our students in the fine arts and prepare them for leadership, ministry and service and we also hope that the kingdom of God may come in this generation….to the world?

My Historical Faith

Recently I’ve been doing a word search through the Bible on the phrases “…the God of…” and “…the Lord of…” so far, I’ve been struck with the significance of three connected phrases:

• the God of my fathers
• your God
• the God of your descendants

In considering all this, there seems to be something different and even sacred about following the God of our fathers.

• This isn’t the idea that our adolescents struggle with—“is it my faith or just my parents’ faith?” It is deeper, richer, and more profound than that and comes later in life than that question. The God I have chosen to follow has in ages past been the God my ancestors followed. He guided them. He will also guide me! It also brings a deeper reverence for the agelessness o f the Almighty as well as a sense of community with those who have gone before us. It brings Hebrews 11 – 12:2 alive in that our ancestors’ faith journey is completed in my life and in the life of my children.

There is a full circle that we experience in this process:

• We are raised being surrounded by the faith of our fathers, but in our adolescent years it is incumbent upon us to choose Jesus Christ for ourselves and to follow Him of our own accord. Then the God of our fathers becomes our God (Genesis 26:24).
  As we mature and move on in our faith, we realize how deeply rooted our faith is in our ancestry and how much we are part of the completion of our ancestors spiritual journeys. “They can’t receive the prize at the end of the race until we finish the race” (Hebrews 11:20 nlt). For this reason, they are looking on with anticipation to see how we will run our leg of the race and stand as witnesses to the pivotal points in our faith.
• As the circle continues, I am setting up my children to run this race as individuals who have personally chosen our God to be their God. In turn, if they accept the baton in the race of our historical family faith, they too will run under the watchful and anticipating eyes of the crowd of witnesses from generations past.
• I need to be preparing my children to accept the baton and to run their race well. The best way to do so is to run my race well. In my devotional life, in my thought life, in my speech, in my actions, in my marriage, in my home life…..I need to both teach and model life in Christ. It is incumbent on me to prepare them for their leg of the race and to not hinder or inhibit them in their receiving the baton or running their race.
• In order to effectively run the race and pass on the baton, it is important to know how my ancestors ran or didn’t run—both to inspire me and to warn me. I must also examine myself for similar besetting sins as my forefathers and my own sins and things that weigh me down. I must understand my place in history and in the moment and I must run my leg of the race in the lane assigned me—along the stretch of the course laid out for me. More than anything, to run effectively, I must (as generations past have had to) fix my eyes on Jesus. It is upon Him that our faith—personally and historically—depends and will continue to depend. Jesus both set us up in our faith and wrote our story for us, is our captain and leader, and also is our completion. He helps perfect us. He brings my life to fulfillment as well as bringing the historical tale that I’m a part of to conclusion.
• Moreover, Jesus modeled for all of us—past, present, and future—endurance, fortitude and perseverance—as He endured that shameful death on the Cross. He, Himself, willingly went through this because He knew there was a joyful end to it all. So too for us is awaiting a prize—a crown of righteousness—which the Lord, the Righteous Judge, will award us who have eagerly looked forward to His glorious return (2 Timothy 4:8).

This reflection sets me to consider this question: in light of generations past and in the preparation of generations to come, how am I to live this life in this moment?

My Educational Theology 9: Tying Things Together

In wrapping up my theology, I think that it is important to keep in mind the setting of my ministry—education. My ministry takes place in a school. Because of this, I need to specifically keep in mind that our primary and distinctive role as a Christian institution is to educate and train mid-adolescents. All mentoring, training, releasing and cultural relevance needs to be done in the context of education. Though it is important that we minister to our student body, our educational job in our Student Ministries Department is to provide a training extension to the biblical education that is provided at our school. In relation to the local church, it is very important to remind ourselves and our students that we are a school and not the church. This is important as it relates to partnering with churches in ministering to and training students. In relation to the rest of the school—especially the academic side of things, the training and releasing of students is important, but must be considerate of the fact that the whole reason these students are under our care is because they are in our school to study math, science, history and so on. In our ambition and enthusiasm, we must continually hold the educational mission of the school up as it’s primary mission remembering that we are servants to that mission.

In conclusion, the process of developing this theology of youth ministry has been tremendously helpful to me in making me thinking through what I do at our school; it’s theological and philosophical reasons and the practical application of all these reasons. I have found that by the grace of God, it seems there is a lot of biblical support for what we do. This I attribute to my parents, mentors, youth leaders and teachers as well as to the godly men and women who guide our school. Yet, as I have tried to refine my theology of youth ministry, it has provided me an opportunity to become more concise in what I believe, why I do what I do and how I go about it. As a person who is more driven by passion and vision than what is reasonable and normal, it is helpful to consider the why’s and the context and the application. All we do needs to have a reason, a defense and a proper place. This theology of youth ministry has helped me see how what I do fits into the overarching realm of Christian education; the raising of children; the purpose of the church and God’s plan for mankind.

My Educational Theology 8: Culturally Relevant Ministry

Finally, in regards to my theology of youth ministry in a Christian school, I believe that we must do all we can to be culturally knowledgeable and relevant as we work with the mid-adolescents at our school. To do so, I believe that it is important for those who teach the Scriptures to our students and those who are involved in the practical application side of ministry to be well studied and fluent in the current cultural trends of today’s mid-adolescents. Just as any missionary in preparation for their work in a foreign country goes through studies in the culture and language of their target audience, so to must our missionaries to our youth be engaged in knowing and understand the culture and language of our adolescents. In today’s youth culture, I believe that it is in fact more important for adults to understand and find areas of appreciation and acceptance of today’s youth culture rather than to look youthful. The best way to be culturally engaged today is to stay involved and in touch with youth culture as one increases in years. Once a person steps out of the ever changing youth culture it is difficult, but not impossible to re-submerge into their culture. It is not only important to be a student of today’s culture, but also to be immersed in it. Often today’s adults have stepped “out of youth culture” study and observe Buster and Mosaic culture[1] in order to criticize it rather than to become part of the culture in order to work with and understand and mentor today’s youth. I have observed this mostly of older Busters and Baby Boomers.

On the other hand, culture must always be filtered through the eternal and unchanging Truths of Scripture. This has been a balancing act that the church hasn’t always done well at. The tendency is to the extremes. the church has either completely pulled out of culture and been completely separate and aloof from that culture and not had an impact on that culture at all or it has completely immersed itself in the culture around it and has diluted the Truths of Scripture so that it may fit in to the culture and thereby lost it’s distinctiveness and the power of the Truth it has been entrusted with.

The Apostle Paul set an example of this when he entered into the discussion of religion and philosophy with the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers on Mars Hill[2]. Paul didn’t abandon the Truths of Scripture, but as a student of their culture and philosophy, he entered into a conversation with them using their reasoning and aspects of their beliefs to bring them to the Truth of God. In the same way, we need to acquaint ourselves with today’s youth culture—it’s influences and philosophies. We need to learn to understand things including the thought processes of this generation. Instead of complaining about the influence of media on this generation or bashing postmodernism, we must learn how to use the media to speak the Truth of God to this generation—whether it be using quotes from contemporary movies or songs that speak the Truth or understand the underlying assumptions of postmodernism well enough to use them to the advantage of the Gospel.

I believe that one of the best ways to do this is to continue to speak the Truth and to teach the Truth to our students, but also to give greater voice to the Busters who are entering the world of education and ministry. Busters have a greater understanding of today’s Mosaic generation in that Busters are the first “postmodern generation”. We also need to give full hearing to our students as they seek to live out their lives as Christians in a postmodern world. Our students think like and understand the thinking of today’s youth culture. We need to let them help us understand how to reach their own generation.

I also believe that we need to re-examine what we label as Truth. Truth is Truth and is everlasting; however, many of us and our decades or centuries old denominations and religious backgrounds have taken interpretations and preferences and moved them over into the category of “Truth”. We need to re-examine the Scriptures to re-discover “Truth”. We need to differentiate between Truth, interpretation of Truth and personal preference. Recent multi-denominational developments and movements (at least in our part of the country) has made this much easier as many churches have moved to define themselves more by what the Bible says rather than along man-made denominational settings. As this trend continues we need to encourage our students along these lines to continue the trend throughout their generation and not become imbedded in a way of doing things. Those of us who are Busters can model this as our maturing generation has tried to redefine traditional Christianity.

[1] My references to “Buster” and “Mosaic” and “Boomer” generations as based on David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons’ book unChristian: What a new generation really thinks about Christianity…and why it matters. (Kinnaman and Lyons)
[2] Acts 17: 18

My Educational Theology 7: The Value of Youth

In Job 32 and 33, Job’s young friend Elihu waited for their older three friends to speak wisdom to Job regarding his situation. However, their words were not wise. They spouted knowledge and platitudes and “conventional wisdom”, but not necessarily the wisdom of God. As a respectful young person, Elihu waited for the older three to talk and then said this:
Surely it is God's Spirit within people, the breath of the Almighty within them, that makes them intelligent. But sometimes the elders are not wise. Sometimes the aged do not understand justice. So listen to me and let me express my opinion.[1]

Elihu was the youngest of Job’s friends, but he spoke with the wisdom of Almighty God. So too, this generation, when inspired by God in their spirits have the ability to speak life-giving truth into our world and to be used by God to change the world for His glory. This leads me to the next belief that I have in my theology of youth ministry: God highly values youth and that He created youth with certain characteristics in order to fulfill His plan on earth[2]. Throughout history, God has repeatedly used young people to accomplish His work on earth. In the circles of youth ministry, we are very familiar with the stories of young people that God has used to accomplish His will. These young servants of God include Samuel who was maybe the youngest at 9 or 10 years old; David who killed Goliath when he was 14-16 years old; Jeremiah who didn’t want to prophesy because he was too young (possibly in his late teens); Daniel and his friends who were most likely teenagers when they first arrived in Babylon in Daniel chapter 1; Mary, the mother of Jesus, who historians tell us was probably in her mid teens when she was “found with child”; and, finally, Jesus’ disciples who were probably in their late teens or early twenties. These are only to mention a few.

God values youth. He speaks highly of the strength and zeal of youth. It seems natural to me that He created youth to be a time of boundless energy, optimism, strength and seeming immortality. Youth are much less cautious than older adults and God has historically used that “reckless abandon” to accomplish His work. This is not necessarily new to those who work in the world of youth, but it is an important observation that shapes what biblical youth ministry should look like. In light of the innocent ambition of youth, we need to release our young people into God’s service. This is maybe more of a discussion of the overall idea of Christian education (whether in a church , school or home setting), but, in order for our youth (our mid-adolescents is my focus here) to do God’s work and be agents of change in their worlds like Samuel, David, Jeremiah, Daniel, Mary and the disciples, we need to lay a foundation for them so that they are amply prepared to stand for God and to serve him in whatever situations they find themselves in when they reach college. Each of these young servants of God had a definite and accurate view of who God was and what He desired and were therefore prepared to hear His call and reckless enough to have the faith to follow it. Their view of God was developed by their parents and teachers as they grew up—in their childhood/pre adolescent years. The emphasis is on pre-teen training, teaching and guidance.

For those who work with these mid-adolescents (whether we are parents, youth pastors, teachers or counselors), as we work with these young servants of God we need to challenge them to be world changers not shelter them, coddle them and try to keep them safe. This may mean sending them to public school, letting them go on missions trips, encouraging them when they want to start radical ministries or Bible studies. We need to let them love the poor and care for the environment and start prayer meetings. We need to help them understand boundaries and how to pick themselves up when they fail. We need to let them go crazy for God now because the older they get the more cautious they will be because they will have bought into this world more, have jobs they might lose, families to take care of and a lot less energy.

[1] Job 32:8-10 (NLT)
[2] My biblical research on the value God places on youth comes from an early Youth Ministry Practicum paper entitled What the Bible says about “youth” and “youth ministry” and from another Practicum paper entitled Biblical Mentoring.

What I've Found: Signs & Wonders 4 (the rest of it...)

Unusual Signs & Wonders

As the narrative of Acts unfolds we see the believers performing signs and wonders. However, on occasion some of them are given “unusual ability” to perform signs and wonders. These unusual signs and wonders are seen specifically as being given to Peter and Paul.
Only twice to we see a reference to “unusual abilities” in Acts. Once is where Peter’s shadow falls on the sick and infirmed and they are healed and people bring out their sick and informed relatives to have his shadow fall on them. The indication of the narrative is that this wasn’t a continual activity. Paul also is given extraordinary abilities in Acts 19 to the point that aprons and handkerchiefs that he touched (that touched him) where taken to heal the sick and cast out demons. Again, in all the narrative we see of Paul, only once are such unusual signs and wonders mentioned as being done through him.
The rarity of these accounts indicates to me that they are truly unusual. Yet, they happened. And, they happened, not even at a certain turning point in the ministry of the church.

Reactions

Through out the New and Old Testaments we see the same reactions that we find in Acts 2:43: awe and fear.

Awe and wonder defined….
Even as we see the words “awe” and “fear” describing the reactions to these signs and wonders, we see that the results of the awe and fear are different. I see three results to signs and wonders in the Bible: the desire to embrace what God is doing; the desire to be distant from what God is doing; and the desire to gain earthly profit from what God is doing.
1. the desire to embrace what God is doing;
2. the desire to be distant from what God is doing;
3. and the desire to gain earthly profit from what God is doing.

21st Century Church

So then, how should the 21st Century Church do about the issue of signs and wonders?

What I've Found: Signs & Wonders 3 (in the church)

In the Church

Though the Scriptures specifically describe signs and wonders as part of evangelism, we see some of the same events that we would describe as signs and wonders taking place within the church. If one has to be bound by the number of supports that Scripture gives an activity, signs and wonders in the church would be at the shorter end of the support, though I believe that a strong case can be made for signs and wonders in the church.

Where it seems evident that God designed evangelical signs and wonders mostly for the benefit of the unsaved hearer/observer, He designed “in-house” signs and wonders for the benefit of the believer in the church. Again, I see three purposes for signs and wonders in the church, note that these are not tremendously different that the evangelistic use of signs and wonders: 1) To place His endorsement on the message of a speaker (Acts ; 2) to convince the church that He is at work; and 3) simply as a ministry of love to His people.

1. God provides signs and wonders to His church as a sign of His endorsement on the message His people are preaching and on the experiences His people have.
   —Acts 2:43: the apostles are teaching the word (42) and doing signs and wonders.
   —Galatians 3:5: miracles that the Holy Spirit was doing among the Galatians were the result of believing in Jesus Christ as their Savior as apposed to their obedience to the Law of Moses.
   —Hebrews 3:3,4: signs and wonders, which apparently continued among the believers in this audience, confirmed the message of salvation.
2. God provided signs and wonders to His church as a sign that He is in a new work in the church.
   —Acts 8 & 11: tongues at the Samaritans’ and Cornelius’ conversion
   —Acts15: as Paul and Barnabas tell of how God worked signs and miracles when they were preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles.
3. Thirdly, God provided signs and wonders to His church simply as a demonstration of His love for them.
   —Acts 9:32-43: the healing of the lame man Aenaes and the raising of the beloved Dorcus from the dead.
   —Acts 20:7-9: the raising of the young man, Eutychus, from the dead when he fell asleep during Paul’s sermon and fell out of a window.
   —1 Corinthians 12:9, 10, 28-30: the gifts of healing and miracles giving to the church for the edification of the church.
   —James 5:14-15: the healing ministry of the elders.
   —James 5:16: the healing ministry of confessing our sins to one another.

What I’ve found is that not only does the Holy Spirit work signs and wonders outside the church, but also within the church. Some of the signs are similar such as the sign to the people that the work and teachings of a person or group truly is of God. They also are God’s sign of endorsement on a ministry and simply God’s ministry of love and care for His people.

Of the signs and wonders within the church, we see miracles and healings often referred to. Specific examples include the healing of Paul’s eyes; the healing of the lame believer in Lydda; and the raising of Dorcus from the dead in Joppa and Eutychus in Troas.

What I've Found: Signs & Wonders 2 (evangelism)

Evangelism

In the study of Scripture, it becomes apparent that the activities that we frequently refer to as “signs and wonders” is generally reserved to go along with the preaching of the Gospel as an accompanying signature of God’s approval on the preacher and the veracity of the message of the preacher.
According to the Gospel of Mark, while Jesus was concluding the Great Commission, He spoke of signs and wonders accompanying those who believed. Then Mark concludes in commentary by saying:

And the disciples went everywhere and preached, and the Lord worked with them, confirming what they said by many miraculous signs[i].

As the story of the new church is written in Acts, we see the author, Luke, carrying on this idea that signs would accompany the Gospel while the speaker is in the activity of evangelism. In fact, we see these signs and wonders serving three purposes. The first purpose is that of an attraction to the public. The second purpose was to provide the authority of veracity of the speaker’s message. Finally, the purpose of signs and wonders (this found in Acts) was to prove to the church that a new work was of God.

1. To attract a crowd:
   —Acts 2: signs and wonders drew a crowd on Pentecost then the gathered crowd heard the apostles preach.
   —Acts 5: the Apostles performed signs and wonders at Solomon’s Colonnade in the Temple and many people believed.
   —Acts 6: Stephen performed signs and wonders “among the people” and the attention that was brought to him brought people to be healed, but also to hear the Gospel. These signs and wonders and this preaching gave Stephen an opportunity to argue the faith with Jewish believers—eventually before the Sanhedrin—and also eventually led to his death.
   —Acts 8: Philip’s preaching was accompanied by signs and wonders that both attracted a crowd and caused many to believe.


2. Signs and Wonders were God’s endorsement to the authenticity or veracity of the preacher of the Gospel.
   1. Acts 2: Peter reminds the crowd that Jesus’ teaching was accredited or endorsed by God through signs and wonders.
   2. Acts 14: God proved Paul and Barnabas’ message to be true by providing signs and wonders.
   3. Romans 15: Paul reminds the Roman believers how many people were “won over” to the preaching of Gospel through signs and wonders.


3. To prove to the church that a new work was of God.
   1. Acts 15: Paul and Barnabas tell the leadership in the Jerusalem church about the signs and wonders and miracles that God did among the Gentiles.

What were the signs and wonders that accompanied the preaching of the Gospel in the early church that drew the crowds to hear the evangelists; showed God’s approval on the speaker and his message; and that convinced the early church that a new work was of God.
Some of these signs could possibly be the ones mentioned in Mark 16, where Jesus said: “these signs will accompany those who believe: driving out demons; speaking in new tongues; picking up snakes with their hands; drinking deadly poison, both without injury; and placing their hands on sick people and healing them.[ii]

Other signs that we see mentioned in the New Testament include: tongues (Acts 2, 8, 10, 11, 19; 1 Corinthians 14:22); healing (Acts 4:29-30; 5:12-16); miracles (Acts 2:22; 4:30; 6:8; 8:6,13; and exorcism (Acts 5:16; 8:6-13).

So I find that God gave the church various signs and wonders to accompany the Gospel—the activity of evangelism—to draw crowds to hear the Gospel; to give His endorsement on one of His servants and to convince His church that a new work was of His doing.

[i] Mark 16:20 [NLT]
[ii] Mark 16:17-18
And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; [18] they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well." [NIV]

What I've Found: Signs & Wonders 1 (defining)

The Scriptural phrase “signs and wonders” brings with it a sense of excitement and concern. The church at the beginning of Acts was described as being in awe and in fear at the signs and wonders worked among them. Today there is a mixture of awe at the possibility of God at work and fear at the mysterious nature of these events—are they of God or of man. The purpose of this paper is to first define “signs and wonders”; then to describe the contexts that we find signs and wonders worked out in Scripture—specifically focusing on the New Testament; and finally to describe what I find the New Testament church’s reaction to signs and wonders how the New Testament church should interact with these events.

Defining Signs & Wonders

To define this idea of signs and wonders, I refer to the Greek definitions and implications, then to those things we see in the Scriptures as signs and wonders that were performed in the Bible.
The Strong’s Concordance’s defines wonders in the Greek as “teras” (teras), meaning a prodigy, omen or wonder1. The Bible Knowledge Commentary[i] describes these wonders as “miracles evoking awe”. Strong's defines signs as semaino (semaino), from sema (sema), a mark; to indicate or signify. Again referring to the Bible Knowledge Commentary, we are told these are “miracles pointing to a divine truth”. On occasion, the word for sign is semeion (semeion), which is a derivative of semaino (semaino); which is an “indication, especially ceremonial or supernatural; a miracle, sign, token, or wonder.” A number of translators have in many places translated the phrase signs and wonders as “miraculous signs and wonders”.
In the Old Testament Hebrews the word for signs is 'owth ('owth)[ii], meaning a signal, flag, beacon, monument, omen, prodigy, evidence, a mark, miracle, sign, token. The Hebrew for wonders is Mowpheth (mowpheth)[iii], meaning conspicuousness; a miracle; or by implication a token or omen an is translated miracle, sign, wonder.

Biblical Signs & Wonders

In the Bible signs and wonders refer to a variety of miraculous events and actions brought by God through His servants. I’ve found that often the events of the Exodus are referred to as miraculous signs and wonders. These events included Moses’ rod turning into a snake and back into a rod; the Nile River being turned into blood and the rest of the plagues. Exodus signs and wonders also include the various miracles God worked on behalf of His people in the wilderness including the provision of food and water and His general preserving them from sickness and from their clothes and shoes from wearing out.
On occasion, the Exodus signs and wonders included what we might generally consider typical miracles such as healing and the casting out of demons. These are the signs and wonders that we often think of which according to Jeremiah continued through out the Old Testament times[iv].
Other of these miracles are seen through out the Old Testament include healings, exorcisms, a variety of healings, raising people from the dead and various natural phenomena.

1 STRONG’S GREEK & HEBREW DICTIONARY, Database ©1990-93 NavPress Software. Audio: Kirkbride Bible & Technology © 1998.

[i] THE BIBLE KNOWLEDGE COMMENTARY: New Testament Edition, An Exposition of the Scriptures by Dallas Seminary Faculty; Based on the New International Version. By John F. WalvoordRoy B. Zuck. Victor Books, A Division of Scripture Press Publications Inc. USA Canada England, Underlying source materials. © 1983, by Scripture Press Publications, Inc. Licensed by Victor Books. Database ©1997 NavPress Software.

[ii] »Strong’s Help
'owth, Hebrew 226, Strong’s
'owth, oth; probably from Hebrew 225 ('uwth) (in the sense of appearing); a signal (literal or figurative), as a flag, beacon, monument, omen, prodigy, evidence, etc. :- mark, miracle, (en-) sign, token.
In Daniel, the Chaldean is used: 'ath (Chaldee), awth; corresponding to Hebrew 226 ('owth); a portent :- sign.
[iii] mowpheth, mo-faith'; or mopheth, mo-faith'; from Hebrew 3302 (yaphah) in the sense of conspicuousness; a miracle; by implication a token or omen :- miracle, sign, wonder (-ed at
In Daniel, the Chaldean is used: temahh, tem-ah'; (Chaldee); from a root corresponding to Hebrew 8539 (tamahh); a miracle :- wonder.
[iv] Jeremiah 32:20
You performed miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt and have continued them to this day, both in Israel and among all mankind, and have gained the renown that is still yours. [NIV]

My Educational Theology 6: Mentoring

I believe that it is consistent with the biblical-historical model that our ministry to students in a Christian high school needs to stress the mentoring of students. The Bible provides many examples of mentoring in the training of young people to do God’s work[1]. Some notable examples of this include Moses and Joshua; Elijah & Elisha; Barnabas and John Mark; and Paul and Timothy & Titus. In each of these stories, men of God took on the cause of a younger man of God and championed his cause, gave him life experience and pointed him to God.


I think that in varying degrees these biblical examples of mentoring provide us with the basis for youth ministry—whether church based or otherwise. The role of the mentor/youth minister is to come along side the parents and to build upon the foundation they’ve laid in the lives of their children. Paul really emphasized this in his writings to Timothy: “I am reminded of your sincere faith that dwelt first in your grandmother…and your mother…and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. Continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed…and how from your childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings….”[2]


When we have a biblical ministry to youth, we need to remember that the primary responsibility of teaching and training is, in fact, the parents. They hold the ultimate responsibility. Because of this, we who are teachers and youth workers should be always cognizant of the parents’ wishes regarding their child’s (or adolescent’s) education—both spiritual and vocational. We are serving these parents at the least and at the most we are partnering with them. As we do so, we need to remember that we are to first honor God in our teaching and part of honoring God is to honor a student’s parents—regardless of how the parents are doing or seem to be doing in the raising of the student. This can be a difficult challenge in the world of mid-adolescents where my ministry is focused. During this stage in a young person’s development, they are essentially practicing being an adult. This means stretching their boundaries and questioning authority. This means examining the issues they assumed were true all their lives to see if what they were taught was in fact real and true. This means testing their faith to see if it is really their faith. When we are partners with parents, we come along side these young people and we reinforce the biblical values and teachings of the home. At the same time we need to make sure that we leave space for difference in biblical and cultural applications that may have been taught at home. We need to be extremely cautious of directly challenging the teachings of parents, but rather encourage students into a dialogue with the Scriptures and their parents. We need to not take over for our students’ parents, but to provide reinforcement of a biblical standard and provide examples of how other Christian adults live out their faith. There are times when the parents are absent or have not taught biblical values. Our role continues to be one of caution in that we need all the more to display biblical standards and teachings in our lifestyles. However, sometimes our biblical lifestyles and teachings may contradict that of the students’ parents. In such a case, we need seek to teach and challenge our students to discover the truth through a dialogue with the Scriptures as guided by the Holy Spirit while still honoring and respecting their parents.


[1] My biblical research on the mentoring comes from an early Youth Ministry Practicum paper entitled What the Bible says about “youth” and “youth ministry”.
[2] 2 Timothy 1:4-5; 3:14-15

Lent: Day 4

Reading: Psalm 101: A Psalm of David (I will walk with integrity)


Reflections:
Yahweh, how I craved Your awful presence—a terrifying and holy place—a place in which I should be consumed!

My flesh cries out—don’t consume me, O awesome and terrifying God—my sin is so terrible, I can’t stand Your presence!

My soul finds rest in the fact that Jesus carried my sin on the cross so that I will not be consumed by the angry justice of God. Because of His death and His cleansing blood I boldly enter the terrifying and glorious presence of the Most High God!! As a result, I am perfectly safe in His presence!

How great Your love for us
How great our love for You!
--that Grace would cover us
How great Your love…for us![1]

My spirit cries out:

Holy, holy, holy!
Is the Lord God Almighty
The whole earth is full of His glory![2]

Stir it up in our hearts, Lord
A passion for Your Name
A passion for Jesus![3]

Consume me Holy fire
That nothing of me would remain!
Consume my stinking flesh!

For Yahweh is a consuming fire—a jealous God (Deut. 4:24, Hebrews 12:29)

Oh, Consuming Fire
Burn away my stinking sinful flesh
Purify my life from the vestiges of this world.

My flesh quivers and my mind screams out against such a though and what it means—I’ve been through this before!

My spirit still cries out “consume me that I would be more like You!
To be completely surrendered to You!
To let You flow freely and unhindered through me!”

I’ll set You as a seal upon my heart
As a seal upon my arm!

My heart and my soul vacillate between my flesh & my spirit.
The world and the armies of evil are allied with my flesh and arrayed against my spirit and work against this cry for Your consuming fire!

For these is a love that is as strong as death
Jealousy as demanding as the grave
And many waters cannot quench this love.

Yet, my spirit cries:

Come be the fire inside of me
Come be the flame upon my heart!
Come be the fire inside of me
Until You and I are one!

Then I remember—though the powers of this world and evil are arrayed against me, the Community of Faith and the Spirit of the Almighty are allied with my spirit!

You won’t relent until You have it all!
My heart is Yours![4]

Purify my life and help me live for You!

How can a young man keep his way pure? By living it according to Your Word (Psalm 119:9)

Yahweh God, I pray that I would:

• be conversant in Your ways and commandments that I find in Your Word;
• behave myself in a way that is consistent with Your ways, actions and teachings;
• have the center of my mind, intellect will; the way I view myself; the center of my very vitality be baptized and washed thoroughly with Your Word and processed according to Your ways, style and wishes.

[1] How Great by David Crowder
[2] a bunch of seraphim in heaven and saints gathered around the Throne
[3] Consuming Fire by Tim Hughes
[4] You Won’t Relent by Misty Edwards

Lent Day 1: Ash Wednesday Reflections

On Ash Wednesday, a group of student interns from school and I attended an Ash Wednesday service at St. Peter of the Rock Church. I then took the rest of the day off school to take a break from the school routine. These are some of my reflections throughout that day:

Wow! There is such a depth and reverence I felt while attending the Ash Wednesday service this morning. What community with the students I attended with as well as with our historical community of faith. ...Then to wear a cross on my forehead (my bald forehead) so that all can see it—this mark of acknowledgement of my sin and my repentance. My experience this morning elicits a variety of random thoughts in me:

• There is something in me that mourns the loss of the historic practice of our faith—and the deep and somewhat mystical reverence it brings. This is a vein of practice that I have craved for years—it is so rich and steeped in tradition. it is so full of physical and tangible reminders—the Stations of the Cross on the walls, the sign of the Cross the participants make, the mark on our foreheads, the responsive readings and exclamations….even a sense of biblical-ness with the “peace be with you”…”and also with you” deal. The reverence for the reading of the Word of God—so much increased for the reading of something from the Gospels.

Through out the service and in the sanctuary there was so much to remind us of God’s tremendously amazing self-sacrificing love for us. Very much like the starkly simple tradition God brought me up in—the focus of the Cross was so strong and culminated in communion. The kneeling and standing was great—it kept all my senses engaged.

The Plymouth Brethren in me craved more depth in the homily and the charismatic in me cried out for more unbridled celebration (though Ash Wednesday isn’t really designed to be a celebration…).

To me there is something about celebrating a common activity that believers around the world are also celebrating today and that believers throughout the centuries have celebrated—(referring to the Catholic mass). We’ve experienced something that our spiritual and blood ancestors experienced since the first millennia.

• Now to the wearing of a mark of my faith and spiritual condition—an ash mark in the shape of a cross on my forehead. It is something new to me. I’m rebuked as I think of how ashamed and embarrassed I am to carry a symbol of repentance and Christ’s sacrifice on my forehead—yet, God carried my sin and shame upon Him. Jesus still to this day carries the marks—the physical reminders of the Cross—on His hands and feet and n His side. So, how does it hurt me to wear ashes on my forehead in the shape of a Cross for the day?

But Supreme God intentionally demonstrated His unconditional self-sacrificing love regarding us, to the extent that while we were still being sinful, Christ was slain for us. Romans 5:8

I’m so bored of little gods
While standing on the edge of something large
While standing here so close You
--we could be consumed!

What a glorious day!

I give up
I lay down
Rest my face
Upon this ground
Lift my eyes
Up to Your sky
Rid my heart
Of all I hid
So sweet this surrender!!

How great Your love for us!
How great our love for You!
--that grace would cover us
How great Your love
How great!!

How marvelous
How brilliantly
Luminous
You shine in me
And who can fail
To give You awe
To fear You God
So sovereign & strong! (David Crowder)

Another thought that has come to mind as I wear this ash cross on my forehead, is what people think of me. I am known as a religious guy. Here I sit at McDonald’s-->I’m the pastor guy who comes and studies his Bible on Saturday and Sunday mornings. They, I’m sure, are not tremendously surprised at my mark—maybe I’m a bit more radical than they thought. To John-Mark’s scouting friends’ dads I’m the pastor guy. At school that’s kinda my rep. Yet, is my reputation and my heart condition the same? There are those who would just assume that I’m a spiritual guy—this cross of my forehead screams it—yet am I truly spiritual on the inside?