The Culture of Heaven

Just under 2,000 years ago, from the side of a hill overlooking the Sea of Galilee, a poor village man named Jesus spoke about His vision for citizens of heaven. 

Though there was no pomp or circumstance, there was definitely a buzz in the air. Jesus had been touring around the Sea of Galilee, speaking to people about God and healing people with the power of God.

There was nothing special about this man, Jesus. Five feet, five inches tall, olive-brown skin, short black hair with a beard. Yet, when He spoke about God and His kingdom, people’s hearts burned within them. And often, when sick or injured people came around Him, they weren’t sick or injured anymore. More and more people began following Him around, with excitement and hope. 

His disciples must have had many questions. To see a very common, humble man do such miraculous things would have been a lot to process. To associate with someone who claimed to be a rabbi, but was not accepted by the religious leaders of the day, would have taken some careful consideration. Yet, what they saw with their eyes, and what happened in their souls when He spoke was too compelling. 

On this particular day, Jesus could sense the wonder and the questioning within His disciples. He knew the challenges they would face if they continued to associate with Him. And He knew the potency of both the secular culture and the religious culture they were swimming in. So, He pulled them close and taught them what the culture of heaven is like. In His sermon on the Mount He gave six examples of what a person filled with the culture of heaven is like: 

1. A person filled with the culture of heaven does not just avoid murdering people; he/she doesn’t let anger take root in their heart.

2. A person filled with the culture of heaven does not just avoid committing adultery; he/she doesn’t let lust take root in their minds.

3. A person filled with the culture of heaven does not just divorce someone honorably; he/she stays faithfully committed to that person (with some caveats).

4. A person filled with the culture of heaven doesn’t need signatures, contracts, or collateral in order to keep their word; he/she just does what they say will do.

5. A person filled with the culture of heaven does not try to get even when they are genuinely wronged; he/she responds in kindness and generosity, knowing God is in control and is both judge of the wicked and rewarder of the righteous.

6. A person filled with the culture of heaven does not just will the good of his/her friends, but wills the good of those who hate or have hurt him/her.

Wow! And Whoa! Do you feel your heart shouting out Yes! That is beautiful! and at the same time Yikes! That stirs up some pain! 

I find it interesting that, after Jesus spent thirty years learning what it means to be human, He focused on these six issues. Anger, lust, divorce, broken promises, vengeance, hatred of the other, were the weighty matters Jesus needed to address in His day.

I think we are dealing with these same issues in our society today. I know racism and homosexuality are getting a lot of attention and air time these days. And it is right for followers of Jesus to stand firm in the face of ideological wars and expose lies. But I think we have to be careful not to let culture dictate what the weighty matters of life are.

Though it is an unpopular opinion, I do not think that racism is a greater plague than anger is in America today. I do not think homosexuality or transgender issues are blocking the culture of heaven from showing up in our society as much as lust is. It may sound simplistic or naïve to some, but I believe that, if we stay faithful in our marriages, faithful to our contractual promises, turn the other cheek when we are wronged, and will the good of those who oppose us or hurt us, the culture of heaven will show up in greater measure — even if we are the only ones doing it. 

So, how can change come to a person who is filled with anger or lust, has been divorced, has broken promises, has been vengeful, and/or is a long way away from willing the good of the ones who have hurt them? Well, that is what we will be discussing for the next six weeks at church.

Our positional righteousness is only possible by the price Jesus paid for us on the cross. And our practical righteousness is only possible through the guiding and empowering of God’s Spirit, who dwells inside those who have made Jesus their Lord.

You can be free. You can be transformed. You can change from being lost to found, from blind to seeing. You can be made whole. 

So, join in on Sundays and in your Life Groups for the next six weeks as we dive into these deep, provocative words of Jesus. We are going to look where He is looking. We want to feel what He is feeling. We want His Spirit to come and fill us, because where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom. We want the full, unadulterated truth to set us fully free. We will all need to come with courage, ready to respond to the invitation of God to follow Him into greater freedom. We will all need to be ready for the merciful, kind Spirit of God to stir our souls in a way that brings the junk to the surface so it can be removed. 

Hallelujah,

David

Christmas and Finances

As we head toward the end of 2019 a couple of year-end items are stirring in my mind. 

The first item is Christmas.

I am very excited about this Christmas season at Living Streams. Our Christmas season is going to be crafted with a historical Advent flavor.

We know life deals us some heavy hands, and the holidays can be hard. In our Sunday services we will join with saints of old and saints around the world—focusing on how the great foes of humanity: sorrow, confusion, despair, and hate are rendered powerless by the splendor of Christ appearing.

We will look at how Christ’s advent brought overcoming and everlasting joy, peace, hope, and love into our weary, broken world.

Please bring someone you know who is not living with the light and warmth of Christ.

The second item is finances. 

It is funny how Christmas and finances go hand-in-hand these days, but I am not talking about my own finances. The end of the year always brings with it budget proposals for next year and accounting for the past year. At Living Streams our financial situation is good with—one exception. 

We have been able to give a couple hundred thousand dollars to support missions and ministries in Phoenix and around the world. We have been able to do many much-needed upgrades around our campus—including renovation in the kids' ministry areas, installing a new elevator (woohoo!), and the super-exciting stuff of electrical and IT upgrades. We have a couple of projects funded but in process, including developing an architectural master site plan, as well as turning our building on the far west side of the campus into a beautiful youth facility.

In addition to all this, we have been able to carry two months of operational reserves throughout the year, and have paid all our bills. Praise the Lord and thank you, Living Streams family! 
 
In our Elder Team meeting yesterday we presented a conservative 2020 budget proposal and it was approved without any hesitations. (In fact, our elders even questioned if we were dreaming big enough.) Hallelujah!
 
The exception to our good 2019 financial report is this: we have been down in contributions for the last two months—leaving us with a current shortfall of around $100,000. 
 
Our attendance has continued to increase, our contributions are up from last year, but these last two months have dipped. 
 
We are not sounding any alarms at this point; but if you consider yourself a part of the Living Streams family and feel that you and/or your family have been blessed and built up by the ministry and ministries of Living Streams, I want to ask you to give. Please give as the Lord directs you, and to the extent that your heart can remain cheerful in its giving. 

Please help us finish this year strong.

We are very excited about the vision for 2020. We have ideas and plans that the Lord has given us for teaching, life group expansion, outreach, and evangelism. Your help can move us forward "full steam ahead."
 
As always, we teach and preach, and we adhere to a Biblical model of financial stewardship for the Christian. We believe each Christian is called to the faithful tithe, the generous gift, and the sacrificial offering. 
 
The faithful tithe is giving ten percent of our income to the local church in order to keep our hearts free from the love of money. 
 
The generous gift happens when we cheerfully give over and above the faithful tithe as the Lord directs. At times it is extravagant in its amount and other times it is extravagant in its thoughtfulness. This giving is not necessarily given to the local church. 
 
The sacrificial offering is the type of giving that does not come out of surplus or extra, but truly costs the giver something. This kind of giving is rare, requires great faith, and needs to be done prayerfully, as God directs. 
 
Please know we are praying for you and yours. We are seeking the Lord consistently for wisdom to lead and guide our church family into life, strength, maturity, wholeness, healing, and freedom. Or, as King David would say, “Green pastures and still waters, where our cup runs over.”
 
God be with you and give you peace,
 
David

p.s. In prepration for this Sunday, please watch the following video: bible project: generosity

A Beautiful Heart

I’m a bit of a kleptomaniac in one area of my life. No, I’m not into stealing cars, stealing from the government, or picking pockets. And I’m not talking about stealing candy (like when my eighth-grade friends and I went on a two-week stealing spree at 7-Eleven and Woolworths). 

I’m talking about the fine art of stealing words. And my problem with “word thieving” is so profound it may even be affecting the way I speak.

People ask me about my accent all the time. When I tell those people I was born and raised in Arizona they are usually a bit surprised—and thoroughly disappointed. But I think my accent is connected to my word stealing. When I hear people say words that inspire or awaken, I don’t just want to steal the words, I also want to steal the way the person said the words. I think it’s a subconscious attempt to incorporate into my own speech the way the words sounded to me. Some call it an accent—but it is probably more like schizophrenic speech. 

For our next sermon series at Living Streams Church I am once again stealing some words. The source is a nonprofit organization called “Family Matters.”  I first heard these words grouped together when I heard a talk given by the founders of Family Matters at Phoenix Seminary. 

What the founders were teaching is this: True greatness comes from having a Humble Heart, a Servant Heart, a Grateful Heart, and a Generous Heart. I have been “chewing on that” ever since I heard it. I even bought my daughters heart boxes; and for a while, I would give them a heart sticker whenever I saw them demonstrate one of these types of hearts. 

People often search to know who they are and how they can be better. The enneagram is really helpful at teaching us about personality and the pitfalls connected with our own. The Myers-Briggs personality test will teach us about what drains us and what fills our tanks. The Strengths Finder test can help us know the good we have to offer humanity. But these “four hearts” make the deeper magic that lives underneath our personality and can cause us to shine.

Sunday, November 10, we’ll begin a sermon series that will peel back the confusion in our culture, silence the incessant banter of our society, and study the beautiful heart of Jesus—so humble, helpful, grateful, and generous.

David