Songs I'm Meditating Through... Wonderful, Merciful Savior

Phillips, Craig, and Dean's rendition of this song has been funneling through my head all weekend. I'm sharing it today because I hope it blesses you as much as it has me these past few days.






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Nathan Bryant

is a pastor living in Phoenix, AZ. As a student at Ozark Christian College in Joplin, Missouri he majored in Biblical Leadership, New Testament Studies, and Missiology. Nathan has a combined passion for unity and discipleship in the global church.

Christ's Kingdom is bigger than our causes.

Christ's Kingdom is bigger than our boundaries.

Follow him on Twitter: Follow @nathanpbryant

Nathan's resume 

Formation Fridays: Max Lucado

Most Christians in North America (or the world for that matter) know the name, Max Lucado. I think it safe to assume he has almost as much recognition as the great evangelist Billy Graham among Evangelical Christians.
Pastor Lucado is a prolific writer, he has authored more books than there are books of the Bible, (74 by my count). including three recipients of the Charles Jordon Gold Medallion Christian Book of the Year, and has also appeared regularly on several bestseller lists including the New York Times Best Seller List. Lucado was named "America's Pastor" by Christianity Today magazine.

He is a pastor at Oak Hills Church, where he preaches alongside Randy Frazee. In 2005 he was named by Reader's Digest as "The Best Preacher in America." He has also been featured on The Fox News Channel, NBC Nightly News, Larry King Live, LLBN, and USA Today. He has been featured speaker at the National Prayer Breakfast. His website describes him as a preacher with a storyteller’s gift—a pastor’s heart and a poet’s pen.

He and his wife were missionaries to Brazil for a time and served in multiple ministries across the country. Max is a sought after speaker and a deeply loved pastor.

Max was a huge influence on me growing up as I read a few of his books, and as my parents had listened to him on the radio. I think my favorite book by him was one of his children's books (yep it's still my favorite), a short story called, "The Song of the King".

I won't give any spoilers, but it is an easy read (less than 10 minutes), and the principle that Max lays out is timeless.

For a pastor who is knowledgeable enough to argue deeply with theologians and yet can simplify concepts so that a child can understand is not only immensely beneficial to the church, it is also an art. An art that for some time I feel has been lost. I'm very thankful for the life and ministry of Max Lucado, in my eyes, a modern day Church Father if there ever was one. He has defended the truth, evangelized the lost, and has been pivotal with his writing, speaking, and shepherding in the discipleship of many.


We would do well to heed his words of advice concerning Spiritual Formation.


These are just a handful of quotes from some of his works.

"The meaning of life. The wasted years of life. The poor choices of life. God answers the mess of life with one word: 'grace.'"

"About four days a week, I do pretty good at having a morning prayer time. But even at that, it's a rambling sort of thing. What I have learned to do better is to try to keep my mind turned toward God and ear inclined toward God throughout the day, and I think I'm doing better at that, but I've got a long way to go."

"When grace happens, we receive not a nice compliment from God but a new heart. Give your heart to Christ, and he returns the favor...

...Grace is God as heart surgeon, cracking open your chest, removing your heart - poisoned as it is with pride and pain - and replacing it with his own...
...The idea of a spiritual heart transplant is a vivid image to me; once you have the heart of somebody else inside you, then that heart is there. Jesus' heart is inside me, and my heart is gone. So if God were to place a stethoscope against my chest, he would hear the heart of Jesus Christ beating."

"God meets daily needs daily. Not weekly or annually. He will give you what you need when it is needed."

These quotes bring up questions for my own self evaluation. 

How is my heart? Is it living the transplant life that Christ has given me.

Do I worry too much? Do I not trust in a good God who meets my daily needs daily?

How is my concept and my practice of prayer? The easy answer is to say "Of course I should pray more, we all should!" But I think the real question that Lucado makes me think about is: How am I praying and am I fostering an attitude of attentiveness to God throughout my day?

And of course, do I understand what grace really means for my past mistakes and failures?


How about you? Do you wrestle with these questions? Should you be?

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Nathan Bryant

is a pastor living in Phoenix, AZ. As a student at Ozark Christian College in Joplin, Missouri he majored in Biblical Leadership, New Testament Studies, and Missiology. Nathan has a combined passion for unity and discipleship in the global church.

Christ's Kingdom is bigger than our causes.

Christ's Kingdom is bigger than our boundaries.

Follow him on Twitter: Follow @nathanpbryant

Nathan's resume 

God is: Here

If you have a few minutes today, below is a wonderful and humbling reminder of the very presence of God.

Our God is omnipresent. Always here. In all places.
And the video that is posted below is my very favorite sermon on the subject from one of my former professors, Michael DeFazio.

I am going to continue posting on large aspects of our theology, doctrines that truly do matter.

If you perhaps do not have a few minutes today, let me give you a quote to think on from this message.

"REMEMBER! But effort alone is probably not enough. We must indeed remember. But in order to remember we must remind ourselves of this truth we believe. Do whatever it takes to regularly remind yourself of what you know is true! THIS is HOW you cultivate a convictional awareness of God's presence. What does this look like? Well, figure it out! To be honest I don't really care what you do... I just care THAT you do it.
All I care about is whether your path is blocked or foggy or clear, whether in places of fun or frustration or fear,
whether you go far away or stay very near,
when it comes to this truth, all I care about is that you never forget, that all that God is,
God is, here."

Formation Fridays: Søren Kierkegaard

These "Formation Friday" posts will range from some general thoughts on current events helping us remember Jesus... to some of the sayings and writings of wise Christian leaders throughout the centuries.

My hope is that as we stay simple and we peek into the things around us and the musings of those who have gone before us that we would enjoy and experience a jump-start into our own personal spiritual formation, hence the title: Formation Fridays.

I hope you will join us, and thanks for reading!
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Søren Kierkegaard (pronounced "Keer-kuh-gard") is one of the most famous philosophers from the 19th-20th Centuries. He was born in Denmark where he lived all 42 years of his short life.

Much of his work deals with the art of Christian love. He was extremely critical of the practice of Christianity as a state religion, primarily that of the Church of Denmark. He believed the church is at its best when it is autonomous of the state, a belief still strongly supported today.

The thing is though, Mr. Kierkegaard is most notably known for his works on Christian ethics and the institution of the Church. He was an avid reader and writer. Kierkegaard wrote over 7,000 pages in his journals on events, musings, thoughts about his works and everyday remarks. He was is called the first "existential philosopher". He proposed that each individual—not society or religion—is solely responsible for giving meaning to life and living it passionately and sincerely ("authentically").

Existentialism became popular in the years following World War II, and strongly influenced many disciplines besides philosophy, including theology, drama, art, literature, and psychology. RELEVANT posted an article earlier this week, on the anniversary of Kierkegaard's death, to highlight some of his greatest sayings. You can find that article here.

Whether you agree or disagree, the fact is this thought process and ideology has influenced a lot of our society... in fact it has permeated the western culture entirely.

Kierkegaard had plenty of tragedies in his life, beginning with a deeply estranged relationship with his father and an engagement breakup with the only woman he ever fell in love with. He is deeply misunderstood at times, disliked for the hard things he said about the church, and blamed for promoting the cause of a lot of the individualism that has run rampant into our culture, but the truth is we can learn a lot from those whom we disagree with, those we misunderstand, and those who we haven't taken the time to get to know. Søren loved Jesus and the church very much. Amidst all of the problems he had in his own life he breathed fresh life into the realm of Christian theology in his day and his works are studied and built upon even today. Here are some quotes by him to get us thinking:

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"The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand, we are obliged to act accordingly."

"God creates out of nothing. Wonderful you say. Yes, to be sure, but he does what is still more wonderful: He makes saints out of sinners."

"Face the facts of being what you are, for that is what changes what you are."

"The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays."

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Nathan Bryant

is a pastor living in Phoenix, AZ. As a student at Ozark Christian College in Joplin, Missouri he majored in Biblical Leadership, New Testament Studies, and Missiology. Nathan has a combined passion for unity and discipleship in the global church.

Christ's Kingdom is bigger than our causes.

Christ's Kingdom is bigger than our boundaries.

Follow him on Twitter: Follow @nathanpbryant

Nathan's Resume 

Memorizing Scripture

I have always struggled with memorizing.

Not because I have the inability, but because I never devoted the time.

If you’re like me, you feel pressure from everything within life to give our time and attention to. The idea of spiritual formation or the practice of memorizing Scripture, praying, meditating, etc seems too unrealistic.

The thing is, most of us don’t want to admit that our time management skills are the problem, we like the easy answer of, “I’m just bad at memorizing.”

If you know your name, address, social security or telephone number, or better yet the names and stats of your favorite sports athletes… then you can no longer say, "I just can't memorize."
We memorize words to songs, important dates, and the names of new friends. We certainly can memorize Scripture. The real question is how long it will take… and how long we are willing to give to the practice. For most people it will take about three consecutive days to put word for word phrases into long-term memory. I had a professor in college lay out this plan for us when we were voicing our struggles to him about memorizing Scripture:

1.) 10 minutes per verse to memorize it the first time. Memorize it well and correctly. Use more time if needed.
2.) 5 minute review right before bed, for three evenings (this allows your sub-conscience to work on it while you sleep).
3.) 5 minute review the first thing in the morning, for three days. 

First, you'll want to pick a good translation. There’s no sense in memorizing from a translation you don’t understand. This doesn’t benefit anyone or anything. Reading and studying a translation that you cannot decipher doesn’t make you more “spiritual”, it makes you an ignoramus.
The New Testament writers didn’t write in ancient Hebrew, they didn’t write in classical Greek (so only the elite would be able to read it), they wrote in the common tongue. They wrote so that the governing official could read it just as well as the merchant, the fisherman, the scribe, the farmer, etc.

Bible translators today do the same thing, as language changes over time, so does our need to redefine certain phrases and words from the original ancient languages.
*Rant over*

Second, read the text and its context aloud until you clearly understand its meaning. It is much easier to memorize words that make sense to you. Always memorize aloud because you incorporate multiple senses into your work.

Always work smarter, not harder!
By using both your eyes and ears, your brain is using multiple sections to work together to drive this message into your mind for good.

Read the first phrase of the verse. Then close your Bible and repeat it (aloud) over and over (about 10 times). Do it right the first time! It takes much less time to memorize it right the first time than to re-memorize it later. Then read the next phrase, close your Bible, and do the same thing. Then put the two of them together, repeating them both over and over until it becomes comfortable. Add a third phrase, etc. until you have completed the whole verse.

Close your eyes and try to picture the scene: Who said this? To whom? When? What was going on? How did he or she feel? etc.

Another way to add to this is to role-play the passage.

Now before you just write this off, stay with me… Pretend that you are the author, writing or speaking this for the very first time. You wouldn't be saying it in monotone or non enthusiastically.
These writers were excited to be saying what they were saying... well except maybe Jeremiah.

Nonetheless, they all wrote with a lot of emotion. Moses wrote forcefully. Isaiah rote with great expectation. Jeremiah wrote on tear stained scrolls. Paul wrote with immense passion and gratitude, and sometimes with a lot of anger (yep I'm calling you out Galatians)!

John wrote with such an encouragement and instruction.

And the Holy Spirit who is the true author of it all, has a very clear purpose and desire for each word.

So... remember the author as you memorize.

Act it out using lots of gestures, facial expressions, and vocal inflections.

How do you think actors and actresses get so good at their lines? They BECOME the character.
If we practiced doing that, we would get really good at talking like we imagine Paul spoke, thinking the way Peter thought, etc.
We need to allow the authors come alive through the words they penned down thousands of years ago.

There are many other methods to use or to add to this.

I’m curious, what methods do you use to memorize Scripture? 




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Nathan Bryant

is a pastor at River Run Church in East Orlando, FL. As a student at Ozark Christian College in Joplin, Missouri he majored in Biblical Leadership and New Testament Studies, with a minor in Missiology.  In 2014 he attended the Leadership Institute in Phoenix, AZ where he continued his education from other pastors and educators at one of the fastest growing churches in the United States. He loves the outdoors, whether it is camping in the mountains or jumping through the waves at the beach, nothing is better than enjoying God’s creation. Nathan longs for unity and commitment to Jesus to be a defining element in the global church of his generation.

Christ's Kingdom is bigger than our causes.

Christ's Kingdom is bigger than our boundaries.

Follow him on Twitter: Follow @nathanpbryant

Nathan's Website

 

Formation Fridays: John of Kronstadt

We as a team have been struggling lately to stay constant with our posting. Not to make excuses, however all of us have been undergoing some life transitions. We are restructuring our board, our writing schedules, and figuring out what the future of our ministry will look like here.

So, to be fair to you, our wonderful readers, we are going to work very hard this month to begin writing more consistently as we have in the past.


To ease some of this though, and to give you more content throughout the week, I am going to start posting short blurbs and/or quotes on Fridays. These will range from some general thoughts on current events helping us remember Jesus... to some of the sayings and writings of wise Christian leaders throughout the centuries.

My hope is that as we stay simple and we peek into the things around us and the musings of those who have gone before us that we would enjoy and experience a jumpstart into our own personal spiritual formation, hence the title: Formation Fridays.

I hope you will join us, and thanks for reading!

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Today I hope these quotes about prayer from the beloved Eastern Orthodox leader, St. John of Kronstadt will give you something to think about throughout your day, and perhaps aid you in slowing down and giving thought, time, and heart to your time of prayer.

"When praying, believe firmly, that the Lord is present in every word of the prayer, and that He is the fulfillment with the abundance of His gifts, warming and enlightening each one’s souls according to the measure of each one’s faith."

 
"If you pray to the Lord from your whole heart, then you speak to the very heart of the Lord. For we are in the one heart of God. 'Dwelleth in Me and I in Him' (John 6:56)."

(Emphasis my own) 


 

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Nathan Bryant

is a pastor living in Phoenix, AZ. As a student at Ozark Christian College in Joplin, Missouri he majored in Biblical Leadership, New Testament Studies, and Missiology. Nathan has a combined passion for unity and discipleship in the global church.

Christ's Kingdom is bigger than our causes.

Christ's Kingdom is bigger than our boundaries.

Follow him on Twitter: Follow @nathanpbryant

All Saints Day

Today is All Saint's Day - a feast day that has been celebrated for hundreds of years within the church, particularly within the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran churches, but in many others as well.

But in our tradition - and in many of the traditions arising out of the Protestant Reformation - often not much is said about the Saints and All Saints Day. In fact, we make it a point in most cases to never speak of them or this day.

That neglect of the Saints in our tradition is a pity in a way because it can make the whole idea of “sainthood” and of “the communion of the saints”, inaccessible to us, far beyond us, mystical to us, or just downright weird to us-especially when you couple that neglect with the popular idea of what a saint is -namely someone who is only a little less than perfect, someone who has been a spiritual overachiever as it were. This is not the case.


The word 'Saint' comes from the Latin word 'sanctus' which means 'set apart', it is where we get the word 'sanctification' from. 

In Greek it is the word ἅγιος  (hahg-ee-oss) which is the word for holy.

A saint is a holy one. A set apart person.
In other words, any Christian is technically a saint. Whether you think of yourself as a good Christian or not, by the blood of Christ you are considered a saint.

The words 'Saint' and 'Christian' are synonymous.

So why has the church set apart or canonized specific men and women throughout history as "Saints" if it is just another word for Christ followers?

It is a designation of honor. A way of venerating (not worshiping) people who have been so sold out that we should consider them role models for our own spiritual walk. They are not any more special, any more saved, any more holier... But there is a sense in that they knew Christ, they experienced His Spirit, and they were so enamored by His presence more than most people of their day.

“In his holy flirtation with the world, God occasionally drops a handkerchief. These handkerchiefs are called saints.”

-Frederick Buechner

It is true that those that the universal church has declared - after much examination and debate, to be “saints” are in fact saints. But - when we get down to it - these wonderful people are simply bright examples of something that is very common - namely bright examples of a deep and abiding faith in Christ Jesus, a faith that has issued forth in action. They took to heart their identities as salt and light... and they preserved and flavored everything they touched. Their love for people, for the church, for truth and grace, cut through the darkest of dark.

They are men and women upon whom the fickle finger of public attention has descended, and while normally deserving of the attention they have and are receiving, so are many, many, more people. Men and women, both dead - and yet still alive.

And so, today is a day to celebrate the church. Both ancient and contemporary, liturgically and more freely. It is a day in which we recognize and remember all the people who have impacted our lives and our own faith journeys. It is a day in which while worshiping our God and our savior we THANK Him for the great people who have helped shape us into who we are today.

I would like to thank:
Thomas, Justin, Billy, Tim, Michael, Ben, and Jacob, my friends and brothers.
Marcy, Amy, and Jenna my true sisters in the faith. 
I remember and thank all of you gracious and loving people from River Run Church, my professors at Ozark Christian College, my grandparents, parents, and my new friends at Christ’s Church of the Valley.

But in not even a little less of significance or importance I remember and thank those who have passed before me. St. Paul and St. John, St. Polycarp, St. Augustine, and St. John of the Cross who have all impacted me by their writing and their lives though currently we are separated by the fragile veil of time.

So this day, take a minute or so and think of those who are present with us who has helped you with your faith in troubled times, or those who may have led you to Christ. Think of those who may have gone on to be with Christ and think of those who are yet to come. Light a candle, visit their grave, give them a phone call or a text. Pray. Be blessed.

For today is one of the many days the Church celebrates its own Thanksgiving.


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Nathan Bryant

is a pastor living in Phoenix, AZ. As a student at Ozark Christian College in Joplin, Missouri he majored in Biblical Leadership, New Testament Studies, and Missiology. Nathan has a combined passion for unity and discipleship in the global church.

Christ's Kingdom is bigger than our causes.

Christ's Kingdom is bigger than our boundaries.

Follow him on Twitter: Follow @nathanpbryant

Understanding the Beatitudes

When studying Matthew's Gospel, the Life of Christ, or the teachings of Jesus one will ALWAYS be required to confront the Sermon on the Mount. The task can seem huge, even difficult. Jesus says so much in those three chapters. But when studying these earth shattering words there is a necessity in focusing on the Beatitudes of Jesus in the opening verses of the iconic sermon. The temptation is to take each one and try to exegete each individual line and statement like a marksman peering through his scope and taking a shot with a sniper rifle.

BOOM.
And then the next target.
BOOM.

But Jesus surely didn’t mean these statements to stand alone by themselves, and Matthew certainly didn’t. Nowhere else do we see in Matthew’s account where Jesus makes singular statements that don’t have a broader context surrounding them. Rather, Matthew orchestrates his entire Gospel account around five major discourses or sermons that Jesus preaches.

What is interesting is what Jesus does just before this section of scripture. He sits down on a mountain, a traditional rabbinical way of teaching. Before this, we see Jesus walking all over preaching one message: repent. To back up his preaching he is performing miracles and healing the sick.

Directly after these statements he turns to himself, who He is and what His purpose is.
There is a bigger purpose for these statements, this collection of intriguing sayings, than just individual proverbs. These are detailed inclusive attention grabbers for the introduction to the greatest sermon ever preached.

I would suggest that instead of a sniper, we should imagine these statements to be more like a shotgun. One shot. Many pellets.

One shot… yet it hits everyone right where they are. Jesus, with one opening statement hits everyone in the crowd with a statement to grab their attention and turn their world upside down. These statements are meant to hit together. Not individually.

Think about the audience Jesus is with when he begins preaching. They are expecting a conquering warrior to overcome the oppression of Rome, set things back to how they used to be, reclaim the land, and be self-sustainable again. They want their Golden Years back.

Jesus says with a swift movement that not only are they wrong with their theological assumptions about what it means to follow the Law and the Prophets, but they are completely wrong with where they place their eschatological hope. God’s Kingdom is not of this world. These values that Jesus is placing on those whom God calls "blessed" are antithetical to the systems put in place by this world.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 
Blessed are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted. 
Blessed are the meek,
    for they will inherit the earth. 
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled. 
Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy. 
Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they will see God. 
Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God. 

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

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Nathan Bryant

is a pastor living in Phoenix, AZ. As a student at Ozark Christian College in Joplin, Missouri he majored in Biblical Leadership, New Testament Studies, and Missiology. Nathan has a combined passion for unity and discipleship in the global church.

Christ's Kingdom is bigger than our causes.

Christ's Kingdom is bigger than our boundaries.

Follow him on Twitter: Follow @nathanpbryant

The Art of Evangelism

Forward: I know this post is going to be controversial. As much as that is not my intention, it seems controversy is inevitable when dealing with a subject like this and critiquing a well-known author and speaker. I want to say this beforehand to those who support Carl Medearis. I like Carl. I have had conversations with Carl and attended seminars with him as the keynote speaker. I have read his book Speaking of Jesus. I appreciate his heart and work for the Kingdom of God. Carl is a fellow Kingdom worker. There are people in the Kingdom because of the work God has done through him. Carl, thank you for your faithful work for the Kingdom of Heaven.

To those who faithfully follow and read – this post may be more technical than most. I do not apologize for this. Sometimes this is necessary to address issues. I have taken over one month to research and address this issue. [1] I humbly ask that you consider the words before you. My hope is that this post will lead to a series of helpful discussions about this issue (hopefully with Carl).

The Issue

On September 2, 2014, Carl Medearis posted the following on his Facebook page after having a twitter conversation with his followers. Although Carl has become well known for bringing up controversial topics (of some I agree with), the following was too much for me to swallow:

Okay, now that the Twitter conversation is over - I need to tell you guys that I don't even believe in Evangelism as it's commonly practiced. Which is, of course, why my book "Speaking of Jesus" has the subtitle of: The art of NOT-evangelism." It's an unhelpful, un-useful and un-biblical word and concept. "Making disciples" is the term Jesus used. A disciple is a follower. So...we encourage people to follow Jesus. That might sound like semantics - and partly it is - but it's a hugely important shift. From evangelizing people into Christianity, to discipling (mentoring/encouraging) them to follow Jesus from whatever their background. The Way of Jesus is everything!

Later, in a comment he made on this post, Carl said since the word “evangelism” does not appear in the Bible, we shouldn’t use it.

The issue we will be looking into today is this: Is the concept of evangelism biblical? Or, is it something that came around after the time of Jesus and the Apostles. And in the words of my friend, Carl, “That might sound like semantics - and partly it is,” because words and the way we use them matter.

Amish Children

An author for Readers Digest once wrote how he studied the Amish people in preparation for an article on them. In his observation at one of the school yards, he noted that the children never screamed or yelled.
This amazed him.
I mean, have you ever been around a playground with a bunch of kids? All they do is run around and scream.
Intrigued and honestly dumbfounded at the amount of discipline these kids had, he spoke to the schoolmaster. He remarked how he had not once heard an Amish child yell, and asked why the schoolmaster thought that was so.

Do they know how to have fun? They looked like they were.

Are they little balls of energy like any other kids? They were running around like crazy and they were all smiling and laughing with each other.

The schoolmaster simply replied, "Well, have you ever heard an Amish adult yell?"

Our actions really do have a way of impacting others. People follow what they see more than what they are told.

Are you aware of who is watching you?
Do you realize the influence you have on others?

These Amish kids didn't have any kind of reference point to think that yelling was fun or even acceptable... because what their parents and community modeled was soft spoken, loving speech.

The point is not whether yelling is right or wrong, though no one really appreciates being yelled at... but that what we model is what we teach. What we model shows where our true values lie.

When people look at you, what do they see?

What are you modeling for those who look up to/ at you?

Readers Digest story from Counter Attack, Jay Carty, Multnomah Press, 1988, p. 41ff

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Nathan Bryant

is a pastor living in Phoenix, AZ. As a student at Ozark Christian College in Joplin, Missouri he majored in Biblical Leadership, New Testament Studies, and Missiology. Nathan has a combined passion for unity and discipleship in the global church.

Christ's Kingdom is bigger than our causes.

Christ's Kingdom is bigger than our boundaries.

Follow him on Twitter: Follow @nathanpbryant