Purpose

August 28, 2016 from River Run Church on Vimeo.

Wake up!

The events of the last few weeks from Orlando to Istanbul, North Korea to Louisiana, Baghdad to the Carolinas, Nairobi to Washington DC; the racism, the hatred, the pain and distress... People acting as if they are above the law, people for whom the law doesn't protect, people for whom the law directly opposes and ostracizes...

It all goes to show one thing very clearly: Our World is Broken 

And all that we are doing; our institutions, our nonprofits, our attempts at peace... they just aren't working. 

The battle truly begins not with legislation, but in the hearts of men.

The prophet Jeremiah said of our condition this:

"The human heart is the most deceitful of all things,
    and desperately wicked.
    Who really knows how bad it is?"

Answer: Only God. For He is the one who searches hearts and minds. He examines our secret motives and He gives us exactly what we deserve.

But God never intended to leave us in that place of despair. So many of us walk around as if that is the ultimate truth, that mankind is wicked, beyond any kind of repair or redemption.

But God sent Himself to come and redeem ALL of that which was broken... and there is only One who came to re-create the heart. 

• He taught us that loving our neighbors and loving our enemies would bring peace.
• He taught us that hurt is not something we "get over", but something we can stand up on top of, something that we can conquer.
• He taught us that revenge doesn't heal the hurt or the longing but that redemption does.
• He taught us that real love is self-sacrificial, not selfish.
• He taught us that wealth and power fades, money is fickle, but that holiness stores up endless dividends. 
• He taught us that all life matters to God, ESPECIALLY the lives of the poor, oppressed, despondent, and ostracized.
• He taught us that the Kingdoms of this world will always fail at giving humanity its deepest longing.
• He taught us to pray with true expectant hope.
• He taught us to take care of each other and look out not for our own interests but also the interests of others.
• He taught us that loving God means loving others.

Church, the world won't wake up to the notion that Jesus' way is better until WE start living like we truly believe His ways are better.

The world needs Jesus. They need His salvation. They need His peace. They need His way of life.

They need Eden restored.

We aren't called to live like this to earn salvation. 

We are called to live like this so that salvation can truly work within us and through us, to change us.

1.) We live differently, because the world needs us to.

The object of our denying of self is to call a dying world back to our lifesource. It is to live the Gospel of Christ out in our every breath. It is so that WE as a people, a holy nation, a royal priesthood, a people belonging to God can show others a better way, the way of Christ.

But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.

“Once you had no identity as a people;
    now you are God’s people.
Once you received no mercy;
    now you have received God’s mercy.”

Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.

- 1 Peter 2:9-12 NLT

2.) We live differently because we grow from it too.

The goal of the Christian is to become conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29). Spiritual formation is the process of being conformed to the image of Christ for the sake of others. When we intentionally live on mission and mirroring what we see Christ doing more and more it becomes habitual. We become better. Our hearts are more malleable to the call of God. We hear God's Spirit more clearly. 

We are justified by faith... but we become holy not by thinking right thoughts, but by living out what God calls us to.

Jesus wasn't a theologian locked in a library, he was a practitioner... and He calls us to the same.

It is living in cruciformity, for our betterment.

So, how can you start, today? 

• Say hi to your next door neighbor. Get to know their name and their story.
  Buy coffee for a stranger.
  By all means, pray. Pray for wisdom and for guidance. Pray that God melts your heart for the people who He loves. 
• Read the Bible. Start with a Gospel (Matthew is a good one!) Put into practice what you read about.
• Show kindness to the girl at work who gets under your skin.
• Sit with the kid that no one likes.
• Buy lunch for a homeless man.

Those are suggestions for starting points, what would you add?

-----

 

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, New Testament Studies, and 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:

Nathan's Website

 

Walking Humbly

This afternoon I was reading one of my favorite books, it has been a while since I opened it and just read. It's a spiritual classic called "The Imitation of Christ" by Thomas A'Kempis. Within the opening two paragraphs he wrote something profound, something that I have glossed over too many times to count.

I paraphrase it and contemporize it this way:

"What good could possibly come out of us, to enter into deep discussion concerning God, if we lack humility? For it matters not how accurate our discussion, if we in our very attitudes are displeasing to Him. More than that, it's never deep words that make us holy, for words are cheap. Rather, a heart softened to the Gospel that pleases God."

And then... Out of nowhere an old song from Sonicflood started playing on my iPad, one I haven't heard in years.. The chorus is a prayer that seemed to fit perfectly with what I had just read...

So, take my heart and form it
Take my mind and transform it
Take my will and conform it
To yours, to yours, oh Lord
To yours, to yours, oh Lord

Read more:  Sonicflood - Holiness Lyrics | MetroLyrics 

This is a thought that I just couldn't let go. How many times have I started talking so assuredly about God, how many times have I thought deep thoughts about God... But never trembled before Him, never gave a second thought to His awesome Being. Who am I to utter a word? Who am I to speak so surely of the God who was, who is,can't who is to come? Who am I to suggest I know anything about the Unknowable? 

Not to suggest that we can never know God more... For He has revealed Himself partially in His written word, and revealed Himself fully in The Word Incarnate, that is in the person and work of King Jesus... But let us speak as one who is humble and lowly in heart, mind, and soul. 

Maybe I'm alone here. Maybe it is my own pride that so easily sleeps it's way back into my heart... But maybe, just maybe some of you experienced this before. 

May we all seek to do justly, and to love mercy, and to WALK HUMBLY with our God.

-----

 

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, New Testament Studies, and 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:

Nathan's Website

 

Orlando, the beautiful

I have found myself with a loss of words when it comes to the events of the last few days.

I have struggled to put the few thoughts I do have into any kind of comprehensive sentence.

But here is my best attempt.

I do not want to insult any specific person or community by pretending to know what the full weight of this attack feels like. We are all victims to an extent. I am, to an extent simply because of geography, and thus have some heavy emotions regarding the entire tragedy...

But I realize this was not an attack on me.

This was a deliberate, intensive, hate-filled assault on a specific community of people who have been ostracized, abused, segregated, and made to feel like second class citizens simply because of how they identify sexually.

I have been on the street. I have walked past Pulse nightclub. I know people who attend events there. I know people who work there. I have friends who have been forever impacted by the events of this weekend.

This was evil in its most blatant form, coming out into the open, for the eyes, ears, and attention of the entire world.

One man with a heart full of hate, of fear, and of anger was able to cause so much hurt

In the Gospels, there is a story. A story of a Pharisee and a tax collector.
It's a simple parable, but one that is played out on a regular basis even in our world today...

“Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not like other people—cheaters, sinners, adulterers. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’
“But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Certainly the text tells us a lot, but the imagery is what I want to focus on here. The man who actually prayed, instead of spewing a hate filled speech to onlookers, the man who humbled himself, the man who was ostracized, rejected, and even publicly shamed just seconds before was the one whom God honored.

God didn't even recognize the Pharisee, as morally accurate his statement MAY have been (and that is a stretch), it came from a calloused, hard heart.

Jesus condemns this attitude over and over again in the Gospel accounts.

What's my point?

Our facebook posts and tweets are not enough. It is time for Christians to ACTUALLY pray... and let your prayers become active.

Prayer without any type of action would be a foreign concept to the early church. The Lord's Prayer, found in Matthew 6, is all about asking God to lead us to ACT.

When is the last time you expressed a genuine love for someone you disagreed with?

When is the last time you showered the same kind of love you have for your family onto someone who is different than you?

Words have life. Words mean something, but they are also at times hollow.

Our words become hollow when we only seem to care about the LGBTQ+ community after a tragedy.

Our words become hollow when we say we are praying for people one day, and the next are back to spewing the same hate filled, self-righteous speech that led to much of their oppression in the first place.

And it's time to be honest: The church has been oppressive with its language and activity against this specific community. Not everyone, sure. And you do not need to be on the liberal side of the aisle as a church to legitimately love people.

We may have severe disagreements. But that is OK.

This is not the time to argue over sexuality. This is not the time to weaponize Scripture. This is not the time to become political, blame guns, religion, terrorists, or judges.

This is a moment to weep, grieve, do some deep soul searching, and BE.

Be a human being. Be broken with this community. Be transparent with yourself and with us.

This is a time where the church needs to look more like Jesus and less like the Pharisee praying aloud for all to hear. 

• Changing your profile picture is nice.
• Saying you will pray for people is great.
• Using one of the many hashtags to convey your care is awesome.
• Sending some money is wonderful.
• To the thousands who stood in line to donate blood, you are truly remarkable human beings for braving the heat and giving of yourself in such an intimate way.
• By all means, PRAY. Please pray. Pray for my city. Pray for my brothers and sisters. Pray for the LGBTQ+ community. Prayer is THE most important thing you can do for us right now. Prayer works. Prayer is what everyone MUST start with.
  
  But don't stop there: Your prayers ring hollow if your heart is still hardened.

We need to rise above that, because when the dust settles, when the news crews leave, when the investigation is over, and life attempts to crawl back to some type of normalcy... There is still a gaping hole.

There is a hole never before felt by all who were intimately affected.
There is a hole in all of our hearts that fear slowly seeps into.
I have read too many tweets of friends who are afraid to go to work, go to the movie theater, even... go to church because of these events.
Our theme parks have just installed extra security and are now doing more and more metal detections and bag searches.
There is a hole, because something was taken from us. A long time ago something was taken from us all.

We, the Church, the incarnation of Christ into this world, the bearers of God Himself, the people redeemed, the Royal Priesthood, the Bride and body of Jesus Himself... have a mission. We have been given the mission of reconciliation... and when it comes to certain communities among us, we have done just the opposite.

Christ has come to fill the hole. Christ came to bridge the gap.

God is reconciling the world to Himself, and I wonder if He is waiting for us to join Him instead of fighting against Him.

This isn't a plea to rid yourself of biblical convictions.

This is a plea to turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and ask deep down, what you believe Jesus would say to these people that we have done all we can at times to oppress.

It honestly doesn't matter what you believe is true about how a Christian should live: We haven't even invited these people to be part of our community. We have no right to impose a moralistic standard on people who we have no spiritual relationship with. We have no right to demand a conversation about theological implications of anything...because we have never extended our hand into a relationship.

We are never called to sacrifice anybody on the altar of truth. Rather to sacrifice ourselves on the altar of love.

The conversation MUST change.

Candles lit the darkness and a chilling silence filled the air as the bell tower rang for each of the 50 victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting. #OrlandoUnited

It is one thing to dialogue about what the Bible says, it is an entirely different thing to be bigoted.

What we have forgotten, church is that people are made in the image of God. They are loved by Him. No matter where they are in life. No matter their decisions in life.

Because we all are in process. The only person who can claim perfection in God's eyes was God Himself... and He gave Himself up for imperfect people.

All people have one thing in common: We all are looking for community and love.

We claim that we have found the One who is all loving and all reaching. We believe that He has reached down to us. When will we be willing to extend that same grace to others?

Really extend it. Not superficially. Fully.


--------

Finally, I must come to grips with my own self. I would be completely hypocritical to call for such a thing by the church without first recognizing my own part in the conversation thus far. I haven't always been loving. I have in the past, wrestled with the same Pharisaical spirit as the man in the parable. I have used Scripture as a weapon, and I have hurt people with my rhetoric.

For this, and so many other things, I am sorry. If you are part of the LGBTQ+ community I want you to know that I am sorry, deeply. And this should have been said long ago, not only after such a horrendous tragedy: I hope you can forgive me.

I also hope that this will not be my words ringing hollow, but that I will become an active part of the conversation of love.

We will still find plenty to disagree about. We will all still wrestle with the theological implications of how sexuality is lived out in the Church. That is OK, because love is love is love is love is love is love... and the fact that we see the world differently is what makes our solidarity so much more beautiful. My promise is that I will never attack your humanity. I will never allow our differences to make me think less of your dignity as a person loved by and adored by our Creator.

Furthermore, I will call out the hate and fear mongers within my community and do all I can to change the conversation.

I hope it is not too late for me, for us. We have done a poor job of showing it, we have done an even worse job at reaching out to tell you... but I want you to know that we love you.

We love because we have been shown love.

Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.
Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.
And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love.
God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.
Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. We love each other because he loved us first.

1 John 4:7-19 NLT

And to the LGBTQ+ community,

Please understand where we are coming from, not just what you have always heard, not what the uneducated angry street preachers and greedy televangelists promote. Please take a look at WHY we believe what we believe, and please help us have a conversation with you and your community.

-----

 

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, New Testament Studies, and 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

 

10 Passages That Will Challenge Your Understanding of Grace

It is so easy for us to forget the love that first called us. It is so easy to get a little worn down by the culture around us... how much more does it hurt when other Christians hurt us? Life is hard.

It is even harder when living with a faulty understanding of grace. And so many of us do. Somewhere in the middle of the mess of our Christianity is Jesus and He is destroying the lies we have so often believed about Him.

It's amazing what happens when we put aside everything we have always been taught about the Scriptures and let the Scriptures speak for themselves.

Now, in no way am I saying there is not a place for exposition. My personal area of closest study is in hermeneutics (that is: the art and science of explaining and pulling meaning out of ancient texts, the interpretation of texts). But the number one rule of a good hermeneutic is asking, "What does the text plainly say?"

Sadly it is the rule that we most overlook.

So today, in place of a blog on some spiritual principle, theological issue, or my own exposition on Scripture I offer this collection of 10 passages that I hope you will read and think about.

Pray through these passages.

Wrestle with them.

Let them speak.

And let them challenge every part of you.

3/9/2016

The God of Grace

February 7, 2016 from River Run Church on Vimeo.

Our Mission

For 2000 years, we have had the exact same mission. It's high time we got real about our own mission field right next door, on our own street, and within our neighborhoods.



December 27, 2015 from River Run Church on Vimeo.

Advent Reading: Love

Advent reading from the fourth Advent week at River Run Church. This week is the last Sunday before Christmas, the wreath is all lit, awaiting the most important piece. We have all been on a journey over the last four weeks and have been preparing for Jesus. This week He is here.

FIRST READER:
Advent is a word that means “coming” or “visit”. In the Christian season of Advent, we prepare for the “Coming” of Christ at Christmas while longing for His Return. This morning, we continue to light the advent candles as we move towards Christmas and the birth of Christ.

The lights of Hope, Peace, and Joy flicker over this Advent wreath. They flicker over our lives. As we move closer and closer to Christmas with each passing day we realize that throughout history these lights have penetrated the gloom of this world. Yet, darkness is still present. As we meditate on Jesus however, we become conscious that there is a horizon of light approaching us… The love of “God With Us”.

Advent Reading: JOY

Advent reading from "Gaudete Sunday" (Gow-Day-Tay) at River Run Church. This week is the turning point in Advent for Christians, in the glow of the lights of Hope and Peace, this is the week we celebrate the Joy of Christ's coming...






FIRST READER:

“Joy to the World the Lord is come. Let Earth receive her king!”
It is a familiar tune around the Christmas season, but this advent hymn is as much about Jesus’ second coming as it is his first. On this third Sunday of Advent, we light the Joy candle. It is a different color because it symbolizes our mood switching away from waiting and longing and instead into a state of preparing. We know Jesus is coming, and He is coming very soon. As we think about what it meant to the people when Christ came the first time, it helps us prepare for His return. He will not come as an infant again, but as a reigning King.
“Joy to the World, the Savior Reigns. Let men their songs employ!”