spoke in 30 minutes what took me four years to "get".

http://www.ourgathering.ca/apps/podcast/podcast/89995

Dear Marie.

I have decided to write a series of blog posts concerning the discussions we had the other night. These Blogs will be lengthy and very detailed and perhaps overwhelming at times. A few other brothers and friends of mine, who are equally committed to truth and the Gospel, have willingly agreed to aid me in writing these posts. 

As you read the posting please be reminded that I am not writing out of pride or arrogance, or because I want to voice my opinion. To be honest I don't care for opinions; mine or anyone else’s. I don't care about what people think or what people feel. I care only about truth. Jesus said "I am the truth"(jn14:6) Truth is important. Truth is foundational. If we don't have truth, we have nothing.

I am writing this out of love, truth and grace. I would not commit long hours to studying and writing if I did not love you. I do love you and I do care for you. You are my sister. I would die for you.  You are my friend. You are the very precious daughter of a very great king; who has died for you. Therefore I will commit very long hours to studying and to writing.

The discussions we had fill me with many different emotions. I am filled with sadness, anger and drive. I am sad because you do not have a clear picture of the nature and character of your maker. To be honest, your theology is distorted and this places you in danger of falling astray. In order to love, trust, hope and believe and be in proper relationship with Christ, we must have a correct understanding of his nature, character and of his gospel.

 I am filled with anger because it upsets me when truth is not taught. We live in a society where the Gospel and the Nature and Character of God, is assumed; therefore it is not taught because it is not known. Because of my love for Christ and for his people, it frustrates me that his nature and character, his gospel, and his word is not preached and taught accurately and truthfully.

 It also fills me with drive because I refuse to let it endure. I refuse to let my maker, my God, and my savior’s truth not be proclaimed. It fills me with drive because I refuse to just sit around and watch false and bad teaching continue. It drives me to truth. I refuse do anything less than helping my sister see and come to that truth. I could be a passive coward like my father Adam; were you not my sister and were it not that I love you. However, I have a true and better father, Christ, who is neither passive nor a coward, and he calls me to be in likeness of himself. Therefore if Christ is of truth and gave his life, that his truth might be proclaimed, I must tell you the truth, as is. Because I love Christ, I love truth, and I love you.

Dear Rylan.

Paroi.

HUB.

Eight short months ago, I walked into the small, crowded residence of 251 Swanson ave. The flock in which for the next year I had the wonderful privilege to Sheppard.

My prayer and Vision for this Hub was that we could be:

-A place where, we could come as we are. Where ever we are at in life, that’s ok. It’s just not ok to stay where we are at.

-A place where relationships are formed, Community happens, and the crucified and risen Christ is glorified.

-A place where The Gospel is centered in all that we do. We never move beyond the Gospel; only get deeper into it.

-A place where we can live life together.  As brothers and as sisters in Christ.

-A place where we realize that we are more wicked and terrible than we could ever fear, Yet God loves us more then we could ever know.

... i'm confident to say I think we got it.

Lastnight, eight months later, we celebrated in community one last time before the Students went back home for the summer; some of them for a season and others for good. I am humbled, honored and blessed that I have been giving the opportunity to be a part of a community. A community which loves God deeply and passionately, a community of people whose lives I have seen radically transformed, a community that began small and has nearly tripled in size, a community which the Gospel of the Glory of Christ has taken root in so many lives. I thank God for this incredible year and all that he has done in this small community. I will miss serving and growing with these beautiful, Jesus saturated friends.

Roses.

Encouragement.

Laughter.

Tears.

Baptisms.

Growth.

Gospel.

Just a taste of what’s to come. Praise be to God.

The Gospel Coalition.

Five men who love the Gospel, One Civic, and ten hours later we are in Chicago Illinois. Jay Lehman, Jonny Ryttersgaard, Ben Pelts, Rylan Auger and myself. We are here for the the Gospel Coalition conference. Excited to see, hear and learn from faithful bible teachers who love God, and who love His Gospel.



http://thegospelcoalition.org/conferences/2011/

Filthy rags are not helping.

Religion. The word itself brings about so many connotations of spirituality, theism, practices and freaky rituals. Not surprisingly today when people hear "religion" they say "No Thanks!" As Christians who proclaim the gospel of the Glory of Christ, we see and understand that Religion in fact both hinders our mission and places a distorted view on the Character and nature of God. The most devastating part is that religion is not just found in other spiritual practices outside the Christian faith but right in the midst of it. The truth is, that truth has not been revealed to all, and any view of the bible not centered on the grace-saving view of the gospel, is Religion.

 The Bible makes it clear that religion is an enemy and in opposition of the Gospel. The Pharisees were great examples of people who embodied this best. Throughout the life of Christ, it isn't hard to notice Jesus in constant opposition with the religious leaders. It seems that where ever Christ is, close behind him are the religious to oppose or counter his  message of grace and forgiveness (the Gospel) with self-righteousness and legalism (religion). Christ dealt with them more harshly than anyone one else calling them serpents (Matthew 12:34, 13:33) children of the devil, white wash tombs(Matthew 23:27), hypocrites (Matthew 23:13,14,15,23, Luke 13:15)fools (Matthew 23:17:19) dogs and pigs(Matthew 7:6 ), and did so rightfully as they brought the greatest hindrance to his ministry. The New Testament reminds us constantly of the harshness with which me must treat false teaching that opposes our message. Isaiah the prophet told Israel that Religion is like "filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6) and when we look at the truth of Christ's life and what the scriptures say about him we see that self-righteousness can only ever oppose the gospel of the Glory of Christ.

Looking at Religion and The Gospel and weighing them against each other we begin to clarify the rather shocking difference between them and even seeing where each path brings us in the end. Religion says that there are two kinds of people in the world; good people and bad people.Religious people think they have it all together.  They  believe themselves to follow all the rules and they look down on those who do not. Countless times in the Gospels, we see the Pharisees looking down upon those who are not like them, the irreligious so to speak, those who do not have the same beliefs and do not follow the "religious" standard. They refer to the irreligious as "sinners" (Luke 15:2, 5:30) implying that they themselves are not. Religious people are"...confident of their own righteousness and look down on everyone else"(Luke 15:2, Luke 6:7)Seeing the self-righteous view of religion it becomes clear  that because of their actions and what they accomplish, they believe they are righteous and in good standing with God.

The Gospel says that there are only bad people, who are either repentant or unrepentant. "No one is good except God alone."(Luke 18:18-19). Since we are all born into sin, we are all sinners, we are bad, we are rebels, and enemies of God. "All have sinned, and fallen short of the Glory of God"(Romans 3:23 ) Sin is an ancient Hebrew Archers term for missing the mark. It doesn’t matter how close to the mark you are, if you missed it you missed it. So when Gods see us, he doesn’t see bad or good, he sees unrepentant or repentant; Dead or alive;he sees bad and he sees Jesus. Period. The people who are repentant understand the message of the Gospel. They understand that they indeed are bad, sinful, unclean and are in need of the mercy and grace of God. In Luke 18 we see this contrast between the Pharisee and the Tax collector. The Pharisee, a self-righteous religious man, believes his following of the Law wins him favour in God's eyes and redeems his sin. The Tax Collector recognizes his unworthy state to even lift his eyes to heaven and merely cries out for mercy from God.  Religion falsely believes in self-righteousness. The Gospel recognizes our unworthiness.

Religion says I obey therefore I am accepted. The idea being if one tries hard enough to follow the Law and Prophets and, by worldly standards, does a good job, God will love them. If one does all the right things, works hard and performs well when its necessary, God is happy with them and they may go to heaven. To get closer to God one must obey as many rules as possible. Again coming back to that Idea that religion measures how close we get to God by our standards. In Luke 15 we see a great picture of this. The parable told here by Jesus is about two sons, both of whom are lost and distant from the father. The younger son distant in His blatant outright disobedience and disrespect, and the older brother in his pride and self-righteousness. We see that the older brother, is equally as far from God as the younger brother.  Religion is about becoming better on the outside; at the heart of it, all religion is concerned with is making ourselves the saviour of our own lives. Following the rules set out by God, pious people become proud of their own actions and not joyful in God's. And as pride rules the heart so does contempt for those who are deemed less worthy by prideful people. This again is evident in the Pharisees when looking at the way they deal with those less prudent in following rules.  Furthermore we see direct opposition to the gospel on many accounts as the Pharisees actually try to catch Jesus in his works doing something that they decided was not right. From not washing his hands (Luke 11:38) or healing on Sabbath (Luke 14:1)  to eating from the fields (Luke 6:2) Christ came to offer the love and grace of the Father and the Pharisees were more concerned with the following Rules then receiving it from Him.

The Gospel says that I am accepted therefore I obey. Through Christ, God is infinitely happy and accepting towards us. Through Christ we gain His acceptance, His love, and His approval. One no longer works and does good works in order to gain his approval, but out of loving response to grace is someone who works hard to please the Father. God is a father who looks at his kids; a father who loves us, in spite of who we are. God does not love us so that we will obey, but loves us so that we can obey. Our relationship with the father doesn't depend on our obedience to him, but Christ’s obedience to him on our behalf because we never could. Out of that thankfulness and relationship with Christ comes the fruit and obedience, motivated and fueled by grace and love rather than duty and obligation.

Religion leads to pride and despair; The Gospel leads to humility and joy. Religion says there are two kinds of people; good people and bad people. The gospel says there are only bad people, repentant or unrepentant. Religion is about getting things from God; The gospel is about what we've already been given through Christ. Religion is about me; The gospel is about Jesus. Religion is about what I do; the gospel is about what Christ has done. Religion is man searching for God; The gospel is God seeking man, manifesting Himself to him, and drawing Himself to him. We must be careful not to turn the message and story of Christ into something that it is not; Religion. Religion isn’t helping. It turns everything that we get to do, into things that we have to do. It turns obedience into obligation rather than pleasure and joy. It takes the focus from Jesus, to self. Everything is about Jesus, it’s all about Jesus, It's only about Jesus.

Filthy rags are not helping so let's repent of our religion, and turn to the gospel.

The "G" (Gospel)

I have noticed a significant change in my life. I am happy, joyful,confident, passionate and excited. I am fired up and have a fire in my bones that cant be put out. When I think about it, I can't help but to proclaim it. When I hear about it, I want to shout it. When I understand it; it changes everything.

 The Gospel. Something in our era, that is either assumed or taken granted for.
It is the story of Gods relentless pursuit of rebels, like me and like you.

We are sinners. We deserve death.Punishment. Eternal separation. We are unclean and therefore can not be in the presence of a Just God. There is nothing that we can do for him to love us. Our best works are as filthy rags( Isaiah 64:6) You're a sinner, I am sinner. We are enemies of the creator. Period. -this is bad news.

There is one God, who made us in his image male and female. He knew us and loved us, cared and provided for us and then we sinned against him. We wanted to be our own god, so we turned our back on him to sin, Satan, death and hell. He could have let us go that route( If that’s what you’ve chosen that’s what you get.)but he didnt. God is loving, passionate gracious, and caring, he didn’t just stand by and watch it happen, but entered into it as Jesus Christ wrapping himself in flesh. Coming as a person he took responsibility for our faults. He suffered and was tempted as we are. We treated him horribly. We laughed at him. We mocked him. We spit at him and then he went to the cross and we killed him. He took our sins upon him; past present and future. Dying as a substitute on the cross, in our place and for our sins. Three days later Christ rose again conquering sin, Satan and death; Forgiving us, and embracing us.

We no longer have to worry about what we have to do, because Christ has already done it.  There is now no condemnation, guilt, and shame. Though our condition is bad, our position is in Christ."He who knew no sin became sin, so that we may become the righteousness of God" (2 Cor 5:21).Though we are more terrible and wicked then we could ever imagine, God loves us more then we could ever hope or dream. This is very good news.

Though we are justified, we are continually being sanctified and one day glorified. The grace doesn't stop at the Cross, it only begins there.We are still sinners. We are still in need for grace; that never changes.  We are beggars telling other beggars where to find bread.When we understand the implications of the Gospel, it changes everything. The Gospel sets the non-Christians free from the penalty of sin, and the Gospel sets the christian free from the power of sin. The Gospel is the center of everything that we do.

are you with me?

 also, check out
(http://rylanauger.blogspot.com/2011/02/good-news.html)

lead me.

I look around and see my wonderful life
Almost perfect from the outside
In picture frames I see my beautiful wife
Always smiling
But on the inside, I can hear her saying...

“Lead me with strong hands
Stand up when I can't
Don't leave me hungry for love
Chasing dreams, what about us?

Show me you're willing to fight
That I'm still the love of your life
I know we call this our home
But I still feel alone”

I see their faces, look in their innocent eyes
They're just children from the outside
I'm working hard, I tell myself they'll be fine
They're independent
But on the inside, I can hear them saying...

“Lead me with strong hands
Stand up when I can't
[From: http://www.elyrics.net/read/s/sanctus-real-lyrics/lead-me-lyrics.html ]
Don't leave me hungry for love
Chasing dreams, but what about us?

Show me you're willing to fight
That I'm still the love of your life
I know we call this our home
But I still feel alone”

So Father, give me the strength
To be everything I'm called to be
Oh, Father, show me the way
To lead them
Won't You lead me?

To lead them with strong hands
To stand up when they can't
Don't want to leave them hungry for love,
Chasing things that I could give up

I'll show them I'm willing to fight
And give them the best of my life
So we can call this our home
Lead me, 'cause I can't do this alone

Father, lead me, 'cause I can't do this alone

make me a man.

The lack of godly men in our world is now a cultural crisis.  We are not going to solve the problem by ignoring ``Ban``(males who have prolonged their adolescence; a mix between boy and man) and hoping that he eventually grows up.  We are not going to solve the problem by encouraging women to take up the slack. We solve the problem by modeling biblical manhood and calling adult boys to forsake their youthful lusts and become the men that God is calling them to be.




“God, make me a man with thick skin and a soft heart.  Make me a man who is tough and tender.  Make me tough so I can handle life.  Make me tender so I can love people.  God, make me a man.”

-church planter

do we get it?

I recently over heard a conversation while studying in a coffee shop. It disturbed and upset me. Two "christians" were discussing a mind set that so many people in our era have. They were saying how Christianity is all about getting to heaven (or escaping from hell)
There is a lot of confusion and ignorance in this mindset.This is not True Christianity.The point of Christianity, of Christs coming, isn't to save us from hell. Let me say that again.The point of Christs coming isnt to save us from hell it is to bring us back in relationship with the Father.

If God is this Holy and pure thing, and we aren't, there is a force of separation, and an incompatibility, therefore we can never be together. We turned our backs from him, decided we wanted to go our own way leading and choosing the path of sin, satan and destruction .He could have left us that way. If that's what we chose that's what we get; but he didn't. Jesus comes and lives the life we did not live, dies the death we we should have died, and gives the gift we can not earn. Gods holy, we're holy and now we can join together. The point of Christianity isn't to save us from hell, its to bring us back in relationship as it always was meant to be.  Now we get to know God, see God, understand God, be in relationship with God. So many "christians" miss this. I don't want to miss it, and I don't want you to either.

do we get it?

When I remember.

That boy is gone
Sometimes i miss the way he wept at night
To be still and not run
To be rocked to sleep in your light
These days there is not much that will bring tears to my eyes
But when i remember who i am and who you are
When i remember
A cloud moves in, rain falls, thunder strikes, and sunshine breaks through the clouds

I am walking blind
So distracted that i dont even feel when you hold me
When did i grow such thick skin
You are my sunshine and rain
My joy and sweet pain
I'm a spotless stain
That boy is gone
But nobody moves me like you do
When i remember

A cloud moves in, rain falls, thunder strikes
And sunshine breaks through the clouds
I can cry out of sorrow and joy
Every drop of rain turns into a crystal in the sun
So wash my eyes, my clothes, my skin, my bones, my soul
My feet, my love
I'm not forgotten
I'm in your thoughts cause i feel sunshine in the rain

To this day nobody moves
Nobody
Nobody moves me like you do

Preach the Gospel & if necessary use words is like saying give me your phone number & if necessary use digits.

"Preach the gospel; use words if necessary" goes hand in hand with a postmodern assumption that words are finally empty of meaning. It belittles the high value that the prophets, Jesus and Paul put on preaching.

Of course we want our actions to match our words as much as possible. Our actions should support what we preach. But the Gospel is a message, a proclamation, news about an event and a person upon which the history of the planet turns.  Unless the Gospel is actually proclaimed with our lips, no one will know what it means.

We must tell them that God made them along with the rest of creation.  That despite being loved by God and made in his image we rebel against him in sin, trying to run our own lives, instead of loving God.  The result we deserve is hell. Yet the Holy God who judges sin also loves rebels and is willing to forgive, and so sent Jesus to die in our place for our sin; past, present and future.  More than that, Jesus came back to life, never to die again, to reign as the King over all things.  Therefore, it is him we must trust; it is him we must love; it is him we must serve.  That is what we must preach in order to see the lost get saved, and to see the saved become committed disciples of Christ.  We must never change that message, nor must we shrink away in fear from telling anyone this incredibly good news of Jesus Christ.


"How are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?" (Rom. 10:14).

my YWAM experience.

Last January I travelled to Hernnhut Germany with the organization Youth with a Mission (YWAM) to do a fine art photography discipleship training school (DTS). There, I spent four months in a lecture phase, followed by two and a half month Outreach phase to Ethiopia.

During Lecture phase a typical day began by waking up early, walking to the castle through the German forests and starting the morning with either worship or prayer for the nations. Following each prayer/worship session I would have class from 9-5 with a work duty and few breaks in between. After dinner we were free to spend our time doing art, socializing or whatever else we liked. Everyday the schedule would be repeated.

A few weeks into my DTS I really felt God challenge me to get into his Word. So I began to eat up scripture, reading relentlessly for hours and isolating myself in order to do so. Seventy days later, I had read the entire bible in chronological order; genesis through to Revelation. His word started to become alive to me, in and through my life. I started to see truth about his nature and character, the world, Christ, and who I am in Christ. Though I was in a weird spot emotionally, spiritually, and mentally and could have easily checked out, the depth of my faith began to become rooted in his promises and truth rather than my emotions, circumstance, or ideologies. I began to realize that when rubber hits the road, I have no other option but to press into Christ. The more I began to root myself in his word, the hungrier I became for it. All I wanted to do was talk about scripture, and I began to become familiar with anything anyone spoke about. I started to see the big picture and what the bible actually says, rather then someone else’s theology.

Little did I know or expect that God was preparing me for the next season of my life, two months in Africa.

Ethiopia was an amazing experience. Our first month was a three day drive to a little village called Jinka. There I spent time with prostitutes, street children, and played football with the local village people. I had the amazing opportunity to love on street kids, who would just run up to me, take my hand and walk with me for hours. Though these kids smelled bad and were filthy, I couldn’t help but to love on them, and be reminded of God’s love for me and my fellow brothers and sisters in Him. Though we stink, we are dirty, and there isn’t anything that makes us appealing in His eyes, He chooses to love us anyways.

As much of a blessing it was to be in Jinka, what God had for me wasn’t until we returned to Addis Ababa.

While the rest of the team was doing their ministry with projects that our base in Germany had previously started. I soon found myself somewhere else. They were across the city, a few buses and taxi rides away. I was doing ministry right at the compound where we lived.

I found myself pouring into eleven other younger males in the compound that we were living with. These kids who previously lived on the streets, they were uneducated, and orphans. Now they were in this compound living together as a family, followers of Christ. Their stories are unbelievable, encouraging, and a great testimony of the sanctifying work of the Gospel.

I had the amazing opportunity to be apart of their lives. By God’s grace I had the privilege to teach them God’s word, and challenge them to seek for truth rather then accept everything as truth. Their culture and Society are full of super religious and self righteous teachers and pastors who take the bible out of context, who think they are better and more qualified then anyone else, expecting you to come to church, sit down, listen to them, take it as truth, and say amen to their teaching. No questions asked.

By God’s grace I was blessed with the opportunity to love on a bunch of worthy kids, who never had a godly male influence. I got the opportunity to be a father figure, a brother, and their friend. I had the opportunity to help them understand true, biblical masculinity. We got to spend hours together everyday; wrestling, playing football, and just hanging out. As much God worked and changed their lives, he changed mine.

I’ve been to Dresden, Berlin, Poland, Prague, Istanbul Turkey, and Ethiopia and got to see and experience some really cool things. I got to go on some really cool trips, however my time away was much more then just a nice trip and good experience. It was a gift. It was a gift because coming away from the last year; I fully believe that my calling was affirmed. Despite where I come from, despite what I’ve done, who my family is or where my life should be headed, Christ has called me to something else; something different, something bigger. He has called me into a new legacy, to create and cultivate, to build up and not tear down, to take responsibility in leading my family, my church and my life. To live a life worthy of my calling, and to preach the Gospel.

Ethiopia

Two and a half months in Ethiopia and we are finally back in Hernhut Germany. UPDATE COMING SOON.