A Dangerous Approach to Prayer
In the Vineyard, we deeply value hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit for ourselves — it’s even one of our core values.
We’re not about blindly following the “anointed man of God”, we’re committed to empowering everyone to hear for themselves and to testing what we hear. We trust what other people share when they prove credible, but we still always test what they say. We do not blindly accept prophecy, prediction, and critique without seeking the wisdom of Jesus for ourselves. To properly discern what God is saying to us, it’s of critical importance that we learn to engage with disciplines like meditation on the word, prayer, silence, solitude, and a plethora of other ways people have been hearing from God for centuries. We could sum these practices up under the umbrella of “listening prayer”.
Real listening prayer is the most revolutionary and countercultural thing a modern Christian could ever do. It’s dangerous because it challenges the status quo in every way just like Jesus did. In order to enter into this kind of listening, we need to do become aware of some obstacles to right spiritual hearing.
Beware the false belief that the world is bifurcated into sacred and secular!
One third of the New Testament was written to refute this wrong teaching. Unfortunately, the church doesn’t often discuss some of these obstacles for that very reason. Sometimes we mistakenly believe these concepts come out of a “secular” context when the truth is, we’re making a mistake by not considering them, especially because they can have a drastic effect on how accurately we hear the Holy Spirit.
Confirmation Bias
The people around Jesus were always given space to think openly about theological and ecclesiological concepts. He was always asking them things like “who do you say that I am?” (the beginning of all theological thought). Jesus listened for their answers, was patient with the ones that were a little off base, and cheered the ones that were accurate (Matthew 16).
That said, confirmation bias is a real thing. We can define confirmation bias this way; it is the psychological and sociological idea that we tend to accept information unquestionably when it reinforces some predisposition we already hold to. In other words, if some idea seems to agree with what I think is right, I’ll probably think it’s true without much question. My personal opinion is that the Church is rife with this kind of thinking right now. Many Christians tend to have strong opinions and convictions. And I get it — we want to stick to those convictions! However, we must recognize that some of those convictions are cultural, not biblical, and should not be defended as such.
Dignity, integrity, and honesty need to be at the center of our discernment process. We must be on our guard against confirmation bias in all of our circles. We can’t afford to sacrifice love on the altar of “being right”. To combat this, we make it a practice to test (question) the things that sound good and right to you. Not in order to become a skeptical person, but to always be thinking critically about bible teaching and prophecy (or what claims to be), even when it’s coming from someone we like to listen to. ALL teaching must fall in line with Christ. This is exactly what Paul means in 1 Thessalonians 5:21 when he says, “but test everything; hold fast what is good.” Don’t forget to test the things that tickle your ears along with the things you want to resist!
Echo Chambers
Have you ever noticed that the more interested you are in something you see on Facebook or YouTube, the more of it you see? The more of something you click on, the more of that thing they show you. That’s because those platforms are specially engineered to serve as your own personal echo chamber. When you shout one of your ideas or opinions into the proverbial chamber, what comes back to your ears (and eyes, in this case) is more of the same.
Whether you’re right or left, liberal or conservative, woke or waging your own personal war on political correctness, you’re not being supplied with a diversity of opinions or outlooks when you take to social media. When we take part in these echo chamber-playgrounds, we only get back more of what we already believe.
Your facebook feed becomes what you want to see, otherwise they know you wouldn’t come back. Remember, Jesus doesn’t endorse the right or the left. He maintains the politics and the culture of the kingdom that can’t ever be found completely in tact in manmade ideologies. If we’re not careful, we end up on the hamster wheel of only seeing things one way with no hope of getting off.
It takes hard work to hear clearly!
This month we’ve had some excellent talks on Sunday mornings from John Richter and Josh Jones on this subject of hearing the voice of God. God is relational. Everything you need to know about him is on display in the person of Jesus. Getting God’s perspective is like getting someone’s perspective that you know personally. It’s dialogue, but even more importantly, it’s listening. That’s why this conversation about listening as an element of discernment “listening” prayer.
Listening to teachers and prophets can be great. I’ve learned so much from taking in the diverse perspectives of other people. However, I’ve learned that taking time to hear Jesus for myself, to pursue friendship with him, must take precedence over any voice I’m listening to — even a trusted one. We often claim to believe that God wants to speak to us. I would posit that if we truly believed this, you and I would spend way more time waiting to hear his voice than we do flitting from screen to screen searching for the next “great revelation” from someone halfway across the globe we’ve never met.
Doing this kind of discernment is countercultural because it doesn’t sell. Modern American Evangelicalism is, in many cases, built on a sturdy foundation of what you could think of as a cost-benefit analysis of what is “safe” to believe. It’s a self-preservation mindset. It allows us to produce and sell what could easily be classified as “Christian self-help”. I don’t know about you, but I gravitate toward believing what is safe unless I’m keeping careful watch. But Jesus isn’t safe. The religious elite put up pretentious boundaries to keep their lives “pure and holy”, but Jesus challenges the status quo. His actions provoke religious people and he hangs out with prostitutes and tax collectors instead (Matthew 21, Mark 11, etc).
Getting wisdom by highly valuing the voice of God is “dangerous” in the sense that it might decentralize what you think about God. I found out that when I truly started engaging in contemplative prayer, it did not confirm all the things I already liked to think about God and life in general.
The more I pursue the wisdom of God in my personal spiritual discipline, the more he surprises me by how he challenges my perceptions of things instead of reinforcing them. I’m surprised every time I hear something from God in my times of listening prayer that offends my sensibilities and then find evidence of that thing in the scriptures.
I believe that we are headed for a season of dynamic kingdom impact in our communities, but not the way many Christians think of revival. Jesus wants committed disciples, not superficial “converts”. For converts, the work is done once they’ve “prayed the prayer”. Disciples participate in spiritual discipline that leads to formation and deep relationship that lasts a lifetime. The work is only beginning when they commit to Jesus. We can only make disciples by being formed ourselves! We’re called to make disciples, not converts.
Consider this an invitation to take up the journey of slowing down, “testing all things”, and hearing God for ourselves as we discern the true, unvarnished Jesus in a time when so many seek to apply their own topcoat to an otherwise pure and perfect way of being. We’ll never arrive, but we can always draw nearer.
The Church is Flying Upside Down
“The whole world is watching!”
The chant rose up as a tampered-with jury and a geriatric judge born just thirty years after the Civil War presided over the trial of the “Chicago 7” — a band of organizers and protestors who were in the dock for their involvement in the violence outside the Democratic National Convention in the summer of 1968.
The crowd’s chant strikes a chord with me. The decisions you and I make about what we listen to, what we read, and how we respond to those things have inescapable consequences that can change the course of history one one-hundredth of a degree at a time. After a while that becomes a significant shift. I often buy the lie that my everyday life is insignificant in the larger scheme of things. However, the truth I’ve come to experience in Christ is that my actions bear much more weight than I realized before. The whole world is watching you and I as we call ourselves “Jesus people” and act on his behalf. As the globe spins faster, Christianity as you and I know it is on trial in front of the whole world whether we like it or not.
The function of discernment as a biblical value is to keep one following the footsteps of Christ. It is my strong conviction that our community can pioneer an ancient-but-new, healthy approach to discernment as an example to the corners of the body of Christ we influence. It does not serve to keep us in bounds of any particular sect of the church. I don’t write to you in order to be sure our behavior remains in line with the philosophy of ministry of the Vineyard. Discernment serves a greater purpose — to ensure that we remain followers of The Way, adherents to the beauty of Christ and the will of his Father. As we seek wisdom by the Holy Spirit, the by-product is a closer followership of that Way. A lifestyle and an ethic emerge that truly sanctifies our whole person; heart, mind, soul, and strength, to love God and to love neighbor (enemy) as self. Consider Proverbs 22:5;
“Thorns and snares are in the way of the crooked; whoever guards his soul will keep far from them.”
Proverbs 22:5 ESV
The word “crooked” in this case means one living under the false pretense of piety. Let’s be clear — the one who thinks themselves to be the standard bearer of rightness is the crooked one. Thorns and snares are in their way. Guarding your soul is akin to “getting wisdom” and “insight” according to Proverbs 4. Quite a few Christians are caught in the act of going the way of the crooked. Folks are taking advice from prophets and teachers who are misguided in their own judgement. At the Vineyard, we’re not in the practice of listing them by name, but what I will say is this; as I have adopted the practice of carefully seeking wisdom before engaging with teaching, writing, prophecy, sermons, podcasts, books, etcetera — I have found a great many teachings which used to tickle my ears now cause me to cringe.
In American Christianity, consumerism has met Christendom in a dangerous concoction of devil may care, overzealous ‘content creation’ and a desire to enforce the kingdom of Heaven rather than embody it — charismatic evangelicals certainly not exempt. I mean to say, it is impossible to engage in the true kind of discernment while clicking and scrolling from one 30 second clip to another on Facebook and YouTube, slave to the algorithm proven to push people deeper and deeper into sensationalism. You may never have thought of it this way, but all that clicking and scrolling is a spiritual practice — although, not a healthy one, and not one becoming of Jesus people. Is it a daily practice of yours? Are you being formed more by Facebook, or St. Francis? The Psalms and Proverbs, or Parler?
Discernment requires an open mind. A mind that is not so wide open that nothing ever sticks or that everything passes right through, but a mind that is just so open, God can surprise you with what, who, and how he wants you to hear. That takes vigilance. It is not a destination we arrive at, but a journey that will last our entire lives.
The opening chapter of one of my favorite books, “The Divine Conspiracy” by Dallas Willard, begins with a parable of a jet pilot. The pilot, while practicing high speed maneuvers in the dark, turned the controls for what she believed to be a steep ascent and flew the plane straight into the ground, destroying the plane and killing her. She was unaware that she’d been flying upside down. Willard writes,
“This is a parable of human existence in our own times [...] most of us as individuals and world society as a whole, live at high-speed and often with no clue to whether we are flying upside down or right side up.”
Over the next several weeks I want to write about something I believe is evidently most lacking in the American church today: discernment. Simply put, the church is flying upside down and dangerously close to flying the jet straight into the ground. It would be arrogant for you and I to assume we’re exempt from this phenomenon, so we must be on our guard. For that reason, I’ll be writing about discernment as a value, a guiding philosophy, and a spiritual gift. It’s up to people like you and I — normal people — to commit ourselves to the Proverbs 4 way. Discernment is what it means to get wisdom and insight. They are our “crown” and our “graceful garland”.
Throughout this series of essays I will address wisdom, understanding, and discernment interchangeably, as a great many of the passages from scripture I’ve examined seem to view them as essentially one in the same. Getting God’s wisdom is a quest we’ll never complete. At the same time it’s critical we relentlessly pursue it.
I’m challenging myself to slow down in light of what’s going on around me. I’m striving to slow down my news intake, my categorical trust of whatever preacher might grace my social media feed, my urge to react, my yearning to complain. I want to challenge you to consider the same over the course of the coming weeks. Lent is around the corner — a great opportunity to look inward. Going after insight has been one of the most defining and revealing experiences for me and I pray it always will be. I hope you find it beginning to enrich your life even more than it already has so far as we take time together for careful consideration and slowing down.
Our Responsibility to Wonder
Conspiracy theories, worry, and anxiety overtake and occupy the same space as the prophetic imagination you were born to use to commune with the Holy Spirit. These are inappropriate uses of that imagination.
In Luke 18, Jesus was making a public appearance where some of those gathered were bringing their children to him in order to ask Jesus to give them some sort of blessing. As the story goes, the disciples rebuked these folks for bringing their children. Jesus replied,
“Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”
Luke 18:16-17 ESV
Honestly, I’ve always been troubled by this verse. I have a difficult time being “childlike” most of the time in the sense of being playful or silly. It just isn’t something that comes naturally to me as someone who has a more low-key, sometimes stoic personality, but that’s always what I think of when Jesus mentions receiving the kingdom like a child. I was meditating on that challenging saying when a thought occurred to me. One thing children possess that’s so important in the kingdom is a strong sense of imagination. I realized instantly, my paradigm for childlikeness was too small. We talk all the time in sermons, in our prophetic classes, and in SoKM about how important the imagination, or the “mind’s eye”, is to God. He loves to speak to us in that place!
What stories are you telling yourself that inform what you think is true? Some believe the lie that as we grow older, imagination fades. I would argue our imaginations are never inactive. If you lift weights with poor form, you’ll inevitably injure yourself. Likewise, if you exercise your imagination with poor form, you’ll end up in bondage. Conspiracy theories, worry, and anxiety overtake and occupy the same space as the prophetic imagination you were born to use to commune with the Holy Spirit. These are inappropriate uses of imagination.
Creativity, hope, wonder, curiosity, innovation, and visioneering, on the other hand, are proper uses of imagination. Living in a chapter of history that’s often characterized by hopelessness and existential dread, the people of God absolutely have a responsibility to face injustice as it surfaces. At the same time, we have a responsibility to maintain a hopeful posture toward the future. Don’t let culture’s conspiracy-latent negativity take your inner child hostage.
Examine the things you’re imagining. Many of us obsess over obtaining the answers to life’s hard questions, but a child has an imagination that’s full of wonder and a heart posture that allows room for awe and a hopeful sense of mystery. I think that’s part of what Jesus is referring to here; embracing hope and wonder towards the kingdom from a place of childlikeness rather than the cynicism that is born out of the spirit of this age. Are you imagining grim outcomes for the people you love, your community, or humanity that are producing fear or dread inside you? If so, do the hard work of acknowledging that you are, in fact, abusing your imagination. Repent (or, change your thinking). Then, do the hard work of asking God, “how can I partner with you to become more childlike in the way I’m imagining situations and outcomes around me?”
In other words - receive the kingdom of God, his activity, rule, reign, and influence on the earth, like a child.
We Are Not a Church of Rats
If I win the rat race, what does that make me?
What do I mean by “the rat race” in this particular instance? Society is having a spitting contest that is masquerading as an intelligent conversation. Every issue has become wrapped up in a political polarity that vies to snatch our eyes and our spirits away from the things that bring us meaning and purpose. Instead of focusing on our kingdom assignment, we find ourselves wanting so badly to be “right” and to be heard. Even if we are right, we convince everyone of our opinion, and we win the rat race, that still makes us rats.
I’ve been reading Ephesians this week. Paul’s words in that letter are so beautiful because he talks so much about our ultimate assignment as believers to love people and sow the glory of Jesus in our relationships. We’re made aware of the fact that God is always working to bring unity to everything under Christ’s lordship. Don’t ever feel like God is just waiting until the end for things to turn out for the best. God has purposed to love us and draw us into his lordship and his community. I’m worried sometimes when I look on at conversations that take place in the church and the name calling that goes on among believers, especially as it pertains to current events.
I’m reminded of Ephesians 2:14-16;
“For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.”
When we champion our opinions, we aren’t breaking down the dividing wall of hostility. God is creating a new humanity in himself. Let that sink in! Of course, when Paul writes here about two sides he’s talking about Jews and Gentiles, but let’s consider his wider context for this; addressing division among people. Are we finding ourselves “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” as Paul says? Or are we trying to win the rat race?
The truth is, none of us are gaining ground for the kingdom when we feel like we need to vindicate our opinion about masks. None of us are a light on a hill when we allow the narrative of the world to stir up inside of us bitterness, anger, clamor, and slander, saying “not voting for one is a vote for the other”. I’m not saying it is inappropriate to have opinions. What I am saying is that we can’t afford to let those opinions cause us to be “tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine” as Paul says in Ephesians 4. We have to make sure we’re in the driver’s seat, not our ideologies.
As a church, we can be leaders in this in Oxford (or whatever community you find yourself in). I truly believe that we are not a church of rats. My prayer is that every day we would become more and more a church that “lets no corrupting talk come out of our mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear” (Ephesians 4:29) and that we would be laser focused on the work Jesus has for each of us to do. I truly believe that as we seek God for the words that will give grace to those who hear, he’ll give them to us.
Helpful Resources
Hello Church!
This past Sunday I had the privilege of sharing a message with you all that’s important to me — one about justice in the kingdom and the responsibility we have as Jesus lovers to allow the Holy Spirit to transform us through prayer and fasting into people of action. Part of being people of action is taking the time to listen and learn. If you didn’t have the opportunity to listen to this past Sunday’s message, I’d encourage you to do that first. It provides a good backdrop for the things I want to share with you in this post.
I wanted to share with my church family some of the resources and the voices that have helped guide my understanding of this conversation about race in America during (and before) this important cultural moment. Some of them come from inside the church, some from outside. Some I agree with 90 percent of the time, others closer to 20 percent of the time. Nonetheless, this is a collection of the most impactful voices I’ve come across that the Holy Spirit has breathed on to help me along on the path of encountering world-views unlike my own finite and incomplete one.
I fear the conversation presently taking place among my friends as well as those I disagree with is altogether too saturated with bite-sized clips and quickly digestible social media posts. It’s my strong opinion that we can’t learn much more than whether we already agree or disagree with someone from a two minute clip or a 140 character post.
I’m a reader. I always have been and I’m convinced that the absolute best way for us to take in and carefully consider what we want to learn about is to read (or listen to) a book. Long form communication suspends our judgements for a time. It allows a story to be told and evidence to be unpacked in a more meaningful way. In an age of communication dominated by what can only be described as instant gratification by means of a quick hit of dopamine, I think we’d do well to read more books and watch more films. I’m going to share some video clips with you as well because I understand that reading a book is a significant investment of our time, but I implore you to consider this an area that is worthy of such an investment.
Here’s my reading list that has aided me in developing (what I believe) is an increasingly compassionate outlook on race.
Disunity In Christ by Christena Cleveland
Reconciliation Blues: A Black Evangelical’s Inside View of White Christianity by Edward Gilbreath
Doing Reconciliation by Alexander Venter
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together In The Cafeteria? by Beverly Daniel Tatum
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
Bloodlines by John Piper (This one gets a disclaimer - to say I disagree with a great deal of John Piper’s theology is an understatement, however, his story of becoming aware of and working to overcome racial prejudice is powerful.)
And here’s a list of YouTube videos that are helpful in the conversation (but start with a book!)
Geno Olison
“The Reality of Racism” https://youtu.be/0CIjKdvpCg0
“Seeking Understanding in Cross-Cultural Relationships” https://youtu.be/F8qW0tNZ3yQ
”Black Voices in the Vineyard - Geno Olison” https://youtu.be/N84qmypp4jg
”Geno Olison - co-lead pastor of…” https://youtu.be/9lHDw1ZpoTw
Charles Montgomery
“Where do we go from here?” https://youtu.be/2dJRaKx6a8k
T.D. Jakes
“Bishop T.D. Jakes and Pastor Carl Lentz Discuss Racism in America” https://youtu.be/h_GWXUI9Vzg
Vineyard Church of Central Illinois
”Q & A: Racial Reconciliation” (parts 1 and 2) https://youtu.be/ljioIbVaYgI | https://youtu.be/N64CEowxfmk
The Bible Project
”Justice” https://youtu.be/A14THPoc4-4
Emmanuel Acho
”Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man” (ep. 1-4) https://youtu.be/h8jUA7JBkF4 | https://youtu.be/CwiY4i8xWIc | https://youtu.be/xfo1XJDJKSU | https://youtu.be/jSsoVjTgYJ0
Phil Strout
“My Dream for a Vineyard Person” https://youtu.be/QjCGLNN72HI
”Culturally Relevant Mission” https://youtu.be/lij2H8I6Pe4
Rich Nathan
“How Should the Evangelical Church Respond to the Murder of George Floyd” https://youtu.be/MXAj5Mps__s
Let’s have a conversation! I hope you get the opportunity to engage with these resources. As you do, let me know what you think by sending me an email (parkerfrey@rocketmail.com).
Loving Our Neighbor in 2020
Hello Church!
The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of all of us. People of color in the United States feel overlooked and unheard and hundreds of years of injustice are manifesting right in front of us. Some of us are under a mountain of financial hardship following the events of the first half of 2020. Medical professionals among us are bombarded with opinions from cable news MD’s and Facebook pharmacists. Many American conservatives feel like their way of life is being threatened. Amid all the turmoil, I’ve simultaneously experienced hopelessness and hopefulness, grief and excitement, anger and compassion. It’s a complicated season and I think it’s helpful to acknowledge that. If we’re honest with ourselves, we’re finding that it’s hard to know just what to do from one day to the next, from one conversation to the next, in each of our unique lives.
I want to address these topics, but I want to first provide something of a backdrop for everything I hope to share in the coming days and weeks. In the midst of all these concerns, a question rises up and demands I answer it; “what does it mean for me to love and do relationships the way Jesus does?” Asking ourselves this question truly is at the core of who we are as Jesus lovers. I’ve been thinking about John 13:34-35;
“A new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
What Jesus is saying here, is that for everything he instructed his disciples to do and for every bit of authority and power that was imparted to them, the time Jesus most distinctly states the defining characteristic for those who are to be his followers, he singles out their love. In other words, I am actually not allowed not to love! The moment I make worry, doubt, anger, hate, or conspiracy my focus, I’ve stepped out of my assignment and into something else! It’s against our nature not to love as followers of Jesus. It’s the key identifier for members in his body.
If love is that serious of a thing, and I believe it is, we need a plan. Saying things like “we are led by the Spirit” or “we love everyone, regardless of race, class, sex, status, etc.” are actually overly simplex things to say when talking about complex practices to implement into our everyday lives. With this essay and the ones following it, I want to spend some time on the practical ways we enter into this work of loving one another. You and I can no longer afford to be, in any sense, people who pay lip service to this radical, self-sacrificial love. We need to figure out how to hold on to love and decisive action at the same time.
Loving our neighbor (Mark 12:30-31) is something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. Recently we read Jay Pathak’s “The Art of Neighboring” as a staff and it’s had a huge impact on how I’m thinking about my everyday life in terms of loving my neighbors. Watch for some of that content to start showing up on Sunday morning! These hard topics that face us every day are just the things I want to address in upcoming posts in light of what it looks like to figure out how we’re going to do the hard work of showing up and loving our neighbor in practical ways. I’m not talking about things we need to believe, I’m talking about things we need to do.
Another verse I’ve been thinking about a lot lately is 1 Kings 20:11;
“...the one putting on his armor should not boast like the one who is taking it off.”
We’re putting on armour and going into battle against spiritual principalities of racism, injustice, politicism, division, accusation, and anger.
Keep your eyes peeled for the next post… While you’re doing so, I want to challenge all of us to listen more than we speak. A while back I wrote about revival. I think we’re seeing a time of upheaval that’s going to take us toward true revival if we cooperate with what God is doing and we listen for the story the Spirit is trying to tell us, instead of the story the world is trying to tell us (see Isaiah 8:11-14). This season may have felt long, but I actually hope it doesn’t go away soon. I think there is ugliness in the church being brought to the surface that Jesus wants to deal with, personally and on behalf of others, in order to accomplish what he has for us next.
I’m filled with hope when I think about having the opportunity to run that race with my Oxford Vineyard family.
The Judgment Pandemic
Senior Pastor John Richter shares his thoughts about the current Coronavirus pandemic, including a question that many are asking today; “is Coronavirus God’s judgment?”
“Is Coronavirus God’s Judgment?”
This question arises and permeates through the Church. I hear many believers claiming expertise on this issue, saying Coronavirus is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, God’s punishment being visited upon the nations. This claim comes across in subtle judgments about public figures and leaders of states and nations. In fact, every time a major catastrophe occurs, large groups of Christian “experts” declare it is indeed the wrath of God. Historical examples include the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Hurricane Katrina, and other national and global tragedies.
I would like to address this “Judgment Worldview” among us as it pertains to the teachings of Jesus and the entirety of the New Testament. First, let me say, I believe God’s judgment is real and Biblical. There are numerous examples in the Old and New Testaments of God executing judgment. Among others, there are two distinct instances recorded in the Book of Acts. One dealing with an Angel of the Lord striking down Herod (Acts 12:18-25) and another to do with Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11). In the face of these Biblical accounts, Romans 12:18-21 states,
“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
In this verse, Paul gives us two distinct revelations. First, Paul cites Deuteronomy 32, pointing out that vengeance, wrath, and judgment are God’s responsibility alone. Secondly, that these things are not our responsibility! Our responsibility is to love our enemies - those who act in contradiction to God and His people - and to overcome evil with good. Jesus taught this same concept on several occasions, including the sayings, “do not judge, lest you be judged” (Matthew 7:1) and, “pray for your enemies” (Matthew 5:44).
We see this demonstrated in the story of Jonah. God tells Jonah that He will judge Nineveh, one of the most horrific and sinful cities on the planet at the time. God then tells him to go and call them to repentance. Jonah makes it clear that he would not cooperate, not because he was afraid of Nineveh, but because he was afraid of God’s mercy toward them. He wanted them to be punished, and in doing so, ignored the assignment God had on his life. Jonah tried to invoke God’s Judgment instead of partnering with God’s Love and Grace.
Let’s assume for a moment that folks who hold a Judgement Worldview regarding the Coronavirus actually got a word from God, like Jonah, about impending judgment. Let me quickly interject that such a word, if it happens to be true, is no small matter and should be handled with great caution. Based on Paul and Jesus’ teachings, should we rush to one being judged with mercy and love or run away and watch them “get what they deserve”? Should we intercede for mercy on their behalf or look on, hoping for their death and destruction?
We must be extremely careful about entering into a judgment mindset. If we want to talk about pandemics, let’s discuss the pandemic of judgment rampant throughout the church. Pointing fingers and calling out leaders by name on social media! Declaring God’s Judgment on a country or nation because of sin. Declaring emphatically that entire cities are being judged by God when a catastrophe or pandemic breaks out. Paul told us that vengeance and judgment are God’s responsibility. When we declare God’s Judgment, we are stepping into a realm that only belongs to God! Jesus taught us that our heart posture must always be love.
Expressing judgment does not fuel love. On the contrary, it provides a hidden excuse not to love! Our assignment as disciples of Jesus is to love people everywhere we go, in every environment, and with every people group! As the prophet Isaiah wrote about us thousands of years ago, “Arise shine! For your light has come!”
Some Thoughts About Revival
Hello friends!
I’m writing this the week of April 13. Many of you already know this, but as of this week, I officially transition into a full-time capacity with Oxford Vineyard. Brea and I are rejoicing in the remarkable faithfulness of God to bring us to Oxford, into this particular body of believers, and into the global family that is the Vineyard movement. We are filled with excitement and anticipation to be serving this community for, at the very least, a few more years.
I want to write to you all concerning something that has been on my heart for several months. Revival is discussed ad nauseam in the Christian community. When I hear someone starting to talk about revival, I’ll submit to you that I tend to tune out. In light of that, I believe revival is close at hand today, but not necessarily in the way you might think. I’m going to write more about why I believe this in a future post.
This week, as I considered this revival I believe is coming, several thoughts occurred to me. I thought about the famous “revivalists” that have long defined this term in Christianity like Jonathan Edwards, John Wesley, and D.L. Moody. Although these individuals have made great contributions, I think there is a difference between the kind of revival we’re desiring in our community and what has been mistaken for revival in recent years. First, we must understand the difference between “revival” and “revivalism”. Revivalism is dangerous. Revivalism centers itself on the promotion of a revival of “religious fervor”. Revival, on the other hand, is defined as the improvement of the strength or condition of something.
I don’t know about you, but “religious fervor” sounds like something I want no part of. While God did spectacular things during large-scale revivals like the Great Awakenings in America, the Welsh Revival, and the Jesus People movement, the religiosity of the people skyrocketed and brought some negative consequences. While I do want people to come face-to-face with the sensationally beautiful person of Jesus, I could care less if their “religious fervor” increases. The way I have come to understand it, true revival means the strength and condition of our worship and our community improve simultaneously. Revival has much more to do with what is happening in the hearts of individual people than a sweeping nationwide sensation.
Something we pray for AND participate in…
Sometimes when folks get swept up in the sensation of revivalism, they forget their assignment to be the hands and feet of Jesus in their community. When we get too focused on “crying out” for revival, it becomes antithetical to followers of Jesus being people of action. I’m not knocking prayer meetings. We need to pray! Worship and prayer pave the spiritual highway that leads us into revival. However, when it comes, we must shift our efforts onto participating in the revival that is on our doorstep! Our pursuit should be to advance the kingdom (Romans 14:17) and in doing so, improve the strength of our church and our community.
The strength and condition of the Church…
A singular focus on building the church without concern for our community is what I mean in this article by “religious fervor”. I believe when this Coronavirus crisis ends, our churches will be packed. That celebration, when we are face to face again, will be jubilant. However, we can’t afford to mistake full church services for revival. Revival comes in the hearts of the people, not in our building. The assignment to advance the kingdom remains the same. The equipping for that assignment comes in the church meeting.
The strength and condition of our community…
A singular focus on the moral condition of the community without our ultimate attention on the saving power of God for individuals is called secular humanism. Too many people associate revival with the passage of certain legislation or the championing of a particular social position they feel passionate about. Those things aren’t what revival is about. Revival is about the Holy Spirit touching the hearts of the people. We have to concern ourselves with the fact that people need the life that God desires for them - one defined by a deep understanding of their identity in Christ.
Friends, I believe real revival is coming for the hearts of the people in our community! If we’re looking for something loud and explosive, we might miss it. I think it might look subtle, quiet, and inconspicuous, but it is truly the power to transform lives.
-Parker Frey
Helping Those in Need
Hello Church!
Friday got a call from a lady that I will call Sue. She was ready to move into her apartment that the Oxford Vineyard helped her find and she needed the down payment. Kim and I were not prepared but we scrambled and loaded our trailer with some extra beds we had and headed to town.
We arrived and I went into the landlord office with Sue and we sat down together. Blessed Sue had told the landlord all about how the Oxford Vineyard was helping her move in and that I was her pastor. The landlord proceeds to share her heart about a lost daughter and we talked about Heaven, Jesus, and the reality of the Word of God! She asked me how I knew the Bible was real and I told her that the Bible is a love letter inviting us into an encounter with the living God. I know it is real because I have felt His presence and seen His healings and miracles. At this Sue interjects, "Yeah, He even healed my wrist!" (I had prayed in Kroger for her carpal tunnel and she was immediately healed) We prayed for the landlord and had a sweet moment in the Holy Spirit together!
We left and began unloading the mattresses. Sue said she had a friend help unload who I will call Mike. Also Sue's daughter who I will name Mary was helping as well. Mary was 25 years old and moving in also with her mom.
At one point Mary, the daughter, Mike, and I stopped together to chat. I told Mike that he looked familiar and he shares that we met uptown Oxford one night and he was ready to throw himself in front of a train. He was struggling with depression. He said, "You prayed with me and I gave my soul to Jesus and I have had joy ever since!" (Night Watch Encounter) I was shocked. Mary then chimes in that she has been struggling also with depression so I asked if we could pray for her. I placed my hand on her shoulder and said,"come Holy Spirit." She immediately started to sway backwards and said, "whoa." The Holy Spirit gave me prophetic words to pray over her and set her free from her past. After we prayed, I asked her if she wanted Jesus in her life. She said absolutely! Mike proceeds to lead her in the prayer of asking Jesus to be her Lord and Savior! So good!
Holy Spirit is so much fun! So excited about what Father is doing in this season and hour! Rise up Church it is time to shine!
Blessings,
John
Welfare of the City
Hello Oxford Vineyard!
There are a few resources that I want to pass along to you all, but first I want to take a look at a scripture that seems especially relevant right now.
“Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.”
Let me give you a little context. Israel was taken into captivity by the Babylonian Empire who conquered the city of Jerusalem in 587 BCE. The prophet Jeremiah, on behalf of God, is writing to the Jews who were living in Babylon - a city whose values, to put it lightly, starkly opposed the Law of Moses. What were the instructions of God to the people living in this corrupt city? To seek the welfare (or peace) of that city! I ask then, how much more will we seek the welfare of a city we love? Our church bears the name of that city. We have a responsibility to be kingdom ambassadors of welfare and peace to Oxford!
One of the ways we have done so is by suspending our Sunday gatherings. I don’t want to exacerbate this point, but I do want to make you all aware that churches all over the world who have continued to meet are being identified as major epicenters for the spread of COVID-19. Rich Nathan, the Senior Pastor of Vineyard Columbus, said earlier this week, “God forbid that our long-term witness is that we contributed to sickness and death rather than healing and life!” I couldn’t agree more.
We can’t afford to cite the efforts of the first century Church as a reason to keep our doors open during this pandemic. I believe we are commissioned and called to pray for the sick, so don’t hear what I’m not saying. However, the early Church was providing medical care for the sick. The first recorded general hospital opened in Baghdad in the 800s CE. That means for 800 years (generally speaking) the Church was one of the only places where sick people could receive medical care! The Church wasn’t simply insisting on their right to meet regardless of health consequences to others, they were providing a service that hospitals now provide.
This has caused me to ask myself; outside of suspending our meetings, how can we seek the welfare of Oxford? Two answers come immediately to mind.
1. Pray
Jeremiah instructs the people to pray to the Lord on behalf of their city. 1 John 5:14-15 assures us that God hears our prayers and answers them! You, as a believer in Jesus, have authority over spiritual strongholds, powers, and principalities. Use your authority! Pray for the healthcare workers you know, your neighbors, and your leaders.
2. Sign up to volunteer
The City of Oxford has initiated a program to gather volunteers to assist during this time. Join me in filling out this form to offer help to those who need it most during this unprecedented season.
*If you are healthy and not in a high risk demographic
Finally, I want to highlight something that I’ve had to come to terms with over these past few weeks. Although it is disappointing, the crisis of COVID-19 is not that we must meet online for a little while. The real crisis is in our community and our world as it affects people who are at risk, fearful, panicked, alone, anxious, and depressed.
Click here for a great interview between Putty Putman and Phil Chorlian, two Vineyard leaders from whom I’ve learned much and I respect dearly.
Phil’s church, North Jersey Vineyard, is in the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak on the East Coast. It might give you some deeper insight and understanding about what’s really going on where this sickness is widest-spread.
I will be on Zoom calls on Monday and Wednesday mornings at 7:30 am for about an hour to talk, pray, and get into the scriptures together. We will also be continuing our Life Groups through Zoom. For more information checkout our website here. They’re open to anyone, not just OV attendees. I hope to see you there!
.
All the best,
Parker
Tithing to the Poor
Hello Church!
In Fall 2019, I was speaking to one of my favorite Vineyard people, Pam Bertram. Pam was telling me about some of the "Vineyard old days." She told me about their practice of tithing to the poor and needy from the church offerings. Ten percent of the offerings were immediately allocated for reaching and helping those in need. This truly impacted me when I heard it. Since then, with help from our Finance Team and staff, we have begun to allocate a tenth of our offerings to those in need. Here are just a few ways we’ve been able to help people in the past few months:
In December 2019, we purchased Christmas gifts for a single mother with six kids under nine years old, as well as food in a time of need. We also helped a church member in need with car repairs.
So far in 2020, we have had the opportunity to help a homeless family with one child and one on the way with housing and food, helped the dad find a job and assisted them in making a down payment for an apartment. We conducted a HOTS outreach at Park View Arms at which we passed out hot dogs and prayed for the sick. We helped a lady recovering from drug issues with housing, food, and finding housing. We helped with housing for another mother and her two kids who recently left an abusive relationship.
I share all of this with you because first I want us to rejoice together in Jesus and how He is being glorified. Secondly I want you to be aware of how our tithes and offerings are being used to impact those in need of Oxford! Isaiah 58:6-12 (NLT) says,
"No, this is the kind of fasting I want...Share your food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help. Then your salvation will come like the dawn, and your wounds will quickly heal...Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon. The Lord will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring."
I know this is a weird season, but please pray and consider how to maintain your giving to Oxford Vineyard so that we can continue our mission of making disciples and transforming Oxford!
You are welcome to send checks in the mail or use the tithe.ly app online. Following the link on our website makes using tithe.ly easy. All of your giving is greatly valued and appreciated! Just like Isaiah states, those who give and care for the needy will shine like the noon day in the midst of darkness.
Lastly, I know many requests for giving have motives of self gain. However, if you are not aware, Kim and I currently receive no salary from Oxford Vineyard as pastors. We do, however, have a couple of staff members on salary and we are looking forward to bringing Parker Frey on in a full-time capacity starting in mid-April.
Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the first fruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.
Proverbs 3:9-10 ESV
Can’t wait to talk to you soon!
- John
Fire From the Altar
Connections Pastor Parker Frey tells us about his new blog post Fire From The Altar and how we can learn to bring the presence of God into our lives.
Hello, Church!
Over the last number of days and weeks, many of us have been considering our role as believers in Jesus to see this global pandemic come to an end. In the Vineyard, we frequently use the phrase, “everyone gets to play”. I love that sentiment! This work is not reserved for the experts, the experienced or the confident. It’s a partnership that is available to all of us.
We have a spiritual authority that we need to learn how to access! Something that has been challenging me is this idea of praying “against the virus”. I found myself praying a few times in the past few weeks, “God, bring an end to this virus. Stop this pandemic!” There’s nothing wrong with that, but if I can be honest with you, those prayers sometimes feel a little powerless. I’m here to suggest that there might actually be more powerful, precise prayers that we can pray during this time.
What’s our role supposed to be?
Many of us look up to prominent individuals who have wide-reaching ministries. These folks have a reach that extends across millions of people and many nations. We are supposed to learn from them. The part we sometimes miss is that we aren’t supposed to imitate them, we’re supposed to learn from them and apply their lessons to our own context as we imitate Christ.
In 2 Corinthians 10, Paul introduces an idea that I think we would all do well to consider. He talks about what we sometimes call a “sphere of influence”. He says that in his ministry, he’s sticking to the limits God has set for him. I think when we pray and do life, it’s profoundly important to consider the limits God has set for us. These are the areas God wants us to be most active - it’s where He has placed us!
Go and get some fire from the altar.
There’s a story in Numbers 16 about a plague that breaks out among the rebellious people of Israel. I will not make any bones about it - this is a weird Old Testament story. This is a story where people are dealt with in ways that Jesus no longer deals with his people. Hopefully, we know under the New Covenant, God isn’t sending plagues of judgment. We hold on to the truth that when we find ourselves confused about something in the Old Testament, we remember that Jesus is the measure of God’s character, not a confusing Old Testament story (John 1:18). All this considered, there is an important lesson to be learned.
Near the end of the story, a compelling thing happens. Moses and Aaron, being leaders who cared deeply for the people, threw themselves facedown on the ground and began to pray. They took some fire from the altar in their place of worship. Aaron ran into the middle of the congregation, stood between the living and the dead for the love of his people, and the plague stopped.
Reach out to your “sphere of influence”!
The encouragement I want to leave you with is this. In the face of what’s going on in the world today, take some “fire” from your place of worship, go out among your people (six feet apart), and see the plague stop. Maybe the plague is fear. Maybe it’s apathy or indifference. It could be anger or judgment. It could also be physical sickness! Your people could be in the hospital where you do battle every day. They could be your kids, your parents, your church, your company or your city.
I propose that we start focusing our efforts on the “sphere of influence” God has given us. I’m planning on reaching out to my neighborhood and the neighborhood around the church building this week. Pray and ask God who your people are! Of course, it’s still important to pray big prayers for our country and our world, but when we focus on our “sphere of influence”, we very well could see things change faster, spiritually and physically.
Hope everyone is doing well!
-Parker
Rejoice Always
Hello Church!
These are strange days we find ourselves living in. In light of the current situation, we thought it would be a perfect opportunity to reach out via blog and video, something we’ve wanted to try for some time!
That’s a phrase many of us probably have not heard much in recent weeks; “a perfect opportunity”. However, it’s my hope that’s the way we can allow the Holy Spirit to begin to work in our minds. In Romans 8:28, Paul reminds us that God is working all things together for our good! We talk a lot about the goodness of God, and I want to remind you that in the New Covenant, diseases are a weapon of the enemy! However, we do believe in the face of the situation the accuser has brought about, God is seeking to teach us and grow us up in love.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the wisdom of 1 Thessalonians 5:12-20 over the past few weeks - wisdom we would do well to heed in this time. Read it when you get the chance. The Church in Thessalonica was enduring intense persecution as this letter was written to them. In the first three chapters, Paul celebrated the faithfulness of the Thessalonians and he gave them some instructions about righteous living.
Then Paul’s tone changed. He challenged them to grow up into something new! There are three things I want us to consider as the Church in this unique moment in world history:
#1 Be at peace amongst yourselves.
We can not afford to have division among us! That means in times of panic and fear, the Church cannot have an inward OR outward expression of offense toward those who are afraid. “Respecting those who labor among us and are over us in the Lord” means we cannot have a disparaging attitude toward leaders who make requests of us for our well being or toward churches who make decisions for the betterment of the communities whose feet we wash.
#2 Admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, and do all this with patience.
Pray against loneliness, thoughts of suicide, and fear of financial hardship. If you see believers around you putting their kingdom assignment “on hold” (idle), admonish them to find creative new ways to love the people around them as Jesus would! When you encounter folks who are afraid (fainthearted), encourage them! These times will be short-lived. We’re people of the future, not of the present. Finally, help the weak. Those who are poor, elderly or have weakened immune systems need you! Bring them groceries, pray for them in person or simply give them a phone call. Be creative and ask the Holy Spirit how he would have you respond wisely. Be patient and kind in it all.
#3 Pray without ceasing, rejoice always, and give thanks in all circumstances.
We are filled with the Spirit of God, who enables us to do just this. Review the fruits of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control) and make note that “righteous anger” is not among them (nor is it in the Bible). If you’re feeling angry or grieved by what’s happening around you, ask the Holy Spirit why you’re feeling that way! You might be surprised by how quickly he answers.
My prayer is that we would all lean into the changes that are happening around us and see what God wants to do through our situation! How might he want to stretch you, challenge you, or break you of old habits and fears?
Looking forward to seeing you all soon!
- Parker
COVID-19 Update
Hello everyone,
We wanted to bring you some updates in regards to the recent coronavirus situation.
The CDC (Center for Disease Control) and President Trump have asked us to limit our gatherings to 10 people or less. After praying collectively as a staff we have made the decision to not have church services for the next two weeks. We are encouraging everyone to meet in their Victorious Life Groups as we make this modification for the upcoming weeks.
Please continue to ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom and direction about attending church events, especially if you are at high risk for contracting COVID-19. According to the CDC, individuals who are at high risk are over 60 years old, and/or have chronic illnesses such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, or lung disease. If you are at risk or feel as though you may be, we encourage you to use wisdom and stay home. If you decide to stay home, we love you and bless you.
Our staff team is always here to support you, but especially during this time. Please let us know if you have any prayer requests or needs.
Sunday Morning Plan:
Gather in life groups at 10:30am.
If you cannot meet in a life group, we will start a live stream of the message at 10:30am. Parker will be speaking on the “Test of Crushing.”
After the message concludes, there will be worship and ministry held at each house.
Regular Weekly Plans:
Victorious Life Groups will continue to meet as normal.
Prophetic Intercession is still meeting this Tuesday at 7pm
A Time to Advance the Kingdom
To be honest, I have been struggling with the idea of modifying church. I was feeling as though we were giving in to the enemy in some way. But in prayer, I was given a word picture of an approaching tsunami. I feel like God was showing me that the best course of action is for our community to come together and work hand in hand to get everyone to safety so that no one is left behind.
A similar attack occurred in the Book of Acts when the first church was persecuted in Jerusalem and believers were being arrested and killed.
Acts 8:1, 4 At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria...Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.
The storm of COVID-19 is coming and this attack of the enemy is causing the Church to scatter. Just like in the days of the Apostles, the demonically influenced persecution appeared to be unstoppable and winning the battle.
However, the Holy Spirit could not be stopped because of His presence in each believer. The scattering of the saints actually served to advance the Kingdom of God exponentially because the scattered believers preached the Word everywhere they went!
It is time to share the Word everywhere we go! It is time to reach our lost family members whom some of us have forgotten about. It is time to share Jesus with those we love. It is time to serve our neighbors like Jesus would. It is time to pray for the sick like Jesus--”heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons.”
We will continue to post updates on the Oxford Vineyard Facebook page, OV GroupMe, and OV email list. If you would like to be added to the OV email and OV Group Chat, please send your cell number or email to oxford.vineyard@gmail.com. We will be working hard to keep you informed on upcoming outreaches and events.
John & Kim Richter & OV Staff
Lynne Jones | Executive Pastor
Oxford Vineyard Church
lynnemjones7@gmail.com