Bad Christian Books and a Burning Book: Salvation by Allegiance Alone

There is no shortage of bad Christian books in the world. It seems these days that every megachurch pastor (real, aspiring or otherwise), child of a famous Christian, and Christian blogger (gulp!) believes that their words are deserving of at least a paperback edition.

If only this were the case! Frankly, I find most popular Christian books to be about as enjoyable as the flu. At first glance you break out in a cold sweat, then comes the headache, and by the end you are nauseated. The genre as a whole suffers from too many maladies to detail here, but some key issues are plagiarism, a failure to do any significant research on key claims, straw man arguments, excess sentimentality and a constant appeal to popular catchphrases.

Fortunately, we have some alternatives. Whatever you think about Amazon and online bookstores they do provide us with access to far more than what a Christian or popular bookstore carries. And there are some wonderful, and important, new Christian books out there.

All that being said, I am starting a bi-weekly tradition here of sharing recently published (within the last ten or so years) or largely unknown books that are deserving of your time and attention. Each of these books has deepened my discipleship, pushed me further into God's mission, and provided me with new understanding and excitement about God's story and God's work in the world. I will call these books "Burning Books," as they served to make God's word and calling clear to me.

I am not going to provide a book review for these books. Some I will write a fair bit about; others I will be very brief. The point is simply to pass on the blessing that these books provided me with, and I do hope you will task the risk of cracking open a few of them!

Burning Book of the Week: Salvation by Allegiance Alone, by Matthew Bates

Salvation by Allegiance Alone articulates what many Protestant scholars and pastors have uncomfortably hinted at for years: the word "faith" in the New Testament is closer to what we call allegiance or loyalty than "belief" as a mental category. Faith is not primarily an intellectual understanding or propositional belief about Jesus, but rather an adherence and faithfulness to Jesus as King.

Bates is able to succinctly demonstrate that the Greek word pistis (usually translated "faith") was often used to express one's allegiance to a ruler. In other words, if you were a Roman citizen you gave pistis to Caesar. Soldiers gave pistis to their commanders (as seen in Josephus). These citizens and soldiers were not merely saying they believed that their king and supervisor existed, or even that that trusted them, but rather that they supported them and would be faithful to them.

This argument is further strengthened by Bates' demonstration that the Gospel message itself was not a/the plan of salvation (as is often used in Reformed and Evangelical circles), but was rather the message that Jesus was God's anointed Messiah, and the resurrected King of the world. Of course as such He could offer salvation, but the point of having "faith" in the gospel message was the transfer of allegiance to Jesus the King.

Ultimately Bates points to three elements of faith that are at play in the New Testament when the word pistis is used:
1. Mental affirmation (yes, we still need this and at times is the meaning of "faith")
2. Professed fealty (publicly claiming Jesus as Lord)
3. Enacted loyalty (obedience)

In many ways Bates' argument resolves the questions surrounding faith and works in the New Testament, as someone who believes and trusts in the message of the Gospel will give their allegiance to Jesus and earnest seek to obey Him.

Bates' work serves as a helpful admonition for ministries dedicated to evangelism and discipleship, as he shows how evangelism fails without a call for obedience to King Jesus (hello discipleship). Bates helps us see how evangelism and discipleship are inseparable; they are in fact two sides of the same coin. And this understanding frees us from an evangelism built on convincing someone about theological truth claims up front and hoping for speedy success. Rather, if we conceive of our task  as revealing Jesus's kingship and helping people come under Jesus's rule (which still includes the necessary information, but goes beyond it), then we can begin the long-term work of disciple-making with patience, knowing that transformed lives require far more time than accepting minds.

While Salvation by Allegiance Alone is not a terribly challenging read (some of the later chapters are a little more difficult, but aren't central to the argument), it is a challenge to modern believers who have separated their "belief" from their "faithfulness." It is a call to reexamine our own faith, and to ask if it is a faith characterized by allegiance and loyalty. As a good "Burning Book" should do, it points us back to the journey of repentance- aligning our life with the King- and therefore it begins to direct us into His mission. After all, those who are loyal to the King are called to fight in His battles.
 

A Great Night with Lee County's Bravest

Isn't it amazing when you set out to bless someone and in the process you wind up receiving far more than you gave?

Last week at Cultivate we split into small groups and went to local fire stations to thank the firefighters for their service and sacrifice on our behalf. We had balloons, discounted Valentine's Day candy and cards. Our goal was simply to surprise them with a small act of gratitude, and to provide our whole team with an opportunity to grow in gratitude. Going into the night, I had modest hopes that the firefighters would be available and pleasantly surprised, and that our students would engage with the activity in a very different, and perhaps intimidating context.

Long story short, I was blown-away by the graciousness and hospitality of our local fire crews. Each group returned at the end of the evening with stories and pictures of tours, of sitting in fire engines, and of firefighters who went way out of their way to make our students feel welcomed and appreciated for coming. One fire crew even gave the group that visited them $20 to go buy Love Boat ice cream! (If you don't live in Fort Myers, Love Boat is the best, period.)

The event served as a reminder of the power of both gratitude and hospitality to turn strangers into friends. There are many social and cultural boundaries between most of the local firefighters and most of our students. Yet, we saw how a small act of gratitude received with genuine hospitality can create an environment in which normal boundaries and normal life can be interrupted and something far more beautiful can appear.

Thank you fire fighters of Lee County! Your service, and your hospitality, are appreciated!

The Iona-McGregor fire crew wins the silly pic of the night contest!

Ready to roll...

The flotation device was a nice touch...

We also surprised Shari, the Pine Manor Center Director

Welcome to the family Greg!

Readers, today it is my pleasure to introduce you to Gregory Greene! Greg is a local missionary who has faithfully served in Dunbar and central Fort Myers for years and is now looking to capitalize on his experience and network to launch Greene Harvest Ministries. I connected with Greg through our friend Permon Thomas, and was thrilled to hear Greg's excitement for gathering neighbors who are searching for God but believe church is for "other people." Furthermore, Greg is servant who is focused on seeing others join into the mission. He  understands the call to equip and empower more ordinary people to both follow Jesus and serve Jesus by extending that call to others in mission. After hearing Greg's heart and sharing our story we agreed that Greg would be a good fit with Burning Bush.

Welcome to the family Greg, and we are looking forward to seeing God use you in big ways in Fort Myers and beyond!  

What are Burning Bush people trying to do?

I've been asked several times recently what Burning Bush people and communities do. It's a good question. If you are familiar with contemporary churches then you know that there are all kinds of Christian groups out there... small groups, life groups, service groups, youth groups, marriage groups, worship groups, and the list goes on.

So what exactly is it that we say makes our communities (what we call our groups) "Burning Bush Communities?"

Well, I like to say is that Burning Bush Communities have GRIT.

That is, we are (or strive to be) people who:

Go
We make it our job to go to and be with our neighbors who God sends us to. We don't ask the people we're called to serve and bless and reach to come to us. We do our best to step into their world and establish relationships where they are comfortable.

Reveal
Our second task is to reveal the Kingdom of God wherever we're sent. People don't need to attend a church service to have the Kingdom revealed to them. It's the job of disciples to make known the power and love of Jesus in the places they inhabit and serve.

Invite
We invite those whom we love and serve in Christ's name to learn the ways of Jesus with us. That is, we invite them to the discipleship journey. It makes sense that the people who build relationships with their neighbors and reveal the Kingdom to them are the ideal people to help disciple them.

Turn loose
Finally, we release the disciples who are serving alongside of us or who developed in our communities to pursue the callings that God places upon them. God is always calling and sending more people to share His good news, and it's our job to make sure that we facilitating that process.

So there you have it. A Burning Bush Community is one that is trying to have some GRIT. And while we have a long way to go in this process of becoming gritty people and groups we are thankful to be on the journey.

Thanks Tre!

Last week we had the pleasure of taking some of our students from Cultivate to a drug and alcohol awareness program put on by local police, first responders, and local drama students. The program was a four act performance following fictional students from a party to arrest, courtroom, and hospital. It was an impactful performance, as our students took in the hard realities of lives broken by bad decisions.

However, we left the program talking about the biggest surprise of the night: Tre Boston of the Arizona Cardinals, and graduate of North Fort Myers High, was waiting for us at the end of the program to encourage the students and share a bit of his own journey! The impression made on me, and I think our group as a whole, wasn't so much all the content that Tre shared (though he shared good stuff and gave Jesus credit, which is always a good thing in my book), but rather his enthusiasm and obvious delight to be with the students. Frankly, the message of no to drugs and partying is so often given from a threatening or reprimanding position that it's simply tuned out. How refreshing for our students to hear the message from someone who they could both identify with and who spoke as cheerleader for them. What a difference it makes to hear the truth from someone you believe is in your corner! Which perhaps is a good reminder for all of us: do the people who we lead and encourage and hope to build up believe we're in their corner?

A Growing Family

One of the funny things about following Jesus is that sometimes you beat your head up against the wall repeatedly trying to make something happen, and then, as soon as you throw up your hands and release it to God, He makes it happen. Those moments are precious; they are both humbling and joy-filled.

Recently, I've experienced this pattern anew. My hope and prayer when we launched Burning Bush was that we would grow as a network of local missionaries. (When I say local missionaries I mean men and women who are intentionally living on a mission to reveal God's love and Kingdom with their neighbors who are hurting and disconnected from the church.) I knew that in the long run it was our job to develop local missionaries, but it would really help us get going if we had a core of them to start with. The problem was, I had no idea where to find those people. I talked to all kinds of ministries, pastors, and churches, but I didn't get anywhere.

Eventually, after the head-banging had produced nothing but headaches, I got the message that our job was just to lead the people we had into mission and stop worrying about gathering other local missionaries. And so we got busy, and the headache went away.

And then, seemingly out nowhere, God started bringing local missionaries our way. Three local missionaries joined us in October and November, and then three more joined us in January. We're actually starting to look like a network!

Today, it is my honor to introduce you to one of our new teammates, Permon Thomas. I met Permon through the Pine Manor Community Center, where he leads a weeknight ministry in the community kitchen for guys who are recently out of jail and prison. Permon was incarcerated himself, came to faith in prison, and is completely on-fire for loving incarcerated men and helping them make life work when they get out. Permon also has a heart for equipping others, and we are working on a plan for him to launch a discipleship and missionary training ministry to complement his ex-offender ministry (which is more basic, and focused on integration in society). So, welcome to the team Permon! We are blessed to have you on board!  

Permon participating in the work to give some ex-offenders the right to vote in Florida.

What's new with Burning Bush in 2019?

Well, it's halfway through January faithful readers, so I suppose it is finally time for a "New Year" update! (I know you were on pins and needles for this throughout your holiday season.)

Right now many exciting things are going on for BBC, but today I'm just going to give you a brief overview. I promise I will write more on each one as they continue to develop...

First off, WE ARE FINALLY IN OUR OFFICE SPACE! We passed inspections on January 2nd, and the move-in process is well underway. Last Sunday evening we hosted our first local missionary training event, and we are currently scheduling programs for our youth in Cultivate, a local re-entry ministry for offenders (more info on that to come), and other Burning Bush initiatives. We are truly grateful for the opportunity to use this small space to love our neighbors for Jesus, and we have high hopes that lives will be touched through it.

Where the magic happens...

We opted for the Merv Griffin color easy chairs...

Going for the eclectic sitting room currently...

One other cool note... all furnishings for the building have been paid for by supporters, the bulk of which has come from the Estero UMC Thrift Store. Thanks guys for your amazing support! It's a work in progress but we've come a long way already!

Our second big piece of news is that I have been invited to coach track and field at South Fort Myers High School this spring. A goal of mine has been to find a way to meaningfully serve in the places where our Cultivate students go to school, and South is where many of them go or will go to high school. We hit the track next week, and I look forward to meeting the athletes and serving them as best I can with the hopes of developing new ministry possibilities...

Finally, we have two new local missionaries/ministries that are looking to join Burning Bush! I'll save formal introductions for later; for now we're thrilled that God is connecting us with other disciples who have a heart for going and loving on neighbors who are hurting, and helping them learn about who Jesus is and what He's up to in our world.