Lesson from 17th Century Pietists.

According to Alvin Reid in Firefall the Puritan movement through William Perkins (1558-1602) influenced William Amesius and William Tellinck, who “led the movement of the Reformed Pietism in the Netherlands.[1] A Lutheran by the name of John Arndt (1555-1621) also led in the early stages of Pietism and was the author of True Christianity.[2]

The early Pietist leader, Philip Spener, was heavily influenced by Arndt’s work and wrote the manifesto of the Pietist movement, Pia Desideria (1675).[3] Originally a manual for the reform of Lutheran churches, Spener’s work made an impact on Lutheran as well as Reformed and Moravian streams.[4]

The six measures of reform in the Pia Desideria were: 1. A greater commitment to spread the word of God. 2. A renewed emphasis on the Lutheran view of the priesthood of all believers. 3. A greater focus given to the development of individual spiritual life. 4. Truth should not be established through disputes but through repentance and a holy life. 5. Candidates for the ministry should be genuine Christians who have had spiritual training. 6. Sermons should not demonstrate the preacher’s erudition, but attempt to edify.[5]

Two specific results attributed to the Pietist movement by Reid include encouraging revival and pioneering world missions.[6] The Pietist also increased focus on disciple making in individual lives. Revival and world mission have a clear connection to the emphasis on the spiritual life. When a person grows deeply as a believer, revival and missional impulse come natural.

The Pietist movement demonstrates a historical phenomenon connected with personal piety. The movement, as some have suggested, can lead to a mystical spirituality;[7] yet, the benefits of historical results outweigh the risk. Like the Anglican church of the Puritans, much of the American church is highly institutional, with little to no missional impulse. Since the Pietist movement did result in revival and missionary fervency, one should expect a similar result if our congregations determined to live lives of purity and holiness in Christ. This is not to say the revival is automatic, but instead to say conditions preceding revival will always include a renewed emphasis on personal piety.

The natural overflow of a deep and abiding relationship with Christ will always be a love for people and a passion for God’s mission. Works like True Christianity and the  Pia Desideria can help our modern context return to a faithful, Christ-centered disciple making method, rather than a consumer based entertainment approach.

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[1] Malcolm McDowell and Alvin Reid, Firefall: How God Has Shaped History Through Revivals, (Enumclaw, WA: Pleasant Word, 2002), 175.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid., 176.
[6] Ibid. 181.
[7] Ibid., 175.

Run the race in third place.

The third place is a term used in the concept of community building to refer to social surroundings separate from the two usual social environments of home and the workplace. – Wikipedia

Simply put, you spend the majority of time outside home and work at a third place. Think about it. Where do you spend most of your time? If you have been raised in “church” and you understand that I am a Christian pastor, you will assume I think it should be the church building. But, that is exactly opposite.

The mission of the church flows from the mission of God, namely to glorify himself primarily by redeeming lost man in Jesus Christ. Our third place, then, must be somewhere other than the church building.

Don’t misunderstand what I am saying. I am not saying gospel community with other believers, as a part of a local church is wrong. I am saying that gospel community with other believers, as part of a local church should take place in the community as much or more than in a central gathering place.

To take the gospel to people, who were created for a relationship with God in Jesus Christ, we must go to where they are. We no longer have the luxury of cultural expectation to “go to church” as our third place. It is gone for the majority of the population.

Take for instance my context, Roswell, NM. The majority third place in our community is the home of friends. A small town of around 50,000 with relatively few entertainment choices, leaves meals and movies with friends in homes a great option. In order for the gospel to impact lives of those outside the influence of the church we must open our homes in hospitality and accept invitations of new friends.

We desperately need Christian presence in our community third places. People will build community relationships in places other than work or home. Find out where it happens. Join them. Demonstrate a compassion and conviction unlike anything they have seen. Speak the gospel with care and boldness. Stay friends even if they do not believe, because the gospel leads to love of people, not just talking at people.

Take time to intentionally run the race in third place.

Where does your community spend most of their time? How can you take the gospel to the third places of your context?

The Roswell Experiment

In a random turn of events in life I have gone from a teenager who hated to read, liked math and science far more than English, and a perspective on life that I would and should be center stage, to a pastor who loves to read, gained basically an English degree, and realizes I have a long way to go. Yet the struggle and journey to get there has become more fun and motivating to me than the goal.

Colossians 1:29 says “For [presenting every man complete in Christ] I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.” This I believe is the calling that Christ has put upon my life.

Now I find myself again in a new territory with a desire to write. Not because I know anything. Usually my answer is “I don’t know” but because I desire to express that following Christ is not about where you end up, but instead about who you know. So Journey and Struggle are the same. The point is following Christ.

I don’t have to act like I know everything or become the center of the attention, because what I thought 10 years ago is humorous to me now. Think of what I will be thinking 10 years from now. So, this has lead me to chronicle the ministry journey for three reasons.

1. It will keep me humble as I see and remember what I thought I knew, while recognizing God’s grace as he changes me as I follow Him around.

2. I learn more when I take in information and then spit it back out. So this will be me spitting it back out. (Mostly to my mother because I am not sure if anyone else will actually read this). In doing so, I hope that I will digest and apply what I learn better.

3. I am in Roswell, NM where a missional experiment is about to take place alongside a true co-worker and friend in the gospel, Matt Brooks, to whom the Lord has joined my heart in less than 6 months. It will be interesting, if nothing else, as we take this journey.

So, here goes. The Roswell Missional Experiment.

(FYI Experiment doesn’t mean haphazard. It means intentional – prayerful – humble – God-centered – don’t know yet what it will look like – try as hard as we can – fail and learn – succeed and rejoice – hope for a mighty movement of God-ministry)

GOD > – In the beginning God.

Dave Miller – Pastor of Community / January 1, 2012 / God – Genesis 1:1 from fbcroswell on Vimeo.

How do you describe the Christian life? – Galatians 2 Devotion – FBC Roswell

Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

How would you describe the Christian life? Going to church? Do what I am supposed to do (whatever that is)? Sitting through something I actually find boring and irrelevant because I am afraid to actually say that church seems pointless to me?

If any of these, or other answers like these, come to mind it isn’t surprising. Somewhere along the way we have let this notion of compartmental Christianity engrain in our lives. In other words, Christianity is what I do for my religious life, but Clark Howard is who I follow for my financial life, Oprah is who I follow for my emotional life, Jim Collins is who I follow for my business life, and Dr. Phil is who I follow for my family life. The list could go on and on.

Yet this is not what Paul speaks of in Galatians 2. In the process of rebuking the apostle Peter for his hypocrisy towards the Gentile believers, Paul says Galatians 2:20. He was reminding Peter that in Christ, he had been crucified to the old way of life and now his new life is lived for Christ, in Christ.

Simply put, it means that Christianity, specifically Christ, is not a part of our lives. He is our life!

We don’t believe in Jesus so our religious life is in order. We believe in Jesus therefore, our life has been reordered. Everything about you: everything you do, everything you think, everywhere you go, everyone you know and meet, every dollar that your earn or spend, every conversation that you have, every hour, minute and second of every day is to be brought into submission of Christ’s lordship in your life.

In Christ you died, and now through the power of the resurrection you live not for yourself, but for Christ. His purpose. His plans. His mission. By faith you worship Christ, by faith you order your finances according to Christ, by faith you submit emotion to Christ, by faith your business becomes a ministry hub of Christ, by faith you lead your family towards Christ for Christ.

The life you now live in the flesh you live by faith in the Son of God, who loved you and gave himself for you.

Salvation was God call to live in His kingdom and the story He is writing, believe and leave behind your kingdom and the story you want to have written.

How should we describe the Christian life? Well… just that, life — all of it, in Christ.