Sunday, July 27 2008 - 10.52pm

I’m sitting in the front passenger seat, bathed by the comfortable and familiar glow of my iBook screen. Some of the team is sleeping, some are talking (sort of) quietly in the back. We’re about 70 miles from the California border - and just far enough out of civilization that the stars are uniquely vivid. So far, we’ve only stopped three times. Subway/Burger King for dinner, once to gas up (25 gallon tanks make me grateful for my Honda engine), and once for a rest stop break.

We’re all pretty excited to get to San Luis. It sounds like we will have a pretty balanced schedule. I’m excited to see how the Lord is going to grow the students. We’ve already had the opportunity to have some good conversations. It’s funny how the close confines of a 15-passenger van tend to cultivate honesty. Maybe it’s just the energy drinks.

As you read these updates, please keep us in your prayers. Safety for the team, sensitivity to His Presence as we engage with His work in San Luis and that we would all grow in our knowledge of God through these ten days.

Seeking Jesus in the everyday,

Pastor Andrew

I have been trying to respond to questions after the message on Sundays, this question was e-mailed to me this week "Define a women's role in the church (ex: biblical limitations)."  In the free Methodist Church all office are open to women. Meaning that women can serve in every area of ministry including Senior Pastor. Here is a website with more information concerning women in ministry. CLICK HERE

I have been asked several times "what version of the Bible do you use?"

I read and study from many different Bible versions such as the New International Version, the Holman Bible, the New Living Translation, the King James, the New American Standard, and the English Standard Version. I do not hold to the idea that there is one English translation that is "THE" English translation of the Bible but there are certainly some translations that are better then others. If you are looking for a very accurate "word for word" translation my preference would be the New American Standard Bible (NNAS) or the English Standard Version(ESV). The ESV is becoming my Bible of choice for preaching, study, and memorization. If you are looking to purchase a new study Bible I would recommend that you check out the ESV. 

For more information on Bible versions check out www.esv.org

In our world today there seems to be a lot of confusion about the "church"?  Some say the church is any gathering of believers. Some say that the concept of the local church is unbiblical, and still others say that the only church is the Catholic Church. George Barna in his book "revolution" shares a story of two guys playing golf on a Sunday morning and as they play they talk about spiritual things, creation, and discuss the Bible... from what I gather George Barna calls that church. I'm not sure I agree with that assumption. I think as believers we should be able to answer the question "what is a church?" In the New Testament the church is referred to in three distinct ways. First is the "Church Universal." That is the entire body of Christ made up of every born again believer. The church universal stretches across time and geography and links every believer together with each other and Christ. Ephesians 4:4.

The second way the church is referred to in the New Testament is geographically such as the Church in Corinth or Jerusalem. We still refer to the church this way today as we talk about the church in America, the African Church or the Church in China. When we make statements like that we realize there are many local churches in a geographical area and that they are all part of the church universal. We see examples of this in passages like Acts 11:22 and many of the epistles were written to the church of a geographical area

The third way the church is referred to in scripture is at the local level. In passages like 1 Corinthians 16:19, Colossians 4:15 Paul refers to local congregations I think there is very little confusion on the first two definitions of church but there seems to be some confusion on what constitutes a local church John Piper defines a local church like this: "a local church is a group of baptized believers who meet regularly to worship God through Jesus Christ, to be exhorted from the Word of God, and to celebrate the Lord's Supper under the guidance of duly appointed leaders."

 In my study and understanding of scripture a local church must have the following 4 things to be considered a church:

1.It must consist of a community of believers who have made a public confession of faith who gather for worship and teaching. Matthew 28:19, John 1:12-13, Acts 2:47 & Romans 15:6-7

2. It must have appointed leaders who preach the Word. Acts 14:23, 1 Timothy, Titus

3. It must of the sacraments of Communion and Baptism. Luke 22:19,1 Cor. 11:24, Mathew 28:19

4. It must exercise church discipline. Mathew 16:19; 18:18, 1Timothy 1:3; Titus 1:13; 1Corinthians 11:34; Titus 1:5; 1Timothy 5:20; 2Timothy 4:2; 1Corinthians 5:3-5,13; 1Timothy 1:20; Hebrews 13:17; 2 Corinthians 10:8; 13:10

If a group of christians claims to be a "church" but do not meet those four criteria I'm not sure that they are a Biblical church. They might be a ministry, a small group, a Bible study but they are not a church.

Why is it important to define "church"? Because in our postmodern world many Christians are buying into the idea that hanging out with Christians on the golf course, meeting up for a beer after work, or talking in a chat room constitutes being a "local church." The "local church" is an important part of our faith. We are called to live out our faith and community and not to forsake the gathering of the saints but the sad thing is many believers are missing  out on the blessing of being in biblical community.

Rob Bell in his book “Velvet Elvis” compares the Christian Faith to a velvet Elvis painting also know as a "Velvis". In essence, what Rob Bell is saying is that the Christian Faith as we know it today is culturally irrelevant, boring, and inflexible. Rob suggests that we need to repaint what it means to be Christian and if we don’t, the Christian faith will be relegated to a storage box in the basement much like a velvet Elvis painting.

On page 12 of Bell's book he writes the following words "I embrace the need to keep painting, to keep reforming. By this I do not mean cosmetic, superficial changes like lights and music, sharper graphics, and new methods with easy to follow steps. I mean theology: the beliefs about God, Jesus, the Bible, salvation, the future. We must keep reforming the way the Christian faith is defined, lived, and explained... and if this difficult work isn't done, where does the painting end up? In the basement."

In this book, Rob brings into question every major theological idea of the church from the virgin birth, to creation, to heaven and hell, even salvation. While he does not directly come out against any of these theological positions he does openly question them. To his credit he does state several times that he personally believes in the orthodox doctrines of the Church but he also states that Christianity is not about what we believe but what we experience. On page 35 Rob sums up his theology "The point is our Joy" Rob Bell says Christianity is all about our own personal experience. Like most of the emergent church movement their faith is not about what they believe but what we feel. The Bible then takes on a completely different role in their faith. Rob makes statements like "sometimes when I hear people quote the Bible, I just want to throw up!" or the "Is the Bible the best God can do?"

Rob Bell has some good thoughts. He pushes back hard on some of the religious dogma that has plagued the church, but in my opinion this book may actually cross the line into heresy. I think as Christians we need to read books that stretch us and make think about what we believe and why we believe it; in the end I found this book to be an offense to the Christian faith. Rob Bell compares the Christian faith and the doctrines of our faith to a cheap trendy Velvis and unneeded springs on a trampoline (I didn’t get that illustration at all, since a trampoline is useless without the springs).

Personally, I think a better painting to compare the Christian faith to might be the Mona Lisa which is over 500 years old and worth around $600,000,000. You don't find the Mona Lisa in your basement but in $7,500,000 vault which is climate controlled and guarded day and night. No one would ever consider repainting the Mona Lisa. A touch up and restoration maybe, but never a total repainting of the original canvas with a different picture. The doctrines of the Church and our faith are not some dime store painting of Elvis but a masterpiece painted by God. We must guard them, protect them, and touch them up from time to time as the years degrade the picture God painted but we must never repaint them as Rob Bell suggest.