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Who Do You Believe?

By Beyond Church Walls · Comments (1)
Friday, April 12th, 2013

I just finished reading a book titled Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne. My first tendency is to qualify my response to the book by stating that I don’t necessarily agree with everything he says, etc., but what difference does it make? The truth is that the book challenged a couple of my paradigms, which is always a good thing.

When I was bound by religion the possibility that a doctrine or philosophical belief I considered important might be wrong rattled me. Obviously, much of my confidence was based in believing I was right, as if being right strengthened my standing with God. It’s no longer a matter of right or wrong, but a question of the disposition of my heart.

Recently I’ve been in numerous conversations regarding the inerrancy of the scriptures, a subject causing much heated discussion and controversy among Christians today. Yet as Chambers wrote, we’re not asked to believe the Bible, but to believe the one whom the Bible reveals. (John 5:39-40)

The freedom that Christ has given us releases us to believe only what he makes life to us by his Spirit. To be set in beliefs peripheral to the reality of an experiential relationship with Christ stunts growth in him while feeding spiritual arrogance and the tendency to judge others. We can know almost nothing of Christ from history, nor can it be proven historically that he is God. But when we believe him the truth is revealed and his life is released in us.

David Fredrickson

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Love Teacher

By Beyond Church Walls · Comments (0)
Saturday, March 16th, 2013

As I was chatting with a couple baby boomer friends the other day it occurred to me that the older I get, the less I have to say. So much I thought I knew when I was younger and viewing “truth” through a religious lens has turned out to be oh so wrong. And the longer I live in Father’s love and grace, the less I need to know. If the origin of any knowledge is other than love, it’s not worth contemplating or talking about.  At best, it would be putting the cart before the horse.

A good thing about getting older in his love is that you become more teachable; more child-like. No, I’m not old enough to be getting senile. It’s just that I’ve had to unlearn so much, that now life always involves anticipation of new things. So every time another shade of his love is revealed, I’m caught by surprise and awe struck like a child encountering a new discovery in an ever expanding world.

But part of this aging process is scary. It forces one to wake up to the reality that is made evident by love. Focusing on theology and other means of “Christian education” keeps us shielded from the truth that may lead us where we’re afraid to go. As Kierkegaard put it:

“We pretend to be unable to understand (the Bible) because we know very well that the minute we understand, we are obliged to act accordingly. Take any words in the New Testament and forget everything except pledging yourself to act accordingly. My God, you will say, if I do that my whole life will be ruined. How will I ever get on in the world? Herein lies the real place in Christian scholarship. Christian scholarship is the Church’s prodigious invention to defend itself against the Bible, to ensure that we continue to be good Christians without the Bible coming too close.”

Yet love displaces fear and moves us to act apart from mere obligation. A sense of obligation may motive us to act, yet leave our heart cold and judgmental of others. The New Testament lays out lifestyle altering choices that open up a whole new world to those moved with compassion.

For much of my life I was taught by the knowledge of right and wrong, good and bad, expected and rejected. It’s like finally coming home to be taught by love, the teacher that never fails.

David Fredrickson

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Going in Circles

By Beyond Church Walls · Comments (0)
Wednesday, January 16th, 2013

Almost every follower of Christ I know is experiencing an upheaval in their life of some kind or another. Transition. Financial distress. Relational challenges. Illness. The responses range from confusion to bitterness. And then there are those who take it all as just a normal part of the journey. Come to think of it, Jesus did promise us that we would have troubles in this world. Somehow I never saw that promise in the little box we drew our scriptural promises from each day when I was a child.

Of course we know that trials work patience and character into us. At least we know the Bible says that. James writes that the promised prize is the crown of righteousness that will be ours after we’ve persevered. This, he says, should cause us to “count it all joy” whenever we encounter various trials. Personally, I can’t recall ever jumping up and down squealing with delight the last time my goals were frustrated. I do remember moving around quickly and making some kind of noise, but it sounded more like a spoon caught in the garbage disposal. And I wasn’t quoting scripture. I did recite Gumperson’s law: “The contradiction of a welcome probability will assert itself whenever such an eventuality is likely to be most frustrating.”

I used to think that once I got through a particular trial or another, I could finally rest and enjoy success. Not. In fact the same category of trouble seems to occur often enough that I can just about see myself coming. But in some cases I’m actually beginning to rest in the midst of hassles. It’s become evident that if I don’t rest in troubles, resting would be a rare disposition. More importantly, the love of God being poured all over me during those times makes it more than worth it. I can’t say that I actually “glory” in the tribulations as good old Paul instructs us to, but the glory of God, which is demonstrated in his love is evident enough to minimize the pain and provide the strength to persevere.

Most of us would love the journey to start at point A and move in a straight line toward Z leaving our troubles behind as we advance. But God doesn’t operate on a lateral scale. With no time or space to limit him, everything seems to function on a circular basis. We like to measure progress. There is no measuring stick that works in the kingdom. We think of terms of an end and a beginning. God lives in the eternal now, has no end or beginning and has invited us to live in him. Living loved with an eternal perspective has a way of diminishing the negative impact of our trials. I guess that’s why Paul called them “momentary light afflictions” that can’t be compared to the eternal weight of glory that’s being produced for us. And when we see him, we will be like him.

David Fredrickson

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Virtual Christianity

By Beyond Church Walls · Comments (0)
Monday, December 10th, 2012

My wife and I just got home from a vacation in Disneyland with our daughter, her husband and a friend. As you know, attractions that simulate real life adventures are a favorite at the popular resort. Star Tours uses “state-of-the-art technology – including a flight motion simulator vehicle, digital 3-D video, Audio Animatronics character and in-cockpit special effects – to transport you to a galaxy far, far away.” Recently, the ride’s been re-tooled and now includes multiple story lines and locations. The effect is so stunning that I’m sure if someone who had lapsed into a coma before technology had advanced to this level awoke and got on this ride they would have no doubt that they were experiencing the real thing.

I was reminded that many Christians today are living in an illusion that’s as convincing as Star Tours would be to the awakened coma patient. The ride first began immediately after they repeated “the sinner’s prayer.” They were taught that the Bible is their road map and that attending church is essential to their spiritual journey. At church they would learn correct doctrine which would keep them on the road of righteousness. At times they become inspired by motivational speakers on Sunday morning, and since they agree with the principles, they think they’re living accordingly. Occasionally they may experience an emotional high during the worship service and tears may even come to their eyes when a touching testimony is shared. They believe this reflects their heart for God. Faithful church attendance and tithing demonstrate their commitment. Learning more about the Bible tells them they’re growing spiritually. If they achieve a leadership position, they know they’re going places fast.

The sad truth is that these people are living in a kingdom that has absolutely no relationship to the kingdom of God. It’s simply a worldly system that seeks to simulate a reality that is far, far away from the religious world in which they live. Fundamental truths of discipleship that Jesus set before his followers are a completely foreign concept to most Western Christians. And how could any of us “abandon all to follow” Christ if we don’t’ know him? Who would be willing to “lose their life” for his sake? Why would we deny ourselves and take up our cross daily to follow one who invites us to die with him unless we’ve experienced resurrection?

The rich young ruler knew about him and his miracles, but he hadn’t experienced his love. He probably knew what Jesus taught and gave intellectual assent to it, but he had no relationship with the Person. Yet, as he went away with a sad heart, Jesus looked at him and loved him. And that’s the bottom line. Responding to the love of God is the only reality that has the power to transfer one from virtual Christianity into the kingdom of the son of his love.

In Disneyland we walked back toward our hotel on a brisk evening after a day filled with good food and tantalizing illusions. We were surprised to come upon a candlelight ceremony featuring a 500 voice choir singing “Oh Come Let Us Adore Him!” After the narrator read the story of the nativity from the Bible and emphasized the true meaning of Christmas the choir broke into the Halleluiah Chorus. For a moment, illusion was swallowed up by reality. Jesus.

David Fredrickson

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Character or Caricature?

By Beyond Church Walls · Comments (2)
Monday, May 7th, 2012

Yesterday we finished another segment of Jeff’s World in which I play the senior pastor, Bruce Carlyle. As this was my first major acting role, I had to learn that in order to portray the heart of any character the actor must study his background and understand his personality, conflicts, motives, etc. Once you’re able to “get into character” the lines come naturally and the character is more believable.

Years ago when I lived in the bay area I remember visiting a large, well known church where all the associate pastors dressed alike and had the same preaching style. I supposed they reasoned that if they looked and acted like the senior man they might have a shot at being as “successful” as he was. They did a good job studying him, because they could have passed for clones of the guy.

Religion encourages adherents to study the scriptures and do what is written. Christians are taught principles of spiritual life. They read the Bible and other books and learn all about the heroes of the faith both then and now with the goal of trying to be like them. They may imitate Paul’s preaching, but can’t match the demonstration of power through him.

Godly character cannot be taught or copied. There’s no substitute for learning Christ, and those that try to do and speak for him without learning him become caricatures that the whole world recognizes as false.

Of course it’s always easier to perform than to allow the character of Christ to be worked into us through pain and suffering. It’s easier to “put it on” then to put on Christ. But the other side of the coin is that he’s already done the work; our part is only to receive and yield. Then what we do flows naturally as an expression of our life being integrated with his.

David Fredrickson

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Praying

By Beyond Church Walls · Comments (8)
Friday, September 9th, 2011

The concept of praying has always bugged me. I know this sounds a little strange, but hear me out. The the idea to pray for somebody or something is common and pretty straightforward.  No problems here.  I learned how to pray when I was a kid. You send your message to God in heaven and he takes care of it. God was big enough right? Also God’s omnipresent so he should be able to get it the first time right?  So what’s the need to keep praying about something? The Bible warned about repeating prayers over and over again like pagans. You can’t use prayer like witchcraft or an incantation, so what’s the big deal about praying as an ongoing process?

All of this above has to do with the fact that God is a distant God. When you don’t have a relationship with God, prayer becomes a duty, a tool, or a device to leverage your spirituality.  But in relationship when you have an ongoing sense of communication, the whole concept of prayer completely changes. Recently Father gave me a picture about what it means to continually pray, (praying) about something. It goes like this. Picture a garden that I’ve chosen to plant. A garden takes constant maintenance and care. In a garden I have the promise of planting seeds with the hope of harvest later on. But there are many pests and elements that want to invade my garden. Without my vigilance in tending to the garden by providing water, protection, and pulling weeds, I can pretty much kiss any chance of a good harvest goodbye.  So now I realize that praying, ongoing prayer, is not about a lack of faith, it’s about relationship and tending to the things that Father has revealed to me.

bob humphrey

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My Take on Camping’s Rapture

By Beyond Church Walls · Comments (1)
Thursday, May 26th, 2011

I’ve watched this whole Rapture prediction thing from a distance and got reports from other people and articles.  The agnostics and atheists clucked and crowed with sarcasm and derision, other Christians chimed in shaking their heads and smirking.  I remember being a smirker back in the 90′s when Camping pulled the same thing, only there wasn’t the wildfire of the internet to set his message ablaze all over the globe.  In 2011 my thoughts on this sad episode of Camping 2.0 are vastly different.  What this rapture thing did was magnify in a focused intensity what the institutional church does on a weekly basis only in a more pleasant and friendly way.

Camping like many other institutional church preachers have become so Bible-centric, that they have lost touch with the person of Jesus. I can understand why, when the institutional church gives lip service to the born again reality, but carries on day in and day out as a dressed up, cool version of the Old Covenant.

I wonder if the church going folk that made sport of this incident noticed the temperature of the pot of water they were sitting in?

bob humphrey

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Standing on the Word?

By Beyond Church Walls · Comments (5)
Monday, June 21st, 2010

“Standing on the Word”

Remember that phrase? Word of faith folks like to use it. Believers facing hard times like to use it. I don’t like to use it.

I heard that phrase recently and it made me shutter. It was used by a person that had lost their contact with Father. I asked them what they sensed Father is saying about a situation and they replied “I don’t know, but I’m standing on the word (i.e. the Bible)”.

They were listening to tapes of faith teachers and trying to make sense out of their situation. It gave me the shivers. Here was a seasoned church goer facing a very difficult situation and they had lost contact with Father and were trying desperately to look through the Bible like it was the phone book trying to find God’s telephone number.

My family and I spent some time with them and just simply led them back to who they were in Christ, and that they indeed were connected to him w/o need of any super spirituality on their part. It’s funny how a few moments of simple relationship releases the river of living water that restores the soul.

bob humphrey

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Building Sheep pens

By Beyond Church Walls · Comments (2)
Wednesday, January 20th, 2010

Last week when Wayne Jacobsen was visiting he made a point that really stuck with me. It was that people are often drawn into new ways of building ‘sheep pens’. Sure they are upset about the abuses or hierarchy of the Institutional church, but are they just upset with that particular model or have they set out to build another little way to herd God’s sheep into new pens? Adjust this, change a little that. Maybe add a swinging door instead of a one way door. Either way they still have an agenda as to what needs to be done, and how they plan to do it.

We love formulas and methods. ‘Just tell what to do’ is so much easier than searching and discovering it out myself. Show me to my pen please. It’s no wonder well meaning people set out to build a nice new pens for the sheep. They hear the sheep bleating and take it upon themselves to solve whatever ails them. I found a great example of this online.

A call to prayer. Let’s find an example in scripture, now let’s duplicate it, after all it’s in the Bible. (Let’s skip the fact that the relevance of the instruction was unique for the people it was directed at.)

Let’s organize it with a proposal, create a position that you can apply for, and create an application process and finally a website and e-mail to respond to. I’ve now got my nice little prayer pen to settle into. 10 Days of Prayer

Is it well meaning? Sure is. Is it scriptural? Well yeah, it’s in the Bible. Does it appeal to my sense of insecurity that I should pray more and thus provide me the easy solution to resolve this? Absolutely. Where do I sign?

bob humphrey

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In God We Trust?

By Beyond Church Walls · Comments (1)
Saturday, December 13th, 2008

I had an interesting conversation with a friend yesterday where the subjects we explored ranged from mistranslation of the scriptures to being Spirit led versus being led by humanistic reasoning. It got me to thinking about the various shaky areas in which so many Christians place their confidence. Some depend on “leadership” to shape and confirm their belief system and/or even hear God for them. Others lean on their own ability to reason things out logically. Still others “stand on the word” as their blueprint and rule book. With most I know who are stuck in religion, it’s a combination of the above.

But I also know many who are growing in a relationship with Father as they learn to hear his voice and trust him to guide them by his Spirit. They yield to the work of the Spirit in their lives as Christ is being formed within them. These people would never consider substituting another’s understanding for the truth that can only be realized through an experiential relationship with Christ. Nor could they ever trust their own intellect to comprehend mysteries that can only be spiritually discerned. And they’ve seen that those who lean on the Bible as their “road map” have all gone down a thousand different trails and built entire doctrines on mistranslation of original scripture. They’ve learned by sometimes painful experience that “the letter kills, while the Spirit gives life” and that the Spirit is faithful to interpret the scriptures in keeping with the character and nature of God. They place great value on the Bible, appreciate godly brothers and sisters and are not afraid to use the mind God gave them. But their trust is placed only in the One the scriptures point to.

David F

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