Since about 1980, there have been four lunches during Holy Week — hosted by First Baptist Church, First Central Presbyterian, St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, and First Christian.
It was announced yesterday that beginning next year there will be five lunches. Highland will join as the fifth host church.
In many ways our teens have led the way on this. For the past few years they have joined the teenage groups from these other four churches (along with, I believe, First Methodist) for Passion Week devotionals. Sunday night our group led the worship time, and one of our Highland grad students, Josh Ross, spoke. (”He rocked–everyone loved him,” reported one seventh grader — who is pretty fiercely devoted to that grad student!)
I’m so thankful for this invitation from the other downtown churches to join them.
this is a dream come true for me~to see churches united for the cause of proclaiming Christ!
I can’t say it any more concisley than Karen just did, so I’ll just offer an “Amen!”
And add another Amen! from my neck of the woods.
What a great step to become unified with others in the Body of Christ! I too am very proud of the youth at Highland. There are so many quality kids in that group. Sarah and Michael are doing such a great job! Thank you for all you do to invest in the lives of the next generation. Have a blessed Easter, Mike. I can’t wait to worship on Resurrection Sunday.
Great news!
Putting Christ first and any difference’s on the back burner, and letting it stay there. Maybe, someday putting Christ first is all we will know.
You can make this “Amen (little math joke)cubed. Great to hear how your teens led the way as well.
YES!
I’m sure all the church rags will be very complimentary of your efforts. I can see the headlines now “Highland Makes Effort to Convert Denominational Community”.
Yes, my tongue is planted firm in my cheek.
And yes, I need to quit being cynical.
Just not today!
DU
AMEN! to all of today’s thoughts and praises!!!
Let me ask this question. If an unbeliever were to approach the 5 different preachers together and ask them what he or she needed to do to be saved, what would each preacher tell him/her?
Amen!
Yes, me too…You see, our kids don’t see those fences….
as an ex youth minister/pastor (as to an earlier post) i have always known it is the youth that lead a church not the old codgers up in the ivory towers. that is why i believe that preachers and elders are under the authority of youth ministers and therefore youth ministers should be paid more than the preacher.
Our kids are often frustrated by them… and I don’t blame them.
What a blessing. I love that these churches get together and do this in the name of Jesus. Is there any other name to do anything in?
Clint,
That’s not how it should be…since the elders are to watch over the flock..
Is anybody going to answer my question?
Joseph, the commenter above a few spots, asks a very interesting question, I think, that no one else seems to be willing to take him up on when he asks:
“If an unbeliever were to approach the 5 different preachers together and ask them what he or she needed to do to be saved, what would each preacher tell him/her?”
It seems to me this would be a wonderful question for an unbeliever to ask all of them together and to find out what each minister had to say and why. These are exactly the kinds of questions we need to be talking with “each other” and unbelievers about.
Each person would have the opportunity to express their faith and deep beliefs as Christians and to share their beliefs and faith with the unbeliever and other believers and I think it could (and should) be done in a way that was glorifying to God and Jesus Christ.
My approach (if I were one of the five ministers) would be to share the essence of the “good news” as I best knew and understood it and to ask each of the others to do the same, seeking our commonalities with each other THROUGH THE WORD and through our faith and beliefs.
It seems to me we could all minister to and share with the unbeliever in a most wonderful way all that person needed to know and hear depending where he (she) was in his (her) walk through this earth. We could be witnesses of the magnificence of the power of God and the gospel.
We could learn much from each other and about each other than would only serve to draw us all closer together and to the one seeking God by asking us about our own beliefs.
That is how I always try to be with other Christians and unbelievers in conversations and discussions. I don’t always succeed as well as I’d like or should, but it has lead to greater understanding between me and friends and family members and many others along the way.
Good question, Joseph. Mike - how would YOU answer his question?
How about the rest of you? If these young people all get together as Christians in these kinds of settings, which I think is wonderful, these kinds of questions will be raised. That’s what it’s all about isn’t it? I should certainly hope so.
I mean - it’s great to start and engage in the fellowship with other groups of Christians, but the whole point - focus - seems to me so that unbelevers will be drawn to Jesus as a result. IMHO.
I just tried to do that, Joseph, apparently as you were asking the same thing again and wondering why (as I had) why no one else has addressed it.
I think it’s a VERY GOOD question. I don’t know what you think about my attempt at an answer, though, Joseph. What are your thoughts on my answer? Anyone?
Dee,
Sorry about that..I didn’t refresh. Anyway…are these 5 preachers/churches actually discussing the Truth with each other, or are they just saying, “I’m ok, you’re ok” and accepting each others beliefs?
That’s the problem nowadays. The Truth has become “opinions” and “personal interpretations.”
Joseph, and what truth would you introduce to a non-believer should they ask that question of you? Maybe we can find common ground by stating on which ground each of us is standing. I prayerfully hope it is on the common ground of Jesus, our LORD and Savior since there is no other name by which we can be saved.
The Truth that is the Bible.
I agree with Joseph that nowadays the Truth has been wrongly characterized by “opinions” and “personal interpretations.” To that list I would “absolute propositions based on rationalism or logic;” especially considering that Jesus said himself that He IS the Truth. Truth is not about affirming the correct set of beliefs. The Bible says Truth is a person.
Hence the importance of studying the Bible and why we shouldn’t let the pulpit minister study the Bibles for us. How are we supposed to know if the minister is sound or not? By studying the Word of God!
Amen, Joseph. And since the Bible plainly says in John 1 that Jesus was the Word of God (with God, was God) we can see the soundness of our ministers in the same way we would of any Christian, are they producing fruit as branches of the Vine?
If by “Word of God” you mean the biblical term “word of God” then I apologize for misinterpreting your words. If so, then which “word of God” in the Bible are you referring to: the mosaic law or some specific divine revelation as characterized by the Old Testament; the teachings of Jesus or the Good News as characterized by the New Testament?”
Wait a minute. Joseph, I’m sorry that I didn’t read your previous post more carefully. I can agree with most of what you have asserted, but being a more conservative Christian, I don’t feel too comfortable equating our later collected, canonized, and English translated Bibles with the Biblical term “word of God.” I’m pretty sure than none of the Biblical writers had THAT in mind when they were writing their portions of it. I do have faith that the Holy Bible is the inspired words of God, but I put much greater faith in He who (the Bible says) is the Word of God. Amen?
That’s terrific. I believe that they mentioned something about this last night at Passion Week.
First Christian and First Central Presbyterian are 2 of the downtown
churches (along with First United Methodist and Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest) that Highland has been partnering with for years
in the Breakfast on Beech Street ministry to feed the hungry. I am thankful to see the joint efforts expanding into other areas.
Joseph -
I’m not talking about what you refer to as:
“Anyway…are these 5 preachers/churches actually discussing the Truth with each other, or are they just saying, “I’m ok, you’re ok” and accepting each others beliefs?
That’s the problem nowadays. The Truth has become “opinions” and “personal interpretations.”
If you will go back to read what I wrote you’ll find I said:
“My approach (if I were one of the five ministers) would be to share the essence of the “good news” as I best knew and understood it and to ask each of the others to do the same, seeking our commonalities with each other THROUGH THE WORD and through our faith and beliefs.”
As for your comments on “opinions” and “personal interpretations” many so called Christians believe in as they relate to your question, this harkens back several weeks to some of the first few posts Mike did on the B-I-B-L-E where I asked some of these very same questions and commented at great length about how I’ve seen our society and even worldview change over the past 40 or so years and how no one seems to have any kind of belief in such a thing as “absolute truth” any more.
If you’ll go back to read my lengthy comments to those particular posts and Mike’s excellent responses to them I think you’ll find that you and I are on common ground in our appoach to these pertinent questions.
I certainly do not believe and hope I did not imply in any way in my earlier comment attempting to answer your question that I think or believe we are all (as Christians in different “groups” and others not in any “group” because they’ve completely given up on organized religion) “ok” in our own “opinions” and “personal interpretations” on matters that vital and necessary to be a believer and child of God as we learn and are taught through “THE WORD,” in all the ways that WORD means, beginning with Jesus Christ himself, if not inclusively. He IS the WAY the TRUTH and the LIFE. Always has been, is now, always will be.
I have found many, many Christians outside our own “fellowship” and own “group” who believe and have faith just as deep as my own, or deeper, and who grasp and understand very well God’s WORD and Jesus’ being and TRUTH for us all. That’s been my experience.
We’re delusional if we think unbelievers are out there thinking “I really need to ask these five preachers what I need to do in order to be saved?” My guess is that their first impulse would be to wonder if there is a community of believers who would accept them and welcome them in. Provide a place to belong. A safe place to learn and grow and discover what it means to live the truth. They would wonder if these churches had hope and peace in a life full of pain and fragmentation. Most unbelievers I encounter aren’t asking what the bible tells them they must do in order to be saved, but whether the bible says they can be saved in spite of what they do. It seems the real point of contention is whether truth=propositional truths and proper worship practices, or truth=Jesus Christ and life in his name.
Joseph, the elders can watch as the youth ministers are in control.
I agree with you Danny Mercer 100%!!
That very thing happened several years ago this (approaching Easter) week when our neighbors from across the street walked over on Saturday afternoon to voluntarily help us with some yard work (we’re older and in need of such help, sometimes). She said her daughter was wanting to do something special for Easter Sunday because she was a young teen and no longer a child to hunt eggs, etc, yet they didn’t have a church home.
Our neighbors were a young man and woman in their mid-30s who both had children of their own, who were both in Louisiana National Guard full time and who were not married to each other. I invited them to come go with us to Bayou Oaks Church of Christ that was here in Slidell at that time the next morning.
They did and were warmly and lovingly accepted into our fellowship. Not as perfect people or without being aware they needed to make some changes in their lives, but as seekers of God and a home among God’s children and family. We all showed them a better way and loving hearts. Because of those kindnesses and love, they kept coming - to each and every worship and meeting and events. And they studied their Bibles and they learned and grew.
Within two months they wanted our minister to come talk and study further with them. One Saturday he did. After he left, she walked over saying they still had questions and asked me if I would come study with them more the next afternoon after worship. I said I would and I did. The gist of the long conversation was that they had felt welcomed and loved and wanted to be part of our fellowship. He had been raised Catholic and so was baptized as a baby. He wanted to be baptized as a faith filled believer. She had never been baptized at all and wanted the same thing.
They both said they could not do so without at the same time being married because they now realized and believed they were living in sin and that God would have them change. They had been long planning an elaborate wedding a year or so away, but now felt an urgent need to be baptized as they were both leaving for Turkey in 8 days. It was a deeply felt dilemma for them both.
As I sat and counseled with them I began to realize that because of their backgrounds, they did not understand the simplicity of New Testament Christianity and its beauty. I shared with them that they could, indeed, the following Saturday evening be married in our church building, without dispensations or lengthy “religious” “paperwork,” etc, but that our own Bible study leader could receive the proper local and state “credientials” to marry them as they wanted, that our minister could then baptize them into Christ and that Tom and I would more than happy to stand up with them as witnesses and to have the few guests they wanted over to our home following the ceremonies to celebrate both blessed events.
We did all of those things in the next week and many more and it was the most incredible wedding and baptisms I have ever been part of. Some fifteen of us were part of their marriage and then their baptism into the body of Christ and it was all because we had accepted them with love from that very first day into our fellowship where they could find a safe and loving home to want to be part of. We did not condemn them in their sins, we taught and shared with them a better way. They were not stupid and ignorant needing to be beat over the head by someone condescending to them. They figured things out and learned as we took them in as they were and where they were and taught and loved them from there.
It was a very blessed and magnificent thing to see and we added not only them, but their daughter and son into Christ and they are our brothers and sisters all because we tried to be just good and loving neighbors both here at home and at Bayou Oaks.
THAT is what all of this is all about. Danny Mercer is absolutely right. THAT is how things are for the lost people in this world and what they are seeking and THAT is what we need to share and to give them. IMHO this holy week.
Joseph~
You said: “That’s the problem nowadays. The Truth has become “opinions” and “personal interpretations.”
But…- hermeneutical humility is not the same as truthlessness and relativism; in fact without hermeneutical humility the real Truth (Jesus) is obscured and undercut by our dogmatic and unloving appeal to truths. Is it wrong to press for truth, No! I have not given up on historical critical methods and I preach expository sermons and have strongly held views. But which of our truths is worth our losing sight of Jesus. The spirit of this joint luncheon is itself a better witness than the most well articulated, biblically-sound apologetic.
b blessed and God is peace
russ
In my weekly prayer/accountability group (5 preachers from 5 different “tribes”), all of us agree that every sinner is saved by grace through faith and would affirm the statements that Paul makes in Ephesians 2:8-10. All of us believe that the Bible is the only guide for our faith and practice–to repeat a restoration movement slogan that is also the slogan of most “tribes” that have a Bible based heritage.
Each of us would approach that person seeking salvation mentioned in a previous post with the same message: Jesus Christ is the one and only Savior of the world and he wants to be your Savior. He can only be your Savior by grace through faith.
All of us would agree that once coming to faith in Christ as Savior, this new believer is called to humbly submit in faith to the commands of God in Scripture.
What I have discovered is that each preacher or member in the Kindgom of God has come to faith in different religious “cultures.” Baptist, Anglican, Charismatic, Church of Christ etc. Our systems of salvation did not just fall out of the Bible one day, they were developed by numerous individuals as they studied Scripture in their various cultures over the decades. These systems were then passed along to the previous generations.
By systems, I mean the path of salvation that each tribe would avocate is necessary before that person is “saved.” That path for Churches of Christ has typically been “hear, believe, repent, confess, and be baptized, live faithful to death.” This system originated with Walter Scott, a pioneer preacher in Churches of Christ, who developed this approach to help school children understand a person’s response to God. His original five steps were believe, repent, confess, be baptized, receive the gift of the holy spirit.
Every one of the men in my group grew up in a religious culture that explained the path to salvation in some sort of format similar to this one. Each of them attempt to explain in simple terms to someone seeking salvation what that person needs to do “to be saved.”
In humility and grace, each of us have to understand that none of our “paths” or “systems” are perfect. Even though we quote Scripture to back up all of our “steps” as do our tribal brothers when they teach the path in their way, not once in Scripture do you find our five steps or their three or four steps presented to an unbeliever in the format that we have presented it.
These are environmentally or culturally learned systems that we have come to equate with the point of salvation. I find the principle of salvation in Scripture to be salvation by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:1-10). The principle of the human response is linked in the condition of the heart that approaches God (i. e. Luke 9-14).
God commands me to obey him completely, in repentance, confession, baptism, avoiding adultery, not being greedy, feeing the poor, clothing the naked, visiting the sick, etc., but as a human being I will never live up to his standards perfectly. All he asks of me is to do my best as I give him my heart. Thankfully, God will judge me and us all, based not on our performance or what others think of us, but based on the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. That’s why Paul said, “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Galatians 6:14)
When I stand before God, my only plea to him will be, “Lord, save me, a sinner, unworthy, unprofitale, as you have promised by your grace. Receive me as your child who calls upon you as Father.”
In my most reflective moments, I understand that no matter how far my acceptance and forgiveness extends, I can never be as gracious toward others as God has been to me and the whole world when he sent Jesus to the cross and raised him out of the tomb so that all of us imperfect believers can be saved no matter what our tribe.
Peace.
I think I’ll say Amen! again, but this time to Steve’s post.
I am so proud of my church!!!
Steve,
may I say Amen!! adding that your ‘tribe’ has done a fine job with your upbringing. :o)
This is why my family chose Highland. Not because of perfection, but in humble searching, a desire to reach across neighborhoods. I look forward to next year’s event.
I often hear, “We come together as Christians; laying aside our differences…” Hmmm? Should we first define what makes one a Christian? At what point do we actually become a part of the body of Christ to call oneself a Christian? Does that narrow the field then? Does then saying, “I’m ok, you’re ok” mean that maybe?? some of us aren’t???
Steve Wrote:
“When I stand before God, my only plea to him will be, ‘Lord, save me, a sinner, unworthy, unprofitale, as you have promised by your grace. Receive me as your child who calls upon you as Father.’”
Steve, Mike and others involved in this discussion, please read Matthew 7:21-23; John 14:15; 15:14, etc…
Though this discussion of eating and praying with those of other denominations sounds very noble indeed, it can only be truly noble if there is a general call for repentance (on the part of all present) followed by works that demonstrate true repentance. Is there a cry for faithful obedience to the one and only true gospel at these meetings? Is there heartfelt sorrow for turning from that one true Gospel and following the teachings of men?
For those involved, only you know the answer to these questions. And yet, I have a feeling that part of the discussion at these gatherings is aimed at those poors folks who can’t be as “broad minded” as we are, and who can’t agree to disagree as we have.”
Should we sit and talk with our friends and neighbours of different faiths? You better believe it! Should we sit and talk with homosexuals? Again, you better believe it! But in all of this we had better (after first removing the beam from our own eye) be crying out for repentance. If we don’t we have failed Christ!
On a totally different note… I wish I could have heard Josh!!!!!!! Thanks, Mike and fam, for all the love and support you guys have given Josh during his time in Abilene! I cannot wait to see how the Lord is going to use him and Kayci in Houston!
You raise an important point, Stephen, and one that we must all consider before we enter into any kind of evangelism.
I have finally come to the conclusion that in the end, however, since God did not grant me the right nor the wisdom to make that call, I’ll have to leave it up to Him and pray that He extends me as much mercy in my own short-comings, misinterpretations, and misapplications of His commands as He does to all other people who call upon His name.
Interesting post. Thanks.
I get more confused about why some people define being a follower of Christ one way and others, another way. And we say we leave it up to God to figure it all out in the end. We are not to judge. But don’t we judge ourselves to make the right decision in defining our salvation and gift of eternal life as a member of Christ’s body?
Did God offer a smorgasbord of gospel teaching, leading to salvation? I am inclined to think not — only because that leaves the door open to everyone doing what they feel is correct, all in the name of their belief in Jesus and wanting to follow him. I left a denominational way of practicing my faith a good many years ago. I knew I was not a Christian then; but I knew I could move in a direction that led to my salvation through the blood of Christ.
How did it get so complicated now? I see people in my local congregation desiring to practice some of the very rituals and celebrations I walked away from because I did not see where there was a Biblical reason to do such. I get more confused with all of this. I don’t think God wanted it to be so confusing. Are we sending mixed messages?
Well all this about Bible interpretations. Lets consider all the French, Spanish, Greek, Hunhgarian, polish—etc. interpretations. Is this great American discussion kinda narrow minded? Follow Jesus as example and we all agree.