The Pseudo Jesus Caution

I was recently reading an excerpt from Darrell Johnson’s book, “Handling the Trauma of Holiness,” and was struck by his description of the two “laws of the soul” that fight against knowing God as He really is.

Law #1- We tend to form our OWN conceptions of God, creating a god who is the projection of the God we wish existed.

Law #2- We often suppress God’s revelation of himself because what he reveals is too much for us to handle… so we ignore or repress it.

The combination of these two human tendencies is a potent recipe for belief in a pseudo Jesus. Without an intentional aligning of our thoughts, actions, and decisions to the plumb-line of God according to the Bible, we will always drift into delusions… at least, I know I will. This will happen because, in our natural state, we will always justify what we are doing and where we are.

CAUTION: This should not cause us to freak out over whether or not we have our faith in the “true Jesus…” but, rather, it SHOULD cause us to consistently look honestly at our lives and adjust it.

The practical steps to counter this problem are… 1. Stay connected with other followers of Jesus (the Church) for accountability. 2. Stay connected in your relationship with God through prayer, Bible study, and daily obedience. 3. Become an apprentice under someone you trust to be an honest and mature follower of Christ, and give them permission to speak into your life.

God is so holy (meaning other than), so pure, so powerful,so loving, and so gracious, that it shakes us to the core when faced with a glimpse of him. According to Johnson, if we truly know God as he is, there are three things that will characterize our response to him… awe before the Wholly Other, shame before the Absolutely Pure, and joyful gratitude before the Merciful One.

Serve First

The Idea

It is critical that our walk matches our talk, or else we disqualify the message. At Clarity, we hope to introduce our core values one at a time, as we learn to live them out. The first value we will introduce is “Serve First.”

Jesus came as a servant to all, and thus demonstrated what it is to know and follow God. Our desire is to clearly reflect Jesus, the ultimate servant.

The Story

I, Nathan, have come to learn that the best thing I can do to lead this church community and serve our city is to first truly serve my wife and daughter. It all begins in the home, with those closest to us. Tragically, they often become the ones that get the brunt of our anger, dissatisfaction, and selfishness. I want to turn that trend upside-down and see our homes as the birth place for life and city transformation. This emphasis has renewed my family, relationships, work and calling. I encourage you to follow in these ways.

Practically

Do not keep score, defend your rights, or become enraged when you feel wronged. Rather, become the servant of your family, your husband, your wife, your friends, your co-workers, and even your enemies. Go out of your way to find an unexpected way to serve everyday, and watch the atmosphere around you be transformed. Ask God to help you with this, He will.

We will be living this, teaching this, and holding each other accountable to this. Our first gathering of every month will have an emphasis on serving first. We will give, volunteer time, and pray.

The first organizations we are partnering with are Charity Water out of NYC and OPCC in Santa Monica. To get involved, join us on a Sunday night and/or contact us.

Backing it Up

Jesus said, “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." -Matthew 20:26-28

Top TWO Fathers Day List

There are MANY things I have learned through becoming a Father, but for me, there are two that really stand out…

First, it is my absolute joy and pleasure to lay down my life and everything I have for my daughter. The moment I saw her, I realized that I would want to give her any and everything she needs or wants… unconditional love, time, food, clothes, shelter, smiles, toys, laughs, tenderness, adventure, hope, discipline, grace, joy, education, cars, money, my possessions, whatever. When it came to life, I was no longer in it for me, but for her.

Second, based upon the truth that we are made in the image of God and given our earthly relationships to better understand God, I realized that He (God) MUST feel ALL these things towards His children… you and I. This revolutionary love was revealed to me even deeper, and I was changed. I could better walk in relationship with my heavenly Father and I could better offer grace to Hs other children… all those around me.

Happy Fathers Day to all you Dads and to our Father up in heaven…

What do Kobe and the Church Have in Common?

On a recent NBA Sports Center broadcast, Charles Barkley commented that the Lakers would win the NBA Championship because Kobe Bryant is unstoppable. Then Barkley paused for a moment and said, that is, as long as Kobe doesn’t stop Kobe.

Likewise, the Bible teaches us that the church of Jesus Christ is absolutely unstoppable. It is offensive not defensive, it is progressing not declining, it is defeating not being defeated, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it. If this is all true, which it is, then what is the one thing that can stop the church from progressing?… Well, the church can stop the church. If we choose to live in disbelief, condemnation, unholiness, and lukewarmness, then we stop ourselves.

Become unstoppable by believing and choosing to obey all that God has promised in His Word!

What it Takes

This is the commitment we are calling our team to... based on Bible. It will build a strong foundation.

As a part of the Clarity launch team, I commit...

TO PRAY

Love God, love people, and reflect those priorities in prayer. (Matthew 22:36-40 / Jeremiah 33:3 / 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 / Matthew 7:7-8 / Philippians 4:6)

TO PARTICIPATE

Be active in the Clarity vision and consistently attend, serve at, and invite people to Clarity functions. (Matthew 28:18-19 / Acts 2:42 / Hebrews 10:25 / Matthew 20:26 / Philippians 2:1-3 / Galatians 6:2)

TO GIVE

Love God, love people, and reflect those priorities in your giving. Specifically, tithe, and obey God regarding what you will keep for yourself. (Matthew 22:36-40 / Malachi 3:10-12 / Proverbs 3:9-10 / Matthew 6:21 / Luke 6:38 / 2 Corinthians 9:6-7)

TO STRETCH

Be flexible in strategy, un-offendable in relationships, willing to learn, willing to grow, and a servant of the greater good. (Mark 6:2-4 / Proverbs 18:12 / Philippians 2:1-3 / Matthew 18:1-4 / Matthew 20:26 / James 4:6)

Where Does It Come From?

This is a post I recently read from Jeff Leake. I thought it was worth sharing...

During my message this weekend, I am going to talk about 'living out of your spirit' and not just out of your mind. For instance, effective prayer is birthed not just out of your mind but out of your spirit. Just for my personal study, I looked up the many New Testament references on living out of our 'spiritual center.'

Why is this important? So often we are living out of our own mind. We are trying to figure out how to make life work through human effort. Our dependence shifts to our own strength. We lean upon our own futile fleshly efforts.

The Christian life was never intended to be a mental exercise, nor was designed to flow out of the strength of our own effort or self-determination. God has created us to be spiritual beings. He is Spirit. He interacts with us on a Spirit to spirit basis. Consider this Biblical perspective:

WORSHIP FLOWS OUT OF YOUR SPIRIT

And Mary said: "My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior... Luke 1:45-47

God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth. John 4:24

GOD'S WORK IS BIRTHED IN YOUR SPIRIT

The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit. John 6:63

Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.and they are life. John 7:38-39

PRAYER ORIGINATES OUT OF YOUR SPIRIT (the Holy Spirit partners with your spirit)

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. Romans 8:26

I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind. 1 Corinthians 14:15

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Ephesians 6:18

But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. Jude 1:20

AN EFFECTIVE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS LIVED OUT PARTNERSHIP WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT

Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Galatians 3:3

And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. Romans 8:2

The challenge I am feeling is to live out of the Spirit more and more. This is especially necessary when the we are feeling weak or inadequate. We can either try harder or trust more. Lord, help me live out of my spirit today.

EMBRACE the Squiggle

A great new phrase I recently heard... "Embrace the Squiggle."

If you are desiring that your life goes from point A (where you are now) to point B (your final destination) in a perfectly straight line, then you are in for a lot of let downs. There is no such thing as a perfectly straight trajectory. The truth is, it will be one massive squiggle. You may go up, then down, then left, then right, then a few loops, then a quick stop, then a fast start, then some shaking, etc. But after all is said and done, you WILL reach the final destination. The key is to "embrace the squiggle" along the way! Trust that God is working in, through, and far above all the messiness of your life. Don't worry about trying to straighten out the squiggle, embrace it. I've heard it said, we need to get comfortable in the midst conflict.

We are commanded in the Scripture not to worry, which is negative meditation. We are also commanded to meditate on GOOD, NOBLE, and ADMIRABLE things ONLY (Philippians 4:6-8)!

Do it today!

Clarity's Only MAMA

This is a special blog shout out to the best new mother on the entire planet... my babe, my sweetheart, my darling, my bride, Jessica McKenzie Kollar. She moved across the country, left her family, left her home, moved to an office floor, and made it all GREAT... all while having a 5 month old first baby! Now she makes a wonderful nursery and play area in our bedroom all day every day for our beautiful nine month old Novi to thrive. She does this all while also keeping me in line day in and day out (a tough job for sure). She is a pillar. She is full of love and selflessness.

Thank you Jessica!!! You are AMAZING... and we recognize that!

The Spiritual Disciplines

These are a gift... a gift by which you can grow in the grace of God. Try one a day to start. If you take root below, you will bear fruit above.

The Spiritual Disciplines

as composed by Dallas Willard

The two categories are important. The first, “Disciplines of Abstinence,” are designed to help us remove destructive and unhelpful things from our lives through acts that force us to stop, wait, remove, or eliminate. The “Disciplines of Engagement” are intended to build the right kinds of attitudes and habits into our daily lives.

Disciplines of Abstinence
Solitude: The practice of spending time without any others or any distractions.
Silence: No noise or conversation. Just you and God.
Fasting: Abstain from food, media, entertainment, or anything else that occupies your time.
Frugality: Use your money for purposes outside your own needs for a time.
Secrecy: Do not allow anyone to know of the deeds you do or the money you give in order to avoid doing them for the wrong motivations. Only God needs to know.
Sacrifice: Stretch your sense of what you can do without for the sake of those who have less.

Disciplines of Engagement
Study: Memorize Scripture and expand your universe of biblical study helps.
Worship: Engage in corporate worship and include worship in your own prayer time.
Celebration: Practice being grateful and thankful both in your own relationship with Christ and with other believers. Express encouragement and thankfulness to others.
Service: Give your time to the church and/or to others. Ponder tithing your time.
Prayer: Take deliberate steps to pray regularly and with purpose. Praying through the Psalms is a good way to increase your “prayer vocabulary.”
Fellowship: Hebrews 10:25, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
Confession: Practice confessing your sins to trusted people who will pray with you and be spiritual allies.
Submission: Submit to the proper people in the proper ways—fight against the sin of pride.

Song and Free Writing

Well, our first performance art Clarity event (experiment) was a HUGE success in my book... and in the teams. We had a great turn out, the message came through loud and clear, and the vibe was excellent.

Earlier in the week I found incredible strength during a time of weakness through the revelation that Jesus literally IS the root of "my tree." (Isaiah 53:2) With Him as the root, I now have FULL access to the Living Water (the Holy Spirit) because Jesus is the perfect conduit. There is no limit the growth of the tree or the fruit that it bears with Jesus as the root! Below I've included the "free writing" (when you simply write whatever comes to mind without stopping) I did as a result of this revelation and the song that was born out of it...

FREE WRITING...

"Amazing sense of God... remembering relationships, experiences, times of drawing close and times of struggle, overwhelmed by a God who is always there and always gracious, always connecting, always pursuing me, why would this be, what is the purpose for this now, why such elation in the midst of difficulty, how is it possible, what is the reason... simply what he delights to do, simply his nature, simply his love and pleasure and sheer joy, like my times of worship and intimacy with my daughter, brings tears to my eyes even as I write this, unity and bonding, can’t be expressed ever, too deep, the union between father and daughter, husband and wife, God and me, why... again, his delight, Lord I’m so thankful and so undeserving... people wouldn’t think it possible to know such peace and security while so uncertain all around, such heaviness, yet with you, none, no unrest, roots deep, Jesus IS the root, deeper than I could ever dream or go, so certain, sure, foundation, hope, strength, power, fearlessness. pure joy that lasts. What is going on, how is this possible, could it really be divine truth is all around me and orchestrating all things, what a moment to be, a time to thrive, and chance to pour out, help, i can’t see, i need this, now, always."

SONG...

VERSE
Amazing sense of God, as all this grace is falling
In light of my failings, still all this grace is falling
Always connecting, always pursuing
always engaging, always compelling me

CHORUS
And now, it’s rising over my head and I can’t see the end
It’s digging under my feet and I can’t see the end

No ROOT No FRUIT

One of my favorite verses... "... take root below and bear fruit above." (Isaiah 37:31). The BEST way to bear fruit is to take root... no, the ONLY way to bear fruit is to take root. It's like when the flight attendants of a commercial airliner tell the parent to put their oxygen mask on first, then their child's. The best method we have to help and bless those around us is to put our "mask" on first. Focus on YOU growing closer to the Lord and those around you will too.

Here more this Sunday night at "SHI."

My Performance ART this Sunday...

This Sunday night, May 2nd, 7 PM, at Magicopolis theater, I will execute my first performance art piece in LA. This is the first time I will return to some of my early visual art roots in the past ten years. In case you are wondering, here's a couple definitions of what performance art is...

Performance Art Definition 1 - Art form that arose in Europe and the U.S. in the 1960s. The term describes an art that is live but operates outside the traditional conventions of theatre or music. Early examples represented a challenge to orthodox art forms and cultural norms by creating an ephemeral art experience that could not be captured or purchased. By the 1970s performance art was used as a general term to describe a multitude of activities, including happenings, body art, actions, events, and non-matrix theatre.

Performance Art Definition 2 - Although the emphasis in these loosely constructed, multidimensional programs may sometimes be on music, poetry, dance, political speeches, visual art, or other forms, there is something inherently theatrical about them because they are always performed. The very nature of performance art defies strict definitions, but in each case the artist's expression of an idea must take place before a live audience. A painting viewed is considered too stagnant for the genre, but a painting being created is performance art. While many pieces are sociopolitical, outspoken, controversial, and confrontational, there is much in performance art that is personal and intimate. Some involve a “cast” of artists while others are solo projects. The creator of the art and the performer are usually the same person, even if it is scripted in a somewhat traditional manner. And even as such theatrical elements as scenery, costumes, sound effects, lighting, dialogue, and songs may be used, often performance art occurs in found spaces in an impromptu fashion rather than in traditional theatre buildings.

See you there!

How I Learned to Play Guitar and My Singing Daughter

I'll never forget when I was about 14 years old and felt the burning desire to learn guitar, write songs, and lead a band. I knew NOTHING... but went for it anyway. I had heard of something called a "chord," so I made one up. It consisted of playing four open strings in a certain pattern (not a chord at all). As I met some guitar players and bought some books, I began to actually learn some chords, strumming patterns, and picking patterns. The development of my playing has taken leaps and bounds over the past 13 years.

Why should I expect anything different as a husband, father, pastor, church planter, boss, etc. I'm pretty much making stuff up, learning some real stuff, and trying not to lose focus along the way. Remembering my development and a young "fake" guitarist gives me permission to give myself lots of grace and mercy as I grow. You should do the same.

My wife, Jessica, and daughter, Novi have recently given me an even more stark example. The other day, while in the back seat of my mother-in-law's van (on our way to the airport to head back to LA), my wife sang the first five notes of a scale ascending and descending. "La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la." As soon as she finished, my daughter enthusiastically tried to follow suit, but without any pitch, sense of rhythm, or the ability to speak. Then my wife sang again, and my daughter tried to emulate it again. It was absolutely hilarious and adorable. I pretty much cried.

The contrast between the two voices was a perfect picture of the result of continual development. In the next 10 to 20 years of my daughter's life, she will learn to sing just like Mom. This will come from working the vocal muscles, learning from others, and not giving up.

Today, let go of the pressure to be perfect. You may be like the baby trying to sing right now, but you WILL develop into the polished and beautiful vocalist that God has called you to be. The development is not just lifelong, it's eternal.

Outrageous AUDACITY and GENEROSITY from Nehemiah

AUDACITY is the willingness to take bold risks.
GENEROSITY is the state of readiness to give more of something than is required or expected.

*Audacity without generosity leads to pride.
*Generosity without audacity leads to ineffectiveness.

Nehemiah demonstrated both to us.

AUDACITY
He saw a SERIOUS problem and PERSONALLY stepped up (Nehemiah 1:4-11, 2:5), he asked the King for permission AND resource (Nehemiah 2:1-8), he recruited a HUGE and COMMITTED team (Nehemiah 2:17-18, Chapter 3), and he pressed on in the face of MOCKERY and ridicule (Nehemiah 4:1-14).

GENEROSITY
He did not see his position as a means of gain for himself (Nehemiah 5:14-18), and he used what he had to do something about injustice. (Chapter 5)

HOW CAN YOU LIVE WITH AUDACITY AND GENEROSITY?
What problems are around you?
What need is there?
What injustice is there?
What is needed to do something about it?
Who is needed to help make it possible?
What may opposition against this look/sound like?
How can you press on in the face of opposition?
What can you gain with your position and how can you avoid using it in selfishness?

If you would like the full teaching, write me at nathan@claritylife.org.

FOUR Event Reflections from Last Thursday Night

1. People will always respond to the Word... for better or for worse. The evidence demands a verdict (I made that up, haha). If you proclaim it, people will notice it, and hopefully heed it. The Word is so powerful. The Gospel is so good.

2. Those that say they are not down with Jesus, but love being around the Clarity community, actually are down with Jesus, but don't fully understand it yet. It's only a matter of time and prayer. We are seeing this now. EVERYONE that we meet is brought our way on purpose.

3. We are so in need of being in God's presence. Music is a great tool that God has given us to assist in this process... we should not neglect it.

4. A great team is still imperfect, but is intentionally improving in an environment of grace. Each member must be honest about how they feel, or there will never be full "buy in." Healthy conflict is needed.