Asleep in the Light

I had a great time at this years North Texas Weekend 4 Jesus. The theme of the weekend was "Now Is the Time" and the emphasis was on evangelism and outreach. Spencer Davis was our Worship Leader for the Weekend and he did an absolutely great job for the honor and glory of God. I hadn't heard it in years and had forgotten about a great song by Keith Green called "Asleep in the Light" when Spencer sang and played it for us on the Keyboard. I wanted to share it with you all......and if you go to my other blog www.myspace.com/cityreachdude you can hear the original song for yourself! It reminds me of when Jesus said "Lift up your eyes and look on the fields, for they are white already to harvest". Then later he told the church at Laodicea who was rich, increased with goods, and had need of nothing that they were blind.

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Asleep In The Light

Do you see, do you see,

all the people sinking down,
Don't you care, don't you care,

are you gonna let them drown,
How can you be so numb,

not to care if they come,
You close your eyes

and pretend the job's done.
Oh Bless me Lord, bless me Lord,

you know it's all I ever hear,
No one aches, no one hurts,

no one even sheds one tear,
But He cries, He weeps, He bleeds,

and He cares for your needs,
And you just lay back and keep soaking it in,

oh, can't you see it's such sin?
Cause He brings people to your door,
And you turn them away,

as you smile and say,
God bless you, be at peace,

and all Heaven just weeps,
Cause Jesus came to your door,

you've left Him out on the streets.

Open up, open up, and give yourself away,
You've seen the need, you hear the cry,

so how can you delay,
God's calling and you're the one,

but like Jonah you run,
He's told you to speak,

but you keep holding it in,
Oh, can't you see it's such sin?
The world is sleeping in the dark,
That the church can't fight,

cause it's asleep in the light,
How can you be so dead,

when you've been so well fed,
Jesus rose from the grave, and you,

you can't even get out of bed,
Oh, Jesus rose from the dead,

come on, get out of your bed.

How can you be so numb,

not to care if they come,
You close your eyes

and pretend the job's done,
You close your eyes

and pretend the job's done,
Don't close your eyes,

don't pretend the job's done.
Come away, come away,

come away with Me, My love,
Come away, from this mess,

come away with Me, My love.

Mission, Vision and Morphing

A year or so ago our church had a "vision casting" service on New Years Eve. For those that actually stayed awake and were able to concentrate there were alot of really interesting things that were said. In the whole process of thinking and praying about what "vision" God had given me for the ministries that I lead at our church I came to really understand the difference between "mission" and "vision" for the first time in my life.

If someone were to ask 10 carpenters to each make a dining room table and gave them a certain amount of money and a certain amount of time each of those carpenters would create a table that was different from the others. The task of making a table would be "mission". What those tables actually looked like would be "vision".

The "Mission" of the Lord's Churches is obvious Matthew 28:19-20 etc. The "Vision" is not always so obvious. In my experience almost all of the church splits that I have ever known have not been about "Mission" but in the area of "Vision". Different people have different ideas of what the end product should look like. Most of the time the differing opinions are neither doctrinal issues nor moral issues but usually "vision" issues. In a desperate effort to justify their divisions to "the brethren" I have literally seen people jump through incredible hoops trying make it look like it was about doctrinal issues when in fact it was nothing of the sort.

Even in denominations most splits and divisions are over "vision" issues and not "mission" issues. In the association of churches that I fellowship with there is a growing differences of opinion concerning what starting new churches should look like. There really isn't a doctrinal or moral issue at stake its mostly just a preference of which terms should be used, which methodology should be followed and a lack of trust from those that have never done it that way before.

It is interesting to note that the word "division" with the prefix "di" actually means "Two Visions". In this group of churches neither of the "visions" for how to start churches is necessarily unscriptural they are just different. When such a situation exists the key to avoiding a division is to have "morphing" take place. "Morphing" is when two visions are turned into one. When "morphing" two pictures you lose parts of both pictures but a new and interesting picture develops. The problem is that it takes humility on both sides in order for morphing to take place, both sides have to give up something. Most of the time its really just pride that has to be given up....to actually admit that there is more than one way of doing something.

I grew up in Canada a country where interacial marriages are almost the norm. Something that I came to realize in most cases is that the more diverse the parents race often times the more beautiful the children were. Do you think that this is a coincidence.....No! God is trying to teach us something. The more diverse the differences between two people, two visions, two groups etc.....when they are willing to "morph" the more beautiful they can be. When a couple comes together and a child is created each parent gives DNA to the process. Some is used from one parent and some is used from the other. It is Gods way of making something beautiful out of two seperate entities. I believe that if there is a willingness to morph among our churches that God can take the city churches and the country churches and make something beautiful, the older generation and the younger generation and make something beautiful, the small churches and the large churches and make something beautiful, the mission methodology and the church planting methodology and make something beautiful. The bible says "submit one to another". If we do this then we can be morphed into something very very very beautiful. I pray that this would happen in our churches!