Well, that was fun.
Last night was Immersion's first ever Miracle Night and, by the sounds of it, God showed up in some very cool, very tangible ways:
Spiritually
Emotionally
Physically
Financially
We want to capture some of the pictures of what God did and is continuing to do after last night.
That's why we'd like you to post your God stories in the comment section of this post. You can post anonymously if you'd like or you can tell us who you are - either way we just want to know what God did/is up to in your life after last night!
So come, share your stories... Tell one, tell all! Bless you...
"They triumphed... by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony!"
In the words of Mike & The Mechanics, "All I need is a miracle/All I need is you."
Immersion is having its first ever Miracle Night this coming Thursday. What's a Miracle Night? Well, we're going to ask God to show up and do... well... miracles.
Blind eyes would be opened.
The bondage of debt would be broken over the lives of young adults.
Depression and anxiety would be healed.
Unbelievers would become believers in and followers of Jesus Christ.
Those, good people of Des Moines, are miracles. Events that do not happen in our normal, everyday level of existence... But maybe could and should (and if we're real honest, we want to have happen in our lives on a regular basis).
Now, some of you might be conjuring pictures of a televangelist with cuff links and slicked back hair, placing his hand on the forehead of a poor, old woman in a wheelchair and saying something like, "and now, be healed in the name of Juh-hee-sus-uh! And for only a $1,000 love gift, you too can be healed in Jesus' Name! We now accept credit and debit cards!"
Oops. Did I step on anyone's toes?
Here's Reality #1 for you and me: God desires to move in your life in miraculous way. Whether it's fixing your finances, healing the scars of sexual abuse, healing your lower back problems, or changing the way that you see God (and, consequently, yourself and others), God wants to show up in your life.
Here's Reality #2: God will not force himself into our lives. "Jesus is a gentleman," I heard it said once. A gentleman is always invited in, he never forces his way in. God is the same way - he will not force himself into our lives, he must be invited. I truly believe there are mountains of exciting things God wants to do in our lives, we just need to ask. Matter of fact, let's look at what Jesus said:
“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened."
I'd like to invite you to ask God for a miracle. Better yet, come and join us this Thursday at Immersion 7:37pm for Miracle Night. You don't even have to buy all this Jesus stuff, just give God a chance to show you how good he is.
May the Lord bless you and keep you on this Monday morning...
Justin
Jesus once said, "You ignore God's law and substitute your own tradition." He said this to a group of people who were known for being extremely "religious".
They said the "right" things.
They did the "right" things.
They had the "right" doctrine.
Yet, for Jesus, these were some of the most misled and dangerous people around.
They were the ones who hassled him the most.
They were the ones who hated him the most.
They were the ones who had him pinned to a cross in a garbage dump.
In most cases, it seemed as though Jesus and the "religious people" were following a different God, so much so, that Jesus once called the religious leaders "children of hell" and that their "true father" was none other than Satan himself! As I've said before in other posts, Jesus reserved his harshest words not for the raunchiest sinner, but for the disillusioned religious elite!
The religious leaders (a.k.a. "children of hell") were so dangerous because they were perceived as being God's ambassadors - as reflecting the character and nature of who God was and what he was like. They were the ones who people looked to in order to tell them what God thought about them and how they were to think of him.
Jesus would get so angry with them (and still does, in my opinion) because they misrepresented God the Father and what he was like. Jesus is the true reflection of God because he is God. What we see in Jesus and what we see in the religious leaders could not be more diametrically opposite:
Religious leaders said "do" in order to be acceptable to God.
Jesus said "be" the child of God, the image bearer, that you already are.
Religious leaders heaped oppressive demands onto their followers.
Jesus said, "my yoke is easy, my burden (weight, load to carry) is light."
Religious leaders kept mental records of their own sin as well as the sins of others.
Jesus said, through his Spirit, "I will remove your sin from you as far as the east is from the west and remember it no more."
As you can see, when we choose to follow tradition - human religious tradition that has the appearance of godliness but denies the power of the Gospel - we're in, as they say, "deep doo-doo". Jesus desires nothing by wrote, but a deep and living interaction with him through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Have you considered this for your own religious walk? Does your walk with God resemble an empty, lifeless, religious tradition or is it a vibrant and alive interaction between you and Jesus Christ? Consider the implications of each...
Peace to you on this Monday morning...
Justin
Something struck me as I was preparing for my message this week: Jesus thinks very highly of us.
Jesus thinks highly of us because he’s God. If Jesus is God and God is Jesus and Jesus not only loves us but actually likes us, then that would mean that God feels the same way about you and about me.
God honors you (Isaiah 43:4).
God calls you “very good” (Genesis 1:31).
God, in fact, loves you (1 John 4:9-11).
I think this struck me so hard because I wonder how many people really believe this? Christians included! Most of us - if only subconsciously - believe that God is mostly mad at us and is really disappointed with our lives. He’s standing in heaven with a long, flowing beard, checklist and clipboard and a sharpened #2 pencil in hand, constantly checking our behavior, scribbling on his checklist and clucking his tongue whenever we goof up.
My question is simply, “who would want to follow a God like that?”
Not me.
Luckily enough, that’s not the God of Scripture and it’s not God the Father of Jesus Christ. Even as I write these words, I can feel a weight being lifted off of my shoulders... God is not mad at me!
Would you take a moment during your day and ask yourself the question, “how do I think God sees me?” Then ask yourself a second question, “how do I see God?” Those two questions, G.K. Chesterton says, are “the most important beliefs” someone has.
God is good. Good is God. God says we’re “very good” (Genesis 1:31). Any questions?
I don't get why anyone would not like Jesus, but I can understand why people don't like Christians.
In the past few months, I think God has led me into experiences that have allowed me to see what non-Christians see. Whether it's money or judgmentalism or fundamentalism or bigotry (or worse), I can see the lineage of stereotypes that plague Christians and the Christian church.
I was at a concert that was put on by Christians that had significantly less people in attendance than the promoters had bargained for. Less people = less money. I found my jaw on the floor when one of the promoters interrupted the concert to take them mic and ask the audience, "what would Jesus want you to do? We need $150,000 to break even at this concert and we want you to pray about giving sacrificially in order to help us get out of the hole financially." Then he ended in prayer. I was appalled. Jesus reserved the harshest of reprimands for religious leaders who use guilt to meet their own personal needs. (Luke 20:45-47, 21:1-4)I was in a conversation with an agnostic and another Christian. The Christian insisted on calling the agnostic a "heathen", even after the agnostic asked him not to. What was worse was the Christian had no idea that what he was saying was highly offensive to the agnostic (and to me, nonetheless). God says that human beings - all human beings - are created in his image. In the image of God he created us. (Genesis 1:27)
I hear multiple stories of how people left the church of their youth because they were constantly threatened with the fires of hell and damnation - essentially petrified to step foot in the church ever again for fear of being struck down by lightning. Their image of God is not a loving Father, but a detached, crotchety, old miser who desires nothing more than to smite them and send them packing to the lake of fire and burning sulfur. God is not willing that any should die in their sins, but that everyone would come to a saving knowledge of who he is (2 Peter 3:2). Guilt and fear are not God's primary motivator (1 John 4:18), but it is his kindness that leads people to follow him through a relationship with Jesus Christ (Romans 2:4).All that to say this: Jesus is good. God is good. The Holy Spirit is good. We, as the Church, sometimes really screw it up.
There, I said it.In the pages of Scripture, I have met a Jesus who loves sinners - who loves to be with those who have no pretense about them. He loves to meet people and change their lives - it's what he's really, really good at.
As a pastor, it's my job to try and introduce people to Jesus while scooping the piles of religious elephant poop out of the way to give them a place to do so. If you have struggled with some of the poo-filled scenarios I listed above - or worse - know that Christians (most all of them) really do have the best intentions at heart. But, as they say, "the road to hell is paved with good intentions."If you've been burned one too many times by the Church or by religious people, will you take one more chance to believe? Believe that Jesus is all that he says he is and none of what well-intentioned-but-destructive Christians sometimes make him out to be?
Peace to you this day...Justin
Immersion Staff UPDATE: Quantum Physics.
0 responses Posted by Justin Wise Transmission Timesamp: 7:33 AMThis was a post from the Juice Faith Blog that I write with a few other young pastors in town. I wanted to re-post it here to see what you all think of this topic.
Wow. Talk about a mind-blowing experience.
I spent the last few weeks in class at Bethel Seminary learning about God and the sub-atomic world. Isaac Newton's Principia pretty much set the standard for modern science, but as people like Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr emerged onto the scene things began to change.
Einstein took us deeper into the realm of the atomic and sub-atomic levels. Simply put, Einstein (and many others) gave us eyes to see what goes on at the most minute level of existence.
The study of this is called quantum physics.
Quantum physics tells us that there are smaller pieces of existence than previously thought. Seems as though the protons, neutrons, and electrons that you and I learned about in science class are made up of even smaller parts called quarks. Quarks, by and large, are a mystery to scientists. They behave erratically and seem to change their make-up depending on whether they are being observed or not.
Did you catch that?
They change their "shape" depending on whether or not they are being watched. In some weird, mysterious way, the sub-atomic world has a sort of "self-awareness". That's some really freaky stuff.
What does this all have to do with faith? Read the words of physicist Stephen Hawking, "the odds against a universe like ours emerging out of something like the Big Bang are enormous. I think there are clearly religious implications."
As we delve further and further into the strands and fibers of the make-up of our universe, we become more and more vexed as to just how all this stuff works. The deeper we dive, the more questions we have. The deeper we dive, the more we see that things, in fact, are not an accident. The universe is calibrated with such intricacy, that to change the gravitational pull of the earth even one thousand million millionth would either send us hurling through space or smash us right into the sun. Fascinating.
I'll sum up this post with the words of Ian Barbour, "this fine tuning [of the universe] could be taken as an argument for the existence of a designer, perhaps a God with an interest in conscious life."
Peace to you on this Monday morning...
Justin
Immersion Staff UPDATE: Blogging Bethel (v.3)
0 responses Posted by Justin Wise Transmission Timesamp: 4:54 PM
Okay, so the picture you're looking at is of an unhappy me with a band playing in the background, over my left shoulder. There's three dudes here and they're all wearing trendy hats and shoes and playing their guitars very loudly. Right in front of me.
I am in a coffee shop. When I am in a coffee shop, it's usually to plug my earphones in, sip an Americano, and crank out some work. When I'm in a coffee shop, I usually like to be left alone. Not to be entertained.
This band is trying to entertain me. That is why I am unhappy.
I'm all for artistic creativity - really, I am. But please, trendy-hat friends, can't you just be creative somewhere else?! Not here. Anywhere else but here.
Oh well. Guess it's back to turning up "Band of Horses" even louder and making it obvious that I'm not listening to them. I'd be nicer in different circumstances, but a brotha's got a lot of reading to do.
Peace to you....
Immersion Staff UPDATE: Blogging Bethel (v.2)
0 responses Posted by Justin Wise Transmission Timesamp: 6:36 AMThis week has been a lot of fun - to quote a bearded friend of mine, "it has been intellectually satisfying." I've been learning about quantum physics, the chaos theory, entanglement theory, teleportation and its role in the Bible (!!!).
God is opening my mind to the immense creative potential that indwells all of us and how the reality of the universe is so amazingly complex and literally wonderful. The universe is alive and is held together in the person of Jesus - that is why it is alive. The scientific community is even beginning to grasp this on a micro-molecular level. Simply fascinating. We'll probably do a series on science or something like that... Way cool.
Here's some more pics:
Immersion Staff UPDATE: Blogging Bethel (v.1)
0 responses Posted by Justin Wise Transmission Timesamp: 8:00 PMFor those of you who don't know, I (Justin) am finishing up my last few years here at Bethel Seminary in St. Paul, MN. So when I'm not hanging out at Immersion, preparing a sermon, attending meetings, or goofing off, I'm usually doing some form of school work in order to get my Masters of Divinity.
So, I was Christmas shopping last Saturday, which is something I must admit I had really tried to avoid. Being at the mall on a Saturday in December, that is. And the following explains why: I had survived the traffic and made it into the Kohl's parking lot, but an empty space was nowhere to be found. Eventually, I found a car with it's engine running and it's owner brushing the snow off in preparation for departure. I waited for what seemed like an eternity as I watched this woman brush every single snowflake from her vehicle. The impatience in me was quickly changing to actual anger. "How dare she take her time? Can't she see that this place is a zoo? Why doesn't she just want to get out of here ASAP?" I'm confessing to you my thoughts a.k.a road/parking lot rage toward a complete stranger. I am not proud of it. This is not the way I want to think or act during Advent, or any time of the year really. And maybe it's not that big of a deal, a little impatience doesn't necessarily hurt anyone. But what does it say about the state of my heart? About my self-centered perspective on the world? After spending some time asking these questions (believe me, I had time to think!), I chalked it up as a good learning experience and some Holy Spirit conviction. I don't really need more presents this Christmas. But I do need more of His presence. I need more of his transformation in my life. I'm a work in progress. I want to continue to ponder this as well as the truth that God is so very very patient with me.
We've been mulling over this notion of a "Miracle Night" here at Immersion. Wild, I know.
I've been thinking about how the real spiritual gifts of God have been turned into this concept that is so completely bizarre to our modern sensibilities. The notion of God breaking in to our here-and-now, natural world has been turned into something that's only for televangelists and, let's just say it, "weird-o" Christians who handle snakes and drink poison.
I think God wants to change that. I think God wants to use Immersion to change that. Can you imagine Immersion being a place where you can be chatting with a friend over a good cup of coffee one minute and then watching a person rise from the dead the next? Not only that, but the fact that the person rose from the dead is almost an expected reality rather than remain an object of lore.
Let's be honest, most people do not need to hear another sermon. I've said that to some of our leaders here at Immersion, but it's true. I take what I do very seriously - it's a huge responsibility to preach and teach the word of God. But young adults don't want to hear more dead words falling from the mouth of a dead pastor. We, as Christians, are meant to live in power and might. It's supposed to be the norm, not the exception.
So, be ready for some new things I think God wants to try. As staff, we will navigate those avenues faithfully and to the best of our abilities. The rest is up to the Spirit. Are you ready to come along? Will you come expecting miracles? Will you come expecting the unexpected? Will you leave the stoic, dusty pews of religion and enter into the lush and vibrant Promised Land that God has for the people who love and cherish him?
What's your favorite place to hang out in DSM? To eat? To catch a cup of coffee? What do you do with your time when you're not here on Thursday nights?
It's been awhile. I know. Moving on...
Do you see this?
This is both alarming and indicative of where our culture is (allegedly) heading: more technology. This graph shows that people would rather read about other people's lives, news, current events, etc., over a computer screen than sitting in front of them having a discussion. Does this surprise you? Scare you? Encourage you?
What implications does this have for the Church? For Immersion? Better yet, take a look at the following video and ask the same questions... What do you think Immersion, what's the best way to integrate (or disintegrate) from our culture? How do we respond to these new forms of technological communication? (Marshall McLuhan would be proud...)
Man, updating this thing is really hard sometimes. Any of you other people with blogs know what I'm talking about? Honestly...
Well what to tell you all about the inner-workings of Immersion? Didn't Sarah do a great job last week? I told her afterwards that I wanted to run home and immediately get into the Secret Place with the LORD, do some fasting and praying and getting in the Word. Awesome job, we're so blessed to have her on board here at Immersion.
Speaking of fasting, Sarah mentioned that she hated doing it and also mentioned I did as well. Misery loves company, and it's true - I absolutely hate fasting... physically, anyway. There's nothing worse than an empty stomach, except maybe belching with an empty stomach - and belching with an empty stomach that only has a multivitamin in it... Gross. I remember once when I was in high school and we were doing two-a-days for football. I took a Centrum before the AM practice and didn't have time to grab breakfast. I get to practice and start to sweat my brains out, thirstier than all get out. Then I belched. First of all, I was dangerously thirsty. Secondly, the aftertaste of a vitamin and bile-laced belch was almost enough to make me throw up on the spot. Thankfully I didn't and saved myself further embarrassment than that which was already due to me for trying to play football.
At any rate, we're excited for the final week of Immersion's mission statement. Make sure you check it out in person or on the web, beimmersed.com. We'll be talking about how to speak and live and act out the Message of Christ in a culturally relevant way.
Peace to you on this day...
Justin
I've been wondering what Immersion needs to hear about... Do you have any ideas? I want to be the type of ministry that is not afraid to speak to the things that the 20s and 30s of DSM are encountering... What do you think? Any ideas? Post them in the comments below.
We're getting new leaders popping up all over the place! Welcome to Phillip Kreis and Kari Swenson, the new Men's and Women's Community Coordinators of Immersion. They're going to be around as contacts for all of you Immersionites who want to get connected in significant ways. Also, welcome to Dawn Elliott, as she just came on board as the Immersion Operations Director! Basically, anything that happens on a regular week-to-week basis, Dawn will be making sure those leaders in charge of those areas are feeling supported and cared for, and also to make sure those things get done! She's a great addition to the team and will serve Immersion and Immersionites well...
join us on Facebook! We have a group of about 90 people on Facebook! I know there's been a few people who haven't been able to join (my wife included!), so we're still trying to figure that out. But just run a search for "Immersion" and you'll find us... The familiar black and blue....
The Blitz starts in a few weeks. If you're wanting to get connected at Immersion, this is the place to go... Connections galore... Like Tinkertoys. Look for info at the Info Table and during the announcements...
Alright crew, wrapping it up in the office - hope to see you all tomorrow night. Peace to you...
Justin
Alright - so many of you have been contacting us on how you can get involved with "Invisible Children" - especially after the movie we watched last night. I would encourage you to go here:
Invisible Children FAQ's
Keep the faith, church! Remember - you are the church, not a building or a set of ideals or a political belief system. The Church will change the world, nothing else.
I had a thought today, can you believe that we're coming down to the last few months of 2007? Wow, time goes fast.
Well, it's that time at Immersion - the college kids are heading back to school. This is always a bittersweet time for Immersion: the college students who call Des Moines "home" are going back to their "school home," while the students who call someplace else "home" are heading back to their "school home" of Des Moines. The flux is always interesting to watch - new faces coming, old faces going...
We're in the middle of a series right now entitled "The Widow, The Orphan, The Foreigner." It's been a challenging series to plan and prepare for. God, it seems, takes this stuff pretty seriously - taking care of the underprivileged and forgotten of society. It seems that he wants us to take this stuff pretty seriously as well. It's been a challenge to see the areas where I fall dreadfully short in not only "talking the talk" but "walking the walk." Gracefully, slowly, redemptfluly; I'm getting there.
Sorry for such a long lapse in these postings. We've been working like mad around here to try and get our leadership structure in place and running. Exodus 18 - the dialog between Jethro and Moses absolutely blows my mind - and it's what we're basing leadership on here at Immersion!
I think you'll really be pleased at what we have ready for you all tomorrow night. We'll be watching an abridged version of "Invisible Children" with a little bit of teaching as well. It's a powerful film made by a bunch of goofballs - the reality of the film will stare you in the face afterwards, though. Be prepared.
That's it, gang. On a sidenote, my whole day has been made as I've introduced the word "crunk" to the office ladies up front. Pure hilarity. Anyways - see you tomorrow night.
Justin
I think we’re coming to a place in human history where, “that’s the way we’ve always done it” isn’t going to quite cut it any longer.
If you pay attention to the statistics, people (specifically young adults) aren’t coming to church anymore. They cite boredom and irrelevancy to their everyday lives as reasons for not coming. “The way we’ve always done it” is not working any longer, and I could not be more pleased. You see, we are in a time when God is doing something fresh and new – something that looks very different from “the way things have always been done.” God will no longer allow political or denominational lines to form a box around his beauty and majesty. Those lines, that box – the “box” of religion – is beginning to be dismantled by the gracious hand of God.
What are we, as Immersion, going to do with that? God is such that he does not reside only in a temple “built by human hands.” What are we going to do with this knowledge? How are we going to respond to a God who “desires mercy, not sacrifice?” Meaning – God desires a “repentant and contrite heart” over you coming to church on Thursdays or Sundays. What are we going to do when the walls of religion come tumbling down in the church of America? Will we be ready…?
Prayer for the week: Father of Lights, the Fragrant One, break us out of the boxes that we spend so much of our time in. The boxes of religion, of “the way things have always been done,” these boxes of fear and apathy, of doing things by rote and uncreatively. You are the one who is constant but always changing. Teach us to be constant in our devotion and love to you but open to change everywhere else. In Yeshua’s Name, Amen.
So my charcoal grill finally bit the dust after 5 years of faithful service... I am a diehard charcoal guy but my wife convinced me to get into the now and go acquire a gas grill. We were having a HUGE Mother's day gathering and the grillmaster needed an appropriate weapon at his disposal. And so the quest began...
I started with the Sunday ads in an attempt to find the cheapest/best option out there. I poured over every major retailer and found the one I wanted... I ventured out at 10:00am only to experience my first roadblock- the store did not open until 11:00am. So after twiddling my thumbs and getting a cup of coffee, young Noah Brandt and I finally stood before the future Brandt family grilling machine. The price was right and we called over the friendly neighborhood grill expert to complete the sale. This grill also came with the most beautiful words my eyes had ever seen while grill shopping, "free assembly included!" However, my next roadblock came with my next obvious question... "so where is the tank?" After tacking an additional $50 onto the sticker price, the entire package, tank and all made it safely home to my deck... Ah the fine print we so often miss...
Do you ever wonder what life would be like if we had the whole picture going into things? Have you ever thought about how much simpler it would be in our feeble attempt to understand God if we knew everything about Him? Adam and Eve tried that approach... Moses asked to see God's face only to catch a glimpse of his backside which was so intense, Moses glowed all the way down the mountain... Job found out the hard way that God is and he wasn't... and on and on in scripture. The bigness of God, even the mystery of God is what drew His people to Him and can draw us yet today! You can read the same passage of scripture many times and have God speak to you in many different ways! It is impossible to know God fully this side of heaven. And yet we are fully known by Him! I find peace in that... but I am a simple guy that doesn't always concern himself with the fine print...
InHim,
Mark
