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5 + 5 Things Every Believer Must Know About the "New Atheism"

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I read the following article this week:  "In his new book, Richard Dawkins sets out to convince the unconvinced that evolution is true. Will he succeed?"

But the goal isn't to "teach that Evolution is true" - the goal is prove that there is No God - and that faith and supernatural are not real to the "unconvinced".

Major Problem:  MANY MANY MANY church goers and people who profess faith in Christ are "unconvinced" and "on the fence" about ... alot!

I'm the last one to get all hyped up about issues - and this isn't "hype" - I'm just telling you that this is having a HUGE impact on humanity - AND - I believe the issues it addresses are at THE CORE of the most major problems in humanity.

People are confused about who they are - where they came from - why they're here - and what happens when they die.

In our age of information and social networking:  people becoming more and more courageous to explore their questions - and I don't think the Church is giving them healthy answers.

AND - people who aren't courageous enough to deal with their questions - are burying them inside and the consequenses are:

• MEDIOCRE FAITH
• Emotional Chaos 
• Destructive coping habits
• Alack of TRUE MISSION IN LIFE.

Why Highlight This Book and This Website and This Issue:  Because it is the best seller in the UK in its first week and it's one in a series of a pretty viral approach to the topic.  It's bearing fruit and has a huge following - with very little healthy and effective response.

The issue that I think is having the greatest "anti-God" impact on the hearts of believers is the work of what is referred to as New Atheism.

It's an Atheistic Evangelical movement that is aggresively targeting "on-the-fencers" - which is a huge number of people in London, North America, and all of Europe.

Disclaimer:  (If you have NOT dealt with these issues - you can still have a fruitful and fulfilled life in Christ - BUT you will not be able to have an impact on these "on-the-fencers" who are literally dying and struggling to find the capacity to breathe - AND are HIGHLY OFFENDED that the Church hasn't dealt with these things effectively throughout their personal upbringing)

5 Key Emotions and Thoughts of these New Atheists:

1.  Victimized: Feel that they were tricked, duped, manipulated, and brainwashed as kids to believe things that their parents didn't believe deeply themselves.

2.  Anger:  They're angry at Christians who have hypocritically forced moral agendas onto the rest of the world by misrepresenting the Bible

3.  Value Measureability:  They have no respect for any defense of Faith that doesn't first of all respect the importance of measureable factors and theories.

4.  Insecure w/out Knowledge:  they don't put weight into anything that they can't measure, touch, see, or that makes rational sense to them.  (just as many Christians are insecure without emotional/spiritual experience)

5.  They Don't Lack Need a "Friend":  They have their own tribes and social contexts - (if you haven't noticed - there are social networks and communities for everyt tribe known to man.

They lack valid answers!  They also lack Christian and faithbased contexts to openly explore WITHOUT condemnation, bashing, recipricated judgments and attacks... they have VERY valid questions, thoughts, feelings, and experiences - and Christians fuel the problem by even the slightest looks that communicate: "how can you believe that???" -

I'd like to suggest 5 THOUGHTS:

1.  Shallow Superstitions Have To Go:  If Christians are true Christ Followers do indeed have within them a heart to fulfill the Great Commission of Christ - then shallow superstitions and religious ritualistic/disconnected faithwill have absolutely NO IMPACT to reach people who are on the fence or seeking answers about their faith. 

these people are tooo well aware of all of the manipulative tactics of:

• attributing the emotional feelings in worship to the "Presence of a Supernatural God"
• leaders using music, lighting, sensory stuff, and other tactics to manipulate emotions and then saying "the spirit of God is here this morning" 
• story telling - oily tongued sales pitches that play on emotions
• you cant reach these people in the emotional realm - they're numb to it and do not trust it at all - especially if it's filled with hype and explainable with the natural.

2. "I believe in God because I had a supernatural experience" (this is no different than most uneducated Morman conversions) - and lacks credibility in our time).. it will not carry weight with this crowd into the future.  You not only will have to have an enduring knowledge of the resurrected Christ and know why you believe he raised from the dead - and you will have to be able to articulate this in a way that is filled with integrity, honesty, and humility.  You have to know why you believe that super-natural is even a credible possibility - or your story is seen as a shallow fairytale to them.

3.  You will have to know WHY you believe in the existence of things beyond matter:  if you believe in a designer and creator - "The Bible Tells Me So" isn't enough anymore - you have to also know Why you believe the Bible is a credible source of information about life and human existence AND you have to have a value for science and the brilliant thinkers that God has given to the world for his purposes.

4.  You will have to know WHY you believe the Bible is From God:  have you dealt with this?  If you haven't - why not?

5.  Don't be scared to look at the questions that are buried in your own heart regarding God and faith.  Many people I know are scared to death to even look at the questions that are already inside them - they bury them and continue going on through life without EVER dealing with their questions.

Result:

Mediocre faith - that is more religious superstition - lacks any credibility in the field of evangelism and the mission of Christ.

I have a heart for both - and simply want to see Christ glorified in the hearts AND minds of people who truely want to know the answers to the questions in their core!

THEY THINK THE SAME THING ABOUT YOU - BUT THEY'RE AT LEAST WILLING TO SEEK THE ANSWERS TO THEIRFAITH AND MANY CHRISTIANS STOPPED SEEKING LONG LONG LONG AGO - AND DO NOT KNOW MUCH ABOUT WHAT THEY BELIEVE!

 

A Must Read for Anyone Claiming to Follow Christ

Knowledge Puffs Up - Authentic Love Builds Up!

Many churches are making more agnostics and athiests than authentic Christ followers and it's such a front burner issue to me.

Pastors and Christians - ever wondered how important your walk is and how important it is to know why you believe what you believe??? 

Must Read:  Read this recipie for becoming an Athiest:  Automotive Apostacy

I am saddened by the growing number of people leaving faith because they can't find any remote form of authentic connection with God - and can't find a believer who has an authentic connection with the God they dogmatically argue the case of!

I'm also saddened and a bit sickened by deal closers who have no capacity at all to follow through with walking their latest "client" through what it takes to help them transition well.  I know that many churches are really trying to develop "discipleship programs" to address this issue - however, the very structure of Church itself often prevents authentic discipleship from happening.

Perhaps a MAJOR shift in the way we 'do church' and "RE-present Christ" needs to emerge in a viral way in this very generation - if it doesn't - regardless of how many mega churches emerge - we'll never fully deal with the root issues that have left Europe nearly Christless.

I feel that the way Christian apologists and hypocritical conservative evangelicals have approached people who don't believe in God over the years - has fueled a fire that isn't going away anytime soon.

I've noticed that some of the most unloving people on the planet are Christians who think they can prove the existence of God with science and reason - and do so in a way that mocks and ridicules anyone who opposes them and opposing theories, then condemns all of the people who have anything to do with the opposing theory.

If you haven't noticed yet - the fruit of this hasn't been good.

I began dialoguing with an "Ex Christian" yesterday - and noticed immediately that his harsh approach toward religion and faith was an exact mirror of how Christians have treated atheism, evolutionists, agnostics, ... and anyone else who entertains any view other than theirs.

Athiests are gradually becoming as evangelical as Christians are - and the sad thing is, they're using the mirror tactics that Christians have used throughout the years.

I wonder where Christians got the notion that it was in the heart of Christ for his people to:

• Claim to follow him without loving the way he loved
• Mock the opposition of faith
• Make fun of and ridicule opposing theories of faith and human existence
• Make political issues out of socially debatable topics and ignore weightier matters
• Dodge people they can't win an argument with
• Shun people who oppose their decisions
• Promote their own clan power at the expense of others
• Disfellowship, silence, and refuse people who object to their power pushes - in the name of "keeping the body healthy"
• When did Christ ever endorse the use of sarcasm and ridicule when trying to get another person to believe what you believe.

I just left breakfast with a friend in Mesquite and overheard several "believers" in the restaurant making fun of about 4 differnt people who think differntly than they do - so I chimed in:

I asked them boldly - "What kind of power do you guys get out of discussing other people's weaknesses so loud that the whole restaurant can hear you?"

They said - "Well if discussing this can help anyone find the truth - then I guess we're doing a good thing."

I reailized I was facing the same mindset that killed Jesus - shook my head knowing that any further engagment would only fuel their fire - and I left (knowing that those listening in could hear me...and one of them was a young man on the fringe of the church and admitted "Those people are the reason I don't go to church anymore...")

I told the young man - "My friend, there's more to it than this... I'd love to meet with you sometime..."

We'll connect soon - I hope.

...So, ... where do we start to deal with this mess?

5 Recomendations:

• Every believer begin the all out surrender to the transformational power of God through the knowable person, Holy Spirit - and the person of Jesus Christ to impact eternal life in you NOW -the whole life - more than just after you die.
• Submit fully to the loving heart and will of Christ and know deeply who you are, what you believe regarding faith, and why you believe it. 
• I'd also like to recommend that every believer completely relenquish their fear of not knowing the answers 
• NEVER make something up or exaggerate your experience or knowledge of God - as if he needs your help to make him more real! 
• Be honest with others about your journey - and NEVER look down on others who aren't where you are

Where are you in this?

Action on the Frontlines

As many of you know - I'm now serving as the Director of Strategic Partnerships for Global Advance.

Global Advance exists to train 1 Million church leaders and business leaders in the underserved nations of the world. 

Less than 10% of these leaders have ever had any form of training or resources to help them in their service or vocation.  To impact the nations, leaders must be raised up from within.

We have directly trained over 420,000 leaders face to face in 80 nations to date - and will directly train well over 30,000 leaders in over 40 nations in 2009. 

We currently have over 200 invitations for 2010 and are building the budget to be able to serve as many of those as the Lord leads and provides resources for.

My role is to help build our training teams and partnership base by connecting with:

• Christians

 

who have the ability and heart to teach and train leaders in churches and in the Marketplace in the underserved nations of the world. 

• Churches:

who have a heart for the Great Commission and value equipping leaders in the nations  and desire to connect their leadership and church body with a TREMENDOUS variety of needs in the underserved nations.

• Organizations which have the DNA of

Equipping and Coaching leaders for the Great Commission  

Supporting Church Starters and Starting Churches  

Developing Christian Leaders in the Marketplace and Training in Business Skills  

Teaching Business as strong force of Missions in the nations 

My Next Trip:  Liberia

I'm currently building our team of a few select leaders to travel with me in Mid-November to lead a Frontline Shepherd's Conference for over 500 church leaders and church planters in Gbarnga, Liberia. 

Our team will also lead a Marketplace Missions Conference for over 200 business leaders in the capitol city of Monrovia, Liberia.

So thrilling to be a part of God's frontline work in the nations.

So thrilling to see other pastors and business leaders catch the vision and fulfill their role in equipping the world for the heart of God.

For more info about Global Advance, email me at jjenkins@globaladvance.org.

 

 

Comfort Resistance & Memories

Ever Resisted Comfort?  Read Psalm 77

Psalm 77:2 says, "my soul refused to be comforted."

It's those moments in life when you're still in the room but don't want to talk and don't want anything remotely close to a hug or a word from anyone.

With untiring hands lifted high in distress - David "sought the Lord".

Gotta think about this with me here - ... raising your hands in irritating stubborness and frustrating distress = seeking the Lord?

Sorta like a ritual or something - mind racing, emotions flaring, choices unpredictable - but hands lifted none the less.

He said, "I rememberd you, O God, and I groaned."

I'm smiling at this thought...because there have been so many times I've remembered the Lord and connections with Him in the past - and just....groaned a bit myself.

Times when He kept me alive when I preferred otherwise.  Times when I was so deeply troubled that my mouth couldn't start a sentence anywhere in the ballpark of praise.

Then - BAM - a beautiful memory of faithfulness comes into your heart - and life begins to surface again.

Friends - these are all sweet birthing moments.

RECORD THE LORD'S ACTIVITY IN YOUR LIFE.  HE USES MEMORIES!

Important Note:  Just because your Mind, Will, and Emotions refuse comfort - does not mean that you are UN-COMFORT-ABLE.  You're probably only a moment or memory away from what you're looking for.

Seek and you'll find - and it doesn't matter how pretty your search process is.

To Blog or not to Blog

Yesterday I was going over some blogging and social networking stuff with Dr. Shibley and I actually posted a "sample post" that didn't make much sense.

I came to my site stats today and saw that after 3 months of no activity - I had a "shot" of 150 visitors yesterday afternoon who read the meaningless random blog post.

Decided - I feel like blogging again - so blog blog...

"ONE DAY" Perhaps The Lord Will Act

I've noticed over the past few months that I keep getting to the end of my rope financially, and every time - God provides exactly what we need for the upcoming month.

But it has been a month to month process.  Sometimes he has provided enough for a little more, but mostly it's enough for the next month.

How about you?  Ever owned your own company and started from scratch without any form of predictable income source?

Ever been in a hole and didn't think it was possible to climb out?

Ever been stuck in a degrading rut and struggled to find a glimpse of hope?

Ever felt like shrinking into a hole and telling the whole world to go away?

Ever asked God, "When are you going to end this cycle?"

Ever been in any of these situations or other times of feeling symptoms of hopelessness and then ONE DAY - BAAAAMMM something inside you snapped!

I LOVE the ONE DAY moments in life - it's like God gives us a supernatural rush of faith, hope, adrenaline, vision, courage, guts, passion...! 

I'm starting to think that God made us all this way...

This morning I was reading one of my favorite stories in I Samuel 14 and I found one of the ultimate ONE DAY - BAAAAMMM moments.

Background:

If you're at home and you live in a residential neighborhood and have a 1/2 acre lot - imagine your tiny little fenced-in back yard being occupied with 20 armed terrorists.

You've known about this for several days - but none of your family or friends or even fellow americans are able or willing to really do anything about it.

Your people don't even have any weapons to fight with or resources to produce weapons.

But you have a sword.  You have something.

And you have a friend who will die for you.  You have someone.

And the two of you come upon a ONE DAY - BAAAAMMM moment.

In that moment, something shifts inside of you and you rise up and say, "Come on, lets go over to the terroists camp,... 'Perhaps the Lord will act in our behalf.  Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few!" (paraphrase of I Samuel 14:6-7)

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Ever been pressed into a corner and been under the control of someone elses expectations, someone elses limitations, someone elses judgment, snare, or sneer? 

Ever felt as if the world was stacked against you and you had no one to fight with you?

I love these "ONE DAY" moments.

It's on these days that the Lord rises us up with courage and vision for one more day.

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Here are 4 things that will happen if you're obedient during these ONE DAY BAAAAMMM moments:

1.  God will accompany you with someone who is with you "HEART AND SOUL" - That's all we need in life sometimes isn't it?  A soul mate to believe and press in with us.

2.  God will give you discernment so that you can know if it's him leading you or not.  You will have several lightbulb moments that you'll have to listen and respond to.  You'll have warning signs that you'll have to KNOW whether or not it's the Lord or if it's the enemy.  In these times, it's critical - even life or death - that you discern the Lord's voice clearly and OBEY IT!!!

3.  God will use what you have to accomplish more than you could ask for - He gives us ideas of resourcefulness and creativity.  For Jonathan - he only need to wound 20 men and take the blunt of the pressure - he had an armor bearer to finish the fight for him. 

Resourcefulness is a Spiritual Gift!  If the Creator created us in his image, then resourceful creativity is in our DNA!  What are the people in your life there for?  What are your resources there for?  Ever thought about it?

Question:  Do you have an armor bearer in your life who is doing business, family, warfare with you.  Does ANYONE have your back right now?  Is anyone with you "Heart and Soul"?  Is anyone helping finish what you're starting in life?

4.  God will initiate a "Terrible Panic" into the middle of your trouble and work things out in ways that you can never plan for.  He makes the earth shake on our behalf when necessary. 

He sends "Terrible Ground Shaking Panics" to people and even ideas, emotions, thoughts, and memories which/who stand against you.  It's as if there come moments in life when ALL of your troubles scatter in an instant - all fear disappears - all lies are revealed - all anxiety becomes courageous fortitude.

God raises us up and fights our battles for and through us.  Sometimes He even does it WITHOUT us just so that we know that there was nothing we could ever do about it in the first place.

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Just a note of encouragement! 

Hey, ONE DAY Jeff Jenkins woke up and said, "come on, lets go..."

I love those stories in my own life; do you have any too?

Ever Settled For a Caramel Machiatto?

Most days, I wake up around 5:30.  

I never use an alarm clock - it's like there's a clock inside of me that's keeping up with the time and then awakens me right on time every day.

There's a part of us that never sleeps, right?  Song of Songs 5:2

Typically, my first thoughts are from pretty deep with in and take about 10 seconds.

I take a quick inventory of the day to come - and it's as if my heart is searching all of my appointments of the day to see if there's anything in the day that I can LOOK FORWARD TO!

If there's nothing that comes up - then it's difficult to roll out of bed.

You know - on some days - all I can find to look forward to is an expected phone call - or lunch with someone I care about - or a meeting that has ALOT of potential...

I also found out that I try to schedule things in my day that I know I can look forward to.

These things keep me going sometimes...sorta like a drug... (did I just say that?)... or sorta like an idol... (did I just say that?)... perhaps an emotional crutch that I can lean on in order to "have a good day"...(ok, I'm not liking this!)

The bad thing - is that on days when I don't have anything scheduled, I settle for things even more miniscule - like:

Chick Fil A 4 Pc Chicken Strip Meal.  I'll be driving down the road at 11:00 in the morning...long before I'm really hungry for lunch ... and there will be a few things that I don't really want to do on my schedule - and since there's nothing in my immediate future that I'm looking forward to doing... I SETTLE for fried bird in a box and an hour at the table alone with a good book and some iPhone time!

Late in the afternoon, when I don't have anything else on the schedule - and it's time to go home; i think:  

"If I go home, it's an admission that my schedule is empty" 

or I think:  

"If I go home, I'll have to connect with the reality of kids that want my constant attention..."  on some days, I don't look forward to that so...

I will settle for a Caramel Machiatto, if that's the only thing I can find worth looking forward to.

The challenge is to go into that void inside and ask the question:  "What is it about me that struggles with being Jeff - content whereever I am - and in whatever I'm doing?"

What is it in me that has to find something to look forward to on the "outside of me"?

Just letting you into my world - as I'm growing more comfortable looking forward to what's going on "inside of me".

So Stoked!!!

Ok - you know how you overlook some of the most important things in life and then have an "All of the Sudden" moment...?

I just had one today!

How could I have overlooked the LSU Alumni Dallas Chapter all these years.

Never crossed my mind!

But a friend of mine rescued me from my ignorance today and told me about the LSU Dallas Alumni Crawfish boil in April.

Payin the dues

Buyin the tickets

Getting involved

Getting a crawfish table

Inviting some friends to join me.

Do You Have A Losing God?

I'm currently sitting in the LaQuinta Hotel in Paris, Tx - waiting on 12:00 noon so I can go pick up a check... then head home.  I have a few minutes to share a few things that have been pouring through my soul this morning... most of it is related to the picture above.

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In the picture above - I just spent some time this morning - soaking it all in.

You can either see it as a picture of total weakness or of eternal power. 

It's either a weak man who couldn't save his son holding him in self-centered pity...thinking, "I'm sorry this world is so hard and I couldn't protect you.  I'm sorry I wasn't a good father... bla bla bla..."

Or

You can see it as the greatest source of power, strength, and love known to mankind?

Is the father a loser in your eyes?  A Weakling?  A passive failure?

Take a moment to answer the following questions honestly from your heart:

• Have you ever felt that you were in a losing - never ending - cyclic game called life?
• Have you ever felt like you were following a defeated religion?
• Have you ever dove beyond the surface of your beliefs and wrestled with the option of total submission to a Way of life and faith?
• Have you ever felt like the depths of your failure and sin in life is so filthy that no one can ever know about it or understand you?
• Have you ever felt completely MISUNDERSTOOD BY LIFE?
• Have you ever felt like you were chasing after the wind in the name of faith and hope?
• Have you ever felt like the relationship you had with God was too shallow and superstitious to be authentic?
• Have you ever tried to really connect with God and failed?
• Have you ever dove into the depths of spirituality and faith only to find yourself more powerless and "weak" than you were when you started your dive?
• Have you ever looked at the entire ministry of Jesus and walked away thinking, "What was all of that for?  It seems to have made no difference at all.  It appears that his efforts to be loving and strong ended in failure." ???
• Have you ever been on the brink of giving up hope because the journey of faith has left you powerless at times and feeling alone/crazy/afraid?

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• Have you ever felt really ALIVE?  If so - When?
• Have you ever felt really CONNECTED TO GOD?  If so, what was that like?
• Have you ever felt God's love and perfect protection?
• Have you ever endured hardship willingly as if you were in training?
• Have you ever felt deep in your heart that you were following the only True God and truely believed that there is no other?
• Have you ever deeply repented and walked out the transformation of every pattern of your mind that is contrary to total surrender to God's will?
• Have you ever walked consistently over time in the Way of Christ ... without any reservations to your level of obedience to His voice and Word?
• Have you ever felt like:  "I get it - I'm lovin' it - I'm  FREE?"
• Have you ever felt like:  "I can't believe I get to experience this in my life?  Why me?  I've have to share it?
• Have you ever WALKED...IN...TOTAL...PEACE?
• Have you ever rested really well in the midst of chaos?
• Have you ever found the capacity to praise God with true JOY in the midst of turmoil?
• Have you ever gone a day and won EVERY BATTLE?

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I'd like to submit to you - that the answers to EACH of these questions CAN be a bold YES.

I believe Christ completely understands the depts of all of this.

Jesus' Ministry was a seeming failure, his life appeared to have made no difference, he was naked, murdered, ineffectual, and appeared to be a losing God.

But in his weakness and vulnerability, the world would have the capacity to come to know the love of the Great Compassionate One... The  True God.

The WAY and CROSS of Jesus Christ will ALWAYS remain a scandal of foolishness - uncomprehendable to the carnal mind...especially to those who seek a triumphal Savior and a prosperity gospel.

The season that the world is in today - is a day of triumph - but it's rooted in faith.

Triumph and wholeness belong to you - but you have to fully submit and recieve it day by day... by Faith!

If you're serving a Losing god... then I submit to you that there's a need for you to run uninhibitedly to Jesus and ask Him to reveal to you the True Victorious Father of Life.

Don't hold anything back...He's all powerful and perfect in all his Ways!