About 9 months ago I wrote E-news #2. It was about brokenness. You can read it in the achieves. My message this week is on brokenness. This is a very significant concept for me. It is shaping me like no other concept. Yet it continues to be difficult for me to grasp and remains illusive. Let me further unpack the powerful mystery of faith and life found in brokenness (and don’t forget to check out the Brokenness section in our spiritual toolbox on our web site).One of my heroes is a Catholic priest named Brennan Manning - http://www.brennanmanning.com/#base. My two favorite books of his are Abba’s Child and Ragamuffin Gospel. Brennan is well read by both Catholics and non-Catholics today because his life and message are a broad demonstration of the power of the gospel of Jesus. Here’s some wisdom I gained from him in Abba’s Child (around pg. 158).
If we are engaged in life and we invest in things that really matter like our families, friends, our church (church as people not an organization) and our community, we will be shot at by Satan, friends, family and strangers alike. Because of the potential and real brokenness that occurs in life, many have chosen to retreat into isolation and protection. But for those of us willing to invest in life - we will be shot at and enter a kind of war. War is a motif that so well expresses everything that is broken, messed up, destroyed, out of whack, etc. And soldiers and civilians alike in any war get wounded. It is inescapable. We will get wounded in life.
But catch this. Whatever happened in the life of Jesus is in some way going to happen to us. Wounds are necessary. The soul will be wounded as well as the body. If you think that the natural, proper or ideal state of life is to be without wounds you are living in an illusion. Those who attempt to wear bulletproof vests in normal life in order to protect themselves from failure, shipwreck and heartbreak will never know what love is. The unwounded life bears no resemblance to Jesus.
If we seek an unbroken life (a fixed life, an “verything the way I want it” life), then we will protect ourselves from really experiencing life in its fullness and depth. We’ll actually protect ourselves from being loved by God and receiving love from others. Wounds are inevitable. And in our wounds we can best experience the unconditional love of God. In our wounds we have nothing to offer and everything to receive - and this goes so against our human nature. Grace, and thus God, is best experienced in brokenness.
Together as broken people to make our world different,
Glen Elliott
India has been on my mind lately. First, we have a team in the city of Patna in the state of Bihar in the country of India. The team is involved in teaching and training Christian leaders, pastors and church planters. The state of Bihar has over 70 million people (that’s equal to 70 Pima Counties!). We are partnering with a group of Indian nationals that call themselves the Bihar OutReach Network (BORN). Second, it seems like a couple times a month when calling customer service of a company, I find I’m actually talking to an Indian who is speaking with a British accent half way around the world. Finally, many of you stepped up and gave so that our Indian partners can purchase 14 baptismal tanks! Thank you!Over a billion people live in India. 2% claim to be of the Protestant faith and India is home to the 2nd largest non-Christian population in the world after China. India is so large that it has the world’s largest Hindu population and the 2nd largest Muslim population. It is one of the poorest of nations, water resources are polluted, food and energy is scarce and health care is limited. Bihar is known as one of the most corrupt and criminal states in India. The person and message of Jesus is vital to this part of the world.
We don’t get much good news these days so let me share some from Bihar and our BORN partners. Look at what has happened in 2006 through September (9 months):
5325 Baptisms
5590 New believers waiting for baptism
450 New churches started (that’s 50 a month)
1595 Total villages reached
That’s huge! Wow! Part of our vision as a church is to partner to engage in church planting multiplication movements. That is exactly what we are seeing happen in Bihar, India. Praise God! I love being a part of a church that is intentional and strategic in trying to reach the lost and give them hope for now and eternity.
Please pray for our team that’s teaching in Bihar and for our BORN partners. Pray for S.D. Ponraj who leads BORN. Pray that 1000’s of new churches will be started. Pray for our effort to reach a people group called the Bhojpuri that has no church or Christian witness. Pray for Dean and Donna Gudgel who lead our India focus team.
Together with Jesus to make the world different;
Glen Elliott
Our American democratic system is a great experiment in governing - “of the people, by the people and for the people” (Abraham Lincoln). It has no equal in the entire world. No human system will ever be perfect, but ours is pretty amazing. Politics are a part of this system.Politics are a challenge for the church. Let’s start with what we know to be true. Christians can be Republicans, Democrats and Independents, but God is not aligned with any political party. We see true blue Christians in every party and we find terrible sinful scoundrels in every party as well. Parties are human inventions that mirror our fallen broken world.
We are followers of Christ. We are faithful and devoted citizens of the kingdom of God first. The kingdom of God confronts the political world. In second place to the kingdom of God, we must be great citizens of the United States of America and we are free to be members of a political party. The kingdom of God must influence politics and the direction of this culture and country, but never become equated with any one political party. I say this without hesitation. Why? Look at the example of Jesus.
Jesus came into this world in the midst of HUGE political conflict. The Romans occupied Palestine. The Sadducees were mostly wealthy, upper class folks trying to forge a compromise between the Romans and the Jews. The Pharisees led the religious block that believed the Roman “evil occupation” was God’s punishment for the sin of the Jews who had become “impure” with prostitutes, tax collectors and sinners. Their slogan was “get rid of the sinners and we’ll get rid of the Romans.” The Zealots wanted to fight and overthrow the Roman occupiers by force - revolutionaries of that day! And the Essenes said “to Hades” to all of them and chose to escape to the desert. What a political mess!
The Jesus way was bigger than any political party. In Luke 20:20-26 they tried to trap Jesus with a question. Jesus’ answer, they thought, would get him in trouble with either the Romans or the Pharisees - a political “no win” situation. What Jesus did was show that there are deeper spiritual issues that supersede any political agenda. Jesus answered; “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” He refused to be sucked into their political controversies. He aimed at bringing the kingdom of God to earth by changing the human heart. He confronted every political party of his day.
We should follow the example of Jesus. I believe followers of Jesus should refuse to be defined simply by a particular political party and seek to bring the values of Jesus to our world. It wasn’t an easy task for Jesus and it remains a challenge for us to be in the world (of politics) but not of the world (Jn. 17:14-16).
Together with Jesus to absolutely make this world different,
Glen Elliott
There are three key events coming that will finalize the transition of our senior leadership process.
LEADERSHIP COMMUNITY. On Sunday Oct. 15th we will have our tri-annual Leadership Community. Anyone at Pantano who is in any kind of leadership (life group leaders, ministry leaders, teachers, paid and non-paid, etc.) is invited and encouraged to participate. We will meet from 3 to 4 pm in the indoor basketball court. We will be talking about the details of the transition from the Senior Pastor (Tim Coop) to the Lead Pastor (Glen Elliott). We really want all our leaders to accurately understand the specifics of the transition in order to help others in our church understand this critical leadership transition. Childcare is available for those attending the Leadership Community meeting. Call the church office to reserve space.
Q & A WITH GLEN. Then right after the Leadership Community meeting (Sun. Oct. 15th) at 4 pm we will host an hour open forum where anybody who is part of the Pantano Christian Church family can come and ask questions of Glen and Jolene Elliott. We will start collecting written questions on our web site. Click on the button on the web site that says “Q & A with Glen” on www.pantanochristian.org and give us your questions. A moderator will combine common questions and we will field additional written questions from the floor.VOTE. On the weekend services of Oct. 28th and 29th (Sat. & Sun.) we will have the vote to accept the Elder’s recommendation that Glen Elliott become our new Lead Pastor. All PCC members age 16 and over are encouraged to vote.
Most importantly, we ask that you pray. This is God’s church and any decision must be made according to God’s leading. Ask for His leading as your vote should reflect what God desires for Pantano Christian Church. Pray for the entire church leadership and for the Elliott family. God’s leaders and their families are always in the crosshairs of Satan’s attack machine. And while you are at it, pray for the upcoming local, state and national election and for our civil leaders.
We love having the opportunity to serve you and serve with you,
The Executive Team
Tim Coop, Ed Harrow, Roger Blumenthal and Dave White
