Michelangelo's Jonah

The book of Jonah isn’t about a man getting swallowed by a whale for going the wrong way. If it were we would only have chapters one and two. It also isn’t about Ninevah hearing the truth and repenting. If it were we would only have chapter three of the book.

If it is just a whale story and the repentance of Nineveh then what do we do with that pesky chapter four? Chapter four and the book end with this question from God asked to Jonah: “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”

How do we answer that question? Do we care more about ourselves than the people in our community? Do we pursue self-preservation or self-sacrifice?

I enjoyed Tullian Tchividjian first book Unfashionable last summer. Trevin Wax provided an excerpt from his blog to Tchividjian’s latest book that really challenged me and I thought I would pass along. I encourage you to read the below excerpt from Tchividjian’s book, Surprised by Grace: God’s Relentless Pursuit of Rebels:

We can’t escape a stark contrast in this story—the tribal mindset of Jonah versus the missional mindset of God.

These two mindsets involve fundamentally different values. The highest value of a community with a tribal mindset is self-preservation. A tribal community exists solely for itself, and those within it keep asking, “How can we protect ourselves from those who are different from us?”

A tribal mindset is marked by an unbalanced patriotism. It typically elevates personal and cultural preferences to absolute principles: If everybody were more like us, this world would be a better place.

But in a missional minded community, the highest value isn’t self-preservation but self-sacrifice. A missional community exists not primarily for itself but for others. It’s a community that’s willing to be inconvenienced and discomforted, willing to expend itself for others on God’s behalf.

A tribal mindset is antithetical to the gospel. The gospel demands that we be missional, because the gospel is the story of God sacrificing himself for his enemies.

Both these approaches are robustly present in Jonah’s story. Jonah represents the best of a tribal mindset, the absolute best. He’s like the trophy for the tribal person. And God—ever-gracious, ever-pursuing, ever-compassionate—serves as the trophy for the mission-minded.

Jonah runs from his enemies; God runs toward his enemies.

Jonah serves himself; God serves the world.

Good job Andre for the whole event and Tom running sound and Carter on the the lights. Read on to see a good sample of Jeremy Horn’s music.

But it isn’t just Mormons… read on.

This past summer the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life released the results of a large survey nationally on religion. Among the other details the Washington Post wrote:

A belief in God or a higher spirit is pervasive. Even Americans who describe themselves as atheist or agnostic have a robust sense of a higher power: Twenty-one percent of those who describe themselves as atheists expressed a belief in God or a universal spirit, and more than half of those who call themselves agnostic expressed a similar conviction.

So more than a fifth of atheists and agnostics believe in the existence of a “higher power.” How does that make sense? The simple answer is that it doesn’t make sense.

So why is that? Why do people believe such weird things? How is it possible to deny the existence of God yet believe in a higher power? How is it possible to buy into Joseph Smith’s teachings? This way of thinking (or not thinking) isn’t limited to just Mormons and the atheists of this study, it is throughout the world.

So why are they so blind? And what should our response be? Scripture answers both of these questions in 2 Corinthians 4:1-6:

Therefore, since we have this ministry, just as God has shown us mercy, we do not become discouraged. But we have rejected shameful hidden deeds, not behaving with deceptiveness or distorting the word of God, but by open proclamation of the truth we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience before God. But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing, among whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of those who do not believe so they would not see the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not proclaim ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said “Let light shine out of darkness,” is the one who shined in our hearts to give us the light of the glorious knowledge of God in the face of Christ.

So why are they so blind? Their minds have been blinded by the “god of this age,” Satan.

And what is our response? To openly proclaim the truth that Jesus Christ is Lord. Are you proclaiming him as Lord through your actions and words? Our lives should be a reflection of his Lordship.

Last summer I wrote about Josh Hamilton. He’s got a video on IamSecond.com too.

In the same vein, I would propose a set of good things in a package of three for us at Blue Ridge as well—a rule of three for everyone who is a part of our body. We have so many excellent programs and opportunities in our church for a person to participate in to aid their growth in Christ. How does one choose? With September just around the corner, and all of the new beginnings that happen in that month, it can be difficult to decide what you will be a part of, and what you will not. I‘d like to propose three fundamental areas we could all be a part of when it comes to the church.

The first of the three is Sunday morning worship. We ought to make our corporate time together a priority in that we set aside Sunday mornings and participate in some way—from teaching, to helping children, to ushering and greeting, to assisting adult teachers, to helping in worship, or to cleaning up! This is the only time during the week when we are all gathered together as a large body and get a little taste of heaven in our worship en masse! Keeping this as a priority can be one of the easiest, as most of us usually don‘t have to work or schedule other things.

The second ministry of the three that we ought to be a part of is a little different. It‘s not so much a program here, but rather a setting aside the time for the building of relationships with non-believers. This does not necessarily have us spending time at the church, but rather is a time that we purpose to find a way to engage with people who do not go to church, and do not know the Savior. Ask most people who have come to Christ, (including most of our own experiences), and you‘ll find that people are not persuaded into the kingdom by circumstances and knowledge as much as they are won over by the love of a person who took an interest in them and led them to Jesus Christ. The leadership at Blue Ridge wants you to be “freed up” to find time to cultivate relationships with those who need Jesus Christ.

So if we are uniting together on Sunday mornings, and we are finding time to build relationships with the lost, what‘s the third thing? That‘s why I‘m writing—and that is that we would be a part of a small group.

Small groups allow us to go deeper in fellowship than we can encounter on Sunday mornings corporately. It is a time in which we can find a greater level of encouragement, as well as a time of getting to use our spiritual gifts for edifying others! It‘s the model that we see in the early church in the book of Acts, and it‘s wonderful! Here you can really become built up to know Christ more, to love one another more, and to help one another more. In short, small groups allow for a greater depth of love, encouragement, exhortation, and discipleship with one another.

This fall, they are starting up again—new groups and new topics! Beginning in September, we will be encouraging you to examine the different groups and to begin prayerfully seeking one that is near you and that can both minister to you, as well as to afford you the opportunity to minister to others. Each group will have the goal to equip you “for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ.” (Eph. 4:12) Here we hope to help each person grow in their commitment to Christ, sharpen them to be more competent to serve Him better, and enable them to bring in their creative skills and apply them!

So what do you think? Sunday morning church, spending time with non-believers, and a small group on one evening a week. Great things still come in threes!

As you consider joining children’s choir this year, there are some changes that will be important to note. First, the age eligibility has changed slightly from previous years. Children should be between the ages of 7 and 13 on January 1, 2009. Children who are currently 6 years old but will be turning 7 by January 1, 2009 are eligible. Please note, however, that the music the choir performs is geared toward children ages 8 and up. Many 7-year-olds do a great job; some find the rehearsals and music a little daunting. Parents are always welcome to sit in on rehearsals with their children and see whether or not the choir will work for their family.

Second, there will be a small charge for the music this year. For the fall quarter, each family will be required to buy a $5 CD that you will get to keep. You may also be asked to buy a red long-sleeved t-shirt for performances, which cost $10 / shirt. If you have your shirt from last year, you will not have to buy another shirt.

Finally, rehearsals will be structured differently than last year. The entire choir will remain together during the 7:00 hour–there will be no division into Junior and Senior Choirs during that hour. The Seniors will have a separate rehearsal from 8:00 – 8:30 p.m., but there will be no special division of the Junior Choir this year. Instead, the entire choir will work together during regular rehearsal on several musicals and special concerts that we will perform together throughout the year.

For Emancipation Day, we are planning to perform a collection of spirituals. In October, we will perform a mini-musical titled “Heaven’s Kitchen”–a take-off on the many popular cooking shows of today. We are also excited to be a part of the Christmas Play. In the winter, we will be putting on another mini-musical and then a full-length musical show at the end of the school year. As usual, there will be plenty of solos and speaking roles available in all of these performances!

The Senior Choir will continue to rehearse and perform specials in the worship service in addition to being a part of all of the general performances noted above. However, since we are not splitting up the choir during the main 7:00 p.m. rehearsal time, the Seniors will now be rehearsing on Wednesdays from 8:00 – 8:30 p.m.–immediately following regular rehearsal. This additional rehearsal will allow the Seniors to work on more challenging music with additional parts. The Seniors will first be working on a special for the Emancipation Day event that they will perform in addition to the songs sung by the entire choir.

This new schedule will provide a good mix of both fun and challenging music for the entire age-range in the choir. Younger children will enjoy staying together with the older children during the main rehearsal as we all work together on more special performances than ever. Older children will get to stretch their wings with the additional challenge of Senior Choir, and children of all ages will love the musical dramas we have planned for this year! Your children won’t want to miss our kick-off on August 27!