Words from Wags

If you have been around me for very long, you know that I am CLEAR on the issue that next to God’s word and His Spirit, there is nothing as present a means of His grace in our lives as authentic fellowship with other believers. This is such a central issue to the Christian life that from the beginning we at Watermark have made connection to other believers non-negotiable for members of our larger faith community. Periodically, we have to remind brothers and sisters of this fact. Below is a copy of the letter (and the reason) we send to individuals who are not in accountable relationships with others at Watermark as well as some links to further resources on the community topic.

If you are a member of Watermark and need help connecting with others this way….contact Dana Douthit at ddouthit@watermark.org.

Meanwhile….Read it through, pass it on and live it out!

Dear XXXXXXX,

Thank you for completing your 2011 4B and for your desire to stay connected with us at Watermark. We are writing to let you know that our records indicate that you are currently not in a community group. We realize that our records could be wrong or there could be a misunderstanding about what we define as a Watermark community group. A Watermark community group consists of yourself and a minimum of at least two others, with at least one being a member of Watermark. Because the nature of this letter is about your membership and community, we want to let you know why this is so important to us.

As your church leaders, our Elders are continually challenged by Hebrews 13:17 “Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.”

The privilege and trust given to us to lead His flock is one we take very seriously (Acts 20:28). All members (elders and staff included) have chosen to make the body of Christ at Watermark the place where we find community, accountability and encouragement. The first line of care always comes from other members closest and committed to you. Watermark has a direct touch with every member through the almost 1000 community group leaders we regularly meet with, train, encourage and serve. Each leader provides constant care and attention for everyone in his or her group. If someone is struggling or needs assistance beyond the group’s ability, every leader has direct access to a staff member who has access to every spiritual and physical resource in the church. In this way, every active member of Watermark has accountability that tracks throughout the church, directly to the elders.

This is consistent with the model provided for us in scripture (Exodus 18) and because of its importance, we supply significant resources and staff to assist our body so they can pursue and prosper in these life-giving relationships.

We have seen again and again that the single most important step a person can take for radical life transformation is to be committed to authentic, biblical community. The commitment to biblical community that is shepherded by trained and accountable leadership produces growth. That growth pushes you towards a deeper understanding and desire to be transformed in the image of Christ.

Because we believe firmly in the importance of the biblical call for God’s people to live in community, after six months we make members inactive who are not in a group of three or more people (with at least one other person being a Watermark member). As your church leadership, we would not be loving or leading you well if we allow individuals who remain isolated from relationships with other members of our body to believe that they are being cared for and shepherded as Christ intends.

Please let us know if you believe we have not served you well in your effort to connect, you need help connecting or if you have chosen to find God’s provision for community at another church. If we do not hear from you on where you are in the process of finding a community group or how we can help care for you, we will not be able to take responsibility of your care before Christ. Therefore we will move you to “inactive” as a member. We understand that it takes time to find a group, but we also want to be faithful shepherds of our members and call you to all that scripture calls you to. If there are any extenuating circumstances that we need to be aware of please let us know.

Right now, we would like to know if you:
1.) Have found a community group and we don’t have that accurately reflected in our records
2.) Would like to share with us how you are living in obedience to scripture related to this area
3.) Plan on attending group link or have a personal strategy in place to find community
4.) Do not wish to join a community group at this time.

We look forward to serving you and hearing from you soon, and are praying that you would avail yourself to all that Christ intends. For some great reminders on the importance of community and the heart behind this communication, please see:

THIS IS THE LIFE Part 1
THIS IS THE LIFE Part 2
Connected to Others
Gifts I’d give my children 2007

Four fools on a stool Part 1
Four fools on a stool Part 2

Hebrews 3:13,

The Community Team

Bolded Red is me…GREAT stuff. Best article I have read in years. Read it-learn it-recite its truth to others.  Concise, compelling and TRUE.
Let’s get busy teaching the Word and why it matters to our friends.

Does the Bible Matter In the 21st Century?

By Vishal Mangalwadi

Published April 13, 2011

FoxNews.com AP

In his quest to change oppressive regimes in Afghanistan, President George W. Bush “Everyone desires freedom.” True. Everyone also desires a happy marriage can everyone therefore have one?

Afghanistan, Iraq, Ivory Coast ought to teach secular ideologues that freedom does not flow from the barrel of a gun. Nor does it flourish in every culture.

Why do most American presidents place a hand on the Bible to take the oath of office? Secular education has made that a meaningless tradition, but the tradition exists because the Bible is the secret of America’s freedom. Forget the Bible and America will go the way of the first Protestant nation – Nazi Germany.

Plato saw Greek democracy first hand and condemned it as the worst of all political systems. That’s why the spread of the Greek culture, called “Hellenization,” did not stir a struggle for democracy. In AD 798, the English scholar Alcuin summed up the then European wisdom to Emperor Charlemagne: “And those people should not be listened to who keep saying the voice of the people is the voice of God, since the riotousness of the crowd is always very close to madness.” Indeed, the voice of a corrupt people is often the devil’s voice.

The cancer at the heart of America’s political economy is cultural. This great nation was built by an ethic – a spirituality that taught citizens to work, earn, save, invest, and use their wealth to serve their neighbors. This biblical ethic has been replaced by secularism’s entitlement culture that teaches people that they have a right to this, that and the other without corresponding obligations to work, save, and serve. This new culture forces the state to take from productive citizens or borrow from other nations and spend it on man-made rights. This corruption of character is destroying the world’s greatest economy, but can democracy allow leaders to go against the voters’ voice?

The people’s voice began to be honored as God’s voice only because the sixteenth century biblical Reformation began saturating the hearts and minds of the people with the Word of God. Those who prayed, “Your kingdom come, your will be done in Scotland (or England, or Holland)” found the grace to free themselves from the tyranny of men. Not just Islamic, but every culture that rejects the kingdom of God condemns itself to be ruled exclusively by sinful men.

Almost everyone desires a happy marriage, but without the Bible, America cannot even define, let alone sustain marriage as one man–one woman, exclusive, and life-long relationship. The West became great because biblical monogamy harnessed sexual energy to build strong families, women, children, and men. 

Human history knows no force other than the Bible that has the capacity to dam sexual energy to build powerful families and nations. Indeed, no non-biblical culture has ever been able to require husbands to “love your wives” and give them the spiritual resources to do so.

Vishal Mangalwadi is the author of “The Book That Made Your World: How the Bible Created the Soul of Western Civilization.” (Thomas Nelson)

Let me close with a great little riff by Tozer. 
 
“Your calling,” said Meister Eckhart to the clergy of his day, “cannot make you holy; but you can make it holy. No matter how humble that calling may be, a holy man can make it a holy calling. A call to the ministry is not a call to be holy, as if the fact of his being a minister would sanctify a man; rather, the ministry is a calling for a holy man who has been made holy some other way than by the work he does. The true order is: God makes a man holy by blood and fire and sharp discipline. Then he calls the man to some special work, and the man being holy makes that work holy in turn….”
 
Every person should see to it that he is fully cleansed from all sin, entirely surrendered to the whole will of God and filled with the Holy Spirit. Then he will not be known as what he does, but as what he is. He will be a man of God first and anything else second. We Travel an Appointed Way, 59-60.

9.         I never went to DTS full-time…it would not have been right for ME.  However, I was grateful for what I learned from every class I was able to take/audit/listen in on,  and I continue to learn from resources that many guys down there have written and made available.  Scholars make learning possible for men like me.  I remember John Hannah, Distinguished Professor of Historical Theology, telling me, “Don’t do what I did. I have committed my life to study things and synthesize them for you so you don’t have to.”  I am unspeakably indebted to scholars who allow me to glean from the harvest of their hard work.  May the Lord continue to raise up more scholars for His people and may His people be always led by shepherds who are either scholars themselves or who humble themselves continually at the feet of those who are committed to scholarship.  (1 Peter 5:5-6)

7.      I do not hire folks because they have been to or are going to any seminary.  The easiest thing to teach someone is theology and Bible.  I hire guys that have shown a history of faithfulness, teachability and passion for the King and his Kingdom.  DTS can teach theology and Bible (and they do well), but not the other stuff.  Bottom line, love God and love others…your gifts will make room for you; make sure your heart makes room for Him.