Paul Stewart

A Haunting Question for Pastors

This question has been rolling around my mind for the past few weeks and this morning Aaron Niequist helped me articulate it. The question is this: What if our Christian worship does exactly what the world’s liturgies do, namely, create self-oriented, consumer-driven people committed to their own happiness and success? 

“If the mall and its “parachurch” extensions in television and advertising offer a daily liturgy for the formation of the heart, what might be the church’s counter-measures? What if the church unwittingly adopts the same liturgical practices as the market and the mall? Will it then really be a site of counter-formation? What would the church’s practices have to look like if they’re going to form us as the kind of people who desire something entirely different—who desire the kingdom? What would be the shape of an alternative pedagogy of desire?”- James K.A. Smith, Desiring the Kingdom

What kind of worship practices can form us into entirely new kinds of Kingdom people? What would corporate worship look like on Sunday mornings? What would discipleship look like throughout the week? What personal disciplines and spiritual practices would we encourage day-to-day? 

What is an Ordinary Christian?

Over the weekend Dr. Anthony Bradley wrote an article over at World Magazine entitled “The New Legalism” in which he asserts that the recent push to be ‘radical’ and ‘missional’ discourages ordinary people in ordinary places from doing ordinary things to the glory of God.  

“The combination of anti-suburbanism with new categories like “missional” and “radical” has positioned a generation of youth and young adults to experience an intense amount of shame for simply being ordinary Christians who desire to love God and love their neighbors (Matthew 22:36-40). In fact, missional, radical Christianity could easily be called the “new legalism.””

Bradley goes on to say:

“As a result, living out one’s faith became narrowly celebratory only when done in a unique and special way, a “missional” way. Getting married and having children early, getting a job, saving and investing, being a good citizen, loving one’s neighbor, and the like, no longer qualify as virtuous. One has to be involved in arts and social justice activities—even if justice is pursued without sound economics or social teaching.”

Today Jamie Arpin-Ricci (a missional, inner-city, church-planter) wrote a response entitled A Christianity To Difficult in which he acknowledges some of the problems that Bradley identifies, however, in light of how most Christians around the world live, has a hard time feeling too much sympathy for those who are almost entirely made up of the world’s most privileged few.

“As some of the most privileged people in the history of humanity, I worry about any attempt to ease our “burden”, especially when our privilege was and is all too often bought on the suffering of others elsewhere. We cannot address African poverty without addressing North American affluence. We cannot think that we can do small acts of justice for the suffering out of wealth and power that contributes to the very injustices we are seeking to alleviate. Living as Christ calls us requires radical- not ambitious- faithfulness. The love that Jesus calls us to is recklessly radical. But in it we will find fullness of life.  

Perhaps the biggest disagreement between these two men, and the tension that many young evangelical Christians find themselves in (including myself), is in trying to define what “being an ordinary Christian” actually looks like. We are all called to love our neighbor - but which neighborhood will that be in? We are all called to care for the poor - but should that involve selling all our earthly possessions or stewarding our resources faithfully? 

And at a deeper and much more important level, what are the underlying reasons behind the choices we make? Are our lifestyles/callings being driven by a culture of shame, guilt, and spiritual narcissim? Or are they simply being reinforced by a culture of greed and materialism? As Alan Hirsch reminds us: “All forms of activism can become legalistic in their efforts to motivate God’s people from being mere consumers of religious goods and services to being active disciples, and so we always need to be watchful.”

What do you think? What does an ordinary Christian look like for you?

Real Beauty

This is such an incredible (advertisement???). Not sure what this has to do with soap, but the message is full of truth and beauty.

The more time you spend studying your reflection in the mirror, the less self-aware you become. Concentrate less on your reflection in the mirror and more on your reflection in the people you care about.

Books for Singles

We are in a sermon series right now at Gateway entitled Marriage, Sex & Singleness. Christianity presents a revolutionary view on each of these topics. It is a view that was as controversial then as it is now. CS Lewis wrote that the Christian teaching on sex has always been the most unpopular of all the Christian virtues. 

There is no getting away from it: the old Christian rule is, “Either marriage, with complete faithfulness to your partner, or else total abstinence.” Now this is so difficult and so contrary to our instincts, that obviously either Christianity is wrong or our sexual instinct, as it now is, has gone wrong. - CS Lewis, Mere Christianity

Of course he argues the latter but today the Christian ethic of abstinence outside of marriage is considered at best laughably unrealistic, and at worst pathological and abnormal. In fact, the primary reason Christians do not have the conviction to challenge our present-day culture on these issues is that a growing number of Christians now doubt the entire Christian teaching on human sexuality. They feel it is wrong to condemn any consensual sexual behavior.

The challenge for Christians in the 21st century is not to use the same old arguments to try to persuade our culture, yet neither should Christians blindly or reflexively adjust theology just to accommodate the sexual revolution of our day.

The church needs to, first of all, reexamine the biblical teaching to see if modification or rediscovery is in order. And then, maybe even more importantly, wrestle with how we remain faithful to this most unpopular Christian virtue in the midst of the sexually saturated, individualistic, and consumer-driven culture we find ourselves in.

Additionally the church must do a much better job of understanding, resourcing, and supporting those who whether by choice or by circumstance, for a season or for life, find themselves called to singleness. Here are a few books that would be a great place to start (HT: Anna Broadway)

Sexuality and Holy Longing: Embracing Intimacy in a Broken World
Lisa Graham McMinn (Jossey-Bass)

McMinn provides a helpful framework for single-Christian sexuality that reckons equally with the reality of embodiment, the Bible, and our cultural moment. She's especially insightful on subtler dynamics, such as the ways women compete for men's attention.

How to Avoid Falling in Love with a Jerk: The Foolproof Way to Follow Your Heart without Losing Your Mind
John Van Epp (McGraw-Hill)

Singleness often means keeping one eye open for romantic prospects. But the American church has provided much conflicting and confusing advice on the search for love. Counselor and Christian Van Epp has the best advice I've read on finding a partner.

Passion and Purity: Learning to Bring Your Love Life under Christ's Control
Elisabeth Elliot (Revell)

Some books on singleness and chastity downplay the strength of desire one may face, but Elliot grapples candidly and boldly with both her sexual and romantic longings and the God she loves. Rightfully a classic.

Hinds' Feet on High Places
Hannah Hurnard (Wilder Publications)

Though not a traditional "singleness" book, anyone struggling through a protracted and unwanted romantic dry spell may draw strength from this memorable allgory about the painful but worthwhile journey of following Jesus. This encouraged me to trust him more deeply.

---

Additionally, Washed and Waiting by Wesley Hill is a must read to understand a homosexual Christian's understanding of this issue.

Washed and Waiting: Reflections on Christian Faithfulness and Homosexuality
Wesley Hill 

Part memoir, part pastoral-theological reflection, this book wrestles with many areas of struggle that many gay Christians face: What is God's will for sexuality? If the historic Christian tradition is right and same-sex behavior is ruled out, how should gay Christians deal with their resulting loneliness? Author Wesley Hill is not advocating that it is possible for every gay Christian to become straight, nor is he saying that God affirms homosexuality. Instead, Hill comes alongside other gay Christians and says, 'You are not alone. Here is my experience; it's like yours. And God is with us. We can share in God's grace.'

Resurrection: You Have To See This!

For the most part, the early Christians did not engage in public preaching. It was too dangerous. 

There were no mega-church, celebrity pastors. In fact, there are only a handful of evangelists or missionaries whose names we even know (Paul, Apollos, Timothy...)

They weren’t extremely seeker-sensitive either. After Nero’s persecution in the mid-first century, the churches in the Roman Empire closed their worship services to visitors. Deacons stood at the churches’ doors, serving as bouncers, checking to see that no unbaptized person, no “lying informer,” could come in 

… And yet the church was growing.

Officially it was a superstition.
Prominent people scorned it.
Neighbors discriminated against the Christians in countless ways.
Periodically the church was subjected to violent riots.
It was extremely hard to be a Christian.

… And still the church grew.

Why?

Because people were fascinated by it. 
They were drawn to it as to a magnet.

Their concern for the weak and the poor.
Their integrity in the face of persecution.
Their economic sharing.
Their sacrificial love even for their enemies.
And the high quality of their common life together — attracted nonbelievers to the gospel.

Once nonbelievers were attracted to the community by the lives of Christians, they became open to talking about the gospel truths that were the source of this kind of life.

The order here, I think, is crucial. 

All of the great preaching in Acts comes in response to a question. Something has happened which makes people aware of a new reality and they wonder “What is this new reality?” 

The communication of the gospel is the answering of that question.

When Jesus sent out his twelve disciples in Luke 12 he gave them a mandate to heal the sick, drive out demons, and proclaim the kingdom of God.

In other words, their preaching is an explanation of the healings.

We are called to do both.

On the one hand, healings, as marvelous as they are, do not explain themselves. They could be misinterpreted. On the other hand, the preaching is meaningless without the healings.

Preaching is an explanation of what is happening, but if nothing is happening, no explanation is required and our words are empty.

We are called to bear witness with both words and actions.

On the first Easter Jesus Christ raised from the dead says go and bear witness.
Proclaim the gospel to every creature.
Tell them the kingdom of God is near.
Tell them the Scriptures have been fulfilled;
Sin and death have been defeated;
The evil one has been overcome.
Tell them Christ has died, Christ has risen, and Christ will come again!

Notice, Jesus is calling us to proclaim an objective, history changing event. If he was just a prophet then the message of Jesus Christ would just be advice. If he was just a teacher then his message would just be an interesting or inspiring way to live.

But if Jesus Christ is who he says he is, 
if he is really the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, 
Son of God crucified, buried, and risen victorious from the dead,
then his birth, his gospel, is a history changing, momentous event.
and nothing can ever be the same again. 

You have to respond to it.
That is the point of our message!

Jesus’s messengers, his people, his church are supposed to proclaim that Jesus Christ is the King AND to display to a watching world His kingdom coming near.

The resurrection announces that God has not given up on the world.
God is redeeming and restoring and renewing.
This is an objective thing that is happening.
The situation has changed.
and if you reject this then history will pass you by.

This is the beautiful, mysterious, and even scandalous message we are called to announce this Easter and this is a message you have to see to believe.

The Book of Job and the Problem of Evil

The problem of evil is if God is all good and God is all powerful, why is the world full of evil? Why is their pain and suffering in a world created and ruled by a loving and good God? No single theological problem has occupied more intellectual energy, time, and ink than this one.

moralism and cynicism

When suffering hits there are two basic ways that people respond. The more religious person says “Why is God punishing me? What am I doing wrong? Maybe I should have prayed more. Maybe if I just had a little more faith.”

This response is essentially moralism. In order to avoid suffering I must be more diligent, more holy, more worthy of God’s protection.

The other approach to suffering is not moralism, but cynicism. Whereas religious people tend to see suffering as a punishment from God, secular people tend to see suffering as proof that there is no God. Or if there is a God he is either incompetent or indifferent.

Moralism is based on the idea that God is actively causing all pain and suffering in the world as a part of his purposes and his glory. Cynicism is based on the idea that nobody is in charge. Life is random. It is all a matter of chance. There is no one good and powerful God in charge.

The book of Job was written to tell us that both of those approaches are absolutely wrong.

the book of Job

There is no book of the Bible (no piece of literature) that addresses the question of suffering with the intellectual and philosophical integrity and with the emotional and dramatic realism as the book of Job.

The book of Job is an epic poem. It consists of, first of all, a dialogue between God and Satan, then a long dialogue between Job and his friends and then a climactic dialogue between God and Job. 

In the prologue, Satan (the adversary) randomly appears at a heavenly council meeting with a challenge - “Does Job fear God for nothing?”. Satan’s charge against God is that he is running a Machiavellian universe. God is a manipulative deity who only blesses those who worship Him and who withholds blessings from those who don’t.

Are human beings really free? Is there such a thing as free will?

The charge in the prologue is a literary device and, in the context of this epic poem, can only be answered one way. If God were to destroy Satan, it would prove Satan’s point. If God simply dismisses Satan, it would prove Satan’s point. The only way the challenge can be answered is for it to be put to the test - and that’s where Job comes in.

The central point of the prologue is that arbitrary things happen behind the scenes that affect us, about which we know nothing. There was a random event that happened in the heavenly realms, and Job gets caught up in the middle of this, and all that he goes through is a result of this. Job never learns about this and that is part of the essential point of the book.

Throughout the book Job’s friends take a moralistic approach to Job’s suffering. They believe God is behind everything that is happening to Job and he has a reason for bringing on all of the afflictions he is bringing. Job takes on an increasingly cynical approach. He still believes God is behind everything that is happening to him, but he has no reason for it. It is all arbitrary and God is indifferent to it. 

But when God shows up He gives us an alternative to both of these. It goes beyond both moralism and cynicism. God says two things that, on the surface, don’t seem to make much sense. First, God talks about the unfathomable vastness and complexity of creation - “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?  Tell me, if you understand.” Then God talks about forces of evil within the universe (Behemoth and Leviathon) as a way of portraying that there is a whole lot going on in the universe that we don’t know about.

The point of the book of Job is that the mystery of evil is a mystery about the unfathomably complex, war-torn creation. It is not a mystery, first and foremost about God but a mystery about creation. A creation that has been seized by war.

free will

Every aspect of creation that does not reflect God’s loving character ultimately comes from some will other than God.

God gave humans and angels free will so that we could truly worship and love Him, but what we do with this free will is up to us. If I genuinely have free will, than I can choose to align myself with God’s will or go against it. God has the power to stop me – but if he always prevented free wills from doing the evil they are capable of than he has not really given us free will and therefore genuine love is impossible.

We are all free to make decisions and these decisions have ripple effects on the rest of creation. Today we are experiencing the sum total of the ripple effects of every decision made in humanity. 

Adam went one way and we’re still under the ripple effects. Lucifer went one way and we’re still under the ripple effects. Your parents went one way we’re still under the ripple effects.

The world is interdependent. Everything affects everything else. So the mystery of evil has to do with all of the free decisions of both human and angelic beings. 

You are free. You are responsible. Your choices matter. And yet...

God’s sovereignty 

Paul says in Romans 8v28-39 we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose

Every single thing that happens as a result of those choices, God is working out for our good. It’s not that God foresees everything you are going to do. But what you do, the ripples you make, God works together into the plan He wants and the course He wants history to take.

Even though God does not cause all things, He can work in and through all things, and He is able to bring good out of it. He is infinitely intelligent. He has prepared a response.

On the one hand your choices belong to you. They are yours. You are free and you are responsible. And yet, in the end, the result will be exactly what God wants.

God is fixing everything, all of creation, into the way He wants it to be. But He doesn’t do that despite our choices, but through them. Our choices become a part of his plan. 

risk vs. reward 

Why did God give us free will? Why take the risk? Why, when we screwed up in the Garden and walked away from Him did he not just end it all?

The answer is simple. Love. 

At the center of the universe is an all-powerful, all-good, all-knowing, God who is head over heals in love with you.

And so despite all of our choices and despite all of the opposition and despite all of the havoc we have wreaked upon His creation God is determined to restore us. He is determined to love us.

Not Yet: Lent 2013

Tomorrow Christians around the world will enter into the season of Lent - the forty days (minus Sundays) leading up to Easter. It climaxes with Jesus being placed in the dark tomb and rising again to launch God’s worldwide project of making the world the right. 

Lent is a season of preparation and anticipation. It is a time to reflect on the brokeness of our world and a time to repent for the brokenness in our lives. It is also a time to look ahead to the day when all things will be made new.

At Gateway we are starting a new sermon series wrestling with this "already-but-not-yet" nature of the Kingdom of God. Specifically we will be exploring the concept of spiritual warfare.

Our world is engaged in a cosmic war. A struggle between things both seen and unseen. But while Scripture clearly articulates war between good and evil, it also clearly articulates God’s sovereignty. The battle that is currently raging is not everlasting. In fact, the victory has already been won in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. But the demise of evil has not yet been fully realized.

Christians have been called and empowered to engage in this battle. To wage spiritual warfare against evil through prayer, evangelism, and social action.

In order to help people make the most of this season we have created a Lenten Experience Guide. This guide will provide daily invitations to read, pray, meditate, and engage in a particular activity to help you let go of your normal routine and truly engage this season with your heart. For more information visit thegatewaychurch.com/lent

Craving Change

The reason most habits are so powerful is they create neurological cravings. Most of the time these cravings develop so slowly we don’t even realize they exist, so we’re blind to their influence on our lives. But as we begin to associate certain cues (the smell of cookies) with certain rewards (sugar rush) a subconscious craving emerges in our brains and starts the habit loop spinning.

Cravings are what drive habits.

Advertisers understand this better than anyone. In order to sell toothpaste, deodorant, or Febreze advertizers work hard to create cravings in our lives. Cinnabon executives work hard to locate their stores in malls far away from food courts because want the smell of cinnamon rolls to waft down the hallways uninterrupted, so shoppers start to subconsciously crave a cinnamon roll. By the time you turn the corner and see the store you are already reaching for your wallet.

To change a habit, we have to uncover the craving that is driving the behavior.

Genuine change requires work and self-understanding of the cravings driving the behaviors. Changing any habit, of course, requires determination. You must find ways to replace self-destructive routines with healthier alternatives. But the most important step to changing a habit is to address the craving that is driving it.

The Greek word epithumiai is very common in the New Testament. The word literally means “inordinate desires” or “craving”. When Paul sums up the fall of humanity into sin, he does so by describing epithumiai.

In the beginning, human beings were made to (1) worship and serve God, and then (2) to rule over all created things in God’s name (Gen.1:26–28). Instead, we fell into sin. We refused to give God glory (i.e., to make him the most important thing) and instead chose certain parts of creation to glorify in his place: “[They] exchanged the glory of the immortal God…and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator... For this reason, God handed them over to the epithumiai of their own heart for impurity” (Rom.1:23–25).

We reversed the originally intended order. Human beings came to (1) worship and serve created things, and therefore (2) the created things came to rule over them. Every habit, every sin, is rooted in the epithumiai, the inordinate desire for something.

Why do we lie, or fail to love, or break our promises, or live selfishly? The New Testament teaches that it is because there is something besides Jesus Christ that we feel we must have to be happy, something that is more important to our heart than God, something that is enslaving our heart through inordinate desires. 

The key to change is to identify the idols of the heart.
The key to changing a habit is to identify the epithumiai that is driving the behavior. 

Because we placed ourselves and created things where only God deserves to be - we became slaves to our own cravings. But the gospel - shows us that Jesus placed himself where we deserve to be - so that when we receive Him we can become free from our cravings. 

Because Christ died for us, rose for us, and will return again for us the moment we believe in him, trust in him, rest in him, we have new life and we can begin to flourish!

You cannot eradicate a bad habit. You have replace it with a new one.
You cannot eradicate a craving. You have to realign it in a new direction.

Only if the main engine of your life is the sweetness of God’s grace will your character, your behaviour, your thoughts, emotions and relationships begin to flourish!

“It is seldom that any of our bad habits or flaws are made to disappear by a mere process of natural extinction or by the mere force of mental determination. But what cannot be thus destroyed may be dispossessed. The heart’s desire for having some one object or other, this is unconquerable… The only way to dispossess the heart of an old affection is by the expulsive power of a new one.” - Thomas Chalmers

A Flourishing Life

John 10v10
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

Inside your soul there is a battle. A battle between life and death. A battle between abundance and scarcity. A battle between a flourishing self - the person you were created to be - and a languishing self.

God made you to flourish
The enemy wants you to languish 

When you flourish you are most fully alive. You have a purpose for living. You are drawn to put on virtue and put off sin. But when you are languishing, you feel uneasy and discontent. You find yourself drawn to bad habits - watching too much TV, drinking too much, misusing sex, or spending too much - because these things are anesthetizing the pain.

When you flourish your thoughts are marked with joy and peace. You are curious and love to learn. You ask questions. You are not easily bored. You wake up with a sense of expectancy and purpose. But when you languish your thoughts drift toward fear or anger. Learning does not feel worth the effort. Your thoughts are dominated by yourself - do people like me? will I have enough? The only reason I feel this way is because of him!

When you flourish you pour blessings into your relationships. You find other people to be a source of wonder. They bring you energy and life. When you are with them, you are able to listen deeply. You are struck by their dreams. You bless. You share. You forgive. You love. But when you languish you isolate. You dominate. You attack. You withdraw.

When you flourish God can use you in his plan to redeem the world. You live with a sense of calling and a desire to contribute. You invest your time. Your money. Your talents into His world. You become resilient in suffering. You get better. You grow.

Is your life flourishing?

The Power of Habit

On Sunday we began a new series at Gateway based on some of the research in the book The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. The book insists, I think correctly, that while most of the choices we make each day feel like the products of well-considered decision making, they are not. They are based on habits.

The choices you made already this morning - the decision to start the day with coffee or orange juice; with a jog or a prayer or the morning newspaper; to brush your teeth, take a shower, or use deodorant; the route you took to work this morning; whether or not you listened to music in the car; or wore your seat belt - all of these were most likely not conscious choices - but based on habits.

Habits are the choices that all of us deliberately make at some point, and then stop thinking about but continue doing, often every day. 

Habits (especially bad habits) emerge without permission. Studies show that most families usually don’t intend to eat fast food on a regular basis, but after a few busy days and hungry mouths to feed a once conscious decision becomes the routine.

You bite your nails when you are nervous.
buy a new pair of shoes when you need a pick-me-up.
turn on the TV when you walk in the door.
have a drink to relax.
smoke a cigarette to calm your nerves.

Before long we stop thinking about these choices. They become the routine of our lives. And these patterns are very hard to change.

Habits aren’t destiny.
Life doesn’t always have to be this way.
These patterns can change.
You can change.

But a habit can not be eradicated, it must be replaced. Unless you deliberately fight a habit - unless you find new routines - the pattern will unfold automatically.

This is why the apostle Paul tells us "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." - Romans 12v2

Our habits, patterns, and routines have been formed in a world away from God and the key to renewing our minds, our hearts, our relationships and our world is by cooperating with the Holy Spirit in developing new habits to bring our lives into harmony with the kingdom of God.

It is your habits - the choices you make either consciously or subconsciously every day - that determine the outcome of your life.

Who you become.
The impact you have.
The mark you leave on this world.
Will be determined by the habits of your life.

It is the habits of your life that determine whether you will be person who flourishes or a person who languishes.

You can follow along with the series by tuning into the Gateway podcast or by joining us on Sunday mornings. 

Gateway 2.0

Our church recently turned three years old - which isn't real significant in the vast scheme of two thousand years of church history - but a milestone for us none-the-less. For most of our short history we met in the historic Temple for Performing Arts, a beautifully restored Masonic Temple in the heart of our city. It was a tremendously unique place to gather and proved to be a wonderful space to start a church. 

But recently God has been doing a new thing. A strategic partnership with Central Campus - a regional academy of the Des Moines Public Schools - has blossomed into a beautiful relationship. We've had the opportunity to serve teachers, encourage administrators, get to know students and parents. This month our church moved into the auditorium at Central and we could not be more pleased.

Of course the two buildings could not be more different. Both are located downtown and have an historic, urban feel but the Temple is more intimate and ornate and Cental is spacious and simple. In order to really embrace the move I felt we needed a new look. To accomplish this, I worked with the creative geniuses at oneonecreatives.com. They helped us design everything from the ground up - new colors and fonts, bulletins and offering envelopes, directional signs and banners, the weekly e-newsletter and website - everything was given a new look, while staying true to our established brand.

The end result is nothing short of remarkable. I can not say enough about the talent, the creativity, the passion and the dedication of Bobby and Allie and the staff at OneOneCreatives. If you are in need of some graphic design, definitely check them out!

Everything You Need to Know about our Big Move

Our own Jeremy Harder provides a guided tour of Gateway's new meeting space at Central Campus. 

The Big Move

Yesterday we made a big announcement that The Gateway Church will be moving locations this fall. 

Since its inception, the dream of Gateway has been to create a life-giving church centered in and committed to the city of Des Moines. We began meeting in a living room in March, 2009. We were a small, ragtag community asking God to stir us in word and deed with his love for Des Moines. We started by loving our city in whatever simple, strange, street-level ways his Spirit would lead us to imagine.

When the church grew, we asked that Jesus would position us in the heart of the city, where the call to love Des Moines would be a daily opportunity. The Lord answered our prayers and for nearly three years, we’ve existed in the Temple for Performing Arts. Meanwhile, we have never stopped praying ‘Lead us to the heart of the city, Lord’ and I believe he has spoken once again. 

On September 30, The Gateway Church will begin meeting Sundays at 10am in the auditorium at Central Campus on 1800 Grand Avenue. Central Campus is a regional academy of the Des Moines Public Schools providing unique learning opportunities to students around our city.  

We envision this new facility will help us to even more effectively exhibit, proclaim, and live out the gospel in the heart of Des Moines by providing a number of key benefits:

• Location - we will remain a church centered in and committed to Des Moines
• Affordability - more resources available for ministry
• Space - room to grow into who we want to be and where we want to go as a church 
• Availability - more opportunities for ministry throughout the week
• Relationship - opportunities to build upon existing partnership with Central Campus
• Safety - safe and secure space to disciple and reach out to children and students
• Values - mission of the school aligns well with the values of our church

We believe that worshipping in this unique school rooted in the center of Des Moines will give our community the chance to be even more present within our city in the love, service, and proclamation of Christ. 

We expect that even as God is moving us physically, He will also be moving among us in new and unexpected ways. With this new facility we are free to dream in new ways. Artists will have the freedom to reimagine our Sunday worship space. Youth leaders will have the chance to reach out to students. There will be more opportunities to offer classes for our community, after school sports leagues, and much more.

Our prayer is that through the power of the Holy Spirit we will move forward with remarkable boldness and a deep sense of unity to make an even greater impact on our city this Fall.

The New Rebel

"The new rebel is a skeptic, and will not entirely trust anything. He has no loyalty; therefore he can never be really a revolutionist. And the fact that he doubts everything really gets in his way when he wants to denounce anything. For all denunciation implies a moral doctrine of some kind; and the modern revolutionist doubts not only the institution he denounces, but the doctrine by which he denounces it.

As a politician, he will cry out that war is a waste of life, and then, as a philosopher, that all life is waste of time.

A Russian pessimist will denounce a policeman for killing a peasant, and then prove by the highest philosophical principles that the peasant ought to have killed himself.

The man of this school goes first to a political meeting, where he complains that savages are treated as if they were beasts; then he takes his hat and umbrella and goes on to a scientific meeting, where he proves that they practically are beasts.

In short, the modern revolutionist, being an infinite skeptic, is always engaged in undermining his own mines. In his book on politics he attacks men for trampling on morality; in his book on ethics he attacks morality for trampling on men. Therefore the modern man in revolt has become practically useless for all purposes of revolt. By rebelling against everything he has lost his right to rebel against anything."

- GK Chesterton, Orthodoxy

The Power of Pentecost

This season at Gateway we’ve been in a series through the book of Acts entitled Pentecost. Pentecost commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the twelve apostles and other followers of Jesus described in the Acts 2. 

Pentecost is the birthday of the Church and the book of Acts is the story of the transfer of the Holy Spirit from Jesus to the disciples.

When Jesus was preparing to ascend to heaven he doesn’t give his followers a bulleted list of instructions. Instead, he tells them that he will be with them and through the power of his Spirit they will continue to do and teach the things that He began to do and teach.

Jesus Christ ascended to heaven and sent the Holy Spirit to continue his movement of reconciliation, healing and restoration on earth. What Jesus began, his successors will now continue. 

Which we know, as a matter of historical record, is exactly what happened. This group of disparate individuals, from a variety of economic and social and racial backgrounds came together (Acts 2v44) and - despite having virtually no political, cultural or economic power - turned the Roman empire upside down. 

How?

Jesus says, you need to be baptized in the Holy Spirit in order to receive the power necessary to be my witnesses (Acts 1v8). So is the Spirit’s job to give us power? No. At least not primarily. 

We know from John 16 that the primary role of the Holy Spirit is to illuminate the work of Jesus Christ. And Paul says in Romans 1v17 ‘I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God unto salvation.’

In other words, the truth of Jesus Christ does not bring power. It does not result in power. It does not lead to power. It is the power. 

The baptism of the Holy Spirit is when you experience the truth of the gospel to such a degree that you’re whole heart and mind and body are filled with it. 

You don’t just know the gospel, you experience it. The Holy Spirit makes Jesus real, not just an abstraction. His words are real to you. His love envelops you. His truth - who he says you are, what he says matters - is so much more important to you than anything else anyone has told you.

God’s grace and love and power are so real that you begin to act on the basis of them. And when the Holy Spirit does that for a whole group of people it changes everything.

Tim Keller tells a story about a major revival that occurred in Northern Ireland back in 1859. One of the things that happened was that the majority of the prostitutes got converted. A Newspaper reporter found out about this and began to investigate. He sat down with one of the prostitutes and said, “Why are all of you coming to church?”

She said, for one thing business completely dropped off during the revival. But secondly, for the first time in our lives people on the street are treating us with kindness and with respect. 

Do you realize what is going on there?

These prostitutes were being exploited. The irreligious people were giving those girls business, so they were exploiting them. But the religious people were treating them with contempt and spitting on them - just to make themselves feel superior - so they were exploiting them too! 

There are a lot of people in our country that are saying what our society needs to today is a return to traditional values. But do you think if you had just made the religious people stronger, more religious, more conservative that would have gotten those girls out of their bondage?

NO! Truth without power means more spitting.

What changed those girls lives was not that people got more religious, but that they received the power of the gospel. The Holy Spirit made Jesus real to them.  

The irreligious people didn’t have God’s truth (law) that is why they went to them. But the religious people didn’t have God’s love, that is why they felt superior to them. But when they all became sinners, saved by grace - when they experienced the truth and the power of the gospel - it changed the world.