1. Staying on Track In a Messed up World
28 He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. 29 To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.
Paul’s goal! For himself
How does it apply to us?
“for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ”

2. 4 + 7 x 2 – 5 / 1 + 7 = My Dear Aunt Sally
A simple process
But
One small mistake
Miss Kristie was right
“for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ”

3. 4 + 7 x 2 – 5 / 1 + 7 = 4 + 14 – 5 + 7 = 20 My Dear Aunt Sally
A simple process
But
One small mistake
Miss Kristie was right
“for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ”

4. Genesis 3
3 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened
Did God really say – notice Satan does not use the Lord God
Satan’s goals
Deceive
Deny
Doubts
Not disobedience!
He used distortions of the truth
Erroneously stating God’s command
His first attack was to create doubts about the goodness of God
He distorts the Word of God
Eve then distorts God’s word
Second attack – a denial of God’s word and slander of his character
Dogmatic –
Offered a different version of what God said
This questioned God’s trustworthiness and character
God had showed Adam and Eve what reality was at that time – his viewpoint
Satan said they could do it better
Their viewpoint was just as valid
- the real issue – self determination
Third attack – you will be like God
Higher level of consciousness
Higher level of existence
Knowledge is power
“for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ”

5. Off Track Today Progressive Christianity
We take the Bible too seriously, to read it all literally.
We don’t consider the Bible to be infallible or inerrant.
We seek to apply full attention to Scripture, Tradition, Reason, and Experience
We follow Jesus’ example in being willing to reject certain passages & theologies in the Bible and to affirm other ones.
“for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ”

6. Second Oldest Religion
New Age
Roots go back to the Garden
Monism
All is God
There is a change in consciousness
Cosmic evolutionary optimism
Create their own reality
Monism - Monism is the belief that all is one, that everything is interrelated, interdependent, and interpenetrating. It promotes the hideous idea that humanity, nature, and God are not separate from each other, but are one.
All is God -  If all is one, including God, then one must conclude that all is God.
There is a change in consciousness - If we are God, we need to know we are God. We must become cosmically conscious, enlightened, or attuned to the cosmic consciousness. 
cosmic evolutionary optimism - There will be a new world order, a new world government. New Age thinkers believe that there will eventually be a progressive unification of world consciousness.
create their own reality - They believe they can create reality by what they believe, and, by changing what they believe, they can change reality. All moral boundaries have been erased. There are no absolutes because there is no distinction between good and evil. Nothing has reality until one says that it is reality or says that it is truth.
What is this really – Satan worship - the second oldest religion in the world
I believe all other religions other than Judeao/Christian are satanic in nature
Satanic – you have to preform
You are never good enough
You never do enough
You never give enough
Christ centered relationship
God has reached down to you
You just have to reach up and take his hand
“for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ”

7. “for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ”

8. A Heart for Others
I want you to know how hard I am contending for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. 2 My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 
Paul uses the word Mystery 21 times in his epistles
The Mystery
is the consummation of God’s plan in bringing His kingdom in Christ to fulfillment
The kingdom had long been prophesied, but the how and the when and the by whom was not clear until the time of Christ
Christ is the “mystery” revealed to those who believe
The key to having the “full riches of complete understanding” is to be born again by the power of the Holy Spirit.
 “The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God”
“Jesus appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory”
In its fullest sense, the “mystery of God” is God’s plan of salvation through Jesus.
“for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ”

9. Stand Firm
4 I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. 5 For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how disciplined you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.
Some Fine – Sounding arguments today
The Emergent Church
Has placed a value and virtue in the uncertainty of Scripture
We are not supposed to understand what the Bible means
We are more spiritual – because we know we do not know
Truth is subjective
No absolutes
Truth is fashioned by culture
These are some of the chains that we either hang onto or get placed on us
Dos and don'ts
Our past
Preforming for our acceptance
“for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ”

10. Run the Race
6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
“for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ”

11. Be on Guard
8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.
Is this liberalism in the church?
True religion is not based on external authority
Christianity is a movement of social reconstruction
Christianity must be credible and relevant
Truth can be known only through changing symbols and forms
Theological controversy is about language, not about truth
Historical accuracies of biblical facts and events are not crucial, so long as we meet Jesus in the pages of scripture
True religion is the way of Christ, not any particular doctrine about Christ
“for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ”

12. We are Transformed
9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. 11 In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.
“for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ”

13. Our Chains are Gone
13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
“for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ”

14. Freedom in Christ
16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.
“for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ”

15. Test the Spirit
18 Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind. 19 They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.
Muhammed – in 610 was visited by Jibreel
Joseph Smith – saw vision at age 14
“for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ”

16. Remember We have Won
20 Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: 21 “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”?
the elemental spiritual forces – human thinking and the ways of this world
Human centered efforts to be ok
Who is behind this? - Satan
Asceticism describes a life-style characterized by voluntary abstinence from various sorts of worldly pleasures
spiritual and religious goals are impeded by indulgence in pleasures of the flesh,
“for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ”

17. Focus on the Prize
22 These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. 23 Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.
“for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ”

18. Problems then and Now
Ceremonialism. It held to strict rules about the kinds of permissible food and drink, religious festivals
Asceticism. “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”
Angel worship. We do not worship them
Depreciation of Christ. This is implied in Paul’s emphasis on the supremacy of Christ
Secret knowledge. The Gnostics boasted of this and Paul’s emphasis in on Christ, “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom”.
Reliance on human wisdom and tradition. 
“for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ”