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May 22

Freedom Isn’t Free

Posted on May 22, 2014 by admin

The upcoming weekend is a very special one in the United States. It is more than a three day weekend for many people.  It is more than the Coca-Cola 600 and the Indy 500.  It is a time set aside to reflect and remember those who gave their life in defense of this country.  We owe so much to our men and women in the military, police officers, firefighters, and EMTs.  The blanket of protection you and I sleep under each day and night in this country came at the expense of one of these brave men and women.  Freedom isn’t free.

Yet there was another who paid a ransom with His life so that we might be free from the penalty of sin.  Had it not been for Jesus willingly laying down His life for the world, we would suffer a fate far greater than being enslaved by another nation.  We would suffer in the lake of fire for all of eternity.  As much gratitude as we owe our men and women in uniform, we owe Jesus so much more.  We owe Him our life, because if He didn’t lay down His life, we wouldn’t even have a life worth living.  Yet Jesus is not a tyrant demanding we pay Him.  His request is quite simple.  “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.”   “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.”  “Love others as yourself.”  His request is that we live a life surrendered to His Lordship, demonstrating our love and devotion to Him by serving one another in love.  Jesus lived out the words of John 15:13, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”  Now it is up to us not just to say that we love God, but to demonstrate it with our life.

On behalf of our church family, myself, and my family, thank you to the men and women currently serving our country as well as to those families who lost a loved one who died defending our freedom.  May we always remember, freedom isn’t free, it always cost someone else.

By His grace and through His strength may we live for Him

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May 12

What Is The End We Are Reaching For?

Posted on May 12, 2014 by admin

Recently I polled a group of people and asked them one question, what is the purpose of a church?  Not surprising, I got several different answers.  Some said it was to encourage Christians to live a proper life.  Others said that it was grow big.  Yet others said it was to evangelize the world.  Those were the most common answers.  A couple people even said it is to make disciples.  I contend however that it is none of those things.  Some of those things are how we fulfill the purpose of the church, but I do not see those as the purpose of the church.  In this post, we will examine two passages of Scripture that I believe demonstrate the purpose of the church.

The first Scripture is Isaiah 42:8, “I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.”  Specifically in the second section of this verse it says, “My glory will I not give to another.”  Certainly in the end of that verse we are reminded of the first and second commandments as found in Exodus 20:3-4.  If we look at Isaiah 42:6-7 we read, “I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.”  We can easily see that the calling, saving, sanctifying, and preservation of people is how God is glorified.  These are all works of God, and many of them are to be done by the people of God.

The second Scripture is found in 1 Corinthians 10:31, “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”  This verse clearly shows us that whatever we do, it should be done for the glory of God.  In this section Paul was talking about a Christian’s liberty and freedom in Christ.  He also in that passage lays out that although we have Christian liberty and freedom, we are not to use that freedom to harm others or hinder their faith.  Our freedoms should be exercised or restrained in a way that glorifies God and draws others to Him.

Therefore, I would submit to you that the purpose of the church as well as the Christian is to glorify God.  We must be a people that are consumed with the glory of God and displaying it to the world.  Too many times we as churches and as pastors (myself included) are concerned about the wrong things.  We are concerned with are people coming to the church, do they like me, am I effective as a minister, are we playing the right music at the right decibel level, and on and on.  But how many times have we ever asked our self at the end of a service, was God’s glory on display today and did we glorify God with our service?  God is glorified by making disciples, God is glorified by outreach, and God is glorified when we live a proper life.  But my motivation cannot be to make disciples, outreach, or live a proper life.  My motivation for what I do as a Christian and what we do as a church must be to glorify God in all we do.  And if I am consumed by the thought of bringing glory to God, then I am going to care about the things God cares about and I am going to do the things that God tells me I should do.  I use to have a certain phrase on the pulpit at Westlake, but I moved it one day and forgot where I laid it.  It is found in John 12.  Jesus has rode into Jerusalem fulfilling Zechariah’s prophecy, He is teaching in the Temple are when some Gentiles come looking for Him.  They came to Philip and said, “Sir, we would see Jesus.” If we want to glorify God, people must see Jesus living in us and working through us.

By His grace and through His strength may we live for Him

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May 08

In A Moment

Posted on May 8, 2014 by admin

For all the NFL fans out there, tonight is a special night.  The first round of the NFL draft is going to take place.  In a moment, 32 young men’s lives will forever be changed with the word, “With the __ pick in the 2014 NFL draft, ___________ selects. . .”  Can you imagine how your life would change?  That is the positive side of change.  What about the other side?  People in the Midwest and in the South had their lives changed in the blink of an eye as well.  The cause for their change was a tornado.  It is scary how fast things changed.  I just watched a video from a church in Tupelo that took a major hit from a tornado.  As I watched the video, I thought to myself this is horrible, and it seems to go on for a very long time.  However, in totality it lasted less than 30 seconds.  Just like that whether it’s having your name called and walking across a stage or a fierce storm ripping through your town, life can change so quickly.  The book of James tells us, “for what is your life, it is a vapor that appears for a short time and then vanishes away.”  In that same passage we are told “don’t say today or tomorrow I will go do this and that, for you don’t know what will happen today or tomorrow.”  Our plans are always subject to interruption by God’s plan.

Because life can change so quickly, I would encourage you to do two things.  First, make sure you are prepared for today to be your last day.  The only way that is possible is to accept God’s gift of salvation that has been provided through the blood of Jesus.  Secondly, don’t take the people in your life for granted.  Life is far too short to hold a grudge or to live with bitterness.  I realize people can and often do hurt you, but if you continue to hold on to it, you become the one hurting yourself (the other person has probably moved on).  If there is a relationship that has been broken or is on thin ice, don’t put it off any longer, find a way to mend it.  Because once the moment is passed, you can never get it back, and you are never the same.

By His grace and through His strength may we live for Him

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May 06

Choices Aren’t Always About Right and Wrong

Posted on May 6, 2014 by admin

Have you ever had to make a difficult decision in your life?  I’m sure we all have.  There are two types of decisions we all have to make in life.  Ones that deal with right and wrong.  And those that deal with better and best.  The questions that deal with right and wrong are a little easier to make as we read God’s Word.  After all Psalm 119:105 says, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”  2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is given by the inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine (what to believe), reproof (identifying what we do wrong), correction (how to correct it), and instruction in righteousness (how to live a holy life).  Therefore, it stands to reason if we consult God’s Word, we will be able to appropriately make a decision between right and wrong.  But what about the other type of decision?

I believe a decision between what is better and which is best is the most difficult choice we have to make.  After all, neither decision is wrong it is just about which is the best decision.  My family and I had one of those decisions here recently.  I am not exaggerating when I say that my wife and I wrestled with this for weeks and went back and forth.  We prayed and we talked, we prayed more and talked more, and that pattern repeated itself for weeks.  Finally, we felt as though God gave us the best answer and we are going with it. There is a biblical example of a decision between better and best.  It is found in Luke 10:38-42.  Jesus was visiting some friends, Mary and Martha.  When Jesus arrived at the house, Martha got very busy serving serving.  However, her sister Mary went and sat at the feet of Jesus.  Not surprising, Martha got a little perturbed at this and in verse 40 says, “Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone?”  It should be pointed out here that in those days, Martha did what was expected of a host.  Therefore, she wasn’t doing anything wrong (minus maybe blaming Jesus for Mary’s decision).  Jesus’ response to Martha was, “Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”  Jesus calmly responds and says “Martha, you are worried about too many things.  Your sister has chosen the best thing to do.”  In this case and in most cases which involves a decision between which is better and which is best, it was all about priorities.  What is really the most important?

Let’s apply this to church for a moment.  Do a lot of churches do a lot of good things?  Absolutely!  However, if we are honest many of those good things benefit those who regularly worship at the church rather than reaching the lost.  Should be take care of the building that God has provided for us?  Again the answer is absolutely we should.  But should it take precedence over reaching the lost with the Gospel?  The clear answer to that is no it shouldn’t.  A church and its leadership should always be evaluating what is the best way to spend what we have been entrusted with?  How can we reach more people, while at the same time taking care of what we have been blessed with.  Is it easy?  Absolutely not!  But is it necessary?  Absolutely it is.

Finally, let’s apply this to our personal lives.  Again, we must remember that this is about our priorities.  If we want to know what our priorities are, we need to look at where we spend our time, use our talents, and where does our money go?  Once our priorities are identified, we need to pray and ask God, are they the best priorities we could have?  Of course if they aren’t, then we need to make adjustments.  This isn’t always easy, but it is necessary if we are going to live a life that pleases God.  A great question to ask yourself in order to make one of these difficult decisions is this, Lord, given my current God-given priorities, which one of these options is the best?  Trust that He will give you the answer in His time, and then follow it.

By His grace and through His strength may we live for Him

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Apr 18

Moral or Gospel

Posted on April 18, 2014 by admin

There are many people who go to church or become Christians to “become better people.”  Sadly many people, non-Christian and Christian alike, that believe Christianity is can be reduced to a few simple “do’s and don’ts” (“thou shalt or thou shalt not”).  However, my question to them is this, if Christianity is all about rules, then why did Jesus have to die?  He certainly didn’t break any “rules” of Christianity (see Hebrews 4:15 that says He was without sin).  Just as dangerous as the “rules” group are those who believe that Jesus simply wants to make them a better person.  If all you do is “WWJD” through life, you will be a moral person, but not a saved person (yes there is a huge difference between being moral and being saved).  I would submit to you that those who are going to church are having a hard time learning the truth, because too many pastors and too many churches are preaching moral messages instead of Gospel messages.  So what is the difference?

A moral message says “do this little Johnny” and you will be a good person.  Do this and you will be type of person God will bless.  What we are teaching is that the kind of person God wants you to be is a good moral person and He will bless you for that.  Can I be honest, if that is all that it takes in order for God to bless me, then I’m not sure church is all that necessary.  Before, anyone tries to stone me let me explain.  I know some non-Christians who are more “moral” than many so-called Christians.  Yet God is not blessing these non-Christians, because the Bible tells us that if we are a friend to the world, then we are the enemy of God (James 4:4).  That is if we do the things that world approves us, then we are not doing the things that God approves of.  Therefore, we are not God’s friend, but rather His enemy.  If at the end of your life all you have done is been a good, moral person, heaven will not be your eternal home.  For heaven to be our eternal home, there must be a recognition of who we are fundamentally, and then a true change that can only be done in us by God.  Let’s see what that looks like.

In Ephesians 2, Paul says, “An you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience–among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”  Paul is talking to a Christian audience here.  He said you were dead in your sins (trespasses), you use to do things the world approved of, you did what you wanted to do, and you were a child of wrath just like everyone else.  Let’s pick it up in verse 3, “But (love that word because it means there is a change coming) God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ–by grace you have been saved.”  Paul just told us that while we use to do the things of verses 1-4, God showed His love to us in the fact that Jesus died in our place.  Why did God do this?  Let’s continue reading, “and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly placed in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”  In short, He did it because He loved us, it was the only way, and when He saves us, He blesses us (not for being a “good, moral” person).  So how can we go from this child of wrath, disobedient person to a saved, obedient, and blessed person?  “For by grace you have been saved through faith.  And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”  We will never become that person on our own, by our own will or desires.  We will only become that person through an act of God, reaching out to us in His love and grace, us admitting who we are and surrendering to Him.  I will close this post with a quote I saw from Mark Batterson this morning, “Jesus didn’t die on a cross to make bad people good.  He walked out of a tomb to bring dead people to life.”  Jesus said in John 11:25, “I am the resurrection and the life.  Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.”  Are you dead or alive?

By His grace and through His strength may we live for Him

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Apr 01

Great Question

Posted on April 1, 2014 by admin

We have all heard the statement before, “there is no such thing as a dumb question” or “the only dumb question is the one you don’t ask.”  I certainly agree with those statements, because it is through questions and experiences that we learn and grow.  2014 has been called “The Year of the Christian movie.”  There are currently three faith-based movies out currently (Son of God, Noah, and God Is Not Dead), and there are slated to be more released later this year.  As I was sitting down Sunday night reading a few blogs and articles on websites, I came across an interesting question.  The question was, “Is it better to have bad theology/loosely based Scripture movies or none at all” (via foxnews.com)?  I thought to myself, that is a really good question and certainly one that should be discussed in Christian circles across the country.

Let me say at the outset that I believe there are pros and cons to both sides.  (Spoiler alert) However, I believe it is more slanted to the con side.  On the one hand you at least have people making films that are conscious of making a movie that would appeal to faith-based audiences.  You also have the benefit of it being another avenue in which Scripture can be put in front of those who would not otherwise read it.  I’m sure there are other pros, but those are the two that stand out in my mind.

On the other hand, bad theology is not helpful in furthering the building up of the kingdom of God.  In the day and age when the average church-goer is passive in their faith, that is they go to church, listen to the preacher for 30-45 minutes, and seldom if ever pick up their Bible during the week.  For the average church member my fear is that they will not recognize Scriptural error when it is presented.  Therefore, based on what they have seen, they believe that the director of the movie is presenting the truth of Scripture, without ever verifying it with the Bible.  Then concerning the unsaved, by going and watching these movies, they will get preconceived notions of what the Bible teaches, and if they are presented with a conflicting view, this will breed confusion which is never helpful.  My general thought is this, if you are going to take the time and spend the money to make a Scripture film, make sure that you stick with what Scripture says, and not our own thoughts or interpretations of Scripture.  We are told in the New Testament to be careful not to be a stumblingblock to others.  Therefore, my general thought would be, if we are not going to have correct theology, then we are better off not having the movie.  I do realize that that opinion will most likely not sit well with many of my beloved brethren.  I am not trying to be controversial or antagonistic.  I believe that the Bible calls us to present the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.  We must resist the temptation to water down the truth of the Bible in order to make it appeal more to the unsaved.  A watered down Gospel of presentation of the Bible will not save anyone, it will only lead to confusion, false teaching, and false teachers.  None of these things are from God.  One disagreement that my brethren may have with this is the notion that I am saying that God cannot use something bad for His good.  To that I want you to know that I believe that God can use anything He desires for His purpose.  However, that doesn’t mean that we should act or live irresponsibly and sat “well God can use it or fix it.” Others will say, “well we can use the movie as a conversation starter and share the truth afterward in a Bible study or small group.”  Certainly we have that option, and I would encourage churches and Christians to do that.  However, the vast majority of people who will see these movies will not ask questions, they will simply believe what they have seen.  Yet another argument is, we need to see what we are up against and learn how to defend our faith.  We absolutely must be able to defend our faith, however, if I know the truth of the Scripture, then I don’t have to spend my time learning the various other arguments raised by others, I can point them to the truth.

Let me close this post by saying once again, God is sovereign and as such He can use anything and anyone in anyway He desires to bring about His good.  I am not arguing against that.  I am simply concerned that we are getting swept away from the truth by satan who masquerades as an angel of light.  False teachers and false teachings many times have just enough truth in them to draw people away while at the same time feeding the people lies that go unsuspected and unquestioned, and this is never a good thing.  2 Timothy 2:15 tells us to “study to shew thyself approved, a workman unto God that needed not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”  Handling the Word of God is a dangerous thing, in fact something that still terrifies me to this day that I might lead someone astray.  Therefore, if we are going to handle the Word, let us make sure it is with humility, prayerful dependence upon the Spirit, and presented accurately.  If we aren’t willing to do this, then we are better off leaving it alone.

By His grace and through His strength may we live for Him

 

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Mar 19

Earning the Right To Speak

Posted on March 19, 2014 by admin

We live in a world that is skeptical of the church and Christians.  The opportunities to go and speak the Gospel to someone who is a complete stranger may not be completely gone, but they are rare.  We are getting closer to one of the two “big” holidays in church life.  Easter is a little over a month away from now.  I have been blessed to be a pastor for nearly eight years and I have to be honest.  It use to be that the church knew there would be three big attendance days, Christmas, Easter, and Mother’s Day.  We use to live in a society that is was not only acceptable, but in many respects it was expected that your family would be in church on Christmas and Easter, and if you mom went to church, you went with her on Mother’s Day.  However, that simply isn’t the case.  To be honest, I have seen that Christmas and Easter while still larger attendance days than most, they are becoming closer to normal attendance days.  Now it would be very easy, and in fact many times we as Christians do, to blame the world for getting so godless.  But my question to all of us is this, have we earned the right to share the Gospel with people?  I know that sounds odd, but hopefully it will make sense shortly.  I attended a conference last week in which Dr. Alvin Reid, director of evangelism for Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, preached and he made a profound statement.  Dr. Reid said, “if the 1950’s ever come back, many of our churches will be ready.”  I sat there and thought to myself “ouch!”  What I believe he was getting at was not the style of our worship, our buildings, our dress code, etc.  Rather, what I believe he was getting at was our method of “doing” church.  Another pastor recently said that many churches today operate under the “old covenant system” found in the Old Testament.  If you wanted to hear from God, if you wanted to see God move or do miraculous things, go to the Temple (the church of that day).  It was a “come and see” mentality.  However, Jesus said in the New Testament that the new covenant was in His blood, and that we were to “Go and tell” (Mt. 28).  If we are honest, both of these men were right about most churches.  We develop programs, we come up with big events, and we advertise “come to our church.”  The problem is, as we have already stated is, people are naturally skeptical of the church.  With so many televangelists out there saying “send me your money and God will bless you,” people don’t naturally know the difference between true Christianity and false teachings that abound.  How can we change that?

The apostle Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 2:7-8, “But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children: So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us.”  I would like to point out a few things that may grant us the privilege of sharing the Gospel with the lost, skeptics of our world.  First, Paul says we were gentle among you.”  The Greek word indicates that they were kind and meek.  Notice the illustration Paul uses in verse 7, “even as a nurse cherisheth her children.”  The picture is that we are to be as kind as a mother is towards her children.  That same love a mother has for her children, is to be the love we must demonstrate to the lost world.  This had to be hard, because Paul was constantly the subject of hatred and persecution.  Not the “I don’t like that, don’t say that” persecution like we see in America, but rather he endured beatings, imprisonments, and attempts to kill him persecution.  Paul lived out Jesus’ teaching on not repaying evil for evil, but rather return good for evil.  Our country is becoming more hostile toward Christianity for certain, but we must respond in love if we want them to hear our message.  Secondly, for Paul and for us it must be about “sharing the Gospel.”  Paul was not interested in getting into vain, pointless arguments as so many Christians want to do today.  He wanted to make sure that he kept the Gospel his focus, because that was the only hope the people of his day, and the people of our day had.  But notice it wasn’t just a come in share the Gospel and leave operation.  They were “among you.”  Today we call it friendship or relational evangelism.  Simply put, Paul and the others lived around and were intentional about seeking out lost people.  For many reasons that I will not discuss at this point, the day of door-to-door evangelism while not dead, has severely declined.  Please hear me on this, it can and still does work, we have used it here at Westlake.  But if we are going to reach a skeptical world, we are going to have to invest ourselves in them.  We are going to have to be intentional about developing relationships with people who don’t know Jesus.  We don’t approve or condone what they do anymore than we are to approve or condone the sin in our lives, but we are not to avoid them either.  One of the greatest tragedies of the modern church is that we have a tendency to want to get into our “holy huddle” called church and compete to see whose light can shine the brightest among the other lights.”  All the while, the darkness is spreading and people are dying and realizing that hell is a literal place.  We must be intentional about building relationships for the sole purpose of sharing the Gospel.  Finally, notice the motivation of Paul in verse 8, “because ye were dear unto us.”  Why were Paul and his companions so successful in their evangelistic efforts?  They were men of prayer, the relied on the power of God, and as we see in this verse, they genuinely cared about the people they were trying to reach.  Paul would say in 1 Corinthians 13 that he could be the smartest and the best, but if he didn’t have love as his motivating factor, he was nothing.  Warning, this question hurts!  Could it be that the world is so skeptical of the church and Christians, because they see right through us?  We profess to love them, but what they see if judgment and condemnation.  Many churches use the mantra “we are a come just as you are church” when talking about how friendly and accepting we are and how you can dress.  We say that, but could it be that the world hears that but then sees us say, “come just as you are, and we will change you to make you like us?”  Ok, that one stung a little more didn’t it?  We don’t need new programs to reach the lost, we need to be men and women of prayer, who depend on the power of God, and not only say that we love people, but genuinely show it.  That is how we can earn the privilege of speaking the Gospel to someone.

By His grace and through His strength may we live for Him

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Mar 18

An Opportunity To Show Love

Posted on March 18, 2014 by admin

Over the past couple of days there have been reports that a man is near death.  That particular line probably wouldn’t catch a lot of people’s attention, because death is natural and normal in our world.  However, if I said that the reports are that the Rev. (using that loosely) Fred Phelps of Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas is near death, that would probably generate a little more interest.  I have read several articles by several well known people commenting on his near death.  I must say that I agree with many of them, Rev. Phelps certainly doesn’t represent any Baptist belief that I am aware of and to call it a church is very difficult.  This man and this church has done some of the most detestable things I can imagine including picketing funerals of soldiers and spreading hate.  However, as a Christian, there is no way I can be happy or look forward to his death.  I do not know this man’s heart, but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t concerned about his salvation considering the body of work he has.  What this man has done and what this church continues to do goes against the teachings of the Word of God, which is a Christian’s sole authority. Yet despite the hate filled bigotry exhibited by Rev. Phelps and the church, we are presented with a unique opportunity.

We have before us an opportunity to pray for him, his family, the church that will be left behind.  We have an opportunity to show mercy to a man who has refused to show mercy.  We have an opportunity to demonstrate love to his family.  Because regardless of our feelings toward Rev. Phelps, when he breaths his last here there are two certainties.  First, he will stand before his Maker, and it will be too late to repent.  Secondly, there will be a family left behind hurting, mourning, and grieving the loss of someone they love.  Paul wrote in Romans 12:17-19, “Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.”  It is not our place to judge, to hope that Rev. Phelps gets what is coming to him, or to hate him.  Jesus said in Matthew 5:43-48, “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”  At the end of the day, if we do not love Rev. Phelps, then we are no different than he is.

I understand that I sit here writing this having never been targeted by Rev. Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church.  I realize that our natural instinct is to smile that someone who has done so much evil is gone, just as much of the nation did the day the news broke that Osama Bin Laden had been killed.  But we must pray for tender, compassionate hearts for all people, regardless of who they are and what they have done, because if we believe that hell is a literal place, and those who die without a relationship with Jesus Christ go there and suffer for all eternity, then our hearts should be grieved that hell will have most likely gained another soul.  In these the last days of Rev. Phelps life and all of our lives (none of us are guaranteed another day), let us pray for his salvation, make sure that we are saved, pray for comfort and strength for his family.

By His grace and through His strength may we live for Him

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Mar 17

Teach Us To. . .?

Posted on March 17, 2014 by admin

I find it very interesting that the phrase “teach us to” occurs only two times in the Bible, one in the Old Testament and one in the New Testament.  In this post I will deal with the New Testament reference.  We know that Jesus’ disciples walked, talked, and lived life with Jesus for three and one half years of public ministry.  The heard Him preach and teach, they saw Him do miracles, yet they only asked Jesus to teach them how to do one thing.  The one thing they asked Him to teach them was to pray.  Luke 11:1 says, “And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”  The disciples undoubtedly learned many things by watching Jesus, but prayer was something they wanted to know how to do.  It is sad to me that prayer was such a vital focus of Jesus’ ministry, it was the backbone of the disciples life as recorded in the New Testament, and yet prayer occupies such a small place in the life of the average Christian today.  When we do pray, many times it is more of an organ recital (things on us that hurt and others physical ailments), than it is adoration for who God is, or even seeking what He desires for our lives and the lives of our churches.  If we are honest, many times we use prayer in an attempt to get God on our agenda.  However, prayer should be about us getting on God’s agenda.  We should ask the question, Lord what do you want to do in me and through Me today?  How will my life bring you glory today God?  I’m not saying that we shouldn’t bring our physical problems to God, we should.  But they should not take the place of the spiritual problems in our lives and the lives of those around us.  When we pray, we are inviting God to invade our day, to fill us with His Spirit (that is give Him more control of us) so that we can represent Him to a lost and dying world.  Notice in that statement, the only responsibility we have is to surrender our heart, our life, and our plans to God.  It is His power, His presence that is going to work in us and through us.

Have you ever wondered why when the majority of people pray or if prayer occurs in church, the pastor or whoever asks you to bow your head and close your eyes?  Is this commanded in Scripture?  The simple answer to that is no.  In the Bible we encounter people standing, kneeling, laying on their back, lacking on their stomach, and other ways.  Then if it is not commanded, why do we do it?  It is a physical illustration of the way our hearts are to be towards God.  Closing our eyes is a way that we can tune the world out, and tune into God.  I am a person who notices almost every little thing.  That is a polite way of saying I’m easily distracted.  So many times we get caught up in the things going on around us, that we can’t hear God when He speaks.  I am convinced one of the greatest reasons altar calls at the end of a service don’t receive more responses, is because too many people care more about what others will think of them instead of what God is saying to them.  By closing our eyes, I can become oblivious to those around me.  Sure I know they are there, but I can’t see what they are doing.  It makes it easier for me to calm myself and listen intently for God.  What does bowing your head mean?  It is an act of submission and humility.  If we were to examine the prayer the Lord taught His disciples in Matthew 5 and Luke 11 we would learn some things about who God is in relation to us.  First, “Our Father which art in heaven,” this means that God is above us.  I loved a sign I saw the other day on a church it said, even if something is over your head, it is still under God’s feet.  I love that because it reminds me that God is in control of it all.  Secondly, we see the word “hallowed be Thy name” reminds me that the only One who deserves honor and glory is God, and it is my duty to give Him that honor and glory.  Further it says, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done.”  Life isn’t about me, it is about God, and my will should be to do the will of the One who sought me, bought me, and redeemed me with His blood.  The last phrase I will look at for this prayer (although there is more to the prayer), “Give us this day our daily bread.”  God created everything, He sustains everything, and He provides everything.  In other words with out God, I would be nothing and have nothing.  Bowing my head to pray is having an accurate assessment of who I am as well as an accurate picture of who God is.  As I have said on here before, God does not exist to make much of me, I exist to make much of Him.

Prayer is humbly acknowledging that you can’t, but that God can.  Prayer brings in the power of God to our lives.  If you lack power in your life and in your ministry, check to make sure that you are plugged into the power source.  Individuals and churches could accomplish so much more if we would humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God and listen to God and God alone.

By His grace and through His strength may we live for Him

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Mar 05

Is The Church To Be Like The NFL or MLB?

Posted on March 5, 2014 by admin

Admit it the title caught your attention didn’t it?  You might be wondering, what does football or baseball have to do with the church?  In short, very little yet a little something.  It is really a question about tradition or innovation.  Major League Baseball for the most part is a sport that is stuck in times gone past.  They are starting to catch up with some things, but it is still largely a game driven as much by the unwritten rules as the written rules.  Whereas the National Football League seems to rewrite the rule book almost monthly.  The NFL has been on the leading edge of change for the past several years.  There can be no arguing the that NFL is the most popular sport in America, while baseball is struggling to reach the younger generations.  Now before you think this is a slam against baseball and a glowing report of football, let’s understand that there is an upside to baseball and a downside to football as well.  So what do these two leagues have to do with church?

In America there are competing views on how church should be “done.”  You have those who sit back glowing in the glory of the church of yesteryear.  This church loves their traditions.  When it comes to embracing change and new things, generally this church is of the attitude “we’ve never done it that way before.”  So that is one side, but there is another.

In the 90’s and 00’s we saw the surge of seeker friendly churches.  These churches were all about helping the lost feel comfortable within the church.  This church rejected many of the traditions of the church for fresh innovation.  When it comes to embracing change in this church, the attitude generally is “we haven’t tried it that way, but why not try it.”

Just like the NFL and MLB, there are good points to both and there are detractors to both.  To the traditional church I would say, while you have kept the main thing the main thing in pointing people to and pursuing Christ, you must realize that we live in a very different society today.  We live in a very technological society.  The truth is, those looking for a new church to visit are most likely going to research the church online before coming.  Therefore, it is imperative that we have a web presence and even a social media presence.  Today’s younger generation is interested in engaging the culture around them and the community they are in.  They want to see a church that not only is biblically faithful, but also a church that is active in helping the community with the problems present in the community.  Therefore, there needs to be a little give and take and an evaluation of what you do and why do it.  There must be some embracing of change if you want to reach the lost of today.  On the other hand, to the church who wants to be on the cutting edge of innovation I would caution you not to change simply to change.  Like it or not, most people in society do not like a lot of change, and they surely don’t like change to be sudden.  I would also say to make sure that you are spending as much time on the present as you do the wrapping.  What I mean by that is sometimes it appears you care more about making the people feel comfortable in church with secular music with Christian words, light shows, and the “come as you are” mentality.  It is great that you want to reach people, but at the end of the day it is about pointing all people to Christ.  If all you do is attract a crowd of 10,000 people, but they never hear the truth of who they are and that the Gospel is their only hope, what have you accomplished?  So what is the answer?

Well let me say this, I am not an expert on this issue and truthfully I am still trying to work through this myself.  I believe that the answer lies somewhere in the middle.  Although I am in my mid 30’s, I like some of the traditions of yesteryear.  I like my Casting Crowns, Chris Tomlin, and other contemporary artists as well.  I am an introvert, and so sometimes reaching outside of myself to others can be difficult.  But I also know that we have been sent by our Lord and Savior to reach out to the lost.  This isn’t anything new, but I think we need to be reminded of this truth.  If you do things the same way you have always done them, you will continue to get the results you have always gotten.  A church needs to know the trends of the day, they must be intentional about reaching the lost.  But I do not believe we need to “sell” Christ with lights, glimmer, and glam.  With all due respect, why are we trying to make the lost feel more comfortable at church?  It is not about them, it is about Christ!  Truthfully, if we are being biblically faithfullly, the lost and the saved for that matter, are going to be uncomfortable in the church, because the Word of God confronts our sin and the Holy Spirit convicts us of it.  We want to be careful that we don’t try manufacture a work of God with man-made things.  The issue really is not what you do, as it is why you do it.  Whether you are a traditional church or a more modern, trendy church, what is your ultimate goal?  I am reminded of an interaction between some of Jesus’ disciples and some Greeks in the Gospel of John.  The Greeks said, “sir, we would see Jesus” (John 12:21).  Every day of my life and in every service we do, our ultimate goal should be to point people to Christ.  Whether for salvation or sanctification, people need Jesus!  Whether you are a traditional church or non-traditional is an issue best left up to the leadership and congregation of the church, but we must all strive to glorify God in all we do, and point others to Christ.

By His grace and through His strength, may we live for Him

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