I am already dead:

Not the most positive title for this message. As I write this I am under demonic attack. Continuing physical problems, financial stress and I find myself really at a loss. It is at such a time in one’s life that the truth of Christ moves from just belief to actual experience.

Reading the scriptures of the life Paul some might say that he lived his life recklessly. I would say boldly myself. He was constantly under attack. He constantly followed the Lord no matter what the consequences.

In fact, we still feel as if we're under a death sentence. But we suffered so that we would stop trusting ourselves and learn to trust God, who brings the dead back to life. 2 Cor 1:9 (GW)

It is in the previous verse (v:8) we find Paul admitting to being crushed and overwhelmed beyond their ability. Thinking they would never live through it. The question I ask is if I am dead to this world and living for Christ then why allow doubt to attack me? The fact is that it is hard to hurt someone who is already dead. So I ask the question, “If I were to die today I would be with Jesus. If allowed to live I am still with Him and in His service.” Where is the downside in all of this?

For the past three or four weeks I have been involved in a study in what I would call Spiritual Combat. Ephesians 6:10-20 Paul tells us the details of this unseen war. Author Chip Ingram points out that we are fighting from victory and not for victory. It has taken me some time to realize what that all means. It is perhaps for that reason I have come under such demonic attack in the past few weeks. The fact is the war is over. Jesus died on the cross 2,000 years ago for your sins, my sins, and for our sins. Jesus rose from the dead. The devil was defeated. Then how do you explain the ongoing attack of Satan and his demons of hell? At the end of World War II Japan surrendered yet for months our troops continued to fight in the Pacific. Fighting island by island as Japanese troops continued to fight a guerrilla war. For our troops the War was over. Japan had surrendered right? Our troops were fighting from victory not for it because they already had it. Did that make the bullets and the bombs less deadly? No, of course not but you can see the difference in attitude and mission in life. Satan has lost the war and wants to take as many of us as he can down with him. He has nothing to loose and no mercy for you and I.

As I learn more and go deeper into God’s Word the attacks come more often. Learning and applying God’s instructions makes the devil very nervous. The best time to attack a soldier is before they have time to prepare for battle. When they are at peace. Paul warns us of this in verse 18. (Eph 6:18)

It is prayer that puts the whole armor of God to work. You may not know me but as a Christian brother I am asking you for your intercessory prayers for my family and I. Thank you and peace be with you.

A lesson in the Gospel of John

When you are involved in witnessing you probably are given the opportunity in giving out a copy of the Gospel of John. Where we fail in witnessing is in discipleship. Continuing follow up and follow through so our new Christian brother or sister does not backslide into Satan’s grip once again.

The new Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Life Application Bible Studies Gospel of John is a tool worth using in discipleship. This is what I would call a true soup to nuts application. Contained within the book is the complete Life Application Study Bible of the Gospel of John. Now I own the 1996 edition of the New Living Translation Life Application Bible. This newest edition is a wonderful and major improvement in my opinion. Within this study book you receive it all. Included are the Life Application notes, maps, articles, cross-references and a guide in using all the tools of what makes a study bible truly a modern asset for today’s Christian. If you do not own such a study bible this is a great inexpensive way to get a hands on feel for it and decide for yourself if it is right for you.

The book contains 13 lessons. They are more than just read a passage of scripture and jot down an answer. The study takes a little different approach than most other bible studies I have been involved in. Since this is a Life Application study the first question always involves an open reflection on a personal life lesson. Though the book recommends a timeframe of 5 to 10 minutes for the opening question I have found it to take much longer depending on the group size. It is an important way to open things up. Many of the lesson questions deal with the Life Application Study notes. Opening the door in how to maximize the use of this study bible. Another key point in the study is the “Realize the Principle” question in each of the 13 lessons. This gets you thinking of how to apply to your life and to share with others what you have learned from the scriptures you are studying. It is a well thought out study program.

Before you hand this bible study to someone make sure you have gone through it yourself first. You personally will benefit from this well thought out and in-depth study of the Book of John.

That was Pilate’s day:

Near the end of our church service each Sunday morning we have what is traditionally known as the “Altar Call.” For some of you it has been or still is a white knuckle on the pew experience. It is at this time when we are confronted face to face with Jesus. You make the decision or not. For those who do not you might think you need time to think it over. It is not like deciding on buying a couch. This is your eternal destiny you are facing. The hesitation is understood but many a Christian knows how deadly the consequences can be in waiting.

While reading a sermon of Dwight Moody given in the spring of 1871 he personally stresses the urgency of making the decision for Christ now. He had preached to one of the biggest crowds he had ever preached to in Chicago. Instead of making an Altar Call he asked the crowd to think about it and return the following week. It was one of Moody’s greatest regrets. Moody points out the plight that Pilate faced in Matthew 27:11-26.

Pilate was faced with what to do about Jesus. When we experience that white-knuckle grip on the pew we too are faced with the same decision. Pilate knew who Jesus was. It was hard not too. He was governor and anything happening in Jerusalem the Roman governor would have been informed. Pilate knew whom he was dealing with. His wife had warned him in verse 19. Many speculate that Pilate’s wife’s dream may have been about him in front of the Seat of Judgment. That alone should strike fear into one’s heart. Whatever the dream it was serious enough for her to intervene. As a General in the Roman army Pilate had crushed many an opposing force. Pilate had executed many men before. Why should this one be any different unless he knew the truth about Jesus? Pilate even tried to do away with his responsibility for the death of Jesus in verse 24. In Matthew 27:3-4 Judas admits to betraying an innocent man. In the same chapter, verse 54 even the Roman officer declared Jesus as the Son of God. They all knew who Jesus really was!

So if they knew who Jesus was then why did they continue in what they did? The same reason we failed to release our grip on the pew during the Altar Call. The reason is PRIDE. We know the truth. Pilate allowed his pride to stop him. He wanted to please Rome and the Jewish authority over what he knew was right. We too worry what others might think. You might have been a Christian for years and suddenly the Holy Spirit takes you in its grip calling you forward yet we resist. What will others say? How might this look? What will others think of me? These are all words from the Devil and not of God.

Pilate was suddenly face to face with Jesus. The decision had to be made right then and there. We too face that same decision. As Dwight Lyman Moody said in that “The Fire Sermon” of 1871, “There never will be a time when we can do more for Christ than now.”

Idolatry

This is not the article you think it should be. The question has come up. Have I committed idolatry? The answer is YES. Look at my writings over the past few years. You see a pattern. I am very quick to defend pastors and preachers. Therefore have I placed my pastor on a pedestal? When have we not? It makes me think do I want to become a pastor? If you had asked me that question 6 months ago I might of answered yes. Ask me that today and I would diffidently say No. What I want is to be what every pastor and preacher aspires to be a servant of God. By idolizing the position of pastor we have done all we can in preventing this man of God from in fact serving God.

Pastors receive enough pressure from associations, periodicals and other pastors on growing their congregations. Look at the back of a baseball card. We Americans are obsessed with numbers. When it comes to church and determining how well a pastor is doing we look at “the numbers.” You know what I am talking about. Numbers published on how many baptisms your church had last year. How many new church members, attendance records, Sunday School enrollments, and let’s not forget the most important one, MONEY. Money received. Money given. Money spent on church operations, buildings, maintenance and so on. Just where in the Bible does it state that is how we measure the success of a pastor? Where?

I am guilty too. Thinking my pastor has some obligation to me to listen to my whining. We expect our pastor to be on call 24/7 without any thought to their families and personal life. Don’t get me wrong. I agree that the Christian life and being a servant is a life of servitude and poverty. Look at the recipe for failure we as followers of Christ have created for pastors. We demand them to have an education that surpasses any CEO of a Fortune 500 company. They need to be great communicators with the ability to draw in the masses like a celebrity. They need to be the CFO so the money is better spent. A degree in counseling and we expect them to repair our marriages and relationships within minutes that took years to destroy. Did I forget to mention years of experience too? How can one man be expected to meet such expectations?

We measure the success of a pastor by the numbers. When the church is packed and the money is flowing in everything seems to be great. Do we dare say a blessing? Sounds like college football to me. One losing season and you are out. When did corporate America suddenly dictate how the church is to be conducted? Have we moved from church members to shareholders? Are we looking for serving Christ and saving the lost or just looking for a return on our investment? I cannot tell you how many church meetings I have attended that spent more time reviewing a balance sheet than focusing on missions or discipleship.

How do we measure the success of a pastor? The same way we should measure the success of a church.

1. Is the pastor’s faith stronger with the Lord than when he first begun? Whatever the answer we as a congregation need to minister to our ministers.
2. Is the congregations’ walk with the Lord stronger now than before? Ask the Sunday School teachers and they will tell you who is thirsting for God’s Word and who is there for the social meeting.
3. Is the congregation participating in worship? Ask the choir members for they see first hand who is engaged in worship and who is there for the entertainment value.
4. Are lay leaders being trained and actively involved in part of the overall ministry of the church?
5. Is there an active new church member class being conducted each month?
6. Is the church supporting the development and making opportunities for members to enter into the ministry?
7. Is outreach a habit of the congregation rather than a chore?
8. Is the church actively involved in new church planting or a cooperative program?
9. Is the church part of the local neighborhood or part of the highway road show with signs rivaling those of an Indian Casino or Wal-mart?
10. Do the sermons contain more text from God’s Word than jokes and illustrations?

Not one of these 10 measurements involves the American Corporate yardstick of what they call success. Just ask a cattle rancher. You might have more cows than the other ranch but that does not mean better beef. You need to decide if your goal is raising hamburger or steak.

If you agree or disagree with me have the guts to leave a comment. Just click the comments link below.

The Rabbit and the Elephant

This is a new book from Tony and Felicity Dale and George Barna. They introduce us to the growing wave of house church. It is much more than that and now being called simple church. Where I live when you mention house church you think foreign missions. Missionaries in a far off land teaching about the Kingdom of Heaven. Avoiding persecution by meeting within the homes of new believers in Christ Jesus. This is biblically correct as we see in Acts 2:46. Here in the United States is it any different? The authors show us that Simple Church is all around us. Not just the four walls of a person’s home. Church can be at work, in a restaurant, a coffee house, on the street or where ever people meet. See Matthew 18:20. You might be conducting a simple church now and not realize it. Is simple church a bible study group? Yes, and much more. Is simple church and outreach program? Yes, and much more. What is simple church not? Great question. It is the one I was thinking while reading through this book.

Simple church is not the legacy church we are all used too. There comes the title. The rabbit represents the simple church small quick and growing fast. The elephant represents the slow moving difficult to change legacy church. Bogged down by confusing rules, traditions, and committees. I remember a few years back we started a small bible study group at our home. It quickly grew from just a few adults to families and their kids. All of us were involved. No real hierarchy just Christians meeting and studying the bible. Lives where being changed through Christ. Then rumors began to fly throughout the church that we were creating our own church and so on. So we stopped and let God’s work in us die. There lies the real problem with legacy churches throughout America. It has become about control and not about Christ Jesus.

What is Simple Church? Tony and Felicity Dale tell us, “Since simple church is utterly dependent on the leading of the Holy Spirit and the participation of all of its members, it can never be reduced to a program.” “This is not a movement of superstars; their day has passed.” “These leaders are nobodies, unrecognized by the world and the church. They do not care about their own reputations, only that the glory goes to God.”

One of the best parts of this book is the testimonials' throughout its pages. That alone is worth the price of the book. Simple church is more of an outreach than a replacement for legacy church. It appeals to what the authors call the not-yet believers. The following would be a good example. After we go to church most of us will go out to lunch. At the restaurant there are many waiter and waitresses there to serve you. Cooks and staff busy working to make your experience pleasant. Ask yourself, when do these people get to experience church? They cannot because of their work schedule. Are we just to ignore them and deny them the love that Christ has shown us? You start to see the appeal and the real need for simple church.

The Rabbit and the Elephant is a great book that all Christians need to read. If you are in support of simple church or not you need to read this book. Simple church is here to stay. To quote the authors, “Rabbits are small, live underground, and multiply really fast. Even when attacked by predators or disease, they reproduce and make a comeback.” To sum it up I agree with Tony and Felicity Dale, it is time to give back God’s church to His people.

Church a Spectator Sport?

What have we done? We invite friends, neighbors, family members or fellow co-workers to church. This might be something absolutely new to them. Then again it might not. We require them to sing along with us to songs they have never heard of let alone have sung too. We expect them to join the crowd and sit down and stand up three or four times, perhaps even more depending on the service. Listen to what appears to them as a lecture or monologue. How are they supposed to know we call it a sermon? We expect them to open a bible from the pew. A book they may have never seen before until now. Listen to the preacher and somehow understand what is going on. Then after all that we expect them to rush forward and give their lives to Christ. Yes, it has happen before but not often enough. We come in. We sit down. We watch and listen. We cheer once in a while. Then we go home. Have we made church a spectator sport?

If a blind man walked in front of you and tripped over your foot would you kneel down to help him up and say, “Watch where you are going?” Of course not you know he is blind. You know he cannot see. Why do we expect unbelievers to understand us? Understand the scriptures? Understand the hymns we sing? Understand what living for Christ is all about?

No wonder many point fingers at us saying look at those people. Look at that church. What are we doing wrong?

I am sure it has happen to you. You have read one verse over and over again. Then suddenly without warning it hits you like a bolt of lighting. Crashing down on you like an ocean wave an unstoppable power demanding you to take notice now.

Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matt 28:19-20 (NLT)

The Great Commission, we have read it many a times. Heard many sermons preached on it. What could possibly have gotten my attention? See the word “GO?” It does not say to ask to come to church, to come to a meeting, to come to an event. It says GO. Go and make disciples. There is that word again, “Disciple.” Spreading the teachings of Jesus Christ. Is that the preacher’s job? No, Jesus is talking to all of us. This week it hit me like a brick.

All my friends here are Christians. I work at the church where we are all Christians. So, like Jesus told His disciples I need to go out there and share the good news. Learn to meet and talk to complete strangers about Jesus. Will I be rejected? Yes, I expect that. Will I give up? No and I need my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to help me up when I am pushed down. Does this mean running around downtown with a sign chanting out scriptures and acting like a crazy man? Absolutely not, that is not biblical nor is that how Jesus taught us. Keep watch on this Blog as my life story continues.

What Produces Faith?

Be careful this might be considered a theological question. The focus is on Luke 16:19-31, the story of the rich man and Lazarus. This story raises many theological issues. Here Jesus names one of the individuals by name, Lazarus. Many then conclude that this is not a parable but perhaps a real story of a real experience.

We find the rich man enjoyed all the best that life had to offer at least materially speaking. The rich man could have eased the suffering of Lazarus without really interfering with his own lifestyle. In fact little effort would have been required if the rich man really wanted to help the poor man.

They both die. The rich man finds himself in torment. The KJV says Hades. The NLT says he went to the place of the dead. The poor man was not. It is verse 31 (vv. 31) that is the focus of this article. The rich man asks Abraham to send a messenger from the dead to his brothers so they will believe and repent to escape such punishment. Abraham tells him flat out no. Miracles will not change them.

Here is a story. I met a man and shared my faith in God with him. After talking a while he still told me that he just does not believe in God. So I asked him, “What would it take for him to believe.” He looked around the room for a moment then at his jacket hanging over the chair. He said, “When my green jacket turns red then I would believe.” Looking at me as if I could snap my fingers and poof it is done. We soon parted ways. Later that evening there was a heavy rainstorm. The hillside behind the man’s house which he had lived for years was saturated and broke loose mud spilling towards the back of the man’s house. The next morning the man came downstairs to survey the damage. The coat closet had some damage. Within the muck he pulled out his jacket. At first he did not recognized it. The green jacket was now red. Did he immediately believe in God? No, instead he tried to explain what had happened. By chance they had had a very heavy rainstorm. By chance the hillside behind his house, which had been stable for years some how, gave way. By chance the iron rich mud slid to the back of his house where the coat closet was located. By chance the red mud mixed with the pigment of the green jacket changing it from green to red. Did he deny that the jacket had turned from green to red? No. He simply denies that what had happen was by chance and not by God. So do miracles produce faith? No, that is what Jesus is telling us in Luke 16:31.

So what produces faith? In Romans 10:17 faith comes from hearing by the Word of God. We see in Genesis that Satan attacks Eve by manipulating God’s Word. We see atheist groups trying to manipulate God’s Word to further their cause. When we fail to regularly study God’s Word we find ourselves attacked more and more. Studying God’s Word regularly keeps us in communication with Him along with prayer. Knowing the scriptures and knowing the author are two different things. Many atheists know the scriptures better than us. The bible tells us that Satan himself knows them better than we. I find it interesting that in Romans 10:17 the word “hearing” is used. We need to hear God’s Word. That means out loud. Shared among us through group study, reading aloud, song and worship. Yet our streets are void of God’s Word.