Covenant and the Local Church

A covenant is a contract, an agreement, between two or more parties to fulfill certain obligations towards one another. Christians ought to be familiar with the concept. We know that God's covenant to make Abraham a blessing to all nations, to multiply his offspring, to bring the Messiah through him, and His oath to fulfill this covenant Himself, is reason we have a church at all. There are more promises fulfilled in this covenant than that, but this list is a good start.

Another covenant that Christians ought to be familiar with is the covenant made between a man and a woman in holy matrimony. In this covenant, a man and woman take oaths in the presence of God and gathered witnesses to be faithful to one another until death. In the marriage covenant, the man and woman pledge to be partners through thick and thin as long as life endures.

And finally, I want to draw attention to the covenant between brothers and sisters in Christ made when someone joins a local church. Believe it or not, when you joined a local church, you entered into a covenant agreement with that body much like the one you made when you wed. The obligations are not as intense, but they do exist, and we ought to honor those commitments to the best of our ability. Here is a sample of the typical Baptist Covenant:

Having been led, as we believe, by the Spirit of God, to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, and, on the profession of our faith, having been baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, we do now, in the presence of God, angels and this assembly, most solemnly and joyfully enter into covenant with one another as one body in Christ.

We engage, therefore, by the aid of the Holy Spirit, to walk together in Christian love, to strive for the advancement of this Church in knowledge, holiness and comfort; to promote its prosperity and spirituality; to sustain its worship, ordinances, discipline and doctrines; to contribute cheerfully and regularly to the support of the ministry, the expenses of the Church, the relief of the poor, and the spread of the Gospel through all nations.

We also engage to maintain family and secret devotions; to educate our children in the Christian faith; to seek the salvation of our kindred and acquaintances; to walk circumspectly in the world; to be just in our dealings, faithful in our engagements, and exemplary in our deportment, to avoid all tattling, backbiting and excessive anger; to seek God's help in abstaining from all drugs, food, drink, and practices which bring unwarranted harm to the body or jeopardize our own or another's faith.

We further engage to watch over one another in brotherly love; to remember one another in prayer; to aid one another in sickness and distress; to cultivate Christian sympathy in feeling and courtesy in speech; to be slow to take offense, but always ready for reconciliation and mindful of the rules of our Savior to secure it without delay.

We moreover engage that when we remove from this place, we will, if possible, unite with a church where we can carry out the articles of this confession and the spirit of this covenant.

I hope that you actually read that covenant, because if you are a Southern Baptist, odds are that your church has formally adopted something very close to that as your church covenant. Perhaps you had no idea that your church had such a covenant when you joined. That's pretty typical, many Christians have no clue about God's covenant with Abraham and we even have trouble with the marriage covenant by all reports. But our collective ignorance is no excuse for not fulfilling our duty.

I submit that the reason folks ditch the local church the majority of the time is because they simply refuse to live according to their covenant. Joining a church is not taken seriously because covenant obligation is not taken seriously. Most people believe that when they leave one church for another it is because the church has failed them when in reality it is they who have failed the local church.

I suppose that the most common excuse given for a divorce between a man and a woman is "irreconcilable differences." It's a flimsy, and sinful reason to dissolve a marriage union, and it is equally flimsy with regards to leaving a local church in most cases. If the difference is that the church has lost the gospel, that might fly. But like a marital divorce, I'd be willing to say that this is not the typical reason folks leave.

The reason people leave is because they want a place where they can worship freely without the hindrance of others. Meaning: they want to ditch the traditional feel for a more contemporary one. Or, they are sick of dealing with the particular sinners in their current congregation, and they believe that the next congregation will have less sinful people in it. This reasoning is not only faulty, it reflects the "me" mentality of church membership.

Here is what I believe it boils down to when a person chooses a church to join. They rate a successful church by whether or not they are moved during the singing part of worship, if they might lift their hands in praise to no scandal, and if they have an overall encouraging and perhaps even convicting response to the message preached. And while I am not belittling this as legitimate expression of worship, I am urging you to consider that there is more, far more, to personal worship than singing and listening to preaching.

I submit to you that worship that is pleasing to God is not always pleasing to us. At least, not at the time. Consider Abraham in his offering of Isaac. He tied his son to an altar and was about to kill him. His faithfulness in this act pleased God greatly. Was Abraham's act worship or not? Do you suppose he had the same feeling that you want on a typical Sunday morning singing a Chris Tomlin song?

Worship, then, is also doing the things which God calls us to do, and He wants us to do them with a willing heart. So, when the preaching isn't keen, and when sinners are rubbing you wrong, remember that you covenanted before God to work for the betterment of this church. You promised to help others walk in godliness. Remember that the point of "church" is not for you to have a good Sunday morning experience. The church is there for you to do the hard work of walking and helping others walk in sanctification. And the work of sanctification means that some folks in your congregation are not walking by faith and it is your duty to help them, encourage them, and to stick with them until they do so.

Sunday night, I was struck by the words of Ruth to Naomi in the first chapter of that book. Against all hope of prosperity, Ruth swore these words to her mother-in-law:

Entreat me not to leave you,
Or to turn back from following after you;
For wherever you go, I will go;
And wherever you lodge, I will lodge;
Your people shall be my people,
And your God, my God.
Where you die, I will die,
And there will I be buried.
The LORD do so to me, and more also,
If anything but death parts you and me.

As I read those words I thought, "Where is this attitude of loyalty in the local church. Where is the determination to live and die with a people?" Until you die to self, beloved, you will never find joy in your church, and consequently, you will never become a good church member.

The Importance of Christian Reputation in a Community

One of the most fascinating characteristics listed for a "bishop/overseer" is found in 1 Timothy 3:7 which states, "Moreover, he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, let he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil." Isn't it interesting that a potential pastor should have a good testimony to those outside the faith? How often do pastor search committes check out that qualification?

I point this out to demonstrate that our conduct outside of the church and outside of the fellowship of believers is important. It is vital for a pastor, and it is important for everyone else as well. (You didn't think that everyone else gets a pass on this characteristic, did you?) It is important because those outside the church cannot help but observe us and take note of our behavior. Jesus' words to the disiciples underscore this truth, "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:35). If the world knows that we love one another, we can safely conclude that they must be watching how we treat one another. That's part of the testimony of the local church.

So what does it say, I wonder, when the SBC funds a church plant one block from an existing SBC church? How tight do we seem to be with one another at that point? It's not as if the outside world cannot see this. Well, maybe they can't. It has become somewhat passe to put the name "Baptist" on any new work. (That's a rant for another time.) Still, the point is that we are supposed to cooperating with one another with the mentality that we are in this thing together. We are not supposed to be competing like Walgreens and CVS.

So why do we do that, then? Quite frankly, it is because we do not think that the smaller, older church is worth the effort to revitalize. They are too old to chew the leather, and so we send them off to the happy hunting grounds. Indeed, we often look forward to the time when the place shuts down because, well, their quaint ways and lack of zeal embarrass us.

If you have any familiarity with SBC speak, then you have probably heard this type of stat ad nauseam, "90% of SBC churches are plateaued or declining!" (I made up the percentage there, I've long since tuned out to such speeches because they all end up the same anyway.) If this is true, which I do not doubt that it is, why don't we have programs geared towards ministers going in to these little churches and working towards reformation? Why is it that the only solution is to put the powder in the Kool-Aid and let them die?

I know that many of these churches do not want to change. I guess. We all know horror stories of pastors going in to little churches and getting their lunch eaten by mean old deacons and spinsters. This is tragic and it happens too often. But I'll bet that sometimes...sometimes we get our lunch eaten because we come in with the attitude that we are Pastor Wyatt Earp come to clean up this little dying one-horse town. Pastor, an attitude that demands respect and authority without putting in the years required to earn it says something about you. God does not call a pastor to save a dying church. He calls a man to pastor it. The Lord saves His church by His gospel for His glory. The point? The point is that sometimes old saints in old churches get treated like unwanted step-children as often as pastors do. They see the new church start across the street too, you know.

If we are supposed to be in this thing together, it seems that we could do a better job of working with what we have. Observe the words of Jesus to the church in Sardis in The Revelation: "Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God" (Rev. 3:2). Strengthen that which remains....strengthen that which remains. I like that. I like that alot. It does not tell us to give up on that which remains and start over. No, the Lord's command is to strengthen the thing that is about to die. No doubt, there is a harsh rebuke here. But the Lord did not give that dying church up, rather, He wished it to be strengthened.

When we give up on a church, we give up on a reputation. If it is a bad reputation, some will be glad to be rid of it. But I say that it is better to have a reputation restored and changed than a witness lost. I think that we ought to have more pastors trained and helped to go into these little, neglected places and work there for revival. I think that if we concentrated on this, the world might see that we actually love each other, and that some things are more valuable than good music and marketing.

Can These Bones Live?

The hand of the LORD came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
So I answered, “O Lord GOD, You know.”
Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the LORD.”’”
So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them (Ezekiel 37:1-8).

Congregations do not get any deader than the one to which Ezekiel preached. These folks weren't simply apathetic; they were quite dead. They were so dead that they were even past rotten. They were dusty, dry bones. If you think that your church is a spiritual wasteland, imagine the view from Ezekiel's exalted pulpit.

As Ezekiel beheld the desolation that was the House of Israel, the Lord queried him saying, "Can these bones live, Son of Man?" Look at the beauty of Ezekiel's answer: he said, "Oh Lord God, you know." In case you didn't catch it, that's prophetic code for, "I have no idea. You tell me." Ezekiel did not know if these bones could live again, and he definitely didn't know if they would live again. So instead of speculating and pontificating on possibilities, he simply said, "I don't know, Lord, but you do."

Notice what happens next: The Lord commands Ezekiel to prophesy to corpses. He did not bring them to life so that Ezekiel could speak to them. Note this carefully and let it sink into your spirit deeply until it changes how you view God's Word and God's work: God didn't bring the bones to life so they could hear Ezekiel preach; God had Ezekiel preach so He could bring the bones to life.

In what way did the bones cooperate with this grace? What service did they perform? I can see no service that they rendered, nor can I see any trait that they manifested that God should do this great thing. What I see is a faithful man of God, preaching the very words of God to a bunch of dead bones, and as he prophesied, the bones began to come to life. Look at what the text says:

As I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them (37:7).

Why should it surprise us that the Word of God should work so marvelously amongst the dead? Did God not speak to nothing in the beginning and form worlds? Are we not dust ourselves? Have we forgotten that the gospel is "the power of God"? (Rom. 1:16). Surely this confidence is nearly lost in the evangelical church. A brief survey of modern church tactics will readily demonstrate that targeting age groups, upbeat music, paying attention to demographics, good marketing, and clean nurseries are the means by which churches grow. These things will attract crowds, but they will not rattle dead bones, and they certainly will not build a church.

This past Sunday morning we had a good attendance for Father's Day, and at the end of the service I invited every man there to join me for breakfast at 6:30am at a local restaurant to talk about the sermon, the Bible, spiritual things, or whatever. Not one man showed. I had (and have) high hopes that such a thing might be a productive part of a men's ministry, and I know many of our men could benefit from such spiritual conversation.

I sat alone in a restaurant Monday morning and I read Ezekiel and I thought of my church. I thought of men who attended Sunday morning who need to be in the Word of God. I wondered if the time was bad, or if I needed to simply work harder at relationships so that they may feel comfortable eating breakfast with me. It was an impromptu invitation with little publicity, but that was on purpose. I was trolling for fish to see if I would get a bite. So far, no nibbles.

Can it be that someday I will eat breakfast with a score of men eager to discuss the Word of God? Could it be that someday our church will radiate confidence and joy in the gospel so our church will be a beacon to the lost world? Could it be, O Lord, that these dead bones will awake and find that they are strong in the Lord? It could be that this gospel will yet wake the dead; we won't know until we try. Where there is gospel, there is hope.

The Genius of the Armchair Quarterback in the Local Church

One thing that keeps people from involvement in the local church is how ridiculous and incompetent the current membership of said church is. This type of attitude can be observed on any given Sunday or Monday in your typical armchair quarterback. You probably will not have to overwork your imagination to follow along with my analogy.

I am imagining a guy decked out in team colors, planted in a Lazy Boy recliner. This guy pretends to love his team. After all, he never misses a single down, he knows every player by number, where they played high school ball, how tall they are, and how fast they can run the 40. In fact, this guy knows every championship game, every coach, and every great player that has ever come through the program. Indeed, you are a fan of the same team, but this guy knows way more than you do about your favorite team.

The problem is that you hate to watch games with him. Every play is relentlessly critiqued, and according to this guy, the coach is a blooming idiot. It is no shock to you that this guy believes the coach to be an idiot because that has been his assessment of the past five coaches of the team. Every bad play is greeted with howls of disgust and every good play is met with the ever so encouraging, "It's about time you guys did something right!" This guy knows more than the coach, he knows better than the players, and he fancies himself as the glorious keeper of the winning tradition. "Being the glorious keeper of the winning tradition" means that he properly venerates the greats that have gone before...nevermind that while they were actually there they were often and always the subjects of his tirades.

The irony of all of this is that this guy is 50 lbs. overweight, never played a down of football for any team ever, and has never ever coached anything in his life. This guy can't teach his own dog to sit and come, much less lead men to victory on the grid iron. In short, the man's a blathering fool who esteems himself wise in every aspect of the game. In reality, it is because of guys like him that the program struggles because nothing, not even victory, really satisfies them. Secretly, you wish that somehow, someday he might find himself with pigskin in hand being rushed by a 275 pound linebacker who can do the forty in 4.5.

This description of "armchair quarterback" fits the average church member quite well. They relentlessly critique, but they have never taught a class or led a Bible Study in their life. If they ever tried, it probably died in two weeks because no one could stand it. This type of church member is altogether useless. They cannot be a player because they are too arrogant to follow; they cannot lead because they aren't as awesome as they think they are. The only people with whom they can find an audience are others just like them, and all of their combined griping only succeeds in deflating the very church that they claim to love.

The point of this analogy is that you, dear reader, do not have the luxury of being a "fan" of the local church. You are on the team. You cannot distance yourself from the action. If your church is doing lousy, then you are doing lousy. Your identity is bound up with them, and you don't get to go "free agent" just because they aren't singing your songs and executing your plays. Church is not a spectator sport, even if they do market it that way now days.

My advice and the point of this Monday morning semi-rant is to stay away from this kind of fan. Their rotten attitude is both contagious and discouraging. Also, I advise you to avoid the type of critique that is not constructive and devoid of humility. If you don't, we may let you teach next Sunday.

The SBC's Disregard for the Local Church

I have come away from my first trip to the Southern Baptist Convention with mixed feelings. On the positive side, it was a wonderful time of fellowship with friends. I saw brothers and sisters that I have not seen in years, and it was a joy to be able to spend some time with them. Some of them even chastised me for not posting here more. What an encouragement!

The thing that saddened me about the convention was our inability to pass the resolution offered by Tom Ascol. You can find the content of that resolution here. And if you have not done so already, I highly recommend you head over to Pastor Tom's blog and read his reactions to the annual convention as well. Bro. Ascol's Calvinism is no secret, but even if you are opposed to the Doctrines of Grace, perhaps especially if you are, I urge you to go and read there. What you will find is a brother discussing issues that should cut across the theological divide, and he does it with grace and class at that.

It is not my agenda to be an axe-grinding blogger. My goal is to be encouraging and informative. And so I hope that my critique of the church-planting mentality that prevails in the SBC will be understood positively, for I believe that our Kevorkian Method of church planting is simply another symptom of our utter failure to grasp what a local church is supposed to be about.

Here are some things to consider:

We continually boast that we have 16 million members in the SBC. Then in the same breath, we joke that the FBI cannot find half of them. We should stop laughing at that joke, as Voddie Baucham made clear at the Founder's breakfast. My thought is that if they can not be found by the FBI, then they will not be found in the Lamb's Book of Life. If that's funny to us, then God help us. How is this little joke harmful?

1. 8 million people are living under the damning illusion that they are okay with Jesus because they once joined a church. The fact is that abandoning the fellowship of the local church is one of the first signs of being anti-christ (1 John 2:19).

2. It ruins the reputation of the Church to have half the membership out of fellowship and thereby living in sin.

3. It demonstrates the unwillingness of Southern Baptists to practice Biblical Christianity. Matthew 18 is not a suggestion, but it a necessary aspect of gospel proclamation. There is a reason that church discipline comes right after the parable of the lost sheep.

4. One wonders what the undershepherd will say before the Master on the Great Day when he must give an account for those under his responsibility (Heb. 13:17). This is not just a pastoral responsiblity, but the buck definitely stops there.

If these things are true, then it should be no surprise at our willingness to simply kill or let a local church die. After all, we have already given up on 8 million people who we covenanted with to keep watch over their souls. What's 35 more huddled in confusion in some rural place that nobody cares about anyway?

The more I study the Bible, the more I believe in the local church. I do not believe that it is God's design to win the world to Jesus Christ through evangelists disconnected from the local church, and it is silly to believe that "camp meetings" are a substitute for a healthy church body with regard to evangelism. God's "plan" for spreading the gospel to the ends of the earth is to do it through local churches. I wonder if the SBC, the IMB, and NAMB have come to the place where they have gotten so "endowed" that they have forgotten that. I wonder what would happen if we began to lavish affection on the local body as if it were the Bride of Christ? I think maybe we may see the long hoped for rise in baptisms.

The SBC began as a fellowship of local churches who wished to pool their resources to extend their ability to minister to the world. The annual meeting was meant to encourage that endeavor, and it was run by representatives from those churches. Now, I believe that the tail is wagging the dog, and bureacracy is so entrenched in the machine of the SBC that it will take extreme grace to pry it loose. I believe that the recovery of a love for the local church is just the crowbar for the job. We'll see.

Remember the Alamo!

Dear friends, my wife and I are on a much needed trip to San Antonio. Theorectically, we're supposed to be going to the Southern Baptist Convention. In reality, I want to spend my time on the Riverwalk and at Six Flags. I think that we'll mix it up and do a little of both.

As for the continuing series on the responsibilities of Church membership and Church planting, I will continue that soon. Depends on my down time here in San Antonio. I'll leave you with this thought though since I'm in Alamo City: Why did a handful of volunteers stay in a tiny Church mission against overwhelming odds? My answser: They stayed to fight because they beleived that what they were fighting for was worth dying for. More on this when I return from the tour.

Here's Where I'm Coming From

Rebekah's comment on the last post made me pause and reconsider my current course of discussion. I did not originally intend for these "thoughts" to be geared towards pastors. I'm afraid that my own vocation and personal reflections have obscured my original intention. So I'm going to backtrack a bit here about the nature of the Church and the reason we see such an emphasis on church planting. Here's my burden, my fear, if you will: I'm afraid that we are planting churches, not so that we may reach people for Jesus Christ, but so that we will find better places to attend. Thank God this is not always the case, and this is not why many church planters begin, but I'm afraid that the reason so many new church plants swell in growth is because people are sick of "church" for all the wrong reasons.

I must confess to you, not only as a pastor, but simply as a believer, I am often depressed about church. This did not happen to me when I became a pastor, I felt a growing discontent from the time I began to study the Bible in earnest. I found shallow theology, slap-shod sermons, and unthinking Christians to be the norm almost everywhere I turned. This reality consumes me to this day, and if I did not believe in the power of the gospel, I swear, I would go work in computers with my brother-in-law or teach English Literature in a University.

So ask yourself why it is that you have grown cold toward your local fellowship and why it is that you attend church in the first place. Here are a list of reasons why most people get sick of their local fellowship, at least, this is what I've heard:

1. The music stinks. I can't worship to it.
2. The Church is filled with people who just don't care.
3. The preaching is lousy.
4. They don't have anything for my children.
5.

Warning! Rant alert!--->Number one is so maddeningly irrelevant I can't even believe that an otherwise sane believer falls for it. How worship got so singularly entwined with music is a mind-boggling travesty. We see the disciples singing how many times...once? Paul talks about singing in Ephesians, but the pinnacle of worship is not singing tunes that I relate to. Good music is a bonus; no music should not be a hinderance to worship. Go out and buy yourself a CD of your favorite music and sing at home for heaven's sake. <---Rant over.

Worship is not only singing or listening to preaching. Worship is found in service to the body. Your duty is also your joy in Christ. That is, my pinnacle of worship is teaching the Word of God. Yours may be praying for the babies in the nursery. Music cannot steal that joy. Serve your church for the sake of your Master and find your joy there.

I used to have a car that burned oil. I'd have to check it occassionally to add a quart as needed. The problem with the church is that we've got too many dipsticks and not enough people willing to put oil in the engine. That's the ugly truth of number 2. Or, we have folks who do not even realize that it takes volunteers to run a church. They thought they were there to sing and hear good preaching, not come and teach Sunday School, keep extended session, change diapers, help clean stuff up, mow the church lawn or a thousand other things that need doing. Right?

Newsflash for you, Martha. Don't you worry about Mister and Mrs. pew-sitter doing nothing but sitting and listening. You may be losing your joy in the local church because you've gotten your eye off the privilege of service to the King of Kings and started thinking that somebody else ought to be doing something. Who said that the one who wishes to be called great in the kingdom of heaven must be the slave of all? Last I heard, it was bad form for a slave to complain to his master, which is what your fellow church member is, that he or she isn't pulling his weight.

Here's all I will say about lousy preaching. Pray for and love your pastor. Buy him a book. Have him over for lunch and wash his feet...metaphorically or else you'll probably weird him out. If the preaching is still lousy, download John Piper to your iPod and listen to that all week. You'll be okay and you'll honor your pastor as you are commanded to do. When tragedy strikes, that lousy preacher may come over and give comfort from God's own bosom.

#4...nothing for your children? What are you doing for your children? They ought to be in church with you anyway. They learn the passion and importance of worship by watching you do it. I hope my son's earliest memories are of his papa weeping and rejoicing from the pulpit.

I beg you to give me space to preach here for a moment. Let me ask you a question: Have you gotten so spiritually mature that you have an uncanny knack for seeing all the spiritual problems of the church? If you have, then you have been given a great gift. Because if the church has a problem you can identify, you have an obligation to give your life to see it corrected. You must be prepared to sacrifice reputation, ease, and become the object of gossip. But for the sake of the elect of God, help the church become more holy! Didn't you know that when you joined? Did Jesus die for this church? Did Paul endure scorn and ridicule and slander in the churches? Did he say for nothing that the burden of the churches were on his mind day and night for nothing? Do you think he lived like a vagabond and an outcast for a bunch of hypocritical, apathetic, sinful, in-fighting, back-biting wretches? Not only did he do so, he called these miserable folks brothers and sisters, claimed that they were his joy and his crown, and he poured out his life like a drink offering for the sake of their well-being to the glory of God. Do you think that this is just for apostles and preachers? This is the life for every good soldier of Jesus Christ.

Here's the most shocking truth of them all...you might be a big part of the problem at your church. Your attitude and talk may be serving to further division. You may be right about everything you've observed, and there is certainly room for improvement, but your attitude and actions may not be working towards a happy resolution. No, you may be contributing to the divide and encouraging others to abandon the work.

That's part of my concern for our churches. We have these attitudes because we believe membership is optional, flexible, and we are not loving like family. I have been pretty pointed in this. I look forward to your responses.

Euthanizing the Local Church

Dr. Jack Kevorkian is out of prison and back in the news. This is the man who infamously "assisted" people in committing suicide because their lives were no longer worth living. The justification for this macabre practice follows along these lines:

1. The person's quality of life has vanished.
2. The person's usefulness is gone.
3. Death is imminent.
4. Dying is better for this person than living.

The problem with all of these excuses is that it assumes that we are able to make value judgments on the life of an individual. Fortunately, we are not in a position to impose our judgment of "life value" onto any individual, including ourselves. We belong to someone else, and since He stamped every individual with His image and likeness, each person ought to be treated with the dignity of something precious.

Anyone who claims to be a follower of Christ ought to understand the value of human life. Yet, I find that the arguments for "letting a church die" to be eerily parallel to arguments for euthanasia, as if the local church had no intrinsic value. Is it possible that a church planter could become a Kervorkian church planter? I'm not talking about letting a non-gospel believing church go its way; I'm talking about killing a church of "like faith and message," just so we're clear.

Look at a few of the arguments above for euthanasia and then apply them to the rhetoric often used in discussing church planting. One, existing churches that are not "growing" are thought to be expendable. They are virually ignored in church planting strategies and are "allowed to die." That's the thought, but in reality the new plant next door does more than allow an struggling church to die, it helps to end its misery.

But what about the dying church that is set in its tradition and does not want to do outreach and has lost hope? I argue that such a church has tremendous intrinsic value. Brothers and sisters, did Jesus shed His blood for the church or didn't He? It is the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ that makes a church valuable, not growth and evangelism. Therefore, the dying church itself has no business deciding whether or not she should continue on the path to oblivion. What she needs is a shot in the arm and someone who loves the church enough to die for her like Jesus did. To die a thousand deaths by committee, deacon boards, bad music, inbred discipleship and fellowship. And while this pastor is dying a thousand deaths he must cling to gospel and continue to offer its hope to the sick church and to any passers-by in the marketplace and on the highways and byways of life.

Why should he do this? Because the huddled group of twenty elderly, visionless saints have value, and I believe that God can do a miracle in the midst of that group. In fact, I believe that such a group has greater potential for growth than pastor plus zero.

In the next installment I'll begin to walk through what I believe it takes to restore health to a struggling congregation. I'll give you one hint: it has nothing to do with a re-vamped music program.

Church Planting Gone Astray

We live in a consumer society. Eveything that is marketed today is basically 'junk' within five years. Consider your computer, your car, your clothes, and your cell phone. Do you still have the same one that you had a mere five years ago? Three years ago? One year ago? These are high dollar purchases for the most part, and it is a rarity that any would last ten years.

The trouble with a consumer society is that it isn't simply material things that get tossed. Everything tends to get thrown out with the rest of the outdated garbage. Things that ought not to be trashed; like the local church.

It seems that one of the most recent church planting strategies involves finding a 'dead' church and planting a 'new' one next door. It's sort of like the old "television killed the radio star" analogy, or the Wal-Mart that drives the Mom and Pop establishment into bankruptcy; if the "old" church doesn't have the goods and the flash at low cost, then it needs to be sent to the Vet and put to sleep to the tune of "The Old Rugged Cross" with organ accompaniment.

To me, this is absolutely scandolous. Perhaps this is because I tend to be a bit old school, and perhaps it is because I do not believe a church is truly "dead" until the gospel is no longer preached there (Where there is gospel, brother, there is hope!). But I believe that doing this sort of thing undermines the gospel itself, and it undermines our credibility as believers.

Let me begin with a couple of disclaimers, I'll put them in bold so you will not miss them:

1. I believe that we need more churches planted. Many, many more.

2. I strongly believe in local church co-operation and I believe in the co-operative program of the SBC.

I also understand the mentality that leads a group to plant a church next door to a church that they consider "dead." The list includes:

1. The dead church is mired in tradition and can't be budged.
2. The dead church is not effectively reaching her community for Christ.
3. The dead church's music is horrificly outdated and cannot appeal to a younger audience.

Numbers 1 and 2 can be legitimate concerns for the body of Christ. If you bring up reason number 3 to me, prepare yourself for a fight. Hopefully it will not come to fisticuffs but there will definitely be some verbal sparring going on.

In order to deal with these reasons for church planting next to a church of like faith and message, I'm going to examine the following reasons and definitions in the next few days:

1. What is a "dead" church?
2. How do you know that an old church can't be budged?
3. If a church isn't being evangelistic, is the best answer to ignore her?
4. What does "effectively reaching a community" look like?
5. Is there value in being old?

I hope that this will be a beneficial look at the Church and what it means to be a Church, and as always, I look forward to your input.

Turning Anxiety into Opportunity

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7).

Anxiety is the smothering death of spiritual joy. Anxiety is like a boa constrictor, it wraps itself around the lifeline of faith until it strangles the life out of you. It is a subtle, creepy, suffocating killer. Notice that this exhortation not to worry comes on the heels of the exhortation to "Rejoice in the Lord always! Again I say, rejoice!" Paul knew about this deadly stalker called anxiety, and he would have your faith loosen its terrible grasp over your soul.

The reason that anxiety is so deadly is because it betrays our faith in God. It is a manifestation of our inward distrust of God and of our pride. How is anxiety a mark of pride? It demonstrates the proud belief that we actually believed the well-being of someone or something rested in our control. Not that we are without responsibilities as stewards, but we must recognize that ultimately our stewardship is always upheld by the providence of God.

For example, I am given the magnificent privilege of having and raising a son. As a father, this means that I clothe, mentor, feed, discipline, reward, and lavish love upon my little boy. If danger comes, I will defend him to the death. I will try to teach him to be wise to keep him from and untimely end. But in all this, I recognize that if my Master does not oversee my labor, then I work in vain. While I worry that my beloved may be riding his bike in traffic, I forget that even if he is doing something so terribly stupid, the Lord sees him and gives him breath in that moment. Neither my worry nor my watchfulness can eliminate the necessity for divine providence.

Yet I confess to you, dear read, that I worry. I confess that this worry is born out of a deep love for my son and my wife and my church. One of my friends is a police officer, and when I heard recently that he arrested two armed robbers I felt a bit unnerved. Due to the fact that I've watched too many "COPS" shows, I knew that this was a dangerous situation that could have ended much worse. This caused me to contemplate on the fact that my friend is exposed to this sort of danger each and every time he goes out on patrol. Anxiety is the natural response to such thoughts if we truly care for our brothers and sisters. So what is a believer to do?

I believe that anxiety can be a healthy thing if we learn how to wield it. Fire can be deadly, but it can also be an indispensable tool. When I feel that choking feeling of anxiety coming on, I turn directly to my Father with whatever is bothering me. If I am anxious for my son's well-being, I ask my Father to care for him. When I am reminded of my friend's danger in the line of duty, I ask my Father to protect him. When I am anxious for my wife, I pray for her. When I fret over the church, I bring my concerns to God.

The promise of praying in such a manner is that the "peace of God" will guard our hearts and minds through Jesus Christ. So I pray until I have peace. This peace has nothing to do with decision making, not in this context. This is the sort of peace that comes from knowing that God is in control and that He takes care of the precious things. The more precious it is to me, the more closely He guards it, for indeed the thing is precious to Him as well.

Think on what we do with our precious things. We stick our money in a bank behind a vault that a bomb wouldn't destroy. We buy expensive "lock boxes" in those vaults to guard our jewelry. Museums have laser security alarms, armed guards, and infrared cameras to deter thieves from pilfering our treasures. Only a fool would bury such a thing in his backyard or stuff it in a mattress. We trust others who are more qualified than we to watch them.

But look at us! We are clay pots; we are dust; we are the dew on the grass; we are a withering flower. If anything ever needed protecting, it is we. Our children are not hard like diamonds or enduring like jewels. For the sake of your faith, leave off the idea that you can protect such fragile things. Deep down, you know that you cannot. Do all that wisdom dictates, but wholly entrust your beloved things to your Father. His storehouse is never plundered; His fine things are never pilfered; He never leaves His guard post. He is a vigilant sentinel, never sleeping or slumbering, and He guards with fierce jealousy the things of His beloved. Woe to him, be he devil or man, who stretches out his hand to meddle with the treasure of God!

So do not be anxious, beloved. Our God is able to keep all the things which we commit to Him. When you feel the coils of worry dragging you down, let it be a kickstart for you to pray earnestly and specifically for whatever it is that is bothering you. Our God is faithful, and He will give you peace.

Walk in the Spirit

But I say, walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh (Gal. 5:16).
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth (Col. 3:1-2).

I have spent the last few months walking through the book of Galatians with the church on Sunday nights. From it, the apostle Paul has taught us repeatedly that both justification and sanctification are ours through faith in Jesus Christ. Justification is immediate; sanctification is progressive as belief conquers unbelief.

Galatians 5:16 helps us to see the connection between walking in the Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit, and conversly, it teaches us what the fleshly, sinful walk will yield. But what does it mean to "walk in the Spirit?" It sounds good, but what does it mean? How does simple faith in Jesus win the battle against adultery, fornication, lewdness, outbursts of anger, and etc.? If we cannot answer this question for the struggling Christian, of whom I am one, then Paul's admonition is useless.

One thing that we know that cannot mean is that willpower will overcome sin. Willpower cannot conquer sin; only faith can. For example, one might believe that the "cure" for the young man ensared by internet pornography is to simply quit looking at pornography. Certainly, he should quit immediately! But this is not the cure that Paul wants. Paul wants the seemingly impossible; he wants you and I to kill lust at its source. Oogling naked women on the internet is the fever; lust is the true sickness. If we wish to be free from evil, then we must kill it at its root.

Jerome, one of the early church fathers, had a serious issue with lust. He lived in Rome, a veritable cesspool of temptation. Jerome decided that if he were to flee to the desert, then he would find some relief. To his dismay, he found that even though he was famished from fasting and chilled by the cool desert nights, his heart was aflame with lust, and in his mind the chorus girls of Rome still danced. Leaving Rome profited him nothing.

Paul writes, "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires" (Gal. 5:24). Great. How do you kill a desire or rid yourself of a passion? The computer I can turn off; my heart I am stuck with. What shall be my hammer and where will I turn for nails to kill the sin that lurks in my heart? This is a desperate question for me, for I wish to be rid of sin for good. I hope that you do as well.

I believe that the answer is found in Colossians 3:1-2. We must "set our minds" on heavenly things. By this, I believe that the Spirit would have us remember all the promises of God to us in Christ Jesus. The true enemy is unbelief, and the certain cure is the Word of God and all of the promises therein. Here's what it looks like for me.

Sometimes, even as I kneel to pray, the most ungodly thoughts will flit across the field of my mind. They are enticing, fleshly, appealing thoughts, sent out by the devil or my sinful heart. I don't know which and I don't care. At that moment when sin crouches to pounce, I take up the Word I have hidden in my heart, and I fight for faith. I remind myself that there is a King in Heaven who is coming to rule. I remind myself that one day, a King will sit on the throne in the New Jerusalem and He will judge in righteousness. I remind myself that He has eyes like fire and feet like bronze and a voice like the sound of rushing waters. I remind myself that this King loves me and lives for me and encourages me to seek Him and all the treasure of His kingdom. I remind myself that it is His delight to prepare a feast of righteousness for me in the presence of my enemies, and that they are helpless to hinder it.

So what does this have to do with killing lust? For one thing, I find that I cannot entertain thoughts about my glorious King and lust at the same time. I find that in the beauty of His grace, those fleeting pleasures of sin look utterly repulsive. Clinging to the promise of who He is and what He has done for me and what He has yet in store for me drives the darkness away like the noonday sun.

So take up the Word and treasure the promises of God. I believe that this is the bases for walking in the Spirit.

Love Your Neighbor

I do a fair bit of counseling as a pastor, though not as much as I would like. By that, I mean there are those who could use more counseling but refuse it. One thing that I have noticed over and over again is that the old addage, "Familiarity breeds contempt" is grievously correct. May God use this thought to banish this danger from our hearts.

In my office, I have heard people say things about their spouses and their children that it would shame them to say before a stranger. I have seen sons do things to parents that they would not dream of doing to someone unfamiliar. I think that this is diabolical, and I believe that this perversity affects us all, and as I outline what I've seen and heard; I hope that you will committ to stop doing this yourself.

I live everyday with my wife, thank God. The intimacy of our relationship means that she has shared things with me, and I with her, that no one else is ever privileged to know. This sweetness of sharing can be one of the most joyful things in life...or it can be a weapon used to absolutely destroy someone in a fit of anger. Have you ever said something so mean to your spouse that would shame you if a stranger heard it? Why do you treat your loved one so viciously? Why do we act as if we aren't accountable because we are so familiar?

Why is it that a child on drugs will steal from their parents? In my opinion, this is manifestly worse than stealing from a stranger. The reason that they steal from parents is because they are abusing the love that the parents have showered upon them from birth. They are too cowardly to steal from others, and so they take the easy money from mom's purse, knowing that her love will compel her not to press charges. Hearts are broken, and wicked crimes are perpetrated taking advantage of love for the doing of evil. How hideous this is and awful to behold! How many of you have seen children steal with abandon from parents, only to be bailed out again and again and again because of love and for hope that this time will truly be the last time? I grieve with those parents, I truly do.

But I find this same sin at work in my own heart in my own home towards my own wife and my own son. How carelessly I often treat those who are closest to me precisely because they are close! We know that we can get away with harsh words and sulkly silence and selfish neglect because they are family, when instead they ought to be treated with tenderness and affection and honor.

Think on it. If an aquaintance dropped by to say hello, good manners dictate that you should drop what you doing to greet and welcome them. How many fathers come home to plop down in front of a TV without a grunt of acknowledgement to wife or children? How many husbands come home to children who do not hug and wives who will not kiss in greeting? Our depravity is clearly seen, not just in how we treat strangers, but in what passes for love of those we should cherish.

So my encouragment for today is to wake up and love those precious people that God has placed in your lives to be the objects of your affection. Honor your spouse, respect your children, pay attention to them when they come home and hug them before they leave. These people are the grandest of all earthly gifts and treasures above all price; treat them as such. It is the least that we can do.

A New Reformation?

What did Martin Luther have that John Huss didn't have? Approximately 100 years before Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the Castle Church door, Huss was burned at the stake for espousing some of the same beliefs. Indeed, when John Eck debated Luther at Leipzig in 1519, his coup-de-grace in the debate was getting Luther to refute the Pope and side with John Huss. This put Luther into the camp of an executed heretic who was condemned by the Catholic Church.

The easy answer is that it was the providence of God that caused Luther's reformation to spread where Huss had less success. That's certainly true, but I believe that it would be a mistake to overlook one of the means that God used to effectively spread the gospel of salvation by faith alone: the printing press.

I am not the first to point out the radical nature of the printing presses invention nor its tremendous impact on Reformational teaching. The press made books more abundant, cheaper, and it increased the capacity for copies astronomically. Who knows how many thousands of Christians were affected by the writings of Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli? (The latter were directly influenced by Luther's publications as well.)

My point is that I believe that we have a similar technological marvel today that is comparable to that press. You're looking at it right now. Obviously, I'm referring to the internet. The internet, for all the evils that have come with it, is a virtual treasure trove of free information in an easily accessible format. If you can peck the words "John Calvin" into a Google search bar, you can essentially access anything that he wrote.

Flash back 40 years to the average bi-vocational preacher in the mountains of Alabama. Such a man would not have had the means to travel to seminary to study. The only tools he would have had to learn from were other uneducated preachers. Certainly, many of these men were steeped in Scripture, and they were used greatly of God. But I have never in my life met a saintly, uneducated pastor who did not greatly esteem sound theological education, and most wished that they could have had such training in their younger days.

Today, a pastor in that same position does not have the same challenge. He can read the brightest minds, hear the most wonderful sermons via podcasting, access inexpensive education online, find a wealth of free commentary, and he can network with other pastors like no other generation before. All this adds up to some very profound changes in the theology of the modern pastor. To put what I'm saying in perspective, I will confess that I probably own five times the number of books that Jonathan Edwards owned when he died. (I think I read once that he only had a hundred or so, someone correct me if they have the exact figure.) That may mean that I'm wrong about all of this, and that the access to books and information doesn't necessarily help. I prefer to marvel at what Brother Edwards could have done if he had the access to the things that I have been privileged to read and see.

I am greatly encouraged by things I am seeing and reading here in the blogosphere, and I am awed by the depth of knowledge that many "young people" have today because of all they are reading. I hope that, whether I am right or not, this trend continues and we see genuine revival here and around the world.

Responding to the Tradegy and to the IMonk

Before you read my response to this, go and read the article for yourself and come back here. I would have left a comment on his blog, but I'm not signed up to leave comments there. I have some serious issues with what was written there. (Hopefully its not because I'm a mini Fred Phelps.)

As I read the article the IMonk wrote, I see a few focuses of blame coming out: unresponsive parents, an ignorant culture, foolish gun laws, and a lack of psychiatric evaluation due to a failure of the legal system. I think that this puts the blame in the wrong place: the guy with the gun who killed 33 people will bear the penalty for his crime in Great Judgment.

I couldn't help but get the feeling that the IMonk felt that this murderer was as much victim as killer. I seriously doubt that this will get him off the hook before the Lord in the Great Day when He judges the secrets of men. I'd like to hear your input on this, if you are willing.

Here's the real question: Are such rampages caused by willful sin or mental problems? Is the answer for such horror to get people more informed about mental illness? I would submit that people know more about mental illness now than ever in history, and yet this hasn't seemed to curb people's appetite for carnage one bit.

The simple question here is whether or not this guy is accountable for what he did, or does his mental condition absolve him of responsibility. I'll withhold further commentary on this until I hear back from some of you.

A Lesson from a BallPark

Summertime meant several things for me as a 12 year old boy. One of the most exciting was the prospect of sleeping ridiculously late because there was no school to go to. It also meant bike-riding, fishing, and a host of other wonderful activities. Top on that list of activities was Dixie Youth Baseball.

In the summer of my 12th year, I played on the lousiest baseball team in the city. I played for Dendy's, and that year we went an ignoble 0-15. We did not win a single game. We were so awful that I was actually one of the better players on the team, and I promise that isn't saying much. But still, baseball was baseball, and to me, the ballfield was like Disneyworld. There was Big League Chew Bubble Gum and baseball cards for a quarter. The baseball cards also came with a rectangular piece of pink gum that lasted approximately 1 minutes and left a terrible aftertaste with pasty saliva. That just gave you another good excuse to spit, and a twelve year old ballplayer doesn't need much of an excuse to do that.

So I was happy on my losing team. We still got free cokes for shagging foul balls between games and after every loss. Sometimes we even got free hotdogs for our losing effort. I even got my fair share of game balls that year, seeing as I was one of the few who could actually hit the ball occassionally. It was like heaven.

On one particularly hot July day, the Home Bank boys were giving us a pretty good beating. I had the privilege of playing hind-catcher that game. You get a good view of the field from there, but that equipment gets hot and miserable after a while in the sun. It turns to sheer torture when your team is too awful to get anybody out.

Due to an umpire shortage, my stepfather was calling behind the plate that day. He was a fair umpire, fair in the best sense of the word as I recall it. He called'em like he saw'em. He called strikes on me like anybody else, and so the potential for favoritism was lessened by his honorable view of the game.

That's what made the thing that happened that day so difficult. A schoolmate of mine, I won't name him but I know his name and can see his face today, stepped up to the plate a nodded at me. The pitcher tossed floater down the middle, and my schoolmate slammed it over the center field fence. I must admit that it was a beautiful stroke. There's no more lovely picture than watching a homerun from behind home plate.

It was, as I recall, my friend's very first home run. And so the opposing team was particularly excited for him. They all rushed onto the field to high-five him at the plate. Two others were on base, and they stopped to applaud him as well. He was positively delighted with himself as he rounded third base and headed home to the whoops and applause and the atta boys of his teammates. In fact, he was so happy that he forgot himself. He didn't step on homeplate at all. He stepped right over it, high-fiving all the way.

So there I am, watching my happy guy head to the dugout and thinking that things are about to turn ugly. I knew that my stepdad saw him miss the plate. He knew it and I knew it and God knows it. So I did the only thing that a twelve year old boy knew to do...I appealed the run at the plate.

The process of appeal is pretty simple. The one who is appealing the run declares that the runner failed to touch the base. With the ball in hand, he steps on the base in question. If the umpire saw that the base was indeed skipped, the runner is called out. If he didn't see it, or if he saw him actually touch it, the runner is safe.

The pitcher tossed me the ball, and the field grew silent. The parents stood. All the wind was sucked off the field with the intake of so many breaths as I stepped on the plate and looked at my stepdad. (At least it seemed that way to me.)

I remember the look on his face at that moment as if we were standing there now. There was no joy on that face. He knew the consequence of this call and how questionable it would look. He knew that it would rob that boy of the delight of his homerun. He knew that angry parents might well storm the field and throw him into the dumpster.

To the neutral observer, that moment that we stood there looking at one another over home plate was quite brief. But for me, that moment is timeless. Somewhere in my mind we're still standing there looking at one another, counting the cost of our action before the storm hit. With sadness in his eyes his clenched his fist and said, "He's out!" It was absolute pandomonium after that. The coach threw a bat against a fence and came onto the field screeching a protest. The players on both sides were hollering, and the parents were going nuts.

After all these years I'm still a kid with a ball standing over home plate. The joyful, breezy summers of youth have passed me by. The stakes are higher than Dixie Youth baseball, and no one is giving out free hot dogs. I have to call'em as I see'em, and my Father is watching the plate.

Perfected by a Hopeful Dream

I am a daydreamer. On my weekly commute to New Orleans, exactly 84 miles one way with no radio, I have plenty of opportunity to spend time with this great pastime. I confess that my daydreams are a source of great hope and joy for me, and I believe that they are an essential part of my sanctification and perseverance.

When I was a youngster, my "backdoor" neighbor came home one day with an old rusty car frame. All that separated our yards was a chain length fence, and that fence had a gaping hole in it so I could pass between the yards without hindrance. This neighbor's daughter and I were about the same age, so I spent a good deal of time playing over there before I figured out the differences between boys and girls.

That frame was an item of curiosity for me, and so I asked my neighbor about it. He told me that he was going to build a car out of it. I was amazed and excited about the prospect of seeing him build a car out of that old rusty frame. I had no idea that this project of my neighbor's would consume a good deal of his free time for the next few years of his life.

At first, I didn't notice much progress. He'd go out after work and sand a little, and occasionally he'd bring in more rusty parts. It quickly became far more tedious and boring to watch than I had anticipated. I turned my attention to baseball and bike-riding within the first week. But my neighbor had a vision to see his dream become a reality, and so he persevered.

Little by little, that rusty frame turned into a rusty looking car with holes in the floorboard and doors as I recall. But those were soon filled with bondo, and it wasn't long before the rust was all replaced with candy-apple red. The vacuous cavern beneath the lifeless hood was filled with a living, breathing fire machine. The rusty frame had become an awesome machine. As I recall, it was convertible, red, and some sort of 40'ish Ford. I believe that it had a rumble seat. I don't remember. What I do remember is that my neighbor didn't have it very long. One day, someone of means dropped by and made him an offer for that road machine that he couldn't refuse, and so he sold it.

My neighbor could never have completed that car if he didn't have a clear vision of what that rusty frame could one day be. Michelangelo saw an angel in marble block, my neighbor saw his childhood dream in a rusty frame, and by keeping that dream in his heart, he turned a worthless thing into a treasure.

I don't dream much about hotrods. I dream about people and potential. I dream about what I can be and what my local church can be under the sculpting influence of Spirit and Word. I dream about what each shall become at the moment they are transformed into perfect Christlikeness, even though I have no real idea what that will look like. Here's how John said it:

Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. (1 John 3:2-3).

Do you see that "what we will be has not yet appeared"? I have never seen Jesus with my physical eyes. Only by the eye of faith have I observed Him in the pages of Scripture. I have read that John saw that "the hairs of his head were white like wool, as white as snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters" (Revelation 1:14-15). Can you imagine that? Can you image that the most mewling, sniveling, aggravating Christian will be made like that in the twinkling of an eye?

I take that dream and I drive to New Orleans with it. I take that dream to church with me on Sunday. I keep that dream before my eyes when the rust of others begins to show. I take that vision with me to my prayer closet when I see rust in myself. I am trying with all of my might to lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus laid hold of me. Don't lose that dream. Keep it safe in your heart and think on it often. When the music at church is lousy, when people complain, when no one volunteers, when the students are rowdy and rebellious, when the pastor is distant, when your spouse is annoying, and when you feel that your own sin stinks to high heaven, pull out that dream and gaze at the glory of God in Jesus Christ, and know that one day you and everyone who calls on His Name will be made like Him.

Laboring through Church

My point in the previous post was not to criticize churches concerning how many services they may or may not have. Rather, I was criticizing the cancelling of services based on the fact that people have other places that they want to be. In other words, it seems to me that people want church services to be cancelled, more often than not, simply to alleviate their obligation to go. Isn't this a signal that something is terribly wrong with our attitude about the local church in general and of our attitude toward the fellowship we have covenanted with? After all, there will be no break from church in heaven. Why will you enjoy it more there than here?

The question is not asked in sarcasm. I ask in all earnestness. Why do you believe that you will enjoy "church" more in heaven than here on earth? The short answer probably revolves around the fact that church in heaven will be worship without bother: all the hypocrites will be purged, the teenagers will all be respectful, the music will be jamming, and all the attire will be modest. Being in fellowship here is hard.

I believe that part of the reason why people experience "church burnout" in the here and now is because we want heaven without suffering and without working to enjoy it. Track with me, and I think you'll discover what I mean.

The spotless bride of Christ will provoke much praise and glory to the Lamb of God, especially from worn out saints who worked with her on earth. Why? Because saints who labor in the Church see how blemished she is. Her members are sinful, selfish creatures who left to their own devices would ultimately devour one another. The fact that she is presented to the Father by Jesus Christ without spot is a miracle, folks.

Imagine for a moment our reward in heaven for being a good and faithful servant. (This is a practice I heartily recommend.) Perhaps the Lord Jesus, filled with pleasure at your faithfulness, will say, "Beloved, you remember that $200 you gave to the Lottie Moon Christmas offering? I used that to keep Joe Missionary in Country X so that he might preach my gospel to my children. Your stewardship brought much return for my money! Well done, good and faithful servant." I suppose that your joy in that moment would be quite great at hearing what those resources you gave accomplished.

Imagine now that you see Joe Missionary and hear the Master, filled with joy, honor his stewardship. "Beloved, do you remember the people of Country X that you prayed for day and night. The ones you left home and family to serve? The ones who you loved even to the death for my sake? You did not labor in vain, for I birthed many children through your faithful service to them and to Me. Well done, good and faithful servant." You sacrificed $200. He sacrificed his life. Who will have the greater joy at seeing the hosts of Country X praising the Lamb of God before the throne? Whoever invests the most in Christ's kingdom will see the greater return of joy in the end.

Bring that down to the pew where the average church-goer simply shows up on Sunday morning "to get fed." They expect a good, non-sleepy message from the pastor. They want friendliness in the Sunday School class. They want a phone call if they miss church. They want their children taught by the Youth Minister and the babies kept in the nursery. They want the music jamming and they want their songs sang and they want no griping or hypocrisy. Here is the typical attitude, "Church is about me worshipping the Lord and hearing good preaching and frankly, your sin distracts me."

I have more bad news, beloved. The pew-sitter is not the only problem. Another problem is the person who volunteers for nursery out of mere obligation and not because they view babies as precious image-bearers to be prayed over and cooed at and loved like the most valuable things in the universe. Or adults who sit trhough the Youth Pastor's sermon more intent on critiquing his short-comings than loving him like a servant of God. This has been true of me more times than I care to remember. I have found that my criticism of others has decreased significantly since I have been in the ministry. (Much like my criticism of other people's parenting skills since having a child.)

I'm willing to bet that there are problems in the church you are attending, and they probably have nothing to do with doctrinal heresy. If this is the case, then I say that you are blessed because this will mean fruitful labor for your soul. Serve like an instrument of righteousness. Let God use you to polish His bride. Just remember that while you are rubbing on others that they are rubbing on you.

Calling off Church?

It seems so strange to me that regular services would be cancelled due to a holiday set aside to adore Jesus Christ. I can understand cancelling a regular service if the "Sunrise Service" has taken the place of something, but simply to cancel is bizarre to me. I know that the reasoning behind it is "so we can spend time with family." But I feel that this is flawed for several reasons:

1. The Church is our family.
2. Time spent with family in corporate worship is time well spent.
3. Christmas and the Resurrection Day are times to focus on Christ Jesus, not ourselves.
4. You have 363 other days to have family time. Use them.

Perhaps I live too close to depravity, but I fear that the cancelling of corporate worship signals that we would rather be at home than at worship. Perhaps your family actually has a family worship service when things are cancelled, but I know that this would be the exception rather than the rule. If I could get all of my family into a corporate worship service on Sunday, any Sunday, I would count that a joy far above eating leftover ham, turkey, or cobbler.

Suffering as the Means to Endurance

I know that you have probably heard the old addage, "Don't pray for patience because God will give you trials to make you patient." While I agree that it takes a trial to make us enduring, persevering Christians, I vehemently deny that we should avoid trial for the sake of ease. The reason, if not explicit in the last post, is that if we do not learn to endure, we will lay hold of no other virtue..

Notice the progression of these two verses:

We glory in tribulations, know that tribulation produces perseverance, and perseverance, character, and character, hope. (Romans 5:3-4)

Count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. (James 1:2-3).

So we see that trials and troubles are to be rejoiced in, not because we are masochistic weirdos who love to suffer for suffering's sake, but because we are big picture Christians. That is we know that every difficulty that comes into life is a tool in the hand of a gentle God to shape us into His glorious image. We also see in James that trials are a "when" issue, not an "if" issue. You will have trial, prayer prepares the heart of faith to be ready to grow in them.

From what I read here in these passages and others like them, I understand that patience and spiritual fortitude are foundational for spiritual growth and personal holiness. I also see that trials are instrumental in bringing about patience and spiritual fortitude, and therefore I rejoice in them. I confess that I pray daily for patience with the expectation that I will be heard and my request granted. I also confess that I know this means enduring hardship, and so I pray that I may benefit from difficulty and become by them a Christian of virtue.

Here's the thing that I believe most Christians miss; there is no circumstance in your life right now that is not a potential trial of your faith. Not one. I pray that God will grant me more children; if He doesn't, then I must endure life with no more children. Could such a circumstance lead to bitterness on my part or my wife's? Certainly it could.

Of course, God could grant my request and give us children. Yet, is it not possible that a little bundle of joy could distract me from my devotion to the Lord? Is it not true that every child's rearing brings pain to the heart of a parent? A rebellious child is certainly a trial to a parent's heart, and I believe that every child is born with a sinner's heart. So I will face trial if God grants or denies my request. How, then, shall I pray?

Some pray for financial deliverance. If they get money, then it may tempt them to pride and to forget their Provider. If they go poor, they may become bitter and curse God (see Proverbs 30:8-9). We may learn patience and endurance no matter the circumstance if we learn that every worldly thing is a potential obstacle between us and our Savior.

I am also convinced that I experience trial as I walk with my family in in the body of Christ. The Bible commands us, "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ" (Galatians 6:2). If one comes to me in mourning, should I not mourn with him? When one rejoices, should I not rejoice? The alternative would be sinfully selfish and repugnant for a believer in Jesus Christ.

I conclude, then, that we are not to say things as silly as the old addage about not praying for patience. Trials are an inevitable part of this fallen world. But patience is a holy virtue that not everyone can obtain. Only those who seek wisdom by faith in Christ will grow to have proven character and virtue.

A Very Encouraging Sermon

And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, "We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:21-23).

That was our text this Sunday as we make our way through the book of Acts. I was very excited to preach this message of Paul's because it is a stark contrast to what we see on television and hear in most evangelical circles. The Bible says that Paul encouraged the people by telling them that they must suffer, and apparently they took encouragment from such a sermon. Isn't that wild? How long could a person stay on TBN preaching that kind of message?

It is a gospel fact that we are ordained to suffer as Christians. There is no avoiding it, and we should not avoid some suffering even if we could. Paul compared suffering for Christ to rejoicing in God Himself. Here's the quote in case you don't believe me, "We have acces by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice int the hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations" (Romans 5:2b-3).

Was Paul some sort of masochist? He actually gloried in his suffering? If he was, I guess we will have to add James to that category as well. He wrote, "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various trials" (James 1:2). Here's part of Peter's take on it, "Rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy" (1 Peter 4:13). It looks like Paul is not the only one who experienced and gloried in suffering, but also that of the entire line of inspired writers.

Can you imagine this sermon being preached?:

"Oh that I may know Him!" (Hoots and amens)
"Oh, that I may know the power of His resurrection!" (More hoots and amens)
"Oh, that I may know the fellowship of His sufferings!" (Couple mistimed amens and more than a few confused looks)
"Oh, that I might be conformed to His death!" (What does he mean, conformed to His death?)
"And finally, that I may attain the resurrection of the dead!" (Amens all around, though perhaps less enthusiastic)

Of course, that's taken from Paul's letter to the Philippians in 3:10-11. How is it that suffering is encouraging, and why should we remind one another and encourage one another with this? And why is this idea so alien to the American evangelical church?

Honestly, this may not be so encouraging at first, but it pays large dividends for the suffering servant of Jesus Christ. Beloved, we are in the all-powerful grip of God's grace. He loves us with an everlasting love that never fails nor frowns. So when we find ourselves suffering, whether it be bodily illness, hostility because of the gospel, or whether it be the death of a loved one, we can know that it certainly isn't because God is angry with us. He loves us in the trial and He is close in the dark place of despair. And He uses the fire and flame of trial to mold us into the glorious image of His Son. The worst terror of Satan and the greatest heartbreaks of the world are gentle tools in the hands of a loving Father to make us shine. What do we lose that isn't rubbish in comparision to having Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and Friend?

So this sermon of Paul's is encouraging for those whose hearts have been broken and are being mended by God. It is encouraging for the pastor who sheds tears over the state of the congregation. It is a balm for all those who suffer, and we need to remember that God walks with us in the dark valley of the shadow, and that no pain is wasted on the saint of God.

That is why prosperity preaching is an abomination and a dismal failure. It is an empty promise that cannot deliver the package. It promises success and wealth and delivers despair and pain. How many of God's sheep have struggled in trials because they believed that the pain came because they were personal failures and faithless Christians? How many of God's children have faced death without comfort because they believed that they died because their faith was weak? Instead of facing death with the boldness of a lion, they were reduced to whimpering like dogs because they thought the Lord had abandoned them because they were pitiful and faithless? Even death, despite its raging and bluster, is God's tool to free the saint from the body of sinful flesh and escort them into the joy of the Master.

So hold on, dear brother or sister, we do not suffer in vain. Our groanings are heard by the Lord, and He will not lay on us more than we may bear. Look to the promise with which Paul concludes this thought, "We also glory in tribulation, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us (Rom. 5:3-5). Hope for what? What does the Holy Spirit do in trials and groanings? "You received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father.' The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs--heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together" (Rom. 8:15-17). He tells us that we are His, and the we will be glorified and sit with Him on His throne. Our suffering leads to our glorification. Now that is an encouraging message!