Where is the Real Church?

For the past year I have been thinking a lot about the church in general. I have been concerned that as the church we just need to stand up for truth and be who God called us to be to influence those around us. While we should pray for our government, I don't think our focus is to not get so involved fighting the government that we forget what we're here for.

One thought that keeps surfacing and was especially strong recently as I was reading the book of 1 Thessalonians is this: As the apostles went forth ministering the gospel in various communities, people received the good news of the Gospel, which is what the word gospel means. It means “good news.”

 But it didn't stop with preaching the gospel, discipleship followed. Look at the following command from Jesus that we in the church are to obey.

  Matthew 28:18-20

¹⁸ And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. (Emphasis mine)

Hmmm, so the command wasn't to see how flashy the service could be designed or how flamboyant a minister can be, it was simply to preach the gospel and make disciples.

Throughout the New Testament (NT) one of the main teachings that was emphasized was the return of Jesus Christ. Jesus wasn't just some celebrity preacher. He was the son of God who died for us and gave a promise that He would one day return for us. The NT disciples believed that. Yes, Jesus did miracles along his journey. But the one thing that impacted people was the love and acceptance Jesus extended to them. Yes, there was both truth and grace as He ministered. He was sensitive to what each individual needed for them to be free. The subject of ministering in truth and grace is a whole separate teaching which we won't go into at this time. Back to my earlier statement, the focus was on preparing ourselves and others for the return of Jesus. Look at this verse -

1 Thess. 4:16-18

 ¹⁶ For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. ¹⁸ Therefore comfort one another with these words. (Emphasis mine)

While Jesus was on earth and after he was taken up, the focus of the believers was always on Him. Their hope was in the promise of His return. Look what happens after the Apostle Peter preaches a fired-up message about Jesus where 3,000 people make Jesus their Lord. The apostles and other believers didn’t simply rave about what had just happened or ramble about Peter being a superstar Christian, they followed up with discipleship. They didn’t try creating sensationalism, a doctrine or movement out of that event. They recognized it was a supernatural move of God which turned out to be the birth of the Church.

OK, put on your steel-toed shoes for a moment. Peter after that great revival didn't change his image to quote “look the part” he just continued to minister on a day-to-day basis as did all the other apostles and believers. Where did we get the idea that we have to market the Holy Spirit? OK, enough on that let me move on.

Let’s take a brief look at the New Testament Church.

ACTS 2:40-43, 46,47

⁴⁰ And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” ⁴¹ Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. ⁴² And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. ⁴³ Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles… ⁴⁶ So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, ⁴⁷ praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

 Those of you who have known me for a long time know that my word is the word “balance.” We read in the passage above about many being saved and baptized and continuing to be taught and discipled on a regular basis. In verse 43 it talks about signs and wonders being done among them. I believe in signs and wonders. I believe that miracles are for today. And they have their place. The supernatural will be a huge part of the next great awakening.

However, that is not to be the emphasis of our gatherings, it is a byproduct of being a part of the Kingdom of God. In the book of First Corinthians chapter 12 it talks about how the Holy Spirit offers those gifts as He wills. It's not something that we decide. But what we can choose is… Here I come with my balance statement; We can choose to make disciples of people as they come to Jesus. We can choose to love people, to give them hope beyond where they are, to give them Good News.

The focus needs to be worship of Jesus our king and discipleship. “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” (John 12:32 NKJ) As we worship the Lord in sincerity, the power of His presence will draw people. Out of the depth of our worship the supernatural will flow.

Where will the people come from who become believers and need discipleship? They will come to our services when corporately or individually we have been a part of the community showing them the love of Jesus. When we show that we accept them as they are, and that there is hope beyond where they are, tell them transformation is possible. It appears to me that the church at large has lost our sense of awe of Jesus… no longer have a burden for the lost. We got comfortable. We got distracted and deceived with popularity, celebrity preachers, sensationalism, the list goes on.

 Putting this all together…

 Recently I have been thinking about how we all have concerns as to what our gifting is and how we can serve in the body of Christ.  While I may not be the best out there, I do know that my calling is to teach, disciple, and counsel people through the ministry of teaching, discipleship, and writing. Lately I find myself being so burdened with the need to reach people in the community, to see them become born-again, then walk them through the process of discipleship. I'm not sure how the Lord will put this all together, but I am preparing for that moment now.

 In closing, I am aware of a few churches that are clearly following the NT church model. But the question remains; From the Pulpit to the Pew, what are we really living for? What are we really emphasizing in our churches? How many disciples have we made who in turn have discipled others?  How many people are excited about attending their church? They're there early, they're excited about what the church has to offer versus just going to get full of more information. At a revival service I heard the preacher say, “Is your church full on Sunday morning? If not, why not?” Ouch!

Brothers and sisters let's move forward empowered by the Holy Spirit to be the servant leaders we are called to be. My sharing here is not to condemn anyone but to challenge all of us to be who Jesus has called us to be. The world needs us now more than ever!  May each of you be blessed in all your endeavors to sincerely further the Kingdom of God!

 

 

Are You Really Hungry for God?

 

Some time ago I read the following in an e-mail – “When I look at myself, I see how desperately I need to change. When I look at the Church, I see how desperately we all need to change. And I'm so hungry for that change, I can hardly stand it. I do thank God for what He's done. I am grateful for it. But I can't be satisfied because we're still so far short of all He has for us.”

There are times the Lord allows us to experience what I call times of “Divine Discontent.”  Author Tommy Tenney says it this way - It’s like having a “compulsive addiction for God that makes you tired of church games, man’s manipulations, and passionless worship services consisting of religious gymnastics & emotional hype designed to excite & stroke the flesh.”   And recently while reading a book by John Bevere I cam e across this statement: “We’ll hunger for what we feed on.”  That reminded me of a teaching I did some time ago & I want to share with you. I titled it Hungry for More of God. Once again, I’ve used an acronym, this time for the word HUNGER.  Let’s see how we can feed our hunger for God.

Hear His voice 

"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God."' Rev 2:7

We must be willing to hear his voice. Then when we hear his voice, we must obey what the Lord is saying to us. It’s not always easy. But being obedient will make your life easier. Believe me, I’ve been there.

Undistracted Worship – 2 Sam. 6:20-23

We must come to a point when nothing will distract us from our worship of God. Undistracted worship will lead you to have a passion for wanting to get close to God. When you are in his presence you will have thoughts like: “if I can just touch the hem of His garment” or

“If I could just see Him” or “If I could just get His attention…” You get to this point where it’s all you can do to maintain your composure & you think you’re going to burst. You don’t know whether to laugh or cry… That’s a good place to be in the Lord.  For some other examples of people who pressed through see Luke 19:1-6 and Mark 10:48-52.

Nevertheless

But Simon answered and said to Him, "Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net." Luke 5:5

We need to be determined that we are moving forward with the Lord regardless of what comes our way or what things look like. Sometimes we can be in a difficult season when the Lord is giving us challenging directions and things just don’t make sense in the natural. That’s when we have to say, “OK, Lord, nevertheless, I will follow you. Remember one of my favorite quotes – “Obedience doesn’t require understanding.”

Grasping for More

My soul follows close behind You; your right hand upholds me. Psalm 63:8

Quoting author Tommy Tenney again - “A God chaser is a person whose hunger exceeds his reach... a person whose passion for God’s presence causes him to desire more.”  Too many of us put limits on God. It’s time to break out of our religious box… God is bigger than our box!

Exalt the Lord

“You are my God, and I will praise You; you are my God, I will exalt You.”  Psalm 118:28

Take time to praise the Lord. Sing to him. Read from the Psalms – out loud. Let your whole life praise the Lord! Singer Chris Christian puts it this way: “Worship is more than just singing a song, it all that you say and everything that you do.” He is worthy of all our praise!

 Rearrange Priorities

"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.  Matthew 6:33

This means that your relationship with God should hold more importance than anything else in your life.  Now, that doesn’t give you an excuse to be irresponsible. We all still have jobs to go to, families to take care of, etc.  This just means that if we will give God first place in our life he will take care of everything else.

OK, let’s try to pull all this together. Here’s one more quote from Tommy Tenney – “God is not going to pour out His Spirit where He doesn't find hunger.”  My friend, are you hungry for more? Cry out to God! He is waiting to hear your voice.  It’s time for us to crawl out of our safe boxes and trust God to be all HE IS!

 

Know Your Season

 Wow! It’s almost officially the Fall season.  Many look forward to the cooler weather and the change of scenery as leaves show us the beauty of new colors.  I think 2024 has been one of the fastest years yet. When you add to that being in a season of transition in your life, sometimes you begin to wonder what in the world is going on.

 I once read two quotes that really got me thinking about how much more in these days, we need to trust God and have discernment with all that's going on around us. Most define discernment as knowing the difference between right and wrong. Spurgeon says, “Discernment is not knowing the difference between right and wrong. It is knowing the difference between right and almost right.”

 "The present is all I ever have. There is never a time when my life is not “this moment.” When I feel the uneasiness, anxiety, tension, stress, and worry—they are all forms of fear and are caused by too much future and not enough present. When I feel guilt, regret, resentment, sadness, bitterness, and all forms of non-forgiveness, they are caused by me focusing too much on the past and not enough on the present. The basic problem is the attachment of my mind to the past and the future and the denial of the now. My present is the key to my freedom. I do not let my mind create an obsession with the future as an escape from the present. My life is now!" --Lou Tice

Jesus is present in your now moments. You are not alone! --Ceitci Demirkova

Here’s a few scriptures to ponder…

“But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to distinguish between good and evil.”  (Heb. 5:14 NASB)

“And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment,” (Phil. 1:9 NKJV)

“Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; Whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the Lord are right, And the righteous will walk in them, But wrongdoers will stumble in them.” (Hosea 4:9 NASB)

Are you ready to step into the season God has for you? If so, get ready for a “shift.” I will be posting more about a transition to the shift in the next day or so.

Where Are You Strong?

 

In recent conversations I hear people sharing about a variety of battles, but they are facing. Observing people out in public I see so much distress, uneasiness, and unhappiness. Some have even shared that while life is “ok” - there's this nagging sense of whatever. In the back of their mind

I think the nagging sense in part is all the chaos in our country and government as well as the economic situation, which creates an underlying stress. That combined with and intensifying spiritual warfare makes things challenging, especially for those who don't recognize the spiritual side of life.

This is not only being encountered by people in the world but it's in the church as well. That is concerning because as born-again believers we have the answer.  People are turning to crystals, charms, new age thinking, horoscopes, fortune telling, etc., all in search of some sort of hope and power.  As born again believers with the Holy Spirit inside of us, we have the power to reach out to hurting people and provide an answer. of hope.

For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12 NLT)

This leads to the question how can we be strong in the days of head regardless of what is happening all around? As you know I like acronyms. Below I have decided to share some thoughts using an acronym of the word “strong.”

Standing Strong in Life

Stand - Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. (Ephesians 6:13 NKJV)

Just like the Israelites when they said, “…We know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.“  (2 Chronicles 20:12,)  After we've done all we know to do the best thing to do is “stand” and watch what God does. The whole story in chapter 20 is worth reading to see how with just the weapon of praise and worship the Israelites won their battle.

Trust - Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; ⁶ In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. (Proverbs 3:5,6)

Though I could say a lot here, I won't here because it's plain and simple. Trust God's ways not our own.

Repent – Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out… (Acts 3:19a)

Two thoughts about repentance the first step of repentance is mentioned in the scripture above Acts 3:19. That's when we initially repent of our sin, turn to God and surrender our lives to Him.   

However, that is just the beginning. As you read the next two scripture references keep in mind that these scriptures were written specifically for the church. Repentance should be an everyday part of our lives, not just a one time event.  We should always be asking the Holy Spirit to show us when we were allowing our selfish desires to rule instead of Him.

Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test? (2 Corinthians 13:5 NKJV)

 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9 NKJV)

Obey – For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. (1 John 3:5)

Again, obedience is to be a daily discipline in our lives. Sometimes the things in our lives that God will require of us don't make sense or are difficult decisions. But as I often say, obedience doesn't require understanding. We simply obey, take a step of faith and trust that understanding will come with each step.

This is especially true with these days when it's not just a matter of living sin free lives but in doing the things that God has called us to do and not our own thing. I could go off on another tangent here about how far removed the church has become from being the church scripturally. I do have another article that I've written in the past about it being time to turn the stage back into the altar.

As I mentioned above, as the church we have a responsibility to present and provide an answer of hope to a world of broken people.

Nevertheless - But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.” (Luke 5:5 NKJV)

This is one of my favorite stories in the Bible. Think about it these guys were professional fishermen. They knew what they were doing. They knew that they had fished all night and there was no fish there. So, it didn't make any sense to them when Jesus told him to “cast the net on the other side.”

But Peter, the disciple known for having a big mouth at times set a keyword, “nevertheless.”  The times when life will be difficult and decision and that makes sense at times. It's in those times that we have to become a “nevertheless person.” Like, “OK Lord, I don't get it. Nevertheless, I will trust you.”

Go and Give – Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. (Matthew 28:19,20 NKJV)

In this point I really want to speak especially to the church. In this familiar scripture passage the command is to make disciples, not performers and celebrities. I read a quote recently that said, “A church who values discipleship over performance will produce disciples not performers.”  (Author unknown)

Yes, discipleship is one of my soapboxes. The reason for that is I remember when I first started my journey as a believer in Jesus and there was no one to disciple me. Thankfully I learned a lot by reading the Bible on my own and the Lord finally did send someone to help me.

Another part of “Go” is about going to church consistently, supporting your local church, be a part of the family. And reach out into the community, being a light of hope to those all around us by sharing the Hope of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God.

Lastly, I included the word give. I did this because oftentimes when we are in a struggle feeling badly about how things are, one way to get out of a sad disposition is to reach out to others. When we take the focus off ourselves and put it on others, we often climb out of the pit we're in.

Therefore, it is important that we give our time, talent, and treasures in the church and in the community. It doesn't have to be a lot, just sincere, consistent and with a pure motive. In other words, just do something.  Even if it's as simple as sending a card to someone who has been on your mind. Or making that phone call, or meeting for coffee. In other words, be “Jesus with skin on.”

Final Thoughts

Again, those who know me well know that my life words is” balance.” Am I saying that I expect us all to be strong all the time? Of course not. We have to keep things real. Life is downright tough at times. That's why it's important to be connected to a church family and have one or two accountability people in your life that are there to cheer you on and challenge you when you need it. We all need it.

One last thing… when you're encountering a tough season, take a moment to listen to the song “Strong” by Anne Wilson. It’s on YouTube.

Until next time remember, there is Hope beyond where you are.