Empty Seats

The following is from a member of our church who has wonderful insight into the inner workings of what we call church.  Please read this with an open heart and maybe let it change how you “do” church!

In every service I see empty seats.  But that need not make me miss the filled seats.  A filled seat falls into one of two categories.  It holds someone I either know or don’t know.  I don’t mean someone I recognize or know their name.  Knowing someone means

I’ve taken the time to talk to them.  Find out about them, their needs, desires and what makes them tick. I have a relationship at some level with them beyond casual acquaintance.

We so often sit through services with many things on our minds.  We consider the message.  We see a presentation.  We enjoy

the music. We do many things some of which have nothing to do with worship. How often do we look around and see the empty seats? How often do we look around and see filled seats too?  Every one of those filled seats holds a person we either know or don’t know.  But how do we see those that we don’t know?

Are we thankful for a new face and thank God for their presence?  I trust most of us do. Do we see a new face and judge what they’re wearing, what they look like and where did they come from?  We’re all guilty of thinking good and bad thoughts.

Now, let’s take it to the next level.  What are the first things you do when the service is over?  Who are those whom you seek out?  Where do you go and why?

Next time  you’re sitting through a service take a look around.  See who the new faces are.  Make a conscious choice to go see them, meet them and start the process of getting to know them.  Ask the Holy Spirit to place you where He wants you to be and say what He wants said.  Actively seek to do rather than watch.  When a church body gets this concept right it won’t take long until there aren’t any empty seats. Then your choice will be whether to attend the early service or the late service.

Try it out. What have you got to lose?  I think you’ll find the only things you lose is one more empty seat in your church.

Sincerely,

Anonymous

On next Lord’s Day morning, if the ministers over this land of ours were to ask this question: “How many of you have ever worshiped God?” no doubt virtually every hand would be lifted. Therefore, it would be presumptuous, would it not, for me to say that very few people have actually worshiped God? But there are some Christians who have never really worshiped Him. We feel that is revealed today in the lack of vitality and vigor in our worship. It is a fact that public worship is anemic and aimless for the most part. It is further reflected in a lack of meaning and an abysmal ignorance of worship. It has been reduced to an empty shell and a hollow sham of ritual and cold liturgy—no warmth of life, just cold form! This, in a day when folk are saying, “We want reality in our Christian faith, we want reality in experience.”

J. Vernon McGee, The Best of J. Vernon McGee : A Collection of His Best-Loved Sermons, Volume 1, electronic ed. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2001), 69.

John 4:23–24 23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
Ephesians 5:19–21  Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;  Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;  Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
Colossians 3:16–17  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.  And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
Revelation 5:6–10  And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.  And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.  And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.  And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;  And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

What should real worship lead to and what place does music and singing have in it. We will let the Scriptures be our guide. Godly worship music and songs should develop OR include the following…

1.  GOD as the object of affection and adoration with HIS PLEASURE in mind.
   1. This being said… when my children sing to me songs in their range and with their scope of understanding, I just love to hear them sing.
   2. I would never expect or demand that my 5 year old sing Handel’s Messiah, but I love to hear him sing David Crowder’s “How He Loves”
2. Thankfulness to God. We should understand that it is God that should be thanked and worshiped and adored.
3. Honor for Jesus Christ.
4. A moving of the HEART which is the seat of EMOTION
5. Doctrinally sound lyrics – “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly”
6. Make much of GRACE
7. Submissiveness to our Lord and the authority He has over us.

A few definitions as in order here… Psalms – songs that expressly praise the Creator Lord, hymns – songs that teach doctrine, spiritual songs – songs that express the relationship aspect of our Faith

SO where do we want to be?  I need to stress the we, God has a different design for different churches.  Each church is independent and unique.  It took me a while to really grasp that to be honest.   At my church we have begun to speak of a blended service, but what does that entail? I believe that we need current music to relate to our lives today. It is interesting to me that the Bible speaks of a New Song and yet many are so concerned with introducing new music. We need to use the music that people are worshiping to when they are at home, at work and in the car and we also need to give them music to listen to at work, at home and in the car. Another point is that music and songs are used to remind us of the past and lessons learned. I think of God on the Mountain. This isn’t a current song and neither is Hidden Valley’s however both were my songs in the night and as such should be remembered and even sung. In our church we have many older Christians. Hymns and such are their songs in the night. This is why I think that a blending of styles in worship is useful. I have intentionally avoided the use of the word contemporary because such a word is useless when discussing such matters. I heard a preacher call Twila Paris and Steve Green contemporary. I think both may still be making music but honestly their heyday was about 15 years ago. This hardly qualifies as contemporary.

Why change our worship style? As I mentioned above people need to worship God in their culture; in their day to day living. People need to worship God in a way that they can relate to. If we were to get right down to it and followed the “old-fashioned” approach we would all be singing to harps and in a difficult style, unknown to most of today’s western church… I’m talking about the 1st Century style of music and the Psalms. While we should sing the psalms to God, I find NOWHERE in the Scriptures, Old or New does He limit us to a style (with the possible exception of encouraging variety). That is the bottom line. Why change? Why stay current with our congregation? Because it is ultimately their worship to God that is being affected. By stringently adhering to a cultural and or generational position instead of a Biblical one or by completely ditching what has been used for years we do more harm than good.

What change? What is blended worship? Is there such a thing as worldly music? We investigated what godly music and worship is earlier in this study, now we must answer the question of taking care that we do not offend God in our worship. The answer is simple and is found in 1 John 2:16

The ultimate question that we must ask in regards to the morality of music is NOT does it move my flesh… such thinking would imply that enjoying sex in the confines of marriage is wrong because it is enjoyable. The question is more what does it move the flesh to? Does it move the believer to a perverted sensuality? I think here of an older “contemporary” song by Jackie Velasquez where she sang in a breathy almost panting and groaning style that was reminiscent of sexual acts. Or does the music inspire anger and rage? Does the music feed rebellion and angst?  I am not speaking about the WORDS but the style. This can be very subjective and so we must learn to understand our congregation. With these things in mind we should move ahead. A key to this understanding is that the two most current generations were raised in an age of so-called rock and roll music. To them it isn’t necessarily rebellious or full of angst. To the older generations it is all about rebellion and angst. Sex, drugs and rock and roll. This is a cultural and generational distinction. If you are raised in something that was formerly rebellious and is no longer so, how can it represent rebellion for you. We still need to be sensitive to those that may feel that way about certain styles of music and guide them gently to a place of Biblical truth.

In the same vein of what offends God I would point to Amos 5:23.  It fascinates me that the Lord was condemning the traditional songs of His people. It wasn’t the style that God was condemning it was the HEART with which they sacrificed and of their worship songs were sung and played!!!! If we take this stylistically we would reject the use of stringed instruments i.e. the viol. We would also be wrong! Think of Paul when he was speaking of eating meat offered to idols… he didn’t condemn the meat, he explained that the meat itself was fine, if your conscience accepted that the idols and false gods it was offered to were dead and of no viability. However if in your heart you believed (wrongly and immaturely) that the idols had something to do with meat you should not eat of it.

Paul also goes onto teach in Colossians 2:16–23 that we need to be careful that we don’t let a man steal from us our freedom in Christ. Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary worshiping of angels… the word angel has been used of the messenger of God, particularly the pastor… we are not to get caught up worrying about the MAN-MADE ordinances, worshiping the man and obeying him, blindly following his ordinances, taste not, touch not, handle not… I might expound, sing not, play not (drums ring a bell?)… I have yet to find in the Bible the Lord forbidding the use of the back-beat.

Therefore,in going through the Scriptures I find that music is to be used wisely, to honor God, to teach, to praise, to enhance our relationship to God and each other among other things.  I find that our songs and singing must be with understanding and with a heart that is in tune with our God.  I also find that singing isn’t the beginning nor is it the end of worship, it is simply stated and expression of worship.  Our worship should be with our giving, singing and our very lives, living each day in humble adoration of our living, loving, guiding and yes chastising Creator.

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times … you will abound in every good work. 2 Corinthians 9:8

Amazing grace—how sweet the sound—that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see.
’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved; how precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed!
Thru many dangers, toils and snares I have already come; ’tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.
The Lord has promised good to me; His word my hope secures; He will my shield and portion be as long as life endures.
When we’ve been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun, we’ve no less days to sing God’s praise than when we’d first begun.

I’m sitting here in my study, it’s about 7:15am.  I’m having my time with God and listening to Chris Tomlin sing Amazing Grace My Chains Are Gone.  There is a YouTube video with the lyrics fading in and out on a landscape background.  I’m half listening, I love this song and the way Chris sings it.  Then I look up on verse 2 and SEE the lyrics “twas grace that taught my heart to fear”.  I thought; how odd, grace taught my heart to fear.  Then I thought how wonderful!  Grace taught my heart to fear!  Without that fear, that awe of God and His holiness and majesty I would never have known His love and mercy!  Funny how much depth a songwriter can wring out of so few words.  Thank God for John Newton.  It seems to me that we still need both the tension of fear and awe for God and relief from God.  He is strong and magnificent and almighty and He hates sin in every form, from the believer and the unbeliever.  He hates sin so much that He sent Jesus and cruelly crucified Him to vent His great wrath against our sin.  In that loathing of sin and punishment of it is the light of love bathed in blood.  Grace taught my heart to fear.  Grace found in the Law of the Lord.  Grace to lead me from fear to love!  Jesus God in the flesh displaying the grace of God by showing His wrath and love in one terrible act.   Thank you Jesus!

“Calling himself a “wretch” who was lost and blind, John Newton recalled leaving school at the age of 11 to begin life as a rough, debauched seaman. Eventually he engaged in the despicable practice of capturing natives from West Africa to be sold as slaves to markets around the world. But one day the grace of God put fear into the heart of this wicked slave trader through a fierce storm. Greatly alarmed and fearful of a shipwreck, Newton began to read The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis. God used this book to lead him to a genuine conversion and a dramatic change in his way of life.

Feeling a definite call to study for the ministry, Newton was encouraged and greatly influenced by John and Charles Wesley and George Whitefield. At the age of 39, John Newton became an ordained minister of the Anglican church at the little village of Olney, near Cambridge, England. To add further impact to his powerful preaching, Newton introduced simple heart-felt hymns rather than the usual psalms in his services. When enough hymns could not be found, Newton began to write his own, often assisted by his close friend William Cowper. In 1779 their combined efforts produced the famous Olney Hymns hymnal. “Amazing Grace” was from that collection.

Until the time of his death at the age of 82, John Newton never ceased to marvel at the grace of God that transformed him so completely. Shortly before his death he is quoted as proclaiming with a loud voice during a message, “My memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things: That I am a great sinner and that Christ is a great Savior!” What amazing grace!” ~ Kenneth W. Osbeck, Amazing Grace : 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Kregel Publications, 1990), 170.

The election season is in full force.    To be honest, I have no zeal for any candidate currently in the race.  That being said, we should still vote according to the character and qualifications of the candidate.  We ought to consider the term pro-life to be a litmus test for those that we support.  May God guide as we choose our next president, the economy isn’t everything; as a matter of fact, a poor economy may often conceal and embolden the enemies of morality and godliness.

The video below shows heartily what I have proposed above.  It is not for the weak of heart nor is it for elementary children (Jr. High would be fine in my estimation).  However, it is a must see video for it illustrates in the medium that the current generations identify with.

Another helpful link to guide you in your voting is http://voteyourfaith.org/

As I have been studying through the book of Philippians for the third time now, God still amazes me.  In church this past Wednesday I preached from chapter 1 verses 20-26.  It’s taken us 3-4 weeks to get this far.  What has amazed me this time through is how Paul dealt with circumstances and how he maintained his grip on the reality of the Savior in his life.

I opened the service with a statement, a question really; who here has ever just felt like saying “God, just take me home now!  I am a mess and I just want to end it!”  I would like to say that I’m surprised by how many raised their hands.  I was one of them.  I think that we all have times when we are so down, either because of circumstances forced upon us, sins against us, or sins and messes of our own making that ending it seems like a viable option.  It isn’t.  In studying Paul’s life and work through this book we could clearly see that there were times that even the great Apostle had moments of darkness in his life.  One has only to read the book of Acts to see how much this man went through, and then in 2 Corinthians we get just a glimpse into his mind.

2 Corinthians 7:5  For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears.

True in this passage Paul was speaking of the comfort that God sent to him via Titus and a good report, but it also shows a very transparent Paul.  He reminds us that God is concerned with His children and comforts all that are cast down (himself included).  At the risk of sounding like another Jesus is a crutch writer I believe that Paul understood the importance of receiving that comfort and hope.  Comfort and hope lead to a greater witness, a greater testimony and great glory for a great God!

Following the message I received wonderful feedback thanking me for the message.  I think that one of the things that people were most impressed by was the transparency of Paul the Apostle, the others that raised their hands and my own.  The next day after preaching the message I was doing some research online and found the suicide note of a brilliant young man who died this past January.  He left a 4000 word letter detailing how he felt.  It may become one of the most helpful things I have ever read outside of the Bible.  It is a view inside the mind of depression and heartache.  One thing that stood out was that he felt so alone, though he was surrounded by friends. The other was that he felt so evil and hurtful and the opposite was expressed by those that knew him best.  His perception wasn’t reality, he needed an adjustment.  I don’t really know if he knew Jesus, God knows.  The sad thing is  that he felt utterly hopeless.  There is great truth in the idea that we are evil, we are sinners, but that truth without the hope of a God that loves us is a killing truth.  Sadly he grew up in what seems to be a church that emphasized just how disappointed God must be in everyone and everything.  The word love was spoken and even taught, but not necessarily emphasized.  I have visited the website and found that there are many well written articles concerning the Christian walk etc… and yet there was a disconnect with this young man.  The truth is that we will all be saddled with the presence of sin until we hit the grave, but the equal truth is that we have a God that considers us of great value even with the stain of sin for that stain of sin is under the greater stain of the blood of Jesus.  His love is embodied on the cross.  His love for us exceeds His hatred of our sin.  It is my fervent hope that churches everywhere and in every denomination with preach the truth of sin, but to never preach that truth without preaching the wonder of the cross and love of God for the sinner, yes even the saved sinner!

As I studied chapter one the phrase that caught my heart and taught me that Paul had learned to adjust his perspective was… “to live is Christ to die is gain”.  This was Paul’s perception and priority.  When your life is a shambles and you feel like it isn’t worth it, why not give your life to God here and now?  To live is Christ.  Let him have you and use you to lift others out of the depths of sin and depravity.  Let Christ fill your vision!  Let the death you are considering embracing be the death to self and let God use your mortal frame to His glory! The outcome of that is a life that will bless others.

As we begin to understand that to live is Christ then even when we fail or trials and tribulations come our way, we can shout that it is for Christ, let Him have it for his own glory.  When you sin… again… instead of accepting depression; accept forgiveness, get up and move forward learning from God the lesson He is trying to teach you  Hebrews 12 teaches us that God is chastening us to our profit.  Instead of being angry and bitter when men do all manner of evil against you, allow Christ to live through you giving love to your enemies.

To live is Christ…  when you find that you are the end of your rope… let go.  Recognize that to live is Christ.  End your life of… whatever it is that brought you to that point and get tuned into Christ.  Stop living… for yourself.  To live is Christ.  Before Jesus, there was no life.  The devil has us coming and going.  He tries to convince us that without Christ you can really live!  But without Jesus there is no life!  The cross God calls us to bear is one that brings us life! When we lose our lives to Christ we find them in Him!  Only better.

So when everything is coming undone, when the attack is hard and heavy, when you are the culprit and have only yourself to blame…. when these times come upon us we need to have a perspective adjustment.  We need to remember that the life we now live, we live through the faith of Christ Jesus.  He is our priority,  He is our life.

One last thing… to live Christ is to MAGNIFY CHRIST!  Philippians 1:20

According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.

This verse brings it all into perspective… listen to Warren Wiersbe’s summation of these points “When we take Christ into every circumstance, we will have joy. Paul was not the prisoner of Rome; he was the “prisoner of Jesus Christ” (Eph. 3:1; 4:1). The soldiers chained to his wrist were not guards; they were souls for whom Christ died. Paul had a “captive audience,” and from 1:13 and 4:22, we conclude that he won some of them to Christ. The single-minded Christian does not allow circumstances to overcome him; he or she turns those circumstances into opportunities to magnify Christ and win souls.^[1]”  – Wiersbe

“For to me to live is ———————— and to die is —————————.”  Fill in the blanks yourself.

“For to me to live is money and to die is to leave it all behind.”

“For to me to live is fame and to die is to be forgotten.”

“For to me to live is power and to die is to lose it all.”^[2]

Let the Great Physician give you a spiritual alignment and adjust your perception for His glory and your joy!

Let us remember that the challenge isn’t ‘you should be alive to spiritual things’ it instead is ‘you are alive to spiritual things, now reckon (or realize) it… adjust your perception!  God bless!

September 11 ten years ago this Sunday is a day that SHOULD live on in the hearts and the minds of American citizens everywhere; indeed it should live on in the minds and hearts of the world community. It should live on and it should be remembered so that we will never forget that there is evil in the world. There are many that even today would have us deny that fact. They would have us believe that the religion of Islam is one of peace and that they simply view things differently than we do. Some of these same sycophants would have us deny the evil of the holocaust and of communism and the many other atrocities committed around the world today.
Romans 13 teaches what a government that is ordained of God looks like. It is a government that rewards the good and punishes the evil. Why are fighting this war against terror? Why was it right to attack those that attacked us? God has established this government to seek justice and to take vengeance against those who are wicked and have done these wicked deeds.
Romans 13:1–4
“Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.”
As I sit and ponder what has happened in the last 10 years, I rejoice that we have maintained a vigilance that has kept us largely out of harm’s way. I rejoice in the end of two regimes that were either actively supporting terrorists or breeding them. I rejoice that those that lost their lives have not been forgotten. I rejoice that we did what we said we would. Those responsible for this attack have finally been silenced forever. The only screams they utter now are screams of anguish and an eternal flame. I know that this sounds harsh, however, I didn’t start this whole mess. I would pray that these wicked men would come to faith in Jesus and do what is right, turn themselves in. However, they didn’t and this government did what it was ordained to do. It brought the sword of justice down upon their heads.
Honor the dead. Honor the heroes of that fateful day. Honor the heroes out there now which are diligently taking the sword of justice to the enemy. Honor them and pray for them.

It’s still hard to believe how the unexpected near death of my daughter Kierstin when she was born, affected our lives for the better.  I moved from being a negative, if it can go wrong it will go wrong, anxious person, to a person grounded in the Word of God and the God of the Word.  Because of this trial the Lord has enabled me to minister to a diverse group of people.

That didn’t make it easy to go through; and we are still going through it 19 years later,  but the fact is, that sometimes, God needs to bring us through trials to bring us to the place where we become more like him.  This trial taught me how to apply God’s Word to my life.  It showed me the power of God’s Word when it is unleashed into the life and heart of His child.

In 1 Peter 5:10-11 we are shown these truths “But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect (complete, mature), establish, strengthen, settle you. To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.”

Are you suffering?  Take heart!  Are you confused?  Go to God in prayer!  Are you frightened?  Trust God!  Probably the greatest lesson that I and my family have learned through Kierstin’s near death and subsequent disability is that God IS good.  Ultimately that is the question each of us must face… do we trust God?  Do we believe that He is GOOD no matter how confusing life may become?  I have learned that he is, that he can be trusted.  I hope you will to.

Psalm 57:1-11 “What are we going to do in the cave?”

Psalm 57 tells us of when David fled into a cave in order to escape the hand of Saul, who was the King of Israel at that time. Think about it for a minute. Let’s say you were the number one target of the President of the United States. He has access to the military, FBI, police and a myriad of other ways to track you down and take you down. Would you be a little worried? Would you and I probably go insane looking over our shoulder everywhere we go? This is a similar situation that David had found himself in and of no fault of his own, for he was righteous, consistently honoring the King. He even had an opportunity to kill Saul with his army of men but decided against it. So now, within this Michtam, which means an engraved poem, we see David is hiding in this cave, which provides some protection for the moment. But further along in this Psalm we see that David had much greater protection than the cave. We see three things David did, all building upon one another, in response to this trial and persecution.

In the midst of this trying time in David’s life, we first see that he turns to God in PRAYER. Yes, David had some protection because of the cave but he knew the real safety came when he was under the shadow of God’s Wings. What brings us more under the shadow of the Almighty than prayer? David cried out for mercy and he cried out for truth. These are two graces that must work in tandem. David cried for both, for he needed mercy in order to live and he needed truth so that his name wouldn’t be defamed. He cries out to God transparently and honestly knowing God has never failed him but has always been faithful.

Secondly, after the time he had with God in prayer, David began to PRAISE God. As C.H. Spurgeon, the prince of preachers in the 1800’s, said “The hunted one takes a long breath of prayer, and when he is fully inspired, he breathes out his soul in jubilant song.” This time of prayer with God led him into praising God. I’ve been in this same place many times where I’ve been discouraged, persecuted and weary. I was in the dark cave, not wanting to come out. Have you been there? Use that time to go to God in prayer, hiding under the shadow of His Wings, and before you know it, you’ll be praising him. You’ll descend into the dark cave in prayer but will ascend to the opening, into the light with a song of praise!

Lastly, David’s prayer and praise turned into PURPOSE. He says in verse 7, not once but twice, that his heart is fixed. He purposed that the seat of his emotions would be established and firm on God. He will love God with all his heart, mind, soul and strength. He won’t let the situation at hand cause his mind and devotion to God to go astray. In fact, through whatever persecution may come, he purposed to sing and praise God. It’s time to stir up the instruments of music again; it’s time to be revived and declare who God is to everyone around. It’s during these dark times of our lives that we can best lift God up high.

David prayed to God, praised God and purposed to lift God up high during this difficult and dangerous time in his life. I pray we may take his example and use it during the troublesome times we may be facing. Pray, praise and purpose to God when you find yourself in the cave!

Peter Clow

The church at Rome, the church at Ephesus, the church at Philippi, the church at Colossae, the church at Thessalonica, Timothy, Titus, Philemon and the list goes on of churches and people that the Apostle Paul gave God thanks for.  It wasn’t placating, unmerited, flattering gratitude, for we see that the church that caused him such great heartache, the church at Corinth, received no such encouragement.  This is of course the difference between flattery and genuine encouragement; the former is a lie and is usually designed to manipulate, whereas the latter, encouragement, is an exposed grateful heart that is sincere and empty of such foolishness.

This week we will be (Lord willing, and I believe He is) ordaining Ron Anstey to the Gospel Ministry.  I wrote for the bulletin insert a warm and encouraging blurb on Cap (my nickname for him).  It was sincere and I am thankful for Cap and for God putting him in the ministry with me.  It was unusual in our church to see such a write up on a member.  However I would like to say that we should be encouraging each other; we should thank God openly for what we are each contributing to the cause of Christ.  We should be grateful for the growth and dedication that we see in each other.

In the New Testament we see that over and over again Paul was encouraging those that were around him, he was genuinely grateful to God for these ministries and men and women.  With that in mind, I was thinking about my church.  Emmanuel Baptist Church is an awesome, imperfect, welcoming, stumbling, loving, graceful congregation of believers in Jesus.  I thank God for you Emmanuel!  I thank God that He is calling men such as Ron out of you and establishing them in the ministry.  We have been blessed with such a deep and wide pool of leadership in this church, that if I were to start listing them, I am sure that I would leave someone out, but I thank God for you all.  We are being outfitted by God to affect this community and this very world for Christ.  We are seeing such growth in grace in this place!  To God be the glory!

As I sit here this morning I can’t help but think that we are not alone.  There are other men and ministries that I thank God for as well.  I thank God for Perry Jones, for Tim Bagwell, for Mariano Proto, Mike Small, Erik Devitro, Paul Clow, for the other pastors in our fellowship, for Tabernacle Baptist for taking my daughter for school over the last 4 years and doing school as a ministry and fir others that God has blessed me with in the ministry.  I thank God for my brother Tracy Davis, a pastor that prays for Emmanuel and me every week with his church in Lisbon NH.

My life would be less without these men, women and ministries in it.  We should be thankful!  We should give God glory and thanks, that He would surround us with His people.  So, thank you Lord for all that you have done and are doing in this ministry and in my life!

Red Letter Christians, Living Life in the Red

Why this post?  The simplest answer to that question is that I need it so very much.  The second reason is that in my short time of 24 years in the Independent Baptist movement, I have noticed a trend of very un-Christ-like behavior in its leadership and deportment.  I have seen the bride of Christ being treated in such a rough and careless way that if she were my wife I would be up in arms (and in the culprits face).  This is a clarion call to the leadership of the Independent Fundamental Baptist movement and to Bible Believing churches in general to wake up and hear the voice of God once again; to feel His Spirit moving and guiding instead of the call of the world or other pastors and fellowships.  This is a study written from a broken heart and to be honest from a broken person.  When we as the leadership fail so will our church.  When we act in a manner inconsistent with the admonishment of Titus and 1 Timothy, our churches will suffer and our cause will too.

As a movement, we need to ask ourselves the question, have we made and are we making a difference in the community around us.  Do the people that we are in the midst of even know that we are there?  Do they know that we are different?  Do we have something that no one else has?  When I say different I don’t mean in clothing or even entertainment choices, I mean something much deeper and more relevant to this world.  DO WE HAVE JESUS?  Do we have an extravagant love for one another? When the world thinks of your church, what are some phrases or words that come to mind?
…controlling
strict…
boring…
harsh…
…you can’t do this and you can’t do that?
Rules and standards have replaced the ruler.  Or even worse, the pastor has replaced the ruler; the under-shepherd has removed both the word ‘under’ and ‘shepherd’ from his title.  The result of disregarding the headship of Christ is a dictator that has no or little Christ-like qualities and a super strict atmosphere that encourages (unwittingly) a judgmental spirit.

To combat this trend I have seen many a church become so disenchanted with the status quo in the church that they have become overly concerned with being culturally relevant, so enamored with the world’s way of doing things, that they have abandoned SCRIPTURAL RELEVANCE.  They have become that which they sought to disengage themselves from in the first place; a church that misses the Spirit of Christ, just as judgmental in their own way as the others they detest.  One church loses sight of Christ in favor of creating a brand of holy looking members and the other does in opposition to said church and becomes worldly in their service and many other things.  Both miss the mark. THE MARK IS TO BE LIKE JESUS.  The mark is to understand Jesus and how and why He did what He did.  The mark is to find what Jesus considers of great import and make that our priority.