What's Up With Church?

Yeah, I thought the sign was kind of funny when I first read it…but I’m not laughing anymore.

I’m not laughing anymore because of a visit I had with a 99 year old saint today.

I’m not laughing anymore, because I no longer see anything funny in the sad fact that more and more it seems as if people who claim the name of Christ; who say that they will abandon all to follow Jesus, and call Him their Lord and Savior, seem to see meeting together with their brothers and sisters, with the body of Christ, the bride of Jesus, as optional.

In the seven years that I have been the pastor at Loma Rica Baptist Church (LRBC), I have heard and seen just about every excuse there is…but there is only one reason for those of us who are called Christians to meet together. We are told to.

In Hebrews 10:24-25 it says, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

These two verses tell us some very crucial things about the role the church is to have with itself.

First: We are to consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. This shows that while the church may be saved and sanctified, she is also still sinful. While our identity is no longer as sinners, but saints, we still must be encouraged to do what would have come naturally back in the garden…loving and doing good deeds. The author of Hebrews is telling us that we need to encourage one another to love…one of the ways we do that is by having to learn to love people we spend time with that are different than us in many ways and on many levels. We also need to encourage one another to do what we should: to read the Word, to share the gospel, to reach out to the poor and the needy, to be a light in a very dark world.

Two: We are told to not give up meeting together. In simple terms, that means: “Don’t stop going to church.” Whether it’s a home church or a rented high school auditorium, or LRBC, just don’t stop going.

Three: Not only are we to not stop going…but we are to go even more, the closer it gets to the return of Christ. Now, since we are closer today, than we were when the letter was written, we need to ask ourselves a simple question: “Are we meeting together more often than they did then, or less?” Now, I know some may say that this “more often” is in reference to the statement of “encouraging one another”, and this is true, however, that statement itself is said in connection with “not giving up meeting together”. It’s tough to encourage your brothers and sisters that are at a Wednesday night prayer meeting while you’re out bowling that night.

Please don’t misunderstand me here. I recognize that we all live busy lives, and that we have family, homes, vehicles and “stuff” to take care of, but what a shame that we use these blessings that have been given to us by God as an excuse not to meet together. In addition, with all the options that most churches have for meetings, there is no doubt in my mind that all of us could attend at least once per week, and most of us could attend more than that.

For some reason though, we have seen church attendance, meeting together for study, and for prayer as optional. The meeting of the body of Christ has become something many professed believers attend as long as there is not something better to do.

Let me share some personal statistics with you. Our Sunday morning service has about 100 people in attendance every Sunday. Those who know my history with LRBC know how humbled I am by this. It is nothing short of a mighty work of God, and I pray constantly that I will not get in the way of what He is doing.

We also have a Sunday evening prayer meeting, and yep, it is an honest to goodness prayer meeting we call “Fresh Encounters”, inspired by the ministry of Daniel Henderson. You can check out his website here: http://www.strategicrenewal.com/daniel.htm

Wednesday evening from 7:00 to 8:00 we have a Bible study. The attendance on Wednesday runs about 20 to 30. The prayer meeting attendance is around 10 to 15. This means we experience a drop of 85 to 90% on Sunday evening and 70 to 80% on Wednesday night. Now, I do live in the real world, and so I don’t expect everyone who is there on Sunday morning to make the other meetings, but a drop from 70 to 95% is huge folks!

While I’m not sure why this is the way it is, I have a two thoughts as to why it may be this way.

The first is this: Our prayer and Bible study meetings (we have a Sunday morning all ages Bible study as well, that generally is only attended by about 20% of the people who are there for the “worship” portion of the Sunday service) require more out of you than just showing up. They require participation and attention. Sadly, many want to come and feed on Sunday, but not to come and serve and give on the other nights.

The second is: Believers in the Western church don’t seem to want to meet together if sacrifice is required. If it is hard, or difficult, or requires any extra effort, they just opt out. Of course, it may just be that the lack of commitment to meeting together is just a snapshot of our western culture when it comes to commitment in general.

So, no, I’m not laughing anymore.

I’m not laughing anymore because of a visit I had today with a 99 year old saint. Esther is her name, and she has a brain tumor. She has been going to LRBC faithfully for the last 30 plus years, long before I got there. She will soon be going home to be with Jesus, to worship Him as she never could here. But while visiting her today, she shared two regrets with me.

The first one is that she regretted that she could not remember more Scripture. I laughed with her and told her that I was just glad I could remember to tie my shoes and at her age, anything she could remember would be counted as a success. She could quote quite a bit of Scripture though, but she regretted that she could not quote more.

The second regret is that she knew she would not be able to meet with her brothers and sisters at LRBC again. Oh, she knows she will worship with us again in heaven, and on the new earth one day, but she said she just wished she could meet together in that little country church one more time. With tears in her eyes, she repeated those words, “Just one more time.”

As I drove home I began to cry. “Just one more time,” I thought. All she wants is just one more time…and yet tonight, Wednesday night, more than likely, 75 to 80% of people coming to LRBC will not show up for “just one more time.” Instead, they will go bowling, watch tv, read a book, surf the internet, wash their car, or a hundred other things.

I have read many stories of the persecuted church, and how they will walk for miles in the dark, to meet in secret, and that they will worship together for hours before leaving. I have often wondered why they would do that when here in the good ol’ US of A, too many believers complain if the church service goes past noon. I think I know why now. They never know if the present meeting might not be their last. They never know if they will soon be wishing, like Esther, for “just one more time,” so they grab onto all the worship and fellowship and Bible study and prayer time together that they can.

I’ll be posting about this some more tomorrow, but I have to go now. I have a Bible study to get to. Thank you Jesus for the Bible study tonight…who knows, it just might be my last one.

Pastor Dave

TRAINING

I have been working out a bit lately in order to lose weight and get in shape. I'm 53 years old and was about 80 pounds over weight (down to about 69 pounds over weight as I type this), and I felt that not only was I not being a good steward of the body that God has given me, but that I wanted to feel better, live longer and enjoy the life that God has given me more.

When I am at the gym, I see all sorts of people, all ages, sizes, shapes, colors...both males and females. I wonder how many of them are working as hard on their spiritual lives as they are on their physical lives. I wonder how many of them realize that the shape of their spiritual life is much more important than the physical shape they are in. After all, every one of them will one day die, not matter how great of shape they are in.

This came to my mind as I read 1 Timothy 4:7-8: "...train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come." The word "train" there means "exersize". I wonder how many of have gotten spiritually flabby? We don't exersize our godliness...we don't train at being godly...we eat the wrong spiritual foods, or no spiritual foods at all, and then wonder why we get tired walking the God trail. It's no wonder we get winded serving the Lord when we spend more time with the tv or the video games than we do in the Word...and too many of us expect to get our entire spiritual nourishment from one hour on Sunday...the church is week because she has forgotten that she is in training.

Paul pursues this line of thought throughout this letter to Timothy. In chapter 4, verses 12-14 he tells Timothy, "...set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you." Timothy (and all pastors and teachers, but really, all who claim the name of Christ) needed to set the example in his training. He needed to devote himself to the Scriptures, both privately, and as Paul says here, publicly as well. He was not to neglect the gift that he had. Thirty years ago I used to lift weights and play raquet ball several times a week. I was in good shape...but over time I began to neglect the gift that God has given me...the gift of this body (ok, you can stop laughing now...I realize it may not seem like much of a gift to you, but I'm kind of partial to it). In the same way, my salvation, my relationship with Jesus is a gift I have been given...I need to flex the spiritual muscles that God has given me...work it up and work it out a bit.

To continue this line of thinking Paul then tells Timothy in chapter 6, verses 11-12: "...pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses." The word "pursue" conjours up images of a man running...and running fast. Straining to reach an object that is just ahead of him. One of the definitions of the word translated "pursue" is also "persecution". This gives the idea that the pursuing will be so intense, so all consuming that there will be pain and sacrifice involved.

The western church knows very little of pain and sacrifice when it comes to service. Oh, we know of pain, but not pain associated with service to the Lord and His church. We know of sacrifice, but not a sacrifice that could literally cost our lives. As a pastor of a church I see far to many people who claim the name of Christ, but see sacrifice as only for those "super-Christian-missionary-freaky" types. One hour a week sacrifice is about all they can muster up, and that only if they don't have anything better to do.

I wonder just how many of us will be able to say what Paul did to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:7-8: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing."

Are we truly fighting the good fight...or just shadow boxing? Will we finish the race, or poop out halfway through the last lap? Do we keep the faith...or drop it before we can pass it off to the next generation? What will be in store for us when we finally stand before Jesus?

I will close with the chorus from a song by Rick Cua. The song is called "Flex" from his album, "Wear Your Colors".



"FLEX"

"Flex. Use the power. Flex. You're not on your own."
"Flex. It's your hour. The flesh is weak, but the Spirit's strong."

Ok, time for some spiritual calisthenics.

Pastor Dave

More Thoughts From Ezekiel

As I read the last few chapters of Ezekiel today two things impressed me. One was how often Ezekiel mentioned "the glory of the Lord" and his reaction to it was usually the same..."and I fell on my face" in chapter 43, verse 3, and then in chapter 44, verse 4 once again, "And I fell on my face."

I couldn't help but contrast the reaction of the prophet of God with how many of us are sometimes. We go to church as if it is just a weekly appointment, not a time to worship God. We treat church as if we can take it or leave it...and maybe that is because in our experience we have never encountered the glory of God when we worship. Other times I have heard people (myself included), say things such as, "When I stand before God, I have a lot of questions for Him." Based on what I read in Ezekiel, I get the impression that questions will be kind of difficult to express when we are face down on the ground due to the majestic holiness of the glory of God.

We must realign our thinking to that of Scripture. God is not an old man in a rocking chair, nor is he sitting on cloud somewher pontificating about the sin in the universe, and He is certainly not "the big guy upstairs". He is also not some buddy that we will slap on the back when we finally get to heaven. He is GOD! GOD! GOD! And He is alltogether not like us, high above us and so different and set apart from us that we have to hide our face when we encounter His glory! Rich Mullins was right when he sang, "Our God is an awesome God". In fact, that song is so rich, and yet many have not heard all of it, as usually just the chorus is sung in most churches. Here are the lyrics, with all the verses:

When He rolls up His sleeves
He ain't just putting on the ritz
(Our God is an awesome God)
There's thunder in His footsteps
And lightning in His fists
(Our God is an awesome God)
And the Lord wasn't joking
When He kicked 'em out of Eden
It wasn't for no reason
That He shed His blood
His return is very close
And so you better be believing that
Our God is an awesome God

CHORUS:
Our God is an awesome God
He reigns from heaven above
With wisdom, power, and love
Our God is an awesome God

CHORUS

And when the sky was starless
In the void of the night
(Our God is an awesome God)
He spoke into the darkness
And created the light
(Our God is an awesome God)
Judgement and wrath He poured out on Sodom
Mercy and grace He gave us at the cross
I hope that we have not
Too quickly forgotten that
Our God is an awesome God

CHORUS(4x)

Our God is an awesome God
(Our God is an awesome God)
He reigns from heaven above
(He reigns from heaven above)
With wisdom, power, and love
(With wisdom, power, and love)
Our God is an awesome God

Our God is an awesome God
Our God is an awesome God

Ok, that was the first thing that impressed me...just how awesome God truly is and how we treat Him as so much less than that. The second thing was this verse (23), found in chapter 44, speaking of the priests: "they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean."

I thought of comparing this to the pastors of the church today. I thought of myself as a pastor. Do I teach the people the difference between the holy and the common? Do the people of God today realize that they have been set apart for a purpose...that they are now holy...and do we live like holy people, or like common people? Now there is nothing wrong with "common", but "common" is not "holy"...and why would you settle for a common life, when you have been set apart for a holy life? I thought of all the mindless entertainment I used to consume...not bad stuff...but nothing that would point to my life as anything other than common. I'm not here trying to put a yoke of legalism on anyone, simply trying to express my own thoughts on the fact that I may have lived a more common life than a truly holy one, a truly set apart life.

Then there is that part about the clean and the unclean. I don't think many Christians even think about this any more. We have become a culture where being a Christian is just something you do on Sundays...and the result is that we no longer influence society, instead society tends to influence us. Somewhere along the way the church has bought into the lie that we can receive forgiveness of our sins and yet never abandon our lives to Jesus. The Scriptures know of no such salvation. In a book I am reading right now called, "Costly Grace" by Jon Walker, he states, "Costly grace justifies the sinner: Go and sin no more. Cheap grace justifies the sin: Everything is forgiven, so you can stay as you are." Sadly, cheap grace is run amok in the churches in the western world.

May we as shepherds of the flocks that God has graciously given us be about the business of teaching the difference between the common and the holy, and between the clean and the unclean.

Ok, so there's that,
Pastor Dave

Thoughts On Ezekiel

Been reading Ezekiel this week and I should finish it by tomorrow, so I thought I'd share some passaged and thoughts on the last few chapters that I read.

Chapter 33 is familar to many, with the analogy of the watchman often used to show how we are responsible to warn the lost that judgment is coming. Here are verses 1-9:

1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, speak to your countrymen and say to them: ‘When I bring the sword against a land, and the people of the land choose one of their men and make him their watchman, 3 and he sees the sword coming against the land and blows the trumpet to warn the people, 4 then if anyone hears the trumpet but does not take warning and the sword comes and takes his life, his blood will be on his own head. 5 Since he heard the sound of the trumpet but did not take warning, his blood will be on his own head. If he had taken warning, he would have saved himself. 6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes the life of one of them, that man will be taken away because of his sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for his blood.’
7 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. 8 When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak out to dissuade him from his ways, that wicked man will die for[a] his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. 9 But if you do warn the wicked man to turn from his ways and he does not do so, he will die for his sin, but you will have saved yourself.

It just got me to thinking about the "job" of the church. If we are not leading people to Jesus...taking the gospel out of the four walls and into the street, then no matter what else we are doing, it really amounts to nothing more than rearanging the furniture while the house burns down around us.

I wonder how many Christians, how many churches really believe in hell. I wonder how many really believe that people will die and go there and burn forever without Jesus? I wonder, because I don't see a lot of churches reaching the lost...maybe it is just MY church...maybe we are the only ones with the problem...but I have to come to the realization that the guy next door is on his way to hell...and the guy acorss the street, and the one at the corner...I have to let this sink in...and maybe, maybe it will cause me to move, to take action.

I understand that we cannot make people believe, and that it is not our job to make them believe even if we could. But it is our job to take the message to them, to warn them of their condition.

Yes, it will be inconvienient. I know it might make us a little uncomfortable. And maybe that is the root problem. The job the church was given, commissioned by Christ Himself to take the gospel to the ends of the earth, has been seen, not as the normal life of a believer, but instead it is seen as an option. After all, it seems that too many believers won't even adjust their schedule to make a church service, much less adjust their lives to reach the lost. What's sad is that there has to be an adjustment at all.

Isn't the proclaimation fo the gospel supposed to be a part of the normal Christian life? Isn't the church called to be the watchman to the world? If the watchman does not sound the alarm...then who will?

Thoughts on Ezekiel...thoughts on the church...thoughts on me. Lord, give me the boldness, the passion and the love for the lost so that I will set the trumpet to my mouth and sound the alarm.

Just some thoughts...
Pastor Dave

A God Sized Vision

Sometimes I am amazed at my ability to drop the ball (spiritually speaking), to get complacent, to coast, to let things ride, to just go through the motions. A few months ago I was so very fired up about this blog...ready to go, both guns blazing...and then three months went by and nothing...zip...nada.

It has only been in the last week that God has shaken me to my very core. He has convicted me of my sin, driven me to my knees, and shown me the coldness of my heart. He has served up a plate of steaming, tasty food in His Word! I have devoured the written Word of God as never before, and renewed my commitment to be not only a man of the Word, but a man of prayer, and a man who seeks the face of God.

As a part of this process He has done two things that have led me to this point. First he directed me to a book that has caused me to question the state of the church in America as never before. I am more sure than ever before that if Revival does not come to the church in the United States of America, that judgement will. For the sake of our children, and our childrens children, but even more for the glory of God Almighty, the church must once again march on her knees, cry out to God to send the Holy Spirit with fire and wind and for God to bend us towards Him, His ways, His Word, and His throne.

The book that has impacted me is this one: "A God Sized Vision - Revival Stories That Stretch And Stir" by Collin Hansen and John Woodbridge:


Room does not allow me to post all the quotes that are recorded in this book by those who lived through past revivals. But I will post this one by Jonathan Goforth, who was used to bring revival to China in the early 1900's. The quote is not really about revival, but it is inspiring to me as it reveals the heart of this missionary when it comes to revival and the plight the church in the US finds herself in:

"Brethren, the Spirit of God is with us still. Pentecost is yet within our grasp. If revival is being witheld from us it is because some idols remain enthroned; because we still insist on placing our reliance on human schemes; because we still refuse to face the unchangeable truth that 'it is not by might, but BY MY SPIRIT.'"

To be honest, if you can read this book and not be moved...if you can read this book and not desire to see revival in your lifetime, well, you don't need to be revived, you need to be resurrected.

The second thing He did was inspire me to preach the boldest most evangelistic sermon that I have ever preached in my life...and with good reason. The Sunday that I preached this message, two people showed up who did not know the Lord...and one of them has cancer, and it is terminal. Although they did not respond to the message and accept Christ, the intensity of the Spirit that morning was evident. I cried more during this message than any other as I sensed that here was someone who was knocking on the very door of death itself and yet would refuse the offer of eternal life. In my heart as I was preaching God began to speak to me that I needed to share my faith more, that as a pastor I was to teach the church, but as a Christian I am to take the gospel to the lost and the dying and the hellbound. I got a very clear picture of hell in my minds eye....and I cannot be quiet any longer.

My desire is to be used by God and to sacrifice anything and everything that takes away from this goal. I want to pour my life and love into my wife, to give myself to my children, to shepherd the church God has given me with the heart of the Great Shepherd, to pour my life out as an offering to the One who has given me not only the purpose of my life, by my very life itself. I want to have a broken heart for the lost and a fresh heart for the Lord and His people.

Part of that, I pray, will include firing up this blog once again. How often I will post I do not know, but this one thing I do know, that God has called me to a work and I dare not fall asleep on the job. I pray that from this day on I will be found ever pressing on to the high calling in Christ Jesus.

Join me in praying for the church, for the lost and if you would be so kind, pray for me as I embark on the next stretch of my journey on the God trail.

No turning back,
Pastor Dave

AND THE WINNER IS....

Ok, just did the drawing for the latest book giveway....drumroll please....and the winner is: Brenda May! Brenda, contact me ASAP so I can get your book to you. To everyone else...remember, I am giving away another book at the end of the month: "Unashamed" by Robby Gallaty. All you need to get a chance to win this book is to leave a comment on any post in the month of December. You get one entry for each post you leave...the more comments, then the better your chances.

Ok, so there's that.
Pastor Dave

HOW FULL DO YOU WANT TO BE?

In 2 Kings chapter 4 we read the story of the widow who is deeply in debt and the creditors are about to come and sell her only two children into slavery in order to pay her debt. In desperation she cries out to Elisha about her situation. We’ll let scripture tell the rest of the story:

2 Kings 2:4-7 “Elisha asked her, "What can I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?" She said, "Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil." Then he said, "Go and borrow empty containers from everyone—from all your neighbors. Do not get just a few. Then go in and shut the door behind you and your sons, and pour oil into all these containers. Set the full ones to one side." So she left. After she had shut the door behind her and her sons, they kept bringing her containers, and she kept pouring. When they were full, she said to her son, "Bring me another container." But he replied, "There aren't any more." Then the oil stopped. She went and told the man of God, and he said, "Go sell the oil and pay your debt; you and your sons can live on the rest."

Now I want us to stop for a second and think about a couple of things here.

First, the woman said she had nothing except a jar of oil. Now, I don’t know about you, but I’ve been down and out before, but I’ve never been so down and out that all I had was some Crisco. I’ve lived paycheck to paycheck, and had to rob Peter to pay Paul, and have had to humble myself and go to Dad and Mom and ask for some help, but I’ve never been so broke that all I had of any worth was one jar of oil. Now the oil here was valuable as it could be used for a variety of things, but one jar was not going to get anyone very far….or was it?

You see, no matter how little you or I have, if it is given for use by God, if it is offered up for the Lord, if we are willing to let go of what we have for Him and for the sake of the gospel, God will take it and multiply it and expand it far beyond what we could ever imagine.

Another thing we see is that she had to pour out the oil from her container into the other containers. God wants us to pour our lives into the lives of those around us. God wants us to give away our most valuable asset we have to those around us. No, I’m not talking about your house, your car, your 401K, or your computer…I’m talking about yourself. Your experience in walking with the Lord, your knowledge of the Word of God, your spiritual depth…He wants you to give it to others. The church is not to be a holy huddle, but an ambulance with a spiritual emergency kit to take to a lost and dying world. We are to be a lean, mean disciple making machine!

And lastly, notice that the widow told her son in the end:

"Bring me another container." But he replied, "There aren't any more." Then the oil stopped.

I think that often the reason we don’t see more of the Lord working in and around us, the reason we don’t have revival in our homes and in our churches and in our country, and the reason we don’t see the lost coming to Jesus all around us is that we are satisfied with far less than all.

Jesus doesn’t want much from you and I. Only all. Everything.

The oil flowed until they ran out of containers. What if they had held back a container or two? You know, the one they got from Grandma the last time they saw her…or that one that was special because it was from the widow’s childhood…or maybe the one that was won as a prize for the best oil at the county fair…or that one that is the collectible one - you know it’s worth a lot on eBay as long as it has never been used.

You see, we have all sorts of excuses as to why we don’t bring Jesus all of us. We like to have a little control here and there. We have our pet sins. We have no problem giving God a certain portion of our live, a certain amount of our time, a certain (10 %) amount of our money, but we feel free to do with the rest what we want.

And because we do not give all of our containers to God, we do not get all the oil that we could have.

When it comes down to it, we get all of Jesus that we really want. We get as much revival as we desire.

How much do you and I really want to see a mighty move of God across this land? How badly do we really want to see our loved ones come to know Jesus? How serious are we when it comes to our relationship with the Lord? The real question we must ask, is how full do we want to be? How full of Jesus do we want to be?

Are you, and I ready to give all of containers to God? Are willing to allow Him to fill them up completely with Him? Are we willing to say, “This is all I have Lord…and all I have is Yours.”?

Well, I cannot answer for you…but for me…well, I gotta go know. I think I have a few more containers in my closet that I need to find.

Pastor Dave