Church (n): the spotless and pure bride of Christ (Eph 5)
Believer’s Baptism seems like a funny place to continue our discussion, but hang with me. “Believer’s Baptism” says that you cannot be baptized until you have first trusted Christ for salvation, thus following the biblical model. Those who hold to this model generally also hold to the teaching that you cannot join the church until you have been baptized. And in baptism the believer is counseled and is sure of his decision to repent and trust Christ. So, in effect, to join the church as a member, a person has been vetted, if you will, and joins in like faith and like mind. He is a member of the body of Christ, the bride of Christ, as part of the ecclessia. Ecclessia is the Greek word meaning “assembly”; in other words, the assembling together of those who have been saved, baptized, and brought into the body of the local church.
We assemble. As a majority. This gives strength to the body of Christ. Any schisms or disagreements are to be addressed in the common Spirit that we all have. This is the biblical model of a church. How does this differ from some models today, you ask. I’m glad you asked.
The New Testament church assembled together, and then went out to evangelize and bring others in. I’m sure there was a visitor here and there, and they probably had their version of “Friend Day”, but on the whole they went out. Why? They knew that their lost friends would not enjoy assembling with them and worshipping a God they currently were rejecting! We worship in Spirit and truth. The lost world has neither. So why do some have this idea that we can create an assembly that will simulatneously glorify God and attract “seekers” who are lost? Creating a service atmosphere of this nature, in my opinion, requires removing much of the spiritual content and “meat” (doctrine) from the service. This has two damaging effects:
1) it dilutes the church body
2) it gives “seekers” a false assurance of their present state
In conclusion: 1 Corinthians 1:18 – For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
The strongest church is the one that assembles together as a body and energizes people to go out and do the work of God, ultimately bringing others into the body. It is this strength of the body, soundly holding up the light of Jesus, that changes lives. It is not a church’s job to dilute things and make the message palatable to the lost world. It is a churches job to shine the Light.
Do you agree? Is there a limit to how acceptable the content of a church service should be to the lost?
“Caffeine is the most commonly used mood-altering drug in the world”
I am now +1 week cafeeine free. It was one of my New Year’s resolutions. I am drinking decaf in the morning, and laying off sodas (which I have been for a while now).
And after reading articles like this one by John Hopkins Medical Center, with words like “mood altering drug” and “reinforcer” , I am glad to have quit this particular drug cold turkey.
Question: How do you view America’s addiction to caffeine? Good, bad, or neutral?
A quick review of a good book from Max Lucado called Fearless. If you aren’t familiar with my reviewing style, I don’t give a chapter by chapter overview of the book. I give my favorite parts (and not so favorite parts) from the book, and then tell you whether I would recommend it or not. Enjoy…
Much of Max Lucado’s work gets easily dismissed because it is so easy to read. But don’t let that fool you- the author is certainly a scholar and theologian, and has a knack for transmitting difficult principles in everyday language. Fearless is no exception. My favorite parts:
pg. 24: A story about Chinese orphans learning of their worth as God’s creation:
When they first distributed these books to the children and staff of the deaf school, the most bizarre thing happened. At a certain point everyone started crying. I could not understand this reaction.. . . Americans are somewhat used to the idea of positive reinforcement. . . . Not so in China and particularly not for these children who are virtually abandoned and considered valueless by their natural parents because they were born “broken.” When the idea came through in the reading that they are special simply because they were made by a loving creator . . . everyone started crying—including their teachers! It was wild.
pg. 26: On being God’s masterpiece…
Why does he love you so much? The same reason the artist loves his paintings or the boat builder loves his vessels. You are his idea. And God has only good ideas. “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago” (Eph. 2:10 nlt).
pg. 35: On the dangers of mishandled fear:
Fear, mismanaged, leads to sin. Sin leads to hiding. Since we’ve all sinned, we all hide, not in bushes, but in eighty-hour workweeks, temper tantrums, and religious busyness. We avoid contact with God.
Overall, if you are looking for an inspiring, easy read that is theologically sound – Max Lucado can’t be beat. Fearless is a good book to reconnect you with the basic principles of being a child of God. I recommend it.
Merry Christmas! Below you will find two codes that get you access to an instant download sampler from The Bible Experience.Enjoy!
1. Copy www.bibleexperience.com into your browser
2. Enter the code below in the box marked “Free Download Code”
3. Select your age in the drop-down menu
4. Click the button to download
Cuba Gooding, Jr. as Jonah – CODE: JONAH2CAT09
Mary Mary’s inspirational Psalm performance – CODE: PSALMSCAT09
I can recommend the new book by Mark Batterson, “Primal“. Primal presents itself as a search for the “lost soul of Christianity”, and in the book Batterson addresses foundational issues that will get any Christian thinking about their own faith.
My book review style is not to rehash what every chapter covers, but rather to give a few things that really spoke to me. By doing that, hopefully I will show you how impactful the book is. So here it goes:
page 9: “Does you heart break for the things that break the heart of God?” This really stopped me and got me thinking about the direction I am going. I think it’s a great question for any Christian.
page 28: “What is my God ordained passion?” Batterson introduces this question almost in passing in the chapter, but it hit me very hard in thinking about how God wants me to serve Him specifically.
These two questions are substantial enough to make the book worth the price, but it is full of more thought provoking information as well. It definitely got me thinking about where American Christianity is going, and where I am headed as well.
Again, I recommend this latest book from Batterson for anyone seeking to grow in their Christian walk.
Did I mention this book has an awesome size to it? Fits perfectly in a briefcase for traveling.
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
I have to admit this. In times past, children’s Christmas programs did not excite me very much. I don’t know why, I just honestly had little interest in watching.
That is, until I found this principle.
And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?“ Matthew 21:16
Christ was referencing Psalm 8:2. The praise that little children have for Jesus, especially this time of year, is something very special. Their faith is refreshing – it is innocent and whole-hearted.
So when you attend the “Children’s Choir Christmas Musical Extravaganza Pageant Program Play” this year – don’t be bored or uninterested.
Study how much in love with Jesus they are in the simplicity of their faith.
Matthew 18:3: And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
The real verb in the Great Commission is “make”(Matt 28:19). Technically, while “go” is a command, it is a participle in the Greek. It is not the main verb or thrust of the sentence.
Enough grammar.
The point is that as we are going (i.e. going through our day) we are to be involved in disciple making: teaching people to follow Jesus.
Tired of emailing stuff to yourself? Me too. That’s why I was extremely excited to learn about DropBox. I’m trying to avoid this blog post sounding like an informercial, but this service is really cool. If you have more than one PC (office, iPhone, etc) and find yourself emailing stuff to yourself all the time – this is the solution. It also eliminates the flash drive taking up room in your pocket (or purse….or….man purse….). The best part? It updates in real time. Drop something into the desktop application, and it is instantly available on your other PC, your phone, the web, and your dog’s microchip implant. Okay, so the implant thing is coming I hear, but the point is – you should get this software.
Try it out for a bit, then post your thoughts on it. I see alot of uses for business, school, ministry….
I spent yesterday on the phone with my bank trying to order checks for our ministry account. I ended up ordering from an online check printing service instead. Why? I was bounced to three different departments (all of them very nice, by the way), only to receive a message that said something along the lines of “we cannot process that request, please hang up and try your call again”. This was after 10 minutes of routing and re-routing through their system, explaining what I needed over and over. I’m not writing this to blow off steam – I wasn’t that upset. I’m not writing it to tell you I’m switching banks – I love my bank. But I am tired of not being able to contact people when I need too. I love technology – but not when it replaces people (side note: THAT is the issue with SOME online churches). Seth Godin (see blogroll) has an interesting article today about a similar thing – not being able to contact a company directly by email. That is ultimately frustrating as well. I have even encountered church websites that have forms going to office@thischurch.org instead of straight to the Pastor or whomever. If that doesn’t say “disconnected” and “leave us alone” I don’t know what does. The point: if you are going to use technology in your business (email, voice automated systems), then make it personable. What does your technology say to people?
The traditional view of the church is that it is distinct from the world as standing over against it and is intended to transform it. And by traditional I mean biblical.
I have been tossing this idea around in my brain for a few weeks, and I wanted to begin the conversation on it. This will be of special interest to those of you in ministry (or training to be in ministry), but is certainly applicable to all Christians. The issue is this: what is the church? what should the church look like? what should it do? This is not going to be a deep theological discussion (maybe later), but rather a treatment of the modern tendency to view the church from a pragmatic standpoint.
There is a growing trend, rooted in praxis theology, that is changing the traditional view of church as mentioned above. In the Scriptures, the church is to be a “city set on a hill” (Matt 5:14) and the pillar and ground of truth (I Tim 3:15). The church is supposed to be a light source – a lighthouse. It is to stand in the darkness as a representative to the world of righteousness, justice, peace, and love.
Andy Stanley (one of my favorites) started Northpoint as a “church for unchurched”. Every church should have a special emphasis on bringing lost friends to church. But it is when this idea gets taken too far that there is a problem.
Here is my fear: our churches have become so focused on attracting seekers, that we have lost the realization of who we are supposed to be, traditionally. Evangelist Junior Hill said he saw a sign for a “church for people who don’t like church”. A what? It is this mentality that leads to, in essence, an integration of anything (and everything) of pragmatic appeal. To use the illustration, we have turned off our city hill light so as not to alarm anyone passing by down below….
But the strength of the church is not it’s ability toappeal to the world. It appears that many churches want their visitors (and members) to have the attitude – “hey this is just like out there, but they do it better in here”. Whatever “it” happens to be at the moment, we try to emulate that. The strength of the church, however, is that we hold the truth – the light of the gospel. And it is this light that attracts those whom the Father is calling….
Read Part 1 here
I spent yesterday on the phone with my bank trying to order checks for our ministry account. I ended up ordering from an online check printing service instead. Why? I was bounced to three different departments (all of them very nice, by the way), only to receive a message that said something along the lines of “we cannot process that request, please hang up and try your call again”. This was after 10 minutes of routing and re-routing through their system, explaining what I needed over and over. I’m not writing this to blow off steam – I wasn’t that upset. I’m not writing it to tell you I’m switching banks – I love my bank. But I am tired of not being able to contact people when I need too. I love technology – but not when it replaces people (side note: THAT is the issue with SOME online churches). Seth Godin (see blogroll) has an 
The traditional view of the church is that it is distinct from the world as standing over against it and is intended to transform it. And by traditional I mean biblical.