One of the reasons why so many people are content on the sidelines in the church I think is because we have made being a Christian to easy. We have made walking down an aisle and signing your card the criteria. In preaching through the Gospel of John Jesus calls for all of our lives. Radical sacrifice. We are to leave everything to follow Jesus. We are to take up our cross and follow Jesus. We have made discipleship about a checklist instead of about our lives. We are not calling people to give up all of their lives in obedience to Christ. We have made our Christian life an accessory to the rest of our life. Jesus calls for all of us. May I be obedient to give Him my life and be obedient in calling my church to do the same.

Love One Another

We have been working our way through the book of John on Sunday mornings. It has been the most challenging preaching series I have ever done. To be confronted with the words of Jesus week after week and month after month is a life changing experience. We have spent the last couple of weeks in John chapter 13 and Jesus call for the disciples to love one another and how this is a call to us as the church to love one another as well. We are called to love the church. In seeing this call from Jesus I have experienced some frustrations.

My frustration comes from the fact of so many men and women who claim to be Christians seem to really hate the church. There is so much complaining and so little loving. I sat in classes for four years at HPU where all we did it seems was complain about the church. I have sat in seminary classes for the last 3 years where it seems that everyone wants to complain and diss the church. Now, I understand that the American church is not what it should be and does not reflect the biblical picture of the church. I am not claiming it does. But, the call nonetheless is to love the church. Because, the truth of the matter is that the church is God's plan for the world. It is easy to complain about the church and our generation has turned it into an art form. Maybe we should stop complaining and invest our lives into the church to be the change we say so desperately needs to happen. Love the church. It will never be perfect and never fit your preferences or comforts. That is not its call and it is not your call to find one that does. It is your call to love the church even in its present form. So can we quit complaining? Can we love the church? It needs to grow. It needs to get back to its mission. It needs to change in a lot of ways, but your complaints from the sideline don't help. Love the church. Don't just complain. Love. I would like to share some thoughts later this week on where the church is failing in discipleship and how we can move it to be more biblical. So I will do a little complaining, but by the grace of God I will be the change I think we need to see.

New Beginning

Well we are getting settled and have enjoyed the move and the new ministry we have started. There is no greater joy, responsibility, or scary undertaking than to stand in front of men and women week in and week out and proclaim the Gospel. People's eternity is at stake every week and I want to be faithful to be the herald to proclaim the good news faithfully. We have been working our way through the Gospel of John and to see the emphasis in chapter 3 and 4 on a new life, being born again, and tasting the living water has been an encouragement to preach boldly and clearly on our sin and need for Jesus. Whether we are super religious and in the dark like Nicodemus or we live in shame and guilt away from the in crowd like the woman at the well we all need Jesus. Everyone needs to hear the Gospel. Week in and week out I pray I never back down from calling people to repentance and to coming to the foot of the cross. I have never seen the importance of preaching like I have in this last month of pastoring. Please preach the gospel wherever you are.

Idolatry

In Martin Luther's commentary on the ten commandments he says that really it all comes down to keeping the first commandment "You shall have no other gods before me". If we could keep this first commandment then we could keep all of the rest. Basically all sin is an idolatry issue. I love this. The question then becomes what is your idol? What is my idol? When we understand this then sin become a whole lot more than a breaking of the rules, it becomes a heart issue. If some thing other than God sits on the throne of our heart then we are in sin. As pastors then the way to make our preaching effective is to find the idols in our people and to shine the light of the gospel into their hearts. Our counseling will be transformed, our preaching will be transformed, and our whole ministry will be transformed when we realize that idolatry is the issue of the heart.

I found this quote on another blog: "Nothing puts life into men like a dying Savior. All other topics in Holy Scripture are important, and none of them are to be cast into the shade. But the death of the Son of God is the central sun of all these other minor luminaries. May this house be utterly consumed with fire before the day should come here when there should be given an uncertain sound about the atonement. This is not merely a doctrine of the church; it is the doctrine of the church. Leave this out, and you have no truth, you have no Savior, and you have no church."--Charles Spurgeon
Man do I love Spurgeon. I pray that I love the truth of the cross, that I live the truth of the cross, that I defend the truth of the cross and I pray my church does the same.

Authority

We have been working this summer through the book of Ephesians on Wednesday nights. Last night we came to the fun passage of Ephesians 5:22-33 and what the Gospel means in our marriage. So of course we talked about headship and submission. Wherever you come down on the issue of the role of men and women really isn't the concern of this post. What I think this passage and the controversy that surrounding it has shown me in study and research is that we ultimately have a problem with authority. I am not talking about necessarily the authority when it comes to the marriage relationship, but just authority in general. The authority of Scripture as our rule for life. The authority of church leadership. The authority ultimately of Christ as our King. We have a problem with authority. Some of this has come as a backlash to authority being misused. But, just because authority has been used wrongly before does not mean that there should be no authority. So then the question must be are we respecting the authority that God has placed over us in our lives? Whether it be our bosses etc. What it really comes down to at the spiritual level is are we living under the authority of God as revealed to us by Scripture? I think a lot of conflict and sin, to be honest, come down to people not respecting the authority in their lives and ultimately rebelling against the ultimate authority. They don't respect or live by the authority of Scripture or the authority of their King. Why do we struggle so much with authority?

The Word is Sufficient

One of my favorite books in the bible is Nehemiah. I love the story of Nehemiah's determination and drive to rebuild the temple. Determination that is fueled by a vision from God. One of my favorite passages within this book is chapter 8 and the story of Ezra reading the Law. Everyone gathers together as the sun is coming up and Ezra opens up the Law and begins to read it. There is no music, there is no lighting, there is no presentations. (Not that those things are bad. They can help lead us into worship, but sometimes we can use these things as substitutes to the Word.) Just the word being read out loud for everyone to hear. Every one gathers around as the sun is coming up until midday. So for 8 hours everyone is gathered around as Ezra reads the Law. Just reads the Law. What happens as the Law is read is that men, women, and children begin to repent of sin. They fall on their faces and lift their hands in worship of God as they gather back in Jerusalem, their city. Worship and revival break out among the people. Just with the reading of the Law. No great preaching or explanations just the reading of the Law. When is the last time this has happened not just in your church, but in your life? When was the last time Scripture really pushed you to repentance and worship? The Bible is sufficient enough for us. God speaks through Scripture. When is the last time you allowed God to challenge and speak to you through His word? It is sufficient to do so. I have been convicted of this in my life. So many times I am looking for the next experience and milestone when God is speaking to me that His Word is enough. It alone is enough for our lives . Have you been in the Word? Have you opened your ears and heart to what God wants to communicate to you? God wants to speak to you through the Bible. Beware, it could lead to genuine true worship and repentance as the Word penetrates your heart.