Church on Sunday

Hebrews 10:25  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.

I've heard it said that if your faith will not get you to church on Sunday, it probably will not get you to Heaven someday. Sometimes I would like to add Sunday night and Wednesday to that as well, but then I remember that most churches don't have either of those services anymore. :/ You may disagree, but I think that it speaks volumes as to where the church in North America (need to clarify that lest I offend my Central and South American brethren) is today.

Hearing the Gospel

Acts 1:8  But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

Nonbelievers must hear the gospel an average of 7.6 times before they receive it. So if anyone walks away from you when you share the gospel with him, remember: the Word of God never returns void. Maybe the person you shared with has never heard it before. Maybe this is only the second time he has ever heard it, or maybe this is his 6.6th time. – Willaim Fay, Share Jesus Without Fear (Kindle Location 284-286).

Through the Fire

"When God allows his children to go through the fire, he keeps his eye on the clock and his hand on the thermostat.  If we rebel, He may reset the clock, but if we submit, He will not permit us to suffer one minute too long." - Wiersbe

Perspective

Chuck Swindoll once said that life is 99% perspective and only 1% reality. 

A little girl walked daily to and from school. Though the weather that morning was questionable and clouds were forming, she made her daily trek to the elementary school.  As the afternoon progressed, the winds whipped up, along with thunder and lightning.

The mother of the little girl felt concerned that her daughter would be frightened as she walked home from school, and she herself feared that the electrical storm might harm her child. Following the roar of thunder, lightning, like a flaming sword, would cut through the sky.  Full of concern, the mother quickly got into her car and drove along the route to her child's school.

As she did so, she saw her little girl walking along, but at each flash of lightning, the child would stop, look and smile. Another and another were to follow quickly, each with the little girl stopping, looking at the streak of light and smiling. Finally, the mother called her over to the car and asked, "What are you doing?"  The child answered, "God just keeps taking pictures of me."

Why Not?

1 Peter 4:12-14  Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.  (13)  But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.  (14)  If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.

Someone asked C.S. Lewis, "Why do the righteous suffer?" "Why not?" he replied. "They are the only ones who can take it."

Audience-Driven Churches

Mat 5:13  You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.

In Dining with the Devil, Os Guinness cited an article from The New Yorker magazine lamenting the "audience-driven" nature of much preaching today: "The preacher, instead of looking out upon the world, looks out upon public opinion, trying to find out what the public would like to hear. Then he tries his best to duplicate that, and bring his finished product into a marketplace in which others are trying to do the same. The public, turning to our church culture to find out about the world, discovers there is nothing but its own reflection."

Antinomian Christians

Rom 6:15  What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!

Regardless of our religious confession these days, who can dispute that in many ways religious beliefs seem irrelevant to our world? On television we see Roman Catholics fawning over the pope in St. Louis while ignoring his teachings about contraception and abortion. Southern Baptists, who used to be known for decrying illicit sex, drugs, and rock and roll music—lest they lead to dancing, drinking, or playing cards—are now portrayed in a national magazine as antinomian (a person who believes that Christians are free from the moral law by virtue of grace) Christians who have made peace with an anything-goes morality. - Dever, Mark (2004-09-30). Nine Marks of a Healthy Church (Kindle Locations 856-860). Good News Publishers/Crossway Books. Kindle Edition.

Let's Not Be Too Hasty

In his article "Responding to a New Translation", Dr. David Saxon, Professor of Bible and Church History at Maranatha Baptist Seminary gives those of us who embrace dispensational theology some reasons to pause before jumping to endorse the English Standard Version. It's a good read regardless of your view.

Clothed in Humility

1Pe 5:5  Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

In the House at Bonn occupied by Beethoven there still is preserved the piano upon which the great master played, and which he used in the composition of his great music. Years ago, an American girl visited the shrine. She waltzed airily to the instrument and began playing a careless tune; and then, turning to the custodian, said, "I suppose you have many visitors here every year?" "A great many," was the reply. "Many famous people, no doubt?" said she. "Yes, Paderewski came recently." "I suppose, of course, he played on the piano?" said the girl, her fingers still thrumming the keys. "No," said the custodian, "he did not consider himself worthy."

This is the reverence of the great in soul. The flippant enter the hallowed places, the sanctuaries of the world, with light laughter and careless jest; they feel nothing in their shallow souls, and reduce everything to the flippant and commonplace; but the high-souled enter with bared heads, they take the shoes off their feet, they stand awed and in silence. "They do not consider themselves worthy."