Church in a House

I wrote the following during the planting period of the house churches in Lansing to explain to people what doing church in a house was and why we should be doing it. It's a blast from the past. My views might have changed somewhat, so feel free to pick apart. Heck, you might even cause me to change my mind. It has happened on this blog before. I always love hearing everyone's input. So feel free, as always, to critique away.

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Introduction

When I was asked to consider planting a church in Lansing that would reach out to those who are not currently being reached by any other church, I was at first struck with a wave of excitement. Ideas went through my head about what we could do in the Sunday morning service that would be fun and exciting. Over time, that initial wave of excitement wore off. I knew in my heart that something had been missing in my experience with churches in the past, and that dressing up the Sunday worship service and all the other institutions of the church in modern garb was not the solution. The result would be a fun and dynamic service – something that I and other people my age would enjoy going to, but it would not meet our deeper needs. At that point I was discouraged and decided in my head that I would not plant the church.

Then I went to a conference on church planting. At one of the workshops this issue was addressed. The speaker had arrived at the same mental roadblock that I had arrived at, only years earlier. He woke my sleeping soul up in the session that day:

“The problem with church is not in the worship services or any of the other programs we so often see; the problem with church is that we have become confused with what it by nature should be. It’s time for us to rediscover church.”

During that session, God tugged my heart back into the direction of Lansing and being involved there in planting a new church. I was left with the consuming conviction that house churches could help meet the needs that all of us have but are not currently being met. Following are the reasons why and what the concept has become through study and prayer. If you feel an excitement and joy deep inside you screaming out during this journey through the idea of house churches, don’t think that you are feeling it alone. Most of us have had that feeling. Embrace it and take another step into a life that God has intended for us to live.

I must write a disclaimer at this point. I don’t want people to think that I’m anti-church. I am thankful for the church and all it has done in my life and the lives of millions of others. All I am doing is pointing out some problems that the church in America is presently facing. I truly believe that house churches are an effective way to answer these problems. However, I do believe churches can and have answered these problems in other ways. House churches are not the only solution. They are the solution that has been laid upon my heart and others involved in this body of believers.

The Need For A Change

· Failure in really knowing one another

· Failure to meet each other’s real needs

· Failure at plugging people into the church

· Failure of showing the significance of being in the church

In pointing out the faults of the church, I am not so presumptuous to assume that we will not have faults of our own. I am just examining what is going on in the hopes of somehow being shown a better way. I read somewhere that the unexamined life is not worth living. I think this applies even to the church. The unexamined church is not worth being. God wants us to strive for perfection and the only way to do that is to be honest about the situation we are in.

Somewhere along the road to being the Church God intended us to be, most people in the Church seem to have stopped trying to really know one another. We became content at saying “Hi” on Sunday mornings at the designated time and placed our spiritual lives a safe distance from everyone else. We have created an environment of individualism that ignores and, at times, condemns close community. This is an area where the values of American culture have infiltrated the church and almost wounded it fatally. The Bible does not address this issue directly because it would seem totally absurd to the early church to have a community of believers who did not know each other.

Another problem that the church faces today is that it has almost completely stopped meeting each other’s needs. James wrote, “If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,’ and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that?” Imagine if the church was a place where people had their needs met and what the world’s impression of us would be as a result of that. However, they see us acting just as they do. Meeting their own needs and trying to avoid making eye contact with those in need.

Those in the world who make their way into a church find themselves not being given the opportunity to use their gifts, both spiritual and natural, for the glory of God. Those of us already in the church need to utilize the gifts of those who are new to our group. We are failing both God and them if we do not allow them to use their gifts to glorify him. Peter wrote, “Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received.” No one’s talents should go undiscovered and underutilized in the church.

We feel that house churches are a solution to these problems. It is impossible for people to hide in a house church. Individuals cannot just go to a house church and feel like they have done their weekly duty to God. All members of a house church will get to know each other in a deep and meaningful way, and members gifts are needed. Through house church people will join together and become the family of God, a fully functional family in contrast to the dysfunctional ones that surround us.

What Is Different

· Community

· Relationships

· Effective Ministry

· Spiritual Growth

· Bible study

· Gift Utilization

· Easier To Let The Spirit Lead

The great thing about house churches is that in them we can strive to be the close knit community God designed us for in which we realize we are all in this life together. We are all in a journey and that journey leads to the foot of the throne of God. We need to help everyone get there. When someone is down, we can be there to help them get back up. When someone needs something, we can provide them with it if we have the resources. We can be a family focused on God and living out his will here on earth.

But it is only through relationships that this genuine community can spring forth. I do not hold the opinion that everyone in a house church is going to be best friends. Maybe our best friends will not even be in our house church. But there is a bond that is different from anything we’ve ever experienced that will develop through a house church.

It is through this community of sacrificial followers of Christ that true ministry will happen. Not only will people in the group meet each other’s needs, but they will begin to meet the needs of those around them in their communities. God does not intend for our faith to be an inward experience only. He does not bless us so that we can be filled with joy and sit around. He blesses us so that we will become what he originally intended the nation of Israel to be. This is seen through his promise to Abraham: “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” God blesses people because he wants people to be a blessing to others. Through house churches, God’s blessings can be shown in a way I long to see.

And the ministries of a house church will be so much more effective if we use everyone’s gifts. We all have something we excel at and there is no better place to use our gifts than in a house church. If we aren’t using our God given gifts to glorify God through helping others, then we are missing out on an opportunity to be a vessel for the enactment of his will. God has given us our gifts for a reason and that is to glorify him through helping one another grow closer. “Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.” (I John 3:18)

Teaching will also take on a new dynamic in the house church. Interaction is one of the most helpful tools in learning and comes much more naturally among a small group that is growing closer to God together. If we have a question about what is being taught, we are free to ask. If we have a situation that needs to be addressed that wasn’t on the agenda for the night, then the others will gladly address it and set aside the prepared lesson for another night. The key to effective teaching is letting God lead rather than humans. We do this through his word and through his Spirit. “Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. And we speak of these things in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things to those who are spiritual.” (I Cor 2:12-13) “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim 3:16-17)

What Does A House Church Do

· Songs of Worship

· Lord’s Supper

· Fellowship meal

· Prayer

· Bible study/discussion

· Service

In doing house church we have to be careful not to reduce it to a formula. We need to allow God to move within the group to do what he wills, but at the same time we need to be prepared to do what God has already laid out for us. The following paragraphs contain the things we believe God has designed for the church to do. We will strive to do them and whatever else God lays upon our hearts as long as it is not contrary to his written Word.

The house church is really the church. It isn’t an imitation; it is the real thing. It is where our membership is. We decided to go this route because we wanted church to be a place where people’s needs are met, a place where God is always glorified, and a place where we receive strength to go out into the world and do the Lord’s work.

A house church is in a way autonomous. Solomon’s Porch will not dictate to a house church what to do or how to do it. Those issues are decided by each house church. As a starting point we hope that they will participate in these basic elements of communal worship. We want to follow the examples of the first followers of Christ and “devote ourselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” (Acts 2:42)

In the house church all the elements of a traditional Sunday Morning service will be done in an authentic way. Some house churches might not have the gifting to do each element as well as others, but that is not the point. For instance, in singing songs to glorify God a church might not have talented musicians. They might even be so unmusical that they need to worship to cds rather than live instruments or to not use music at all. God is glorified just the same. “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” (Mark 12:43-44) The underlying principle here is giving your all. It applies to all aspects of our life, even to our singing songs in worship God is not impressed by how much talent we have when we worship; he’s the one who gave it to us. He just wants us to give our whole being in whatever we do.

Much debate has centered around the way the Lord’s Supper should be done. The great thing about a house church is that it can be done in whatever way people feel is appropriate. There is no set pattern we have to do week in and week out unless we want it. We do see a value in doing the Lord’s Supper in the house church whenever they meet. This principle comes from the example set by the early church in Acts. “Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people.” (Acts 2:46-47)

Even if you don’t include the Lord’s Supper as part of your meal, there is nothing like eating a meal with fellow believers. One of the key elements of a house church is the time spent sharing the meal together. We view the time a house church meets together should not be rushed and should last around 3 to 4 hours. This gives plenty of time for a meal. The meal can be arranged however the group wants. The hosting house can provide the whole thing or people from the group can get together to make the meal.

One of the most important elements in a Christian’s spiritual life is prayer. It’s through prayer that we have a link to God. When our concerns become one and we lift them up to God as a unified body more power seems to be manifested. We see this displayed throughout Acts, especially in Acts 12 with Peter’s release from prison, and Jesus spoke on it: “Again truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” (Matthew 18:19-20)

As John stated in 1 John 4, we must be equipped as Christians to test the spirits if we want to be a spirit-filled community. If we don’t, then we become susceptible to all sorts of evil and ill guidance. And the most effective way to tell any counterfeit is to know the original. We believe that God will not contradict what he has told us in Scripture; therefore, it is a churches responsibility to insure that all believers are growing in the knowledge of God’s written word. His word is a guide to understanding what is going on around us today. It helps us to pick out what God is doing in the present. Without knowing the Scriptures we are opening ourselves up to many kinds of teaching that are not in agreement with what God has already taught the generations before us.

In a house church we can study the word together and glean insights from one another. However we have to be careful to not read only through our emotions and subjective experiences but look for the meaning the author wants to get across and apply those meanings to our lives.

And in applying the Bible to our lives we will begin to live our lives for others. This is where serving together becomes important. We don’t want house churches to become self-centered, and we feel the best way to avoid this is to be involved in service projects. We want each house church to be involved in a ministry or create its own and participate with all the members involved at least once a month. It is through this time of service that we live out what we have learned as a group. So often churches just teach people how to live but never do it together. We want what we learn as a group to not only be applied in our personal life but to be applied in our church as well.

If house churches do these things and develop their own communal touches on their gathering, they will begin to form into a real community. And on our way there we will find ourselves beginning to love one another followed by a desire to help each other out. We will become the family of God that we were intended to be.

How Do We Do It

· The Tasks

· The Leader

· The Relationship To Solomon’s Porch

On the less glamorous side of things, certain tasks have to be done in order to have a functioning house church, whether a church does this on a weekly basis or on a long-term basis is their own choice. A place of worship needs to be decided upon. A meal needs to be prepared. A teacher needs to be assigned. Worship leaders need to be chosen. A service project needs to be planned. There is a lot of work that goes into a house church which in the end makes it all the more rewarding. We believe to help facilitate this that each house church should have a pastor, an individual who takes responsibility for the development of the flock and takes caring for them under his wing. We do not want to mandate a leadership style onto the house church pastor. The way he leads should be the way he feels God wants him to lead.

Through this individual the group will have a more formal relationship with Solomon’s Porch. This person will be in a small group with other house church pastors where they will learn about leadership, loving people in practical ways, and guiding people spiritually. They will pray together and share their concerns. It is important for the house churches to be held accountable in some form and this meeting together will be one of the areas that providess that. Eventually, the eldership of Solomon’s Porch will come out of the various house church pastors. Not every house church pastor will be an elder, but every elder will be a house church pastor.

It is important for each house church to realize that they are part of a larger group of house churches that will meet together for a weekly gathering. It is in this larger gathering that the house churches will get to know one another and the offering will take place. The reason offering takes place in the larger setting is for several reasons. First, accountability. This is a two-edged sword but we believe the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks. We understand that giving their finances to the larger gathering is a slight loss of freedom. However, the benefit is that groups will have to think through their ideas before implementing them. It will prevent us from wasting God’s resources. Second, it provides the opportunity for groups who are doing a ministry that doesn’t cost much to have their resources go to a group that is doing a ministry that comes attached with a big dollar sign. Third, it allows the central gathering and the house pastor training sessions to exist. Fourth, it allows us to pool our resources together and provide better support to missionaries and church plants.

What Happens When They Grow

· Sources Of Growth

· Optimal Size

· Church Planting

We are convinced that house churches are the answer to many of the problems that face all people who want to grow closer to God. Because of this, they will grow. House church growth will come mainly as a result of our larger gathering funneling people into them and house church members bringing others. This is a blessing and a problem at the same time. We are happy to see communities focused on growing closer to God flourish, but at the same time we are sad to lose the close fellowship that exists. The natural size of a house church seems to be around twenty. This number is not engraved in stone. Some house churches might be too large at twelve because of their meeting place. Others might be able to continue having intimate fellowship at thirty. There is no set rule.

A point will come in a healthy house church where they will realize that it would be more beneficial to downsize and plant another house church. This would best be done by sending out three or four people, one designated the pastor, to start their own house church. The house church sending them would have a final church service all together and lay hands on the people they are sending out.

Church planting will become a natural offshoot of house churches. I foresee a day where we send house churches across the state, nation, and seas. When people feel called to go somewhere and start a church, we should open up the opportunity for involvement to the whole congregation to see if they are being called in that direction. For instance, if an individual feels called to move to Chicago and start up a house church community, we will let the larger community know about the idea to see if anyone else is being called to join them. The group heading to Chicago will have a few months to become a family before being sent off. The church planting opportunities are endless as our house churches grow.

What Makes House Churches Unique

(The following section is influenced by Robert & Julia Banks’ The Church Comes Home.)

If you’re wondering after all of this what is the difference between house churches and other forms of small groups that dominate the church landscape, then I hope this section shows the difference that exists. First we’ll start with the surface differences and move on to the deeper differences. House churches will meet for three to four hours rather than an hour or an hour and a half. They not only take on the name church but act as a church. They worship God through songs, teaching, action, a meal, and more. People become members of the house church rather than the larger gathering.

“The primary goal of a home church is to develop a quality of common life under God, one in which the attitudes, values, priorities, and commitments of the kingdom of God become comunally visible.” (108) Intimate relationships focused on God is the goal of a house church, not numerical expansion. We will never force anyone to leave their house church if they want to stay. They are a sort of amalgam that exhibits all aspects of the different small groups that currently exist in churches. Like members of interest groups, actions groups, and support groups, “members of a home church come together to pursue interests, tasks, and needs. Like the accountability groups and cell churches, home churches meet to encourage accountability and outreach.” (107)

Our Calling

I want to leave us with two passages of Scriptures because we are young people setting out this task God has called us to and because I am in awe of the early Christians whose hard work and sensitivity to the Spirit have led through a long chain of people to each one of us coming to the Lord.

“These are the things you must insist on and teach. Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Until I arrive give attention to the public reading of scripture, to exhorting, to teaching. Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you through prophecy with the laying on of hands by the council of elders. Put these things into practice, devote yourself to them, so that all may see your progress. Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; continue in these things, for in doing this you will save both yourself and your hearers.” (I Timothy 4:11-16)

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:42-47)

The early church impacted the world because they were an active community, not just individuals. My hope is that through house churches we will be able to do the same. May God’s grace be with us and guide us through this endeavor.


Church of Christ Slogans Part 3 - In Essentials Unity

I am finally going to write on the last Church of Christ slogan.

"Where the Bible speaks, we speak; where the Bible is silent, we're silent" brought some negative feedback.

Talking about "No Creed but Christ" brought up a questions by Ben that leads straight into this slogan.

Ben wrote, "Since there are many different churches that claim to follow Christ, but some obviously do not, how do we relate to those churches who do not seem to have Christ as their core? For that matter, do we associate with them at all? I'm thinking of Universalist, Unitarian, Christian Scientist, etc."

Now, we get to deal with my favorite Church of Christ slogan: "In essentials unity, In opinions liberty, In all things love." For a very thorough essay on the history of this saying, check out this website. This saying goes all the way back to Augustine.

Although the saying is great, we run into a big problem. Who decides the essentials?

Barton Stone, one of the founders of the Restoration Movement, wrote the following concerning this in the mid 1850s.

"Some who are opposed to a large creed-book as a plan of union, yet plead for the necessity of a few ESSENTIAL doctrines to be embodied, as a bond of union. But who shall determine what these essential doctrines are? Suppose it possible that every member of the Church on earth were together, and all agreed upon three or four doctrines as only ESSENTIAL, and that these only shall be tests of Christian union, would they all honestly agree, that should increasing light convince them that the doctrines received were wrong, they would still retain and defend them? Would they, or could they bind their posterity to believe and receive them? But these things are impossible. No formulary of doctrines can unite the Christian world. If it can unite a party, that union is only partial, and of short duration; it is a union of disunion, for unless we give up the right of thinking, and implicitly believe as the Catholics do, such creeds are vain."

What are the essentials?

I put off writing this because I was hoping to have an answer.

One might say Jesus is the essential. Whose view of Jesus? Do we have to believe that Jesus is God? Then we are adding to it another essential. Do we have to believe that Jesus had all the power of God? Then we are adding to it another essential. If we're honest with ourselves, when we say Jesus is the essential, we are actually saying our view of Jesus is the essential. Our view of Jesus comes with a ton of doctrinal baggage, each of which would add another line to our essentials. We would have a whole document of essentials just stating who we think Jesus is.

I would propose that love is essential. We are told to love our neighbors, love our enemies, and to realize that all other aspects of our faith is meaningless without love. How far does that love go? I've been in an intense discussion on the GLCC Alumni Forum about whether Christians are called to love their enemies always, even in times of war or the most extreme circumstances. Some would say we need to. Others would say that there are certain times when the most loving this we can do for someone is to kill the one oppressing them. We can't even agree as brothers and sisters in Christ what it means to be loving.

I would also propose that striving to live a holy life is essential. God tells us to be holy as He is holy. We are to repent from our sins. But even this point has a problem in that we can disagree on what being holy looks like. Some would propose isolation from the world. Others would propose being in the world, but not of the world.

I would propose that a belief that the Bible is our sole authority is essential. However, some will say that the Bible is all sufficient for the modern-day life. Others will say that the Bible leaves us a lot of room for opinons. Still no agreement.

I would propose that being filled with the Holy Spirit is essential. However, we still argue on this one. Some believe that we are inhabited with the Holy Spirit only as a seal of salvation. Others will argue that we need to speak in tongues to show its indwelling. Some on the gifts side won't even recognize those on the seal side as being saved and vice-versa.

So, I have put off writing this hoping that I would somehow arrive upon the answerthat has eluded us for millenia. I haven't unless you all want to agree with me. The essentials are Regan's views of Jesus, Regan's non-violent view of love, Regan's view of being in the world but not of the world, Regan's view of the Bible, and Regan's view of the Holy Spirit. If you have a question on exactly how these are to be lived out, then feel free to shoot me an email. This way we can have a unified body of Christ.

That last paragraph (for the sarcastic impaired) ended sarcastically. But it seems to be the stance that most people have. We can have unity in the essentials, but only if you let me decide what the essentials are. Some people are happy just agreeing with words while the concepts behind those words vary tremendously.

I don't have an answer. If you have any insights or thoughts, feel free to post a comment.

But I still like the saying.

In essentials unity, In opinions liberty, In all things love.

Watch out for the potholes.

Bringing the Mission Life Home

Going on a mission trip is a lifechanging experience. If you ever been on a mission trip, then you will understand that. If you haven't, then just take my word for it.

I haven't heard of anyone who didn't grow in their faith when they went on a mission trip. It is an amazing experience. But then you come back home. And the lifechanging experience stops. We begin to get back into the normal routine. We become thankful for the mountaintop experience but understand that we can't live up their too long.

Well, I am all for living up on the mountaintop as much as possible, so I have tried to figure this one out. Why do we grow when we go on a mission trip, yet struggle to maintain our spiritual lives back here?

Here are some things I came up with. Feel free to share some if you can think of one's that I haven't included.

We are completely selfless on a mission trip. All we want to do is help other people have their needs met. The whole reason we are there is to help others, so there is no room for selfishness.

We live together in close proximity with other believers on a mission trip. Anytime we need encouragement we are surrounded with people that are willing to give it. We are around each other enough to know one another on a deeper level than the normal daily relationships allow us to here.

We share meals together on a mission trip. I would love to be involved in a group of people that shared meals together on a more regular basis. We can share meals and not be living in a commune (not that there is anything wrong with that).

We were focused on finding people's needs and meeting them. This one has come up some in conversation lately. One of the main things I miss about church in Lansing is this element. Every week when we gathered together we asked if there were any needs that anyone saw that we could meet. Too often we pray for people's needs when we can be the answer to those needs. That is one of the things we focused on in the house churches because we had the financial resources available to meet people's needs.

I'm trying to bring the mission trip back home.

Watch out for the potholes.



A dream about car salesmen and the church

I didn't remember this until I drove past a car lot on the way to work.

I had a crazy vivid dream last night.

I was involved in a church. I sat in the far corner. I wasn't alone. I was surrounded by people. Anyway, the minister of the church resigned from the church. The church was then taken over by non-Christian used car salesmen. I sat in my corner waiting to observe what havoc this would bring to the church.

It changed nothing. All of the manipulative sales tactics and motivational leadership tricks were implemented, but it was the same as before the arrival on the non-Christian used car salesmen leaders. The church continued on a moral decline sweeping me away with it.

That was my dream. Have a go at it if you feel like a Joseph today. All I know is that I must think about the church way too much, but I assume you have already realized that.

Voting Christians

Here were some interesting facts I ran across on the internet today. They are from George Barna's research group's website.

·
People who had read from the Bible during the past seven days, other than at church, are both more likely to vote. They are also more likely to support President Bush (42% vs. 31% for Mr. Kerry).

·People who had attended a church worship service during the past seven days are both more likely to vote. They are also more likely to support President Bush (47% compared to 26% of church attenders who back Mr. Kerry).

·People who had discussed a moral issue with someone during the past seven days are both more likely to vote and more likely to support President Bush (41% vs. 34%).

·People who had turned off a television program they were watching during the past seven days because of the morals and values it presented are both more likely to vote and more likely to support President Bush (45% vs. 29%).

·The larger the church of the likely voter, the more likely he/she is to vote in November. In churches with less than 200 people, 41% are likely to vote, compared to 53% in churches of 200-499 adults, 61% in churches of 500-999 adults, and 63% in churches of 1000 or more adults.

·The larger the church of the likely voter, the more likely he/she is to vote for President Bush in November. In churches with less than 200 people, 47% are likely to vote for George Bush, compared to 65% in churches of 1000 or more adults.

·Evangelicals and non-evangelical born again Christians are substantially more likely than other faith segments to vote in November.

·Adults who have an “active faith” – that is, they have attended a church service, read the Bible outside of church and prayed to God during the past seven days – are not only one-third more likely to vote than other Americans, but they are also likely to support President Bush by a 3-to-1 margin (65% versus 20%).

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Only 20% of people with an "active faith" are going to vote for Kerry. That's an interesting statistic.

I don't have any other thoughts today. My mind is numb and blank.

Watch out for the potholes.


Corporate Loving

This topic came up in a group conversation at the potluck after church yesterday. It was probably a response from the following thoughts in my sermon:

"Our goal as a church needs to be that when people in Antwerp are in any sort of financial, emotional, physical, or spiritual need, they think that Antwerp Community Church is the place to have those needs met. We need to be the light that is shining throughout Antwerp. Are we? We might be those types of individuals, but I think there is more to it than just that. Are we that type of church? Are we that way as a community of believers? Do people throughout Antwerp know they can come to us with their needs? Do we have the resources to meet those needs?"

Instead of writing something all over again, I thought I would just share an email I wrote about a year ago to the pastor, who has now left, of our church. After reading it, I realize I was never given an answer to my question and that I am still there although their is very minimal corporate loving.

I hope to hear what you think in the same way I was hoping to hear what other's thought when I originally wrote the following emails. Like always, these thoughts are a work in progress.

***
I just wanted to share with you my thoughts. I strongly believe that my family needs to become members somewhere. My hope is that this letter explains our hesitation at becoming members at ACC and will help reveal to us what God's will concerning our life is.

First, I want to say that our hesitation has nothing to do with you. You give wonderful and challenging sermons that help us to grow deeper in our faith. The music at the church is excellent and helps us worship God. Our struggle has nothing to do with what happens on Sunday.

However, the subject that makes me hesitant to become a member did come up this Sunday. Maybe the issue isn't as big as I think it is, but it is something I have an increasing passion for and haven't seen happening at ACC. The issue is helping people as often as possible as a church rather than individuals. The subject came up a little bit during our lunch last Monday, and I think you were right in that in a small town like Antwerp their isn't many opportunities to serve phsyically as a church. However, opportunities to serve financially as a church come up much more often. A church has to be designed to adjust to these opportunities, which Bob Nobody’s (I changed the name for the internet’s sake) need is.

Here are my thoughts. I wrote an email to a friend last fall explaining this because we tried as a church in Lansing to focus on giving corporately rather than individually. He didn't grasp it. This is a reproduction of that email. It was written in the context of my last church.

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I thought I would write this email explaining my thoughts on the matter we have been discussing a little more precisely with the hopes that if you are right that you would actually take the time out to think out why and convince me.

There is one specific missionary that I have wanted the church to support. I have brought them up to the church twice and both times the church has refused. I would love to support them financially, but I can't do it in good conscience without the church leading the way. I hope you would help me have a good conscience in the matter if I were to do it.

I already explained in one of our conversations my one reason against taking from one's tithe and giving it away as one deems fit. I will clarify it in case I wasn't clear. It seems to be setting one's self up as the leader of a "Church of One" rather than submitting to the whole church in which an individual claims to be a part of. We have set up a structure where everyone can have a say in where the finances are going, so there isn't a heirarchical beauracracy where the leadership makes all the decisions. Everyone is involved. Consequently, this makes it so that any project or person an individual feels we should support can be brought up to the group in a quick and orderly fashion.

If one were to take the approach that they were going to give to whatever ministry they deem fit rather than give through the church, then it seems likely that it would logically result in that person only giving to the church when the church is doing something that fits the individual's set criteria of what is a good ministry. An individual would use his tithe for a greater need outside of the needs that the church deemed important any time he thinks it is appropriate. This he would do without any accountability whatsoever. This would make the individual a person who does not identify with the church but a person who identifies only with the parts of the church he likes. A stance that would make him not a part of the church in spirit; although, others might not know that. He is an individual Christian (if there can be such a thing) rather than part of the body of Christ.

The other reason that came to me as I was praying and seeking out God on this matter - although it could be wrong - is that it seems very selfish of an individual when they take the individual giving stance. They are robbing the one to be blessed of a larger blessing that they could receive if the church were involved. Even in a case where the need could be met by one individual, they are robbing others of an opportunity to be a blessing and receive all the reciprocal blessings from God that come along with it.

I think that is all that is on my mind. If I didn't share, I think I would go crazy. I hope I haven't offended you in any way. I would like to know the truth, and this letter is in hopes that I could come to the truth more fully.

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That is the letter I wrote last fall and I think it sums up my feelings today.

I do have one additional thought that has come about from observing the way things work at ACC. If we give as individuals rather than the body, it seems a lot easier to fall prey to pride. "I was the one who helped Bob Nobody” mentality would make the people who gave think they are better Christians than those that didn't. However, if the church as one body helped, then the only entity getting glory is the church. And hopefully the church would give all that glory to God.

Special designated offerings would also fall into this issue. If a church believes an issue is important enough to let their members give to it, why don't they just make it part of the budget. I don't understand why they wouldn't. To me, it just seems like an appeal to people's tendency to not submit to leadership. If the leadership feels money in a church should be spent in a certain way, then by all means that is where the money should be spent. They are the ones that, hopefully, through prayer and fasting have been placed in the leadership by God.

During our brief conversation yesterday after your sermon, you mentioned that the church would help with Bob Nobody. However, you said we might not give all of the $125/month needed. I don't understand why we wouldn't. As a church, we are his family. Should we expect people that aren't his family to help? Or do we want the financial burden to be placed on individual members of the church rather than the church as a whole? I think our church should take it on ourselves and not expect individuals, even if they are within the church, to do the job the church was called to do.

I am just expressing things that I am uncomfortable with. I want to be honest about the reason we haven't become members because I am beginning to feel more and more like we should become members somewhere. I don't like doing Christianity alone.

I trust you and respect you spiritually; however, I can't in good conscience become a member to a church as long as things that I feel are destructive to being of one mind, body, and spirit are the norm. Maybe I'm making a mountain out of an anthill, but it is a mountain in my head. If it is an anthill, I hope God, through you possibly, will reveal that to me.

I am not trying to manipulate you into making the church what I feel it should be, but I do want to know what the church wants to be. My family needs to decide if we are going to stay at ACC or not, and this issue seems to be one of the most important elements of a church. If a church isn't going to love together, then all they do is learn together. I think both elements are essential to a healthy church.

I guess I want to know if this is something ACC wants because this is what my family is called to be part of. If not, that is fine. But for our decision making I need to know. God has laid this heavily upon my heart. It is one of the reasons, I feel, he called me to Lansing to start a church. It is what I feel I need to be part of for the rest of my life.

I hope I haven't offended in any way. It was not my intention to. I just want to know what the church wants because we have to decide, through God's leading, where we are to be.

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Watch out for the potholes.

A truly amazing grace

Here is my sermon that will be delivered today. It is what has detracted me from my blogging all week. I guess it is true what I said somewhere on the internet at sometime. Ministers save up all of their blogging, iron it out, and deliver it on one day.

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Good morning.

This week I lived out a strange conviction that I’ve had for the last few months. I just kept putting it off and off. You probably know how that is. Lindsay and I don’t really have the extra money to pay the consequences for what I had done, so I was always a little hesitant to fess up in case they would be harsh with me. But Tuesday I worked up enough courage, finally did it, and cleared my conscience.

Let me take you back in time.

It was a dark, muggy, summer night, just right for stealing a stop sign. I always seemed to have friends staying the night during my teenage years, and this night was no exception. We seemed to have been a little extra ornery that night. There was a stop sign on a side road about a block from my house that had been knocked down. We came up with a plan to steal it and put it in our clubhouse in the attic. One of my friends with a ratchet went away to do the deed. I sat back and watched television with my other friends. Twenty minutes later, although it seemed like an eternity, my friend arrived back at the house with a stop sign in hand.

It was a decoration that brought us pride whenever we played cards in the clubhouse, but that is all it ever did during those teenage years. Then we stopped using the clubhouse. The stop sign sat there gathering layer upon layer of dust. It became a worthless relic of the beginning of a period of sin in my life. I guess I should've paid more attention to the words on the sign.

Tuesday, I called the police and asked them if I could return a stop sign I had stolen 14 years ago. I was told to call them before dropping it off to make sure someone would be at the police station when I returned it. I was hoping they wouldn't fine me or anything. If they did, I deserved it.

I woke up early Wednesday. It was a perfect morning. The stars were shining bright. The cool air filled my lungs. My dog hopped in the back seat of my car and we drove over to my parent’s house. I climbed the stairs up to the old clubhouse in the attic. My dog following me every step of the way. The clubhouse had been turned into a storage room. The stop sign had been entrapped by boxes. I pulled it out and carried it downstairs. I got out some paper towels and cleaned it. I figured it was clean when I originally stole it, and I was always taught that we should return things the way we got them.

Then I called the police again. The policeman on duty told me that he wouldn't be there and that I should just leave the sign in the hallway outside their offices. I was relieved and said okay. My dog and I hopped into the car and drove down to the police station with the stop sign, which was shining like the day it was stolen. Although it was dark outside, the lights surrounding the police station were luminating. There wasn't a shadow to hide in as I pulled the stop sign out of my back seat, walked across the road, and opened the screen door to the police station. I laid it there gently against the wall and proceeded back to the car. It looks like I won't have to pay any fine after all, but they do have my name.

Please turn with me if you have your Bibles to the first chapter of Isaiah.

Isaiah seemed to be mainly in the business of stop signs. He was trying to put up all the stop signs that the nations of Israel and Judah had torn down. Israel wouldn’t have to be destroyed if they would pay attention to the stop signs that said turn back and follow God. Isaiah was trying to get the people who claimed to be the people of God to actually step up and be the people of God.

And true, when we read the Old Testament and books like this we sometimes think this doesn’t apply to us. These passages are from the old covenant. We don’t have sacrifices anymore. But the underlying principles still apply to each one of us here today.

<>(Isa 1:11-15 NASB) ""What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?" Says the LORD. "I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams, And the fat of fed cattle. And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs, or goats. {12} "When you come to appear before Me, Who requires of you this trampling of My courts? {13} "Bring your worthless offerings no longer, Incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies-- I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly. {14} "I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, They have become a burden to Me. I am weary of bearing them. {15} "So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you, Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood."

Isaiah is pretty harsh. These people had enough of a “relationship” with God to go through all of the motions of following Him, but that was not enough. If the people of Israel would not get rid of the sin in their life, Isaiah says that there worship and prayers would not be heard. That’s harsh, but true. Even true to us. If we are not right with God, all of our acts of worship – whether it be prayer, Bible study, singing songs like we did this morning – all of our acts of worship are meaningless. They’re even one step worse than meaningless – they’re displeasing to God.

Isaiah isn’t alone in saying this. This isn’t just one case in Scripture that we can somehow justify away and disregard. It is throughout the Scriptures. Take Amos for example.

Amos 5:21-23 reads, “I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals I will not look upon. Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps.”

Thursday on my way home from work, I noticed that my wedding ring was gone. I’ve lost 40 pounds since we’ve moved down here and haven’t had my ring resized during that whole time, so it was beginning to fall of easily. But when I noticed that it wasn’t there I freaked out. I looked around my car. I felt around my car. I looked around and felt around some more. It was nowhere to be found. I was frantic.

Then it hit me because I had been thinking about this sermon all week. A wedding ring is like our songs. It is like our prayers or bible study time. Those are signs that I have a relationship with God just like my wedding ring is a sign to everyone that I have a relationship with my wife. If my wedding ring falls off, it doesn’t mean I’m no longer married. My marriage to my wife is a state of my heart. Many people can wear wedding rings and not be married in their heart. Just like many can do the outward signs of faith and not really mean it with their heart.

You’ve probably seen Road Runner cartoons where Wile Coyote turns a road sign so the directions are pointing the wrong way. It used to say the town was over there and the cliff over here, but with a little spin, the cliff is now over there and the town over here. But just because the sign says that is the way it is, doesn’t really make it so. Signs can lie.

When we adorn ourselves with the outward signs without practicing the inward state, we are only fooling ourselves. God is not impressed. He even goes so far as to say that he despises it. The outward actions of religion don’t cover over our sins. Just because we get up every morning, if you’re one of the few who do this, and read our Bibles doesn’t mean we’re right with God. Just because we’re here on Sundays, doesn’t mean we’re right with God.

What makes us right with God?

Isaiah goes on in verses 16-17.

(Isa 1:16-17 NASB) ""Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil, {17} Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless; Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow."

Isaiah says to make ourselves clean. We need to cease to do evil, but it doesn’t just stop there. Too often Christians think they are right with God if they refrain from doing wrongs or if they go through the rituals of a personal spiritual life – prayer, Bible study, and singing. Isaiah and the rest of Scripture takes it a step further. We need to refrain from doing wrongs, but we also need to learn to do good, seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.

Jesus shares a similar scary passage.

Matthew 25:31-45 reads…

(Mat 25:31-46 NASB) ""But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. {32} "And all the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; {33} and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. {34} "Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. {35} 'For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; {36} naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.' {37} "Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You drink? {38} 'And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? {39} 'And when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' {40} "And the King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.' {41} "Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; {42} for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; {43} I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.' {44} "Then they themselves also will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?' {45} "Then He will answer them, saying, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' {46} "And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.""

We are to be the sort of people that clothe the naked, house the homeless, welcome strangers, take care of sick, visit prisoners, seek justice, rescues the oppressed, defend orphans, and plead for widows. Our goal as a church needs to be that when people in Antwerp are in any sort of financial, emotional, physical, or spiritual need, they think that Antwerp Community Church is the place to have those needs met. We need to be the light that is shining throughout Antwerp.

Are we? We might be those types of individuals, but I think there is more to it than just that. Are we that type of church? Are we that way as a community of believers?

Because if we want our songs to be more than just noise, if we want God to love our gathering together, if we want God to work through our times of learning, then we need to make sure we, first, refrain from sin, and, second, are the loving hands of God in our community.

The movie Chocolat is one of my wife’s favorites, and I enjoy its point. In the movie there is a gypsy-type lady and her daughter who moves to a tranquil French village. It is a village that is ran by the mayor who is also the power behind the church.

There are outcasts in this village - a diabetic grandmother, an abused barkeep’s wife, and a group of traveling “river rats” who arrive at port. The new lady takes to loving all of the unlovables while the mayor is worried about enforcing the rules and having the appearance of being a good town. It’s a battle between holiness and love. This movie is an example of what the world tries to constantly do. They try to pit holiness and love at odds with one another. “You can’t be loving if you’re worried about right living.” Or “You can’t love them because they’re too immoral.”

However, Isaiah and Jesus both propose that we do both. That we love others while striving to be holy. When we emphasize both and begin to live them out in our lives glorious things are going to happen. We will become glimpses of the beautiful kingdom of God to those that encounter us.

Isaiah finishes off his condemning passage with some of the greatest hope in Scripture. You see, we’re still filthy sinners separated from God. And our righteousness can’t get us there. Isaiah states later in his book (64:6) that our righteousness is like filthy rags.
God is not impressed by our works, although he does tell us to do them. It’s only when we realize our true sinful state that we realize how amazing God’s grace truly is.

(Isa 1:18-19 NASB) ""Come now, and let us reason together," Says the LORD, "Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool. {19} "If you consent and obey, You will eat the best of the land;"

None of us here live up to God’s expectation for our lives. Does that give us an excuse to not strive to be holy? Of course not. Does that give us an excuse to not love our neighbor, to not love our enemies? Of course not. Those are two essential things to the Christian life. But it’s only when we realize that we don’t live up to God’s expectation for our life. When we realize we aren’t as holy as we need to be – we aren’t as loving as we need to be. Then we are ready to receive God’s amazing grace.

No past sin is too dark to be washed out. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be like snow; though they are like crimson, they shall become like wool.” Our sins will be washed away. No matter how great they are.

I am always amazed at God and who he uses to do his will. Let’s travel back 2000 years and pretend that I am Jesus. Okay, here I am ready to start the biggest thing the world has ever seen, the church. Something that is going to last longer than any of the kingdoms that are currently in existence. I have to choose 12 people to lead it. I would sit down and do interviews. I would have a list of what I’m looking for. We would need one of the best lawyers, one of the best accountants, one of the most charismatic leaders, an amazing speaker, one of the best administrators, an incredible writer, the list could go on and on. But who did he choose. He chose fishermen. He chose a tax collector. He chose nobodies.

Or take Paul. Again, if I was the one calling the shots I wouldn’t have chosen Paul. Here is a guy who went around killing Christians. He probably woke up in the morning, hopped out of bed like Mr. Rogers, put on his slippers and thought to himself, “What am I going to do today?” “There are some Christians hanging out on the other side of town. Let’s go kill them.” God looked at him and saw his potential rather than his sorry state. And he looks at each one of us and sees our potential rather than the sorry states we find ourselves in. Whether that is in a deep struggle with some persistent sin, a deep hatred for another person, an intense selfishness, materialism, a desire to keep up with Jones’, gossip – whatever our poison is, God looks beyond that and sees what we can be. And he doesn’t just stop there. He takes the next step, provides the antidote and begins to help us reach that potential he designed us for.

How many of you have seen the movie Seabisquit? It’s a movie about a wild old horse, a wacky trainer, and a washed out jockey. They find an owner who believes in them. He takes time with them. They fail, but he continues to believe in them. He brings out all of their potential and turns them into the best in America.

And that is what God wants to do with each one of us. Whether we are a little too wild, a little on the wacky side, or just washed out, God wants to help each one of us be who he designed us to be.

My first two points today might have been a little harsh. But it is necessary to acknowledge our failings. It is necessary to realize that we probably are wild, washed out, and wacky nobodies, but we need to be wild, washed out, and wacky nobodies ready to be used by God. It’s time for us to throw away our resumes (whether they are littered with shameful failings or filled with prideful achievements) and allow God to use us despite our past.

So what do I hope we learned from this passage in Isaiah today?

When people came to God with changed lives rather than mere words or songs, he listened to them. Now, I understand the current popular belief that we need to come to God with our unchanged life and let him help us change it. I don't think this is contrary to that view. God knows people's hearts. He knows when people's hearts are turning to Him. Words, Thoughts, or Actions don't cut the cake. They are just signs that can be faked, and God can see past signs. Churches throughout my life have been putting a bigger emphasis on one of these signs and ignoring the others. God is looking for a complete change of one's entire being - a change of the heart that results in a change of our words, thoughts, and actions. When one's heart changes, God will be there to help everything else change. He was already the one trying to get the heart to change in the first place, and every day of the week, including right now, he is trying to get us to take that next step in our relationship with him.

<>True grace allows us the freedom to look our failings in the face. We don’t have to hide from ourselves anymore. We can acknowledge our failures in our life and in our church. And true grace shows us that God will use unlikely people, like you and like me, to fix things. Not all of our wrongs can be fixed by us. Some sins are done and there is nothing we can do about them. In that case we need to just forgive ourselves because, if we are striving to be right with God, he has forgiven us. But in those cases where we can right a wrong of the past or present, like my stop sign story, we need to step out and fix our wrongs. If there is someone we need to apologize to, then we need to get together with them and do that. God is in the process of healing each of us, but sometimes that means we have to do something about it. Here is what I think God is saying to each of us today. “Return your stop sign. You might have earthly consequences to pay, but I will forgive you and help you through them.” It’s truly amazing grace when God knows our wrongs but still accepts us and uses us despite our being extremely unlikely people.

Twelve Monkeys of Christ

The sermon is done. It just needs practiced and edited. If you're of the praying sort, I ask that you would please pray that I am sensitive to God's leading and that he opens all of our hearts to what he wants us to hear.



Okay, that name really has nothing to do with this post. I just wanted to make sure my google ads stayed focus on Christian subject matters because that is what I mainly talk about.

Last, night the youth group and I watched Twelve Monkeys. Its a movie about a guy (Bruce Willis) who is sent from the future to find an original form of the virus that forced 1% of humanity to move underground while killing off all of the rest. When he comes back in time, he knows what is going to happen in the future, so the medical establishment of our day considers him crazy. One thing after another happens that revealing to his kidnapped psychiatrist that he really is from the future. That's all I will say because that is all that is necessary for this discussion.

Bruce Willis' character was different because he viewed the world different. We, as Christians, need to be different because we view the world differently than those around us. But more often than not, we seem to just be the same as the world.

Here is a recent Barna study. Born Again Christians As Likely To Divorce As Are Non-Christians.

(1 Cor 1:18-28 NASB) "For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. {19} For it is written, "I WILL DESTROY THE WISDOM OF THE WISE, AND THE CLEVERNESS OF THE CLEVER I WILL SET ASIDE." {20} Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? {21} For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. {22} For indeed Jews ask for signs, and Greeks search for wisdom; {23} but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness, {24} but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. {25} Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. {26} For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; {27} but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, {28} and the base things of the world and the despised, God has chosen, the things that are not, that He might nullify the things that are,"

Preparing For A Sermon

My blogging is going to be light until after Sunday or my sermon for Sunday is prepared.

But if you're bored on Sunday morning and are looking for a church attend, you're more than welcomed to come, worship God, and listen to my sermon. I can give you directions is you need them. However, I must warn you. It will contain stuff from Monday and Tuesdays posts in it. That wasn't my original intention when writing those posts, but that seems to be where I feel God steering me to.

And just in case you're worried that it will be too condemning. My final point is going to be on grace. It is only when we realize the terrible state that we are in that we can truly understand how amazing God's grace is.

This is also going to probably come up in the sermon. Nothing is set in stone yet.

A quote from Jeffrey Dahmer on NBC Dateline, November 29, 1994:

"If a person doesn't think there is a God to be accountable to then what's the point of trying to modify your behavior, to keep it within acceptable ranges? That's how I thought, anyway. I always believved the theory of evolution as truth, that w all just came from the slime. When we died, you know, that was it, there was nothing else. I've since come to believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is trulyl God, and I believe that I, as everyone else, will be accountable to Him."

Then a Christian band wrote the following song:

Jeffrey Dahmer went to heaven
Or else he lied oon television
He told us that he found You
He told us that he saw You
He told us that You were true
But what'd he tell you?

What did he tell you?
Did he just bow down before You?
Did he just aay that he was wrong?
And what about us?

What about all of us?
Can we just bow down before You?
Can we just say that we were wrong?
'Cause Jeffrey Dahmer's gone

Jeffrey's Dahmer's gone
And we know he's no better than we are
And we know that all sin's just the same

If it makes you sad and blue
If it makes you mad then shame on you
If it makes you question God
Maybe God should questiong you
How do you think you'd do?

I know how you'd do
Cause Jeffrey Dahmer's gone
Jeffrey Dahmer's gone

And we know he's no better than we are
And we know that all sin's just the same
And what about us?

What about all of us?
Can we just bow down before You?
Can we just say that we were wrong?
'Cause Jeffrey Dahmer's gone

Jeffrey Dahmer's gone
And we know he's no better than we are
And we know that all sin's just the same
Jeffrey Dahmer went to heaven
Or else he lied on television.

Have a great day.

Watch out for the potholes.

The Stop Sign - Making Wrongs Right

It was a dark, muggy, summer night, just right for stealing a stop sign. I always seemed to have friends staying the night during my teenage years, and this night was no exception. We seemed to have been a little extra onery that night. There was a stop sign on a side road about a block from my house that had been knocked down. I came up with a plan to steal it and put it in our clubhouse in the attic. I sent one of my friends with a ratchet away to do the deed. I sat back and watched television with my other friends. Twenty minutes later, although it seemed like an eternity, my friend arrived back at the house with a stop sign in hand.

It was a decoration that brought us pride whenever we played cards in the clubhouse, but that is all it ever did during those teenage years. Then we stopped using the clubhouse. The stop sign sat there gathering layer upon layer of dust. It became a worthless relic of the beginning of a period of sin in my life. I guess I should've paid more attention to the words on the sign.

Yesterday, I called the police and asked them if I could return a stop sign I had stolen 14 years ago. I was hoping they wouldn't fine me or anything. If they did, I deserved it.

I woke up early today. It was a perfect morning. The stars were shining bright. The cool air filled my lungs. My dog hopped in the back seat of my car and we drove over to my parents house. I climbed the stairs up to the old clubhouse. My dog following me every step of the way. The clubhouse had been turned into a storage room. The stop sign had been entrapped by boxes. I pulled it out and carried it downstairs. I got out some paper towels and cleaned it. I figured it was clean when I originally stole it, and I was always taught that we should return things the way we got them.

Then I called the police again. They had asked me to call them before dropping it off to make sure someone would be at the police station when I returned it. The policeman on duty told me that he wouldn't be there and that I should just leave the sign in the hallway outside their offices. I was relieved and said okay. My dog and I hopped into the car and drove down to the police station with the stop sign, which was shining like the day it was stolen. Although it was dark outside, the lights surrounding the police station were extremely luminating. There wasn't a shadow to hide in as I pulled the stop sign out of my back seat, walked across the road, and opened the door to the police station. I laid it there gently against the wall and proceeded back to the car. It looks like I won't have to pay any fine after all.

***

Watch out for the Potholes.

The Ignored Prophets, The Ignored Prayer

After yesterday's discussion, I wanted to examine more in my personal study the question, 'What would make a person's prayers or worship ignored?"

I do not think we should use these verses as a weapon to tell others that their prayers are not being heard unless God calls us to do that. They should be a tool for God to use to make our lives more of what He wants them to be. They are included in the Scriptures for a reason.

Do we receive the same cold ear when we live a sinful lifestyle or does the blood of Christ give us permission to continue sinning and be in the presence of God?

Lots of Bible verses because I tried to be thorough. The internet allows that. Here is what I found. If you know of other verses that pertain, feel free to post them in the comments.

(Jer 11:10-14 NASB) "They have turned back to the iniquities of their ancestors who refused to hear My words, and they have gone after other gods to serve them; the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken My covenant which I made with their fathers." {11} Therefore thus says the LORD, "Behold I am bringing disaster on them which they will not be able to escape; though they will cry to Me, yet I will not listen to them. {12} "Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry to the gods to whom they burn incense, but they surely will not save them in the time of their disaster. {13} "For your gods are as many as your cities, O Judah; and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to the shameful thing, altars to burn incense to Baal. {14} "Therefore do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them; for I will not listen when they call to Me because of their disaster."


God will not listen to the houses of Israel and Judah because they broke His covenant. God even goes as far to say that others shouldn't even pray for them. Right now, unless guided otherwise, I am going to always error on the side of praying for people who are lost and depraved. But the houses of Israel and Judah were so far in the God's doghouse that He wouldn't just hear their prayers, but He wouldn't even hear any prayers on their behalf.


(Ezek 8:17-18 NASB) "And He said to me, "Do you see this, son of man? Is it too light a thing for the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they have committed here, that they have filled the land with violence and provoked Me repeatedly? For behold, they are putting the twig to their nose. {18} "Therefore, I indeed shall deal in wrath. My eye will have no pity nor shall I spare; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, yet I shall not listen to them."


God will not listen to the cries of Judah because they have filled their land with violence and provoked Him repeatedly.


(Amos 5:21-24 NASB) ""I hate, I reject your festivals, Nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies. {22} "Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings. {23} "Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps. {24} "But let justice roll down like waters And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream."


God hates their festivals. God does not find joy in their gathering together. God will not accept their burnt offerings. He won't even look at their peace offerings. He wants the noise of their songs to be removed. He won't even listen to their instruments. This is some serious stuff. It appears to be happening because they were not being a just and righteous people. If they would do that, then God would love their festivals, delight in their gathering together, accept their offerings, enjoy the sound of their voises and instruments. Until they are righteous and just, He doesn't want to have anything to do with their pretentions of being His people.


(Zec 7:9-14 NASB) "Thus has the LORD of hosts said, 'Dispense true justice, and practice kindness and compassion each to his brother; {10} and do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.' {11} "But they refused to pay attention, and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears from hearing. {12} "And they made their hearts like flint so that they could not hear the law and the words which the LORD of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets; therefore great wrath came from the LORD of hosts. {13} "And it came about that just as He called and they would not listen, so they called and I would not listen," says the LORD of hosts; {14} "but I scattered them with a storm wind among all the nations whom they have not known. Thus the land is desolated behind them, so that no one went back and forth, for they made the pleasant land desolate."


God stopped listening to Israel and scattered them because they were an injust people, no longer kind and compassionate to one another, oppressed strangers and the poor, and devised evil schemes against one another.


(Deu 1:43-46 NASB) ""So I spoke to you, but you would not listen. Instead you rebelled against the command of the LORD, and acted presumptuously and went up into the hill country. {44} "And the Amorites who lived in that hill country came out against you, and chased you as bees do, and crushed you from Seir to Hormah. {45} "Then you returned and wept before the LORD; but the LORD did not listen to your voice, nor give ear to you. {46} "So you remained in Kadesh many days, the days that you spent there."


God did not hear their voice because they did not obey him when He spoke to them.


(Mat 23:14 NASB) "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows' houses, even while for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you shall receive greater condemnation."


The Pharisees are a perfect example of worthless lives that create worthless prayers that God wouldn't hear.


(John 9:31 NASB) ""We know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing, and does His will, He hears him."


This is the reply of the blind man to the rulers when he was healed. By itself, I wouldn't make it doctrine. Combined with the Old Testament Prophets, I would say that it is probably true.


(1 Pet 3:7-9 NASB) "You husbands likewise, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with a weaker vessel, since she is a woman; and grant her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered. {8} To sum up, let all be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit; {9} not returning evil for evil, or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing."


A husbands prayers will apparently be hindered if we do not live with their wives in an understanding manner and grant her honor.


(1 Pet 3:12 NASB) ""FOR THE EYES OF THE LORD ARE UPON THE RIGHTEOUS, AND HIS EARS ATTEND TO THEIR PRAYER, BUT THE FACE OF THE LORD IS AGAINST THOSE WHO DO EVIL.""


In light of all of the other verses, I presume that the opposite is also true. The eyes of the Lord are not on those who do evil, and his ears will not attend to their prayers.


(Mat 21:21-22 NASB) "And Jesus answered and said to them, "Truly I say to you, if you have faith, and do not doubt, you shall not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' it shall happen. {22} "And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive.""


A person of faith will have prayers that he receives.


(Jer 18:11-12 NASB) ""So now then, speak to the men of Judah and against the inhabitants of Jerusalem saying, 'Thus says the LORD, "Behold, I am fashioning calamity against you and devising a plan against you. Oh turn back, each of you from his evil way, and reform your ways and your deeds."' {12} "But they will say, 'It's hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.'"


Here is the hope for those who fear that their prayers are not being heard. God will hear nay of us in prayer when we reform our ways and deeds. When we turn back from our evil ways, he will be there with open arms. God is a God of grace and forgiveness. We see this constantly throughout the Old Testament. When people came to God with changed lives rather than mere words or songs, he listened to them. Now, I understand the current popular belief that we need to come to God with our unchanged life (ala Nirvana's Come As You Are) and let him help us change it. I don't think this is contrary to that view. God knows people's hearts. He knows when people's hearts are turning to Him. Words, Thoughts, or Actions don't cut the cake. Churches throughout my life have been putting a bigger emphasis on one of these. It is a complete change of one's entire being that is needed - a change of the heart that results in a change of our words, thoughts, and actions. When one's heart changes, God will be there to help everything else to change. He was already the one there trying to get the heart to change.


(Ezek 33:11-20 NASB) ""Say to them, 'As I live!' declares the Lord GOD, 'I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?' {12} "And you, son of man, say to your fellow citizens, 'The righteousness of a righteous man will not deliver him in the day of his transgression, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he will not stumble because of it in the day when he turns from his wickedness; whereas a righteous man will not be able to live by his righteousness on the day when he commits sin.' {13} "When I say to the righteous he will surely live, and he so trusts in his righteousness that he commits iniquity, none of his righteous deeds will be remembered; but in that same iniquity of his which he has committed he will die. {14} "But when I say to the wicked, 'You will surely die,' and he turns from his sin and practices justice and righteousness, {15} if a wicked man restores a pledge, pays back what he has taken by robbery, walks by the statutes which ensure life without committing iniquity, he will surely live; he shall not die. {16} "None of his sins that he has committed will be remembered against him. He has practiced justice and righteousness; he will surely live. {17} "Yet your fellow citizens say, 'The way of the Lord is not right,' when it is their own way that is not right. {18} "When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, then he shall die in it. {19} "But when the wicked turns from his wickedness and practices justice and righteousness, he will live by them. {20} "Yet you say, 'The way of the Lord is not right.' O house of Israel, I will judge each of you according to his ways."


God will always be there for those who turn from their own ways to Him. It's only when we realize that we need Him that we will be saved. As long as it is possible for us, we need to make all of our wrongs right. As a matter of fact, I've been meaning to make a small wrong right for many weeks and haven't gotten to it. I'm going to call the police station sometime this week and return a stop sign I was involved in stealing when I was a teen. We cannot be righteous enough on our own. However, that does not mean that we need to not be righteous. God's grace is huge. He is willing to take us back no matter what we have done. All we have to do is turn back to Him.


(Isa 1:11-20 NASB) "What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?" Says the LORD. "I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams, And the fat of fed cattle. And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs, or goats. {12} "When you come to appear before Me, Who requires of you this trampling of My courts? {13} "Bring your worthless offerings no longer, Incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies-- I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly. {14} "I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, They have become a burden to Me. I am weary of bearing them. {15} "So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you, Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood. {16} "Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil, {17} Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless; Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow. {18} "Come now, and let us reason together," Says the LORD, "Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool. {19} "If you consent and obey, You will eat the best of the land; {20} "But if you refuse and rebel, You will be devoured by the sword." Truly, the mouth of the LORD has spoken."


Again, God will not hear any of their acts of worship. But this one comes with a promise. If we stop persisting in our evil ways and begin to obey God, our sins, though now scarlet, will become white as snow. We need cease to do evil, seek justice, reprove the ruthless, defend the orphan, and plead for the widow. The life of a follower of God will focus on things that normal people think are foolish.


(James 5:13-18 NASB) "Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praises. {14} Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; {15} and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. {16} Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. {17} Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain; and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. {18} And he prayed again, and the sky poured rain, and the earth produced its fruit."


The prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. We need to be righteous people. I need to be a righteous person.

In summary, I hope I receive God's punishment when I sin. It is the only way that I will be able to continue on my journey to be more like Him. If he lets me travel down my wayward ways without any discipline, then I will not know to come back. God's punishment, as long as it isn't his final punishment to us, is actually a blessing that is there to bring us back to him.

So I hope that all of us will be quick to turn back when we are astray. It appears that our prayers depend upon it. God is gracious and will always take us back whenever we turn back to him.

Watch out for the potholes.