Tag Archives: 1 Corinthians

Church health: be a part of the recovery and protection

Posted on February 20, 2017 by | Comments Off on Church health: be a part of the recovery and protection

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Church attendance was low yesterday. Maybe it’s been low for a while but you’ve just noticed it. The church where I attend also had low attendance. We had a couple of Sunday School classes where no members were even there – not even the teacher! Maybe you really noticed it in the Sunday morning worship service. The local church is diseased; already it is showing several symptoms that should concern us greatly. While living in Louisiana, I heard an old country preacher describe this as “church rot.”

Church rot: the dangerous progression

Church rot begins slowly. Normally we are unaware of it starting. We can see the final results of church rot  – church buildings sit empty, its doors closed forever. The building remains as a testimony of what was once an important part of the community. Maybe your church isn’t to that point yet.  Maybe yours is experiencing low attendance for Sunday School and Sunday morning worship. It seems like the excitement and energy has gone out of the worship time. These are all signs of the onset of church rot.

I am convinced that church rot begins so slowly that many are unaware of what is going on. Every church has its occasional Sunday where things seem a bit off. When these types of Sundays become the normal, rot has set in.

Warning about the impact of unscriptural teachings

Within the New Testament, there are several warnings about false teachers and teachings. Jesus taught, Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves (Matthew 7:15). Paul wrote: As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed (Galatians 1:9). Well-meaning members can be influenced by those having opinions or teachings contrary to sound doctrine. All a false doctrine needs is little space to grow and fester.

Peter warned of this: But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction (2 Peter 2:1). There’s a lot of effort by the apostles warning about those who bring these into the church.  The destructive potential is too great to ignore. Paul wrote to the Galatians: Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you. A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump (Galatians 5:7-9).

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Posted in Christian Living, Discipleship, Our place within the local church

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Breakwaters of faith and their role in our life

Posted on October 18, 2016 by | Comments Off on Breakwaters of faith and their role in our life
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© Micha Fleuren | Dreamstime Stock Photos

Breakwaters play an important role in modern society but many of us never bother to think about them. Even when I lived on the Gulf Coast  I never really paid much attention to what had become a common item. I watched the television reports of the damage caused by Hurricane Matthew as it churned its way up the East Coast of the United States. One news broadcast contained a weatherman in Charleston after the hurricane had passed that city.  Although he was highlighting the damage to the area near him, the breakwaters did their job. The beach behind him was in better shape than the rest of the area!

What is a breakwater?

As defined in Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary Online, a breakwater is a wall that is built out into the sea to protect a harbor or beach from the force of waves. For the past few days I’ve been thinking about the breakwaters God intended us to have within our faith. On Wednesday evening of this past week, I was able to attend midweek services with my in-laws. The services yesterday at my local corps (this is what the Salvation Army calls its local congregations), both the morning and the evening services seemed to brush against a similar topic as Wednesday’s service. A part of our growing faith in Jesus creates such a breakwater for us to be able to bear the storms we will face.

Real storms, such as Hurricane Matthew, teaches us about the preparations made by a community for such storms. Right now, even as clean-up continues, many towns, counties, and states are already reviewing what was learned and are making preparations for the next big storm. A spiritual storm can teach us a lot about who we really are, show us where we need improvement, and will allow us to grow in our faith.

We must develop spiritual breakwaters

When I briefly lived in Gulfport, Mississippi, I learned that after Hurricane Camille, nearly every public and private organization studied ways that could have reduced the impact of that storm. By the mid 1970s, breakwaters were added along key areas of the Gulf Coast spanning from Louisiana to Florida. Within our Christian walk, we must prepare for the spiritual storms. I think of the application of what Solomon wrote, The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer; (Proverbs 30:25). Already in our house, we see the occasional ant scurrying around, looking for crumbs – in preparation for winter. Solomon is advising us to pay attention to the ant and understand a simple lesson. They prepare for the bad storms now, when things are going well. It would be too late to try to gather food for the colony during the winter.

Since 2006, I have noticed changes in my spiritual walk with the Lord. At first, even the smallest storm would send waves of doubt into my mind. I would doubt my sincerity to Christ, I would doubt His forgiveness being complete, I would doubt that He could love someone as wretched as me. The problem was not Jesus’ love for me at all; the problem was I didn’t have any breakwaters to meet Satan’s spiritual attacks. Satan is not dumb. Too many Christians underestimate his ability to trip up and bring spiritual chaos to even the strongest of Christians. Remember the warning by Peter, Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). 

The breakwater of asking forgiveness of our sins

Earlier this morning I was deleting some old photos off my smart phone. I came across a photo I had taken of the weekly question written on a dry erase board we use for our pre-teen Sunday school class. The question was, “Why does it seem that it takes God so long to help me when I’m in trouble?” This is a question that all Christians, at some point in our walk, will ask God. The apostle Paul, when explaining the Lord’s Supper, said: But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup (1 Corinthians 11:28). This examination does not begin with anything other than us examining all we do through the lens of scripture.

This is the first and important breakwater of our faith. Paul tells us why this self-examination is so important: For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world (1 Corinthians 11:31-32). When we examine ourselves honestly through scripture, we have an opportunity to confess our sins, our failures, and shortcomings before God begins to deal with us about them. When we are in the middle of a spiritual storm, there are times when the Lord will not intervene until we confess our sins that separate us from His boundless grace and love.

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Posted in Chrisitian Philosophy, Christian Living, Difficulties and Trials, Discipleship

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A testimony of personal sacrifice

Posted on September 14, 2016 by | Comments Off on A testimony of personal sacrifice
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© Rudi Jetten | Dreamstime Stock Photos | 190753

Personal sacrifice. Two of the most difficult words for any Christian. Since 2006 I have come to learn a great deal about my faith in Jesus. I am still learning what it means to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord. There’s always been a passage of scripture that I really didn’t understand. It’s found in the gospel of Luke: Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me (Luke 18:22). For years, before and after the date I received Jesus as my Savior, I’ve heard preachers say this verse is really geared to showing God’s hatred of the wealthy. Is that really so?

The ruler can be any of us – so about those possessions?

The verse I shared above has always been applied by most preachers to be about rich people. Jesus also taught, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God (Mark 10:25). In our society there is a hatred of the wealthy. Even those who do not believe in God or the Bible will use its teachings as means to show how wealth is bad. What is it about personal wealth that God hates?

It is not wealth that is bad; it is the love of wealth where sin resides. All through the Old and New Testaments we see where God has used those who possessed wealth to carry out His goals. In all honesty, While Jesus is teaching about wealth, it is not wealth He is teaching against. Think for a moment about His time with Nicodemus as told in the third chapter of John. No where in the conversation does Jesus condemn Nicodemus for his possessions, position, or wealth. What Jesus is teaching throughout the gospels is anything we value more than our relationship with God becomes sin. While the most obvious is wealth and riches, there are others that we easily place before the Lord.

Within my own life, the Lord has dealt with me about the things I have placed before Him. Everything from jobs, hobbies, education and degrees, personal relationships, and possessions had to be placed in proper perspective when it came to my relationship with the Lord. These were my possessions and like the young ruler, I was hesitant to give them to the Lord.

Personal sacrifice isn’t easy; what’s the price of your soul?

It is a simple and straightforward question. It actually stopped me in my tracks a couple of years back. As I was trying to balance a career with the Boy Scouts of America, plus the demands of family and my personal responsibilities to the Lord, I soon found myself placing my position before both God and my family. It happened gradually and very much unintentionally. I hadn’t realized how far away from the Lord I had gone until the morning I learned that the council I worked for was being merged with another and my position would be ending by the end of that month. As I began to pray to the Lord for guidance in finding a new job, it was then I realized how far and long I had moved spiritually from where the Lord wanted me.

But the personal sacrifices the Lord asking from me didn’t end there. The apostle Paul wrote, Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ (Philippians 3:8). Before he received Christ as his personal Saviour, Paul (Saul) was well-known. He was a man of great power and authority. He had wealth and possessions. When he became a follower of Jesus, he was willing to sacrifice everything for Jesus. He even wrote to the Christians in Rome, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service (Romans 12:1).

Personal sacrifice pales in comparison to God’s sacrifice

If God were willing to send His own Son to die in my place, then what right do I have to hold onto things that He has laid on my heart to cleanse from my life? It is hard to forget Paul’s reminder, For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s (1 Corinthians 6:20). Almost six months ago, the Lord began again to work within my heart. Since then, I have gotten rid of about 14 inches of CDs, four movies, and am planning to get rid of more as the spirit leads. Was it hard? Yes, when the Lord first began to lay it on my heart to rid myself of them it was extremely hard. But as I continued in my personal devotions I became more convinced there was more to it.

Personal sacrifice is about our obedience to God. It is about putting our faith in Jesus and accepting His lordship over our lives. We must be willing to give every aspect of our life to His lordship. 

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