Church, Church History, Uncategorized

What is the Church?

What is a true Christian Church?  Is it the name?  Some denominations have one of the names of God: Church of God, Apostolic Church of God, Church of the Nazarene, Christ Covenant, and Assembly of God.  Some are named with reference to the Bible: Beacon Bible Church, Church of the Living Word, Word of Life Church, Word of Faith, Bible Way, Community Bible Church and Bible Church.  There are Methodists, Baptists, Christian, Presbyterian, Christian Missionary Alliance, Covenant, Lutheran, Episcopalian Pentecostal, Calvary and on and on.

Is the church the style of worship?  There are churches with traditional styled services.  There are churches with contemporary styled services.  There are churches with celebration styled worship.  There are churches with sacramental styled worship. There are churches with no music in their services.  Some churches have light shows and modern stage presentations.  There are churches with pews and others with chairs.  There are churches that are big but most are small with less than 100 members.

All Christian churches are divided first into one of three areas.  Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant. From there the divisions and branches are too numerous to go any further.

What the true mark of a true Christian Church are core beliefs? Those core understandings of God are what makes a church a Church.  Looking carefully at belief systems of many churches, most fall into specific core beliefs.  There are as many, what I would call periphery beliefs from style of baptism, to stands on the Gifts of the Spirit.

Now you wouldn’t be reading this unless you were willing to hear what I have to say makes the true Christian Church.

In the true Church the following is true:

  1. A belief in God as defined as belief in God the Father, Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the Holy Spirit.
  2. The holiness of the Church and the communion of saints.
    1. The church membership requires salvation of the individual by faith.
    2. The church member is sent to propagate and extend the benefits of the saving grace of God.
  3. Jesus is Lord.
    1. Christ’s second coming, the Day of Judgement and salvation of the faithful.
    2. Jesus is the head of the church. Jesus is Lord.  Jesus is the ruler.
    3. Jesus is the purpose of everything that is done. This single core belief calls the church together as a community.  If the Church does not have Jesus as the purpose it is not a Christian Church.
    4. Jesus is the method of salvation. Only in belief in the forgiving power of Jesus is the power of salvation.
    5. The death, descent into hell, resurrection, and ascension of Christ.
    6. Christ’s second coming, the Day of Judgement and salvation of the faithful.

So enough with the technical and theology.  My idea of a Christian Church is a church were a united community of believers are called together to worship and empowered to go out to the world with hope and purpose.  It is a place where the past never defines the believer’s future.  In my Church there is always redemption.  That redemption there is always a new brighter, blessed, hope filled day coming.  In my ideal church no one thinks himself better than anyone else.  Even to a point that my church is not any better than any other in town.  In my church each believer is doing the best that can be done at being the best we can be.  In my church there is a belief that we believe in God and God believes in us.  The ideal church, believers would not think less of those who do not believe like us, but there is an active pursuance of them in the same love that pursues us.

At my church the believers are still learning.  Learning to learn with an appetite directed to the scriptures.  Learning to serve God and neighbors with a joy in their hearts.  Believers are learning to worship God in more of their lives than just Sunday morning.  It is worship with the entire being and everything that is done. It is a congregation of believers that live, breath, cry, laugh, and love for God’s glory, honor, praise, and fame.  There is no place for an “I” in Church.

Caution must be had here.  There is no perfect church.  Believers still make mistakes.  Leadership make mistakes.  The difference is what is done in response to error.  The true believer, the leader, the church itself has to choose to not to give up.  It is a choice to use that failure as a stepping stone to growth.

The true church is part of the world of believers held together by the resurrection of Jesus.

The true church the believers choose to believe that God is real and God wants the best in us and for us.  The church the believers strive to server others in need of a touch, a prayer, meal, or a hug.  The true church is the hands and the feet of Jesus.

The true church is always inviting, loving, hoping, living, worshiping, praying, smiling amid tears, learning, and being more than the total of the lives of the believers.

Ramblings, Sermon Illustration

When all else fails!

When all else fails!

Not wanting to be sexist, but in my experience men have a tendency to look at the world differently than women.  Men have a tendency to look at a puzzle, a problem, an obstacle, a task or even something that needs to be fixed and see not the solution but a methodology to accomplish the task and view it as a challenge to his masculinity. “Don’t confuse me with instructions, directions or even advice, I’ll make this work,” is the mantra of the manly psych.

This problem with this methodology of attack, this course of action, is  this may well accomplish the end, a great number of the instances of the implementation of overwhelming force seems to have less than perfect results.  For that matter, they sometimes become utter failures.

The difference in results has always been directly relational to my over estimation of my own ability and ignorance.  The mantra changes to, “Don’t confuse me with facts, my mind is made up.”  Or even worse, “the solution that I have worked out is a better solution.”  And it does not matter if it needed vast quantities of super glue or duct tape.

Even with overwhelming numbers of failures, we often just keep on going.  “Never surrender, never give up.”  “I don’t need driving directions, I am not lost, I am just exploring.”

I would surmise from this hard headed, stubborn frame of life and its problems, it is often harder for men to simply, “trust and obey.”  To allow God to give us direction.  To allow guidance from the divine to measure and construct our lives.

Ramblings, Sermon Illustration

Glory Land Train

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Years and years ago a favored saint presented a reading.  He was a retired actor from Hollywood.  His name was Knobby Schaefer.  He had numerous small parts in movies in the past and he had moved up to the big woods of Idaho to get away from the hectic life of show biz.  The reading has been lost through the ages and I have tried to find the original text and the closest is a poem by Jim Swettenham penned in January 9, 2014.  I know it is not the original but it is close enough.  Someday I am going to get enough courage to present it in church.  For now here is the poem that I found:

Stop, look and listen
Hear the steam a hissin’
The whistle it does blow
Sounding mournful and low
People in a big corral
Pushed toward train bound for hell
Some getting trampled underneath
Such wailing and gnashing of teeth
Not a pleasant sight or sound
Crammed in train that is hell-bound
Weighed by anchor and by chain
Afraid of the long black train

But look at the neighboring track
People slap each others’ back
Anxious to climb on board
The train driven by the Lord
Listen to the bell a ringin’
Hear the passengers a singin’
But why do passengers seem so few
Come aboard there is room for you
Climb aboard the ride is free
Jesus paid the ticket for you and me
Leave behind worry and pain
Take your ride on the Glory Land Train.

Thank you Knobby, you are remembered and in Heaven because of the right track.

Church, Worship

Preparation for Worship

Sunday Mornings we have a five minute countdown displayed on the media screen to remind the congregation how much time they have before the worship service.  I build them trying to make them as interesting as possible.  Sometimes they are trivia tests others are thought provoking scriptures. They are highly animated and should provide a prompt to the congregation to gather and prepare themselves for worship.  This Sunday I went out to the foyer of the church and discovered about a quarter of the congregation was not moving into the sanctuary.  When the counter reached double zero and Pastor started to speak, these languishing sheep paid little attention to the timeliness of the Pastor.

Brash and loud as I am, I said in a very loud voice, “Time for Church.”  And they reluctantly moved into the place of worship.  I think next time I will use a cattle prod.

Part of our preparation for worship ought to be reminding ourselves of who God is—the holy, sovereign Lord. In Exodus 19, we read in verse 16:

Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.

When the trumpet sounded and the moment arrived for the people of Israel to draw near to God, every person in the camp trembled. Unfortunately, few people respond to God in worship like that anymore. Many have forgotten how to tremble before Him, for they do not regard Him as holy. How different their response would be if they could see Him as He revealed Himself to the Israelites:

“And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Now, Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. Exodus 19:17-18

Over and over again God invited the people, “Come near to Me.” But that invitation was balanced by what God said following the deaths of Nadab and Abihu: “By those who come near Me I must be regarded as holy.” We are commanded by God to come into His presence—to come near to HIM. Not only that, we may come into His presence, as Hebrews 4:16 makes clear. But there is a difference between coming boldly into the presence of God and coming arrogantly. When we come boldly into His presence and draw near to Him, we must always remember that we are to regard Him as holy.

We also must remember that we have no right to come into God’s presence on our own. No amount of preparation that we can do is enough to make us fit.

I really think we need a smoke generator to move the people into an attitude of worship. At least that is what God thought was appropriate.

Uncategorized

R.O.M.E.O Retired Old Men Eating Out

At the church where I attend we have a monthly fellowship lunch that we affectionately call ROMEO. Retired Old Men Eating Out. There are not many who attend but the conversation is both rewarding and insightful. This Thursday one of the attendees pointed out that one of his growth goals is to find a new insight for each week of Advent. Two weeks have gone by and I wanted to share what he has learned.

First was simply that most of the characters of the bible story of advent were very ordinary. From the shepherds watching their sheep at night to right on to the star gazers from the nation of Persia. Mary and Joseph were very unassuming village folk forced to travel great distances to register for a census and along the way give birth to the savior of the world. The only one with any social status in the story was the inn keeper of the town of Bethlehem, and he could find no place in his upper status dwelling for a man and a woman that was great with child. God uses the most unlikely people to display the wonder of God’s world.

Secondly, my well educated attendee pointed out was the wonder that God would send a little baby to save the world. A single little individual with all the inherent characteristics of humanity including pain, disappointment, anger, resentment to come to this world and give himself for it even though they did not deserve it. As it says in Matthew 1:21 and speaking to Joseph. “you will call him ‘God Saves’ because He will save His people from their sins.

Remarkable that an ordinary yet divine human baby was destined to die for me to pay the price for my own stupidity.

Thanks Bill for sharing.

Church, Uncategorized

The Church of Nickels & Noses

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God does not care as much about nickels and noses as men do. Carnal men glory in such things as nickels and noses. We live in a time of big meetings, big churches, big church buildings, big preachers, and big church budgets. The failure or success of a church and its pastor is judged by the number of nickels and noses that they have. In all too many cases, there is seen in this more Satanic pride than spiritual piety…

As a pastor for quite a few years I have many times been asked this question, and, no doubt, I will be asked it many more times if I live. Never has anyone ever asked me such questions as the following: “Are your services spiritual?” “Is Christ real to your people?” “Are your members hearing the whole counsel of God?” “Are your people growing in grace and in the knowledge of Christ?” “Is there a spirit of unity and love in your church?” Evidently. these things are not important to modern-day religionists, who judge religious success by worldly standards–nickels and noses. I just wish one single time that a person would ask about something other than nickels and noses!

THE EFFECT OF THIS ON OUR CHURCHES

The philosophy of nickels and noses has drastically changed our churches for the worse. In the craze for nickels and noses churches have replaced preachers and pastors with puppeteers and pranksters. The gospel of Christ has been superseded by gimmicks, gum, gadgets, and games. Psychology has taken the place of Holy Spirit conviction. The faith has been displaced for finance, fun, and foolishness.

This syndrome has filled our churches with unconverted persons. We have far more churchianity than Christianity. The only change some church members made since joining the church was from wet to dry clothes following their baptism. Many church members are white-washed, but they are not blood washed.

It has produced icy services and cold, callous, complacent church members. Look at the average church! They have their robed choir, their cut and dried program, and their intellectual preaching. They have a beautiful edifice. They have all the organization and rituals one could ask for, but in most cases it is Spiritless! We have never faced such in our generation. We have form without reality; we have organization without power; profession without possession. We have a form of godliness without the power of it. We have religion without life.

It has caused pastors to spend more time worrying with goats than feeding the sheep. The pastor nowadays must provide a spiritual diet for people who have no spiritual appetite. Like Ezekiel of old (Ezek. 37:1-10), he must preach to dead, dry bones, but without the blessings which Ezekiel experienced. These dry, dead bones can’t hear, yet the pastor must keep preaching and pretend someone is listening. These dry, dead bones do not grow in grace, for the dead do not grow.

This idea has given us the gimmick gospel. Most church members want to be entertained instead of instructed in the Word of God. They have far more delight in the gospel of amusement than the gospel of the atonement.

It has made people look down on small churches. Preachers politic for the large churches which have a lot of nickels and noses. They will compromise their principles and preach almost any heresy to get a big church.

Church members like big churches so they can hide out in the crowd and have no responsibilities. They like the upper class in society. Such churches have skilled politicians as pastors who do not offend their many nickels and noses.

While there are some exceptions, most big churches are worldly churches. They have high carnality and low spirituality. Truth is very scarce in such fashionable churches because the Word of God has been compromised to keep nickels and noses. These churches are more like social clubs than spiritual centers. Christ has departed from these Laodicean churches (Rev. 3:14-22). All that keeps the people in such liberal organizations is their love for social prestige.

Church, Church History

Hanging of the Greens at Christmas

The church at I attend on a regular basis is planning a special service for the Christmas season.  It is titled “Hanging of the Greens.  The hanging of the greens is a Western Christian ceremony in which a congregation adorn the church with decorations.  It is usually don on or directly before the start of Advent.  It is a preparation for the coming Christmas celebration.

So what does it mean to the average christian?  It is a start of the season celebration that is more than black Friday or cyber Monday. The is the first acknowledgement of God with us. During the Advent season we prepare for the One who has come, whom we expect to come, and who will come again. We prepare our hearts and make room for the Messiah. In the hanging of the greens we share with other Christians throughout the ages the memory and anticipation of Christ’s coming. We decorate our church with the symbols of love, joy, hope, and peace. Why do we do this? To tell the story again and then proclaim: Jesus is born. God is with us!

 

Ramblings, Sermon Illustration

Possessions

Not to long ago I spent 7 hours cleaning the my storage shed.  You see I don’t have a garage any more because I converted into a combination study, theater, laundry, and sauna .

Every box, hammer, nail, screw, piece of camping gear, and piece of wood was moved at least three times.  It seems to me the longer you live the more possessions one accumulates.  As I lugged box after box to a new place in the garage I realized some of this stuff I have not used or even looked at for over a year.  Why do we keep so many things?

But then again as each box was moved I took the opportunity to see what treasures I was so adamant in keeping.  Found some pictures thought lost, books read but worth a second chance, wall hangings speaking from former homes; all more than their worth at a yard sale but less than a treasure.

But I will move them again and again and again.  Not because of the worth defined by the rest of the world but what each mean to me.

Ramblings

Don’t stare

Every great work, every big accomplishment, has been brought into manifestation through holding to the vision, and often just before the big achievement, comes apparent failure and discouragement. 
Encouragement is a team sport. Its very nature is to be shared among people. If you want to be encouraged by others, start by encouraging other people. Encourage others to pursue their dreams, to recover from setbacks, and to keep on caring in the face of disappointment. Link arms with worthy partners, gaze into the future pool of possibilities, and keep going! You can glance in the rear view mirror, but DON’T STARE!

The Study of God and Life