Superficial? A Wakeup Call to The Church.

Just now, my thoughts were drawn to a situation where someone, because of their insecurities, caused me to feel uncomfortable and unsafe whenever I was in their presence. (That being said, please know that God’s grace is sufficient in any situation.) I won’t describe the situation because that isn’t necessary.  What is necessary is sharing one very disturbing thing I see in much of our society…Christian societies,  The word “superficial” covers it.

 

Recently, I was reading an article and someone quoted a Christian visitor to the U.S. from abroad.  They said, “Christianity in the U.S. is a mile wide and an inch deep.”  I couldn’t agree more.  I think I may have broken out into applause when I read this.  It’s something I have felt and believed for many years.  In fact, although I love my Christian brothers and sisters, this statement is very accurate of, certainly not all, but much of the American Christian Church.

 

I ask you:  Does it matter what someone looks like…how they dress…how they wear their hair…what they drive…what school they attend…what sub-division they live in…what town they live in…OR what church they attend, etc.?  If we judge someone capable or incapable of sharing the truth of Jesus Christ simply because of some superficial characteristic they do or don’t possess, doesn’t that make us superficial?  And, what about someone’s past?  Because they were divorced, abused, physically, mentally or sexually, born poor, not raised in a Christian home, perhaps lived in a lifestyle of drugs, alcohol, adultery, fornication, or homosexuality… if indeed, a person totally surrenders their life to God, making a true conversion, why should they be kept from serving God?  If someone is kept from serving God within a church by man because of a man’s inability to look beyond the surface or ones past…isn’t this being superficial?

 

Isn’t it the Bible, God’s word, that tells us that when Jesus died on that cross, He said, “It is finished.?”  Jesus took care of everything when He sacrificed Himself on the cross.  We like to quote those words, but do we use those words in our actions?  Of course God’s timing for each of us is up to Him and He does allow things for our benefit of growth.  Please understand that I do understand that aspect of the walk of a Christ follower.  But, all too often, I see favoritism, cliques and the like within the Church.  I have seen Christians discouraged because of superficial rules and regulations that churches place on people, deeming them, “not good enough” for service.  Really…is this God’s way of doing things?

 

Unlike man, God doesn’t look at our outsides nearly as much as He looks at our insides…our heart.  1 Samuel 16:7

 

About a year and a half to two years ago, I was going through what was probably the most difficult time I’ve had in my life.  And, let me tell you, my life has been a tough ride…not that I take pride in that or cannot look around and see someone else who has had it tougher than I have.  I want to keep a healthy outlook of who I am in Christ, where He has brought me from, and where He is taking me.  A counselor of mine once commented that I had been living in survival mode most of my life.  Once I thought about it, I couldn’t disagree with the statement.  Anyway, a couple of years ago, I was attending a church while all hell broke loose in my life.  Being led of the Lord at a special service, I went forward for prayer.  I explained what had been going on and asked for prayer.  I will say that God has addressed the issue that was at hand and I am seeing miracle after miracle in this situation…a situation that, quite frankly, I had given up on. (Never give up!!)  Now … all that aside … what I had to endure from those whom I asked for prayer from was ridiculous.  The next time I saw these people at church, they looked the other way, wouldn’t even acknowledge that they saw me.  In fact, it was nearly a year or more before they would even speak to me, let alone look at me.  And, to top it off, I was the topic of gossip.  It spread from these people to others who I was directly involved with within the church.  I cannot begin to tell you how hurtful this was.  I was a victim of circumstances, both in the situation I had asked for prayer for and then the ensuing actions of those who prayed for me.  I wanted to leave.  I wanted out.  I couldn’t stand how superficial and uncaring these people were.  All of this instead of support and kindness that I needed because of the issue I had asked for prayer for in the first place.  I couldn’t understand it at the time.  God wouldn’t release me from this church, even though I begged Him.  Eighteen months later, I still don’t understand the actions of these people (although I have forgiven them), but I can see how God is using it in my life.  If we allow Him to do so, He will use the hurts or bad things in our lives for His good.                      Romans 8:28, Genesis 50:20  He will grow us and make us stronger.  Hallelujah!!

 

Now, I don’t believe God condones behavior like this.  This is not His way.  This superficial-ness and shallowness in our churches needs to leave.  It needs to be done away with…amputated!! (This is only ONE example over the past many years that I share at this time.)  I don’t say this as someone who is perfect.  I say this as someone who believes that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23  This superficial-ness and shallowness within the church is crippling the church!!  I am grateful that I was able to look past these people to God.  Unfortunately, many people leave the church for this same reason.  Many will not enter a church for this reason.  Unfortunately, they don’t realize that they need to look past hurtful people within the church and look to the only One who can heal their situation(s).

 

In Revelation chapters 2 and 3, Jesus sends letters to seven churches of that time which directly relate to the churches of today.  Only two of these churches were/are doing what Jesus approved/approves of…only two!!  Don’t allow yourself to fall into the category of the five that Jesus didn’t approve of. 

Church, we have got to not only wake up out of our slumber, we have got to get real!!  We have got to deliberately make the effort to get away from being superficial, cliquey and self important.  It’s not about us!!  It’s all about Jesus.  It’s about allowing the Savior of all mankind to work through us to save the lost from eternal damnation in hell.  I would love to tell you that every person in this world I like and want to be friends with, but that would be a lie.  I don’t like every person I meet, although I do make the attempt to make a connection with all.  That is the truth of life in a fallen world.  But…never…NEVER…would I want anyone, even my worst enemy, to spend eternity in hell!!  It’s God’s will that we all would repent and that none would spend eternity in hell.  2 Peter 3:9  God’s heart is that we would all repent and choose His ways.  I truly want my heart to reflect God’s heart. Shallowness and superficial-ness is not God’s heart.

 

I pray that we would all examine ourselves…examine our motives…compare them to Jesus through the Holy Spirit and scripture to see where we fall short.  Jesus didn’t die, defeat death and resurrect back to life so that we could have a superficial, shallow religion.  He died so that we could have a true, neverending, meaningful relationship with Him.  John 3:16  And, because He laid down His life for us, we should also lay down our lives for others.  1 John 3:16

How do I measure up?

In the book of Revelation in the Bible, John, the author, has been exiled to the island, Patmos.  He was in exile there for speaking his testimony of Jesus Christ.  While worshipping/praying in the spirit, Jesus spoke to him the things that are recorded in the book of Revelation. Although it is a challenging book to understand, it is the only book in the Bible that says:  “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of prophecy, and keeps those things which are written in it; for the time is near.” Revelation 1:3 So by simply reading it and doing what it says, one will be blessed.  Sounds like a good thing to me!!

 

Jesus tells John to record what He is speaking to The Church.  There were seven different churches of John’s time that Jesus was speaking to:  The churches of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.  Revelation 2-3  These are Christian churches that had been under persecution and Jesus is evaluating them.  He let them know what they were doing correctly, but He also let them know what they were doing incorrectly, and how to correct their mistakes.  As I read these two chapters, I can see just how relevant these words of commendation, rebuke and needed action are to today’s church.

 

Below is a summary of the churches, their commendations, the rebukes of Jesus and the actions they needed to take to get back on track.

 

*The church of Ephesus had commendations of hard work and endurance, but the rebuke was that they had lost their first love.  Jesus called them to remember who their first love should be and repent.

*The church of Smyrna:  suffering persecution and poverty was their commendation.  Jesus found no reason to rebuke them.  Even in the persecution and poverty, they were faithful to Jesus.  The needed action he spoke to them was to fear not and to be faithful.

 

*The church of Pergamum remained loyal, but they were a compromising church; worshipping idols (idols of our time are:  money, cars, status, sex…anything put on the throne of our heart other than Jesus) and compromising in sexual immorality(adultery, homosexuality, etc.)  Jesus tells them to repent.

 

*The church of Thyatira’s commendations were love, faith, service and endurance, but they also were compromising and immoral.  Jesus tells them to repent.

 

*The church of Sardis was and effective church, however, they were a superficial church.  Jesus tells them to “wake up and repent.” (Whether in the church, or otherwise, we don’t have to look very far to see superficial people. Let’s choose to be authentic.)

 

*The church of Philadelphia was a faithful church.  Jesus had no rebuke for this church.  He called them to “hold on.”

 

*The church of Laodicea had NO commendation.  They were wealthy and “had need of nothing,” all the while not realizing that they were wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked.  Jesus found them to be lukewarm and said because they were neither hot nor cold; he would vomit them from his mouth.  His call to action to them was to be diligent and to repent.  (It’s not difficult to see this in today’s church as well.)

 

Take the time to read chapters 2 and 3 in Revelation.  Ask God to show you what may or may not apply to yourself these passages and apply and changes that need to be made.

 

Out of the seven churches that Jesus critiqued two…yes, only two churches did not need to be corrected.  Only two out of seven churches were doing what Jesus wanted them to do.  What does that tell you about our churches today?  No wonder we see so much negativity going on within the Body of Christ.  We are human…we need Jesus…period!  We need to be humble and obedient to whom He’s calling us to be.  Galatians 2:20 says:  I have been crucified with Christ; it’s no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. Let’s be obedient!

 

If we find ourselves in a church like one of the five listed in Revelation, we need to pray for them.  Pray for their eyes, ears and hearts to be opened.  Pray how the Holy Spirit leads us to pray for them.  Also, and more importantly, we need to be diligent to keep ourselves on task.  We need to keep our eyes focused on Jesus.  He will not leave us or forsake us.        

Oops, I did it again...but hopefully not the next time!!

So…today I was working on a project… silent…listening for that still small voice.  My thoughts ran back to a few recent moments where I was…shall I say…a lot more than a little angry.  In fact, I was completely enraged.  As I worked on this project, my thoughts were, “God, I’m so sorry…it’s no wonder I feel like I’m not gaining any ground.  It’s no wonder I feel like I’ll never be used in the capacity in which I know I was created for.”  I was truly repentant and no, I wasn’t having a pity party.  For a moment, I had let in some bad thinking.  What was happening is...although…or maybe because I am repentant, the enemy wants me to believe that because of my recent meltdown…putting it mildly…I will never get to be all that God created me to be. That is simply not true!!  Guard your mind in situations like this.  Learn to know who is speaking to you.  The enemy condemns.  God convicts.  There is a difference.


Then I heard that still, small voice.  He said, “Even Moses got angry.  He broke the tablets that had the Ten Commandments on them.  You’re only human…which is why you need me.”


I could have just cried in that moment, but I didn’t.  I felt relieved, grateful and loved.  I thanked God for sharing that with me.  I thanked Him for everything.  And, although I don’t see this as a license to continue this behavior in moments of anger at all, I do feel as though I’m in good company. (But, aren’t we all?!  Moses!!  I can’t wait to chat with him some time when I get to heaven.)  


Yes, I had a completely good reason to be angry. But, there is never a good reason for me to sin…which is what I did.  In my anger, I could have reached out to God, but I didn’t.  I was good and angry and I didn’t want to let go of it at that moment.


I think the next time I’ll stop, calm down and call on God to help me out.  Be angry, but don’t sin.


Anger is an emotion that is God given.  Even Jesus got angry.  The difference is that He didn’t sin while he was angry.  I think I better keep that in mind the next time the emotion of anger comes knocking.  Do you ever have this problem…or is it just me?  ;D 

So...who are you in the story?

This morning as I was reading my daily Bible reading, I’ve had a lot on my mind.  The recent terror of ISIS is so surreal to me.  At times I simply cannot believe that I’m living in a time where such atrocities are taking place.

I was reading Mark 5:21-43 where Jesus heals the little girl who was sick, but died while Jesus was on his way to heal her.  When he arrived he asked the people why they were so upset.  He said, “The child isn’t dead, she’s only sleeping.” At that statement the people laughed at Jesus, at which point, he had them all leave except for the parents of the girl and Peter, James, and John.  He then went on to heal the little girl.

So as I was reading this, I felt like the Lord was showing me something.  The world that we’re living in right now is crazy…but God is still in control!! Hallelujah!! As followers of Christ, we need to have a strong faith and trust in God.  Jesus put those followers who really didn’t have true faith or believe in him away from himself while praying for the little girl. 


Not too long ago, an acquaintance of mine was struggling with fear.  I was in a position to speak freely and heard the Lord speak to me what would help this person.  I told her of the scripture the Lord had brought to my mind and suggested that she speak it out loud because God’s Word never comes back void.  She kind of shrugged me off and then another in the group laughed and made fun of me because of what I had said.  Now, please understand that these were people who were on a worship team with me.  I could understand if people who didn’t know God would respond this way, but these were fellow worshippers of Jesus. This is much like the situation with Jesus healing the little girl.  Jesus put those who didn’t believe or take him seriously aside from the situation at hand.


Where we are in the history of the world now, we need to know who we are in Christ.

Do you know who you are in Christ?  Who would you be in this story?  Would you be one of the many who laughed at Jesus…one who doubted him…or maybe one who simply doesn’t believe at all?  For myself, I want to be the one Jesus allows to stay with him while he does the miracle of healing the little girl.  I don’t want to be the one who is asked to leave.


Search your heart.  Ask God to show you who you would be in this situation. 


I just read this morning that each of the 21 Egyptian Christians who were beheaded days ago yelled out, “Jesus is Lord” as they were losing their lives.  We need to know what…or rather who we stand for.  This is real, people.  You’re either a disciple of Christ or you’re not.  Choose wisely.


For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  John 3:16       

The Age Of Much Knowledge...

Our society has been indoctrinated to believe that once you have attained a certain age/education/financial status/place in society, etc., you have all that you need in life. (Many times, people believe that they are wise rather than knowledgeable because of attaining one or more of these things!)  So often, people judge others by those worldly standards.  Jesus said to remove the plank from your eye before helping your brother/sister remove the splinter from theirs. Matthew 7:3-5 This is such a true and helpful statement.  Many times I’ve witnessed someone “advising” others when I could clearly see that that person was way off base about what they were saying. (Been there, done that, myself!!)  If we take a look at ourselves and “remove that plank” from our own eye, we would surely be surprised to see that what we thought was the case with someone may not be the case at all simply because our outlook through that plank was distorted.

 

The Bible says that a fool speaks much. Proverbs 29:11 A wise person listens and then speaks. Proverbs 1:5, Proverbs 12:15  Keep your tongue under control. Proverbs 21:23, James 1:26  Your words can hurt deeply, even if you never intended for them to do so.

 

I’ve recently had some folks make assumptions about me that were way off base simply because they were looking through the plank in their own eye.  Unfortunately, in many of these situations, it wasn’t my job to do the correcting(even though I wanted to!!). The Lord will fight for us, we need only be still. Exodus 14:14 However, there has been a time or two where I have felt it necessary to defend myself, so to speak.  I am called to be many things in God, but a door mat is not one of those things.  We are, however, called to love our neighbor as love ourselves. Matthew 22:39 Finding a healthy balance, as in all things, is the key.

 

In this journey of life, we rarely find someone who is at the same place in life that we are.  Be patient, be kind. 1 Corinthians 13:4-13  Don’t be a doormat, either.  Being a Christian isn’t an exercise in passivity, but rather a transformation in becoming more like Jesus.  Philippians 3:21, Romans 12:2 Jesus did not go around acting like a know it all, but he also was not passive.  He addressed things when and where they needed to be addressed.  He used wisdom. Age and knowledge, etc. will only produce wisdom when allowing ourselves to be led by the Holy Spirit, which involves repenting quickly when we sin and dying to self, among many other things.

 

Don’t allow yourself to fall prey to the “way” of our culture...in this "time of much knowledge".  And, be cautious, because much of the culture of this world has crept into the church, as well.  Read the Word; follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. (Don’t just take my word for it. Seek God in these things for yourself.) You will find that when you follow the Spirit of the living God, the worldly way of doing things is not the only way of doing things.  God’s ways are mysterious; they are not like the ways of man. Isaiah 55:8-9  Seek him for who he is.  Matthew 6:33  Ask him for wisdom.  He will not deny you. James 1:5  Look in the mirror of the gospel to find the plank(s) in your own eyes before you begin to help your neighbor with the much smaller splinter in theirs. James 1:23-24

Coffee and Conversations...

For years now, coffee shops have been my favorite hang outs.  In all honesty, when my son was in elementary school, the Lord was healing me from many different hurts from my childhood.  Life was very challenging, to say the least.  I had literally cut myself off from the outside world…with the exception of the barista at the local coffee shop.  On my way to pick up my son from school, I would stop and get a latte everyday. The small talk between the barista and me would sometimes, most times, be the only conversation I would have outside of my family for quite some time.  Over the next 10+ years, the Lord would not only heal me of most of the hurts from my childhood, but He has turned my coffee visits into a coffee shop ministry of sorts.

 

A little more than a year ago, the Lord led me to a person at Starbucks who was / is a daily customer, but who also seemed to be somewhat lonely.  I gave her a simple Christmas gift and invited her to Christmas dinner.  She happily accepted the gift, but turned me down on the invite for dinner, which I fully expected.

 

Over the next several months, I continued to get to know this person and develop a relationship with her.  From time to time, I would invite her to movies or offer her help, but would continue to get turned down.  Being turned down didn’t bother me.  I knew that, one day, things would change.

 

I continued to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit by inviting more people to have coffee with us.  On a typical Thursday at 3 at my local Starbucks, we now have 6 people in our “little” group and sometimes as many as 8. Where the Lord is honored, He draws people unto Himself. See John 12:32

Anyway, the time has seemed to go by quickly and the trust in our friendship has grown immensely.  Because I value her and her privacy, I won’t share details of how I have been led to help her…or how she’s helped me.  The details are not the point.  The relationship is the point. 


God draws us unto Himself, not because He needs us, but because He wants a relationship with us.  We are to imitate Him in our relationships. See Ephesians 5:1 They should be meaningful relationships, not shallow or superficial relationships where we only have something to do with others because of what they can do for us.  Unfortunately, that’s how many relationships are in today’s quickly paced world.  I have never been accused of that type of relationship.  In fact, I have actually been “accused” of putting “too much” into my friendships.  At the time, I couldn’t fully grasp the gravity of what was said to me.  Years later, I can see that there’s nothing wrong with the effort I put into my relationships.  They are meaningful and sincere.


I have come to care deeply for the “Starbucks lady” and I know she cares for me as well.  It’s all about relationships…true, meaningful relationships.  This lady needed someone to reach out to her and God saw me as someone who was able to fit that bill.  I don’t pat myself on the back for this at all.  But rather, I know that any good that I do in my life is because I am led by the Lord to do so.  The only good in me comes from Him and I choose not to pool up praise for myself, but, to pass the praise, glory and honor on to Him.


So, the point of this story is to be led by the Spirit of the true living God.  Allow Him to work through you.  God draws people unto Himself and He can use willing vessels to do just that.  It doesn’t mean that we go around spouting off scripture telling the world to repent or else they’re going to hell, even though there may be a time when we do need to do that.  We need to be trusted by others, not judgmental of others.  We need to invest our precious time in others.  And yes, from time to time, you may need to quote a scripture or two…or three.  It’s about being Jesus to others, not necessarily inviting them to church, although, He may have you do that, as well.  It’s about being the Church…not necessarily being present in a building.


So often, we are told to “bring others to church.” What I have found with many who don’t attend church regularly, is that so many have been hurt by the church that they’re no longer interested in attending.  #truth  They don’t realize that the hurt that was caused isn’t from God.  The hurt is caused by, usually and hopefully, well meaning people who actually didn’t mean to hurt them, but, more than likely never apologized, either.  God doesn’t forget about one single person on this earth.  He loves us all and wants that none of us should perish.  See 2 Peter 3:9


I urge you to look around yourself as you’re out and about in your everyday life.  Ask God to lead you to someone.  Realize that it may take time and effort on your part to develop a friendship.  Be patient as God is so very patient with us.  Pray for salvation for people.  Prayer is important.  It’s much more important than shoving the gospel down someone’s throat or a tract in their hand and walking away…which has happened to me.  I didn’t like it…and…that’s not how God works.  J  That usually does more harm than good.  Sometimes it’s about planting seeds.  Sometimes it’s about watering seeds that someone else has planted.  God knows the time and the place each person, who is willing, will come to Him.  It’s not us who saves, but God, Himself.  Let Him do the hard work.  He’s much more capable than we are.  J      

Waiting For The Right Angle

 Yesterday, I was out mowing the yard.  I really love taking the time to do this, although, I’m sure I look pretty goofy.  I put on headphones so I can listen to music, a mask over my mouth and nose to protect against allergies, my orange sunglasses, and then sound blocking headphones to block out the mower.  Yeah, I’m quite a sight !!

Anyway, as I mow the grass, I take that time to think and pray deeply about things. It takes a little over 2 hours.

We have a lot of trees, so it’s not just a straight line to get the job finished.  I have found that’s much how the Lord leads us in our walk with Him. He doesn’t always take us from point A to B to C and so on and so forth.  Sometimes, we’ll be at point G, He’ll take us to S and then the next thing you know, you’re back at point C again.  That doesn’t mean that we’re doing anything wrong.  It just means that’s the path in which He’s leading us.  He sees things perfectly from eternity, where we can only see things in the moment. (,,, barring any dreams or visions He may have revealed to us.)

As I was mowing one side of the yard, I circled back around and saw a patch of grass on the other side near a tree that I had not had the right angle to get to.  Oddly enough, the angle was perfect this time.  This reminded me of how God works.  His timing is perfect.  Sometimes we are just not in the right angle to do something at one time and later, we’re at the perfect angle to do exactly what we’re called to do.

In the past, people have looked at me and questioned why I wasn’t “doing more” with the gift that God has given me.  Some have even told me that with age, one has to step away from the music ministry, stating; “No one wants an old guy up there leading worship.”  The truth of the matter is that I was doing all that God had called me to do in that moment, and I really don’t care how old I am.  I absolutely would not receive that statement for myself.  After all, Moses was 80 years old when he led the Israelites out of Egypt.  Hallelujah !!  I have clung to that story for years !!

Over the years, I’ve learned not to worry or be affected by what others thought I was or wasn’t doing.(Even though, at times, that’s easier said than done.)  I am the only person who knows what God has called me to do.  I also know that when you ask and believe boldly for God’s will, the more challenging it is to attain that God given dream.  The enemy will fight you all the way when you are on a mission to advance the Kingdom or our great God.  It’s a lie that everything will go swimmingly because you’re a Christian and in God’s will.  God never said it would be easy.  In fact, He allows challenges to strengthen us, grow our faith and trust in Him.

Remember…never give up !!  Don’t listen to others when their goal is to tear you down because you’re not where they think you should be !!  When you feel like you just moved from point S to point C, don’t think of it as a deterrent.  God ordained your steps long before you were even born.  Jeremiah 1:5  Believe it and count it all joy !! James 1:2-3 And, remember that when the right angle comes along, God will move you in that direction !!