Today I did something stupid. I allowed myself to go down a rabbit hole of hopeless news. With each story I felt myself growing more and more discouraged, until finally I read the last story I found to read and backed away. At which point I was beginning to have serious doubts about things I had believed for years now. Of course, that made me feel even worse.
The worst part of all of this is that the trail had started on a well known Christian site (I won't reveal which one, because it's not a problem unique to them and I have no desire to "call them out" individually). This is a site I usually love reading, but in the last few months they have become very focused on the problems in our country. On the one hand, I applaud their courage for going after these problems and not ignoring them. On the other hand, I'm beginning to see those problems presented through a lens of hopelessness. The former is something the church is called to do, the latter is something the church is never supposed to do.
And yet, the American church is full of hopelessness. I would argue it may be the largest problem in the church today.
After reading all these stories I retreated into my room, desperately needing time alone with God. I cried out to Him in my spirit, "Is it really true? Is judgment coming? Are we all heading into a deep persecution?"
I wept as I cried out. The nation I loved, I couldn't imagine it falling apart. I wept for all the prayer and hope and work of the saints I knew was going on in the nation, feeling as if it meant nothing. I felt powerless.
"It doesn't have to."
I stopped then, His voice clearly cutting through the mess in my mind.
"Why are you listening to them?"
Well, because many of these are pretty trusted Christian leaders. But then again, they also are Christian leaders I have no relationship with.
"Who said you were powerless?"
And there it was. Right there I knew I had let lies of the enemy in. I had dropped my discernment for a few moments and let hopelessness overwhelm me. As I heard these words I felt hope awaken in me again, and I knew now that God was not nearly as hopeless for the nation as others were. I knew it because as I heard from Him I felt peace, peace that had left me while I was reading other things.
He wasn't done speaking either.
"As my church loses hope it loses it's influence."
How true. When I had felt my hope missing I had just wanted to give up. If there is no hope for America, for the people here, then there is no need to keep pushing forward. Nonbelievers don't want to hear about how they are doomed if they continue in their ways, they pretty much believe they are doomed anyways. So what makes Christ appealing to them?
Hope. Hope and love.
There is a popular blog right now making the rounds on Facebook and other social media which has the premise that the reason the church is dying in America is because the church is "boring/" I couldn't disagree more.
First of all, I don't believe the church in America is dying, but that's for another blog. However, I DO believe the church is losing influence, and I believe that is because the church has given up hope.
The symptoms are everywhere. Want to find a hopeless church? Look for these things:
1) An over-emphasis on the "end times" and judgment.
2) Constant talk about persecution (a "victim" mentality).
3) Consistently harsh criticism directed at the church and prevalent immorality.
4) Consistent preaching blaming the church for its inadequacies
5) Consistent mentioning of "how bad things are" or the infamous "it's all going to get worse."
There are more, and I'm sure you could all think of a few. Why? Because it sure sounds familiar doesn't it? Of course it does. In fact I have only ever regularly attended one church that wasn't guilty of at least one of these. It is a spiritual infestation in the American church which hides in plain sight because it is able to quote scripture as justification.
But we forget that scripture used through the mouth of the enemy is still a lie. Go read about the temptation of Jesus if you don't believe me (Matthew 4).
Scripture is to be viewed through the lens of the Holy Spirit. It is to be read through relationship with God. It is to be understood within the full context of the whole Bible, and not cherry picked for validating verses.
When we do that, we find that there is no room for hopelessness in God. There is no room for despair and doom-saying. We find that every hard truth spoken in Scripture (and there is plenty!) is accompanied by hope, encouragement, and love.
Imagine if the American church would finally grasp this. Imagine if we, as a church, focused on knowing Jesus more and focused less on the end of the world. Imagine if preachers stopped trying to verbally beat their congregations into submission to Christ and instead focused on igniting the fires of excitement in order that they would CHOOSE submission to Christ on their own! Imagine if we, as a church, fell passionately in love with Jesus.
We would be the most moral, passionate, peaceful, joyful, loving and hopeful people the world has ever seen! And we would become irresistible to every person who has ever looked for love and for answers.
Church leaders, this doesn't mean ignoring our problems, it doesn't mean giving permission to live in sin, it doesn't mean ignoring the harder truths of scripture. What it means is that we re-order our priorities, and we begin to see every problem, ever person, through the lens of faith, hope and love (And in case you're forgetting what that looks like, go read 1 Corinthians 13, Psalm 25:3, Romans 5, and so much more).
It's time we repent of being hopeless. It's time we started believing that God has a plan for everything, to bring it all into redemption. Yes, there will come an end-time, but anyone who believes they know more than that is fooling themselves. I've seen too many "prophecies" and projections by "wise" men and women over the years that were ridiculously wrong to know that no one really knows anything about what it will look like or when it will come. To preach it as if we know is not only foolishness, I believe it is a tool of the enemy to promote fear and powerlessness in the church, as well as apathy to actually changing the world. We MUST NOT give in to it!
Scripture is clear, God is in no hurry to destroy the world. Read 2 Peter 3:9, "The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. Instead He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." Sounds to me that as long as people are coming to repentance, God is eager to let them keep doing it. Our focus should be on spreading this Good News more and more so that more will be saved, and let God worry about when He's coming back.
As a church we have very obvious callings and jobs in scripture. We are to spread the Good News (which telling people they are "going to hell if they don't change" is not an effective way of doing that!), we are to disciple people (which means training up those who have said "yes"), and we are to live blameless, good, productive lives in society. That's the simplicity of it. I've read the New Testament countless times, and this whole "casting judgment and proclaiming end-times doom" is nowhere that I have found!
I'm calling on Church leaders to repent now of this negative outlook. I'm calling on us to forsake hopelessness and start promoting hope! I'm calling on us to reject the limits of the "logical" approach to Christianity that the church adopted in response to the Enlightenment and again embrace the "foolishness" of God! (1 Cor. 1:25) It's a foolishness that says, "these problems are opportunities!" and embraces hope when all is dark around us! It's a foolishness that says "I REFUSE to let the enemy steal my peace and joy! I refuse to be afraid of the sin of others when I was set free from it!" It's a foolishness that will attract the most unlovable and the most lost.
It's time to repent and find our hope and joy again, and then watch as our influence changes the nation.
Monday, May 18, 2015
Monday, May 11, 2015
The "Good News" is Better Than You Imagined
What if there was nothing on earth to stop you? What if you were so powerful you could do whatever was put into your heart to do? What if you were supported by the richest person there was, and that person was more interested in your success than you are? How amazing would that be?
Think about that for a second. Allow yourself to dream.
Got it?
Hold onto that thought, because I have some great news for you.
Those "what ifs" are not "what ifs", they are truths.
For too long the Good News of the Gospel, of the reality of Jesus, has been reduced to something like this:
*achem* "Jesus came to save you, so you can go to Heaven. He has given you something to look forward to after all the suffering you're going to go through in this world. So say yes to Him, then be as good as you can be, expect to suffer a lot (but be excited about it! That's proof you're a Christian!), and then you can die and finally go to Heaven. If you're lucky you'll get to see a miracle or two in your life, and maybe make a difference in the world. But don't worry too much about that, it's all going to burn anyways. So just be content with whatever your lot in life is, and try not to enjoy yourself too much, because you might end up sinning. But remember, you get to go to heaven!"
Um, yippee? Is it any wonder why the church has lost so much influence? Where's the love in that message? Where's the hope? Everything "good" in that message of the "Good News" is pushed to after we die. And yet we wonder why people are tuning out?
Thank God the real Good News is much better news than that! It's real and timely, wonderful, exciting, and empowering! Yes, it starts with Him saving us. It starts with Him not only forgiving our sins, but forgetting them (Jeremiah 31:34). It starts with Him running excitedly toward us when we turn toward Him in repentance, He throws us a party, clothes us as royalty, and embraces us with joy! (Luke 15:20-24) That is how it starts, but there is so much more!
Jesus came not only to save us but also to give us life more abundant RIGHT NOW (John 10:10). Too good to be true? Well let's revisit the "what ifs" from earlier and see what the Bible says about them:
1) With Jesus, nothing on earth can stop us!
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? - Romans 8:31
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13
2) God knows the desires of our hearts, and He wants to give them to us!
Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4
If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. John 15:7
3) He makes us powerful!
But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to all the ends of the earth. Acts 1:8
Therefore we also pray for you always that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power. 2 Thessalonians 1;11
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 1 Timothy 1:7
4) He, the Lord of all things, is working to make all things work out for us!
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28
For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. Matthew 6:32-33
And these are just the beginning! Not only does God care about what we care about in this life, not only does He promise us that we cannot fail in life, He also heals us body and soul (Isaiah 61:1, Luke 4:18, 1 Pet. 2:24, 3 John 1:2).
He rewards us for everything we give up for Him by giving us a hundredfold IN THIS LIFE and beyond;
So Jesus answered and said, "Assuredly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brother or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for my sake and for the Gospel's, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time-- houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions-- and in the age to come, eternal life. Mark 10:29-30
And the list goes on and on. He gives us eternal hope for every circumstance (Rom. 5, Rom. 8), He comforts us (2 Cor. 1:4), He is patient with us (2 Pet. 3:9), He gives us wisdom (Ephesians 1:17), etc... And above all, He LOVES us! (John 16:27, Rom. 5:8, Galatians 2:20, Eph. 2:4)
This is the Good News! This is what the world needs to hear. And if they did hear it, you can believe they would be flocking to it.
Church, my heart and I know the heart of God is for us to realize the full wonder and goodness of our inheritance of salvation once again. We were never meant to be a people left complaining about the state of the world and looking forward to the end of it. We are meant to be a powerful people, full of joy and love! We are meant to be secure in His love and fearless as a result!
I challenge all of us to stop thinking about how big the problems of the world are and start focusing on Him. The deeper we go into Him, the more we give Him, the more He gives us! It's time we stopped being overwhelmed by the sin of the world and instead start pitying those who don't know any better. Just as Jesus did (Luke 23:34).
It's time for us to stop making excuses for the things we don't understand, things like "why hasn't such and such been healed?" and instead partner with the will of God for that person; which is FULL HEALING! (Matt. 13:15, James 5:16)
It's time for us to start realizing what real Biblical suffering is. It's not poverty, it's not sickness, it's not fear, struggle with sin, or addiction. Christ gives us freedom from all of those things! The only suffering which we are to expect in this life as part of being a Christian, the only suffering we are called to endure and not to fight at, is the suffering of Christ (2 Cor. 1). That suffering is persecution. which is the only suffering Paul (Col. 1:24, 2 Tim. 1:8) and Peter (1 Pet. 4:13) exhort us to endure. Christ was never spoken of as sick, He didn't struggle with sin, He had no addictions, and He had all His needs always met. As well as showing us the nature of God Christ also showed us the perfection of man. Whatever Jesus overcame we are meant to overcome as well.
We also are not to expect suffering for our entire lives, but only for periods, usually short.
In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials 1 Pet. 1:6
Suffering is not from God, even though He can use it for good. God ONLY gives good gifts.
If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is heaven give good things to those who ask Him! Matt. 7:11
Every good and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. James 1:17
Has it started to come through yet? The Bible is clear about just how wonderful God is to us, how abundant a life He wants to give us through Jesus. Not just to wait for heaven, but for RIGHT NOW!
I don't know where we lost it, I don't even know how. But somewhere along the way we started interpreting the Bible through our own understanding and not through the clear words God has given us. Somewhere satan convinced the church to start expecting bad things to happen instead of good. Somewhere we got tricked into believing that we weren't powerful and that we STILL needed a savior. The Bible says different, it says that we GOT our savior, and He has empowered US! Now it's OUR responsibility, with His help, to go out into the world and see it get changed. To see it get healed and delivered through faith, hope, and love. The power is His, but He gave it to us!
THIS, is the Good News of the Gospel! That we get to bring heaven to earth, a little bit at a time, until we are called to our real home! We are blessed and we get to partner with God in living out an existence that provokes those who don't know Him into jealousy, that they might desire to know Him as well! (Rom. 11) We are to evangelize by doing good works (1 Pet. 2:11-12) by having a hope that no one else understands (1 Pet. 3:15) and by doing all things through love (1 Cor. 13).
This is how Jesus got the crowds to follow Him. When He preached, they were already there. They knew Him because He had relationship with some, and He was so amazing word spread, then they wanted to know Him more.
The Good News is right there for us to read. It is our responsibility to cherish it, to get excited about it, and above all, to live it! But we can't do this without actually knowing the God who had it written down. God has given us direct connection to Him through Jesus, and our first step to growing in the knowledge and love of all of this is just to KNOW Him! To spend time with Him! It's that easy. But of course it is, because the best news of it all is that this is a gift to us, and all we have to do is say "yes".
So what are you waiting for?
Think about that for a second. Allow yourself to dream.
Got it?
Hold onto that thought, because I have some great news for you.
Those "what ifs" are not "what ifs", they are truths.
For too long the Good News of the Gospel, of the reality of Jesus, has been reduced to something like this:
*achem* "Jesus came to save you, so you can go to Heaven. He has given you something to look forward to after all the suffering you're going to go through in this world. So say yes to Him, then be as good as you can be, expect to suffer a lot (but be excited about it! That's proof you're a Christian!), and then you can die and finally go to Heaven. If you're lucky you'll get to see a miracle or two in your life, and maybe make a difference in the world. But don't worry too much about that, it's all going to burn anyways. So just be content with whatever your lot in life is, and try not to enjoy yourself too much, because you might end up sinning. But remember, you get to go to heaven!"
Um, yippee? Is it any wonder why the church has lost so much influence? Where's the love in that message? Where's the hope? Everything "good" in that message of the "Good News" is pushed to after we die. And yet we wonder why people are tuning out?
Thank God the real Good News is much better news than that! It's real and timely, wonderful, exciting, and empowering! Yes, it starts with Him saving us. It starts with Him not only forgiving our sins, but forgetting them (Jeremiah 31:34). It starts with Him running excitedly toward us when we turn toward Him in repentance, He throws us a party, clothes us as royalty, and embraces us with joy! (Luke 15:20-24) That is how it starts, but there is so much more!
Jesus came not only to save us but also to give us life more abundant RIGHT NOW (John 10:10). Too good to be true? Well let's revisit the "what ifs" from earlier and see what the Bible says about them:
1) With Jesus, nothing on earth can stop us!
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? - Romans 8:31
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13
2) God knows the desires of our hearts, and He wants to give them to us!
Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4
If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. John 15:7
3) He makes us powerful!
But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to all the ends of the earth. Acts 1:8
Therefore we also pray for you always that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power. 2 Thessalonians 1;11
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 1 Timothy 1:7
4) He, the Lord of all things, is working to make all things work out for us!
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28
For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. Matthew 6:32-33
And these are just the beginning! Not only does God care about what we care about in this life, not only does He promise us that we cannot fail in life, He also heals us body and soul (Isaiah 61:1, Luke 4:18, 1 Pet. 2:24, 3 John 1:2).
He rewards us for everything we give up for Him by giving us a hundredfold IN THIS LIFE and beyond;
So Jesus answered and said, "Assuredly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brother or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for my sake and for the Gospel's, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time-- houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions-- and in the age to come, eternal life. Mark 10:29-30
And the list goes on and on. He gives us eternal hope for every circumstance (Rom. 5, Rom. 8), He comforts us (2 Cor. 1:4), He is patient with us (2 Pet. 3:9), He gives us wisdom (Ephesians 1:17), etc... And above all, He LOVES us! (John 16:27, Rom. 5:8, Galatians 2:20, Eph. 2:4)
This is the Good News! This is what the world needs to hear. And if they did hear it, you can believe they would be flocking to it.
Church, my heart and I know the heart of God is for us to realize the full wonder and goodness of our inheritance of salvation once again. We were never meant to be a people left complaining about the state of the world and looking forward to the end of it. We are meant to be a powerful people, full of joy and love! We are meant to be secure in His love and fearless as a result!
I challenge all of us to stop thinking about how big the problems of the world are and start focusing on Him. The deeper we go into Him, the more we give Him, the more He gives us! It's time we stopped being overwhelmed by the sin of the world and instead start pitying those who don't know any better. Just as Jesus did (Luke 23:34).
It's time for us to stop making excuses for the things we don't understand, things like "why hasn't such and such been healed?" and instead partner with the will of God for that person; which is FULL HEALING! (Matt. 13:15, James 5:16)
It's time for us to start realizing what real Biblical suffering is. It's not poverty, it's not sickness, it's not fear, struggle with sin, or addiction. Christ gives us freedom from all of those things! The only suffering which we are to expect in this life as part of being a Christian, the only suffering we are called to endure and not to fight at, is the suffering of Christ (2 Cor. 1). That suffering is persecution. which is the only suffering Paul (Col. 1:24, 2 Tim. 1:8) and Peter (1 Pet. 4:13) exhort us to endure. Christ was never spoken of as sick, He didn't struggle with sin, He had no addictions, and He had all His needs always met. As well as showing us the nature of God Christ also showed us the perfection of man. Whatever Jesus overcame we are meant to overcome as well.
We also are not to expect suffering for our entire lives, but only for periods, usually short.
In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials 1 Pet. 1:6
Suffering is not from God, even though He can use it for good. God ONLY gives good gifts.
If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is heaven give good things to those who ask Him! Matt. 7:11
Every good and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. James 1:17
Has it started to come through yet? The Bible is clear about just how wonderful God is to us, how abundant a life He wants to give us through Jesus. Not just to wait for heaven, but for RIGHT NOW!
I don't know where we lost it, I don't even know how. But somewhere along the way we started interpreting the Bible through our own understanding and not through the clear words God has given us. Somewhere satan convinced the church to start expecting bad things to happen instead of good. Somewhere we got tricked into believing that we weren't powerful and that we STILL needed a savior. The Bible says different, it says that we GOT our savior, and He has empowered US! Now it's OUR responsibility, with His help, to go out into the world and see it get changed. To see it get healed and delivered through faith, hope, and love. The power is His, but He gave it to us!
THIS, is the Good News of the Gospel! That we get to bring heaven to earth, a little bit at a time, until we are called to our real home! We are blessed and we get to partner with God in living out an existence that provokes those who don't know Him into jealousy, that they might desire to know Him as well! (Rom. 11) We are to evangelize by doing good works (1 Pet. 2:11-12) by having a hope that no one else understands (1 Pet. 3:15) and by doing all things through love (1 Cor. 13).
This is how Jesus got the crowds to follow Him. When He preached, they were already there. They knew Him because He had relationship with some, and He was so amazing word spread, then they wanted to know Him more.
The Good News is right there for us to read. It is our responsibility to cherish it, to get excited about it, and above all, to live it! But we can't do this without actually knowing the God who had it written down. God has given us direct connection to Him through Jesus, and our first step to growing in the knowledge and love of all of this is just to KNOW Him! To spend time with Him! It's that easy. But of course it is, because the best news of it all is that this is a gift to us, and all we have to do is say "yes".
So what are you waiting for?
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