Category: Jesus

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Jesus

Great vs great

NOTE: My title above should really be “Great vs. great.” However, my current theme will not allow lowercase letters in the title. Below is my post:

There has been a lot of recent talk about revivals and spiritual awakenings. Revivals are for the church! They wake up sleeping saints and get us back to doing what we should have been doing all along. Spiritual awakenings are for the community. Cities change, cultures are impacted, and wide-scale repentance is involved. Though church members and others can get saved in a revival, spiritual awakenings are what occur when large segments of society find new life.

Revivals lead to spiritual awakenings. Until the church is revived, spiritual awakenings in communities cannot occur. Though both revivals and awakenings come from God, I think more often, God is waiting on us for them to get started. When we, His people, apply 2 Chronicles 7:14 to our lives and to our church, we will begin to see God move.

Historians and scholars differ as to how many Great Awakenings the United States of America has had. The First and the Second Great Awakening are undisputed. What some term as the Third and Fourth Great Awakenings are questionable. It is the “Fourth Great Awakening” that is the talk of the town today. The Jesus Revolution movie captured well “The Jesus Movement” that occurred in and around the year 1970. 

I, for one, don’t believe there has been a Third and Fourth Great Awakening. I believe the Jesus Movement was a spiritual awakening that had a great impact. God used the Movement to no doubt affect a nation and save many souls. Through the Movement, God also ushered in Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) and the acceptance of casual dress into the church house. Today, CCM is a mixed bag and casual dress is more often the rule than the exception. For decades now, not wearing one’s Sunday best has become the accepted practice in many churches. However you feel about these things, the reviews on the Jesus Movement itself remains mixed. 

For this reason, I do not classify the Jesus Movement as a Great Awakening. I am thankful for the Jesus Movement and readily admit that the Movement has affected me even though I didn’t live through it. I think so well of the Jesus Movement that I believe it may well contain the seeds that could sprout a Third Great Awakening in our nation.

I choose not to use the word “Great” lightly. Our country has seen two World Wars. These were “Great” Wars, and not “Great” in terms of having to have been fought. No war is great because in every war, people die. But in terms of sheer impact and comparison to other wars our nation has fought, WW I and WWII were Great. 

Many other wars have been fought since these 2 World War’s. The impact of those wars were great too, with a lowercase “g”. The First and Second Great Awakening were Great. Could it be that the Third Great Awakening comes at or around the same time as World War III? 

None of us know. God himself determines when and where a Great Awakening will occur. But like war, it’s usually a chain of events that sets things off. When it comes to a Great Awakening, only prayer will begin to set things ablaze. 

In order for a Third Great Awakening to occur, the church must first be revived and then spiritual awakenings must be observed in multiple regions on multiple fronts for a lengthy period of time. When a Third Great Awakening happens, there won’t be any question about it. The reviews won’t be mixed. Everyone will agree and who knows, at that time, the angels may be in the sky.

The Church is a sleeping giant that has slumbered for far too long. What are we waiting on? Let’s humble ourselves, pray, seek God’s face, and turn from our evil ways. Both God and the world are waiting on us . . .

Categories
Jesus Next Generation Ministry

Will the real church please stand up?

Do you look at Covid-19 as a mountain or a molehill? Do you have faith the size of a mustard seed or do you have faith the size of an ocean. The second question is much more important than the first because if you have faith the size of molehill, then you will be able to move a mountain. The worst possible scenario would be for you to have no faith at all.

There’s no doubt Covid-19 has been disastrous for nations that have lost freedoms, churches that have lost members, and families that have lost individuals. However, if you stand back long enough, you might begin to see a bigger picture. And hopefully your students see your faith remain in a faithful God.

Covid-19 has been a disruption in all of our lives and not just an interruption. Two years into this disruption and we still do not know how long this disruption is going to last. I am sure there will be some effects that we will have to live for the rest of our lifetime. One thing we do know, however, is that many people who used to go to church and who we thought would come back have not. A general rule of thumb is 50% of church members do not attend the physical church service anymore and unfortunately, it appears a certain percentage of this number never will.

There used to be an old game show called To Tell The Truth where three people pretended to be a certain person. Panelists were allowed to ask all three people questions but eventually had to take a guess at which person was the real person. Panelists and the audience at home knew who the real person was when the real person was asked to stand up.

Using the nature of this gameshow, I want to suggest some good things that have come from Covid-19.

  1. Covid-19 has shaved off many nominal Christians from attending church. Now, that in fact is not good because we would like non-Christians and nominal Christians to attend church. However, if the church looks more like Jesus and less like the world, is that not good? A church that looks more like Jesus will be more attractive to a watching world.
  2. With the decline in attendance, some churches are struggling to stay alive. This again is not good. However, some of these churches had lost their way pre-covid and have now been forced to reach people for Jesus outside of their walls. These churches should have been doing evangelism all along.
  3. The process of persecution purifies, refines, strengthens, and often grows the church both numerically and spiritually. Persecution is not good in and of itself and certainly isn’t something that Christians should seek. However, persecution for the Christ-follower is unavoidable because Christ himself promised it would come to those who believe.

In short, what I am saying is that I believe the real church will not only survive these trying times, but will thrive. Only those churches that are alive and vibrant will remain. Churches that were dying pre-covid and that refuse to change post-covid will not last. Sure, some of their buildings will remain as some churches have more money than they know what to do with. But churches where worship and mission are dead will not attract the next generation. Their buildings will be empty. Kenda Dean has rightly noted that the next generation wants to be active agents of change rather than passive objects of ministry. David Setran says it may not be fair to ask why the next generation is leaving the church if they were never actually part of the church to begin with.

No matter how hard I try, I cannot get away from this quote by Ken Castor in the book Teaching Next Generations: “Older generations, by putting the needs and concerns of younger generations above their own, successfully encourage the next generations to follow Jesus and effectively empower them to lead in faith.” It’s not that the younger generation is more important than the older generation. It’s that the older generation keeps a church alive by releasing control and passing on the baton of faith.

Castor continues, “The question has often been posed: ‘Will the next generation follow in our steps?’ [That’s the wrong question]. Instead, the question should be reframed: ‘Will the next generation follow in the steps of Jesus?”

I couldn’t agree more. If the older generation didn’t follow in the steps of Jesus, why should the next generation follow suit. New wine is needed for new wineskins.

I once heard a story about an older lady in a church who went out of her way to sit with a younger lady during worship. The style of music was not the older lady’s preference but the older lady joyfully clapped and sang along because she was so happy that her younger counterpart was in church and was praising Jesus.

The answer to dead churches and dead people is and always has been Jesus. Jesus brings life! Andrew Root says the American church doesn’t have a lack of resources. It has a lack of life.

Praise Jesus! Worship Jesus! Go to the nations and make disciples for Jesus! Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Categories
Jesus

Who is the Answer?

Recently, I made a trip to Alabama. The trip served as precursor as to what is taking place in our country today. During my stay, I met a distraught African-American pastor who shared with me how some people had burned his church down. These people had pulled the pews out of his church and left a swastika sign to notify everyone of who was there.

The encounter was ironic because before I had left for the trip, I had reminded someone that prejudice and racism still exist in our country. Call it confirmation or what you will, but the incident served to remind me that many people still act as if it is 1861.

Let’s face the facts. Slavery is a part of our nation’s history, but slavery is not the issue. The Civil War is a part of our nation’s history but removing the statues that act as symbols of the confederacy is not the issue. The issue is and always has been man’s heart. Jesus taught us that it is the things inside of a man or woman’s heart that defiles the person (Mat 15:18-20). These things include murder. Recall that Jesus taught that hating one in one’s heart is equivalent to murder (Mat 5:21-22). Jesus could look at a person and know exactly what was in a person’s heart. This is why Jesus could look at the Scribes and Pharisees and call them, “fools, hypocrites, blind guides, murderers, and a generation of snakes.” Because they were.

When I look at David Duke, leader of the KKK, I see a man spewing over with hate. Jesus would call him a murderer. Why? Because Jesus said that harboring hatred for another in one’s heart is akin to murder. God doesn’t see color! It’s not that God doesn’t know if we are white, black, or brown. It’s that God is looking into our heart. I Samuel 16:7 teaches that “the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

David Duke is a murderer, but so are we. We have “all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). In that sense, we all murdered Christ as he would not have had to go to the cross if we had never sinned. We’re all born into sin, we’re all evil, and we all need a Savior. Praise God that Jesus came to save us from our sin! Pray that David meets Jesus, full of grace and of truth and repents before it is too late. When is it too late? When he’s 6 foot under. Some of you may not like me saying this but yes, David Duke can go to heaven if he will repent and believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ. He may not have many rewards, but at least he could say that he arrived. God’s free gift of salvation is offered to the worst of sinners. Just ask Paul the apostle after he was known as Saul the murderer.

The verses after John 3:16 teach that you are in either in the light or the dark. You are either full of love or full of hate. You either have believed in Christ and are not condemned or you have not believed and stand condemned already.

I would love to write how we as adults can pass down to the next generation our love for God and our love for others. But adults in our nation aren’t doing a good job of leading the way. Adults in the alt-right camp and adults in the alt-left camp can both be found in the wrong. There are those who are protesting and there are those who are protesting the protest that have both gone too far. When either camp makes advances toward the other, the line has been crossed. Police have a role to play and even they have failed as it relates to lack of foresight of what was to happen in Charlottesville. It’s no time to blame though. It’s time to pray. Pray for our nation. Pray for Charlottesville and other cities. And pray for those in both camps, including David Duke to come to faith in the Lord of love.

Let’s instead take a lesson from our children and sing with them: “Jesus loves the little children, All the children of the world, Red, brown, yellow, Black and white, They are precious in His sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world.” The lines we often don’t sing in church are the second and third stanzas – “Jesus died for all the children . . .” and “Jesus rose for all the children . . .” Jesus didn’t just love the children of the world by dying and rising, but Jesus loved the whole world, adults included, that if anyone should believe in him, they will have everlasting life (John 3:16). “What is the answer?” is the wrong question to ask today because the answer to the world’s problems is found in a Who.

Categories
Jesus

He didn’t need 10,000 angels

I learned a long time ago that it good to develop friendships with people whom you have nothing in common with.  Though I do not care to spend ample time with these type of friends, I do at times find their company a breath of fresh air.  For example, I can’t carry a tune in a bucket or sing a lick, but from time to time I enjoy listening to a symphony or talking to a musically inclined artist.  I don’t particularly enjoy attending plays or dramas but I recognize the value of doing something different every now and then, such as attending The Nutcracker in this type of season.

As a teenager, I first developed a friendship with the type of person who was crazy over Star Wars, sci-fi, and comic superheroes.  Though I picked up a little of this person’s interest in Star Wars, I never came around to finding sci-fi or superhero movies all that intriguing.  I guess it was just not real enough for me, lol.  But I respect other people’s interests, even if they are not my own. 

That being said, IGN came up with a list of the Top 100 Comic Book heroes.  Now, I realize for those of you who are die hard Marvel, DC, or other comic book fans, a name that is missing might cause you to become irate and hysterical.  Anyways, in alphabetical order, here they are (remember, I’m just the messenger).     

Adam Strange, Aquaman, Barbara Gordon, Barry Allen (The Flash), Batman, Beast, Black Canary, Black Lightning, Black Panther, Black Widow, Blade, Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Bucky Barnes, Captain America, Captain Britain, Captain Marvel, Catwoman, Cerebus, Cyclops, Daredevil, Dashiell Bad Horse, Deadpool, Dick Grayson (Robin), Donna Troy, Dr. Strange, Dream of the Endless, Elijah Snow, Eric O’Grady (Ant-Man), Fone Bone, Gambit, Ghost Rider, Green Arrow, Groo, Hal Jordan (Green Lantern), Hank Pym (Ant-Man), Hawkeye, Hawkman, Hellboy, Human Torch, Invisible Woman, Iron Fist, Iron Man, James Gordon, Jean Grey, Jesse Custer, John Constantine, John Stewart (Green Lantern), Jonah Hex, Judge Dredd, Ka-Zar, Kitty Pryde, Luke Cage, Martian Manhunter, Marv, Michonne, Mitchell Hundred, Moon Knight, Nick Fury, Nightcrawler, Nova, Professor X, Punisher, Raphael, Reed Richards, Renee Montoya, Rick Grimes, Rorschach, Savage Dragon, Scott Pilgrim, Sgt. Rock, She-Hulk, Silver Surfer, Spawn, Spider-Man, Spider Jerusalem, Storm, Sub-Mariner, Superboy, Supergirl, Superman, Swamp Thing, The Atom, The Crow, The Falcon, The Hulk, The Rocketeer, The Spectre, The Spirit, The Thing, The Tick, Thor, Tim Drake (Robin), Usagi Yojimbo, Wally West (The Flash), Wasp, Wildcat, Wolverine, Wonder Woman, Yorick Brown

Now that the school break is on, it is a good time for families to go to the movies.  And every holiday break seems to bring a movie which stars a superhero or superheroine.  This year, it just happens to be Doctor Strange.  Again, that name does not mean much to me, but I realize some of you may have been chomping at the bit waiting years in anticipation for a movie with this title.   

I find the superhero phenomena fascinating.  To me, it represents man’s attempt or way to save man.  Pride, power, prestige, popularity are just some of the words that come to mind.  Would we ever throw a cape on Jesus or give him X-ray vision.  Would we give Jesus an iron fist or claws made out of metal?  Not in a million years!

Why? Because Jesus represents God’s way to save man.  Born as a baby who was both man and God (a miracle in itself), Jesus could have used superhuman powers when tempted by the devil, but he chose not to (Mat 4:1–11).  Though Jesus pulled off many miracles, he doesn’t often get the same credit as one who can leap from building to building with spider webs coming out of his hands. 

Jesus is the foci of next generation ministry.  Without him as the center of attention, our vision gets skewed.  A superhuman could never do what Jesus did because he or she would not neglect to use the power within if it could save his or her life.  Jesus gave up his life out of love for us when he had all the power in the world to stop it from happening by calling on 10,000 angels (Mat 26:53).  Now, which feat do you find more impressive?  I’ll go with the real-life guy who lived the life I couldn’t, died the death I should’ve, and is coming back again!