Monthly Archives: August 2008

Church Reproof: Be sober-minded

Posted by Matthew on August 12, 2008 2 comments |

Be  sober-minded and focused if you want God to show up.

…and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.

Ephesians 5:4

The key-note of your conversation should not be nastiness or silliness or flippancy, but a sense of all that we owe to God.

Ephesians 5:4 Phillips

It is easy to kill the presence of the Spirit with flippant joking or foolish talking. (Ephesians 4:29-30) Believers who gather or assemble together ought to put away pointless and distracting thoughts or worries if they will experience the power and presence of the Holy Spirit who works through sensitive consciences and quiet spirits.

But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 2 Corinthians 11:3

While there is place and time for laughing and joking, there is place and time for sobriety. Wisdom will teach us when that time is and where that place is. Church should have some sort of “place” for seriousness, or “fear and trembling” (Psalm 2:11, Phil. 2:12), although laughing can certainly have its place in church as well. But we must have wisdom about what we’re doing and why, which is the purpose of these scriptures.

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven…a time to weep, and a time to laugh…a time to mourn, and a time to dance…a time to keep silence, and a time to speak… Ecclesiastes 3:1

The gathering is a time to focus on our identity as Christians eagerly awaiting the coming of our Kingdom in its fullness. We are “Christian” at any given time of the day in any kind of gathering, but we are not always focused in that collective conscience. That is the point of gathering in his name. We gather not simply as friends, or as families, or as people with common interests or goals, but as children of God, as a royal priesthood, as a holy and spiritual nation, as citizens of the kingdom of heaven (1 Peter 2:9). It is then that our prayers reach the throne of God and Christ shows up! If we are awake we understand that we live in a state of fallenness and groaning out of which we fight for joy and have hope. If we are asleep we feel as though life is a state of joy and happiness out of which we must fight against suffering and discomfort. But,

…we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. Romans 8:22-23

The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. 1 Peter 4:7

Crisis intervention

Posted by Matthew on August 2, 2008 1 comments |

As I have been flipping through page after page of many different kinds of churches I have i’ve taken note of some of the types of ministries that they engage in or focus on. A few have caught my eye that have devoted much of the ministry energy to such things as crisis intervention, disaster relief, and the like.

It occurred to me that such a ministry as crisis intervention is for sure a “culturally relevant” ministry. Given the American age of mass consumerism, and the subsequent mass loss of identity, people in our land are more than ever walking and tripping up on flaky ground. It makes a lot of sense for church to have this kind of ministry.

Some facts for thought:

  • Depressive disorders affect approximately 18.8 million American adults or about 9.5% of the U.S. population age 18 and older in a given year. This includes major depressive disorder, dysthymic disorder, and bipolar disorder.
  • 15% of the population of most developed countries suffers severe depression.
  • 41% of depressed women are too embarrassed to seek help.
  • 15% of depressed people will commit suicide.
  • Depression will be the second largest killer after heart disease by 2020 — and studies show depression is a contributory factor to fatal coronary disease.
  • Short-term (exogenous) depression can be caused by loss or extreme trauma.
  • Chronic or life-long (endogenous) depression is caused by trauma in childhood which includes: emotional, physical or sexual abuse; yelling or threats of abuse; neglect (even two parents working); criticism; inappropriate or unclear expectations; maternal separation; conflict in the family; divorce; family addiction; violence in the family, neighborhood or TV; racism and poverty
  • Trauma prevents certain parts of the brain (hippocampus and frontal lobe, where decisions are made) from developing properly.
  • Good relationships: studies show that relationships with partners, careers, teachers, co-workers and a supportive social network results in physical and emotional healing, happiness and life satisfaction, and prevents isolation and loneliness, major factors in depressive illness.
  • Studies are increasingly linking more illnesses to depression, including: osteoporosis, diabetes, heart disease, some forms of cancer, eye disease and back pain.

(From Uplift Program)

Church Reproof: Don’t give to the World what doesn’t belong to the World

Posted by Matthew on August 1, 2008 None comments |

Don’t give to the world what doesn’t belong to the world.

Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. Mark 12:17

The Church is a precious jewel, a royal diadem which belongs wholly to its builder, Christ. To give away the church, the bride, to the world, would be truly adulterous and base. Erastianism is a concept from the 1500s introduced by a man named Thomas Erastus who believed that the state should reign supreme in church matters, and even take the role in punishing sins.

But is not this betrayal and treason against a jealous God, Father, Husband, and King of Kings?

You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. James 4:4-5

… I the Lord your God am a jealous God… Exodus 20:5

No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. Matthew 6:24

The Church is a city on a hill devoted to shining a light in a land of darkness and providing a refuge for all who cry out Abba, Father. It does not cede its God-ordained mandate of worship to the discretion of the world, but worships, rather, in spite of it. How faithless it is to put it at the mercy of the world!

You also took your beautiful jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself images of men, and with them played the whore. And you took your embroidered garments to cover them, and set my oil and my incense before them. Also my bread that I gave you—I fed you with fine flour and oil and honey—you set before them for a pleasing aroma; and so it was, declares the Lord God. And you took your sons and your daughters, whom you had borne to me, and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Ezekiel 16:17-20

Let us run and give to our God what belongs to him! Let us keep the beautiful jewels of his gold and of his silver which he gave to us for him alone! Let us throw away the images of men, the brand names, the false identities, the worldly icons, and keep ourselves unstained from the world! Let us take our embroidered garments back and cover ourselves and stand once again in his grace! Let us no longer put his oil and his incense before dead and mute images, but cast them before the throne of the living and eternal one! Let us not give his bread to be trampled on by the world! Above all, let us not desert our sons and daughters, who belong to him, to the world’s vicious and deceptive ways, but pursue them with love and forbearance to keep them healthy in the sheepfold of God!