Jared Wilson: How To Kill A Church

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How to Kill a Church

 

Want to fatten a church for slaughter? The steps are below.

This is a true story.

1. Launch a “church for people who don’t like the church” with a dynamic leader with big ideas and self-help teaching.

2. Care less about biblical depth, discipleship, and leadership character than inspirational messages, excitement, and creativity. Make sure the success is built around the leader’s “brand” so that he and the church are largely synonymous.

3. See the place attract large crowds.

4. See the success go to the leader’s head. Make excuses and accommodations as his short temper, control issues, and lack of accountability begin to take their toll. Accept the loss of numerous quality leaders as the collateral damage necessary to win the attendance war in your city’s ministry marketplace.

5. Continue staking everything on a “killer weekend experience” to the expense of discipleship, community, and mission. Marginalize (or get rid of) anyone who does not get the vision.

6. Watch the leader eventually crash and burn.

7. As the church haemorrhages attendees who were there for “the brand,” fail to learn your lesson and hire a similarly dynamic leader to replace the one who’s fallen. (Make sure he’s at least nice.)

8. Make sure only yes-men ascend to leadership as the new leader tries to rebuild a better version of what crashed the first time.

9. Watch as the new leader drifts further and further away from biblical teaching and more into the world of quasi-spiritual wanderings. Make sure anyone who sees red flags in occasional New Age-type teaching and embrace of heterodox spiritualities can’t do anything about it. When those people leave, don’t care.

10. Watch as liberal theology takes root and slowly drives more and more people out the door. As money dwindles, and staff along with it, take no steps to correct course. Go “all in.”

11. Follow the “new kind of Christianity” all the way to barely-Christianity, and close the doors on what used to be a thriving megachurch.

12. Wonder what went wrong.

This isn’t the only way to kill a church. Some churches dwindle and die through no fault of the leaders. But if you want to kill a church, this is a time-tested way to do it.

Full story here

Reflection on Luke 3:15-22

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Scripture

“I baptise you with water, but someone is coming soon who is greater than I am- so much greater that I’m not worthy to be his slave and untie the straps of his sandals. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”

Observation

People are eagerly expecting the Messiah to come soon, and they begin to ask John the Baptist if he is the one. John says that there is someone coming soon who is much greater, and who will baptise with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

One day, Jesus comes to be baptised by John. The heavens open, the Holy Spirit descends , and a voice from heaven says, “You are my beloved Son, and you bring me great joy.”

Application

The baptism of John was a baptism of repentance from sin. The baptism of Jesus is a baptism into the Holy Spirit and fire.

When we turn from our sins and ask Jesus to take control of our lives, we are immersed, soaked and filled with the Holy Spirit. This is the empowering to live for Christ and in Christ. The Holy Spirit comes with many gifts to enable us to have the power of Christ, and the fruit to give us the character of Christ.

Sometimes the expression of the baptism of the Holy Spirit is delayed. I have no explanation for that. I do know that at conversion we get all of the Holy Spirit.

There is another baptism, a baptism of fire. Fire represents judgement on sin. For those who do not follow Jesus it is a destructive fire. For those who so know Jesus, it is a purifying fire, a fire that burns away all of our sin.

Water baptism is a one-off event that symbolises our death to self and resurrection in Christ. Spirit baptism is a constant process in which we soak continuously in the grace of God.

Prayer

Glorious God, thank you for the baptism in the Spirit and of fire. Soak me and burn away all the chaff from my life so that I can be totally dedicated to you. Amen.

Reflection on Acts 8:14-17

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Scripture
The Holy Spirit had not come on any of them, for they had only been baptised in the name of Jesus.

Observation
Many people are turning to Jesus in Samaria under the preaching of Philip. The apostles send Peter and John to investigate what is happening. They find that none of the believers have received the Holy Spirit because they have only been baptised in the name of Jesus.

Peter and John lay their hands on the believers, and they receive the Holy Spirit.

Application
Many christians, and many pastors, are blasé about the words used in worship and in prayer. We all want to be spontaneous and led by the Holy Spirit.

I would not want to get trapped into a liturgical mind set where the words are recited by rote and with little care for their meaning. Yet, there are times when the words that are spoken are important to the Lord and so they should be important to us also.

The disciples in Samaria believed in Jesus and were baptised, but they lacked the Holy Spirit. This lack was so obvious that the visiting apostles saw it straight away.

The problem was that they had been baptised only in the name of Jesus and not in the full Trinity- Father, Son and Holy Spirit. A failure in words led to a failure in the sacrament.

In 1 Corinthians 11, Paul takes the church to task for its inadequate expression of the Lord’s Supper. He even states that because they failed to celebrate Communion with the right spirit, some of them had died.

Words in worship carry significance.

Prayer
Lord, purify me heart and my lips so that when I come before you to worship I do this with an undivided heart. Amen.

Reflection on Isaiah 43:1-7

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Scripture

“Don’t be afraid for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine.”

Reflection

God calls Israel (and us, His followers) to not be afraid. The Lord is God, and He has called me by name. He knows me; He knows my circumstances; He knows my fears.

The Lord says to me, “Do not be afraid! I am with you.”

God has ransomed me. He is my Redeemer. We celebrate the coming of Christ into the world at Christmas, and it is easy to miss the point that the baby will grow and mature and give His life as a ransom for many. A ransom for me!

If God loves me like this, can anything overcome Him? Can anything hurt me so that I should be afraid?

No! God’s love is never ending. He has ransomed my soul. I was in captivity to sin, but He has set me free.

He has called me by name. I am not a number in a computer, but a person with a name. God knows my name. He called out to me as Jesus called out to Lazarus, “Lazarus come out!”

My captivity is over. My bondage is broken. I am dancing on my chains!

I am Christ’s, He declares that He owns me. I am no longer living without purpose or direction. Now I follow Jesus, and He directs my path.

I am His, but not as a possession or a plaything. I am a part of the Bride. He tells me, “You are mine” because He loves me. I am safe at His side.

Prayer

Thank you so much Lord for redeeming me, ransoming me, setting me free from bondage to sin and death. Amen.

Mario Murillo: If

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IF

Posted on January 1, 2019 by mariomurilloministries

If only we could hear it! How obvious yet we missed it.  How amazing that it was right in front of us and we didn’t realize it! What do we need most at the beginning of 2019? What is it? What do we need to hear?

Here it is: If you could hear Jesus praying for you in the next room, you would not fear a million enemies! Imagine being able to hear Jesus praying for you? Here are the explosive facts about about Jesus praying for you.

He started praying for you the moment you got saved.  The world can’t enjoy the benefit of His prayers.  John 17: 9 says, “I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.

He ill never stop praying for you.  Hebrews 7: 25 “Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”  At this moment He is lifting your situation before the Father and that prayer is unending.

He prayed that Satan would not touch you.  John 17: 15 I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.

He prayed for you in advance of your greatest hour of testing, just as He did for Peter.  Luke 22:32 “But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”

Here is the most important fact of Jesus praying for you: He says you are His.  Let’s take a closer look at what that means.  His love for you is not just tender it is fierce.

Consider the mama grizzly as she snuggles her cub.  She is the essence of love.  Now, try to come between her and her cub. The loving mom instantly becomes the most terrifying creature on earth.  She will stop at nothing to protect her cub. Both the tender moment and the terrifying one are expressions of the same love.

Here’s the thing…that instinct is from God.  The same Jesus who comforts you with unmatched tenderness turns His wrath on the evil one when you are threatened.  It would be breathtaking to see the difference in His intercession before the Father when you need comfort, and when you need to be rescued from Satan’s attack.

He will not let anything come between you and Him.  Paul said it this way: Romans 8:38 “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Imagine what He is saying about you in prayer at this very moment! That is why I say: if you could hear Jesus praying for you in the next room, you would not fear a million enemies.  Faith will let you hear Him praying and every fear you have about 2019 will instantly evaporate.

Doctor Who: Never Fails To Disappoint

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I just watched the “New Year Special” of Doctor Who. Like the rest of the season, it was a disappointment.

The plot had potential, I would give it that. But as we have come to expect, the story just fizzes out.

There are two things that science fiction is about:

  1. Awe at the vastness of the universe, the potential for huge threat and huge opportunities, all at a scale we can only imagine. It all has to be “scientifically” plausible and in some ways consistent with the laws of nature.
  2. Action. Lots of running and things exploding.

And for “Doctor Who” there has to be a sense of humour.

I think just about every episode of Doctor Who this year has failed in the “awe” department. the aliens have seemed mostly pretty poor imitations of people with a few extra physical powers. Most have also failed in the “Action” department also with far too much group therapy and way too little running.

The New Year special, called “Resolution” goes for a full hour, but would have done better in 30 minutes.

The story begins with a prologue about humans defeating a powerful for 700 years ago then cutting it into 3 parts and taking them to separate parts of the world and guarded in perpetuity to prevent it being revived. Unfortunately the guardian of the piece sent to Sheffield is killed and unable to bury his bit. So when archaeologists dig up the site, they manage to inadvertently revive the thing, which summons its other bits and ends up being a disembodied Dalek scout, which takes over the female archaeologist, and eventually the Doctor saves the day.

Great potential in that story, but…

  • The way the Dalek took over the body of the archaeologist was so predictable it was, well, a cliche.
  • The Dalek looked pretty pathetic after it rebuilt its shell. Sure it exterminated a few people, but nothing there to inspire terror.
  • Nobody watches Doctor Who to marvel at characters’ skills in counselling and family reconciliation. We didn’t need to see Ryan and his dad get together and resolve a life time of parental neglect.
  • The ending just didn’t make sense.

Other people have pointed out the leftist virtue signalling in various episodes. To my mind that is incidental. The real issue is the crap stories they have been dishing up. You can put up with a little bit of socialist identity politics as long as there is an awesome story being told.

For some reason that I don’t understand the current team can’t make a season every year, so we won’t see a new episode of Doctor Who until 2020. So it would be a very good thing if some executives from the BBC had a chat with Chris Chibnall, and possibly Jodie Whittaker, and said, “Look it’s not working. Goodbye.”

Reflection on Ephesians 3:1-12

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Scripture

God’s purpose in all this was to use the church to display His wisdom in its rich variety to all the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

Observation

Paul is a prisoner of Christ for the sake of the Gentiles.

God’s plan is for both Gentiles and Jewish believers in Christ to share equally in God’s riches. Both are part of the same Body, and enjoy the same blessings because they belong to Christ.

God’s purpose is to display the riches of His wisdom in the variety of His people.

Application

The universal church is a majestic organisation composed of members from every tribe and every nation. Every culture is represented in the Body of Christ.

There are millions of congregations around the world, representing evangelical, orthodox, pentecostal, catholic and other streams. It seems chaotic because there is no centralised structure or chain of command,

Yet this amazingly diverse organisation is subject to Christ, and it reflects the glory of God.

We often think of the church in human terms- how we relate, styles of worship etc. We are often aware of our duty to proclaim the gospel to the people around us.

Paul tells us, though, that the church, in all its diversity, is a testimony to the unseen powers and authorities in the heavenly realms.

We preach the gospel to the world, but our most powerful testimony is in the heavens.

When christians gather to worship, or to evangelise, or to serve the poor, we are proclaiming the name of Christ add His victory, to the demons and principalities. They shrink in awe at the wisdom and power of God to redeem humanity.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, thank you for bringing me into your Body, the church. Help me to find my proper place so that I can be a part of this powerful message of your love. Amen.

My Christmas Present

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I received a Davis Pro weather station for Christmas. Tim insisted we get the cabled version rather than the wireless one as he argues that the data collection is more reliable. My previous weather station, a Digitech, tended to drop out every time the rain blew too hard or when it rained, so he may be right.

The hardest part of the installation was the cabling., which still isn’t finished properly. Being an older house, there are lots of little nooks and crannies (or gaping holes) to shove cables into. Even though the temperature was in the low to mid 30s this morning, the inside of the roof wasn’t too hot, due to the insulation blanket the builder put in when we replaced our roof last year.

We just have to connect the data logger to the server and we will have lots of info on our local weather.