While on Your Way to Church

I stole this from James White's Blog. It's his post from today (http://www.aomin.org/) and reflects so much of what I am thinking about these days:

"Sometimes I take a little trip through a residential area to avoid a bad corner on my way to the office. This morning as I went through this area I glanced at the thermometer and saw it was reading 111 degrees at only 10am. The thought crossed my mind, "I wonder if Jehovah's Witnesses are out in this furnace?" I turned a corner and what did I see? An entire group of JW's. And there, rolling up to someone's door, three JW's led by...a man in a wheelchair. Remember, it's 111. I know, the "official" temperature was probably only 107 or so, but, that's in the shade, and that man in the chair was not in the shade. I looked down the road and saw the inevitable van heading their way. They were at the end of their "service ministry." I wondered when they had started.

In case you are thinking I am going to try to do the "look at what those trapped in false religion will do for a lie while so many blessed with so much truth in Christ waste their lives satisfying their own personal desires" thing--while that is all quite true, that's not where I'm going. Instead, my thoughts turned to a phrase I have used a number of times on this blog, "Theology matters." I look at those folks going door to door spreading a message of...what? They do not believe they are "in" Christ. They have no heavenly hope, they are not in the New Covenant, they do not stand justified in the righteousness of Christ, they have no sure promise of final salvation. They truly have nothing more than a second-class salvation system.

What about you? Most of my readers have been blessed to be part of a sound, biblical fellowship of believers. You may be going today, or just now returning from, a church where the gospel--in purity, in truth--was proclaimed this day. So let me ask you, because I know all too well how it is: how much did you rejoice in that gospel this day? Did you consider the glory of being redeemed, forgiven, freely, so that you are the blessed man or woman of Romans 4:7-8? Or were you distracted by...so many of those things that get in our way of rejoicing in what is truly important? Got cut off on the way to church? Got a late start because [fill in the blank] just can't get out the door on time no matter how early he/she gets up? Upset because Mr. X or Mrs. Y said something snippy to you on the way into Bible Study? Thinking so much about duties next week you could not even hear the sermon after the first 90 seconds? No, I wasn't following you around. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt.

The ease with which we are distracted from worship says a lot about how much we really love the gospel. If we treasure it so that it defines us and has captured our hearts, will we not rejoice in its proclamation, revel in contemplating its truths? How often we lose so much blessing because we are so earthly minded!

So as you go to church today, rejoice that you are not enslaved to a system that would have you proving your worthiness to Jehovah in a wheel chair in the Arizona sun. And pray God's Spirit will aid you in worshipping God in spirit and in truth this day."

"Seeker Churches"

So, what do we think about so-called "seeker churches"? Churches that try to be relevant and contemporary - that try to appeal to the masses in an effort to get the gospel better distributed.

I had a conversation this week that really got my attention in this regard. I was talking to a good friend who is learning what it means to follow Christ. He has been going to a "seeker" church for a while. While he has heard the gospel, he says he was starving for "meat" - although he didn't realize it. As a result, he was slowly fading away because of lack of nutrition - and not knowing why. He said that there was no emphasis that he should need to bring his Bible on Sundays - or any emphasis that he should be reading it on his own regularly. He could not find a Bible study where people were serious about learning and growing. As a result, he struggled. He made a great cell phone analogy. He said that in that church, he felt like he had no "bars" - his reception to God felt very weak - or non-existent - like his cell phone when it had "no bars".

I was looking at this particular church's website - and noticed that it was covered in references to words like "contemporary", "relevant", "great music", "wonderful children's programs", etc. The appeal of the church was all man-centered. Their version of the gospel was about appealing to man. I checked out another church's website in the same area - one that I do respect (EV Free in Corona) and noticed their terminology was much different. They described their mission "to bring glory to God". Their web-site continually stressed the fact that teaching God's word is their foundation. It talked about honoring God with "holy lives". It talked about reaching people for "God's glory". It was very apparent that this church had a God centered gospel.

So, what's this life all about? Is it about God making us feel good? Making us happy? Giving us peace? And then we worship Him? No. How about "Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness" - THEN all these things will be added unto you? Life's about Him - about glorifying and worshipping Him - then He blesses us. We don't wait to be blessed, and then worship Him. We worship Him first. Inherently, that is the difference between a man-centered gospel and a God-centered gospel.

The Truth About the Rock

Jesus said He would build His church on the Rock of Peter's recognition of who He is. Therefore, in order to truly be HIS church - to be a church built on that rock - we must have a clear understanding of who Jesus is.

Fortunately, the Bible is clear about this. While Christians may correctly believe who Jesus is, many cannot adequately articulate the identity of Jesus based on the Bible. But that doesn't mean that the Bible does not provide an abundance of evidence for who Jesus is.

John 1:1 says that the "Word" was God. John 1:14 clarifies that the "Word" was Jesus. Colossians 2:9 says that "all the fullness of deity" is in Jesus. Hebrews 1:8 speaks of Jesus and says, "Thy throne, Oh God, is forever..." Hebrews 1:3 says that Jesus is the exact representation of Almighty God. Isaiah 6 describes Isaiah's encounter with alimghty God in all His glory. John 12:41 clarifies that this Almighty God was, in fact, Jesus. In Revelation 4:11-14, there is a description of the "lamb" (Jesus) receiving worship reserved only for Almighty God. Revelation 22:12-13 shows Jesus applying Isaiah 41:6 to himself - where God is described as being the "Alpha and Omega, the first and the last". Jesus puts this same title on Himself. In John 8:58, Jesus applies the name of God from the Old Testament, "I AM" to Himself. In John 20:28, Thomas exclaims about Jesus, "My Lord and my God!"

And these references are the tip of the ice berg. The writers of the Bible, the people around Jesus, and Jesus Himself, continually make it clear that He is not just a man, not just a god, but is the one and only Almighty Jehovah God.

Jesus says that His church will be built on the proper recognition of who He is. We must, therefore, acknowledge Him as Almighty God.