What does community with believers look like?  How do or should our families live life with other families? We were discussing this topic at our Colonial Woods Community Group last week using Acts 2:42-46 and 4:32-35 as jumping off points.  There are four main purposes that the apostles and the early church had for themselves:  teaching, fellowship, eating & prayer.  And what was the result of all this:  "And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved" (2:46).

A couple of notes that I find interesting:

• They met daily, not just once a week.
• To meet with that many people likely meant they would have been outside - thus drawing a lot of attention to themselves and causing an almost infectious presence of the Kingdom.
• The Lord is the one who was adding people to their number, it wasn't based on the works of the people.
• They had "Great Power" in their sharing about the resurrection of Jesus and in the provision of their needs.

I'm struck how 'unlike' the American Church is to this model.  While teaching is central to the church - eating, fellowship and even prayer are seemingly given cursory glances.  It's certainly not out of lack of trying!  Pastors today run themselves into the ground trying to make fellowship and prayer a priority of the Church.  The issue is not lack of effort or lack of knowledge, but of vision...

I think we often think, "Hey, I'm a good person: I go to church, give my money, send my kids to children's church, pray as a family a little bit.  What else does God want?"  Well, that particular question would take quite some time to answer - which I may throw some insights towards that in the future - but God asks, demands, and deserves everything.  Check this passage out:

"Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it."

For the folks listening to this passage back then, the cross was a device of torture and death - not one of glory and hope like we think of it today.  Jesus was basically saying, "If you want to be my disciple, you have to deny any rights you have - even your right to life - and do everything I ask." [I love the rest of that passage also, but don't have time to discuss it here.] That doesn't sit to well with my "American Cultur-ed" ears!!  What may God be telling us we need to give up in order to follow Him?

Church, It's Time to Get Radical

I was prompted to read through the book of Malachi this morning - and boy did I ever need it.  This short little minor prophet packs quite the wallop - calling out the people of Israel for their half-hearted, short-sighted, short-handed and lukewarm sacrifices.  Just read these passages:

"When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice lame or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?” says the LORD Almighty. (1:8)

"Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the LORD Almighty, “and I will accept no offering from your hands. (1:10)

He even is talking about the priests:

Because of you I will rebuke your descendants; I will smear on your faces the dung from your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it. (3:3)

"But you have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble; you have violated the covenant with Levi,” says the LORD Almighty.  (2:8)

He even takes on the topic of money:

"In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. (3:8-10)

I was blown away how I have been bringing incomplete sacrifices to Him!  I have been offering him only partial offerings.  He demands - he deserves - our ALL!  I especially like that last verse: "Test me in this,' says the LORD Almighty, 'and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it'."  You see, when we serve God - we are not the ones giving!  We are receiving!!  Here's an illustration:  What if your pastor asked you to serve by coming to wash his car twice a week?  You may say, "Well, OK: you're the pastor."  But then he says, "Oh yeah, I'll pay you $1000 a week to do it!"  Would you do it?  You bet your sweet little hiney you would!!

You see, God is the giver!  We are not the giver!  God gives us blessings and rewards.  I don't know about you, but I want that!!  You can take all of these things I posses and simply give me Jesus - they belong to Him anyway.  Church - it's time to get radical!  Are you willing to give Him everything and see what he will do?

To what are we called to be?

If I believe there is a God, and if I believe that God has His hand in creating and running things on this planet, but what would His desire be for my life?  For what purpose do I exist?  Well, we may have not got that answer figured out completely yet, but I would venture to say there a place we can go to help us.....

• "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light..." - 1 Peter 2:9
• Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.  - Romans 12:2
• Since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”  - 1 Peter 1:16
• We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.  - Romans 6:6

There are lots of versus in God's Word that point to how we are supposed to be "different."  Different than the world around us.  Different than those who don't have the Spirit living within them.  Different than those we run into every day.  But if you look around, can you tell if someone is a Christ-follower?

We hear a lot of talk today about "Being Culturally Relevant" - a phrase common in modern & emergent churches.  It's another way of saying we are to be "in the world, but not of the world."  But did you know that phrase is not anywhere in the Bible?  It's not.....search for it!  Furthermore, the Greek word is cosmos, and is most often referred to the place where Satan reigns.  We are to be physically present in this cosmos, but not follow its values.  

So I'll ask a different question:  Are we called to be 'relevant' or to be 'set-apart?'  Because I don't think we can be both!  I believe that we are to "be Holy as God is Holy."  And, as we are growing Holy, that gives us the opportunity to be light in the darkness and to be "inf the world, but not of it."

This may come as a surprise

I know this is going to be a huge shock for you, but it appears the Gosselin children are beginning to act out!  Duhn, duhn duhn.......  The last few months have been wracked with pain, jealousy, anger and bitterness between John and Kate; and all is not well in the perfect little world of Kate.  OK, you've got to read this quote:


"'I'm trying to give them the grace to see, if they’re acting out of line, I'm trying to look deeper into why that is," she says in the article. "Why the kids are acting out. Cause it’s all inter-related. I mean, they don’t see it, but it’s all interconnected'."


What????  Why are the kids acting out????  IT'S BECAUSE THEIR PARENTS ARE MUD-SLINGING AT EACH OTHER AND YOU'VE TORN THEIR WORLD APART!!!  


It doesn't take any analyzing or seeing how things are inter-related!!!  The only thing that is going to make it any better (besides a complete miracle of God) is to let them say what they want to say and grovel for their forgiveness!!!  Once you've done that, then you can begin to rebuild their trust in you as their parents - and with that trust will come obedience!


There is a bigger purpose for this post, though.  There are families in churches all across our country that are right now going through divorce and CHOOSING to ignore Biblical truth for their own selfish desires.  I know this is messy, ugly and nasty stuff, and from a human and emotional perspective, I get it!  But long before divorce papers are filed, long before bitterness and apathy forms - married couples must be willing to step and say "Enough is enough!  I don't like living this way and I want to make this work!!!"  If you are on that edge in your marriage, talk to someone who will encourage and help you bring peace and reconciliation back into your relationship.


Dean


PS - Sorry about the "rawness" of this post, but I am pretty passionate about this topic - especially right now.

There seems to be a disconnect...

I ran across THIS ARTICLE today while browsing the Internet. According to recent research, the favorite book of most Americans is the Bible - by far! Second place was so varied that a clear winner could not be indicated, but Gone With the Wind, Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter were some of the one listed.

I wonder, though, if a follow up question should be asked of these same people: How much of it have you read and followed in your life? I say this because it takes more than simply "enjoying" the Bible as a book to live out our faith. There seems to be a disconnect in the fact that we say we like and/or read the Bible (as apparently most Americans do) yet we are not fully living out our lives with Christ at the center.

I bring this up because I wonder if I am guilty of the same thing? It's the age old question: Do we practice what we preach? As our kids grow up, they are watching, modeling, listening and mimicking everything we do and say. If we claim to believe in Jesus, yet our lives do not match up with that, our kids will pick up on this. There must be continuity between what we say we believe and the actions we carry out with our families.

On a lighter note, I found this cartoon online and thought I would include it here.

6 Qualities of a Legacy Family - Commitment

Continuing our look into Pastor Phil's Legacy Series, I want to highlight the 1st Quality of a Strong or Legacy Family: Commitment!

Parents, it is ESSENTIAL that you are fully committed to your spouse and your kids! Take divorce off the table and keep it off! It should NEVER be an option. I Timothy 5:8 reads: "If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever."

You may, however, already experienced the pain of divorce and or the separating of your family. If that is you, pay special attention: God has a special place in His Heart for you and your children!

• "He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing." -Deut. 10:18
• Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." -James 1:27

Jesus loves and so do we! This is not meant to be a message of condemnation, but of love. OK, back to the issue of Commitment...

Commitment is essential for 3 things: Success, Security, & Spiritual Strength! With it, your family will inevitably fall apart. So, how can we help you achieve this? The Family Journey in Faith Team wants to see all families not only survive but thrive within the Presence of God. Let us help you be FULLY committed to your family. Feel free to contact us at dean@colonialwoodsmc.com.

'til then, Dean

Fathers...Where are you?

We are a country of deadbeat dads! I strongly believe the number 1 place our families are falling apart is because of fathers who do not take up their proper calling to be loving fathers and dads (those two words mean entirely different things).

This article from the National Center for Fathering shows some of the statistics of absent fathers. (Also, The Belmont Foundation is a great resource to tap into.) Why is this the case? Why do fathers have such an impact on their children? Because God designed it to be that way. He chose to set up the family system of a man and a woman from the very beginning (Genesis 2 & 3). It works best that way!

However, this is reality! And more and more of our church's families are not fitting the norm. Some of you reading this blog may be in that boat. Good news! God has a special place in his heart and family for you and your children. There are tons of passages in scripture that clue us into that.

Moreover, there is a place for you here at CW! Divorce Care 4 Kids will be starting up this fall under the direction of Val Ball. If you have kids, and are divorced, then your kids will benefit greatly from it. You can contact Val at val@colonialwoodsmc.com.

Lastly, fathers, use this as a reminder to stay connected to your kids. Do whatever it takes to know what is happening in their lives. Think of how far your Heavenly Father goes to get your attention, you owe it to your own children to do the same.

Dean

The one thing...

A major mainline denomination commissioned a one million dollar study. The purpose of the study was to discover what factors influenced children to remain in the faith of their parents as they grew to adulthood.

The conclusion? The one deciding factor was NOT Sunday School attendance, or participation in the church youth group. The one deciding factor was whether or not the child's family had held family devotions! Want to keep your kids in the faith? Your choice: "Family altar, or Satan will alter your family."

So how can you do that? Here are three Websites you can access that have some great information on how to go about starting and maintaining a time of family devotions. Thanks Leanne P. for emailing me these links:

http://www.familymanweb.com/howtohavedevos.htm

http://www.new-life.net/devotn02.htm

http://www.timberdoodle.com/index.asp?PageAction=Custom&ID=4

Main thing is to just do something. Purchase a kid friendly bible (appropriate for the ages of your children), read a short story, and ask them what it means. As they get older and as you get more comfortable, you can get more involved. Here are a couple of options for Bibles.

Share with us your ideas and stories too.

Dean