God is Creator

 

Hello everyone!  It has been a long time since I have had the opportunity write you!  Unfortunately life gets crazy and the urgent takes priority over the important.  Anyway, I have several thoughts over the past few months and hopefully I will get the chance to share them.  Today, I would like to talk about the God as creator.  Lately I have been studying the greatness of God.  One way I have been doing this is by looking at his creation and how he created it.  We study in Genesis 1-2 that God created the whole earth in 7 days.  Yes, He did it in 7 literal days, and maybe we can discuss the importance of believing that another time.  Today I want you to think about His creation.  Look at the leaves changing this fall.  Look at the flowers that may still be out!  Look at the sky tonight or Google for pictures of the galaxies, and remember that Psalm 33 talks about the LORD breathing the heavens.  Look at the human body!  Think about the complexities of how it works, how it is held together, and how it is formed.  Then think about the fact that even with all the modern science, there are still so many questions about this creation.  Amazing!  However, I would like to take it a step farther.  In Genesis 1 we read the LORD created everything and it was GOOD.  Then we read in Genesis 3 that the earth was cursed as a result of sin.  Which means all of the beautiful, complex, amazing things we see in creation are the cursed version.  I wonder what the “good” (perfect) version was like?  Think about that for a while.  If you are like me it will make your head hurt!  It is worth it though because it will make you stand in Awe!  

Worship the Awesome Creator God today!! 

Pastor Matt

The Mission – The Battle

These past few weeks through pastor’s sermons and through my personal study I have been reminded of two things:  we have a mission, and we are in a battle.  When I stop and think about those truths and how it should show up in my life, I realize that I don’t always live in light of these truths.  Let’s take a look at them both.
 
The Mission!  Did you realize we have a mission?  Do you know what the mission is?  How do you know if you are living out the mission?  In Matthew 28:19-20 we see Christ give his last command to the 11 disciples, “make disciples”.  That is our mission, we are to continue that command and make disciples, and we are specifically to make disciples of all nations.  However, before you can go make disciples we much know what a disciple is and we have to make sure we are disciples ourselves.  A disciple is a learner, a pupil, an apprentice, a follower, a believer.  It is amazing to see that there is not just one word that can explain what it means to be a disciple.  So, now on to the next question, are you living as a disciple?  Are you following the Savior, learning everything you can, and looking more and more like the Son everyday?  In the gospels we see the discipleship process happen when one person disciples a few.  However, that person was perfect, and no one on earth right now is perfect, so we cannot follow that model anymore.  It takes the whole church to disciple one person.  That is why church participation is so important.  If you think of all the things that go into the disciplining (teaching, training, encouraging, rebuking, etc) there is no way one person can do all of that to the level needed to present someone complete in Christ.  Yes, some discipleship may take place in a formal one on one setting, but it also takes place by listening to the sermons, fellowshipping with the body, getting involved in the ministries of the church, etc.  Maybe next time you think to yourselves, “I have been to that church function many times…I wont get anything out of it” remember you may not be there for you.  The Lord may want you there to help disciple someone.  We are called to make disciples by doing three things: Going, Baptizing, and Teaching.  If you look at the original language, it will read, “As you are going”.  Why is that important?  It seems to give the indication that you are to be making disciples as you are going through your everyday lives.  It doesn’t have to be only the people who are going to a mission field or going to a place to with an intended purpose.  No, it means as you go to work, the grocery store, the golf course, fishing, or what ever you are doing to make disciples.  Another way we are to make disciples is by baptizing, which indicates evangilism.  We need to be sharing the gospel with those we meet.  We need to be in contact with unbelievers.  We need to be talking to people and find out where they are, what they believe, and how much they know about the gospel.  Then once you figure that out start there, prepare the soil for the seed, and then plant the seed of the gospel.  Once they accept the gospel the work has just begun.  We are to also “teach them to obey”.  This doesn’t mean we are to just fill them with a bunch of facts and head knowledge, but we are to teach them how to live the Christian life in a way that pleases the Lord. We are to teach them theology, how to apply the theology (how to respond in difficult times, how to walk faithfully, etc), and teach them ministry skills (how to study the Bible, how to give Godly counsel, how to lead, etc).  This is an investment of time, energy, and emotions, but one that will reap eternal rewards!
 
The Battle: We are at war!  Think about the times this country has been at war.  Everyone in the country would set aside personal goals to focus on the one goal of winning the war.  At times it has meant rationing goods, and factories making supplies for soldiers, it just gave a different perspective on life.  Paul and others in the New Testament refers to this time as a war, not against flesh and blood, but against the devil and his army.  To many times we live as if we are in peace time.  We sit around getting fat and lazy spiritually, and then when we feel the attacks we are caught off guard.  We need to change our focus and our attitude toward this time.  We need to have a greater sense of urgency about this life.  The devil is attacking using all means to try and stop the gospel and the discipleship process.  How does he attack?  Some times he uses a full front attack.  These are difficult times, and we know we are in a battle.  More often, however, I think he uses other methods.  Think about all the different animals the devil is compared to: wolf, lion, and a snake.  All of these animals are sneaky and used deception, stealth like maneuvering before the strike.  I think the devil uses distraction and deception more often.  He distracts people with material processions, filling the schedules, family, work, and the list can go on and on. Most of the things he distracts us with are good things, but as pastor says, “When a good thing becomes a god thing, it becomes a bad thing”.  He distracts the church with traditions, personal preferences, maintenance of the building, and the list can go on and on here as well.  He just wants us to get our focus off the mission and then we will just spin our tires, and then be considered not a threat in his eyes.  He also deceives us through small pieces of false teaching.  He just throws bits of it out there, so that if we are not watching closely we will not even see it slowly work into our belief.  Then the bits will add up and before we know it we are following a false religion.  Again, getting our eyes off the mission, and then we are considered a non-threat.   Why is this tactic the one he uses? One, we are so easily distracted, so it is really effective.  Two, he knows he has already lost.  Remember, we are fighting from victory not for victory, which is why all the armor and weapons we are given are defensive in nature.  The Lord has won the battle and the ground has already been conquered, we just have to defend it.  We just have to know the truth and then stand on it.  It will be difficult at times, but we are encouraged to stand our ground. 
 
If you are feeling the attacks of the devil, remember a few things.  1) Keep battling; you are fighting a good fight! 2) Stay in contact with the commander and chief through prayer and study of the scriptures.  Fighting a battle with out the guidance of the leader is a recipe for disaster.  3) You don’t have to fight alone.  Allow the people of the church to fight with you; you will need them.  On the other hand, some of you may be reading this and thinking, “I don’t feel the devils attacks”.  There are a few reasons that may be true and they need to be evaluated. 1) Praise the Lord; he may be protecting you at this moment. Use this time to sharpen our skills and know the truth more.  2) You may not be on the winning side.  You may be apart of the devils team, and therefore there is no need for him to attack you.  Repent and believe, so you can be on the winning side.  3) You are not living the mission and the devil has no need to attack.  If you refuse to engage in battle there is no need for him to waste time and energy on you.  If that is true, I plead with you engage in the battle! 
 
Live the Mission…Fight the Battle!
 
Live in light of the cross
Pastor Matt

Put Off or Put Away

Here is a thought I have been working through in my head for the last couple of days.  I am currently reading the book of Judges, which if you have not done I recommend, and there is a phrase that jumped out to me.  If you don’t know anything about the book of Judges here is the basic format:  the people of Israel sin, God allows them to go into captivity, and then He raises a judge to rescue them, and they follow the Lord till the judge dies.  The whole book is that cycle repeating itself over and over again.  Sound familiar?  It should, that is our lives.  Anyway, in one of the times when they were repenting and turning back to the Lord the people “put away” their idol and worshiped the Lord (Judges 10:16).  Put Away!?!?  What does it mean to put away?  What do you do when you put away something in your house?  Put Away!?!?  Does this mean they put them on the shelf, in the closet, or pack them in a box?  Now contrast that with the passage in Eph. 4, when Paul commands us to “put off” and then to “put on”!  What is the difference between “put away” and “put off”?  Let’s think about a few other concepts in order to answer this question.  First, Jesus taught radical amputation.  When Jesus was teaching on sin one day and said that is was better to gouge your eye out then to allow it to keep looking at things that cause you to sin.  Now does that mean we should all be walking around without eyes?  No!  What it does mean is we should be getting rid of all the things that make us stumble and cause us to sin.  For example: if we sin when we are at the computer, then don’t sit at the computer or at least only use it in public places; if there is a place/person that when you are together you always end up sinning or going down a path that is not pleasing to the Lord, don’t go to that place or hang out with that person.  You can continue to apply that to your specific situation.  Also, think about Heb. 12:1-2 where we are commanded to throw off sin and the things that entangle us in order to run with endurance.  Living with our eyes fixed on Christ.  In the Gospels we see Jesus driving out the money changers that are in the temple.  He didn’t tell them to put there stuff in the closet or the back room; He grabbed a wipe and started turning over tables.  He wanted the sinful things and false worship out of his Father’s house.  Finally, let’s think about belief.  What does it mean to believe?  I hear a definition lately that I really like: to place your full weight on something or someone.  So, if we are placing our full weight of Christ is there any need to keep our sin or idols around?  Jesus wants us to place our full weight on him without a backup plan.  If it goes down, which it won’t, we are going down with it.  I wonder if the people of Israel just put their idols away because they had most of their weight on the Lord but they kept there toe on that idol just in case. 
 
Now if we are to radically amputate, throw off, clean house, and put our full weight on, does it sound like there is any room to just put away?  Look at your own life.  Look at the sin, the idols you create, and the things that often distract you for the Lord.  What are you doing when them?  When you realize they are there, what have you been doing with them?  Maybe it is time to stop merely putting them away and start putting them off?  May the Lord give us grace to do just that!!!
 
Live in light of the cross
Pastor Matt

What are you doing?

The sermon this past Sunday asked some very convicting and essential questions.  I would like to pass them along to you for some self evaluation, and then give you some resourses to help you do some more learning about this topic.  Currently pastor is going through the Gospel of John.  We looked at John the Baptist this past week. This is the passage where the religious leaders come to John and ask him two questions.  It is fascinating to see how John, not being intimidated or apologetic, answered these two questions.  For John, he knew exactly what the answers to the questions were, and he was ok with the answers.  This is something that most people, most believers today, would not be able to do:  answer the question and be ok with the answer.  So, here are the 2 questions:
 
Who are you?
 
Why are you doing what you are doing?
 
Ok, take a few minutes and answer theses questions.  Now…BE HONEST!  No one will be looking at your answers, so you don’t have to put down the “Sunday school” answer or try to justify your response to make it look good.  Really take time to evaluate these two questions! 
 
Theses questions are interesting because they interact with each of other so well.  Let me explain.  You have to answer the first question in order to answer the second question.  The reason for that is who we are will explain what we are doing.  That is the interacting…did you catch it.  You see you may think you know who you are, or know who you want to be.  However, what you are doing will show who you really are.  The answers to the two questions should line up.  If they don’t, there is an issue and some changes need to be made.  For example, if you say you are a follower of the Christ and live for his purposes, but what you are doing is really to fulfill your selfish needs then something doesn’t add up. 
 
Here are a couple resources that will explain this a little more. 
 
1) Check out the sermon:  http://www.wheelersburgbaptist.com/sermon_series.htm click on the sermon called “Do you know who you are?”
 
2) Check out the book “Don’t Waste Your Life” by John Piper
 
I pray that we all can answer this question and be ok with the answer like John the Baptist
 
Live in light of the cross,
Pastor Matt

Reflections on the Cross

This past weekend was the holiday that we take time to remember what the Lord Jesus Christ did for us on the Cross. He suffered wrath of a holy God in our place.  In a time that I was a enemy, running as far away as I could, sinning to satisfy my lustful desires, the Lord God sent his only son into the world to pay the penalty for my sins.  The thought of that makes me stop in my tracks and just give thanks!!  This past week I spent some time reading through the crucifixion accounts and doing some study of what happened to the body during a death of that nature.  I would like to share a few thoughts with you.  The first thing that caught my attention is in Matthew’s account he states that Christ “Gave us his spirit.”  Wow!  Even in the midst of all of what had happened in he past 24 hours of his life, he was still in control. He is still the one who created the universe and is still in control…willingly lying down his life for the people who were putting him through all that torture.  Speaking of that torture, I read a couple of articles discussing from a medical perspective what happened to his body during the 24 hours both physically and emotionally.  These articles where not easy reading by any stretch of the imagination, but they really put into perspective what happened to my Savior.  From the flogging which a lot of people didn’t live through, to the thorns being driven into the his head, to being forced to carry a 125 lbs cross 300 yards, to having big, square nails driven in between the carpal bones of the wrist right next to the median nerve, to all of the torment the body goes through by hanging on the cross. One of the extraordinary physiological things that happened to Him was in the garden the night before.  While he was praying he had drops of blood dripping off his forehead.  What? Is this possible?  Yes, in the medical literature there are several cases of people with extreme stress having their capillaries in the forehead busting and mixing with the sweat that is coming down the forehead.  What stress my Savior we going through?  I have been pretty stressed before, I have seen people who are really stressed, but I don’t think I have ever seen anyone that is even coming close to having the phenomenon happen.  Now that begs the question, why was he so stressed?  As the God/Man he know what was going to be happening to him, so was it all of the physical torture he was about to endure?  Was it all the false insults and accusations, betraying, and injustice he was about to receive from his own chosen people?   That may have been part of the stress, but I think there was something else He was dreading even more!  As I read through the saying he said of the cross he said a couple things that point to the most painful thing.  First He cried, “My God, My God why have you forsaken me?”  That was the key!  From eternity past he had lived with perfect communion with His father, and at that moment he had eternal separation from him.  That was the first thing that he didn’t want to lose, the relationship with His father.  The second saying was, “It is finished”. What was finished?  He had finished His task of taking the wrath of his father in our place.  Not only was He separated from His father, but He had to experience the wrath of His father!  That is what stressed Him out, and that was what he was dreading.  Now think about how many times we ignore our relationship with our Lord so easily.  Was the Son of God crazy for being more stressed over that than all of the physical torment, because if I am honest with myself the physical and emotional things would have been worrying my mind more?  Or, did he have/know something we do have/know?  I think the latter is true.  He has a relationship with the Father, we can’t even imagine, but I want!  I pray the Lord will grant me the grace to grow in my relationship with him so it may come close to that type of relationship.  The first step I believe we can all take is to live in light of the cross everyday, not just once a year.  When living from the perspective of the shadows of the cross, life seems to make more sense!  It reminds us of what our Savior did for us.  It put life’s difficulties in perspective, and allows us to remember that the Lord is in control.  It helps remind us that the purpose for living…Glorifying the One who is worthy!  I pray you will take practical steps today to help you remember the cross and what happened on the cross. 
 
Live in light of the Cross,
Pastor Matt

Reflection on the God I Serve

It took a little longer than expected, but I made it through all seven churches in Revelation 2-3.  However, I would like to write one more quick post on this topic.  I didn’t spend much time talking through one part of each letter.  In the start of each message to the church there is a description of our Lord!  I took some extra time last week to read through these descriptions again and just meditate on the greatness of my God!  This is a great exercise I would recommend for everyone.  It will allow you to gain a better perspective of who God is, and in light of that perspective take time to evaluate how you really are.  What you will find is a very humbling, accurate picture of your heart.  Though this isn’t the type of exercise that will give you a bunch on warm fuzzy feelings, I feel it is necessary in order for us to come to the right place were the Holy Spirit can go to work on our hearts.  Take a minute and look through this list:
 
2:1
-Him who holds the seven stars in his right hand (stars represent the seven messengers)
-Walks among the seven golden lamp stands (each lamp stand represents a church)
 
2: 8
-First and the Last
-Who died and came to life again
 
2:12
-Him who has a sharp double-edge sward (showing judgment)
 
2:18
-Son of God
-Eyes are like blazing fire (can see to penetrating depths of our hearts)
-Feet are like burnish bronze (showing judgment)
 
3:1
-Holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars (referring the church leadership and the life of the church)
 
3:7
-Holy and True
-Holds the key of David.  What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.
 
3:14
-Amen
-Faithful and true witness
-Ruler of God’s Creation
 
Reflect on these descriptions and just marvel at the great God we serve!  Also, if you look at each of the descriptions and then look at the issues each church was facing, you will see that the Lord reminds each church with the exact description that they needed to overcome the trial they were facing.  This is an amazing thought, especially when you look at the very next words after each description, “I know”.  The Lord of the universe in all his majesty and power with all that is happening in this world knows my situation.  May we be humbled and comforted by that reality!
 
If you like this exercise a couple of other favorite passages to do this with is Isaiah 40 and Job 38-41. 
 
For His Glory,
Pastor Matt

3 for 1

Sorry…it has been a while!  In an attempt to catch up I would like to combine the last 3 churches into one post!

Dead or Alive

In the study of the Church in Sardis, the Lord sends the message to, “Wake Up!”  This church was a very popular church with a good reputation, but the Lord was seeing through all of the externals and saw that they were really dead!  Dead?  Yes, this church is spiritually dead!  They were busy doing the work of a church, but they themselves were mostly dead.  You mean that people who are not saved can do things in the church?  Yes they can, and by God’s grace and power he uses those people in spite of their unregenerate heart.  Is this common today?  There are a group of churches that are busy doing great community work and “doing church” very effectively from the worlds eyes.  However, the people are dead.  They are doing things from a wrong motive and are not teaching the right gospel.  Oh, you will hear the name of Jesus Christ in their message, but only as a great example on how to live our lives.  It is a sad thing because so many people in America look for the church that is doing thing and is busy, and they don’t pay enough attention to the teaching of a church.  It is amazing to me that there are people out there that will read the same Bible and will teach using the same curriculum, but will not get the same thing out of it.  Notice what the Lord said, “repent!”  The same command has been his call since the beginning.  Praise God that he opened my eyes to see my need for repentance and that I have the message to give.  There is one word of caution I would throw out.  Paul says to work out our salvation with fear and trembling and to test yourself to see that you are in the faith.  Jeremiah says that the heart is desperately wicked and deceitful.   So, knowing our heart is this way, it is possible that our hearts have deceived us in to thinking we are in the faith, but we are actually not.   The message here for those people in the passage is the same as in the end of the Sermon on the Mount.  Repent and if you refuse; the Lord will say, “Depart from me, I never knew you.”  If this is not a wake up call, I don’t know what will be.  I pray the Lord will open all of our eyes to see our hearts and give us the faith to act with the appropriate response. He will be coming “like a thief”!  There is one other word of encouragement.  He tells the true believers that they will receive the crown of life. Their clothes are not soiled, and their names will never be blotted out of the Book of Life. 

Hold On

For the Church in Philadelphia, he gives a word of encouragement!  Again, showing he is sovereign and intimately involved in the lives of his people, the Lord assures them that he knows their situation and that they have little strength left.  In the midst of their little strength, they have still kept his word.  What a reminder that the Lord has given us everything we need for life and godliness.  It may not seem like we have enough, but that is a promise from our Great Father. May we have enough faith to live by that promise!  He tells them that their reward for keeping his word is the relief from the coming trial. He tells them to hang on…he is coming and has great things in store for them!  If you are in the midst of a difficult situation/trial, please find encouragement from the words the Lord has given to the Church in Philadelphia!

Lukewarm

Finally, to the Church in Laodicea the Lord has some harsh words.  He calls the church lukewarm.  To understand this completely you have to know a little bit about the city in which this church was located.  They were in a place where water was not readily available, so they had to pipe it in from some nearby towns.  They had a town by them that had nice and cool springs running, and another that had hot springs.  However, by the time the water got to Laodicea it was lukewarm.  The visitors to the city would spit it out when they first took a drink.  This is how the Lord felt about the people in this church!  They were lukewarm/non-committed/coasting/fence riding Christians.  They claimed to be rich, which in fact they may have been physically rich; this most likely led to their state of being lukewarm.  However, the real state of their hearts is revealed: wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.  Wow!  That would be hard to swallow, but I think it is also true of us American believers!  That may be harder to swallow.  The church in America due to the wealth and lack of persecution is full of people who are not totally committed.  They just add church and God on to there lives when it is convenient.  They are content just being saved and have no desire to grow or serve.  They are happy just filling their spot in the pew and enjoying the “benefits” of being a Christian without having to put too big of an investment.  If this describes you then take the counsel the Lord gives this church.  He tells them to make some investments into their spiritual condition.  He uses the word “buy” and then gives three word pictures for what they need to be prioritizing.  He tells them that He is more concerned about their spiritual wealth, righteousness, and purity.  He gives them the command to repent!  He wants so much more for your life then just the status quo!  He is standing at the door knocking….will you let him in?

Live in light of the cross,

Pastor Matt

Tolerance

We have now come to the Church in Thyatira. The Lord praised the church for a few things. “Your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.” (Rev 2:19) As a pastor this is encouraging to me. The fact that this church is doing more than they did before shows me that they are growing. This is what we are supposed to be doing in this Christian life…growing, changing, becoming a force in the Kingdom of the Lord. Sadly there are too many people in churches that are satisfied where they are in their walk and don’t care if they are growing. There are too many retired people who feel the have retired from their work for the Lord as well. Then waste the rest of their lives. This is a great challenge to evaluate your life: Am I growing? What am I doing to serve the church and to advance the kingdom?

 There is another word in this passage that sticks out to me: Tolerate. This is a popular word in our culture today. However, there are many different nuances of the word. Some say that we should be tolerant of all that everyone else does while others say they are tolerant of all except those who are intolerant (however you justify that), and the list goes on and on. This word is interesting when you think about it. What they are really saying is that you cannot have any strong convictions about anything. If you do, that means you are intolerant. Really it is just a different way expressing the popular cultural view of relativism. That is a topic for another post. I want to focus on the fact that the church tolerated a false prophetess, tolerated sin. They did agree with it, but they didn’t take a stance against it either. They were passive and just said, “as long as I don’t follow it”. As I look at the church today, I feel this is an all too common practice of today’s church members. They see sin in the lives of other or see a false teaching in their church, and just turn a blind eye and worry about themselves. Think of how the church would be radically transformed if we would do the true loving thing and confronted the sin in others. In a recent article I read it listed 14 attributes of a healthy church (notice it didn’t say a large church), one of the attributes it listed was the practice of church discipline. In most churches this is a practice that has been lost. Let’s take a few minutes and think about the message that sends. If you see sin in the lives of your fellow church family members and do nothing. What we are really saying is, “I see your sin, but I don’t love you enough to confront you about that sin, and/or I really don’t take what the Bible says serious enough to act on it.” Then you (or others watching) start thinking, “If they do not take part of the Bible seriously then why take other parts of the Bible seriously. Why should I take any of the Bible seriously.” Wow! In an age where people are asking the question, “Does it work?” No wonder they are looking at the church and then walking away. You can tell that a church is serious about the Holiness and serious about what the Word of God says by the way they tolerate (or don’t tolerate) unrepentant sin! As painful of a process, for all parties involved, church discipline and/or confrontation of sin (following the Matthew 18 process) is essential for a church that is healthy and pleasing to the Lord.

So, how do you use the word “tolerate”? Are you looking at personal preferences and choosing to over look them…as we should? Are you starting to buy into the cultural view of tolerance and give up a lot along the way? Are you tolerating sin in your own life?

Pastor Matt

2 for 1

The past two weeks I have been reading the letters to the Church in Smyrna and Pergamum.  Interestingly, these two churches are similar.  The Lord wants to encourage them for there perseverance through persecution and trials.  There are some statements that stick out to me in both of these accounts:  “I know your afflictions and your poverty…” (Rev. 2:9); “I know where you live…” (Rev. 2:13).  Take a minute and think about that.  There are too many times, when reading God’s Word, we just read a statement like these and just pass by them.  The Lord of the universe, the Lord that is described in Isaiah 40, the Lord that is holy and all powerful knows the details of my life.  Think of all the churches and all of the people in those churches and the Lord knows the detail of each and every situation.  In the Church of Smyrna He is in tune with their poverty and persecution.  He then encourages them to stay the course and keep the faith because more is coming. How great is it to know we have a sovereign God in control of all situations.  No matter how big or small life’s event are the Lord is control of all of them. This is where we find true rest in the difficult time of life. He then leaves them with this reminder, “you are rich”.  What a great thought!!   We are not tied to the circumstances of this world, our values rest in Jesus Christ.  We are not dependent of how easy life is or how much we are able to get to find our worth, we are loved and saved children of God!  That is enough isn’t it?  For the Church in Pergamum, he knew where they lived.  Why is that a big deal?  Where this church was located is described as “where Satan has his throne”.  At the time this letter was written this was the headquarters for all of the pagan religions.  This church was right there at ground zero, on the front line, and the Lord wanted them to know he had seen their faithfulness. 
There is one rebuke that he had for the church in Pergamum.  In the course of living in the midst of the pagan religions, they had adopted some of their teachings into the church. They followed the false teachings of Balaam and Nicolaitians.  If you remember for the last post these are the same teachings that the church in Ephesus had rejected.  What a reminder how much our culture can influence our theology.  In our church we host a class every year called Counseling and Discipleship Training.  The whole basis for this class is to gain Bible knowledge on the issues of life, so that we can think Biblically on all areas of life.  When going through this course it was surprising how much worldly, human thinking had scoped my thought process on several different areas of life.  In actuality the Bible should shape our view on life, not life shaping our view of the Bible and ultimately God.   This church was guilty of not knowing there Bibles well enough and then allowing the culture to influence there theology.  Remember, though processes and ministries my change with culture, we must stand firm on the foundation of who the Lord is and what His Word says.  Do you know the foundation on which you are standing? 
 
Times may get tough…Run the Race; Fight the Fight; Keep the Faith…Trust me it is worth it!
 
Pastor Matt

losing your first love

It has been awhile!  Sorry I have not been on to update this, but life gets crazy.  No more excuses.  I was pushed to update this by a couple family members who was asking when I was going to update this blog.  I appreciate that for a couple reasons:  1) It is nice to know that there is someone out there reading.  2) It is great to have a family that loves the Lord, and it was great to fellowship with them over the New Years Weekend.   New Years was a great time to think about change.  That is the time of year that everyone makes their New Years Resolutions.  It was a great time to remind myself of how change happens and where the power of change comes from. (see previous post for more detail and thoughts on change)  One thing that I was encouraged by is Eph 1:19-21, where it talks about how if we are saved we have the same power that raised Christ from the dead and placed him on the thrown available to us.  That is GREAT!  That means not only have we been give forgiveness but we also have available the power to live a victorious life!  May you find encouragement through that today.
 
Now to what I wanted to talk about today.  In my own quiet time I have started reading through the Book of Revelation.  This will be a new challenge for me because this is a book that I really have not studied a whole lot in my life.  As I came to chapters 2 and 3, I decided to study and meditate on one church’s letter a week.  This week I have been thinking about the letter to the Church in Ephesus.  The Lord starts out by commending them for their work and perseverance.  They have been able to test and point out false teaching.  They have had some persecution that they have been able to withstand.  However, the Lord rebukes them because they had lost their first love.  What does that mean?  I have been thinking about this the past few days.  If you go back to the letter Paul wrote them, it talks a lot about Unity and living as children of light through a life of love.  There is great love for Christ in our hearts when we first come to know him and that love should be shared with others.  However, for a lot of people and this church that love was lost…Why?  If I could read into the fact that they were very knowledgeable about Scriptures and that they were able to withstand several tests, I have come to a few thoughts.  Somewhere along the way of them studying and being disciplined the Christian walk became a routine, a process, a bunch of facts.  Spiritual disciplines are something that is talked about a lot in the Christian walk.  Things like reading your Bible, prayer, worship, fellowship, etc. I am one that will talk about them with the teens.  They are good things to develop in your Christian walk if they are a means not an end. If they are an end, the same result will happen in your life as did in the life of Church of Ephesus.  The Christian life will become routine, cold, and loveless.  If the disciplines are a means, then they will be a great benefit to enhance your love for the Lord and others.  Love is not a feeling, it is a choice.  With that in mind the more we know about the Lord should strengthen the choice we have to love Him.  Also, the more we know about him the more we should want to fall in love with him.  The same way a husband and wife should love their spouse more the more they know them.  Maybe that is the difference right there.  When the disciplines are to gain knowledge about Him; that is just what we get: knowledge.  When the disciplines are there to know Him, we are able to grow closer and closer and more in love with Him.  It reminds me of a line in a TV show the other day. I can’t remember what show it was but they were talking about the existence of God.  Within the conversation one person asked it they think God is out there.  The other responded, “I don’t know, but I miss Him.”  Hmmm.  I wonder how many believers would say something similar.  Have you said that lately?
 
Have you lost your first love?  Do you need to re-evaluate you spiritual disciplines, and allow them to be a means to an end?  Do you need to develop spiritual disciplines in your life, so your love for the Lord will not be so shallow? 
 
I pray you will love Him more and more each day!
Pastor Matt