"Then God said to Jacob, Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau." - Genesis 35:1
If you're a true believer in Jesus Christ, you've had a Beth-el experience. Beth-el was the place where God introduced himself to Jacob in a very real and personal way. You can read Jacob's experience with God in Genesis 28. After receiving a vision and a promise from the God of his fathers Jacob awoke, built an altar to God and named the place Beth-el which means, "house of God" in Hebrew.
After a lifetime of choices, both good and bad, God spoke to Jacob in Genesis 35:1 instructing him to "go to Beth-el". God's desire was to reintegrate Himself into Jacob's life in order to bring Him into his divine destiny. For that to happen, Jacob had to remove the physical contaminants that had infiltrated his household. In Genesis 35:2, Jacob instructed everyone in his realm of influence to remove the false gods and idols.
What Beth-el represents is a place of holy identification, sanctification and specification. It is place where God orders our steps, gives us our divine identity and equips us to move into His destiny for us.
Far too many of God's people are perpetual wilderness wanderers. The "wilderness" is that spiritual emptiness where our prayers are empty, our bible study is empty, our service is empty. This emptiness in the "inner man/woman" cannot be filled by going through the motions of church attendance or service. To a wilderness wanderer the house of God can become a burden instead of a joy. Attending church becomes a chore, a duty or, in the case of ministers, a job instead of a calling. I know as a pastor I have found myself so busy planning programs and managing ministries that I lose all sense of spirituality. Like Martha, we can become so busy serving that we cannot receive any spiritual renewal.
You throw a lifetime of wilderness wandering at someone and you can easily see why there are so many empty, miserable "Christians" in our churches. I've been to many churches that were filled with miserable Christians. As a young man I puzzled over this phenomenon; how could an experience like true Christianity produce so many unhappy people? After all, the Word of God is supposed to be a beacon of hope, a source of joy and a life-changing message of grace, love and eternal life. How could so many people profess to believe the words in this book only to live in a state of perpetual unhappiness?
Then I found myself in the wilderness. No, scratch that, I actually passed up the wilderness and descended into my own personal hell. As a matter of fact, it has been exactly ten years as of this writing since my life took a horrendous turn for the worst.
Ten years ago, I was one of these miserably redeemed souls. I had no joy, no hope and no future as far as I was concerned. I was depressed beyond words, suicidal to the point of very nearly carrying out my darkest thoughts. The demons of hell had been unleashed to torment me and I found myself immersed in a world of darkness that I thought would never end.
All of this was happening to me while I was serving in the body of Christ. I was preaching and teaching the word of God to others but was not anywhere close to walking or believing any of what I was speaking. I was living a lie. You may be surprised to know there are quite a large number of God's servants living this same lie; unable to reconcile what they have seen and experienced in life with the words they read in this book. If God truly loves us then why...
God instructed Jacob to return to the place where He had introduced Himself to his wandering servant. The context of the initial meeting is summarized for us in Genesis 35:1 with these words: "...who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau." Jacob was on the run because of His own choices and actions. Jacob had no one to blame for his predicament except himself. He had lied, cheated and stolen what was not his to have. He was fleeing the reaping of his personal whirlwind when God showed up. God didn't show up to rescue him from his brother's wrath; God did something better. He gave him a future. He showed him his divine destiny. He gave him hope, faith and peace in the middle of a very difficult storm.
God's done that with most of us. All of us can point to our own Beth-el experience with God. The place where God shared His future for us. The place where God was transformed from an impersonal, faceless deity figure in the spiritual realm to a personal savior ready for a relationship with you.
It is amazing how life can dim the memory of our Beth-el. It's amazing how fast we can forget what God has revealed to us. It is equally amazing how fast we can fall from building altars to Jehovah to filling our lives with false gods and idols.
I had a return to Beth-el experience last week that I want to share with you. God blindsided me with an experience that I'm honestly still processing. So stay tuned true believers; it may be time for you to join me in returning to your own personal Beth-el...
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
We've got a special guest this week...
...special musical guest, Dixie Trahan. If you'd like to learn more about Dixie check her out at at her website.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
"Here I Am To Sing Karaoke..."
"Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near [me] with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:" - Isaiah 29:13
We return to the subject of "worship" this weekend with special musical guest "Canopy". If you've been listening to the program since we began in January of this year you know we've touched on this subject. I've not "blogged" on it but we have discussed the controversy in the Body of Christ concerning musical preferences in our worship services. I'll not rehash old thoughts....ah, what the heck, sure I will.
One Sunday night at my second pastorate I was leading the congregation in a rousing rendition of a very popular old hymn, "Victory In Jesus". Right in the middle of the chorus, one of my more opinionated senior saints walked out of the service. I assumed she had become ill and needed to get home so I waited till the next day to visit with her and make sure she was OK. When she met me at the door I knew I was in trouble.
She laid into me because I had changed the tempo of a section of the chorus. I didn't change the words. I didn't change the melody. I changed the tempo in a very minute section of the chorus. She was incensed that I had made a change to one of her favorite hymns. I, of course, became incensed that this woman who was old enough to be my grandmother was throwing a temper tantrum fit for a 5 year old over something this petty.
There's been a musical civil war in the Body of Christ for generations. As a pastor, I've lost more people over music preferences than anything I've done over the last 20 years of pastoring. Most people are very opinionated; especially about music. I've actually taken phone calls from people who are looking for a church to attend and the first question they ask me isn't about doctrines or ministry opportunities, it's about music. I've lost a ton of people who like the preaching, the ministry and the spirit of the church but can't stay because we play contemporary choruses as well as hymns.
In my opinion, this attitude is childishly ridiculous. If you are basing your church attendance choices on something as shallow and petty as music styles you are completely missing the point of church. As a matter of fact, if you are a person who believes the style of music in a worship service is the most important thing to God then you need to read Isaiah 1. Go ahead, I'll wait for you...
Worship isn't about music or rituals or religious practices. Worship is about the focus of our attention. What are you focused on when you sing your favorite hymns or choruses? I know well intentioned people who do not worship God during "worship service". It is amazing to me how many of us has blown through a music service singing our favorite psalms/hymns/spiritual songs without actually focusing our attention on God at all.
I've often suggested we change the words to some of our hymns and choruses to better reflect the attitude of the majority of church attendees in the name of truthfulness and complete honesty. I've got a few suggestions to get the ball rolling: I Surrender Some; Open My Eyes (Because It's Sunday Morning), Lord; Here I Am To Sing Karaoke"; or It Is Well With My Soul So Long As The Church Leaders Do What I Want And Expend All Efforts To Keep Me Happy While I'm At Church just to name a few.
The musical civil war that's been fought in the name of God in countless churches over the generations is a tragedy when you consider the fact that God doesn't care about musical styles as much as he cares about the attitude of our hearts. God's glory isn't limited to your favorite musical genre. I've seen God glorified in hip-hop/rap music as well as Southern Gospel quartet music. I've also seen God's name sullied by the same genres and everything else in between. It isn't about the tempo, it's about the attitude.
God's not looking for the perfect tune, the right rhythm or the right musical talent level. He's got angels who do nothing but sing to him 24/7; do you think he's impressed with our musical talents and abilities? What God is looking for are "true worshipers" (John 4:23). He's seeking for people who are seeking for him. He wants more Davids who are men and women "after my heart". That phrase isn't talking about people who are most like God; it describes people who are chasing after God with everything they have.
I pray this elephant in the auditoriums gets put down once and for all within my lifetime. I'm sick of seeing churches split over music styles. I weary of seeing local bodies divide between contemporary and traditional worship styles. These petty arguments need to end. We are one body worshiping one Lord. May we learn how to worship together in one voice regardless of what the band is playing.
We return to the subject of "worship" this weekend with special musical guest "Canopy". If you've been listening to the program since we began in January of this year you know we've touched on this subject. I've not "blogged" on it but we have discussed the controversy in the Body of Christ concerning musical preferences in our worship services. I'll not rehash old thoughts....ah, what the heck, sure I will.
One Sunday night at my second pastorate I was leading the congregation in a rousing rendition of a very popular old hymn, "Victory In Jesus". Right in the middle of the chorus, one of my more opinionated senior saints walked out of the service. I assumed she had become ill and needed to get home so I waited till the next day to visit with her and make sure she was OK. When she met me at the door I knew I was in trouble.
She laid into me because I had changed the tempo of a section of the chorus. I didn't change the words. I didn't change the melody. I changed the tempo in a very minute section of the chorus. She was incensed that I had made a change to one of her favorite hymns. I, of course, became incensed that this woman who was old enough to be my grandmother was throwing a temper tantrum fit for a 5 year old over something this petty.
There's been a musical civil war in the Body of Christ for generations. As a pastor, I've lost more people over music preferences than anything I've done over the last 20 years of pastoring. Most people are very opinionated; especially about music. I've actually taken phone calls from people who are looking for a church to attend and the first question they ask me isn't about doctrines or ministry opportunities, it's about music. I've lost a ton of people who like the preaching, the ministry and the spirit of the church but can't stay because we play contemporary choruses as well as hymns.
In my opinion, this attitude is childishly ridiculous. If you are basing your church attendance choices on something as shallow and petty as music styles you are completely missing the point of church. As a matter of fact, if you are a person who believes the style of music in a worship service is the most important thing to God then you need to read Isaiah 1. Go ahead, I'll wait for you...
Worship isn't about music or rituals or religious practices. Worship is about the focus of our attention. What are you focused on when you sing your favorite hymns or choruses? I know well intentioned people who do not worship God during "worship service". It is amazing to me how many of us has blown through a music service singing our favorite psalms/hymns/spiritual songs without actually focusing our attention on God at all.
I've often suggested we change the words to some of our hymns and choruses to better reflect the attitude of the majority of church attendees in the name of truthfulness and complete honesty. I've got a few suggestions to get the ball rolling: I Surrender Some; Open My Eyes (Because It's Sunday Morning), Lord; Here I Am To Sing Karaoke"; or It Is Well With My Soul So Long As The Church Leaders Do What I Want And Expend All Efforts To Keep Me Happy While I'm At Church just to name a few.
The musical civil war that's been fought in the name of God in countless churches over the generations is a tragedy when you consider the fact that God doesn't care about musical styles as much as he cares about the attitude of our hearts. God's glory isn't limited to your favorite musical genre. I've seen God glorified in hip-hop/rap music as well as Southern Gospel quartet music. I've also seen God's name sullied by the same genres and everything else in between. It isn't about the tempo, it's about the attitude.
God's not looking for the perfect tune, the right rhythm or the right musical talent level. He's got angels who do nothing but sing to him 24/7; do you think he's impressed with our musical talents and abilities? What God is looking for are "true worshipers" (John 4:23). He's seeking for people who are seeking for him. He wants more Davids who are men and women "after my heart". That phrase isn't talking about people who are most like God; it describes people who are chasing after God with everything they have.
I pray this elephant in the auditoriums gets put down once and for all within my lifetime. I'm sick of seeing churches split over music styles. I weary of seeing local bodies divide between contemporary and traditional worship styles. These petty arguments need to end. We are one body worshiping one Lord. May we learn how to worship together in one voice regardless of what the band is playing.
Friday, July 11, 2008
The Real Prosperity Gospel
"This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success." - Joshua 1:8
OK, if you've been involved in evangelical Christianity for any amount of time during the last decade or two you've at least heard of the body of doctrines called THE PROSPERITY GOSPEL (PG). It's also been called the "Name It And Claim It" doctrine or any variation on that theme. In the event that you aren't familiar with this teaching, I'll give you the Reader's Digest version:
The PG's basic foundation is built on the reaping and sowing teaching that is actually found in scriptures (Job 4:8; Hosea 8:7; Galatians 6:7). The PG teacher will use this concept and marry it to the tithing and giving scriptures (Matthew 7:11; Luke 6:38; among many others) creating a concept that is very attractive to a materialist driven society like ours. You want to be successful and prosperous? Give and God will reward you 1000-fold. You want to be rich and have nice things? Sow "seed" (ie. money) into [insert your ministry here] and you'll receive your heart's desires. God wants to give you good gifts; He's just waiting for you to name your gift and claim it by planting seeds of prosperity into God's Kingdom.
You need two things in order to separate the lies from the truth in this teaching. Number One: You need a good understanding of God's Word...ALL of God's Word. I find this is a serious deficiency in a majority of churches that needs to be rectified. More on that later.
Number Two: You need to understand how the enemy of our souls operates. Satan LOVES to mix his lies with JUST enough truth to make it palatable to the spiritually undernourished. A primer of Satan's tactics can be found in Genesis 3 with his deception of Eve in the Garden of Eden. The Prosperity Gospel is a textbook example of one of Satan's favorite "wiles".
Somebody smart once said, "only a fool gives money to a rich man". In the case of most of these PG teachers, that is exactly the case. I have a real problem with pastors and churches who "reap" millions of dollars only to spend a fraction of that money on actual ministry needs like what is mentioned in scriptures (Mark 9:41; James 1:27). In other words, what kind of difference would be made in the world if the millions collected by PG churches went to meet needs instead of building the next Christian Taj Majal.
I plan on bringing some unvarnished truth to this debate and get some feedback from you, our listeners. I know there are many who believe whole-heartedly in the concept of reaping and sowing as taught by PG preachers.
Let me say that I believe whole-heartedly in the reaping and sowing doctrines too. What I have a problem with is the selfish motive behind the "name it and claim it" doctrines. Churches that major on teaching this stuff without feeding the sheep the WHOLE counsel of the Word of God are churches filled with immature, self-centered baby Christians (at best) or self-deceived, unsaved charlatans (at worst). This isn't a judgment call on my part. God himself said as much (Revelation 3:14-22).
The Prosperity Gospel has transformed God into the great "sugar daddy in the sky" in the eyes and hearts of many people. The truth of the matter is, God DOES want us to prosper and have good success. The problem is the definition of "prosperous". As with many things, man's definition and God's definition of these words are polar opposites. God wants us to be spiritually and emotionally mature Christ-like saints working and serving to benefit God and His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. Man wants to have all of his material, emotional and spiritual needs met to his or her satisfaction while working and serving to benefit ourselves and our little kingdoms on the earth.
God's way is God centered. Man's way is man centered. We want God to work for us. God wants us to serve Him. These are the basic concepts in constant battle with each other. There can be no compromise on this issue. Christ said it: "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." (Matthew 6:24).
If you want GOD' formula for prosperity and success, just read Joshua 1:8. There in plain Queen's English for all the world to see is God's path to prosperity. You'll note there is not one word in that passage that talks about money. What you DO see is God's focus on reading, meditating and doing His Word. In short, Daddy is saying, if you want to be successful in this life, then do what I tell you to do at all times. Pretty basic stuff.
The PG is poison wrapped up in scripture. Churches are filled with carnal saints who are fighting one another to get to the tit of this bloated doctrinal sow. So, into this ginormous elephant in the auditorium we will venture this weekend; to boldly go where many pastors have gone before in trying to bring truth to the lies and half-truths masquerading as "gospel" messages. I hope you have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches this weekend...
To be continued...
OK, if you've been involved in evangelical Christianity for any amount of time during the last decade or two you've at least heard of the body of doctrines called THE PROSPERITY GOSPEL (PG). It's also been called the "Name It And Claim It" doctrine or any variation on that theme. In the event that you aren't familiar with this teaching, I'll give you the Reader's Digest version:
The PG's basic foundation is built on the reaping and sowing teaching that is actually found in scriptures (Job 4:8; Hosea 8:7; Galatians 6:7). The PG teacher will use this concept and marry it to the tithing and giving scriptures (Matthew 7:11; Luke 6:38; among many others) creating a concept that is very attractive to a materialist driven society like ours. You want to be successful and prosperous? Give and God will reward you 1000-fold. You want to be rich and have nice things? Sow "seed" (ie. money) into [insert your ministry here] and you'll receive your heart's desires. God wants to give you good gifts; He's just waiting for you to name your gift and claim it by planting seeds of prosperity into God's Kingdom.
You need two things in order to separate the lies from the truth in this teaching. Number One: You need a good understanding of God's Word...ALL of God's Word. I find this is a serious deficiency in a majority of churches that needs to be rectified. More on that later.
Number Two: You need to understand how the enemy of our souls operates. Satan LOVES to mix his lies with JUST enough truth to make it palatable to the spiritually undernourished. A primer of Satan's tactics can be found in Genesis 3 with his deception of Eve in the Garden of Eden. The Prosperity Gospel is a textbook example of one of Satan's favorite "wiles".
Somebody smart once said, "only a fool gives money to a rich man". In the case of most of these PG teachers, that is exactly the case. I have a real problem with pastors and churches who "reap" millions of dollars only to spend a fraction of that money on actual ministry needs like what is mentioned in scriptures (Mark 9:41; James 1:27). In other words, what kind of difference would be made in the world if the millions collected by PG churches went to meet needs instead of building the next Christian Taj Majal.
I plan on bringing some unvarnished truth to this debate and get some feedback from you, our listeners. I know there are many who believe whole-heartedly in the concept of reaping and sowing as taught by PG preachers.
Let me say that I believe whole-heartedly in the reaping and sowing doctrines too. What I have a problem with is the selfish motive behind the "name it and claim it" doctrines. Churches that major on teaching this stuff without feeding the sheep the WHOLE counsel of the Word of God are churches filled with immature, self-centered baby Christians (at best) or self-deceived, unsaved charlatans (at worst). This isn't a judgment call on my part. God himself said as much (Revelation 3:14-22).
The Prosperity Gospel has transformed God into the great "sugar daddy in the sky" in the eyes and hearts of many people. The truth of the matter is, God DOES want us to prosper and have good success. The problem is the definition of "prosperous". As with many things, man's definition and God's definition of these words are polar opposites. God wants us to be spiritually and emotionally mature Christ-like saints working and serving to benefit God and His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. Man wants to have all of his material, emotional and spiritual needs met to his or her satisfaction while working and serving to benefit ourselves and our little kingdoms on the earth.
God's way is God centered. Man's way is man centered. We want God to work for us. God wants us to serve Him. These are the basic concepts in constant battle with each other. There can be no compromise on this issue. Christ said it: "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." (Matthew 6:24).
If you want GOD' formula for prosperity and success, just read Joshua 1:8. There in plain Queen's English for all the world to see is God's path to prosperity. You'll note there is not one word in that passage that talks about money. What you DO see is God's focus on reading, meditating and doing His Word. In short, Daddy is saying, if you want to be successful in this life, then do what I tell you to do at all times. Pretty basic stuff.
The PG is poison wrapped up in scripture. Churches are filled with carnal saints who are fighting one another to get to the tit of this bloated doctrinal sow. So, into this ginormous elephant in the auditorium we will venture this weekend; to boldly go where many pastors have gone before in trying to bring truth to the lies and half-truths masquerading as "gospel" messages. I hope you have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches this weekend...
To be continued...
Friday, July 4, 2008
The Unsilent Killer: Gossiping Exposed - Part 2
"Confess [your] faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." - James 5:16
Ever been in a church where the instructions given in this verse was actually possible? Ever seen this verse in action in a modern American church? Ever seen someone get in front of the church to confess a fault or a character flaw and NOT have that action come back to bite them in the backside?
One of the greatest tragedies in modern American Christianity is the loss of trust of our fellow Christians. Because of unbridled tongues and centuries of abuses, the vast majority of us choose to play the "mask game" with one another simply because we don't trust each other.
MURPHYISM #318: The Mask Game - A very common social disorder wherein people put on their "everything's fine" mask (or any variation of that theme) when in reality they are dying inside and are in need of spiritual/emotional healing.
There isn't a whole lot of spiritual/emotional healing going on in churches today because the healing process requires us to share our faults to one another. We don't "confess our faults one to another" as the bible instructs us to do because we can't trust that our faults won't be used against us in a future confrontation with our fellow Christian or that some ignorant "saint" won't broadcast our problems across the city before we get the words out of our mouths.
I believe the loss of trust among Christians is a kingdom-wide tragedy that is preventable and fixable with the right amount of hard truth mixed with accountability. As I indicated in the last blog entry, I don't play around with gossiping in the church I pastor. I've had far too much experience with folks who come in and try to use this time-honored traditional ploy of manipulating people and events in order to control church policy and practices. I'll give you an example of what I'm talking about...
A few years ago I had a fella (we'll call him "Mr. Absolom") and his family come to our church after being "kicked out" of his last church. Now, right away there's a red flag for any pastor. If you have someone come to your church who has been removed from another church it is vital that the pastor investigate the reason for the dismissal. Sometimes people are wrongly removed because of personality problems between pastor and parishioner but more often than not if a church has to take the drastic measure of removing church membership from someone it is for a good reason.
So, I investigated by asking Mr. Absolom about the details of his removal as well as contacting his former pastor and asking his side of the story. Fun stuff, yes? It turns out that my new potential church member had a bad habit of forming insurrections whenever the preacher stepped out of line doctrinally or practically. Of course, Mr Absolom was the one who drew these lines and as the line drawer he held the power of judge, jury and executioner.
Now, when this fella first appeared on the scene he was full of praise for my preaching style as well as the content of my sermons. Oh, I was the greatest thing since air conditioning in his book...at first. Then I started doing things he wasn't too fond of like using praise and worship music instead of hymns or preaching about things that he didn't agree with or preaching about character issues he was having problems with. Well, it didn't take long for the praise to change to "suggestions" which quickly moved to "condemnation and demands".
Of course, I'm not a man-pleaser. I learned the very hard way that if you let people dictate your course of action you cease to be a leader and become a follower; empowering your sheep to be the shepherds. Ever try to follow a sheep anywhere? Anyway, the more Mr. Absolom tried to get his way in the church the more I would tell him "no". That, of course, forced him to move into phase 2 of his modus operandi...form a home bible study.
Whenever someone wants to form a home bible study, I'm instantly suspicious of the motive behind it. It helps if you know your sheep because not everyone in church has a pure motive behind their seemingly innocent ministry requests. That said, I'm obviously not opposed to people hosting home bible studies. What I AM opposed to are those who host a bible study without informing the pastor. 10 out of 10 times these "Bible studies" become underground meetings of church revolutionaries who want to remove the power in the church in favor of someone more to their liking.
Mr. Absolom had moved to phase 2 smoothly and expertly and had succeeded in seducing several of my people to attending these "studies". Truth is, these weren't "bible studies" they were the worst kind of closed door private meetings; gossip sessions with an agenda. By the time I was made aware of this activity it was too late to salvage those who had been attending.
When I confronted Mr. Absolom about his practice I was met with righteous indignation and a ton of scriptures to support his practices. It is amazing how scriptures can be twisted in the hands of master manipulators. Well, I did put an end to this little insurrection attempt but not without a lot of drama and heartache.
I share this anecdote as an example of how insidious this disease is. People don't have to go to the extremes of this example to cause destruction. All it takes is a selfish and immature child with a loose tongue and a heart set on slander and the damage is done. It only takes one experience with someone like this to wipe away all trust for your fellow man. Take trust away from any relationship and see how long that relationship lasts.
Our churches are filled with hurting and dying souls desperately in need of spiritual and emotional healing. I think it is a tragedy that our enemy has succeeded in destroying the trust by using a handful of selfish, unteachable sinful goats in our midst. God's people need to be educated on this social disorder. We need to teach our leaders how to combat this problem quickly and expediently because it is everywhere.
Don't believe me? When is the last time you saw someone receive healing based on the instructions of James 5:16 in your church?
To be concluded...
Ever been in a church where the instructions given in this verse was actually possible? Ever seen this verse in action in a modern American church? Ever seen someone get in front of the church to confess a fault or a character flaw and NOT have that action come back to bite them in the backside?
One of the greatest tragedies in modern American Christianity is the loss of trust of our fellow Christians. Because of unbridled tongues and centuries of abuses, the vast majority of us choose to play the "mask game" with one another simply because we don't trust each other.
MURPHYISM #318: The Mask Game - A very common social disorder wherein people put on their "everything's fine" mask (or any variation of that theme) when in reality they are dying inside and are in need of spiritual/emotional healing.
There isn't a whole lot of spiritual/emotional healing going on in churches today because the healing process requires us to share our faults to one another. We don't "confess our faults one to another" as the bible instructs us to do because we can't trust that our faults won't be used against us in a future confrontation with our fellow Christian or that some ignorant "saint" won't broadcast our problems across the city before we get the words out of our mouths.
I believe the loss of trust among Christians is a kingdom-wide tragedy that is preventable and fixable with the right amount of hard truth mixed with accountability. As I indicated in the last blog entry, I don't play around with gossiping in the church I pastor. I've had far too much experience with folks who come in and try to use this time-honored traditional ploy of manipulating people and events in order to control church policy and practices. I'll give you an example of what I'm talking about...
A few years ago I had a fella (we'll call him "Mr. Absolom") and his family come to our church after being "kicked out" of his last church. Now, right away there's a red flag for any pastor. If you have someone come to your church who has been removed from another church it is vital that the pastor investigate the reason for the dismissal. Sometimes people are wrongly removed because of personality problems between pastor and parishioner but more often than not if a church has to take the drastic measure of removing church membership from someone it is for a good reason.
So, I investigated by asking Mr. Absolom about the details of his removal as well as contacting his former pastor and asking his side of the story. Fun stuff, yes? It turns out that my new potential church member had a bad habit of forming insurrections whenever the preacher stepped out of line doctrinally or practically. Of course, Mr Absolom was the one who drew these lines and as the line drawer he held the power of judge, jury and executioner.
Now, when this fella first appeared on the scene he was full of praise for my preaching style as well as the content of my sermons. Oh, I was the greatest thing since air conditioning in his book...at first. Then I started doing things he wasn't too fond of like using praise and worship music instead of hymns or preaching about things that he didn't agree with or preaching about character issues he was having problems with. Well, it didn't take long for the praise to change to "suggestions" which quickly moved to "condemnation and demands".
Of course, I'm not a man-pleaser. I learned the very hard way that if you let people dictate your course of action you cease to be a leader and become a follower; empowering your sheep to be the shepherds. Ever try to follow a sheep anywhere? Anyway, the more Mr. Absolom tried to get his way in the church the more I would tell him "no". That, of course, forced him to move into phase 2 of his modus operandi...form a home bible study.
Whenever someone wants to form a home bible study, I'm instantly suspicious of the motive behind it. It helps if you know your sheep because not everyone in church has a pure motive behind their seemingly innocent ministry requests. That said, I'm obviously not opposed to people hosting home bible studies. What I AM opposed to are those who host a bible study without informing the pastor. 10 out of 10 times these "Bible studies" become underground meetings of church revolutionaries who want to remove the power in the church in favor of someone more to their liking.
Mr. Absolom had moved to phase 2 smoothly and expertly and had succeeded in seducing several of my people to attending these "studies". Truth is, these weren't "bible studies" they were the worst kind of closed door private meetings; gossip sessions with an agenda. By the time I was made aware of this activity it was too late to salvage those who had been attending.
When I confronted Mr. Absolom about his practice I was met with righteous indignation and a ton of scriptures to support his practices. It is amazing how scriptures can be twisted in the hands of master manipulators. Well, I did put an end to this little insurrection attempt but not without a lot of drama and heartache.
I share this anecdote as an example of how insidious this disease is. People don't have to go to the extremes of this example to cause destruction. All it takes is a selfish and immature child with a loose tongue and a heart set on slander and the damage is done. It only takes one experience with someone like this to wipe away all trust for your fellow man. Take trust away from any relationship and see how long that relationship lasts.
Our churches are filled with hurting and dying souls desperately in need of spiritual and emotional healing. I think it is a tragedy that our enemy has succeeded in destroying the trust by using a handful of selfish, unteachable sinful goats in our midst. God's people need to be educated on this social disorder. We need to teach our leaders how to combat this problem quickly and expediently because it is everywhere.
Don't believe me? When is the last time you saw someone receive healing based on the instructions of James 5:16 in your church?
To be concluded...
Friday, June 27, 2008
The Unsilent Killer: Gossiping Exposed - Part 1
"There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers." - Proverbs 6:16-19
The elephant in the auditorium I plan on addressing this weekend is very near and dear to my heart. In all of my years of church attendance I have never seen anything more destructive to the Body of Christ than someone stirring up "dissension among the brothers"; a.k.a., gossips.
I'm one of the most easy going human beings you will ever run into, normally. I don't wander the earth seeking for reasons to get upset or offended. I accept that we're all sinners, myself definitely included, and as such we are capable of tremendous damage to ourselves and each other. So when I see or hear of church people committing immoral or selfish acts, I don't usually react out of emotion. I'm normally moved to attack immorality with godly love and a desire to bring healing and help instead of judgment and condemnation...except when it comes to the sin of sowing discord among the brethren.
If you want to see me come out of my skin, all you have to do is come to a church I pastor and try to start an insurrection. Just ask those who have tried it in the last 7 years; I don't play. I say this without apology or hyperbole; I detest gossiping with every cell in my body. I know first-hand the damage that has been done to the body of Christ by carnal, short-sighted hypocrites who think it is their right and privilege to spew rumors and tales about their brothers and sisters in Christ. It isn't pretty and it's caused nothing but destruction.
I pull no punches when it comes to this malady. I don't care how old someone is nor how much tenure someone may have at a particular church. I have learned over the years to attack this disease of the soul quickly and expediently. My desire is to remove the cancer, not the patient. That said, if someone proves themselves stubbornly unteachable on this subject and refuses to stop bearing tales, I have absolutely no problem removing them from the congregation as quickly as possible. The damage one gossip can do to a church is incalculable.
You may read this and think I'm getting all worked up about nothing. In my nearly 40 years of church attendance I've seen fist-fights in the church parking lot between deacons, Pastors screaming at church members in the middle of business meetings and vice versa, men cussing each other out at church men's meetings, church splits, church dissolution and worse. All of these fights and splits were directly caused by gossiping; after all, rational people don't just walk up and punch each other without provocation. Some of these explosions came after months of back-biting and rumor spreading. Again, incalculable damage has been done by childish adults who haven't learned the basic premise of Christianity, namely we are to love one another like Christ loves us (John 13:34-35).
Friends, there is absolutely no place in scripture where gossiping is acceptable. You'll never see one syllable of scripture commanding us to run around spreading rumors about each other. As a matter of fact, in the scripture quoted above, there are seven things listed that God "hates". There are several things listed here that are by-products of tale-bearing but just so there's no confusion, God ends the list with the sin of gossiping. God hates it with a passion and I am proud to say I share his hatred for it.
What amazes me is just how many of us are guilty of this sin on a regular basis. I know of great men and women of God who have done great things for God and his Kingdom who have no problem huddling in a corner to talk about a peer, a parishioner or a pastor. I find it almost comical to hear "godly" people gossip about a pastor's perceived false teaching or heresy as if the sin of gossiping isn't as destructive (if not more so) as a preacher teaching some false truth. I agree false doctrine is dangerous but where do false teachers fall in God's list of seven things he hates? Yeah, I don't see them listed either.
I'll let you in on a dirty little secret. I've learned over the years the worst gossips in the church aren't the lonely old widows with nothing to do but talk on the phone; the worst gossips are often times the pastors themselves. I know I've been guilty of this over the years and I'm definitely not alone. I've been to countless pastor's conferences where the bulk of the conversations were gossip sessions about other pastors. It amazes me how many men of God have been victims of this insidious sin yet have no problem spreading half-truths and outright lies about their peers.
It saddens me that one of the most overriding reputations modern American Christianity has is that we eat our own. I've spent a lifetime watching sharks in sheep's clothing devour one another over pointless, petty, childish disagreements better suited for the playground than a church building. This isn't just childish, it is the pinnacle of social stupidity.
You could say I'm passionate about this subject. It will be hard for me to keep myself in check when speaking about this on the radio. Much like Christ whipping the money-changers out of the temple, I have little to no sympathy for professing saints who think nothing of destroying the reputation and lives of their fellow Christians simply because they feel they have a right to express their opinions.
An even greater problem in our churches is the mixture of gossiping with the dreaded "Cliqueitis" disease. This is a common malady in most of our larger churches but certainly not exclusive to them. Smaller churches have cliqueitis too, they just happen to have only one clique and you're usually not welcome in it.
If you don't know what "cliqueitis" is, it's the social disorder wherein human beings form groups or "cliques" who then start beating each other's brains in. Friends and family members can quickly become the Hatfields and McCoys with a breakout of cliqueitis.
Forming a clique isn't inherently bad or dangerous; birds of a feather flock together and nowhere is this more true than in church. Whenever human beings congregate in large numbers it is a natural inclination of man to gravitate to those who look, sound and think like we do; a bonus is if they have the same hobbies and interests.
That's all well and good until someone in the "Hatfield" clique upsets someone in the "McCoy" clique. One such story I have involves a church chili cook-off where chili-preparer "Hatfield" took great offense at Judge "McCoy's" judgment of his family chili recipe and the fight was on. When church cliques start warring and competing with one another is when scriptures like James 4 becomes tragically relevant.
In my opinion, this issue isn't brought up enough in our churches. I don't know if pastors are afraid of upsetting the money, ERRRRRRRR, I mean the church members in their churches or not but this subject doesn't get taught near enough. I believe if it was, enough of God's people would be equipped to combat the sharks in our midst. And that's the key to fixing this problem. Educate God's sheep on how to avoid becoming victims of a shark or, even worse, becoming a shark themselves.
to be continued...
The elephant in the auditorium I plan on addressing this weekend is very near and dear to my heart. In all of my years of church attendance I have never seen anything more destructive to the Body of Christ than someone stirring up "dissension among the brothers"; a.k.a., gossips.
I'm one of the most easy going human beings you will ever run into, normally. I don't wander the earth seeking for reasons to get upset or offended. I accept that we're all sinners, myself definitely included, and as such we are capable of tremendous damage to ourselves and each other. So when I see or hear of church people committing immoral or selfish acts, I don't usually react out of emotion. I'm normally moved to attack immorality with godly love and a desire to bring healing and help instead of judgment and condemnation...except when it comes to the sin of sowing discord among the brethren.
If you want to see me come out of my skin, all you have to do is come to a church I pastor and try to start an insurrection. Just ask those who have tried it in the last 7 years; I don't play. I say this without apology or hyperbole; I detest gossiping with every cell in my body. I know first-hand the damage that has been done to the body of Christ by carnal, short-sighted hypocrites who think it is their right and privilege to spew rumors and tales about their brothers and sisters in Christ. It isn't pretty and it's caused nothing but destruction.
I pull no punches when it comes to this malady. I don't care how old someone is nor how much tenure someone may have at a particular church. I have learned over the years to attack this disease of the soul quickly and expediently. My desire is to remove the cancer, not the patient. That said, if someone proves themselves stubbornly unteachable on this subject and refuses to stop bearing tales, I have absolutely no problem removing them from the congregation as quickly as possible. The damage one gossip can do to a church is incalculable.
You may read this and think I'm getting all worked up about nothing. In my nearly 40 years of church attendance I've seen fist-fights in the church parking lot between deacons, Pastors screaming at church members in the middle of business meetings and vice versa, men cussing each other out at church men's meetings, church splits, church dissolution and worse. All of these fights and splits were directly caused by gossiping; after all, rational people don't just walk up and punch each other without provocation. Some of these explosions came after months of back-biting and rumor spreading. Again, incalculable damage has been done by childish adults who haven't learned the basic premise of Christianity, namely we are to love one another like Christ loves us (John 13:34-35).
Friends, there is absolutely no place in scripture where gossiping is acceptable. You'll never see one syllable of scripture commanding us to run around spreading rumors about each other. As a matter of fact, in the scripture quoted above, there are seven things listed that God "hates". There are several things listed here that are by-products of tale-bearing but just so there's no confusion, God ends the list with the sin of gossiping. God hates it with a passion and I am proud to say I share his hatred for it.
What amazes me is just how many of us are guilty of this sin on a regular basis. I know of great men and women of God who have done great things for God and his Kingdom who have no problem huddling in a corner to talk about a peer, a parishioner or a pastor. I find it almost comical to hear "godly" people gossip about a pastor's perceived false teaching or heresy as if the sin of gossiping isn't as destructive (if not more so) as a preacher teaching some false truth. I agree false doctrine is dangerous but where do false teachers fall in God's list of seven things he hates? Yeah, I don't see them listed either.
I'll let you in on a dirty little secret. I've learned over the years the worst gossips in the church aren't the lonely old widows with nothing to do but talk on the phone; the worst gossips are often times the pastors themselves. I know I've been guilty of this over the years and I'm definitely not alone. I've been to countless pastor's conferences where the bulk of the conversations were gossip sessions about other pastors. It amazes me how many men of God have been victims of this insidious sin yet have no problem spreading half-truths and outright lies about their peers.
It saddens me that one of the most overriding reputations modern American Christianity has is that we eat our own. I've spent a lifetime watching sharks in sheep's clothing devour one another over pointless, petty, childish disagreements better suited for the playground than a church building. This isn't just childish, it is the pinnacle of social stupidity.
You could say I'm passionate about this subject. It will be hard for me to keep myself in check when speaking about this on the radio. Much like Christ whipping the money-changers out of the temple, I have little to no sympathy for professing saints who think nothing of destroying the reputation and lives of their fellow Christians simply because they feel they have a right to express their opinions.
An even greater problem in our churches is the mixture of gossiping with the dreaded "Cliqueitis" disease. This is a common malady in most of our larger churches but certainly not exclusive to them. Smaller churches have cliqueitis too, they just happen to have only one clique and you're usually not welcome in it.
If you don't know what "cliqueitis" is, it's the social disorder wherein human beings form groups or "cliques" who then start beating each other's brains in. Friends and family members can quickly become the Hatfields and McCoys with a breakout of cliqueitis.
Forming a clique isn't inherently bad or dangerous; birds of a feather flock together and nowhere is this more true than in church. Whenever human beings congregate in large numbers it is a natural inclination of man to gravitate to those who look, sound and think like we do; a bonus is if they have the same hobbies and interests.
That's all well and good until someone in the "Hatfield" clique upsets someone in the "McCoy" clique. One such story I have involves a church chili cook-off where chili-preparer "Hatfield" took great offense at Judge "McCoy's" judgment of his family chili recipe and the fight was on. When church cliques start warring and competing with one another is when scriptures like James 4 becomes tragically relevant.
In my opinion, this issue isn't brought up enough in our churches. I don't know if pastors are afraid of upsetting the money, ERRRRRRRR, I mean the church members in their churches or not but this subject doesn't get taught near enough. I believe if it was, enough of God's people would be equipped to combat the sharks in our midst. And that's the key to fixing this problem. Educate God's sheep on how to avoid becoming victims of a shark or, even worse, becoming a shark themselves.
to be continued...
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Pastors Who Need Prozac
According to statistical information from the book Pastors At Greater Risk:
80 percent of pastors say they have insufficient time with spouse and that ministry has a negative effect on their family.
40 percent report a serious conflict with a parishioner once a month.
33 percent say that being in ministry is an outright hazard to their family.
75 percent report they've had a significant stress-related crisis at least once in their ministry.
58 percent of pastors indicate that their spouse needs to work either part time or full time to supplement the family income.
56 percent of pastors' wives say they have no close friends.
45 percent of pastors' wives say the greatest danger to them and family is physical, emotional, mental and spiritual burnout.
21 percent of pastors' wives want more privacy.
Pastors who work fewer than 50 hours a week are 35 percent more likely to be terminated.
40 percent of pastors considered leaving the pastorate in the past three months.
I have attended church for nearly 40 years; 20 of those years as a pastor. Of the nearly two decades of service in the Body of Christ I've seen practically everything that man can throw at a pastor and visa versa. I've been in the trenches of ministry all of my adult life and I've got the scars to prove it. I say this not to brag but to give you, dear reader, some perspective of my vantage point; I want you to know where I'm coming from.
I've come to some conclusions over these last 20 years about church and church people. I've learned the proof of the church's divine origin is in its continued existence after two millenia under man's stewardship. I've learned that God is incredibly creative with an unlimited imagination in spite of man's attempts to box Him in with traditions and dogma. I've learned a great many things over the years but I believe the most important lesson I'm learning as I enter my own "middle-ages" is to put more stock into what God thinks instead of what man thinks.
I know of many pastors who are performance driven, myself included. We want the praise and accolades of men. We want to be recognized for our efforts since so much of what pastors do are unknown by the general public. The sacrifices pastors make for their people are usually unknown even by the people we are sacrificing for. The more dedicated the servant the greater the sacrifice, especially for the servant's family. Family time is cut short by emergencies, attempts to take a break with the family are cut short because of tragedy, and ministry frustrations are usually taken out on the pastor's family by the stressed out pastor.
Statistics bear out the truth. More ministers are leaving the ministry than ever before. I personally know of several churches who have been looking for pastors for literally years with none to be found. (Some churches will never find a pastor because of their reputation but that's another topic). Why are good men dropping out of ministry in record numbers? There are several reasons but one of them is fairly obvious; we are poorly educated at the seminary level for what awaits us in the "real world".
I know young preacher boys who leave seminary with their B.S. in Theology tucked under their arm ready to change the world for Christ only to find themselves disillusioned and wore out after a couple of rounds with "God's wonderful people." Pastors are not equipped to handle the daunting task of making it through a typical budget meeting or deacon board meeting with the power plays and political struggles that fill most of our churches. Young men are often thrown to the wolves and devoured by well intentioned but carnally minded folk who want to run the church themselves and just let the pastor preach. Truth be told, I've been to a number of churches who don't want a pastor, they just want a preacher.
One dream I have is to be used of God to instruct the next generation of pastors at the seminary level. I am a teacher. Hermeneutics and Apologetics are necessary courses but where are the "Real Ministry 101" classes? I believe we are doing our young men and women a huge disservice by arming them with scholarly instruction without also equipping them with godly wisdom on how to use this information as well as how to not let men destroy our passion, our desire and our dreams.
I don't know how old David was when he wrote Psalm 56:4,11. Chances are pretty good David learned this truth by battling it out with God's people over the years. Disillusionment comes when our fantasies about life are shattered by reality. Most people do not deal well with disillusionment. The bars and gutters are filled with people who failed to handle their disillusionment. It may surprise you to know that I've met a few former pastors in the bars and gutters. I was one of them for a while.
I speak not from theory or from the safety of my white pedestal. I speak from experience. I was one of those statistics. I was a pastor who desperately needed Prozac. One of my favorite chapters in the Bible on this subject is Jonah 3, especially the first verse. I can summarize Jonah 3 in two words: "But God...". God is grace, love and forgiveness. God is the God of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, & 1000th chance. God is the God who meets us on the beach to ask us, "Do you love me?" (John 21). God will forever chase us because He loves us and has a destiny for us. The choice is forever ours if we want to quit or keep on fighting. Eventually, all of us, pastor or not, have to learn how to say like David, "The Lord is with me, I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?" (Psalm 118:6).
Or we can choose to be like Jonah and the elder brother of Luke 15.
Stay Tuned True Believers...
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