What Makes A Church Healthy?

Under his direction, the whole body is fitted together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.  (Ep 4:16, NLT)

I really like the above verse, it shows how a healthy church operates.  It does not give you a step by step plan, but it does show the body interaction necessary for a church to become healthy. I believe that God would have His Church to be healthy, growing, and full of love.

It does not give you a plan to follow, but shows the necessity of each person and how important it is that each person function, and be allowed to function, in their gifting. It takes everybody active in their gifting for the body to truly become healthy.

It does not give you a wineskin to model, but shows you what will keep your wineskin pliable, soft, useable, and able to contain life.

For each of personally, it shows a few things we need to remember:

Ÿ  We each need to use our gifts for God’s glory and the Churches edification

Ÿ  The body is not complete without us, it needs our gift to be operating

Ÿ  We are not complete by ourselves, we need the rest of the body

Ÿ  It is not a one man show, one person is not gifted to do it all

Ÿ  We are not to be spectators, we are to be participants

Are we active in the Church? Are we doing what God has called us to do? Are we in a body where each person is allowed and encouraged to exercise their gift? Is the body we are part of healthy, growing and full of love? If not, what can we do to help bring about change? One thing we can do is follow God’s leading and do our own special work, thereby helping the other parts grow.

The Stupid Test

For those who are not tracking with me yet, this is not about a test that is stupid, though this test may seem so to you. This is a test to determine if you are stupid or not.  First of all stupidity has nothing to do with intelligence.  It has more to do with attached value and our adherence to it. It is not what we know or don’t know, it is more about what we do or don’t do.

Next, we need someone who is trust worthy to design the test and grade the results. I believe God is more than qualified to do this and He already has a document which we can use as a standard to measure ourselves by.

At this point you are probably thinking, “Of course, the Bible and it is stupid to not do what it says.” Track with me a little farther. The Bible actually says that a man is foolish to not adhere to the Word of God, that he deceives himself.

Stupidity flies in the face of wisdom. It knows the difference between right and wrong but deliberately chooses the wrong. Stupidity is not the result of a the lack of knowledge, but rather is entered into in spite of knowledge. Stupidity is knowing the wise thing, yet deliberately choosing the foolish thing.

Now for The Stupid Test. Proverbs 12:1 says:

Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.

How did you do? How do you respond to correction? What is your reaction when you are corrected or confronted about a deficiency in your life? The benefit of receiving discipline verses the price of hating correction can clearly be seen in Proverbs 13:18 which says:

He who ignores discipline comes to poverty and shame, but whoever heeds correction is honored.

 
I don’t always pass The Stupid Test. How about you?

Two Kinds of Exercise

“… physical training is of some value … “  (1 Tim 4:7)

 

Some years ago my family and I joined the local YMCA and were regular attendees.  (Personally, I would have put attenders here, but my spell check didn’t like that word). All was going well until we went on vacation. When we got back we never went back.....and I don't miss it.

I will admit that physical training is of some value in this life, but I don’t seem to be highly motivated about it. On the other hand, training in godliness is of more value, for it is good not only in this life but also in the life to come. 1 Timothy 4:7-8 says:

Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives' tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.

Just as physical training takes effort, so too does training in godliness. In training for either, you need some inspiration to get started, and then once you start training, you become more motivated to do it, and as you see the good effect it is having, you are even more motivated to continue it.

However, if you take a break from either, or go on vacation and don’t include it in you daily activities, there will be some resistance in you to beginning again when you get back home. When this happens, we need to suck it up and begin training again.

We do seem to have it kind of backwards in our society though. We are becoming very conscious of health, and exercise, which is good, and are willing to take the necessary steps in this area of our lives. We spend time, money, and energy and even sacrifice things for the sake of physical training, which has limited value.

But for that which is of greater value, not only for now but also for eternity, we don’t seem to be as willing to put ourselves out. We have devalued training in godliness and accepted a world value of body importance. Of course we don’t call it that, we call it health and that seems to make it ok.

When we value physical training over training in godliness, we are not putting first things first. We are attaching greater value to that which has some value than to that which is of greater value.

I am not saying let's stop the one and do the other...I'm saying let's do both, and in our doing, let us remember to attach greater importance to the one which is of greater value.

Mutant Mimics

“Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love…” (Ephesians 5:1)

 

Some years ago I watched a movie called “Mimic”. In it these giant mutant cockroaches could walk on their hind legs and wrap their wings around themselves, making them look like men wearing robes. That is where the similarity ended.

God does not want us to mimic how we think He looks, nor imitate how we think he sounds. He wants us to display His character, as a child naturally displays their parents character. Specifically He wants us to model, display, imitate His love.

Odds are, a child is going to act like its parents. My wife sometimes acts like her Mother and Grandmother, I sometimes act like my Father. The problem is that we not only pick up their good side, we also pick up their bad side. This means there will come a time in our lives when we find ourselves doing or acting in such a way that we had promised ourselves we never would.

We can look at our children and see how they act like us in some ways even if they are now grown up. I like seeing my good traits in my children, but I don’t like it when they display my bad traits.

In our scripture today, it is clear that we need to know God and spend enough time with Him to “pick up and live out” His love. This is not only how God wants us to be, it is what our children need to pick up from us.

Because we are loved by God, it is important that we live out that love. We are His display board. His reality and character should show through in every one of His children. Scripture says that the reality of Jesus Christ is proven by the love that Christians have for one another.

We do well to say we cannot love like that, for we can’t. It is a supernatural love that is deposited inside us by the Holy Spirit. We have to hang out with our Father and let His love saturate us. Just as we naturally tend to imitate our parents, so we shall supernaturally begin to imitate our Father.

 

God is not looking for people to impersonate Him. He is looking for a people who will love Him and let His love be released through them.

Attitudes

Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself.  (Jn 13:3-4, NASB)

This came about at the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry.  He had said everything he needed to say, and done all He needed to do, except die.  We find Him here spending the last evening with His disciples and desiring a way to impart strength, understanding, and direction to them.

He didn’t cry out “Wash my feet for I am the Messiah.”  Nor did He say “Bow down to me, I am soon to be exalted.”  Nor did He say “Prepare Me to be an offering.“ No, He said nothing at this point.

He took off his outer garments, put a towel around his waist, filled a basin with water, and began to wash his disciples feet. When He got done He said:

“I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.”

(John 13:15, NIV)

Jesus knew who He was, where He had come from, and where He was going.  Jesus stayed true to His mission.  He came as a servant.  He left as a servant.  He neither demanded nor expected His “rights”. 

Paul encourages us in Philippians 2:5-7, NASB:

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.  (Php 2:5-7, NASB)

It is an attitude that says “it is not about me.”  It is an attitude that says “I am here to serve.”  It is an attitude that says “the mission will be accomplished.”

As we finish off here, let us ask ourselves, does the mission continue in me?  Am I continuing the example set forth by Jesus?  Do I have an attitude that enables me to serve others, or do I just have an attitude?

America The Beautiful

From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but bruises and sores and bleeding wounds; they have not been drained, or bound up, or softened with oil. (Isaiah 1:6, NRSV)

I read Isaiah Chapter 1 this morning, and yes, I do know that it was written to the nation of Israel during a certain time frame in the past. However,  if that is the only nation it can apply to and that was the only time period in which it was relevant, then why can it still speak to us today? It is because the Bible is not a history book, it is God's revelation of Himself and His purpose to humanity. I was quite taken this morning with how applicable it is to today's time period, to the nations, to humanity, to America, to the Church, and to individuals.

My words this morning are addressed to all these groups, no matter which group I seem to be addressing.

How can a nation survive or prosper, when it severs its ties with its roots? When it says "I will no longer be identified with that which gave me identity and purpose."

How can a nation survive when it makes convenents with its enemies?

How can a nation survive when it does not recognize its soundness has been compromised?

How can a nation survive when it is full of bruises and sores and bleeding wounds?

How can a nation survive when it acts as if it is not wounded and yet  has wounds that have not been drained, or bound up, or softened with oil?

How can a nation survive when it chooses to walk in delusion rather than revelation?

How can a nation survive that wants to disarm its people and arm its enemies?

How can a nation survive which justifies the genocide of its unborn and approves of its application, our nations wombs into tombs.

How can a nation survive which calls upon God's name for protection while its very actions decry His presence?

How can a nation survive which quotes God's word to justify its own actions and purposes while minimizing God's purposes?

America the Beautiful, it was not the landscape that made you beautiful...it was the very presence of God. May God grant us mercy and repentance. May He pour the oil of His Holy Spirit upon us that our proud hardened hearts be softened, may he bind up and heal our bleeding wounds and wombs, may he drain the poison and infection out of our thinking and actions, may He heal our bruises, may He shed his grace upon us...

Lovesick

(From Song of Solomon 5:2-6, 8 NASB)

² “I was asleep but my heart was awake.
A voice! My beloved was knocking:
‘Open to me, my sister, my darling,
My dove, my perfect one!
For my head is drenched with dew,
My locks with the damp of the night.’
³ “I have taken off my dress,
How can I put it on again?
I have washed my feet,
How can I dirty them again?
⁴ “My beloved extended his hand through the opening,
And my feelings were aroused for him.
⁵ “I arose to open to my beloved;
And my hands dripped with myrrh,
And my fingers with liquid myrrh,
On the handles of the bolt.
⁶ “I opened to my beloved,
But my beloved had turned away and had gone!
My heart went out to him as he spoke.
I searched for him but I did not find him;
I called him but he did not answer me...
⁸ “I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
If you find my beloved,
As to what you will tell him:
For I am lovesick.”

God does not always come to us at a convenient time. He does not always call to us when the time is opportune. Sometimes He comes when it is inconvenient for us. And just when we are not expecting Him to show up, there He is.

As in the case of the Shulammite, she had gone to bed and was settled in.  It wasn’t that she had no desire, or that her heart wasn’t towards her beloved.  It just wasn’t a convenient time. She had put on her bed clothes and washed her feet - all of which she would have to do over again.

But at the revelation of His glory, she can no longer resist, and quickly runs to the door, grasping the handle still dripping with His glory and anointing. She swings open the door, but alas, there is only the residue of His anointing left, nothing but departing glory.

How can it be that our hearts are so hungry for God, that our spirits yearn so for Him, and yet we let those precious moments slip away? I don’t know, but lets not stop at just experiencing the residue of His glory that is left over after he has departed. Let's not be satisfied with His left over anointing, but cry out all the more for Him, for His presence. 

Maybe that moment will not find Him, but let’s not stop short! Let's not settle for less than Him. Let's rouse ourselves and assure all that we are lovesick for Him.

We are constantly gripped by desire and longing for only Him.  He will surely come again.  When our purified desire is met by the glory of His revelation, we shall be satisfied.