Include, exclude or occlude.

I have a choice to make relative to every other human with which I will interact in life and that choice is whether I should include, exclude or occlude them with regard to my ministry about Jesus and His family. The first two I routinely am cognizant of engaging in: inclusion and exclusion. It usually goes something like this: I like that person or they have shown some interest in my testimony so I will include them in my outreach. Similarly, there are others, I am ashamed to admit, that I have decided to exclude from an effort to reach. The excuses are pitiful and readily supplied and eagerly adopted by me: they're too poor, dirty, smelly, crazy, disinterested, worldly, misguided, criminal, famous, rich, ignorant, oriental, Arabic, Hispanic, young, old, etc., for me to reach out to. Even after almost forty years of claiming to live for Jesus, I still have to fight the fight of exclusion every single day! I am grateful that as I have grown older in the Lord and in years that I have been able to greatly disable Satan in the arena of exclusion -- but he continues to renew his efforts every single day and so I continue to fight every single day against being exclusionary. The church is not an exclusive club, as the world defines exclusivity. It is a place where all men are welcome because it is sin, mankind's, least common denominator, that qualifies one for entrance into the club. Exclusive? Hardly.

But it is occlusion that is most problematic. Here is a brief definition:obstruct: block passage through; "obstruct the path"
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn. Because we have chosen to extend our authority beyond that of a simple farmhand sowing seed, we feel that it is alright for us to undertake to obstruct the entry into Christ of those we deem lacking or undeserving, those for whom WE see no hope. I recently was approached by a sweet person who was in tears because a relative had expressed to the leaders of a church that he wanted to be saved. He was told that he would have to complete a questionnaire and an interview with the church leaders before he would be "allowed" to have Jesus as his savior. The problem? In this case he had been married, divorced and subsequently had married again.

Now do not misunderstand me. Divorce is bad medicine. God hates it. But is it a sin that has more power than the Blood of Jesus? Does Satan, in this one area, have freedom to lay claim to a greater measure of power than that of the cross? I would think a long time before I would make such a brash statement as that!

Paul observed that the Gospel is impediment enough to the sinner and that we should not add our own list of encumbrances  upon the spiritual backs of those who want to escape the cruel grasp of sin and begin looking toward the prize of Jesus' heavenly call. I personally know ministers who, before immersing an individual, will determine whether or not that person's marital status is in keeping with their interpretation of the scripture. If it isn't they will refuse to perform the act of baptism, very effectively occluding the path to salvation, Jesus.

Is it not enough that a person commit to changing the way they live, think, talk, associate, act . . . all of which the Gospel requires, without me or any other man placing yet another, often insurmountable, hurdle before them? Jesus, though He sought relief, knew what He had to do. He had to go to Calvary. Who am I to pile on additional requirements: I haven't died to save anyone!

Inclusion is the best scenario and must become our nature. Exclusion is our nature, but we can and must overcome it. Occlusion is an insidious device which Satan uses through us to just simply make it too hard for people to get to Jesus. Occlusion releases me from the guilt of the  sin of exclusion. Occlusion makes bigotry appear logical and even, in some instances, righteous. Suffice it to say that anything I am doing of my own will that makes it more difficult for a sinner to become a saint is going to pain me severely in the final analysis and the unwavering light of judgment. Be careful, my friends, be very, very careful.

How do you honor the Lord?

It is ironic that so much of the division that exists among Christians in the world since the time of Christ has been wrought by our inability to agree how what is the best way to honor and worship the Lord. In visiting many different religious orders it has been my observation that there is very little, a minute amount in fact, that most groups disagree on and virtually all the disagreements stem from how we men think God wants us to worship Him. I know that He must be shaking His head with sadness and dismay at this state of affairs among His creation.

Our preoccupation with form rather than function when it comes to worship is appalling. Without question every denomination believes that they alone have the "silver bullet" formula for pleasing God with worship. Yet, searching the scripture, since the days of Moses' law very little has been written the how of worship relative to the why of worship.

It is also amazing that no group has the courage to stand up and proclaim "we have it all figured out." Each group knows they have shortcomings but expect those to be covered by grace, but they just can not bring themselves to admit that grace may also be claimed by any other group.

A certain fellowship with which I am familiar teaches as doctrine that God shows His will through Command, Example and Necessary Inference. Even the simplest business could not function under such an ambiguous and subjective means of arriving at directives. And who decides,, by the way, which examples are to be bound and just what is to be inferred from this style of interpretation? I prefer to rest my faith in Jesus when He said in John 12:48 that he would ascertain my destiny relative to the things He has "said." What kind of God would God be if He judged us based on what He didn't say, but left for us to figure out?

In Col. chapter 3, Paul states that whatever we do we should do in His (the Lord's) name and for His glory. That word "whatever" interests me and I hope it does you too!

There can be dozens of examples of Biblical actions shown that churches just simply do not do. Likewise, practically anything can be inferred if one is creative in their use of the scripture. Best just stick with what Jesus stated and follow the things He told us to do.

I personally am doing my best to worship in a pleasing way and honor Jesus with my life. I encourage you to do the same while following what He said. I refuse to tolerate division in the Body because we can't agree on form any longer. What good is the form if we've lost sight of the function?

humanitarian or corporate: which are you?

Churches come in many forms: big, small, huge, tiny, household, citywide, young, old, rich, poor - and the list goes on ad infinitum. I have observed, however, that churches, and Christians, can all be divided into one of two major groups: humanitarian or corporate. Distressingly, I'm afraid the religious world has been trending toward the corporate side of the spectrum for the past two or three decades. Please let me explain.

The corporate church is the one that is consumed with legalism, worldliness, politics, money, possessions, prestige and power - oh yes, power! I have been associated and affiliated with many corporate churches. These churches and Christians talk about goals in concrete terms like buildings, buses, programs, budgets, parsonages, election of leaders, etc. Worship for the corporate church is the centerpiece of its being. Much of the discussion in corporate churches revolves around things seen like the worship order and the proper way to do certain things within worship. Their preachers and leaders provide a perpetual stream of programs, gimmicks, drives, special assemblies to enhance and expand their assembly. They pour millions of dollars, almost invariably referred to "the Lord's money" into missions, orphans homes, colleges, preachers' schools, hospitals, summer camps, etc. Sometimes we need to be reminded that John said the world and everything in it is going to burn down!

The church that follows the humanitarian model on the other hand sees all these things as incidental to the mission of the real church: saving the lost by giving them the Gospel. They are focused on their fellow humans, saved and unsaved, and how to serve them as Jesus did. Jesus said, in fact, that He came for a single purpose, to "seek and save the lost." That's it. That's all. No more, no less.

I would be foolish to suggest that we should not be good stewards of God's possessions with which He has entrusted us. We should be good stewards of the buildings, buses, etc. that we have at our disposal due to God's blessing. But if our goal is to get those things rather than letting them be given to us incidental to fulfilling the mission of preaching salvation, then we have become a corporate church.

Please understand that I am not denigrating churches that have beautiful sanctuaries, grounds, missions and all the other things. I applaud them if they have these things because God blessed them with their bounty incidental to them being wholly devoted to reaching the mass of lost humanity in the world today.

I fully expect that my church family has, and continues to receive, these things because our only concern is reaching the unsaved around us. The fastest, most accurate way to identify a corporate or humanitarian church or Christian is to watch them and determine if the things they have and do is their goal, or is what they have been given to them by God incidental to them having only the goal of reaching unsaved humanity with the message of Jesus.

I have known many miserable Christians. I have, myself, been one. Why? Because of failures in the material realm of buildings, buses, camps, programs, etc. to bring peace into their heart. God, however, has promised in Phil. 4:6ff that He will give me a peace that is so profound that I can't understand it. Why? Because in verse 4 of that same passage Paul said find my joy in Jesus. That's it. Jesus. The humanitarian church is composed of Christians who have only one thing that brings them happiness: Jesus. Everything else is just incidental.

Yet another trip

Today is the day I get to go to Nashville for the last injection into my spine! I have high hopes and great confidence in my doctor's ability but I have even greater trust in God to resolve this lingering health problem. My prayer is that after today, when I go back for the followup in a week or so that the doctor will tell me we're going to proceed with the next stage in the spinal repair - the surgery to fuse the degenerating parts of the spine into a solid, load bearing unit. I'm looking forward to being able to stand up and sit upright for long periods of time without devolving into masses of pain and retreating into a bottle of medication to remain functional! Yes, I do dread somewhat the trip and the procedure, but I welcome the outcome that beckons with so much promise. If you wouldn't mind - shoot a prayer heavenward for me sometime today. God is waiting to hear from you!

Our prospective meeting place

A new page has turned

Yesterday, Sunday, at worship a dear brother of mine raised his hand and asked to speak. He conveyed a request to the family - he wanted our pastors to lay their hands on him while praying for him to be filled with a fuller measure of the Holy Spirit. Not unusual you might think, after all it was a worship service. Right, not unusual except this brother has been as far removed spiritually from God as one can be and still find their way back. He was away because of the hardness of the hearts of Christians who saw his sins as unforgivable. God doesn't. Nor would it have been an unusual event except that this brother is nearing the end of his journey here. Congestive heart failure compounded by so many health factors I am amazed he is even able to walk, yet here he wanted not prayers for healing but for filling. He loves the Lord and the Lord's people and he wanted us to pray with him that he could come to love it more, do more, be a brighter light and a better temple for the Spirit in the time he has left. Whew! The Spirit moved, people cried, I hit my knees and we started praying. Isn't God grand? A long lost sinner who has been back home for several years now taught us a lesson about the power of the Spirit and the mercy of God - the strength of the blood - that we could not read in any book. I thank God I was there to witness this dear, dear brother once again be a billboard for the power of Jesus!

He does it again!

Amazing how God provides for us, isn't it? For a while I have been praying for the Lord to lead me by the Spirit to answer a pressing and major need our family was facing. This past couple of weeks I have witnessed a series of events occur that I have never seen before and can only be attributed to divine intervention. When the solution presented itself, my first thought was that I should immediately begin praying about making the decision that faced us. Suddenly, the thought popped into my mind in the midst of my prayer "you want me to draw you a picture?" Suddenly, I felt foolish because what i had been praying about and asking for was here, staring me in the face. My prayers were being answered I just wasn't looking in the right place! God surpassed all of my expectations in what I had been praying for - He gave abundantly!

Now, I turn to thanksgiving and asking that I and my church family be lead in utilizing the blessing to His glory!