When the early church got started, after the resurrection of Christ, many people were afraid to identify themselves as “Christian” because that put them at odds with the religious community of elders and pharisees who hated Jesus, and the political community that believed Caesar was god and didn’t tolerate dissent. How things have changed since then in America. we are now at the point where rappers and other musicians, who curse all through their songs, wear chains with large crosses as a status symbol of style and populatity. It seems Christianity is no longer a threatened religious group in America but rather a badge of idenity that is supported by the current culture. That is, unless it’s Christianty based on scripture and not just feelings.

But what if Christianity is not being embraced in it’s original form and content? What if the Christianity we hear about today is no more than a shell of the original faith of the early church and the church throughout the ages until now? What if the word Christian has been “Hijacked” by a humanistic culture and branded as the real deal?

There was a recent study by the Pew Research Center that stated that 468 of the 531 members of the 117th Congress discribed themselves at Christian. Now we should expect anyone that professes Christ as their Lord and Savior would be governed with Godly intent and pass laws that make our nation truly an example to the world. Instead we have seen just the opposite. Why the difference between their profession and their fruit, you may ask? The only answer must be that they are merely following the teaching of the churches they attend and are never held accountable to any real Christian standards. Consider just one law that has been on the books since 1973 and the consequences of not rejecting such a law. Roe v Wade has been responsible for killing over 62 million babies. Why? Partly because the professing Christians do not feel convicted to change that law.

So many people who profess Christ as their savior have little to no knowledge of what that profession means or embraces. Many professing Christians have little to no knowledge of the qualifications of claiming Christ because they don’t read the scriptures for themselves, nor do they read the stories and biographies of genuine Christians from the past. How can a person believe they follow Jesus when they don’t truly know what Jesus believed or taught? It’s like claiming to be a doctor but never going to school to train as one. That would and should be labled as either a fraud or decived.

I worked as an auto mechanic while planting and pastoring churches. The reason for this is I didn’t want to burden these new churches with a financial drain, and I felt it was a good witness to unbelievers to offer the preaching and pastoring at no cost. The interesting thing is I found many guys working in automotive shops who should have been classified as “Parts Changers” rather than mechanics. They either had no training or they had no mechanical gifting, or both. They only knew how to replace parts. There are a lot of “Professing Christians” who have learned the Christian lingo but who don’t have the experience of yielding to the Lordship of Christ.

There was a movie in 2002 called “Catch Me If You Can” with Leonardo DiCaprio who played the part of a young man named Frank Abagnale who ran away from home as a teen and pretended to be an airline pilot, a doctor and a lawyer. He learned enough about each profession that he fooled many people about who and what he did in life. Just like in the movie, I believe there are a lot of people like Frank who have learned to “Pretend” they are followers of Christ when in fact they have merely learned to mimic Christian behavior often eventually fooling others, including themselves.

King Saul, Israel’s first king, started out well but soon compromised his values to gain an advantage with his followers. God had to remove him because of his compromise and bring David in as a king who would honor him and his Word. David had a real understanding of what it meant to believe and follow God. Granted, he made a lot of mistakes in his life, yet the core of his life was founded and anchored in a deep trust of God that shaped and guided his life. God’s confession of David was that he, unlike so many others, was a man after God’s own heart. That means he had the same values and pursuits as God. To have God testify this about us as true followers of Christ is what we should hope and long for.

1 Samuel 13:13-14

Samuel said to Saul, “You have acted foolishly; you have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God, which He commanded you, for now the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. “But now your kingdom shall not endure. The LORD has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has appointed him as ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.”

So many professing Christians don’t read the Old Testament and thus fail to understand what God’s character is or what he is looking for in his followers. Jesus is not looking for fair weather followers who compromise their faith at every turn. He is looking for faithful people who, when they make mistakes, ask for forgivness and repent. David understood God’s heart and his need for God to examine him regularly lest he drift from being a true follower of God.

Psalms 26:2-4

Examine me, O LORD, and try me; Test my mind and my heart. For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes, and I have walked in Your truth. I do not sit with deceitful men, Nor will I go with pretenders.

David’s position is he wanted God to examine his heart and mind to verify his intent in life, and he boldly states he doesn’t want to listen or hangout with pretenders. How different it is today when many are taught to not judge others and accept everyone without exception, believer or nonbeliever. When Christianity has no standard other than acceptance we have no standard at all. How we are suppose to love everyone and accept everyone even if their lifestyle and behavior conflicts with our own or the Bible. Now I know we are to love everyone, but to embrace wrong behavior purely because someone claims to be Christian is foolishness. Look at what David prophesied about God’s desire for his people and about what happens to those who merely pretend faith.

Psalms 81:13-16

Oh that My people would listen to Me, That Israel would walk in My ways! I would quickly subdue their enemies and turn My hand against their adversaries. Those who hate the LORD would pretend obedience to Him, and their time of punishment would be forever. But I would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

Let me leave you with a sobering thought and example of the difference between those who profess faith but have very little fruit to back up their claims, and those who have surrendered their lives to Jesus to lead them each and every day.

Consider once again what the apostle Paul says about the last days, which I believe we are currently in:

2 Timothy 3:1-3

But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, Holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. 

Questions:

1) Is your faith built on scripture or feeling? Only faith built on the Word of God will endure and be accepted by God on the judgement day

2) Would your faith convict you in a court of law? If it was against the law to believe in Christ and trust him? Jesus said by our fruit will we be evaluated.

May God help us to surrender daily to the Lordhsip of Christ so that our profession is justified before a watching world.

Pastor Dale

I started the first article with this same title and confessed I get offended. I also admitted I don’t have this idea or practice under control and often need to confess my frustration and anger to God. All that being said, I also stated that we all get offended from time to time. If you never get offended I would suggest you aren’t passionate about anything or anyone. To have strong beliefs opens you up to being offended when someone or something seems to violate your values or loyalties. If you haven’t read the first article on this subject please do so before continuing as it will make more sense.

Let’s be honest and not just biblically correct, although I want to also be biblically correct. I find I’m frustrated with so much that is going on in the world that I have to wrestle a lot with my emotions. After all, there is so much to get anyone mad who is awake. From politics, to the economy, to people loosing their business and people loosing their jobs– there is plenty to get me fired up about. The thing that bugs me a lot is feeling like I can’t do anything about it. Do you find yourself in the same boat? Read on.

Today’s gospel seems a far cry from the one that the apostle Paul taught about when he was writing to the church in Rome. He talked about a gospel that, when applied, transformed the human heart so radically that he used a unique word to describe it: “Metamorphosis.” The idea he is trying to convey is that when Christ comes into your heart and soul you are completely changed from what you were to what God intended. Transformation takes time but it starts when your heart yields to the Lordship of Christ.

With all the craziness going on in the world it’s easy to get distracted. From the COVID virus causing such harm and forcing people to be isolated to the economy suffering, we all are looking for distractions to get our minds off our personal situation.  But what if our desire to find freedom from worry and stress is actually compounding our problems?

I’m going to confess that when I get stressed out I like to watch a Si-Fi movie.  The brief two hours of entertainment help me feel a little better. Sometimes a little distraction is good for the soul but if it becomes a pattern of retreat it’s definitely not good. Let me say up front that having distractions in our lives are not necessarily sinful but they can be if the timing is all wrong or the amount is inappropriate.

For example, you might be driving down the highway stressed out about someone who keeps texting you about a major problem. You know you shouldn’t text them while driving so fast but you want to blow off some steam in this person’s direction and give them a piece of your mind. You start texting them back but the car in front you all of a sudden puts on their breaks hard. Your reflexes are good so you grab the steering wheel and jam on the breaks and miss the person in front of you by inches. Now you’re not only stressed about the problem of the person who was texting you but your heart is now pounding from the near fatal car accident and you start yelling at the car in front of you. Our distractions often hinder our intimacy with God and people.

It’s easy to think that relieving your stress with a so called innocent distraction but maybe you are embracing a lesser solution to your problem. Take the story of two sisters that loved Jesus and opened their home to him. They wanted to bless Jesus with a nice place to relax as he was always on the go and had to be exhausted. Their intentions were great yet they approached their ministry to Jesus in very different ways.

Luke 10:38                                                                                                                                                                                                   Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word.

Now keep in mind, both these sisters wanted to bless Jesus. Both wanted to honor Jesus. Both truly loved him deeply yet by all appearances one seemed to be lazy and the other hard working. One was captivated by Jesus and his words and the other was captivated by a desire to serve him with her service. Many of us have read this bible story and we know how it ends but have we considered the deeper point of the story and thus easily discounted Martha’s reaction to her sister? We all know that initial appearances are often wrong when we can’t see the intent of the heart.

Luke 10:40                                                                                                                                                                                                            But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.”

Keep in mind that Martha loved Jesus. She wanted nothing more than to honor him and bless him …. and yet she got “Distracted” in the ministry to him. Is it possible we get distracted by good things and that takes us away from the great thing? Is it possible a father and husband goes to work to provide for his family and gets so caught up in the work that he neglects the family that he loves? Is it possible that a wife and mother wanting to serve her family gets so involved in making the home beautiful that no one can relax in the house because it might get dirty? There are many good works that we perform that cause us to neglect the most important ones, starting with doing what God wants first and on down the line of priorities.  Reflection often is the last thing we do or try.

Jesus identified how Maratha got off the right road of ministry to the wrong one. He identified it as worry. Worry got her distracted.  Was she worried about her image?  Was she concerned about what the guest that came with Jesus would think if the house was not perfect or the food was not just right? Was she worried about Jesus not thinking she was as spiritual as her younger sister Mary because things weren’t perfect?

Mary was so enamored with the person of Jesus that she would forget doing the chores around the house. Mary was so captivated with Jesus that maybe Martha had become jealous about her spiritual walk and wanted Mary to be brought down a notch by a rebuke from Jesus. Here is a warning for all of us as we pursue our Christian walk. Are we headed for distraction or are we actually in a distraction right now that is taking us away from what God would have us doing?

Luke 10:41.                                                                                                                                                                                                               But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

“One Thing” – did you get that? If we don’t surrender our will to Jesus we are bound to get distracted.  It is like serving in some ministry area for our feeling and self-esteem instead of being there because that’s the place where the Holy Spirit called us. It’s so easy to lose sight of Jesus while thinking we are serving him. It’s so easy to start doing something for the love of God and then drift into distraction away from him. The only sure way to avoid distraction is to put our daily pursuit of God and his will at the forefront. By focusing truly on him and not just about him we find not only peace but fulfillment as well.

Hebrews 12:1-2                                                                                                                                                                                  Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us

Fixing Our Eye – on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith who, for the joy set before Him endured the cross and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Finally, consider the warning of not loving the world. For a true believer we can get distracted into allowing the things of this world to hold our attention more the Jesus himself.

1 John 2:15                                                                                                                                                                                                       Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.

Questions:

1) Are you aware that anyone can get distracted away from the person of Jesus, even the ones that truly love him? Stay close and you won’t drift.

2) Are you now aware that you can be distracted and worried about lesser things?

Matthew 6:31-34                                                                                                                                                                                             So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Striving to keep my focus,

Pastor Dale

As the world gets more complex it also gets more stressful. You would think we would figure out that we need others in our lives to help navigate such difficult times, yet the world motivates us to separate and isolate ourselves as tech consumes our every move. For the most part, gone are the days of sitting in a field to just think and contemplate what’s going on in our lives. Instead we all are over-busy and so dominated by the news that our thinking is filled with stress and anxiety. If we don’t wake up and change things we will struggle to have faith in God’s power.

This is the fourth and final installment about the church being called to be prophetic. My desire is to get people to think seriously as to whether the church is functioning as Jesus intended, or merely being a weak representation of Jesus himself. The church has needed to go through pruning many times since Jesus rose from the dead because, like so many things, we tend to drift from God’s word and from his purpose. Each period in church history when the church has gone off course men and women were raised up to challenge the statius quo, not to hurt the church but to make it healthy. May people say they long for revival. “True Revival” is often painful, but it is necessary. If you haven’t read the first three articles please do so to get the big picture on this most important topic on the prophetic.

This is the third installment in a discussion exploring whether we are building a prophetic church.  Previously, I wrote about coming to Christ in 1969 due, in part, to people walking in the prophetic.  I discovered that Jesus was speaking to me and countless others like me.  I learned that simple, obedient Christians who took the scripture at face value could learn how to hear God’s voice and give away the messages they heard.  Simple, obedient Christians helped others realize that Jesus is still alive and transforming people today.  If you have not already, please read the first two installments of this series to better understand the overall message about being a prophetic church.

I started the first article with this same title on how I came to Christ because of people living out a prophetic lifestyle. The truth is I came to Christ on the west coast of the United States when there were two kingdoms coming into conflict. One was the Hippie movement and the other was the Jesus movement. The Hippie Movement was a reaction to young people’s disdain towards their parents’ materialism. The Jesus movement was the counter-balance of God raising up a generation that acknowledged the danger of materialism but finding the answer in a surrendered relationship to God. One was inspired by Satan to destroy people and one was inspired by the love of God to redeem people. If you haven’t read the first article please do so before proceeding in this continued discussion on being a prophetic church.

One of the main reasons I came to Christ was because different people reflected in word or deed the character and nature of Jesus. From the old woman that taught bible class once a month at my public school to the young girl who spoke to me a prophetic word of knowledge about three things no other human being knew. These experiences reflected the nature of Jesus…. who reflects the nature of Father God.