The Bible: Dig in! #LEVELUPCCW

As Christians, we would all agree that we should be reading and studying our bibles. We should all be “bible literate.” But there is a dirty little secret in the family of God, and that is that many professing Christians spend very little time in the word of God. A recent survey found that:

• Readership of the Bible has declined from the 1980s overall, from 73% to 59% today. 
• The percentage of those who read the Bible at least once a week, has decreased slightly over the last decade, from 40% in 1990 to 37% today.
• About one American in seven reports an involvement that goes beyond reading the Bible. 
• Fourteen percent currently belong to a Bible study group.
• In terms of frequency of readership, 16% of Americans say that they read the Bible every day, 21% say they read it weekly, 12% say they read the Bible monthly, 10% say less than monthly and 41% say that they rarely or never read the Bible.

Those are some harsh stats.   Why do people not regard the bible as an important book to invest in?  Perhaps because it's one of those disciplines that can be easy to set on the back burner for a multitude of reasons:  I’m too busy; it’s too hard to understand; I listen to sermons on Sunday, etc.

But the question has to be asked:  So what? So what if Christians don't read their bibles?  Is it really that big of a deal? The answer is – YES!  There is an impact to not being in the word; Arrested Spiritual Development, which is another way of saying spiritual immaturity.  Arrested Spiritual Development (ASD) has many symptoms:

• Rash and inappropriate reactions to situations in life.
• The tendency to make poor decisions
• Inability to apply sound principles to life situations

 As an example, imagine two soldiers standing in formation:  Both have uniforms, equipment, and weapons. They look the same standing there in line. But when the bullets start flying, the one that has not taken part in the physical conditioning, or the combat training, that soldier will fall.  Those two soldiers might look the same, but they will no respond the same in battle. 

ASD is not a new malady; the writer of Hebrews gave a similar assessment of his audience:

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. (Heb 5:12-13)

That writer might be describing the Christian sitting in church today, raising their hands to praise the Lord, knowing the Christian platitudes, even having the bumper sticker, but that Christian is still a babe when it comes to the oracles of God. That Christian looks just like every other Christian, but when the bullets start to fly, how will they respond?

If someone cuts in front of them in line - what is their response?

When something doesn't go their way – how do they act?

When they are faced with the temptation to cut a corner to get ahead – what is their choice?

Or when one the huge storms of life hits – will they stand or fall?

When we have the truth of Gods word imbedded into our hearts and our minds, our responses begin to align with how God would respond to those situations. We will know how to act.  We will know how to make wise decisions.  We will be trained to instinctively respond to any situation that presents itself in our life. 

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Tim 3:16-17)

Join us this Sunday for “The Bible; dig in!”  #LevelupCCW

… till the whole world hears,

Pastor Clay

#LevelUpCCW - The Bible: Is It True?

Before I became a Christian I never gave much thought to where the bible came from; it was just “The Bible!” And I remember that there were occasions when I would hear people make comments about the bible…

“You can make the bible mean whatever you want”

“The bible is full of contradictions”

“There are all kinds of errors in the bible”

To be honest I picked up a lot of those comments as being true, and even repeated them a few times.

After I became a Christian, I knew I was supposed to believe the bible was true, and I did for the most part.  I remember something that I used to hear “The bible says it, and that settles it”, but I still had some doubts.  Could I really trust it?

Some of you may have had a similar experience. Over the next few weeks I hope to accomplish several things:

• We’ll look at the history of the bible: Where it came from, who wrote it, how it came to be in the form we have today.
• We’ll answer some of the questions about the bible:  Has the bible maintained its integrity? Is it historically accurate? Can we believe everything that is in it?
• We’ll answer the question: Is there a good reason I should invest my time reading and understanding the bible?
• Finally, we’ll look at how we can get the most from our time spent reading and studying the bible.

I hope you'll join us Sunday, August 19^th, at 9:30 & 11:30, for #LevelUpCCW – The Bible: Is It True?

… till the whole world hears,

Pastor Clay

Level Up 2012 - The Wake Up Call

This week we embarked on a new journey as a church; a journey to “Level Up!” Now I don't want you to get the impression that I am not satisfied with our church – I think we have an awesome church! However, it is a fact that human beings have a tendency to fall into patterns, and if we aren’t careful we can allow our Christian life to fall into routine as well.

It might look something like this:  Wake up, do a devo, go to work, come home, have dinner, watch TV, play a little ball with the kids, maybe surf the internet (or the waves) some.  Then Sunday morning comes we go to church, sing a few songs, say a few amens, go grab some lunch, and do it all over again!

Now there is nothing wrong with having patterns:  Eating regular, exercise, sleep, praying, study & meditate, these are good patterns to develop in our life. But if we aren’t careful we can pattern ourselves right into mediocrity. 

One of my favorite passages is in Revelation chapters 2-3, where Jesus is assessing seven churches: The ‘loveless church’ of Ephesus, ‘persecuted church’ of Smyrna, ‘compromising church’ of Pergamos, the ‘corrupt church’ of Thyatira, the ‘dead church’ of Sardis, the ‘faithful church’ of Philly... (anyone from Philly?)

But interestingly Jesus reserves his harshest correction against the ‘lukewarm church’ of Laodicea:

These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. (Rev 3:14-16)

I think it’s interesting that there isn’t any blatant sin on the part of the this church, but because they are 'lukewarm,' Jesus says He will vomit them out of His mouth. Interesting term.  To vomit is the forceful expulsion of something from the body that is making the body sick. Apparently this church is comfortable, they have money, it probably looked like a great church from the outside.  Matter of fact, if a person went to that church they might think “this place is happening!”  But in fact Jesus says they are “wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.” And the saddest part? They don't even know it! 

However Jesus’ final solution is not to vomit them, or expel them from the kingdom, but He urges them to repent!

I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. (Rev 3:17-19)

In a way, I can relate to how this church had become lukewarm.  We have such a blessed life here in the US.  For many of us times may be hard, but hard times for us is living like a king compared to the 80% of the world’s population that lives, literally, hand to mouth. Because of our ease of life, it is easy for us to fall into a pattern that can start looking like the church of Laodicea. We become self-focused, self-serving, and we might even forget that there is an entire world around us that will die and go to hell without Jesus Christ!

I for one do not believe that the church, the body of Christ, YOU AND ME, were ever intended to settle into an easy pattern. Our call is not to become relaxed and try and set up the best quality of life we can afford. Our call is to reach the world with the life-changing gospel message of Jesus Christ. To make disciples, raise up other believers who are equipped to do the same.

If you look at the early church in Jerusalem, man that church was on fire! After Jesus left they were spending time in prayer, the Holy Spirit came upon them, they were speaking and preaching with power and authority! People were getting saved in droves, and the church was growing every day.  The saints walked in the supernatural gifts; the sick were healed, lame men could walk again, blind men could see again, people lives were being changed! They were rocking the city of Jerusalem!   The gospel was changing how they lived, how they interacted, it changed the very social fabric of the community.  The church sold everything they didn't need, and brought it to the apostles to be used to spread the gospel. It was so viral that in Acts 17 when Paul and his outreach team came into Thessalonica, the leaders exclaimed, “They are turning the world upside down!” (Acts 17:6).

I believe part of my role as a pastor is to encourage the church to wake up, to rise up and live out our Christian life in the way that God intended it to be.  Yes, it may be a little crazy, a little radical, a little on the edge; it might even get a little weird! But I believe that we, like the early church, should have a vision for reaching our city, and even beyond with the life-changing gospel message of Jesus Christ.  I believe we are called to walk in the fullness of the incredible gift that God has given us: 

• Forgiveness of our sins
• Inclusion in the family of God
• Filled with the power of the Holy Spirit
• Equipped with unique spiritual gifts
• Given a call and a purpose for our time on this planet

That is the heart behind this series:  That we would look closely at the word of God, seek the Holy Spirit for guidance and direction, move in the power of the Holy Spirit, embrace the gifts He has given each of us, and live out our calling as a church and as individuals.

Stay tuned church, it’s just beginning!

Pastor Clay

SERVE - The Rear Guard

Hi CCW, I wanted to follow up with our topic from Sunday; The Rear Guard.  There were three important points that I made on Sunday.

#1 - Our call to participate is EQUAL

Each of us have been given gifts and abilities, according to what Paul wrote to the church in Corinth:

But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills (1 Cor 12:7,11)

In other words you have been anointed and appointed with a call of God based on the wisdom and will of the Holy Spirit, who has the ultimate purpose of glorifying Jesus Christ. Your gift is no more or less important that anyone else’s gift. What IS important is that you discover and utilize your gift.

#2 - Our call to action is DIFFERENT

…based on the gift that God has given you, and the ability to utilize that gift. Paul noted “…the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” In other words each one of us has a different makeup, different gifts, different abilities, a different purpose, and each of those purposes are important:  Whether your call to action is to be on the front line, in the supply line, or in the prayer line, your call to action is NEEDED and IMPORTANT to the kingdom.  

And that call to action will be different for each based on ability.  Think about it:

A high schooler can reach a group of people that I, as a fifty-year-old, cannot reach as effectively. As well, that young person can work harder, and longer than I can.  So that young person's call to action is different than mine.

By the same token, an older person can reach people that the high schooler might not be able to reach. That older man or woman will have greater wisdom, and greater knowledge to apply to a situation.  Their call to action is different, but both are valuable

#3 - Our reward is the SURE:

For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. (Matt 16:27)

Note that our reward is not given according to the things we might think:

• Not according to the result.
• Not according to the magnitude of impact.
• Not according to the heat of the battle we endured.
• Not according to the risk we took.
• Nor according to what other people think of us.

Our reward is according to “his works.” In other words, our reward will be based on the things we do in obedience to the word of God and the leading of His Holy Spirit.

So regardless of whether you are on the front line, the supply line, or the prayer line, your place in the kingdom is important.

So what’s stopping you?  Below is a link to the first step – SERVE.  Click the link, fill out the form, and see what God does!

To discover your gift and USE it - CLICK HERE!  

In His Service, 

Pastor Clay