Most people who claim to be Christians are malnourished.
At least they are spiritually. How can they be anything else? By far, most "Christians" (at least in America) only spend an hour each week with God. For most, if they have any interaction with God at all, it is the one hour of worship each Sunday morning. No small group experience. No daily walking, talking and living with God through Bible study and prayer. This one hour per week diet leads to spiritually malnourished church goers. (I'm not calling them Christians anymore, because true disciples spend time - lots of time - with the Master!)
Just think about it for a moment.
If you only experience/interact with God one hour each Sunday, and if you never miss a Sunday; then you get a grand total of 52 hours per YEAR with the Father! (1 hour/week for 52 weeks = 52 hours/year)
One long work week is usually 60 hours or more.
If you spend 30 minutes eating lunch and 30 minutes eating dinner each day, that equals 7 hours/week just for eating; or 364 hours/year...7 times the amount of time spent with God!
Now, I like to eat. But, can you really call yourself a Christian and spend more time - 7 times more time - feeding your face than you do feeding your spirit?
Here's the point (if you haven't gotten it already): one hour a week with God is not enough...not even close.
No wonder so many church goers are bored. No surprise such persons find their "walk" with God uninspiring, ineffective and lacking in meaning, fulfillment or purpose. Without realizing it, they are starving themselves spiritually.
We know this to be true; but what can we do about it? Follow the example of others. As a start, commit to spending a little amount of time each day with God. Read a short passage of Scripture; voice a short prayer. Rise a few minutes early, or stay up a few minutes late - with the TV off! If spending time with God is important to you, you will find the time to make it happen. You find time to eat, don't you?
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Backwards Believers
We've got it backwards. And it's killing the church!
Most people - probably almost all of us - view Sunday as part of the weekend. Therefore, we view the Sunday worship gathering as the end of our week. It is something we come to after a long week. We come to hear the music and message; to fellowship; to check another item off our list...for whatever reason. Then we go to lunch, go home, watch tv and wait for Monday morning for our week to start.
Sunday's worship becomes one hour at the end of our week; detached from the week before (after all, there is Friday night and all day Saturday between our busy week and Sunday morning), and not connected to the week ahead (because it starts the next morning). Sunday just sort of stands alone.
As believers, we come to hear the great preacher! A better preacher, and more of us will show up. Same is true about the music - the better the production, the larger the crowd. As for the lost, we feel they should come Sunday to hear the great preacher and amazing music, too. It is at the Sunday gathering that the Gospel is proclaimed, the lost hear and are saved, and the saved enjoy the fellowship.
Right? WRONG!
Let me say again: We've got it backwards. And it's killing the church!
The Sunday morning gathering should be viewed by believers as the beginning of our week. My week does not begin with the work day on Monday; it begins with the worship on Sunday.
Gathering on Sunday is R&R for believers... a time of Refreshing and Re-energizing. This time with God and each other prepares us for the week ahead. We encourage each other, strengthen each other and sharpen each other (see Hebrews 10). Now we are ready to enter the world and share the Gospel, serve the Lord and make a difference for the Kingdom!
The lost should come to Sunday and not just hear the Gospel, but see the love we have for one another (and thereby know we are Christians). They should sense the presence and power of God. They should see the Refreshing and Re-energizing we receive, recognize that is missing from their lives, and desire to have what we have.
Ask yourself this question: Should I only bring people to church on Sunday to hear the preacher and respond to the Gospel? (Backwards approach)
Or: Should I come to worship to be Refreshed and Re-energized so that I can go out and share the Gospel; thereby impacting lives and building the Kingdom daily? (Correct approach)
Church is not the end of your week. It is the very first part of the new week. Let's get this in order, and make a real difference in our world.
Most people - probably almost all of us - view Sunday as part of the weekend. Therefore, we view the Sunday worship gathering as the end of our week. It is something we come to after a long week. We come to hear the music and message; to fellowship; to check another item off our list...for whatever reason. Then we go to lunch, go home, watch tv and wait for Monday morning for our week to start.
Sunday's worship becomes one hour at the end of our week; detached from the week before (after all, there is Friday night and all day Saturday between our busy week and Sunday morning), and not connected to the week ahead (because it starts the next morning). Sunday just sort of stands alone.
As believers, we come to hear the great preacher! A better preacher, and more of us will show up. Same is true about the music - the better the production, the larger the crowd. As for the lost, we feel they should come Sunday to hear the great preacher and amazing music, too. It is at the Sunday gathering that the Gospel is proclaimed, the lost hear and are saved, and the saved enjoy the fellowship.
Right? WRONG!
Let me say again: We've got it backwards. And it's killing the church!
The Sunday morning gathering should be viewed by believers as the beginning of our week. My week does not begin with the work day on Monday; it begins with the worship on Sunday.
Gathering on Sunday is R&R for believers... a time of Refreshing and Re-energizing. This time with God and each other prepares us for the week ahead. We encourage each other, strengthen each other and sharpen each other (see Hebrews 10). Now we are ready to enter the world and share the Gospel, serve the Lord and make a difference for the Kingdom!
The lost should come to Sunday and not just hear the Gospel, but see the love we have for one another (and thereby know we are Christians). They should sense the presence and power of God. They should see the Refreshing and Re-energizing we receive, recognize that is missing from their lives, and desire to have what we have.
Ask yourself this question: Should I only bring people to church on Sunday to hear the preacher and respond to the Gospel? (Backwards approach)
Or: Should I come to worship to be Refreshed and Re-energized so that I can go out and share the Gospel; thereby impacting lives and building the Kingdom daily? (Correct approach)
Church is not the end of your week. It is the very first part of the new week. Let's get this in order, and make a real difference in our world.
Cure for Discouragement
One day recently I woke up very discouraged. (I'm sure it was a Monday; the day of the week most ministers quit and leave the ministry forever.) I got up anyway, and as is my usual practice, did my morning Bible reading. Near the end, I turned over to the passage for the next Sunday morning's message. As I read through it, very clearly God opened the passage to me and the main idea, outline, key points emerged...the sermon just happened right before my eyes. But more than revealing a sermon for others to hear, the words of Scripture impacted me. And that experience in God's Word filled me with joy!
Same problems were still there. Same issues to deal with at the office. Same circumstances of life. But God had spoken...touched me...challenged me...enlightened me...and I would have the opportunity the next Sunday to share His Truth with the flock I am privileged to shepherd.
This was not an isolated event. I have found that anytime I feel discouraged, or am absolutely in dispair, God's Word meets my need, informs my mind, encourages my spirit, and fills my heart with joy. So I make it a daily practice to read a portion of Scripture. Sometimes a lot; sometimes just a little. Quantity doesn't matter - consistency does. By regularly being in the Bible you allow the Bible to be in you, doing its wonderful work.
Pick up the Book. Open it...read a few verses. And be blessed!
Same problems were still there. Same issues to deal with at the office. Same circumstances of life. But God had spoken...touched me...challenged me...enlightened me...and I would have the opportunity the next Sunday to share His Truth with the flock I am privileged to shepherd.
This was not an isolated event. I have found that anytime I feel discouraged, or am absolutely in dispair, God's Word meets my need, informs my mind, encourages my spirit, and fills my heart with joy. So I make it a daily practice to read a portion of Scripture. Sometimes a lot; sometimes just a little. Quantity doesn't matter - consistency does. By regularly being in the Bible you allow the Bible to be in you, doing its wonderful work.
Pick up the Book. Open it...read a few verses. And be blessed!
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