 This past Sunday I was in Nashville and Murfreesboro visiting my children for Thanksgiving. This meant that rather than being the one responsible for what happened on a Sunday morning, I was simply someone attending a church service. That is a rare situation for me - and I want to share something with you about it. I want to offer a warning about the beginning of this article. It will be filled with what may seem like complaints about church this past Sunday. Stick with me though until the end of the article and I hope you will be blessed and challenged.
It is not often that I get to be a visitor and just another saint in the congregation when I go to church. I am a pastor and as such, I am usually responsible for seeking God and putting together what we hope God will use to minister to those who come to Calvary Chapel. These are some of the things I noticed as I entered into the service. First of all it was a little warm in the room (which may have been more due to me being in a sweater - as I always am this time of year - rather than due to the heat being turned too high). Nevertheless, I was very warm in the services. As we began to sing, I only knew one of the four songs we sang. Since I don’t honestly have a style I prefer in church, I didn’t mind the style of the music, but I only knew the song, “10,000 Reasons” during the set. As they did the set of music I could tell that the mix of the sound made it difficult to hear the guitars playing. Then the pastor came up and shared with us from Acts 12. He was young - about 33-35 - and at times he was a little more relevant than reverent for my personal tastes. I did notice these things for a moment or two as I attended the services - but only for a moment. Now, from the paragraph above it sounds like I had plenty to complain about in this service. I did notice these things because - well because I am a pastor and I tend to notice such things every week if they happen in the services that I lead. But, as I said earlier, I only noticed these things briefly. The reason for this is because something else was dominating my mind, thinking, and attitude that morning. You see, when Sherie and I left for church that morning it was with the intent of experiencing God at the services we we're going to attend. That was my longing as I went to church. I don’t get to go to church and not be responsible for the service. Therefore what I wanted more than anything else was to experience and meet with God. Let me explain to you the way I truly experienced the services outside of a few things I noticed for a moment. I met friendly people who greeted me and took joy in meeting other saints who knew Jesus and wanted to join with me in seeking the face and heart of God. As we began the worship through music I enjoyed reading the song lyrics which blessed my heart - and I attempted to sing them when I could. I thoroughly enjoyed singing the song “10,000 Reasons” to the Lord with all my heart. I also thought about asking the praise leader where they got their music because it evidently was from a source I didn’t know and might be able to benefit from in the future. When I couldn’t sing due to not knowing the songs, I loved listening to the saints singing to the Lord and entered into their worship as I read along from the words projected on the screen. As the pastor spoke I listened to the Word of God taught - and was blessed greatly as God spoke to me from the Word. There were so many little nugget of truth that I enjoyed very much. During the invitation I was seated praying because of what God had revealed to me that morning. He was working mightily in my heart through what had been shared - and honestly - through some things He brought up in my heart at that time. After the service I stood with Elisha and met some of the people he knew - and loved getting to see Sweat (who is on staff at MTSU with Campus Outreach) for the first time in a long time. I walked away from the service having been truly blessed. Now, from what I’ve written today I want to share something with all of you. It would have been the easiest thing to allow all that I didn’t personally like about the service to dominate my mind. I could have gone to lunch with my family grousing about how the temp was off - and they didn’t play enough or played too many songs I didn’t like. I could have complained about what I didn’t like about the pastor’s style. Here is why I didn’t. To be perfectly honest with you - I didn’t go to church that morning to see the praise team - or to sing my favorite songs. I didn’t go to make sure that the grounds team kept the auditorium at a good temperature (which being defined means a temperature I like). I didn’t even go to listen to the pastor - or hear a sermon that was put together in a biblically sound but wonderfully creative way. I went to meet with God - to seek His face - to spend time with Him among the saints of God. I went to hear what He had to say - to sing to and adore Him. I went to know His heart and His Word. AND - I went to meet with a group of imperfect saints - who have an imperfect grounds team - an imperfect praise team - an imperfect sound person - an imperfect pastor - and to marvel that God could take all these imperfect people - and minister in a perfect way that my heart needed on November 29th in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. And do you know what happened? I was blessed so very much! Precious saints of God . . . please hear me. I hope to labor to bring a service where the temperature is right - where we play music that glorifies and honors God - where we mix sound so that you can hear all the various instruments and voices properly - where we sing songs we know and can actively participate in singing - where your pastor labors in study and prayer so that I bring as close to what God wants to be said as is possible on this earth. But - even if we brought you the perfect service every week (which I hope we can all honestly admit is not the case - especially that whole pastor part at the end) - that is not what will bless you. If you come expecting God - wanting Him - and desiring that He speak to you (albeit with imperfect instruments), you will experience Him and be wonderfully blessed. But if you are coming to church wanting the perfect church experience - you will go home most weeks disappointed. Let’s come this and every Sunday seeking the face of God! Let’s come with a longing to both see and hear Him. Let’s come knowing that we will be attending an imperfect church with imperfect leaders and imperfect people - BUT - let’s come knowing that our perfect and glorious God can use all of it to speak - to minister - to bless - and to draw us into His wonderful work in our hearts. And if anything - let’s glory in the fact that He does not need everything to be perfect in order to bless us weekly. We will still labor to offer Him something worthy of His glory every week - I can promise you that the hearts of those who lead us weekly beat in that way. But - let’s come to experience Him!
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This morning I was enjoying a cup of coffee and some time with the Lord in His Word. I was in the book of Lamentations in my daily Bible reading. This book is the sad, broken-hearted song of Jeremiah as he considers the wreckage brought on by the rebellion of God's people and their unwillingness to repent. God sent Jeremiah, as well as other prophets, to warn His people to repent and return, and yet they continued in their ways. No one truly took to heart that what Jeremiah was saying would actually come to pass. In the end the destruction God had promised overtook His people. What we see in Lamentations is the heart of God, broken over the destruction that had to come upon His people to bring them back to Himself. You see, He is committed to our best. Our best is that we turn from futile, sinful ways and return to Him with all our hearts. His preference is that we would hear His Word, be convicted by it and repent. But, when we will not listen to Him or His prophets, a process begins. At first the judgments are smaller (and mercifully so - were He to act in full accord with His wrath we would be instantly consumed) but in time they will become more and more devastating. If we do not turn - they will intensify until we do repent. Our stubbornness can result in judgments that would destroy an entire nation and people. Such is the love of God for us - and His commitment to His purposes being fulfilled in our lives. To leave us in our sin without discipline would be to act unlovingly and contrary to His nature.
There are two reasons I write such things. The first is simply to help us grasp the Scriptures - the revelation of God to us - and the call from God to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. That is consistent in the Scriptures - and it is something we should study and know in order to know our Father better and love Him more. When I came upon these verses this morning they made me tremble. The verses I read grabbed my attention - and honestly - made me fear God and what is surely coming upon our nation. This may be coming sooner rather than later. Let me begin by sharing the verses - then explaining them a little further - then offering an admonition to all of us in light of them. "The kings of the earth did not believe, nor did any inhabitants of the world, that the adversary and the enemy could enter the gates of Jerusalem. Because of the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, who have shed in her midst the blood of the righteous; they wandered blind in the streets; they were defiled with blood so that no one could touch their garments. Depart! Unclean! they cried of themselves. Depart, depart, do not touch! So they fled and wandered; men among the nations said, "They shall not continue to dwell with us." The presence of the LORD has scattered them, He will not continue to regard them . . . " Lamentations 4:12-16 First, they speak of a FALSE SECURITY. The kings and inhabitants of the world saw Israel and Jerusalem as a strong people militarily. No one thought that they could "enter the gates of Jerusalem." The gates and walls of a city represented the defense of that city. When the city was strong no enemy could break down those defenses. This is how the United States has been viewed for decades. We were among a couple of super powers since the 1950's - and became the lone super power after the fall of the Soviet Union. At the close of the 1980's we stood stronger than any nation on earth. BUT . . . such power did not make us grateful - it made us proud. We did not seek God with greater passion - but departed from Him - embracing more and more the sins that eventually destroy nations. Greed abounded in the late 80's and through most of the 90's. Sexual sin has contiued without pause as we embraced the sexual immorality that began in the 1960's with little or no public outcry. We did nothing to a president who openly forsook his marriage vows and had sex in the White House with one of the interns who worked there. What began as a movement to stop same sex marriage - with overwhelming voting victories in every state - has deteriorated into a nation who is about to embrace this practice nationwide. Abortion still kills close to a million babies a year - and racism continues to rise up as cities are embroiled in controversy. In the midst of all this - we have grown to be a people who no longer understand that, "Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it." We think our powerful military is the key to security, not grasping that God has shattered great military powers again and again throughout history. Security - true security is found only in the blessing of God upon a nation or people. As I read Lamentations I trembled because I could see in my mind's eye a day coming upon the United States. It is a day that will cause all of knees to shake. It will be a day where we feel an emptiness in the pits of our stomachs - as we react in shock and horror to what has happened. It will be a day of defeat - of shocking defeat - and horror as the gates of the United States fall and our wall is breached. Please understand that I do not like this. I am a patriot who loves this nation - warts and all. But to reject the Word on what God does to nations who depart from Him as horribly as ours has - is only to hide my head in the sand like a fool. As I read more though, the reason why such horrific tragedy happens made me tremble even more. Second, these verses speak of FALSE PROPHETS AND PRIESTS. One of the safe guards that God has for any nation is His prophets and priests. In the United States this would be the pastor's of this nation. They are there to see the truth - and warn God's people about the devastating effects when they choose sin. The prophets are present there to warn. Their fundamental purpose is not to tell everyone that they were awesome and that only good things were coming to them. In fact there are multiple passages that warn against the false prophets of health, wealth, and prosperity. A nation filled with such false prophets was usually a nation about to fall. These false prophets will steer clear of actually warning a sinful people of the consequences of sinning against God. They will ignore sin and, in so doing, fill the streets with blood as they ignore what will come upon those who ignore God and walk in rebellion and disobedience. When God brings His judgment on that nation, He will single out these false prophets as both prophet, priest, and people fall together. I won't take a great deal of time on this point. Suffice it to say that our airwaves and pulpits are filled with those who promise continued prosperity. They do so not even mentioning the sins of the church and the sins of our nation. It is almost as if they think God does not see our sin. Some even denigrate anyone who speaks openly of sin in biblical terms. We also read that these false prophets have the "blood of the righteous" on them. You see, there will come a time soon when these false prophets and priests will join the wicked as they seek to silence those who embrace God's righteousness - even to the point of violence. But God promises that eventually judgment will come upon these false prophets and priests. The pastor's who refuse to stand on biblical righteousness - will fall - and will fall with the very followers who fund their message to the masses. What are we to do in a situation like ours? Precious saints of God - we need to do what has been done by others before us who feared God. First, we need to look to our own hearts. Turn to God, seek His face, repent, and cry out to Him in humble prayer. The spiritual pollution that dominates our day - has risen even the point of flooding into the church. Begin with you - as I began with me this morning. Once we have cleansed the temple of our own hearts, cry out that God would then do corporately what he has done individually. Pray for the purifying and cleansing of His church. Peter instructs us that judgment begins at the house of God - it begins with His people returning to Him. When we have done that - join with others to pray for our nation. Begin by praying for those around you - family, friends, coworkers, associates - anyone who is in your sphere of influence. Pray for your neighborhood, then your city, then your state, and eventually our nation! Pray for mercy - and pray for revival and spiritual awakening in our city, state, and land. I know that I've said this in the past - but this morning's warning from the Scriptures was sobering. It also had an urgency to it. I would like to tell you that God's patience will last a long time. But even though He is long-suffering, we should know that our nation's turn from Him and His ways has been going on for a long time. The last time we had a major revival was probably in the late 1800's. We are a people who do not seek God intensely. The trend has been away from two week long revival meetings (common in the 1940-s and 50's) and even away from week long ones (common in the 1960's and 70's). The trend moved to only a weekend of meetings - and now even that is a rarity. We prefer a conference where a self-help topic is discussed. Talk of repentance and revival is no longer in vogue in the church. Please understand that I am not hawking for extended meetings or some future revival meetings. What I would much prefer is an extended time of prayer meetings - followed by a genuine revival. I know that this has been a tough read. I don't take any joy in having to say these things - and yet I know that to not say them would be far worse for us. It is my prayer that first by example and then by precept God will grant me mercy to lead us in this. May we be a people who turn to Him, cry out to Him, humble ourselves, and receive His gracious mercy.  We are looking at the rise of what we are calling, “Consumer Church” over the past 30-40 years in our nation. One of the things we must ask when examining Consumer Church is what message is being preached by it? Let’s take a look at that in our second installment of Consumer Church.
By its very nature Consumer Church has as its main goal reaching those they consider consumers. But who is the “consumer?” Since the Consumer Church identifies them as the “unchurched” – the consumer becomes those who do not presently attend a church in whatever area a church is located. Therefore the message of Consumer Church becomes, “Come to church.” This may sound like a good message at first – but when placed beside the biblical message of salvation – it is found wanting. THE message of the church is the gospel of Jesus Christ. It matters little if someone is coming to church (i.e. they have become “churched”) if they are still in their sin. They will stand before God with a church membership certificate – and maybe even a church t-shirt and hat – but that will do nothing to pay for their sins against a holy God. Another thing that is normative about Consumer Church is how they use polls among the unchurched to find out what they need to do in ministry. Thus the message of Consumer Church is in some ways constantly morphing due to the “felt needs” or desires of the unchurched in its area. This is evident as Consumer Church changes regularly to accommodate the desires of those in the community. What is truly sad is when change is embraced even on a theological level. This is where Consumer Church becomes dangerous to those who attend. It is possible in seeking to be “relevant” to society that we find ourselves irrelevant to God. The message of the church – at least the true church – has not changed since its inception over 2000 years ago. The message of the church is the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is that man is a sinner by nature and by choice. Sin separates us from God – and requires God’s just punishment for what man has done. The only way that punishment can be paid by men – is for them to pay it forever in hell. The good news is that God Himself provided a payment for sin – and that was accomplished at the cross where Jesus took sin upon Himself and paid to the uttermost its horrible price. He was buried and resurrected from the dead after 3 days. God, through this amazing grace, now saves those who respond to the gospel with repentance and faith. That is – has been – and always will be the message of the church. It will never change for all eternity. The message of salvation from sin and the wrath of God through Jesus Christ is the message of the church. Regardless of how the unchurched feel about this message – it is the only way of salvation available. When Consumer Church conforms to the desires of the unchurched, it is preaching a message of self rather than salvation. The “self-life” is something the New Testament identifies as sin. The self-life does not need to be something we cater to in the church, it is rather something to be exposed (Both in the lost and the saved – because even those redeemed by Jesus can become selfish and self-centered in their lives as well as in church). Give any honest survey of what Jesus teaches in your community and people will not be happy with Jesus. They will not like Him calling them to die to themselves, take up their cross, and follow Him. They will not like Him saying that to be His disciple they will have to hate their father and mother, wife and children, and even their own lives. They definitely won’t care for His statement, “I am the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through Me.” That is WAY too exclusive for most of the “unchurched.” Throw in a healthy helping of Him affirming what happened at Sodom and Gomorrah, a six-day long creation, as well as Him stating that He is God, and you’ll have a poll that makes it clear that the world would like a different Messiah. What is truly fascinating is that this was the problem in the first place – that the world rejected Him because He didn’t compromise Who He was or what He was to do. He didn’t take a poll to guide Him into His purpose and plan – that He received from the Father (God as exclusively masculine also doesn’t poll well nowadays either). Please understand that I am NOT saying that the church should be inflexible when it comes to putting the gospel into the context of each society and culture where it is preached. Paul spoke of being all things to all men – but that never included the message of the gospel itself. It never included God’s call for us to be a holy and separate people. It never included an escape clause from being conformed to the image of Christ in our attitudes and actions. But when it comes to things clearly taught in the Scriptures – we do not have the luxury of changing or ignoring them without great loss on our part. The message of the church will forever be salvation by the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ – whether a cultural and societal survey likes it or not.  Consumer Church, part 1 of 4
Who Exactly is the Consumer? Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. May the Lord bless you and bring you to a place where you desire what He desires in His church. This week I will begin my series of articles on “Consumer Church.” When the whole idea of “Consumer Church” came on the scene, it began with churches thinking it would be a good idea to begin polling people as to what they wanted in church. It was not long before churches were in surrounding neighborhoods going door to door asking people in their city what they wanted at church. Statistics were gathered from these polls and strategies were formed to “reach the unchurched.” Subsequently, a church program was developed that would minister to the felt needs that existed among the community. Over time the churches grew due to their ability to address the felt needs of their community. The unchurched were reached in large numbers – which eventually gave rise to the mega-churches of the 80’s, 90’s, and 00’s. Success, right? Before we begin our celebration we might consider a fundamental problem that exists with this model of “doing church.” There is a problem that is inherently part of the “Consumer Church” model. That problem is that the consumer changes over time. This is why companies like Apple constantly poll the consumer. They do so to stay ahead of their ever-changing desires. The consumer actually drives what is happening in “Consumer Church.” If his or her felt needs are not met, he or she will be looking for a church that will meet their needs. In the years that I have been a pastor I’ve watched the “Consumer Church” change numerous times. They had to revamp just about everything because they learned that the busters did not want the same things as the boomers. A couple of years later they found out that the Gen X crowd had different desires than the Gen-next group. Even preaching and worship styles changed every few years. They learned that certain words – and even the symbol of the cross was seen in a negative way – so they morphed to meet those desires of the consumer. In time some churches even set up different worship services for different age groups so they could continue meeting the felt needs of the last group they just reached. This whole scenario begs for an answer to a very pressing question. Who are we supposed to be pleasing in the church? The “Consumer Church” model says that we are to be please the consumer. But what happens when the consumer wants something that God does not? What happens when the consumer’s desires reflect the very lost and sinful condition God wants addressed in the gospel? What happens when the consumer wants a less convicting atmosphere or preaching that acknowledges there is more than one way to get to heaven? What happens when society becomes more open toward sexual immorality and the consumer calls for a broader mindset toward alternate lifestyles? Is the consumer always right? Is the church always beholden to shift her views and stands accordingly? The core problem with “Consumer Church” is that the consumer is treated as the supreme authority in how church is done – and often even in what the church preaches. Biblical church sees the revelation of God in Scripture as supreme. This is the radical difference between “Consumer Church” and “Christ-centered Church.” The “Christ-centered Church” believes that there is already an infallible rule for faith and for practice in God’s church. God did not set up His church to be a consumer driven endeavor. God calls His church to honor and glorify Him. He commands the church to seek His face and submit to what He desires. The way one does this is not by taking polls of the lost community. The way one does this is to read and study the Scriptures so that we know God – and in so doing – know what He wants in His church. Please understand that God will not lead us to be rude or disparaging toward the “consumer” or better said, the lost person in our community. God calls us to serve and love them – to minister to them – and lay down our lives as we share the gospel with them. But that being said, the “Christ-centered Church” does not have the freedom to ignore God’s desires because they conflict with those of the lost, consumer in our area. Our first and greatest priority in the church is to glorify God and make much of Him in everything we do at church. To make more of our potential “consumer” than we make of God is idolatry – and in the end it will not bring blessing to the church. We have to remember that our target audience is just One person in the end – God Himself. What I find interesting is that God is referred to as a “consuming fire” by Scripture. So actually, we are conforming to the consumer. It is just that we are defining the consumer as THE Consumer. It is very appropriate to poll and consult THE Consumer. What we then learn of and from Him rules all decisions and reigns in the focus, direction, and program of His church. May God make us ever more sensitive to THE One and Only Consumer, making sure that whatever He wants is done in His church!  What is happening in the realm of Christian music lately? There is a growing number of those who have been in the Christian music circles who are coming out as being gay. There is also a growing trend among others to come out in support of gay marriage. But possibly the most disturbing of these trends is that more and more of these individuals are not only commenting on these decisions, but are making some very bold “theological” statements about God – and how God views this sexual choice. So what is happening here? Why has it become more and more acceptable to the Christian music industry for these people not just to come out about their sexual choices – but also to begin airing their thoughts and views as acceptable?
It is almost becoming a common event for someone in the Christian music industry to affirm homosexuality openly. Vicky Beeching, the author of the song “Glory to God,” is the most recent to admit to this choice in her life. One slight difference with Beeching is that she has studied theology at Oxford. Beeching, who left the Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) scene to become a television commentator, made the following comment about how she views God and the homosexual lifestyle. “I feel certain God loves me just the way I am, and I have a huge sense of calling to communicate that to young people.” This is the most disturbing aspect of this move within the industry. There is a growing acceptance of homosexuality and homosexual marriage – not in the world – but within what should be an industry that embraces evangelical biblical doctrine. As an example of this kind of thinking you only have to turn to comments made by the former editor of Contemporary Christian Music magazine, Matthew Paul Turner, who said the following about his support of gay marriage when asked why he voted against Tennessee’s marriage amendment. He made it clear that he did not believe that homosexual behavior was sinful. He said he might be wrong but in his own words said, “I'd much rather be wrong and pursue grace and open acceptance than right and be arrogant and cruel.” First of all please understand that I do not hate homosexuals. My heart goes out to them and desires for them to be saved and drawn out of this sinful lifestyle. Also understand when I say this, I say it knowing that God called me out of heterosexual immorality when I was saved. It is not that I consider myself or my views superior to theirs. I needed to be rescued from my sin, just as I am stating they need to be rescued from theirs. So I do not come from an angle that says, “Your wrong and I’m right.” I come from saying, “My behavior was wrong and God rescued me – your choice is wrong too and God wants to rescue you too! The reason I, or anyone for that matter, can say this is because the Scriptures teach that homosexuality and heterosexual immorality is sin. And here is where I have my core concern for the Christian Music industry. My core concern is that too often, the Christian music industry is far more interested about “music” than it is about “Christianity.” It is far too much about our experience than it is about the Word of God. This has been the case for several decades now. The unfortunate reality that we are seeing today is simply the fruit of an activity done more and more out from under the Lordship of Christ and the authority of Scripture. Early in the rise of Christian music this was not the case. The early years of Christian music was dominated by people who wanted to sing about God, about His Word (often singing His Word), and about how God had saved them. It was all about music that spoke often of God – openly of God – and radically about loving and serving Him. Now much of our Christian music could be about God – or – it could be about your girlfriend. Too often we find little focus on God and far too much focus on us – or honestly, on how God makes much of us. You might be wondering how all this fits into the current trends in the Christian Music Industry today? Here is where the problem lies – in the lack of a strong theological background in those making and producing it. Go back a few hundred years and look at those writing much of what we sang in the hymns. You will find among them people with very strong theological backgrounds. You will also find among them people who wrote songs to be sung in times of corporate worship than in a performance or concert. They also made much less money for what they did – therefore for many of them – theirs was a labor of love. Today, there is big money in the Christian Music industry. Their percentage in the music market is rising substantially. Thus entities like Word Music and others have far more “music industry people” than they do “church-loving, theology-driven song writers.” The difference you see is pretty amazing when it comes to God-centered, God-focused lyrics. It truly matters when people are passionate about their relationship with Jesus Christ. It truly matters when people are taught the Scriptures and taught so that they grasp sound doctrine. Where is the Christian music industry? I would submit to you that even though they can effect “some” change through their music, the real issue has much more to do with where the church is today. When the church is no longer living in radical obedience to God and His Word, this will eventually be reflected in its music. When the church is no longer standing fast in sound theology, it will be reflected in its theology in music, or the lack thereof). When the church is no longer standing for clear biblical morality, it will be reflected in those who minister (or in too many cases perform) through music. What we have here is not a problem primarily with the Christian music industry but with how the church’s heart is reflected in it. The Christian Music industry is simply reflecting where the church is in our day. The reason we are seeing the CMI (Christian Music Industry) struggle with moral issues is because the church itself is struggling as well. The church is struggling with these issues because it no longer lives with the Lordship of Jesus Christ as its rudder. This leads to a church that does not submit itself to Scripture as the absolute authority in faith and practice (which includes moral stances upon the Scriptures, rather than on the prevailing culture). There is a problem – but that problem in not in the CMI at its core. The problem is where the church is in our day – in desperate need of a revival of biblical Christianity. If you have read of the ongoing downgrade of biblical Christianity in the CMI – then step back and take a breath before calling down fire upon them for what is happening. There is a root to all this, and I honestly believe that it is the lack of biblical Christianity in the church. This root system will point us to a loss of our first love for Christ. It will point us to an abandonment of the Scriptures as authoritative and instructive to every aspect of our lives and culture. It will point us to the general malaise of apathy and hard-heartedness toward God’s Word, and indeed, toward God Himself. Saints, I realize that I sound like a broken record on this, but what we need is true revival where we address our own hearts first. If there were true revival where our hearts turned back to God – these issues would eventually be addressed because of the change happening in our lives as a result. May God do this work in us – so that what affects the church most is not music icons in search of fame and fortune – but men and women who love God with all their hearts, live according to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in their lives, and submit to the moral, theological, and practical rule of Scripture in all that they do.  For the next couple of weeks I want to take a few moments to reiterate some very important principles by which we want to live and minister at Calvary Chapel. One might even call these things core principles and values that we hold.
This first of these core values we have is that we believe that there is only one way for sin to be forgiven - and that is through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Scriptures state this fact numerous times. Jesus *said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. John 14:6 (NASB) "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12 (NASB) "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." John 3:36 (NASB) For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time. 1 Timothy 2:5-6 (NASB) Therefore we hold as one of our core values that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the only means by which anyone can have their sins forgiven and be made righteous in the sight of God. We also hold that this salvation is through Jesus Christ alone, through faith alone, by grace alone. It is not Jesus Christ and baptism (which is the error of baptismal regeneration). It is not Jesus Christ and the church (and by that I mean ANY church - even ours). Permit me to unpack the rest of that previous statement. We believe that salvation is by faith alone. There are no works that we can do to merit or earn our salvation. Salvation is by faith alone - faith in what Jesus did through His perfect, sinless life - His substitutionary death (meaning He was our substitute on the cross - we deserved what happened there - yet He paid it for us) - and His glorious resurrection, by which God declared that He accepted what Jesus did to pay for sin and make sinners righteous in His sight. Faith is not just mental assent to these facts, but rather is a total commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. It is a surrender on our part, where we lay down our own works as dead works - and our righteousness as filthy rags. We no longer trust in anything from ourselves - no religious standing or good works can make us righteous in God’s sight. The only thing God will accept for that work is what Jesus Christ did for us. Finally, let me explain what we mean when we use the phrase, “by grace alone.” This phrase has to do with whether we ourselves can do anything for our salvation. The answer to that is a resounding NO! We cannot do anything for our salvation. It was God alone who chose to save us - we had nothing to do with our salvation. Romans 5 describes God’s grace this way, For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. “ Romans 5:6-8 (NASB) The Word of God makes it clear that our state before God was that we were, “helpless.” There was nothing we could ever do - no amount of obedience to the Law - no amount of religious works - no amount of religious payments we could make that would ever bring us one millimeter closer to God. We had not just “messed up a little” with our sin. We had, “. . . fallen short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23 (NASB) Therefore as Ephesians chapter 2 puts it, after painting the bleakest picture possible in verses 1-3 about our condition before God, “but God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions - made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved). We believe that we are saved solely because of the grace and infinite mercy of God. Therefore no one may boast of having done anything whatsoever to deserve their salvation. We are infinite debtors to God for His indescribable gift - His marvelous, matchless, incredible grace. This core value also comes with a core responsibility. We believe because there is salvation in no one else by Jesus Christ, we are responsible to take the gospel of His salvation to the ends of the earth. Our amazing salvation comes with a very real responsibility. If there is only one way of salvation - then all other religious views that do not come to God through Jesus Christ alone, by faith alone, through grace alone - are false. In the end all their religious fervor will amount to nothing - and they will face the wrath and judgment of God. This places on us a very serious task of proclaiming the gospel to every nation, tribe, people, and tongue (which by the way is Scripture). If our core value of belief in the gospel of Jesus Christ for salvation, does not lead to a core practice of taking the gospel across the street, across the city, across the state, nation, and world - then we are being very disobedient to the gospel, as well as very selfish toward the rest of the world who desperately need to hear of it. Saints - we at Calvary Chapel of Jonesboro are very, very serious about the gospel of Jesus Christ and its implications. We know that this Core Value is at the heart of all that we do - and indeed is at the heart of who we are as a church. I urge you to consider what has been said here. Think about it and meditate on what is means - for you - for our fellowship - and for the world around us. If we will not just adopt such a Core Value as a statement of faith - but rather as the “reactor core” of our faith - I believe that God will revive us and begin to move among us in powerful ways. I believe those ways will include a reviving of our own hearts as we embrace the truths of the gospel - and a reviving of our passion for the world around us as we grasp the ramifications of the gospel. Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that this article finds you growing in grace and a desire to step up into greater roles in the body of Christ. Yesterday I worshipped the Lord in Orlando, Florida with the saints at Lake Baldwin Church. It was a wonderful service - both in worship and the Word. But there was something that made this experience even more enjoyable for me . . . I had no responsibilities whatsoever for anything other than coming to worship God. That does not happen very often for me. I usually am responsible for the service - and die a thousand deaths with any and every mistake or miscue that happens in music, sound, powerpoint, what is printed in the bulletin, and of course - the way that the Word is taught to God's people. Therefore - just sitting there among the saints was a delight for me. It was easier for me to lose myself in the worship of my God and Father. It was easier to sit and take notes on the great teaching from the book of 1 John. I thoroughly enjoyed things from start to finish. For one Sunday this was good - but for the rest of my life - this is not good. It was wonderful to get away and just be another brother in the church for a single Sunday. But the fact that I cannot get away from is that it is God's will that we step up into greater and growing roles within the body of Christ. As a baby Christian I was just a brother in the fellowship, yet as I grew in the Lord that role changed. Maturity spiritually meant stepping up and taking on roles in the church that require men of God. Sure it was fun to step back for a Sunday and relax. Sure it was a reminder to me that even in the midst of my responsibilities I need to focus on worship and meeting with God. But stepping away from my God-given responsibilities in His church would NOT be good. God desires for all of us to grow in Christ. This means getting into the Word, praying, being a witness, and being a discple and disciple-maker. It also means finding our place of service to the Lord in the body of Christ. Having nothing to do for a Sunday was nice - but it would be disastrous if we all took that mindset all the time. It would be a disaster to the work of the church - whcih would grind to a halt due to disobedience. It would also be a disaster to the work of God in our hearts. We do not mature in the Lord by doing nothing. We mature as we step up into greater and greater roles in the body - serving both our Lord and one another. If we do not do this - we will become stagnant spiritually. It is in these spiritually challenging situations that we grow and flourish. It is in serving God and others that we mature in our understanding of grace, forgiveness, and servanthood. It was good for a rest to have nothing to do, but only for a rest. God has much for me to do and it is my hope that as I return from vacation I will be even more motivated and energized to take up the task - do the work - and live for the glory of God in the tasks He gives me to do in His church.
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Biblical ArticlesMost of these articles are taken from the Calvary Courier, a weekly newsletter that is sent to the folks who attend Calvary Chapel Jonesboro. Due to the response to these articles, we've decided to print some of them which proved to be very helpful to God's people at the fellowship. 
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