![]() 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.
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![]() 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! ![]() Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. May the Lord grant that your identity is firmly rooted in the fact that you are made in the image of God. May that truth, along with the fact that Jesus Christ died for your sins be all you need to know that you are worth infinitely more than our culture could ever offer you in its petty ways of establishing identity and worth. Ours is a culture that is obsessed with the idea of self-image. We labor constantly to make sure that our children – and indeed even adults – feel like they are worth something. Rather than base our view of ourselves on sound biblical footing, we’ve decided instead to manufacture worth for human beings out of thin air. The reason I say this is because the view of origins of those who seem to be consumed with giving people self-worth is more often evolutionary theory. That very theory makes it clear that there is no inherent meaning or purpose for our lives. We are just the latest in a series of very lucky accidents that have lead to our current state. What I find somewhat funny is that those who hold to this view of our origin give themselves to a frantic effort to make people feel like their identity is something truly special. In keeping with this frenzied search for meaning I bring up a New York Times article entitled, “How Young is Too Young for a Digital Presence?” by Molly Wood. Much of the article is spent debating how young is too young to allow your child to participate in facebook, Twitter, Instagram and every other digital social network. But what is fascinating to me is Ms. Wood’s final paragraph in which she comments on our children’s need for such a historical digital presence. Her comments are not intended to encourage us to allow our children to participate in these social networks, but rather speaks of how we do need to make sure that they are represented on them by our own posting. Let me quote her last paragraph to help you see the ridiculousness of her statement. “if anything a child today who grows up and discovers that he has no photos on facebook or Instagram, might think of himself as an unloved anomaly. In an age of obsessive digital detailing if a child grows up unrecorded what is his identity at all?” Evidently to be absent from social networking is to have no identity whatsoever - what a horror! Please understand that I enjoy seeing pictures of my granddaughter Emily on facebook just like any other proud grandfather would. But to think that her identity would be wrapped up in how many posts were made on her behalf is utter silliness. What about the child who grows up in a poor home where these things could not be afforded? Are they an unloved anomaly? Are they identity-less phantoms who must spend the rest of their lives wondering if they have any meaningful existence? This is nothing more than the continued efforts of a society that is slowly losing their ability to reason. Having rejected God as creator, we desperately search for something . . . anything that can make us feel like we have value. Yet, searching for this in an online presence is little more than a fool’s errand where our true worth is measured in little more than how many pictures – how many “likes” – and how many reposts we can garner for ourselves. This kind of self-obsessed existence gives rise to a generation where we bury ourselves in our electronic devices – rarely looking up for any kind of real interaction with the person who is sitting across from us at a table. And to actually look even further up – seeing the glory of God in creation and realizing that if God made us we have ultimate meaning and purpose – well, that is just crazy talk. Let me encourage you to do something for your children. Take time to talk to them – personally – not by text. Take time to affirm them as something more than an electronic signature going out into the electronic ether desperately searching for one more “thumbs up” to make them feel loved. Let them know that they are the special creation of God. Tell them God knit them together in their mother’s womb – and knew all their days, even before one of them came to pass. Let them know that God loves them with an everlasting love. They are not made in the image of Mark Zuckerman (thank God!) or little more than a Twitter in the night. Tell them they are made in the image of God Himself and were made to fellowship with Him and know Him. Let them know that they are seen as more than a brief flicker of pixels on an instagram – that they were graven on the hands of God’s very Son as He gave His life for them. Inform them that their lives are not measured by how often they are found on Vine, but rather that their live because by God’s glorious grace they have been grafted into THE VINE. Reject this goofiness that glorifies one’s digital presence as the end-all be-all of their purpose and identity. They are more than the sum total of their flashes of electronic 1’s and 0’s. They are made in the image of God – redeemed by the blood of the Son – and given life by the very Spirit of God Himself. That, dear saints, is how to help your child know that they have, not only an identity that will last until your hard drive dies, but one that goes on for all eternity. ![]() Divorce or Conscious Uncoupling? Recently a new way of looking at marriage and how it ends has come boldly upon the scene. This old way of seeing marriages end was called divorce. It was and is a messy exercise as two people who pledged fidelity and a life-long commitment to each other break a covenant made before God and witnesses who came to support their union. Divorce is painful and involves both a sense of loss and a sense of failure. Promises were made – a covenant was made – and now it is being broken. Things seem wrong, because something has gone wrong. Some divorces are due to infidelity and adultery. Some divorces are due to abandonment. Some are due to two people who site irreconcilable differences. Some are simply due to one or both parties just not wanting to be married any longer – and wanting their freedom back to live and do as they want. But, as I said at the beginning of this article, a new wind of doctrine is blowing over the wreckage of couples across the world. This new wind offers us arguments on why this whole, “till death do us part” thing was never a good idea in the first place – especially for those of us who have evolved toward longer lives than our Paleolithic ancestors. This new wind of doctrine is called, “conscious uncoupling.” Conscious uncoupling is a term developed by Dr. Habib Sadeghi and Dr. Sherry Sami. These two postulate that the high divorce rate may be a mile marker in our evolutionary history. The problem may not be us – it may not be selfishness and self-centered thinking and actions. We may be just not responding properly to the evolutionary cycle we are in at this present time. They point us back to the evolutionary theory of the upper Paleolithic period, which supposedly takes us back to roughly 50,000 to 10,000 B.C. Life expectancy was under 50 for both men and women. Today life expectancey is 76 for men and 81 for women. What, you may wonder, does this have to do with the high levels of divorce (0ver 50% of all marriages end in divorce today) in our current day? Everything – according to the good doctors. You see, evolution has advanced greatly since the days of our Paleolithic grandparents. Marriage for a lifetime to them meant, at the most, 20 years. But due to our evolutionary advances in longevity – we are expecting marriages to last anywhere from 25 to 60 years. Sadeghi and Sami want us to see that we’ve not evolved in our view of marriage. Our longevity has evolved way past our marriage stability quotient (have no idea what that means – but it sounded really good didn’t it). That is where Conscious Uncoupling comes in to rescue us from our lack of evolutionary progress in views of marriage and relationships. We need to see that our evolutionary progress calls for a way to be in at least two to three strong relationships in a lifetime. The idea of “till death do us part” must evolve or perish as we move toward the eventual perfection that we seek (Even though there was no conscious force or individual that started evolution – we were just an amoeba that wanted more out of life – but honestly never knew why it did or any way to determine, beyond natural selection, why it even thought there was any morality involved. Actually, in light of this whole marriage mess – it might have been higher evolutionary thought to just embrace asexual reproduction as an amoeba, because you only have to get along with yourself – but I digress). Therefore Conscious Uncoupling is the answer to our lack of evolutionary progress in the area of relationships and marriage. In Conscious Uncoupling there is no blame game – no fault assigned. There is just the realization that we are “uncoupling.” We are now free to move on to meaningful relationship number 2 or 3. Geez, we may find that we are so far behind that we could have 8 to10 and be perfectly fine. This would be laughable if it were not being embraced by so many. Sadeghi and Sami even go so far as to compare our relationship issues to our evolution from being bugs to humans. Bugs have an exoskeleton that is outside its body and is rigid and unflexible. Humans evolved into an edoskeleton that is on the inside, which allows for wonderful flexibility. The lack of flexibility in bugs is why they did not eventually rule the earth – human edoskeletal flexibility is why we have risen above the bugs to rule the world. The leap our two scientists take from there is to postulate that if we become spiritually and relationally inflexible – by – oh, let’s say – holding marriage to be a lifelong covenant between and man and a woman – we too may become relationally extinct (Personally, I'm now terrified about a relationally-rigid comet or asteroid that will cause me and all other "marriage-rigid" people to become relationally extinct - sigh!). Their point is to say that the flexibility of conscious uncoupling will advance us greatly in the area of relationship evolution. In Sadeghi and Sami’s article and writings, the word marriage begins to give way to new terms like coupling and uncoupling (Houston we have a problem – sorry, sounded like NASA trying to dock the Space Shuttle). This is done for a reason. If there is no marriage – there can be no divorce. If we have coupled (which we can now, due to evolutionary extrapolation, do 2 to 3 times in our lifetime), then it is so less traumatic to just consciously uncouple. Sounds nice and neat doesn’t it. Be flexible – don’t be like a bug – you’ll only be left behind by the superior species which leaves inflexibility behind. Here we have radical worldview differences on display for all to see. Worldview begins with things like origins. Our view of origins matters – tremendously! Sadeghi and Sami see our origins coming from an evolutionary viewpoint. There was no creator – and as a result no real purpose for life, marriage, or anything else. There is only the relentless onward march of natural selection to weed out what is weak and reward what is strong. What comes across subtly (maybe not so subtly) in their writings is that traditional, lifelong-covenant oriented marriage is out. It is outmoded, out-dated, and evidently being out-sourced to a much more open view of relationships. Marriage is out and “coupling” is in! We either advance in relationship-evolution – or are left behind and crushed like the rigid marriage bugs we are. Here is the worldview according to God’s revelation of Himself. You and I, and our ancestors, were never Paleolithic – and given to tiny lifespans that are rising due to evolutionary wisdom and wonder. We were and are God’s creation. When God made us, we were innocent and not subject to death. When our first ancestors, Adam and Eve, chose to rebel against God’s command, we fell – and – we also died. We died spiritually instantly – and later experienced physical death as well. Things have been devolving ever since. As sin increased – things have gotten worse. Life expectancy for our early ancestors was longer than at present. They lived into the hundreds of years. For someone to have died when they were only 75 to 81 years old was tragic. As the years have progressed – our life expectancy has gone down – even if, in the short –term it has gained a little at various points in modern history. Relationships were instituted by God in Genesis 3, and consisted of marriage between one woman and one man. What God put together was never meant to be something man could separate due to convenience or some uncoupling instinct into which we've evolved. God’s intent was for them to selflessly give themselves to each other for life – maturing together and caring for each other in each and every stage of life – until death parted them. Our current mess in the area of marriage and family is not due to our being too rigid. It is due to our being too sinful and selfish. But mankind does not like such terms because they imply that there is an absolute right and wrong (something that also comes from one’s worldview as well) which extends even to relationships and marriage. We do not just couple and consciously uncouple. That would indicate that during the entire process we are still two people. God’s Word reveals that in marriage the two become one. Want to know why divorce hurts so badly? It is because the two, who have become one, are now tearing apart – not back into two, but tearing the one in half. The world may attempt to redefine marriage and divorce into their newest pet terms, Coupling and Conscious Uncoupling; but the reality of God’s sovereignty will remain – as will the fact that in marriage there are no longer two - but one. The pain of divorce will also be just as real as it has always been. We may change the words and even try to alter concepts – but the pain will still be there. The sense of failure in a relationship will still remain. That is because we are the creation of God – we are under the commandments of God – and we will still feel pain when we reject the purposes of God. One bright spot in all this though, is that we also have the grace of God in the gospel of Jesus Christ to put us back together when sin and rebellion have torn us apart. Maybe I’ll start calling that Conscious Redeeming. ![]() May the Lord bless you and help you to set godly goals for this coming year. This past Sunday night our community group met and took some time to talk about goals for this coming year. This is something I write about almost yearly - and yet when I speak to believers, I find that very few of them set any kind of spiritual goals each year. Some might balk at the thought of setting spiritual goals for their lives - relegating such things to the realm of legalism. They might not be so quick to do this were they to consider what Paul's said to Timothy in his first letter to the young Christian. Let's take a look at this statement this week and seek to learn from it. Paul said the following to young Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:6-8. "In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following. But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come." Paul wanted Timothy to beware of the damage that bad teaching can have in a Christian's life. What he desired for Timothy is that he would be "constantly nourished on the words of the faith" as well as "sound doctrine." The words of the faith are easy enough to discern. We know that "faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ." The words of the faith are Scripture - the Word of God. The sound doctrine that Paul speaks of here is simply good, biblically sound teaching that comes forth from the Word of God. Thus, what Paul was telling young Timothy was that he needed to be CONSTANTLY NOURISHED on the Word of God - and good teaching which springs from the Word of God. Having established a need to be CONSTANTLY NOURISHED on God's Word - Paul then makes the statement one verse later that he is to have nothing to do with worldly fables - but to discipline himself for the purpose of godliness. This godliness is of far greater profit than bodily discipline - because it blesses both now and for all eternity. Therefore, one of the most important things we should have is some way that we are disciplining ourselves to become godly - with a major emphasis on being constantly nourished on Scripture and sound doctrine that is founded in it. Let me boil that down to a simple statement. We are to be disicplinging ourselves to be in the Scriptures so that we can be constantly nourished by them and what they teach to us. The spiritual goals of which I speak of simply goals that we set so that we can practice "nourishing ourselves" on the Word and on good, sound, godly doctrine. What kind of goals and practices of discipline do you have to do this? What kind of practices are you wanting to adopt and grow in this coming year so that you are being constantly nourished on the Word of God? Let me use an example from your everyday life to illustrate what I mean. Pretty much everyone who reads this has a habit of eating breakfast, lunch, and supper. These are ingrained habits we have to make sure we are constantly nourished physically. If we were to lose those habits - or if we are practicing terrible nutritional habits in them - we are going to be in physical trouble before long. I am not hearing anyone complain about the habit of breakfast, lunch, and supper as some sort of legalism that we are in bondage to in our lives. They are helpful habits that can truly bless us if we eat proper nutrition during them. The reason I say this is simple - just as breakfast, lunch, and supper are physical habits to help nourish us physically, the habit of a quiet time during which we invest in reading, studying, and meditating on Scripture is vital to us being nourished (might I even say, CONSTANTLY NOURISHED) on a spiritual level. Without proper spiritual nourishment, we will languish spiritually, be weak when confronting temptation and trial, and will be susceptible to every spiritual malady and sickness that comes our way (read here false doctrine and sinful lifestyles that do not glorfiy God - among other things). By spiritual goals - I refer to things you want to do each day - like maintain a quiet time. I refer to things you specifically do to be nourished on God's Word - like read through the Bible this year or read a chapter or more each day. Other things that help here are to say that you will take time to study through Romans to learn about salvation better - or memorize one verse each week with an emphasis on important passages of the Bible. Then you plan to meditate on one of those passages every day in free moments. Another spiritual goal may have to do with "obeying" the Scripture you read. Outreach to a couple of people you want to see come to Christ may be in order. Getting trained to share the gospel effectively by the end of the year might be another. You may want to read a book on basic Bible doctrine to be better grounded in your faith. The possibilities are endless - involving your own growth - the growth of your family together - the growth of others you know in basic discipleship - or even stepping up to a ministry in the church and committing to do it for a year. All these might be ways of growing by "discipling yourself for the purpose of godliness." So . . . what are you going to do this year to discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness - to make arrangements to be constantly nourished on the faith and sound doctrine? Your willingness to sit down and write out some serious goals as you ask God what to do may mean the difference between an awesome year of spiritual growth and effectiveness - or just another year wasted thinking that one day you'll get serious about following Christ. Oh dear saints of God - let this year be the former! My love to all of you as we follow our Lord Jesus Christ for God's glory in this coming year! It is an interesting time of year - when graduations are coming to a close - vacations are beginning to gear up - students are leaving for home and for summer Christian programs and mission trips - and the rest of us are getting ready to move into summer. It can be a time when we can lose focus spiritually. The vast majority of us thrive on structure in our lives - and it is times like these when our normal structure in life can break down or begin to change. The reason this affects our spiritual lives is because, if you are like me, part of my structure in living is my quiet time. Even this can be affected with the result that we can experience a kind of spiritual doldrum period at this time of year. Doldrums were the areas in the ocean where there would be little or no wind to power the sails of a ship. It was during those times that a ship had to have its routines - so that it would be ready to continue its journey when the wind would return. One of the most important things to be done in doldrums would be to maintain the proper heading and direction. If the sailors did not do this the ship would drift aimlessly off course during this time. In a similar manner it is important for us to have our spiritual disciplines so that when spiritual doldrums hit, we will be doing things to keep us growing and make us ready to take full advantage of other times when the winds of the Spirit pick up again and create fresh passion in what we do. Having these disicplines in place helps us not to drift aimlessly for weeks at a time and wind up badly off course in our walk with God. In an effort to help us avoid this, I would like to encourage that we do a few things.
First, let me offer a word of exhortation. A lot of us have a tendency to grow in our spiritual lives more out of passion than out of purpose. I am not against passion in spiritual growth, but it is not an effective long-term motivation for spiritual growth in your life. What I mean by this is that passion comes and goes but what lasts is commitment. Whereas we may have several times a year when we have a great passion to have a quiet time and to minister to others - the problem comes when these spiritually passionate moments subside and we are left with what we are committed to in life. You will burn out if all you function by is passion and emotion alone. There has to be commitment or purpose to take over at some point to have balanced spiritual growth. It is a very important thing to make time to write down your purpose in life. Some may groan at this statement - but when the doldrums hit this will be invaluable to you. It is during those times that you can revisit that statement to give you long-term motivation in walking with the Lord. What is even more helpful is to write out what things you should be doing daily to accomplish your ultimate purpose in life. A GPS can show you where you will wind up when you arrive at your destination - but it functions by giving you turn by turn directions to get there. We need this to help us with those "choice by choice" directions to get us to our ultimate goal. When doldrums hit in my life - I am reminded that my goal in life is to, "Love the Lord my God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to glorify Him by how I live in my marriage, family, church, and community." This is true whether I have great passion or not. Then I am reminded of my turn by turn directions to get there. These are building blocks to "love the Lord" and to "glorify Him in all I do." Therefore to accomplish this I have committed to have a daily time alone with God where I talk to Him and read His Word - i.e. maintain a regular quiet time. I have also committed to love and lead my wife and children with daily practical acts of kindness and service. A couple of other building blocks are to make sure Calvary Chapel of Jonesboro is the best loved and taught congregation in our city - and - that I am working to build men as disciples of Jesus Christ. It is these things that keep me on track in the "doldrum times of life." In an effort to help me know exactly what to do - I've broken these down further into smaller things I try to do - so that even when I am "down and out" I still know things I should be doing to accomplish goals and live for God's overall purpose in the life He has given me. Let me give a couple of examples. To mainitain my time with the Lord, I will read my Bible daily - reading 5 chpaters in the Old Testament, a psalm or a proverb, and 1 chapter in the New Testament. Recently, I've also committed to praying through a Psalm each day - to help me not degenerate into a rote list of prayer requests. There are other ways to break down the other commitments in my life. Things I can see and know whether I am doing the right things or not. Therefore when things slow down and I can lose my focus - I know that I can read these things and know how to not just survive doldrums - but even thrive in them. May God give all of us grace to thrive, not only in times of passion, but also in every other period of life as we strive to live "on purpose." |
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. ![]() Thank you for visiting our website! Everything on this site is offered for free. If, however, you would like to make a donation to help pay for its continued presence on the internet, you can do that by clicking here. The only thing we ask is that you give first to the local church you attend. Thank you!
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