Concerning The Lord’s Church

Concerning the Lord’s church, it has a glorious origin, “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”

Jesus declared that the church that belongs to Him would be built on the statement that He is the Son of God. While many religions have human origins, the church Jesus built is based on the Divine. Jesus is the head of the church and He is the authority we must turn to for all matters of religion. If we try to live by any other standard, we will never be pleasing to God. What is the origin of the church you worship with? If it’s not based on that glorious statement of Jesus Christ, then maybe it’s time for a change.

Concerning the Lord’s church, it has a glorious foundation, “Behold I lay in Zion, a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on him will by no means be put to shame.”

With any structure, the foundation must be firm and well built. A foundation that does not have a proper starting place, a cornerstone, will not be perfect. The foundation of the church must have Jesus as its cornerstone. He is the sinless Lamb of God that took away our sins! Everything we do or say needs to be directed from that perfect cornerstone, or our spiritual house will fall. When we find our spiritual house in shambles, why not return to the foundation that is glorious, why not return to Jesus, the cornerstone?

Concerning the Lord’s church, it has a glorious name, “The churches of Christ greet you.”

Names are important in our society. Wives will take the last name of their new husband after marriage. The name you sign on the bottom of your check cannot be signed with another name for it to be valid. The glorious name of the Lord’s church is also important. When you put your name on something it implies ownership, the Church of Christ shows the ownership of the church, it belongs to Christ! The world is filled with religions that are named after men or catchy titles, but there is a name above all names that I want to be associated with, that is the name of Christ! Give some thought to where you worship, is it named after the glorious Son of God or does it carry the name of someone else?

Concerning the Lord’s church, it has a glorious home, “And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.”

After a long trip, isn’t it nice to be home? To be in place that is familiar and comfortable? We need to learn that this world is not our home, we are just strangers and pilgrims passing through. The church is headed to a glorious home, heaven, where the pain and sorrow of this life and the tears of death can no longer affect us. There is no place on this earth that compares to that glorious home. I want to be in heaven with God and all the faithful. If you are tired of this old world, live your life preparing for the glorious home!

When Worship Becomes A Circus

When I was a kid, I loved going to the circus. I liked all the acts, especially the trapeze artists. I once worked at a local radio station and got to be a “ceremonial ringmaster” since the station sponsored the event. I loved it. My kids loved it. I would do it again. However, the circus doesn’t seem to be as popular as it once was, but if you are desperate for the circus to come around, there are plenty of churches that are trying to fill the bill and put on the “greatest show on earth” all for your viewing enjoyment. 

Am I being sarcastic? Yes. And then, in a sense, no. Churches, especially the big ones, do some pretty strange things to get people to come in the door. For example, over the years, I have seen groups that brought in paid performers and called it “worship”. Every animal under the sun (and yes, even snakes) has been used to “enhance” the message being preached. The worship is being turned into a circus, and in some places, they celebrate that fact:

“The Second Baptist Church of Texas, led by Dr. Ed Young, Sr., presented “Christmas Under the Big Top” at its Woodway campus from Friday to Tuesday, with tickets ranging from $10 to $25. The 90-minute drama centered on a storyline about a fictional effort to save a financially struggling circus by putting on a Christmas show. In addition to much singing and dancing, the program also featured a Stomp-like trash can drumming performance, and plenty of circus tricks, from juggling to acrobatics to Cyr wheel spinning. Styles of music varied from traditional to big band, to hip-hop and rock. A segment of the production also included a living nativity, and a brief message about life’s “distractions” from the meaning of Christmas was delivered near the conclusion.” (christiannews.net)

And, while all of these are extremes, sometime the residual effect is that people in our congregations want to grasp a little of that excitement. For example, while I have no objection to “praise songs” being used in church (at least those that are scripturally sound), I do have a problem with the “praise team” putting on a rock-n-roll concert as part of the service. In doing so, they draw attention to themselves and not toward Christ. The same can be said for the “cool” preachers who give a basic moralistic, feel-good message that is theologically and exegetically shallow. We worship an infinite God who has revealed himself in his word, shall we not expect that word to go deeper than we ever imagined? If we are mature, do we really need the preacher to hold our hand on personal application? Would it not be better for him to focus on digging out new treasures from the depths of this Word that help us appreciate the character of our God even more?

And that gets me to my point. What do you come to worship expecting it to be? If you expect entertainment, you are in the wrong place. True, there ought to be much about worship that should be uplifting to you, but you are there to draw near to God by carefully attending to His word. The sermon should not tickle your ears but should instruct you on the character of God and exhort you to repent of your sins and live in a way that honors that character. Entertainment tends to leave you as you are — just perhaps more at ease from the stresses of life. The worship of God’s people is designed to be a tool to conform you into the image of Christ.

Yet, I look at the landscape of the “church” around us and I scratch my head. Exhortation and instruction seem to be only secondary and occasional byproducts of their approach. I know those praise bands are practicing for hours to get their “set” down pat. I know many preachers practice their sermons with an audience repeatedly during the week to make it come across just so when it is delivered. In fact, many of them purchase sermon outlines that are pre-prepared. All they have to do is to personalize them and adapt them to their context, their job then largely is that of an actor performing a role and not as the teacher of Christ’s church. Of course, many of these places have long ceased trying to be Christ’s church in anything but name and have imbibed of health-wealth and word-faith heresies to tickle those itching ears.

Preachers, you are teachers and exhorters, not performers. We need to be prepared but not polished. And we need to do our work in the text of God’s word. It needs to work on us and get into our souls before we can ever expect that it will get into the souls of our people. That said, it is not a performance and errors will be forgiven by Christians who have any sort of spiritual maturity. 

And folks in the pews, do not sit passively expecting to be entertained. You are not there to be entertained. You are there to actively engage in the worship of the King of the Universe, Jesus Christ. That does not mean that you need to put on a show…in fact, just the opposite. But it does mean you must participate. You must sing with the people of God, do not just stand there reading the words out of the hymnal and praying that the hymn is done soon. Sing with the people of God in their worship.

Paul writes in Ephesians 4:11-14, “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting.”

The building up of the church is not done through concert lighting and camels. Nowhere did Paul, with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, describe praise teams in this passage. He did mention that through the preaching of the gospel and the worship that comes from the unity of the body, that people will no longer be tossed around from one position to the next. 

Stop going to the circus and start going to worship!

It Is Well With My Soul

The Old Testament tells the story of the prophet Elisha, who visited Shunem. There was a notable woman in that town that invited the prophet of God to eat with them and then convinced her husband that since he was a holy man that passed that way often, they should build him a little room to stay in when he came near. In return for their hospitality, Elisha granted her anything she wanted, which was a child, an offspring that she and her husband could never have. Through God’s gracious mercy she had that son, and the Bible tells us that when the boy was older, her was fatally hurt working in the field with the reapers. And then inspiration gives this exchange concerning her attitude toward his death in 2 Kings 4:20-26:

“When he had taken him and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died. And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, shut the door upon him, and went out. Then she called to her husband, and said, “Please send me one of the young men and one of the donkeys, that I may run to the man of God and come back.” So he said, “Why are you going to him today? It is neither the New Moon nor the Sabbath.” And she said, “It is well.” Then she saddled a donkey, and said to her servant, “Drive, and go forward; do not slacken the pace for me unless I tell you.” And so she departed, and went to the man of God at Mount Carmel. So it was, when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to his servant Gehazi, “Look, the Shunammite woman! Please run now to meet her, and say to her, ‘Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with the child?’ ” And she answered, “It is well.”

Another story is told, from our American history, about a wealthy lawyer and real estate investor in Chicago named Horatio Spafford. He and his wife had five children, with only one being a son. In 1871, they lost that son to scarlet fever and later in the year, lost a majority of their property to the great Chicago fire. In 1873, the family planned a trans-Atlantic voyage to Europe, however, Horatio sent his wife and four daughters ahead of him while he tended to business in Chicago. During the trip, the ship struck another vessel and sank, killing his four daughters and leaving his wife to send the message, “Saved alone.” On Horatio’s voyage to meet his wife Anna, his ship neared the place where his daughters died, and there he penned the hymn, It Is Well With My Soul:

When peace like a river attendeth my way
When sorrows like sea billows roll
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say
It is well, it is well with my soul

It is well (it is well)
With my soul (with my soul)
It is well, it is well with my soul

In November of 2010, my mother, Sandy Odom, was diagnosed with cancer on the tube that branches off into her lungs. She started chemotherapy, but after one round realized the stage four cancer was too advanced and so she stopped treatment. She would pass away the morning of February 23, 2011, at the age of 63. I thought about all the milestones that she would miss with our family, especially her three grandchildren. They were in middle school at the time, and she would not see them graduate high school, or college, or see them get married, and will not see her great-grandchildren someday. We held a memorial for her at the Reader Church of Christ on Sunday, February 27, 2011, in which one of her favorite hymns was sung, It Is Well With My Soul. All these years later, when that song is sung in the worship assembly, I tear up and think of my dear mother and thank God for the peace He gives me in my soul.

We all have those dark times that weigh on our souls. It is impossible to constantly be on the “mountaintop” of life. Even in the life of our Lord we see the highs and the lows. From the celebration of the wedding feast at Cana of Galilee (John 2) to the pain of facing the cross (John 17). From the multitudes that pressed closer to hear Him (Luke 8:42) to the four people that stood by the cross (John 19:25). Jesus truly was a man “of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3). Take comfort in knowing that that in those dark times, it’s okay to feel that but understand that Jesus knows what you are feeling, let Him help you.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come
Let this blest assurance control
That Christ (yes, He has) has regarded my helpless estate
And has shed His own blood for my soul

It is well (it is well)
With my soul (with my soul)
It is well, it is well with my soul

In our anger we may lash out against God. I suppose the Shunammite woman, Mr. Spafford, and myself could have done that, but instead, we focus on what God has done for us and how He has never let us down. In times of sorrow and grief, it is foolish to add the anxiety of sin to your problems, sin against God for the hurt that Satan is responsible for bring into this world. In our times of grief, we should thank God for His peace and comfort.

My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought (a thought)
My sin, not in part, but the whole (every bit, every bit, all of it)
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more (yes)
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul

It is well (it is well)
With my soul (with my soul)
It is well, it is well with my soul

Singing, as the Scriptures indicate, is designed to teach, and admonish one another in the worship assembly (Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16). However, it should be noted that those songs that are sung come from the heart, allowing the emotion of the worshipper to be expressed through the words, something the instrument cannot do. The inspired pen of James would write, “Is any among you cheerful? Let him sing psalms” (James 5:13). One could add all the emotions to that directive…are you sad? Sing! Are you angry? Sing! Are you depressed? Sing! Jesus is coming again one day…Sing!

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend
Even so, it is well with my soul

It is well (it is well)
With my soul (with my soul)
It is well, it is well with my soul

In all three stories, from the prophet Elisha to Horatio Spafford to my own life, that song was associated with the prospect of death. How can we face such great tragedy and find peace within our souls? Barnabas Piper once wrote of this song: 

“Heartbreak gives birth to great songs. Love lost, loved ones missed, and even tragedies elicit the emotions and that can best be expressed in the medium of music. These songs move listeners and stir up memories bringing about feelings of nostalgia or melancholy, that sort of sadness that leaves us feeling better. But how often do we encounter a song of worship and gratitude that was inspired by heartbreak? The classic hymn “It is Well with My Soul” is just such a song.”

Praise God for the hymns that touch our hearts and give us such comfort and joy through difficult times in our lives!

Still Time To Change

Toward the end of the nineteenth century, Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel awoke one morning to read his own obituary in the local newspaper:

“Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, who died yesterday, devised a way for more people to be killed in a war than ever before, and he died a very rich man.”

Actually, it was Alfred’s older brother who had died; a newspaper reporter had bungled the epitaph. But the account had a profound effect on Nobel. He decided he wanted to be known for something other than developing the means to kill people efficiently and for amassing a fortune in the process. So he initiated the Nobel Prize, the award for scientists and writers who foster peace. Today he is more widely known for the Nobel Peace Prize than he is for inventing dynamite. Nobel is quoted as saying, “Every man ought to have the chance to correct his epitaph in midstream and write a new one.”

As I read this quote, I was hit with a very arresting thought: My obituary has not yet been written. Whatever it is that men think of me, I still have the opportunity to make it better. Whatever mistakes I have made in the past, the possibility still exists for me to correct them. Whatever it is that I have yet not done, but should have, I still have time. As long as God gives me life and liberty, I can make of it something meaningful and lasting. As long as I have breath and desire, I can do my part to improve myself, my family, my neighborhood, the church, even the world.

Everyone still has the opportunity to correct his epitaph, up until the day he dies. Of course, the best thing that could ever be written in our obituary is that we were a faithful Christian. And certainly there are many wonderful things we can add to that. And if you awoke this morning and are able to read this, there’s still time to make sure that is the case.

“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is” (Eph. 5:15-17).

I Think Your Pants Are On Fire!

There’s an old story about a preacher that announced after his sermon one Sunday that the next Sunday he would preach on Mark 17. He told the congregation to go home and read the chapter. The next week, he stood up, asked for a show of hands on who read that chapter. Immediately hands shot up all over the auditorium. The preacher then announced he would begin his sermon on lying.

Our society had become immune to the truth. People would rather lie then face the truth. Because of this, the ability to trust people becomes difficult. Instead of looking of the best in people, we look for the worst. Even a half-truth is a whole lie!

What’s even worse are members of the Lord’s church engaged in the sin of lying, as illustrated in the above story. If you can’t trust the people that we have a common faith with, who can we trust? Even though God does not deal immediately with liars as He did in Acts 5, He does promise in Revelation 21:8, “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” Usually, liars are committing other sins then just lying, but it is sobering to know that lying, in the mind of God, is just as bad a sin as murder! Surely, none of us would commit murder, be we see nothing wrong with being a liar!

Lying violates the second great command, to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. I can’t think of a single person that enjoys being lied to. Can anyone proclaim they have more respect for people that do not tell the truth? Do we want to be identified with the Devil, “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.” John 8:44

Hebrews 6:18 tells us that it is impossible for God to lie, therefore, we can trust every Word in scripture. Let us strive to be godlier, let every word out our mouth be true!

Finish The Race

Our number one priority in this life must be to go to Heaven.  Nothing else is as important.  Jesus says in Matthew 6:33, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”  Our soul is the most precious thing we have.  There is nothing that can equal its value.  We read in Matthew 16:26, “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?  Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”  One certainly does not profit in the tragic loss of his soul.

It is easy in today’s materialistic society to get caught up in the pursuit of materialism if we are not careful.  Our Lord says in Matthew 6:19-21, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.  But lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is there will your heart be also.”  Our bank account needs to be in heaven.

Everyday we need to tell ourselves that the main thing in this life is to go to Heaven.  We read in Colossians 3:2, “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.”  We should regularly think about going to Heaven.

Heaven is a prepared place (John 14:2-3) for a prepared people.  It will be such a wonderful place, which is beyond our wildest dreams.  Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2:9, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”  There is no way that Heaven can be described so we as mortal human beings can understand how wonderful it will be.

A person will not accidentally go to Heaven.  Going to Heaven is a lifelong race as we read in Hebrews 12:1, “Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”  Going to Heaven requires endurance, patience, and persistence.  We must finish the race.

The Joy of Christian Fellowship

“If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:6, 7)

We all have associations in this life. We associate with the people we work with, people we go to school with, or people we are in civic clubs with. There are things that we have in common with others that can fill the social parts of life, but the best fellowship we have is the spiritual fellowship of those that are in Christ! There is nothing I enjoy more than engaging in spiritual conversations with people that are interested in talking about Christ and the Bible. I am grateful that I can attend a function where people are not mean-spirited or using language that is vile and crude. There is joy in Christian fellowship!

But to have this fellowship, to have this connection, we must be in Christ! “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (1 Corinthians 5:17). “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26-28).

If you are a Christian but do not feel this fellowship or connection, perhaps we need to examine our relationship to God, “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified” (2 Corinthians 13:5). 

There is great joy in Christian fellowship, not only for us in this world, but also the eternal realm that we long for. To be in heaven with those that you have loved in the faith on this earth will be the highest joy of fellowship!

Fables and Endless Genealogies

There are many different beliefs in our world. People are religious. I firmly believe our Creator instilled in us a natural instinct to worship. The evidence of a Creator is all around us, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20). With our desire to worship and a curiosity about where we came from, it should move us to search deeper, investigate more, and learn about the God that revealed Himself in the Scriptures…after all it’s not hard to do, the Bible is the best-selling book of all time! So why do many people believe different things regarding spiritual matters? Paul’s admonition to Timothy gives us the answer:

“As I urged you when I went into Macedonia—remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine, nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith.” (1 Timothy 1:3, 4)

Other doctrines, fables and endless genealogies seem to be leading people from God rather than leading people to Him! The doctrines that were being taught in Paul’s day were different from the inspired teachings of the apostles. Paul commanded Timothy to give heed to these teachings or myths and genealogies that were used to remove or reinterpret teachings that would have been embarrassing to the Jews. There were adding their teaching to the word of God and not applying the word to their lives. Since people don’t change, many will change the word of God in our world today because they don’t like what it says. They’ve added their “fables” and “stories” to placate their sinful nature. Not one soul has ever been converted by fables.

Instead, the admonition is to give ourselves to the faith which produces godly edification. The faith that produces salvation. The faith that is pleasing to God. 

Once To Die

On September 8, 2022, England’s queen, Elizabeth II, passed from this life into the next. It certainly is a fascinating time that we live in, having seen the longest reigning queen and now, for many people, seeing the coronation of a new king. As I watched the news coverage of the events, several ideas came to my mind. Chiefly, the statement made in Hebrews 9:27, “As it is appointed unto man once to die, then comes the judgment.” While England, and the world, mourns the loss of their monarch, she still had the same outcome of this life as others before her and unless the Lord Jesus returns, you and I will also have…death. 

Death is not a respecter of persons. She may have been the queen, but death did not spare her any more than the faithful elder’s wife whose funeral Kristina and I attended on Friday. It has been said that death is the great equalizer of this life. So it is important that we prepare for that day. The news coverage said that each monarch prepares for their funeral, and we do as well…the songs, the venue, the speakers…but what I’m talking about is preparing to meet our God. 

Before our life is no more, we need to obey the gospel of Jesus Christ. This involves hearing and believing the message that is proclaimed about the work of Jesus Christ in saving mankind from our sins. It means that I want to change the way I’m living, turning my back on my old sins. Acknowledging that Jesus is going to be the Lord of my life, that He has total control. And then culminating with being immersed in water for the forgiveness of sins.

Before our life is now more, having once been baptized into Christ, we need to continually consider our work and faithfulness to the Lord. Has Christ and His church always come first in my life? Have I been faithful in following the pattern of love and service that Jesus left for me? If I find myself lacking in any of these things, a rededication of the heart and prayer to God is always appropriate.

It certainly is a sad time when anyone dies, from the queen to a poor pauper, but if I’m ready for the eternity that awaits, those left in my absence can take comfort in knowing that what they call hope, I can now call home. 

He’ll Prepare For Us A Place

The greatest blessing of living the Christian life are the promises that God has made to His children. Promises that do not belong to those that are outside of Christ. Those that are in Christ are those that have been immersed in water in order to receive the forgiveness of sins, “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4), “Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). With that relationship comes many great and exceeding wonderful promises, especially the one Jesus made in John 14:2, 3:

“In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”

Albert Barnes commented on these verses saying, “By his going is meant his death and ascent to heaven. The figure here is taken from one who is on a journey, who goes before his companions to provide a place to lodge in, and to make the necessary preparations for their entertainment. It evidently means that he, by the work he was yet to perform in heaven, would secure their admission there, and obtain for them the blessings of eternal life.”

Jesus has gone on before us, He has secured the way to heaven to all those that are obedient to His commands and faithful to the Father in heaven. What a great promise to rest our hope on! To know that heaven can be our eternal home! Someday Jesus will return, what will we hear? Well done good and faithful servant OR depart from Me, I never knew you? The choices you make now will determine if there is a place in heaven prepared for you!