Today I want to examine a very intelligent creature. A creature that is so intelligent that Jesus used them in parables to refer to us. They are, of course, sheep.
Okay, so sheep are not the most intelligent creatures on planet Earth but they do know how to do something very well…they know how to listen to their shepherd’s voice and follow him, and that’s what I want to look at today.
John 10:1-5
1 “I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. 3 The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”
Continue reading ‘Hearing the Voice of the Lord and Acting in Faith’
How does a person become a Christian? I think the majority of existing Christians would say that a person gets saved by accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior or by simply believing in Jesus or by accepting the free gift of grace from God. And any of these would be correct. Paul wrote to the Ephesian church “For it is by grace that you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8).
However, when asked how a Christian becomes mature in their faith, most Christians will answer: by reading your Bible, doing daily devotions, praying often, going to every church service, getting connected to a small group, giving to the church and missions, by serving at your church, etc.
Not that doing any of those activities are bad––in fact, they’re all very good things to be involved with––but none the less, they are just activities. They are merely external events that we can choose to do.
Instead, I believe the way for a Christian to become spiritually mature is to live life the same way they received eternal life––by the grace of God through faith in Jesus. Let’s take a look at Galatians to study this a bit further.
Continue reading ‘Living by Grace through Faith’
Floating Axhead has a wonderful article called The Wal-Mart Way which does a great job of explaining how the modern church has tried to market itself and failed. The article mentions Wal-Mart’s new slogan of “Save Money. Live Better.” and compares it to the slogan of “Find God. Live Better.” that so many churches have slowly adopted. I fully agree with the article and appreciate Floating Axhead’s candidness on the topic.
Here are some of my thoughts.
Sam Walton may be right in saying, “There’s only one boss. The customer.” but that’s not how the church, the Body of Christ is organized and operated. The customer mindset may be fine for business but it’s not for church. In fact, I believe one of the biggest problems with church today is that people have brought the customer mindset into it. We believe that we are customers and the church is there to entertain us! And when you think about it, it kind of makes sense. People drive up and park there cars in large parking lots, walk into the building (which very rarely has a cross on it anymore), are greeted with warm hands and smiling faces, find a cushioned seat somewhere in the auditorium, and then…the music begins! They’ll have people welcome them from the platform and hand out “up coming events” literature to them. There will be musical numbers sung by the choir and soloists, and eventually, the main attraction — an eloquently delivered message from the minister. This whole time the “customer” has had to put forth no effort except for maybe dropping some money in the offering plate as it passes by. And many of them will only drop in as much as they think the show is worth!
Is this a picture of every church. Absolutely NOT!!! Is it a picture of your church? I hope not. But I know it is for many people.
Continue reading ‘I second that!’
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