What is Advent?

You might have heard someone mention that it is the season of advent but do you know what that means? Advent is the 23-29 days preceding Christmas that begins the liturgical year. (starting four Sundays before the 25th) The word itself comes from the Latin word adventus, meaning "coming."  Observed as a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas. While the practice has fallen out of favor in the Protestant church, but in a time of vast commercialization of Christmas it can serve as a valuable counterpoint to such secularization and remind of what the birth of the savior really means. 

Yesterday, today, and tomorrow

God's Authority and yours.

As already discussed the standard for holiness is God’s very nature. Jesus is a perfect model of that nature. This is important for church leaders to live up to across the board, but there is one area that is particularly important. That being God’s authority. However, this is often a very misunderstood concept that church leaders sometimes fail to live up to properly, just like our Pharisee predecessors. The Lord’s authority is often symbolized by the hand of God, but what we must remember is that God has two hands. A hand of stern discipline, and a hand of nurturing healing. We become effective church leaders by wielding both hands of His authority appropriately, not just the one we are comfortable with.  All those under the care of half a leader are at risk of being damaged and wounded by said imbalance, and carry a distorted image of authority and God. Even those who actually recognize both hands of God often make the mistake of compartmentalizing them. That the hand of stern discipline was strictly an Old-Testament manifestation, and the hand of healing is the only one that still applies under the new covenant. The world has always and will always need both hands of God’s authority. To offer discipline without healing begets only rebellion. To offer healing and no discipline results in what you might call rich kid syndrome. For even in the Old-Testament there came the time for restorative healing after the discipline was done. Even is the New-Testament there was a time to rebuke. We can clearly see this dual image in Jesus himself. When dealing with the sinners in their brokenness, he offered the hand of healing. When dealing with authorities who perverted God’s truth and offered no hand of healing themselves he offered the hand of discipline. Whatever was needed in that moment.  With that being said we must also recognize that the hand of discipline wields a two-edged sword. (Revelation 1:16). God’s authority does not merely point at others, but one edge always points at the wielder. To truly wield the duel edge sword you must live and hold yourself accountable to it.  Only those who do will have the discernment enough to know when to draw said sword, and when to leave that sword sheathed to offer the hand of healing.  We see this very concept being uttered by Jesus in Matthew 7.

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

To live under God’s authority, and not just apply it to others is to know its sting. To heed its sting is to deal with ones own sin. To deal with ones own sin is to realize there is often an emotional scar behind our sin, and a face behind every scar. This knowledge brings empathy and proper restraint in wielding the sword of authority. With that comes the wisdom enough to know which hand to wield in order to help and not just draw blood. Many in the church repeat the same mistake as the Pharisees by never offering healing and waving the sword of authority in the face of the broken, yet never at themselves. Yet, we wonder why so many have a problem with authority. 

To wield the double edged sword is to know it's sting

How is one truly devoted in worship?

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. -Acts 2:42

While I have covered the four main points of this verse already, there is still one point I would like to highlight about it. Specifically something not listed as a point of devotion for the first generation church. Which would be worship. Why is that not mentioned? Is it a mere oversight or is there another explanation? Did they take this shift in the covenant concerning the where and how of worship dead serious? Specifically the human body becoming the temple, and what we do in the body for God’s sake as living sacrifices, or acts of worship. If so the idea of a formal ritual might have seemed redundant to that first generation church. That in their eyes that devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayer were their true acts of worship. Not that I’m saying that formal ritual is bad unto itself, but if your worship consists of that and that alone. Yet you’re not honoring God in your everyday life and actions, you may just be playing church; rather than engaging in true worship. True new covenant style worship is not something you do two times a week or less in fixed ways, times, and places in an obligatory and rote way. Worship is something you do sincerely everyday as you build yourself up in God’s holy image, as you inspire the people around you, as you build God’s kingdom. 

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body. -1 Corinthians 6:19-20

 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. -Romans 12:1

The eyes of my heart have grown dark

Are you devoted to prayer?

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. -Acts 2:42

Now for the final point of our Acts verse which reveals what the priorities of that first generation church was, Prayer. It’s not something I’ve spoken of much; thus far. In fact, I didn’t even include it in the four purposes of church. 

Worship, Education, Outreach, Fellowship

Well why is that you may ask. I did not include it as a separate point, for it is a concept that can be applied to all four other points. This detail seems to indicate that prayer needs to take part in every aspect of our spiritual live. It’s no wonder so much has been written on the subject. Of course, you could read every word of it, and it wouldn’t mean a thing if you didn’t actually apply the practice as intended. The question is do you? The answer might be revealed in how you treat prayer. Is Prayer something you avoid or embrace? Do you pray routinely, or only when you need something? Do you pray privately, or only with others as prompted by them? If you do pray privately, is it for just yourself, or others as well? If you do pray for others, is it for their benefit, or are you just wanting people to do as you wish? Does corporate prayer make you apprehensive for fear of being evaluated harshly just because you’re not as eloquent as the next person? Do you like to go on and on to show off that you can be  rather flowery with your prayer? The answers to these questions can speak volumes as to where your heart is at, and ultimately how spiritually healthy you are. 

Baptized by fire

Our attitudes towards Apostles' teaching

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. -Acts 2:42

I used this verse recently in a post on fellowship. However, all these points deserve a long hard look because these were the things of top priority to that first generation church. Why should now be any different?  For now, let’s look at the first mentioned. “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching.” As I already have gone into great detail earlier, this is an element of church that has taken a big hit recently. Many are struggling to keep Sunday schools and small groups afloat due to a lack of interest. Which begs the question, why is the church of today so apathetic towards learning more about their own beliefs? I’m sure the reasons are many and diverse, but consider this idea. 

Many generations ago the church was defined by quiet and reflective worship and ritual. A time when Biblical literacy was far greater than it is now. It makes sense, for the simple fact that church was skewed toward people on the introvert side of the scale, people who naturally gravitated to thought and learning. However, this obviously did not bode well for those who naturally favored the extrovert side of the scale. Many extroverts left the church out of pure boredom, while the more devoted said; wait a second, this dispassionate style of worship is not Biblically sound; and it was true. Evangelical and Charismatic movements helped to foster a more extrovert style of worship. Granted, the Church should not be skewed either way and it’s good to bring a little happiness and passion in the spirit back to the church. However, the pendulum might have swung too far in the opposite extreme in many cases. This new extrovert style church seems more interested in having an experience or emotional high than obtaining understanding. As we have already determined, this was not what the original church was like at all.  As Jesus said to pilate in John 18:37 “I have come to testify to the truth.” So it’s obvious why the newfound church was dedicated to what the apostles learned from Jesus. Without a good theological standard of truth to hold our experiences up to, how are we to assure that said experiences are good and righteous rather than unrighteous and sinful? Clearly there is a lot that these diverse groups of people could teach one another in a true body of Christ sort of way. However, that will not happen if we defy Biblical diversity in favor of trying to force others to think, feel, and express themselves as we do for the sake of hollow unity.  

Extroverts VS Introverts

The 4 purposes of church - Conclusion

Worship, Education, Outreach, Fellowship

We have officially concluded the purposes of church thread I have been on for some time. For all those who have found themselves reading this I hope you have expanded your knowledge of what all these things really are. I say this because far too many of us we treat religion like sports. We offer our devotion to a team according to geography or whoever happens to be on top when we discover it. Even as recently as the fifties, Christianity was so common it was ubiquitous in America. It was easy back then, but now that it is less easy many are not showing true devotion by stepping up when we need them. It is no wonder that generation has failed to inspire subsequent generations. It is no wonder many church people really don’t understand why the church really exists, and why we don’t live out the purposes of church in a truly scriptural way. We base what we know more off of what we observe people doing, and we are observing people who learned from mere observation themselves rather than educate themselves. There in lies the problem of having been a too common of belief system. People start to equate it with “normal”  where in reality, Christianity teaches us to defy our normal sinful, selfish, and self-destructive tendencies. This has only led to a very weak, uninformed, and powerless church that plays it safe rather than live by faith. This is precisely why I started this blog, to combat the misconceptions that arise from of passivity in spirituality. I will continue to do what I can in order to carry on this mission.

No Comparison 

Purpose of church 4 - Fellowship part 2

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. -Acts 2:42

This verse offers a glimpse of what that first generation church was like. Four simple things the first believers devoted themselves to. What I want to draw your attention to first is the third thing mentioned, the breaking of bread. You may think that this is a communion reference, but that is not strictly true. Granted it ties into the last supper as the communion does, but what you may not realize is that such practices did not begin with Jesus. This was a common practice that the Hebrews of the time routinely practiced at fellowship meals. Jesus just ensured that the practice was carried on by the church. So as you can see, the practice of the day was inherently tied to the second thing mentioned in the verse. So half of what the that first generation church was dedicated to was fellowship. The very thing many in the current church want to deem irrelevant. One of the ways we have done this is by ritualization of communion to the point that there is no fellowship in it at all. Yet, we wonder why the church can’t seem to get along with itself. If we can’t work together than we can’t commit to the ultimate mission of God’s kingdom. So how by any stretch of the imagination can we call fellowship irrelevant?

Let us break bread together