Using the First Amendment?

Using the First Amendment?

Wisconsin U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin once outraged a lot of churchgoers by saying, “Certainly the First Amendment says that in institutions of faith that there is absolute power to, you know, to observe deeply held religious beliefs.  But I don’t think it extends far beyond that.”  When it was reported that she said that, the religious community manifested in the blogosphere, talk radio, cable news, and social media responded with fear and outrage.  Indignant cries like “How dare she tell us we can’t practice our religion except in a church building?!?!” and “Freedom of religion and freedom of speech is doomed in this country!!” made their rounds through the various Facebook posts and Twitter feeds of American New Testament Christians and denominational folks, and to an extent I can’t say I blame us for reacting in this fashion.  There are legitimate fears held by myself and others that outrageous fines and jail time will eventually be the price paid in this country for advertising and exercising in any way our deeply held religious convictions that homosexual marriage is sinful, whether or not we happen to be inside a church building on Sunday morning.

first amendment

Are you exercising your rights?

Yet, I also am reminded of the fact that there aren’t that many of us who are that vocal about our Christianity outside of the church building anyway, and it has been that way for some time.  According to the Barna Group, an evangelical Christian polling company:

When asked if they have a personal responsibility to share their faith with others, 73% of born again Christians said yes. When this conviction is put into practice, however, the numbers shift downward. Only half (52%) of born again Christians say they actually did share the Gospel at least once this past year to someone with different beliefs, in the hope that they might accept Jesus Christ as their Savior.

As with most convictions, there usually lies a dividing line between theory and practice. When it comes to evangelism, that dividing line looks different among various demographics.

Barna defines evangelicals according to adherence to nine theological perspectives (defined in the details below), including one’s personal responsibility to share their faith in Christ with others. So in this study, of course, evangelicals (100%) claim this responsibility by definition. Nearly seven out of 10 have acted on this conviction within the last year, meaning evangelicals have the highest rate of evangelism among the various religious segments that Barna examined.

What stands out among the data, however, is that evangelicals also have among the highest rates of failure in follow-through from conviction to action when it comes to sharing their faith. Nearly one-third (31%) believe they should evangelize, but have not done so—at least within the past year.

Catholics (34%), on the opposite end of the spectrum, are the least likely across Christian faith traditions to affirm their personal responsibility to share their faith. Yet, this minority is also the most consistent in linking their belief and behavior. Roughly one-third of all Catholics (34%) believe they should evangelize, while one-third of born again Catholics actually do.

This 2013 report goes on to indicate that millennials or young adults as well as the elderly and those in the low income bracket are currently the most evangelistic among us, while those of us in the 30’s and 40’s bracket, 50’s and 60’s bracket and those in the middle-class income bracket are less personally evangelistic than we were in previous years.

To bring it closer to home for churches of Christ in this country, I encourage my brothers and sisters in Christ to look around in the auditorium this coming Sunday morning and check the bulletin where they record the attendance numbers.  Are those numbers below 100?  Probably, according to brotherhood statistician Flavil Yeakley.  In 2008 he reported that 45% of the almost 13,000 churches of Christ in the United States have fewer than 50 members and more than 70% have fewer than 100 members.

How many churches of Christ do you know of who have 1,000 members or more?  Not many.  How long does it take your average local congregation to increase in size by 50 members?  Years, right?  At least two years, possibly three.

Of that growth of 50, how many of those were Christians who moved into the area or transferred their membership from another congregation?  How many of the 50 were baptisms?  Out of those, how many consisted of children of adult members of your congregation…as opposed to complete outsiders whom you personally know and invited to church or studied with because you knew they were lost in their sins and wanted to do your part to make a difference in their lives?

How many in your congregation are actively involved in regular, weekly personal evangelism…other than the paid preacher?  One or two, right?  Five or six, tops.

Now, let’s compare us to the evangelism recorded in the New Testament Christianity we always say we’re wanting to restore.  The very first local congregation read about in the New Testament grew by 3,000 in one day (Acts 2:41).  It then continued to grow day by day (Acts 2:47) so that the number soon rose to 5,000 (Acts 4:4).  After that, even in the shadow of repeated persecution of her leaders (Acts 4:1ff; 5:17ff), divine church discipline of two of her members which was quite violent in nature (Acts 5:1-11), and strife over possible prejudice within the congregation (Acts 6:1ff), the numbers of the Jerusalem church “multiplied” (Acts 6:6).  It didn’t stop there.  Even after extreme, violent persecution which scattered that congregation to the four winds (Acts 8:1ff), the church as a whole in that region “multiplied” (Acts 9:31).  Around a decade or so later, the Jerusalem church was said to once again have “thousands” of believers (Acts 21:20).

The difference is striking, isn’t it?  Painfully striking, when you think about it.

Church of Christ, it’s time for a wake-up call.  We talk a lot about “speaking where the Bible speaks, and being silent where the Bible is silent.”  We’ve made a lot of progress in accomplishing that worthy, biblical goal (1 Cor. 4:6; Rev. 22:18-19; Prov. 30:6).  However, when it comes to evangelism we still have a lot of work to do.

Here’s what the New Testament Christians did.  They went about preaching the Word (Acts 8:4).  The gospel was being proclaimed by them in all creation under heaven (Col. 1:23).  It took only two years for the whole region of Asia Minor to hear the gospel because of them (Acts 19:9-10).  Their voice was going out to the ends of the earth (Rom. 10:18).  The word of the Lord was sounding forth from them, and their faith in God had gone forth everywhere (1 Thess. 1:8).

They were exercising their First Amendment rights…and they didn’t even have the First Amendment. 

So while I get that in one sense why we are so outraged over this senator’s statement that Christians need to keep their First Amendment rights confined to a church building, at the same time I wonder why in the world most of us are so upset about it…considering that for a generation or so the church building is the only place where so many of us choose to exercise our First Amendment rights to begin with.  Why be upset with her idea of limiting a freedom which we ourselves have already limited?

Christians, do you want our society to get back to God?  Do you want your church to grow?  Most importantly, do you want the souls of every single person you know to go to Heaven?

It’s up to YOU to do something about it.

And it’s going to take a lot more than you nodding your head as you read this, saying “Amen!”, clicking the “Like” button on Facebook and posting this article on your wall, and re-tweeting it on Twitter.  Remember, according to the Barna research above that…and only that…is what most of you are going to do.

No, it’s going to take more than that.

It’s going to take YOU, you PERSONALLY, deciding to ACTIVELY, on a DAILY basis, talking with the people in your life about Jesus and sharing the gospel with them.

If you do this, guess what?  God’s going to open the doors of Heaven to you regardless of whether a single person listens to you.

But if you DON’T do this, guess what?  Everyone you know who is lost will stay lost and end up in Hell for all eternity, and you will be right there alongside of them.

That’s what God has promised (Ezek. 3:16-21).

So go out there and use your First Amendment rights while you still have them…and then keep on “speaking the truth in love” (Eph. 4:15) even if they should be taken away.

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Honor Your Cool Parent?

What Ever Happened to Honor Your Mother and Father?

Almost everyone these days wants to be a cool parent. Don’t believe me? Just check out social media and look at the posts of parents dressing like their children, taking a million selfies with their children. While there is nothing “sinful” about a 40-year old dressed like an 18-year old, I do see a trend that troubles me.

parenting

To busy acting like a child to be functioning as a parent?

The problem with being a “cool parent” is these parents often forget their primary job—to parent. Instead, they seek to be friends with their children. As a result, discipline and training is thrown out the window, and instead, parents negotiate with their young children. Or worse yet, they don’t do anything when the child acts up, opting to allow the child to misbehave instead of have a confrontation. They recognize the child is acting badly, but they don’t want to ruin their trademark of being the cool parent, and so the child acts out without fear of being corrected.

This trend has gotten so bad that some parents with small children are choosing to stay home and miss opportunities to fellowship because deep down they are embarrassed with how their children behave. Friends, this should not be the case with Christian parents. What happened to honoring and obeying parents? What happened to correcting a child that talked back to his or her parents? What happened to being a real parent?

I’ve heard young children call their parents everything from idiot, stupid, and mean, to even much worse. This is not honor. This is not cool. It tells me the child is calling the shots in that family. What does it say about a child who does not honor his or her earthly parents when the time comes for him/her to honor and respect their heavenly Father?

Stop worrying so much about being a cool, young, hip parent—and just parent. Say no—and mean it. Find your wooden spoon—and use it. I promise you that any tears you see today will be much easier to deal with than the tears that might come in 10-15 years as a result of you letting them run wild. Want to be a cool parent? Then how about bringing honor and obedience back into your home. Yes, it may be extremely hard—and you may even have to start over. But it will surely be worth it.

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Finishing the Race

Finishing the Race

There are many illustrations used in the Bible to describe our lives as Christians. We are warriors in His army (Eph. 6) and harvesters in His vineyard (Matt. 20). We are boxers who do not simply throw blows into the air against an imaginary foe (1 Cor. 9:26). One illustration used repeatedly is that we are competitors in a great race.

This figure is used in the book of Hebrews. After describing those heroes of faith throughout chapter eleven whose lives were all lived by faith, the Lord then turned His attention to the Hebrew Christians. That this chapter is directly tied to the men of faith is evidenced by the first word in chapter twelve. “Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses…Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”

face finish

Keep your eyes on Jesus.

How do we maintain our strength and stamina in this race? The answer is found in the next verse. “Looking unto Jesus…who for the joy set before Him endured…” He never let up. He ended the race by saying, “It is finished.” He is our model and our example of endurance as we are faithful until death.

Yet, we struggle in this race. When we first read the words of Isaiah, we may not realize just how difficult the race can be. “Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint” (Isa. 40:31). We may overlook the fact that even this verse speaks of renewing strength and forget the energy expended by eagles as they soar above us.

Look further into this passage to see the importance of endurance in our race. The trials of this race are part of how God uses adversity to chasten and mold us (vs. 3-11). We are told to not despise these difficult times for afterwards it “yields the fruit of righteousness” (v. 11). As we run the race, we need to keep our eyes on Jesus and finish the race at whatever the cost.

The Lord then urges us to realize that we owe a debt to help others in the race. “Strengthen the hands that hang down, and the feeble knees” (v. 12). We need others to help us endure. They need us. When we see others struggling, we need to help them in their run.

Finally, He talks about showing others how to run the race by the way we live. The Lord says, “Make straight paths for your feet” (v. 12). The Greek literally says, “make your wheel tracks straight.” Remember that others are following you in the race, so leave distinct ruts and tracks clearly defined so they can follow in your steps.

God help us all to “finish the race” (2 Tim. 4:7).

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Poder del Cielo

¿COMO LOS SEGUIDORES DE JESUS OBTUVIERON EL PODER DE HACER MILAGROS DESPUES DE SU ASCENSION?

Antes de que Jesús ascendiera nuevamente al cielo, el habló  a sus apóstoles sobre el poder que el Espíritu Santo proveería para ellos. “Y estando juntos, les mandó que no se fueran de Jerusalén, sino que esperasen la promesa del Padre, la cual, les dijo, oísteis de mí. Porque Juan ciertamente bautizó con agua, mas vosotros seréis bautizados con el Espíritu Santo dentro de no muchos días.” (Hechos 1:4,5). Cristo mismo fue quién les había dicho: “pero recibiréis poder, cuando haya venido sobre vosotros el Espíritu Santo, y me seréis testigos en Jerusalén, en toda Judea, en Samaria, y hasta lo último de la tierra.” (Hechos 1:8). Aquellos apóstoles quienes de primera mano le habían oido sabían que pronto vendría el bautismo del E.S  y poder que tomaría lugar “no muchos días después” de que el maestro lo había expresado.

ascension

Antes de que Jesús volviera al cielo, habló a sus apóstoles sobre el poder que el Espíritu Santo les proporcionaría.

¿Cuándo  sería cumplida la promesa del Espíritu? Tomaría lugar en los días de los apóstoles de Jesús “Todos fueron llenos del Espíritu Santo, y comenzaron ha hablar en nuevas lenguas como el Espíritu les daba que hablasen” (Hechos 2:4). ¿Pero, qué con aquellos que no eran apóstoles? Después de que Cristo ascendió al cielo delegó todo el trabajó en manos de sus seguidores aquellos discípulos o cristianos que no eran apóstoles, ellos después recibieron el poder de hacer milagros cuando un apóstol de Cristo les imponía las manos. Un caso claro de esto se ve en Hechos 19:5-6 donde se registra el momento en que algunos hombres fueron bautizados en el nombre del Señor Jesús, “Cuando Pablo les impuso las manos, vino el Espíritu Santo sobre ellos y hablaron en lenguas y profetizaron”. Ese mismo apóstol Pablo  más tarde le escribió a  Timoteo y le dijo: “Por lo tanto te recuerdo que avives el fuego que hay en tí por la imposición de mis manos” (2Timoteo 1:6). El don de Dios que recibió Timoteo fue un don milagroso y ¿cómo recibió ese poder milagroso? A travez de un apóstol de Jesucristo que en este caso era Pablo que estaba imponiendo las manos sobre él.

Como resultado de la predicación  de Felipe en Samaria, algunos hombres y mujeres eran bautizados después de haber recibido la palabra (Hechos 8:12). A ese punto la Biblia registra que después de haber oido acerca de estas conversiones ellos enviaron a Pedro y a Juan. ¿Porqué, Todo parece estar bien con el ministerio de Felipe en Samaria entonces ¿Porqué traer a dos apóstoles?  La respuesta se encuentra en Hechos 8:15-17 “Los cuales venidos, oraron por ellos, para que recibiesen el Espíritu Santo; (Porque aun no había descendido sobre ninguno de ellos, mas solamente eran bautizados en el nombre de Jesús.)Entonces les impusieron las manos, y recibieron el Espíritu Santo.” 

Estos nuevos discípulos recibieron el Espíritu hasta después de que estos apóstoles impusieron las manos sobre ellos. Eso es realmente importante. Nadie en nuestros días puede clamar imponer las manos para la recepción del Espíritu, porque para eso se requería siempre la presencia de un apóstol y evidentemente no existe ningún apóstol de Jesucristo hoy con vida, (que haya andadlo con Jesús, que haya sido testigo de sus milagros, que haya sido comisionado o que cumpla con los requisitos de apóstol enlistados en Hechos 1). Esto es otro muy claro ejemplo de como los discípulos (que NO eran apóstoles) recibieron poder sobrenatural después de que un apóstoles impusiera las manos en ellos. Nos preguntamos: ¿Porqué Felipe, no impuso sus manos sobre ellos, si fue Felipe mismo quien los había bautizado? De acuerdo a Hechos 21:8 Felipe era un evangelista y no un apóstol. Lo que ratifica el anunciado anterior en que solamente un apóstol real de Jesucristo podía imponer manos para que la persona recibiera algún poder o don milagro.

Existen muchas personas en la actualidad que piensan estar recibiendo o trasmitiendo poderes sobrenaturales, sin embargo todo eso no es más que sugestión a las personas. Todo esos dones y manifestaciones milagros tuvieron un propósito firme y específico; confirmar al mensajero y el mensaje. Si la autoridad de los apóstoles se hubiera irrespetado a como se intentó hacer en Hechos 5 con Ananías y Safira, la Iglesia del Señor hubiese colapsado en tan solo el inicio. Todo esto(dones milagros y poder sobrenatural) fue necesario, pero, muerto el ultimó apóstol, con él también murió la imposición de las manos a  otros. Los seguidores de Cristo obtuvieron el poder de hacer milagros después de su ascensión al cielo UNICAMENTE  a travez de los apóstoles. Nosotros hoy tenemos el poder del evangelio a travez de la Biblia (2Tim 3:16-17) que fue escrita por varios de estos santos hombres de Dios. La palabra de Dios sigue teniendo el poder sobrenatural de salvar almas y guiarlas al cielo, pero tales “manifestaciones milagrosas” ya no se encuentran presentes en ningún hombre o mujer bajo la faz de esta tierra. Cualquiera que clame tenerlos, simplemente es un falso o falsa.

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The Measure for Which You are Judged

The Measure for Which You are Judged

What exactly did Jesus mean, when He said: “Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven… For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you” (Luke 6:37-38)?

Judged

What is your standard of judgment?

Bill McCaughan, in the April, May, June, 2019 issue of Power For Today (© 2019 by 20th Century Christian Foundation) answers the question this way: “For me, this is one of the most disturbing statements Jesus ever made. Why? Because it says to me that if I do judge, I will be judged – by my own set of rules. If I do condemn, I will be condemned – by my own set of criteria. If I hold a grudge and fail to forgive – I won’t be forgiven, because I said – by my own actions – that I didn’t want forgiveness.” He is absolutely correct!

Every time we fail to give someone the benefit of the doubt; each time we hang onto all the hurtful little comments someone might’ve made (whether they intended them to be hurtful or not); every time we fail to let go of a wrong suffered (whether real or imagined, actual or only personally perceived in our own minds) we are giving God the exact standard by which we are telling Him we want to be judged. In other words, we are demanding of Him that on Judgment Day, He not give us any benefit of the doubt for anything. We are demanding that God hang onto and judge us for every hurtful little comment we may have ever made to anyone over the course of our life on earth – even if it was purely innocent and unintentional on our part! We are leaving God with no option whatsoever but to judge us just as harshly for every time we ever wronged anyone – or even if anyone ever perceived in their own hearts that we had somehow wronged them – even when we hadn’t! What a terribly scary thought to add to an already terrifying day! And yet, it is true (Matt. 6:12-15, 18:21-35; Lk. 6:37-38).

What is the answer then? As brother McCaughan concludes: “Love each other! Love covers a multitude of sins, of hurts, of perceived wrongs (1 Corinthians 13 [See also 1 Ptr. 4:8]). It covers them up – pulls the tarp right over them so they can’t see the light of day; so they can’t remind us to be upset or resentful… If a Jewish zealot (Simon) could love a Roman tax collector (Matthew), I, too, can love that person who bruised my ego. I can because Jesus and His love can fill me.”

What measure do you want God to use on you? You tell Him every day by the measure you use on others (See Ro. 2:17-24). This is why we must learn to forgive the offender, let go of the hurt we’ve been holding onto, and just live a life of love like we are commanded and empowered by God to do (Eph. 4:31-5:2; Col. 3:8-15), letting Him take care of everything else in the end (Ro. 12:14-21; Hebs. 10:28-31).

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