Doing Something for Something’s Sake?

It is an interesting life being under the call of God and being employed by a religious clubhouse ( from a friend at freethfrogs.blogspot.com). It would seem that being employed by a church would be heaven on earth to a christian. But as with any good and functioning club, there is an activity level that must be maintained and renewed to keep the membership stimulated, interested and supportive. Should that level wane or become stale the membership becomes less stimulated, interested and supportive. More and more energy and resources are invested in the activity level with less and less awareness of what is really necessary to the health and life of those that comprise the membership. A membership which by the way can be quite contrary and fickle in its ever shifting idea of what it wants and what the club ought to be doing.

The result of the chaotic pursuit of activity level maintenance is the dwindling motivation within those hired to keep things going. Almost all of those who ever signed up to serve at the clubhouse had no idea that the club was far from the vision the Founder had for what faith ought to look like. And what seemed like a life of giving oneself to the Founder’s purposes is really more avoiding the pain inflicted by the club members when they are not getting their own way.

From reading through historical accounts of the faith and the book we like to call the Bible, it would seem that this has been a real and ongoing struggle within the people of God for a long, long time. We can get busy, look good, be active, do the membership requirements, and even pay dues; but we develop and expectation that someone is going to set the pan, create the atmosphere, do the prep work and then greet us with a smile of appreciation for all we do to keep them busy. Are we ought of our honkin’ minds? Do we really, in the heart of who we are, think this is really how it ought to be? Is this the great work of Christ, His Body and Bride that He is returning for? Or are we in a far more deceived state than we can even grasp?

It seems to be a recurring theme through much of what is posted here; WE MUST BE LISTENING TO THE LORD. These are hard, dark, uncertain days for many. We have watched the government and economy take turns and make changes that we never thought possible. Churches (clubhouses) have been closing or barely scraping by as the support has dried up but the expectations have remained high. The short term and long range planning has been replaced by scraping by day to day for many religious organizations. And people wonder where the Lord is in the midst of it all?

He is right where He has always been, sitting upon His throne and ruling with all power and authority. He has not changed and for that we must be thankful. But we must return to Him. No longer can we run to the clubhouse as though salvation and hope are found there. Salvation, hope, mercy, truth, power, grace and love are found in the Lord alone. Until we regard the Lord Jesus as Head of the Body and those who have held positions as nothing more or less than our brothers or sisters we remain fearful, frustrated and confused. And we end up doing something for something’s sake. We are not called to it, it is not necessary and it is not helpful, but we do it because we hope to last long enough to do something else and somehow prove we ought to be here. And the clubhouse workers just get more and more tired and less and less interested.

Are You Listening?

 “On the day of Pentecost, seven, weeks after Jesus’, resurrection, the believers were meeting together in one place. Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like a roaring mighty windstorm in the skies above them, and it filled the house where they were meeting. Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability. Godly Jews from many nations were living in Jerusalem at that time. When they heard this sound, they came running to see what it was all about, and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers. ‘And we all theses people speaking in our own languages about the wonderful things God has done!’ “ Acts 2:1 – 6:11b (NLT, 1996 Ed.)

Sound is powerful. Nothing, it seems, catches our attention quite like sound. Stimulus to a sense such as sight may require a different level of proximity to an event or occurrence as well as a more limited number of interferences. A sound may indicate an event or occurrence with no definition of what it is, while seeing or smelling something brings a clarity. I can hear a siren well before I see a fire truck or an ambulance, the clarity of seeing them tells me I am in the path of those responding to an emergency. Sound can overwhelm all interferences and indicate something is going on without informing the hearer as to what. The right sound can actually stimulate enough interest so that the hearer will begin to search out the cause of the sound.

The birth of the church which we continue to refer to as Pentecost began with a sound. It did not begin with an advertising campaign, a marketing strategy or even a think tank of cultural experts. It began as a sound in response to the obedience of a small group of believers who chose to “stay in the city until what was promised comes.” (Luke 24:49) A sound that grabbed a city’s attention, a sound that startled an unsuspecting populace, a sound that marked the outpouring of something that had been prophesied Joel 2:28 – 29)but had not been seen. This sound has been reverberating through out the earth ever since and has been causing a stir all along the way.

Throughout history there have strong echoes of that sound as God refreshed His people. Two Great Awakenings, the Welsh Revival, the Moravian Missions Movement, Azusa Street, and many others that have been seasons of God releasing the Holy Spirit into the generations. All significant and all very different in their occurrence and fruit but all mighty to the rescuing of the perishing and strengthening of the Body of Christ. The singular ingredient to each of these was a relatively small group who were coming together regularly and praying. They would simply meet together and pray, crying out for God to do in their day what he had done in ages past and each outpouring of God was His mighty “YES” to what they cried out for.

As we celebrate Pentecost this month and remember where it is this ting called the church was started, may we also be stirred to seek God ourselves for His outpouring upon our generation. May we gather not so much to maintain a habit as to seek that which we cannot give ourselves, the power and life of the Holy Spirit. And may we be a people who will wait until the Lord answers with a sound that is from heaven and invades the earth so that others will hear and come to see what it is that is happening. And the Spirit of God in us gives us the ability to declare to all who hear “the wonderful things God has done!”

Isn’t It Time?

Question: Are these the last days, the end times?

This question seems to be in the thoughts and conversations of many as we witness political, military, and financial struggles increase around the earth. Yet at the same time there have been large scale events and eras throughout history that have stirred this question deeply in years gone by. It would do us all well to spend careful, prayerful time in the Word of God, under the influence of the Spirit of God, before we glibly reply. And some would say that it makes sense since believers have been awaiting the return of the Lord for over 2,000 years. In their thought processes it should be about time, the wait has been long enough. As with many things in the kingdom of God, what we think is, thankfully, not the ruling influence.

“But you must not forget, dear friends, that a day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord isn’t really being slow is about His promise to return, as some people think. No, He is being patient for your sake. He does not want any to perish, so He is giving more time for everyone to repent. But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and everything in them will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be exposed to judgement.” 2 Peter 3:8 – 10 (NLT, 1996 Ed.)

The Lord is coming back and the Word clearly informs us of what the earth and its inhabitants will be going through prior to that wonderful day. There will be problems and issues that are far more escalated than what we see right now. And yet, all the passing of time until that day is a reminder of God’s merciful desire that, “He does not want any to perish”.  I am one who too quickly forgets the Love and desire for relationship with us that burns in the Father’s heart and stirs Him to great patience with us. May the Spirit of God remind us that regardless of when that day does come we are called to a lifestyle of pleasing the Lord, a life of love.

“And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to live a pure and blameless life. Be at peace with God.” 2 Peter 3:14(NLT, 1996 Ed.)