'Church & Community' Tagged Posts (Page 4)
Don’t Be Like the Ant
Don’t be like the ant who thought that it was his strong legs that pushed the log down the river. He overestimated. No pastor, teacher, or serious Christian could possibly know accurately what God does through our words and work. Not really. Evaluation of effects is futile and frustratingly unpredictable. It may be years before gospel seed germinates. How can you know if or when or how He does that? And your most effective moment may come and go without…
Revival May Not Bring What You Expect
Christianity survived and grew in totalitarian regimes in its first centuries and has done so many times since. We need revival desperately, but it does not necessarily create a political/cultural reversal except in individuals and churches. It more likely will increase polarization and bring on added misunderstanding and persecution as it did in the earliest days recorded in Acts. Revival is even strongly associated with splintering among denominations because of the inability of revived people to continue in their old…
Thoughts on Improving Baptisms
Since water baptism is so important to the churches, I want to put forward a few ideas that may help churches make more of this important symbolic act. What I’m suggesting is in the way of pastoral advice, not doctrine. You can take or leave these ideas, but in my own experience and through information received from many pastors over the years, these suggestions could make this experience much more memorable and effective. Most of these suggestions will apply to…
I Give You Control of These Persons
What if God said: “I give you control of these persons around you. Your attitude will be their attitude; your interest their interest; your love their love. When you look at them, you’ll discover yourself. “You can wish that they would rise above you to inspire you, but it will not happen. They will mirror you. In fact, even those above you will be as you are. You will experience the power of your own influence. “At home, your spouse…
Discouraged Pastors
There are plenty of pastors with generous smiles on their faces each Sunday who, deep down, are very disheartened. Pastoring a church is hard work. For one thing, it is usually thankless. I know there are some churches that seem to remember their pastors with such fanfare, but most do not ever esteem them. They don’t work for just the members ultimately, so they can get over it, but never hearing those words, “Thanks for what you do, pastor,” is…
The Integrity of the Local Church
The following is a portion of a conference message presented to the Midwest Southern Baptist Founders Conference, St. Louis, Missouri, March 14, 2001 [revised 2022]. I have chosen chapter 5 of 1 Corinthians to help us consider the integrity of the New Testament Church. This is a short chapter with only 13 verses out of which I wish to uncover five observations. Before I read this passage let me tell you a story that took place in 1837. A protracted…
An Intimate Hour with God
The Lord invites us to know Him better. What a privilege! If the joy of heaven is in knowing the Lord’s presence without any sin to hinder us, surely seeking His presence now must be the greatest possible pursuit. Do you feel your need to pray? A person who has no need to pray cannot be living by faith. Prayerless-ness says, “I am sufficient in myself for everything required of me.” But is that so? And do you not grieve…
Southern Baptists, an Unregenerate Denomination
“How are you doing?” “Pretty well, under the circumstances.” “What are the circumstances?” “Well, I have a very effective arm. It moves with quite a bit of animation. But then I have my bad leg.” “What’s wrong with it?” “I guess it’s paralyzed. At least it doesn’t do much except twitch once a week or so. But that’s nothing compared with the rest of me.” “What’s the problem? “From all appearances, the rest is dead. At least it stinks and…
Say What You Love About God
May I suggest something of value for you to do that has great returns. It is so simple, yet profound and effective. We all can do it. Here it is: DESCRIBE SOMETHING YOU VALUE ABOUT GOD TO OTHERS. I mean by this to thoughtfully tell somebody what God is like. Portray as colorfully as possible a characteristic of the Father, Son, or Spirit that you value and think is worth being known. A believer who could learn to do this…
New Book: The Lord’s Supper is a Meal
Jim’s new book is now available! Free here.
Do We Still Need the Local Church?
The down-the-street local church is not the only show in town anymore. We are able to enjoy faith-building messages, listen to the latest Christian music, and explore the rich diversity and variety found in the most noted Christian gatherings, all with the click of the mouse or the touch of a button. Many local church pastors now say, “The world is my parish,” just as did the horseback-riding evangelist, John Wesley. But they mean this without ever going out of…
Pastors Moving to Other Churches: Why?
There is no biblical record of a pastor leaving one established church to become a pastor of another. This is clearly seen in the starting of new churches. The biblical precedent was for a new church to start without any official leadership. Outside of the Jerusalem church where the apostles were the first leaders, I’m not aware of any church in the New Testament starting with a pastor in place. This may come as a surprise to many, but it…
Reformation or Revival?
If you have been around me very long, you have heard me emphasize that the crying need, the absolutely desperate need of the hour, is reformation. You have also been aware that for years I have also longed for revival. Recently I was asked what the difference actually is, if any, between revival and reformation. This is an important question worthy of your precious time to think it through. Though many are blinded to the current dilemma, the fact is…
How Inclusive Should the Local Church Be?
I once attended a Methodist church Bible study in another city. In the study I was verbally accosted in the class by the husband of the teacher for some things that I said. To my knowledge, I was only saying what any true believer ought to say, but he took exception. After the class we talked further about the different way we looked at the issue. At one point I asked him about an even more foundational matter: Do you…
It Isn’t About Me
When you meet with the body of believers in which God by his sometimes secret design has put you, remember this great truth: it’s not about “me.” You don’t gather mainly about you, but them. “Let all things be done for edification,” Paul said. That is, do all you do together for the building up of others. Amazingly, you will be most edified yourself if you think of the body of Christ in this way. And, it may well lead…
Rebuilding Our Churches with Bible Reading
I’m no prophet, but I believe we may soon see a swelling interest in reading the Bible both together & alone that could rebuild our faltering churches, and improve the good ones. My information is purely anecdotal but substantial. I’m certainly not the only one seeing this tremendous need and trying to do something about it. Perhaps God will use each of us who care about this to repair the crumbling base in these slanderous, corrupt and morally compromised days.…