Colin S. Smith's Blog, page 12

Your Church Doesn’t Need More Fans

We’re all prone to “fan mentality.” It’s when you think or do something because of your attraction to an individual, brand, or style. For example, as a Cubs fan, I started watching Yankees games when Anthony Rizzo was traded there last July.

This fan mentality affects our interests in books, sports, merchandise, and more. But when applied to church, fan mentality undermines true Christian community. 

There are many ways fan mentality conflicts with biblical ideas that belong to what we might call “flock mentality.” Here are three.

Choice vs. Call

With a fan mentality, one’s church involvement is often driven by an attraction to the pastor’s giftedness, the worship team’s vibe, or even the church’s theological distinctives. More often than not, if you join a church based on fan mentality, you’ll leave quickly when your favorite pastor retires or when you bore of the worship style.

Two important clarifications:

The problem is not gifted pastors, theological distinctives, or good worship vibes. The problem is a Christian’s tying church attendance to personal preferences.The problem is not liking your pastor—he is, after all, God’s gift to your church (Eph. 4:11)—but placing yourself, and your “ideal pastor” preferences, as the central concern.

Fan mentality frames church in terms of personal choice. Flock mentality frames it in terms of calling. Fan mentality says choose the church with the most attractive person, style, or brand to you. Flock mentality says submit to God’s leading to the church you need. Church is about choice, but it’s about God’s choice to call you into his church—not your choice to pick a church that suits you.

Celebrity vs. Shepherd

The role of a pastor/shepherd is not to draw Christians to himself, but to point Christians to the true Shepherd (1 Pet. 2:25) and help build up the body so it may “grow in every way into him who is the head, into Christ” (Eph. 4:15). Ultimately, church is not about how great your pastor is, but how great God is.

Yet fan mentality is all too eager to cherish the greatness of individual men. It can make a near-divine image, a holy caricature, of a pastor. Viral YouTube sermons and bestselling book series can become idolatrous treasures for the fan who has staked a church choice on one man’s giftedness.

Flock-mentality members, in contrast, love their pastor not as a celebrity, but as someone who is one of them. They’re close enough to see his mistakes and hold him accountable; close enough to see his growth, and him theirs.

For this reason, the famous man preaching on your computer screen cannot be your main spiritual leader. The flock needs a physically present spiritual leader. Therefore, embrace a more incarnational form of spiritual leadership.

Spectating vs. Responsibility

You may consider me a bad sports fan, but I don’t enjoy Cubs baseball now that my favorite player is gone.

My relationship with the Cubs was based primarily on my fandom of Anthony Rizzo. When I attended games, I had no interest in hot dogs or the other fans around me. It was all about me watching Rizzo. This may be fine for a baseball game, but it does not work for the church.

In Ephesians 4:16, Paul explains that the growth of the church depends not only on the gifted leaders, but also on the gifts of the individual members of the body. The body of Christ is “held together by every joint with which it is equipped,” and it grows “when each part is working properly.”

Fan mentality deceives us into thinking we’re individual spectators in church. But the biblical ideal is different. Christ has given gifts “to each one of us” (Eph. 4:7), and the good works you can offer are not only wanted and needed for the growth of your church, but also prepared beforehand by God himself (Eph. 2:10).

Don’t let church become all about you watching the pastor. Embrace flock mentality and walk in your responsibilities of building up other members of the body, including both the sheep and the shepherd.

Be the Flock

The church is not a place we choose; it’s a place to which we’ve been called. We are called there not to cherish human fame, but to cherish Christ. And we’re called not to an individualized entertainment experience, but to use our gifts to build up the whole community.

Fan mentality is a widespread temptation—especially in a culture of consumerism and celebrity. But it’s deadly when we bring it to church. Instead of fans, let’s be the flock—gathering together out of reverence to the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls.

 

 

This article was originally shared on The Gospel Coalition and is shared with the author’s permission.

God’s Blessing: A Gift or A Right?

Our culture of independence clamors over ‘rights.’ As a believer, I can fall prey to this view and begin to see God’s promise to bless as one of those rights. However, recognizing His promise is a gift and not a right restores the Lord’s perspective to various relationships in my life, even my relationship to the blessings themselves.

My Relationship to God 

God is the source of all good gifts, of all blessings. James reminds us, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17). Remembering God’s promise to bless is a gift and not a right keeps my relationship to God in proper perspective. 

Jesus makes this point in a parable in Matthew 20:1–16. Day laborers arrived at a vineyard at various hours to work for an agreed wage. Each of the laborers held expectations for the vineyard owner. The workers arriving in the cool of the morning agreed to a day’s wage; other workers came later in the afternoon. However, at the end of the day, the vineyard owner gave the same wage to all the laborers. Those who worked the entire day grumbled about this seemingly unfair situation. Addressing their complaint, the vineyard owner replied, “Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?” (Matthew 20:15). 

God’s blessings are not wages earned for our works, they are gifts. And when I lose this perspective, I become like those ungrateful workers, forgetting these blessings come to me from the hand of a generous God.

My Relationship to Others

Recognizing that all I have, even my righteousness before God, comes as gifts from God also puts my relationship to others in proper perspective. 

In Luke 18:9–14, Jesus tells the story of two men, a tax collector and a Pharisee, who were praying in the temple. The tax collector asks only for mercy, acknowledging his sin. But the Pharisee, under pretense of gratitude, begins listing his good deeds before God. “I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.” Believing his righteousness comes from his own efforts, the Pharisee considers others with derision, “God, I thank you that I am not like other men.” 

When I recognize any good in me, any talents or accomplishments, are gifts from a loving God, I see others as fellow recipients of God’s grace, and I can rejoice with them in God’s goodness, treating them with humility and love.

My Relationship to Works

Similarly, knowing God’s blessings come as gifts thwarts my tendency toward legalism. The Scriptures clearly say salvation did not come to me through my work. God the Father, in His grace, gave up His most precious gift, God the Son, to have the joy of blessing me with salvation (Rom. 5:8). What can I give to God that did not come from His hand? Why would I strive to receive from God’s hand things freely given to me as gifts? 

My Relationship to Blessings

Finally, knowing all blessings are gifts from God puts my relationship to the blessings in perspective. Many of these benefits are spiritual blessings resting securely for me in the heavenly places (Eph. 1:3). But other blessings such as a steady income, a roof over my head, and money in the bank do not come with guarantees. 

If I’m looking to God only for the blessings, I need to check my heart. Job had the right attitude in the face of loss, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:21). True worship finds joy in God first and foremost. 

Eyes on the One Who Blesses

God never intends His blessings to replace my affection for Him. I must look past the gifts to the Giver and enjoy these blessings, keeping my eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ, “the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Ps. 73:26). Remembering God’s blessings are a privilege fills me with gratitude for the grace the Lord extends to me and draws me deeper into my love relationship with Him, the Source of all good things.

For Anxious People Like Us

I don’t have to tell you that these are anxious times. You probably woke up this morning to an ongoing set of worries, and perhaps a few new ones.

Let’s open God’s Word together to see what He has to say to people like us who are daily being bombarded with all kinds of anxiety-producing circumstances and decisions.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand.

Philippians 4:4-5 (ESV)

 Notice the three reminders that God gives to His anxious people:

1. Anxious people need to be reminded to rejoice in the Lord (4:4).

Not once, but twice! It’s okay to rejoice in the Lord during a pandemic. More than that, you need to rejoice in the Lord, because the joy of the Lord is your strength (Nehemiah 8:10). Are you taking time to rejoice in the Lord? If not, please receive this as a word from the Lord to you today.

2. Anxious people need to be reminded that it is possible to be gentle even under trying circumstances (4:5).

You might be wondering why I said “gentle” instead of “reasonable.” A number of translations, including the NIV (New International Version) translate the word here as “a gentle spirit” or “gentleness.”

Under trying circumstances, we often react more strongly, more harshly than normal, and God can use these circumstances for our good–to show us what’s in our heart and reveal areas of sin.

You may feel today, because of some trying situation, that it is almost impossible for you to be gentle with someone or in some particular situation. But this is what God is calling you to. 

When you lack the thing that God calls you to, that means you can ask Him for it. Pray that God would grant you a gentle spirit with that difficult child, that demanding boss, or that struggling spouse.

3. Anxious people need to be reminded that the Lord is near (4:5).

We know, intellectually, that God is near, but when anxieties come our experience of the presence of God is often the first thing to go, and doubt can begin to creep into our hearts and minds.

That’s why in the Old Testament God says to His people, “Do not be afraid… for the Lord your God is with you” (1 Chronicles 28:20), and why He says in the New Testament, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).

God said this to fearful believers in the past because they wondered, when trouble came, if God was still with them. And He says these words to us today, right in the middle of our anxiety.

After these three reminders, God addresses the anxiety directly:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7 (ESV)

Let’s unpack three key features of these verses that will help us fight anxiety.

1. Focus on the Person of God

We are to let our requests “be made known to God” (emphasis mine). Prayer is personal communication with God, and we need to remind ourselves Who we are talking to before we bring our requests.

In the Lord’s Prayer, where Jesus taught His disciples how to pray, He didn’t jump right in to listing our most urgent needs. Instead, He begins with “Our Father, who art in heaven…” It is a short phrase, but there is enough here to orient ourselves to God. Our Father… We have a relationship with You. You care about us. We are sons and daughters. It’s right for us to come and ask. …who art in heaven. Our Father lives in heaven! He lives in a place we have never seen. He has ten thousand times ten thousand angels who serve Him there, and that means He is powerful and able to help us.

You get the idea. Begin with prayer, reminding yourself who God is, before you bring your requests.

How do we keep our requests from simply becoming an exercise in “worry on our knees”? We must marinade our requests in God’s goodness, like a steak, before we bring them to God. This is where prayer begins, and it is how anxious people like us are to bring our requests to God.

2. Prayer and Supplication

The temptation for us is to say, “Oh, God, you know everything. You already know what I need before I ask. Just help me!” And sometimes that’s the best we can do. But other times we just need to set aside time to sit down and talk to God.

Remember, anxiety is often caused by fear of the unknown, and fears that are kept in the dark will grow.

When you sit down with a good friend to talk about a problem, what happens? You tell them every detail… He said this, and then I said that. What if this happens? What if that happens? Sometimes you talk for hours.

Do the same with God. Pour out your heart to Him. Bring out every fear, every anxiety into the light of God’s presence. That’s supplication, and that is how anxious people like us are to bring our requests to God.

3. Thanksgiving

Now you might be wondering, What does thanksgiving have to do with anxiety? That is a good question. What are we doing when we thank God?

Thanksgiving reminds us of the faithfulness of God in the past. It fans both the flame of our faith and our confidence in God for the future. It reminds us that God hears us, and that He is willing and able to help us today. So don’t forget thanksgiving.

The Path to Peace

Let me leave you with a definition of anxiety from Pastor Colin Smith, it’s helped me more times than I can count. “Anxiety is anticipating a future problem, without also anticipating the Lord’s help.” 

The next time you are feeling anxious, bring your requests to God by praying and supplication with thanksgiving. And when you do this, you can count on God to guard your heart and mind with His peace.

When You’re Overwhelmed with Prayer Needs

Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic began, I’ve felt bombarded with major prayer requests. One day I hear news of sick and struggling family members, the next I hear a church friend report that she has cancer. A steady stream of WhatsApp messages report crushing trials for international ministry partners. Then I look at the news and hear of turmoil in Afghanistan, an earthquake in Haiti, and a growing darkness in our country—and this doesn’t even account for the prayer concerns in my own extended family that I seldom seem to remember before the Lord.

The more my various inboxes fill with pressing concerns, the more I feel like a dam about to burst. It’s overwhelming, making me want to throw my hands in the air and quit praying, or pray with guilt as my motivator, something that won’t sustain faithful intercession over the long haul.

How can we persevere as intercessors and not let the weight of the world’s problems crush us? Here are six suggestions.

1. Be Realistic

There will always be more to pray for than you have time and ability to handle—this is especially true with social media gathering prayer concerns from all over the world. God doesn’t expect you to pray for all the world’s concerns, but He does expect you to pray for some. Let your limitations drive you to the humble realization that you can’t do it all, and to a greater dependence on the One Who can. Then resolve to use the limited time God has given you to pray as faithfully as possible over the long-term.

2. Conduct Prayer-Request Triage

Ask these three questions when weighing the importance of prayer requests:

Should I pray for this? The family crisis of a friend in your small group probably does merit prayer, a sick dog you hear about on Twitter probably not. (Sorry, Sparky.) The closer a situation is to you, the more likely God wants you to pray for it.How urgent and important is this for me to pray about? Some prayer requests are one and done—pray as soon as you hear it, and then move on. Others require more thought, energy, and long-term commitment.How often should I pray for this? Depending on how close you are to the situation and how important it is, you may want to pray regularly for a request. I recommend thinking in terms of daily, weekly, and monthly rhythms of prayer.3. Organize Requests

Once you have triaged prayer requests, plug the requests into a system for organizing prayer requests. If you don’t have such a system, create one. You might try using index cards, a prayer journal, an app like PrayerMate, or something similar. The goal is to create a simple system that will remind you regularly of a variety of prayer concerns. When you come to a prayer request that’s been in your rotation for a while, you can update it or remove it. Not every prayer concern is for the long-term.

4. Schedule Prayer

Busyness can kill our good intentions for prayer. That’s why planning is key. Maybe your morning prayer time suffices for working through prayer requests, maybe pressing concerns spur special times of prayer throughout the day. If our prayer concerns are organized and we have a plan to pray through them, we will intercede more faithfully over the long run than if we didn’t intentionally take these steps.

5. Ask Others for Help

When flooded with pressing prayer concerns, reach out to others. Ask them for help or to pray with you. If you are a leader in the church, budget extra time in small groups and meetings for praying through critical prayer needs. You may find bringing printed sheets with specific prayer requests will help your group focus on prayer and pray more specifically for the matters at hand. If you have a large group, divide up the prayer requests for smaller groups who can pray over each one more deeply.

6. Trust 

Even when the burdens of a broken world overwhelm us, we can rest confident that God doesn’t call us to do more than we’re able. We’re not Superman. We’re not the world’s saviors. We don’t hold the universe together—He does (Col. 1:17), and there’s nothing more exhausting than forgetting that fact. He knows our limitations, hears our prayers, and goes beyond our weaknesses to work out His redemptive purposes in the world.

Your Prayers Can Change History

Our intentionality in constructing a life of intercession isn’t simply to quell our guilty consciences, it is to express faith in the God we pray to, express love to those we pray for, and express the God-glorifying yearning of “Your kingdom come” for our broken world.

Instead of letting a mountain of prayer requests overwhelm you, let the surpassing power of God to answer prayer overwhelm you and drive you to prayer. Just like one seed can eventually become an entire forest, one single prayer could change a life, a nation, or the course of human history. The question for each one of us is, will we work diligently sowing seeds for the kingdom, or will we enter heaven with prayers left unprayed?

Three Ways to Discover the Whole Story of the Bible

In early 2019, Unlocking the Bible launched OPEN as a free, online tool that takes an individual or group through the whole Bible story. OPEN is based on the 4-volume set Unlocking the Bible Story by Colin Smith, the Senior Pastor of The Orchard, a multi-site church in Chicagoland.

This free website is for anyone, at any point of their understanding of the Bible, to see how the whole Bible story fits together.

With nearly 100,000 worldwide users, OpentheBible.org (OPEN) now provides three different, yet powerful journeys through the Bible story:

The Flight is a 3-session journey through the Bible that will introduce you to 5 people from the Old Testament, 5 events from the life of Jesus, and 5 gifts God gives to every Christian. It doesn’t matter how much or how little you know about the Bible, the Flight is a great place to begin.

The Drive is a 30-session journey that explores the peaks and valleys of the Bible story. Once you’ve completed The Flight, The Drive will take you deeper into the valleys of the Old Testament, the peaks of the glory of Jesus, and the ups and downs of the Christian life. (You might consider the print companion to “The Drive” called Open the Bible in 30 Days.)

The Hike is our most rigorous path through the Bible story. If you’re up for a challenge and you want to dig deep roots into God’s Word, this 50-session journey is for you. Each session includes 5 questions for personal reflection or group discussion.

Each path includes a scripture passage, discussion question(s), and resources for further study. OPEN is now available in Albanian and Japanese with other translations (including Spanish) coming soon.

Get to Know Open the Bible

 

Visit OpentheBible.org to start your journey.

Ask God to Send Gospel Workers

Have you noticed the massive staff shortage across industries during this extended season of COVID? I can’t drive a mile without seeing a “help wanted” sign. I’ve waited a long time lately at restaurants for a table and then my meal. It wasn’t for a lack of tables. And it wasn’t for a lack of food. It was for a lack of workers. Workers are scarce. The same is true in the kingdom. That’s why Jesus tells His disciples… 

“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (Matthew 9:37-38) 

Too often, when reading this passage, we feel guilty, throw up a quick prayer and move on. But this is a command, one Jesus gave to His disciples and one relevant for us today. 

Pray Earnestly 

This command to pray earnestly comes from the Greek deomai which can be translated ask, beg, or plead. The Apostle Paul pleaded with God three times to remove the thorn from his side (2 Corinthians 12:8). I confess I haven’t pleaded with God to send workers with the same urgency as I have begged him to remove pain for myself or those I love. I lack His compassion:  

“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” Matthew 9:36 

Jesus is truly concerned for the harassed and helpless. My heart also breaks when I see images of abused children, abandoned refugees, or hear of anyone victimized by the very people who are meant to protect them.1 

But God showed me that my compassion for the spiritually sick and blind did not match my sympathy for the physically abused. Nor had I pitied people being led astray in churches with faulty doctrine like I pitied the poor refugee separated from home and family. Worst of all, I hadn’t remembered I was once one of those sick, blind, and misled sinners whom He rescued.  

Compassion and gratitude fuel earnest prayer.  

Pray for Laborers 

What kind of workers are we to pray for?  

“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.” Ephesians 4:11 

Ask the Lord to call, equip, and deploy skilled, wise, and godly pastors, church planters, and missionaries who faithfully preach His Word. Pray He would send them to every inch of the earth, big cities, and obscure little towns, overseas and in your neighborhood. Ask God to send ordinary saints. Everyone with faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins is meant to participate in the work of ministry.  

There are people eagerly waiting to hear the gospel, the harvest is plenty! And Jesus, the Bread of Life, and Living Water is ready to quench their hunger and thirst. What we need are workers! Pray God sends them.  

Pray with Faith  

When you pray for workers, remember you are asking the Lord of the harvest. He presides over the harvest. It’s His harvest. He wants it reaped for His glory. This prayer aligns with His will.  

Did you notice that before commanding us to pray for Him to send workers, God led with “the harvest is plentiful”? God knows we often doubt people want to hear the gospel, so He guarantees some are ripe to receive the gospel message. This helps us pray with confident expectation that He will answer. 

God’s sheep are on His mind. He chose them before time began. It’s not a small flock. It’s a literal harvest. And the earnest prayer of His disciples is His means of getting workers into those harvest fields. He involves us in His redeeming work. We are to pray.  

You May Be the Answer to Your Prayer 

It’s not a risk to ask God to send other laborers to do His work. We need to pray remembering God may send us to do the work! We are all His laborers. We can all be used by God to send workers into harvest fields by praying, financially supporting missionaries and church planters, and by going ourselves. Whether His mission field for us is overseas or in our own neighborhood, let’s pray with the same posture of the prophet Isaiah who answered the Lord’s call, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” with “Here I am! Send me” (Isaiah 6:8).  

Several years ago, my friend Tim reflected on Matthew 9:37-38.2 He told a story from his days working at a bookstore where he was responsible for selling memberships. It was the store’s policy to offer membership to every customer at checkout. Tim faithfully shared the benefits with each customer using the same basic script and delivery each time. He said some cut him off with complete disinterest – a quick rejection. Others listened to the whole speech and asked to think it over. But many accepted on the spot, often before he even finished his script. He realized those people had been ready to say yes to the offer before they even entered the store. He could not accurately predict who would say yes, no, or that they would consider it. He was often surprised by their reactions.   

The same is true when we share the gospel. We don’t know who will gladly place their faith in Christ, who will reject Him, or who will ponder and believe later, so we must tell them all! And we must pray that others will be sent to tell them. 

 

 

You may also enjoy: Is the World Getting Better or Worse? Yes.

7 Traits of False Teachers

“There were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you.” (2 Peter 2:1)

There are no “ifs, ands, or buts” in Peter’s words. It’s a clear and definite statement. There were false prophets among the people (of Israel in the Old Testament). That’s a matter of history. False prophets were a constant problem in the Old Testament, and those who falsely claimed to be prophets of God were to be stoned. The people rarely had the will to deal with them, so they multiplied, causing disaster to the spiritual life of God’s people.

In the same way Peter says, “There will be false teachers among you.” Notice the words “among you.” Peter is writing to the church and says, “There will be false prophets among you.” So he is not talking about New Age people on television. He is talking about people in the local church, members of a local congregation.

There is no such thing as a pure church this side of heaven. You will never find it. The wheat and the tares grow together. Warren Wiersbe writes:

Satan is the counterfeiter. . . . He has a false gospel (Galatians 1:6-9), preached by false ministers (2 Corinthians 11:13-12), producing false Christians (2 Corinthians 11:26). . . . Satan plants his counterfeits wherever God plants true believers (Matthew 13:38).

Authentic or Counterfeit?

How would you recognize counterfeit Christianity?

In 2 Peter 1 we read about genuine believers. And in 2 Peter 2 we read about counterfeit believers. If you put these chapters side by side you will see the difference between authentic and counterfeit believers.

1. Different Source—Where does the message come from?

Peter says, “We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1:16). And then he says the false teachers exploit you “with stories they have made up” (2:3). So the true teacher sources what he says from the Bible. The false teacher relies on his own creativity. He makes up his own message.

2. Different Message—What is the substance of the message?

For the true teacher, Jesus Christ is central. “We have everything we need for life and godliness in Him” (1:3). For the false teacher, Jesus is at the margins: “They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them” (2:1).

Notice the word secretly. It’s rare for someone in church to openly deny Jesus. Movement away from the centrality of Christ is subtle. The false teacher will speak about how other people can help change your life, but if you listen carefully to what he is saying, you will see that Jesus Christ is not essential to his message.

3. Different Position—In what position will the message leave you?

The true Christian “escapes the corruption in the world caused by evil desires” (1:4). Listen to how Peter describes the counterfeit Christian: “They promise . . . freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity, for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him” (2:19). The true believer is escaping corruption, while the counterfeit believer is mastered by it.

4. Different Character—What kind of people does the message produce?

The true believer pursues goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brother kindness, and love (1:5). The counterfeit Christian is marked by arrogance and slander (2:10). They are “experts in greed” and “their eyes are full of adultery” (2:14). They also “despise authority” (2:10). This is a general characteristic of a counterfeit believer.

5. Different Appeal—Why should you listen to the message?

The true teacher appeals to Scripture. “We have the word of the prophets made more certain and you will do well to pay attention to it” (1:19). God has spoken, and the true teacher appeals to his Word. The false teacher makes a rather different appeal: “By appealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error” (2:18). So the true teacher asks, “What has God said in his Word?” The false teacher asks, “What do people want to hear? What will appeal to their flesh?”

6. Different Fruit—What result does the message have in people’s lives?

The true believer is effective and productive in his or her knowledge of Jesus Christ (1:8). The counterfeit is “like a spring without water” (2:17). This is an extraordinary picture! They promise much but produce little.

7. Different End—Where does the message ultimately lead you?

Here we find the most disturbing contrast of all. The true believer will receive “a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1:11). The false believer will experience “swift destruction” (2:1). “Their condemnation has long been hanging over them and their destruction has not been sleeping” (2:3).

Jesus tells us that there will be many who have been involved in ministry in his name, to whom he will say, “Depart from me; I never knew you” (Matthew 7:21). Who are these people? Surely Peter is describing them in this passage.

Don’t Be Naïve

We must not be ignorant: “There will be false teachers among you” (2:1). So how do we apply this warning?

First, Peter’s plain statement reminds us that the church needs to be protected. Among the many wonderful people who come to through the doors of the church each year, some would do more harm than good.

They may seem the nicest of people, but they do not believe in the authority of the Bible or the exclusivity of salvation in Christ. We welcome such people, because they need Christ as much as we do, but we must not allow them to have influence in the church.

Second, skeptics will always be able to point to hypocrisy and inconsistency in the church. They’ve always done it, and they always will. One of the strangest reasons for not following Christ goes like this: “I’ve seen people in the church who are hypocrites.” So you will not follow Christ because some people who claim to do so are hypocrites?

The existence of the counterfeit is never a good reason for rejecting the genuine. Peter essentially tells us, “Of course there are counterfeit Christians. Of course there are teachers who do the church more harm than good. What else would you expect in this fallen world? Grow up! Don’t be naïve! Don’t miss what’s real simply because you have seen the counterfeit.”

Point to 2 Peter 2:1 the next time you meet someone hiding behind this excuse.

 

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This article was adapted from the sermon “Everything You Need for Deliverance” from the series on 2 Peter Everything You Need for Life.

God Is On Trial So Read the Evidence

For good reason, our society has developed a heightened awareness of prejudice. Whether it’s racial prejudice, gender prejudice, or any other pre-judging that occurs, voices condemning the perils of prejudice are growing louder.

But have you ever heard anyone call out God prejudice?

Prejudice Against God

Imagine yourself in a court of law. You are part of the jury, and the writers of the Bible present you with evidence about God and about His Son, Jesus Christ.

When they are finished, they will look to you for a verdict. All they ask is an objective assessment of the evidence, that you listen without prejudice.

But this need for objectivity is precisely the problem. We all have issues that make it difficult for us to hear the evidence, and we find it hard to set aside our God prejudice.

We are prejudiced against the God of the Bible because we know that if He really exists, and if He entered the world through Jesus Christ, our lives would have to change.

By nature, we don’t want to consider this possibility. So, we do whatever we can to be excused from the jury. “Sorry, I cannot impartially try this case.”

Evidence for God

But, in an ironic twist, while avoiding a seat on the jury, most people still want to see the evidence! The Bible is by far the best-selling book of all time, with over 5 billion copies sold. The evidence in the case at hand is more widely distributed than any other gathering of information in history.

But many bibles never get opened. Why?

For starters, the Bible can be intimidating. With over 800,000 words it is daunting. It is made up of sixty six, seemingly disconnected books, and it is full of unfamiliar people, places, and events.

Not to mention, the stories recounted are sometimes hard to believe— a virgin birth, a resurrection, and a God who speaks. Our aim must be to introduce the Bible to people who otherwise might be hesitant to open it by themselves—so that everyone who wants to can hear the Word of God for themself.

Read the Evidence – Open the Bible

My invitation to people who don’t believe is to open the Bible.  Discover this world with its awesome God, His often confused and messed up people, and His great promise to bring blessing to all.  Listen to what God has said, look at what He has done, and you may find that, far from being a relic of the past, the Bible is the means by which God speaks to you today.

Christians must follow the example of the New Testament apostles, who were not authoritarian preachers standing on soapboxes shouting “Believe! Believe!” They were compassionate pastors, laying out the evidence of what they saw and heard from Jesus Christ, so that people could consider it honestly and come to a verdict.

The Bible presents the evidence on which faith is based. The Apostle John said, “These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31).

The evidence is compelling. So don’t let prejudice stop you from opening God’s Word. An honest look at the evidence may change your life.

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Join Pastor Colin for a free three-hour virtual tour of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation with the Open the Bible event on October 16, 2021, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. CST.

25 Classic Hymns the Church Should Rediscover

I have heard people say that the language of the hymns from centuries past is too antiquated for a modern audience, but that wasn’t the case for me.

Even as an unbelieving nineteen-year-old who had been invited to attend church by a friend, the words of Charles Wesley profoundly impacted me the very first time I heard them,

“And can it be that I should gain an interest in the Savior’s blood? Died he for me who caused his pain, for me who him to death pursued? Amazing love, how can it be that thou my God should’st die for me?”

That first experience with hearing and singing Charles Wesley sparked a life-long love for hymnody.

Even before God saved me, He used hymns to strike awe and wonder into my heart as I pondered this God to whom the congregation sang so passionately. I was drawn by their scriptural truths and taught by them. And hymnody profoundly impacted the way I understood God. 

However, after the Lord saved me, I began to notice that many who attend broadly evangelical churches are not familiar with much of hymnody. So, I decided to put together a list of 25 of the best classic hymns that the church doesn’t sing much anymore but should. My prayer is that these will bless your soul as much as they have mine.**

1. “The Ninety And Nine” by Elizabeth Cecilia Clephane (1868)

There were ninety and nine that safely lay / In the shelter of the fold / But one was out on the hills away / Far off from the gates of gold / Away on the mountains wild and bare / Away from the tender Shepherd’s care.

2. “Jesus Lover Of My Soul” by Charles Wesley (1740)

Jesus, lover of my soul / Let me to Thy bosom fly / While the nearer waters roll / While the tempest still is high / Hide me, O my Savior, hide / Till the storm of life is past / Safe into the haven guide / Oh, receive my soul at last.

3. “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah” by William Williams (1745)

Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah / Pilgrim through this barren land / I am weak, but Thou art mighty / Hold me with Thy pow’rful hand / Bread of heaven, Bread of heaven / Feed me till I want no more / Feed me till I want no more.

4. “Arise, My Soul, Arise” by Charles Wesley (1742)

Arise, my soul, arise; shake off thy guilty fears / The bleeding Sacrifice in my behalf appears / Before the throne my surety stands / Before the throne my surety stands / My name is written on His hands.

5. “Revive Us Again” by W. P. Mackay (1867)

We praise Thee, O God! / For the Son of Thy love / For Jesus Who died / And is now gone above

Refrain: Hallelujah! Thine the glory / Hallelujah! Amen / Hallelujah! Thine the glory / Revive us again.

6. “Deeper And Deeper” by Oswald J. Smith (1915)

Into the heart of Jesus / Deeper and deeper I go / Seeking to know the reason / Why He should love me so / Why He should stoop to lift me / Up from the miry clay / Saving my soul, making me whole / Though I had wandered away.

7. “Praise, My Soul The King Of Heaven” by Henry Francis Lyte

Praise, my soul, the King of Heaven / To His feet thy tribute bring / Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven / Evermore His praises sing / Praise Him, praise Him, alleluia! / Praise the everlasting King.

8. “Jesus Is All The World To Me” by Will Thompson (1904)

Jesus is all the world to me / My life, my joy, my all / He is my strength from day to day / Without Him I would fall / When I am sad, to Him I go / No other one can cheer me so / When I am sad, He makes me glad/ He’s my Friend.

9. “Jesus, Keep Me Near The Cross” by Fanny Crosby (1869)

Jesus, keep me near the cross / There a precious fountain / Free to all, a healing stream / Flows from Calv’ry’s mountain

Refrain: In the cross, in the cross / Be my glory ever / Till my raptured soul shall find / Rest beyond the river.

10. “I Know Whom I Have Believed” by Daniel W. Whittle (1883)

I know not why God’s wondrous grace / To me He hath made known / Nor why, unworthy, Christ in love / Redeemed me for His own.

Refrain: But “I know Whom I have believed / And am persuaded that He is able / To keep that which I’ve committed / Unto Him against that day.

11. “Eternal Father Strong To Save” by William Whiting (1860)

Eternal Father, strong to save / Whose arm doth bind the restless wave / Who bid’st the mighty ocean deep / Its own appointed limits keep / Oh hear us when we cry to Thee / For those in peril on the sea.

12. “Alas And Did My Saviour Bleed” by Isaac Watts (1707)

Alas! and did my Savior bleed / And did my Sov’reign die? / Would He devote that sacred head / For such a worm as I?

Refrain: At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light / And the burden of my heart rolled away / It was there by faith I received my sight / And now I am happy all the day!

13. “Wonderful Words Of Life” by P. P. Bliss (1874)

Sing them over again to me / Wonderful words of life / Let me more of their beauty see / Wonderful words of life / Words of life and beauty / Teach me faith and duty.

14. “O’ Sacred Head Sore Wounded” by Bernard Of Clairvaux

O sacred Head, now wounded, with grief and shame weighed down / Now scornfully surrounded with thorns, Thine only crown / O sacred Head, what glory, what bliss till now was Thine! Yet, though despised and gory, I joy to call Thee mine.

15. “Hold The Fort” by P. P. Bliss (1870)

Ho, my comrades, see the signal, waving in the sky! / Reinforcements now appearing, victory is nigh.

Refrain: / “Hold the fort, for I am coming,” Jesus signals still / Wave the answer back to Heaven, “By Thy grace we will.”

16. “Christ Arose” by Robert Lowry (1874)

Refrain: Up from the grave He arose / With a mighty triumph o’er His foes / He arose a Victor from the dark domain / And He lives forever, with His saints to reign / He arose! He arose! / Hallelujah! Christ arose!

17. “The Bible Stands” by Haldor Lillenas (1885-1959)

The Bible stands though the hills may tumble / It will firmly stand when the earth shall crumble / I will plant my feet on its firm foundation / For the Bible stands.

18. “I Heard The Voice Of Jesus Say” by Horatius Bonar (1886)

I heard the voice of Jesus say / “Come unto Me and rest / Lay down, thou weary one, lay down / Thy head upon My breast.” / I came to Jesus as I was / Weary and worn and sad / I found in Him a resting place / And He has made me glad.

19. “He Is Coming Again” by Maybel J. Camp

Lift up your heads, pilgrims aweary / See day’s approach now crimson the sky / Night shadows flee, and your Belovèd / Awaited with longing, at last draweth nigh.

Refrain: He is coming again, He is coming again / The very same Jesus, rejected of men / He is coming again, He is coming again / With power and great glory, He is coming again!

20. “Almost Persuaded” by P. P. Bliss (1871)

“Almost persuaded” now to believe / “Almost persuaded” Christ to receive / Seems now some soul to say / “Go, Spirit, go Thy way / Some more convenient day / On Thee I’ll call.”

21. “My Jesus, I Love Thee” by William Featherstone (1862)

My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine / For Thee all the follies of sin I resign / My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou / If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

22. “In The Garden” by Charles Austin Miles (1913)

I come to the garden alone / While the dew is still on the roses / And the voice I hear falling on my ear / The Son of God discloses.

Refrain: And He walks with me, and He talks with me / And He tells me I am His own / And the joy we share as we tarry there / None other has ever known.

23. “Fairest Lord Jesus” by Anonymous

Fairest Lord Jesus, Ruler of all nature / O Thou of God and man the Son / Thee will I cherish, Thee will I honor / Thou, my soul’s glory, joy and crown.

24. “Immortal Invisible” by Walter C. Smith (1867)

Immortal, invisible, God only wise / In light inaccessible, hid from our eyes / Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days / Almighty, victorious, Thy great name we praise.

25. “God Be With You Till We Meet Again” by Jeremiah Rankin (1880)

God be with you till we meet again / By His counsels guide, uphold you / With His sheep securely fold you / God be with you till we meet again.

Refrain: Till we meet, till we meet / Till we meet at Jesus’ feet / Till we meet, till we meet / God be with you till we meet again.

** Disclaimer: Links to YouTube do not carry any endorsement other than the original song and lyrics.

 

You may also enjoy: To Those Who Are Frustrated with Church

 

How the Lord’s Prayer Can Help You Overcome Your Prayer Struggles

The reason there are so many books on prayer is that even after reading them, we still struggle to pray. Some reasons are intellectual—we don’t know how or why to pray in a particular situation. Some are volitional—our hearts are distracted or apathetic. Still other reasons are due to lacking proper practical tools.

As I’ve pondered how to grow in prayer, one simple solution has stood out as a versatile tool for overcoming our struggles: the Lord’s Prayer. This should come as no surprise, since this is the way Jesus taught his disciples to pray (Matt. 6:9–13).

Here’s how the Lord’s Prayer helps us overcome six common prayer struggles.

1. We forget why prayer matters.

Perhaps the most foundational reason we struggle to pray is that we forget prayer’s purpose. The Lord’s Prayer reminds us. We pray in order to glorify our heavenly Father. We pray in order to unify our hearts with his kingdom vision for the world and to align ourselves with his will. We pray for provision, pardon, and protection from the evil that comes from both inside and outside us.

2. We aren’t sure God hears us.

This suspicion leads many to neglect prayer, which is the only guaranteed way for God not to hear our prayers. The Lord’s Prayer reminds us that we pray to God our Father. A good father hears the cries and requests of his children. God, our perfect Father, always hears us and always answers us in his way and his timing (not always in the way we want, however).

3. We don’t know what to pray.

Sometimes believers don’t know what to pray, or they pray the same thing over and over and stop praying due to the monotony. The Lord’s Prayer gives us a Spirit-inspired path for knowing what to say in prayer. You might take a general approach to saying the Lord’s Prayer, using its petitions as a template and filling them in with specific praises and requests.

Martin Luther recommended this technique in his brief book A Simple Way to Pray. You might also use a specific approach and filter one person or situation through the petitions of the Lord’s Prayer. I’ve found this a helpful way to pray for both spiritual battles and everyday matters.

4. We become distracted.

Peter admonishes us to “be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers” (1 Pet. 4:7), and Paul adds that we are to “continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it” (Col. 4:2). We can’t be sober-minded or watchful in prayer if our minds are somewhere else. My to-do list, phone notifications, and young daughter all want my attention. The Lord’s Prayer guides us on a mental path that helps the mind focus on each step of the journey.

The Lord’s Prayer template can also be a helpful way to renew prayer after being interrupted: If I’ve made it through the “Your will be done” petition and need to step away for whatever reason, I make a mental note of where I left off and later return to pray with “Give us this day our daily bread.”

5. We feel guilty.

Sometimes we may feel guilty because of specific sin, or maybe we because our prayer lives are lackluster. The Lord’s Prayer cuts through our guilt by reminding us of the grace that comes when we pray “forgive us our debts.” Be encouraged: God prescribes this petition for sinners, meaning he fully expects you to need this petition and he fully wants to answer it. This petition has confession of sins built in, reminding us, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). The Lord’s Prayer tells us: Our guilt should not keep us from prayer, but should drive us to it.

6. We are busy.

The brevity of the Lord’s Prayer has something to teach excuse-making busybodies like me. To pray the 52 words of the Lord’s Prayer verbatim takes about 20 seconds. If you have more than 20 seconds, you can expand one or more of the prayer’s petitions in prayer to fill the time. How many extra chunks of time do you have throughout the day that you could fill with short pockets of communion with God through prayer?

Spirit-Inspired Tool for a God-Centered Life

It’s possible your greatest need in prayer is not to know more about it, but rather to know how to use the most foundational and comprehensive tool given to us in Scripture. As with any tool, its purpose is found not by focusing on the tool, but rather on setting our eyes on our praiseworthy Father, King, Provider, Pardoner, and Protector—and to shape our lives by his sovereign rule and care.

 

 

Editor’s Note: Kevin’s new book When Prayer Is a Struggle: A Practical Guide for Overcoming Obstacles in Prayer is filled with gospel encouragement and practical tools for growing in prayer. Pastor Colin Smith called the book, “A treasure chest of wise and practical counsel. . . . This book will expand your horizons and give you a new vision for how you can pray more effectively.”