An interesting phenomenon in recent years is the tendency of Christians to assemble only with their local church family when they are at home and to avoid assembling when traveling, on vacation, etc. At best, some will spend a few private devotional moments in lieu of gathering for worship with the family.
Jan and I have been blessed in recent years by opportunities to assemble with brothers and sisters in various parts of the world. Each time, the worship is fresh and challenging, stimulating and encouraging. We see and experience things we would otherwise miss. We see faith lived out–sometimes in unique and different ways.
Today we will worship with the family of God. Some aspects of what we share will be different. This week we will assemble with God’s people almost daily. We will be blessed by meeting brothers and sisters we did not previously know. We will at times be outside our comfort zone. But we will be among God’s people–and the familiar will outweigh the unfamiliar.
I do not know what your practice is when you are not “at home” on Sundays. I encourage you to reconnect with the family. You will be blessed in unexpected ways!
This Is My Father’s World
I am constantly amazed by the beauty of God’s creation….colors, variety, adaptation. We experience extreme heat, we enjoy cool mornings. Nature protects itself when conditions are not favorable and restores itself at the right times. My grass is brown in the winter–now it is brown in the summer.
Our title today is also the title of a song. We only see and hear when we look and listen. Paul wrote to the Romans that in nature God can be seen. Lord, help me this day to look and see, to listen and hear.
Love
We talk a lot about love but struggle with its practice. We do not understand the foundations of love–why we love with God’s agape love. We mistake the love described in the Bible for the human experiences of love in this world. They are not the same. They have different motives and foundations.
God’s love for us is not based on our excellence, capacity, or loveability. God’s love for us is based in who God is–not in who we are. We are loved simply because he has declared us of worth, that is, that we are beloved of him. God sees us as the ultimate goal of his love. That means we are the ends, not the means. God does not see us as a way to get his work done in this world. His love is not extended based on how well we advance his purpose in the world.
We cannot love others based on our own identity because our flawed nature would result in flawed love. We love others because God declares them beloved. We love others because they reflect God’s image.
All of this is worthy of more study than this brief writing allows.
How do you process God’s love, our love for others?
Monday Morning Reflection: When Sundays Encourage God’s People
I was blessed this morning to read an email exchange among members of God’s family at the Main and Oklahoma church in McAlester, OK. The excitement was contagious–brothers and sisters who were blessed and encouraged by yesterday’s times of shared worship, study, and fellowship.
Jan and I enjoyed Bible study and worship with God’s family at Southside in Terre Haute yesterday. The warmth of the congregation (this was our first visit to this church) was encouraging and inspiring. Scot Harris blessed us with his insightful teaching and preaching. Sunday night we were with Christians friends and spiritual family in Lansing. What an encouragement to see a church we know and love encouraged by a growing Sunday night attendance, exciting preaching, and encouraging words. The excitement of the Sunday night service was contagious–visitors, new members, love and hugs.
In a day when I hear more and more negatives about God’s spiritual family and the church, these experiences indicate that God’s family is alive and well in many places across this nation. May God’s people continue to find encouragement in their shared times of worship, Bible study, and fellowship. It is God’s plan for his people–and it is happening each week around the world as God’s people assemble. I hope your church experience is an encouragement to you!
[Write me if you would like to talk about how you might be part of such a fellowship.]
It’s Sunday Again: God Thoughts
What makes Sunday different? For the Hebrews, it was a significant slow-down (stoppage) of activities. Our secular society has long ago moved away from any observable slow-down of activity. The stores are just as full, the highways are even fuller, and the lakes are packed. We hurry away from church, anxious to get to the scheduled plans that will consume the rest of the day–a day most often packed full of activities either leisure or personal that are anything but restful and relaxing. (Of course, there are exceptions, but I am writing about the overall direction and philosophy of our society and many/most of the Christians who live in this culture.)
How does a Christian uniquely make Sunday the Lord’s Day in such a culture? Each person must find answers in the context of their own life and obligations, but following are some of the things I have found helpful through the years.
- Arise a little earlier than normal so you can have some private time with God. If this is not possible inside your house, generate the “aloneness” time artifically with a brief walk outside, a time of prayer and reflection on the patio or door stoop, or during shower/bath time or personal grooming time. The goal is to find a brief time you can uniquely devote to God thoughts.
- Spend a little extra time with the Word. Ideally, this is Bible reading, but it can also be reflection on a well-known or favorite passage of Scripture.
- Sing some Christian songs, or provide Christian music as background music for the morning during your activities as you prepare to worship God.
- Be more spiritually sensitive and look for God–in the little blessings, in the places where he is but you may pass him by during the week. Enjoy the God-created surroundings in which you find yourself and look for his hand of blessing and guidance.
- Prepare your heart for worship. Avoid negative thoughts, put a positive outlook on the events and activities of the morning, laugh, seek spiritual realities, seek in a special way to demonstrate the presence of God’s Holy Spirit within you.
- Spend a little extra time in prayer, perhaps in a prayer than you uniquely use on Sunday, glorifying God, seeking restored and meaningful relationship, connecting with God.
How do you make Sundays special? What things have you found helpful in preparing your heart for worship and in escaping (mentally, at least) the busyness of our world?
We must simplify our understandings of leadership
Leadership is not rocket science. You have perhaps heard the statement that everyone is a leader. That is, everyone serves as an influence and example to someone else. The generalization may have exceptions, but it is basically true. You are a leader. Who are you leading?
We may be helped by thinking of leadership as influence. Influence (leadership) occurs as various levels. There are at least five levels of spiritual influence.
First, there is the influence of Christian presence, example, and spirituality. A Christian lives life so that others note Christ’s presence within. The presence of the Holy Spirit is also obvious. This is the leadership exercised through the example of moral living and spiritual sensitivity.
Second, there is the influence of teaching. Teachers are leaders. Some lead our babies, some lead our pre-schoolers. Others lead our children; yet others lead our adolescents. Leadership is not limited to teachers of adults, nor is leadership limited to those who teach in the educational program at church. Those who can effectively teach evangelistic Bible studies are also leaders.
[Note: Sadly we have generally limited official church leadership to these first two levels. How does a person live their life? Is the person a formal teacher? These are our legal measuring stick concerning the “qualifications”. Often to our detriment, we have at times added a third level of influence–success in the world. We must think in terms of qualities, characteristics and biblical actions more than qualifications.]
Third, according to the Bible, spiritual leadership is exercised by facilitating and equipping others for service. This may be example; it is also mentoring, training, and demonstrating the service and ministry of the Christian community.
Fourth, leaders produce other leaders. The result of a leader is not a large group of followers; the result of a leader is another leader. The result of a Christian is another Christian. Teachers produce more teachers. This is true in the public school arena, it is also true down at the church house. Spiritual people produce more spiritual people.
Fifth, a high level of leadership is the influence that allows leaders to produce leaders who can produce other leaders, as in 2 Timothy 2:2.
What other levels of influence can you identify in Scripture? What would you add?
Good News!
It seems that almost every week I receive good news about the growth of the church. Today, I spoke to a friend who is familiar with some of the churches in Colombia. He told me of a church that had recently appointed elders, and that the church now had three new “church plants” in surrounding towns. This news reminded me that the first step in church growth is establishing strong leaders. Churches are seldom self-propagating until a strong leadership is in place.
In June I visited a new church plant in Honduras that is less than a year old but has about 60 in attendance regularly. Churches across Latin America are learning to reach out on their own power and with their own resources, becoming less and less dependent upon North American resources. That reminds me that strong leadership in the local church also precedes churches becoming self-sustaining and self-supporting.
I recently heard of a preacher who began working with a church and immediately decided that no one else in the church was capable of teaching and preaching except him. The brother sharing the story told me of how disheartening this was for the local church. The same brother told me of a church that had recently split–the remnant that remained was being held together by a single “pastor” leader who was doing all of the preaching and teaching. One can only wonder if the single leader model is a part of the reason the division came in the first place.
I applaud all efforts to plant new churches. As we seek to strengthen and establish those efforts, let us remember that an essential part of the process is establishing strong, biblical, spiritual leaders in those churches. Churches with good spiritual leadership accept their responsibility before God, not only at the local church level, but also in the Great Commission obligation to go into the world preaching the gospel.
A Life of Relationships
Last week I wrote about how the most authentic version of the Christian life is filled with relationships. Relationships allow us to invest ourselves in things beyond us. Relationships allow us to invest ourselves in things eternal. Relationships remind us of what matters. Relationships motivate us to go the second mile and spend our lives expressing love and concern for others, sharing life and lending a hand to others.
I wrote that blog while Jan and I were in Lubbock to attend the funeral for the mother of one of the elders with whom we minister. I was reflecting upon the importance of the unique relationship we share with this particular shepherd–thinking of ministry shared, mission work shared, and friendship shared. After I finished writing, Jan and I went down to the breakfast room at the hotel. As we were walking down the hallway, a young lady said, “Dr. Young!” Haley Amos had been my student at Ohio Valley University–she now lives in Maine but was in Lubbock to visit her brother whose wife had just had twins. We visited briefly also with Haley’s mother who lives in St. Marys, West Virginia. Her mother remembered me from the times I had served as guest minister at the St. Marys church. Relationships. Memories. Time spent to help others toward heaven.
We briefly spoke to Haley and her family again before we checked out. She excitedly told me that she had texted another former student who lives not far from her in Maine to say that she had seen Dr. Young in Lubbock. When life is over, nothing of the “stuff” will remain–only the decisions we have made to establish relationships. My life is doubly blessed because of relationships–with God, family, friends, those I have taught the gospel in evangelistic Bible studies, students in universities, church leaders I have helped develop–relationships with brothers and sisters in Christ around the world through ministry and mission work.
A Different Model of Ministry
Paul is sometimes described as one who was “willing to spend and to be spent” in his service to the churches he established and nurtured. He writes in touching words of his daily burden of concern for the churches, especially in his absence. He writes of daily constant prayer for those he loved in Christ. All of this while taking as little as possible from the churches–sometimes refusing personal support.
As we study New Testament models of ministry, we who minister might do well to ask ourselves how we see our responsibilities in ministry. How do we compare with Paul, or Timothy and Titus? What is the burden we feel as we care for those God places in our ministry paths? Are willing are we to sacrifice generously in our service to others? Are we willing to go the second mile? Reflecting on my ministry, I recall hundreds of miles driven to make a hospital call or to minister to a grieving family. I remember all night vigils at the bedside of dying members (one of the most memorable a Saturday night, after which I hurried home to change clothes and then to the church building to preach). For most of my ministry years, at least 25% of the funds I received from the church went for ministry expenses. I remember how impressed Jan and I were that Don and Carol Vinzant drove 500 miles to be a the funeral of Jan’s dad when we were members at the Edmond church. The birth of babies doesn’t always follow our schedules, so I spent two of the first three weeks after the birth of our first child serving as a counselor at Christian youth camps. It wasn’t planned that way–but ministry commitments mattered when I began ministry 40+ years ago.
I fear that we are in danger of developing a ministry model that responds only when ministers are “on call”, a model that is some distance from Paul’s willingness “to spend and be spent.” Equally amazing is how little “on call” time some ministers make available to members, contacts, and the lost. I heard of one minister who refused to make a hospital call because it was his day off. Members are in the hospital and no one knows–not even the minister. Some of the reasons I have heard used to explain why ministers cannot be involved in mission trips, ministry to the sick and bereaved, evangelistic Bible studies, and other customary ministry activities remind me of Jesus’ teachings about excuses (Luke 14). The contemporary word that comes to mind is flimsy.
I call those of us who minister to biblical ministry! Let us be serious about the charge God has given us. Let us fulfill our ministry of reading, study, preparation, caring, serving, teaching, evangelizing, all the while serving as an example. Words that challenge the members to daily study or daily evangelism are meaningless when such activities are not seen in the life of the preacher.
A bad habit…please don’t interrupt my meditation…I am worshiping!
I think it may be nothing more than a bad habit. It is rapidly becoming ingrained–a custom learned from watching others and imitating them. Where did it come from? Is it an effort to ease a certain level of discomfort? Is it something done without thinking? Why do we persist in doing things that are not helpful? It sometimes approaches irreverence!
I am writing about the practice (which I increasingly observe) where many of those who get up in the worship assembly in front of the congregation feel compelled to voice a loud “Good morning” desiring a verbal response from the church. Why? Before a prayer at a funeral–off the wall comments–why? Before the communion talk when a majority of the congregation is already meditating–why? Before the sermon when the service is half over–why do we need another boisterous “good morning” with verbal response?
I vote for thoughtful preparation, meaningful words, and sensitive leadership in the assembly. Especially before the communion service, after we have sung a song focusing our attention on the cross and the meaning of the Supper we are about to eat together, please don’t interrupt my meditation, I am worshiping my God with gratitude and reverence.