Does God Get Jealous?

Read the excellent article by Pastor Greg Laurie at: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=51689 and ask yourself how many 'other gods' you have in your life right now. Read the actual second commandment below:

"You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments."
(Exodus 20:4-6)

Do you think God was serious about NOT wanting us to put anyone or anything before Him? Think about your friends, your activities, and the things that consume most of your thoughts and time. Are there things that could be consider 'other gods?'

Before deciding that God is just too strict and unreasonable, remember that He wants ONLY the best for our lives. The ONLY reason He has for commanding us to do or not do anything is for our own good. He ALWAYS has our best interest in mind.

"The eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him." (2 Chronicles 16:9a)

God is constantly looking to strengthen you, but He can't do it until you are fully committen to Him. And 'fully' means 'fully.' You can't be fully His if you have given even the smallest part of your heart to anyone or anything else.

My prayer for you is that you will let God's Spirit search your heart for any allegiances that might cause you to break the second commandment. I want God's best for you, too.

We Need to Stop Playing Church...

…and start BEING the church!

I have always been somewhat of an individualist. I got much of that from my dad, who never cared one whit what anyone but God thought of him. I am sure that deep down in his innermost being he carried a few scars inflicted by the unkind,  unnecessary, and likely untrue words of a few fellow believers. None of us is totally immune to hurt, but other people’s opinions never seemed to dissuade Dad from being the man God made him to be. He would never have made anyone’s top ten list of best-dressed, most likely to succeed, most charismatic, or most diplomatic, but everyone who really knew him loved him. Probably because they knew that he was what I call a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) kind of guy. Of whatever flaws Dad might have exhibited, pretense was not one of them. He was true to his word and he did what He felt was right regardless of the consequences.

Whatever happened to that kind of conviction? Where are those in the Body of Christ who will do what is right; what God desires of them no matter what it costs? Unfortunately, many believers have fallen prey to the false gospel of the ‘church of the status quo.’ We have so entrenched ourselves in our comfortable pews and mesmerized ourselves with creature comforts and entertainment that we have lost sight of the whole meaning and purpose of the word “church.”

I have been studying the origin of the church—the Body of Christ, to be more precise—in the New Testament, and it’s amazing to me (disturbing, actually) how little most contemporary entities that bear the name “church” resemble the church that Christ established here on earth. Read the following descriptions of the New Testament church.

42They joined with the other believers and devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, sharing in the Lord's Supper and in prayer. 43A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. 44And all the believers met together constantly and shared everything they had. 45They sold their possessions and shared the proceeds with those in need. 46They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord's Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity – 47all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their group those who were being saved. (Acts 2:42-47)

Initially, New Testament believers met at every opportunity, in homes, at the Temple, whenever and wherever they could for the primary purpose of worship, fellowship, sharing about what God was doing among them, and praying for each other’s needs. They were eager to get together with other believers and joyful when they were together. They shared not only meals together, but everything, including their material goods. No one in the New Testament church had unmet needs for long. The early believers took care of each other. They truly loved each other and they spent most of their time living out that love in practical ways.

God’s response to their heartfelt and joyous celebration of Him and His gift of salvation was that He added new believers to their flocks ‘each day.’ When was the last time you heard of a church that brought a new believer into their fellowship each day? Probably not since Jesus’ day! And why not? I contend that it is because we’ve stopped functioning like the Body of Christ. We have gotten so sidetracked by our efforts to be relevant and contemporary that we have neglected doing the things that actually work.

26…When you meet, one will sing, another will teach, another will tell some special revelation God has given, one will speak in an unknown language, while another will interpret what is said. But everything that is done must be useful to all and build them up in the Lord. 27No more than two or three should speak in an unknown language. They must speak one at a time, and someone must be ready to interpret what they are saying. 28But if no one is present who can interpret, they must be silent in your church meeting and speak in tongues to God privately. 29Let two or three prophesy, and let the others evaluate what is said. 30But if someone is prophesying and another person receives a revelation from the Lord, the one who is speaking must stop. 31In this way, all who prophesy will have a turn to speak, one after the other, so that everyone will learn and be encouraged. 32Remember that people who prophesy are in control of their spirit and can wait their turn. 33For God is not a God of disorder but of peace, as in all the other churches. (1 Corinthians 14:26-33)

What if your church did away with the weekly bulletin and in its place adopted the above as its order of service? I would be surprised if you did not immediately begin hearing directly from God. Unfortunately, there is no real opportunity in the format of ‘worship services’ in most churches today for God to speak to His people. Plenty of time for the pastor and often, other staff members to speak, but little, if any time for God.

Read carefully the passage below.

Preach the word of God. Be persistent, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching.(2 Timothy 4:2)

Understand, this admonition was not given to the pastor of a local church. It was given by Paul to Timothy, his spiritual disciple. Timothy represents every believer who is called to minister and serve in the Body of Christ today. According to Scripture, every believer is a priest who can boldly proclaim the Word of God. We ought to look for opportunities outside of our structured Sunday services to "preach, patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage" others.

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The intense prayer of the righteous is very powerful. (James 5:16)

Following James' admonition is another way to stop playing church and to be the church. Many churches are full of unrepentant sinners because they have ceased practicing James’ instruction to “confess our sins to one another and pray for each other.” We have given accountability a totally humanistic meaning and forsaken its true meaning. Biblical accountability is being open and honest before the Lord and before our brothers and sisters in Christ. It is trusting each other enough to share our struggles, knowing that we will be prayed for, encouraged, and supported as we turn them over to God. It does not mean subjecting ourselves to some self-appointed, holier-than-thou inquisitor to be chastised and condemned each time we slip up.

18…let the Holy Spirit fill and control you. 19Then you will sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, making music to the Lord in your hearts. (Ephesians 5:18b-19)

Imagine a group of believers filled with and controlled by the Holy Spirit. It boggles the mind. Unfortunately, most believers in institutional churches are too busy planning and perpetuating programs to have time for the Spirit of God. I cannot speak for everyone, but I am dying to be free to “make music to the Lord in my heart.” And what unbelievably beautiful music that would be.

The church that Jesus established was not a building, not a program, or even a specific doctrine. The church is the collective fellowship of true, born-again believers (i.e., every Biblical Christian). We are the church. The church is who we are, not something we do or some place where we meet. Being the church today is following Paul’s advice to the Christians in Colosse.

Let the words of Christ, in all their richness, live in your hearts and make you wise. Use his words to teach and counsel each other. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. (Colossians 3:16)

Hopefully, at least some of the activities that are mentioned in these verses still happen in the place you call ‘church,’ but sadly, too few of them do. Even sadder, many of them have all but disappeared in most traditional places of worship.

Understand that my bone of contention is not with established religion or traditional denominations, per se. What I quarrel with is how believers, especially those who identify with specific denominations, have allowed denominationalism, tradition, liturgy, and in some cases, pure heresy to replace the original doctrines of the church as established by Jesus, Himself.

I challenge all true followers of Christ to put aside tradition, preconceived notions, prejudices, dogma, and personal preferences in deference to the Spirit of the Living God and begin to pray for the Spirit to come and make His Presence known among us each time we gather together in His Name. When we truly experience His Presence, I believe that we will see people being drawn, convicted, forgiven, healed, filled, and empowered by the Spirit of God. And after all, is not this what the Church of God is supposed to experience?