Why Many Early Christians Were So Happy and Hope-Filled

My study of Revelation has convinced me that we are not living with the same mindset that the early Christians had. And I wonder if it is due to a lack of faith in God's promises. The early Christians lived with an "edge of your seat" anticipation of Christ's kingdom being established on earth. In their minds, perfect peace, joy, and justice was right around the corner. How thrilling is that?! Can you imagine if Christ came back, established his kingdom, and you were transformed, filled with perfect peace, joy, and love? All your problems ... gone. All disease, depression, discouragement, and deception ... gone. All your relationships ... perfect. And best of all, there is no longer any divide between you and God. Everything is perfect. In addition to this, they also believed that we could begin to experience a "firstfruit portion" of those blessings right now!

If we lived with this same mindset, I'm sure it would change everything. Why don't we live this way? As I mentioned earlier, I think it's due to a lack of faith. When you get beaten down by life, you begin to grow pessimistic about what God is going to do. You don't even like thinking of the potential because ... well, God hasn't done much for me in the past, why should I believe he's going to do much for me now or in the future? But Jesus says, "I'll give you justice, but when the son of man returns, will he find faith?" (Luke 10). We need to start believing that perfect peace, joy, victory, justice, and righteousness are right around the corner. We need to start envisioning a world in which Christ is reigning and ruling and everything is as it should be. Don't envision clouds and harps. Envision a new earth. Envision a world in which we work, play, and relate and have purpose and are used by God to accomplish amazing things. Get excited about the fact that it's right around the corner. Get excited that God could possibly end all suffering anytime. Envision an earthly existence where we no longer experience dishonor, shame, or guilt for sin. Envision an earthly existence where you are being exalted along with Christ. Honor is restored. No more bickering. No more jealousies or competitions. No more bitterness. No more failures. No more purposelessness. No more judging and comparing. No more boring worship services. No more singing, but not meaning it. No more tears in your children's eyes. No more earthquakes, tornados, floods, typhoons, famine, cancer, rape, murder, torture, war, hatred, or addiction. Instead, our faith will be sight and we will see Jesus. Wow. Come, Lord Jesus! Come! As you go throughout your day, say to yourself, "It's right around the corner. It's almost here. Hold on! Don't sin; it's almost here! Don't be depressed; it's almost here! Don't worry about anything; it's almost here!" We do this with weekends and special vacations, why can't we do it with Christ's kingdom reign?! Come, Lord Jesus! The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!"

Children: Burden or Blessing?

I'm pretty confident no one would ever say, "I think children are a burden." At least they would never say that ... out loud. But the the truth is, many times we act as if they are. There have been times when I have said to myself, "I wonder what your life would be like without children? I could go out any time I want. Traveling would be so much easier. I would never have to share the TV. I would never have to listen to Dora the Explorer's theme song: 'I'm the map, I'm the map, I'm the map, I'm the map, I'm the map, I'm the map, I'm the map, I'm the map, I'm the MAP!!' I wouldn't have to be burdened by the worries and fears of sickness or an accident. "

Just the other day Savannah started running toward the road where a car was coming. We got her out of the way, but the incident gave me pause: what would my life be like with a maimed or dead child?

And then there's the potential for rebellion. The Bible does say that if you train a child in the fear of the Lord that he/she will turn out well. That's in the Proverbs. But the Proverbs give us truths that are generally true, not always true. Sometimes you can have a righteous father with an unrighteous child (Ezekiel 18). What if my child forsakes my teaching and example and gets drawn into the seductions of the world? What if my little girl falls in love with some idiot loser who likes stupid music and only wants one thing from her? What if I then get sent to jail for murdering him with his own shoe? (Ok, I'm getting ahead of myself here) The point is, children have the potential for great pain and disappointment.

So, let's be realistic: children ARE a burden, if by "burden" we mean "something that's not easy to deal with" instead of "bother". Raising children isn't easy. It's hard. But it is well worth it. The amount of blessing they bring compared to the difficulty isn't even worth comparing. They are, without a doubt, and endless well of joy. Every single day that well springs up and refreshes us, make us laugh, makes us smile, makes us honorable, makes us more mature, and makes us better. Children are a blessing.

But I'd like to come at this whole thing from a somewhat different perspective. Are children a blessing? Yes. But they are not just a blessing because of the delightful things they bring into our lives. They are a blessing also precisely because of the non-delightful things they bring into our lives. Children, like marriage, are a major tool in God's hand that form us into the image of Christ. We are forced to live for someone else other than ourselves. We are forced to learn patience and unselfishness. We are forced to learn the necessary balance between mercy and discipline, love and wrath. We are forced to face our own issues when we choose to have children since our children reflect who we are.

AND, we are forced ... get ready for this ... to make a decision about Christ: Do we truly believe in him? Do we truly love him? Is Church really important? Some of us are caught. If Christ is the truth, if he is the Savior of the World, then we have to teach our children to love him, serve him, obey him, submit to him, pray to him, read about him, follow him, talk about him, sing to him, and view Him as the supreme goal of life. The problem is, some of us don't want to do that ourselves. We prefer our comfortability. We prefer our easy discipleship, our cheap grace. We justify our complacency and apathy. We like our lives just the way they are and we don't want the authority of Christ, as expressed through the local church, impeding upon the wicked autonomy we have created for ourselves. BUT, deep within our spirits where only the Holy Spirit whispers, we know that a person's life cannot be blessed without doing everything I just described above. So we're stuck: if I don't follow Christ whole-heartedly, neither will my children. But if I DO follow him in the way he commands me to in the gospels, I have to change my life significantly.

Point? Children are not just a blessing because of the delightful things they do that warm our hearts. Children are not just a blessing because of the moralistic influence they have upon our lives. Children are a blessing because they force us to make a decision about the gospel: are we going to be fully devoted to our Lord? Or are we going to continue to live a half-hearted Christian existence that looks somewhat Christian on the outside, but on the inside there broods a rebellious heart toward Christ that refuses to submit to his sovereign authority? If we choose the latter, I don't care how often your child goes to Sunday school, I don't care how good of a person you are, your child will adopt your rebellion toward Christ, and it will be the worst type of rebellion - the deceptive type. The type of rebellion that doesn't even know it's rebelling. The type of rebellion that has convinced itself, "I'm a Christian", but when it faces Christ at the judgment will only hear the words, "I never knew you".

Let us thank God that children aren't just a blessing. Let us thank him that they are a wonderful, glorious burden. May we respond obediently to God's preaching of the gospel ... through our children.

Why We Believe In A Pre-Tribulational Rapture

Reason #1: The Bible actually says we won’t go through the Tribulation

Revelation 3:10 says this: “Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth.” The "hour of trial" Christ talks about refers to the tribulation period. Nobody debates this point. Notice that Christ says, “I will keep you from the hour of trial”. Those who don’t believe in a rapture interpret this phrase in this way: “I will preserve you through the hour of trial”. In other words, “You’ll go through the tribulation, but I’ll protect you (preserve) you through it all.” It is true that the word “keep” can also be translated “preserve”, so we won’t debate that point. However, the word “from” in Greek is the word “ek” – a preposition that means “out of”, NOT “through”. When biblical writers wanted to indicate spatial separation, they would use the preposition “ek” = “out of” or “away from”. Therefore, Jesus said that Christians will be kept away from or out of the Tribulation.

1 Thessalonians 5:9 says this: “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Now, “wrath” can refer to either one of two things: 1.) God’s anger in general, or 2.) the period of judgment known as “the Tribulation”. Those who don’t believe in a rapture claim that this verse is talking about “God’s anger in general”. But if you read the context of 1 Thessalonians, you will realize that “wrath”, in this context, refers to option #2 – “the tribulation”. The Thessalonians were not concerned that they were going to hell. They were concerned that they were going to remain through the tribulation. Nowhere in 1 Thessalonians is Paul trying reassure them that they are truly saved. Nowhere is Paul trying to say, “Hey guys, there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus! We are justified by grace, not our works!” That wasn’t the problem in this church. They weren’t afraid they would face hell, they were afraid they would face the tribulation. Paul says, “No, God did not appoint us to suffer wrath”. And then he goes on to explain how we, along with those Christians who have already died, will meet Jesus in the air and will be with him forever (4:17). And then he says, “Encourage one another with these words” (4:18). It’s very doubtful that Paul was saying, “You’ll go through the tribulation, but God will protect you through the tribulation. Therefore, encourage one another with these words.” It’s much more likely that he’s saying, “You’re not going to go through the tribulation. Therefore, encourage one another with these words.” (How is it encouraging to believe you're going to have to go through the tribulation, even if we will be preserved?) Besides, the only ones who are guaranteed to be completely protected through the tribulation are the 144,000 ethnic Jews (Rev.7:1-8). The Thessalonians were Gentiles. Therefore, there would be no guarantee that they would be completely protected.

Reason #2: The Church is not mentioned in Revelation 6-19, the chapters that deal with the Tribulation

It’s true that there will be Christians alive during the tribulation, but they will be Christians who are saved after the rapture has occurred. These are the 144,000 ethnic Jews described in Revelation 7:1-8, and the great multitude of people who come to Christ as a result of their evangelistic work (Rev.7:9-17). But it is noteworthy that the concept of “the church” completely drops out of the picture in Revelation 6-19, the chapters that deal with the tribulation. Why is the church not mentioned here? We conclude it’s because she has been raptured to heaven.

Reason #3: Christ’s seemingly contradictory description of his second coming leads us to believe there’s a rapture

On the one hand, the Bible warns that Christ’s second coming will be “like a thief in the night”. In other words, it will be unexpected and without warning. Thieves don’t warn people they’re coming. They give no indication they’re about ready to steal. They come unexpectedly. Christ essentially says, “That’s what my return will be like: unexpected, without warning, without any prior notification.”

Yet, on the other hand, the Bible indicates that we should understand the “signs of the times” (Matt.24). In Matthew 24, Jesus tells us what will precede his second coming, therefore indicating that we should know when he’s coming back.

So, the question is, “How can the Bible warn us that Christ’s second coming will occur unexpectedly, yet, at the same time, give us instructions about the events that lead right up to his return?” The answer is this: there must be two parts to his second coming. The rapture is the first part. This is the part that will be unexpected. This is the part no one will see coming. Christ’s return to earth with his raptured church after the tribulation is the second part to his second coming. THIS is the part that people should know about. This second part to the second coming is the part people are not in the dark about. Therefore, there is no contradiction to the Bible’s warning that Christ will come without any prior indication, yet we should know when his return will be.

Reason #4: Because of the symbolism of the Jewish wedding tradition

Dr. David Reagan of Lion and Lamb Ministries has made a very interesting parallel between the Jewish wedding tradition and the rapture. This is what he says:

“After the betrothal, the groom would return to his father's house to prepare a wedding chamber for his bride. He would return for his bride at an unexpected moment, so the bride had to be ready constantly. When he returned, he would take his bride back to his father's house to the chamber he had prepared. He and his bride would then be sealed in the chamber for seven days. When they emerged, a great wedding feast would be celebrated. Likewise, Jesus has returned to Heaven to prepare a place for His bride, the Church. When He returns for His bride, He will take her to His Father's heavenly home. There He will remain with His bride for seven years (the duration of the Tribulation). The period will end with "the marriage supper of the Lamb" described in Revelation 19. Thus the seven days in the wedding chamber point prophetically to the seven years that Jesus and His bride will remain in Heaven during the Tribulation.”

I think this is a fascinating concept.

Reason #6: Because of Daniel's 70th week prophecy

Daniel 9:24 says this: "Seventy 'sevens' (some translations say "weeks" instead of "sevens") are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy." The term "sevens" means "seven year periods". It's the same word that's used to describe the seven year period Jacob had to wait to marry Rachel. Therefore, the angel Gabriel is essentially saying to Daniel in this passage: "There will be a total of seventy "seven year periods" (490 years) until God finally finishes his dealings with mankind and sets up his eternal kingdom."

Now, the big question here is, "Why doesn't Gabriel just say: 'The end is going to come in 490 years'"? Why does he say "Seventy 'Sevens'"? The answer: Because God didn't want us to conclude that the end was going to come in 490 years. God wanted us to understand that the end would come after three segments of 490 years (7"sevens", 62 "sevens", and 1 "seven"). Let me explain these three segments below:

Daniel 9:25 says, "'Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be 7 'sevens,' and 62 'sevens'". God's Word is being very precise here. Notice Gabriel doesn't say, "The messiah ("the Anointed One") is going to come in 483 years". No. He doesn't say it like that. He divides it into two parts (7 'sevens' + 62 'sevens'). Why? Because the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem took 49 years (7 'sevens') and from that time until Christ came was 434 years (62 'sevens'). 49 + 434 = 483 years. And that's exactly what happened. From the time the decree was issued for the city to be rebuilt until the time Christ entered Jerusalem was exactly 483 years.

Now, look at what the next verse (v.26) says: "After the 62 'sevens,' the Anointed One will be cut off and have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary." And that's exactly what happened. After 483 years, Christ came to Jerusalem and was killed ("cut off") and 37 years after his death, Jerusalem was destroyed again (in 70 A.D. Jerusalem along with the sanctuary was destroyed by the Roman general Titus).

Now, you say, "Ok, but that's only 483 years. What about the last 7 years? The prophecy says "70 'sevens'" (490 years). Well, the next verse (v.27) answers that question: "He will confirm a covenant with many for one 'seven.' In the middle of the 'seven' he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him." This verse refers to the last seven years of God's dealings with the nation of Israel. It refers to the 7 year tribulation. This is the time period when Israel will be "grafted back in" (Romans 11:23-24) to God's plan.

(On a side note, we know that the "ruler" this passage refers to is the antichrist because the verse says "he will set up an abomination of desolation". Only the antichrist does this - as Jesus said in Matthew 24:15. Titus never did this when he destroyed the temple in 70 A.D. We also know this man is the antichrist because v.26 says that Jerusalem will be destroyed by "the people of the ruler who is to come." It doesn't say Jereusalem will be destroyed by the people and the ruler of the people. It says it will be destroyed by the people "of the ruler who is to come". Also, the reason there's such a big gap between the 69th and 70th week is because God chose to hide the concept of "the church" and "the church age" from his people for his own sovereign purposes. This is exactly what Ephesians 3:4-6 says.)

Therefore, Daniel's 70th week prophecy only deals with Israel, not the church. Therefore, if 69 weeks of Daniel's prophecy only deals with Israel, it would make sense that the 70th week (the tribulation) only deals with Israel as well. Therefore, we do not expect the church to be a part of the 70th week, since Daniel's prophecies concerning the 70 weeks are only about Israel. The angel is speaking about God's specific dealings with Israel, not the church. Therefore, we conclude that the church will not be present during the tribulation (aka the final "seven" of Daniel's prophecy) because this is a period in which he is specifically dealing with Israel.

Why Should I Attend Home Group?

The main reason you should attend home group is this: Regular encouragement and exhortation

from the body of believers you belong to is necessary in order to avoid spiritual disaster in your life.

Where do I get this from? Hebrews 3:13: “Encourage one another daily … that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” Let me point out two critical words in this passage. The first word I want to point out is the word “hardened”. This is the worst possible place you could ever be in life. This is where everything begins to fall apart. When our hearts become hardened, they become like rocks. They’re not sensitive to the Spirit’s promptings. They’re not soft, therefore they don’t let the seed of God’s Word grow. We become bitter, jaded, hardened, skeptical, angry, judgmental, harsh, and complaining. This, in turn, results in all sorts of relational problems, it can result in depression and anxiety, it results in chaos in the home, it results in insecurity and pride, and worst of all, it results in an attitude of apathy in our relationship with God: we don’t care about communing with him, we don’t care about learning from him in his Word, we don’t care about growing closer to him and confessing our sins and rejoicing in his presence regularly. All that is thrown out the window and we begin to live shallow, empty, meaningless Christian lives. All of this is a result of a hardened heart.

But, there’s a reason our hearts grow hard like this, and here’s the reason: we refuse to allow God to minister to us through the primary vehicle he has chosen to meet our needs: the local church. Which brings us to the second word from this verse I want to focus on: “daily”. Wow. There’s a word we weren’t expecting. EVERY day? Yes. That’s what it says. It says we should be encouraging/exhorting one another every single day. Now that doesn’t mean we have to have a formal church service every day. Nor does it mean we have to have home group every day. It just means that you need to be in contact with other believers on a daily basis, whether formal or informal, in order to keep your heart from getting ruined by the deception of sin. As we speak into each other’s lives, as we pray for one another, as we convict and comfort one another, we become strong, discerning, and soft-hearted.

So, here’s my summary of Hebrews 3:13 then: We need daily ministry from one another, formal and informal, in order to avoid spiritual disaster.

Now … here’s my question for you: do you really think that going to a church service 2-3 times per month satisfies this requirement from Hebrews 3:13? There’s absolutely NO WAY that it does. Here’s the typical mindset concerning church these days: “I’ll go maybe 50%-60% of the time on Sunday, and that’s it. Maybe I’ll come to an outing here or there. But beyond that, I’m fine.”

This mindset, however, reveals how deceived we actually are. First of all, let me say that church is not JUST for our benefit. It’s also for the benefit of others. Most people view the church like they do a business: does it meet my demands and needs? Nobody asks: “Am I meeting the needs of the people of Target or Walmart”? We don’t think that way. We only think, “Does Target or Walmart meet MY needs.” And, unfortunately, we take that same mindset and transfer it to the church. But the church is NOT A BUSINESS DESIGNED TO MEET OUR DEMANDS AND NEEDS. It’s a place of worship where we 1.) worship God, 2.) minister to others, and THEN, 3.) get our needs met.

This is why Paul says the church is like an actual, physical body (1 Corinthians 12). All the parts are dependent on one another. All the gifts are necessary to minister to each other. WHEN YOU DECIDE to minimize your involvement in the local church, you’re not just hurting yourself, you’re hurting your brothers and sisters in Christ. When you minimize your involvement in the local church, when you “pull yourself away” from the local church, it’s as if you are ripping a finger off of a human hand; it’s as if you are ripping an eyeball out of a human face. And let me humbly remind you of something: the body of Christ is just that: the body of CHRIST. Therefore, when we tear off a hand or tear out an eyeball of the body of Christ, it’s as if we are mutilating Christ himself. Remember what Jesus said to the apostle Paul when Paul was persecuting and killing Christians? He said, “Saul, Saul! Why are you persecuting … ME!” In other words, the way you treat the local church is the exact way you treat Christ because the church is the body of Christ.

How can we minister to one another if we’re never around each other? How can we pray for someone we barely know? How can we teach them or instruct them or rebuke them if we don’t even know them? We don’t know there areas of sin and weakness … because we don’t know them. We feel we have no authority to speak into their lives … because we don’t know them. We don’t want them to speak into our lives … because they don’t know us.

Church, do you know what it means to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ? Do you really know what that means? If you are minimizing your involvement in our church, you are 1.) hurting yourself, 2.) hurting others, and 3.) publicly declaring that you have no idea what it means to be a follower of Christ. How ironic! In an attempt to hide who you really are from every one by not being involved, you are inadvertently revealing who you really are to every one.

You say, “But I can’t come because of my kids”. That’s like saying you can’t go to the doctor because of your kids. We make time to go to the doctor, we make time to go to the grocery store, we make time to go to the dentist, for goodness sake, we make time to exercise, we make time to eat three meals a day, we make time to relax, we make time to sleep, we make time to do ALL THESE THINGS that take care of our physical self, but we do very little to take care of our spiritual self. And then we wonder why life is such a struggle? We wonder why we can’t sleep well, why we fight a lot, why we feel empty, why we have all these fears and worries, why our marriages are constant strains, why we lack so much motivation and purpose?

Maybe you find another couple to babysit with. Maybe you and your spouse switch off. Maybe you hire a babysitter for half the time. There ARE solutions.

Hebrews 10:25 says, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another…” It is true that some get “in the habit” of not meeting together. I feel heartache for them. They’re hurting themselves, hurting others in the body, and they are inadvertently revealing who they really are by hiding.

IMPORTANT: As the apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 4:14, and as I reiterated last Sunday, “I do not say these things to shame you, but to admonish/instruct you.” Paul’s ultimate desire wasn’t for them to feel horrible about themselves or “get something off his chest”. His ultimate desire was their well being. And this is my desire and Craig’s desire and everyone else’s desire who has faithfully attended home group for the past five years of this church’s existence. They would all tell you that it’s not always easy, but they would also tell you how enriching and necessary it is as well. May God speak to your heart about this issue, and may your heart receive his Word.

What Do You Do All Week, Josh?

Every pastor gets this question. I used to laugh and smile when people would to say to me, "Must be nice to be a pastor. You only have to work one day a week!" These days, though, the most I can muster is a smirk as I say, "Yes, it is nice. Ha. Ha."

I suppose it is true that many pastors are negligent with their duties, and the Lord knows I have been guilty of this before as well, but those pastors who are faithful with what God has called them to do will work hard. So what are they supposed to be doing? 1 Timothy 5:17 tells us what a pastor's main job is: "The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching." Simply stated, the main job of a pastor is to work hard at preaching and teaching. Paul told Timothy, "In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage - with great patience and careful instruction" (2 Timothy 4:1-2).

This is what Jesus did. Jesus preached and taught. He didn't run programs or organizations. He didn't run meetings. He wasn't even in charge of the money. He didn't burden himself with an overload of administrative duties. Getting a building wasn't his highest ambition in life. He didn't do all that. He simply went around loving, healing, and teaching people. It was completely devoid of all the things we think are necessary for a pastor to be doing today. Jesus knew how to influence people: He prayed with and for them, he spent time with them, he counseled them, but most of all, his main purpose was preaching and teaching (Mark 1:38).

This, too is the main purpose of any pastor: work hard at preaching and teaching. Many pastors today are so wrapped up in anything and everything but preaching and teaching. Satan celebrates when he sees this. He loves to see pastors doing all kinds of work, any work, as long as it's not praying and preaching. If Satan can get a minister to be caught up in programs, administrative work, endless one on one counseling, and whatever else he can think of, he (Satan) has won the battle.

When Jesus restored Peter after Peter had denied him three times, He asked him, "Do you love me?" And he asked him that 3 times. After each time, Peter said, "Yes" and then Jesus responded by saying: "Feed my sheep". This is the requirement of every pastor: Love Jesus with all your heart, and busy yourself feeding his sheep with his Word.

Now, this takes A LOT of careful work to do it well. 2 Timothy 4:2 says to preach the Word with "careful instruction". Let me give you a little peak into what it means to work hard at preaching and teaching ...

First, there's exegetical work than needs to be done. You have to study the text in the original languages. You have to do the necessary word studies. You have to read commentaries. You have to do historical work. You have to figure out what the author was saying to the original readers. This is painstaking work. It requires lots of thinking, lots of reading, more thinking, more reading, until your brain hurts and you feel exhausted.

Then, secondly, you have to do what's called homiletical work. Homiletics is the pursuit of communicating what you've just learned. You can't just pass your notes off to your congregation. You have to package it. You have to find proper illustrations. You have to think of how it applies to them. You have to think of how this text direclty affects your specific church (that's why copying someone else's sermon is unwise, overall - his church is different than your church). You have to figure out what your introduction is going to be. Then you have to go over it again and again in your mind (or maybe even outloud), so you're not tied down to your notes during the sermon and so you won't go too long or too short. This whole process takes me, since I'm a young pastor, at least 20 hours per week.

And here's the thing: if you do this process and you do it well, most people will think it looked easy and conclude they could have done what you just did. :-)

But there are two other aspects that make preaching and teaching such a difficult task. It's not just the exegetical and hermenuetical work; it's also the life work and the prayer work. A pastor's preaching isn't going to be effective if he is living in continual sin. He doesn't have the luxury of just letting his life slip away into bozo land where you can just zone out and become half-hearted. You have to be constantly gaurding your heart, shepherding your own heart. You have to be constantly working on your relationships. You can't preach well if your relationships are all disasters. I don't have the luxury of not reconciling with my wife on Saturday night if we've had a fight. I am forced to humble myself, see my wrong, and work on our problems and get them reconciled so I can be a faithful leader and teacher. I can't lose my fervancy. I can't let my heart grow hard. I can't become embittered. I can't let my relationships slip. So, there's LIFE work that needs to be done.

But there's also prayer work that needs to be done. Most people don't really view this as "work". But let me tell you: it most definitely is. Praying for yourself and others regularly is absolutely draining. You take on their burdens. You're forced to face your own sin. And the Spirit always lets you know when you're just doing it out of obligation - everything is general, nothing is specific. And so you have to go back and get honest, you have to think about what you REALLY should be praying for when it comes to someone's life. You can't just say, "Lord bless them and help them." You have to say, "Lord, their relationship with their friend is not good. It's probably because of the falling out they had last week. Oh Lord, show them how to forgive as Jesus forgave, etc." A pastor must love God with all his mind in his preaching ministry, but he must also love God with all his mind in his prayer ministery. This verse has always haunted me: The prophet Samuel said, "As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by failing to pray for you" (1 Samuel 12:23).

In conclusion, then, exegetical and hermeunitical work alone don't make a sermon good. One must watch his prayers and his life as well. As Paul told Timothy,"Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers" (1 Timothy 4:16).

That verse brings up another aspect of the ministry that usually isn't factored into the "work week" - the burden of your hearers. Every pastor who cares about his congregation and seeks to minister as Jesus did will face incredible anxiety and stress. This is simply the nature of leadership, and it is even more so the nature of spiritual leadership. Paul said this about himself: "Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches" (2 Corinthians 11:28). See that word? Pressure. Stress. Burden. Anxiety. Not just about their sufferings, but their criticisms and their worldliness and their deception. It's there ALL the time. Not just on Sunday, but, as Paul said, "daily". And all throughout the day too. Pastors worry about whether or not someone is taking on too much in their schedule. You are concerned with whether that person is overcoming a personal sin. You are burdened with whether or not this other person is even truly regenerate. You deal with squabbles and spats. You are stressed about how apathetic this other family seems to be. You're concerned with so and so's child who is sick. If they suffer, you suffer. And you're always, always thinking of them. And you're always, always burdened for them. God places this burden on pastors.

So, that's the bulk of what I do. But I also lead and teach home group almost every week. This takes considerable time as well. It's really no different from the sermon, in terms of the exegetical work you have to do, you just don't have to work on the homiletical as much.

I also lead worship every week. That in itself can take hours of my week, learning new songs, going over and over them, practicing with the band, communicating with the band, etc.

I used to lead and teach our bi-weekly Men's group also, but thankfully the leadership aspect of that ministry has been taken on by a friend.

In addition to these things, I probably meet with at least two men every week for fellowship, play, coffee, lunch, etc. It has always been our goal to get the men. If you get the men, you win the war. So my ambition has been to do as Paul told Timothy and "entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others" (2 Timothy 2:2).

Another thing that requires my time is crisis counseling. If a person or a family is going through a particularly difficult season, then that season automatically becomes more difficult for me as well. I can count on one hand how many times these seasons have come my way, so that doesn't play in all too much, but when it's there, it definitely adds to my work week.

I also do all the work for the bulletin. This can take anywhere from 15 minutes to 1 hour depending on what has to go into it.

And Craig and I usually have a 2-3 hour elder's meeting every other week.

As the apostle Paul said to the Corinthians, "I have applied these things to myself for your benefit" (1 Corinthians 4:6). A good minister always has to explain why he's talking about himself! So, here's why I'm talking about myself: it's for your benefit. If the man isn't accepted, neither is his message. If you think I only work a couple hours on Saturday night and then a couple hours on Sunday morning, you'll be less inclined to accept the teaching that comes from my mouth. And if you don't accept the Word, then that will only harm you.

And if you're still in doubt, just ask my wife. ;-) (She works harder than I do.)

A Tornado From God?

John Piper in his blog today writes about the tornado that hit Minneapolis yesterday. The tornado struck the Lutheran church in the downtown area that was holding a conference where they were discussing and advocating the ordination of practicing homosexual pastors. This should make all of us quake in fearful reverence of our holy God, knowing that "it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God".

Here's the link to this powerful, succint blog by John Piper:

http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/Author/2_john_piper/

Entertaining Ourselves ... To Death

Below is an article written by John MacArthur entitled "Give Me That Show Time Religion". It explains why capitulating to the demand for entertainment in our church services is wrong and dangerous. Here it is ...

Can the church fight apathy and materialism by feeding people's appetite for entertainment? Evidently many in the church believe the answer is yes, as church after church jumps on the show-business bandwagon. It is a troubling trend that is luring many otherwise orthodox churches away from biblical priorities.

Church buildings are being constructed like theatres. Instead of a pulpit, the focus is a stage. Some feature massive platforms that revolve or raise and lower, with colored lights and huge sound boards. Shepherds are giving way to media specialists, programming consultants, stage directors, special effects experts, and choreographers.

The idea is to give the audience what they want. Tailor the church service to whatever will draw a crowd. As a result, pastors are more like politicians than shepherds, looking to appeal to the public rather than leading and building the flock God gave them. The congregation is served a slick, professional show, where drama, pop music, and maybe a soft-sell sermon constitute the worship service. But the emphasis isn't on worship, it's on entertainment.

Underlying this trend is the notion that the church must sell the gospel to unbelievers. Churches thus compete for the consumer on the same level as the latest TV reality show or a major motion picture. More and more churches are relying on marketing strategy to sell the church.

That philosophy is the result of bad theology. It assumes that if you package the gospel right, people will get saved. The whole approach is rooted in Arminian theology. It views conversion as fundamentally dependent on an act of the human will. Its goal is an instantaneous, superficial decision rather than a radical change of the heart.

Moreover, this whole Madison-Avenue corruption of Christianity presumes that church services are primarily for recruiting unbelievers. Many have abandoned worship as such. Others have relegated conventional preaching to some small-group setting on a weeknight. But that misses the point of Hebrews 10:24-25: "Let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together."

Acts 2:42 shows us the pattern the early church followed when they met: "They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." Note that the early church's priorities clearly were to worship God and to edify the brethren. The church came together for worship and edification; it scattered to evangelize the world.

Our Lord commissioned His disciples for evangelism in this way: "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations" (Matt. 28:19). Christ makes it clear that the church is not to wait for or invite the world to come to its meetings, but to GO to the world. That is a responsibility for every believer. I fear that an approach emphasizing a palatable gospel presentation within the walls of the church excuses the individual believer from his personal obligation to be a light in the world (Matt. 5:16).

We have a society filled with people who want what they want when they want it. They are into their own lifestyle, recreation, and entertainment. When churches appeal to those selfish desires, they only fuel that fire and hinder true godliness. Some of these churches are growing exponentially while others that don't entertain are struggling. Many church leaders want numerical growth in their churches, so they are buying into the entertainment-first philosophy.

Consider what this philosophy does to the gospel message itself. Some will maintain that if biblical principles are presented, the medium doesn't matter. That is nonsense. Why not have a real carnival? A tattooed knife thrower who juggles chain saws could do his thing while a barker shouts Bible verses. That would draw a crowd. It's a bizarre scenario, but one that illustrates how the medium can cheapen and corrupt the message.

And sadly, it's not terribly different from what is actually being done in some churches. Punk-rockers, ventriloquists' dummies, clowns, magicians, and show-business celebrities have taken the place of the preacher--and they are depreciating the gospel. I do believe we can be innovative and creative in how we present the gospel, but we have to be careful to harmonize our methods with the profound spiritual truth we are trying to convey. It is too easy to trivialize the sacred message.

Don't be quick to embrace the trends of the high-tech superchurches. And don't sneer at conventional worship and preaching. We don't need clever approaches to get people saved (1 Cor. 1:21). We simply need to get back to preaching the truth and planting the seed. If we're faithful in that, the soil God has prepared will bear fruit.