Who is The Church for?

Too often we act as though the church is a country club; that it is only for the elite, prominent and successful ones in society. Jesus did call successful business people to be part of the church (see Luke 5). He called fisherman to be part of his "ekklesia" to help change the world. Luke follows with three stories that show who else Jesus calls to be part of the church. He reaches out and engages with people who would never be country club material – one is a leper, one a paralytic, and the third a tax collector. The first two Jesus miraculously heals and  word gets out. Crowds appear from all walks of life: needy people, poor people, sick people. And the third one is a "good-for-nothing" tax collector named Levi who invites Jesus to a party he is throwing with his friends.

The religious "country club" members, are disgusted with Jesus. They start saying to His disciples, "Hey, what's Jesus doing inviting them to be part of our club? He's one of us - not them. How dare He!" Ever felt this way about people whom God calls to be part of the Church? What is Jesus' answer? "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance." Jesus is saying, "Open your eyes to see that these are the very people I want in my movement. They realize their need for me - sadly you don't".

Country clubs are founded upon the concept of private membership and exclusion of the general public. Churches who ostracize people because of race, gender, sexual orientation, income-level (or any other reason) do not understand Jesus’ mission. Everyone is invited to accept God’s gracious offer to be saved and added to His church. A self-sufficient and satisfied church is only mentioned once in Scripture—the church of Laodicea.  And Jesus wanted to spew that sort of lukewarm church out of His mouth.

Be sure to read the parable of The Life Saving Station as a challenge to stay on mission with Jesus' intent for His Church.

Our Standing in Christ

If you need some encouragement today, take 5 minutes to watch this - The Mind of a Saint

Something's Stirring Within

I had the privilege of attending a LeadWorship workshop this weekend at Lincoln Berean Church (along with Tammy, Joy, and Paula). It was great! Well-known Christian artist and songwriter, Paul Baloche led it. He has written songs such as "Open the Eyes of My Heart", "Hosanna", "Your Name", "Today Is The Day", and "Above All". Here is a link to some of his video songs. Click here

You never know when you attend something like this. Will they try to teach you "how to do it right" or will they kinda show off and make you feel inadequate 'cause your church isn't able to pull off what they are doing? I'm happy to say there was NONE of that. Paul has such a humble, spirit-led, biblical  approach to leading the church in worship. He referenced 1 Chronicles 16:4 which says, "David appointed the following Levites to lead the people in worship before the Ark of the LORD by asking for his blessings and giving thanks and praise to the LORD, the God of Israel". The rest of the chapter is a song of praise that was sung to the Lord.

Paul said that leading worship needs to flow from our relationship with Christ. It is first "ministering to the Lord" before you can minister to others. What he means is that we can't lead others into something we aren't practicing ourselves. Worship at its best is when we do publicly what we've been doing privately. I attended a workshop called, "The Journey of the Song". This was about songwriting and the motivations you might have. If you only want to write in order to get your song published and recorded, probably not going to happen - but instead write a song to help keep your heart connected to God. Also write songs for your local congregation. This is a great way for the community to draw closer together as they are drawn closer to God.

I have to tell you, something within me is definitely stirring. Music is such a powerful way to worship and "minister to the Lord".