PERSECUTION: The ascending cry of their hearts!

"For if the bugle produces an indistinct sound, who will prepare himself for battle? So also you, unless you utter by the tongue speech that is clear, how will it be known what is spoken? For you will be speaking into the air. There are, perhaps, a great many kinds of languages in the world, and no kind is without meaning. If then I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be to the one who speaks a barbarian, and the one who speaks will be a barbarian to me."

1 Corinthians 14:8-11

A hawk has entered the area and a crow is fleeing a diving attack … suddenly a cry goes up and his brethren come to the endangered brother’s defense. Within a matter of seconds, dozens have responded; the noise and the flood of moral support is awesome and wonderful.

Oh how I wish the cry of a wounded brother would bring about such a result from the Body of Christ … sadly the landscape is littered with the carcasses of the wounded and dying. What effort there is to reach out seems woefully weak and distinctly indistinct. Clearly the troops are not prepared for battle.

Christianity, Illustrations,
Persecution, Religion

WITNESS: Our clandestine public relations campaign!

I stopped into one of our landmark “greasy spoons” the other day. Many senior church members have sworn by the personnel and the menu. I decided to give it a chance.

Nothing on the menu caught my eye, so I ordered that old standard chili, topped with onions and grated cheese. I canceled the cheese after learning it cost an extra 50 cents (that’s over $30/lb. if you’re interested).

However, the waitress forgot to tell the cook “no cheese,” so it arrived with onions and cheese. When told, the cook (visibly irritated by this infraction of the rules) grabbed the bowl and angrily scrapped the cheese off.

Unfortunately for me, he also scrapped off a ½ inch of my chili and the nice pile of finely chopped fresh onion. When I eventually got my bowl of cold, canned, microwave chili it was sprinkled with large and “potent” chunks of onion.

Now, as I tried to smother the quickly coagulating lump with a ½ pound or so of stale soda crackers, I was distracted by loud coughing. It only took a second to realize it was the cook. With uncovered and open mouth, he wandered about the kitchen hacking his nicotine clogged lungs onto everything not covered or in a cabinet.

Trying to be fair I thought to myself, “It’s okay, after all I’ve probably consumed worse raising six kids.” But then the cook applied the coup de grâce by inserting his index finger to his second knuckle in the nostril of his choice.

I don’t think I’ll tell anyone at the church I ate at the Village Inn, I’m afraid they’ll ask me how I liked it.

Many believers are allowing their churches to become the “greasy spoons” of the spiritual community.

Only the Mormons seem to avoiding this public relations disaster. Worse, many members of these churches, as well as members of some of our finer churches seem to be unaware that they are being watched.

Christianity, Illustrations,
Religion, Witness

KOINONIA: The fellowship of believers!

A salesman drove his car into a ditch; nearby was a farm where he asked the owner if he had a tractor to get his car back on the road.
“Nope, but I got my mule, Blue.” Replied the farmer.
“I doubt a mule is strong enough to pull it out.”
“You don't know Blue!” The mule's proud owner responded. So Blue was hitched to the vehicle.
“Pull, Blue!” The car didn't move. So the farmer called out, “Pull, Elmer!” It moved a little. The farmer yelled, “Pull, Biscuit,” and the car was free.
“Thank you so much,” said the truck owner. “But I’ve a question. You called your mule by three different names. Why?”
“Simple,” said the farmer. “Blue’s blind. If he thought he was the only one pulling, your car would still be in that ditch tomorrow!”

Christianity, Illustrations,
Fellowship, Religion

ECCLESIOLOGY: A Very Peculiar People!

On the MSN Home Page there is a link called “The Word of the Day.” Each day a new word is supplied to the site by Microsoft's Encarta. One word offered was:

sui generis | soo-eye-JEH-nuh-russ or soo-ee-JEH-nuh-russ | adjective: constituting a class alone : unique, peculiar

Example sentence:

"No one before or since has had such a blend of wildness and vulnerability, such pretty-boy looks crossed with such rawness ... James Dean was sui generis." (Robert DiMatteo, Video Review, December 1990)

The selection went on to explain:

English contains many terms that ultimately trace to the Latin forms "gener-" or "genus," (which are variously translated as "birth," "race," "kind," "gender," and "class"). Offspring of those roots include "general," "generate," "generous," "generic," "degenerate," and "gender." But "sui generis" is truly a one-of-a-kind "gener-" descendant that English speakers have used for singular things since the late 1700s.

Its earliest uses were in scientific contexts, where it identified substances, principles, diseases, and even rocks that were unique or that seemed to be the only representative of their class or group. By the early 1900s, however, "sui generis" expanded beyond solely scientific contexts and is now used more generally for anything that stands alone.

Seems to me God used this concept long before the 1700s. In fact, I believe it was first used by a man called Simon, later known as Peter, in the first century AD. I believe he wrote something like:

"But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY."

1 Peter 2:9-10

And if my memory serves me correctly, the folks who translated the KJV said we are a "peculiar" people.

God long ago decided that all of His children should be sui generis – in “a class alone,” unique and peculiar.

Christianity, Illustrations, Religion

DOCTRINE: For "Workmen" who don't want to be ashamed!

LOWERING THE BAR! [Ephesians 4:11-16]

Someone told me of a small high desert community which organized a marching band. They got high marks for spirit and good intentions, but not for music.

You see, in a town where the high school’s senior class is usually less than a couple of dozen, it’s difficult to find anyone to play an instrument, let alone play one well. They didn’t audition and interview potential members; they bribed, cajoled and promised, accepting any who came forward. The fact is they lowered their standards till every instrument had a player. But their performances? Horrible!

Most of us understand when standards are lowered in a situation like the above but what if a professional orchestra were to do this? An orchestra is organized to combine unique independent musical elements into a harmonious and melodious whole, there’s no room for degradation of standards.

A church is a lot like a symphonic orchestra, though far more consequential. A church is also like a small town, there seems always to be a dearth of people for their labor pool. Most small churches would get “high marks for spirit and good intentions,” but not for impressiveness.

Small churches can’t afford to cajole and manipulate just to increases in membership; taking any and all who come. Small churches must resist the temptation to degrade quality for quantity. Churches are intended to be organized to combine independent “natural” giftedness into a “supernatural” harmonious union: there really isn't room for degradation of standards.

Far too many churches have been willing to lower standards regarding membership, even those concerning office holders. If we can imagine the ruin degraded standards would bring upon a professional orchestra, why do we have so much trouble seeing the dangers of degrading biblical standards for The Body of Christ?

One reading of the New Testament is enough to impress the reader of the importance of overcoming and perseverance … I suggest we revisit those passages and stop becoming entangled with the world just to increase Body fat! (added 2/25/06)

Ecclesiology (Church)

BACK DOOR ALARM [Various texts; Church Membership]

Chicago-based Aon Consulting’s Loyalty Institute conducted a study to determine why some workers remain loyal to their employers and others do not. The study, “America @ Work”, revealed the following five most consistent “drivers” in workforce commitment:

1. Management’s awareness of personal and family needs
2. Opportunities for personal growth
3. Meeting the needs of the firm’s customers
4. Benefit Communication (how clearly done)
5. Opportunity to keep skills up to par with the job ’s requirements

For more details see ...

The vast majority of church members are also someone’s employee; the church would do well to evaluate these factors in employee motivation and commitment as they relate to the exodus of church members. If the insight had an effect on the church’s back door it would be worth the time. With a few word changes one can see the application.

[“What makes workers stay?” The Costco Connection, July 1999, p. 9]

COST OF CONSTRUCTION! [Ephesians 5:25, 27, 32; Atonement; Propitiation]

Sydney, Australia, built a modern opera house with a design way ahead of its time. It’s a gorgeous building; a real wonder of construction and architecture. It took 17 years to build; the original estimate was $7.2 million – the actual cost = $110.0 million. The Premiere of New South Wales told cost critics, “The cost has become secondary to consideration of the perfection of the achievement.”

You see in his mind the result justified the pain and the strain encountered by the visionaries who accomplished it construction.

The Church is an edifice more beautiful than anything man has ever conceived or imagined and it cost much more than anyone ever conceived … you see, man estimated its construction cost at lives filled with obedient living but the real cost was the life of the Son of God.

After all, in the hearts of both the Son and the Father, the result justified the pain and strain encountered by the One who accomplished its construction.

ROLE OF THE CHURCH [Matthew 28:19-20; other topics, Equipping, Great Commission]

According to the Bible, God has given the job of “equipping the saints” to the evangelist and the pastor-teacher. Scripture says the church is the vehicle of God’s choice for accomplishing that job.

The role of the church in its simplest form is to fulfill the Great Commission. The role of the church in greater detail and in contemporary terms follows: the church is to be -

• a launch pad for the fulfillment of the Great Commission
• an arena for the worship of God
• a house of prayer
• command headquarters for the Lord’s army
• the 7077 M.A.S.H. unit for the care of saints injured in weekly spiritual warfare
• the saints’ seminary for the teaching of the truths and the ways of God to future church leaders
• the school of learning for the saints in general and
• the receiving and reeducation depot for those freed from the bondage of sin, death and Satan.

Obviously other parallels exist to which the church may be related.