While the Pews Are Empty This Spring

I had hoped we had beaten the virus back enough to be able to roam at will, but it appears that is not the case. While some restrictions were rolled back in her address today, our Governor is keeping the restriction on gatherings of more than 10 at least until May 15, which affects our church gatherings as well.

This is disappointing, but we can manage. I don't see this as a matter of religious freedom as some are painting it, but rather submitting to our governmental authorities as they promote good (citizen health) and refrain evil (Covid-19). We are not being denied our freedom to worship. We currently do it in alternative ways, although we are truly missing our church families and worshiping together. We are not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, just waiting out Covid-19. Yet, this is doing us good as well, for absence is making my heart grow fonder. 

It will also do us good to return to work and to our favorite retail stores and shops, which we've been give the go-ahead to do, even while we must continue to wear the face masks (I miss the smiles they hide). Perhaps this is making us all more appreciative and grateful for what we've more or less taken for granted (and maybe the tips at the restaurants and salons will be bigger when they are allowed to open later). I'm reminded of our family's two-year temporary transfer to Venezuela. When asked how long we were there, My Beloved replies, "two years"; I reply "too long". The time was good for us but difficult, and definitely not something I'd want to do again. I'm glad that's in the past and not in the present.

Perhaps there has been too much reliance on church services to meet our worship need. Before the Covid-19, did our worship take place only at the church worship service? Is worship relegated now to our live-streaming experience at home? Worship is not a time and place; it is to permeate our whole being and is an expression of our faith in Jesus Christ. We worship God when we love Him with all our heart, our soul, our mind, our strength. Surely, this can take place wherever we may be. While Scripture also calls us to worship corporately, we don't need a worship leader in order to worship.

But perhaps the more pointed issue at stake is the gathering of ourselves together for fellowship, to be blessed by one another, to encourage and admonish one another, to bear one another's burdens, to serve one another, accept one another, disciple one another, and the many more one-anothers of the Bible. While it certainly is easier and more effective as we gather, this can be done in the circumstances in which we currently find ourselves. We have to think about it a little more strategically, though.

Yet, I'm wondering if the core issue in wanting to get back together is not what we can do for one another, but what others can do for us. I'm not denying that it is extremely helpful to gather together, I'm simply suggesting that while the pews are empty, we examine ourselves and honestly ask what we're really missing when we cannot gather. And then, take action on that when we do come together once again. It will truly be interesting to see how we have changed and phileo love has increased.

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I Will Enter Thy House

But as for me, by Thine abundant lovingkindness I will enter Thy house,

At Thy holy temple I will bow in reverence for Thee.

Psalm 5:7

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CCO Creative Commons

 

The Church in China

While so many of us attend church free from persecution, free from fear of being arrested as we meet for worship, it is not so around the world. While more and more churches in the West are bolting the door during services, those locked doors are meant to protect against possible violence from a deranged individual. In many parts of the world, however, doors are no deterrent to a government determined to deprive people of freedom of faith.

The following is a preface to the letter written by Pastor Wang Yi, who was arrested along with members of his church this past Sunday. You can read his letter by clicking on the link. I think it will strengthen your faith as you read his thoughts in regard to persecution of the church. It is very clear from his letter how we need to pray for him and his church, as well as for those around the world who are under persecution for their faith.

Over 100 members of Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu, China, were arrested beginning Sunday, December 9. At the time of publication of this translation, arrests are still being made. Among those taken away were Pastor Wang Yi, senior pastor of Early Rain, and his wife, Jiang Rong, who have not been heard from since Sunday.

Foreseeing this circumstance, Pastor Wang Yi wrote the declaration below to be published by his church should he be detained for more than 48 hours. In it he explains the meaning and necessity of faithful disobedience, how it is distinct from political activism or civil disobedience, and how Christians should carry it out.

Needing All the Help We Can Derive

As I have already said, the Church is faulty, but that is no excuse for your not joining it, if you are the Lord’s. Nor need your own faults keep you back, for the Church is not an institution for perfect people, but a sanctuary for sinners saved by Grace, who, though they are saved, are still sinners and need all the help they can derive from the sympathy and guidance of their fellow Believers.

~ Charles Spurgeon, from his sermon, The Best Donation

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by leoleobobeo

I Will Bless the Lord

I will bless the Lord at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth. 

My soul will make its boast in the Lord;
The humble will hear it and rejoice. 

O magnify the Lord with me,
And let us exalt His name together.

Psalm 34:1-3 

Image Created by Montypeter 

via Freepik.com permission

Sunday Ponderings

 Congregation leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen

Vincent Van Gogh 1884

  

Thinking about the speaker today at our church service and the pressures and hardships they face as believers and followers of Christ in the Pacific Rim in which they minister to the various people groups there. It is such a simple thing for us here in America to attend any church service we choose, yet we so often are slothful toward our corporate worship. I do hope you were able and chose to get up and go today, dear one.

But as for me, by Thine abundant lovingkindness I will enter Thy house, 

At Thy holy temple I will bow in reverence of Thee.

Psalm 5:7

When Our Hearts Are Captured

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It was so good to be back in worship service today and to have conversation with fellow believers after being away for so long with the flu. So thankful for the church family God has brought us to here. Being reminded of a reason my church is so important. Sharing that thought with you today.
 

Yet if your heart is being progressively captured by the awe of God, his work, his grace, and his kingdom ("things that are above"), you will see your church not just as a place you attend but as a major commitment of your life, and you will live with a ministry lifestyle in the place where God has put you. When awe of God has captured your heart, ministry will fill your schedule. You won't need the church to schedule ministry for you; you will approach work, marriage, parenting, extended family, friendships, and community with a ministry mentality.

~ Paul David Tripp, Awe: Why It Matters for Everything We Think, Say, and Do

Sunday Ponderings ~ One Anothering

It is grace, nothing but grace, that we are allowed to live in community with other Christians. 

~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer

This is the third Sunday that we weren't able to attend worship service with our church family, and we surely are feeling the void. While we can certainly worship God here at home away from our church-family and listen to the pastor's message online, I was reminded of reasons why we normally do gather together each week.

Besides the blessing of corporate worship, there's also the aspect of one-anothering that being together provides. When I received an email this afternoon from a church-family friend, my mind went to some of the one-anotherings that she was blessing us with. There are others that came to mind as well. I'm so thankful for a church family that "one-anothers."

We couldn't be a part of this aspect of our faith-life if we didn't go to the gatherings and participate. I do hope you have a church family that you meet with each week and are part of these one-anotherings. I know that there are groups of Christians around the world whose meeting together is a dangerous undertaking. They truly understand the need, perhaps more so than those of us who have the freedom each week to openly go and linger as we like.

Love one another

Pray for one another 

Encourage one another

Bear one another's burdens

Speaking to one another in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs

Build one another up

Confess your trespasses to one another

Be kindly affectioned one toward another

Serve one another 

Bearing with one another, forgiving one another

Let us consider one another, in order to stir up love and good work

Be hospitable to one another

And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, 
but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.
Hebrews 10:25 

Sunday Ponderings ~ Faithful Is He

A blessed time of fellowship and corporate worship today with fellow believers in Christ. I hope you were able to worship with your own church family today. I do hope that you have a church family. And most of all, I hope you are a believer and a follower. After the Doxology, we parted ways with the benedicton from 1 Thessalonians.

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow.

Praise Him all creatures here below.

Praise Him above ye heavenly host.

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass. Amen (5:23).

Image ~ Family Going to Church, Andy Otto CC BY-NC 4.0

So Glad I Went

I almost gave in to laziness this morning. My Beloved has been down with the flu and wasn't going to church today, so the decision to go rested with me. I had set the alarm for 6:30, but when morning came, I reluctantly crawled out of bed at 7:00, needing to arrive by 9:00. It's a half hour drive to our church, it was a foggy morning, I hadn't slept well, and on and on my reasoning went.

I'm not a morning person, so I reminded myself that I never actually like to get up--no matter what the day holds. It always takes me about a half hour to shake that feeling loose. I knew I would be sorry if I slept in and failed to attend corporate worship with my church family. So sheer self-discipline strong-armed me out of bed.

And I am glad. I arrived on time for our Sunday School class, which I had prepared for during the week. It was good to hear the discussion on Jonah and be reminded of God's sovereignty and universal grace and mercy. The worship service that followed was uplifting and encouraging, and I believe was a sweet fragrance to Christ.

I believe also that the effort I had made to be there was interwoven into my personal worship. It was a sacrifice of praise to my Lord. God wants our obedience, and He wants us to gather together with fellow believers. I hope you were able to meet with your church family today. I hope you have a church family. It's important for the well-being of all of us.

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching (Hebrews 10:23-25).

Painting ~ Asleep, Karl Holsoe 1863-1935

Sunday Ponderings ~ One Foundation

The Church's One Foundation

The Church’s one foundation

Is Jesus Christ her Lord,

She is His new creation

By water and the Word.

From heaven He came and sought her

To be His holy bride;

With His own blood He bought her

And for her life He died.

She is from every nation,

Yet one o’er all the earth;

Her charter of salvation,

One Lord, one faith, one birth;

One holy Name she blesses,

Partakes one Holy Food,

And to one Hope she presses,

With every grace endued.

’Mid toil and tribulation,

And tumult of her war,

She waits the consummation

Of peace forevermore;

Till, with the vision glorious,

Her longing eyes are blest,

And the great Church victorious

Shall be the Church at rest.

~Samuel John Stone, 1866
 

Painting ~ Church at Olde Lyme 1905, Childe Hassam 1839-1935

Body Life Exercise

Not long ago while I was walking, I ran into a woman I hadn’t seen for about thirty years (we actually recognized one another, in spite of my gray hair and her red). We had once attended the same church, and when I asked her where she was attending now, she began to explain why she and her husband had chosen a particular church: (a) it’s close to Nautilus—she likes to exercise early in the day (every day), so she goes there right after church; (b) there’s an early morning service—she can get church done with and go on over to Nautilus early; and (c) the preaching is short—she’s developed a short attention span over the years and doesn’t like to sit very long.

 

Without comment as to her reasons for choosing her church, I began to consider my own reasons for going to my church. I don’t go to Nautilus, so it has nothing to do with that. However, it has everything to do with exercise and keeping spiritually healthy.

Ephesians 4:15-16 says, "We are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”

We’re body builders. The church is a body and should function as a body. Each of us, when we're joined together and working properly, helps others of us grow. I need to do more than merely attend and hurry out so I can get on to the next thing. Church isn’t just something else I add to my to-do list and make fit where it’s most convenient (if it’s convenient). It’s a vital part of my life. It’s where I receive and give nourishment.

Church is not something I do. It's not a social club that I belong to, and it’s not an organization. Yes, there is socializing and there are organized classes and activities and ways of doing things in a local church body. There may be organization to it, but my church is not an organization. The church is what we are—it’s the body of believers, with Jesus Christ as the Head.

It’s a body of relationships. Ephesians 2:19 says, "So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God." That’s not to say that all the relationships in the church body are intimate relationships. In fact, a few people are hard to like. I’m hard for some people to like. But it’s a place where God uses us in each other's life. God sometimes uses someone who rubs me the wrong way just as much as he uses our pastor to teach me something about myself. Why do my feathers get ruffled? Why do I get offended? It’s good to consider those things, to examine myself. Not easy, but good for me. We choose to like one another. We choose to help one another. As a woman, for me it’s Titus2ing—women encouraging and teaching one another.

Church is also where I spend time in corporate worship. It’s part of my life of worship; it’s coming together with like-minded people, encouraging one another in our faith, expressing praise and glory and honor to Jesus Christ.

“Is the preaching long at your church?” she asked. I hesitated as I thought about it, because I really don’t think about it while I’m listening to our pastor’s message. Maybe it’s because he makes the truth of God’s Word so relevant to our lives. No, that’s not it because God’s Word is already relevant, whether or not I recognize it. Maybe it’s because our pastor is a good speaker. He is, but no, that’s not it because God has used poor speakers in the past (Jonathan Edwards, for one) to bring the truth of His Word to the hearts of the people, changing them in tremendous ways. I can’t exactly put my finger on it, but I think some major reasons why I don’t think about our sermons being long is (a) they aren’t, (b) our pastor’s love for Jesus Christ and His Word is infectious, and (c) I want to ‘grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.’ With the church body is where I find myself growing.

Yes, it does have a lot to do with exercise, but not the Nautilus kind. It's body life.

Painting ~ The Church at Gloucester 1918, Frederick Childe Hassam 1859-1924

WikiArt public domain

Bible Believing or Biblically Functioning?

I've been reading more of Joyfully at Home by Jasmine Baucham and noticing a phrase she uses throughout the book--"a biblically functioning church." It has arrested my attention. I think this is an important distinction that she's making. Many of us would be familiar with the distinction made of a Bible believing church and the reasons for that distinction. We hear the phrase over and over again. I think Jasmine has touched on a major weakness in many Bible believing churches, though, and that is that many are not biblically functioning churches.

In the chapter I'm reading today, Jasmine is answering some questions that she's been asked about her desire to be a stay-at-home daughter and a stay-at-home wife, should she later marry. Questions such as:

"What if your father or husband dies, or they are unable to provide for you because of an injury or illness?"

Her answer: What if the local church took its duty towards widows and orphans seriously? 

While wills, life insurance policies, and detailed plans are all important measures that a father can use to ensure that their families are well cared for (and I have nothing against these methods, and know personally the security that they provide) (1 Timothy 5:8), so many of us miss out on the security that the Body of Christ should afford us.

The Church has a real responsibility towards widows and orphans, so much so that this responsibility is outlined by the Apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 5. Have you ever taken a good, long look at that passage? Have you ever been in a church that has encouraged you to do so?

One of the biggest provisions that a father can make for his family is to get them to a doctrinally sound, biblically functioning church with a strong sense of community.

A biblically functioning church.

I think part of the problem is that we look at New Testament passages about the church and say, "How do we apply this to our church? Oh, we can't do this or that. It won't work in the here and now." Instead, we should be asking, "How can we change our church to follow the patterns laid out for us in the New Testament church?" Huge difference.

A biblically functioning church. Are you in one? Are you sure? Don't be too quick with your answer just yet. I'm not talking about finding Bible verses to pin on our practice. It's the other way round, as C.S. Lewis might put it. This week as you read and study your Bible (you won't know if you are if you don't), particularly about the New Testament church, ask yourself--"Is our church functioning like this? Am I, as a follower of Jesus Christ (if you are), actually living my life like this?" I'm seriously thinking about these questions myself.

A biblically functioning church. An important distinction from the pen of 20-year-old Jasmine.

Jasmine's dad, Voddie Baucham, has written Family-Driven Faith: Doing What It Takes To Raise Sons and Daughters Who Walk With God.  Voddie is a pastor of preaching at their church in Houston, Texas. Jasmine invites us to visit their biblically functioning church sometime. I have some friends who drove hundreds of miles to do so, and it began to change their lives. One of the changes was their church shortly after they returned. It's like Jasmine says, "One of the biggest provisions that a father can make for his family........"

Introverts in Evangelical America

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I often see parents rather embarrassed that their children are not as outgoing as they'd like for them to be. They offer comments as to their shyness, being backward, or being timid and push or pull them forward to participate in whatever is going on. These children often grow into adulthood feeling inadequate in social settings because the way God made them is not acceptable in our American culture.

As Adam McHugh, pastor/introvert and author of the book Introverts in the Church says, "Introverts are usually defined by what we're not rather than by what we are." I came across an article yesterday by McHugh and thought I'd share just a bit of it with you today. He has some thoughts worth pondering for and about the 50% of Americans whom he says studies have shown to be introverted. For those who are, take heart. For those who aren't and have children who are, take note.  He writes...

But the truth is that we [introverts] are people who are energized in solitude, rather than among people. We may be comfortable and articulate in social situations and we may enjoy people, but our time in the outer worlds drains us and we must retreat into solitude to be recharged. We also process silently before we speak, rather than speaking in order to think, as extroverts do. We generally listen a little more than we talk, observe for a while before we engage, and have a rich inner life that brings us great stimulation and satisfaction. Neurological studies have demonstrated that our brains naturally have more activity and blood flow, and thus we need less external stimulation in order to thrive.

Mainstream American culture values gregarious, aggressive people who are skilled in networking and who can quickly turn strangers into friends. Often we identify leaders as those people who speak up the most and the fastest, whether or not their ideas are the best.

Even more dangerous is the tendency of evangelical churches to unintentionally exalt extroverted qualities as the "ideals" of faithfulness. Too often "ideal" Christians are social and gregarious, with an overt passion and enthusiasm. They find it easy to share the gospel with strangers, eagerly invite people into their homes, participate in a wide variety of activities, and quickly assume leadership responsibilities. Those are wonderful qualities, and our churches suffer when we don't have those sorts of people, but if these qualities epitomize the Christian life, many of us introverts are left feeling excluded and spiritually inadequate. Or we wear ourselves out from constantly masquerading as extroverts.

~ Adam McHugh, author of Introverts in the Church: Finding Our Place in an Extroverted Culture

Excerpted from an article that first appeared in the Washington Post, September 10, 2010

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