Culture of Evangelism

I long for a church that understands that it - the local church - is the chosen and best method of evangelism. I long for a church in where the Christians are so in love with Jesus that when they go about the regular time of worship, they become an image of the gospel. I long for a church that disarms with love, not entertainment and lives out counter-cultural confidence in the power of the gospel. I long for a church where the greatest celebrations happen over those who share their faith, and the heroes are those who risk their reputations to evangelize.

I yearn for a culture of evangelism with brothers and sisters whose backs are up to mine in the battle; where I'm taught and teach about what it means to share our faith; and where I see leaders in the church leading people to Jesus. I want a church where you can point to changed lives, where you can see people stand up and say, "When I came to this church two years ago, I didn't know God, but now I do!" I long to be a part of a culture of evangelism like that. I bet you do, too.

Evangelism, J. Mack Stiles, 60

From a Dying Church to a Church Willing to Die for Christ

 As you read this pointed quote by Andrew Davis, please consider your own life.

Dying churches have gotten to the sad state they are in because they selfishly loved their lives in this world and refused to take up their cross daily and follow Christ. They have become inwardly focused; they spend their money on themselves and their own comforts; they rarely invite people to church; they stopped looking for ways to engage the community and to serve its needs for the sake of the gospel. They have forgotten what Jesus taught; 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit' (John 12:24). As German pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer put it, 'When Jesus calls a man, he bids him, 'Come and die!'"

I truly believe God has great things in store for Meadowview, but only when we selflessly give ourselves to His work. Meadowview will you come and die with me for the sake of Christ and His church?


Revitalize: Biblical Keys to Helping Your Church Come Alive Again

The Purpose of Church Discipline

Since we have been working through 1 Corinthians 5, I thought this summary of the Purposes of Church Discipline by Leeman would be helpful...

1. Discipline aims to expose. Sin, like cancer, loves to hide. Discipline exposes the cancer so that it might be cut out quickly (1 Corinthians 5:2).

2. Discipline aims to warn. A church does not enact God's retribution through discipline. Rather, it stages a small play that pictures that great judgment to come (1 Corinthians 5:5). Discipline is a compassionate warning.

3. Discipline aims to save. Churches pursue discipline when they see a member taking the path toward death, and none of their pleading and arm-waving causes the person to turn around. It's the device of last resort for bringing an individual the repentance (1 Corinthians 5:5).

4. Discipline aims to protect. Just as cancer spreads from one cell to another, so sin quickly spreads from one person to another (1 Corinthians 5:6).

5. Discipline aims to present a good witness for Jesus. Church discipline, strange to say, is actually good for non-Christians, because it helps to preserve the attractive distinctiveness of God's people. Churches, remember, should be salt and light. "But if the salt loses its saltiness...," Jesus said, "It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled by men" (Matthew 5:13).

Church Discipline: How The Church Protects The Name of Jesus, Jonathan Leeman

How Do I, "Be Holy?" (2)

Great word from Ryle...

I should as soon expect a farmer to prosper in business who contented himself with sowing his fields and never looking at them till harvest, as expect a believer to attain much holiness who was not diligent about his Bible reading, his prayers, and the use of his Sunday's. (Ryle, Holiness pg. 26)

How Do I, "Be Holy?"

As we have been studying at Meadowview scripture calls us to Holiness, "...as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct" (1 Pet. 1:15). So how can we become Holy as God is Holy?  Here is how RC Sproul answers that question,

The key method Paul underscores as the means to the transformed life is by the 'renewal of the mind.' This means nothing more and nothing less than education. Serious education. In-depth education. Disciplined education in the things of God. It calls for a mastery of the Word of God. We need to be people whose lives have changed because our minds have changed. 

True transformation comes by gaining a new understanding of God, ourselves, and the world. What we are after, ultimately is to be conformed to the image of Christ. We are to be like Jesus, though not in the sense that we can ever gain deity. we are not god-men. But our humanity is to mirror and reflect the perfect humanity of Jesus. A tall order! 

To be conformed to Jesus, we must first begin to think as Jesus did. We need the 'mind of Christ.' We need to value the things He values and despise the things He despises. We need to have the same priorities He has. We need to consider weighty the things that He considers weighty. 

That cannot happen without a mastery of His Word. The key to spiritual growth is in-depth Christian education that requires a serious level of sacrifice. That is the call to excellence we have received. We are not to be like the rest of the world, content to live our lives with a superficial understanding of God. We are to grow dissatisfied with spiritual milk and hunger after spiritual meat. (The Holiness of God, 164)

Deceitfulness of Sin

Sunday while studying the issue of Church Discipline we spent some time considering the warnings and instruction found in Hebrews 3:12-13.

Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called "today," that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

Commenting on that last line and the deceitfulness of sin J.C. Ryle writes, "You may see this deceitfulness in the wonderful proneness of men to regard sin as less sinful and dangerous than it is in the sight of God; and in their readiness to extenuate it, make excuses for it, and minimize its guilt." (Holiness, pg 8)

Does "readiness to extenuate sin" and "making excuses" describe you? Of course it does! We are all prone to sins deception and we all need the watchful eyes and truth speaking lips of our brothers and sisters in Christ to help us faithfully follow Jesus.

Ryle continues,

I fear we do not sufficiently realize the extreme subtlety of our soul's disease. We are too apt to forget that temptation to sin will rarely present itself to us in its true colors, saying, "I am your deadly enemy, and I want to ruin you forever in hell." Oh no! sin comes to us, like Judas, with a kiss; and like Joab, with an outstretched hand and flattering words. The forbidden fruit seemed good and desirable to Eve; yet it cast her out of Eden. The walking idly on his palace roof seemed harmless enough to David; yet it ended in adultery and murder. Sin rarely seems sin at first beginnings. Let us then watch and pray, lest we fall into temptation. 

Friends watch and pray and while you're at it remember that love compels us to watch out for and pray for others too.