Passage of the Day: Ephesians 4: 3 – NIV 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
Ephesians 4: 3 – NASB … being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
My Journal for Today: Continuing in the theme of Christian unity necessary for believers and the church to have individual and/or collective impact on the world, we read the phrase, “… through the bond of peace.” So, in today’s verse, Paul used the Greek word picture involving the term “sundesmos,” which literally refers to a belt or strap which ties packages together. And this is an apt picture of what occurs when a bunch of individual packages (i.e., believers) are tied together by the strapping of the Holy Spirit, Who unites the body together with a “bond of peace.” But, as Paul is exhorting Christians, … this only happens when they are willing to surrender to His cohesive influence so as to exhibit God’s love to the world. And this will only happen when Christians come together in selfless “agape,” … the pouring forth which occurs from the actions of Christians who are unified in humility, meekness, patience, and forebearing love … all of those concepts we’ve already looked at this month which were brought out from the Eph. 4: 1 – 3 passage.
I can’t get the ode to love from the 60s out of my brain as I write this; “… What the world needs now, is love, sweet love …;” and it’s true. The world desperately needs the unified love that evolves from unified believers, living lives of Christlikeness, from the bonding of agape that shines like a beacon into the darkness that is today’s world of greed and selfishness. And when the lost see a Light like this, emanating form the Church in the unified bond of peace, they will either run from it in fear or be drawn to it like moths to a flame.
In the Old Testament, God chided His people for not having true and lasting peace … [Jeremiah 8: 11 – 12] …
>>> SCRIPTURE: Jer. 8: 11 …They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. "Peace, peace," they say, when there is no peace. 12 Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct? No, … they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when they are punished, says the LORD.
In the New Testament, Paul rebuked the Corinthian believers for their disunity and their un-Christlike walk in their world (see below) …
>>> SCRIPTURE: 1st Cor 11: 17 - 22 …17 In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. 18In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. 19No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God's approval. 20When you come together, it is not the Lord's Supper you eat, 21for as you eat, each of you goes ahead without waiting for anybody else. One remains hungry, another gets drunk. 22Don't you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you for this? Certainly not!
>>> SCRIPTURE: 1st Cor 14: 26 …What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.
As individual Christians, melded together in the Church, we simply must be serious about coming together IN PEACE to shine Christ’s light into the world. God’s love light is dampened when we exhibit the divisiveness of denominational or doctrinal differences. How can a lost world see the love of God through the spectacle of hypocrisy and pride when it is all too often the show of the church in today’s world?
I’m convicted; … how about you?
My Prayer Today: Lord, have mercy on your Church; but shine your Light so clearly that we can’t miss it in following You. Amen
Showing posts with label church division. Show all posts
Showing posts with label church division. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Monday, November 15, 2010
2010 – November 15 – Known by Our Love
Study from God’s Word… From the so-called “Upper Room Discourse,” John records Jesus’ sharing with His anxious/confused inner 11 Disciples in John 15-16 and then His prayers for them (and us) in John, Chapters 17 … Passage for Reflection: John 17: 23 … NIV May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that You sent Me and have loved them as you have loved Me.
My Journal for Today: Normally, when I’m doing my own morning devotional journal entries, I wait to the end of my summary of what the Lord has revealed to me that day to share LaGard Smith’s daily and sometimes sobering question. But today I’m going to do that right up front, as today he wrote, ”If the world based its judgment about Christ solely upon how I love fellow believers, would they move nearer to Christ or farther away?”
In today’s highlight text we have Jesus openly praying that His followers thereafter, which, most certainly, includes all who claim to be “Christian” today, would be unified in their witness of love for Jesus, which He said would manifest itself most openly in the love Christians would have for one another. So, I’m back to the challenge question from Dr. Smith for today; and I honestly think I do okay on that one – not great … but okay. I’ll let you search yourself, if you’re reading here, to see if others would move closer to wanting to know Jesus by the way you treat other Christians.
But – and this is another big “BUT” – it concerns me that Christianity may be driving people away from Christ because of how we are perceived by the world as bickering with (or maybe it would be more accurate to say “fighting with”) each other as Christians. First, there is the big split which occurred in the 16th century with Protestantism splitting away from Roman Catholic and/or Easter Orthodox doctrinal beliefs. And now, how does the world view all the division they see in modern day denominationalism? And there is the confusion the world has to see with non-Christian sects like Mormonism or the Watchtower, who are in open competition with so-called “Orthodox Christianity,” as we all witness to convince non-believers that each of us has the only way to go to heaven.
And finally the world sees so-called conservative, evangelical Christians railing, as admittedly I do sometimes, about new-age teachers like Oprah Winfrey, who claim that all faith systems have commonality and you can come to God, or go to heaven, by following any of those belief systems. Won’t the world see it as disunity when someone like me would claim that, as Jesus Himself said in John 14: 16, Christ is the only way to heaven?
All this divisiveness has got to be seen as disunity and lacking in God’s love by the world; and at times I must admit that it’s hard to stand in the gap for orthodox truth and be unified in the bond of Christianity. But one thing is clear that I can do; and that is to love others as Jesus loved me. And when I think of how patient He was in wooing and drawing me to Himself, I need to be similarly loving to others – especially to other Christians … but extending that love as well to non-Christians.
I’m dong better and better with this; but I still have a long way to go to become the Christian Jesus prayed for in John 17; … so, I move on … trying to let God transform me into the disciple my Lord prayed for in that Upper Room the night He was betrayed and then taken to be crucified.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, help me to be the loving disciple I need to be for others to see You in me. Amen
My Journal for Today: Normally, when I’m doing my own morning devotional journal entries, I wait to the end of my summary of what the Lord has revealed to me that day to share LaGard Smith’s daily and sometimes sobering question. But today I’m going to do that right up front, as today he wrote, ”If the world based its judgment about Christ solely upon how I love fellow believers, would they move nearer to Christ or farther away?”
In today’s highlight text we have Jesus openly praying that His followers thereafter, which, most certainly, includes all who claim to be “Christian” today, would be unified in their witness of love for Jesus, which He said would manifest itself most openly in the love Christians would have for one another. So, I’m back to the challenge question from Dr. Smith for today; and I honestly think I do okay on that one – not great … but okay. I’ll let you search yourself, if you’re reading here, to see if others would move closer to wanting to know Jesus by the way you treat other Christians.
But – and this is another big “BUT” – it concerns me that Christianity may be driving people away from Christ because of how we are perceived by the world as bickering with (or maybe it would be more accurate to say “fighting with”) each other as Christians. First, there is the big split which occurred in the 16th century with Protestantism splitting away from Roman Catholic and/or Easter Orthodox doctrinal beliefs. And now, how does the world view all the division they see in modern day denominationalism? And there is the confusion the world has to see with non-Christian sects like Mormonism or the Watchtower, who are in open competition with so-called “Orthodox Christianity,” as we all witness to convince non-believers that each of us has the only way to go to heaven.
And finally the world sees so-called conservative, evangelical Christians railing, as admittedly I do sometimes, about new-age teachers like Oprah Winfrey, who claim that all faith systems have commonality and you can come to God, or go to heaven, by following any of those belief systems. Won’t the world see it as disunity when someone like me would claim that, as Jesus Himself said in John 14: 16, Christ is the only way to heaven?
All this divisiveness has got to be seen as disunity and lacking in God’s love by the world; and at times I must admit that it’s hard to stand in the gap for orthodox truth and be unified in the bond of Christianity. But one thing is clear that I can do; and that is to love others as Jesus loved me. And when I think of how patient He was in wooing and drawing me to Himself, I need to be similarly loving to others – especially to other Christians … but extending that love as well to non-Christians.
I’m dong better and better with this; but I still have a long way to go to become the Christian Jesus prayed for in John 17; … so, I move on … trying to let God transform me into the disciple my Lord prayed for in that Upper Room the night He was betrayed and then taken to be crucified.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, help me to be the loving disciple I need to be for others to see You in me. Amen
Tuesday, April 06, 2010
2010 – April 6 – Uncivil Civil Wars
Study from God’s Word…2nd Samuel 2: 1 – 30; 2nd Samuel 3: 1 – 5 [1st Chron. 3: 1 – 4]; 2nd Samuel 3: 6 – 29; 2nd Samuel 4: 1 – 12; 2nd Samuel 5: 1 – 3 [1st Chron. 11: 1 – 3]; 2nd Samuel 2: 11 and 5: 4-5 and 1st Kings 2: 11 and 1st Chron. 3: 4b & 29: 26-27; 1st Chron. 12: 23 – 40; … Passage for Reflection: Judges 1: 19 … NIV 26 Abner called out to Joab, "Must the sword devour forever? Don't you realize that this will end in bitterness? How long before you order your men to stop pursuing their brothers?"
My Journal for Today: The questions raised by Abner in the dispute between the houses of Saul and David are even apt questions today. And the last of these is the most pertinent: When do brothers in the faith quit pursuing one another? And the answer to that will be “NOW,” if the conflict is over personal matters. However, the answer is “AS LONG AS IT TAKES FOR TRUTH TO PREVAIL,” if the conflict is over Godly principle.
We see it today. Churches which divide, split, and are torn asunder. And when it is over personal power or personalities, such divisions are tragic and need to be halted as soon as possible, hopefully before the cause of Christ is damaged in the world’s eye. Unfortunately, like the battles between Saul’s Israel and David’s Judah, the battles in many churches today go on far too long; and many times the battles themselves hurt the cause of Christ and especially the witness of the Church which may be splitting over personalities or personal issues.
However, there are battles, even raging in churches or denominations today, which I feel are necessary and must be fought out until the principles of Scripture are upheld. For example, we see denominations splitting and fighting because some churches or groups within denominations desire to ordain women as Pastors or also desire to have avowed homosexuals as Elders, Bishops, or in other positions of church leadership. And we see these churches taking positions and causing whole denominations to split asunder, deciding which side for which they are going to stand. It is these latter spiritual “wars,” certainly will cause confusion in the world because they seem to be fought by Christian versus “christian.” But these spiritual squabbles may be necessary for God’s truth to be declared and decided in the public arena. Gay marriage or churches endorsing homosexuality are battle fields which must be fought in the arena of Christianity today so that God’s truth from His Holy Word can be upheld. These wars may be ugly; but they are necessary and they will rage as long as there are Christians [Capital “C] versus “christians” [small “c”] who interpret what we or they call Scripture [capital “S”] versus “scripture” [small “s”] .
I hope I’m being clear here; because any Christian church, denomination, or organization which cannot or will not stand for God’s principles, taken directly from God’s word, become an impotent witness in this world. However, God’s truth is not only worthy of standing for in the world, it is imperative that we do so; and I pray that all Christians today are willing to stand forth for God’s truth in a world where right is being seen as wrong and Scriptural truth is being labeled as “politically incorrect.”
And I also pray that we cease and desist from in-fighting in the church over personal issues or personality power issues. Such “uncivil civil wars” must cease and cease NOW. But … fighting over God’s truth must keep on keeping on until God is victorious – no matter how long it takes.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, we may lose battles; but the war is Yours in eternity. Amen
My Journal for Today: The questions raised by Abner in the dispute between the houses of Saul and David are even apt questions today. And the last of these is the most pertinent: When do brothers in the faith quit pursuing one another? And the answer to that will be “NOW,” if the conflict is over personal matters. However, the answer is “AS LONG AS IT TAKES FOR TRUTH TO PREVAIL,” if the conflict is over Godly principle.
We see it today. Churches which divide, split, and are torn asunder. And when it is over personal power or personalities, such divisions are tragic and need to be halted as soon as possible, hopefully before the cause of Christ is damaged in the world’s eye. Unfortunately, like the battles between Saul’s Israel and David’s Judah, the battles in many churches today go on far too long; and many times the battles themselves hurt the cause of Christ and especially the witness of the Church which may be splitting over personalities or personal issues.
However, there are battles, even raging in churches or denominations today, which I feel are necessary and must be fought out until the principles of Scripture are upheld. For example, we see denominations splitting and fighting because some churches or groups within denominations desire to ordain women as Pastors or also desire to have avowed homosexuals as Elders, Bishops, or in other positions of church leadership. And we see these churches taking positions and causing whole denominations to split asunder, deciding which side for which they are going to stand. It is these latter spiritual “wars,” certainly will cause confusion in the world because they seem to be fought by Christian versus “christian.” But these spiritual squabbles may be necessary for God’s truth to be declared and decided in the public arena. Gay marriage or churches endorsing homosexuality are battle fields which must be fought in the arena of Christianity today so that God’s truth from His Holy Word can be upheld. These wars may be ugly; but they are necessary and they will rage as long as there are Christians [Capital “C] versus “christians” [small “c”] who interpret what we or they call Scripture [capital “S”] versus “scripture” [small “s”] .
I hope I’m being clear here; because any Christian church, denomination, or organization which cannot or will not stand for God’s principles, taken directly from God’s word, become an impotent witness in this world. However, God’s truth is not only worthy of standing for in the world, it is imperative that we do so; and I pray that all Christians today are willing to stand forth for God’s truth in a world where right is being seen as wrong and Scriptural truth is being labeled as “politically incorrect.”
And I also pray that we cease and desist from in-fighting in the church over personal issues or personality power issues. Such “uncivil civil wars” must cease and cease NOW. But … fighting over God’s truth must keep on keeping on until God is victorious – no matter how long it takes.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, we may lose battles; but the war is Yours in eternity. Amen
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