America's Lukewarm Church

 Revelation 3:14-22

The Lukewarm Church

14 “And to the [a]angel of the church [b]of the Laodiceans write,

‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: 15 “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither [c]cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. 17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— 18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.[d] Therefore be [e]zealous and repent.20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. 21 To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

22 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Go back and read that again. Meditate on it. Chew on it for a few minutes and reflect on the condition of the church in the United States today. We often see news stories of some denomination of other that has caved to the world and has agreed to perform same sex marriage ceremonies or teaches that homosexuality is okay in the eyes of God...the same God whose very Word says otherwise. Does He love those who are homosexual? Absolutely He does, without question. But does He condone the lifestyle they practice? No, He does not. We, Christians, Children of God, are called to be holy, as He is holy. Unrepentant sin is not holy. The church has lowered itself to the standards of the world instead of doing its best to bring the world up to God's standards.  Welcome the sinner into your midst, yes, but do not tell that sinner that his/her sin is okay. Do not participate in their sin.  This isn't just about homosexuality either. 

We have a church here locally whose pastor committed adultery with a married woman and then married her after she divorced her husband. The church hired him knowing he had done this. That church, by allowing him to be a shepherd to that flock, is telling the congregation that adultery is no big deal. That sin is acceptable. 

We are called to be set apart from the world. To hold ourselves and those who lead us to a higher standard- God's standard. Our country is, compared to many others, a very wealthy country. We have what we need and much of what we want. We go to church because it makes us feel good about ourselves, because the pastor tells us that Jesus loves us, forgives us, shows us grace and mercy. We put a few dollars in the offering plate and it makes us feel like we've accomplished something good. Pat ourselves on the back and go about living our lives the rest of the week no differently than the rest of the world. 

If someone is watching you live your life and also watching your atheist neighbor, will they see a difference between you? Will they know by watching you that you are a blood bought child of the King? 

Christians in China pray for persecution to come to the American church because they know from first hand experience that persecution makes a church better. We, American Christians, are, for the most part, lazy, complacent, and unwilling to fight for what is right if it means we have to sacrifice something. We like our comfortable lives and we don't want to do anything that might risk it or make us uncomfortable. So we've become lukewarm and if we don't wake up and see what we're doing, we will be spat out from the mouth of God! Be hot or cold! Be on fire for Him or turn your back on Him but do not be in the middle! Tell your pastor you want true Biblical teaching and if he/she won't turn back to God, find a new church. If you continue to be lukewarm, you have to answer to God for that! You! Because you have the power to change your life, to live a life that reflects God's holiness and not one that reflects the garbage of the world. 

What do you choose to do? Today is the beginning of Lent...Spend some time reflecting, praying, looking in the mirror of your life and asking God to show you what needs changed in you. I know that's what I'll be doing because I know that I've spent too much time being lukewarm and complacent. I choose to be on fire for Jesus, no matter what the cost. 

Is it too late to heal our land?

As I was reading through some comments on a news article a commenter posted the verse from 2 Chronicles 7:14 and someone responded to her comment and said something along the lines of, "It's too late for that. It's impossible to get everyone in the country on the same page."

So I went and read the verse and prayed about it and the part of that verse that stayed with me was "MY PEOPLE"

"...if MY PEOPLE, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land." (Emphasis mine)

We don't need the entire country to become Christians for God to hear our prayers and heal our land. We know, and God knows, that isn't realistic because there will always be unbelievers among us. There will always be people here who hate God. 

We just need to get HIS PEOPLE on the same page. HIS people need to humble ourselves, turn from our wicked ways, seek His face, pray, pray, pray...and He will heal our land. 

Are you counted among HIS PEOPLE? Are you willing to gather with others who call themselves Children of God, to pray, to humble yourself? Are you willing to turn from your wicked ways? We all have them...lying, gossiping, adultery, sex outside marriage, alcohol, drugs, porn, hatefulness, racism, pride...just a few among the many sin strongholds that are common in today's church. Are you willing to shake those things off and turn back to God 100%? 

If HIS PEOPLE are willing to turn back to Him, to pray and seek forgiveness, to shed the wickedness we participate in...He will heal our land. It's a promise. That verse doesn't say maybe or might, or He'll think about it. He says I WILL. 

I'm willing. I'm ready to see this country turn back to Him. I'm ready to see a revival in this land, the likes of which has never been seen before. I'm ready to see people turn their lives around and give them to Jesus. Who's with me? 

I'm not the King of the world...

I was listening to the radio this morning when a song by Natalie Grant came on and the words really resonated with me because it's something I've done, something I do...I give something to God to handle then I reach up and take it back because somehow I think I can do it better.

But more often, I try to fit God into a box that I can handle, a box that makes sense to my human understanding. I have to stop and remember that God is so much more than that. He is so much more than what my box of understanding can contain. He created this universe with mere words. He holds it all together even when it feels like my world is flying apart at the seams. He can't even be adequately described with earthly words because He is so much more than our little words can define. We use words like awesome and amazing but we turn around and use those same words to describe a pair of shoes or a new car because those words aren't big enough to encompass the greatness of our God.

Go outside and look around...really look. Find some nature around you, trees, birds, insects, squirrels, flowers, grass, the sky and clouds...things our God created with a word. Think of a new born baby, a miracle, the ocean, a river, mountains. So many wonders that He created for our enjoyment. He created these things for us. He doesn't need them, He has heaven...He made these things for us to show us what He can do and that He loves us and He wants our world to be beautiful and for us to find the beauty in it.

God is bigger than our box. We will never be eye to eye with Him because He's bigger than that. We are not God, we are not even gods and we never will be.

I have to be more careful to remember God as He is...not as I think He should be.

My One True Hope...

Growing up I was surrounded by a myriad of Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Grandparents and close family friends that I called Aunt or Uncle. We were a close knit family that celebrated holidays and family events together. I have 11 Aunts and Uncles and close to 40 first cousins and it was always busy with lots of playmates and partners in crime. I loved it! I was so secure in the knowledge that if I ever needed someone, if I was ever in trouble or needed help with anything, someone would be there. It was a glorious way to grow up and I look back on my childhood with such fond memories.

But...as I've grown older I've seen rifts appear in that once sturdy foundation. Cracks of contention, anger, and most of all a sad unwillingness to forgive over petty differences. My security in my extended family has been shaken because I know that there are many members that I can no longer turn to or count on and it breaks my heart. Those same family members that I knew beyond a shadow of doubt would never turn their backs on me...have done just that. Cousins I was once as close to as siblings, I haven't heard from or talked to in years, and I miss them desperately. I've lost too many family members unexpectedly so I know how very fragile and precious life is and how quickly it can be taken from us, leaving us without opportunity to say, "I'm sorry." or "I forgive you." Let alone, "Goodbye."

But...the one thing I have complete faith in is that my Creator will never turn His back on me. No matter how bad I mess up, how angry I get, He will always be there. He will never leave me or forsake me. This one thought, this one hope, this one piece of knowledge is what gets me through each and ever day. I miss my family as I saw it, experienced it as a child. I miss them dearly and even though we don't speak, I pray for them daily, I pray they are happy and healthy and blessed. I pray most of all that they have or will find salvation in the saving grace of Jesus Christ so that we will meet again on the other side of Heaven's gates when our time comes.

Please, if it is within your power to do so, make it your New Year's Resolution to mend rifts in your family. Make amends, offer forgiveness- but do so carefully- and put the past behind you. The loss of a loved one whom you've had a falling out with is devastating. There is only so much time...don't wait too long because too late comes sooner than you might think.

Love Is A Choice

Love is not a warm fuzzy feeling. It's not butterflies in your belly. It's not about happiness and good feelings. Love is not a feeling.

Love is a choice. Love is action. Love is standing firm in the storms as they come and batter you and make you feel weak and tired. Love is looking at your spouse during an argument and choosing to stay...even when leaving might be easier.

Do you think Jesus, hanging on that cross, beaten and bloodied, flesh torn from his body...felt like loving us? Do you think He wanted to endure the punishment that wasn't His? Do you think He was feeling butterflies in his stomach as He thought about you and me?

I don't. I don't think Jesus was feeling love that day...but He sure chose love that day. He reached through the cloud of anguish and unimaginable suffering and took the sin off of you and me. He chose to love us even though we didn't deserve it. Even though He knew we might not love Him back.

So, when your child is throwing another tantrum...
When your spouse does that one thing that makes you crazy...
When your neighbor spouts hateful things to/about you...
When you're ready to walk away, when you think you simply cannot take another moment, when the butterflies died years ago and you feel nothing but contempt...

Choose love.




(Please note, I am not referring to or recommending that people in abusive situations stay in those situations. If you are being abused...get help!)

Milk or Meat?

I was reading an article today about how people are feeling frustrated in church and why that is. So after some thought, I decided to come to my blog and share my thoughts on the matter.

We, as sinful, broken human beings WANT to go to church and sit under the teaching of someone who will tell us that Jesus loves us, that we're covered by the grace of God, that we're doing a great job being good little helpers. We WANT milk because milk is easy to swallow and takes no real effort on our parts to digest.

However, the spirit in us NEEDS meat. It needs to be convicted and urged to repentance. It needs to be told that while God is loving and gracious, He is also just and jealous. It needs to be made aware of our shortcomings and our sin and reminded that being a Christian is more than just about the love of God. It is centered on that, yes, but because of the love, there is also sacrifice. Sacrifice hurts. Meat requires us to chew, it requires time and effort for our bodies to digest. We WANT milk but we NEED meat and in our hearts we know this.

In order to grow there must be growing pains. We must stretch and reach and endure as the Lord shapes us and burns off the chafe. Many times in the Word of God, believers are compared to precious metals that must be refined with fire. The metals are melted with very high temperatures and anything that is not silver or gold would be burned off by the heat. We are the precious metals but in us are impurities that must  be burned off- sin, bad habits, lustful thoughts, anger and bitterness, gossip, un-forgiveness, laziness, and so many others that must be burned off through trials and Godly correction.

So, as we sit through yet another sermon about love and grace and joy and all the feel good things, our spirit is starving to death and thus, we feel discouraged, frustrated, full of angst because we're not getting the nourishment we need from the one put in place to nourish us. Jesus told Peter to feed His sheep but many of today's religious leaders are failing to do that. We, as God's children, need to hold our leaders accountable for that. We need to demand- even though we know it's painful to be convicted- that our pastors teach from the whole Word of God and not just the feel good parts. They need to stop being so worried about offending people and be more concerned about offending and angering God.

Are you feeding on the meat of God's word or are you still drinking milk and starving for more? Does your pastor challenge you? Does your church convict you? Do you leave church some weeks feeling burdened with the weight of your unconfessed sin? If not, then you need to ask, "Why not?"

Who do you love?

I've touched on this topic before but considering the state of things in our nation right now, I feel like it's something we need a reminder of. There isn't a whole lot of loving our neighbors going on at the moment and that's sad.

When Jesus was asked what the most important commandments were, his reply was this:

³⁷ Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' ³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Matthew 22:37-39

Love your neighbor as yourself. 

So, who are our neighbors? 

Jesus was asked that question too and He responded by telling a story. The parable of the Good Samaritan.

Luke 10:30-37

³⁰ In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. ³¹ A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. ³² So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³ But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. ³⁴ He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵ The next day he took out two denarii^[c] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
³⁶ “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
³⁷ The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

So you see, a neighbor is not just someone who lives nearby. A neighbor is any other person. The Samaritan didn't know the beaten man, had never seen him before, yet he took pity on him and gave of what he had to help the man. He sacrificed his own time schedule, his own clothing, his own comfort, his own money, to help someone in need. A stranger...and he expected nothing in return. 

Do you love your neighbors? Do you love ALL of your neighbors? Jesus didn't say, "Love the neighbors who think like you, look like you, believe like you." He didn't specify which neighbors because He wants you to love ALL of your neighbors as you love yourself. Not just the ones who are the same color or the same religion or the same political party...ALL of them!!

But look around, look at the news, look at the ugly hateful comments being left on Facebook posts. There is far more hate happening in this country than there is love. Which are you contributing to? I know I'm guilty of leaving less than friendly comments on news articles I don't agree with. I need to remember that each of these news articles involve people, human beings that need love and prayer. The very least we can do is pray for our neighbors because we all need that. 

What can we all do to make things better in our own homes? In our own neighborhoods? In our own towns and cities? In our own states? In our own country? Little steps in love lead to great things. How can you love your neighbors today? How can you be the change you want to see in your world?