Building the Church

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”
     Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it. Matthew 16:13-18 (NLT)

I’m sure this passage is familiar to all of us. Jesus gives His disciples a “pop-quiz” so to speak. The answer Peter gave was “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus said, “You are blessed Peter because God has already reveled this to you, and on this rock (the confession of Peter) I will build my church.” Many scholars think that this is perhaps the first instance in the ministry of Jesus where He used the word “church” to describe what would remain of His ministry after He was removed from the scene. As I read this passage, there are a couple of things that jump out at me:

The Church was conceived in the heart of Jesus
The church is a remarkable institution. It is the Kingdom of God that exists within the larger context of this world. The Greek word that Jesus uses here referrers to a gathering of “called-out” people. The church is people that Jesus has called-out of their sin and into his kingdom, and whom He has called together as His body.
This entity we call the church didn’t come from the mind of men, it came from the mind of God. It was born in the heart of Jesus. And the church is here today because God himself intended it to be.
I sometimes hear people say, “You don’t have to go to church to be a Christian.” This may be theoretically true, but if you are a follower of Christ, why would you not want to be a part of what God is doing in this world? The church is the one institution in this world that God conceived of to do His work. The Bible says in Ephesians 5 “that, Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her.” Ephesians 3 tells us that God has chosen to show his power to principalities and powers through the church. And it also tells us that he receives glory through the church. Why would you not want to be a part of what Jesus conceived and brought forth from His heart?

The church is the work of Christ.
Notice Jesus said in that passage, “I will build MY church.” The church belongs to Jesus, and He is the chief builder of the church. Jesus was fully human, but He was also fully divine. The church is referred to as the Body of Christ. Would it not stand to reason then, that though the church is made up of human beings, it is also a divine organism? And Jesus, our Savior, is responsible to build it.
I can’t tell you what a relief that is to me. I’ve spent a number of frustrating years in ministry trying to “build the church.” It has taken me a long time to realize that it’s not my church to build.
A passenger jet was suffering through a severe thunderstorm. As the passengers were being bounced around by the turbulence, a young woman turned to a minister sitting next to her and with a nervous laugh asked, "Reverend, you’re a man of God, can’t you do something about this storm?" To which he replied, "Lady, I’m in sales, not management." That is good advice for us to remember. Managing this church is God’s business. Our business is to be the best advertisement for Jesus we can be.
The church belongs to Jesus, and it is to be built by Jesus. Our part is to do what Jesus calls us and equips us to do, and He will take care of the rest.

Seven Things to Pray for Your Church in the New Year

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.  And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. 1 John 5:14-15(NASB).

God is a God of new beginnings and the changing of the calendar to a New Year is a great time to begin some new practices and habits that will improve our lives in the coming year. It's also a time to develop some habits that will enable your church to be healthier in the coming year. As you spend time daily with the Lord in prayer, please consider praying the following things for your church: 

1. Pray for God to be glorified through your church.
Glory to God, who is able to do far beyond all that we could ask or imagine by his power at work within us; glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus for all generations, forever and always. Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21 (CEB)

2. Pray for more workers to be involved in the ministry of the church. 
He said to them, “The harvest is bigger than you can imagine, but there are few workers. Therefore, plead with the Lord of the harvest to send out workers for his harvest." Luke 10:2 (CEB)

3. Pray for unity in the body
“I’m not praying only for them but also for those who believe in me because of their word. I pray they will be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. I pray that they also will be in us, so that the world will believe that you sent me." John 17:20-21 (CEB)

4. Pray for renewal and revival in the church. 
If my people who belong to me will humbly pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land. From now on my eyes will be open and my ears will pay attention to the prayers offered in this place. 2 Chronicles 7:14-15 (CEB)

5. Pray for opportunities to share the gospel from our neighborhood to the nations.
Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. Colossians 4:2-3 (NLT)

6. Pray for spiritual growth of the members of your church. 
So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better. Colossians 1:9-10 (NLT)

7. Pray that God will provide all of the resources needed for your church to fulfill their ministry. 
My God will meet your every need out of his riches in the glory that is found in Christ Jesus. Let glory be given to God our Father forever and always. Amen. Philippians 4:19-20 (CEB)

As the Lord lays other things on your heart to pray for your church, share them in the comments section. 

"Why You Will Join the Wrong Church"

Janice Backer shared an article with me that has an unusual title: "Why You Will Join the Wrong Church". The article is written by Sam Emadi, a member of Third Avenue Baptist Church in Louisville, KY and published by the 9Marks Ministry. The article discusses the importance of seeing church membership in the context of a covenant relationship. 
In the introduction, Emadi writes: 

Almost every Christian knows what it’s like to question whether they joined the “right church.” After an initial “honeymoon stage,” we begin to see our church’s problems with greater clarity than we see its strengths. The sermons start to seem too intellectual, or not intellectual enough. The church begins budgeting for ministries that don’t seem deserving of the dollar figure on the spreadsheet. The small groups don’t meet our needs in the ways we’d hoped. 

More personally, the needs of other church members begin to encroach increasingly on our own personal freedoms. Some members sin against us—even without knowing just how deeply we’ve been wounded. Without even realizing it’s happening, we begin to wonder whether our local assembly is the “right” place for us. Of course, we remind ourselves that there’s no such thing as a perfect church—something we’ve even told our fellow church members. And yet, we can’t help but grapple with the nagging question: “Did I join the wrong church?”

He goes on to say: 

The problem with this question is that it assumes church life shouldn’t be hard. It assumes the “honeymoon stage” should continue in perpetuity or that something has gone awry if we experience significant disappointment or hurt from our relationships with other members or the church’s leadership. 

But these assumptions reveal a deep and unthinking commitment to consumerism: only if the perks of membership outweigh its inconveniences will we think it’s worth it to stick it out. Regrettably, many Christians seem trapped in a perpetual cycle of this type of cost-benefit analysis.

Emadi then offers a different perspective on belonging to a church, that of a covenant relationship, compared to the biblical understanding of covenant marriage. It is an excellent article. I encourage you to take a few minutes and read the full article here.  

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Prayer: Trust God's Timing and His Answer

And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him,and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John." Luke 1:12-13

 A couple of weeks ago I was preaching on "Christmas Fear" and looking at some of the Christmas story characters from the Scriptures. I read the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth, the elderly parents of John the Baptist. Zechariah was serving as a priest in the Temple when an angel appeared to him to tell him he would soon be a father. Naturally Zechariah was troubled and the angel assured him, saying:  

“Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John." (Luke 1:13) What caught my attention was the phrase, "for your prayer has been heard." My first thought was, "What prayer?" 

Scripture doesn't record Zechariah's prayer for us, but the context of the Scripture indicates that he had been praying for a child, particularly a son. We also don't know how long he had been praying for a child, but he was an older man when this happened, so we can assume he had been praying this prayer for many years. 

What would have happened in the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth if God had answered their request for a baby immediately? What if God had said "Yes" earlier in their lives? They would have gotten a sweet little baby that they would have loved and cherished. But God delayed the request for a number of years, and then when He answered, He gave them John the Baptist, the cousin of Jesus Christ, the only prophet to see the prophecies of Jesus fulfilled, and the forerunner of the Messiah.

Sometimes God doesn't answer our prayers when we pray them, because He has something better in mind. He has a bigger plan and purpose and He can see the end from the beginning. If God had answered some of my prayers exactly as I’d asked them, I would have gotten shortchanged. His answers were much greater than my requests. 

This is a great reason to keep praying, and not give up. God has something better in mind for us, we just have to trust Him with the outcome of our prayers, and trust His timing. 

Movement, Monument, Mausoleum

Ray Ortlund is the lead pastor of Immanuel Church in Nashville, TN and a board member of The Gospel Coalition ministry. He wrote and excellent article about the stages many churches are going through in our culture. Powerful and important words...

Some years ago a friend of mine used these three simple categories to objectify the sequential stages of a church’s rise and fall.

Movement

A healthy church is born as a burst of positive gospel energy. It’s a Pentecost-like explosion of joy, a vital gospel movement. Such a church has a sense of mission, even a sense of destiny. It’s exciting to be in this church. Think of a steep upward trajectory.

Monument

Given human weakness, after a time, this movement becomes a monument. The spirit of the church changes from hunger to self-satisfaction, from eagerness to routine, from daring new steps of faith to maintaining the status quo, from outward to ingrown. It’s easy not to notice this shift. The self-image of the church might still be that of a vital movement. But deep within, everything has changed. Think of leveling off.

Mausoleum

If the trend toward mediocrity is not arrested, the church will decline and become a mausoleum, a place of death. The church as an institution may have enough social momentum and financial resources to keep churning on. But as a force for newness of life, it no longer counts. Think of steep decline—indeed, a death spiral.

The responsibility of a church’s leaders is to discern when their movement is starting to level off as a monument. It is at this crucial point that they must face themselves honestly and discover why they have lost their edge, go into repentance and return to the costly commitments that made them great to begin with. They may need to deconstruct much of what they have become, which is painful and embarrassing. But if the leaders will have the humility, clarity, and courage to do this, their church will go into renewal and re-launch as a movement once more. Jesus will become real again, people will be helped again, and those bold, humble leaders will never regret the price they paid.

“Remember from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.”  Revelation 2:5

Ray Ortland, The Gospel Coalition. You can read the original article here.

Thankful for Fleas

I shared a little of this story in Pastor's Pals this past Sunday. Corrie ten Boom and her family were arrested by the Nazi's for hiding Jews in their home in Holland. She and her sister Betsie were imprisoned by the Nazi's at the notorious Ravensbruck concentration camp. She and Betsie, devout Christians had managed to smuggle a Bible into the camp, and secretly studied the word and prayed together. In her book The Hiding Place, Corrie tells how she came to realize that God was working even in the worst circumstances. 

The living conditions in the camp were pretty deplorable.Corrie writes:

"Barracks 8 was in the quarantine compound. Next to us--perhaps as a deliberate warning to newcomers--were located the punishment barracks. From there, all day long and often into the night, came the sounds of hell itself. They were not the sounds of anger, or of any human emotion, but of a cruelty altogether detached: blows landing in regular rhythm, screams keeping pace. We would stand in our ten-deep ranks with our hands trembling at our sides, longing to jam them against our ears, to make the sounds stop.   

"It grew harder and harder. Even within these four walls there was too much misery, too much seemingly pointless suffering. Every day something else failed to make sense, something else grew too heavy."

Yet, in the midst of the terrible conditions, the women found comfort in the little Bible studies they held in the barracks. Corrie writes they gathered around the Bible "like waifs clustered around a blazing fire…The blacker the night around us grew, the brighter and truer and more beautiful burned the Word of God." 

When they were moved to Barracks 28, Corrie was horrified. The barracks was packed beyond capacity and the straw covered bunks that they were forced to sleep on were infested with fleas. Corrie wondered how could they could possibly live in such a miserable place?

It was Betsie who discovered God's answer:

"'Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus." That's it, Corrie! That's His answer. 'Give thanks in all circumstances!' That's what we can do. We can start right now to thank God for every single thing about this new barracks!'   

"I stared at her; then around me at the dark, foul-aired room…" 

They thanked God for the fact they were together. They thanked God they had a Bible. They even thanked God for the horrible crowds of prisoners, that more people would be able to hear God's Word. 

And then, Betsie thanked God for the fleas.

"The fleas! This was too much. 'Betsie, there's no way even God can make me grateful for a flea.'"  

"'Give thanks in all circumstances,' she quoted. 'It doesn't say, 'in pleasant circumstances.'  Fleas are part of this place where God has put us."   

"And so we stood between tiers of bunks and gave thanks for fleas. But this time I was sure Betsie was wrong."

As it turned out that Betsie wasn't wrong; the fleas were a blessing after all. The guards were aware of the flea infestation in the barracks and refused to go in. The women were able to have Bible studies in the barracks with a great deal of freedom, never bothered by supervisors coming in and bother them. Through those fleas, God protected the women from abuse, harassment and even worse cruelty.  Dozens of desperate women were free to hear the comforting, hope-giving Word of God. 

We all have "fleas" in our lives. We all have things that are unpleasant, painful things that we want gone from our lives. But is often the "fleas", the unpleasant, difficult things in our lives that God uses to accomplish His purposes in our lives. Our greatest burdens may also contain our greatest blessings. As we celebrate Thanksgiving Day, lets thank God in all of our circumstances, and for the hidden blessings that often come disguised as "fleas."

Field of Stars, WWII Memorial

Praise the Lord, who is my rock. He trains my hands for war and gives my fingers skill for battle. He is my loving ally and my fortress, my tower of safety, my rescuer. He is my shield, and I take refuge in him. 
Psalms 144:1-2 (NLT)

Several years ago our family had the privilege of being in Washington, D.C. for a brief vacation. We were visiting the World War II Memorial for the first time. I'm a bit of a history nut and I've always been interested in World War II, and being in the Memorial for the first time was strangely emotional. The Memorial honors the 16 million who served and more than 400,000 American soldiers who died during the war. The engraved quotes from the political and military leaders are inspiring, but the Field of Stars representing the lives lost, is overwhelming.

While I was trying to absorb all of the Memorial, I noticed and older gentleman dressed in a military uniform and a younger woman with him taking in the sights of the Memorial. Something within me said, "Tell him 'Thank you.'" So I spoke to him and the woman, who was his daughter, and learned that he served in the Pacific Theatre during the war. I thanked him for his service and for protecting our freedoms. He chuckled a little and said, "Oh, I was just doing my job." He acted like it was no big deal. We talked a little longer and then shook hands and I walked away. A few minutes later his daughter came up to me and said, "I just want to thank you for what you did. You are the first person that has ever told my dad 'Thank You' for his service in the military. It really meant a lot to me for him to hear that." 

I was overcome with emotion but managed to hold back the tears until she walked away. I couldn't imagine all that he had gone through in the war, and then never have anyone to say "thank you." I was heartbroken, and determined to never let an opportunity pass to say thank you to the men and women who have served in our military.

We live in a great country; she's far from perfect and after watching about 5 minutes of national news, I sometimes worry where we are going to end up. But I'm incredibly grateful to live in America and experience the freedoms we have. I am also mindful that this country is great because of those who have given years of their lives to protect and serve through our military. This Veterans Day, I encourage you to make the effort to thank a veteran for their service.

Share the Word

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Romans 10:17

     Writer Robert Morgan tells the story of Dr. Doren Edwards, a surgeon in Franklin, Tennessee. Dr. Edwards is a devout Christian and is involved in the Gideons International. Several years ago he had a patient whose alcoholic husband had died. Her two children were giving her problems, finances were tight, and life was very hard. She wasn’t a Christian.

One day she came to see Dr. Edwards after she had been diagnosed cancer, with multiple organs involved. No treatment was available, and she was very bitter about it; life had been very hard and now she was dying. Dr. Edwards wanted to talk with her about the Lord, but she wouldn’t allow him to share his witness. She did, however, accept a small New Testament that he kept in his office.

 A few weeks later, Doctor Edwards learned from the newspaper obituary that she had died. He sent a card to the family, telling them he had donated Bibles in her memory to the Gideons. 

A few days later the woman’s daughter called Dr. Edwards. “Could you please send us a Bible like the ones you donated in memory of our mother,” she asked. “We don’t have a Bible in our home. The last six days she was alive, Mama's whole life changed. She was no longer bitter, she was at peace and she wasn’t afraid to die. She said something about knowing Jesus, but she asked that her Bible be buried in her hand, and we couldn’t keep it. Would you please send us a Bible so that we can find what Mama found in that book?” 

Dr. Edwards sent them all Bibles, and soon afterwards the daughter, the son, and one of the woman's sisters were saved as a result. 

There are many ways to share the Gospel: Bibles, cards, letters, text messages, personal testimony, etc. Think about a person you could give the gift of the Gospel to, and then do it.

Keep Your Eyes on the Shepherd

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." Psalm 91:1-2

When businessman Allan Emery was in the wool business, he once spent an evening with a shepherd on the Texas prairie. During the night, the long wail of coyotes pierced the air. The shepherd’s dogs growled and peered into the darkness. The sheep, which had been sleeping, lumbered to their feet, alarmed, bleating pitifully. The shepherd tossed more logs onto the fire, and the flames shot up. In the glow, Allen looked out and saw thousands of little lights. He realized those were reflections of the fire in the eyes of the sheep.

“In the midst of danger,” he observed, “the sheep were not looking out into the darkness but were keeping their eyes set in the direction of their safety, looking toward the shepherd. I couldn’t help but think of Hebrews 12:2: ‘looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. … ’ ”

Sometimes we get discouraged when we look around and see all our troubles surrounding us.  But this is no surprise to Jesus—when He sent out His twelve apostles, He even warned them: “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves” (Matthew 10:16).  The most important thing to do when danger approaches is to look at the Shepherd, not at the wolves.  God is your shelter, you can trust in Him.  You can rest in the shadow of your Savior!

 During your most difficult moments this week, be sure to look beyond your troubles to see the face of God, and trust Him!

Financial Issues of Replanting Churches

In May of this year we voted to replant our church and start over. In some ways we have become a new church (new name, new governing documents, new service times, etc.), but we still have some carry over from who we were, such as our church budget and expenses. Thankfully we do not have any debt as a church, but we do have operating expenses. We have experienced some initial decline in our attendance, and in our giving. This isn't unusual for a church going through a replant. Struggling finances are typically and issue for any church, but are magnified for churches going through change.

Recently Thom Rainer, president of Lifeway Christian Resources and Mark Clifton, Director of the Replant Division of the North American Mission Board began to offer a podcast called "Revitalize and Replant." Through these podcasts they discuss issues facing churches that are in the process of revitalizing or replanting. One of the podcasts this week dealt with the issues of finances in a replanting church. You can listen to the podcast here. After listening, feel free to leave questions or comments in the comment section below.

Never Give Up... Never Surrender

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.  Galatians 6:9

The sermon this past Sunday was on the spiritual gift of leadership/administration, one of the practical gifts God gives to His people and His church. I never score high on leadership on the spiritual gifts assessment, which sometimes befuddles me because God has put me in a 'leadership" position in the church. As I shared Sunday, I often wonder why God called me to pastor, but didn't gift me with the gift of leadership. Oh well, His ways and thoughts are higher than mine, so I trust He knows what He is doing ☺

He has created in me a desire to learn leadership. I'll never be a spiritually gifted leader, but I can develop the leadership abilities He has given me. One of the best ways to do that is to learn from great leaders. The sermon Sunday was on Nehemiah who led the people to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem that had laid in ruins for more than 140 years. Here is the sermon in brief:
Nehemiah was ...

1. Passionate (1:1-4)
2. Prayerful (1:5-110
3. Prepared (2:1-8)
4. Planning (2:11-18, and ch.3)
5. Persistent (2:19-20; chapter 4-6)
6. Pleasing (6:15-16; ch.8)

 You can listen to the full sermon here.

 I've been mulling over the sermon since Sunday and the point that God keeps 'highlighting" for me is #5 - Persistent. In re-reading the Scriptures, Nehemiah had dozens of reasons to walk away from the project: he faced serious opposition, he was threatened, he was ridiculed, the people he was working with got discouraged and wanted to quit, the work was hard and they were working long hours under the threat of attack. Most men would have given up and walked away, but Nehemiah wasn't most men - he was a committed follower of the Lord who had been given a task to complete, and though he grew weary and tired, he never gave up. And the result was ... well, you can read about in the Bible.

A few years ago I was reading the story of Jerry Rice, perhaps the greatest receiver in the history of the NFL. Rice played most of his career with the San Francisco 49ers. He won three Super Bowls, was a Super Bowl MVP, a 13 time All-Pro and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. He still holds four NFL records. Not bad for a kid from the little town of Crawford Mississippi, a town of a about 500 people.


Rice's success came from his work ethic. His workout regiment was legendary, considered the most demanding of anyone playing football. His commitment to success seemed to come natural, but in truth it was the result of a decision Jerry made when he was in high school. Jerry joined his high school’s football team in his sophomore year. During one particular practice, he was in the middle of running a series of twenty sprints up and down a hill in pads and helmet. A tired and out of breath Jerry decided to stop at number eleven, convinced that he could get away with skipping the last nine sprints without punishment. He was halfway to the locker room when he decided it was not the time to quit, that there was no reason to quit, and that quitting at that point would put him in a mode of making quitting seem acceptable in the future. He decided that quitting was unacceptable to himself, regardless of what others would think or do, and he finished off the last nine sprints.


That experience became an important part in Jerry’s development, as it contributed much to his tough resoluteness and commitment to excellence. He simply didn't want to make a habit of quitting. He knew if he quit in this area of his life, it would become easier to quit in other areas too.


Unfortunately, not many have the attitude of Jerry Rice, or Nehemiah. When things get hard and times get tough or stressful, their inclination is to quit. And once they begin to quit in one area of life, they find it easier to quit in other areas. It becomes a pattern and a habit for their lives - work, projects, relationships, marriages,  even in the spiritual realm of their lives.


Many times in Scripture God's people are admonished to not give up. Paul writes to the churches of Galatia, "Don't grow weary in doing good, for at the right time we will reap a reward if we don't give up." (Gal 6:9) I don't know what area of life you are growing weary in, or what you are ready to give up on, but let me encourage you - don't do it. Don't give up, don't give in, and don't give out. Don't let quitting become the pattern of your life! Stay faithful, stay focused and stay fervent, and at the right time you will be rewarded for your persistence and commitment. Never give up... never surrender!

Leadership: Learning from the Past

I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw.

Proverbs 24:32

The further back you can see into the past, the further ahead you can see into the future. And the closer you pay attention to what’s going on around you, the more accurately you’ll be able to see where the road is leading.

Unfortunately, we often try to plan for the future without learning from the past. As a result, we make the same mistakes over and over instead of making strides ahead. It’s been said many times that history is doomed to repeat itself. Why has this shown itself to be true? Because so many leaders have done the exact same things as past leaders, but expected different results.

If you want to bring into sharp focus the vision that God has for you, your family, your church, etc., you must take three steps:

1.  Abandon the ways of the world. They have always failed and always will fail. Try God’s ways—only His ways work.
2. Pay attention to what God has already done and is doing. Even just a quick glance at the Scriptures shows us that God continues to build on things He started long ago.
3. Pray for discernment and understanding to see the vision. Be still before the Lord as you watch and listen for God’s guidance.

Challenge: Take some time today to look back and evaluate your life. Do you keep making the same mistakes? Are you doing things God’s way? Are you consistently praying for God’s vision? Try these three steps and see how God responds.

Spiritually Alive or Religiously Dead?

You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others. 

2 Timothy 2:2 NLT

The Dead Sea, Israel

A few years ago I had the great privilege of visiting Israel, the land of the Bible. The tour group I was with spent the first few days visiting sites around one of Israel's major bodies of water, the Sea of Galilee. Galilee is a beautiful region; the land around the lake is lush and green.  We spent one afternoon on a boat ride on the Sea and learned about the various fish species in the lake and the fishing industry. There are about 18 species of fish found in the lake. Life is abundant in and around the water. 

Lake Kinneret, as it is called by Israelis, is fed by springs as well tributaries from Mt. Hermon in the north. At the southern end of the lake, water flows out through the Jordan River, Israel's most famous stream. The word Jordan means "down-rusher" which described the descent from Galilee to Israel's other significant inland body of water, the Dead Sea. Between the southern tip of the Sea of Galilee and the entrance to the Dead Sea, a distance of about 65 miles in a straight line, the Jordan drops over 600 ft. The Dead Sea is over 1300 feet below sea level. 

The Dead Sea and surrounding area is the opposite of the Sea of Galilee; the landscape is dry desert, and the Dead Sea contains no fish. The mineral elements in the water are so thick that the lake cannot sustain life. The Dead Sea is "dead" because water flows in but there is no outlet for water to flow out. As the water evaporates in the desert heat, salt minerals are left behind and forbid the existence of life. While it is an interesting experience to float in the Dead Sea, the minerals in the water can be toxic even for humans. 

For a body of water to be healthy and sustain life, it must have tributaries or springs that feed it, and it must have outlets for water to flow from it. Without both, the water would dry up, become stagnant and toxic. 

There is a spiritual lesson in these two bodies of water. In order for a follower of Christ to be healthy spiritually, he or she needs tributaries, others who are feeding into them, helping to nourish them spiritually. But they also need outlets, people in whom they can invest what they have learned in following Christ. Without an outlet for our spiritual life, our faith begins to weaken and dry up. We end up becoming spiritually stagnant and even spiritually toxic. Some of the most miserable "Christians" I have known were those who have spent their lives in the church having someone (usually the pastor or Sunday School teacher) pour into them, but never finding other people to pour into themselves. Many times they become bitter, controlling, and even toxic to those around them. 

Paul teaches Timothy this truth about healthy spiritual life in the above Scripture. Paul poured into Timothy ("You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses") and then instructed Timothy to pour into others ("Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people ") who would then pass the instructions on to even more ("who will be able to pass them on to others.") This is the "secret" to a healthy spiritual life - having someone (or someones) to invest in your life, and having other people in whom you are investing. This is the difference between a living faith and dead religious life. 

 Who are you learning from and who are you pouring into? Who is discipling you, and who are you discipling? (And are you helping them disciple others?) Are you spiritually alive or religiously dead?