pastorann

How are so many churches a "hotbed of apathy"? When I think about the many reasons this happens I am reminded of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's book Costly Christianity. We become apathetic when things are too easy - without cost. We become self-reliant rather than God reliant, we become comfortable and since we like being comfortable we resist anything that would compromise our comfort or interfere with our lives outside the church. One thing that keeps the church from becoming apathetic and insipid is to first focus on God, not ourselves and our comfort level, and instead pour our efforts on service - bringing the Gospel out of the church into the world - to be missional - both local and international. What excitement is generated when we see people come to Jesus, when we see the power of Christ in action bringing sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, freedom to captives and comfort to the poor If anything will revive a apathetic church it is seeing spiritual reproduction and transformation going on. Whether its going on a short term mission internationally or serving on the streets with the homeless - serving is a sure way to wake up the church. Now the kicker - to get the people be willing to get out of their pew.

The religious compromise required by the practices in the trade guilds is spiritually destructive because it prevented the full transformation of the person into Christ. In Romans it says - "be transformed by the renewing of your mind and be not conformed to the world. If people hang on to old habits and activities - how can the renewing of the mind take place? It can't and won't until the believer renounces evil practices of any kind. One person mentioned it before and I will mention it as well. One of he most dangerous comprimises that Christians are allowing into their lives is the new age spiritualism creeping into even the church. Alternative Health treatments are the big ones here. Acupuncture and Accupressure, Healing Touch therapies - these are based in a non-Christian world view of Taoism. I know of Christian retreat centers that have Reike massage, or include native Spirituality into their offerings - such as a sweet grass or sweat lodge ceremony - yet these are based in paganism as well. Sometimes we innocently submit our care to a chiropractor who practices with new age techniques. There's so much more - and yet when we place our trust in non Christian world views we open ourselves to the enemies attack. And as people have mentioned the growing problem of what is on TV or the internet. It's more common to see a horoscope, to have yoga or new age meditation on these media than anything Christian - The biggest problem I see is that we are unaware of the danger and we let it slip by.

How timely is this topic in Canada and United States. Here in Canada we are taught that to be Canadian we are to be "tolerant" willing to compromise, to buy into the lie of moral relativism. Really we are being taught to be wimps. Time after time in Scripture, God demonstrates in the lives of faithful believers that we are to choose character over compromise, and this includes young people, they say are to say no to sin and immorality - ie Joseph and Potiphar's wife, and that sexual immorality brings with it a litany of bad consequences - ie David and Bathsheba. There is no room for compromise in the church - we will lose our integrity, and witness, and we will invite the "bad leaven of sin" to infect us - people caught in sin can't live victorious lives. There was a time in my Christian walk where I bought into the lie of compromise, but through God's transforming work in my life and study of His Word and now the responsibility of shepherding of a church I refuse to be silent. The debate about same-sex marriage in Canada has been a wake up call to Canadians - and now thousands are finally taking the courage to speak out and defend God's institution of marriage. Our opponents label us as religious bigots, as hate mongers, as heterosexists. But really we are being the lampstands. We are shining truth on sin and we offer freedom from the bondage of sin. If we allow sin in our midst how can we rescue those who are lost? Is it love to allow people to stay mired in sin? There is never a middle ground.

A church will lose its first love for Jesus when people become preoccupied with numbers, with programs, and especially when they resist change for the sake of their sense of comfort and stability. Rather than being open to fresh "wind" and fresh fire that people who have that first love for Jesus bring - the church will quench it, become legalistic or formalistic. The signs of genuine love are found in what I call the "WOW" church we find in Acts 2 and 4. W- Worship - they met consistently for prayer and sharing of the Lord's supper, they praised God. O - Oneness, unity, they shared all things in common, grace was upon them, no one was in need W - Word - the teaching and testimony of the apostles was done with great authority, miracles were happening in their midst and many were added to the church. These are the qualities that demonstrate that first love God desires - love for God, love for each other and love for sharing the Gospel. And how to regain that first love - let go of our preset ideas and expectations of what church is - put our focus on Jesus, repent of our loss of first love, pray and fast and pray some more until something happens, invite Jesus into our midst.

I love the picture of Christ walking among the lampstands. It says to me that Christ while glorified and all powerful, he is still with us, in the midst of us. He is interested and watching his church, his lampstands to guard and protect her. Christ is at the centre of the church - the centre of all we do. This should cause us great joy and also cause us to watch carefully that we, as the church, remain true to Jesus.

The vision of Christ among the lampstands is an image of power, might and glory of our risen Messiah. It is a picture of his transcendence. Christ the carpenter-teacher is God with us, the servant who humbled himself taking on humanity. He identified himself with us ... even those who are of the lowest estate of humanity, surely he has borne our griefs. He was tempted as we are tempted and the carpenter teacher is our model of how we can live a life in unity with God's purposes for us. We must balance these two views in our perceptions of Jesus. if we overemphasize Jesus as carpenter teacher, the man - we lose sight of his transcendent power and majesty. If we overemphasize his transcendence we forget how he identifies with us and is with us. We need both - seeing Christ as the one who is to be feared and worshipped, and Christ as the humble servant who understands us.

I have read with interest the replies so far. When I think of persecution I think of those for whom faith in Jesus and gathering for worship risks death, imprisonment, torture, even slavery, and confiscation of property - penalties much like those of the persecution in the early days of Christianity. The countries that are most known for this are the Islamic nations in the Middle East and Northern Africa - such as Sudan; China, India, and Indonesia. Christians are still persecuted in areas of the former Soviet Union. I agree that pressure is mounting in Europe, Canada and even USA. Here the tone is more political and psychological than brutal. But we are still able to gather to worship and pray, we are still able to share our faith with our neighbours without sanction. The encouragement of Revelation is found in the promise and hope of victory over death, over pain, and the wonderful description of life in the presence of Jesus. And as much as we may not want to admit it, the theme of judgment and defeat of Satan gives hope that even if justice is not found in this world - it is found in the Kingdom of God.

1. Testimony and Witness builds faith and encourages perseverance of the saints under persecution. When Christians see those who have endured suffering and courageously faced death, it spurs them on to greater commitment, that sense that with God's help it is possible to hold on to faith without wavering. There is also an element of community - when one testifies it empowers the community to withstand persecution together. 2. Jesus as the faithful witness encourages us because he though tempted like us, though he knew the cross he was to carry - he continued to proclaim the Gospel. He endured the greatest possible suffering on the cross, he endured this suffering without complaint, with willingness - he gave himself completely, in obedience to God. This is a model for Christians in times of suffering. 3. Why are we afraid to be witnesses in a culture where we aren't persecuted? We haven't experienced the cost of being a Christian. I think it is a combination of fear and pride and Biblical illiteracy. Many people have told me they are afraid of looking intolerant or judgmental or offending their pre-Christian neighbours even family members. They are afraid of not being able to give an answer to the tough questions that come their way. We are able to have the label Christian and yet be part of the mainstream of our society - and sad to say most of us like it that way.

Hi to everyone. My name is Ann I am really looking forward to digging into Revelation and sharing some new insights with my congregation. I am a 49 y.o. female pastor of a small Baptist church in a rural area of Canada, have 2 grown up kids (one married) and very recently became a first time grandma. My loves in life are prayer and studying Scripture and worship. The future is a concern of Christian and non-Christian alike. The Christian - because we are to be alert and informed about God's outworking of his plan for humanity, the non-Christian because without Christ - there is only fear and uncertainty. I want to be one who studies to be able to give a good answer to both these groups of people. So I want to thank you all ahead of time for the way we will all be iron sharpening iron. God Bless you as you immerse yourselves in His wonderful Word.