Reaching Youth is Important.

 According to Arthur Brooks, three out of five young people in the US today feel that they have no meaning or purpose in life. They are suffering with anxiety and depression caused by an unfulfilled and meaningless life. Part of the problem is that kids today are living what is called a simulated life. Not enough real human interaction. Unbalanced mental and emotional development. And according to mister Brooks, religion is very important to giving meaning to life.

This is just another reason why revival happens among young people. Not only are they open to change, they feel the need to know why am I alive and to give them something to live for.

The things that young people deal with today are nothing new. It is human nature to need a meaning to life. God created us with what one person called a God shaped hole in our hearts that only Christ can fill.

Pray to the Lord of the harvest that He will help our church kids reach their peers. Pray that we can reach this generation while there is time. Prayer is something that grandma and grandpa can still do.

The future of our Fellowship is two fold: preach to the poor, and reach the young.

My Thoughts For Today

What if instead of looking at what successful churches do and copying them, we look at what successful churches do not do well and innovate to do one or two things better than them? We can innovate without straying from or core beliefs. We do not innovate over doctrine, but over practices.

I'm thinking of how we greet visitors, or how e minister to children, or how we follow-up new converts. What kind of worship music we sing and how many musicians we use. What our pulpit looks like. You see what I mean? 

If we copy a successful church then we are no different and therefore no better than them. We become the dreaded cookie cutter church.

A new pioneer church needs to copy it's sending church until they reach a point where they are strong enough and wise enough and secure enough to find a better way. 

A pastor can lead the way first by not always comparing us to the church he got saved in years ago. Pastor does not need to come up with all of the ideas himself. But he does have to be open to innovation from the pews. Pastor can expedite innovation by not being a choke point that every idea must meet his approval.

The worst thing for a local church to become is boring. The other thing that a local church must avoid is sameness. Someone just like you will do it better than you do it.

Anyway, that's just my thoughts for today.

The Ancient of Days

 There is an interesting character introduced to us in Daniel chapter seven. He is called the Ancient of Days. This figure is  only mentioned three times in the Bible, and all three times are in Daniel chapter seven. We first meet this figure in verse 9;

"I watched till thrones were put in place, and the Ancient of Days was seated" verse 9.

Some scholars feel that this must be God the Father. Some even think that this is God the Son. We are not sure except to understand that the figure called one like the son of man is Christ.

"I was watching in the night visions, and behold, one like the son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven!" Dan. 7:13.

It says that when this son of man appears he is brought before the Ancient of Days, who gives him a dominion and glory and an everlasting kingdom.

One reason why I question if the Ancient of Days is God is that fact that we are told what He is wearing. God is spirit, he is clothed with light. He dwells in unapproachable glory. But the Ancient of Days is clothed in a garment that is white as snow. He has white hair. God does not have white hair.

What this scene looks like to me is a convening of the supreme court of Heaven. A similar scene is found in Revelation chapter 20.

"And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgement was committed to them." Rev.20:4

Note that in both instances there are multiple thrones. Who is sitting in judgement on these thrones? Neither Daniel or John recognized these figures. Maybe it is a mystery we will not understand until we get to Heaven.

That this is a courtroom is illustrated clearly to me.

"I was watching; and the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them, until the Ancient of Days came, and a judgement was made in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom." Dan.7:21-22

The Ancient of Days carries the weight of Divinity, and the Son defers to him. He sits as a judge of the nations, and gives kingdoms. He is never explained or mentioned anywhere else in Scripture. He is an important figure and Daniel saw him in a vision. 

In Revelation chapter 20 we see God sitting on a throne.

"Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them" Rev. 20:11

A similar setting with different results.

I can come to no certain conclusion. I will file this in my unanswerable questions file.

Prayer Request.

Speaking of follow the money. I was checking my check book today and I noticed something amiss. The bottom line is I am missing $4000 that I thought that I had.  I keep good books and I do not let it get out of hand. But somehow the money has evaporated. The bank checked, I double checked, and we can't find any unusual activity.

Pray for me. I need Jehovah Jireh to be my provider and to restore to me what the enemy has taken.

"The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." Jn.10:10

Follow The Money

 If you aim at nothing it is sure that is what you will hit. Nothing. If you aim at the wrong thing, you will miss it by a country mile. Guaranteed. It therefore is important that we know our aim and goal in life lest we find ourselves wandering in the wilderness of failed dreams and missed opportunities.

It is possible to be highly intelligent, and yet to be dumb as a box of rocks. This sums up my opinion of the lords of high tech. They can engineer machines but they cannot see the forest for the trees. They cannot grab their butt with both hands and a mirror.

"Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?...Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men..." 1Cor. 1:20,25

Science and technology are not the answer. They are building man made tools and calling them gods. They treat them like divine beings. Ask Sam Altman to define intelligence and his answer changes depending on his audience.

I can sum up the lure of AI in one Bible verse.

"For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." 1Tim.6:10

Mark it down. Tech is about money. Not about serving humanity. AI  has become an excuse to eliminate good paying jobs to make millions more for the corporate officers. 

He that dies with the most toys still dies. And then comes the judgement. It's time to repent!

Science Does Not Explain Most Things

 "There are three things that are too wonderful for me, yes, four which I do not understand: the way of an eagle in the air, the way of a serpent on a rock, the way of a ship in the midst of the sea, and the way of a man with a virgin." Prov.30:18-19

Somewhere along the line we have bought into the scientific method. We believe that science can explain everything. There is a cause and effect for every action. This has defined the natural world that we live in for a long time. Except when it doesn't.

Science cannot explain how a man falls in love with a woman. Science cannot explain how going with your gut produces a better outcome. Science does not explain economics or emotions or the spiritual side of life. Not everything can be broken down to a mathematical formula.

Dating apps try to match you with someone just like you. Except in nature it's opposites that attract. You marry young, grow up together, and you will be similar in actions and habits. You may compliment each other, but you are two very different people.

We try to make church life in this same light. We view it as a program or as a system. Check all of the boxes and get guaranteed results. And then we get mad at God when it doesn't work like that.

"The wind blow where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from or where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit." Jn.3:8

Science and physics and math can explain some things but they fail to explain most things. Science is not God. Being born again opens us to the reality of life as God ordained it. We become spiritually alive.

"That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." Jn.3:6

We Are Thriving!

 The experts keep saying that the American church is in decline. Falling attendance, loss of income, loss of relevance in society. Things are not looking good for the churches around us.

Then there is our Fellowship. We are not a denomination. We are a loosely knit fellowship of local churches. And unlike the other dead churches in town, we are thriving! We still see people saved, and healed, and filled with the Holy Spirit. We still openly worship and boldly preach. God is still moving by His Spirit among us. We are a part of the only segments of churches still growing which are non-denominational churches and charismatic churches. Where God is welcome and active there is life. It is only in old, dead, lifeless churches where God is a memory or only a doctrine.

"For where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there in the midst of them." Mat.18:20

The Holy Spirit could be absent from some Sunday morning services and no one would know. But we would know!

We are a city on a hill, a light to the world. We are the pillar and ground of the truth. When the whole world lies in darkness, our light will shine brightly. Even if no one in the national news recognizes it.

"As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." Jn.9:5

"If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness." Mat.6:23b

I may not be much, but I am still here. I shall not be moved.