Getting Young Families in the Local Church

“I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” –Romans 1:16

Lately, the Lord has placed me into situations not only around Hamilton but across the state of Ohio to discuss the church and disciple-making. Listening to prayer requests from various church leaders, one is nearly universal: please pray that more young families come join our church. I get the sense from these same church leaders that they believe our culture has harder hearts than ever before in history because church marketing, events, and programs from the past are no longer working.

Young people can still be saved. No one is too hard-hearted for the mighty outstretched arm of the Lord whose love endures forever (Psalm 136:12). What if getting young people to attend church services and events is a misunderstanding of Jesus’s Great Commission? These things are not wrong to do, but they make terrible replacements for personal disciple-making.

The gospel of Jesus Christ passionately shared from the lips of a Christian is the power of God to save those who believe. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead can be in your mouth! When you, dear reader, proclaim the gospel, it is like Christ at the tomb of Lazarus calling the dead man to walk. 

You, dear Christian, are commanded to personally proclaim the gospel and personally make disciples of Jesus (Matthew 28:18-20). No matter your age, you can proclaim the gospel that saves to your neighbor no matter their age, for the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. Open your home, your dinner table, your living room, your life to your neighbors, then open your mouth to proclaim His gospel.

You dear Christian reading this, go and make disciples of Jesus to all peoples and teach them the Word without shame or hesitation. For God is good and He is mighty to save.

Heavenly Father, bless Your servants with confidence in Your Son’s gospel and Your power to save. May we be found faithful to proclaim this glorious gospel to everyone. O Lord, save our hearers! Strengthen Your church! We ask for Your power and strength in the authority of Christ’s Name. Amen.

God our Present and Future Help

“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” –Revelation 21:4

This verse comes to my mind often, but no more intensely than when I have the great privilege of hospital visits. We live in the time of “former things” which will one day pass away by the authority of Christ who rights all wrongs. 

On my way to see a Jesus follower suffering in a hospital room, I have a tendency to look into other rooms. I see people alone and hear them moan in pain. I am moved by the sea of people suffering without purpose, dying without hope, and lying in bed in loneliness. Current suffering finds no present help in any future relief.

The Christian’s suffering, by God’s grace, is a different experience. Not in the level of pain, but in the level of aim. Paul, who had suffered greatly, said “this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (IICorinthians 4:17). We go through the same painful experiences that are common to all people, but we consider them “light” and “momentary” because Jesus will wipe away our tears for the final time when He completes His glorious Kingdom work.

Our encouragement does not begin in the future, but is present now. For our sovereign God also has purpose to our affliction. The heat of the fire purifies us from worldliness while we are still in the world to display to the world the glory of the grace of God. God is kind to us to provide such sweet mercies when we experience the deepest of pains as our present help (Psalm 46:1). What if afflictions’ purpose is to depend upon and desire our God more? This is truly what is best for us and for His glory. 

Even the afflictions that seem to present very little blessing to us now seems light and momentary when our imagination ascends to the joys of glory awaiting us. Our afflictions are light compared to what Christ took for us, and momentary because of the hope He gives us of eternal joys.

Our heavenly Father, give Your children wisdom to see clearly the lessons You teach through trials and a vision of the eternal joys that await us when we are in pain. Remind us daily of Your grace in Christ who took our greatest affliction, receiving the greatest joy of heavenly treasures. We ask for Your mercy in Christ’s precious Name. Amen.

Satisfied in the Holy Christ

“Better is a little with righteousness than great income with injustice” (Proverbs 16:8).

Our hearts and minds are often distracted by the culture. Unbelievers seem to be happy, despite the never-ending pursuit of the greater, the bigger, the “more.” How can we find satisfaction in Christ when we often find ourselves in the “have nots?” How do we enjoy holiness more than earthly treasure?

Jesus taught us that finding the kingdom of heaven is like finding hidden treasure we would joyfully sell everything to possess (Matthew 13:44). If Christ is our true satisfaction, then whatever earthly possessions we have left is a gift from God meant to point to Him. In other words, when Christ is our all, we focus on what He does give us and view them as gifts rather than chase the folly of the world by focusing on what we do not have.

We see our relationship to Christ as supremely valuable, which makes any earthly discontentment seem utterly ridiculous. Imagine the surprise you would feel watching the news at night and hearing a billionaire broke into an inner city house and stole an outdated lamp. Even more absurd is a person possessing eternal joys in Christ yet feeling unsatisfied in earthly pleasures we do not possess!

The disciple of Jesus fights this sin of discontentment with daily reminders that Christ is far more valuable than finding ourselves in the earthly category of “the haves.” To know Jesus is to treasure Jesus with our hearts. Nothing on earth compares to He who gave His life for me, reconciling me to my holy God to enjoy forever!

Let us view righteousness as greater than earthly wealth. Let us view enjoying our holy God as more enjoyable than earthly luxuries. Let the hope of Christ’s kingdom completed give rest to our hearts to enjoy Him knowing we possess now full satisfaction in our supremely valuable Savior and Lord.

Heavenly Father, grant us grace to find in Christ full satisfaction. Our hearts are restless, sinfully seeking from the world what ought to be find in Jesus. Forgive us, O Lord, and transform us by Your great power to treasure Christ with all our heart, mind, and strength. May our joy in You increase, and may Your joy be found in Your Church. Amen.

The First Christmas was Fitting

“It was fitting that God, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the Founder of their salvation perfect through suffering” (Hebrews 2:10).

The very first Christmas came as a surprise to the world, but Christ’s birth was a highly anticipated good news of great joy in heaven (Luke 2:10). Jesus existed before He created all things for Himself. To bring many of His children to glory, Jesus chose to be in Mary’s womb in Bethlehem on that very first Christmas. He chose that perfect time, perfect place, and perfect way in order to willingly suffer, willingly lay down His life as a ransom for many (John 10:18).

Hebrews says that it was fitting that Jesus who created all things for Himself and founded our salvation was made perfect through His suffering. That’s right, Jesus is made perfect. Not because Jesus lacked something, but the wording is that it was fitting that Jesus perfectly fit into the office of High Priest (Hebrews 5:9-10) by Himself being the perfect sacrifice (Hebrews 10:14).

Jesus was born to suffer and die. Let us not forget this as we celebrate God the Son who became a baby. He chose to be a baby, to grow up to be a man, the perfect man, to suffer and die the death we deserve. The Founder of our salvation chose to die our death when we deserved judgment and wrath.

Let us celebrate Jesus by believing the whole Bible story. The Eternal Word chose to become one of us. He chose to grow hair and fingernails, to know our pains and temptations, becoming a Man of Sorrows to carry the heavy burden of our sins to the cross of Calvary though He Himself was without sin, having been raised to glory to give us hope of eternal life. The Christmas story is only part of the whole redemptive story written down by the hand of Christ Jesus before creation.

Heavenly Father, we rejoice in this good news of great joy that Christ took our sin to the cross to be our perfect sacrifice and High Priest. Bless our hearts and our homes with this joy. Increase our joy by seeing and savoring Christ Jesus more. May You be glorified in our lives, our homes, and our church. Amen.

Come, Follow Me

“Come follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men,” (Matthew 4:19).

I have fond memories of my dad taking me to a farm in rural Kentucky which had several farm ponds that were rarely fished. In one hand I had a small tackle box of my own with cheap lures and hooks, and in the other hand I had a styrofoam container of nightcrawlers we purchased at a small roadside store with a handmade sign which read, “Live Bait.”  In my boyhood mind, I imagined myself to be some professional fisherman as the crappie, bass, and catfish from these ponds would take my hook, even without bait!

We’d like to think that evangelism would be easy like this. “If I just tell people to come to church with me and a short sentence about Jesus, thousands will just come to church services!” Man fishing is far more challenging. Our passions are right, but to fish for men we need more. Man fishing reveals our need for Jesus.

We need Jesus because Jesus alone makes us into fishers of men. “I will make you fishers of men.” Jesus teaches us and His work in us makes us into evangelists. His Spirit gifts us, His Word equips us, His saints encourage us and build us up, and His gospel upon our lips is God’s power to save.

We need Jesus because Jesus alone catches fish. Sinful people are like fish in the water in that their home is sin just like water to a fish. They have to be caught out of their sinful waters. No amount of moral reasoning, church invitation, church statistics, or charisma from preachers will save them. Jesus alone saves, as the Word declares, “Salvation belongs to the Lord” (Psalm 3:8).

We speak about what we love. When we are so overwhelmed with the display of Jesus’ love in His dying our death, we are compelled by His love to follow Him and evangelize (II Corinthians 5:14). To evangelize is to speak about Who we love, His gospel work, persuading people to believe in Jesus and follow Him.

Jesus says, “follow Me.” We must be followers of Jesus, and He will make us people fishers with His gospel and witness Christ’s work of making new people fishers who follow Him.

O Father, overwhelm us by Your steadfast love to compel us to speak of Who we love to a dying world drowning in sin. Make us people fishers, Lord. Teach us, equip us, and send us. May we witness the powerful gospel work in the fish we catch. Amen.

A Letter to the Teens

As I sit here thinking about each of you and praying to the Father for you, I cannot help but talk to you directly. I know you guys are going through a lot. And I know you're tired of hearing that your "high school drama" isn't real; but I know the pain is real. Broken relationships, loneliness, sadness, anger, jealousy...it's all real and it really hurts. I also know that I am only aware of like 10% of what you are going through. So, if you're still reading this, stick with me. What I have to say to you is important.

I love you guys. It pains me to see you in pain. When there is "drama" in your life, I am hurt. When you are angry and unforgiving and rebellious, I'm not angry. I am sad and burdened deep in my heart. Why? Because I love you. I care about you. I listen to you more than you think. I'm worried about you more than you realize. So let me explain (please stick with me!).

When I hear about your drama, when I see your tears, when I read your posts, I'm crushed because you look like a man dying from dehydration next to a water fountain. What I mean is this: you have "drama" burdens that are heavy, you come to church, hear the Bible, and sit right next to Jesus and tell Him that you don't need Him or want Him around. (Keep reading, it gets better)

I don't come and teach you the Bible because of some religious ritual. I come to you who are thirsty with a big drink of water. You are hurt, so I bring Jesus to you. If you actually trust Him enough to ruin your broken life and your broken heart, He will change things for your joy and for your good.

Why do you like the way you're living? Do you enjoy holding grudges? Do you smile when people who hurt you are hurt? Do you like having BFFs that come and go every few months? Do you like looking back and seeing relationships that burned up and placing scars on your heart? Is that the way to live life?

Please understand that I am writing to you now with tears on my cheeks. I don't even know if what I'm telling you is making any sense. But please, keep coming to our meetings. I will keep handing you a drink of this water. I can't bear seeing you thirsty. I can't bear seeing you in pain when the Healer is standing next to you.

What is far more important than my love and care for you is where I get this love: Jesus. He loves you and cares for you. He sees you lost without direction and hope. The Bible is not mini lessons of rules, but the best direction and hope. I hope to see you Sunday morning at 9:30. I hope to hear your laughter again. I hope to answer your questions some more. I hope to see you walk with Jesus in love and truth, leaving your prison of "drama" behind.