Contemporary Church Issues

“Now it shall come to pass in the latter days That the mountain of the LORD’s house Shall be established on the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills; And peoples shall flow to it. Many nations shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths…”
‭‭Micah‬ ‭4:1-2a‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

On April 18, 1775 John Adams and John Hancock were at the home of Rev. Jonas Clarke, a Lexington pastor and militia leader. That same night Paul Revere, after receiving the lantern signal from the Old North Church, began his famous ride. He arrived at the pastors house to warn them of the approaching Redcoats. Hancock and Adams, two future founding fathers, asked Rev. Clarke if the men of the church were ready. Rev. Clarke responded,

“I have trained them for this very hour”.

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 Cross Erected at St. Augustine, Florida

“For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.”
‭‭Colossians‬ ‭1:19-20‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

I am drawn to the book of Colossians for a number of reasons. In all likelihood, Paul wrote several letters while incarcerated for the work of the Gospel including Colossians. You don’t find yourself in jail, as Paul did, unless somehow the message you are preaching collides with the governing powers. Just this simple contextual truth lays to rest the compartmentalists view that the Gospel has nothing to do with cultural engagement. But beyond that Paul clearly states, as he sits in this jail cell, that there are no limits to the work of the Cross and all that it entails. Whatever repercussion of sin there might be, the power of the Cross and Christ’s atoning blood is reaching out to reconcile back to God and His purposes. Paul never says…

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If you haven’t seen it yet, I am sure you will shortly, a YouTube video catching Pastor Andy Stanley in an honest moment of preaching as he ostensibly tells his mega-church that if they attend a small church (he uses the number 200) with their teenager they are being “selfish” and shortsighted (my paraphrase). In fact, he maintains that if you do take them to a smaller church you are “dragging them to a church they will hate” and you don’t care about the next generation. Continue Reading