Spiritual Alertness To God’s Activity – Part I (Mark 6:44-52, Mark 8:17-21)

God is at work all around us and if we do not recognize God’s activity, we will have a hardening of our heart, and find it harder to recognize Jesus and his work the next time we encounter him at work. I challenge you to make a purposeful decision to join what God is doing and to make the life changes required to accommodate God’s activity.

Mark 6:52 tells us that the disciples did not understand God’s activity in the feeding of the five thousand. Jesus raises this same issue again in Mark 8:21 when he asked his disciples, “Do you still not understand?” Why did the disciples miss the miracle and the working of God in Mark chapter six? Christians still commonly make their mistake today. They had witnessed God’s activity, but they were not alert to what God had done. You see, when we witness God at work or have a personal encounter with God, it is extremely important that we process the experience. If we do not, it becomes more difficult for us to see Jesus working, to understand what He is doing, and to join Him at work.

One of the reasons churches grow cold and uncaring is that the church seldom takes the collective time to process the visitations of God. As a result, the member’s hearts harden and they cease to be able to recognize the Lord’s presence and work. God can move mountains all around the church and throughout the community, but the church members eyes are blind and their ears deaf, because their heart has become hardened and they no longer recognize God’s activity.

In the early church, Christians were being persecuted, and as they fled persecution, they carried the Gospel of Jesus to people all over the world. Since the turn of the century, once again, God is using persecution, poverty, and hardship to disperse millions of people. This time however, most are not taking the Gospel; they are being dispersed in order to receive the Gospel. This is God is at work, and Christians who are spiritually alert see what God is doing, and are joining a growing movement to share their faith across ethnic and cultural lines.

Just after the turn of this century, Aero-flight airlines landed 3-4 times a week at the SeaTac Airport in the State of Washington. At that time, there were 76 Russian churches along the I-5 corridor. The pastors of these churches got together and started taking the Russian pilots out to dinner and witnessing to them about Christ. In a few short years, word came back about a new denomination of churches in Russia called the Aero-flight churches. These Russian Pilots were going back home and bearing witness of their personal relationship with Jesus Christ and new churches were being born.

About that same time, a shipping container arrived in Seattle Washington with over fifty Chinese in it. Three were dead, and the rest were placed in the INS Prison in the Seattle area. Chinese churches quickly requested permission from the INS Prison and were granted permission to visit and even to share Christ with these Chinese. Eventually all of them accepted Christ as their Savior and wanted to be baptized. INS permitted the church to baptize the new converts. Eventually all of these Chinese were deported back to China, but they returned as Christians.

God has reversed the process he used in the first century, to win the world to him, but his plan only works if we understand what he is doing and are faithful in helping him. In the early church, God dispersed believers so that they might carry the gospel to the far reaches of the world. Today, God is dispersing the lost throughout the world that the lost might come to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. However, if this is going to happen, we must join God in what He is doing just as the Antioch Church did in the first century.

The Antioch Church regularly processed what God was doing. They were excited about their faith, and they allowed their faith in Christ to transform every aspect of their lives. The believers were so different that a “new” word had to be invented to explain what God was doing, and Acts 11:26 tells us that this new word was “Christian.” These believers were representatives, ambassadors of the Jesus Christ. They were the hands, feet, and mouthpiece of the Lord. These Christians knew what it was to draw aside in prayer and meditation and struggle with God. They were accustomed to observing God’s handiwork and they were accustomed to contemplating what that meant for them as the people of God.

They were observant of what God did in Acts 2; they understood the significance of Pentecost. They understood that God truly loves all people and longs for all people to have a personal relationship with him. God must surely detest that Sunday morning is the most segregated time of the week, and the church the most segregated place. Listen to me, the DNA of the church is the Trinity. The Sovereign God of this universe is so large and so unique that it takes three Persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit even to attempt to convey to our human minds - His greatness. When God said, “Let us make man in our image,” he was giving us a peek at His Trinity.

Through each culture, each race, each nationality, we learn a little more about God. God wants all races and nationalities to study and worship together so that we can draw from each other’s strengths. George Barna, in his 2009 research, compared religious beliefs of the four largest groups in the United States: Whites, Hispanics, Blacks, and Asians to that of the early 1990s. Compared to the other three ethnic groups, Blacks emerged as the most likely to engage in each of five church-related activities in a typical week: attending church services, participating in a small group, attending a Sunday school class, praying, and reading the Bible. They were also the most likely to have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in their life and to have an “active faith” (i.e., attend church services, pray to God and read from the Bible during the week). Barna concluded that “While the beliefs and behaviors of America’s white population have changed little since the early 1990s, the new research underscored that the faith of African-Americans is dynamic, generally moving in a direction that is more aligned with conservative biblical teachings.”

George Barna in his book, In High Impact African-American Churches, points out that Black Churches are having a far larger impact on society than White churches. He calls on White churches to observe and learn form our Black brothers. God is calling the church back to what the Christians at Antioch already understood – we have much to learn from each other.

Changing Landscapes

I grew up on a farm in the foothills of the North Carolina Mountains. In my mind, I can see the two branches where we often drank freshwater. I can map how both branches flowed into the creek where we use to fish and play. I moved away from the farm when I was 21 and I have never again walked back over the entire farm. We closed the farmhouse when mother went into an assisting living center in 2008. Mother died January 12, 2015 and my siblings and I are in the process of settling the estate. While the house looks the same, much of the landscape has changed. The grassy meadow where we use to pick blackberries is now grown up in pine trees so thick you cannot walk through it. The bottomland we use to farm has grown up in brush and would have to be cleared again before any farming could take place on the land. The truth is that much of the landscape is foreign to me. It looks different than what I remember and is very strange to me. As I recall the “good ole’ days” of my youth working in the fields and playing in the woods, I become nostalgic.

Similarly, the urban landscape changes around our churches. Like the farmhouse, the church looks the same as we remember, but the truth is the landscape has changed. The United States is the third largest country with approximately 325 million of the world’s 7.3 billion people. This year (2015), 83% of the US population is considered urban. Our cities are more diverse than ever before and a leisurely walk around the neighborhood will reveal many places of different faiths and cults. This was not true in my childhood. My friends were Black or White, saved or lost, and their religion was Christianity. The county I grew up in had only one small Catholic church and until my late teens I never new a single Catholic. Although I took Spanish in high school, the only person I knew who spoke Spanish was the high school teacher who taught it. During our second year of Spanish, we took a trip to a Mexican Restaurant – 65 miles one way to the closest Mexican Restaurant. Oh how the landscape has changed!

God knew when the church you attend was planted that the landscape would change. In fact, he knew then the diversity makeup your church would need to reach in this present age. The question is, did you continue to walk over the farm or did you move away and abandon your relationship with it? To know the landscape means you have to live in the community, walk the hills and valleys, and talk to the neighbors. People have to be more than a statistic in a report. We have to now who lives in the houses in our neighborhood. We have to know their hurts and pains, their hopes and dreams, and their passion. Many urban churches are dying because the church lost touch with the changing landscape, as I did with the farmland. While they may know the demographics, they do not know the people the statistics represent.

Take the members outside of the church. Do a prayer walk. Serve coffee and doughnuts on the sidewalk. Celebrate the community. Throw a party and invite the neighborhood. Think of the effectiveness of the church, not in bodies in worship on Sunday, but as the lives you are touching that are being transformed. The apostles were not content to be inside a building complaining that people didn’t come to them. Instead, they prayed, sought God, and went to the people to with whom God was already working to restore. God is at work in your neighborhood. He is at work in those the statistics represent. He is at work in the residents’ hopes and dreams, hurt and pain, and their passion for life. Most of them need Jesus and you are the one church and the one person that can share Jesus with them. Just as God came and dwelt among humankind, your church must be incarnational within its community or your church will die, and many in the church’s neighborhood will die without salvation.

Will you accept the Challenge? Walk down the street 500 feet in any direction of your church. Do you know the people in the homes you walk past? Do you know their hurts and their dreams? If not, I challenge you to learn these families. I challenge you to meet them face-to- face and introduce yourself to them and start a relationship with them. Not because you want them or their money in your church, but because you want to love on them as Jesus would. 

The Millennial Generation

The millennial generation will change the church. This generation was born between 1980 and 2000. It numbers more than 78 million people in the United States, making it larger than the Baby Boomers Generation of the 1946-1964 post WWII era. The shear number of the millennials tells us that this is a generation to be reckoned with, and a quick internet search will reveal many studies by a wide range of groups to see how this generation will affect everything from the U.S. military to the church. This generation is the most studied and the most educated generation in our nation.

Millennials were shaped by the 1992 Los Angeles riots and the terrorist attack on our nation on September 11, 2001. They understand that life is unpredictable and can end at any age. They place value in family, have great respect for older adults, and want their lives to make a difference in the world. This generation demands the church be missional, caring for others with a hands on approach. This generation will not be content to give money for someone else to go. They are looking for churches that are actively involved in the lives and needs of both their communities and the world.

This generation can spot a fake. They want the church to be real, which is frightening to many older Christians. Whereas my parent’s generation fought through racism in this country and my generation pushed for equality and diversity and are very conscious of it, the millennials do not see race at all. Twenty percent of millennial marriages are inter-racial. Simply put, millennials do not see skin color, and they are looking for churches that “do not see” skin color, tattoos, body piercing, etc. They are looking for churches that genuinely love all people as Jesus loves.

This millennial generation wants to make the world better, to have a positive influence, to make the world a better place for others. They are well educated and technologically savvy. They are never without their mobile phones, as mobile devices place the world at their fingertips. Even with a phone in their hand, this generation prefers texting more than talking. This generation wants quality technology in the church to aid in worship and Bible Study. Do not tell this generation to turn off their phones or refrain from texting in worship. That is like shouting to them, “Get out! You are not welcome here!”

This generation is largely unchurched. They see the church as divisive, conflict-ridden, and irrelevant. Of those who are evangelical Christians, you will often find a tremendous passion for Christ, but a hatred of the traditional church. If asked, millennials will talk of the hypocrisy in the church, the fake friendliness and the phony righteousness. They want people to be real, and remember that I have already said they can quickly and easily spot “fake” Christians.

This generation will change the world and are already doing so. They are leaving traditional places of worship in droves leading to a rapid decline and death of many traditional churches, some 8,000 – 10,000 this year. The millennials that remain in church usually migrate to rapid growing churches that understand them and that often stretch the Baby Boomer’s understanding of contemporary. They gather in places of worship commonly painted black, smokers and swirling lights electrify the crowds as praise bands and worship teams lead in songs of praise. Pastors of these churches often do not even own a suit, and preaching attire consists of blue jeans and a tee shirt. This is not the Baby Boomers contemporary worship service.

You really need to understand this generation. They are going to change the world. The Millennials: Connecting to America’s Largest Generation written by Thom S. Rainer and Jesse Rainer is the best book I know on the subject. It was written to aid and assist churches in understanding what motivates this generation in order that the church might win America’s largest generation to Jesus Christ. I pray you will help reach the millennial generation and help them understand how to have abundant life through Jesus Christ!

What is it that attracts people to a church and does your church have it?

Why do some churches grow while others wither and die? What is it that attracts people to a church and does your church have it? How can you gauge your church and its ability to grow?

First, growing churches have a great spirit. Attendees consider the spirit and quality of the worship, Bible Study, and fellowship vastly more important than its building. People seem excited to come together to study and worship, and they seem genuinely concerned about other people. These churches accept you for who and what you are right now. The idea to “go and clean up your life” and then come to church is foreign to them. These churches do not really care about how sinful you are or how many scars you have. Guests must clearly feel that the church likes them and feel comfortable with the people they worship and study with while in the church. People making up these congregations know and understand that Jesus died for every person and every sin, and Jesus alone can cleanse and make clean. If your church is not like this, not only are you not a healthy church, but your church is like a melon on a hot July summer day withering on the vine. Unless the Lord sends a Holy Spirit breeze and a heavenly shower of grace, the church will die.

Second, worship is vibrant! The music speaks to the heart and mind of the worshipers and is high quality. All attendees worship as equals and staff works to remove all barriers that divide members from guest. The music creates an excitement in the service and moves the worshipers into the presence of God. Even the reluctant worshiper finds himself drawn into the praise and exaltation of our Creator.

Third, the preaching must be biblical, relevant, and understandable. The sermon must equally speak to the custodian and the CEO, the saved and the lost, the righteous and the unrighteous. The message must be applicable to people’s lives. Worshipers must feel comfortable with those around them; no condemnation. The Lord does not see the tattoos, piercings, or dress – He looks straight into the heart and mind.

Fourth, there must be good programs for families. These programs must provide choices in programming and scheduling for all ages. One church I consulted with started a second Sunday morning worship at 8:30 in the same style as the later 10:45 service and saw overall attendance go up thirty percent. Today’s adults and youth demand quality programs that are age appropriate and relevant to life.

Lastly, growing churches have well maintained facilities with amble well-paved parking and ease of access. I worship in many different churches of various denominations, and enjoy showing up unannounced when no one is expecting me. Unbelievably, I have even found the main doors to the sanctuary locked ten-minutes before service is to start, a quick turn-off for worshippers.

I cannot underestimate the first three reasons churches grow. Too many churches reverse the order and prioritize the facilities. While today’s adults and youth want a nice place to study the Bible and to worship, do not underestimate the importance of a great spirit, vibrant worship, and preaching that is biblical, relevant, and understandable. Without the first three reasons, the last two really do not matter.