I read this blog post this morning by Perry Noble and thought more people could benefit from his look at things "Jesus DIDN'T say." Some of you who are leaders may wish to follow him at his web page for yourselves. Anyway, below are his thoughts that I bring to you.

Perry Noble -- We get things messed up from time to time…especially the words of Jesus…here is what He did NOT say…

1. “They will know you are my disciples by your theology, and the arrogance that accompanies it.” (John 13:35)
2. “Dream really small dreams and make sure you never ask for anything big!” (John 14:12-14, Psalm 2:8)
3. “If someone doesn’t believe just like you believe…make sure to do all you can to attack, criticize and beat them down as much as possible.” (Mark 9:38-41)
4. “Be tolerant of everyone…I am one of the many ways to God.” (John 14:6)
5. “Make sure you make the church about you…that you are served well…please, don’t do anything that might cause you any type of inconvenience. My goal is for you to be happy!” (Matthew 20:28, Luke 9:23-24)
6. “Please, whatever you do, DO NOT tell people the good news…keep it to yourself! The reason I died on the cross is so that you could get into really small groups of people and talk about ‘deep things’ that aren’t going to help anyone when it comes to eternity.” (Matthew 28:20, Mark 16:15, Luke 24:48, John 20:21, Acts 1:8, Romans 10:14, Romans 10:17)
7. “Don’t EVER try anything new…don’t ever take a risk…don’t ever take a step of faith. Be AVERAGE!” (Isaiah 43:18-19, Hebrews 11:1, Hebrews 11:6)
8. “You can follow me and it will not impact your money at all!” (Matthew 6:19-24)
9. “Pray a prayer to get out of hell…and then live however you want.” (John 14:15, John 14:21)
10. “You can do it without me!” (John 15:5)
11. “I don’t expect you OR your church to be fruitful in any way.” (John 15:4)
12. “Isolate yourself from the world!” (John 17:15)
13. “Make sure there is a time when you question my word because it will one day be no longer relevant.” (Luke 21:33)
14. “Stop crying out to me in desperation…can’t you see I’m busy.” (Mark 10:46-52)

David Lemming -- Pretty good thoughts and some that many of us definitely need to consider.

Missions Celebration

Closing thoughts on this Lord's Day (9/27/09):

1. What a beautiful day to meet with God's people and the Lord did meet with us in a wonderful way.
2. We are having great attendance this fall and will be topping the 1000 mark in Sunday morning church attendance very soon. Who can you invite to God's house next Sunday to hear His Word? Start early this week planting the thoughts about coming with you next week.
   
3. These messages on Sunday morning about the meaning of discipleship are so important for our church family. God didn't just call us to make a decision that allows us to escape hell. He called us to be His disciples...sold out wholly to Him.
4. The message Sunday night (concerning our church staff) was one of the hardest messages for me to bring. I pray that people saw my heart and are committed to making our pastors feel appreciated and loved. Our pastoral staff are some of the finest men I have ever been privileged to know.
5. Also, don't forget our pastor's wives. You have no idea the sacrifice these godly ladies make every week. They are gifts to our fellowship.
6. We move to within a week of our life-changing Missions Celebration, October 7-11, 2009. This celebration is the very heartbeat of our fellowship and we need everyone to be there to show our missionaries our love for them. It's going to be fun, but nothing could be more serious than our commitment to taking the Gospel to the ends of the earth.

Please, pray for our church and for God to do a special work in this place. I believe that His imprints are all over our church family. May that always be true...

Fall Semester Small Group Studies

By tomorrow evening (Wednesday) all 20 of our weekday small-group studies will be underway in this new semester. These studies cover a variety of topics and they are all Bible centered. It is INCREDIBLE the number of people that have already been involved through the summer and this fall semester there are even MORE people signed-up than ever before.

It's not too late for you to get into one of these groups that meet all across our campus on Wednesday evenings. People say that these are some of the most effective, life-changing studies they have ever taken. If you don't know which Bible study to attend then ask us for information about all of the studies by calling the church office (304-736-7676). Don't miss out on a MOVE OF GOD that's changing people's lives.

See you there tomorrow evening!!

Things I'm Excited About This Fall

I'm Excited About...

1. The next two weeks we will be doing several things to celebrate our 10th year anniversary in our worship center. When we built the facility we thought it was large enough for us to have one morning service for many years to come. But within 2 years we were bursting at the seams and had to return to a two service schedule. I'm really looking forward to celebrating God's provision and blessing these next two weeks. There's some video of our transition into the worship center 10 years ago that you've just got to see.
   
2. This Sunday evening, September 13, 2009, we will have as a guest musician...David Musselman. David has been here before, but it's been several years since his last performance at LMBC. He is a pianist extraordinaire and will be providing special music Sunday morning in both services and performing a concert on Sunday evening.
3. I can hardly wait for this semester of new Bible studies to begin Wednesday, September, 16th. We continue to have a record number of people in attendance for our small group Bible studies and this semester will be no different. People are connecting with God and with one another. If you're not signed up...you need to do so this Sunday.
4. I'm so grateful for the incredible summer we have enjoyed in 2009. We have experienced the best summer attendance of any year in recent memory. We have seen more people come to Christ and had many who have been baptized/joined the church. Our last membership class was PACKED!! PTL
5. Through the summer months we paid down approximately $225,000 of our principal on the Student Ministry Building. Only God could do that for us!!

These are some of the best days we have ever experienced. I hope you'll join me in the excitement and in giving thanks to God for HIS provision to us.

--Pastor

Encourage Me!

He walked right past me as we entered the church last Sunday. We smiled at each other and exchanged a few pleasantries before taking our places in the sanctuary. I didn’t notice anything unusual and he participated in the service along with the rest of us. It looked like he was even enjoying himself, so how was I suppose to know that his pain was so deep? If he had said something to me or looked like he needed me I would have done anything to help him, but I just didn’t know. It’s not my fault!

Though this account is fictional, it is true that too often we are so wrapped up in our own worlds that we fail to realize that people all around us are in the midst of great struggles. Neither is it uncommon for those struggles to be hidden behind smiles that mask the depth of pain they really feel. The well known author/preacher, Warren Wiersbe quoting an old British preacher, said, “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a battle.” How true are those words! Many of the people you meet today, whether you recognize it or not, will be in the throes of agony and in need of an encouraging word. Hasn’t God called all of us to be encouragers? (Hebrews 10:25) Some people just need a kind word, a listening ear, a helping hand, or a pat on the back, but in so doing all of us can become instruments of God’s peace. Let’s intentionally set out to encourage someone today. Even if they don't "look" like they need any encouragement...go ahead and encourage them anyway. It might surprise you what people are facing. It'll make you feel better, too.

Show & Tell

It’s been a long time since I was in elementary school but I can still remember that in the first and second grades, we would sometimes have a class period called “show and tell.” Each student would bring something to class that was unique to him or her to show fellow students and tell them about it. Truthfully, the only “show and tell” moments I actually remember were the ones that happened after our summer breaks when students would “show and tell” about their vacation trips. It was usually fun to hear where others had traveled and what they had done during our absence from one another. I even remember daydreaming at times about the places they described and thinking that maybe I’d go there myself some day.

It may seem elementary to use this childhood concept with today’s Internet savvy culture, but it really is one of the most important aspects of having a spiritually significant impact on our communities.

For much of our Christian lives, we have been told that we need to present the Gospel to our friends/neighbors before it is too late for them to believe on Christ, and I passionately agree with that assessment. You and I should know unequivocally the importance of placing the message of the Gospel within the reach of everyone who is without Christ, especially those closest to us. The problem is that people are less familiar today with biblical truth and much more pluralistic in their thinking about religion. It’s not uncommon for me to hear someone respond with something like, “I’m glad that works for you (meaning my religious experience), but it just doesn’t work for me.” If the facts be known, most of these people have never even seriously considered the true claims of Christ, let alone heard a clear Gospel presentation. Consequently, this is little more than a brush-off to keep from hearing the message that changes lives and eternal destinies. But I think most would agree that people are far more skeptical than ever about many things, and religion is certainly one of them. Then how do we break through these tough exteriors to get to the heart of the matter?

I believe that one of the most effective means is in showing the Gospel, not just telling people the Gospel. The old saying goes, “People don’t care how much you know (or whom you know), until they know how much you care.” In other words, random acts of kindness and deeds of Christ-like love have an incredible way of opening doors when other approaches fall short.

Thankfully, many of us have been well-schooled in telling the Gospel, but not nearly as many of us have been well-prepared for showing the Gospel in practical ways. This is a way of life that involves having a Christ-like testimony and holding closely our Christian values, but it involves many other practical things, as well. Things like getting involved in our community by doing projects that are beneficial to others, building authentic relationships with unbelievers who we can influence for eternity, and making ourselves a blessing to non-believers in literally hundreds of simple, but profound ways.

A little kindness and concern is able to build bridges over which you or someone else may cross and take the message of Christ's salvation. These simple acts of love are a means of gaining a hearing for the Gospel by showing others how Christ makes a difference in your life. Being a witness for Christ certainly involves telling the Gospel story, but it is so much more than that alone. It is the many good things we do that prepare the soil of a person’s heart to make him or her receptive to the implanting of the “seed” of the Gospel. In today’s culture, you have to earn the right to be heard before some people will listen.

So, class, it’s “show and tell” time. How many people are you presently and practically showing the love of Christ? Please don’t neglect to TELL them the Gospel, but you may need to SHOW them the Gospel first. Notice the word order carefully. It is called “show and tell.”

Confusing Truth

There was a young preacher who was trying to impress a congregation where he was candidating to become their pastor. As he opened his message he thought he would reference several of the parables to show that he had a good grasp of the scriptures. This is how he began...

“A man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves; and the thorns grew up and choked the man. After he recovered he met the Queen of Sheba, and she gave that man, a thousand talents of silver, and a hundred changes of raiment. And he got in his chariot and drove furiously, and as he was driving along under a big tree, his hair got caught in a limb and left him hanging here! And he hung there many days and many nights. The ravens brought him food to eat and water to drink. And one night while he was hanging there asleep, his wife Delilah came along and cut off his hair, and he fell on stony ground. And it began to rain, and rained forty days and forty nights. And he hid himself in a cave. Later he went on and met a man who said, ‘Come in and take supper with me.’ But he said, ‘I can't come in, for I have married a wife.’ And the man went out into the highways and hedges and compelled him to come in! He then came to Jerusalem, and saw Queen Jezebel sitting high and lifted up in a window of the wall. When she saw him she laughed, and he said, ‘Throw her down out of there,’ and they threw her down. And he said ‘Throw her down again,’ and they threw her down seventy-times-seven. And the fragments which they picked up filled twelve baskets full! Now, whose wife will she be in the day of the Judgment?'"

That introduction to the young preacher's sermon would be especially funny if it weren’t for the fact that too often God’s Word is horribly bungled by those who claim to be students of it. And many times it’s not a matter of misunderstanding or accidental misspeaking, which we are all prone to do at times. Rather, it’s a clear misrepresentation of the text because the person either failed to rightly divide the Word of Truth or has brought to it his own preconceived ideas. This kind of proclamation might sometimes be entertaining or even inspiring to the audience, but it is inexcusable before God and potentially identifies the speaker as a "false prophet."

Listen to the words of Jesus and consider how He says we are to determine the true prophet from the one who isn't.

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.” (Matthew 7:15-20)

Notice carefully that it’s NOT the conduct or even the character of the one who is teaching that primarily reveals whether a preacher/teacher is of God or not. Jesus said it is by his “fruits” you will know him. Clearly, this isn’t a reference to the way he conducts his life, since outwardly he looks like one of the “sheep,” though inwardly he is a “ravenous” wolf. Then what is it by which we may determine if a person is worthy of being heard or whether we should turn a deaf ear? The answer is found in something else Jesus said in Matthew.

“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matthew 12:33-35)

When we compare this with the aforementioned text we can see that Jesus is telling us that the "fruits" by which a person is identified as a true or false prophet are his "words" (i.e., the doctrine he teaches, cf. Isaiah 8:19-20). Through careful examination of his words (the content of his teaching) and comparing them to the Scripture, we learn the truth about his true identity. If his teaching matches the Scripture and represents it correctly, then we may safely conclude that the person is worthy to be heard. But if his words contradict the truth, intentionally misrepresent it, and/or simply bypass it altogether, then that person may well be classified a "false prophet." (cf. 1 John 4:1-3)

In fairness, there will always be some areas where good men disagree when it comes to biblical interpretation, but the core doctrines of the faith are absolutes that cannot be compromised. It is in these areas we especially need to evaluate the teaching of those we hear in order to discern if they are speaking the truth. Never be afraid to examine the words of the preacher/teacher in light of the Scriptures. If he is speaking the truth he will welcome the examination gladly. That’s what the Bereans were commended for doing (Acts 17:10-12) and what God desires from each of us. This means that all of us must have a working knowledge of the Scripture in order to discern the truth. You don’t have to be a Bible scholar, but you do have to be a man or woman of the Word.

I don’t believe that this exhortation from Scripture has ever been more necessary than it is today because there are so many opportunities for people to hear preaching/teaching from such a diverse number of speakers. Being mislead, even by someone that is genuinely sincere, can have eternal consequences for you and your family.