May they burn my bones

Long before Luther made his famous stand at the Council of Worms, there was a man named John Wycliffe that blazed the trail for Reformation. In the 1380’s Wycliffe produced the first hand written copies of the Bible in English, which was considered blatant heresy by the Catholic Church. With the help of his followers, called the Lollards, and his assistant Purvey, and many other faithful scribes, Wycliffe produced dozens of English language manuscript copies of the scriptures. This along with his stand against the false doctrine of the church and his belief in the absolute authority of the Scripture placed him at great odds against the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church.

In fact Wycliffe was so hated by the Catholic Church, that Pope Martin V had his bones dug up 44 years after he died to have them burned!

My initial thought on that is - how incredibly cool would that be? To be so effective for the Kingdom of God, and so hated by your enemies, they have to dig up your bones 44 years after you die and burn them?

What a wonderful legacy to leave behind for every true Believer. May our impact on this world be so great that the enemies of the cross would have to dig us up decades after our death to burn our bones!

Easter Thoughts

I'm deeply moved each year during this holy week as we again get a fresh reminder of the suffering that Jesus endured for each of us. I'm reminded again that it was my fingerprints on the whip that struck our Savior that day. My prints were on the hammer that drove the nails. These sobering facts always bring a freshness to my relationship with Jesus. This year I'm especially drawn to the scourging that Christ endured. It's interesting to me that a scourging was never usually given with any other punishment, but Jesus got that plus the crucifixion. The Romans actually never expected the prisoner to survive the scourging and in fact would try to wrap the tails of the whip around the abdomen of the victim in order to disembowel them. This way soldiers didn't have to stand out in the heat for hours while the victim died the slow suffocating death of crucifixion. So forty stripes save one were administered. Thirteen on the left shoulder - thirteen on the right shoulder - and 13 on the loins. The psalmist said:

Psalm 129:3 - "The plowers plowed on my back; they made their furrows long."

I've no doubt that Mel Gibson's Passion, as graphic as it was, could not even do justice to what Jesus went through in that horrific 6 minutes of scourging.I certainly am not trying to downplay the importance of the cross, because that's where Jesus died for our sins and bought our salvation - but I believe the whipping post was just as powerful. At the whipping post He took those stripes that bring emotional and physical healing and deliverance:

Isaiah 53:5 - "But He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our inquities; the chastisment of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all."

Every stripe He took was for each sin we've ever committed. Somebody had to pay - and it was all laid on Him. Make's this weekend a whole lot more special.

Is Your Church Growing?

This is the million-dollar question that every pastor and many parishioners are asked about their church. Translated, that question means, “Are there more people attending your church now than when I asked you last time?” Depending on the particular Monday, or month of the year, this question can bring a lot of angst. No one wants to feel like the loser and say, “Well praise God, actually, we’ve lost a few people, and have less today than this time last year!” In the American church this seemingly has become the singular measuring stick of whether a church is healthy or not – “Is your church growing?” Don’t get me wrong; numerical growth is a wonderful thing. The problem is statistics tell us that at least 85% of all church numbers growth is transfer growth. Therefore some will gladly say that they are growing, but what they really mean is that they’ve merely added some “kingdom furniture” from another church. Also given the fact that the church has failed to gain an additional 2% of the population in the last 50 years (meaning we’re not even keeping our own children saved) glowing reports of American church growth can mostly be disregarded.

Believe me, my heart and prayer is that every church that preaches the true Gospel of Jesus Christ would grow large in every facet. But my question is – is it really right or even accurate to use numerical growth as a measuring stick for how healthy a church is?

I know the verse that is oft quoted justifying numbers as a measuring stick is Acts 2:47 – “And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” Certainly this shows what happens when a New Testament church is functioning in its proper capacity of preaching a Biblical Gospel - souls will be truly saved. But notice these numbers came from actual conversions – not from other churches.

My point is, this question of “Is your church growing” is only partially right. The correct version of this is “Is your church growing spiritually?”
If we are going to use the Bible as our measure (and correctly so) why stop at numerical growth? Let’s look at all the signs in the book of Acts of what a church should be. If your church is growing spiritually then are people in your church devoted to the Word of God? Are they given to prayer? Are the gifts of the Holy Spirit flowing in your church? Are they even welcome in your church? Are people being baptized in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues? You see these are ALL indicators of whether a New Testament church is growing or not.

Since it’s the Holy Spirit who decides when we are saved (John 6:44), we truly don’t have control over numerical growth! Perhaps Jesus really meant what He said when He stated, “I will build my church…” (Matthew 16:18).

Author Os Guinness states: “…(there can be) an improper emphasis on the health of a church being judged according to unbelievers’ response to the gospel. Who, after all, is really giving the increase? Who is responsible for the response?” He goes on to say: “But theologically, (this) means the difference between the church growth as true faith and church growth as a form of streamlined humanistic engineering.”

Simply stated when we resort to marketing the church for the sake of numbers we have resorted to ‘humanistic engineering’ instead of New Testament Holy Spirit induced growth. Manipulating the growth of numbers through “marketing” appears to be unscriptural at best.

We do, however, have a hand in spiritual growth among our adherents. Our mandate from Christ Himself is not to produce numbers, but to produce quality disciples: “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you...” Matthew 28:19-20.

Here’s a great test for any Pastor or Christian. Survey your congregation. Are people reading their Bibles more this year than last? Are more people showing up for your prayer meetings? Are more of your people sharing their faith in Jesus Christ? Are people in your congregation leaving sinful lifestyles and turning to Christ as a result of being a part of your church? Or do they continue to live in sin and attend week after week unchanged by your message?

Instead of saying, “Is your church growing”, perhaps we should greet each other with the language of the early revivalists, “Are you still burning for Jesus?” Are people in your church on fire for God? Are you? Am I?

Answer this my friends, and we will not be able to contain the numbers that come to our churches across this land.