Truths on Tongues

One of the most disregarded and misunderstood Biblical topics is the spiritual gift of tongues. The "go-to" renewal passages in scripture are often found alongside many depictions of the spiritual gift at work and recently I've been asked some questions regarding this specific gift. What does the Bible say about tongues?

1. The gift of tongues is a real gift of the Holy Spirit. If we were forced to chart out viewpoints on tongues we would see a polarized graph of views. On one side of the line is a pentecostal viewpoint that places high importance on the spiritual gift. A traditional baptist viewpoint is on the opposite side of the scale. Many traditional baptist churches try and avoid the topic at all costs due to fear, or lack of an informed response. The Bible does teach though that the gift of tongues is a real, legit gift of the Holy Spirit.

2. Gifts are just that: given. Believers don't get to pick and choose which gifts we are given. That's why it's referred to as a gift. Today, churches try and hand these gifts out to anyone that has a desire to use them. Unfortunately that's not how these gifts work. We're given them by God to use for His glory, not for our own personal use.

3. All believers are filled with the Holy Spirit. I've been approached by many concerned pentecostals who've stated their opinion that I wasn't Spirit filled. The gift of tongues isn't the only gauge (or fruit) of the Spirit. Also, if you look at the church in Corinth (1 & 2 Corinthians) it's clear that Paul understands that all believers are filled with the Spirit even though not all the believers in Corinth spoke in tongues.

4. Tongues and other charismatic-like gifts (miracles, prophecy, etc.) are not as prevalent as they were in the Biblical time period. Please don't misunderstand me. I never said tongues and miracles don't exist today. In fact, I've witnessed many miracles even in my own life. They just don't happen as often as they used to, and there's good reason. As people and society change, tactics of angels and demons have changed too. Look at Satan's temptation of Jesus; he tried one thing and when it didn't work, he went back to the drawing board and tried something else. Our society has gone through "modernity" or the age of science and reasoning. We now attempt to explain everything using logic and reason. These charismatic events won't be as effective in a society such as ours.

Tongues is easily one of the most underestimated, misunderstood, and most debated topic in the Bible today. Let's start the conversation! Leave a comment below...

Go Vote & Go Pray

Election day is a great day in American history. A day where you can practice your privileged right to have a voice as a citizen of the United States. Election day is a day where history is made.

It’s important to understand a couple things from scripture before heading to the polls to cast your ballot. Let’s take a look at the two most important things to remember this Election day!

1. Christ is King!

America has a problem. We’re in desperate need of renewal. The economy here at home is failing, prices are rising, and jobs are far and few between. Churches are suffering from record low attendance and believers are struggling with their once strong beliefs. The world we live in is only getting worse.

We need a clear view of who our real leader is: Christ. Jesus Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

“…Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.” –Colossians 2:10b

If there’s anyone that America needs for a bright future, it’s Jesus. We need to get right with God before we can set things right in the land of the free. A politician may be able to put satisfactory policies in place, control spending, or make international friends but only God can bring renewal to our land.

2. Christianity isn’t a religion, but a lifestyle.

If we’re going to call ourselves followers of Christ, we can’t just bring our best on Sunday. We need to be real with ourselves. God has laid out His expectations for His creation in His word. It’s impossible to live up to these standards and that’s why we need the perfect sacrificial gift of God’s one and only son.

God’s infinite love should push us to want to love Him back. We need to strive to maintain a Biblical outlook on life. Whether we are in line at the grocery store, pumping gas, at work, or at the polls, our actions should reflect our belief in Christ.

So don’t forget to make your voice heard at the polls. Most importantly pray for our once mighty God-fearing nation. If there’s anyone that can fix us it’s Him! We need Christ now more than ever. Go vote and go pray!

50-Year-Old Problem

Maybe you've noticed our new tab titled "The Central Message" recently. I'm excited to be able to fill you in on a little something we've been working on the past couple months. It all started with our eyes on a problem.

The Problem: They're everywhere and I'm not even sure if I've honestly picked one up and read it from start to finish. Christian gospel tracts first made their appearance into the public eye during the 1960's. Since then, the gospel message hasn't changed and neither has the method of delivery.

The Solution: While the gospel message remains the same, we simply change the way we bring the good news to the world. Big in the marketing industry today are QR codes. They're on everything from newspapers, magazines, posters, and even tv commercials! QR codes are simple; after scanning the code with a smartphone the user is taken directly to a website. Our QR codes will send users here, where they can view the entire gospel message in as much detail as they desire. Jesus is being brought to a whole new crowd of people!

Get Involved: Our first batch of QR codes are expected to hit a small local audience sometime this week. We're asking fellow believers to pray for the gospel message to be effective.

"Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation." -Mark 16:15

If you're interested in finding out how you can bring these QR codes to your community simply send us an email at sstatson@gmail.com

Lesson from the Pulpit

I recently had the opportunity to preach my first sermon at Hillside Bible Church. Not only was this experience helpful and fun, but it was also an awesome learning opportunity for me.

It was the night before my big debut when the nerves finally sank in. There was no turning back. Instead of letting this fear get the best of me I decided to sit down and pray. It was during that prayer that God answered by saying, "I trust you."

We all have ministries that God works through us but are we giving it our all? Are we working at our full potential? God trusts you. So gather up enough courage to trust in yourself and go for it! Do that awesome God-glorifying thing for His kingdom. It's time to make Him proud!

Most of the time what holds us back from doing God's will is a lack of trust in God and in ourselves. We don't like to think that God would give some of the most important decisions and tasks to everyday people like you and I. God gives each and every one of us the choice to act. It's about time we lose the fear of failure and start trusting in God to come through for us.

Listen to Him, hear His call on your life. He needs you to act now more than ever!


Here's an idea! Sit down today with a cup of joe, turn in your Bible to Acts 2:42-47 and listen to my first sermon! Leave some feedback in the comment section below.

 

Join the Ministry!

Christians are different now than they were when Luke penned the book of Acts. The church was in its infancy. The Holy Spirit came upon them and believers were added to their number each day. It was exciting to be a part of something bigger than yourself. Things were happening, and happening quickly. Believers were just different.

Upon my return to the whole church scene a couple years ago I witnessed it was just that: a scene. People either had to fill their spiritual quota for the week, or they were just there for the coffee and conversation. This was definitely not a mirror image of the first century church. I want to be clear; I'm not blaming any church or group in particular for this unfortunate shift in thinking, but my goal is to point it out nonetheless. This isn't a problem that happened overnight. It has been slowly moving this way for generations now. 

In Acts, Church-goers were in ministry. They were a devoted group of believers that would stop at nothing to accomplish God's vision. Unfortunately this mindset doesn't hold true in today's world. I'll be the first to admit that my mindset must change. When someone uses the term "in ministry" I automatically think of pastors, deacons, or some other higher-up in the church, but all believers were built for ministry.

Don't freak out, this doesn't mean that everybody must teach or preach. God gives believers an array of gifts that should be used for His glory. We as Christians should be an active body that stop at nothing to accomplish God's vision. We are to use our lives to proclaim Christ. Church-goers should be in ministry! Are you ready for a life of ministry?

The Act of Dying

-----Currently (for reasons unknown) the vocal audio sounds garbled through Apple products, but not with headphones. We're trying to fix the issue, but until then, try to enjoy the video with these strange stipulations.

"LIVE the Cross" by Amanda King

While working at my restaurant job the other day, I came across an interesting situation. I witnessed a customer being rude to my co-worker, all over a mix-up in communication. I decided to step in and without placing blame, I let the customer know that the problem was fixable. Then, I noticed she was wearing a cross. A cross symbolizes Jesus loving us so much that he died for us, yet this lady wasn't showing love like Jesus would.

Romans 12:1-2 tells us to live a life that God would be proud of. Live a life of presentation, sharing God's love to others. At the end, when I stand before God, I want Him to say, "Well done Amanda. You were a good and faithful servant showing love to everyone. You demonstrated to others what I stand for!"

Don't you want God to be proud of you???

If you're going to wear the cross, then remember what it stands for. Remember that God loved us so incredibly much that He sent His son to die for us so that we can live with God FOREVER! (John 3:16) Shouldn't we show love to others like God showed love to us?

If you wear the cross, LIVE the cross!

What Now?

Now that we've gone over some of the problems with today's church in the lost post, "What's Wrong With the Church?" it's time to ask some tough questions:

-Do you see any of the listed problems at your church?
-Have the problems been getting better or worse?
-Who's responsible for these problems arising in the first place?

There's no doubt churches have these problems. Church is broken, because it's full of broken people. We can't renew the church, until we first renew ourselves. Humankind has failed. We haven't met the standards given to us. In fact, we continue to push God's will for our lives away and replace it with our own. The good news is it's that never too late to turn our act around. God has our best intentions in mind. We need to be fully dependent on Him.

All throughout John's letter to the churches in Revelation 2-3, Jesus points to each church and tells them what they are doing wrong, but immediately afterwards gives them a command to repent and turn from their evil ways. After all, you're either following Jesus and living out His good and perfect will for our lives, or you're not.

I encourage you to read Revelation 2-3. Does your church, or any other local church look like the ones detailed in this scene? In ancient Greek culture, the number 7 had a symbolic significance. For them, 7 meant completeness, or wholeness. When John writes to 7 churches, I'm convinced that he's not actually writing just to these specific churches, but to the church as a whole. These churches were going through some of the same problems that today's church is going through (lost fervor, persecution, oppressive environment, cultural compromise, complacency, materialism, spiritual death, etc.). After giving us the problems, Jesus gives us a command
to repent.

Repentance isn't short term, but it's long term. It's turning from evil, and clinging to what is good. Jesus commanded repentance from His followers, and from His church. In order to repent, and do a complete turn-around on a church-wide level, we must first change ourselves and work on an individual level. Remember, you're either following Jesus...or you're not.

What's Wrong with the Church?

Church has changed over the years. Ever since the early church movement, the church has been changing, growing, and adapting to new life styles. Somewhere along the line, something went wrong. What is the church doing so wrong today? This is the question I was burdened with today.

What's Wrong with the Church?

1. Lack of Trust: God calls us to action. Today's Christian lacks the trust to step out of their comfort zone and act on that call.

2. Lack of Passion: What happened to the passion, boldness, and zeal that the early church had in the book of Acts? Did we lose it somewhere along the way? Are we missing something?

3. Tradition/Ritual: Tradition and church ritual have choked out the truth.

4. Acceptance of Culture: We're growing more and more adapt to the society of sin. Tolerance has turned into acceptance.

5. Lost Love for God's Word: We are growing a generation that's prone to be Bible-illiterate. Christians have lost sight of our God-breathed privilege.

6. Lost Love for Christ: Jesus loves you, now it's time we start loving him back.

The worst part about these problems is that the list could go on. There is no question that today's church in general has "gone to hell." The good news to this story is that there is still hope. We'll find out what we can do to turn things around in our next post: What Now?

Wake Up

There's a problem with todays church just like there where problems when John wrote Revelation. Not only were churches plagued with an abandonment of the truth and sexual immorality, but they were challenged with spiritual decay. One church in particular fits the description of the state of the present-day church.

The church in Sardis was convicted of appearing very vibrant and alive on the outside, but very dead and decayed on the inside. This was a church that seemed to have it all, but really missed the mark on what was important to them. Sardis had little to no passion and enthusiasm for their work. Evangelism and discipleship suffered as a result. Minimal praise offerings were being presented regularly. Today's church is falling into the same trap.

Revelation 3:2 tells us that throughout this hardship, there was still hope. This verse indicates that some were "ready to die", meaning that they still had a minimal amount of life left. The fire may have been nearly extinguished, but a flicker of a flame remained. Jesus supplied Sardis with a remedy on how to renew their spiritual fire.

First, the church was told to remember back to the beginning. They lost their original focus. Secondly, the church was told to obey. Not to shrink back into destruction, but to stand firm with the original teachings. Finally, and most importantly, the church in Sardis was told to repent. Sardis was instructed to turn from evil, and cling to what was good.

Just like the church in Sardis, present-day church has been losing focus and passion. It's time we remember what's really important, and what our mission is. The church must hold fast and repent before it's too late. It's time for the church to wake up.

"Wake up and strengthen what remains and is on the point of death, for I have not found your works perfect in the sight of my God." -Jesus (Rev. 3:2 NRSV)