Thoughts

Merry Christmas from Valley View Baptist Church!

A Strong Church Doesn't Just Happen! 

This is a very important message by Dr. Charles F. Stanley highlighting how a church can become stronger, and how the parts of the church make up the sum of the church.

 

As 2014 draws to a close and 2015 comes into view, my thoughts are drawn to a subject dear to my heart—the church. I’m not just talking about First Baptist Church in Atlanta, but the body of Christ, which is composed of believers throughout the world. With so many internal and external threats confronting churches these days, it is my prayer that local congregations will be strengthened so that they can continue to be beacons of light in a dark world. But what makes a church strong?  You can’t tell by looking at the building or even at the number of people who attend. When I was traveling in a strange city several years ago, I saw three different church buildings that had been converted into a bank, a library, and a store. I couldn’t help but wonder what had caused them to close and how we might prevent this from happening to more churches. So let’s consider how we can make our local churches the kinds of places through which Christ can do His work. The first characteristic of a strong church is the presence of doctrinally-sound teaching based upon biblical truth (2 Tim. 4:1-3). Now this doesn’t mean we will always agree on the interpretation of every passage, since no one can claim absolute clarity on all issues. However, there are enough clearly revealed truths upon which we can agree. Your responsibility is to examine what is being taught and compare it to God’s Word. This will protect you from deception and help you recognize if a message is doctrinally sound or based merely on feelings, opinions, or preferences. Second, a strong church emphasizes faith and prayer. Every Sunday while I preach, a group of men gather to pray for the service, asking the Holy Spirit to empower me and work in the hearts of those who attend (Eph. 6:18-19). When a congregation is filled with people like this who know God’s Word and believe He will do what He’s said, their prayers become effective and powerful. But this isn’t just a group endeavor; it’s also a personal one. As we each walk by faith and commit ourselves to prayer, the power of the Spirit flows through us. And as a result, the churches we attend are strengthened. A third essential feature of a strong church is God-exalting worship and fellowship. Although we can worship privately, there’s something special about gathering with other believers on Sundaymornings to sing praises and to focus on the Lord and His Word (Col. 3:16). However, we all have a responsibility to prepare our hearts beforehand and come with a prayerful and teachable attitudes, ready to hear what the Lord wants to say. The fourth quality of a strong church is a people who serve in the strength of their spiritual gifts. The Holy Spirit has given special abilities to believers that enable them to serve the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:4-7). We need each other in order to function properly. When we discover and use our spiritual gifts, we’ll not only be more effective in our service but we’ll also experience the joy of doing what we were created to do. To see how this works, let’s consider an everyday example using some of the spiritual gifts Paul mentions in Romans 12:6-8. Suppose I invite a group of people to my house for a nice dinner, but during the meal I accidentally knock my glass of tea to the floor. The person with the gift of mercy immediately says, “Oh, I’m so sorry.” The one with service responds by cleaning up the mess. The guest with leadership advises me on how to handle the situation, and the person who’s a giver offers to buy me a new glass. The one with the gift of prophecy tells me the consequences of my mishap, and the exhorter suggests I put the glass further from the edge of the table next time. That’s how we should function in the church—all working together in our own unique ways to accomplish God’s work. Fifth, a strong church is united in spirit. Although the body of Christ is composed of people with various opinions, preferences, and convictions, we are called to live in unity based upon our common faith in the Son of God (Eph. 4:13). That’s why we must guard against letting individual differences divide us. No matter how diverse we are, our goal should be to love, help, and strengthen each other (Col. 3:12-15). Finally, the sixth characteristic of a strong church is a vision for a lost world. When the body of Christ is committed to this task, the Lord provides opportunities for His children to share the message of salvation and make disciples (Matt. 28:19-20). More than 35 years ago, I would never have imagined that the gospel we preach would reach around the world through In Touch Ministries. Yet today we exist to offer the truth of Scripture to everyone who wants to hear it. And as we look ahead, our goal is to translate the message of Christ into as many languages as possible. As you contemplate your goals for the coming new year, would you make a commitment to strengthen your local church by personally applying each of these qualities to your own life? Not only will you be transformed, but God will honor your commitment and use you to inspire and motivate others. A strong church doesn’t just happen; it begins with individuals like you. Prayerfully yours, Charles F. Stanley P.S. In Touch truly values and appreciates your faithful support as we seek to strengthen both churches and individuals. Enclosed are a few examples of how the Lord has used our ministry to transform people’s lives. There’s something about seeing His past faithfulness that inspires us to trust Him for the future. I’m looking forward with great anticipation to what God will do in 2015.

Sainsbuy's Incredible Video

This is a very inspiring ad by Sainsbury's, based on true events in WWI.  Do you get the message?



Don't you just love it when kids sing Christmas songs?

New Billy Graham Video
 

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Don’t Preach that Prosperity Madness

by JOHN W. FOUNTAIN October 3, 2014 6:46PM
Chicago Sun Times

My final response to a pastor friend who I asked whether my writings on the institutional Christian church are too critical.

Hey man, I appreciate and respect you. You’re one of the few brothers I would even venture to have this conversation with. I didn't feel “attacked” by your response. It did sting because I write about the church with much love, passion, a sense of purpose and always with much prayer — a church now drifting aimlessly on a sea of prosperity doctrine, “religion-tainment,” and celebrity preachers that flows from mega-churches to storefronts. A church that has forgotten its first love. That has grown cold.

As men, as Christians, as brothers, how can we ever get better, grow, be sharpened, unless we have open, honest discussions?

Most are too closed-minded to go down this path. So even if we suffer a few cuts and bruises along the way to being refined, renewed and refocused, well, bless His name. And let us get out the Band-Aids, the antiseptic and also the blessed oil.

I hear you in terms of “putting our business in the street.” But our business is already in the street. Try Googling: scandal and charged and pastor.

Shall my words, spoken as a writer with absolutely nothing to gain — neither friends, money, nor popularity among church folk — do more damage than the almost irreparable destruction done to all Christians by pastors who prey on God’s people while “the church” sits silent?

Silence kills.

I have never in my writing named a single pastor or church in a disparaging way. We all have issues. The point is not to single out an individual’s fault or sin but to call out sickness and dysfunction so that we may all heal — for the greater good.

Of your reference to John the Baptist’s preaching, whatever John spoke in the wilderness vexed King Herod and others so much that it cost John his head. And why? Because he was speaking untruths? No.

It was because, even back then, church folk and the powers that be couldn't handle the truth. So they sought to silence any voice that openly spoke truth to power — a truth that ultimately threatens their kingdom and the spoils, a truth that rebuffs or rebukes the status quo.

And yet, after the beheading of John, after all the slain prophets, after all the religious corruption and even the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, “the church” and also the Gospel truth still shines — even to this day — victorious.

Today Jesus still commands us to love one another. To care for the widow, the poor, and the orphan — even to protect them from wolves in sheep’s clothing. He calls us to be emboldened like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who acknowledged the church’s great potential, even amid its great failings.

We have reduced Dr. King to the “Dream” speech. But he was highly critical of the church. By critical, I mean analytically, examining with Socratic method the institutional church’s merits, value and purpose, its effectiveness, or lack thereof.

I wonder how beneficial it is to say nothing. To allow the world to believe that all preachers, that all Christians, cosign to the prosperity madness and pimpology that now floods our faith.

A few years ago, while visiting South Africa, I asked one of the ministers of the South African Council of Churches whether they had “mega-churches.”

“Yes,” he answered with a chuckle, his accent thick. “We call them . . . American churches.”

We can and we must shift the paradigm. We need a new vision. May it begin with us.

Love you, bro.

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Dear Friends,

Years ago, I heard a man read this on his radio show.  I never forgot it.  It is possibly one of the most honest and interesting articles on human nature I have ever heard.  I just happened to remember that it was written by a journalist named Sydney Harris.  

With a little searching on the Internet, I was able to find it, and now I'm going to share it with you.  I found it to be very profound and true. 

I hope you will too.

~ Mark Ellis
July 26, 2014
Deacon VVBC
Just East of the Valley View Ferry

WHY MAN PREFERS A FALSE LEADER:

WE FEEL BETTER

By Sydney J. Harris

People keep saying, “We need a leader” or We need better leadership,” but that is not what they

really mean. What most of them are looking for is not a leader, but a Messiah.

They want someone to give them the Word. And the word would be one that is agreeable to them, that appeals to their preferences and prejudices, so that they can follow it wholeheartedly.

But this is not what a true leader does—a leader tells people hard truths, gives them a different path to follow, calls upon their highest qualities, not their basest instincts. A true leader does not tell us what we want to hear, but what we ought to hear. Indeed, this is the difference between a false Messiah and a true one. 

A false Messiah such as Hitler caters to and inflames the fears, hates, anger and resentments of his people, and drives them to destruction rather than to salvation or self-realization. 

A true Messiah—such as Jesus, even taken on the worldly plane—rebukes his people, shows them their errors, makes them want to be better, not stronger or richer, and asks them to make sacrifices for the common good of their own souls. He is never followed by very many, usually killed by the majority and venerated only when he is dead and need not be taken seriously. 

What we are looking for, I am afraid, is neither a true leader nor a true Messiah, but a false Messiah—man who will give us oversimplified answers, who will justify our ways, who will castigate our enemies, who will vindicate our selfishness as a way of life and make us comfortable within our own prejudices and preconceptions.

We are seeking leadership that will reconcile the irreconcilable, moralize the immoral and promise us a society where we can continue to be as narrow and envious and shortsighted as we would like to be without suffering the consequences. In short, we are invoking magic, we are praying for the coming of the Wizard. But there is no Wizard. Wherever they come from, no matter how they differ, they can all be distinguished by the same sign: Those we like make us feel better, instead of making us feel worse. 

We want to follow them because they “understand” us. 

But all the true prophets make us feel worse. They knew that the trouble wasn’t with our enemies, but with ourselves. They demanded that we shed our old skin and become New Men. And this is the last thing we want to do. What we are looking for is a leader to show us how to be the same old men [or women], only more successfully...

...and his ancient name is Satan.