Category Archives: Issues

We stand at a crossroad. Will we despair and compromise or will we persevere and stay true?

The Church experiences a morality deficit.

• Pastors and ministry leaders who have lied, cheated, or fallen into illicit relationships
• Teachers and ministry leaders allowed to teach and lead even though their lives do not line up with God’s ways
• Church members who are living more by the standards of the world than God’s Word

Thankfully, the above does not characterize every local church but does for far too many churches.

This deficit leads to difficulties for the Church.

How are we going to be a testimony for Jesus if we don’t live differently than those who do not know Him?

Compromise, integrity breaks, immoral deeds from leadership to church members —

Is it any wonder our society is headed down such a destructive path?  The church, as salt and light in this world, is supposed to function as a moral compass in this world.

Is it any wonder people who might want spiritual life, want little to do with the church itself?  The church, as salt and light in this world, is supposed to attract people, not repel them.

God offers the Church the means of a moral deliverance:

As Romans 7 states, we will have that struggle between the old human nature and doing that which lines up with our new nature.  If we keep getting back to Jesus and the Gospel truth, we will find the help we need to live holy lives.  We must regularly find ourselves at the foot of the cross, grabbing hold of the resurrection power available to us, and relying on the Spirit as our Promised Helper.

What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God — through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Rom. 7:24-25)

Church Leaders: Be that example you are called to be.  God clearly specifies qualifications for people in ministry in passages such as 1 Timothy 3, Titus 1, and 1 Peter 5.

“Now the overseer must be above reproach.” (1 Tim. 3:2)  “Deacons, likewise, are to be men worthy of respect.” (1 Tim. 3:8)

All Church Members: Learn what it is to walk in the Spirit.  Live in accordance with the new life you have been granted in Christ.

Live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. (Gal. 5:16)

Resources to Help with Your Walk with God

We stand at a crossroad. Will we despair and compromise or will we persevere and stay true?

What seems to be happening doctrinally in the Church:

The doctrinal difficulties we face have consequence. Here’s what can be seen happening:

1. creeping in of the world’s relative and pluralistic view of truth as opposed to absolute truth

— and so we lack a foundation and have no moral compass

2. drifting away from apologetics (why we believe what we believe)

— and so it’s easier to be swayed to humanistic thinking and mystical views of spirituality

3. lessening use of the meat of God’s Word in sermons, teaching, etc.

— and so people have a shallow understanding of truth that does little to affect the way they live

Thankfully, the above does not represent every local church but does for far too many churches.

The end result of these doctrinal shifts and our hope in light of these difficulties:

When the above creep into our churches we start seeing more and more …

• Bible illiterate people in our churches.
• non-victorious people in our churches.

But, there’s hope for the Church if we get back to what the Word says:

Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. (Jn. 8:32)

Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. (Jn. 17:17)

saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. (2 Thess. 2:13)

If we want to see people released from bondage and growing more and more Christ-like, then we must present to them the unadulterated Truth of God’s Word.

Church Leaders:  We need to unashamedly and unapologetically stand on the Word of God, to align with Truth.  We need to be ready to give an answer but remember that it is to be seasoned with grace, gentleness, respect, and love.

… prepare God’s people … until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. (Eph 4:12-15)

But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.  (1 Pet. 3:15)

All Church Members:  We need to return to our roots, to value the authority and life-changing ability of God’s Word (2 Tim. 3:16-17).  Doctrine has application to life and is what will keep you rooted and growing in the Lord.  That is why Truth is an integral part of our spiritual armor, that which holds everything together — “Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist” (Eph. 6:14).  If you struggle with the role of God’s Word, read through the following posts:

origin of the Bible
authority of the Bible
uniqueness of the Bible
accuracy of the Bible
sacredness of the Bible

Let’s remember:  Failure to hold on to Truth only leads to trouble.  —

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, (Rom. 1:18)  They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator–who is forever praised. Amen.  Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts.  … Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.  (Rom. 1:25-26a, 28)

Bible Study & Reading Resources
Apologetics Resources

What Will We Do as a Church in Difficult Times?

We stand at a crossroad.  Will we despair and compromise or will we persevere and stay true?

Rather than despair, let’s look at these difficult times as an opportunity to remind ourselves that effectiveness in ministry does not depend on worldly wisdom or human resources.

I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (Jn. 15:5)

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. (2 Pet. 1:3)

Rather than compromise, let’s look at these difficult times as an opportunity to examine ourselves.  Are we living for self and more concerned about what society thinks or are we living for God and more concerned about His glory?

No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. (Matt. 6:24)

But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.  (2 Cor. 11:3)

Church Leaders:  You are responsible for shepherding the flock (1 Pet. 5:2-3).  Review a shepherd’s ministry description.  God expects you to not only feed the flock but also to protect and guide them.

All Church Members: You can be doing all the right things but still be missing it if “you have forsaken your first love.  Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.” (Rev. 2:3-5)

The next four posts will take a brief look at each of the above listed difficulties in which we find ourselves.

A bad past experience in the church can keep people sitting on the sidelines for years. They might …

• refuse to serve again.
• close themselves to true fellowship with others.
• stop meeting with the church altogether.

When that happens, we all lose out for the church “grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work” (Eph. 4:16).

We can try to help a person work through a bad experience, but usually it requires much prayer and patient waiting until the person is ready to let it go and get involved again.  Learning to trust again, healing, and the regaining of confidence, all take time through the application of God’s grace and power.

Avoid These Effects by Seeking to Prevent Bad Experiences

Rather than constantly having to put out fires, work at preventing  bad experiences.

1)  Disagreement with policy, personality, or politics in the church that results in negative conflict

Decisions must be made by leaders and change must be introduced.  People will not always like what is presented to them. Often what tears people down and leaves them feeling burnt by the situation, however, is not the decision that had to be made, but the way it was handled. Let’s exercise integrity in all we do, yielding to the Spirit so His fruit governs how we act and react (Gal. 5:22-23).  Perhaps some of the following links will help:

Obstacles in Becoming More Purposeful

Resources for Conflict Management

 2)  Discouragement because of frustration, boredom, or chaos that results in disillusionment or failure

This could be a result of not serving in the right place.  When people do not serve in ways that fit their gifting and personality, the potential for problems increases.  Perhaps some of the following links will help:

Finding Your Best Fit in Ministry

Ministry Profiling in Staffing

Tools for Developing Ministry Profiles

This could also be a result of not being effectively trained to serve in that area of ministry.  Perhaps some of the following links will help:

Why Don’t We Train Everyone for Ministry?

Training of Church Volunteers for Ministry

Ministry Training Resources

 Realistically, we must admit that we will not always be able to prevent conflict.  We will not always be able to prevent people from experiencing failure in their ministries.  We can, however, promote an atmosphere of true community and unity in our churches and ministry organizations that provides a safe climate for working through the disagreements and discouragements.