Ministry – Nickcarnes.com

December 16, 2020December 16, 2020

My First 40 Years

Today, is my 40th Birthday, which means I have actually completed 40 years of life. I was thinking the other day about some of the things I’ve learned so far, or some of the things I have grown to appreciate, so I thought I’d share some of them here with you.

Jesus is King. My life belongs to Him.
Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus alone. Don’t allow people to trap you in legalism or in performance based religion.
My wife and children are the greatest earthly treasures God has ever given to me. I am a wealthy man because of them.
You must be friendly in order to have friends, but just because someone is friendly doesn’t mean they are your friend.
Actions DO speak louder than words. Show me, don’t just tell me.
The end goal is worth the hard work: I can only expect to receive what I put into something whether relationships, career, knowledge, etc.
Be who God created you to be. Don’t be a cheap imitation of someone else.
People will hurt you, but Jesus never leaves or forsakes you.
Forgive quickly. Forgive frequently. Forgive indiscriminately. Extend radical grace.
Always do the right thing, even when it doesn’t make sense or immediately benefit you. Both blessing and consequence are typically delayed.
Always remain teachable.
Find a mentor. Find a coach.
Don’t allow anyone to hold you back, not even yourself.
Not everyone will believe in you. That’s okay. You keep believing, and keep trusting the God who you belong to.
Family is your greatest priority. Family is your greatest ministry.
You won’t ever regret being generous and giving sacrificially.
True love is revealed in how you care for people who can’t repay you.
True character is revealed by what you do when no one else is watching.
Self-Righteousness is unappealing. It’s equally as unrighteous as the sinner you might look down on.
Every day is a gift. Not everyone has lived to 40. Not everyone is as physically able as God has allowed me to be.
It’s an undeserved blessing to live in the home God gave my family. I never take it for granted and remember it was given to us in His perfect timing. One month later, we couldn’t have afforded it. Not everyone has a roof over their head, A/C & Heat, a comfortable bed, clothes, or a pantry full of food. I am better off than my parents were when I was a kid.
God is sovereign.
God repays evil. You don’t have to.
You don’t need a lot of friends. One or two good ones will do.
Dream big.
Take risks.
Failure isn’t final. Dream big again. Take even more risks.
Choose to look for the positive in every situation.
Negativity is a poison to your soul and pushes people away.
God’s Word is absolute truth and will never lead you wrong.
Find a great spouse and fight for the success of your marriage.
Be honest.
Talk to God. He is present and He hears you.
“Keep it Kind.” – Kimberly Mullins. You can’t control other people, but you can choose to be kind.
I appreciate the Christian home and foundation given to me by my parents.
Don’t take people for granted, they won’t always be with you.
You are entitled to nothing. No one owes you anything.
As a Christian, remember what you owe God and how He saved you from it. Perspective changes our attitude.
Some things are worth fighting for, some are worth dying for.
I am saved to live for God’s Kingdom, not my own kingdom.
Our measure of success is obedience – Shane Padgett
Don’t take yourself so seriously.
There is always more to learn….

Join the Conversation: What are some valuable lessons you’ve learned in your own?

January 20, 2020December 16, 2020

What If We Joined Boats?

What if you joined our boat? Or, someone else’s boat and their crew?

While speaking at Azusa Pacific University’s chapel, Francis Chan shared that he and his family are moving to Asia, this year, to become missionaries. He said, in part:“I feel like I’ve been fishing in the same pond my whole life and now there’s, like, thousands of other fishermen at the same pond, and our lines are getting tangled and everyone’s fighting over stupid things. One guy tries some new lure and catches a fish, and we’re like, ‘he caught a fish, let’s all try his method,’ and it just feels like, what are we all doing here?”

For Francis, he feels led to go to Asia where there aren’t so many “fishermen” to share the gospel with the people in that region. I commend him for his obedience to the Great Commission, in this way.

When I heard Francis Chan’s message, my immediate thought was, “Why not join efforts?” This might be because I have long believed that we have too many churches (yes, I know I started one), and many of those churches could and should join together. That’s why I was not shy about asking Dayspring if they were interested in merging with New Passion, and whether or not we would be “Better Together?”And, we found that we are better together. Dayspring wasn’t the first church I had talked about merging with, and it surely won’t be the last.

Together, now one family (New Passion Church), we share the same mission to lead people to become passionate followers of Jesus.

Dayspring won’t be the last church we’ll merge with because our heart is to help the local church be as effective as possible in leading people to become passionate followers of Jesus.

Francis Chan is right about many areas in the United States. There are a lot of fishermen fishing in the same ponds and in many cases their lines are getting tangled. Everyone sees the other as ‘competition’ and that shouldn’t be the case. We are family. Let’s be honest, it’s even more difficult for smaller, struggling churches. Especially when they are limited in finances, people, leaders, and facilities. It limits what ministry they can do, effectively. It’s more difficult when the ministry load is dependent on a smaller group of people who have to do everything. You can’t afford staff or quality leaders to help facilitate change and growth. Eventually, it leads to burnout and people depart for a boat they can rest on, without having to be the sole responsible person for their specific ministry. The already small, struggling church shrinks even more, until eventually it just barely exists or it has to fold.

Some churches have declined so bad they only have their life-long core group, & can’t even afford to hire a pastor.

What’s the silver bullet to change that? What’s the solution that will finally get the church over that hump, and keep it there? What’s the answer?

Some churches seek that silver bullet for years and never find it.

What if we were to untangle our lines and join our fishing crews? Our lines could be focused in specific directions to effectively catch fish, without overlapping each other. The weight of the mission wouldn’t be on just a handful of fishermen. And, there would be more resources to work with.

I am fully aware that not every church can be joined together successfully, but that shouldn’t be an excuse not to try, or to have a conversation.

I’m not the only one who believes this way. Just the other day, Eric Mason was advocating for more urban churches in Philadelphia to join forces.

I’ll tell you the biggest reasons why many churches won’t entertain this idea. Pride and Ego. It may mean having to admit failure. It may mean changing positions on the boat. It may mean giving up power. It may require giving up tradition. It may mean change. But, what could happen, if we didn’t allow pride to decide for God what He could do, when His people decide to work together for a greater purpose than the name on our boat?

If you would like to join New Passion’s boat, we would love to talk to you. But, just as importantly, if you and another church decide you want to join forces together, to become more effective, New Passion’s team would love to help assist you in that process, or to help orchestrate that process, as we have had a very successful merge with Dayspring. It’s not about New Passion Church, so however we can help you, we are willing to try.

October 4, 2017October 4, 2017

Confession: My Son Got in Trouble and I Did His Work for Him

When I was a child, if I did something wrong, or was set up by my older sister, my dad would spank me with a brown, leather belt.

As I got a little older, if I did something wrong, or was set up by my older sister, my dad would spank me with a wood cutting board he made into a paddle.

As I became a pre-teen and teenager, my dad began assigning me Bible verses to write, or he’d make me look up every. single. Bible. verse. pertaining to my fault (I.E. If I was caught lying, I was given his Thompson Chain Reference Bible and was required to write every verse connected with honesty, truth, and etc; essentially any verse the was the opposite behavior of lying).

On many occasions I have also given my children Bible verses to write. I believe as we insert scripture, it helps reveal the wrong in our hearts and shows us where to correct course and align our hearts and life with the heart and life God calls us to live.

I utilized this same “discipline” in the substance abuse program I used to manage. I initiated a Bible verse writing program for policy infractions. The men hated it, but most of the men who were successful in the program, and had to write Bible verses along the way, would eventually thank me for the writing assignments. The theory was to put in the truth (the good) to push out the bad (that which was causing the infractions).

Tristan got in trouble last night, so I assigned him a Bible verse writing assignment. I initially told him he had to write Romans 13:1-3, 100x’s, but after realizing how long that passage is for him, I changed it to 30x’s. Before making any changes, I allowed him to write 10 verses and then asked him what the verse said and what it meant. He was able to clearly communicate it to me (which was part of my main goal). Between homework and his diligent writing, it took him until 9 p.m. to write 12 verses (it’s VERY long).

At some point during the night I had a thought that I wanted to teach him the gospel through this situation. Yes, he needs to obey his teachers, his parents, and any other adults that have authority over him. He needs to learn that discipline, especially as an impressionable young man, but at his impressionable age he also needs to learn the gospel. God is not pleased with us just because we follow the rules; God does not accept us because we follow all of the rules. Forgiveness and salvation are not a result of our following all of the rules. It’s solely based on our faith in Jesus and what he did for us.

So, how could I teach him the gospel?

Take his punishment for him.

Tristan sinned in his behavior and earned the right to be disciplined. I assigned the penalty for his sin and then I paid the penalty I assigned to him, for him.

I wrote Tristan’s Bible verse assignment for him. I didn’t want to. It was painful. I wanted to stop and just say I forgive the debt, but that wasn’t the full picture of the gospel. Yes, God could have just said our sin debts were forgiven and he could have wiped them all clean, but he didn’t do that. God established specific requirements that had to be fulfilled in order for our sins to be forgiven. When we couldn’t fulfill God’s requirements for forgiveness, he sent his Son, Jesus to pay our penalty on our behalf.

God assigned the penalty for our sin and then God paid that penalty for us.

Jesus suffered and he sacrificed so we could be forgiven.

[tweetthis]God assigned the penalty for our sin and then God paid that penalty for us.[/tweetthis]

Here’s an interesting lesson I learned: As painful as it was for me to write his sentences for him to fulfill my own requirements, there was an excitement within me to be able to give this gift to him. I want Tristan to experience a fresh perspective of the gospel, but I think in the process I personally gained a fresh perspective of God, as my Father. If I was excited to give this gift to my son, how excited is God to give us his gift of salvation? His gift of forgiveness? His gift of mercy and grace? It cost him greatly, but he does not offer this gift to us begrudgingly; he gives it freely, lovingly, and with joy.

As Christians, God doesn’t want us begrudgingly living for or serving him. He wants us to live for him as a response to his love and grace, because we want to, not because we have to. My hope is that my children won’t just obey because they fear having to write Bible verses, or fear detention at school, or some other form of discipline. Instead, I hope they will live an honorable, productive, God-honoring life in response to God’s love and in response to their parent’s love; because they want to, not because they have to.

Join the Conversation: As Christian parents, what are ways you’ve been able to teach or demonstrate the gospel to your children through your discipline processes or in general?

July 11, 2016July 11, 2016

NewSpring Church, Perry Noble, and Addiction

Perry Noble - NewSpring Church

By now, you have probably heard the news that NewSpring Church removed Perry Noble as their Senior Pastor, effective July 1, 2016. NewSpring has provided the statement their pastors and Pastor Advisory Team wrote to their church, as well as Perry’s statement, he wrote to the church.

This post is not intended to speculate beyond anything NewSpring or Perry Noble has already shared with us concerning his removal. It is intended to provide some information on alcoholism and addictions that people seem to be fairly ignorant about and therefore expressing disagreement with NewSpring for removing Perry. Although addictions have touched virtually every family in one way or another, very few people truly understand the beast. This is why there are not only groups like Celebrate Recovery, AA & NA, but there’s also Al-Anon groups for families of those who deal with addictions. Al-Anon provides the family member support, as well as information about what their family member is struggling with. I don’t write to you simply from a pastoral background, but I write these things as a former manager of a long-term residential rehabilitation program. In my tenure as the program manager we made the gospel the center of all we did and as a result we saw the program increase its graduation rate by 360% as well as major improvements in relapse prevention (less people returning to the program). I will not approve any comments that attack Perry Noble as a man or as a pastor. We will offer love and support for Perry because he is a brother in Christ and has fallen. We will offer love and support to his family because they are sisters in Christ and are struggling. We will offer love and support for NewSpring because they are the bride of Christ and need his guidance at this time.

One of the biggest questions and/or statements I have seen from people who disagree with NewSpring’s removal of Perry is that they should have given him a couple of months off, given him a sabbatical, or something along those lines to get his act together and then allow him to return to his role as pastor of NewSpring. The second question against NewSpring is “Where is the grace?” or a straight accusation that they have not given him grace by removing him from his role as pastor. Here are some facts about addictions and how they work and why I support NewSpring’s decision 100%:

[tweetthis]Here are some facts about addictions and how they work and why I support NewSpring’s decision 100%[/tweetthis]

Perry Noble Must Go First: As elementary as it seems, Perry Noble cannot get help until he realizes that he has a problem with alcohol. According to both statements, it is apparent that the church attempted to help him for quite some time with no success. This may be because Perry was not ready to receive help. He may or may not be now. I remember years before getting into drug and alcohol rehabilitation, I went to my friend Lee, who was the director of our Celebrate Recovery and told him a family member needed help with drugs. His only question to me was, “Is he asking for the help or do you just see he needs help?” Some of may say that in his statement he has admitted to having a problem and is seeking Psychiatric help. I think this is great, but from my experience I would encourage you to allow time to tell. Many people who struggle with addictions will make similar moves because mom threatens to kick them out of the house, their spouse says they’re leaving, or their job threatens to fire them; it’s a reactionary move. It’s to show enough compromise to give the appearance of change, so they can maintain their addiction and keep the life they’re living. Until Perry (or anyone) sees for themselves that they have a serious addiction problem, he will not change or recover from his addiction. Many people have to hit rock bottom first.

You Cannot Define Rock Bottom for an Addict: You may say, “Being removed from the church you started 20 years ago and have had great success with (over 30,000 in attendance) is rock bottom!” I disagree, and once again urge patience. You would be amazed at what “rock bottom” looks like for some people. For some, it’s just the threat of having their family fall a part or the loss of a job. For others, it’s homelessness or a doctor telling them another sip of alcohol could be their last because their liver is so damaged from the abuse. We see a nice, clean cut, highly successful, smart pastor like Perry Noble and think his rock bottom would be a shallow fall, but you would be mistaken. My hope is that his fall is shallow and short lived, but I’ve seen the reality of addictions. They equally affect pastors, college professors, nuclear engineers, medical professionals, soldiers, and other highly successful people of all backgrounds, races, and economic status. Rock bottom looks different for each individual and sadly it takes them going that far to see their need for help.

Grace, Grace, Where is NewSpring’s Grace? Perry Noble preached a lot about grace and NewSpring through his leadership has offered it to many. Perry’s firing may seem he is being shortchanged on grace. The program I managed was a Christian program, so any time we had to show tough love we were accused of not being very Christlike or our Christianity was questioned. This is where many people misunderstand addictions and treat it like other sins and other struggles. Soft love often leads to enabling addicts. Many families fall victim to this approach with their loved one who struggles with an addiction. Boundaries have to be set, accountability has to be put in place, and at times relationships have to either be cut off (a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing) or the relationship has to become very guarded. Those struggling with an addiction can use guilt and manipulation skillfully like Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron could hit home runs. Do you know where I saw the most success in recovery? When people came to our door saying, “I need help right now or I’m going to die!” They burnt every bridge. They didn’t have a wife to run home to, mom was no longer available to come pick them up if they got kicked out; it was just them and God. Typically they were 40+ years old and had grown tired of the life their addiction drove them to. The young guys who had not yet completely burned all of their bridges were the ones that had less success, because they knew when times got tough in the program they could make a phone call. Once again, this came as a result of their not truly seeing they had a problem. Once again, we cannot speculate about the details of the entire scenario surrounding Perry and NewSpring, but according to their statements, it appears they attempted to walk with Perry through this struggle for an extended period of time. That’s grace! They didn’t fire him immediately. We don’t know what that time frame of them walking with him looks like, it could have been 4 months or 12 months, but they did walk with him, and at some point boundaries have to be set and when changes are not evident, difficult decisions have to be made or else you only begin to enable the addict and that only helps set them up for more failure and struggle.

[tweetthis]Addicts can use guilt & manipulation skillfully, like Babe Ruth & Hank Aaron could hit home runs[/tweetthis]

Give Perry Some Time Off and Bring Him Back; They Shouldn’t Have Fired Him!: As Executive Pastor Shane Duffey shared along with the announcement, there are 5 stages everyone goes through when there is a loss. We sit behind our computer screens and feel like we have the best solution to their problem. This is called negotiation. Just as we cannot define what an addicts rock bottom looks like, we also do not know how severe a person’s addiction is and how long their recovery will take. Recovery is truly a lifelong process. There are 30 day programs, but based on the two statements it is evident that NewSpring attempted to walk with Perry for a longer period of time than 30 days. Time does not heal the addiction. The program I managed was a long-term, residential, 9 month program. Some programs go up to 12 months. These programs require the participants full attention and participation. They cannot work outside of the program and are given a full structure of counseling, recovery meetings, spiritual classes, and etc. to help them walk through the steps necessary to get the help they need. Some may say, all he needs to do is participate in a 12 step program. Once again, is he ready for this? Has he unprompted approached people and said, “I have an alcohol problem and I need help?” 12 step programs are not done in two months and then you’re miraculously healed! Once again, these things are a process. We hate seeing Perry be removed, so we want to rush his recovery, and armchair QB church leadership to say what they did was wrong. We don’t know how much time he needs, but there is a reason why there are weekly meetings (like Celebrate Recovery), 30 day programs, 6, 9, & 12 month programs. There is no magic time frame for someone to work through the issues they need to work through in order to get the help they need overcoming their addiction. We cannot, from the sideline, make definitive statements on how much time the church should have given him before allowing him to come back, partly because we don’t know what time frame they already gave him and what steps they asked him to take, before removing him as pastor. NewSpring and Perry know and that is all that matters.

[tweetthis]We hate seeing Perry be removed, so we want to rush his recovery, & armchair QB church leadership[/tweetthis]

Addictions are the Fever of the Flu: Perry’s problem is not an alcohol problem, just like a fever is not your problem when you have the flu. Your fever tells you there’s something else going on that needs healing. Alcoholism and drug addictions are the symptom to an inward issue that needs healing. When people are ready to deal with that heart issue they are ready to also eliminate the outward symptoms that we all see (drugs, alcohol, sex, food, shopping…all of which can be addictions). If Perry is not ready to open himself up to having these things exposed and dealt with, he’s not ready to give up those things we see on the surface. All of these things play a role in what is taking place in his life. Addictions destroy people and they destroy homes. We don’t know what kind of life his wife and daughter have been living because of this addiction. We don’t know how he has managed their finances, what decisions he’s been making, or how he has treated them. We don’t know to what extent the church had to step in to care for his family and to make a decision to protect them and the church. All we hear about is the symptom.

It’s confusing to us. People say things like, “A lot of people need to examine why they drink that extra beer or have that extra dessert to unwind from a stressful day!” Alcoholism and addiction isn’t the practice of having just one extra glass of wine or just one extra dessert to wind down from a stressful day, from time to time (it may be the starting point). It’s when dessert, wine, sex, shopping rule and reign your life. It’s when in the middle of the day you can’t go without a drink and it controls everything you do. This is why people don’t understand full blown addictions, if you have never experienced it, you can only relate it to something in your own life which you’ve seemed to manage or isn’t completely out of control.

NewSpring Was Right: It’s horrible seeing Perry Noble removed as pastor of NewSpring Church, but NewSpring was right in how they handled this situation. It’s almost unbelievable. It’s crazy to think about. That’s what addictions do. That’s what allowing unresolved hurts, habits, and hangups to remain in your life lead to. It’s a hard, painful fall. 1 Timothy 3 says an elder’s life should be above reproach, he should exercise self-control, not be a drunkard, and be able to manage his own household well, among a much larger list of qualifications. According to NewSpring’s bylaws and 1 Timothy 3, Perry no longer met these qualifications, even after being given an opportunity to get help before these actions had to be taken. Leaders are held to a higher standard of responsibility, we all know what they are going into the gig, so these things do not catch Perry off guard. NewSpring extended grace by giving him the opportunity to get help, but in obedience to scripture and their own governing bylaws they could not allow Perry to remain in his position when according to scripture he no longer met those requirements, after apparently not taking corrective steps in his personal life.

Can you feel the frustration and desire to take control? You just wish someone could have convinced him to not give up so much for so little. Alcohol? Think how a mom feels who has begged her child to give up the drugs or alcohol to no avail. It seems so simple to us….just stop and everything will be okay! The problem is much deeper than that!

Our focus now should not be to use this opportunity, if you disagreed with Perry Noble’s methods to pile on him and spew disgust for him. We should not think of ourselves as being better than him, but should see him as being more significant than ourselves (Philippians 2:3-4). We should pray that God uses this opportunity to refine in him all that needs to be refined; to heal all that needs to be healed. Pray that he truly sees his need for help and healing. This is the moment, we as the church and fellow believers in Jesus, the brothers and sisters of the Noble family, should pray for them, support them, and lift them up (Galatians 6:1). This is the moment we should not be second guessing NewSpring’s leadership, but also as their brothers and sisters in Jesus, we should pray for them, support them, encourage them, and lift them up. It will take a special leader to take over a church running 30,000+ people and they need wisdom to find that person.

Celebrate Recovery: If you struggle with your own hurts, habits, and hangups I encourage you to seek out Celebrate Recovery, a Christ-centered recovery group. Pastor, youth pastor, worship leader, church leader….someone outside the church. It doesn’t matter who you are, we all have or will have hurts, habits, and hangups and we all need healing. Online you can find a group near you, or if you are in the Augusta, GA/CSRA area, I personally recommend TrueNorth Church’s CR, and attend it as often as I am able to. At New Passion Church we consistently invite our people to their meetings on Tuesday nights, beginning at 7 PM. TrueNorth’s Celebrate Recovery is located at their Blok location: 1297 W. Martintown Rd., North Augusta, SC [MAP]. If you’re struggling with an addiction of any kind, please seek help!

May 19, 2016May 19, 2016

A Lesson from Granny’s House

House As far back as I can remember, up to 16 years old, my parents took my siblings and me to Granny’s house to visit her. Boy was it was an event! We weren’t the only ones who made frequent, weekly visits to Granny’s; it was very, very, very rare that we’d be on one of our weekly visits, typically on a Friday or Saturday night, and my cousins not be there with my aunts and uncles. We didn’t have to wait for family reunions to see each other we practically grew up with each other. I learned many valuable lessons at Granny’s house, like what peer pressure and bullying looks like: My older cousins (primarily females) dressed me in girl’s clothes, put Lee Press On Nails [nostalgia] on me, put balloons up my shirt, and made me perform singing/dancing acts with them for my Granny and our parents. I am so thankful to God there was no such thing as social media or smartphones in those days, and yes, I’m still in therapy!

[tweetthis remove_twitter_handles=”true”]My older cousins dressed me in girl clothes, put Lee Press On Nails on me, put balloons up my shirt & made me perform[/tweetthis]

My Granny had a room she called “K-Mart” (K-Mart was the Wal-Mart of the early 80’s). She would find all sorts of “Blue Light Specials” [more nostalgia] throughout the year and would save them for Christmas gifts. Sometimes she’d surprise us and open K-Mart so we could get a toy to play with while we were at the house. More times than I can count my dad gave us a lecture on the way to Granny’s house, “Don’t ask your Granny for anything!” “Yes sir!” We would reply! It seemed so easy when it was only dad, but then you get to the house and all of those older, mean cousins pressure and threaten you, and it’s suddenly not so easy to just obey dad. Somehow I was always the chosen cousin ambassador sent out by the female majority ruled board of cousins to ask Granny if she would open K-Mart. It worked most of the time and all of the cousins would get a toy and everyone got to play with theirs; except me! I was typically standing in the corner for disobeying my dad and asking Granny to open K-Mart.

[tweetthis remove_url=”true”]I was the chosen ambassador cousin sent by the female majority ruled board of cousins to ask Granny if she would open K-Mart[/tweetthis]

I loved going to my Granny’s house and I miss having the opportunity. I didn’t love going because of her version of K-Mart. I loved going to simply be with and visit with my Granny. The bonus was being able to share so much life with my aunts, uncles and cousins; after all we were family and Granny was the reason. Granny’s life was rough; her husband, my grandpa and my mom’s dad was an alcoholic, womanizer, and abuser. My Granny’s health was not the best and we all knew that even at a young age, so we simply cherished being with her. Sure, as a child, I didn’t really have a choice whether I wanted to go to her house or not, but that didn’t matter, I WANTED to go. I never heard my siblings or cousins complain about having to be at Granny’s house. We loved it and I believe we cherished it.

[tweetthis remove_url=”true”]All the cousins got a toy & everyone got to play with theirs, except me! I was typically standing in the corner[/tweetthis]

As a pastor, my desire is for the church to be like going to Granny’s house. I desire to see Christians grow so in love with Jesus that being with him in his house is a joy and not a burden; where we want to visit with him. We had no obligation to be at Granny’s house so often; we wanted to be there. I spent several spring breaks out of school helping her clean out her refrigerator and doing work around the house that she was not physically able to do. I believe my parents consistently keeping me around Granny helped me develop my own love and affection for her where I wanted to serve her in any way that I could.I believe the same goes for us as Christian parents; the more we expose our children to being in the presence of Jesus, the more they will develop their own relationship with him and grow in their love and affection for him.

I cherished my time with my Granny and my hope for Christians is that we cherish our time with Christ. I’ve heard some say, “I don’t have to go to church to be a good Christian or to worship God!” I agree we don’t have to attend a church building to worship God, but I would disagree that we can neglect meeting with the whole church family and be a healthy, Christ-honoring Christian. 1 Corinthians 12:12-14 says, “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many.” As Christians we can’t just say I’m going to meet only with Christ and I’m good. In that way, you’re only visiting with part of the body, not the whole thing. When we gather as a church, we are one body, joining together to enjoy Christ and each other. Just as my family gathered together to enjoy the presence of my Granny, that’s what the church is called to do as a family, gather to enjoy the presence of Jesus, together! It shouldn’t be out of obligation or duty, but upon knowing who Christ is and what he has done for us, our hearts should long to be with him, to enjoy him. In the same way we are called to enjoy our family and share life with them in the context of the church gathering; after all, together we all make the body whole!

[tweetthis remove_twitter_handles=”true”]We can’t just say I’m going to only meet w/Christ…you’re only visiting w/part of the body, not the whole thing[/tweetthis]

I’ve experienced the pressure of obligatory church attendance. I’ve heard many pastors butcher Hebrews 10:25. They paraphrase it by saying, “Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together!” I always thought that was the complete verse until I got older and studied it for myself. But they would say things like, “Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together….Now be here Sunday night and Wednesday night and be sure to be here Tuesday for this program and Thursday for another program, and our special dinner on Saturday….forsake not the assembling!” I had one pastor who told us to plan our vacations around Sunday so we didn’t forsake the assembling! Let me correct this poor handling of this scripture. Do I believe we should be faithful attendees to church? Absolutely! Do I believe it should be out of pressure or obligation? Absolutely not! I also don’t believe the church should feel as if they can over program their church and expect families to be at every program and when they don’t show up to every program, guilt them with a portion of a verse that says, “Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together….” If you’re attending church out of obligation, you’re attending for someone else and not out of your own admiration, worship, and joy for Jesus. I desire that Christians get to the place where they want to visit with Jesus and the whole church family

[tweetthis remove_twitter_handles=”true”]I’ve experienced the pressure of obligatory church attendance; I’ve heard many pastors butcher Hebrews 10:25[/tweetthis]

Hebrews 10:25, should actually be read as Hebrews 10:19-25 ESV, but for my post vs 24-25 will suffice: “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” What is the writer encouraging? He is encouraging a committed, consistent, and faithful gathering together to worship Jesus as a church family. The practice then was, as it is now, to meet together the first day of the week (Sunday) for a church service. The first day of the week has been set aside since the resurrection as a day of rest and worship. Does this mean you cannot miss a service? No. It doesn’t say that. It says “as is the habit of some.” The keyword is “habit“. There were some Christians as this was being written (and Christians today are the same way) that were not in the habit or had gotten out of the habit of meeting together for worship consistently; but it went further than just gathering together to worship; this is spelled out for us in verse 24-25 when he says, “let us consider how to stir one another to love and good works” “encouraging one another” as the last day draws near. I desire to see Christians want to gather together first to enjoy the presence of Jesus, because he is worthy and deserving of our love, affection, and attention. Your desire to be with Jesus will only grow out of your love for Jesus; your love for Jesus will only grow by spending time with him and discovering more of who he is. But I desire so much more for Christians. I desire that they would want to gather together because we are family and our gathering is not just about us, but rather it’s about our brothers and sisters in Christ who need our spurring on to love and good works and who need our encouragement. In return, we need their spurring on to love and good works, as well as their encouragement. Just as our love for Christ will grow the more we are in his presence, our love for one another will grow the more we are in each others’ presence.

I loved my Granny, so I wanted to be with her. I wanted to be with my aunts, uncles, and cousins as well. I love Jesus and I want to weekly visit with him, as well as with my brothers and sisters in Christ. If you’re a veteran Christian who gets this, my encouragement would be to stick with it and don’t lose heart, don’t get out of the habit. If you’re a newer Christian who maybe attends your church once-a-month or once every three weeks, or less, my encouragement to you would be to start developing a habit of visiting with Jesus and your Christian family consistently and not to neglect this gathering together. You’ll fall deeper in love with Jesus the more you’re in his presence. You’ll grow deeper in your understanding of Jesus and you’ll grow in your faith. The deeper you fall in love with Jesus the more you’ll fall in love with your Christian family; it’s like a domino effect, one leads to the other.

[tweetthis remove_twitter_handles=”true”]My desire for Christians is that we grow in love with Jesus so much that being w/him in his house isn’t a burden….[/tweetthis]

Join the Conversation….What encouragement do you get from consistently meeting with Jesus and your church family?