Tag: fellowship

Precious Fellowship!

Neal Pollard

Kathy and I were privileged to speak in Price, Utah, at the Carbon Emery lectureship.  This program affords brethren in that state a chance to be challenged by a specific topic while enjoying each others’ company.  Never has the saying been true for us that we were the ones blessed for the time spent.  Those in attendance were kind and complimentary, but we felt as though we saw something of what first-century Christianity must have been like.  Brothers and sisters from about a half-dozen of the state’s total of no more than 17 churches (including two tiny house churches comprised of 1 family each and at least one congregation whose membership is 7 people) came together to consider faithfulness as well as evangelism against great odds.

The Christians in Utah understand great odds.  Mormonism has a stranglehold throughout much of the state, even holding a decided financial and social advantage.  So, typically, the Lord’s church, if it exists in a community and owns a building, meets in small, modest meeting houses that may feel grateful to have two dozen people present.  The distance between most congregations, with the exception of Salt Lake City, is vast.  Yet, though some traveled several hours to attend these lectures, they seemed to savor each moment together with fellow-Christians.  Observing these brethren as they ate and visited together, I had the distinct sense that they cherished the likemindedness and common bond that truly drew them closely together 

I am not saying that this depth of treasuring one another is missing in parts of this country where the church is numerically strong, but I wonder if being shunned and rejected by the majority of the community does not actually strengthen the tie that binds.  As an “outsider,” made to feel very much a part of their spiritual family in the course of less than 48 hours, I left with a renewed gratitude for the relationships at my disposal with God’s people.  

Attending worship is chiefly about praising and honoring God.  Perhaps there is a level of duty associated with coming to various church functions and activities.  Yet, our time together holds great potential as spiritual glue to bond us closer to each other.  Does God want that?  He must.  Jesus taught the disciples, “By this shall all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).

 

AREA PREACHER SPEAKS FOR GOD ABOUT WORSHIP

Neal Pollard

The church in the Denver metro area is no different than most parts of this nation.  There are a few congregations of God’s people with whom we find ourselves deeply divided when it comes to worship, women’s role, the plan of salvation, and even how to view the Bible.  One zealous young preacher in the area has been doing much to defend a radical overhauling of the Lord’s church through his writing and preaching.  One of his more recent blog posts seeks to prove what he sees as the pressing need of the church to change, using the 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale to illustrate this.  He contrasts the time before Tiger Woods’ hole-in-one there in 1997.  Before, there were conservative old men with cardigans tied around their neck and polite golf claps.  Since then, a coliseum has been built around the hole and rowdy college fans boo shots they deem not close enough to the pin.  Analyzing this Arizona anomaly, the writer credits new leaders who change the boundaries, bending to the local culture, capitalizing on the “right moment,” and meeting people’s expectations.

The thing that struck me most was that this no doubt well-intentioned young man tried to speak for God and the Holy Spirit.  He said, “God and the Holy Spirit are ready for a party.”  God shows up for worship at church camp.  God shows up at the worship at Pepperdine University (Where Christian Church members speak on the program, like Victor Knowles. Where church of Christ members who have added instrumental music, like Rick Atchley, Lynn Anderson, Jeff Walling, and others, speak. And where this young man and his wife speak).  He asserts that “we need a fresh wind of the Spirit” plus “leaders who will change the expectation in our worship experience.”  He ends by saying that God is “ready for a new day.”

Here’s the flaw in his assertion.  How do we know what the Father, Son, or Holy Spirit want from our worship? How are we to know what God is ready for or where God shows up?  Are we to take our brother’s word about what God wants?  No matter who speaks, this brother or any other, including me, we must “speak the utterances of God” (1 Pet. 4:11).  We do not have to guess at what God wants or desires.  He has revealed His will.  We do not keep on the cardigan or hold onto the golf-clap, to borrow our brother’s analogy, out of personal preference.  Only the Lord gets to make that decision, and He has informed us of His decision about our worship in His written revelation (see 1 Tim. 2:8-15; Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16; etc.).

One need only visit the podcasts or watch video of the latest worship at this area congregation to see what our brother means by “fresh wind,” “right moment,” or “change the expectation” in worship.  It means women leaders.  It means a choir.  Will it mean instrumental music?  If the Spirit is instructing them differently than in His Word, what proof is there to confirm it?  What is to be done with the Spirit’s previous, once for all, sufficient work of Scripture?  Does it get jettisoned?  I will not speak for God, but here is what He said:  “But even if we (which included an apostle, NP), or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!” (Gal. 1:8).  Let us be very careful what we teach (cf. Jas. 3:1)!

Sequoia Or Scrub Oak?

Neal Pollard

A few years ago I visited King’s Canyon National Park, home of “General Grant.”  General Grant is the second-tallest living thing on earth at 267 feet tall, 40 feet in diameter and 107 feet in basal circumference.  It has been called the “Nation’s Christmas Tree” as well as the nation’s only living National Shrine because it was dedicated to Americans who died serving our country during time of war.   It is hard to describe the sense of awe standing before the massive act of God’s hand.  Sequoias are said to be the largest living things on earth.  While California Redwoods grow taller, Sequoias grow larger trunks and wider branches.  In fact, the bark on a Sequoia can be four feet thick and they can grow up to two feet per year and live hundreds of years.

The scrub oak, on the other hand, makes quite a contrast.  It has prickly, dull colored leaves which are hairy on its underside.  The trees almost never grow higher than eight feet tall.  It is often referred to as a hybrid and is often thought of as much as a shrub as a tree.  Scrub oaks often combine together in “groves” to form brambly thickets.  The acorns are distinct for their hairy, warty and overlapping scales when they reach maturity.

The interesting thing is that one of the major species of scrub oak grows not far from areas where sequoias and redwoods can be found.  They are subject to the same general conditions, have access to the same nutrients, soil, and weather conditions.  Obviously, though, they are made of different stuff!

Now, a scrub oak cannot make a decision to be a sequoia.  That is pre-determined by God and His laws of nature and propagation.  But, we can choose what kind of person we will be.  We can be magnanimous, charitable, helpful, reliable, kind, and serving, the kind of Christian who builds and helps the church grow and be better.  Such a person makes a huge impact wherever he or she is planted.  Or, we can choose to be small-minded, petty, cantankerous, disagreeable, prickly, and contentious.  This kind of person is also known by his or her fruit, and the comparison between that fruit and a scrub acorn is compelling!  Whatever type of Christian you set out to be, you will be observed by those around you.  When you are thus observed, what will you be?  A sequoia or scrub oak?

AT TIMES, WE ALL NEED A PUSH

Neal Pollard

Irene Sax is an award-winning cookbook author, food critic and food writer whose work is often syndicated.  One of her best known articles, run in the huge Newsday newspaper, was a feature on Jean Nidetch.  Nidetch was a 214 pound housewife who met a friend in the supermarket, telling her how good she looked and asking her when the baby was due.  Not pregnant, Nidetch allowed this to motivate her into action.  She went to the New York Department of Health to get a diet plan to treat her obesity.  She was losing a little weight, but it was when she decided to invite six other overweight women to her apartment that everything changed.  The meeting was a hit and snowballed into the global success and household name, Weight Watchers.  Over a million people in 24 countries are members of the nearly half-century-old program.

Nidetch told Sax how she succeeded with Weight Watchers.  When she was a teenager, Nidetch crossed a park where young mothers were sitting and talking together while their toddlers just sat in swings with nobody pushing them.  Nidetch would give them a push.  She said, “And you know what happens when you push a kid on a swing?  Pretty soon he’s pumping, doing it himself. That’s what my role in life is–I’m there to give others a push” (Irene Sax, Newsday Inc., n/d, and Nanci Hellmich, USA Today, 3/27/10).

One purpose for our assembling together as the church is to “consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds” (Heb. 10:24).  God knew that we would all need a push–to do what is right and stay away from what is wrong.  We can get stagnant and stuck when we try to go it alone.  But, God has given us each other.  As we each battle Satan, we need each other’s help (cf. Eph. 6:10-17).  With your help, I stand a better chance of resisting the devil (Jas. 4:7; 1 Pet. 5:9).  Find a brother or sister, get behind them, and push!