Do you think society has changed for the worse? I'm in my 50's and I think we are much more anti-morals, country, and God. There is no question in my mind our society has changed for the worse. The more God has been taken out of culture, the worse things get. It baffles me how certain groups want to push Christianity out of the public forum and yet, Christianity teaches the values that any society should live by in order to obtain the most harmonious situation. Liberal freedom has become synonymous with progress. If you listen carefully to news reports or documentaries about our history, they always make it sound like moving past our conservative heritage has been progress. They make you believe that going back to a more conservative approach to media, movies, entertainment, etc., would be going backwards. They laugh at how conservative our culture used to be. Now, we are supposed to be tolerant of everyone regardless of their beliefs. And by tolerant, I mean accepting. Our society wants us to embrace different beliefs and gray up the lines of absolute truth. People don't want to hear black and white truth anymore. People today want truth to align with their beliefs and lifestyles. Consequently, people look around until they find someone who teaches what they believe. But this is not a shocking revelation. God predicted this through the writing of Paul to Timothy. In 2 Timothy 4:3, Paul writes, "For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear." Believe me...this day has come!What is speaking in tongues? The Apostle Paul talks about speaking in tongues in 1 Corinthians 14. Speaking in tongues is mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament, but Paul expounds in this chapter. Paul says "anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries with his spirit." Speaking in tongues is an audible sound coming from a believer's mouth that is unintelligible to most people, but understandable to someone who is capable of interpreting tongues. We believe speaking in tongues to be a special manifestation of the Spirit that comes over someone. It is a spiritual gift not given to all. Unfortunately, some denominations teach that you are truly not saved unless you are baptized with the Holy Spirit, or are able to speak in tongues. Paul says in verse 19, "But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue." Unfortunately, some churches will continue to worship until someone speaks in a tongue, like that's some kind of indication that true worshiping is occurring. Paul said in verse 4, "He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church." Unfortunately, many who publicly speak in tongues, do so in order to look more spiritual and draw attention to themselves. Paul strongly warns against this and says in verse 27 that tongues must be interpreted in a public setting. In some settings, far too many tongues are spoken with no interpretation. There is a lot more to this subject that cannot be covered this briefly. Maybe I'll talk more in depth on this subject in a sermon sometime.
Who is in the 3 heavens? The Bible refers to three heavens periodically. The Jews referred to three different sky locations as heaven. The first heaven referred to the area contained within the earth's atmosphere. For instance, Deuteronomy 11:17 says, "Then the Lord's anger will burn against you, and He will shut the heavens to that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land the Lord is giving you." The second heaven referred to outer space. Psalm 19:4 and 6 says, "In the heavens He has pitched a tent for the sun...It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuits to the other." The third heaven, then, is the dwelling place of God, or what we would typically refer to as the place where we go when we die. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12:2, "I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven." This third heaven, is currently an intermediate heaven where deceased believers go to dwell until the new heaven and earth are created at the end of time (see Revelation 21).
What are other ways you can worship God besides singing? Expressing words of thanksgiving to God, giving money to God-honoring causes, confession of sin, preaching, teaching, reading Scripture, living a life of discipline, baptism, communion...just to name a few.
Would you recommend reading the book, "How to Become a True Worshiper" that you quoted last week? Actually, it was Kevin who quoted this book, but yes, go ahead and read it.
When is Kevin's next sermon? Every other week...say yes!
I think it would be easier to love our fellow members if we knew their names. I wish everyone wore name tags. I understand this sentiment and have even considered it. However, this would not be very guest sensitive. While there are exceptions to this rule, most guests want to come in and out of a church service virtually unnoticed their first few times. Anything you do to point them out is considered a huge no-no in the church world. We want people to feel very comfortable coming into our midst on a Sunday morning. Requiring a name tag would turn a good percentage of people off. While there may be outgoing guests that love it, it's not worth the other percentage that would hate it. One great way to get to know people is to walk up and introduce yourself. The safest first question to ask is, "How long have you been attending County Line?" Whether it's their first Sunday, or they have been attending for 50 years, you are safe.
Forgiving others is a daily task. Will God let the other person forgive us as well for any bitterness or anger they hold too? I'm not exactly sure I understand this question, but if I'm interpreting the question correctly, God gives us a freewill to respond to Him or not to. So if someone needs to ask forgiveness from you, God may prompt them, but He will not force them. I think it would be great for you to pray that God would convict the person and that they would see the error of their ways. Just be careful, you have examined your own life first.
Is meditation an acceptable form of worship? My first response to this question was, absolutely! However, meditation can be interpreted a few different ways. If by meditation, we mean, quieting ourselves before God and allowing our minds to dwell on Him and His Scripture, then by all means, yes! But if you are talking about some of the Middle Eastern or Eastern methods of meditation, then I would say no. The Bible says in Joshua 1:8, "Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful." So if you are meditating on God's Word, the Bible, then you are practicing a Biblical form of meditation.
What's the difference between praise and worship? When you look at the definitions of these terms, they can appear very similar. Both are a response to God, who is worthy of adoration. I would more specifically say that praise is a form of worship. Praise typically focuses on attributes of God. For instance, "I praise you God for being holy, just, loving, merciful, infinite, patient, etc." Worship is any active response to God and can include any number of methods, as we saw above.
When should you look for a new church? I absolutely despise church hopping. As we talked about in the service, church hopping is a result of our consumer mentality in America. If we don't like a business, we change to a different one. If we don't like a restaurant, we don't go back. If we don't like a certain product, we change to another. Unfortunately, we have applied this consumer mentality to church. If we don't like how things are done, we leave and try and find a place that does things they way we would do them. To me, church is about God first and people second. Methods are a distant third. If you are at a Bible teaching church that functions in the way God has outlined in Scripture and you love the people who also attend, then stick with your church. If something is happening you don't care for, talk to the pastor or a church board member and seek understanding. More often than not, once someone seeks understanding, they can live with something they don't like, because now they at least understand it. To answer the question directly, I would only leave a church if I could point to something that was clearly a violation of Scripture. However, other considerations can be made. If you are just miserable at your current church, then it is probably hindering your ability to worship and to be fully used by God within that Body. Hence, I would suggest looking for another church. I guess if there is anything good to the consumer mentality in America, it is the fact that there is a church out there for everyone. If you look long enough, I guess you'll find a good one. But always remember, every single church is made up of imperfect people serving a perfect God. No church is perfect.
How do I pursue my passions and ambitions in our church if I don't feel loved or welcomed by others in our congregation? Never forget, your ability to connect in a church is a two way street. What effort have you made to get connected at County Line? Have you been intentional about meeting new people? You cannot rely on other people to pursue you. Have you been intentional about meeting with Jen Harris and discussing how you can best be used within our church based on your gifts and talents? Have you taken a spiritual gifts class to discover if you are accurately discerning your gifts? As a pastor, I have met a number of people that think they are gifted in an area in which they are not. People who think they can sing, but cannot. People who think they can teach, but cannot. People who think they are leaders, but are not. People who think they are administrators, but are not. And on goes the list. This is probably the biggest suggestion I would have. Talk to Pastor Nate in our office about upcoming spiritual gifts classes and enroll today.
How do you feel about those that 'over worship?' Put on such a fake front that it is detrimental to their message? It ruins a message when someone fake cries. Again, I'm not sure I fully understand the question, but if you are talking about someone in the congregation, I would say, be careful not to judge someones heart. Someone may be more demonstrative in their worship style than you. Most people who are demonstrative in their worship have a love language of touch in their earthly relationships. Those who do not have this love language, cannot understand for the life of them, why people would act the way they do. I agree there are people who like drawing attention to themselves. However, that may just be my interpretation. Only God knows for sure.
If you are referring to pastors who shed tears during a sermon, I challenge you to give a sermon sometime in your life. So much more goes into a sermon than people will ever know. We are pouring out our souls to the congregation on any given Sunday and sometimes, the power of the Spirit moving through us is so powerful, you cannot help but get choked up or actually start to cry. Again, there may be some pastors that never get emotional. That again would go back to their personality or emotional intelligence. Yes, some pastors seem to cry every Sunday. I question how sincere that is, but at the same time, I know people I talk to that seem to cry every time I talk to them. Some people are just very emotional. I typically get the most emotional when speaking of lost people or hurting people. My heart goes out to people that don't know God and how much He loves them. I also get emotional when God moves in ways that are unexplainable in human terms. So bottom line. Don't be too quick to judge. Just because you may not be an emotional person, doesn't mean everybody is the same or that people are faking it. I would suggest assume the tears are real rather than assuming they are fake.
