Watching the Church Grow & Develop and Reading some Poetry

As we Rest at the River’s Edge in May, we’ll spend most of our time doing two things:

• Watching the church grow and develop as we read through the book of Acts
• Enjoying poetry as we read some Psalms and the Song of Songs (often called Song of Solomon)

As spring develops, don’t lose focus on what’s important, but feel free to take your Bible and notebook outside and enjoy some spring weather!

Blessings, Sandy

The recommended reading schedule for May is below.

To download a PDF of May’s recommended reading plan, click here.

I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.
Philemon 1:6

In my last blog, I expanded on the idea that sharing our faith with nonbelievers helps us to gain a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ. What a great motivation for doing so!

As I was finishing the blog, God tickled my brain with another meaning. It sent me to the Greek New Testament dictionary to find out what word was actually used for “sharing.” I was surprised to find the word koinonia. I have never associated that word with the evangelistic sharing of our faith. I was running out of time, so I made a note to get back to it.

While visiting my sister half way across the country, and attending a church with a much different style than my home church, God continued to nurture thoughts about the koinonia of our faith and how it helps us gain a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ. I now have the wonderful luxury of three hours of “free time” while I fly home and am doing some research. I’ve looked up all the passages with the word koinonia and read a number of commentary and dictionary entries related to the word. How fun! (Yes, I’m a bit of a word nerd.) Come along on the journey with me. While my trip took about 2 hours, yours should be much quicker!

The word koinonia means a number of things (as most Greek words do). It’s used seventeen times in the New Testament.

• In only two passages does it mean “communication,” as most interpret it in the passage we’re looking at.
• In two other passages it’s used in relationship to sharing materially with other believers.
• All remaining uses of the word are translated “fellowship” or “communion.”

The fellowship or communion of koinonia is a very rich fellowship or intimacy. Ron Sider describes it this way:

For the early Christians, koinonia was not the frilly “fellowship” of church-sponsored, biweekly bowling parties. It was not tea, cookies, and sophisticated small talk in [the] Fellowship Hall after the sermon. It was an almost unconditional sharing of their lives with the other members of Christ’s body.
Ronald J. Sider

Since this is the overwhelmingly more common translation of the word, let’s apply it to our passage and see where it takes us:

I pray that you may be active in [the fellowship of] your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.
Philemon 1:6

Or perhaps:

I pray that you may be active in intimately living a life of faith with one another, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.
Philemon 1:6

There are many passages that make it clear we are not to live our faith in isolation. This passage goes a step further – it says we cannot gain a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ when we live our faith without koinonia relationships with other believers. Gaining that fuller understanding occurs as we share what God is doing in our lives with others to encourage and teach them, and they share what God is doing in their lives to encourage and teach us. It also occurs as they see us shrinking back from our first love and admonish us to stay faithful.

We Americans don’t like anyone in our business. We like our independence and like to live our lives the way we want to live them. This is the antithesis of the Gospel message and of koinonia. Koinonia requires a sharing of lives that makes independence obsolete.

We especially don’t like it when others are bringing correction to us. I would venture to say that most people quit attending their church because the pastor or another believer has attempted to bring correction into their life. How very sad. God has placed our pastors and fellow believers in our lives to help us gain that full understanding of every good thing He has given us. When we sever those relationships we cut ourselves off from the growth God has for us. That means we haven’t learned what God wanted us to learn, so the likelihood is that we will face the same or similar situation in the next church we attend. If we continue in our independent attitude, we eventually give up on church because it is full of people who want to be a part of our lives when we simply want credit for going to church.

God wants more from us and has more for us. He wants us to have koinonia relationships – intimate fellowship with other believers that allows them to speak words of correction and life into our lives. Without it we’ll never become the men and women God wants us to be.

Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold.
Matthew 24:12

This article by Francis Frangipane, titled Beware of the Stronghold of Cold Love, touches on the last two Let’s Be PC! Blogs I’ve written –

• Forgiveness is Not an Option
• Go to church tomorrow…and next Sunday and the following Sunday and the Sunday after that!

“A major area of spiritual warfare that has come against the church is the sphere of church relationships” Frangipane states. He cautions us to guard against unforgiveness saying “An earmark of this corporate, overcoming church will be its commitment to love.”

His article is worth reading and taking to heart. Has a broken relationship (and lingering unforgiveness) caused your love for the Church to wane, and hence your church attendance to wither? Check out Frangipane’s article for encouragement to move beyond unforgiveness and lackluster church attendance.

Peter, the White Sheet & Cornelius
Yesterday, while Resting at the River’s Edge, we read about how Peter took the Gospel to the Gentiles for the first time. God gave him a vision of unclean animals being lowered from the sky on a sheet. When told to “Kill and eat,” Peter objected because the animals were those considered unclean by the Jews – they’re the very same animals we’ve read about as we’ve read through Leviticus this month. God’s response would surely have shocked Peter: “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” (Acts 10:15) Peter had learned all his life that these animals were unclean and now God was telling him they were clean!

As he considered what it might mean, three men came to the door asking for Peter to go to the home of a Gentile, something also against the Jewish laws. Peter made the connection between his dream and these visitors and goes to the home of Cornelius. Once there, he began to share the Gospel. Scripture records the result:

⁴⁴While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. ⁴⁵The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. ⁴⁶For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.
Acts 10:44-46

Praise God! As was His plan from the beginning of time, He has now opened the door to Gentiles coming to faith in Christ. Let’s celebrate, right?

Peter & the Jewish Believers
Well, not quite. As we read in Acts 11, Jewish believers who had not been with Peter when the Gentiles received the Holy Spirit became critical of Peter:

¹The apostles and the brothers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. ²So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him ³and said, “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them.”
Acts 11:1-3

Although it is clear from the beginning of Scripture that it was God’s plan to save the world through Abraham (“and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” Genesis 12:3b), the Jews had gone off course a bit and believed that God only intended to be their Messiah, their Savior. God spoke to Peter and then demonstrated His expansion plan through Cornelius’ family…but those who were not present were skeptical. After hearing Peter’s discussion, the responded appropriately:

¹⁷So if God gave them the same gift as he gave us, who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could oppose God?”

¹⁸When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life.”
Acts 11:17-18

Peter & You and Me
If you’re reading along with us, why am I telling you the story? Because I find a couple of things interesting about it.

1. It is fascinating to see how the Church came into being – it didn’t just spring up fully formed. The early believers were discovering what God intended as they went along. The Scriptural record we have demonstrates that. It’s easy for me to fall into the trap of reading Scripture – both the Old and the New Testaments – from a historical perspective instead of thinking about how it documents what was being lived out. When Acts chapter 10 occurred, Peter was doing a new thing, changing the way forever that the Gospel would be viewed – God had granted even the Gentiles repentance unto eternal life!
2. These chapters demonstrate that obeying God brings criticism, even from fellow believers. The believers in Jerusalem criticized Peter for associating with Gentiles. We should never fall into the trap of believing that following God’s will brings peace. We forget how radical a God we serve. His desire is that all should come to a knowledge of repentance, and sometimes that requires radical obedience when God lays out a radical game plan. As believers, at least as believers living in the United States, I think it’s often our tendency to talk people out of radical obedience. Lord, forgive us and give us a radical faith!
3. I love the way that Peter didn’t seem to get defensive when he was criticized by other believers. He simply “began and explained everything to them precisely as it had happened” (Acts 11:4). It is difficult for me not to get defensive when I am criticized. I’m often not successful at it, but I think there are three primary components that help us not to become defensive: Being absolutely confident in God, walking in humility and loving those who are accusing you. Peter was absolutely confident that God had sent him to Cornelius’ home and he simply explained it to the other believers. He didn’t respond in an authoritarian way, although by rights he could have. After all, he was the apostle, they were not. But he chose to explain all that had happened so that they could also see the hand of God moving and shaping the new Church.
4. Look how quickly the criticizing believers were willing to change their minds. After hearing Peter’s story, they immediately rejoiced. They didn’t feel a need to be right, didn’t raise objection after objection, didn’t seek even the smallest concession to save their own dignity. They celebrated that they were wrong! They celebrated that God had opened the door to the Gentiles.

There are probably other lessons in the story, but these four strike me.

How about you?
Did you get the same things out of reading the two chapters? Which of the above four points is most significant for you?

Points two and three hit me the hardest. I want to obey God radically and I don’t want to ever discourage someone else from doing the same. And I’m still working on losing all my defensiveness when people criticize me.

How about you?

The following verse: “This is what you are to do to consecrate them, so they may serve me as priests:” (Exodus 29:1a) is followed by 42 additional verses that explain how priests are to be consecrated. God then makes this interesting statement:

⁴⁴“So I will consecrate the Tent of Meeting and the altar and will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests. ⁴⁵Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God. ⁴⁶They will know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God.
Exodus 29:44-46

Did you catch the nuance? The Isarelites were to go through seven days (seven days!) of ceremonially consecrating the priests and then God consecrated them and the Tent of Meeting. It is not the ceremonial acts that consecrated the priests, it was God who consecrated them. What, then, is the purpose for going through the motions? I can think of at least four purposes. I’m sure that in God’s economy there are many more purposes, but these come to mind:

• God, in His exceeding goodness, accomplishes many (most?) things thru men and women whom He has created in His image. This is a characteristic of God that blows me away every time I think of it. It is such an awesome privilege to partner with the Living God, the Eternal God, the Almighty God, to accomplish His will on this earth. He allows me to have a role in accomplishing His purposes, giving my small life greater purpose than I could ever have any other way. Wow! Consecrating priests, whether that means church leaders or ourselves as part of the holy priesthood of the Living God.
• It prepares us to be consecrated by God. The process makes us ready, attunes our hearts and spirits, to be consecrated. It reinforces the seriousness and the holiness of the action. In short, the process changes us.
• The process makes a statement to those around us, both Christian and non-Christian, that the ones being consecrated are set apart for the purposes of God.
• The process makes a statement to the spiritual realm – this person is being set aside for the purposes of God. This person has yielded their will to the will of the Most High, Almighty, King of the Universe. This person belongs to God and none other.

Wow! If a process of consecration can do these things, why would we not want to take it more seriously? I think we miss opportunities to accomplish these things when we curtail religious ceremony that leads to consecration.

Wrestling with the Issue and My Two Cents
For all of my Christian life I have belonged to evangelical and/or charismatic churches that have not been strong on religious ceremony. Most of those churches eschewed such things as being too “religious” (that being the nature of religious ceremonies, of course) – too much pomp and circumstances or rigmarole or whatever. Sorry, folks, I think we’ve thrown the baby out with the bath water.

Sure, what I’ve quoted above is Old Testament, but in the New Testament we see Jesus both honoring the old traditions and initiating two new ones: baptism and communion. Most Christian churches today honor these New Testament ceremonies, although often in a very relaxed format. I like a relaxed format, but I think we miss the boat at times by not incorporating more solemnity and more pomp and circumstance into our worship, and I think we miss the boat by not practicing more formal (i.e., ceremonial) times of consecration.

In the early church, baptism was preceded by a period of discipleship lasting one to three years. The discipleship process can be seen as the consecration process, ending with the baptism. Part of the preparation (consecration) process was to allow time for the baptizees to demonstrate true repentance and fruits of their new walk. In all the churches I have attended in my thirty-plus years as a Christian, the most that was required of someone wanting to be baptized was a profession of faith and a single class or discussion about the meaning of baptism. I wonder if we are missing the boat a bit. Without becoming legalistic, I wonder if baptisms ought to be preceded by a period of consecration by those involved so that when the baptism is performed God’s consecration completes it.

Of course, in the New Testament there’s the example of the Ethiopian eunich (and others) who were immediately baptized upon proclaiming faith in Christ. So was the early church moving away from New Testament Christianity, or were they establishing the new forms that would ensure the continuity of Christianity into the future?

I was blessed to be ordained this past year. The actual ordination ceremony was both a celebration and a dedication of my life in service to Christ. Obviously, much had built up to the ordination. I completed a Master’s Degree in Christian Ministries and had been in lay ministry for many years. The ordination was a recognition that God has called me to ministry and anointed me to preach the Good News, bind up the broken hearted and proclaim freedom to captives (Isaiah 61:1-3, Luke 4:18-19). Yet I wonder if we’re not missing the boat a little by not preceding the ordination by a period (7 days perhaps?) of preparation, perhaps fasting and prayer, extended times with God, and times of instructional mentoring – that is, a time of consecration so that when the ordination is performed, God’s consecration completes it.

Are We Missing the Boat?
My point is that we in the evangelical and charismatic church are probably a whole lot better at celebrating than we are at solemnly recognizing significant events in God. Yes, we have been set free from the requirements of the Law. And yes, we want to avoid practicing a faith that is based on ceremony more than on personal intimacy. However, I think that the ceremony can lead to personal intimacy when done with a right heart, and I think the ceremony itself has great value. Our part of consecration might be symbolic or ritualistic, but that doesn’t mean we should too easily or quickly abandon it. Remember that it was after the Israelites did their part in consecration that God did His part.

I guess that’s my two cents on the subject. Today. I’m still wrestling with this. Do you have an opinion? What forms of consecration (if any) do you think are appropriate for today? Would incorporating more ceremonial consecration into the Body of Christ today make the church stronger?

You see, I sometimes fall into the trap of not wanting people know when I’m not doing so well. I’d be willing to bet that you’re a whole lot like that, too. We like people to think we’ve got it all together. Even when it’s obvious that things around us are falling apart, we want people to believe we’re handling it well. Perhaps it’s because we want to believe that ourselves. But the lesson I re-learned a couple of weeks ago is that the sooner you share your struggles with those who will pray for you, the sooner you’ll receive the spiritual boost you need to get back on track.

A Year Ago
In the middle of January my husband had some medical issues and they really threw me for a loop. When he had a major heart attack last February, I really handled the whole “died on the table” thing pretty well. What I mean by handling it well is that I rarely dwelt on “what might have happened,” or “what’s life going to be like in the future.” I had a confidence that God had been good to me in the past and He would continue to be good to me no matter what happened in the future. Since then, through the various ups and downs of recovery, I have maintained that confidence.

A Couple of Weeks Ago
Until a couple of weeks ago. That’s when Phil began to have some strange and serious symptoms. When he told me about them, I outwardly remained calm (because that’s what I do in a crisis). But from that moment until I came to my senses and asked for prayer, the enemy bombarded my mind with two words: widow and widowhood. I wasn’t dwelling on it – I wasn’t continually letting my mind go to “what if’s” – the words just continually popped into my head unbidden.

Phil shared his symptoms with some friends and they prayed for him and asked me how I was doing. I sugar-coated how I was doing. “OK. Not great, but I’m fine.” I was not doing fine. If I had told the friends that night about where my mind was, they would have prayed and I have every confidence the enemy would have lost the territory he was staking out. But I didn’t.

I am so thankful that we had a ladies’ meeting planned that weekend. I so didn’t want to go. I wanted to stay home alone and eat cheesecake. We were going to watch the Chondra Pierce video “Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid.” (Is God’s timing perfect, or what?) But I knew I had to go – it was a follow on to a retreat I had been a part of planning last November. I surely wasn’t going to share my struggles, though. I was going to go, watch the video, smile, prayer for anyone who needed prayer and come home. Have you ever been in that place? I’m guessing you have.

5 Days Later
After we watched the video, one of the leaders asked “have any of you struggled with fear since the retreat.” Silence. Long silence. I knew I needed to speak. So I did. And of course, the ladies were tremendously gracious. They prayed for me. A long prayer. And then one of the ladies suggested that someone agree to pray for Phil and I each day of the week for the next six weeks! As I sat there in the midst of them (not nearly as composed as I would have like to have been), I began to hear women say “I’ll take Tuesdays.” “I’ll take Fridays.” “I’ll take Wednesdays.” Until all the days of the week were taken. I was overwhelmed with gratitude. What a blessing!

It was about five days from the time Phil told me about the symptoms until I shared with the women, and that was MORE than enough time for the enemy to mess with my head. He got a bit of a foothold, planting a seed of fear that desperately wanted to take root. Even though I wasn’t dwelling on the issue, the unbidden thoughts that continually sprang up began to take their toll. Even though I would immediately (or almost immediately) arrest them and focus my thoughts elsewhere, they occurred so frequently that I was beginning to become paralyzed. (I took me more than a week to write a blog that should have been written in one sitting.) That was a week that I didn’t need to experience. If I had immediately called someone and humbled myself saying “I need prayer right now. I’ve lost my confidence that God will be good to me in the future. I’m afraid of what the future holds. Will you pray for me because I’m not very good at praying for myself right now?” – if I had done that immediately, God would have come to my rescue immediately. The enemy would have had to flee.

Some Battles Need More Warriors
Satan was overstepping his bounds and I was not able to stop him. That’s not a bad thing – it’s why God places us in families. Some battles need more warriors than others. Such battles bring the family of God closer together as we call on Him for another who needs their faith boosted.

It was foolish for me not to speak up sooner. I suffered needlessly, others missed the blessing of being a part of God’s victory and I missed the blessing of being reminded that I have friends who are quick to step in when needed. Fortunately, God provided another opportunity for me to be humble and the best part is…I haven’t thought about widowhood since that evening. (Except to write this blog, of course, and I’m GOOD – honestly, good – no enemy piercing my heart or spirit tonight.)

God is very good and God is very faithful. Blessed be the name of the Lord and blessed be His faithful prayer warriors!

Friends don’t be like me. Humble yourself and share your needs before seeds of fear, uncertainty and doubt are planted and take root.

BTW, You can find me on facebook as Sandra Parks Hovatter.

You can find my business profile on LinkedIn.com by clicking here.

I can’t help but think that both of these features would make the Church a better place. If I made a commitment to learn as much as I possibly can about each person, wouldn’t it spur me on to pray for them, help meet their needs when I can, rejoice with them, grieve with them, and just generally do all those “one another’s” we’re supposed to be doing? I think it would. Wouldn’t it also help newcomers to feel more welcome and accepted when I invite them to a “one-on-one” so I can get to know them better? I think it would.

One of the things I’m getting out of this business referral organization is an understanding that I need to change my mindset. I need to have a “how can I help grow your business?” mindset. Perhaps my church mindset needs to change a bit, too. I need to have more of a “how can I help you grow in Christ this week?” mindset. Instead of letting my mind focus on ministry activity, I need to focus on ministry — meeting the needs of others.

I agree that we need to be careful about bringing too many business practices and principles into the Church because an overabundance can squash the Spirit…but perhaps these business practices would help us be more like Christ to one another each week. And as Martha says, that’s a very good thing.

[XXX is] a company out to create a new kind of business: a business about great people, breakthrough brands and passion for what we do. We’re not talking about your everyday, run of the mill type of passion, either. This is a passion verging on insanity. Our goal is simple, to create a world of [XXX] Fans, one mouth at a time. We’re always on the lookout for partners who can help us make this a reality.

What sets us apart is originality and vision. Our “why not?” attitude challenges us to take risks others in the industry won’t take. The result? Groundbreaking concepts consumers love and opportunities franchisees can’t wait to be part of.

Each of our breakthrough concepts is unique in its own right. We combine braggable food with a healthy twist to create fresh, innovative concepts in environments that resonate with consumers.

Does this describe how Christians should be or what? How the church should be or what? I was so struck by this description when I read it that I had to copy it into my journal. Lord, make us more like the world in ways that we should be like the world! Give us more passion for you than the world shows in their business. I want to be a part of a group of Christians who are as passionate about Christ and the Gospel as these people are about their business!

Yet even a surface read of the Bible reveals that He doesn’t always look and act the same way. I’m currently reading the Bible in three places. In John I’ve just read about have just seen Lazarus brought back to life. In Joshua I’ve just learned about the various parcels of land that were given to the different tribes. In Zephaniah I read a prophetic message of radical destruction delivered to the Baal worshipers in Judah. Those passages provide pretty different images of God. We know that Jesus wasn’t anything like what the Jews of Israel were expecting in a Messiah.

It makes me wonder what misconceptions we have about God because we only see what He’s doing in our generation. Just thinking about this a little makes makes a really strong case for studying Scripture (both Old and New Testaments) — so that we get a more well-rounded understanding of God. It also makes a strong case for checking out what God is doing in other areas of the globe and especially in churches outside our own. I’ve found that we get so “me” oriented in our own churches that we become blind to what God is doing outside our church.

It’s so easy to begin to believe that our church does it best! Every pastor (and probably every committed church member) I’ve known has been bipolar in their presentation of this message — every pastor specifically conveys both that there are many churches in their area and different churches are the best choices for different people AND that their church is the best. Perhaps that’s just a function of needing to believe that what we’re doing has value.

But I digress. I hope that everyone is in the church that God wants them to be in. But I also have great hope that everyone recognizes the value of other churches and I even secretly hope that occasionally people take a break from their church to see what God is doing in other churches. Because it helps us to see that God is more than what we see Him as in our own church. He’s doing more. He’s got more facets to His personality.

Has your image/perspective of God been challenged lately? If so, let me know. If not, take a walk on the wild side and visit a different kind of worship service sometime in the next few weeks. Ask God to reveal how He’s working in such a different environment. I bet you’ll be glad you did. Let me know!

Comment by dansdesk
I’m going to be posting a past sermon soon called “God in a box.” It is very similar to what you are talking about. Good stuff!
Thursday July 19, 2007 – 04:22pm (EDT)

Response by Sandyhov
I’m looking forward to it.
Monday July 23, 2007 – 11:25pm (EDT)