Surfing the Web for Christ
About a month ago I wrote a few things about using the web as a study and outreach tool, and about avoiding the dangers. To tie up any loose ends, I want to give you a few more words of advice.
I wrote about avoiding the dangers on the web. I don’t just mean the obvious ones. Every ideology in the world has a webpage out there dedicated to spreading its views among the masses. The internet spreads information everywhere instantly, so it has fanned the flame of religious disagreements among brethren faster than ever before, because folks from all around the world can discuss their differences in real time. That’s both good and bad. It’s good that it’s certainly got us all talking and thinking. It’s bad that it all too readily facilitates our grouping together into competing camps, or sects, and “shooting” at each other from a safe distance. The element of looking into your “opponent’s” eyes and seeing his humanity is removed. That’s a problem. At the same time, blogs and discussion sites are wielding tremendous influence, so get out there and join the discussions, but only after (and I cannot stress this enough) making a deep, personal study of the Scriptures for yourself to decide where you stand. I’ve seen it play out repeatedly: if you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.
The Tennessean, Otter Creek, & the CofCs (II)
I want to address two more statements from the article The Tennessean ran recently about the churches of Christ. TheTennessean quoted Lee Camp saying, “Restoration Movement founder Alexander Campbell started with good intentions but a faulty assumption… that one could simply read the Bible and everyone would come to the same conclusions… Along the way, the nature of the movement changed as well. In the beginning, Restoration believers said they wanted to be ‘Christians only,’ rather than joining a denomination. Eventually, however, they began to believe they were the only true Christians.” Read more
The Tennessean, Otter Creek, & the CofCs (I)
A week ago Sunday, the Tennessean ran a front-page article about the churches of Christ. Most of the information came from one of the ministers of the Otter Creek Church in Brentwood. The article wasn’t all bad. However, the tone of the article was unbalanced, praising left-wing churches like Otter Creek for their tolerance; demonizing more centrist and right wing churches of Christ for supposed backward, arrogant, and isolationist beliefs. This and next week’s articles are a brief response to the Tennessean.
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The Net as a Study Tool
In response to a question, I want to write a little more about surfing the web as Christians. I’ve been surfing the web for years, reading, writing, debating, and blogging about spiritual things. Just as there are foul sites that represent the worst depths of human depravity, there are those that honor the Lord, means of proclaiming and discussing the gospel. It’s pretty easy to discern the difference between a pornographic site and one belonging to a church, but you might find it more difficult to decide if you should spend time on socially acceptable sites, and even more difficult to know whether a so-called Christian website is actually feeding you truth. Here are some tips.
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To Surf or Not To Surf?
When we think about all the bad stuff that evil people post to the internet, we ought to ask whether surfing the internet has any value to Christians, or whether we should spurn it altogether? In a “round-about” way I think the Scriptural answer is found in 1 Corinthians 5:9-10. Paul said, “I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people– not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world” (ESV). Christians are not of this world, and cannot live as if we were, but to save the world we cannot retreat from it, and while some of us may have no interest in the internet (and that’s fine) and others of us may need to avoid it (due to weakness), some of us need to surf, because the world is there waiting to be influenced for Christ.
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Having, Setting, Achieving Goals
The old saying goes, “If you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it.” Though my main concern is spiritual, what I’m writing applies to any goals, so as you think of what you’d like to do in 2010, keep these principles in mind (and take a moment to look up each passage in your Bible).
If we don’t set specific goals, we’ll fail to accomplish the mission. Church goals are every member’s business. The Bible has a fair deal to say about goals. God is the ultimate goal setter (Jeremiah 29:11). Doctrine is goal oriented (1Timothy 1:5). As I recently preached, Christianity is living for the goal! The first thing we need to do with any goal is ensure it’s in keeping with Scripture, then commit it to God in prayer (Proverbs 16:3).
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The Center of the Nations
We have been studying the book of Ezekiel in the Sunday morning auditorium class. Early in the book, Ezekiel explained a symbolic act he had performed by shaving his hair and his beard. God’s explanation started this way:
Thus says the Lord God: This is Jerusalem. I have set her in the center of the nations, with countries all around her.
- Ezekiel 5:5 (ESV)
Ezekiel then proceeded to explain the disaster that God would bring upon the city because of its actions. The Israelites hadn’t even held up to the moral standards of the surrounding nations (Ezekiel 5:7).
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Seeker-Friendly Services
AN AVERAGE FAMILY walks in our auditorium on any given Sunday and finds a seat. Mama and the kids scoot into the pew, and daddy sits on the end, by the aisle. They look around at all the unfamiliar faces, and shift in their seats wondering what they’re supposed to do. The help them, a good church keeps a well-organized, structured, and, while not stale, reasonably predictable worship service so that they can soon catch on to what they ought to be doing.
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Healthy Churches Grow
I perceive things are well at Highland right now. Let’s pray that all will remain well, and even get better. We’re growing! That’s a blessing from God. Often when things are well, we’re tempted to take things for granted. In good times we all too easily slip into apathy, and when we do, things can deteriorate before we realize what’s happening. The right time to reflect on where we are and what we’re doing is all the time—especially when things are well, so that they will remain well.
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“I’m Not Bragging”
When someone says, “Now, I’m not bragging,” we can usually expect him to immediately start bragging! It’s funny if you think about it, but all humor aside, I want to write a few words flowing from Scripture about bragging that I hope and pray will bless us.
Jeremiah wrote, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me…’” (Jer 9:23-24 ESV). It is folly to boast about my (supposed) wisdom, because, “In the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe” (1Cor 1:20-21 ESV). Man’s wisdom doesn’t stack up! It is folly to boast about strength, because, “’All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever’” (1Pet 1:24-25 ESV). Strength fails. It is foolishness to boast about your wealth, “For one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15 ESV). Wealth can be spent, lost or stolen. If you’re going to bragg about something, bragg about something truly great, ideally something that misfortune and death cannot take from you!
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