Does the Holy Spirit Lead Your Church?

You can work your hardest to try to make your church successful, but your best efforts won’t lead anywhere if you’re not leading the church where the Holy Spirit wants it to go. The Spirit has a particular mission for your church, and it’s only when you discover and follow it that your church can grow the way God intends.

Here’s how you can let the Holy Spirit to lead your church:

Focus on God’s plans rather than your own. Recognize that your church should be a vital part of God’s ongoing work in the world. Don’t waste time or energy pursuing activities that, while good, aren’t clearly what God is leading your church to do. Always start with an awareness of God’s redemptive work in the world; then consider how He might want your church to be a part of that. Ask two key questions: “What is God doing?” and “What does God want to do?”. Never let your church’s functions become ends in themselves. Remember that congregations are ultimately created by the Spirit, and their purpose is to engage the world in bringing God’s redemptive work in Christ to bear on every dimension of life.

Understand the Spirit’s ministry. Get to know the different ways the Holy Spirit works in the Bible, such as: demonstrating God’s creative power, affirming God’s intention for His creation that all life might flourish, confronting principalities and powers and restraining evil, reconnecting people and restoring community by helping them clearly understand their identity as God’s people, empowering people with gifts and abilities, empowering leadership to guide faith communities into redemptive action, extending mercy and establishing justice, and engaging the world.

Embrace change. Realize that the contexts in which your church performs its ministry is constantly changing. Rather than resisting change, accept and expect it. Regularly seek the Spirit’s guidance to adapt well to the changes your church encounters. Know that a healthy church will always be reforming. Anticipate new insights into the Gospel, and expect that the people you reach with the Gospel will change your church after they join, making the congregation constantly dynamic. Expect surprises, interruptions, and disruptions as the Spirit works in your midst, but remember that the ultimate result will always be good – lives transformed for the better.

Learn how to read your church’s current context well. Obtain information about the community in which your church ministers, such as: population trends, demographic profiles, transportation patterns, where members live, other organizations that serve the community, and business development and employment. As you consider this information, ask what God is currently doing and what He may want to do in these situations.

Give up any one-size-fits all approach to ministry. Know that there’s no one type of program, confession, or organization that will work well for all churches. Instead of trying to do what’s worked for other churches, ask what approach God wants your individual church to take, and don’t be afraid of being different.

Seek the discernment you need to make wise decisions. When facing decisions, consider: The Bible and other texts such as your denomination’s devotional writing, the cultural context of each situation, the community within your church, and the practices your congregation shares. Encourage open, fair, engaging, and deliberative discussions among the people in your church. Respect the different perspectives and gifts of each person, and unmask sin such as hidden agendas and power plays. Pray for the Spirit to help you all come to a common understanding of God’s will in each situation, so you can make strategic choices to implement that will. Keep people clearly and regularly informed of what’s happening, support the implementation process in prayer, and ask for feedback so you’ll know when adjustments are necessary. Afterward, assess what did and didn’t work and learn from the experience.

Organize your church according to how the Spirit leads. Design your church building and the way you use your space to reflect the ways the Spirit is guiding you to minister. Look back at your religious heritage and your particular congregation’s history to understand where you’ve been as you pray about where you are now and where the Spirit may want you to go in the future. Clarify your church’s core values and ask how congruent your ministry practices are with the values you hold about ministry. Shape your congregation’s culture so it more faithfully and fully represents God’s purposes in the world. Regularly take inventory of the people and resources flowing into your church and the ministry that’s flowing out. Ask how, in light of this information, your church can better impact it’s community. When deciding on how to design your core missional practices (worship, education and discipleship, care and fellowship, service, and witness), go with what the Spirit is leading you to do rather than just with what style is most popular. Ask the Spirit to keep your congregation’s vision fresh and develop its leadership and infrastructure (such as communication, facilities, and finances). Help all your church’s members understand their vocation in the world and deploy their gifts to participate in God’s mission in the world.

Pursue growth and development. Invite the Holy Spirit to use a variety of things to develop and grow your congregation: conflict, adverse circumstances, ministry to people on the margins of society, intentional strategy, divine intervention, and new insights into the Gospel and your culture. Account for the reality of sin as you assess your church’s growth, and expect your congregation to sometimes be misunderstood or even mistreated as it follows the Spirit’s leading. Be willing to forgive, be humble, and work together with grace. Expect resistance to changes; commit plenty of time and invest plenty of energy into implementing them. Be graceful as you make changes – ranging from minor improvements to major re-creations – trusting the Spirit to guide you every step of the way.

Atheist Group Sends Books to Georgia State Parks to Place Next to Gideon Bibles Inside Cabins

The American Atheists of Cranford, N.J., announced Friday they will be sending books on atheism to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources to be placed next to Gideon Bibles inside every cabin and lodge at the state’s parks.

Ed Buchner, the former president of American Atheists, a nonprofit organization that was founded by Madalyn Murray O’Hair in 1963, complained to the Department after he found “nine Bibles” inside his cabin, according to American Atheists.
In a move to avoid controversy, and a potential lawsuit, the decision was made to remove all Bibles from the state’s parks that had been donated by The Gideons International, an interdenominational Christian association.

Following a meeting with Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens, Gov. Nathan Deal instructed the Department to return every Bible to cabins at the state’s parks. Out of an abundance of caution to avoid potential litigation, the commissioner removed the Bibles from rooms – though they were still available on site – after a complaint from a visitor. The attorney general and I agree that the state is on firm legal footing as we move to return the Bibles to the rooms.”

He continued: “These Bibles are donated by outside groups, not paid for by the state, and I do not believe that a Bible in a bedside table drawer constitutes a state establishment of religion. In fact, any group is free to donate literature.”

In response to the governor’s statement, Amanda Knief, managing director of American Atheists, said, “We appreciate the governor’s invitation to place atheist books in the cabins and look forward to providing visitors with the opportunity to learn more about atheism when they visit Georgia’s beautiful state parks.”

Francine Jarriel, a lodger at Mistletoe State Park in Appling, Ga., said she looks inside the drawers of hotel rooms to see if the Gideon Bible is there. “It’s a source of comfort,” she told WJBF-TV.
David Silverman, president of American Atheists, announced in a statement, “American Atheists does not believe the state of Georgia should be placing Bibles or atheist books in state park cabins; however, if the state is going to allow such distribution, we will happily provide our materials.”

The list of books American Atheists is going to send to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources include: Why I Am Not A Muslim, Why I Am An Atheist, god is not Great, and The God Delusion.
Malcolm Arvin, a Gideons spokesman, said the group has provided Bibles for state lodges around the United States and said he knew of no other state where the religious books have been challenged, according to Reuters.

Building Solutions

The Best-Practice approach to designing and building places of worship will involve the maximum number of people from the church, thus increasing their ownership of the project along with their financial support. The most effective way to do this is through the use of Focus Teams who have a particular area of the ministry that they are passionate about. Each of these Focus Teams should be led by a member of the Building Team, who would be responsible for the flow of information to the Build Team, Architect and Builder, while maximizing congregational input.

The following is a list of the most common Focus Team Areas that are represented:

1) Finance & Capital Campaign

2) Worship Area

3) Audio/Visual/Lighting & Acoustics

4) Interior Design

5) Furnishings

6) Education Area

7) Fellowship & Kitchen/Café Area

8) Sports & Recreation

9) Property, Landscaping & Grounds

10) Construction

11) Building Operations

12) Communications

13) Prayer & Outreach

With these Focus Teams of seven to fifteen people, the experience and wisdom of your church are brought into the process of collecting information that is critical to the successful design and build of your new worship facility. By following the outline above, your church now has a framework to not only plan, design and build a new building, but more importantly, to include, develop and build the leadership skills of the people of your congregation.

How to Form a Building Team

The Building Team has been commissioned to work with a design and build team to take the church’s vision and make it reality. The varied backgrounds, perspectives, and professions of a healthy Building Team will provide a mosaic of “best practice” ideas for your growing ministry to reach out to the community that surrounds you.  At a recent National Association of Church Design Builders Training Event, Jack Coffee, the building chairman for all of Southeast Christian Church of Louisville, Kentucky’s building programs, shared six Keys to Improve the operation of your Building Team:

1) Keep the team small – five to seven people.

2) Include communicators on the team – a strong chairman is important.

3) Keep the Senior Pastor off of the team – the pastor should be “insulated” from the stress and strain of a building program.

4) Have a staff representative on the team – a communication link.

5) Choose people who will work well together – each member must have a humble, servant’s heart.

6) Remain focused on the Mission of the Church.

Another key to a successful building program is Focus Groups.

Building Committees Don’t Work… Building Teams Do!!!

Is your church getting ready to jump into a building program? The wrong way to go about starting the process is to set up a “Building Committee” that is made up of retired construction workers, the group that re-decorated the restrooms and another dozen, or so, representatives of every special interest group in the church. The result of this “Building Committee” is predictable: disagreements, arguments, damaged relationships and compromise to the point that nothing productive happens.

The bible makes no reference to “Building Committees”…the only conclusion that can be drawn from this study is that they are a result of the Fall. All joking aside, how often do building programs run aground due to internal disagreements and personal agendas within the “Building Committee”? The first step in the right direction is to develop a group of dedicated individuals to serve on the Building Team. There are many more characteristics for a healthy Building Team than we can list. The following list highlights some of the most important characteristics for this team of five to seven Prayer Warriors:

1) Fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.

2) Fully aware and supportive of the Ministry Vision and Mission.

3) Emotionally Stable.

4) Respected within the Body of Believers.

5) Have Common Sense.

6) A Team Player and Consensus Listener.

7) Varied Backgrounds and Professions.

8) Diligent and Committed to the Entire Process.

9) Having Creative Planning Skills.

10) Knowledgeable or willing to learn about the Construction process.

Selecting the individuals who will be a part of your Building Team also involves examining their backgrounds.

God’s Covenant with Israel is Non-Negotiable By Dr. Michael L. Brown

Some things are non-negotiable. God’s covenant with Israel is one of them. How could He have made Himself more clear?

He gave His oath to Abram, and reiterated it six more times to Abraham, to his son Isaac and to his grandson Jacob. On one occasion, “When God made His promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for Him to swear by, He swore by Himself” (Heb. 6:13).

Why did God speak so decisively? It was because He “wanted to make the unchanging nature of His purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, [so] He confirmed it with an oath” (Heb. 6:17). God Who cannot lie bound Himself by an oath!

His covenant with Israel was reiterated through Moses, repeated by the prophets and rehearsed by the psalmists. Jesus Himself affirmed it (Matt. 19:28), Paul articulated it (Rom. 9-11), and the gates of the New Jerusalem announce it forever (Rev. 22:11-12). God has chosen Israel as His covenant people.

What if Israel broke the covenant? What would then happen to them? “Though I completely destroy all the nations among which I scatter you, I will not completely destroy you. I will discipline you but only with justice; I will not let you go entirely unpunished” (Jer. 30:11). God will completely destroy other nations, but He will not completely destroy Israel! No matter what Israel does, God will never forsake them as a distinct people.

In Jeremiah 31:31-34, the Lord declares that He will make a new covenant with Israel and Judah. But He doesn’t stop there. He who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar – the LORD Almighty is His name: “Only if these decrees vanish from My sight,” declares the LORD, “will the descendants of Israel ever cease to be a nation before Me.” This is what the LORD says: “Only if the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth below be searched out will I reject all the descendants of Israel because of all they have done,” declares the LORD (Jer. 31:35-37).

As long as there is a sun, moon, stars, earth, and sea, there will be a distinct people of Israel – no matter what they do.

Even if the Church Rejects Israel

Look at how relevant God’s prophetic word is to our day and age. For centuries the Church, in arrogance and because of ignorance, claimed that she alone was the true Israel, that she had replaced the ancient covenant people. The Church taught that it was the Christians alone who were the true Jews. (How strange that these Christians were not claiming to be Jewish during the Holocaust!) The Church taught emphatically that the physical people of Israel (those who were ethnically Jewish and those who joined the nation through conversion to Judaism) were eternally rejected.

This is not some worn-out old doctrine. It is on the increase again in our day. Yet the Lord is not surprised. Twenty-five hundred years ago, He already addressed this issue:

The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: “Have you not noticed that these people are saying, ‘The LORD has rejected the two kingdoms He chose?’ So they despise My people and no longer regard them as a nation. This is what the LORD says: ‘If I have not established My covenant with day and night and the fixed laws of heaven and earth, then I will reject the descendants of Jacob and David My servant and will not choose one of his sons to rule over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will restore their fortunes and have compassion on them’ ” (Jer. 33:23-26).

People are still murmuring against Israel and despising the people and the nation.

God’s answer is still the same: “I will never reject them!”

How Long is God’s Promise Good?

What exactly did God promise Abraham and his descendants? How long are His promises good? Psalm 105 has the answer for us.

He remembers His covenant forever, the word He commanded for a thousand generations, the covenant He made with Abraham, the oath He swore to Isaac. He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as an everlasting covenant: “To you I will give the land of Canaan as the portion you will inherit” (Ps. 105:8-11).

The Land Belongs to Israel

Amazingly, some teachers have tried to get out of this perpetual land promise to Israel. They claim that in the New Testament, neither Jesus nor the apostles ever reiterate this particular aspect of the covenant. But why should they reiterate it? When almost all of the New Testament was being written, about one million Jews were living in the Land; Jerusalem was the spiritual and national capitol and the Temple was still standing. And Jesus made it clear that, despite Jerusalem’s soon-coming destruction – a destruction that would last “until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” – He would come back to a Jewish Jerusalem (Luke 21:24; Matt. 23:37-39). Obviously Jews would be in the Land!

The Land belonged to other nations. But at the proper time it would be given to Abraham’s seed. If they violated the terms of the covenant – especially as expressed through Moses – then they would be punished and even driven temporarily from the Land. But just as God’s word to David stands firm, His word to Abraham endures, no matter what Israel does.
This is what He said through Moses, “When the Israelites are …in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them or abhor them so as to destroy them completely, breaking My covenant with them. I am the LORD their God. But for their sake I will remember the covenant with their ancestors whom I brought out of Egypt in the sight of the nations to be their God. I am the LORD” (Lev. 26:44-45; see also Deut. 4:27, 30-31).

In the event that you are still uncertain about the calling of Israel, consider this simple truth: If God could forsake Israel, in spite of His unconditional, everlasting promises, then He could forsake the Church! If God could replace Israel, in spite of His unconditional, everlasting promises, then He could replace the Church! So, if you hold to a theology that says, “God has forsaken physical Israel,” or “The Church has replaced Israel,” you had better be extremely careful.

Founding Fathers on Prayer – an interview with David Barton

Why is it important that we pray for our country and its peoples?
First, because God tells us to (1 Timothy 2:1-4), and it is important that we obey Him (John 14:15, Acts 5:32). Second, because God answers prayer (Matthew 21:22, John 14:13-14). Third, God honors prayer and turns His attention to those who pray. He takes note of people who pray and His ear remains open to them (such as in 2 Chronicles 7:14). Fourth, prayer not only gives God a vehicle by which He can respond and answer prayers but prayer also changes those who pray, for praying helps us to be God-conscious, and when we are God-conscious as individuals, our behavior is different than if we rarely think about God (Romans 1:28). I think that George Washington incorporated many of these elements when he explained why he called the nation’s first federal day of prayer. According to President Washington, “It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor.” [1]

Cite an example that stands out to you of how prayer changed the course of the United States or accomplished a monumental goal.
There are numerous moments, but I’ll choose the answered prayers attested to by Founding Father Benjamin Franklin. About five weeks into the Constitutional Convention of 1787 when they were attempting to draft the U. S. Constitution, their efforts were a signal failure. As things were beginning to break up and delegates return home to their states, Franklin challenged them and called them to prayer. He told them:

In this situation of this Assembly, groping as it were in the dark to find political truth, and scarce able to distinguish it when presented to us, how has it happened, sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of Lights to illuminate our understanding? In the beginning of the contest with Great Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayer in this room for the Divine protection. Our prayers, sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a superintending Providence in our favor. . . . And have we now forgotten that powerful Friend? Or do we imagine we no longer need His assistance? I have lived, sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth – that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured, sir, in the Sacred Writings, that “except the Lord build the House, they labor in vain that build it.” I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without His concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel. . . . I therefore beg leave to move that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business. [2]
Notice that Franklin openly acknowledged that their frequent prayers throughout the Revolution had been answered. Hence, America became an independent nation rather than remain a subjugated British colony. That is just one example of how answered prayer changed the course of the nation. But to return to the Constitutional Convention, Washington recorded that they went to church to hear an address. [3] At the church, the Rev. William Rogers had a special prayer for the Constitutional Convention:

[W]e fervently recommend to thy fatherly notice . . . our federal convention. . . . [F]avor them, from day to day, with thy immediate presence; be Thou their wisdom and their strength! Enable them to devise such measures as may prove happily instrumental for healing all divisions and promoting the good of the great whole; . . . that the United States of America may furnish the world with one example of a free and permanent government. . . . May we . . . continue, under the influence of republican virtue, to partake of all the blessings of cultivated and civilized society. [4]
Franklin believed their prayers over the Convention had been answered. After five weeks of failure, following the recess and time of prayer, they reconvened and in only ten weeks produced the document that has become the longest on-going constitution in the history of the world. Franklin definitely saw a difference after the recess and prayer. While he was not willing to say that the finished Constitution was inspired in the same sense as the Bible, he nevertheless believed that it was the product of God’s direct intervention, explaining:

[I] beg I may not be understood to infer that our general Convention was Divinely inspired when it formed the new federal Constitution . . . [yet] I can hardly conceive a transaction of such momentous importance to the welfare of millions now existing (and to exist in the posterity of a great nation) should be suffered to pass without being in some degree influenced, guided, and governed by that omnipotent, omnipresent, and beneficent Ruler in Whom all inferior spirits “live and move and have their being” [Acts 17:28]. [5]
Other delegates agreed. Alexander Hamilton is reported to have declared:

For my own part, I sincerely esteem it a system which without the finger of God never could have been suggested and agreed upon by such a diversity of interests. [6]
James Madison agreed, and reported:

It is impossible for the man of pious reflection not to perceive in it a finger of that Almighty Hand which has been so frequently and signally extended to our relief in the critical stages of the Revolution. [7]
As far as these delegates were concerned, the finger of God – that is, His Divine power – had guided their writing of the Constitution. George Washington (president of the Convention) similarly attested:

As to my sentiments with respect to the merits of the new Constitution, I will disclose them without reserve. . . . It appears to me then little short of a miracle that the delegates from so many different states . . . should unite in forming a system of national government. [8]
Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declaration from Philadelphia who closely monitored the proceedings, concurred, openly testifying:

I do not believe that the Constitution was the offspring of inspiration, but I am as perfectly satisfied that the Union of the States in its form and adoption is as much the work of a Divine Providence as any of the miracles recorded in the Old and New Testament were the effects of a Divine power. [9]
So, I would point to the independence of America and the creation of its unique Constitution and government as direct answers to prayer.

An excellent book recording other such moments of answered prayer is by Georgia State Senator Barry Loudermilk (And Then They Prayed: Moments in American History Impacted by Prayer). [10]

In your estimation, what happens to a country when it drifts away from God?
When a country drifts away from God, God drifts away from that country. When God drifts away from the country, His blessings also leave. Founding Father Samuel Adams (“The Father of the American Revolution”) fully understood this and reminded citizens:

May every citizen in the army and in the country have a proper sense of the Deity upon his mind and an impression of that declaration recorded in the Bible: “Him that honoreth Me I will honor, but he that despiseth Me shall be lightly esteemed” [1 Samuel 2:30]. [11]
Numerous other Founding Fathers understood this truth and clearly expressed it. In fact, political leaders for generations embraced this belief. For this reason, President Abraham Lincoln reminded the nation in the midst of the Civil War:

[I]t is the duty of nations as well . . . and to recognize the sublime truth announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord [Psalm 33:12]. . . . But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined in the deceitfulness of our hearts that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace – too proud to pray to the God that made us. [12]
Jeremiah 8 elucidates the problems that come when a nation drifts from God:

Since they have rejected the word of the Lord, what kind of wisdom do they have? Therefore I will give their wives to other men and their fields to new owners . . . They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious, saying “Peace, peace” when there is no peace . . . they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen . . . I will take away their harvest, there will be no figs on the tree, and their leaves will wither. What I have given them will be taken away.
So, there is much consequence when a nation turns from God. After all, Psalms 9:17 warns, “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.” God expects individuals to remember and acknowledge Him, but He also expects nations to do the same. Proverbs 3:5-6 reminds us that in all our ways (public as well as private) we are to acknowledge Him; Psalm 79:6 and Jeremiah 10:25 call for God’s wrath upon all nations that do not call upon His name; and the warranty of 1 Samuel 2:30 that “Those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me will be disdained” was delivered to the nation’s civil leaders, not religious ones.

If you could lead the entire country in prayer this National Day of Prayer, what would you pray for? What should our collective prayer be for this country?
I would definitely pray for our leaders and those in authority, as we are commanded to do (1 Timothy 2:1-4). However, I would probably pray even more for America’s Christians. Founding Father Samuel Adams reminds us that “While the people are virtuous, they cannot be subdued, but when once they lose their virtue, they will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader.” [13] Benjamin Franklin agreed, declaring “Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.” [14] So why does this apply to Christians? Because George Barna, an eminent national pollster who especially surveys issues related to Biblical thinking and values, reports that of the thousands of surveys he has conducted over recent decades, “of more than 70 moral behaviors we study, when we compare Christians to non-Christians, we rarely find substantial differences.” [15] So, there is almost no difference in the way that Christians and non-Christians behave in most moral areas. Barna further investigated how many American Christians actually hold a Biblical worldview – how many of them view the world around them through the filter of Biblical truth. Barna used a very simple standard for measuring the answer to that question:

For the purposes of the survey, a “Biblical worldview” was defined as believing [1] that absolute moral truth exists; [2] the Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches; [3] Satan is considered to be a real being or force, not merely symbolic; [4] a person cannot earn their way into Heaven by trying to be good or do good works; [5] Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth; and [6] God is the all-knowing, all-powerful Creator of the world Who still rules the universe today. In the research, anyone who held all of those beliefs was said to have a Biblical worldview. [16]

So what percent of Christians agreed with these six fundamental, timeless doctrines of orthodox Biblical Christianity? Only 9 percent! [17] – Significantly, nine out of every ten Christians did not believe these most elemental doctrines of the Bible. And among Born-Again Christians (again, those who are considered most serious about their faith), only 19% held a Biblical worldview on these six non-negotiables of Christianity. [18]

It was common among the Founding Fathers that many of them read through the Bible from cover to cover once every year. As John Quincy Adams affirmed, “I have myself for many years made it a practice to read the Bible once every year.” [19] Yet this has become very rare among Christians today. We do not know our own guidebook; and too often it is read merely as a devotional book rather than as a book to affect and regulate every aspect of our thinking and behavior. Our modern understanding of the Bible is so shallow that we cannot point to the verses that historically were used to form the basis of the free-enterprise system, the republican form of government, the common school movement, the civil rights movement, the impetus for written governing documents and limited government, including Bills of Rights. Yet, all of these institutions and movements came from the Bible. In fact, notice how many presidents (not ministers of the Gospel, which is who we would expect to say these things today, but rather it was political leaders who) recognized this truth:

“The experiment is made and has completely succeeded – it can no longer be called in question whether authority in magistrates [civil leaders] and obedience of citizens can be grounded on reason, morality, and the Christian religion.” [20] “The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were. . . . the general principles of Christianity.” [21] President John Adams
“[The Bible] is the rock on which our Republic rests.” [22] President Andrew Jackson
“It was for the love of the truths of this great Book [the Bible] that our fathers abandoned their native shores for the wilderness. . . . The same truths sustained them in their resolutions to become a free nation; and guided by the wisdom of this Book, they founded a government under which we have grown from three millions, . . . and from being but a stock on the borders of this continent we have spread from the Atlantic to the Pacific.” [23] “The Bible. . . . is indispensable to the safety and permanence of our institutions.” [24] President Zachary Taylor
“[The Bible] is the best gift God has given to men. All the good the Savior gave to the world was communicated through this book. But for it, we could not know right from wrong.” [25] President Abraham Lincoln
“No candid observer will deny that whatever of good there may be in our American civilization is the product of Christianity. Still less can he deny that the grand motives which are working for the elevation and purification of our society are strictly Christian. . . . A belief in Jesus Christ is the very fountainhead of everything that is desirable and praiseworthy in our civilization, and this civilization is the flower of time.” [26] “[T]he teachings of the Bible are so interwoven and entwined with our whole civic and social life that it would be literally – I do not mean figuratively, I mean literally – impossible for us to figure to ourselves what that life would be if these teachings were removed.” [27] President Teddy Roosevelt
“America was born to exemplify that devotion to the elements of righteousness which are derived from the revelations of Holy Scripture.” [28] President Woodrow Wilson
“American life is builded, and can alone survive, upon . . . [the] fundamental philosophy announced by the Savior nineteen centuries ago.” [29] President Herbert Hoover
“In the formative days of the Republic, the directing influence the Bible exercised upon the fathers of the Nation is conspicuously evident. . . .We cannot read the history of our rise and development as a Nation without reckoning with the place the Bible has occupied in shaping the advances of the Republic.” [30] “I suggest a nationwide reading of the Holy Scriptures during the period from Thanksgiving Day to Christmas. . . . [G]o to . . . the Scriptures for a renewed and strengthening contact with those eternal truths and majestic principles which have inspired such measure of true greatness as this nation has achieved.” [31] President Franklin D. Roosevelt
“In this great country of ours has been demonstrated the fundamental unity of Christianity and democracy.” [32] “The fundamental basis of this Nation’s law was given to Moses on the Mount. The fundamental basis of our Bill of Rights comes from the teachings which we get from Exodus and St. Matthew, from Isaiah and St. Paul. I don’t think we emphasize that enough these days.” [33] President Harry Truman
“[R]eligious faith is the foundation of free government.” [34] “[T]his relationship between a spiritual faith – a religious faith – and our form of government is so clearly defined and so obvious that we should really not need to identify a man as unusual because he recognizes it.” [35] President Dwight D. Eisenhower
“Of the many influences that have shaped the United States of America into a distinctive Nation and people, none may be said to be more fundamental and enduring than the Bible. Deep religious beliefs stemming from the Old and New Testaments of the Bible inspired many of the early settlers of our country . . . [and] laid the foundation for the spirit of nationhood that was to develop in later decades. The Bible and its teachings helped form the basis for the Founding Fathers’ abiding belief in the inalienable rights of the individual – rights which they found implicit in the Bible’s teachings of the inherent worth and dignity of each individual. This same sense of man patterned . . . the ideals set forth in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.” [36] President Ronald Reagan
There are many others as well.

Most Christians today no longer know, recognize, or even agree with what our political leaders (much less our ministers) used to openly declare about the Bible and its influence. So, while I would pray for our leaders, I would especially pray for Christian citizens — that they would again begin to read, study, know, and understand the Bible. American can be no stronger than its citizens, and whether the citizens will be strong (and virtuous) depends on whether they know the Bible (cf. Matthew 22:29).

[1] Jared Sparks, The Life of George Washington (London: Henry Colburn, 1839), Vol. II, p. 302, proclamation for a National Thanksgiving on October 3, 1789.

[2] Max Farrand, The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1911), Vol. I, pp. 450-452, from James Madison’s Notes on the Convention for June 28, 1787.

[3] George Washington, The Writings of George Washington, Worthington Chauncey Ford, editor (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1891), Vol. XI, p. 148, diary entry for July 4, 1787. Washington says: “[A]nd (the Convention having adjourned for the purpose) went to hear an Oration on the anniversary of Independence…”

[4] The Massachusetts Centinel, August 15, 1787, p. 1.

[5] Benjamin Franklin, The Works of Benjamin Franklin, Jared Sparks, editor (Boston: Tappan, Whittemore, and Mason, 1837), Vol. V, p. 162, from “A Comparison of the Conduct of the Ancient Jews and of the Anti-Federalists in the United States of America,” no date.

[6] Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, James Madison and Other Men of Their Time, The Federalist and Other Contemporary Papers on the Constitution of the United States, E.H. Scott, editor (New York: Scott, Foresman and Company, 1894), p. 646, Alexander Hamilton to Mr. Childs, Wednesday, October 17, 1787.

[7] Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, & James Madison, The Federalist (Philadelphia: Benjamin Warner, 1818), p. 194, James Madison, Federalist #37.

[8] George Washington, The Writings of George Washington, Jared Sparks, editor (Boston: Russell, Odiorne, and Metcalf, 1835), Vol. IX, p. 317, to Marquis de Lafayette on February 7, 1788.

[9] Benjamin Rush, Letters of Benjamin Rush, L. H. Butterfield, editor (Princeton, New Jersey: American Philosophical Society, 1951), Vol. I, p. 475, to Elias Boudinot on July 9, 1788.

[10] Barry Loudermilk, And Then They Prayed. Moments in American History Impacted by Prayer (Campbell, CA: FastPencil, 2011).

[11] Samuel Adams, The Writings of Samuel Adams, Harry Alonzo Cushing, editor (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1908), Vol. IV, p. 189, article signed “Vindex” originally published in the Boston Gazette on June 12, 1780.

[12] Abraham Lincoln, Complete Works of Abraham Lincoln, John G. Nicolay and John Hay, editors (New York: Tandy-Thomas Company, 1894), Vol. VIII, pp. 235-236, “Proclamation Appointing a National Fast Day, March 30, 1863.”

[13] Samuel Adams, The Writings of Samuel Adams, Harry Alonzo Cushing, editor (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1905), Vol. IV, p. 124, to James Warren on February 12, 1779.

[14] Benjamin Franklin, The Writings of Benjamin Franklin, Jared Sparks, editor (Boston: Tappan, Whittemore and Mason, 1840), Vol. X, p. 297, April 17, 1787.

[15] Christine Wicker, “Dumbfounded by divorce. Survey inspires debate over why faith isn’t a bigger factor in marriage,” Dallas Morning News, 2000.

[16] The Barna Group, “Barna Survey Examines Changes in Worldview Among Christians over the Past 13 Years,” March 6, 2009.

[17] The Barna Group, “Barna Survey Examines Changes in Worldview Among Christians over the Past 13 Years,” March 6, 2009.

[18] The Barna Group, “Barna Survey Examines Changes in Worldview Among Christians over the Past 13 Years,” March 6, 2009.

[19] John Quincy Adams, Letters of John Quincy Adams to His Son on the Bible and Its Teachings (Auburn, NY: Derby, Miller, & Co., 1848), pp. 10-11, “Letter I.”

[20] John Adams, The Works of John Adams, Charles Francis Adams, editor (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1850), Vol. IV, p. 293, “A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America: Preface.”

[21] John Adams, The Works of John Adams, Charles Francis Adams, editor (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1850), Vol. X, pp. 45-46, to Thomas Jefferson on June 28, 1813.

[22] Ronald Reagan, “Proclamation 5018 – Year of the Bible, 1983,” The American Presidency Project, February 3rd, 1983. See the same quote in a proclamation from President George H. W. Bush on February 22, 1990, “International Year of Bible Reading,” in Code of Federal Regulations (Washington, D. C.: U. S. Government Printing Office, 1991), p. 21.

[23] Zachary Taylor 1784-1850 Millard Fillmore 1800-1874: Chronology Documents Bibliographical Aids, John J. Farrell, editor (Dobbs Ferry, New York: Oceana Publications, Inc., 1971), p. 27, Inaugural Address, March 5, 1849; Stephen Abbott Northrop, A Cloud of Witnesses (Portland: American Heritage Ministries, 1987, reprinted from the 1894 work), pp. 447-448.

[24] “The President and the Bible,” New York Semi-Weekly Tribune, Wednesday, May 9, 1849, Vol. IV, No. 100, p. 1.

[25] Abraham Lincoln, Complete Works Comprising his Speeches, Letters, State Papers, and Miscellaneous Writings, John Nicolay and John Hay, editors (New York: The Century Co., 1894), Vol. Two, p. 574, “Reply to Committee of Colored People of Baltimore Who Presented Him with a Bible.”

[26] “Our Nation, A Product of Christianity,” Springfield Republican, 1884, editorial.

[27] Theodore Roosevelt, Modern Eloquence, Thomas B. Reed, editor (Philadelphia: John D. Morris and Company, 1903), Vol. XV, pp. 1770-1776, “On Reading the Bible: Delivered before the Members of the Bible Society, 1901.”

[28] Woodrow Wilson, The Papers of Woodrow Wilson, Arthur S. Link, editor (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1977), Vol. 23, p. 20, An Address in Denver on the Bible, May 7, 1911.

[29] Herbert Hoover, Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, Herbert Hoover Containing the Public Messages, Speeches, and Statements of the President (Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1976), January 1 to December 31, 1931, p. 490, “Radio Address to the Nation on Unemployment Relief,” October 18, 1931.

[30] Franklin D. Roosevelt, “Statement on the Four Hundredth Anniversary of the Printing of the English Bible,” The American Presidency Project, October 6th, 1935.

[31] Franklin D. Roosevelt, “Proclamation – Thanksgiving Day, 1944,” The American Presidency Project, November 1, 1944.

[32] Harry S. Truman, “Address at Lighting of the National Community Christmas Tree on the White House Grounds,” The American Presidency Project, December 24, 1946.

[33] Harry S. Truman, “Address Before the Attorney General’s Conference on Law Enforcement Problems,” The American Presidency Project, February 15, 1950.

[34] Dwight Eisenhower, “Remarks Upon Lighting the National Community Christmas Tree,” The American Presidency Project, December 24, 1953.

[35] Dwight Eisenhower, “Remarks to the First National Conference on the Spiritual Foundations of American Democracy,” The American Presidency Project, November 9, 1954.

[36] Ronald Reagan, “Proclamation 5018 – Year of the Bible, 1983,” The American Presidency Project, February 3rd, 1983.

The Vermont House voted Monday night to give the last vote of approval to a bill that would make the state the first to legalize physician-aided suicide by legislation. With a 75-65 vote, the bill goes to Gov. Peter Shumlin, who supports the measure and is expected to sign it into law.

As of Monday afternoon it will be legal for doctors to start considering prescribing a lethal dose of medication to terminally ill patients with less than six months to live who request it and can self-administer the drug.

Gov. Peter Shumlin plans to sign the bill, which the Legislature finalized this week, at 2 p.m. Monday in his Statehouse office.

It will be at least a short while before any patient would be able to use the law to hasten his or her own death. According to the legislation, patients must make the request orally and in writing with a witness, then reaffirm the request orally 15 or more days later, with the doctor waiting at least 48 hours before issuing the prescription.

Has your church members lost the biblical understanding of what it means to be part of the body of Christ?

Nine out of 10 churches in America are declining or growing at a pace slower than the rate of their communities. Churches limp along as members drift out the proverbial back door. So what can church leaders do to stop the exodus? Thom S. Rainer, president of LifeWay Christian Resources and best-selling author, sees this as a symptom of an underlying problem in most churches.

Rainer suggests American congregations are weak and in decline because church members have lost the biblical understanding of what it means to be part of the body of Christ. People join churches expecting to be served, fed and cared for, he says.

“Many times, probably more than we would like to believe, a church member leaves a local body because he or she has a sense of entitlement rather than a servant mentality,” Rainer says.

Rainer’s latest book, I Am a Church Member, released by B&H Publishing Group, is intended to remedy the outbreak of inactive or barely committed church members, addressing without apology what is expected of those who join a body of believers.

The book is an expansion of a 500-word declaration about church membership he posted to his daily blog in 2012. The post drew an exceptional response and started a conversation about the attitudes and responsibilities of church members. It also exposed a gap in current church membership studies and resources.

Rainer says he wrote the initial blog post after noting in some of his research an increase in church conflict. Over half of the conflict issues dealt with church members arguing over their personal preferences, he says.

“God did not give us local churches to become country clubs where membership means we have privileges and perks,” Rainer writes. “He placed us in churches to serve, to care for others, to pray for leaders, to learn, to teach, to give and, in some cases, to die for the sake of the gospel. The time to get this right is now.”

In his book, Rainer writes about plateaued and declining churches in North America as seen to be declining evangelical influence in the culture. He suggests that as church members, we are tempted to blame secular culture, national politics or church leaders. Instead, he says, church members should “look in the mirror.”

“If outside forces and culture were the reasons behind declining and non-influential churches, we would likely have no churches today,” Rainer says. “The greatest periods of growth, particularly the first-century growth, took place in adversarial cultures. We are not hindered by external forces; we are hindered by our own lack of commitment and selflessness.”

Rainer reminds believers that church membership carries both privilege and responsibility. When a person’s attitude is consistently biblical and healthy, matters of giving, serving and so forth will fall into place more naturally.

I Am a Church Member offers basic commitments for the body of believers in a local setting—being a functioning and unifying church member, letting go of personal preferences and desires, praying for church leaders, leading family to be healthy church members and treasuring church membership. Each of the six chapters concludes with a pledge and questions for further study. The book can be used as a gift for new members or as a resource for church membership classes. Books can be purchased in bulk with 20 books to a carton.

“This book is a must-read if you want your members to understand what it means to be committed to a local church,” says Michael Catt, senior pastor of Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Ga. “I encourage church leaders to read it and then buy copies for potential and new members. It will impact church health and help close the back door.”

Rainer says he prays his book contributes to the conversation about biblical attitudes toward church membership. “I am even bold enough to pray that God will use it to change hearts from self-serving to serving,” he says. “As the church gets healthier, it will have a greater impact on its community and the world.”

We are strangers here.

“The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever” (Isa. 40:8)

This verse sets up a great contrast between olam ha-zeh and olam haba – between this present world and the heavenly realm.  King David states, “Behold, you have made my days a few hand breadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you (וְחֶלְדִּי כְאַיִן נֶגְדֶּךָ).  Surely all mankind stands as a mere vanity” (Psalm 39:5).  Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in God, the Eternal, the abiding, and true: “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you” (Psalm 73:25).  To the extent that we regard this world as our “home” we will find the transience of life to be tragic; but when we regard ourselves as strangers here, transience becomes a passageway to the heavenly places.