Jump Start # 3346

Ephesians 5:25 “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her.”

There are two small words in our verse today that are very important. They are the key to this passage. In many ways, these two small words are some of the hardest words in the Bible to fulfill. Combined, these two words are made up of a total of six letters, but what powerful, powerful implications they demand. What are these two little words? “JUST AS.” Husbands love your wives, JUST AS Christ also loved the church. Not only are these two words found in our verse, but they are used twice before this in the Ephesian letter. Paul says to forgive, JUST AS God in Christ has forgiven you (4:32) and walk in love JUST AS Christ also loved you (5:2).

It’s one thing to love your wife. It’s one thing to forgive another. It’s one thing to love others. But when the qualifier, “JUST AS” is attached, it brings a whole new meaning and depth to those passages. Consider:

FORGIVE JUST AS GOD HAS FORGIVEN YOU. How many times has God forgiven us? Never does God say, “Not again!” Never does God say, “I’m tired of forgiving you.” Never does God say, “When will you ever get your act together?” Yet, here we are and someone says something mean about us, and we declare that we will never forgive them and we will never forget it. What happened to the “JUST AS” part?

LOVE JUST AS CHRIST LOVED YOU. There have been times when we weren’t very loveable. There are times when we’d rather be with the pigs than with God. There were times when we never thought about God. Yet, He never stopped thinking about us. And, here comes that person who asks if they can talk to you after services. You sigh. You complain. You search for any excuse to get out of doing that. You want to go home. You want to do what you want to do. And, somehow the “JUST AS” was forgotten.

HUSBANDS LOVE YOUR WIVES JUST AS CHRIST LOVED THE CHURCH. Do you realize that there is not one thing we have to do that Jesus didn’t first do. We have to go to worship, someone says. Jesus did that. We have to be good. Jesus was perfect. We are supposed to pray. Jesus did all the time. We have to give. Jesus gave it all. Rather than being demanding, Jesus was the example. Jesus showed us what we are supposed to do. So, at the end of a long day, tired, sitting in your chair, husbands, we start barking orders for the family to come and take care of us. What about the JUST AS part?

Those are tough words to keep up with. Imagine someone saying, I expect you to putt a golf ball JUST AS a professional golfer does. A lot of pressure and most of us would fail. I want you to paint JUST AS an artist paints. I struggle with stick figures. I want you to cook JUST AS the chefs do on TV. That would trouble most of us. How about play an instrument JUST AS a famous musician?

Forgive JUST AS. Love JUST AS. Love wives JUST AS. And, the comparison is not to one of the apostles. I want you to be dependable like Peter. I think we could do that. The Peter who sank in water. The Peter who denied. Got that. We can do that. I want you to believe like Thomas. You means, doubting Thomas? Oh, we can do that. We don’t have to see the nail prints. We believe. But it’s not one of the apostles. It’s not you or me. It’s the Lord. Forgive as God forgives. Love as God loves. Love wives as Christ loves the church. It’s perfection that is placed before us. God never messed up on forgiving. There was never a time when He should have forgiven but He didn’t. The same with love. God always loves. He loves so much that the Bible says, God is love. There are moments when some of the disciples wanted to call down fire from Heaven and burn people up. Not God. There were times when the disciples wanted to send people away. Not God. Always right. Always perfect.

And, that’s what we are facing. That’s our goal. It’s not just the honor roll, it’s straight A’s. It’s not just winning the game, it’s pitching a perfect game. How can we? How can we forgive like God? How can we love like God? He never messes up and we seem to always mess up. He knows just the right thing to do and we, too often, do just the wrong thing.

I think the answer before us is in the Lord’s invitation in Matthew. Come, take My yoke, and learn from Me. Come. Take. Learn. That’s how. That’s how we open our hearts to love others. That’s how we extend grace and forgiveness to others. On our own, we can’t do this. But, having spent time with Jesus. Having learned. Having seen. Having taken on His heart and mind, we can.

These Ephesian “Just As” statements are not intended to be impossibilities. Rather, through God and with God we can. We can forgive those who have hurt us so terribly. We can love the unlovable. We can give our all in a marriage, just as Christ gave His all to our salvation.

JUST AS…six letters, but what powerful statements they are.

JUST AS…

Roger

Jump Start # 2736

Ephesians 5:25 “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her.”

The other night I ate a piece of berry pie. It was good. I put the folk in the sink. The next day, there was a berry stain on the sink. My wife got the stain out, but she reminded me to rinse the folk off and not put things that will stain on the bottom of the sink. She’s particular about things like that. I suppose that’s why we have a nice house. No, it’s no supposing, it is the reason we have a nice house. She wants to keep it nice and it means a lot to her. The place would never look as nice as it does if I were there by myself. What love does, it respects and honors what is important to the other person.

In our verse today, we find two parallels. Husbands love your wives and Christ loved the church. The bridge connecting these two thoughts are the little words, “just as.” Those words are sprinkled throughout Ephesians. We are to forgive “JUST AS” God has forgiven us (Eph 4:32). We are to walk in love “JUST AS” Christ loved us (Eph 5:2). Just as—just like. Equal. The same. Those “just as” words take everything to a higher and deeper level. It’s one thing to forgive, but to forgive just as God has forgiven us, that’s tough. That’s what God expects.

And, the love one has for another, will lead the other to better behavior and changes. It’s that way in a marriage and it’s that way with the Lord. Because Jesus loves us, we change.

Here are a few examples:

Instead of being demanding we become submissive and obedient. We can sure be bossy. We can be bossy at home. We can be bossy at work. We can be bossy at church. But Jesus wasn’t that way. Sure He had all authority. Certainly, His way was the only way. But He wasn’t forcing people to do what they didn’t want to do. He never strong armed another. He never made people follow Him, kicking and screaming the whole way.  Jesus loves us. He’s been good to us. He keeps no secrets from us. He accepts us. He invites us to Heaven. He blesses us more than we deserve. And, with that, we change. We stop digging our heels in. We stop resisting. We come to understand that His way is the best way. We take up His banner and follow Him.

Instead of being stingy we become generous. We do that because God has been generous to us. He blesses when we fail to ask and when we fail to thank. He sends food, rain, sunshine and good our way. The parables of Jesus, such as the laborers in the vineyard, or the classic prodigal son, illustrate the generosity of God. He sure has been good to us. And, when we can turn around and do something for His people or help His kingdom, what a joy that becomes. Giving is not a burden but a blessing. In this time of worshipping at home, we must remember to do our part of keeping things going by mailing a check with our contribution to the church. We must remember to help those who are alone. We give of our time, not asking for anything, but are thankful that we can do our part. Love will do that to us. It will turn us from stingy grumps to kind and generous, a reflection of the Lord we love and follow.

Instead of being selfish, we become servants. And, that is the life of Jesus. He came not to be served, but to serve. And, He did that well. He helped. He went. He did. His life was spent caring for others. The miracles not only proved who He was, they helped the people. Jesus could have made comets appear in the sky. He could have pulled a giant tree out of the ground. He could have balanced massive rocks on top of His head. All of those things would have amazed the crowds, but it wouldn’t have changed their lives much. But when Jesus healed the incurable, fed the multitudes, raised the dead, stopped storms, He was improving life for people. He made things better for people. And, the supreme illustration of service was the cross. He, in that one event, touched the lives of every person on the planet for all time. He made Heaven possible. When we see that sacrifice and love before us, it causes us to change. No longer demanding our ways and threatening to leave, but rolling up our sleeves and declaring, “Here am I.”

Love changes a person. It works that way in our walk with the Lord and it works that way in a marriage. Now, to see such love, and remain unchanged, shows how pigheaded we can be. It shows that we are not grateful, nor appreciative of what the Lord has done. It looks like one is taking the advantage of the other. In a marriage, one begins to wonder if the other person even loves them any more. To ignore what is important to the other and to continue to do what you want, is extremely selfish. With the Lord, it shows that we have not become disciples. The very nature of the word disciple means to be taught by another.

Love changes us. I won’t be putting folks in the sink with berry pie on it any more. I will remember. I will remember because I love my wife and it is important to her. Love does things just like that.

Roger

Jump Start # 2151

Ephesians 5:25 “Husbands love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her”

Someone reached out and said, “I don’t like my church. I know that I am supposed to, but I don’t.” That’s honest. It’s also troubling. Our verse reminds us that Christ loved the church. In Acts we are told that Jesus died for the church. We ought to and we need to love the church.

Let’s peel some layers off.

First, when someone says that they do not like the church, most times they are referring to the congregation that they are a part of. Each congregation has it’s own personality, just like a family. Some seem very tight and strict. Some are very warm and laid back. We can follow the same book, the Bible, but our attitudes, seriousness and the way we get about things can be very different.

We must remember that the church is saved people. It’s not the building. It’s not the programs. It’s the people. Sometimes that gets confused. It’s easy for someone to come back from vacation, and they’ve visited a large congregation that is hitting on all the right keys, the place sparkles, there’s lots of things to take home, lots of monitors with information, it’s an amazing experience. Vacation ends and you return to your home congregation and it doesn’t have all those things. It doesn’t sparkle. There aren’t many different classes offered at the same time. Whatever is being taught in the auditorium, is what you get. Sometimes the kids classes seem like the old one room school house with fifth graders in the same room with high schoolers, simply because there are not enough kids, rooms or teachers. Back home, there isn’t a bulletin and if there was, it’s not in color. There are no monitors on the walls, flashing information. The lighting seems dim. The place seems old. It crosses your mind that Extreme Makeover ought to branch out and start doing church buildings and you’d like to recommend your place to start with.

Understand, all that glitter, shinny, new techo, stuff is not the church. It takes a ton of money and a lot of people to do all of that and few places are in the position to do that. It’s similar to our homes. You can go to a home expo show, or just look at the latest Better Homes and Garden magazine, and come back home depressed because your house isn’t like this. Better Homes and Garden really means, better than what I have. But you can get ideas and you can do what you can. Budgets and finances determine what can be done. But at the end of the day, a house is not a home. A home is the love, warmth and atmosphere that we create. A large house can be cold and empty of that and a small apartment can be everything that a family is supposed to be.

So, when a person says, “I don’t like my church,” don’t confuse the stuff and the building with the church. Now, before we leave this, there is a lot of spring cleaning, sprucing up that can make all the difference in the world. There is no reason to worship in a dump. Fresh paint, clean up the landscape, put in brighter light bulbs, put some elbow grease into the place and you’ll be surprised how nice it can look. Clean up the tract rack. Pitch things that no one reads anymore. Few people are interested in reading a 20 page tract these days. Get some colorful, to-the-point, tri-fold tracts that are practical, interesting and eye catching. Read our Jump Start book on “The Welcoming Church.” It will give you ideas.

Second, the church is saved people. It’s the people that make a congregation. The church is a family. I was with some family yesterday. Saw a cousin that I haven’t seen in years. The church, like our family, isn’t chosen like friends. You don’t get to pick out your parents, brothers or sisters. You don’t get to pick out your spiritual family either. If they are in fellowship with God then they ought to be in fellowship with us.

Now, comes the touchy stuff. When someone says, “I don’t like my church,” they may be referring to the people. I don’t like the people in my church. Now, we are getting somewhere.

Understand, that we are not all the same. I’ve been married for a long time to my wonderful wife. She’s not like me. I wouldn’t have married me. She different. There are things I do that she’d like to change and there are some things that she realizes after all these years, I probably will never change. We are not the same. We have grown to like many of the same things. I go to the symphony on a regular basis now. Would never do that when I was single. Never. Our interests have merged and we find ourselves working like a team on many things. We both have an interest in each other and that has made us like what the other likes. Our food choices remain different. On a recent vacation I ate some octopus. It came with tentacles. It was great. She wouldn’t try a one bite. We are different but we have determined to work together, get to know each other and make the other happy. Is it any different in the church? What bugs us often is that a fellow member isn’t like us. They sing too loud. They talk too softly. They ask too many questions. They dress weird. They interrupt. They do things that we’d never do. I’ve seen folks pick their nose, clip their toe nails and pop their knuckles right during services. Some chew gum so loud that their lips smack. And when they talk, you see the gum in their mouth. We can walk away shaking our heads, thinking, what’s wrong with those nutty people. They are saved by Jesus. A person can be odd as a duck and still go to Heaven. They can clip nails, pop knuckles and talk all the time in a Bible class and go to Heaven. They can do things that we’d never do, and still be accepted and invited by the Lord.

Think about your family. Think about your marriage. We are not the same and there are things that probably drives us nuts, but we love them because they are family. We’ve made that commitment. We need to do that with the church. It will require you working at it, but you can do it. If Jews and Gentiles could worship together, you and I ought to be able to get along with each other.

Remember, we are not all at the same place spiritually. It’s like driving down a high way. There is always someone behind you and someone ahead of you. Some get the Gospel message better than others. We all come to Jesus with sins, a past and lots of baggage. We must work through what we thought was right. We must weed out so many concepts, ideas and false theology that we assumed was correct. Which means, some are better at forgiving than others. Some understand grace more than others. Some are demanding. Some seem harsh. Some seem to think that they are the greatest example next to the Lord. They’re not, but they think they are. This requires a bunch of patience on our part and a whole lot of love. I don’t like my church, may mean that there are those who are not kind, and they should be. There are those who are selfish and they shouldn’t be. But look at those apostles. They followed Jesus for three years and what a mess they were. They argued about greatness. They lacked understanding and faith. They didn’t seem to get it. It took a while. It took a lot of help. So, rather than rolling your eyes at folks, be an example. Help. Show. Teach. Illustrate. You’ll have people over and not only will they never think to invite you to their home, they may never even tell you thank you. Just keep doing it. You’ll take some food to someone who has a need. You may not even get all your dishes back. They may not thank you, and worse, they may say, “we’ve had chicken three times this week.” Just smile. Be kind. And, continue to serve. Don’t give up. Don’t talk about them to others.

Also, remember that you are a work in progress as well. There are things that you do that probably bugs others. You may not recognize it and you may think that you are perfectly normal, but through their eyes it’s not that way. You may seem to be a know-it-all. You may seem to be always in charge. It’s hard to think that others have to have patience and grace with us as well, but they do. Just like home. Just like in a marriage. It’s the same in a congregation.

That’s the solution to “I don’t like my church.” Start liking them. God does. Stop looking for perfection. Work with what you have. If no one is showing hospitality, you be the one. If no goes to the nursing homes, you go. If no one picks up the building after services, you do it. Instead of waiting for others to come around, you do what you can. Some may notice. Many probably will not. Some may accept your invitation to come to your home, many may not. Keep trying. Don’t let the church keep you from Heaven. Don’t let others sour your spirit and ruin your attitude. Pray. Change. Look in the mirror. Then, do what you can.

Jesus loves the church. We need to as well. We need each other.

Roger

Jump Start # 1899

Ephesians 5:25 “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her.”

Jesus loves the church. Which church? “Church” here means the saved. Jesus loves the saved. All the saved of all time. While Jesus loves the church, sometimes we don’t. Sometimes the people of Jesus do not follow Jesus as they should. Sometimes we become frustrated with one another. Sometimes we let each other down.

I have been in all kinds of church buildings and around all kinds of congregations. I have preached in a funeral home where one congregation was meeting. That was a bit creepy. I have preached in old worn out wooden church buildings way out in the country and nice big brick buildings in the city. I have preached to small congregations and large congregations. I preached in someone’s front room as a congregation was just getting started. I have preached for congregations that have been around for more than 150 years. What makes a good church? That’s a great question to ask. I have friends who are worshipping in growing and busy congregations. I have friends who are in congregations that are dead. Some are discouraged about where they worship and others are as excited as they could be. Some places seem to be attracting new faces every week and other places seem to be losing families, often every week. What makes a good church? You can tell when a church is good. There is an atmosphere that is present. You notice it during worship. You see it afterwards.

For the rest of this week, I will share some thoughts from my perspective about the “Hallmarks of a good church.”

A good church isn’t about size. It’s really not about location. It’s not about money. It’s definitely not about the building they meet in. So often, that’s where we pour our attention. Sometimes we even put a lot of effort into those areas, thinking that will turn the tide and make things better. You can paint the walls and put in new carpet, but that usually will not change the atmosphere of the hearts. A good church is not defined by paint and carpet.

From our verse we must remember that God loves His people. In every congregation, including good ones and ones that are struggling, you will find great people who love the Lord and you will find issues and problems. No church is perfect. It will never be perfect as long as we are a part of it. We have problems, struggles and can always improve. In every church, good ones and those that need help, there is always more than can be done. There are things that need to be looked at and there are people that need help. This is always true. This is true of the churches you read about in the N.T. We often tag Philippians as the rejoicing church. But even in that letter, Paul tells two sisters to get along and live in harmony in the Lord. Perfect? No. Need things to improve? Always. But that doesn’t keep a congregation from being good.

The first hallmark of a good church is solid Biblical teaching and foundation. That’s first. That’s always first. A church can be busy, loving, close, amazing, brilliant and if it is not following the Lord and doing what the Bible teaches, it can never be good. It must do what the Bible says. This is true as individuals and this is true as a congregation. That classic conversation in Matthew where the people declare, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons…” The Lord’s response was, “depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.” It doesn’t matter what we do, if we are not following the pattern in the N.T., we cannot please the Lord. No church is good if it doesn’t first please the Lord.

A good church teaches the Bible. It teaches it thoroughly, completely and accurately. But more than just teaching the Bible, a good church helps the congregation to bring God’s word alive in their hearts. A good church will make the lessons relevant, practical and useful. It’s more than lectures about history and a study of foreign words, it’s making God’s word alive in our hearts. It’s seeing how that word can change our marriages. It’s seeing how that word can drive out worry and defeat our fears. It’s building lives and families upon the word.

A good church teaches with patience and kindness. It’s not ramming the word down our throats. It’s not having the word of God pounded over the head or being threatened with fearful consequences. Paul referred to his instructions as a nursing mother and as a father instructs his child. Kindness, even when tough issues must be dealt with. A good church always keeps in mind the big picture and that’s the salvation of souls. Some have wrong ideas. Some have been taught wrong. Some bring ideas from the world and think that they would work well in the kingdom. Don’t slay those folks. Teach them. Show them. Help them. Save them. The only thing that ought to be driven out is sin. Keep the people and get rid of the sin. Change them through the teaching of God’s word.

The more we stand upon the Bible, the more our thoughts come from the Bible, the more we will be pleasing to the Lord. Drop all the mega church lingo. Keep all the business models out. Follow those churches in Judea, as the Thessalonians did.

Grow the church by teaching the Bible. Change attitudes by teaching the Bible. Get our perspectives right by teaching the Bible. The hope of a dead church is teaching the Bible. Find what the congregation needs and dive into that first. Find challenging ways of preaching and teaching that word. That keeps things fresh. No one likes stale bread and sour milk. That doesn’t fly well at the dinner table and it doesn’t work well in our spiritual hearts, either. Bored preachers will preach boring sermons. Often those bored preachers preach boring sermons to a bored audience. What a disaster! Get excited about the word of God. Become challenged by it. Become changed through it. If it doesn’t work on us, it’ll be hard for us to get it to work on others.

Biblical teaching. Biblical thinking. Biblical speaking. Biblical doing. This builds strong families, strong congregations and strong hearts. Does a good church have problems? Certainly. But they will not ignore those problems. They will not address those problems in selfish ways nor drive the people away who have those problems. Good churches will use the word of God to overcome those problems and to stay the course with God, as families and as a congregation. A good church will help lives through the promises of God. A good church welcomes prodigals back. A good church thrives on grace and forgiveness. A good church is passionate about the Lord. A good church worships God in excellence. Where do these ideas and thoughts come from? The Bible. Walk through Psalms. Spend time in those early pages of Acts. Notice the attitudes. See the devotion and dedication. See the connections to the Word of God.

It all begins with becoming Biblical.

Roger

Jump Start # 1821

Ephesians 5:25 “Husbands love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her”

Husbands and wives, Christ and the church—common relationships brought together by the Holy Spirit in this powerful section of Scripture. This Jump Start isn’t going to follow the role of the husband. Later on, we probably ought to. Rather, it’s the second part of this passage that so often is not talked about that I want to consider. Jesus loves the church.

Sometimes I think we forget that. It is easy to see everything wrong with the church. Just take a stroll through the N.T. Ephesus lost their first love. Sardis was dead. Laodicea was lukewarm. The Galatians were biting and devouring one another. In Philippi, two sisters are named and told to get along. The Corinthians were a real mess—divided, suing and wrong attitudes. The Roman church was troubled about eating meats. The first church, Jerusalem, had members who were struck dead by Heaven because they lied. This little walk through the early churches can leave us depressed, discouraged and seeing nothing but problems.

Here are some things we need to remember:

1. God never considered starting over. He did with Israel and the golden calf. Moses’ plea changed the mind of God. God actually did start over after the flood. He wiped the slate clean except for one family. With all the problems found in these churches, throwing in the towel was never the solution.

2. It was never a matter that the theory or plan was good but the practical application always failed. God is too good and too wise for this. The church wasn’t a great idea on paper but it just doesn’t work in reality. There have been through the years ideas like that. They sounded good, but they just never got launched correctly. But history shows us the plans of man. The church is God’s idea. God has never laid upon our shoulders things that we cannot do with us help.

3. God loves the church. Let us not forget, that Jesus loved the church, problems and all. He doesn’t just love those who are doing “A” work, He loves all of us. Jesus loves the church. The church is the spiritual Israel. The church is the body of Christ. The church is the bride of Christ. The church is God’s people. Imperfect as we may be, God has never given up on us. God loves us.

So, having seen that, “What’s right with the church?” That thought isn’t talked about much. We easily complain and gripe about all the things that are wrong. We are not doing this and we are not doing that. We are shrinking. We are losing our young people. We are out of touch. We are hopelessly stuck in the past. On and on and on, folks go. Singing the blues about the church. Christ loves the church. I wonder if we do? Are we part of the church just because we have to be or do we like the Lord, have a great love for those people? Certainly, we love the Lord. Could it be we just tolerate each other? Are we traveling through life, like a family on vacation, and we happen to be stuck sitting by our sister in the back seat for the whole trip? I heard a guy once say, “I go to church services on Sunday, and it takes me all week to get over that experience?” Really? We tend to see each other’s warts. We tend to bump each other. We tend to bug each other. It is easy to feel that we are stuck with each other. Such an attitude doesn’t really sound much like love. Why should we love one another? We know the book of 1 John really hits on that. If we don’t love one another, we don’t love God. But we can be so messed up. We can be so wrong. What’s right with the church?

What’s right with the church—here’s a few thoughts:

First, the church, by the very Biblical definition of that word, is made up of believers who follow Christ. We have a common interest, a common bond and at the core, we share common principles and beliefs. We are untied by the blood of Christ. We are family. We are related because of Jesus. We stand together in our beliefs about the Bible, Jesus Christ, sin, Heaven, death and why we are here. Christianity by it’s very nature is conservative. It doesn’t allow “out of the box,” “originality,” “free thinking,” spirits. It’s follow the leader, Jesus Christ. It’s following the pattern within the N.T. That unites folks who are similar in their thinking. Why love the church? Because we have a lot in common. We were all sinners. We were all saved. We have all started at the same place and we hope one day to all end up at the same place, Heaven.

Second, Christians, by it’s fundamental calling, are people who have denied themselves, taken up the cross and follow Christ. We have denied self. Colossians states, “we have crucified self.” The world hasn’t done that. The world is stuck on self. The world walks around with a mirror looking at itself and proclaiming “What a great picture.” Christians understand that it’s not about us. Christians serve. The Lord was the ultimate servant. Following in His steps, Christians help each other and those who are not believers. I have seen dozens and dozens of times, Christians going out of their way for others. They show up at the hospital when someone is having surgery. They are there at the funeral home. They bring food. They bring flowers. They help one who is moving. They sit and listen and offer spiritual help. They do things never once expecting anything in return. They give generously, not just on Sunday, but behind the scenes to help a struggling family, a college student, or a single mom. These Christians give up a Saturday to help out. They give up their evenings to help out. They meet with folks in coffee shops and restaurants to encourage, answer questions and help each other get stronger. Late at night, when most are asleep, these Christians are praying to God. They are naming our names to Heaven. They are seeking God’s help to turn lives around and to make things right with God. Why love the church? Because these folks are servants. They act like the Lord.

Thirdly, they love the Lord with all of their hearts. They want worship to please God. They want marriages that conform to God’s plan. They want families to bring their children up in God’s ways. Worship isn’t about loud music and flashing lights. Worship isn’t a show. It’s not a concert. God is not upon the stage, but rather, upon the throne. It’s hearts connecting with God. It’s meaningful. It’s with a purpose. In a worship, you’ll find these Christians with Bibles and tablets following along as the preacher preaches. They will take notes because they want to learn, remember and be better. You will find them sticking around after services, engaged in all kinds of conversations. Some will be laughing. Some will be hugging. Some will be in a serious one on one discussion. Their hearts are blended together. These people really want to be with the Lord. Don’t try to do something silly in worship. These people will not tolerate that. Don’t try to mess with the Bible. These people will not put up with that. They love the Lord. They have placed a banner in the ground next to the cross. It is here that they will stand. It is here that they will die. Worship isn’t something you do if there is nothing else to do. Not for these folks. They love the Lord. They will worship when on vacation. They will worship when on business trips. God first is how they live. Jesus loves the church.

Are Christians perfect? No. Do we need to improve upon things? Certainly? But, Jesus sure loves us. It’s time we started loving each other. It’s time we started letting people know that we love them. It’s time we started showing others that we love them.

Jesus loved the church. Do you? Have you thought about, “What’s right with the church?”

Roger