Category: All Articles

Seeking Him

by Mike Avery, posted in All Articles, Christian Living, Theology

–November of 2006

Seeking Him

Here on the Hilltop, we have taken the Biblical language of “Seeking Him” as the theme for this school year.  The language is found in a number of Biblical passages, but we have chosen Psalm 24:6 as our special passage.  The staff and student body has committed themselves to daily seeking the face of the Lord for personal and corporate revival.  Each Wednesday chapel is dedicated to a sermon that develops the theme of seeking Him.  I began the Wednesday series with the passage from Hosea 10:12 that says, “Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the LORD, Till He comes and rains righteousness on you”.  I found two important truths that I wanted to share with the Revivalist family.

First, there is a process in seeking Him.  In the language of farming, Hosea says there is plowing, then planting, and then the exercise of patience. Plowing is the deepest and most painful part of revival.  The hidden must be exposed – the hard ground broken up and softened.  Planting is the most instructive and enjoyable part of revival.  It can be simply glorious to fill our prepared hearts with the good seed of the Word, prayer, and faith.  Patience is the most challenging part of revival.  We can be highly engaged in the first two steps but only God can send the rain and the ultimate harvest.

Evan Roberts, the human instrument in the 1904 Wales revival, gave the following steps as a process for seeking revival: 1. Confess all known sin to God; 2. Deal with and get rid of any “doubtful” area of your life; 3. Be ready to obey the Holy Spirit instantly; 4. Confess Christ publicly.   It was a good process, as over 100,000 people were led to saving faith in Jesus Christ during that move of God.

Second, there is a promise in seeking Him.   The Bible is very clear that God delights to respond to His children. James 4:8 says, “Draw nigh to God…and He will draw nigh to you.”  The Prophet Isaiah told us that He would “pour water upon him that is thirsty…” (Isa. 44:3).  The Apostle Paul gives the most encouraging word of all when he tells us that “all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us” (2 Co 1:20).  God longs to say “Yes” to the earnest cry of His children for a fresh outpouring of His Spirit.

This truth is illustrated in an event that happened over two centuries ago.  President Thomas Jefferson and a group were traveling across country on horseback when they came to a river which had left its banks due to a recent downpour.  The swollen river had washed the bridge away, so each rider was forced to ford the river on horseback, and the swift currents posed a life-threatening situation.  A man traveling by foot was standing aside at river’s edge.  He watched each of the riders in turn plunge in and finally make it to the other side.  When Jefferson was the only rider left to cross, the man asked the president if Jefferson would ferry him across the river.  The president agreed without hesitation.  When safely on the other side, another rider asked the man, “Tell me why you selected the president to ask this favor of?”  The man was shocked, as he didn’t know it was President Jefferson.  “All I know,” he said, “was that on your faces was written the answer ‘No,’ but on his face was written the answer ‘Yes.’”

Written on the face of God is the answer “yes” to the cry of His children who long for and seek after a personal revival.

Half-Way Christians

by Mike Avery, posted in All Articles, Christian Living, Education, Theology

–October of 2006

Half-Way Christians

In the early 1600s the Puritans made the arduous journey to America to establish a pure community of like-minded Christians, a “City on a Hill.” As the first generation of these settlers began to die off, their congregational churches faced a membership crisis. Full participation, or membership, had been limited to the “Visible Saints” — those who had made a public affirmation of a conversion experience. In the early days, most Puritans testified to such an experience.  But as time passed, the fires of conviction did not burn as brightly in the hearts of the second- and third-generation Puritans. Fewer of them had a “conversion experience,” and even fewer were inclined to devote themselves to the principles of the church.

In 1662, the church leadership, to confront this crisis of faith, created the Half-Way Covenant.  It provided a partial church membership for the children and grandchildren of church members.  It allowed them the rite of baptism (which opened the door to civil privileges) without having to devote themselves to the strict principles of the church or testify to a “conversion experience.”   Within a generation these partial Puritans were complete worldlings.

History has proven that it is a daunting task for parents to hand down their faith to succeeding generations.  The Book of Judges graphically describes this challenge: “The people worshipped the Lord throughout Joshua’s lifetime and during the lifetimes of the elders who outlived Joshua. They had seen all the Lord’s great works He had done for Israel…. After them another generation rose up who did not know the Lord or the works He had done for Israel. The Israelites did what was evil in the Lord’s sight. They worshipped the Baals and abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt.” Succeeding generations have a natural tendency to accept the status quo and to lose the vision of the first generation. Too often the second-generation experience is a second-hand experience. The parent’s fervor for the faith becomes the children’s formalism and the grandchildren’s apathy.

This is more than a sad fact of church history.  It’s a tragedy of eternal proportions.  I have witnessed children who have grown up in the finest of Christian homes succumb to the subtleties of what one writer calls the “second generation syndrome.”  They conform to the codes and creeds of their religious subculture; they perform their Christian duties with sincerity; they speak the appropriate shibboleths with ease and familiarity; yet they lack the vital heart of basic Christianity.  Like the Rich Young Ruler, they are fine examples of religious conformity and moral integrity, but totally void of true spiritual life.

Every Christian parent wants more than anything else to have children who love and serve the Lord.  We all want to give them the benefit of the doubt and take them at their word that they are indeed Christians.  But both parents and pastors need to be very careful not to assume that because Johnny and Sally look the part they truly know God.  The new birth carries with it some unmistakable marks of spiritual life.  If these are not present, then well-meaning attempts to confirm children in the faith will never substitute for a true conversion.  God has no grandchildren.  Every generation must find God for itself and experience His saving grace. There are no half-way Christians in heaven, just totally lost ones in hell.

I’ve Had It!

by Mike Avery, posted in All Articles, Christian Living, Church, Ministry, Theology

–September of 2006

I’ve Had It!

I’ve had it! I’ve had it with articles and poll results in religious and secular magazines needling the Church by claiming that Christians today are watching X-rated movies, are addicted to pornography, commit immorality, and lie and steal at the same rate as non-Christians.  I’ve had it with these people who blame the Church for not accepting them with open arms and unconditional love so they can continue to practice their perverted lifestyles without any sense of shame, or worst yet, ordain them as ministers of the gospel.  I’ve had it with these preachers who seek to be so accepting that when they finish a sermon, they have made the Christian life so broad and inclusive that your average pagan feels right at home.   I’ve had it with all of this because this is not how the Bible portrays a Christian.  The New Testament teaches that the behavior listed above falls below the line of authentic Christian faith and is clearly sub-Christian.  Christians aren’t slaves to any sin nor do they entertain themselves with the very things the Bible condemns as sinful.  A person who has experienced a true Biblical conversion has implanted within him a desire to do right and be morally good.  If that is not the case, then any pretense of conversion is just that – a pretense.

I’ve had it!  I’ve had it with Christian leaders who are determined to make the unconverted so comfortable in church that they have turned Sunday-morning worship into an experience that is no different from a trip to a local entertainment club.  Sanctuaries look like theaters.  The attendees are encouraged to “dress casual,” bring their favorite beverage, and rock to the same rhythms you would expect to hear at a university frat party.  Sermons are preached from a lawn chair or a barstool.  Surprisingly, some of them are good.  What is not surprising is that few take them seriously.  Why should they, when everything around them is screaming “do as you please”?  Church bookstores, coffee shops, and restaurants do a thriving business before and after service as they violate the sanctity of the Lord’s Day.  Why have I had it?  Because the fundamental principles of Biblical worship are thrown out to create an atmosphere that satisfies the creature rather than glorifies the Creator.

I’ve had it!  I’ve had it with this new gospel and its false prophets who constantly reassure their flock that they can have “peace with God and a home in heaven” without making any fundamental changes to the way they live and the values they hold.  This “come in Savior and stay out Lord” brand of religion that ignores the claims of the Bible and remains plugged in to this present world is a false gospel.  At the very heart of what it means to be Christian is that the Christian is a unique and special kind of person.  He has experienced a radical change that separates him from those who are not Christian.  It is a difference that makes him like Christ and can only be explained in terms of his relationship to Christ.

I’ve had it!  I’ve had it with the fact that the only alternative that too many churches are offering to the above dilemma is just criticism.  Far too few are preaching a biblically balanced message and providing a real worship experience for serious saints and hungry sinners. Too few congregants have lives that are marked by the presence of God and noted for their radical abandonment to Him.

I’ve had it!  And that’s good!  For it is often in these times of such desperation that God is able to sow in our hearts the seeds for renewal and revival.  I long for His transforming power and life-giving presence to mark the lives of His children again.

Subtle Shifts

by Mike Avery, posted in All Articles, Christian Living, Church, Ministry, Theology

–May of 2006

Subtle Shifts

In a recent revival meeting, a 50-year veteran of pastoral ministry asked me a question that is on the minds of a lot of older saints.  He said, “Are people really being converted anymore?”  This man is not just an elderly pastor asking questions with a nostalgic glance over his shoulder to the “good old days.”  He is a well-loved, highly respected man of God whose ministry has been marked by hundreds of souls finding Christ.  Frankly, his concern is valid.  Yet the answer to his question is not just a simple yes or no, it is a rather complex yes and no.

There is a tendency for American Christians to interpret what is happening in the Church through local or western eyes.  This bias has often skewed our view of what God is doing in His world particularly in the area of evangelism, revival and end-time events.  The spiritual dearth in the western church is not a reflection of what is happening in the rest of the Church.  Stories of radical, life-changing conversions are flowing out of the Orient, South America and Eastern Europe.  GBSC Missions Professor, Dan Glick, spent six weeks last summer doing a study of conversions in the Ukraine.  His report sounds like something taken right out of the pages of the book of Acts.  People are responding to the Gospel and experiencing true conversion in every part of the world.  I don’t mean to exclude America.  I witness every year many whose life has been radically changed by saving grace.  God’s kingdom is marching forward and all the armies of hell have not been able to withstand it.

However, there is some cause for concern as it relates to the American church.  I honestly believe that because of a number of subtle shifts in the presentation of today’s gospel message, there are many people who have undergone a religious transaction rather than experiencing a radical transformation.  The first of these shifts took place at the beginning of the 20th Century when the 19th Century emphasis on pursuing holiness shifted to a desire for uplifting ecstatic experiences.  The second shift took place following World War II as prosperity fueled the American economy and spilled over into the church.  There was a shift from a call to total surrender to a more general call to commitment.  (The difference is more than subtle.  Surrender tells God that I belong to Him and He can dispose of me any way He pleases.  In commitment there is no transfer of ownership.  One may or may not do what God has asked, depending on the level he wishes to be committed.)  The third shift came in the late 60s and early 70s when we started “deciding for Christ.”  Salvation was simplified to little more than signing a card.  These shifts had brought so many unconverted people into the church, that by 1980 a new battle began among religious leaders as to what it really meant to be a Christian.  At the heart of this war was the controversy over Lordship salvation.

As the 20th Century began to wind down, the church shifted again and became consumer oriented.  The gospel was stripped of its biblical vocabulary and was offered in the language of the culture.  The concepts of repentance, dying to self, and submission were abandoned and the gospel was cast in terms of benefits.  This ushered in a new round of self-help seminars and made the major selling point of the gospel what it could do for those who tried it.

Sadly, many churches have been left with what C.S. Lewis called a “truncated gospel.”  Simple assent to the gospel divorced from repentance, surrender, and a supernatural eagerness to obey is by biblical standards less than saving.  To illicit only a sense of this kind would be to secure only false conversions. And a false conversion, even by the most sincere, is still sincerely wrong.

The Future of the Local Church – Revival or Revolution?

by Mike Avery, posted in All Articles, Church, Ministry

–April of 2006

The Future of the Local Church – Revival or Revolution?

For over half a century men and women all over America have been praying for revival.  But it looks like we are having a revolution instead.  At least that’s the findings of America’s religious pulse-taker, George Barna, Jr.  You can read all about it in his latest book, Revolution.  The upshot of Barna’s book is that a “quiet revolution” is taking place in America. These revolutionaries are a growing sub-nation of Christians, already over 20 million strong, who are set on doing whatever it takes to get closer to God and help others do the same.  They are committed to a radical, Biblical faith that is transforming and authentic.

The unique part of this revolution is that it is largely taking place outside the local church.  (The revolutionaries  are careful to differentiate between the church and the Church.) They  believe the local church has failed to fulfill its mission.  They see most local churches as irrelevant and ineffective in equipping believers to be Christlike and advancing God’s kingdom in a Biblical way.  They believe the church has become so hidebound by tradition and so focused on its own agenda that true worship, radical commitment, spiritual growth, servanthood and authentic community have become secondary issues. They strongly believe that “we are not called to go to church; we are called to be the Church.”

Many of the revolutionaries are still involved in a local church, but millions of them have left the church and developed a new model of church called alternative faith-based communities.  Barna predicts the alternative groups will continue to see significant growth while the traditional local church will shrink by over 40 percent in the next twenty years.

 Problems with the Revolution

I want to be very careful that I do not curse what God has blessed, but I do have concerns with what I see taking place.  Barna’s research indicates that the revolution is being embraced by the most serious-minded Christians.  Nevertheless, sincerity and zeal alone do not mean that a thing is right or problem free. My first concern grows out of the very nature of the Church itself. The Church is Christ’s Body, the members are inseparably linked one to another, and anytime small segments pull away there is the danger of cultivating a “Lone Ranger” mentality.  The intent may be right and the immediate results seem good, but in the long term there is the danger of becoming exclusive and even cultish.

I’m also concerned that these small groups lack the accountability and discipline that is provided by some form of church authority such as a board of elders.  One of Paul’s first concerns in each of the New Testament churches was to appoint a group of elders and deacons to provide leadership and structure.

The most serious concern I have comes from the fact that separation from a local church can disconnect this small body from a theological and historical framework for interpreting scripture.  Most of these revolutionaries grew up in a postmodern world and are strongly influenced by postmodern thinking.  Couple that fact with their separation from a system of theological thought or the historical continuity of the Church and it can simply lead to every man doing what is right in his own eyes. Heresy can blossom in such settings.

Can we learn from the Revolution?

Yes!  I believe there are a number of things the local church and church leaders can learn from this revolution. Let me share with you four things that I believe we need to learn.

 We should guard against being inflexible and too resistant to change.

Change is not bad.  Change is a natural, positive and irreplaceable part of normal, healthy growth. When change means a compromise of Biblical truth or core values, then change is bad and should be avoided.  But when change serves as the catalyst for positive spiritual growth, it is good, normative and should be welcomed.  The local church, far too often, stiff-arms change simply because the members are comfortable with what they are doing and had rather not be inconvenienced by change.

 We should guard against elevating what is traditional to the plane of what is Biblical.

In the average Christian church, almost everything we do is based on tradition.  The times and places we meet, the ministries we offer, the structure we follow and the music and instruments we use are all largely dictated by tradition.  Traditions are helpful and at times even important, but they must not be confused with God-given commands.  Traditions should never have the same authority as scripture.  Tradition can become such a mechanical part of who we are and what we do that over time the distinction between a tradition and Biblical truth can become blurred.  Worse yet, there may be a tendency to think that faithful obedience to our tradition is well pleasing to God, when in all reality, we may be doing things He neither commands nor cares about, while the things for which He sent His Son we regard as of little or no importance.

 We should guard against the church’s being member driven rather than mission driven.

The local church is not a club, society or an organization that exists for the pleasure of its members.  It is not a democracy where everybody has his or her say.  It is the body of Christ where believers are matured toward Christlikeness and equipped for ministry and where the lost are evangelized.  Far too many local churches exist only for the pleasure and edification of their membership and have totally forgotten and inadvertently abandoned the mission that God has given them to accomplish.  A church that doesn’t exist for redemptive activity has no reason to exist.

 We should guard against becoming denominationally focused

rather than community impacting.

The local church is not just another branch office to collect revenue and promote the company brand for some denomination.   The local church must focus on and be engaged with the community in which it lives.  History has proven that a focus on what the denomination is doing rather than what the local church is doing is a clear sign of death for both.

Barna may be right about the revolution, but I hope he is wrong about the local church. I am aware that God can get His work done with or without the local church, at least as we know it.  But if the local church experiences revival, it can yet be a powerful force for God.  So while the revolution unfolds, I will rejoice in whatever good it is doing and continue to pray for and work toward revival and renewal in the local church.