On April 12, 1577, Christian IV, who became king of Denmark and Norway, was born.  And why is he important, you ask?  It's a bit of a story, but leads us to today's point beautifully.
             Oslo, the capital of Norway, had been declared such in 1314.  In 1524, Norway became the junior partner in the Denmark-Norway Union.  Internal squabbles had made them vulnerable to a takeover, and this union seemed the easiest way to handle it.  In 1624 the city was destroyed by a fire.  It had been a good distance from the fortress that protected it, so Christian IV, who was considered by the Norwegians a Danish king, moved it closer to its protection and rebuilt it, naming it after himself, Christiania.  (Along the way, the Norwegians decided to become more "Norwegian" and changed the spelling to Kristiania.)
            By 1924, the 300th anniversary of the city, Norway had once again gained its independence and had been so for 110 years.  Being named after a Danish king wrankled a bit.  So on January 1, 1925, Oslo regained its original Norwegian name.  The name of that city meant something to its people, and that's what we are getting at today.
            He called the name of that place Bethel, but the name of the city was Luz at the first, Gen 28:19.
            Jacob had just wakened from his dream of a ladder to Heaven.  God had earlier confirmed the blessing on him that his father Isaac had given him by mistake, proving that while Isaac might have been blind, God certainly was not—the correct son received the blessing.  And so Jacob called that place “Beth-el,” the house of God.
            Fast forward several centuries and Hosea goes to Bethel, where Jeroboam I had set up one of his golden calves by which the people could worship Jehovah, “the god who brought you out of Egypt.”  By the time of Hosea most of them weren’t even pretending to worship Jehovah any longer.  This was full-fledged idolatry.  Hosea refused any longer to call it “Bethel.”
            …Enter not into Gilgal, nor go up to Beth-aven, and swear not, “As the LORD lives.” Hos 4:15.
            Three times Hosea addresses the place that way.  It was no longer “the house of God.”  It was instead Beth-aven, “the house of vanity,” or deception, or iniquity, or evil, or several other translated words, all of which made Hosea’s point quite plain.  Bethel was supposed to be a description of who was worshipped, adored, respected, and revered in that place, and it no longer qualified for the name.  Instead of “Beth-el,” it had become “Beth-aven.”
            So let’s think about this today.  We use a similar description for ourselves:  “church of Christ.”  That means we belong to Christ, we obey him, we worship him, his is the opinion that counts, not ours.  Can you still say that about the group you are a member of?  Or has it become a social group with its own rules and its own “politics?”  Has it become a place where men get together and vote on things that have nothing to do with the mission Jesus left his disciples to complete?  Can you find authority--His authority—for everything you do?  Jesus himself said in Matthew 20 that authority can only come from two places—God or man, and his acceptance of that proves that he expected you to have it.
            Too many times we ask the wrong question:  what is a church of Christ?  The question we ought to be asking is this:  when is a church of Christ?  Is it time to change the sign on your door?
 
And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. Eph 1:22-23
 
Dene Ward

I know some women who crochet and knit.  I know some women who quilt.  I know some women who draw and paint.  I know some who bake and decorate cakes.  I know women who are gardeners and canners.  I know some who put up wallpaper.  I know others who do tile.  I even know one who can put in sinks and toilets.  And no, those are not their jobs.  Those are their hobbies, or at the very least, things they do because they need to be done, and they regularly use those things to serve others as well.
            I know men who can do wiring.  I know men who can do fine woodworking.  I know men who can solder and weld.  I know men who can take an engine apart, fix it, and put it back together again.  I know men who are gardeners and expert fishermen.  I know men who are marksmen.  And once again, these are not their jobs, but their hobbies which they also use to serve others.
            Meanwhile, I see a generation of children who sit around the house playing video games, or bouncing a basketball on a court all day, or sitting on the porch steps with other kids, shooting the breeze and talking, while doing absolutely nothing worthwhile, nor learning anything useful.  Why aren't we teaching our boys and girls to do stuff?!
            Why aren't we teaching them life skills that they can use to help others?  We certainly have ample examples in the Bible.
            Adam and Eve were expected to tend a garden and live off of it.
            Rachel, Rebekah, David, and the sons of Jacob were expected to know animal husbandry as part of their families' survival.
            Ruth grew up knowing she was expected to work hard, not just for herself, but also for others, even those not blood family.
            Miriam was willing to use her musical and poetic talent to teach the women of Israel.
            Jael and Rizpah learned that being strong and brave, and doing the dirty work was someone's responsibility, and you shouldn't wait around on a man to get it done when you are the only person available.
            Dorcas learned to sew, and with that ability served the church so well that she was the one Peter raised from the dead rather than the recently slain deacon and preacher Stephen.
            I know a man whose plan for retirement is to use his considerable handyman skills to perform free labor for the widows in the church.  He learned those skills as a young man and has become a good steward of the abilities God gave him.  What do you plan for your retirement?  Spending more time serving others, or serving yourself by traveling for months on end, or playing golf several times a week, or going hunting nearly every weekend, or whatever else you think you deserve?  Do you have any plans at all for serving the church now that your time is not taken up with the necessities of making a living and raising a family?
            What do you know how to do?  What are you teaching your children how to do, and more especially, what are you teaching them about their obligations as a child of God to serve others?  Are you even home long enough to do that teaching?
            When it came time to decide if a widow deserved to be placed on the payroll, serving the church every day, what were the qualifications?  If she has a good report for her good works, if she has brought up children, if she has shown hospitality to strangers, if she has washed the saints' feet, if she has given relief to those who were afflicted, if she has devoted herself to every good work (1Tim 5:10).  Why do you think she could do those things?  Because she learned them as a child and, most likely, watched others doing them!  What do your children see you doing?
            God wants us to serve.  He wants children who have learned to do stuff!  And he wants us out there doing that stuff, no matter our age, no matter our wealth, and certainly no matter our social status.  Service is what Christianity is all about.  Let's make sure our children will have something to offer. 
 
That you may walk worthily of the Lord, unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God (Col 1:10).
 
Dene Ward

But the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish” Jonah 1:4-6.
            From what I’ve heard all my life, you’d think that the “big fish” in Jonah is the only thing worth talking about.  Our Prophets class has found far more and this is just a quick overview class, nothing as detailed as verse by verse.
            The passage above may not be the first lesson we garnered from Jonah, but it is one we need more than we realize.  Here is Jonah, the only Jew, the only member of God’s covenant people, on this boat as a mighty storm threatens to engulf it and take them all to a watery grave, and he is the only one not praying.  In fact, a heathen captain has to take him to task to get him started.
            Have you ever been embarrassed by the zeal of a “heathen” friend or neighbor when that zeal should have come from you first?  Have you ever fallen to pieces while one of them calmly said, “Let’s pray about this,” and did?  Have you ever related a wonderful occurrence in your life without once mentioning the goodness of God only to have someone else “give God the glory” with every other word?  Have you ever had your door knocked on by someone looking to convert a soul when you have never even invited a friend to services?  We are Jonah, folks, far too many times.
            I would blame it on such a fervent desire to avoid false doctrine that we pushed the pendulum much too far.  I would do that except for this—nowadays I am not even sure we know which “false doctrine” we are trying to avoid.  It has simply become tradition.  We don’t do anything to call attention to ourselves, nor to God for that matter.  We want to be quiet and comfortable, certainly not “out there” with our religion, and so our God is not praised nor thanked nor acknowledged when He should be.  “We don’t do that,” I’ve heard it said.  And I, for one, would like to know why.
            None of those things is foreign to the scriptures.  You find all of them abounding in the epistles and saturating the Psalms.  God is everywhere.  What He does is always mentioned.  He is the reason for praise, for fear, for awe, and He expects us to acknowledge it. 
            Why didn’t Jonah do so?  Because he was trying to get away from God.  He was trying to avoid his mission.  He had God placed in a box in a town in a covenant land and thought if he got far enough away, God would forget about him. 
            Is that why we do it?  Are we trying to avoid God everywhere except the church building?  Is it far more comfortable to hide ourselves with silence than to proclaim our faith?   
            When the world can shame my faith, can I even keep calling it that?
 
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths, Prov 3:5-6.
 
Dene Ward

And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his neighbor in the word of the LORD, Smite me, I pray you. And the man refused to smite him. Then said he unto him, Because you have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, behold, as soon as you have departed from me, a lion shall slay you. And as soon as he had departed from him, a lion found him, and slew him,   1Kgs 20:35-36.
            If you know your Bible, you know that is only the beginning of the story, but it was certainly the end of it for that second young prophet.  Here is the hard lesson we all must learn:  serving God is NOT for wimps.  Sometimes God asks for difficult things.  Sometimes they seem impossible.  But God expects the impossible from us—the things you cannot do alone, He will help you with.
            First century Christians understood this.  Many of them converted knowing they might be thrown into prison or even the arena within a week.  And us?  We want promises of health and wealth.  We demand a life where no one contracts a serious illness, where our homes never blow away in hurricanes or tornadoes, where jobs are never lost, accidents never happen, and babies never die.  We want the reward now—the perfect life in the perfect place.  Then we will consider serving God.
            It doesn’t work that way and it never has.  This prophet could not believe that God would ask him to strike his fellow prophet.  “Why God would never…” you can hear him thinking just as so many say today.  He found out there was something a whole lot worse when he didn’t have the gumption to do as he was told. 
            I have a feeling that a whole lot of people are going to meet the same lion he did.
 
As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God,” Luke 9:57-62.
 
Dene Ward

Today's post is by guest writer Lucas Ward.
 
Elijah was one of the greatest prophets of the Old Testament era. He continued to prophesy and preach at a time when the queen, Jezebel, was actively killing all prophets of Jehovah, when the king, Ahab, was actively leading the nation into Baal worship, and when the people seemed happy to accept this. Through Elijah, God imposed a three year drought on the land. Because of Elijah, the people knew God wasn’t happy. At the end of those three years, Elijah appears before Ahab and tells him to gather the nation at the summit of Mount Carmel, along with the prophets of Baal. This is recorded in 1 Kings 18.

As the people are gathered, Elijah addresses them. Vs. 21 “And Elijah came near to all the people and said, "How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him. And the people did not answer him a word.” Elijah enjoins them to make a choice. It doesn’t make sense to worship both Baal and Jehovah; they contradict each other. Choose! He then issues a challenge, and we all know this story. He, alone, would build an altar to God. The 450 priests would build an altar to Baal. Each would put an offering upon their altar. The god who responded by sending fire to light the altar would be God. The people think this is a fine idea. Verses 25-29 tell of the Baal prophets’ attempt. They pray, shout, leap, cut themselves, etc, all to get their god to respond. In verse 27, Elijah mocks them mercilessly, but he does give them all day for their attempt. Finally, at the end of the day, Elijah readies his altar. He put the offering upon it and then douses it repeatedly with water. The offering, wood, and altar were all dripping wet. There was a moat about the altar that was full of water, too (vs. 30-35). Elijah then prays to God, vs. 36-37, and God responds by sending fire which burnt up the offering, wood, altar, and water surrounding the altar. Here is the response of the people: “And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, ‘The LORD, he is God; the LORD, he is God.’” vs. 39. The people seem convinced. They aid Elijah in rounding up the prophets of Baal and slaughtering them. Elijah seems to have turned the heart of the nation back to God. It was a new day in Israel!

Except, of course, it wasn’t. Jezebel sends a message to Elijah promising his death(19:1-2). The nation seems to be going about things, business as usual. All of Elijah’s work hasn’t seemed to change anything. His elation turned to despair, and quickly. Fleeing Jezebel, Elijah runs to the wilderness south of Judah. As he lays down for rest, he prays to God for death. (vs. 3-5) This is actually quite understandable. He had devoted his life to serving God. He had hidden from Ahab and Jezebel’s army for years. He had worked a great work, a grand and enormous sign to the people in the effort to get the people to turn back to God and. . . nothing changed. Nothing changed! He began to feel like there was no point in continuing. Why shouldn’t he just quit?

Do you know how Elijah felt? Have you ever felt that way? Let me tell you, I get it, at least a little. A lady from church and I met once a week and spent hours each time walking through the neighborhoods near the building knocking on doors and inviting people to join our congregation in worship. We weren’t doing any serious evangelizing, just inviting people to services. We spent dozens of hours, knocked on hundreds of doors, and got no response from anyone. There was perhaps one family who worshiped with us three times because we knocked on their door, then the Air Force transferred them away. So we changed tactics. We invited Tom Hamilton to do a series of classes on what the Bible is all about and why we should care. We advertised it in several newspapers, on various neighborhood facebook pages and we also printed 1,000 door hangers advertising the event. Those were hung on every doorknob within a half mile of the building, and some farther away. We didn’t get a single response from the community. One can start to feel like there is no point in working for the Lord.

Or maybe your discouragement is in failures to overcome temptation. No matter how hard you try, no matter how much you pray or read the scriptures there is one temptation that you can’t seem to overcome. Instead, it overcomes you. Repeated failures can make you want to quit trying. “After all, I’m just going to fail anyway, I might as well give in.”

Or maybe I’m discouraged because the brethren aren’t acting correctly. Have you ever been doing all you know how to do for the Lord and then found out that the brethren, or some of them, are bad mouthing you for your efforts? “Oh that Lucas.  He thinks he’s a big-shot Christian, like a deacon or something.”(This hasn’t happened to me personally, but I know of people to whom it has happened.) When the people who are supposed to be supporting you the most are instead tearing you down, it can make you want to quit, as Elijah knew.

Or maybe it’s your relationship with your spouse or children that is discouraging. No matter how grand the gesture, nothing seems to get through to them. So, why should you bother?

As we follow Elijah’s story, we see that he isn’t allowed to die. Beginning in 1 Kings 19:5 we see that he is fed twice by an angel and then led to Mount Sinai. Once there, God asks him why he isn't in Israel, working. In verse 10, Elijah recounts his woes. He is told to stand at the mouth of the cave and he then sees a great wind, capable of breaking rocks. He experiences a powerful earthquake. He sees a fierce fire. God is in none of these breath-taking events. Elijah then hears a “still, small voice” and covers his face, because God is in the small voice. God then repeats His question to Elijah, who repeats his tale of woe. God then sends Elijah back to work.

The lesson for us is that God’s work isn’t accomplished in the grand events, but in the small, steady, continuous work. It’s not the big Gospel meetings that are going to evangelize the community, it is each individual Christian shining his light as he lives day by day. It is our “still, small voices” that daily reach dozens of lost souls and it is our voices which can eventually reach many of our neighbors and coworkers. But we have to keep at it, day by day. We can’t get discouraged and quit.

There is no magic pill for overcoming temptation. There is no heroic labor I can accomplish to be free from temptation for the rest of my life. I have to, day by day, decide to follow Jesus and overcome. I have to keep at it, little by little.

In our relationships the grand gesture might not get through, but the daily effort of being a good spouse or parent will. Maybe the three dozen roses didn’t make her happy, but what will work is doing the dishes and bathing the kids some of the time. Women (so I’ve heard) don’t want men to die for them in a grand gesture, they want men to live with them. Kids don’t respond as well to “quality time” as they do to quantity time. They know who has been with them, raising them on a daily basis. It is the still, small voice of daily effort that wins in the end.

The Christian life isn’t about doing one great thing and being done. It is daily, continuously doing the small things. It is being the light in your workplace. It is overcoming this temptation this time and worrying about the next one when it comes along. It is about keeping on keeping on. Christianity is a life-time walk, not a ten-minute sprint. If we just keep going, God will see our efforts prevail.

Phil. 3:11-14 …that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
 
Lucas Ward

Many years ago we were wandering through a piano store looking for a light to go over the music stand on my own piano.  My parents had allowed me to take that one with me when I married, a Baldwin Acrosonic built in 1960 for which they paid $750.00, new.  As we meandered through the store waiting for a salesman to become free, I passed a mahogany studio grand and stopped in my tracks for a closer look.  It was a Knabe, the brand used by the Metropolitan Opera in those days, and the price tag said $5500.00.  No way, I thought.  This is a $20,000 instrument!  I sat down and ran through a Scarlatti sonata and the first movement of a Haydn.  The piano sounded and felt just fine.  What was going on?
            Finally the salesman made it over to us and showed us the piano lamp we had been looking at, but which had no price tag.  It clipped to the music stand so that the light was not on the back of the piano, but directly over the music, just like I wanted, and needed, for these eyes.  After a moment or two of research he came back with a price--$75.00!  As I said, this was many years ago and that represented nearly half of our weekly income.  I didn't even spend that much on groceries for a family of four back then.
            We were ready to walk out when Keith happened to ask about the grand and we got the whole story.  It had been willed to the University of Florida by an alumnus from Miami and it was a huge contrast to all the other brand spanking new pianos—it had a scratch here and there.  This one, we were told, came out at the turn of the 20th century because it had a chestnut core, and a blight hit the American chestnut first in 1904 and completely destroyed them within the next 40 years.  Yes, Knabes were great pianos and this one probably classified as an antique, but it just would not do on the stages of the University of Florida Music Department, which ultimately became a Steinway School of Music.  The university had traded it in on another new Steinway.  That accounted for the price.  For the average piano buyer, it was a steal, and it competed with the new ones on the floor.  The store owner simply wanted it sold as quickly as possible.
            Then Keith suddenly started dickering with the salesman about the piano.  I could not believe my ears.  We couldn't afford a $75.00 piano light, but he was talking about buying a $5500 piano?  I stood there in shock as he first got the salesman down to an even $5000, but that wasn't good enough for him—and it certainly wasn't good enough for our budget.  He mentioned our piano and asked about a trade-in. 
            Finally the salesman had to stop.  "I can't go any further," he said.  "You'll have to talk to the boss."
            And talk he did.  We left that place with a date for delivery, plus a $1000 trade-in (for one that had originally been $750!) off the new price of $4000, leaving $3000 for us to pay.  They threw the piano light in for nothing.  The next morning we would go to the bank for a loan, but on the way out of that store that afternoon, the news having reached him as he waited on another customer, the salesman called out, "Come back when you need another light!"
             So that's the story of how one of my dreams came true—a grand piano.  But the more important story is this:  Did you notice that the salesman was only authorized to do so much, and after that he had to go ask the boss?  In religion today, people scoff at authority.  Anyone who claims we need to have God's permission to do something is called a Pharisee, a legalist, or worse.  Yet every day we deal with the concept of authority and have no problem understanding it at all.  Who can sign your credit card?  Who can withdraw money from your bank account?  Yet people suddenly get up in arms when someone questions their right to change the worship God asked for, the method of salvation he demanded, or the life he requires us to lead.  If God does not have the authority to tell us how to do these things, then pray tell, who does?
            Most people think they do.  Perhaps you should consider that notion again if you find out someone has taken your credit card number and charged a few thousand dollars on it.  How can you complain when you don't think your Creator has the right to tell you how He wants to be worshipped, or what it would take to form a relationship with Him?  If that salesman had given us the deal the boss did, he would have probably been fired, and he knew it.  Why are we so smart everywhere except when dealing with the Almighty God?
 
And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of [by the authority of] the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him (Col 3:17).
For all the peoples walk each in the name of its god, but we will walk in the name of the LORD our God forever and ever (Mic 4:5).
 
Dene Ward

I certainly do not mean to be judgmental, but when people actually say it out loud, when they write it on Facebook posts, isn’t it a matter of “by your words you will be condemned” (Matt 12:37)?

            Listen to the things people say about why they worship where they worship, or what makes that place appealing to them.
            “I love the singing there.”
            “The preacher is so easy for me to listen to.”
            “I feel so good when I leave.”
            “Everyone is so friendly and loving to me.”
            “They came to visit me while I was in the hospital.”

            Okay, so maybe a few of them are not terrible reasons, but do you see a common denominator in them all?  It’s all about me and how I feel.
Why is it you never hear things like this?
            “I go because my God expects me to be a part of a group worship and accountable to a group of brethren and godly elders.” 
            “I go so I can provoke others to love and good works as the Bible says.”
            “I go to study God’s Word and this group actually studies the Bible instead of some synod’s pamphlet.”     
         “The sermons often step on my toes, but I want to be challenged to improve as a disciple of Christ.”

Can you see a completely different center of attention in those?  In fact, if the second list can be said to center on the object of our worship, what does that say about the object of worship in the first list?

I hear items from the first list often, but from the second seldom, if ever.  So here is my question:  If a person cannot find any items from the first list in a church, does that excuse him from the assembled worship in his area?  Of course not.

So why do we act like we are sacrificing something if the only place available has a preacher with poor speaking ability, no one who can carry a tune, and isn’t particularly outgoing?  If that is my idea of sacrificing for my Lord, I’d better hope our country never builds a modern Coliseum. 

Sometimes serving God is not a lot of fun.  Sometimes it isn’t very exciting.  Sometimes it is a lot of work with little appreciation.  Sometimes we will be ignored.  Sometimes we will be criticized.  Sometimes we will be the object of scorn and sometimes these things will come at the hands of our own brethren.  If I can’t take a boring sermon and off-key singing, what makes me think I can handle real persecution? 

If I would be ashamed for my first century martyred brethren to hear my griping about the church, why do I think it is acceptable for anyone to hear it?  Does it glorify God?  Does it magnify His church and His people?  No, I imagine it sends everyone else running from instead of running to “the pillar and ground of the truth,” the church for which “he gave himself up,” the manifestation of His “manifold wisdom” (1 Tim 3:15; Eph 5:25; 3:10).

And if somehow we could call it some sort of trial or persecution to worship with a group that is not exactly the ideal, what would the proper attitude be?  Certainly not griping about it, but rather “rejoicing that we are counted worthy to suffer,” (Acts 5:41).  Why, maybe we should actually go out and look for those places to worship! 

And if I did choose one of those places to hang my hat, would it really become any better with someone like me in it?  Make no mistake.  It isn’t about whether the kingdom of God, specifically the one I attend, is worthy of me and my commendation, it’s about whether I can ever be worthy of it.
 
For you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory, 1Thess 2:11-12.
 
Dene Ward
 

I learned hospitality from my parents, and it was not because we had a large home with extra guest rooms and plenty of money to prepare lavish meals.  The first house I remember as a child was a two bedroom, one (tiny) bath house. We had an eat-in kitchen, not because it had plenty of room for a table and chairs but because that was the only place to eat, on a narrow ledge against the wall that we called a bar, three down one side and one person at the end, right in the doorway.  What I learned about hospitality in that little place was that our meager means had nothing to do with whether or not we offered it.
            I remember my mother talking about another young couple in the same congregation who understood the word exactly as they did.  After a Sunday evening service, my mother would look at the woman and say, "Well, I have a dozen eggs."  The woman would look back at her and say, "I have a loaf of bread."  Then that couple would come to our house and we would all eat scrambled eggs and toast.  And nothing else, because that is all we had.  Yet they did this again and again and their relationship became closer and closer because of it.
            I can imagine that some are thinking, "How awful!  I would never invite someone over for scrambled eggs and toast and nothing else."  And that means they do not understand the reason for all those hospitality commands in the New Testament.  As those two young couples learned:  it's not about fancy meals and beautiful accommodations—it's about being together.
            And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved (Acts 2:46-47).  One of the reasons the early church grew and became as close as blood relatives was that they were together as much as possible, not just in their worship, but also in the homes, "day by day."
            I presented this once at a women's gathering and it was immediately objected to.  "That's not what we do these days," a woman said, meaning it is no longer a pleasant little custom to stop by and see one another in the evenings during the week, or even have someone over for an impromptu Sunday evening supper.  Well, guess what?  It wasn't a custom in the Roman Empire either.  Why do you think those commands are scattered through so many books in the New Testament?  Those people had to learn to do it, and they did because that is what they were told to do, and what they ultimately discovered would make the church what God intended it to be, and it did.
            Many years ago we had a dismal week that left us near to despair in our work with a particular congregation.  A couple there took it upon themselves to drop by to cheer us up.  Because of my mother's influence, I simply had to offer them something.  I had baked ginger cookies (we couldn't afford chocolate chips) the day before to put in the boys' cookie jar, and Keith is a master popcorn popper, the old-fashioned way, on the stove-top with bacon drippings.  That is what we offered them—ginger cookies and popcorn, and we sat there stuffing our faces while the gloom melted from our hearts like sun on the morning fog--for at least a little while.  That is what hospitality among brethren is all about.
            This week, find someone with a loaf of bread and offer them some scrambled eggs to go along with it.  It may not be haute cuisine ("high cooking"), but it will certainly lift your spirits higher, and who knows what other good may come of it?  After all, it was God's idea in the first place.
 
Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality (Rom 12:13).
Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling (1Pet 4:8-9).
One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us (Acts 16:14-15).
 
Dene Ward
 
 

I am sure you have heard this little story.  I first heard it as a teenager, a long time ago. 
            A father gave his little boy a dime and a nickel.  (Like I said, an OLD story.)  "You keep one and give the other to the Lord," were his directions.
            The little boy went to church that day and when the collection plate came around, proudly put in the nickel.  The father was disappointed, but since he had given the little guy the choice, he would not scold him.  He simply asked, "Why did you choose the nickel?"
            "Well, daddy, I know that God loves a cheerful giver, and I can be a whole lot more cheerful by giving the nickel and keeping the dime."
            We may laugh at a child's reasoning, but I have seen adults come close to the same myself.  Haven't you ever heard someone say, "I know this isn't what God said to do, but my heart is right?"
            Let's be plain about this.  You cannot deliberately disobey God and still have a good heart.  It is impossible.  It's one thing to be in ignorance; it's another to know better and do otherwise.
            What did the Lord tell the church at Thyatira?  I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works (Rev 2:23).  God searches your heart and then requites according to your works, because ultimately, your deeds show the true state of your heart.  ​The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks (Luke 6:45).  A willfully disobedient person simply cannot produce good; that disobedience comes from an evil heart no matter what he claims.
            Every relationship produces some sort of emotion.  A good relationship will produce good emotions—love, compassion, concern, a desire to please-- and a bad one will produce bad ones—anger, envy, bitterness, hatred.  Our relationship with God should produce good emotions, but one should always be careful of being ruled by those emotions.  The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? ​I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds (Jer 17:9-10).  Did you catch that?  Here is the process:  He will search the heart, then test the mind, then give according to his deeds. 
"God won't mind if I…" is a classic example of thinking that willful disobedience can come from a good heart.  But Paul told the Romans that we are expected to "obey from the heart," not disobey, Rom 6:17.
            The immaturity of the little boy in that old story above is almost precious.  Believe me, God expects far more from adults who claim to love him with all their heart.
 
Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me (John 14:23-24).
 
Dene Ward

Have you ever said as you left the meetinghouse on Sunday morning, “I didn’t get much out of the worship today?”
            Just examine that statement for a moment.  We are there for our group worship, the worship we are commanded to do when we are “gathered together.”  Who is it that we are worshipping?  I don’t think it’s me, and I don’t think it’s you.  When it comes to the worship aspect, I think it matters what God thinks of it, not us. 
            We sit in an auditorium with a raised platform in front of us.  Several different men take turns standing before us to lead us in various aspects of our worship to God.  Sometimes that gives us the mistaken idea that we are the audience.  No, we are the performers.  God is the audience, and if He “doesn’t get much out of our worship,” it’s our fault, not His, nor that of the men who try so hard to lead us, and seldom get anything but complaints for their efforts. 
            What would you think of a performer who gave a lackadaisical performance, who acted like he couldn’t care less that someone was watching him?  If I paid good money for a ticket, I would want my money back.  I wonder if that’s what God thinks as we “worship” by barely mumbling through our songs, daydreaming during prayers, and making faces at the babies in front of us during the sermons.  I wonder if He would like to have back what it cost Him for us to be able to come before Him and worship Him.  You see, He is watching our performance; He is the audience.  It doesn’t really matter if I don’t like the songs chosen, if I think the prayer is too long, if I think the sermon is boring.  What matters is, did I worship God with all my heart in spite of those things?  That’s what this Audience grades us on.  I don’t want Him to ask for a refund.
            So this Sunday as I leave the meetinghouse I should ask myself this, “How well did I worship my God this morning?”  Whether or not this is all there is to my worship is another matter entirely, but this question certainly makes a good start on answering that one too, don’t you think?
 
Oh Jehovah, truly I am your servant;
I am your servant, the son of your handmaid.
You have loosed my bonds.
I will offer to you the sacrifices of thanksgiving,
And will call upon the name of Jehovah.
I will pay my vows unto Jehovah,
Even in the presence of all his people.
In the courts of Jehovah’s house,
In the midst of you, O Jerusalem,
Praise Jehovah.
Psalm 116:16-19
 
Dene Ward