In a lot of American churches today, people are oblivious to reality.

I cannot give a sound estimate of how many churches are faithful, but according to Scripture, it's probably not a lot.  I know that there are a lot of people in a lot of church pews across our country today who are living and going and walking and talking and thriving near the cross of Jesus Christ, and under the name of Jesus Christ, and by the blessings of Jesus Christ, but so many people have not real views of what it means to be "of Christ" and to "believe in Christ" and they are calling something Christianity which is not Christianity.  Churchianity perhaps, but don't call it what the Bible has laid out as the Christian church when it looks nothing like, talks nothing like, and loves nothing like the Christian church in the Bible.

24 And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not.

25 And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers,

26 Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive:

27 For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

28 Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.

29 And when he had said these words, the Jews departed, and had great reasoning among themselves.

30 And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him,

31 Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him.

Jesus Christ is so good to us.  Whether Jew or Gentile, free or slave, great or least, rich or poor, God loves each of us as His special creation, as human beings.  In God's great plan, He punished the Jews double more than He would punish anybody else, and He blessed the Gentiles in such a way as to openly bless and make the Jews jealous, because God created the Jews as literally His chosen people, from whom His Son Jesus Christ was born, and God is a jealous God Who wanted His people to return to Him, and part of the way He has done this is to make them jealous through how good He has blessed the Gentiles, by walking around on this Earth for thirty-three-and-a-half years and preaching the Good News of the Kingdom of God to anybody and everybody who would believe on Him, from those days, into the future, and even down in that spiritual prison where disobedient spirits were kept held.  Jesus Christ declared that the law was fulfilled through believing in Him and loving God and loving your neighbor as yourself, and that by believing in Jesus Christ for salvation, we may be free from sin and death and live eternally with Him forever, after this Earth burns up and is no more.  

There is going to be a new Heaven and a new Earth and the Bible describes it as a place which does not need the sun because Jesus Christ will light the place.

These tenets of our faith as believers in Jesus Christ are written forever and are rock solid reliable.

The Bible expressly tells us that having respect of people concerning the things of Christ is a sin.  This convicts very many churches of grave error for what they have been doing every Sunday for as long as they have existed.  Many churches are built upon respect.  The Bible warns us against respect of people concerning the things of Christ, yet many churches operate expressly upon respect, and basically demand respect from all who attend.  This is the exact opposite of what the Old Testament and New Testament tell us.

To have respect of persons is not good: for for a piece of bread that man will transgress.
Proverbs 28.21

1 My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.

8 If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:

9 But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.

10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
James 2.1, 8-10

These Passages here give us wisdom which was wisdom years ago and is wisdom today.  Most all wisdom is like this.

Many churches get burned out because their Pastor gets burned out.  If a Pastor has immense expectations of perfection from the audience of congregants who flock to see him every Sunday, that Pastor will be enabled by faith to fulfill many expectations which come from expecting perfection, because that is the way that God has set it up, to an extent, when a Pastor relies on Jesus Christ.  He is a mini-shepherd, representing and going before his congregation as one example of a person called to deliver the grace and truth of Jesus Christ to the world, to a group of people who are family.  Expectations of perfection cause a Pastor to absolutely rely on God, and cause a congregation to absolutely expect to see God meet them in worship and in prayer, and it is a good thing to have expectations of perfection when gathering together in the name of Jesus Christ.  To thoroughly discuss what this summary phrase of "expectations of perfection" means would take a long time, but to sum up with these few words this concept of expecting the One Who is called Perfection to meet us when we gather together in the name of Jesus Christ, there is no greater joy than to find Jesus Christ!  Yet, what sad failure for a Pastor who fides on respect, and those expectations of perfection that come from human respect and human expectations of human performance.  For a while, God will send people to correct them, God is faithful in His Word to raise up prophets to go to His church first, but in today's respect-normal society, most churches are not much different than the world.

In churches where they are respect-driven, it's like the congregation is a pack of rabid wolves, wanting a Pastor whose life is driven by the miraculous power of God, full of blessings and joy and honor and accomplishment and the doings of what a modern Pastor should look like, according to modern tradition.  Instead of everybody coming to church and being real with each other, people come for a performance and a handout, they come to be part of a social group or to catch up on activities together, and they come to listen to a man preach in a timeframe of x-amount-o'-minutes according to x y and z principles handed down by such and such a denomination and empowered by groupthink more than the Holy Spirit.  Christian churches are living organisms, not primarily an office-led organization.  In a respect-driven church, if the Pastor messes up once, they're gone.  Everybody holds a knife to their throat and expects their teeth to be polished and their hair to be right and their clothes to match the deco of their chosen people groups' clothing style, and their hair along the same lines of expectation as those they've always known as well.  These kinds of churches are hit-and-miss as to whether they contain any real believers or not, and Jesus Christ calls them "lukewarm" and worse.

In churches where the Pastor loves God and loves people and loves the whole Bible, they are living testimonies to the goodness and reality of God in our life today, and they spend their life centered and focused on the Word of God, sharing God's love with those people around them whom God brings across their path.  Some of the people in the early church were ministers who traveled around and stayed in places for only periods of time during their missionary journey, and some of the early believers were people whom God had called to raise up a church in their home or in their town or in their city.

In those days, following Jesus Christ openly was very dangerous and counter cultural, because in the culture back then they worshipped many gods, on an official, hybrid governmental/religious monarchy system, and this Jesus guy had caused a lot of problems for the Establishment back then because He was just alive then dead and then alive again, and then after all that He floated up to Heaven on a cloud, and the Roman Government and the Jews were responsible for His death.  There was a lot of friction, you could say, between those who claimed to follow Jesus and those "in power."  We have it easy nowadays as Christians, and in America we have been blessed for many years unlike ever before, to worship God freely and without fear of being told that the Bible is illegal to preach or that the love of Jesus Christ is outlawed to be spoken of.  Praise God for all of these years!  

Praise God for all of the faithful and semi-faithful Pastors whom He has used over the years to deliver His Message of hope, faith, and love to all those who were ready to hear it!  There are many good Pastors out there who deserve many blessings, but most of these Pastors are the very ones who would give them all to Christ anyway, if you were to shower them upon them.  So shower them upon them, and watch what happens when these Pastors are given gifts to give back to God!  The faith of man is precious to God.  The meek and humble heart is how Jesus lived as an example for us, and He shares His love with us without hindrance.

God is always near.  When we draw near to Him, He draws near to us.  God is always near.

God will always love us.  The gift of salvation purchased by Jesus Christ on the cross was done once and forever.  There is nothing we can do to make God love us more, and nothing we can do to make Him love us less.  Yet, there are rewards for those who follow Him and who know His Word, rewards for those who believe His Word and keep it in their heart.  Those who keep the words of Jesus Christ in their heart are like a farmer who takes care of his land and makes it perfectly ready for the harvest time.

When there is a Pastor whom I have found who follows the same Jesus Christ I have found in the Bible, I want to spend as much time as God allows, and get to know that person as much as I can, because that person knows the Creator of the Universe, and the Creator of the Universe gave that person the job to tell the rest of us about the Creator and about His creation and about our place in it all!  Many of the best Pastors are ones you'll never hear of their names because they do their job in such a way so that they remain unspotted from the world, and they spend their time visiting orphans and widows.  There isn't a lot of glamour in the job of a Pastor from the world's perspective, but from the eyes of the congregation whom that Pastor is blessing by sharing the Word of God, he is a representative of God Himself to those people, and when God has caused it to work together for good for His will, a Christian church can be a very wholesome place to find good and real wisdom and prayer and other help in our journey here in life.  Some churches bill themselves as hospitals, or as learning academies, or as a fortress and an army training ground, and in a lot of ways, many churches are actually all of these things and more in today's day.

Pastors are warriors among warriors, out on the battlefield in this darkened world, strained by the same stress that everyone around them is strained by, yet, wholly protected by a holy protection with a name that is above all names.  When the rest of the world is given to change, the true servants of God will remain on the same Rock upon which they have stood and fallen and knelt and walked all along, and when all else fails, the Kingdom of God will remain true.  The Bible says that all of these kingdoms are becoming the kingdoms of Christ.  Satan is most wrathful because he knows his time is almost up and he's only got a few more years left to deceive people.  All of creation is groaning for the return of Jesus Christ, and it seems like all of creation is more and more reflecting what the Bible says the end of time will look like, just before the great and terrible Day of the Lord.

Pastors are blessed.  Let us love our Pastors by loving them the way God has loved us.  Let us not be a part of setting unrealistic expectations for a Pastor or his family, and let us not be quick to expel someone from their position in ministry simply because they have made mistakes.  These sins of respect have a greater error attached to them, a dark error where a Pastor is actually enabled by a congregation to get away with little sin after little sin that really turns out to be bigger sin, but it's through the sin of respect that a Pastor gets away with so much for so long, because people don't dare to question the man who wears the clothes.

If we loved our Pastors in the same way that God loves us, we would forgive them when they mess up, and when they ask for forgiveness, we would tell them they are forgiven in the name of Jesus Christ.  If we loved our Pastors in the same way that God loves us, we would tell our Pastors things that encourage them in Christ to continue on, whether they have just messed up, or whether they teach a stellar sermon week after week.  There is no Pastor who is outside of the reach of encouragement.  Every Pastor deserves much more praise than they will ever ask for, yet to give empty flattery or a multitude of gifts can actually have the opposite effect than what is intended.  Instead, support your Pastor with love by supporting them with prayer.  This is the single most important and most powerful thing you can do for you Pastor and their family, is to pray for them and ask God how to pray for them.

You can ask God to help you pray any day of the week, any hour of the day, and minute of the hour, and second of the minute, and any iota of any moment.  In other words, God wants you to talk with Him.  He designed you for communion with Him, and communication is a part of communion.  Prayer is communication with God.  Whether Pastors fully realize it or not, they are a part of God's communication with the people whom they talk to.  It's similar to how a baby's parents are their first introduction to God.  Our parents are not perfect, and our Pastor is not perfect, according to the standards that most people follow and call "perfect," but according to God, they are perfect.  They are the perfect parents for the children they have.  A Pastor is the perfect person for the people whom God brings to him to pray for and love.  God's definition of perfection is grand.  Man's attempt at using the word "perfect" usually misses the mark.  Perfection is a name of Jesus Christ.  He is Perfection.  He came and lived as a humble servant, as our example.  We are told that we must leave all to follow Him.  This is perfection.

A Pastor is one who has left and who is on a journey along a path picked out for them by God.  For as long as they are in the role of a Pastor in this life, they will be one who is like a swordsman among swordsmen, helping to sharpen each others' swords and train each other for battle.  One such battlefield is our knowledge of Scripture.  What joy it would be for us to bring Scripture to our Pastor!  Let us bless our Pastor with questions and timely wisdom from the Holy Spirit as we are led, and let us bless our Pastor with humble service when the Lord leads us to.  

God established the principle of tithing as a way to both take care of His people who have devoted their lives to taking care of His people, and as a way to train people in the right way to arrange their hearts towards God.  Rather than considering our money as our own money, we learn from the principle of tithing that our money is in fact given to us by God, and that He established a 10% tithe for the earlier Hebrews which extended to the early Christian church, and which is still followed today in Bible-believing churches.  Many churches have considered the 10% amount more of an arbitrary amount, and there is more of an emphasis on tithing out of gratitude, and I believe that both are good principles to follow, not one more than the other.  If 10% is what God established, there is some wisdom in that, and we are all expected to give God the first, biggest, best portion of whatever it is we produce with what God has given us to begin with.  

Jesus said that the lady who gave her last bit of money had given more than the rich people who gave lots of money.  It's not about a dollar amount.  God is concerned with the condition of our heart.  

Many people ask the question throughout their life, "What is the meaning of life?" or "What is the purpose of life?"

God tells us what His will for us in this life.  His Word is His written words to us to reveal Himself and His heart and His will for us.

In 1 Thessalonians 5 we can read in just a few verses what is God's will for each of our life:

16 Rejoice evermore.

17 Pray without ceasing.

18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

19 Quench not the Spirit.

20 Despise not prophesyings.

21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.

22 Abstain from all appearance of evil.

23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 5.16-23

It's right there.  Rejoice evermore.  Pray without ceasing.  In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

God's will for us is that we would rejoice evermore.  Our perfect Father's will for us is that we would communicate with Him nonstop.  Our perfect Father's will for us is that by Christ Jesus we would give thanks in every thing.

When we stop and think about this for a while, and think about how God brings people into our life to show us His love for us, so that we would be thankful, and when we think about how God brings events and good times and bad times and God allows all sorts of things to happen in this life, and the end result of it is that we are going to be thankful.

There is treasure all around us.  We have to believe in Jesus Christ to really be able to enjoy it when we find it.  God is pouring out His Holy Spirit upon all flesh, and there is an awesome dinner feast that has been prepared for eons, which we are about to witness and be a part of.  There are people whom God has sent among us as sheep among wolves, to be the Pastors of God's flock, to tell us about His Son Jesus Christ.

For those of us who have Pastors who love God and love people and love the whole Bible and who share God's love faithfully, let us keep them in our prayers as we continually pray to God, and let us ask God for help to remain in prayer continually with Him.  It is something which is happening before we realize it, and our prayers are deeper than our native tongue can account for, because our prayers are on a level that is grander than we have the capacity to comprehend just yet, but, God tells us to pray to Him, and He wants us to remain focused on Jesus Christ always and when we turn our heart to Him, somehow we can glimpse in this life the enormity of His grandness and the brilliance of His glory, when we are in prayer with Him, and when we are meditating on Scriptures, and when we are in communion with other believers in Jesus Christ.

Rather than being a passive participant, or an inactive bystander, pray about how you can go to church prepared to encourage somebody with the blessings which God has blessed you with.  It doesn't have to be the Pastor, but just by asking God to prepare you with a blessing for someone in church, you will be joining in with your Pastor in doing the work of the Lord, and the Lord sees what you do, and He will reward you accordingly.

There are two kinds of unprofitable servants in the Bible.  One is a good kind to be, and one is a bad kind to not be.

Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come!

2 It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.

3 Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.

4 And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.

5 And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.

6 And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.

7 But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat?

8 And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink?

9 Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not.

10 So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.
Luke 17.1-10

This first kind of unprofitable servant, there in v10, is the attitude which we should have towards the work which God gives us, so that at the end of the day, we are not finishing up the work of building our kingdom for the day, but we are resting from the work which the Lord has given for us to do in His Kingdom, and we recognize that everything we have belongs to Him.

The unprofitable servant in His next story is a stark warning that Jesus Christ gave to all of us about the peril of inaction and fear and doubt.  Fear God.  Do not fear men.

This Passage is not as much an admonition to doing lots of good works (although doing good works happens when we love God!), but it is more about being prepared towards Zion, towards our God Who is arriving with His new holy city of Jerusalem.  How are we dressed for that banquet?  Are we blind, naked, miserable, and wretched?  Are we honest?  When Jesus Christ returns, who will we be that He calls by name to account for our words and deeds in this life?  When we see Him face to face, what will His face look like?  Will you see His face?  Will He welcome you as as a believer?

Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.

2 And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.

3 They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:

4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.

5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.

6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.

7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.

8 And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.

9 But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.

10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.

11 Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.

12 But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.

13 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.

14 For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.

15 And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.

16 Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents.

17 And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two.

18 But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money.

19 After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.

20 And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.

21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

22 He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.

23 His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

24 Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:

25 And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.

26 His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:

27 Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.

28 Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.

29 For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.

30 And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:

32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:

33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:

43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.

44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?

45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.

46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
Matthew 25.1-46