Something is Missing!

For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel! — 1 Corinthians 9:16

All these "churches" and "christians" in central PA and yet the gospel is all but completely silent. All that can be heard is the mere sound of shuffling sheep. Haven’t we received power to proclaim the gospel to the entire world? How can we be truly saved and not have the zeal of the gospel in us. How can we call ourselves the Church yet not declare the gospel? or realize our responsibility to it? It's not about if people are getting saved that’s not our job, our job is to be faithful to the preaching of the gospel. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. 1 Cor 1:18 Noah preached for 120 years and only his family was saved. Peter in the book of Acts wasn't trying to please the conservative or smart crowd, he raised up his voice and declared it. But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: Acts 2:14 

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the Power of God unto salvation. Below are the words of Charles Spurgeon as you read them may they burn a whole in your soul like they have mine. The rebuke that he brings is so relevant today. 

I wish I had the ear of every preacher in the world right now, not that I deserve to preach to preachers, but I know this is so — it doesn’t matter if a little child says it, or an ignorant person says it, or who says it — Paul said it first, the Holy Spirit inspired him to say it, ‘Woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel.’ I’m in trouble, real trouble. I cannot think of any crime — I can’t think of a crime more terrible than to be entrusted with the immortal souls of eternity-bound boys and girls, young people, men and women, like every preacher is in-trusted every Sunday, and then stand up here and waste this precious time talking about myself, about my problems or my so-called denomination or my church, or talk about my ideas of what is right and what is wrong. I cannot think of a more terrible crime than to be entrusted with the souls of men and women who are sitting before us, some of whom may be in hell before next Sunday, and take that time singing a bunch of ditties, carrying on with foolishness, and making a mockery of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I can’t think of a more awful crime against society than to deceive people who are given to us to instruct in the things of the Lord. I’ve got to preach the gospel — woe is unto me if I don’t. God have mercy, and he won’t, if I don’t! Woe unto the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, woe unto the Christ-crucifiers of Jerusalem, but double woe upon the preachers and shepherds and pastors who for advantage, filthy lucre and praise of men deceive men’s souls — God help them, but he won’t. Woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel, and there’s not another one, it’s the gospel of Christ. If an angel from heaven preach unto you any other gospel, Paul said, ‘let him be accursed.’ Now if you want to play games, you play them, but you play them somewhere else — I’m going to preach the gospel here. If you want to play church, you play it, but you play it somewhere else. I’m preaching as a dying man to dying men; I’m preaching as one who may never preach again, and under God I’m going to tell you the truth. I say this in closing, woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel; but I have something to tell you: woe is unto you if I preach it and you do not believe it. You may not understand it; and it may not fit in with your tradition; and it may not fit into your denominational pattern, and I’m sure if it’s the gospel it won’t because Christ didn’t fit the denominational pattern when he came down here either — he didn’t fit into their religious theology; he didn’t fit into their tradition; and he didn’t fit into their mold; and they crucified him! My message may not fit what Mama taught you, but Mama wasn’t sent of God to preach the gospel — I am. If I didn’t believe that, I’d quit. Do you see what I’m saying? I’m saying, ‘woe is unto you, woe is unto the Tri-state area, and woe is everybody under the sound of my voice, if I preach the gospel and you do not believe it. I’m willing to take my medicine, if I don’t preach the gospel; but you get ready to take yours, if I do and you do not receive it — is that fair? I preach the gospel, Paul says! I don’t have anything to glory of — I’m just a sinner saved by grace. Necessity is laid upon me — I’ve got to preach the gospel, for woe is unto me if I don’t preach it. Now will you say this — I believe the gospel, but if I believe the gospel, I don’t have anything to glory of — will you say that? God gave me the knowledge; God gave me the repentance; God gave me the faith. For necessity is laid upon me — I’ve got to believe the gospel, because there’s no truth anywhere else; there’s no beauty anywhere else; there’s no hope anywhere else; no refuge anywhere else — necessity is laid upon me — can you say that? And can you go on and finish — woe is unto me if I don’t believe the gospel. That’s all I’ve got to say. Now it’s between you and God — I leave it with you.

Last Respects

Yesterday morning I had an opportunity to help at a funeral service. I parked cars and passed out bulletins. As I watched the family and friends arrive from near and far something struck me. Even though the person died, people still came out of respect to say good-bye. They did more then send cards and flowers.  My Mom and Dad always said when going to a viewing that they were going to pay their “last respects”.  This really moved my heart and I began to consider the actions and attitudes of the churches in this valley (including the one I belong too).  Give me a moment to connect the dots. Because of the absence of Gospel preaching the local church has depended on church transfers as their main source of church growth.  Its called the “attractional model”.  Don’t deny it… How many people were saved already before coming to your church? A pie chart would be very interesting.  Matter of fact some churches birthed in this area is a direct result of disgruntle Christians who can “do it” better and “know it” better.  I thought the church was to be birthed as a result of people coming to Christ?  Anyway… So many have indulged in the “my church is better, smarter, fancier, and even more right then yours” syndrome. As a result instead of being a church on a mission we have become this “Spiritual Walmart” of sorts. So like bees we witness Christians moving from flower to flower looking for the sweet stuff of spiritual life.  I confess I was a part of this repulsive behavior and at first didn’t even realize it. When you leave a church in an improper manner (including not telling your leaving) it creates disunity (Romans 16:17), disorder (1 Corinthians 14:40), and major disappointment. And we as receiving churches also then become responsible for the disorder created in a neighboring fellowship.  And we never seem to care until it affects us. Sometimes I didn’t even know who we were responsible for because of all the shiftiness (Hebrews 13:17). That’s not maintaining the unity, in fact that’s divisive and out of order and is just one more thing pitting local churches and their leaders against each other. The results is a drawing away of our energy from our mission with God. So I want to say sorry for my lack of integrity in this area and I apologized to all the local churches and pastors that have been hurt by our actions and lack of actions. I am working diligently with my leaders so that in the future we will not be a part of this deadly epidemic plaguing our area churches. I will send folks back to make sure everything is in order, blessings are given when possible, and that true love is expressed. I would encourage others to join me in this pursuit of peace and unity.

If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Romans 12:18

Why It Matters

I often have many people ask me questions about h2 doing work in other countries, besides the work of equipping church leaders. Many ask questions such as “what about here?” So as I prepare to return to East Africa I thought it would be a great time to answer this “WHY?” question. No I am not mad, I’m actually very glad to be able to share my heart. Okay, lets begin. Lets start with the reality of responsibility. Jesus is God and God is God of all of the universe, not just America. You and I are first Christians and second Americans. If you can’t grasp the reality that we are first citizens of heaven, then much of this will not make sense to you.  When I look at poverty and the needs of others as a follower of Jesus, I look at the world, not just America. With the advances of technology and travel, our global responsibilities are intensely heightened. With such great wealth in their hands, the American Christian is obligated to help with the least of these. Can we help everyone? No. However, this should never stop us from helping one. Does this mean we should overlook the needs right in front of our faces? NO WAY! We must first determine the need. When arriving at the scene of an accident, the emergency workers first assess the victims to see who is in the worst condition. It would be silly to first stop at the closest victim who merely needs a Band-Aid, when the others are bleeding out. What are real needs? Food, water, and shelter are basic necessities of life. H2 has never let one person die of thirst, starvation or be without shelter. We have emptied our own refrigerators and placed sleeping bags on our living room floors. And to top that off, in the process we had an opportunity to preach to them the wonderful good news of the gospel.  How do we grade poverty? What about worldwide? Do you know that last year in America over 8 billion dollars was spent on cosmetics alone and 53 billion for pets? Also, the money spent on artificial green Easter grass could fix many health crises around the world. I've seen with my own eyes, handmade wooden coffins stacked up at the marketplaces to bury little children who died from drinking contaminated water. Not sure that I see that same desperation here. My kids drink bottled water because they don't like the taste of the water from the faucet. As a Christian, I believe the Scripture teaches us that we have a world-wide responsibility including the communities around us. The great question asked of Jesus was “who is my neighbor?” Many of the resources that God has granted the American church have sadly been spent on herself, perhaps unknowingly. How will we determine when it is time to help somewhere else? Will we base it on Christmas presents or children dying from lack of clean water et cetera?  I’m not calling people to get rid of their stuff, but to care and not write-off what I believe is part of their God-given responsibility. Of course “we need to take care of our own people,” but we need to be sensitive about where this starts and ends. Remember that we are not the government, we are the church and the rules are much different. A study showed that almost 50% of food stamp recipients in America were overweight. We ask how many people in America starve to death each year? The statistics for this is almost nonexistent. Many people in America eat from trash cans from which they find full of wasted food. In other countries, the trash cans are empty. There are hungry people in America, but few are dying from hunger. I remember distributing groceries in Pennsylvania and giving a woman in her forties a big box of food. After looking through the box, she began removing items and asked to trade them because she “didn't eat that brand.”

Sin has and will for a time, continue to create a fertile environment for disease, corruption, and every kind of evil to thrive. My eyes have seen the least of these, which are those at the bottom of the pile. As I travel through many places, I have seen many starving people dying on the side of a dusty road. I realize that my prayers for these people will reach the heavens and settle back in my own hands. Christ laid aside everything and came to us---a lost and desperate people starving beside a dusty road. Jesus came and walked down that same dusty road and gave His life... Jesus took care of our deepest needs. FOOD- “Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger”. WATER- “but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.” SHELTER- “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”

If you or someone you know, live in the USA and are struggling with hunger ,and don't live in the Northumberland/Snyder County Area  where h2church is; go to www.freefood.org for help. You don't need to be hungry. 

In Love or Like???

Revelation 2:4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.

Do you know that the church is the “Body of Christ”? Jesus is the Head of the Church and the Body all at once... We cannot separate them even though many try... Some deceive themselves by trying to treat one better than the other and justifying their ill behavior of the other for a host of reasons. But can we rightfully treat one with distain or carelessness and be true to the other? The answer is NO!

What if each of you were so in love with Jesus and His body (aka: The church) that there would never be a plea from the local church for money or workers. Thats right... no more begging, offering announcements and/or clever campaigns. Instead, you as members of the body of Christ give liberally and find the giving a joy, and seek to know if you can give more, if needed. And even if serving means doing something you don’t like to do, you simply roll up your sleeves and get at it. No murmuring or negativity clouding the heart, but pure joy just to serve the body of Christ ... or as scripture says, “as unto the Lord”. Maybe I’m wrong, but when you’re in love with someone you are always asking, “what do you need?, “do you have enough?”, “can I do anymore?”. I know most of us remember this tone from early on in our relationships. We were quite attentive. However, I know for most, this tone has changed to a lukewarm or cold heart. Don’t accept this temperature drop as okay or normal... Its bad news.

When you're in love you long to be together. When you’re in love you don't see once a week as enough or something you could do with or without. Heaven is forever being in the presence of Christ. If you have no desire to be with the body of Christ. hmmm... I wonder how that works. Yes, I know we can make lists of excuses and reasons to dislike “church people”. Caution: Jesus won’t let you chop His head off and throw away His body... and He knows not everyone in the local church belongs to Him and He knows others are weak, annoying and even difficult. But He has left us with in instructions of how to live and deal with one another. 

By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:35

When you’re in love, unless it’s some “forbidden love” (something shameful), you want everyone in your life to meet that special person. When you bring someone to where the body of Christ has assembled they get a special gift of meeting the supernatural presence of Jesus through the Holy Spirit. “Where two or three are gathered in the name of Jesus”...

When you’re in love you don't hold back. Everything you do seems to others as being over the top. Singing about and to Jesus and hearing the holy scriptures as they point to the very person of Christ should set our hearts on fire. We shouldn't need primed or pushed... And when the singing or preaching stops the thought of Him should linger in our hearts and minds. All because we love Him.

Are you really in Love or are you just in Like? I was in Like for a long time. I was only willing to do so much and only go so far. I was more worried about my comfort and happiness. Commitment was whatever I felt it should be. Obedience was optional. Then I experienced the Grace of God and it all began to change.

“Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory” (1 Peter 1:8).

When you are in love you want to make the other person happy. How this is done is by doing whatever you know pleases that person. This is even when you don’t like to do what they want or perhaps don’t understand why they like or dislike... But when you are in love it means that your smile may only be there because you see the smile it puts on the face of the one you love. You receive enough joy from pleasing them that your lack of personal satisfaction doesn’t matter.  When Jesus calls us to love Him, He reminds us that we love Him by keeping His word. This is a real point of turning for many (I could say so much about this above all the other thoughts). When I am disobedient to God’s word, my heart is driven to exam the relationship that I profess to have with Jesus. Self- judgment using the word of God is the only way for a true believer to maintain a healthy love relationship with Jesus. 

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. John 14:23

Consider your relationship with Jesus... If there is any trouble in this relationship I assure you it’s not on His side of the relationship. Is there real evidence that you are truly in love with Him? Not just in mere outward expressions... Not just in busyness...  If the answer is no, then the same place the Spirit of God summoned the church of Ephesus to, I urge you to be. “Repentance Blvd”… Easy to find, but hard to get to because we must humble ourselves and confess our sin

Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. Revelation 2:5

Why I sometimes wish Christianity was illegal in America.

Did I get everyone's attention yet? Good! Maybe I’m completely wrong about this, but I am just using my “freedom of speech” to capture some scattered thoughts. My whole life at church, conferences, and youth retreats, I remember hearing the same words over and over again:“I thank God that we have the freedom to worship and pray...” blah, blah blah... (rolling my eyes). I remember wearing the same phrase like a badge of honor on my chest. As I look at the current darkening condition of the American church I realize one of our biggest problems is actually our “freedom”. As a result of our freedom from the government we have defaced the very nature and essence of the Church of the living God. This is not America’s fault, but is a direct result of the church walking with a dual citizenship mentality. This dual mentality has helped to scramble our understanding of words like freedom, peace, happiness and rights. So, we have the freedom to pray in public. Why is everyone so happy about this??? There isn’t even prayer inside our country clubs (aka “church buildings”) Yes, you hear a prayer here and there,or there may be an hour prayer service. Or, even better, you might come across some small group of intercessors. I’m not trying to downplay any value these events may hold, but merely pointing out how we have allowed the freedom we have to diminish the powerful and unceasing prayer culture in Christ's church. Okay, I forgot. We do pray before we eat and/or overeat, which often is not a prayer of thanksgiving at all, but rather a cold-hearted, legalistic ritual: “God is good God is great...”. I wonder what the prayer life of Youcef Nadarkhani and the saints in Iran look like as Youcef sits in prison charged with apostasy for sharing Christ and is now sentenced to death. 

Worship has also fallen prey to our freedom. We set our alarms, jump in our cars, complain about parking, temperature settings, losing our favorite seats, and than watching our clocks hoping this is the last point to the pastor’s internet sermon. In contrast there are countries where people are waking and walking for hours in the cover of night to sneak in to a dark shed, sitting on a crowded dirt floor and listening to the word of God read for hours. What an enormous gap between the two worlds. 

Now when it comes to freedom of speech in America, you would think that evangelism would be at an all time high. I would visualize people sharing the Good News everywhere to everyone but sadly there could be nothing farther than the truth. Where is the Good News being spoken? Listen to the silence as it slays us with guilt. Let’s face it. When it comes to gossiping or criticizing, you can hear the voices of many like hungry sea gulls spotting a neglected lunch basket. In the Book of Acts Peter was told by the rulers not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. What did he do? He prayed for boldness that he may speak the word. So we can clearly see we are walking in the wrong freedom. We look at our American “freedom” as a responsibility and our freedom in Christ as some kind of option. 

In our country, church leaders are often selected on the basis of their educational resumes and not on the reality of their call and proven character, or based on the way they have suffered for the gospel or suffered because of the love of the saints. Even more, it’s so easy to be a hypocrite in the America church we have nothing to fear. Just sign up for the “I’m New Here” class and promise 10 percent of your income and you are in. Then we have those spending the majority of their emotions, energy and resources trying to pressure the government here to legislate Christianity (aka morality) for us. The shame of it all is that it is the same Christianity that we refuse to legislate in our own lives and churches. Yes, I said it! We have helped blur the line between the church and the world. Prayer in school??? Most of our children don’t know how to or don’t care to pray anyway. Do we really believe forcing our Christian values on others will save them? Our signs will not save them. We must preach Christ. Rights and responsibilities are not the same. The Bible says that we are to pray, submit and suffer against (when they seek to force us to oppose God’s word) government. Maybe I will save that topic for another time. 

This world is not our home and neither is this country... I am thankful for this country and the soldiers who fought and died for law and order. My father the late Kirt D Gittens Sr. and my father-in-law Gary G Weyant served this country with dignity and honor to which I am grateful. God created government for law and order and the church for love and grace. But the freedom that Christians should brag about is the freedom that came from a Savior, not a solider. Once again, I'm not saying not to be thankful for our American freedom, but to make sure it is placed below the reality of the freedom that the cross of Christ has brought us. I pray for the day that we may be shaken, when the complacency and lukewarmness of the American church would come to an end and we would no longer boast about a freedom that we enjoy as Americans, but about the freedom purchased by the precious blood of Jesus, and that we would truly live in that freedom. Galatians 5:13-15 Is not talking to Americans only but those in Laos, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Yemen, China and the entire world. http://www.persecution.com/public/restrictednations.aspx?clickfrom=bWFpbl9tZW51

Galatians 5:13-15 For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another.

Philippians 3:20-21 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.

CHRISTMESS!

No I didn't misspell the title. The “Christmas” season is a perfect example of perhaps what is a mess in the church.

We all know that Jesus was not born on December 25^th, which isn’t the issue (Praise God He came!). Rather, the issue is we attempt to celebrate His birth by buying gifts for people who do not really need it and give Jesus what little still remains. This can consist of low praise, lack luster commitment, partial obedience and maybe 10% of our earnings. Isnʼt it interesting that everyone has their own birthday but still feel the need to receive something on Jesus’ “birthday” too? Does Jesus get gifts on your birthday? Just asking... I know Iʼm going to be persecuted for touching the sacred “Christmas cow.” And no—this is not my attempt to get out of buying my seven children gifts (even though thatʼs not a bad idea). Iʼm not saying there is something wrong with giving and receiving, but how dare we let the religious system and corporate America tell us when to shop and what to buy? I have heard about people being trampled to death on a Black Friday and scenes that looked more like rice distribution in Democratic Republic of Congo, the poorest country in Africa. In 2009 $410,000,000 were spent on Christmas trees in the United States (I have one too), and over $1,100,000,000 in gift wrap! WOW! Additionally, $5,000,000,000 was spent on gifts for pets. Do you realize how many worldwide problems of injustice the church could solve with just a small portion of the resources we use for gifts at this time of year? It would take approximately $10 billion dollars to provide clean water to the entire world. What a great gift the Church could give the world for Christmas. For the last few years this has been the conversation in our household. If you are going to use December 25th as the date you choose to celebrate the birth of Jesus, then do it. But I’d encourage you to think about how you celebrate. Sing worship songs, instead of just songs about snow and Grandma getting hit by a reindeer. Do something for someone that Jesus would have done as a way to honor Him, turning your worship into works that display His love. Remember to continually celebrate Him past the established walls built by man. Invite someone who lives alone to eat with you. Pass along the gifts that you don’t need to someone who needs them more. Spend more time with your children, which is a gift whose memories last forever. One of the greatest gifts you can give is of yourself. You are blessed to be a blessing! Everyday Jesus is worthy to be praised and celebrated! Well I’ve got to go. I have eight days left to comply or be exiled.

I Am Not God

For most people, the title of this blog will make them say, "duhhhh...". But as we look closer, maybe not. I hear a lot of professing "christians" (especially on Facebook) saying things that are so against what God's Word states so clearly. I find myself wondering why they even want to have anything to do with "christianity". They treat lies as truth and truth as lies.  

Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. Romans 1:24, 25 

Here are my thoughts on this sweeping, but ancient epidemic.

What if anything you felt was a sin, was a sin? What if anything you felt wasn’t a sin, wasn’t a sin? I mean after all, you must keep up with current trends and the new norms, right??? Or the popular phrase, "If it feels right it probably is!" Let’s face it, when the bible says there is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9), there isn’t anything. In the Old Testament people did the same things we see people doing today. Listen, there are lots of things my flesh would love to indulge in, things I would love to simply just excuse as modernity... but I won’t. If I did, it would be like looking at God and saying, “I got this, so move out of my way”. Since the Garden of Eden we are familiar with the tone, "You shall be like God" the serpent said to Eve.

Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts. Prov 21:2

In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. Judges 17:6 

Why is it so hard for us to understand? Think about it, if you built and owned something, would you let someone else tell you what it was or what it was made for or how to use it? How would you feel if someone else came and changed it to make it the way they liked it best? We would all protest...would we not?

So I guess the question is, do you believe the God of the bible? Do you believe the God of creation? If so, obey Him no matter what’s popular or acceptable. This does not mean you should go around condemning others or acting self-righteous, but it should be demonstrated by your obedience to God's Word. The old saying was, "God said it and that settles it for me". One day we will stand before a Holy and Righteous God who has created us and has a will for us to live by. It's up to you to accept or reject this God. But there is no picking and choosing what you like or fence riding. Yes I struggle with sin everyday. The bible says, “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. Gal 5:17” But I fully believe that the struggle I face against my flesh will one day be worth it all. So I have eaten the whole Word and my stomach wrenches with pain as I fight each day for I am persuaded and I believe that He is God and I am Not! May God forgive us for our self-worship.