Back To The Basics, Part 4

In my last blog, I shared Cx3’s core values: W (Worship), O (Outreach), R (Relationship), and now I’m wrapping it up with the last letter, “D,” of the acronym “WORD.”

“D” is for “Discipleship”: We, Cliffdale Christian Center, are getting back to solid discipleship. It’s not going to be for everybody. I want to go on record: our goal is not to be one of the biggest churches in Fayetteville. Never was, never will be. God bless those who have that vision; it’s a wonderful thing. I hope they see their goal fulfilled, and they have thousands and thousands of people coming to church on Sunday. Our goal is to raise disciples. That doesn’t make us better; it doesn’t make them better. I’m just saying that our goal is to make disciples. And if you’re in, “Come on.”

If you just want to be comfortable going somewhere and putting a little money in the basket every week, well, I don’t know how long you’ll want to remain around here. Stay as long as you’re comfortable, but there will be a time that you’re going to get itchy feet and say, “I ain’t stayin’ here no more. Too much is expected of me. I’d rather go where I feel better, put my money in a basket, and Pastor, don’t get in my face every week.” We’ve tried that. It doesn’t work! Not for us. And who wants that? Man, I don’t want a church full of corpses!

It is time for Cliffdale to return to our first love. Time for us to do what God has called us to do. His calling has never changed. We had changed, but God’s call on this church has never changed. And we’ll only be fulfilled when we are busy about the Father’s business and when we are doing those things that God created us to do, not only as individuals, but also as a church.

I don’t want to follow a god that I imagine what he is, and then he fits my schematic of what my idea of a god is supposed to be like. Sometimes I think that we’ve done that in the American church. Yes, God is love, and He is merciful, but you know what? He’s also fire. What are ya gonna do with that one? We’re sometimes so fearful of a word on judgment. Well, read your Bible! “Oh, we’ll just leave that part out.” What did Jesus say? He said in that day many will come to Me and say, “Lord, Lord,” and I’ll look at them and say, “Depart from Me, workers of iniquity, I never knew you.” May we not be guilty of claiming the lordship of Christ unless we are willing to obey Him!

Every kingdom has a king (king-dom, king’s dominion). The kingdom in which you live has a king, a final authority. Is it you, or is it Jesus? You live in a kingdom. The question is: who is the ruler?

So God is calling us back. Oh yes, He’s calling us up, He’s calling us deep, but He’s calling us BACK! We don’t hear too much about being called back. We want to go higher and deeper, higher and deeper, higher and deeper. “No, I’m calling you BACK to those things that you first did that were making a difference.”

And so plans are underway, and my family and our leadership are saying, “Here we are, Lord,” and if it means selling our stuff, well, so be it. “I’ll sell everything except . . . except . . . my golf clubs. I won’t sell my golf clubs.” I was looking around the other day and saying to my wife, “We gotta get rid of stuff, we gotta get rid of it, and we have to start to do some things here.” And she said, “Tell me!”

Even in the challenge that Wesley made the other day, you don’t sell something so that you can buy other things for yourself. I used the example earlier: “I’ll sell my golf clubs so I can buy a new surfboard. Huh, how about that, Jesus?” And you know what Jesus says, “Do whatever you want, just remember, I see your works. I see them. I see what you’re doing.”

Now, He did have a couple of commendations there in verse 2 of Revelation chapter 2; He saw several good things about the church at Ephesus. They had tested those who said they were apostles and found them out to be liars, and He also commended them regarding the fact that they had not taken the course of the Nicolaitans. And then He said, “He who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give to him to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”

What is it that we have to overcome? It’s not just the powers of darkness: Satan and demons. Oftentimes the most powerful force we have to reckon with is that of our own flesh. That is why over and over again Jesus said, “If you’re going to be My disciples, then you must learn to deny yourself.” “Deny yourself,” if you don’t know, means to say “NO” to what you want. Now I would add a further challenge. Tell yourself “NO,” and see how your “self” responds. Sometimes we are so unregenerate in our soul. You can deny yourself a piece of cheesecake and practically have a self-conniption. If you don’t know what a conniption looks like, imagine your picture after you’ve told yourself no about the cheesecake. No. No. No. No. No, you cannot have your plastic Jesus. No, you can’t. God is not going to be conformed into the image that we want Him to be!

My grandmother came from Italy. If ever there was a Catholic grandma, it was my grandma. She went to mass every day and had candles and a little shrine in her bedroom. I was raised Catholic, and we were so Catholic that we had our plastic Jesus up on the dashboard, and next to Him was St. Christopher. And if you don’t know what that one is for, it’s for safe travel because Christopher carried Jesus over the river. Oh my. Hallelujah, thank God for Jesus! Huh?

There is no plastic Jesus, and He will not be conformed according to the mold that we try to put Him in. We’ve been made in His image and in His likeness. As we yield to His Spirit, we can come to a place of knowing and doing His will and that’s where we find fulfillment. That’s where we find true happiness and satisfaction in this life and even greater reward in the life to come.

~ PG

Back to the Basics

Several weeks ago I was reading the Word and one phrase kept jumping off the page at me.

“If you’re going to be my disciples, then you must deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me.” We read this in every Gospel account. So this was something that Jesus wanted to be made abundantly clear to His disciples. If you’re going to be My disciple, then you must: “if” and “must.” Sometimes I wonder how serious we truly are about our discipleship.

I remember a few years ago preaching a series that lasted approximately six months regarding becoming and being a disciple of Jesus Christ. You would have thought that I was trying to preach the church empty because the Lord just wouldn’t leave me alone about this Word, “Being a Disciple.” And it was all from the red print in the Bible. We talked about the things that Jesus said we must do if we are to be His disciples.

Here’s what a disciple of Christ looks like. You’re going to have to be willing to do “these things” if you’re going to be His disciple. And one phrase that repeatedly shows up in the Scripture is that you’re going to have to deny yourself, take up your cross every day, and you must follow Him. Those are two powerful words, “Follow Me.” We read that when Jesus would talk to a potential disciple, it was ordinary for Him to simply speak two words. I don’t care if we’re talking about Phillip the fisherman, or the tax collector, Matthew. In every case, Jesus approaches them and says these words, “Follow Me.”

And then what does Jesus do? He walks away. He keeps on walking. He doesn’t say, “If you really want to know Me, come to My comfortable environment where you can sit in a comfy chair, with carpet on the floor, and with the air conditioning set just right. And if it’s too hot or too cold, just let Us know, because We are here to make you happy. We are here to make you feel good. Everything is okay, and it’s only going to get better.”

God wants to prosper us, but may we never be so deceived as to think that He wants to prosper us just for us. That is a deception that is running rampant in the Church. Jesus says two words, “Follow Me,” and then He keeps moving. And it’s pretty obvious that relatively few took Him at His Word and were willing to follow Him until the very end.

So I received this Word early in the morning that the Lord wants you and Cliffdale to know that you have left your first love. What is a pastor to do? Well, I don’t know what else I could have done, but the first thing I did was repent. But you see, repentance doesn’t only involve saying you’re sorry. Repentance doesn’t only mean “Oh Lord, I acknowledge that I, and we, have collectively left our first love. Therefore God, I’m asking You to forgive me, and oh, I thank You that when I confess my sins, that You’re faithful and just to forgive me and cleanse me from all unrighteousness, and today I’m forgiven,” and then I go about my merry way.

No, He actually brought me to the book of Revelation, chapter two. Fortunately in this case it was not the Laodicean church. But it was another church for which the Lord had a strong Word.

This church was located in Ephesus, one of the most influential cities in Asia Minor at the time. It was a port city that had been developed to accommodate a multitude of docks and shipping; hence, a lot of commerce, money, and people moving into the area.

Look at this portion of Scripture:

¹“To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, ‘These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: ² “I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; ³ and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary” (Revelation 2:1-3).

So He says, “I know your labor, I see that you are working, that you are giving out, putting out.” He continues, “I see your patience, the fact that you are enduring, and you’re remaining constant and steadfast. And you’ve labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary in well-doing” (paraphrased). But then in verse 4 He says . . .

⁴Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. ⁵Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent. I see your works, and I am intimately acquainted with what you do” (Revelation 2:4-5).

You can still be engaged in and very active with all of these other things and perhaps not even realize that you have left your first love. In fact, it’s possible that your work and even your ministry have become your first love. It’s feasible that other people and/or things have become your first love. It’s possible for you to think that God has prospered you so that you can buy more cars, flat screen TV’s, bigger houses, and more new clothes. It’s just possible. So the Lord says, “You have left your first love.” And then He says, “Remember therefore from where you have fallen.” Wow! Remember from where you have fallen.

I need to stop here for time’s sake, but I will continue with this story in a few days. Thank you for joining me on this journey; I am truly excited about what Christ is revealing and where He is taking us!

~ PG