Getting Equipped

A few weeks ago I came across the above cartoon on Facebook. As you can see, a pastor takes the brain out of an attendee and says, “Welcome to church. You won’t be needing this.”

The cartoon emphatically declares that when you attend a church gathering, you don’t need to think. You don’t need your brain. It’s basically saying that weekly messages and lessons from the Bible are for people who don’t have a mind of their own, or it's saying Believers don’t really think for themselves. Worse yet, it's saying pastors encourage people to not really engage their minds when they come to church.

Nothing could be further from the truth. So I responded to the cartoon by posting a message to our Facebook followers:

“This will never be true at the Urban Life Family Center. We expect spiritual and mental engagement with the Bible as we explore the life and ministry of Christ. We are making every attempt to provide solid contextual and balanced instruction in the Word of God, to not only inspire our faith, but to also challenge our thinking!”

This blog features another mind-challenging, heart-probing message. By now you have realized that Chris and Carol Green talk about life and bring up issues in ways that go beyond the surface. We don’t preach condemnation sermons about WHAT people do, because we delve into WHY people do what they do.

We address more than the problems and trials that we are all going through in life. We get into the overall purpose and will of God and how what we are going through is connected to the ONE who is greater than ourselves.

We don’t give you an emotionally charged and hyped-up church service about getting a financial breakthrough or gaining deliverance from some storm in your life. We emphasize the importance of learning Biblical principles and Godly wisdom, so that we can understand how we got into the situation, how we can navigate our way out of it, how we can avoid getting back into a similar circumstance, and how to turn the focus of our lives to Christ.

By now you realize that we don’t try to answer everyone’s questions or solve everyone’s problems, but we try to provide the tools that everyone will need; so that each person can learn and grow in the ways of God and not become dependent upon a pastor or another Believer to spoon feed them the scriptures or carry them in every single step they must take in their life. We want you to learn how to properly read and understand the Bible for yourself.

Last Sunday, we explored some of the reasons WHY this ministry functions the way it functions; so you can have a healthy expectation of what GOD is actually trying to accomplish in your heart and home.

If you don’t understand that we host a session where Believers are being TRAINED and COACHED to live out their faith outside of the walls of our facility, then you might become very frustrated, confused or disappointed with the direction in which we are going.

There are several benefits for you and your family when connecting with a LIFE-DEVELOPMENT ministry like Urban Life. A life-development ministry establishes the foundation of Christ in your life. 

For instance, did you know that the Bible is not about us? It was not written just for us to pick up quotes on how to get through our problems. It was written to point us to Christ. Accepting this foundational truth will change your life forever.

According to Ephesians 4, there are several benefits to having the right foundation, but we’ll just mention three for now.

First: A solid, Christ-centered, foundation will keep you from being tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine or the trickery of men in cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting. Stability will come into your life and you won’t be swept away by the latest trends, fads and false teachings from some Christian entertainment and television programs.

Second: This solid foundation will help you grow up (mature) in Christ.

Third: This foundation will help you find your place in the Body of Christ and enable you to do your part with no envy, strife, or insecurity in your heart.

As we continue to move forward in this season, you are being equipped to serve in your families, on your jobs, in your schools, and in this community. 

So come prepared, every week, to engage your brain. Come prepared to have the Word of God challenge the way you think and live. Come prepared to learn about the priority of Christ in every area of our lives. Come prepared to be equipped to do the work of the ministry.

Learning to Drive

Our world is filled with so many issues and problems that we can find ourselves always desiring a place of peace, safety and comfort. We’d like to just still away to a setting where we don’t have to think about controversy, conflict and trouble. That’s part of the reason why many Believers go to church on Sundays. They want to meet with other Believers and just leave the world outside of those four walls for a couple of hours each week.

Well, we’re about to burst that bubble for many Believers, because God did not call us to set up a weekly vacation resort where we could escape from the world. That kind of thinking is the reason why so many Believers begin to get uncomfortable if their pastor starts talking about abortion, gay marriage, conflicts in heterosexual marriages, pornography, the common core agenda in education, immigration rights, racism, sexism, global warming, world hunger, the war on terror, gun control, free speech, freedom of religion, domestic violence, or the drug abuse epidemic in our neighborhoods.

Many Believers attend a local church to get away from all of those things. They don’t want to hear a lecture or sermon about those issues. They want to hear about going to heaven or how to become more prosperous in their short time on this earth.

However, we are convinced that the life and calling on Believers today, is like learning to drive a car. There are several skills that you must learn. Once you learn each skill, then you have to learn how to put each of those skills together and exercise them all at the same time. Then you have to learn how to perform all of those skills while observing road signs, traffic lanes, traffic signals, and other drivers.

Most American Believers have learned how to put the key in the ignition and start their Christian car, but they haven’t learned anything else. They are perfectly happy to sit in the car with the engine running, while they go nowhere at all. That will not be so with our family.

God has instructed us to teach the function of the vehicle, the skills for driving, the rules for navigation and safety, and what to do in case of emergencies. There is so much more to our walk with God than just simply driving down the road, trying to get to our destination. There are other drivers (belief systems) on the road, too. There are stop signs and traffic signals. There can be pedestrians, animals and objects on the road, all which can represent different views, issues and problems in life. Even with all of that, we haven’t talked about learning what to do if our own vehicle develops a few problems. So you see, we all have a lot to learn. Our weekly gathering is one of the places that God has provided for us to learn and grow.

We hope this analogy is helping you to see what our weekly Sunday morning session is truly designed to do. This is why a ministry has to be much more than just a place to gather to escape from our troubles. We must see this ministry like a driving school, a gas station, a maintenance shop, or an inspection and diagnostic center.  For those who want to learn more than just how to drive their vehicle, the ministry is a mechanic training school for those Believers who want to know how to build or repair a vehicle. It’s a ministry designed for those who want to know more.

Now about that 'get away from it all' feeling---- well, that only comes in the presence of God as we worship and pray in private or corporately. The only place to find that peace and rest is in the presence of God. We find that rest even though we're in the midst of storms and chaos.

So get ready for the road ahead! We’re not going to sit in the drive way with the engine running, going nowhere. We’re going to fearlessly get out on the road, face the challenges, and see the fulfillment of God’s purpose in our hearts and homes.