What is the History of the Church?

"I grew up having to go to church every single week..." Not everyone goes to church.  In fact, thousands upon thousands of people who claim to be Christians don't go at all!  "I just don't understand that," says Johnson Bowie of http://www.fusion.org/.   It's the new year and now and there are many people back in church.  Johnson challenges those who are back with the question; Why are you back?  Do we even know what the church is?   Do we understand its value?  Maybe we need to be reintroduced to this thing we call church.  Despite the stained glass windows, the bad music, the hypocritical failures of pastors and the judgement of active church-goers,  the church is still defined in the Bible as the "bride of Christ"!  So, let's get to know this bride.  Let's get a better understanding of who she is!!   Jesus says we have to be founded on the rock, we have to know why we do what we do and why we should count church as important.  Starting this journey, Johnson begins by digging into why and how the church was created. 

"On this day..it was a day like any other day, but it ended being one of the biggest proclamations that's ever been uttered on the face of the earth..."  Everything had changed.  Jesus gathered up his disciples and travelled to Cesara Philippi  It was a horrible place for Christians because of the worship of Baal and travels "in and out of Hell".  When Jesus and his "posse" came in, we see his question in Matthew 16, "Who do people say that the Son of man is (in other words, who do people say that I am)?."  They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets." "But what about you?" He asked. "Who do you say I am?"  Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.  I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." Then He warned his disciples not to tell anyone that He was the Christ.

This was the first time that we see the belief in Jesus as Christ.  Jesus declared Peter as the Rock.  He says that the growth of the belief of Him as the Son of God would be unshakable.  It would create the church.  For those who say that Jesus never created the church but rather man did, that's simply not true!  Right here in scripture, we see Jesus Himself say, "On this rock, I will build my church."   This is the first time these words were ever said.  It's the first time the word "church" was used in the Bible.  The Son of God was going to build the foundation of the church on the proclamation of Jesus as the Messiah.  From here, the story of Jesus progresses.  Jesus is betrayed, He is crucified, He is buried and He rises from the grave. 
In Acts 1:8, after Jesus had risen, He appears to the disciples and says, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."  After saying this, Jesus ascends into heaven and angels appear.  Later, in Acts 2, we see 120 people gathered.  It is the first time we have seen any resemblance of church.  They are in the "Upper Room"  and the Holy Spirit sweeps through the place.  People are baptized.  The festival of Pentacost was going on outside and they hear the commotion in this upper room and gather there.  So Peter stands and gives the first sermon.  Amazingly, 3000 people end up getting saved!!  It was here that the church was born, again, on the belief that Jesus Christ was the Messiah.

Acts 2:42-47 says, "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.  Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."  At the end, it doesn't say that people were saved and sent away.  God added to their number daily.  It wasn't lame prayer and passive attendence.  There was enthusiasm and wondrous signs.  It was an incredible time, but all of these leaders were about to experience persecution. 

Did you ever hear the story about Stephen?  He was a leader in the church and was giving a sermon.  A man named Saul was in the audience and he started picking up stones and throwing them at Stephen.  The crowd joined in and Stephen became the first martyr for Christ.  When this happened, those in the church became fearful and the church (not a building) scattered.  Although it was a horrible event, it served the purpose of spreading the church.  People left and took the gospel with them.  In His masterful plan, God later physically appeared to Saul, the rock thrower, and told Saul his name would now be Paul.  Paul went on to become one of the greatest writers of the Bible, completing 2/3's of the New Testament.  He also went on to plant many other churches. 

Over time, there became this pocket of churches throughtout the land and, inevitably, conflict arose.  We see this in the Bible when the Jewish widows were being taken care of before the Gentile widows and it became a point of contention.  The question became, "What do we do with Gentiles or people who 'aren't really part' of the historical Jewish faith?"  It was but one question of many as the church began to experience growing pains.  Drawing from something he heard from a man named Cornelius, Peter addresses the widow problem in Acts 10:34-35.  Then Peter began to speak: "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear Him and do what is right."

In the first century A.D., the Ecumenical Council was formed.  This was a council which gathered all of the church leaders together so that they would have unity of the spirit.  One of the big questions was, what do we do about the Gentiles?  People would ask, "What do I need to do to be saved?"  And if you were a guy, when do we have to, you know..."snip, snip?"  Whoa!!  (Funny part of Johnson' message)  So what did they need to do?  How could they get to the heart of the faith and still hold true to it while making all these rules and steps of the faith?   As a result of the Ecumenical Council's efforts, the first agreement, post-Jesus, was reached, which decided how to basically run the church. 

It was progress, but then persecution of Christians began spreading in many areas and it even became illegal to believe in Jesus in some places.  Christians were arrested and tortured.  In 64 A.D., a huge fire had broken out in Rome during the time of Nero and, somehow, Christians were blamed for starting the fire.  So, first Jews had hated Christians and now Rome hated them.  There were reports that Nero dipped Christians in hot wax.  As a result, some Christians began meeting in homes and cattacombs to avoid being detected.  Around this time, "James the Just" was appointed head of the church in Jerusalem.  He was the brother of Jesus and even he was stoned and crucified.  Meanwhile, Peter and Paul were trying to convert Rome because it was key.  "If they could convert Rome, they could convert the world."  A famous apologist named Tertullian wrote, "but if you are near Italy, you are near Rome...What a happy church that is on which the Apostle poured out their whole doctrine with their blood...where Peter had a passion like the Lord."  This is a 1900 year old statement, but it was a building block for the faith.

The "Apostolic fathers" Clement, Polycarp and Ingatius were church leaders who wrote pieces of what is now Catholic Bible.  Pope Clement I was a actually a disciple of Peter and succeeded Peter.  Somewhere along the way, Pope Clement became too powerful and was banished to prison. It is said when he went to prison, he brought peace to the fighting there.  In fact, many of those prisoners were spiritually saved.  But because Clement had influence even in the prison, he was taken, tied to an anchor and thrown into the sea. 

Polycarp was a disciple of John.  When he came to power, heresy immediately started creeping in.  So Polycarp had the strong conviction of truth and started saying "Nope, that's not what John said..."  He stood up for what he knew was the truth of Jesus.  Polycarp refused to burn incense to the emperor of Rome as a deity and he said, "80 and 6 years I have served the Father.  How then can I blaspheme my King and Savior?  Bring forth what thou will"  and they burned him allive.  This to was a building block and testimony of faith.



Igantius was the third Apostolic father and also a disciple of John.  They imprisoned him in Antioch and he was sent to Rome.  On his way to obvious torture, he wrote six letters encouraging other believers and telling the church to keep growing.  He was fed to the lions.  "Defend the faith..." was the central message from his letters.  He charged them to protect the Word and stand up for the truth of Jesus. 

These three men defended the faith until the end.  There lives helped make sure that the church was still sitting on the proclamation of Jesus was the Son of God and Christ as our Savior.  Tertullian also said, "Blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church"  Although it seemed like people getting killed for the faith knocked the church back, it actually caused the church to grow!! These men believed what Jesus said in  John 12:24,  "I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds."  There are so many of men who have died; men who preferred to give their lives than to sacrifice their faith.  All through this persecution, the Messianic Jews thought Christ was the fullfillment of Jewish faith, but because Jesus had changed everything, it was unclear to them how they were to run the "new church".  Were they simply to abandon all their traditions? 

Ad 85 was the Council of Jamnia.  It was a Jewish Council that said anyone who believed in Jesus as the Messiah was a heretic.  This drove a wedge between the Christians and the Jews.  A few other things started happening like having "church" on Sundays rather than the traditional Saturdays.  More church fathers came into leadership and differences in the faith of the Jews became more and more apparent.  Then, we read about this guy named Irenaeus who lived in the 100's.  He was a disciple of Polycarp. He defended the faith against the Knostics and the pollution that tried to come into the church.  He wrote a book called "Against Heresies", which presented arguments about the same stuff we fight today in the church!!

Tertullian came in later.  This was the guy with all the good quotes and the guy who actually coined the term "the Trinity" which by the way, is not a term we find in the Bible.  Justin Martyr later came and wrote the first christian apologetics.  This is 1900 years ago!  He was writing things that said "Okay, here is how you refute their refutes."  He was talking about nonbelievers and how to defend the faith!

Then in 312, this humongous thing happened in favor of the church.  Emporer Constantine was converted.  He was first an official and later, Emporer.  So Christianity, through Constantine, was legalized.  After this is when churches and the buildings of worship started popping up everywhere.  As the churches boomed, Emporer Constantine called the first Council the church had since the Council of Jerusalem.  It was called the Council of Nycea, where all church leaders would come together.  It's purpose was to again establish unity.  One of the results for these meetings was "The Nycean Creed". This was 1700 years ago and many of us know that same creed today!  It was a unity of faith mission statement.  At the end of this creed, though, was a statement that would later create more conflict.  Although its intent was honorable in defending the faith, it condemned whoever tried to come into the church and tried to change what was already established in the belief system.  These people would be condemned by the church and this was stated in the creed. 

The church started losing focus as we crept into the Dark Ages.  It became political and started seeking power.  It became more and more about money and some leaders started standing up against this to get the church back on focus.  These men pointed us back to Acts 2:42.  John Chrysostom was a catholic priest who was very unpopular with rich people because he loved poor people.  He wrote "Do you wish to honor the body of Christ?  Do not ignore Him when he is naked.  Do not pay him homage in the temple clad in silk, only then to neglect Him outside where He is cold and ill-clad  He who said, 'This is my body' is the same who said, 'You saw me hungry and gave me no food and whatever you did to the least of my brothers you did also unto me.'  What good is it if your Christ's table (communion) is overloaded with gold and chalises when your brother is dying of hunger?  Start by satisfying his hunger and then with what is left, you may adorn the altar as well."  Chrysostom ended up being banished and his last words were, "Glory be to God for all things."

Then there was this guy named Augustine of Hippo.  Sixteen hundred years ago, he comes up with this thing that was in stark contrast to what the Catholics believed.  It was what was visible in church and what was invisible in church.  Generally speaking, Catholics believed in the visible church.  They seemed to believe that what you see in church is what you get in heaven.  He called the church a "mixed body".  He said that not everyone in church was going to heaven.  He pointed out that there were sheep and wolves in the church.  It was another step in pointing out a personal relationship with Jesus.  Augustine was careful to point out that people were coming to church one way aned living another.  He was pulling the focus back to Jesus.
In 1054 there was this thing called the "Great Schism".  It was a break between the Roman Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Church.  It created a Greek group and a Latin group.  Thomas Aquinas, said to be the greatest theologian ever, came onto the scene and said (remember, this was 800 years ago), "With regard to heretics, two points must be observed.  One on their own side; the other on the side of the church.  On their own side, there is the sin which they deserve, not only to be separated from the church by excommunication but also to be severed from the  world by death.  For it is a much graver matter to corrupt the faith which quickens the soul  than to forge money which supports tempural life, wherefore, if forgers of money and other evildoers are forthwith condemed to death by the secular authority, much more reason is there for heretics as soon as they are convicted of heresy to be, not only excommunicated but even be put to death.  On the part of the church however, there is mercy,  which looks to the conversion of the wanderer.  Wherefore She condemns not at once, but after the first and second admonition, as the Apostle directs.  After that, if he is still yet stubborn, the church no longer hopes for his conversion, looks to the salvation others by excommunicating him and separating him from the church and furthermore delivers him to the secular tribunals."  Aquinas was intent on drawing lines in defending and preserving the faith.

St. Francis of Assisi. ("He was a sissy," kids Johnson)  This was a guy who took a vow of poverty.  He was trying to embody the life of Christ.  He wanted to let go of all else so he could reach those who needed the Gospel the most.  The story has it that he was a wealthy, influential guy playing sports and was popular.  People asked him when he was going to get married and he said he was going to marry to a much fairer bride than all of theirs; the bride of poverty.  His life was about reaching people.  So, he goes to this mission trip to Egypt and he runs into this sultan and challenges him to a contest of fire.  The sultan was absolutly taken back by this man willing to go out on such faith.  St. Francis said he would step into fire, but if he survived, the sultan would have to convert to Christianity.  The sultan responded by saying that just because he was willing to do this, he could preach the gospel to his people.  The sultan had given St.Francis entrance into Egypt!

Then, there was this thing that happened on April 18, 1521.  It was called the "Ninety-Five Thesis".  There are very few things were more important.  This monk named Martin Luther takes these 95 complaints against the Catholic Church and nails them to the door of the church.  Attached to these, he makes these statements,  " I lost touch with Christ the Savior and Comforter and made of him jailer and hangman of my poor soul."  The people above him tried to give him more stuff to do and keep him busy.  But he saw that the church was adding all these things to the cross.  For instance, you could pay for your sins and pay for higher positions in the church.  He stood back and criticized them.  Predictably, they excommunicated him and even tried to kill him.  The new group formed by Martin Luther called themselves Evangelicals because they were returning to the gospel (Although this was known as the Protestan Reformation). At that time, the Catholic church motto was  "Always the same".  It can be understood why they wanted their belief to remain the same, but the problem was the church it drifted off focus.  Stability in that, but the motto of the reformation was "the church reformed always being reformed according to the Word of God".

Alongside Luther came Huldrych Zwingli.  He was a priest who began rejecting icons in the church.  The church had heros and martyrs like Mary, St. Peter and St. Clement, but Zwingli begged the question, "Why shouldn't we just worship Jesus?   The church fired back and leaned on what had become a misplaced motto; "always the same".   Zwingli aslo asked why priests shouldn't marry and why communion wasn't actually the physical body of Jesus, but rather the symbolic body of Jesus. 

In 1536, John Calvin comes along with Calvinism and predestination.  This is when the Presbyterian church pops up.  In 1545, a counter reformation to the Ninety Five Thesis emerged and the Catholic church defended their position saying their central message was still about Jesus.  Back and forth movements then went on for a time.  Back in America, the faith of the Protestant church continued developing.  Puritans come and the faith keeps growing. 

In 1962, Pope John Paul, at a Vatican Council, made a really cool statement.  This was significant to Johnson. " In the study in Revelation, east and west have followed different methods and have developed differently  their understanding and confession of God's truth.  It is hardly surprising, then, if from time to time, one tradition has come nearer to a full appreciation of some aspects of the mystery of revelation than the other or has expressed it to better advantage.  In such cases these various theologicial expressions are to be considered often as mutually complementary rather than conflicting.  Where the authentic theological traditions of the eastern church are concerned, we must recognizse the admirable  way in which they have their roots and holy scripture and how they are nurtured and give life to the liturgy.  They derive their strength too from the living tradition of the  apostles and from works of the fathers and spiritual writers of the eastern churches.  Thus, they promote the right ordering of the christian life and indeed pave the way to a full vision of christian truth."  This message was to churches who had been at war for 900 years or so!  At the end of the day, he was saying, "we know that you love Jesus".  

John Calvin , when Geneva was crashing down around him, used to call it the "Second Jerusalem" because of how christianity was blossoming.  He said, "I know what I believe and what I've taught you to believe,   but I need you to go and join the Lutheran church.  His "Calvinism" was not in agreement with the Lutheran church, but he knew that it was still about the message of Jesus as the Son of God.  It was still about unity.  This was a man who was credited by some of the hard line denominations, yet he still knew it was about the true church of being followers of Christ.  As it says in Ephesians 4:3-5; "Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— one Lord, one faith, one baptism."


If it is built on Jesus, it is part of the body.  The history of the chruch is about men and women who are willing to lay down their lives for the faith.  Too many times, we come and see churches bickering and going back and forth, but it ignores the fact that the church has been built on the blood of the martyrs, by christians used as human candles, by believers who were eaten by lions, burned at the stake, or sunk by an anchor to the bottom of the ocean.  Don't take it forgranted.

"My prayer for you is that you would be unified."  Johnson calls everyone to stand and and to cite the Apostles' creed (part of the Nicean Creed from 1300 years ago).  It is a statement of unity in the church.  This creed we heard so many times if we grew up in the church means so much more when we understand better its history. 

"I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified dead and buried, and the third day He rose from the dead.  He ascended into heaven and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty.  From thence, He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic church, the Communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen

C'mon...Why is Debt So Bad?

This whole thing we call life is all about God; the man Jesus. Beginning his series, "Cha-Ching", Johnson Bowie picks up on this thought in Isaiah 26:8, "Yea, in the way of (Your) judgments, O Lord, have we waited for You; the desire of our soul is to Your name, and to the remembrance of You."

It's not about us! The stars scream out His name. If we don't glorify Him, the rocks will cry out. The Bible says that the earth, the animals, the sea and the mountains are all about God. Every breath, step and direction of our being has to be about Him. If we can just start falling in line with this and begin thinking about Him, we can transform our lives to reflect His glory.

In I Chronicles 28, the writer talks about God's great power; His shining greatness and strength and how everything in heaven and earth belongs to Him. He rules over all. Power and strength are in His Hands. It is our desire that everything we do would scream out the fame of our God.

So, how can we take this amazing truth and desire and then trim the whole idea down to one thing called money? How can we spend or give our money to glorify God? We are all in this game together as Christians joining together in an effort to do something greater than ourselves. What better time is there to talk about money than when times are getting tough? Gas prices have soared, home prices are plummeting and jobs are being lost.

Jesus talked about money more than anything else. Money defines our lives. We go in to work, log our time and then we get paid for the amount of time we've worked. We trade our life and our time for our money, right? So, when we spend our money, we are spending our life!! So, if we are making poor spending decisions, we are poorly spending our life! "If you buy a cup of Starbucks and you make minimum wage, that's 30 minutes of your life you just bought!" So, if money reflects our lives and our lives are to glorify God, how does that translate to how we spend our money?

II Corinthians 5 says, "And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again." How can we live for Christ in every decision we make?

I Timothy 6:6-10 says, "But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs."

Contentment with a burger and a t-shirt is tough to accept, but money is NOT the root of all evil. The LOVE of money is the root of all evil. It's what our heart's intention is when we go after money that counts. Money is intoxicating. It is an opiate that addicts as easily and as completely as alcohol or narcotics. It's power to change us is close to that of Jesus Christ. Men trade their lives for it. Women trade their bodies for it. Families will trade their families for it. People will trade their church for it. Nations are ruled by it and destroyed by it. Most crimes are motivated by it. Most people are brought under it's control. A person who can maste the rule of money is the person who is completely mastered by the rule of God.

Money is a great slave, but a terrible master. Money is a great thing to have under you; a horrible thing to have over you. The best way to not have money be a god in your life is to not have it. Just give it away. The other side of this truth is that we can't give money away if we don't have it. We can't bless people with IOU's!! The reason so many of us don't have money is because we are giving it to the man; the credit card man. We do this because of all the bad decisions we've made in the past.

"I was at a leadership conference last year and Dave Ramsey was there...He's the Christian financial guru...with a daily radio show...'Total Money Makeover' is in the book store...He stands up and says...'STOP PREACHING ON TITHING'...it's like he had stood the golden cow up...but then he said...Stop talking about tithing unless you are willing to talk more about getting out of debt."

How many of us would love to be able to give or contribute to people's lives, but we can't!! Wouldn't you love to pay someone's way on a mission trip or just pay for someone's gas or to pay a single mother's electricity bill for a month? But we are chained by our debt! If we could tame money in our lives, we could live for the glory of God. Maybe if we could get out of debt, we could go when God actually says, "GO".

Malachi 3 says we rob God if we aren't tithing. In not so many words, God actually says we are cursed financially if we don't tythe. Most people WANT to tithe, but simply can't. But let's move beyond tithing and focusing on debt so that we could actually tithe 20%, not 10%, if we wanted to do so.

Why do we think that if we just had more money, we could tithe? There's a reason why people who win the lottery end up broke again. Money cannot change our spending habits. Many mulitmillionairres are more stressed about money that we are. Most of us just need to get out of debt. What would our lives look like if we could? This is our goal. We could worship God so much easier if we didn't have to honor our debts.

The national debt for the U.S. is now (at the time of this message) $9,357,639,867,792!!! The national debt grows by $4.7 billion a day. If you add these numbers up, our share is $31,000 apiece. So, a family of 5 would have to pay $150,000 to pay their share of the debt! But if you gave the government more money, they would just spend more money.

We pay taxes to the government and the pays $406 billion every year in interest. The total debt of our nation, including every person and every business is $53 trillion dollars. That's $175,000 per person. The average person will make $1.4 million dollars in their lifetime. But we spend 1/2 to 2/3's of every dollar we make in our life time paying for debt. The average American family has $9,300 in debt.  The average college graduate already has $19,000 in debt. Most of them will still be paying on this debt when their kids go to college.

Every year, more people declare bankruptcy than graduate from college.

We are so messed up! Did you know they even put VISA cards on the new barbie dolls? Johnson went to UGA (University of Georgia) and the first thing most people would go to would be to the free UGA t-shirt table once you register for a VISA card. We don't think we'll use it at first or that we'll only use it for emergencies, but then, before we realize it, we've run up our debt. Johnson did some math to illustrate the really good experience of a $1,000 cruise to Cancun. Minimum payment is on $15 a month! But it takes you 15 years to pay the card off with minimum payments. That's an expensive t-shirt (to get the card in the first place)! Then, when you start dating, it really gets bad. The debt monkey starts to turn into King Kong. "I'm sick of seeing the richest generation of all time being debt ridden...Can we possibly break free from this to make the name and fame of Jesus Christ spread?"

Proverbs 22:7 says, "The rich rule over the poor and the borrower is servant to the lender." If we are truly servants to Jesus Christ, how can we stay in debt?  What typically happens is, we get married as DINKs (double income, no kids), we buy our cars, we buy the house, we buy the furniture and then....she gets pregnant. "How are we going to do this?" The knife in back of this generation the fact that other people raise our children because wive's have to work to pay off debt. How can we possibly be a nation that glorifies God?  We've traded off raising the next generation because we made stupid decisions in our youth.  This robs God of His glory.  Don't trade your kids and your future for the present.

Johnson read an article online called "Moms' New Battle: The Food Price Bulge."  In there is a quote from a mother who says, "We are a typical middle income family.  If we did not carry foolish debt, we would be okay.  But with our debt burden combined with paying for two children in daycare, there's nothing left over at the end of the month."  This sums up the life of so many people!  Another 20 something girl says, "It is a life which is insult to injury.  I want to get married and I want to have a family.  But what if I want to have a child and take time off while he's an infant.  Will I be able to do that with all this debt that I have to make payments on?"  Do we really want to be the guy driving a fancy car with thousands of dollars we owe on it and have to work instead of raising our kids?   Eventually, we even have to pay someone to take care of them!  Where do we draw the line?  If this whole world is about glorifying God, where do we stop?!?

Deuteronomy 28 talks about the curses listed out in the Bible if you don't do what God tells us to do.  It talks about the curse of the "foreigner" who lends to us.  The foreigner becomes the dog and we become the tail.  "If you're wise, fine.  But if you're not you will be the place where poop comes out."   How many of us feel like our life is in the tail?  Some of us are living this "tail life" because we haven't chosen to stay out of debt and to emphatically glorify the name of God.  Why is the whole debt thing bad?  It keeps you chained up to money.  Most of us have desire to give.  We want to bless people but we can't.  Be free from debt so you can live for God.  What if God called you tonight and wanted you to go to Germany for missions?  Could you go?  What about next month?  Next year?  Next ten years?  Could you? 


We have to get out of debt to go, to live and to give.  The government, right now, is outgiving the church.  This is wrong.  We are called to be the light in the darkness, not the government!  We want to be a people who can show the world that God loves them. 

Johnson is 28.  If by some miracle, he makes it to be 80 or 90, that means he has 60 or so years left.  What happens after that?  He's dead!!  "But what if I want a big TV?"  What if we started spending our lives today on things that glorify God?  How can we start making money a "God thing"?  Get out of debt to give to a kid, to take someone out to lunch to tell them about Christ, to give to the struggling mom or to bless someone.  It is not about you.  It's about God. Let's be these people.  How do we do this?  Next week, Johnson talks about this.

I've Got Things to Do; Why Would I Need Margin in My Life?

"Let's open up your Bibles to Luke 10...How many of you would say that you occasionally or always feel stressed?  How many people feel financial tension?  How many of you would say I wish I had more time to spend with my self of my family?"  Craig Groeschel of lifechurch.tv opens his series "Margin" with a message on the need for margin.  We live in a culture that pushes us to the limits.  Buy more.  Do more.  Accomplish more.   Conquer more.  Most of us are living at an unbiblical and unsustainable pace. Its insane what "normal" is today.  Even our kids will go out four or five nights a week doing their activities and we call that normal!  Our schedules are stressing us and our kids out!  Virtually everyone has little margin for error in the main areas of life.  Andy Stanley taught a series a called "Take It to the Limit" where he defined margin. 

Margin is the amount available beyond what is necessary. Andy Stanley

Margin is the difference between what you have and what you need. Craig Groeschel

How does margin lay out in life?  There's money left over at the end of the month.  It's leaving a few minutes early to be early for a meeting.  Margin is leaving more distance between you and temptation.  Margin is having the emotional capacity to deal with struggle.  Margin could be having 3 or 4 nights a week with nothing on your schedule.  Margin could be having extra time or money to invest or give to ministries.  Margin could be having time to reflect, think and meditate.  Margin could mean having significant time with God meditating on His Word  Simply put, margin is what most of us do not have.  "I am convinced that the best things in life happen in margin," says Craig.

Luke 10:38-42 is a great story about two different woman who dealt differently on the subject of margin.  As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, He came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what He said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.

It's interesting.  We have two women with the exact same opportunity.  Despite what she may have had to do, Mary took an opportunity to sit at Jesus' (the son of God's) feet.  But Martha created things to do.  She chose to be busy and to find things to do that were a distraction from Jesus. She may have been distracted by good things to do, but she was distracted from the best things. 

If Satan cannot make us really, really bad, he'll make us really, really busy.  Unknown

Recently, Craig went on a "staycation" or a vacation where he stayed home.  On the first day, Craig thought of things he needed to do at the church.  So, he went into his home office and began working.  "Bukie", his youngest son, came into his office and asked Craig if he would wrestle.  Craig dismissed Bukie, but then God whispered, "Bukie is not the distraction Craig, your work is." 

In verse 40, Martha asks Jesus is he doesn't care that her sister has left her with all the work.  The irony here is that Martha was absolutely convinced that she was doing the right thing!  Don't many of us believe the same?  We believe we have to live this way.  Business is success and more is right.  Everyone is doing it, right?  But broad is the road and wide is the path to distruction.  Small is the gate and narrow is the road to life and very few people find it. 

"Do not be conformed to the patterns of this world", says Paul.  "Be transformed by the renewing of your mind."  Then you'll be able to test and prove what the will of God is.  If minor changes could have made a difference we would have done that a long time ago.  What we are talking about in this message are large, life changing habits.  Production mindsets miss the moments.  "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."  Choose what is right and it will never be taken away from you. 

What happens when we have no margin? 

1)  As margin decreases, your stress increases.  When you're running late, stress increases.  It makes you say bad things on the way in church.  You can't enjoy the worship sometimes and you might have ill will to those you think are to blame.  Financial margin is a big one.  When something breaks, you have no room to fix it. 

2) Your relational intimacy decreases.  Your mind runs, but you are disconnected.  Recently, Craig's family went out to eat and they saw four people together but ALL FOUR people were on their phones twitter and emailing.  "Quit playing with your little twitter!"  Relational intimacy decreases not only with others but with God.  "I used to be close, but I just got BUSY (Too busy for people and too busy for God)." 

Why is it that so many of us live marginless lives? Why do people not downsize?  Most of us do not wholly trust God.  We don't have enough faith to believe that God is really on the throne.  We think that we are working to get something.  Most of us make more money than we ever have, but we are more stressed and more unhappy.  Why?  Because of idolatry! We are eleveating good things to be supreme things.  We gotta have the bigger house, a nicer car, a promotion...  We gotta be at the meeing so they will think more of us. We gotta have our kids involved in the best programs because, God forbid, we spend spiritual time with them when they "could be better flute players."

In the next few weeks, Craig says that he and those listening are going to have a "come to Jesus meeting".  He is going to challenge his listeners and push them.  Sadly, most people will not change, but some of you will begin to live, not according to the patterns of this world, but according to the rhythms of God's grace.  You will not give too much time to things that do not last.  Matthew 11:28-29 says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."   Let that sink in...rest for your souls...peace...assurance...tranquility.  Rest for your souls... Sometimes people go on vacation and then they have to recover from all the things they did on their vacation!  Some peole think, if nothing is on their schedule, they are insignificant.  This is insane!  Men think they have to make more, conquer more and achieve more.  It's idolatry.  Psalm 46:10 says this; "Be still and know that I am God."

One of Craig's counselors once said, "Take 5 minutes a day and do nothing."  So, this week, your assignment is to do nothing every day for 5 minutes.  Don't do anything. Don't think about anything.  Don't pray.  Just be.  It is the first significant step in creating margin.  The coming series outline for "Margin" is:

Week 1.  Why

Week 2. Scheduling margin. 

Week 3.  Financial margin

Week 4. Moral Margin

 

We are gong to stop finding meaning in the things of this world and start finding meaning in the things of God. 

Isaiah 58:11 says; "The Lord will guide you always; He will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame."

 You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Isaiah 58:11