Will Media and Technology Save the Church?

I recently read an article by Scott McClellan on Collide Magazine's Blog entitled "Will Media and Technology Save the Church?." I agree with Mr. McClellan that media and technology will not save the church because the church does not need saving. The church of Jesus Christ is made to outlast all things and at no point will it need to be saved. Media and technology are great compliments to the work of the church but nothing will ever overtake the Gospel as the priority of the local church. We are called to make disciples of all nations, not to entertain them with flashing lights, smoke machines, and great animated powerpoint presentations. Those are things are not bad in themselves, but if they becaome the priority of the church then we have taken a serious misstep and we must go back and correct that. I believe these things truly enhance worship of our Lord and Savior but, like Mr. McClellan, they will never fill the enormous shoes of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Listen, Receive, and Do God's Word

In FUEL last night we studied James 1:19-25 which is about listening, receiving, and doing God's Word. We have to be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger when it comes to listening to God's Word. We often hear God's Word but don't often "hear" it. We have too much other junk in our lives that interferes with our listening to His Holy Word. We are commanded to receive God's Word upon listening to it. But often we are consumed with moral filth and evil that take up our heart and mind. But we must remove all that filth from our lives so that we can grow spiritually and take in more of God's Word. The process of spiritual growth begins at the salvation experience and then the sanctification process of removing the bad and filling it with the goodness of God. Once we listen and receive God's Word, we then must do God's Word. The doing is the part we all struggle with because we often "forget" what we have just heard or learned just like "a man who forgets what he looks like just after looking in the mirror"(v. 22-23). We need to remove the nastiness in our lives and replace it with the joy and greatness of Jesus Christ. Don't be angry and grumpy, but be joyful because of your Savior!

The Source of Temptation

This week's FUEL study was on "The Source of Temptation". We continued in our study on James by looking at 1:13-18. In this passage we read the God does not tempt anyone and He is not capable of tempting anyone. So, where does all the evil in the world come from? This passage explains that temptation/sin come from our own evil desires and the work of Satan in our lives. We are fallen, sinful people and Satan uses our inner evil desires to help us sin. He caters to our evil desires by dropping hints and making suggestions for us to give into. So, if you have an evil desire to be rich then Satan will provide opportunities where it seems you may become rich by doing something evil. He may provide an opportunity for you to hurt someone in order to gain money. It may look appealing because of the financial gain but sin will occur because of giving into the temptation. What we need to do is grow spiritually in life where we can flee from our evil desires and pursue after the One and only righteous God of the universe. We must rely on Him and His desire for our lives because this life is not our own but it belongs to Him, as we are His followers and have been redeemed by the blood of His Son Jesus Christ.

The Testing of Faith

The testing of our faith is evident by James 1:2-12. We will be tested with the goal being that we pass the test. Not only should we pass the test but we should persevere through the trial by relying on our faith. Our faith should be strong enough to be confident in what God can do and then expect Him to deliver us through each and every situation. God allows for us to be tested in "many ways" because He needs to see that our faith is not merely spoken but acted out when the time comes. James tells us to "consider it pure joy" when we face trials because it will develop the persistence of our faith. The reason behond the trials is to be able to present the believer as "mature and complete". We will need wisdom from God to encounter trials and defeat them successfully. Verse 12 says, "blessed are those who persevere under trial." We will be rewarded for persevering through trials from within (tempatation of sin) and without (persecution). You can only receive the prize if you have entered the competition of a life with Jesus Christ. We will all struggle but only those who have Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and are able to persevere to the end will receive the "crown of life".