Tommy Mitchell / The Rurban Church Blog

Christ Was Forgotten Long Before Christmas!

Christmas traditions are being played out all around us right now.  Great music and sounds of Christmas, holiday cheer and gatherings of friends,  parades and lights and decorations and adorned trees are all a part of our traditional Christmas.  A relatively recent tradition has appeared where there is a great turmoil over Christ and Christmas.  Some are “offended” by the religious aspects of Christmas and the mention of Jesus Christ.  Of course this amuses me because there would have never been a Christmas at all apart from the incarnation of Jesus Christ.  Then the church folks get “offended” by the non-church folk and campaigns get underway to “keep Christ” in Christmas!

I do realize that “Christ is in Christmas” no matter how a person feels about or views Christmas because Christ is Lord.  But, all this back and forth about “keeping Christ in Christmas” really didn’t begin with the Christmas season.  It began when people in the church started rewriting and rewiring Christianity to suit their own needs.  I have noticed through the years that Christ is often forgotten about by large segments of the church during the summer.  Also during great weather. Also during bad weather. Also during so-so weather.  Also during hot weather. Also during cold weather. Also during football season.  Also during busy times.  Also during slow times. Well, you get the idea. We have a pretty noticeable track record among Christians of forgetting Christ.  It is evident in lack of regard for reading and obeying scripture. It is evident in little praying.  It is evident in Christian lives that resemble the world more than Christ.

It seems rather disingenuous for the church and church folks to get stirred up about “Christ in Christmas” when the church seems to have already forgotten Christ so much of the previous parts of the year!  A new year is fast approaching along with many new resolutions! Perhaps the best one we could make would be to “remember” Christ in our life as Lord each and every day.  That would certainly line up with scripture and we would already be celebrating Christ as Lord when Christmas arrives next year! 

Don’t worry about keeping Jesus first! He is!  Rather, be concerned about submitting to Him 24/7 – 365 days a year!

Consumed with Service!

Consumed with service! On Sunday, January 12th, my sermon topic is Consumed with Service. The subject will explore the call and anointing of Elisha and the qualifiers for being a faithful servant of our Lord.  When I think of faithful servants that I have known in my life and ministry, I rejoice to realize I have been influenced by dozens of them.  In every church I have served, such people have been present.  I don't mean to leave anyone out.  I could never name them all. I just want to share a few things about some of these servants who are representative of all the servants I have known.

Waymon Needham! Bro. Waymon was a deacon servant in one of the early churches I served, Pleasant Hill Baptist in Benton County, MS.  He had been a prisoner of war in World War II. The experience had impacted him.  He could never talk about it much - he would always tear up and choke up. But rather than expressing bitterness and disappointment with life, he was a lover of Jesus Christ and an exemplary servant.  The very first morning we woke up in the church parsonage, we heard something outside.  I went to the door to investigate and Bro. Waymon was heading out the driveway having left two grocery bags of breakfast items for us.  This was the kind of kindness I saw him express to us and to others over and over.  There were numerous times we sat on the tailgate of his truck and prayed for each other and for people in the community.  Bro. Waymon was faithful and devoted to the Lord.  His actions in the church were always kind, humble, and loving. 

Leon Anthony! Bro. Leon was the chairman of Deacons at another of those early pastorates, Liberty Hill Baptist in the Batesville area.  He was at church early and late every Sunday, sweeping off porches, tidying up limbs from the parking lot etc.. If there was something that needed doing, he tended more towards doing something than talking about it.  Bro. Leon helped everyone.  He would often share fresh garden vegetables with others.  He also was a man of prayer.  If I saw him coming up my driveway I knew something good was about to happen.  We visited together in the community and met needs together.  He was a man's man in the highest spiritual aspects of that phrase. 

Ray King! Ray was a deacon at First Baptist Church, Ludlow, Kentucky.  The inner city community was directly across the river from Cincinnati.  He and I visited all the hospitals each Wednesday. They were numerous in Northen Ky and in Cincinnati.  We would leave about 8:30 or 9:00 am and visit until we were done—then we would go eat lunch together.  There would be no way I could count the number of times that Ray would pray and sometimes weep with people in the hospital, praying for their healing and well being.  Ray would often quote this verse of scripture to people in the hospital - one I have come to cherish.  Psalm 37:25 I have been young, and now am old;
Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, Nor his descendants begging bread.   Ray could always be found out ministering to people - taking them food, helping them with problems, visiting the sick, and just loving people with a heart from God.  

I did not mention any women - primarily because I do not spend alone time with women in our churches.  But obviously there have been numerous ladies of the Lord who are fantastic servants.  Also there are current servants of the Lord - and one day I may list them.  These three just fit in the "Servant of God hall of fame" in my book!  

Have you been blessed with servant examples?  Surely you have.  Here is the thing! We are called to be excellent servants of God and of one another.  Consider being and becoming an example of Consumed Service!

 

Only a Move of God!

Following yesterday's morning and evening services, I have been reminded that only a move of God is required, only a move of God is needed, and only a move of God will fix what is broken in our churches.   We can analyze all the data we want, we can try to assign blame wherever we think the data points, we can talk and talk and study and study, but ultimately, the church is not a business that can adopt a new model, it is not a group in search of a new program to solve its ills - it is a living organism of the Lord Jesus Christ!  Christ is the head, and He will not share His glory with anyone!  And He is the only who can build His church - a Kingdom church.  Read the scriptures - it is all in there!

The only thing we can do is surrender our will to His!  Jesus said this - "9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love."  John 15:9-10  

How do we know that we abide in His love? By obeying Him!  A total devotion to Christ that results in transformed lives through obedience is the only path for the church.  

Yesterday we saw a move of God in the morning and evening services that will do more good than all the analysis in the world! Praise the Lord!  

Are You Ready to Compose?

Over the last few days, I have taken up the discipline of daily writing again.  This manifests itself in this blog.  This morning, up at 4:00 am for reasons beyond me, I thought it would be a good opportunity to write.  Then..................nothing!  So, I opened up the editor, and there it was! COMPOSE!  

What a challenging word to a writer (or song-writer).  Compose!  It is like the word is screaming at you to be creative, pithy, and deep of thought.  Compose!  But then it hit me!  Compose indeed!

We will all bring to this day a certain amount of history for sure!  Maybe we will wake up thinking about that argument with a family member before bedtime last night.  Or perhaps it will be some unfinished project from school or work that is on our mind.  But even with a few things already on the plate for today, each day brings a fresh new opportunity to COMPOSE!

As you roll out of bed you may determine whether you are going to COMPOSE a day in the Lord or a day flirting with the devil!  You may honor Him with your life or discredit Him by your actions.  But all day you will be COMPOSING!  

Will you compose a day of opportunities, such as seeking to bless someone, seeking to serve someone, seeking to encourage and allieviate the pains of life?  Or will you......er..... pardon me..... or will you DECOMPOSE today? Will you spend time spreading ill will, tearing down people with harsh words, harsh looks, demeaning jokes, and endless gossip?  

Will this be a day that the canvas of your soul will see COMPOSED on it the purposes, plans, and power of the Spirit of God? Will this be a day of going forward to whatever God is doing and wherever God leading?  Will this be the day that you COMPOSE obedience to God on the unfolding canvas of your life?

Today we can COMPOSE!   Or we can choose to let others determine the composition of our lives. Or, we can choose to DECOMPOSE by tearing apart and tearing down and living to a debased mind!

15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.     Ephesians 5:15-20

Monday Night Ministry!

Tonight I attended a revival service at Barton Baptist Church.  There were two reasons that I went.  First, I wanted to hear the preacher, Dean Register! I enjoy hearing Dean preach and he has preached for me both at ABC and on the Gulf Coast when I served as the Associational Missions Director! It was great to see and hear him again!

Second, I wanted to worship with no skin in the game!  That sounds wrong - and maybe it is an "inelegant" way of putting it! Last week we had a revival at our church! I did not have to preach, but I had responsibilities for the guests, some of the daily service details, invitation counseling etc.. That was not the case tonight!

Tonight, I was just a worshiper!  I was able to sing without knowing what song was coming next or if I was supposed to say anything at any point! I was able to follow along in my Bible and not worry about anything going on around me! It was possible for me to listen to the message for the "word" that God had for me without any expectation from anyone around me!  It was a wonderful service!

We preachers (and other ministry postions) seldom get to be "just a worshiper!"  We seldom get to just soak in the ministry of another in the corporate worship setting of a church.  I am thankful for our sister church, their wonderful pastor and my friend Brad Howard, and Dean Register. It was a great night!

A Few Reminders about Sunday!

Many people will attend churches on Sunday!  Probably most of the people who read this blog will attend a church on Sunday.  Some will attend with no particular responsibility - and others will be there to teach, volunteer, greet, etc..

No matter how or why you are attending - there are some things everyone should do before showing up!

1. Pray! You knew that - right?  Pray for the people leading! Pray they will be spirit-filled, anointed people who follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit! Pray that their lives will be free from sin - that they will lead, teach, volunteer, keep the nursery with a spirit of holiness and rigtheousness!

Oh - if you are "just" attending - prayer will transform your "just attending" into far more also! Pray the same things for yourselves as you pray for your leaders!  Expect much of yourself in worship - God already has high expectations!

2. Focus! When we worship together on Sundays, we will inevitably have fellowship with one another! That is ok! But when fellowship overtakes the object of our worship, Jesus Christ, then we have substituted lesser things for more important matters.   If our primary purpose of "attending" is to "see and be seen," then we have missed our purpose - and what should be our focus.

Our focus is not our room for Bible Study - our chairs - our temperature - our supplies - our coffee - our sodas - our parking spot - our ---- well - you get the idea!  Our focus for Sunday corporate worship must be Christ!  If Christ is filling our mind, our heart, our view, our focus, then other stuff is not! 

Honestly, there are a few folks that I believe get up on Sunday morning and come to church just to recite their complaint list!  What is there to complain about?  Christ is the focus of this day of worship! Complain about Him! I don't think we really can. 

Focus on Christ - His full forgiveness - His beauty - His glory - His perfect redemption - His equipping - His empowering - His example - His blessings - His challenges - His mercy - His grace - His wisdom - His calling - His mission - His glory - well - we should be getting the idea. 

FOCUS ON JESUS - let the focus on Christ guide our fellowship - guide our conversation - guide our participation while we are worship on Sunday!

3. Participate - There really should not be any spectators on Sunday! We should all be participants! There will be people who will read scripture - read it yourself in your Bible! There will be people who pray - pray along with them!  There will be people praising God - you praise Him too!  There will be people who ask you to pray for them - well stop right there and pray with and for them!  There will be people singing - then open your mouth and sing - whether it is basically in tune or just a joyful noise!  There will be someone preaching - you speak up and encourage them on - say "A-men" - "that's right" - "come on!" There will be opportunities to give - then give cheerfully!  There will be opportunities to follow Christ more closely - perhaps opportunities to pray as a group at the altar - do it!  Participate! 

Open doors for people - pick up trash - help someone get to a seat - welcome and greet everyone you see whether you know them or not! 

PARTICIPATE!  God has not called us to sit, soak, and sour - but to pray, focus, and participate!

Are you ready for Sunday?

Why Doesn't Church Matter Anymore?

Well, I suppose it does matter a great deal to some!  However, one might need also to define church a bit!   The true church consists of the "called out ones!"  The church is comprised of truly born from above followers of Christ! And those followers are the church!

Then there is church "gathered!"  That is the "church" the majority of folks think about when they think of "the church!"   That church has an institutional organization component! Sometimes, that institutional part overwhelms the "living church of God" part! But, I like to think of it simply as "the church gathered" on Sundays and other appointed times - and scattered out in the world to be salt and light the remainder of the time! 

Back to the question - why doesn't church matter that much anymore?  To me, it is a foregone conclusion that the phrasing of the question is valid!  I just read an article by Jim Elliff with which I largely agree. YOU CAN READ IT HERE   I believe he is "dead on" in his assessment that in our Southern Baptist Churches, we have become a largely unregenerate people!  Just to be sure everyone knows what that means - it means we have a lot of unsaved people who are members of our churches!

I would encourage you to read his article (link above) and I will not rehash it all here! However, one of the many excellent points that he makes is that among the saved, loving the brothers and sisters in Christ is one of the marks of a child of God! 1 John makes this ABUNDANTLY plain!  Yet, among our churches, our people can hardly be bothered to attend a service of worship with their brothers and sisters in Christ! 

Our roll call of people at ABC is just like the vast majority of other churches - we have around 800 on our roster - but on any given Sunday, no more than half attend!  Of those that attend, many of them are "platooners," meaning that they are there on random Sundays - maybe once or twice a month!  And then if you start looking to see how many of the half are involved in any meaningful, measurable, or accountable way in the ministry of the Kingdom, the number drops below 20% of the half that attend - not 20% of the 800!

These numbers sicken me - as they do most pastors I know and a good number of the 20%!  They sicken me for several reasons!  First, instead of being convicted and demonstrating repentance among the membership of our churches, we have just accepted that this is how it is - and we have even trumpeted it as a growth method! That's right, we have at times pushed the concept of enrolling as many people as we can to get a higher attendance - knowing that we will still have half or less attend!  God does not accept it-  so neither should we! 

Second, I believe strongly that it means many people are lost who believe they are saved! It is a non-Biblical type of salvation - a "salvation" that is devoid of a life transformation - that allows the holder to continue to live a life that is largely like every person in society - unregenerate!  The shock of this reality will be seen too late by 99.9% of this group! 

Thirdly, I am sickened over our (my) lack of action related to this crisis!  The topic is surely not a popular one in our churches.  People get pretty worked up when you start talking about removing our non-attending roster to a prospect list to hear the Gospel! 

The unsaved population of our churches accounts for the lack of power in the church - the lack of new birth - many of the financial struggles - and most certainly the lack of holy living!  Instead of being a force of the Gospel in the world - we have simply adopted the world culture into our churches. 

I have great friends and leaders in the SBC whom I respect who still seem optimistic that churches can change and transition into spirit-filled churches of largely regenerate members!  I want to believe them!   Yet, I also have great friends who, having struggled against this mostly unyielding problem, scrapped it all and started over with a new church! Certainly those new churches have their own struggles - but they are started with high accountability and clear and careful membership requirements. The attempt is made to insure as much as possible that people make informed decisions for Jesus Christ and experience ongoing life transformation!   People simply are not allowed to be members if they are not involved in both church and personal ministry!

A frustrated pastor said on one occasion that a lot of ministerial burnout happens because ministers spend most of their time trying to get unsaved people to act like children of God!  I suppose that depending on the church and the people, that statement will be more or less true! I can certainly attest to the fact that dealing with this problem can make one cynical!  Yet, the problem is very real and very eternally deadly!

Elliff had some great suggestions regarding solutions for the existing church! One thing I would emphasize is that we must begin to pray for God to restore His church! We must all be revived in Spirit - and become unwilling to accept a cheap grace and easy believism as substitutes for true salvation that brings brothers and sisters together for the cause of knowing Christ and making Him known.

10 Ways to Make Your Church Service Better Tomorrow!

1. Sleep tonight - be awake tomorrow!

2. Give yourself to God today! Celebrate Him tomorrow!

3. Start singing today - that way you will already be warmed up tomorrow!

4. The more the merrier - bring someone with you!

5. Anticipate God doing a great work - in you!

6. Be there yourself! God works through those who show up!

7. Determine to share a blessing with someone tomorrow - and bear a burden for someone else!

8. Arrive with Jesus on your mind!

9. Pray for your church tonight!

10. Determine that God will be glorified in worship!

An Open Letter to Agricola Baptist!

My heart is so full today!  I am excited about what God is doing!  Some great things are happening and are about to happen!

1. This Sunday! We will examine the topic "Do Worship Right!" this Sunday! As I prepare for this message I am reminded of how easily we make "worship services" about anything and everything other than focusing on Christ!  God is reminding me that there can only be one true object of our worship! Of course, worship is about far more -- far, far, more than Sundays!

2. This Sunday Night!  We will take some time to have fellowship towards the end of AAD with Dusty Sherrell, celebrating his recent earning of the Master of Divinity Degree!  That will happen at about 6:15 pm. 

3. This Fall!  Wow! The planning is not quite done - but God has laid an awesome theme on our hearts for August through December!  Each month will be different expression of this theme and I can hardly wait to unveil it to you!  Be praying! We are going to be doing some stuff for families, the community, and for our spiritual growth that will be fantastic! 

4. NEWSBOYS!  Have you heard?  Newsboys will be the featured group at Praise in the Park this year!  That is absolutely the hand of God at work!  ABC will go and participate!

5. Wednesday Night! In the adult study, we will be looking at Ananias: The Reluctant Disciple! What do you do when God tells you to do something you are not too sure about?  What do you do when you are instructed to do something by the Lord that seems.....well..... maybe dangerous?  We will see what Ananias did!  That is Wednesday night at 6:30 pm.

6. Wednesday Night Meal!  Hey! I just thought you might want to know!  We are having a baked potato bar and salad! That sounds great to me!

7.  God is blessing so much! We are enjoying serving our community!  Please remember Backpack Buddies this Sunday and bring a pop-top soup, little juicers etc.! We will take them during the $1.00 offering time to supply our Backpack Buddies for the rest of this school year! We are serving 41 children in two elementary schools by assisting them with weekend nutrition!  Praise the Lord!  I am thankful for the Lord raising up Melissa Smith to oversee this ministry!

Bring someone with you this Sunday! They will be introduced to the Lord and to genuine worship! Get excited! NOW!  Prepare for worship -NOW! How do you prepare for worship? You worship God now - today - with all your life! Obey Him - and come to the worship service with your heart full of God overflow from the week! 

Dr. T

A Note to ABC!!!!!

1. Last Sunday the Spirit was moving!  WOW! It got so quiet during the morning message!  I could feel the heavy presence of conviction - and rejoiced to see serious people praying around the front of the worship center during the invitation. 

2. Thank you for hearing a word of instruction!  I really don't like to make "family" announcements, but the movement of people leaving during the invitation had finally gotten out of control.  When I am counting people going out the door instead of anticipating decisions in the invitation, something has to change!  Thank you for listening! No one left during the invitation Sunday!

3. The music was tight Sunday morning! What I mean by that is the message of the music led us in worship in the great truths of God's work in us and the necessity of that work.  It was Spirit led and well prepared us to hear a heavy word of truth about wheat and tares!

4. I believe there are people under conviction right now!  People who are tired of "faking it!"  People who may have just come to the realization that salvation is not gained through what someone else has said or remembers about us! Some folks are hoping in an experience or a prayer that has never brought to them a passion for Jesus, for obeying Jesus, for sharing Jesus, or for living a sanctified life!  My prayer is that anyone and everyone under the conviction of the Holy Spirit will yield to Him in repentance and faith! TODAY!

5. Next Sunday will be awesome!  Hard Truths About Following Jesus! Jesus is the topic for Sunday morning - how to and how we follow Him will be a part of the discussion!

6. BRING SOMEONE!  Don't you want to be obedient in spreading the Gospel? The easiest starting place for you to do that is to start inviting people to the place where you know they will be introduced to Jesus!  I didn't say it was the only thing you needed to do - but if you have not been introducing people to our wonderful Lord, a very safe way for you to start is to bring your friends with you to worship!  BRING SOMEONE this Sunday!  They will definitely hear about Jesus!

7. Let's Go to the RACES!  RA RACES are tomorrow night - WEDNESDAY!  Hamburgers and hot dogs will be available starting at 5:30 pm - and the races get underway around 6:15 pm - all around the Children's Worship Theater!

Blessings,

Dr. T