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Can You Believe in God and Evolution?

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As we look at salvation and the effects it should have on the life of the Christian ,according to scripture, we wonder why there is a disconnect between what we see clearly in the New Testament and how most people who claim to be Christians live. There are countless verses stating that as a new creature in Christ we must demonstrate His grace and holiness in our lives (2 Corinthians 5:17; Romans 12:1,2; 1 Peter 1:15,16) and that to truly be born again there must be evident fruit produced.

As we look at the church today there are tens of thousands of professing believers that do not attend church and live no differently than the world. This group is even outnumbered by those who may attend church services weekly but Christ has made no visible difference in their lives.

According to the Bible it becomes clear that the gospel message can be received and believed by anyone that desires a change from sin to salvation. A saved individual will receive the message of salvation as given in the Bible. This message is the Word of God received by the mind which in turn moves the heart to change and lastly changes the will.  The order the Holy Spirit works is mind, heart and will. As a result there is visible fruit in the believer’s life for all to observe.

Listed below are three (3) false conversions which violate this order: 

Head knowledge: The problem for many is that the mind has received (i.e. head knowledge) the Word but the heart was never moved to change or the will broken. (Matt13:4). Many sit in churches day in and day out and have vast Bible knowledge but no salvation. This knowledge never moves the heart or changes the will.

Heart Acceptance: These people have some emotional experience, maybe a release of some pain or tragedy, and the heart is moved to embrace Christianity. However this movement of the heart was not based on the Word of God received into the mind, thus there was no foundation. The mind was skipped over and the heart was the responder. A decision card may have been filled out but the decision was not based on a clear understanding of salvation as explained in the Word of God, but rather an “emotional moment.”   

Will Breaker - Legalism:  These people are busy doing. They are doing “Christian things” not because of The Word infiltrated their mind and their hearts leading to a breaking of their will, but out of duty.  In fact, if asked why they do what they do as a Christian they sometimes can not point to a single Bible verse or doctrinal position. Their heart is never in the actions and they usually burn out. 

If we simply look at the New Testament we find that when the Word was preached explaining sin and violation of God’s law and the forgiveness found in Christ, hearts were pricked and wills changed. A casual reading of Acts chapter 2 is a great example. Let us be careful that we do not focus on one area of the three to the neglect of the others.  God alone does the saving and changing but we must be sure that we do not put one above the others in importance.  Every aspect – mind, heart and will – must be brought into subjection of Christ and receive His transforming grace.

As we look at salvation and the effects it should have on the life of the Christian ,according to scripture, we wonder why there is a disconnect between what we see clearly in the New Testament and how most people who claim to be Christians live. There are countless verses stating that as a new creature in Christ we must demonstrate His grace and holiness in our lives (2 Corinthians 5:17; Romans 12:1,2; 1 Peter 1:15,16) and that to truly be born again there must be evident fruit produced.

As we look at the church today there are tens of thousands of professing believers that do not attend church and live no differently than the world. This group is even outnumbered by those who may attend church services weekly but Christ has made no visible difference in their lives.

According to the Bible it becomes clear that the gospel message can be received and believed by anyone that desires a change from sin to salvation. A saved individual will receive the message of salvation as given in the Bible. This message is the Word of God received by the mind which in turn moves the heart to change and lastly changes the will.  The order the Holy Spirit works is mind, heart and will. As a result there is visible fruit in the believer’s life for all to observe.

Listed below are three (3) false conversions which violate this order: 

Head knowledge: The problem for many is that the mind has received (i.e. head knowledge) the Word but the heart was never moved to change or the will broken. (Matt13:4). Many sit in churches day in and day out and have vast Bible knowledge but no salvation. This knowledge never moves the heart or changes the will.

Heart Acceptance: These people have some emotional experience, maybe a release of some pain or tragedy, and the heart is moved to embrace Christianity. However this movement of the heart was not based on the Word of God received into the mind, thus there was no foundation. The mind was skipped over and the heart was the responder. A decision card may have been filled out but the decision was not based on a clear understanding of salvation as explained in the Word of God, but rather an “emotional moment.”   

Will Breaker - Legalism:  These people are busy doing. They are doing “Christian things” not because of The Word infiltrated their mind and their hearts leading to a breaking of their will, but out of duty.  In fact, if asked why they do what they do as a Christian they sometimes can not point to a single Bible verse or doctrinal position. Their heart is never in the actions and they usually burn out. 

If we simply look at the New Testament we find that when the Word was preached explaining sin and violation of God’s law and the forgiveness found in Christ, hearts were pricked and wills changed. A casual reading of Acts chapter 2 is a great example. Let us be careful that we do not focus on one area of the three to the neglect of the others.  God alone does the saving and changing but we must be sure that we do not put one above the others in importance.  Every aspect – mind, heart and will – must be brought into subjection of Christ and receive His transforming grace.

As I look over the Church of Jesus Christ I find something missing. To be sure some have turned to entertainment and away from spirit lead preaching services. Some have adjusted their focus to meeting “felt needs” rather than addressing spiritual decay. But I believe that the idea of having a church where the “People of God” serve is hard to find!

If we just casually review the scriptures we find many passages that emphasize service.  Matthew 20:27 tells us that “whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant.” Likewise, Jesus says in John 13:15 “For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.”

What have we done? The modern-day church is full of professionals whose job is to “feed the flock” while never encouraging the flock to serve! The greatest thing you can do for the Lord is to serve him in word and deed. If people will get excited about serving the Savior then those that do not know the Lord might just stand up and take notice. We must be willing to stop the old paradigm of “How does it affect me?” to “What can be done to serve others?” At Walnut Creek Baptist Church we believe that church members have a responsibility to serve both in the church and in the community we live in. Think how ridiculous it would have sounded at the First Baptist Church of Jerusalem if the new children of God would have stated “we don’t want to commit right now, we just want to come hear Peter preach.” Just the opposite was so!  In Acts 4:32-37 we find church members who are willing to serve and do whatever it takes to advance the kingdom of God.

Knowing the importance of getting everyone involved in service is just the start. The pastor and church staff must be willing to set up a systematic program that allows church members to serve at church and in the community on a regular basis.  In addition, the pastor and church staff must erase the “old way” of thinking that the church‘s primary goal is to meet the felt needs of its members! The emphasis should be on showing them how they can help advance the kingdom of God by using their God-given spiritual gifts in serving through their local church.

Serving others can be the most rewarding and spiritually fulfilling thing you will ever do! Rather than saying “I want a church that has programs for me and my family” why not say “I want a church that will allow me and my family to serve and use our gifts to glorify God!”  A serving person doesn’t get easily offended, is faithful to church, gives regularly of their tithes and offerings, and desires that others to come to know the Savior.

We at Walnut Creek Baptist have changed our way of thinking and we look forward to empowering our people and unleashing their God given abilities. The results will be up to the Lord but I can’t wait to see and hear the testimonies of those that come to know the Lord because of the dramatic shift in the in the way we view the church.

As we approach the beginning of a new year it is also time to look at the past year. I believe that the one of the greatest failures Christians make is wasting time and living a lethargic spiritual life. During the last year how much time did you spend in the Word and prayer? How many times did you miss church or special meetings just to sit home and watch television? Ephesians 5:15 clearly states that as believers we are to “Redeem the time because the days are evil.”  Think about the time spent doing nothing! I am not talking about resting, that is surly needed, but what I am taking about is the robotic time wasters of life. These include endless hours of watching television, a consuming desire to be the most up-to-date on sports, hours of conversations talking about other people, and the time wasted discussing the 2008 election,  just to name a few. You fill in the blank as to what your besetting sin “time wasters” might be.  I am suggesting that as Christians our influence on others is in direct portion to our closeness to God and our desire to treasure Him more than anything else.

Here are five challenges to make 2009 more productive:
1. Have a Bible reading program to read God’s Word every day.
2. Have a time and a place to pray every day.
3. Make resolution that you will serve in a ministry (note: ministry commitment Sunday is 1/18/09)
4. Attend every church service and special meetings throughout the year. Apply the same standard for church as you would to work regarding the weather: “would this storm keep me from my job on Monday”?
5. Read, read, read, - read for enjoyment, read for spiritual development, read for cultural understanding “learners are readers and readers are learners.”

Just think about the possibilities for spiritual growth and improvement in your life and the others you can/will influence if you adhere to the five challenges above.
Pastor Ayers

The big issue for the public was “change” even though it was never clearly defined by most candidates what that “change” meant specifically. But let’s stay on that subject and see what “change” we have experienced in churches over the last several decades.

How about the “change” away from biblical preaching?

Many churches have followed the Christian pop-culture mantra of de-emphasizing preaching and providing instead ear-tickling “how to” messages. Many have eliminated both Sunday and Wednesday night services and even the Sunday school hour.

The new way we are told to reach our culture is not with biblical preaching but with cute stories with a Bible principal mixed in every now and then.

The Bible states that it is preaching — not plays, stories or praise bands — that changes man’s heart (1 Cor. 1:18; 1 Cor 1:21.)

How about the “change” in the concept of truth?

The “Emerging Church” movement (now favored in most mainline and evangelical churches) states that truth is never really known and each culture has the right to define truth as they see it. They try to Christianize this by using selected Bible principles but, this philosophy is nothing more than postmodernism with a never-ending search for truth.

The Bible gives us truth as it is the very word of God. II Tim 3:16 tells us it is inspired by God and is “profitable for doctrine,” i.e. truth, and totally sufficient to guide our every decision.

How about the change of worship?

This change has moved the church service from a God-focused, upward looking emphasis to an entertainment-based, man-pleasing emphasis. Many churches now have entire teams of worship leaders and choreographers whose mission is to make the service enjoyable.

If we look at worship in the Bible it always meant falling humbly and prostrate before the Lord. The humble reverence of the holiness of God in the worship service in today’s modern church had definitely “changed!”

What are the results of the changes list above? According to the Barna Research Institute many so called Christians’ “world view” is no different from that of non-Christians.

We no longer live in a Christian nation, guided by moral absolutes and religious liberty. At every turn Christianity is mocked, and I believe much of the blame for this lies at our own feet.

Rather than transforming the world through the love and grace of Christ, we have allowed the world to infiltrate our churches and water down our message.

The only change we can truly believe in comes from knowing the Lord. When we acknowledge our sin, repent, and ask Christ to save us we are changed forevermore.

This change will transform our homes, work places and churches and is the only change that will stand the test of time.

1.) God-centered.
2.) Scripture based.
3.) Expectant.

GOD-CENTERED
            Our intent is that each worship service lifts-up the triune God.  We will strive to avoid a man-centered approach to worship which focuses on the talents and abilities of others.  Although our corporate worship involves the talents and gifts of many people, the focus of the worshipers is not to be on those leading the worship, but on God.
            Real heart-worship of the triune God can only be done by people who have experienced the new birth. Therefore, when we schedule a worship service we plan for whole-hearted meaningful worship for Christians.  We recognize that non-believers will be present in the services and we welcome them, but generally we do not orient the plans for worship around them.  We trust in the contagious self-sacrificing love of our people towards non-Christians, the promise of God to use ‘the foolishness of preaching,’ and the irresistible drawing of the Holy Spirit, to keep non-believers coming to our services, and then ultimately, to come to Himself. 

 SCRIPTURE BASED
            We choose to let Scripture guide and permeate our corporate worship.  We joyfully submit ourselves to God’s word.  We do this when we plan our corporate worship by striving to be consistent with Biblical principles and teaching.  Although there is no specific ‘worship service’ given to us in the Bible, there is ample biblical justification for planning and participating in corporate worship services.[1]
            We understand that the Scriptures describe the Christian’s entire life as worship.  All of our life – our work, our relationships, our leisure, our family life – everything is to be lived as an offering of gratitude and worship to the Lord. However, in this Philosophy of Corporate Worship we are concerning ourselves with the worship that occurs as we meet corporately and respond to the Lord.
            We rejoice that God has not left us to our own wisdom in the matter of worship.  We will gain our direction for worship from Scripture, not from the culture in which we live nor from the practice of surrounding churches.  We believe that all essential elements of worship are given to us in the Scriptures.
            We do not approach worship flippantly, carelessly, or with the idea that it is our right to design worship as we please.  The Scriptures make it clear that God seeks proper worshipers.

 EXPECTANT
            We believe that hearing from God through His word, if done with submissive reverence and expectancy, is in itself worship. We joyfully submit ourselves to the preaching of the word of the cross.

Why Go To Church

This question is often asked by a skeptical society that does not see any benefit to church attendance. Let’s see why they have come up to this conclusion:

They have lack of knowledge about what the Bible says about worship and church attendance. Hebrews 10:25 gives this clear command to the Christian:   “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some [is]; but exhorting [one another]: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching”.

 In all my years of ministry I have never met a Christian who was faithfully serving the Lord but was “hit or miss” with church attendance. Church attendance is a time to corporately worship the Lord. The Greek word for worship is proskyneō.  This is the word for worship most often used in the New Testament and it means to “fall down prostrate” or “kiss the king’s feet”.  In other words the “Church Worship Service” is a very serious time of reflection of an individual’s spiritual condition and conviction from the Holy Spirit on areas of sin. The problem is that people have never been taught what a corporate worship service is supposed to be. It is not a time to entertain or make you feel good! The purpose of a worship service is to open or enhance our relationship with the Lord by the preaching of God’s Word and Holy Spirit intervention. The church service is God’s way of accomplishing His plans for the individual by confronting him/her with truth in a corporate setting.

I know some may say this can happen during a devotion setting or during private quite time, but God does something in a Holy Spirit guided church service that can not be mimicked or duplicated. This principal is mentioned by Paul in 1 Cor 1:18-25 where he stresses the importance of preaching and having a discerning spirit.

The church service or worship service that is based upon the above scriptures can only be for the saved!  How can non-believer worship the Lord whom they do not accept? They problem is that the modern evangelical movement has designed the Worship Service around the unsaved, thus there is no Holy Spirit guidance or conviction; the service is primarily guided by the flesh.  Thus the conclusion is “take it or leave it”