Gossip - A Cancer in the Church

In 1 Timothy 5:13 it says, "And besides they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house, and not only idle but also gossips and busybodies, saying things which they ought not." Gossip eats away at the very fabric of a church. It will if left untreated, destroy not only the church as a whole but individuals within a church. Scripture is very clear about the destructive nature of gossip. It tears down and never builds up. This is why gossip is normally done in dark for if it was truth it would be in the light. The enemy has used the weapon of gossip for years within the church and has been extremely successful in tearing up churches with this weapon.

My concern is that people tend to stereotype a church by the ways some of its people conducts themselves. For instance, how many times have we heard people say, "That church is just full of a bunch of gossipers?" Or worse than than that, "I have been the victim of gossip before and the hurt is still there". What about the pastoral family whose children have become bitter against God and the church because they heard church members barbecue the pastor week after week? It breaks my heart to see people who have been wounded by a Christian who can not overcome gossip.

Don't you think it is time that we learn to live Christ-like lives? Don't you think it's time that we learn to control that unruly member - the tongue? Don't we have enough wounded people walking around due to this terrible epidemic in the church? We need men and women of God who will stand up against this cancer invading the body of Christ. It is time that we say, "I will not allow gossip to ruin one more life and it will not allow it to be a cancer in my church". When someone begins to gossip, we need to be the spiritually mature and tell them in love that we will not be apart of gossip. If the body of Christ does not stand against this cancer in the church, one day we will see the church destroyed because people could not stop the gossip.

Let us come against this evil within the body of Christ and pray that God will close the mouths of those who wag their tongues for the purpose of tearing down. We have a choice before us, will our words build people up or will they tear down our brothers and sisters? The good news of Jesus Christ is all about love. How can we possible love someone as Christ loves them if we are constantly tearing them down? The answer is we can't. There is no way that we can truly love someone and at the same time speak words of destruction to them or about them. Let's eradicate gossip for our lives! Pray and ask God to give us the strength and ability to overcome this cancer that is raging through the Christian church today.

Cancer devours the body. That which once was healthy becomes sick, weak and tired. Gossip causes the body of Christ to be destroyed. It causes the witness of Christ within that body to become sick, weak and tired. Let's allow the Holy Spirit to infuse us in such away that Gossip is eradicated from our lives. God Bless!

The Blessing of God

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3). Paul speaking to the church at Ephesus, remind the Ephesian believers that God through Christ has blessed them with every spiritual blessing. In other words, in Christ we have all spiritual blessing that we need.

After our service today, I began to think on the idea of blessing. God so richly blessed us today in our service that I was reminded of the passage in Ephesians. God has provided for our physical healing through stripes on His back, financial need is provided due to His riches in glory and finally through His blood salvation has been provided.

I can't remember a time that I felt so blessed as I did today. We prayed for a four year old child who has been diagnosed with Muscular Dystrophy. After the service, he came to me and said, "Pastor I am strong because God has healed me". What a blessing to have this child speak for the blessing of God upon his life. He is standing on faith for his healing even at the young age of four. I could not help but think of the innocence of this little boy's confession. I think that we as adults can learn allot from a statement such as this.

Finally, I was reminded this week of my passion for pastoring God's people. I have always held to the position that when ministry begins to be a job and not a calling, then I need to look for something else to do. Satan wants us to throw in the towel and will cause us to focus on our trial rather than on Christ. A young man in our church reminded me of this when he said, "You know, it bothers me when ministry is no longer fun and fulfilling". He said that was the road he was headed down. God wants to remind the both of us, "Don't get weary in well doing..."

What a perfect reminder in Ephesians as Paul reminds us that all Spiritual blessings have been already provided - we simply need to appropriate them.

Change

There are some times that I wonder why I even write on this blog. Very rarely do I even get a comment on what I have written, but for some reason I do keep writing. Although I do not update it as much as I should, (considering my last post was about Easter and here it is July) I am trying to do some better this year. Oh well, here is another futile attempt at blogging.

The subject I would like to deal with today is "change". Many times change is both needed and necessary. However, there are times in which change just for change sake is not a good thing. In Ecclesiastes, the Bible talks about there being "times" or transitions in our lives - a time to live, a time to laugh, a time to dance etc. Although these times of transitions are apart of life, often we ascribe change to being a "God" thing when in reality it is our own self that desires the change.

I have been in pastoral ministry for some 20 years and have heard this statement more than on one occasion, "Pastor, God has been dealing with me about some changes that I need to make". On the surface this sounds like a great confession, however it usually ends with "God is leading me elsewhere". Why would God lead people away from a particular church just so they could make changes? I would like to submit that many times people use the "God is leading me" card, simply because they want to ascribe something spiritual to something that is a matter of their own free will and choices.

Why not simply be honest and say, "I want to leave because I want to." As a pastor this provides for an opportunity to counsel with an individual on the subject of God's will and listening to the leading and guiding of the Holy Spirit in our lives. But when the "God is leading me" card is played that shuts the door for any counseling opportunity. So, I simply want to say if it is God's leading then so be it however, don't play the "God is leading" me card when in reality it is our will and God has nothing to do with it.

New Web Site

Please check out our new website at www.lifegrowingstrong.com and let me know what you think about it.

Easter Reflections

Easter has come and went and I wanted to make a few comments regarding this wonderful day. God blessed us with beautiful weather on Easter Sunday this year. I always love it when Easter is a bright sunshiny day! It makes the day so much exciting for all.

I have always loved the Easter season, it is a time of beautiful spring flowers blooming, warmer weather and there is just a wonderful sense of life. I also love it when the Spirit of the Lord moves on individuals and they give their life to the Lord. We experienced that miracle on Easter. We had someone give their life to the Lord! The miracle of the new birth on the day we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord! It reminds me of an old hymn we used to sing, "There is a new name written down in Glory and it's mine oh yes it mine. The white robed angels sing the story a sinner has come home!" Praise the Lord on Sunday a new name was written in glory. Praise the Lord for salvation.

We can celebrate the Easter season every day! Jesus is alive He is not dead. Is your relationship with Jesus dead? Do you need resurrection power infused into your relationship with Christ? My prayer is for resurrection power to raise His people into newness of life. May God richly bless you as we spread the "Good News" that Jesus saves today. Please remember pray that we will remain faithful to our mission of Life Growing Strong!