I’M NOT BEING FED!

It is reasonable for us to realize that new believers have a long walk of obedience to learn about their new-found faith! It is not fair to expect new followers of Jesus to walk, speak, respond, and act in the same manner of an experienced follower. Maturing takes time, but not time alone! It also involves study, growth, feedback, patience, and perhaps a teacher or mentor.

Most churches have no plan for maturing new believers. It they do, it is often a class led by the pastor that is primarily focused on attaining membership in the church.  Lay people rarely play any role in this developmental process, although Jesus’ expectations were clearly that WE WOULD ALL BE INVOLVED IN HELPING NEW CONVERTS GET GROUNDED IN THEIR FAITH!

Remember Matthew 28:19-20 [NASB]?

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

There’s a considerable difference between making converts and making disciples!

A convert is a person who has faced a crisis of belief and has consequently decided to recognize Jesus as their Lord and Savior!

A disciple is a person who has engaged in a learning, growing process of

·         incorporating God’s Word into their lives,

·         actively becoming part of the fellowship of the “body of Christ”, and

·         growing into the responsibilities of the Great Commission and the Great Commandment!

The latter is NOT a process that can be hurried or completed in a short period of time. It is best illustrated in the way that Jesus facilitated growth and maturity in the apostles’ lives during His three years of ministry! If you recall His interactions with them, it involved:

• teaching
• daily contact
• dialogue
• modeling
• correction
• practical experience
• retreat
• public ministry
• prayer
• rebukes
• living in community
• danger

And even on His last night with these men, they began to argue between themselves – this must have been so discouraging for Jesus!

Luke 22:24-27 [NASB]

…there arose also a dispute among them as to which one of them was regarded to be greatest. And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who have authority over them are called ‘Benefactors.’ But it is not this way with you, but the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant. For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as the one who serves.

The discipling process has many similarities to the parenting process! A young child has so much to learn! Pinnacles are achieved when they can feed themselves, dress themselves and put themselves to bed. They must learn appropriate language and appropriate expressions of joy, pain, anger and sadness. They must grow in understanding that in order to get along with others, you must balance give-and-take. You must respect elders. You are compelled to become effective at communication. All of this is accomplished through day-to-day exposure to and teaching by parents who love them and want them to succeed in life and have many friends!

New followers of Christ must learn:

ü  how to confess and seek God’s forgiveness for sinful thoughts, words or actions.

ü  how to use God’s Word and become familiar enough with it to be able to find help in times of specific need.

ü  how to fit into the “body of Christ” by loving and accepting others.

ü  about their unique spiritual gifts and how to use them for the benefit of the body!

ü  how to let their light shine so that they can influence others to follow Christ.

ü  about respecting authorities and loving your neighbor.

ü  about liturgy and the purpose and flow of worship.

They will need personalized guidance to answer the many questions that come up in between Sundays! A Sunday school class or pastor’s class could NEVER completely scratch where they itch! They need a DISCIPLER – one who disciples - [mentor, coach, travelling companion]!  Availability is the key to effective disciple-making! 

_______________________________

If this process is not initiated and continued, then we can expect the new follower of Christ to be stunted in their growth.

Instead of exploring God’s Word regularly, they depend on others to do the work of study and deliver it to them in a Sunday School class or a Bible study group.

Without the full, rounded experience of discipleship, they may find it difficult to fit in and contribute to the goals of the whole body of believers.

It is reasonable to assume that vast numbers of American Christians have never been properly through a discipleship process. They consider themselves ‘believers’, but it is probably inappropriate to refer to them as 'followers of Christ'.

As harsh as it sounds, they exemplify immaturity. They quickly become discontent and dissatisfied. They hop from church to church looking for a rewarding experience that scintillates and entertains. They leave churches because they “aren’t being fed”. They do this unapologetically – never seeming to realize that in doing so, they are admitting to immaturity  -  “I need someone to feed me!”

It’s a sad reality for many today. The church has failed them! It simply didn’t provide the kind of follow-up training that allows/encourages the new convert to press forward and mature in their faith! It is also a key reason why so many ‘believers’ are fruitless! They have never led a single person to faith in Christ! Why? They were never taught that influencing others is an essential part of following Jesus! They were not trained to go, make disciples, baptize and teach…[Matthew 28:19-20] which were among the final words that Jesus spoke to His followers!

Many American churches have a steep, upward climb to reclaim the lost ground of decades of ignored discipleship training!

The core of the church is experiencing natural attrition as lifelong members die or move to assisted living centers. I have led a couple of churches that lost their children to the faith. Consequently, older leaders have had to continue to lead well past their prime because a generation or two have simply been lost! And eventually the church must close its doors because it can no longer pay its bills! Such is the plight of the American Church in many cases and places.

________________________________________

LORD OF THE CHURCH:

Father, Son and Holy Spirit,

While You revel in the growth of the body of believers in so many places around our globe,

You must disparage at the plight of Your Church here in America.

Our numbers are rapidly going in the wrong direction,

and we seem helpless in reversing this decades-long trend!

We need to remind ourselves that You are as available to us as You are the Church around the world!

Our reality is not a result of the shortening of Your arm or Your disinterest.

Rather, it is a long pattern of deterioration within the Church!

We have failed to cultivate genuine worship!

We have lost our passion for spiritual renewal!

We have ignored our responsibility to train disciples.

We have allowed ourselves to become distracted by wealth, comfort and forms of worship!

But we have lost the power of Your Holy Spirit!

We have come to think that we can order worship!

We have failed to cultivate meaningful, spiritual relationships!

We’ve become comfortable going for long periods of time without experiencing Your presence!

We have ceased loving our neighbor and sacrificing for their benefit!

WE NEED YOU!

WE NEED YOUR SPIRIT!

WE NEED CONNECTION!

AND YOU HAVE WHAT WE NEED!

MAY WE ONCE AGAIN BECOME SEEKERS!

Ask, and it will be given to you;

seek, and you will find; 

knock, and it will be opened to you. 

For everyone who asks receives,

and he who seeks finds,

and to him who knocks it will be opened.

Matthew 7:7-8  [NASB]

THE THRONE OF YOUR LIFE

Ego is a powerful thing! Self-discovery begins so early! Have you watched an infant discover his/her toes – even fingers? At that stage, it seems that everything new gets the ‘taste-test’ – it goes right to the mouth!  😂  Almost everything is new to this new-born! S/he is on a journey of discovery and self-identification that will continue unabated throughout life!

I’ve been seeing a series of ‘reels’ lately where a tiny little girl stands nose-to-nose with a huge, furry, friendly dog. She screams in his face as she scolds him. He could easily shove her to the side with his powerful front legs, but he just stands there and submits to her supposed authority with an occasional ‘woof!’ of response.  I laugh when I see it because of this little girl’s early audacity to think that she is the lord of this massive family pet!  Such is the ego of young children who are still learning and growing.

As we grow, we increasingly come to think that the world revolves around ‘us’! This is because we are the center of our experience!

As childhood emerges into the adolescence years the process continues as the young person begins to distinguish him/herself through the self-identification process. With a fully developed personality by age seven, this child continues to grow, learn, explore as they approach adulthood and the realization of accepting responsibility for the direction of their life! It can be an awesome experience; it can also be terrifying.

BUT THIS IS NOT A PSYCHOLOGICAL TREATISE, BUT A THEOLOGICAL ONE!

If somewhere along this child’s path they are introduced to the love of a divine Savior, they may begin a whole new process with a completely different foundation!  If they embrace the reality of a God-directed life, then they – like so many of us – begin to explore the meaning of a totally different way of being!

Many have anchored their thinking – after serious reflection on the words of the Apostle Paul – found in Galatians 2:19-21 [TM]:

^{[Paul writing]} What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn’t work. So I quit being a “law man” so that I could be God’s man. Christ’s life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not “mine,” but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that.

Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate God’s grace.

It has been pictured as follows: 

Through a growing understanding of the Word of God and the Spirit-directed life, the young person [or person of any age] begins to desire to live a life that is totally pleasing to God and consequently brings the deepest satisfaction and joy!

The process of sustaining this last lifestyle is a growing process that will require our full attention throughout our life! It is a sanctifying process that involves repentance, forgiveness, prayer, immersion in the Word, and a desire to grow spiritually into a fruitful follower of Christ. It is a process that is highly defined by the depth and availability of God’s amazing grace!

___________________________________________

Today, I discovered a good biblical picture of this process in the life of King David in II Samuel’s closing chapters.

David is old! He’s living in the latter days of his life. His kingdom has just survived an attempted coo by his son, Absalom!  As David resettles into the palace and the routines of being king over a massive accrual of subordinate nations, David falls prey to his own pride.

The beauty of all biblical characters is the fact that they are all one-hundred percent human – just like us! The great, highly admired King David falters – just like we often do!

He sits one day and wonders how many fighting soldiers he has between Israel and Judah? “Hmmm. I’ll bet it’s a pretty high number!  I think I’ll have them counted!” [he muses].

David orders Joab – his army commander – to take others and move throughout Israel and Judah to count those men. Joab sees the foolishness of the task and resists the order, but ultimately submits.  After nearly ten months, 

“…they canvassed the whole country and…arrived back in Jerusalem. Joab gave the results of the census to the king: 800,000 able-bodied fighting men in Israel; in Judah 500,000…But when it was all done, David was overwhelmed with guilt because he had counted the people, replacing trust with statistics. And David prayed to God, ‘I have sinned badly in what I have just done. But now God forgive my guilt—I’ve been really stupid’” [II Samuel 24:9,10].

 

David’s pride got the best of him!

It happens. To all of us from time-to-time.

Unfortunately for David, this error cost the lives of seventy thousand of his people who died from an epidemic initiated by God as punishment for David’s audacity! A horrible reality that caused David terrible grief and pain! It's also a reminder that leadership has increased responsibility!

Even in the midst of this punishment, David is careful to keep himself pure! He is told by Gad the prophet to 

“Go and build an altar on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.”  

When David attempts to buy this threshing floor from Araunah, he tries to donate it to King David as a gift! But David is wise and responds: “I’ve got to buy it from you for a good price; I’m not going to offer GOD, my God, sacrifices that are no sacrifice…GOD was moved by the prayers and that was the end of the disaster” [vs.24-25].

_____________________________________

We must be vigilant in keeping Christ on the throne of our lives and NOT assuming that role on our own! This is why we call Him LORD!

I ENVY MOSES!

In the last verses of Numbers 7, we find these words:

When Moses went into the Meeting Tent to speak with the LORD, he heard the LORD speaking to him. The voice was coming from between the two gold creatures with wings that were above the lid of the Ark of the Agreement. In this way the LORD spoke with him.

What a blessing! To be able to actually carry on a dialogue with God! Wow! What wouldn’t we give to have such a privilege?

Hearing God’s voice is a finely developed ability that is honed by a long practice of spending time with Him in an intimate way. It is not something that typically comes quickly to new believers. Speaking with unseen others is not normal behavior for most of us! It’s a honed skill that emerges as we explore a deeper and more intimate relationship with God!

I believe there are some factors that will usually be present when we desire to hear His voice [by this I mean receive messages from Him].

The environment where you approach God is important!

Now, if it’s an emergency need that you’re presenting, then any environment is acceptable!

Psalm 18:6 ESV

“In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.”

However, God desires more from us than urgent pleas for help! God wants us to develop intimacy with Him!

A Special Place

It’s a good idea to designate a special place for communicating with God!

I had a fellow student who beat the Pittsburgh traffic by driving in very early and then he spent an hour reading his Bible and talking with God in the confines of his car.

Find a place and time in your home where you will be less likely to be interrupted. It could be a spare bedroom, or a breakfast nook, or in the corner of a basement, or even in your car while parked in the garage. In nice weather it might be a porch swing or picnic table or a walk through a nearby park!

Make this place your sanctuary! It is where you privately commune with God! Even when you find yourself passing this spot at other times of the day, you may reflect on the blessings that have been yours in this sacred spot!

Adequate Time

Ah, here’s the real challenge!

There is a tendency to want to hurry this devotional/prayer time due to the obvious busyness of our lives. Most of us have to work at carving out enough time for it to be impactful. Psalm 46:10 tells us to “Be still; and know that I am God.”

The bottom line here is simple: we have time for the things we really want to do! 

Making time for God is the result of two factors: desire and planning.

First and foremost, we must really LOVE having time for intimacy with God! He has to be real to us! We have to believe down deep in our hearts that time with Him changes us and makes life better! His guidance and peace alone are of inestimable value! Proverbs 18:24 clearly refers to God by reminding us that “…there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother.”

Only when we’ve learned this truth in the deepest and most meaningful ways will we prioritize significant time for God!  It doesn’t naturally come with a new birth! For most it has to be cultivated. It’s part of maturing in our faith!

Some Unstructured Time

New believers often use devotional materials or Bible-reading-plans to guide them in their private time with God. This is good and necessary for the novice.

However, these disciplines can become regimented and easy ‘check-off-points’ that fail to really engage us with God!

Essentially, spending time with God involves an exchange! We speak as we pour out our praises, concerns and requests. But this is only part of the divine equation! We must also discipline ourselves to LISTEN! This inevitably involves WAITING. Developing silence and solitude is a challenge for us in the 21^st century where most things are immediately available.

A friend told me of overhearing his two sons talking in the kitchen while warming something in the microwave. One said: “Somebody needs to invent an oven that warms things up more quickly!”  😂

Sitting still to listen to God has its hazards. It may feel awkward.

o   “How will I know when He speaks to me?”

o   “What does His voice sound like?”

o   “I sometimes fall asleep while I’m listening for God!”

On mornings when I am easily distracted, I often type my prayer to God. I am painfully honest! I confess my sins and shortcomings. I tell Him exactly how I feel with no attempt to sugar-coat it! My candidness often evokes a spiritual response. In the process – I hear Him speaking to me – usually words of comfort; but sometimes words of confrontation. When the process is over, I usually delete these letters.

Some Written Record

Journaling is the official word for this practice. It is not a requirement, but it can be a helpful investment. There’s something about the process of writing that integrates what we’ve learned into our memory and locks it in place! It seems to engage our emotions more to write these things down for later reflection.

Be careful not to let this become an obsession! Doing so can drain the joy from the experience. Record high moments, insights into scripture, messages received from God and other impactful responses.

____________________________________

Spending time with God shouldn’t be a drudgery, nor should it be merely a discipline. We want to grow this time to be a TREASURE!

This is a time for us to get to know God and invite His guidance into the choices of our lives.

Remember, God initiated this type of daily relationship clear back in the very beginning when He came and spent time in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve [Genesis 3:8]. In that environment of perfection, one day God came to walk with them, but He couldn’t find them. He had to call out, “Where are you?”  It turns out that they had sinned!

How many times has God called out: “Hal, where are you?”

“________________ [put your name in the blank], where are you?

ABUSING GRACE - GUILTY!

We used to call it backsliding. That term comforted us because it made it seem like it was something that happened outside of our will and decision. That was, of course, never the case! We just don’t like to take responsibility for our missteps! Such a kind word – missteps. It doesn’t sound bad at all. We’ were just walking along and suddenly – we misstepped!

It was an accident! We didn’t mean to do it! It just sort of happened.

But, in reality, it was an act of our will! We can use all the user-friendly language we want to make it sound innocuous – but it was sheer rebellion in most cases.

I knew what I was doing! Sometimes I even thought it through so thoroughly that I knew I was defying God, but – after all – I could always seek His forgiveness and kick in the I John 1:9 caveat! [Paraphrase: If I confess my sin, He is faithful and just and will forgive my sin and cleanse me from all unrighteousness.]

Voila! I’m clean again! Assured of Heaven!

___________________________________

For those few of us who can admit that we’ve actually had thought processes like this, what a horrible presumption! How dare we try to 'play' God! Do we think He isn’t aware of this game? Do we think He isn’t all that concerned about our dalliance with sin? [Imagine God saying] “It’s ok, Hal. I see what you’re doing here and it really doesn’t bother Me that you’re playing frivolously with my grace!”

ARE YOU KIDDING?

God doesn’t like it when we play with His grace!

What a great time to reflect on the corruption and fickleness of the Old Testament children of Israel.

Their unfaithfulness and persistent rebellion is notorious!  Remember that God eventually had His own Temple destroyed by the Babylonians and watched as His people were carried away to Babylon – where they resided for the next seventy years!  All this took place after years of warnings from God’s prophets!

This is the whole story of the Old Testament: a rebellious people whose story ended without any authentic resolution! Their sinfulness triggered the end of the Old Covenant and revealed the need for a New Covenant!

But we think we can repeat the behavior of the Israelites and God will be okay with that!

_____________________________________

We know this! God loves and rewards FAITHFULNESS!

That’s why He was so pleased with Noah, Abraham and Sarah, Joseph, Moses, David [despite his well-known flaws], Samuel, and a whole host of prophets – even including some kings of Judah!

God is looking for those who will be faithful – not those who manipulate His grace!

Why not just stop it? Stop what?

How about this sin – repent, sin – repent, sin – repent, sin – repent pattern that has dominated your adult life for far too long!

Lay a firm foundation!

Consecrate yourself to a commitment!

Change your patterns!

Resolve to be God’s man or woman!

Conquer sin instead of playing with it!

It likely begins with a prayer like the following:

Kind and gracious God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit,

I’ve abused Your grace!

I’ve done it over and over – beyond counting!

It’s become a pattern in my life!

I know this displeases You!

I’m sorry!

Genuinely sorry!

But today – You’ve gotten my attention!

I want to be done with this atrocious behavior.

I don’t want to plan to sin…

or deliberately abuse Your wonderful grace!

I want to be an example of faithfulness.

I want to please You!

I know that I’ll always need forgiveness.

All of us do!

But I want to stop these thought-through,

fully aware of what I am doing,

playful flirtations with SIN!

I’ve disappointed You!

I’ve hurt You!

I’ve tried to use You!

I can do better.

I want to do better.

I plan to do better,

Though Your grace and help!

May my life and light shine for You!

AMEN! 

OK, GOD, I HEARD YOU!

Do you recognize God's voice when He speaks?

This has been a chronic problem for many people throughout the history of humanity.  

God called Moses up onto the mountain where He then spoke to him like a man speaks with another man.  

And GOD spoke with Moses face-to-face, as neighbors speak to one another.

Exodus 33:11 (TM)

 According to Genesis 17:1 (NIV),

"When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said to Abram, 'I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless.'" 

But by David's time, God had begun speaking through the 'Urim and Thummim' which were gemstones embedded on the priest's garments that allowed David to receive answers from God.   

OK, Hal, that's all well-and-good, but how does God speak today in the 21st century?

Well, there are a number of answers, foremost among them would be through His Word (the Bible).  

But the purpose of this blog is not to address the full subject of the question.  Rather, I'd like to address the inner voice of the Holy Spirit.

We typically think of three ages of revelation of the triune God:

1. The Old Testament period was predominated by God the Father.
2. The Gospels represent a period when Jesus [God Incarnate] came to teach and prepare for the future.
3. The rest of the New Testament explains and illustrates the work/age of the Holy Spirit!

We live in the age of the Holy Spirit!  He directs the work of the Church in accord with the Word of God!

Christ-followers have the capacity of hearing directly from the Holy Spirit because at our salvation, He takes up residence within us!  

But believers have to cultivate the ability to hear the voice of the Spirit!  

This can happen while we're listening to our pastor bring a message on Sunday.  It can also happen when we read from God's Word and suddenly find ourselves sensing the Spirit's direction as we read.  It can happen virtually at any time and in any place if we are open to God and repeatedly obedient when we sense His attempts to direct us.

I know this is a vague subject and especially challenging for newer believers.  

I'm sure that at one time or another, you've looked at a picture of a group - perhaps a large group of people.  As your eyes roll across the scene, you rather quickly pick out people you know.

When we got our dog, Gabe, I trained him to come to my sharp, shrill whistle.  [Please don't be angry with me because of this illustration - it isn't something I do very often.]  One day - in a crowded space - I needed to get Debbie's attention.  So, I gave my Gabe-whistle.  She immediately turned and caught my eye!  :-)  We still laugh about this.  She also recognized my whistle!

The point: As we grow our familiarity with the voice of the Holy Spirit, we will more easily recognize those times when He is trying to get our attention!

Let me illustrate.

Just yesterday I wrote a blog article that had to do with integrity.  I worked on it for several hours before publishing it.  As usual, I re-read it repeatedly to make corrections and improvements.  I felt good about the product.

Today, after writing another blog article and publishing it, I worked on my message for The Foundery this coming Sunday.  Having a good five hours in, I loaded up Gabe in the truck and we went for a ride as a bit of a break [Deb works at Bethel Church library all morning on Wednesdays].

We ran some local, country roads with the windows down.  Gabe - as all dogs do - had his head out the window the whole time.  I simply enjoyed the pastoral views and the warm weather.

Although it's difficult to explain, as I drove, I suddenly heard the voice of the Holy Spirit!  It was crystal clear to me!  He was reminding me of the blog article I had written about integrity.  He took me to a specific area of my life and then simply said, "What about this?  Does this come in line with your understanding of modeling integrity?"  

This illustration is private, however, the area He laid His finger on was not a sin.   It was simply an area where I needed to do some thinking and evaluating.  I knew He was making an attempt to cultivate in me a greater measure of holiness, consistency and witness.  

The last ten minutes of our ride was a deliberation.  

• Did I just hear the voice of the Holy Spirit?
• Is He trying to cultivate a deeper obedience in my life?
• Am I willing to adapt my life in the way He seems to be directing?
• Will this increase my integrity?
• Will making adaptations open me to the greater works of God?

The answer to all the above was 'Yes'.  I knew it!  

And now comes the obedience - the conforming to the will of God for my life!  

___________________________

Can you identify with this?

Have you cultivated the ability to discern the voice of the Holy Spirit?

Are you soft in His hands?

Have you heard from the Holy Spirit lately?  If not, is it because He's not speaking to you?  Or is it because you are not listening carefully?

One of my favorite hymns - written by Adelaide A. Pollard in 1906:

Have thine own way, Lord!

Have thine own way!

Thou art the potter,

I am the clay.

Mold me and make me

after thy will,

while I am waiting,

yielded and still.

Have thine own way, Lord!

Have thine own way!

Hold o'er my being

absolute sway.

Fill with thy Spirit

till all shall see

Christ only, always,

living in me!

TRANSFORMATION #2 - CALLED TO BE HOLY!

 I love Paul's tact and strategy.  He begins his letter to the Corinthians by affirming and reminding them of some very important things:

To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ - their Lord and ours...[v.2]

Just a few verses later, he reminds them again that they are called:

 God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.  [v.9]

Eugene Peterson - in THE MESSAGE - paraphrases verse two:

I send this letter to you in God's church at Corinth, Christians cleaned up by Jesus and set apart for a God-filled life.  [v.2]

Sanctified = cleaned up

Called = set apart for a God-filled life!

The Corinthians needed to be reminded of these facts.  So do we!

In his introduction to this letter, Peterson writes:

When people become Christians, they don't at the same moment become nice.  This always comes as something of a surprise.

Conversion to Christ and his ways doesn't automatically furnish a person with impeccable manners and suitable morals.

The people of Corinth had a reputation in the ancient world as an unruly, hard-drinking, sexually promiscuous bunch of people.  When Paul arrived with the Message and many of them became believers in Jesus, they brought their reputations with them right into the church.

Paul spent a year and a half with them as their pastor, going over the Message of the "good news" in detail, showing them how to live out this life of salvation and holiness as a community of believers.  Then he went on his way to other towns and churches.

Sometime later Paul received a report from one of the Corinthian families that in his absence things had more or less fallen apart.  He also received a letter from Corinth asking for help.  Factions had developed , morals were in disrepair, worship had degenerated into a selfish grabbing for the supernatural.  It was the kind of thing that might have been expected from Corinthians!

So, Paul writes them a letter - reminding them first of all that they were cleaned up by God and set apart to live God-filled lives!  

That's always the starting point!  I need to be reminded of these two things frequently.  Don't you?

Left to my own devices, atrophy sets in.  My nature - like a rubber band - tends to return to its natural position.  I need constant input to keep me growing and becoming.   The inputs that are most helpful to me include:

• reading the Word
• talking with God
• worship
• sacraments
• fellowship
• study
• acting out my faith
• meditation
• accountability

When I ignore these practices - I cease moving forward.  I become luke-warm.  I back-slide.  I need an intervention!

Paul's letters were interventions.  Fortunately for us, they've been preserved for two thousand years!  

Need an intervention in your life right now?  Open to I Corinthians and let the Apostle Paul speak into your heart!