To Whom Shall We Turn?

True Bible study is needed in the church today. There are fewer and fewer people in the church today that spend very much time in prayer and study of the Word of God. However, statistics show that those who read and study the Bible are more likely:

• To give generously to the church.
• To be active in a small group or Sunday School class.
• To share their faith more often.
• To spend greater time in prayer.
• To attend worship services regularly.
• To be involved in local ministries and international missions.¹

Isn’t that interesting? Could these statistics be the reason for so many who have fallen away from the study and reading of the Bible? Could these be the reasons why so many people have fallen away from the church in America? After all, the “preacher” keeps asking us to “give, give, give” when it comes to tithing. Our time is filled with so many different events (such as sports, birthdays, holidays, hunting, etc.) that to add just one more thing to our schedules like small group or Sunday School class puts such a strain on us. Not everyone is going to welcome the Gospel of the Lord Jesus so it’s better not to be disappointed by a rejection so we just don’t share the Gospel. Prayer is a good thing—when we’re getting our own way, but when the Lord says ‘no’ to our petitions it’s just aggravating. As long as we regularly attend ‘a’ worship service (not necessarily every week, but perhaps 2-3 times a month) then we’re doing pretty well; that’s enough to get us by until the next time we think we need to make an appearance. Local ministries and international missions sounds great, but as long as we’re giving a cent here and there we’re involved, right?

The fact of the matter is that the above paragraph is how so many people think when it comes to facing the truth of where they are. And the sad thing is that people don’t seem to be convicted about any of their thinking. When we read and study the Bible on a regular basis it causes us to think and many of us are just plain tired of thinking. That’s why we watch a bunch of television; it takes our minds off of what’s going on in our lives. Or that’s why we lean heavily on entertainment because it helps us to have a break from the ‘real world.’

 

The sad reality is that too many people in the modern church today just don’t think that God and His Word, the Bible, are all that important in the scheme of things. It should come as no surprise to anyone that the church is wanting in today’s culture and society. It has become a behemoth that needs to be eradicated in the minds of humanists and secularists around the world. The ideas of the Christian church are passé and should just be set aside altogether. But to whom shall we turn? Turning to ourselves only means a bigger mess than what we have today. To whom shall we go? With this great turning away, we say with Peter the disciple, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God (John 68, 69).

1 Rainer, Thom S., Initials. "From My Perspective." Facts & Trends, Fall2011, lifeway.com (accessed October 18, 2011), 4-5.

Elijah's Challenge

The challenge was great. There were 450 prophets against one. It is the story of Elijah—you know, when he challenged the prophets of Baal. Now these prophets had some major backing. What I mean is that these prophets belonged to Jezebel who was King Ahab’s wife. She was a pretty rough woman with which to contend, but Elijah threw no low punches. He went right to the heart of the matter.


Elijah challenged the 450 prophets to call on their gods and he would call on his God and the one who answered by fire would be the one that was to be worshiped. The prophets set up their altar and began to call on the names of their gods. They called...they wailed...they began to cut themselves and bleed...and all the while Elijah the prophet sat there and watched all of this take place. Then, after a while, Elijah began to mock these prophets. After all, they had been going through their exercise for quite a long time. He began to hurl insults at them: “Hey! Why don’t you cry out a little louder! Maybe Baal is still in bed!” or “Hey! If you cut yourselves some more maybe he’ll respond to you better!” Can you see it? He’s up on Mount Carmel making fun of these guys.

And then it was Elijah’s turn. He built an altar and placed a bunch of wood on the altar of the Lord. He dug a trench around the altar and had the people fill up the trench with water. Then he told them to pour a bunch of water over the sacrificial bull. But he didn’t stop there! He had them pour even more water over the altar to the point that the bull and the wood was soaking wet. Wait! Elijah had them do it even a third time to ensure that it would not spark and catch on fire if he was trying to start it himself.

Read what Elijah then said: LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that You are the LORD God, and that YOU have turned their hearts back to You again” (1 Kings 18:36, 37). A simple request with a simple recognition of who the LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel is. What was God’s response? He came down in fire and consumed all of the water, the bull, the wood and the stones that were placed around the altar of the Lord (18:38, 39).

It’s an amazing story, isn’t it? It never ceases to amaze us to read stories like this from the Scriptures. But something gets in the way of realizing that the LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel is the same LORD God of us today. For some reason we forget this to be our reality. What is it? For what reasons do we forget? Perhaps what we ought to do is read these stories and make those simple requests of the LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel and give Him the recognition for who He is—who He has always been. As Elijah, what we ought to do is to seek to give Him the glory in everything. After all, He is the One who has made it possible for us to do anything for Him in the first place. The last time I checked I didn’t just happen to have the ability I have apart from His gifting or His blessing or His provision or His righteous choosing to bless and have compassion and mercy. Let’s be thankful to Him for the great things that He has done...is doing...and intends to do in the future.

Love, Love, Love

“What the world needs now is love!” You remember the old song that has those words, don’t you? The song was written by Hal David and composed by Burt Bacharach. It was first recorded by Jackie DeShannon and was released on April 15, 1965. The song itself has been recorded by over one hundred different recording artists. Read some of the lyrics of the song:

What the world needs now is love sweet love,

It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of.

What the world needs now is love sweet love,

No not just for some but for everyone.

Lord we don’t need another mountain,

There are mountains and hillsides enough to climb,

There are oceans and rivers enough to cross

Enough to last until the end of time.

Lord, we don’t need another meadow

There are corn fields and wheat fields enough to grow,

There are sunbeams and moonbeams enough to shine,

Oh listen, Lord, if you want to know

What the world needs now is love sweet love,

It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of.

What the world needs now is love sweet love,

No not just for some, oh but just for every, everyone.

Interesting song! David and Bacharach wanted to get the message out that it is love that is truly needed in our world today.

The Bible tells us of a love that surpasses every other kind of love. Read how the Lord Jesus Christ said it in John 3:16-18:

For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world that He might condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. Anyone who believes in Him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the One and Only Son of God. (HCSB)

What our world needs is the love of God through the Lord Jesus Christ! David and Bacharach missed what has already been given to everyone in the world.