This chart lists differences from the New Testament Church and more Traditional Church:

By Brian Anderson (Simple Church)

What are your thoughts on what you see in these 2 different church models? Has God already been stirring your heart to ask these questions about how church is done?

Brother Paul: They believe there is only one reason why God has left them here on earth: that is to evangelize the lost. Anyone who is not actively pursuing this holy purpose is missing the mark. The Great Commission cannot be compromised. Their methods are anointed preaching with signs following. The leaders instruct the evangelism teams to go to a new village and inquire about the worst problem in the village. Then they are to go and minister to that problem and
show that Jesus is the all-powerful Savior.

With this success, they turn to the people and preach Jesus to them.

Excerpt from article by Denny Kenaston of The Remnant Magazine (Distributed by H2H Magazine)

For the entire interview, use the following link. The article can be found under January/February 2003:
www.charityministies.org/theremnant/theremnant-textonly.cfm

What do you think of this telling answer about living out the Great Commission compared to how we live it out here.

More on Jesus Movements soon…

When Mark Cahill’s Newsletter arrives in my email every month, I always open it to see what Mark’s talking about each month. This month’s title was “Andy Stanley Says We Must Earn”, and right away I knew who Andy Stanley was because he is the head pastor of a large mega church in Atlanta called North Point Community Church, where Passion Conference’s Founder, Louie Giglio has been on staff in the past (check out 268generation.com for more info). Andy Stanley is also the son of a well known baptist preacher, Charles Stanley. I have heard Andy Stanley speak at Passion’s Thirsty Conference and have also been encouraged by his book How Good is good enough?. But, after what Mark shared from a USAToday, I was discouraged by Andy Stanley’s comments regarding evangelism. Mark writes in his newsletter about the following USA TODAY Article:

“One thing I do now when I hear quotes from Christian people is to see if the quote can be backed up with Scripture. One pastor told me one of the mistakes we regularly make with Christians is that when we listen to them we put our guard down instead of putting our guard up. Andy Stanley, a pastor here in Atlanta, said: “If we were able to rewrite the script for the reputation of Christianity, I think we would put the emphasis on developing relationships with non-believers, serving them, loving them, and making them feel accepted…Only then would we earn the right to share the gospel.”"

What stuck out to you in this quote from Andy Stanley? For me, it was unequivocally his statement, “only then would we earn the right to share the gospel”. This sounds a lot like many Christians today that I speak with, and some at my church in Orange County who have used this statement to defend what may be complacency toward sharing the gospel with strangers or their possible fear of evangelism altogether. As you will see from Mark’s newsletter, he uses sound biblical understanding to look at this argument. Please take a look at his full newsletter here.

I do not wish to cause division by bringing this into the light, but I do hope that this can foster sound biblical doctrine, a missional heart like Jesus had, and more unity than ever before. We need to analyze our viewpoints toward why we don’t share our faith with strangers. I think this goes so much deeper than evangelism. In fact, I’ve been fighting the wrong battle for too long. The real issue is about the church, and fighting against the institution of Christianity. We need to be about a Jesus movement that disciples well, embodys the life of Jesus well, and be a community with the purpose of reaching out to the world around us. And, I know that if you and I together are willing to seek out these answers in both the Scriptures and life of Jesus, we will become a unified church with the heartbeat of Jesus’ heartbeat “who came to seek and save that which is lost”… …and I guarantee they won’t just be your neighbors, coworkers or family members.

See one of Mark’s videos called “No Crossing Over: Is it true that people in hell believe in personal evangelism, but people on earth do not?”:

About Andy Stanley
Andy Stanley serves as senior pastor of the campuses of North Point Ministries, including North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, Georgia; Buckhead Church in Atlanta, Georgia; and Browns Bridge Community Church in Cumming, Georgia. Each Sunday, over twenty thousand attend one of these NPM campuses. Andy is the bestselling author of Visioneering, The Next Generation Leader, The Best Question Ever, and How Good Is Good Enough? Andy and his wife, Sandra, have two sons and a daughter.

About Mark Cahill
Mak Cahill has a business degree from Auburn University, where he was an honorable mention Academic All-American in basketball. He has worked in the business world at IBM and in various management positions, and he taught high school for four years. Mark now speaks to more than 25,000 people a year at conferences, camps, retreats, etc. He has also appeared on numerous radio and television shows. Mark’s favorite thing to do is to go out and meet people and find out what they believe and why they believe it. Mark has written “One Thing You can’t do in heaven” and “One Heartbeat Away”.

Posted: 01/08/2008
Are Seeker-Sensitive Churches Biblical?
by Daniel Nuckols

It seems as though everywhere you look in Christianity today, seeker-sensitive churches seem to be the new fad. Well-known evangelicals like Rick Warren and Bill Hybels are leading the charge of this movement, and one will find these churches springing up everywhere. These churches are all about large numerical growth. Driven by market analysis, these corporation-like churches offer programs, high energy worship services, and fun and games to draw more pagans to their church. This all sounds good and effective, right? However, there are problems with this model of a church.

The seeker-sensitive church brings about some very negative results by desiring to please men rather than God: a corrupted form of the gospel message, a manipulated definition of “church,” and an under-”feeding” of true believers.

The seeker-sensitive church is more concerned about tickling people’s ears with what they want to hear, rather than with the truth that is found in God’s Word. This “feel-good” theology adds many to the church, but it does not result in much spiritual growth. The desire to tickle people’s ears rather than telling the truth is not a new concept. Consider the story of Micaiah and Ahab in 1 Kings 22:1-28. Four hundred false prophets were encouraging Micaiah to tell King Ahab a favorable message: that Ahab would indeed win if he fought against the king of Aram. They wanted him to tell this regardless of whether it was true or not! Micaiah would not hear of it; he would not tickle Ahab’s ear, he would only report to Ahab what God told him. Because of this, Micaiah was thrown into jail, and was only fed bread and water because it was not a message Ahab wanted to hear. When our desire is to please people first and foremost, like the four hundred false prophets, our message will be compromised, because God’s truth revealed in His Word most of the time clashes with what unsaved people want to hear. Our goal should be to please God first and foremost regardless of the human praise (or hate) we might receive. “For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.” (Galatians 1:10).

Secondly, the most important message of Christianity, the Gospel, is often softened so it is acceptable to seekers. Rarely do you hear about God’s wrath, the exceeding sinfulness of man, law, hell, and repentance preached from the pulpit. Why? Because these topics are offensive to the ears of pagan seekers. The human propensity is to enter through the broad gate and not through the narrow gate (Matthew 7:13-14). Again, pagans only want feel-good theology. So even the Gospel has to be changed, by leaving out the offensive parts, so it will be made acceptable to pagan ears!

Jesus did not soften His message to please people. Consider the story in John 6:53-65. Jesus said, “Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:54). Many of His disciples left Him because this teaching was too hard for them to follow. Jesus could have explained to them that He was not talking about eating and drinking His physical body and blood, but He did not. Therefore, many disciples left Him because it was too hard to follow Him in this teaching. Jesus did this to weed out those who were not really committed to Him.

Seekers do not want to hear the hard parts of the Gospel: to repent and give Jesus the Lordship of every area of your life. They would rather just “add” Jesus to their life as a ticket to heaven, but live their life however way they choose. They probably signed a card, or prayed a prayer, but they are not really picking up their cross and following Jesus day by day (Luke 9:23). Seeker sensitive churches leave out the hard parts of the Gospel. Instead they mainly talk about one component of the Gospel: God’s love. It is all about love, love, love. It is true that God is love, but He is equally just. The seeker sensitive Gospel message goes something like this: “God loves you so much that He died for you! Did you know that you have a God-shaped hole in your heart that only Jesus can fill? Ask Jesus into your heart, and He will give you peace and happiness.” The problem with this message is that it is just not complete. It is true that God give us peace, and he loves us very much. However, He must punish sin. The Bible teaches that all lawbreakers will have their place in a lake of fire (Revelation 21:8). When one hears the complete Gospel message their response may be: “Wow Christ loves me so much, that He would actually die for me, a person that has broken His perfect law, who deserves His wrath, yet He gives me mercy and forgiveness at the cross, so I can receive Christ’s righteousness? What a loving God!” But the problem is that they try to sell the benefits (peace and love) rather than teaching the whole story. Hence, modern churches have pews full of a lot of believers “adding” Christ to their lives, and not giving Him control of their lives.

Seeker sensitive churches want to fill their pews with non Christians to evangelize to them. It is true that God does save people by attending Church; I personally know some. For instance, a couple that was not married, but were living together, attended our church. God worked in their lives so they both gave their lives to Jesus, and then the married. However, when market-driven churches seek ways to draw the unsaved, many things change as opposed to biblically-based church services. Praise services turn into concerts. Sermons are shortened in the effort not to become “boring.” All Scripture passages are on power point so no one needs a Bible anymore. Drama is used a lot to entertain people. All these things make the pagans feel good, entertained, and energized. But does it really help? Are the true believers getting fed? I would argue that many are not. Seeker sensitive churches have gotten to the point where they do all this stuff to draw in a large amount of people, but in doing so, they have changed the message of the God’s Word so much that their church becomes meaningless. All their church has become is a place to meet nice people, hear a short, entertaining sermon, listen to a concert, and feel good about yourself that you went to a “church.” If people dare to change the format and really start preaching God’s Word instead of entertaining them, the pagans will leave. Hence, many of these churches are caught in a vicious circle. So the churches keep up their seeker sensitive programs to look good numerically in the eyes of men. Instead of the church meaning “a body of believers,” it now has been reduced to a building full of anybody having fun, and doing the Christian “thing”.

The early church grew incredibly without any seeker sensitive programs (Acts 2:47). Biblically, the purpose of the church was to build up believers through the teaching and fellowship, communion and prayer (Acts 2:42-47). They then went out and reached those around them with the good news through evangelism and missions ( e.g. Acts 3). The apostles’ primary focus was on feeding the believers spiritually. These spiritually maturing believers would then reach out to pagans and tell them of the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

But some would argue: “but people are getting saved in seeker sensitive churches.” That is great; I would not doubt that some people are indeed getting saved in these churches. Others would argue, “what about unity?” “Isn’t this all so divisive?” “Isn’t unity what the Bible teaches?” It is true that the Bible does teach about the importance of unity (see Ephesians 4). The end does not justify the means. We should not use bad methods just because people get saved by them. Consider the Nazi Concentration camps. Just because God, in His rich grace and mercy, used some of these concentration camps to bring people to Christ, should we then build concentration camps to get people saved? This is an extreme example, but again, it shows you that the end result doesn’t confirm the use of bad methods even if God is indeed saving people through them. We need to just faithfully obey what the Bible teaches us.

Unity is important, but unified about what though? The “what” is what matters here! Are we supposed to be unified with Muslims and Mormons because they teach about Jesus too? At what point do we dissent? Are we supposed to believe everything that the seeker sensitive supporters are saying just for unity’s sake? We are not supposed to be unified on things that are not Biblical. For example, Paul gave strict warnings to the Galatians about accepting any other Gospel message that was different than the one that was preached to them. He said some harsh words about this: “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.” (Galatians 1:8) False teaching always begins with a perversion of God’s Word. The bottom line: we need to be unified on what the Bible teaches a church is, and confront those who want to change definition of a church into something that is not Biblical. No one likes to be confronted that what they are teaching is wrong; however, sharpening other Christians by encouraging them to follow what God teaches is Biblical. “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). But when we correct those who have veered of God’s Word, we must correct in a spirit of love, “speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ.” In doing this we build one another up and demonstrate the love of Christ to one another.

In summary, Seeker sensitive churches are growing incredibly by the numbers. Yet this is at the cost of becoming people pleasers, not giving the complete Gospel message, changing what it means to be a “church,” and true believers’ starving for some meat to grow up in Christ. Is this worth it for the numbers’ sake? I don’t think so.

“The urgency of the hour demands that we recapture the role of the evangelist for the planting of new churches and the equipping of churches to mobilize believers for ministry.” - Rice Broocks, Pastor of Bethel World Outreach Center

See the full article here:

An Urgent Cry From the Nation’s Evangelists by J. Lee Grady
A group of charismatic ministers have called on American Christians to reclaim the neglected task of soul-winning. The American church knows how to design functional buildings, develop sophisticated programs, utilize technology and preach to the proverbial choir. But we have forgotten the fundamental task of soul-winning—and as a result churches are closing at a record rate and more and more young people are leaving the faith.

That dire assessment of America’s spiritual condition was proposed last week in Orlando, when 50 national and international evangelists convened for an honest, 24-hour strategy session held at Charisma magazine’s headquarters. The participants included South African revivalist Rodney Howard-Browne, veteran street preacher Scott Hinkle and German crusade evangelist Reinhard Bonnke.

Rice Broocks, pastor of Bethel World Outreach Center in Nashville, Tenn., and founder of the Every Nation church-planting movement, organized the Orlando gathering because he believes the charismatic segment of the church has become distracted from its evangelistic mission.

“The statistics don’t lie,” Broocks says. “America has been described as a post-Christian nation. The urgency of the hour demands that we recapture the role of the evangelist for the planting of new churches and the equipping of churches to mobilize believers for ministry.”

Broocks recently teamed up with charismatic author and pastor Larry Tomczak to form ICE-CAP, the International Center for Evangelism, Church-Planting and Prayer, which just opened its offices in Nashville. ICE-CAP’s mission is to help train a new generation of evangelists and mobilize churches for strategic evangelism efforts.

Broocks introduced Tomczak as “the only guy I know who still gives out personal tracts.” Tomczak then told the story of how, on the previous night, he led a hotel desk clerk to salvation after giving him his printed testimony.

In three sessions held over two days, the leaders outlined several reasons why evangelism has waned. They include:

1. A lack of spiritual zeal in our churches. “Soul-winning must be a passion, not a program,” one attendee said. The renewing power of the Holy Spirit is the key to shifting our churches into a place of contagious faith.

2. A spectator mentality. Many Christians have been deceived into believing that evangelism is the work of paid clergy or itinerant specialists. Said one evangelist: “You don’t limit tithers to those who have ‘a gift of giving,’ do you? Everybody tithes. In the same way, everybody is supposed to be doing evangelism.” Broocks, Hinkle and others made it clear that the primary role of the evangelist is not to conduct meetings but to train and equip all believers to win souls.

3. A cultural disconnect. Hispanic leader Samuel Rodriguez pointed out that a large segment of the millennial generation has abandoned church because they feel it isn’t relevant to their lives. As long as the church remains mired in superficial religiosity, we won’t reach young people—who crave authenticity and want to apply the gospel to their world.

4. An increasingly secular culture. Vincent Esterman, who has done street evangelism for decades in France and Australia, believes the United States would do well to study how Christian faith has waned in Europe. Americans will most likely face similar hostilities in our culture, since universalism and atheism are growing here.

5. Tensions between evangelists and pastors. Eric Cowley of Global Focus Ministries spoke for many in the room when he shared that many pastors feel threatened by evangelists and don’t want to share local church resources with them. At a time when the role of apostles and prophets has been reclaimed in charismatic circles, the role of the evangelist has been marginalized.

6. The church’s credibility crisis. Recent religious scandals, incessant fundraising on Christian television and reports of televangelists living in opulence have produced increased skepticism about preachers’ motives. Many of the leaders in Orlando were incensed by the blatant moral and ethical abuses occurring in our movement. Said one leader in a moment of candor: “If I see one more telethon on Christian television I’m going to puke.”

7. Bad theology. Broocks pointed out that American Christianity has, at times, morphed into an errant “virus” that has had a negative impact on countries where it has been exported. “We preach a gospel that offers faith without repentance, grace without the fear of God and destiny without discipleship,” he said.

8. A poorly defined mission. Many churches no longer understand what evangelism is. Missionary mobilizer David Shibley offered the group a succinct definition, borrowed from his days in Southern Baptist seminary: “Evangelism is sharing the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit with a view to bringing people to repentance and faith in Christ so that they might serve Him in the church.”

In the first evening session, after a time of spontaneous prayer, Bonnke laid his hands on all the participants and asked God for a fresh anointing of evangelism on the American church. This humble man who has led 47 million people to Christ (and once saw 2 million make decisions for salvation in one meeting in Nigeria) told the group that this anointing has nothing to do with him. “I am not giving you my anointing when I lay hands on you. Jesus is the one who anoints you,” he said.

As Bonnke laid his hands on my head, I stood in the gap for all of us. I believe there is indeed a new grace available to the American church in this hour. I hope we are ready for the changes it will bring. When the spirit of evangelism grips our hearts, it will totally reorder our priorities, interrupt our schedules, mess up our church programs, destroy our religiosity, challenge our timidity and burn up our selfishness.

If you are willing to embrace that anointing without placing conditions on it, please ask for it now.
To see short videos with J. Lee Grady, Charisma’s publisher, Stephen Strang, and other Charisma editors, click here.

J. Lee Grady, Charisma’s editor, has been involved in Christian journalism since 1981 and has faced a monthly deadline ever since. A native of Atlanta, he has been with Charisma since 1992, serving as news editor, managing editor and then becoming editor in 1999. He and his wife, Deborah, have four daughters. Lee has won three first-place reporting awards from the Evangelical Press Association, and his monthly column in Charisma, “Fire in My Bones,” has won awards from the Florida Magazine Association. Also an author, Lee’s book 10 Lies the Church Tells Women, published in 2000, opened a unique door for him to preach internationally. He has since traveled to 12 nations, challenging the church to release women in ministry and to end abuse and gender discrimination. In his spare time Lee is trying to learn to speak Spanish. www.fireinmybones.com

Personally, I would never encourage anyone to attend Saddleback or to read “Purpose Driven Life”. But, Mark Cahill takes it a step further in a recent video about Rick Warren, explaining that in 1993 an Agent introduced Rick Warren and said:

“You are going to hear about him because he is going to change the way that we do church.”

Should we want Rick Warren to change the way Church is done and how has this played out since 1993 with Rick Warren’s “Purpose Driven Church” movement?

You can watch Mark’s strong response to this comment at the video excerpt HERE. Mark Cahill was speaking at a Worldview Weekend Conference, which has a passion to see people “think and live like a Christian”. The Christtian Worldview Network features daily news, information and columns by Over 50 of America’s Premier Worldview Writers, including Dr. Voddie Baucham, Jr., Norm Geisler, Brannon Howse, Alistair Begg, Os Guiness, Ken Ham, Chuck Herring, Josh McDowell, Ravi Zaccharius, Michael Youssef, D. James Kennedy, etc. It addresses the following: The importance and practical benefits of a Biblical worldview; How we know the Bible is true; How we know Jesus Christ rose from the dead; How we know Jesus Christ was God in human form; Going to college without going astray; doctrine is not boring but a strong mooring; exposing the most popular lies of today’s pop-culture world, Why are so many students leaving the church and not returning?; Understanding the dangers of today’s prevailing postmodern worldview; How to use the moral law to evangelize like Jesus did; Training the heart and mind of a child to follow Christ; Testing our worldview against the Bible; The difference between true and false converts, Building a Biblical worldview verse by verse and more.

Mark Cahill is the author of the popular books One Thing You Can’t Do in Heaven, commended by Bill Bright & David Noebel, and One Heartbeat Away: Your Journey Into Eternity. Mark addresses over 45,000 people annually, equipping and challenging the saved to go out and reach the lost. His ministry has been commended by Dr. Bill Bright, Ray Comfort, Dr. David Noebel of Summit Ministries, and many other Christian leaders. Mark’s greatest passion is for the entire world to know Jesus Christ, leading him to boldly witness to everyone he encounters-including Tigers Woods, Michael Jordan, Vanilla Ice, and Geraldo Rivera. www.markcahill.org

Rick Warren founded Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., in 1980 with one family. Today, it is an evangelical congregation averaging 22,000 weekly attendees, a 120-acre campus, and has more than 300 community ministries to groups such as prisoners, CEOs, addicts, single parents, and those with HIV/AIDS. He also leads the Purpose Driven Network of churches, a global coalition of congregations in 162 countries. More than 400,000 ministers and priests have been trained worldwide, and almost 157,000 church leaders subscribe to Ministry Toolbox, his weekly newsletter. His previous book, The Purpose Driven Church is listed in “100 Christian Books That Changed the 20 th Century.” Forbes magazine called it, “The best book on entrepreneurship, management, and leadership in print.” http://www.rickwarren.com/

I feel there are many in the Christian community that care about doing this well, both to reach the culture and to honor God with their actions. But there are also extremes, those Christians who totally avoid culture and stay in their christian bubbles either out of fear or just a lack of understanding on how to do this at all, And, the other extreme, those that becomes so entrenched in culture that their culture changes them more than them having an impact for the Kingdom of God.

What is Paul really trying to communicate to us as we try to reach different cultures in society? I found a good interview that sheds some light on this volatile topic, In a recent interview with John Macarthur on Crosswalk.com:

Edwards (Interviewer): One of the things I get most frustrated about is whenever people like you who are standing for truth point out the error both in the emergent church and in the seeker movement people will immediately run to 1 Corinthians 9 and begin screaming, “You know Paul said, ‘I became all things to all men,’ which means to the grunge I become as grunge, to the Universalist I become as a Universalist.” But in 1 Corinthians 9 Paul isn’t saying that we compromise the message and we become whatever the audience needs us to be in order to make the gospel palatable.

John MacArthur (Response): Well, of course not. All he is saying is there’s a foundation in the proclamation of the gospel with the Jew and there’s a different starting point with the Gentile. If I’m going to evangelize a Jew, I’m going to start with the Old Testament because that’s the substantial basis. So every time the Apostle Paul preached to the Jews he started with the Scripture—the Old Testament Scripture. Every time he evangelized Gentiles he started with creation. For example, in Acts 14 and Acts 17 he talks about the unknown God. Who is the unknown God? He’s the God who made everything—that was the foundation.

All he is saying in 1 Corinthians 9 is you must understand the starting point of your audience and here’s the point: ideologically. In other words, how do they think ideologically, philosophically, religiously? What are the ideas, the theories, the viewpoints that they hold? It’s not about identifying with their lifestyle; it’s not about being able to converse about every episode of South Park, every R-rated movie and every Rap song—that’s not it at all.

How do people think religiously, how do they perceive truth?—those are the starting points that Paul was establishing. That’s a far cry from saying that to reach this generation we must do their music, we must dress the way they dress, we must live the way they live, we must be familiar with the baser components of their culture. That’s a million miles from what the Apostle Paul had in mind. He was talking about those things that controlled their thought process and their worldview.

Paul Edwards is the host of The Paul Edwards Program, a columnist and pastor. His program is heard daily on WLQV in Detroit and on godandculture.com. Contact him at paul@godandculture.com.

“As I heard a pastor say recently, that some people see Jesus as a good rabbi, some see Him as a great prophet, and many see Him as a great humanitarian; but He is so much more. He is God. Do you see Him that way? Do you see the power that He has? Do you realize that you will stand in front of Him and give account of your whole life one day?”

Thank you Mark for pointing this out in light of a culture that views Jesus in so many different ways - so many wrong ways. We need to examine our own hearts as Paul declared in 2 Corinthians and ask this same question Mark poses “Do you see Him this way?”. Then, as you begin to examine the Scriptures, you will see the true Jesus and not one that has been conjured up by man. Enjoy the rest of Mark’s Newsletter. It is filled with nuggets to chew on. You can sign up to receive his monthly newsletters on his website www.markcahill.org

Colossians 1:14-19 says

“In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;”

Here is a Video from Realfusion that tells the story of Jesus in a manger and how this should impact our view of the poor and broken, but Mark writes in his newsletter that follows, that we must not leave him there, but rather see that He is Lord, and that understanding radically changes our lives and the message we share with the world.

Mark Cahill’s December 2007 Newsletter

What a wonderful time of the year it is, snow falling in some places, school is out for most people, and families getting together for their Christmas traditions. Part of that tradition for so many families has to do with the birth of Jesus Christ. Many will go to Christmas plays at their schools and to productions at their church.

Those services can be so beautiful as we learn more about the story of Joseph and Mary, the angels, and Jesus in the manger. But for many that is where the story ends. We have left Jesus in the manger. He is still this cuddly, lovely little baby and not much more. It is a cute tradition that has meaning during this time of the year, but then it is back to our normal lives.

Jesus is not in the manger anymore. He is not walking around Jerusalem. He is not on the cross. He is not in the tomb either. He is seated at the right hand of Almighty God.

1 Peter 3:22 says

“Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.”

He is not just a baby in a manger. All authorities and powers are made subject to Him. No matter how crazy this world may get in the coming days, Jesus is, and will always be, in control.

John 1:1 says

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

Again, Jesus is not some baby in a manger: He is God. When you see Him as God, you now look at Him completely differently. You see His power, His glory, His omnipotence, His love, His forgiveness, and His wrath. You don’t see those things when you just see him as a baby in a crib or a manger.

As I heard a pastor say recently, that some people see Jesus as a good rabbi, some see Him as a great prophet, and many see Him as a great humanitarian; but He is so much more. He is God. Do you see Him that way? Do you see the power that He has? Do you realize that you will stand in front of Him and give account of your whole life one day?

Colossians 1:14-19 says

“In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;”

Do you see Him as the Creator of the whole universe? You need to see Him that way because that is who He is.

1 Peter 1:19 says

“But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:”

When you see Him as the perfect Lamb of God who took upon our sin as the only possible sacrifice for those sins, you can never just see him as a baby in a crib.

Revelations 19:11-16 states

“And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

Kind of sounds like a little bit more than just a baby in a manger. All you can do is fall down and worship Him after reading verses like that.

We love it when our kids get out of the crib. We love it when they begin to walk, talk, and read. We love it when we can go to watch them play sports and we love it when they are finally old enough to mow the grass instead of just run on it! We love it when they get married and have kids, which will be your grandkids. We love it when our kids get out of their manger.

Remember during this Christmas season that the Jesus you believe in is out of the manger and sitting at the right hand of God. Stay focused on that fact. Remember whom you will answer to for your entire life when you die. Make sure it is the Biblical Jesus that you believe in for your salvation. And since you believe in Him, it is a great time to share that belief with someone. The belief that Heaven is real, Hell is real, God is real, and so is Jesus. The Jesus that sits at the right hand of the Father does not fit in a manger; so don’t leave your faith in that manger.

Until the nets are full,

Mark cahill

www.markcahill.org

Now, I don’t officially know what Will Smith believes about God and what happens when he dies, so I would have to admit that this hasn’t affected me to this point about how I support him as a celebrity. But, when he recently came out and said in a recent interview that Scientology is basically in line with 98% of what the Bible says, this certainly floored me and caused me to reexamine my support for him. This was his statement:

“Look, I use the Bible to explain the ideas of God, and life, and love, and relationships, and the life of Jesus Christ to teach my children how to defend their spirit. But in all of the experiences I’ve had with Tom [Cruise] and Scientology, like, 98 percent of the principles are identical to the principles of the Bible.”

First of all, that statement is wrong and would not hold any weight in court. And, I would have no problem telling Mr. Smith this in the nicest way possible. Now, this revelation doesn’t shake my faith in the least either, because I already have a clear understanding of both faiths and their many differences. What bothered me more as I researched these reports was what Will Smith seems to believe about faith specifically, as reported by USmagazine.com:

“I love my God, my higher power, but it is mine and mine alone, and I create my connection, and I decide how my connection is going to be,” he added. Describing himself as a “student of world religions,” Smith — who was raised a Baptist — said: “I believe that my connection to my higher power is separate from everybody’s. “I don’t believe that the Muslims have all the answers and all the beliefs. I don’t believe the Christians have all the answers and beliefs, or that the Jews have all the answers.”

I would love to be able to sit down someday and have a great conversation with Mr. Smith, hear his story of faith and also share my heart for Jesus and how He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and that’s it’s not about following world religions or Scientology, but it is all about following Jesus all the way and with all that you are.

So, Will Smith, if you somehow read this, please get in touch with me because I’d love to grab a coffee with you, not because of your celebrity, but because I would love to have a great stimulating conversation with you about God and see if we really do have this Jesus of the Bible in common, because either Jesus is Lord or He is not. And, I would lovingly declare that Jesus is Lord and He changes lives.

To see more reports on Will Smith and Tom Cruise, read the articles below.

Will Smith articles on Scientology:

http://www.usmagazine.com/will_smith_scientology_wasnt_for_me

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/11/20/will-smith-scientology-i_n_73469.html

http://www.celebitchy.com/7648/will_smith_says_scientology_teachings_are_98_identical_to_bible/

http://popsugar.com/77925

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22088489/