THE PROBLEM OF BEING STUCK, PART 2
Haggai 1-2

Haggai 1:7-11
7 This is what the LORD Almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways. 8 Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored," says the LORD. 9 "You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?" declares the LORD Almighty. "Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house. 10 Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. 11 I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the oil and whatever the ground produces, on men and cattle, and on the labor of your hands."
            Robert Coleman says in The Master Plan of Evangelism that Jesus' life was ordered by His objective to reach the world. "Everything He did and said was a part of the whole pattern. It had significance because it contributed to the ultimate purpose of His life in redeeming the world for God. This was the motivating vision governing His behavior. His steps were ordered by it. Mark it well. Not for one moment did Jesus lose sight of His goal."                          
            Allen Hadidian – “Discipling others is the process by which a Christian with a life worth emulating commits himself for an extended period of time to a few individuals who have been won to Christ, the purpose being to aid and guide their growth to maturity and equip them to reproduce themselves in a third spiritual generation.”
            If it is true that Jesus’ motivating vision is to redeem the world, and if he was serious in his command to us to go and make disciples, the question for us then us, “Why is the church not doing that?” There are at least six problems that a church that is stuck faces. This month we will look at one of them. Last month we looked at THE PROBLEM OF LEADERSHIP.  This month we will examine THE PROBLEM OF SIN IN THE CONGREGATION.  Sometimes it is helpful to identify common congregational sins and the rationale that justifies these sins.
      Self-preservation is sin. (God helps those that help themselves.)
      That quotation is attributed to Sidney Algernon (1622-1683) in his "Discourses on Government." The similar quote, "God helps them that help themselves," is attributed to Benjamin Franklin in Poor Richard's Almanac of 1757.  It is neither biblical nor doctrinally accurate.  Self-preservation is diametrically opposed to trust in the Lord. Additionally, when you undertake to preserve yourself, to save yourself, you remove yourself from the protection, provision, and providence of God.
      Herd mentality is sin. (Everyone is doing it.)
      E. Stanley Jones tells this story, “I once flew down the center of Africa, and again and again I could see herds of wildebeest feeding.  Invariably there would be four sentinels standing at the four corners of a square facing away from the herd, impassively watching for the approach of an enemy.  They stood there, eating nothing, on guard.” The herd protects us, gives us a sense of a common life and a sense of security.  We belong.  Without the sense of belonging we are ill at ease and frustrated.  The rogue elephant is the elephant which has been put out of the herd by the other male elephants; he turns destructive, tearing up gardens and huts and creating havoc in general.  He is out of the herd, hence beside himself. (Jones, Growing Spiritually, p. )
            The herd mentality is the perversion of the God-given need to belong.  We are social beings and cannot live fully apart from society.  The problem is that we have aligned ourselves with the herd of the world, rather than the community of God.
      Disobedience is sin. (No one will ever know!) 
            King Saul received his instructions from the Lord from the mouth of Samuel the prophet, who said, "I am the one the LORD sent to anoint you king over his people Israel; so listen now to the message from the LORD. 2 This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. 3 Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.'" 1 Samuel 15:1-3 (NIV) Saul, however, spared King Agag, the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and the lambs, everything that was good in clear opposition to the word of the Lord. Yet when confronted by Samuel, Saul claimed “I have carried out the Lord’s instructions.” Samuel’s reply is classic. "What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?" 1 Samuel 15:14 (NIV)
            We often substitute two activities for obedience. Like Saul sometimes we engage in partial obedience. Human beings have a penchant for obeying the word of the Lord selectively.  Partial obedience, though, is disobedience, and disobedience is sin. Sometimes we engage in delayed obedience.  We intend to obey, but not right now. Delayed obedience, however, is disobedience, and disobedience is sin. "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king." 1 Samuel 15:22-23 (NIV)
      Prayerlessness is sin. (Why pray when you can worry?)
            When the nation of Israel had sinned, Samuel said, “As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by failing to pray for you.” 1 Samuel 12:23 (NIV) John Wesley wrote, “God does nothing but in answer to prayer; and even they who have been converted to God, without praying for it themselves (which is exceeding rare), were not without the prayers of others.  Every new victory which a soul gains is the effect of a new prayer.” Andrew Murray reinforces this in his writing, The things that matter in eternity will be determined by the prayers of God’s people.  The condition of our society, of our families, of our churches, of our individual lives is a reflection of our praying.  The number of new persons being added to the church reflects the volume and effectiveness of our praying.  The power of God, the Holy Spirit in the corporate meetings of the church is directly related to the effectiveness of the praying of the people.” Yet the modern church continues to be largely a prayerless church.
            Withholding the Tithe is sin. (Why tithe when the kids need shoes?)  Deut. 14:23b (TLB) – The purpose of tithing is to teach you always to put God first in your lives. I heard Dr. Charles Allen, longtime pastor of the First Methodist Church in Houston speak to a combined group of Nazarene pastors from three districts in the state of Texas. He exhorted several hundred of us to teach our people the grace of giving. He said, “Teach them—YOU CANNOT OUTGIVE GOD!” One of the sins of the congregation is the sin of robbing God. It seems to me that the result of this sin is twofold: the work of God is impaired and the people of God are bereft of the blessings of heaven.  The prophet Malachi said it like this, “10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.” Malachi 3:10 (NIV)
            Leading Your Children Away from Godliness is Sin. (When sports squeezes out Christ and His Church) I have seen the deification of sports in our nation reach into the church with devastating effects. Church has become something to do when we have nothing else to do.  I served in three of this district’s largest and most influential churches, working with children and their parents. I have observed on numerous occasions parents who leave the worship service, come to the children’s worship, and take their children out of worship so that they would not be late for a sporting event (baseball, soccer, hockey). I have seen children cry and plead with their parents to let them stay in worship. I have heard parents say to their children, “We paid for this and we are going. Now come on!” These parents should not be surprised when their children grow up and choose sports over God. Christian parents, so-called, will have to answer for these choices at the judgment.
            “Give careful thought to your ways…. You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little.” Sin in the congregation hinders the work of God.  Sin in the congregation that remains unresolved causes the Spirit of God to withdraw. This is clearly illustrated in Joshua 7:1; 11-12 – “1 But the Israelites acted unfaithfully in regard to the devoted things ; Achan son of Carmi, the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of them. So the LORD's anger burned against Israel….
                        “11 Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions. 12 That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction.”
             Jesus says to us in Matthew 28:18-20, 18 "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
            I am praying that God will change us.  I am giving Him permission to do in me, to me, and through me anything He chooses to do.  I am giving Him permission to change anything in the church and in the congregation that He sees that needs to be changed.  I am asking Him to do whatever in takes in my life and in yours to prepare us to win the lost and make Christlike disciples who make Christlike disciples.  I am praying that you will embrace the changes that God will make in us.
      There are five principles that we should embrace in order to make that happen. Our first priority ought to be making Christlike disciples who make Christlike disciples who make Christlike disciples….  I want to keep these principles in front of you. They are as follows:
1.  PRAYER AND FASTING
2.  THE AUTHORITATIVE WORD OF GOD
3.  THE ANOINTING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
4.  GENUINE ACCOUNTABILITY
5.  RELATIONAL MULTIPLICATION
            Jot me an email note with any questions or suggestions at scnnazpastorgary@charterinternet.com.  God is growing a great church in Eastern Michigan.  We are blessed to be a part of his great kingdom work!

                                                                              Gary A. Slusher
                                                                                         Chairman, EMD SDMI

THANK YOU TO ALL PASTORS WHO REPORT ON TIME EACH MONTH
Here are the March 2008 SDMI Reporting Results

1st zone to report in full: Detroit West Zone
2nd zone to report in full: Lakes Zone
3rd zone to report in full: Thumb Zone
4th zone to report in full: Livingston Zone

1st church to report by phone: East Flint
1st church to report by email: Crosswalk
1st church to report online: Argentine

1st church to report by zone:
Ann Arbor zone: Adrian First
Detroit East Zone: Port Huron First
Detroit West Zone: Harvest Community
Flint Zone: East Flint
Lakes Zone: Union Lake
Livingston Zone: Argentine
Thumb Zone: Bad Axe (with Easter too)

Easter numbers:

Highest attendance in our district:

Flint Central: 2727
Warren Woods: 2419
Detroit First: 1390
Richfield: 1028
Brighton: 889
Flushing: 535
Williams Lake: 522
Plymouth: 461
Adrian First: 430
Howell: 425
Monroe: 347
East Flint: 314
Bedford & Troy: 296
Ridgeway: 286
West Flint: 282
Orchard Ridge: 266
Swartz Creek: 240
Tecumseh: 241
Bethel: 229
Rochester: 217