The Tyranny of Mediocrity

I remember a story heard a long time ago of a minister who reported to the church that had just ‘called’ him to be their new preacher.  His very first Sunday, he preached a great sermon.  The people of the church complimented him on such a great job and the church’s elders knew they had hired the right guy.

The next week, it is time for the sermon and the new minister gets up and preaches a truly great sermon.  Once again, the people of the church complimented him on a great job and the elders were reassured they had made the right choice.

The third week, it is time for the sermon and the new minister gets up and preaches a truly great sermon.  This time some are beginning to recognize parts of the message and he seems to have used the same scriptures again.  But, it is a very good sermon and he still receives compliments and affirmation from the elders.

The fourth week, it is time for the sermon and the minister gets up and preaches again.  This time everyone is beginning to realize he is preaching the same sermon he preached the week before which was the same sermon as the week before, etc.

After the worship service was over, the elders finally approached their new minister and told him they realized he had been preaching the same sermon over and over again.  They told him they thought it would best if he preached a different sermon next week.  His response was, “When you start doing what this sermon said to do, I’ll start preaching a different sermon.”

While we recognize this story is a joke, we also must recognize the reason it is humorous is due to the fact that there is much truth in it.  We hear sermons, good sermons, all the time but we seem to forget the message to the sermon as soon as we get to the restaurant after church or definitely no later than half-time of the afternoon game.

As Christians, we are anointed by the Holy Spirit.  This is the same spirit that “anointed Jesus and gave Him the power to do good, to heal and to rescue those who were under the tyranny of the Devil.” (Acts 10:38)

Our jobs as Christians is not to go to church, feel good about what we have done and then go live our lives as though we didn’t go to church at all.  We have been given a commission to do exactly what Jesus did; to do good and to rescue those who are under the tyranny of the Devil.

Unfortunately, too many of those in our churches have become complacent, satisfied with the status quo, and put forth a mediocre effort to our faith at best.

Mediocrity in the church has caused the church to be influenced by culture rather than the other way around.  Jesus has called us to be His hands, His eyes, and His feet and are to continue to do what He had done.  We cannot rescue those who are held captive by the tyranny of the Devil when we respond to life in fear, anger and hatred.  None of these are character traits of Jesus, but they are the character traits of too many in the church.

I want to encourage us that we MUST be the people of God He has called us to be.  We MUST no longer take a complacent attitude in our approach to our faith.  We MUST take the commission Jesus gave to us seriously.  There are way too many who need to be rescued from the tyranny of the Devil and those of us who make up the church must take immediate action.

Our attitude of mediocrity is an indication we don’t take our faith seriously.  We hear the Word of God proclaimed, but we do not DO what the Word of God instructs us to do.  When we are hearers of the Word and not Doers we deceive ourselves.  Scripture tells us that to hear the Word and not Do it is like the man who looks at himself in the mirror and then turns and forgets what he looks like.  (James 1:22-24)

My friends, we must put our mediocrity behind us.  We must be doers of the word not simply hearers.  We must boldly go and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, bursting through the very gates of hell and rescue those who have been taken captive under the tyranny of the devil.

What happens when we don’t?  Just watch the news tonight.

This Really IS Real ... Really!!

Sometimes it can be difficult to wonder just how real our faith is based upon our understanding of scripture.  We hear stories, we read books and we even see movies that make things seem like what we are hearing may be more like a Hollywood fable rather than something based in historical reality.

We often times live out our faith in the same manner.  It can be difficult sometimes for us to live our lives as though we really believe that what we really believe is really real.  Now, do you follow that?

If I truly believe that what I believe is truly real, do I live my life in such a manner that I live it out as though I believe it? 

I am one who truly believes the Bible to be the Holy Scriptures, divinely inspired to people who in turn wrote down the message God has given to them to pass on to us.  I believe the historical accuracy of the scriptures add to the validity of what I read, believe and teach.

I get excited when I see things that have been found that add to the historical accuracy of just what I read in scripture.                                                 

These arrowheads were part of the Dead Sea Scroll exhibit. 

They were found in a battle ground around Lachish, a city in the

Southern Kingdom of Judah. This is a site where Joshua led

the Israel army in battle when they were preparing to occupy

the promised land. This battle is referenced in Joshua chapter 10

A few years ago, I had the pleasure of visiting a traveling exhibit of the Dead Sea Scrolls.  These are actually pieces of scrolls or other artifacts containing scripture that was written thousands of years ago, that had been hidden for many centuries and were re-discovered a few decades ago that verify the Word of God we read today, is in fact what had been written by the old prophets and Old Testament writers.

I also just had the privilege of visiting the Archaeological Museum at Johnson University.  There are many artifacts here that help to prove once again that what I read in scripture and believe to be real, is in fact really real.  Historical record is verified by the artifacts dug up proving these people, places and events are not just stories, but are historical fact.

One such artifact is this brick.

This is a piece of a brick excavated from an ancient Babylon site near a temple. 

The inscription on this brick gives tribute to King Nebuchadnezzar.  He is the king

we read about throughout the Old Testament who conquered the Hebrew people

In Judah and took them captive to Babylon around 586BC.  Nebuchadnezzar is

NOT a fictitious character, but is in fact a very real king and this story is true!

It is encouraging to me to see artifacts such as this and know that it gives more credence to the fact that the Bible is NOT just a book of stories.  It IS in fact historically accurate.  It IS in fact reliable.  It IS in fact something I can trust with what it says.  It IS in fact the Word of God.

If I can believe this, then I must live my life as if I truly believe that what I really believe is in fact really real!!

How well do we do that?

So, Just WHAT do you really believe??

As we mentioned in "Let's Begin", 1 Peter 1:16 instructs us that "If someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it." It is vital that we are able to explain why we believe what we believe.  However, one small problem I have observed, even within the church, is that many don't really even know what it is they believe let alone be able to explain it.

Todd and I have put ourselves through an exercise during the past few years because we wanted to be able to not only explain why we believed what we believe, but wanted to clarify for ourselves what it truly is we believe in the first place.  As a result, we have each created our own "Statement of Faith".  We would recommend that if you have not been through a similar exercise, you do so now. 

The last thing we want to do is to put out a statement that some would make a 'test of fellowship'.  Our hope is not that someone would choose to associate, or not associate, with us because of the theological doctrine we believe to be true.  While we do think that there are some essentials as to what is critical doctrine for us to believe in order for us to call ourselves Christians, we want to make sure we don't become 'pharisaical' and create a 'creed' we expect everyone to follow.

Our 'Statement of Faith' is not an end all document.  It would be neither possible, nor right, to try to make an end all document.  It is not our desire for you to create a document that looks like ours.  We are both sharing our "Personal Statement of Faith" here however simply as an example of what we are talking about.

We have shared this with several 'church leaders' over the past years and they have been through this exercise.  In fact, all of the currently serving elders at White Oak Christian Church have been through this exercise.  After all, you can't lead someone to a place you are not going to yourself.  As a result they have also learned more about themselves, what it is they truly believe and put themselves in a position to be able to explain it.

We hope you find this little exercise to be as enlightening for you as it has been for us. Our own personal statements of faith are here just to give you an example of what we are talking about.  Yours should be your own. 

To see Dave's click here. 
We will be making Todd's available here soon. 
An additional approach you my wish to check out. click here.

Enjoy!

May God bless you as you go through this exercise.

Todd Wuske &
Dave Willmore

Let's Begin

Welcome to Frontlets & Doorposts

We don't have all the answers.

In fact we probably have more questions than answers.

We do love the scriptures and we love to teach from them.

If God felt it important enough to have it written down for us, it is important enough for us to want to study it. 

The scriptures need to be studied.  That includes whether what we are reading are the Gospels, Old Testament history, prophets or even genealogies.  It has been written for a reason and we need to understand why a certain text was written if we are to properly apply it to our lives.

Several have asked about what they should study and how to do so.  There really is no right or wrong answer to these questions.  There are different ways to, or methods of,  study based upon what you may be striving to accomplish with your study.,

The purpose of this site is to provide a tool that may shed insight as to what you can do to help as you attempt to study the scriptures and develop your relationship with Jesus as the Lord and Savior of your life. 

First, we believe with all our heart the scriptures are without a doubt the divinely inspired, inerrant, infallible Word of God.  We have no doubt the truths expressed in the scriptures are provided to us that we may live lives of holiness designed to serve the God who created us.  We also fully believe that if there appear to be sections of scripture that tend to contradict one another, it is not scripture that is in error but the manner in which we interpret it.

2 Timothy 3:16 "All scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives.  It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us "  NLT

We are also commanded by scripture in 1 Peter 3:15 "If someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it.  But do this in a gentle and respectful way."  It is extremely important that if we are going to be able to give an answer for our faith, we must have a knowledge of the scriptures.

We wish to point out the primary reason to study scripture is NOT to have a knowledge of scripture.  The primary reason to study scripture is NOT to have a knowledge of God.  The primary reason to study scripture IS to know God, to know Jesus and to know Him intimately as our Lord and Savior.

Do you remember when you first started dating your spouse?  Do you remember when you could not wait until the next time you could be with them again?  Do you remember that where ever you were and what ever you were doing you always had them on your mind?  Do you remember how you went out of your way to make sure they know you love them, care for them and would do anything for them? 

Wouldn't we love to have that same relationship with God?  Well, we can!

All we have to do is make it a priority.  In stead of finding a way to have our time with God fit in to our schedule, what we need to do is find a way to get our schedule to fit in to our relationship with God?  It's all a matter of attitude and priority.  If we want it bad enough, then God will help us to make it happen.

As we proceed, we will look at various methods of study.  We will go through some studies.  It is our hope you find these helpful and motivational as you pursue developing your relationship with your savior.

We have been leading a class in Old Testament Studies.  In this study we have done a survey of important themes, interesting facts and important lessons we learn from the Old Testament and how they apply to our lives in this modern culture.  Yes, these ancient scriptures are just as relevant to us today as they were when God inspired the 40 writers who gave the scriptures to us.

The materials for the Old Testament Studies class that have been presented in class for the White Oak Christian Church Homebuilder's class are available for you here on this site.  Please feel free to use them if they will enhance your own study of the scriptures.

As we get in to additional studies, we will make that material available to you as well.  This site is for absolutely anyone who thinks these study aids may be of benefit to them. 

Check it out.  If you have any questions or comments, we welcome your input.

All To God's Glory,

Todd Wuske &
David Willmore