I admit I’ve spent a lot of time in restaurant drive-thru lines—especially when I was a single adult many years ago. Sometimes, drive-thru options seem to make the most sense for us. Drive-thru Christianity, though, doesn’t work. Use this list to determine if you might be a “Drive-Thru” Christian:
You look for the most convenient, least time-consuming way to follow Christ. Why take extra steps and spend extra time growing spiritually and making disciples if you don’t have to?
Your attendance is sporadic, and you show up for church only when you want or need something. That is, you show up when it’s advantageous – when the church offers you something.
You choose what you want in a church and then expect others to meet that request. All of us, of course, have general ideas of what we want in a church; here, I’m talking about church member consumers who place their order and expect others to serve them.
You let others do the work. After all, that’s what a drive-thru is about: others do the work, you get an inexpensive meal, and then you’re on your way.
Nobody in the church really knows you by name. You’re a “drop-in” face to others, and you don’t give them much opportunity to get to know you.
Your goal is to get in and out as quickly as possible. You’re not interested in conversations. Relationships aren’t that important to you. You go to church because you know you need to, but you don’t want any strings attached.
If you don’t like what’s offered at one church, you just go to the drive-thru at another one. In fact, you have a history of church hopping because apparently no one can meet your needs.
Scripture is absolutely true, and therefore it should govern our lives. Today, Stephen Nichols asks an important question: Are we willing to submit to the inerrant Word of God?
Now it came to pass in those days that [Jesus] went out to the mountain to pray and continued all night in prayer to God. Luke 6:12
Life is marked by events, and our life is lived either in anticipation of those events (looking to the future) or in reflection upon them (looking to the past). In either situation, stress is a possibility. We may be concerned about what is coming, or we may be exhausted by what has happened.
Prayer can be a sure way of relieving stress. David poured out his heart to God as his circumstances dictated. When Jesus was faced with choosing twelve disciples to follow Him, He spent the night resting in God’s presence and in prayer (Luke 6:12-16). When those same disciples experienced the ascension of Jesus into heaven, the culmination of the forty days following Jesus’ resurrection, they gathered in a room in Jerusalem to pray (Acts 1:12-14). The previous forty days, as well as the day of the Ascension, were no doubt taxing. They found refreshment together through prayer to God.
Whenever life drains you of strength, let God be your source for refreshment (Psalm 23:1-3). Make prayer your first choice when it comes to unburdening your soul.
The hotter the time of trouble, the greater the dews of refreshing from God. John Trapp
She’s a biblical character who doesn’t get much attention, really, unless one is discussing the role of women in the church. Particularly, are women allowed to be leaders (apostles, pastors, teachers, elders, etc) in the church?
Where does Junia show up in Scripture?
Romans 16:7. This is the passage:
Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.
Look, it’s a fair question. and before the insultfest starts, you should think about the question. If you consider yourself a Christian, it’s a good exercise:
“Am I the reason people around me mock Christianity and reject Christ?”
Now, I’ve already considered the question myself. And just so you know, I’m guilty as charged. I admit it. I’ve taken the time to examine my own way of following Christ out in the real world. It ain’t pretty. But not for the usual reasons. Not for the 21st century watered down version of Christian do’s and don’ts.
I’ve been spending countless hours immersed in the writings of the Early Church Fathers. You know, the guys who knew Paul, Peter or John and the Apostles. Or were discipled by them personally. Or they were discipled by men who had been discipled by the Apostles. These guys were very close to the source of the New Testament. Some of them are even mentioned in the New Testament. I’ve wanted to understand how they understood the faith.
Their understanding of what it means to follow Christ is far different than our modern day version. It’s not even close. If Polycarp or Clement were to walk into any evangelical congregation in the entire western world, they’d likely find an unrecognizable version of Christianity.
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!
Philippians 2:5-9
Paul continues to describe what it is like for us to be humble and “worthy of the Gospel” using in this instance the very example of Jesus Himself.
Jesus was by His nature God. Imagine what it could be like for Him to set aside the glory of heaven to be born in a stable; what earthly prince would so lower himself? He took on the very nature of a servant when He became a man. Now many of us might not be used to thinking of ourselves that way, but in God’s sight, that’s what we are: His servants and all of the riches on earth cannot change that simple fact. So, Jesus took on our form, that of a servant, was born in the humblest of circumstances, into a working man’s family. No privileges, no fancy title, no big name, just a working class guy.
Humility and gratitude flow through prayer in Psalm 40, grounded in a full-bodied devotion to the Lord God. The psalmist recognizes his helplessness without God; he recalls how God not only rescued him previously, but also provided for him:
“I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me an heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the LORD and put their trust in him” (Psalm 40:1-3).
These initial verses lay the groundwork for the prayer that will follow. God has rescued a worshipper from a predicament that is described as slimy and muddy. He has secured the worshiper’s future with a secure foundation. These verses introduce a vision of intense commitment to God. The psalmist’s whole body will follow God, will praise him and sing of him, will preach about his saving power, refusing to be silent about what God has done for him. A description of “full-bodied discipleship” emerges:
God has set his feet on a rock and given him a firm place to stand (v 2)
The LORD has put a new song in his mouth (v 3)
God has opened his ears (v 6)
God has prepared a body for him (v 6)
God’s law is within his heart (v 8)
The psalmist does not seal his lips (v 9)
The psalmist does not hide God’s righteousness in his heart (v10)
A prayer begins in verse 5 and, as can be seen, continues to develop a description of devoted discipleship. The prayer reveals an awareness that following God transcends practice of ritual and following of rules:
“Many, LORD my God, are the wonders you have done, the things you planned for us. None can compare with you were I to speak and tell of your deeds, they would be too many to declare. Sacrifice and offering you died not desire – but my ears you have opened – burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require. Then I said, ‘Here I am, I have come – it is written about me in the scroll. I desire to do you will, my God; your law is within my heart. I do not hide your righteousness in my heart; I speak of your faithfulness and your saving help. I do not conceal your love and your faithfulness from the great assembly” (Psalm 40:5-9).
Luke 6:43-45 43 “A good tree cannot have bad fruit. A bad tree cannot have good fruit. 44 For every tree is known by its own fruit. Men do not gather figs from thorns. They do not gather grapes from thistles. 45 Good comes from a good man because of the riches he has in his heart. Sin comes from a sinful man because of the sin he has in his heart. The mouth speaks of what the heart is full of.
Who we really are on the inside will at some point be revealed outwardly by our words. According to Scripture, all of us make mistakes in what we say—it would take a “perfect” person to always bridle the tongue and thereby control the body as well (2 We all make many mistakes. If anyone does not make a mistake with his tongue by saying the wrong things, he is a perfect man. It shows he is able to make his body do what he wants it to do. 3 We make a horse go wherever we want it to go by a small bit in its mouth. We turn its whole body by this.James 3:2-3). In fact, no one but Jesus is completely successful in this way. But to the degree that we walk closely with the Lord, the more our speech will be evidence that we follow Him.
In today’s passage, Jesus expresses this idea by means of a metaphor about good trees and bad trees. Making a distinction between the people who believe in Him and those who don’t, He classifies Christians as good trees, through whom the indwelling Holy Spirit is working to produce His good fruit. But men and women without Christ cannot generate any good fruit on their own. That’s because even mankind’s most virtuous deeds originate from the flesh and therefore are unclean to God (All of us have become like one who is unclean. All our right and good works are like dirty pieces of cloth. And all of us dry up like a leaf. Our sins take us away like the wind.Isa. 64:6).
However, just because we are “good trees” doesn’t mean that good words will automatically come forth from our mouth. We need the Holy Spirit to help us use language that is edifying, gracious, wholesome, and true (29 Watch your talk! No bad words should be coming from your mouth. Say what is good. Your words should help others grow as Christians. 30 Do not make God’s Holy Spirit have sorrow for the way you live. The Holy Spirit has put a mark on you for the day you will be set free.Eph. 4:29-30). Let’s make it our ambition to abide in Jesus, allowing the Holy Spirit to steer our tongues and bring honor to Jesus Christ.
Humility and gratitude flow through prayer in Psalm 40, grounded in a full-bodied devotion to the Lord God. The psalmist recognizes his helplessness without God; he recalls how God not only rescued him previously, but also provided for him:
“I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me an heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the LORD and put their trust in him” (Psalm 40:1-3).
These initial verses lay the groundwork for the prayer that will follow. God has rescued a worshipper from a predicament that is described as slimy and muddy. He has secured the worshiper’s future with a secure foundation. These verses introduce a vision of intense commitment to God. The psalmist’s whole body will follow God, will praise him and sing of him, will preach about his saving power, refusing to be silent about what God has done for him. A description of “full-bodied discipleship” emerges:
God has set his feet on a rock and given him a firm place to stand (v 2)
The LORD has put a new song in his mouth (v 3)
God has opened his ears (v 6)
God has prepared a body for him (v 6)
God’s law is within his heart (v 8)
The psalmist does not seal his lips (v 9)
The psalmist does not hide God’s righteousness in his heart (v10)
A disciple's study 