WHAT: Bring your whole family and join Wellsprings Church for a viewing of the movie, Gather the Family!  We will be having pizza starting at 5pm and the movie will begin at 6pm.

WHEN: Saturday, March 3, 2012. Pizza at 5pm, Movie at 6pm.

WHERE: Wellsprings Church meets at the Thomas Jefferson Charter School. 1209 Adam Smith Ave. Caldwell , ID 83605

WHY: At Wellsprings, we encourages families to prioritize their schedule so that they can spend time together in family worship – this movie focuses on that how to make that happen and shows you simple, practical ways to start if you are not currently in the habit of doing this!

COST: FREE Movie AND FREE pizza – you can’t beat that!

HOW: Please RSVP so that we can get an accurate count of how much pizza we need and how many will be attending.  RSVP by replying to our E-vite on Facebook or by emailing us: info[at]wellspringschurch.com

More info about the movie is below:

Gather the Family celebrates the “invitation to joy” that’s at the heart of family worship.

Modern busy lifestyles conspire against families taking the time to gather together. But Gather the Family visits families across the country who are enjoying the benefits that abound when families take even a few minutes to worship God together during the week.

Far from a burden or drudgery, this film reveals the joy that emerges when family worship becomes a priority in the home.

Family worship holds the lasting value of building biblical truths in the foundation of a family. The experience also forges family unity in a uniquely rewarding way.

Much more than just a “how-to” instructional guide, Gather the Family inspires and encourages families to accept the “invitation to joy” that’s offered when they gather for family worship.

For trailer and previews, go to the Franklin Springs Media web page.

Recently, I reflected back on the Christmas season and I was struck by one element that hadn’t occurred to me before. Usually my thinking goes to the incarnation and Jesus coming as the King of kings, but instead I began to ponder the family that Jesus was placed into. Mary was an ordinary girl in an ordinarily town who was betrothed to an ordinary man.  What was so special about Mary and Joseph?  The Bible doesn’t say a whole lot about either of them; of Mary it remarks that she “found favour with God” (Lk 1:30) and Joseph was referred to as a “just man” (Mt 1:19) when he graciously tried to end their betrothal quietly rather than subjecting Mary to public humiliation.  The fact is, what Mary and Joseph did out of loving obedience to God, is that they had a baby, they had a home, they lived life in a normal first-century fashion.

Now this baby was the Lord Jesus Christ, God very God, and the majesty of what took place cannot be fully comprehended, but from Mary and Joseph’s day to day experience, they were parents. Mary kept busy with her duties while Joseph was working as a carpenter (or builder).  They had other children to raise and at some point Joseph drops out of the picture (presumably he must have died), so Mary had to continue life alone.

The lesson that we can draw from this and apply to our lives, is that our seemingly mundane life, with its daily problems and successes has tremendous value if lived under the Lordship of Christ!  If God saw fit to place His only Son into the care of a normal family, then our normal families can bring glory to God without having to do “extraordinary” things.

2 Corinthians 4:7 says “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us”.  We are simple clay pots. The extraordinary thing is not us, but Christ.  Just as Joseph and Mary were privileged with Jesus as a baby we are privileged to have Christ in us so that He can be glorified as He works through us in the day to day things of life.

Wellsprings Church will not be holding service on Sunday December 25, 2011.

Our Candlelight Christmas service will be held at 7pm on Friday, December 23, 2011 followed by a good dessert and great fellowship.

Hope to see you there!

If you bring your shoeboxes with gifts to Wellsprings on Sunday, Nov 20th, 2011 — we will drop them off for you!

Otherwise, Shoeboxes will be collected between Nov 14-21 at several locations locally.  (Click link to find local dropoff locations)

“If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all the battlefield besides is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point” – Attribution debated

“Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.” (2 Timothy 4:2)

How often is the Christian church so loudly proclaiming the truth of Scripture but failing to fight the battle that rages the most?  We are called to proclaim the Word, but if we do so eloquently and powerfully 99% of the teachings of Scripture yet fail to proclaim the 1% that will anger the masses, we really have failed to do what 2 Tim 4:2 is commanding.

What are such issues?  What about the sufficiency of Scripture over ALL areas of life (not just church or “spiritual” issues)?  Should God, through His Word, govern the functioning of the family, church, business, economics, education, civil government?  Although we don’t have all the answers to all the questions about these topics (and others that aren’t list), does that mean that their aren’t precepts, principles, and patterns in Scripture that speak to them?  Should we just follow the accepted opinion of the day (even those in our circle of friends)?  No, we are called to proclaim that God proclaims.

Unfortunately, there are many battles raging today and it is difficult to take them all on, but we can begin by seeking the Lord and His Word for direction in critical areas, such as what is salvation, spiritual growth, God’s commands to us, family and church issues.  If we understand salvation and spiritual growth then we can walk in the commands of God in our families and churches.  If we get these right then we can speak to other issues that Scripture speaks to.

But what about disagreements in how the Scripture applies to various areas?  I think first of all we need to be humble about our positions because even the smartest and most educated can be wrong.  Second, in less important issues we need to be amiable with our fellow believers about these issues and discuss them lovingly.  Disagreements are a part of life but doing so without love is not honoring to Christ our King.

I pray that Wellsprings Church will be known as a church that lovingly proclaims the accepted portions of Scripture but also the unaccepted portions that are currently being attacked.  If we do this, then we can be good soldiers of Christ willing to battle where He wants us to battle.

I’ve been inspired recently in reading a work by the early Christian writer, Mark Felix.  In one respect, I was surprised to see how little society changes.  As we age, many of us in conservative Christian circles tend to bemoan the downward spiral of moral depravity which seems to be more and more commonplace.  Yet, when one looks carefully at the annals of history and cultures past, it is easy to agree with Ecclesiastes 1:9 which states “there is nothing new under the sun.”

Mark Felix amply demonstrated this in his work, Octavius (which is contained in the book We Don’t Speak Great Things – We Live Them).

In this defense of Christianity, Mark Felix recounts a heated debate between a non-Christian (Caecilus) and his Christian friend, Octavius.  The work can be briefly summarized as an account where Caecilus accuses Christians of all sorts of hideous atrocities and illogical beliefs and Octavius responds.

At one point in their arguments, however, I was struck by an uncanny parallel to today’s society.  In a way, things certainly haven’t changed much – or have they?

Octavius states:

“So among ourselves, we [Christians] honor others for their character and their modesty. For that reason, we abstain from evil pleasures and public games. We condemn these enticements knowing from sacred things their origin. We shudder from the madness of the crowds brawling among themselves at the chariot games and from the teaching of murder in gladiatorial contests. The madness is no less at your dramas. Instead, debauchery is prolonged. Sometimes an actor expounds on adultery, other times he acts it out. Another actor may entice the audience to lust. Another actor brings you to tears when he plays the part of one suffering or dying. How strange! You demand actual murder in the arena but you weep at fictitious murder in your plays.”

As I thought deeper about this passage, while the moral fiber of society as a whole hasn’t changed much, the Christian response has changed tremendously.  Unfortunately, I believe it’s largely changed for the worse. As we look at Octavius’ words, several things made this point clear:

• As Christians, do we really value modesty? Apparently, the early Christians did. But one would be hard pressed to tell most Christians apart from the rest of society by our lack of modest dress and behavior.

• Do we, as Christians, condemn “enticements” of evil pleasures and public games? Many conservative Christians would certainly denounce an obvious evil pleasure such as pornography or prostitution.  But what about condemning “public games?”  While certainly the bible does not specifically denounce sports or similar forms of entertainment, the bible is very clear on the priorities we are to place in our lives and warnings against idolatry (Exodus 20:4).  In this respect, entertainment of all kinds typically takes a front seat, while the study of God’s word, prayer, fellowship – sometimes even family – takes a back seat.  Families spend more time shuttling children to sporting events than in prayer together. Many mainstream churches in the United States host Superbowl parties each year or shorten services so that members of the congregation can hustle home in time to catch the game.  Some will go to great lengths not to miss a favorite tv show or the lastest installment of American Idol (the name alone should scare Christians), but their daily time in the word is pushed aside by the smallest blip in the schedule.

• How about today’s Christian viewpoint on movies? Again, I know many conservative Christians who abstain from watching R-rated or NC-17 rated movies.  But how many professing Christians will happily watch a romantic comedy that promotes themes like adultery, pre-marital sex, homosexuality and other such topics that don’t quite line-up with a Christian lifestyle?

• How many Christians weep at cinematic tragedy and ignore real-life tragedy?  We cry when a drama unfolds on the screen where parents divorce, but have a divorce rate that rivals non-Christians. We live in a society that glorifies images of war and violence and murder on the screen and permits abortion off-screen. As Christians, we voice an objection to this, but really society is consistent and we are not.  Although, no one will admit it, society unabashedly loves violence and murder and can’t get enough of it, so it enters the home via movies, video games and music. Unfortunately, Christians today sanction these very same things with our dollars and by permitting them in our homes.

During the pinnacle of the debate between Octavius and Caecilus, Octavius summarizes his argument and final points with a bold, powerful statement. And it’s one I wanted to encourage Wellsprings Church and my Christian friends with:

“We don’t speak great things – we live them!”

I believe that this, my friends, is the solution to many of the problems we face today as Christians.  If we truly endeavor to live our lives in ways that would honor and glorify God, we would demonstrate to others what a true Christian looks like.  If we heed the words of John 13:35, all men will know us by the as Christ’s disciples based on how we love each other. If examined our actions, our habits and our motives, we would refrain from honoring God with our lips while our hearts and minds are somewhere else (Isaiah 29:13).

If we use our lives and not just our lips to truly act like Christ (and not just say we are Christian), we would certainly achieve great things for the kingdom.  Case in point: the conclusion of our story about Caecilus and Octavius.   After their debate, Caecilus was so impressed with Octavius, his explanation of Christian beliefs and the way that he lived his life that Caecilus was moved to become a Christian himself.

My prayer is that we not only speak great things, but live live them!  May our lives may be victorious in winning others to Christ and bringing glory to God!

Translation of Octavius and above quotes from We Don’t Speak Great Things – We Live Them by David Bercot (Scroll Publishing, 1989)

Will we be denied the right to teach our children the greatest commandment?

If you were going to teach your children one commandment from all of scripture, what would you teach them? In Matthew 22:36-38, a Pharisee once asked Jesus the question, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” Jesus responds with these words, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all you mind. This is the great and first commandment.”

Do you understand the ramifications of following this command? If you give all of what you have to something, then you have nothing left for anything else. In other words, if you were to teach your children this, you would be teaching them to love (serve, follow, honor, glorify, etc.) God with everything they have, meaning they would have nothing left to give to another god. You would be teaching them that there is only one God, and that the totality of their lives should be given to him alone. And you would be right to do so.

Jesus quotes this command from Deuteronomy 6:4 & 5. Immediately following, in verses 6 & 7, are these words, “And these words (the great command) that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall TEACH them DILIGENTLY to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” So as parents, we are instructed to teach our children diligently, the great command, which is that there is only one true God and that they are to love Him with all their heart, soul, and mind.

Wellsprings Church is a family integrated church, and we hold to the conviction that our families must be free to teach our children that there is One God and we are to love Him only. I’m not talking about just formal education here. I’m talking about the right to TEACH my children what I believe, at all times, in all circumstances, in all manners.

But not everyone believes we have this right,  and Christians are facing a growing tide of opposition around the world. The platform on which they spew forth their ideological challenges is that of “tolerance.” Catherine Ross, Professor at George Washington University Law School, wrote in the May 2010 William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal: “If a parent subscribes to an absolutist belief system premised on the notion that it was handed down by a creator, that it (like the Ten Commandments) is etched in stone and that all other systems are wrong, the essential lessons of a civic education (i.e., tolerance and mutual respect) often seem deeply challenging and suspect.”

Professor Ross is also not just talking about formal education. By targeting parents, she is targeting ALL education. Here is more evidence. Writing about Christian education, Professor Ross said, “the state can and should limit the ability of intolerant [Christian educators] to inculcate hostility to difference in their children.”  The question here is “What is education?” and “Who are the educators?” In referring to “their children,” she seems to imply that the Christian educators are the parents. In other words, if I teach my children that Jesus is the one and only true God, and that they should live only for Him, then I am intolerant, and the state should stop me.

Why? In a 2009 book edited by Professor Martha Albertson Fineman of Emory University Law School, it was written that all forms of private education should be banned because Christian education “unfairly imposes hierarchical and oppressive beliefs on their children.” Another way that such liberal political theorists argue this is that such beliefs infringe on a child’s human rights. Don’t think this can happen? Recent events in the UK suggest otherwise. There, the High Court has implied that Christian views on morality were essentially too absolutist, and therefore discouraged allowing Christians to participate in the foster care system and perhaps even adoption. Christian Concern has an informative article on the subject (click link to read article).

So already there is a movement to prevent Christians from receiving children into their home whom they would then influence. How big of a step would be required them to prevent Christian parents from teaching such morals to the children they already have? If President Obama has his way, not much of a step. He and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Senator Barbara Boxer are among those who have committed themselves to seeing U.S. ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. This devastating piece of international legislation will  create a climate that will place Christian parents at odds with our government over our rights to teach our children the great commandment, or any of our other beliefs. Haven’t heard of this? Be informed and check out  20 Things You Need to Know About the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Christians, whether parents or not, need to be aware of what is transpiring in the world and get involved. For more information on these issues, go to www.parentalrights.org. Politics will not save us or our children, but that doesn’t mean we should not get involved. We believe in one God, He is the only God, and as we teach our children, it is in Him and in Him alone that we trust.

How does a family integrated church minister to youth or young adult singles who don’t have believing families or any family at all?

The modern church creates programs to reach a variety of sub groups, such as youth groups and singles ministries.  In a family integrated church model, these types of programs are non-existent so it is imperative to address the issue of how to minister to people who don’t attend with their family.

Scripture is sufficient to answer this and provides direction on how to minister to people in any stage of their life.  The answer is simple but the implementation is challenging.  The challenge is not because the solution is logistically or financially difficult, but because it will take effort from every member of the church to minister rather than relying on professionals or programs to do so.

The first place to begin is to assess what situation the person is actually in when they attend the church.  Do they have a family at all?  If not, then the Bible would classify them as “fatherless”.  In Psalm 68:5-6a it says “A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, Is God in His holy habitation.  God sets the solitary in families…” This verse makes clear that God places singles into families and we should do the same with those that attend family integrated churches.  The life of Job is a great illustration of this as it says “For from my youth the fatherless grew up with me as with a father…” (Job 31:18a). The challenge is for families of age-integrated churches to reach out to the fatherless people among them to develop a relationship and seek to disciple them.  The family integrated youth or singles group is other families in the church.

What if the person has a family but they are unbelievers?  The first approach should be to encourage the families of the church to be hospitable to the person’s family and use this opportunity as a place for evangelism.  What better than to see the young person’s family come to Christ and then begin to function as a Biblical family!  In parallel, families in the church should “spiritually adopt” the person and help disciple them in the context of a Biblical family.

Additionally, as the young person grows and matures God may bring them a spouse to then begin their own family for the purpose of raising up godly seed over many generations.

As you can see the solution is simple, however the implementation will be challenging in our modern age of programs.  We are so use to programs being used as “solutions” to problems rather than relationships; and relationships are hard.  May we seek the Lord for the courage and strength to reach out to the fatherless in our midst and any lost families of our young people.

The above picture from Ken Duncan reminds me the PRICE that Jesus paid for me–an often self-centered and un-heavenly minded man. Whoa. What suffering! What sacrifice! What pain! What… love. WHOA!

Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrated His own love for us in this–while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” God loves me, a sinner. WHOA!! I don’t deserve that love. I am a part of the human race—the “world” which He came to save.

John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world (kosmos—the entire population on the planet), that He gave His One and Only Son that whoever (me, you, anybody) believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”

Particular Redemption
Some Christians  say that Christ died only for the Elect–those who are chosen by God and who trust in Him for salvation. I am convinced that Jesus died for the “whole world” (John 3:16). His death was for every human being that ever lived! Jesus paid IT ALL… ON BEHALF OF all.

However, it’s a horrifying fact that most people reject His offer of total forgiveness and atonement of ALL their sins. Therefore, although Christ died for the whole world–offering this incredible gift of salvation to all humans–the effects of His death (which is atonement, salvation, justification) are reserved for only those who trust in Him.

Yep. Salvation is exclusive. Jesus said it was that way when He told His followers: “I am the way and the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father (gets to heaven) except through me.” (John 14:6).

Jesus is the only way to heaven.

Believe in Him! He loves you! He died for you!

When reading the Bible what do you want to “get out of it”?  There seems to be two different popular paths to go down when answering this question, but we need to look to Scripture for the correct answer.

The first popular path is to gain information about what the Bible talks about.  It is studied to learn about such things as who did what and when it occurred or to learn about what verse speaks about a particular topic.  Don’t get me wrong, there is much value in learning about Scripture, but I think by itself this path is limited in spiritual value to us and our children.

The second popular path is to read the Scriptures not so much to gain information but to get an experience.  The Bible is read not to understand what was written but to understand how a person relates to the words.  The goal is to connect emotionally with the Scriptures to create a personal experience rather than to increase ones knowledge.  I don’t want to come across as speaking against emotion or personal experience, because I believe that there is an important place for it in our lives.  In fact I think that we should want to experience what we have knowledge about.  The problem with this path is that emotion without truth comes and goes without lasting change.

The better path is what Scripture would have us follow and is a blend of the two popular paths but with a proper focus.

In John 10: 27, Jesus says “my sheep hear my voice…” which teaches an important truth that will help answer the question of what we should get out of reading Scripture. The sheep are believers that hear the voice of God speaking to them.  First, we need to be listening for a specific voice, not our own voice, but the voice of God Himself. Second, we need to understand what His voice is saying to us.  This means that we need to carefully learn what Scripture is saying, without opinion interfering. Furthermore, His voice will be leading us to follow Him, just like sheep follow their shepherd.

After we hear the voice of God clearly, by understanding what He is saying and are willing to follow whatever He is telling us, we need to realize that our purpose for reading the Bible doesn’t stop there.  In 1 John 2:13, it says “I write unto you, fathers, because you have known Him that is from the beginning”.  This verse teaches us another truth about what we are to “get out of” studying the Bible.  The goal is not just to learn what the Bible says, but also to “know Him that is from the beginning”.  This means that our goal to is know God – to fellowship with the one who actually spoke the words, not just to know the words themselves.  We can read many biographies about a person we respect but we merely know about them, we don’t know them personally.  If we become friends with this person and spend time with them then we will start to really know them.

What we should aim to “get out of” studying the Bible, is to know God more, to fellowship with Him until we really get to know Him (which will take an eternity). Out of this relationship with Him, He will guide us just like a shepherd does for his sheep and apply His Words to our hearts and cause us to walk in them.

May we purpose to seek the Lord with our whole heart that we may know Him more each day!