35 And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side.
36 And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships.
37 And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.
38 And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?
39 And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
40 And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?
41 And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?
1 And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes.
2 And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit,
3 Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains:
4 Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him.
5 And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones.
6 But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him.

If it had not been for a storm Jonah would still be a backslider and all the people of Nineveh would be lost. If it had not been for a storm Elijah would not have known Elisha. If it had not been for a storm Peter could not have walked on the waves. If it had not been for a storm the disciples would not have witnessed the miracle of peace as Jesus spoke gently into a wild situation. If it had not been for a storm Paul could not have preached the Gospel on the island of Malta. When we come out on the other side of a storm we can say of God as Job did, “He knoweth the way that I take: when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold (Job 23:10).” So, even though storms are frightening, and they are painful, and they are unpredictable, they are necessary for our spiritual growth.

Storms have a way of sending people to their knees in prayer. Nobody has time for prayer but when the waves start crashing people suddenly have a little room in their schedule for time with Jesus. Everyone is content to let Jesus sleep in the back of the boat until danger strikes. We’re all content with the “this” and the “that” until pain comes crashing in on us like a tidal wave and then we’re all in the back of the boat screaming, “Master, carest not thou that we perish (Mark 4:38)?”

It’s been my experience that most people instinctively turn to Jesus during the storms of life, and much of what we do in church and around church is designed to help people stay strong through the storms. We sing and preach about dancing in the rain and praising in the storm. All of that is good and necessary; but what about after the storm is over?

I think sometimes we put so much emphasis on the storm itself that we forget about life after the drama. We spend so much time being afraid and reactionary that we don’t have any strength left once it’s over, and it will be over! The gospel of Mark spends five entire verses describing the storm and how the disciples were afraid and then Jesus gets up and simply says, “PEACE, BE STILL (Mark 4:39)” and the whole thing is over just like that. Storms are no big deal for Jesus. He is far more concerned about our lack of faith than he is about the storm (Hebrews 11:6).

What I find most noteworthy about this whole story is not the storm or that Jesus calmed the storm or that Jesus was angered by their lack of faith or that they marveled. It’s what did not happen that makes me sit up and take notice. These disciples who were a part Jesus’ closest inner circle did not worship Him or offer up a word of thanksgiving even after He miraculously calmed the tempest. Wow. I think that’s a big deal and I think it was a big deal to Jesus as well.

It sounds strange to say it out loud, but I’ve witnessed more people slip away from a right relationship with God in the good times then in the bad times. It’s almost as if the waves push us into the arms of Jesus but the calm lulls us into a state of complacency. We might experience fewer storms if we could remain focused on the Master in the good times.

Take King Saul, for example; God gave him a great victory over his most dangerous enemy and immediately afterwards He allowed rebellion to take root in his heart (1 Samuel 15). His downward spiral didn’t happen during the battle it happened after the danger had already passed. His worship is where the corruption first became apparent. When the process of backsliding begins it is usually first manifested externally in our worship. With that in mind, here are three things that we must do after the storm is over.

1. OFFER THANKSGIVING. After Jesus healed the ten lepers in Luke 17 He sent them off to show themselves to the priest. And then the unthinkable happened, only one of them returned to thank Jesus after realizing that he had indeed been healed. That one leper was immediately made whole by Jesus. In other words, he was not only healed of the leprosy but of the previous effects of the leprosy.

Some people will never see another miracle until they learn how to be thankful for the first miracle. Those other nine lepers made it through a storm, but they forgot that Jesus is more than the Lord of the storm, Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords (1 Timothy 6:15). Jesus wants more than our frenzied cries of desperation He demands our gratitude (Psalm 100:4).

2. BUILD AN ALTAR OF SACRIFICE. I think we can all agree that Noah endured a genuine, big time storm. After he made it through to the other side he provided an example for us all to follow; he quickly built an altar of sacrifice unto the Lord (Genesis 8:20-21). God was so moved by this gesture that He promised to never again smite the earth with a storm of that magnitude. If you want to avoid going through the same type of storm over and over again start building an altar of sacrifice unto the Lord. In this New Testament era, you should present your body as a living sacrifice unto the Lord (Romans 12:1; Hebrews 13:15).

3. GIVE HIM WORSHIP. When the disciples got out on the other side of the storm they were immediately approached by a man who was literally possessed with not one or two but by a legion of demons (Mark 5:9). A man so tormented, so outcast, so messed up that he lived among the tombs. He terrorized the towns nearby.

They tried to bind him with ropes and chains, but he could not be bound. They tried to subdue him, but it was humanly impossible. Ironically, the world tries to fix bondage with more bondage, but He who the Son hath set free is free indeed (John 8:36)! The townspeople could hear this wild man crying in the tombs and cutting himself (that’s how unbearable his physical and spiritual agony was). This man was unwanted, he was wild, he was an embarrassment, he was demonic, he was sinful, and yet when he saw Jesus afar off he ran and worshipped him. Ironically, it took a messed up, tore up, broken up man who was possessed with a legion of demons to show those disciples what to do after the storm is over.

Psalm 107:29-31
29 He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
30 Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
31 Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

7 Ways To Help Your Youth Group Backslide

January 16, 2015January 3, 2017 Ryan A. French6 Comments

This is a followup guest entry to an article entitled Do You Believe Your Youth Group Will Stay In The Church? by my brother Nathan French.To get to know Nathan better check out his bio here or his Facebook page here. Nathan is our Youth Pastor at Apostolic Tabernacle and he is passionate about seeing AiMYouth live for God with abandon. Also, here’s a link to an article that I wrote a while back entitled 5 Key Subjects That We Must Address (If We Want To Retain Young Adults In Our Churches).

First of all, let me say that “backsliding” is a very real thing. It is impossible to “backslide” if you were never standing where God wanted you to stand in the first place. The youth of our generation have grown up in a different world then our elders grew up in. There are new temptations of convenience. The devil has cleverly placed temptations in front of our youth and made sin easily accessible for them. Violence, profanity, pornography….it’s all just a click away now. You haven’t given them computer access? Satan says, “No problem, their cell phones will do.” Satan has provided our students lots of help to lead them on the way to backsliding. As the Church, it is our responsibility to counteract these attempts of the enemy, and stand against the fiery darts of the wicked. I believe our young people can live for God in the last days! I also believe that they can resist the temptations of this world if the Church will be the lighthouse that they need it to be in order to see their way on an ocean of easily accessible sins.

The problem is not what’s coming from the world; our youth understand that the world is a dark place. What they cannot understand is how darkness gets into the Church. Backsliding begins in our youth groups when they see the darkness in the Church, because they no longer know where to draw the lines of right and wrong. They begin to ask themselves questions like, “If darkness is in the Church, how are we any different than the world?” Please don’t misunderstand me; I don’t believe any of our churches want to see their kids backslide. Most often, we don’t even realize how we’re “helping” the process along. Here are seven ways church people might be obliviously “helping” youth backslide.

Talk bad about ministry. This is a great way to help your youth backslide. If you want to help them on the road to backsliding, keep on having those negative conversations at lunch on Sunday. “Why does Pastor always….?” Anyways, you get the point.

Never get involved. This is a great way to help your youth backslide. After all, you’re way too busy to help with the church right now. If we keep teaching our youth that God is the last priority, that will definitely help them make the decision to put God last in their life.

Never worship. Worship draws people closer to God, so if you want to help your youth group backslide… teach them how to not worship. Hosea 11: 7- And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called them to the most High, none at all would exalt him.

Constantly miss church. This is a great way to help your youth backslide. By simply not taking them to church, you have helped the devil immensely. The presence of God will begin to break strongholds in their life, so if you want to help them backslide, definitely do not take them to church three times a week. Psalm 122:1- I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.

Speak in anger and not love. Correcting your youth in anger rather than love is a great way to help them backslide. After all, God is love. If you don’t want God to be a big part of their life, don’t do anything in love.

Seclude yourself. Your youth group is a community of great friends that believe in the same thing. So, by secluding yourself and your family, you have already helped the devil. I mean, who wants to be around their friends of like faith anyways? Oh wait… your youth do!

Use God’s Name in vain. There is power in the name of Jesus. When you abuse it by using it as a joke, the devil is so happy. There is nothing more powerful than the name of Jesus. If you teach your young people that His Name is just a joke, you will definitely help them backslide. Act 4:12 – Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

We are THE CHURCH! Let’s be a light in a dark world and do whatever it takes to keep the darkness out of the Church.

Do You Believe Your Youth Group Will Stay In The Church?

AsideJanuary 10, 2015May 12, 2017 Ryan A. French2 Comments

Do you believe in your youth group? You really should.

You Might Be A Carnal Christian If…

January 5, 2015October 14, 2021 Ryan A. French21 Comments

Carnality is not a place where God wants us to live. God has called each of us to walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh (Galatians 5:16). Carnality can be defined simply as a Christian who leans towards worldliness. It is possible to be carnal and not totally backslidden. However, those who flirt with worldliness long enough usually divorce themselves from God eventually or vice versa. In years of pastoral ministry, I have often asked people to give practical snapshots or specific definitions of what carnality looks like in real life. The following is my humble attempt to answer some of those inquiries. I have tried to be honest (not unkind) with these little snapshots – thirty of them, to be exact. Don’t worry; they’re short. I regularly check my attitudes, actions, and influences for any trace of deadly carnality. So here we go!

You Might Be a Carnal Christian…

…if going to church is a low priority in your life.

…if your activities at church only involve one day a week or less.

…if you are more comfortable around sin than you are around righteousness.

…if you regularly make fun of, laugh at, or become angered by righteousness (spiritual things).

…if you have no personal spiritual disciplines like prayer, Bible reading, Bible study, Bible memorization, witnessing, and fasting.

…if you are angered by preaching that challenges, convicts, corrects, rebukes, or even slightly nudges you.

…if you dislike worshipping, and other people’s outward demonstrations of worship annoy you as well.

…if you don’t want pastoral authority or advice (you may or may not say this verbally, but you feel it inwardly).

…if you will only do things for God that others will notice and applaud. You are unwilling to do small, menial tasks for others, your church, and God’s kingdom in general.

…if you regularly give in to temptation and get tripped up by the same sins over and over again (even after repenting).

…if you live on a steady diet of worldly music and other various forms of entertainment that promote, glorify, and justify sinful activities.

…if you will not listen to godly advice even from close family and friends.

…if God is not the priority in your life.

…if you withhold your tithes (10% of your income) from God, do not give offerings (any amount given to God in love), or rarely give sacrificially (giving until it hurts).

…if you don’t think you have any room for improvement or spiritual progress.

…if you regularly participate in gossip, backbiting, and contribute to arguments and strife.

…if you look for controversies and ways to bring divisions rather than seeking peace and unity with all men.

…if you are regularly filled with envy, rage, jealousy, pride, arrogance, or any other emotion that does not reflect the fruit of the Spirit.

…if you put yourself first rather than others.

…if you can’t remember the last time you repented to God or another individual for wrongdoing.

…if humility is a word that makes you uncomfortable.

…if you are secretly dishonest but would like for people to view you as trustworthy.

…if you regularly lie, but you think it’s ok because you don’t get caught.

…if you are constantly looking for loopholes in God’s Word instead of surrendering to its authority.

…if you get more excited over a football game (or you can fill in the blank with your favorite distraction), then you do the goodness of God.

…if you can’t remember the last time you talked about God outside of a church function.

…if you regularly let your mind dwell on lustful, immoral, wicked, and evil things, but you think it’s ok because you haven’t acted on them.

…if you have no respect for godly elders or opinions other than your own.

…if you do not value those who labor in the Word (preachers, pastors, prophets, evangelists, missionaries, and teachers). You do not think they are worthy of a double portion (or any portion for that matter).

A Pentecostal Blog & Podcast

Month: January 2015

What You Should Do After the Storm

7 Ways To Help Your Youth Group Backslide

Do You Believe Your Youth Group Will Stay In The Church?

You Might Be A Carnal Christian If…

You Might Be a Carnal Christian…

…if going to church is a low priority in your life.

…if your activities at church only involve one day a week or less.

…if you are more comfortable around sin than you are around righteousness.

…if you regularly make fun of, laugh at, or become angered by righteousness (spiritual things).

…if you have no personal spiritual disciplines like prayer, Bible reading, Bible study, Bible memorization, witnessing, and fasting.

…if you are angered by preaching that challenges, convicts, corrects, rebukes, or even slightly nudges you.

…if you dislike worshipping, and other people’s outward demonstrations of worship annoy you as well.

…if you don’t want pastoral authority or advice (you may or may not say this verbally, but you feel it inwardly).

…if you will only do things for God that others will notice and applaud. You are unwilling to do small, menial tasks for others, your church, and God’s kingdom in general.

…if you regularly give in to temptation and get tripped up by the same sins over and over again (even after repenting).

…if you live on a steady diet of worldly music and other various forms of entertainment that promote, glorify, and justify sinful activities.

…if you will not listen to godly advice even from close family and friends.

…if God is not the priority in your life.

…if you withhold your tithes (10% of your income) from God, do not give offerings (any amount given to God in love), or rarely give sacrificially (giving until it hurts).

…if you don’t think you have any room for improvement or spiritual progress.

…if you regularly participate in gossip, backbiting, and contribute to arguments and strife.

…if you look for controversies and ways to bring divisions rather than seeking peace and unity with all men.

…if you are regularly filled with envy, rage, jealousy, pride, arrogance, or any other emotion that does not reflect the fruit of the Spirit.

…if you put yourself first rather than others.

…if you can’t remember the last time you repented to God or another individual for wrongdoing.

…if humility is a word that makes you uncomfortable.

…if you are secretly dishonest but would like for people to view you as trustworthy.

…if you regularly lie, but you think it’s ok because you don’t get caught.

…if you are constantly looking for loopholes in God’s Word instead of surrendering to its authority.

…if you get more excited over a football game (or you can fill in the blank with your favorite distraction), then you do the goodness of God.

…if you can’t remember the last time you talked about God outside of a church function.

…if you regularly let your mind dwell on lustful, immoral, wicked, and evil things, but you think it’s ok because you haven’t acted on them.

…if you have no respect for godly elders or opinions other than your own.

…if you do not value those who labor in the Word (preachers, pastors, prophets, evangelists, missionaries, and teachers). You do not think they are worthy of a double portion (or any portion for that matter).

…if you have not felt the presence of God in a long, long time.

revraf

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You Might Be a Carnal Christian…

…if going to church is a low priority in your life.

…if your activities at church only involve one day a week or less.

…if you are more comfortable around sin than you are around righteousness.

…if you regularly make fun of, laugh at, or become angered by righteousness (spiritual things).

…if you have no personal spiritual disciplines like prayer, Bible reading, Bible study, Bible memorization, witnessing, and fasting.

…if you are angered by preaching that challenges, convicts, corrects, rebukes, or even slightly nudges you.

…if you dislike worshipping, and other people’s outward demonstrations of worship annoy you as well.

…if you don’t want pastoral authority or advice (you may or may not say this verbally, but you feel it inwardly).

…if you will only do things for God that others will notice and applaud. You are unwilling to do small, menial tasks for others, your church, and God’s kingdom in general.

…if you regularly give in to temptation and get tripped up by the same sins over and over again (even after repenting).

…if you live on a steady diet of worldly music and other various forms of entertainment that promote, glorify, and justify sinful activities.

…if you will not listen to godly advice even from close family and friends.

…if God is not the priority in your life.

…if you withhold your tithes (10% of your income) from God, do not give offerings (any amount given to God in love), or rarely give sacrificially (giving until it hurts).

…if you don’t think you have any room for improvement or spiritual progress.

…if you regularly participate in gossip, backbiting, and contribute to arguments and strife.

…if you look for controversies and ways to bring divisions rather than seeking peace and unity with all men.

…if you are regularly filled with envy, rage, jealousy, pride, arrogance, or any other emotion that does not reflect the fruit of the Spirit.

…if you put yourself first rather than others.

…if you can’t remember the last time you repented to God or another individual for wrongdoing.

…if humility is a word that makes you uncomfortable.

…if you are secretly dishonest but would like for people to view you as trustworthy.

…if you regularly lie, but you think it’s ok because you don’t get caught.

…if you are constantly looking for loopholes in God’s Word instead of surrendering to its authority.

…if you get more excited over a football game (or you can fill in the blank with your favorite distraction), then you do the goodness of God.

…if you can’t remember the last time you talked about God outside of a church function.

…if you regularly let your mind dwell on lustful, immoral, wicked, and evil things, but you think it’s ok because you haven’t acted on them.

…if you have no respect for godly elders or opinions other than your own.

…if you do not value those who labor in the Word (preachers, pastors, prophets, evangelists, missionaries, and teachers). You do not think they are worthy of a double portion (or any portion for that matter).

…if you have not felt the presence of God in a long, long time.

Related posts: