Pastor’s Weekly Devotional

                                                         BCC Weekly Devotional

                                                  There’s beauty in Spiritual Balance

                                                           Pastor Jim Harper

                                                                    3-12-26 

I am speaking this Sunday from Acts 3 about the key ‘building blocks’ toward

effective, efficient New Testament Churches. You’ll have to come Sunday to see what

these ‘Building Blocks’ are. ☺ One hint, however, is that those leading this spiritual ‘charge’

keep the word balance clearly in mind. Let me illustrate.

Most Christians have noticed over the years that it’s quite common for Christian

churches...often denominations to become ‘known’ for certain things. For example, we’ve

all known of churches where EVANGELISM was ‘KING’. It’s all about bringing people into

the kingdom. Once they’ve arrived, however, a lot of these churches don’t appear to have a

clue as to where to go next with the new believers.

Other churches are heaven-bent on ‘RIGHT THEOLOGY’. Some might view these

types of churches as ‘mini – seminaries’ where it’s all about the CONTENT - packing as

much beef into every ‘spiritual meal’ as possible. So, what could possibly be wrong with

that? Absolutely nothing, until people start to realize that the evangelical spirit in that

church is all but dead. Nobody, pastor on down, can remember the last time someone

actually trusted Christ as Savior in their church family. Yikes!

Finally, it seems other churches have an overwhelming focus on the

SUPERNATURAL. Many members come each Sunday expecting a super-charged display

of Holy Spirit power, leaving sorely disappointed when they don’t experience one. There are

people coming to Christ at these churches, but many move on when their expectations for

the sensational are not consistently met.

So, what’s the problem? Is one of the above the right way and the other two way off

base? Is one the Godly way and the other two Satanic ‘misdirections’? The answer is NO

to both. So, what can be done to ‘right’ these common misconceptions? It’s easier said

than done, but the key word is ‘balance’. Let me explain:

Those attending the Evangelism-Centered churches will finally come to a point of

near spiritual starvation (and leave) unless their church leadership recognizes their

congregant’s need for solid, consistent spiritual sustenance. BOTH are critical toward

thriving spiritually.

Those leaving the ‘Mini-Seminary’ churches do so because they’ve become

spiritually bloated. The key here? They need to be taught that the purpose of a steady diet of

solid scriptural content is, ultimately, ‘life change’ – in their own lives and the lives of

others. Without life transformation, the programs of these churches degenerate to stale

spiritual intellectualism. Not surprisingly, when a spirit of bold evangelism is infused by

solid spiritual content, God’s Spirit can do great things.

Finally, both churches listed above can remain spiritually ineffective unless they

realize that nothing happens in the New Testament church without a total dependence on

Holy Spirit power. That said, evidence of the Holy Spirit’s power can be difficult to

distinguish from Satanic counterfeits unless the believers involved are well versed in the

eternal truths of God’s word.

So, what’s the key takeaway from today’s devotional? A healthy, effective, efficient

NT church will be experiencing an ever-deepening understanding of God’s Word resulting in

bold, consistent evangelism empowered by the eternity altering power of God’s Holy Spirit.

Make sense?

Come join us Sunday to get the four key ‘Building Blocks’ toward effective, efficient

New Testament Churches. Hope to see you then!