“For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.” Mark 5:28
Mark records the story of a woman who experienced a hemorrhaging blood condition for twelve years and spent every penny she had on doctors, but never got better. This woman’s life was turned upside down and inside out because of her condition. Sexually, she couldn't touch her husband. Maternally, she couldn't have children. Domestically, whatever she touched was considered “unclean”. Spiritually, she couldn't enter the temple for worship. Physically she was exhausted and socially she was ostracized. But mentally she would not give up! In her mind, she said “If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.” Her mind was set on being made whole! She would stop at nothing to get healing from the healer.
“...They called the name of that place Baal Perazim.” 1 Chronicles 14:11
The Bible says: “The Philistines...made a raid on the Valley of Rephaim. And David inquired of God saying, ‘Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will You deliver them into my hand?’ The Lord said to him, ‘Go up, for I will deliver them into your hand.’ So they went up to Baal Perazim, and David defeated them there. Then David said, ‘God has broken through my enemies by my hand like a breakthrough of water.’ Therefore they called the name of that place Baal Perazim [which means ‘breaking through’]” (I Chronicles 14:9-11 NKJV).
“The Spirit of the Lord…..he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor;….to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised” Luke 4:18
Jesus said that He came to bring freedom to those held captive by destructive habits, to give sight to those who are spiritually blind, to lift up those who've been put down, and to announce that the time of God's favor toward us has arrived.
The story is told of a man passing by elephants, he suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages. It was obvious that the elephants could, break away from the ropes they were tied to but for some reason, they did not.
“For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Cor. 4:16-17) KJV
I read in my devotional the other morning that “Giving up often causes us to miss the best God has to offer”. I agree. A few weeks ago, many of us witnessed the dethroning of the New England Patriot’s football team to the new Super Bowl champions, the Philadelphia Eagles. While there were many amazing stories behind the scenes of the terrific season they experienced, one of the most exciting stories was how the second-string quarterback, Nick Foles, almost quit football just a few months before his historic win and Super Bowl Most Valuable Player performance.
"And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him." (Mark 1:18)
We hear a lot about discipleship these days. Churches have discipleship classes and sponsor conferences on discipleship. Also a number of books have been written on discipleship. Here in our verse is a concise and excellent statement about discipleship. There are three factors that are vital in discipleship. The first factor is Fervency. The text says it was "Straightway." This word means to do something immediately. If you are going to be a good disciple of Jesus Christ you must be diligent not slow.
Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him and He will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Ps. 37:5-6
In a recent article written by Thom Rainer, the author of “Simple Church”, he argues that the number one reason why church attendance is declining in America is because members attend with less frequency than they did just a few years ago. He says, “If the frequency of attendance changes, then attendance will respond accordingly. For example, if 200 members attend every week the average attendance is, obviously, 200. But if one-half of those members miss only one out of four weeks, the attendance drops to 175. Did you catch that? No members left the church. Everyone is still relatively active in the church. But attendance declined over 12 percent because half the members changed their attendance behavior slightly.”[i] In other words, our attendance at worship matters greatly.
Revitalization is the action of instilling something with new life and vitality. According to recent research conducted by the Rainer Group, 9 out of 10 (90%) churches in America need revitalization. They are either declining (finances, attendance and morale) or growing more slowly than the communities in which, they are located. In other words, most churches are losing ground in their communities.
But, in the midst of all the bad news about churches, this same study showed that some churches are growing despite the seeming overwhelming revitalization challenges. These growing churches have 6 factors in common.
