Category: Pastor’s Notes

Article updates from the Pastors of Believers City Church, Menomonie, WI.

July 9, 2024 Pastor Tim Dodson | Menomonie

Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.

We ask You to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push into the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.

Attributed — Sir Francis Drake — 1577

July 6, 2024 Pastor Jesse Moss

Back home in Wisconsin I never really wondered if I would get a flat tire. I never worried whether or not the water heater would be broken. I took a lot of everyday things for granted. Today marks exactly one year of living in the Philippines. It has been a year of ministering in new ways to new people, complete with all the joys and challenges. It’s been one year of meeting new friends, one year of making a fool of myself trying to live in an unknown culture, one year of insane traffic and frustrating inefficiency. It’s also been a year of being (in some ways) distant from the church that I had loved and committed myself to. That distance has allowed me a perspective that I may never had known otherwise.

The phrase “absence makes the heart grow fonder” can be traced all the way back to authors in the 1600s. At this point I believe it’s true. I am currently 7,906 miles away from the church that showed me what Christianity really was and gave me a group of friends that were closer to me than I honestly would have thought possible and I am probably more thankful to the church than ever.

I can also say that this distance has revealed how easily I took the church I loved that totally changed my life for granted. And if you are taking the time to read this blog you probably do to. What once was a cause for great excitement, joy, devotion, and love can all to easily become a source of apathy and inspire only half-hearted commitment. Eternal gratitude fades to a complacent attitude of taking it all for granted.

When you take something for granted you don’t strive for it anymore. If I take my marriage for granted, I assume it will remain healthy no matter what I might do. If you take your job for granted you don’t put forth your best effort as an employee, because you believe your job is secure either way. When we start to take the church for granted, we will expect it to continue to function as God has instructed with no effort put in on our part. We assume the Church will evangelize the lost, but we don’t tell anyone about Jesus. We assume that lunch will be served after church, but we aren’t bothered to step up in our commitment to service. We assume that preaching will be Biblically accurate and move the hearer to obedience, but we can’t be bothered to obey ourselves.

What Believers church strives to be as a church is rare. In the last year I have visited my fair share of churches and I wouldn’t want to join any of them. Be thankful for the work that God is doing, the people He is doing it through, and the community He has called you into. Don’t allow familiarity to breed complacency, because from what I see, Believers church is something special. And if you assume that it will remain the “Biblical, Missional, Radical” community that God desires with no effort on your part, you just might be taking it for granted. Be thankful for what it is, and let that gratitude motivate you to fight for it.

June 8, 2024 Benjamin Morrison

(*The following is an excerpt from Kevin DeYoung’s book “The Hole in Your Holiness.”)

Some Christians make the mistake of pitting love against law, as if the two were mutually exclusive. You either have a religion of love or a religion of law. But such an equation is profoundly unbiblical. For starters, “love” is a command of the law (Deut. 6:5; Lev. 19:18; Matt. 22:36–40). If you enjoin people to love, you are giving them law. Conversely, if you tell them law doesn’t matter, then neither does love, which is the summary of the law.

Furthermore, consider the close connection Jesus makes between love and law. We’ve already seen that for Jesus there is no love for him apart from keeping the law (John 14:15). But he says even more than this. Jesus connects communion with God with keeping commandments. When we keep Christ’s commandments, we love him. And when we love Christ, the Father loves us. And whomever the Father loves, Christ loves and reveals himself to them (John 14:21). So, there is no abiding in Christ’s love apart from keeping Christ’s commandments (John 15:10). Which means there is no fullness of joy apart from the pursuit of holiness (v. 11).

God’s law is an expression of his grace because it is also an expression of his character. Commands show us what God is like, what he prizes, what he detests, what it means to be holy as God is holy. To hate all rules is to hate God himself who ordained his rules to reflect his nature. The law is God’s plan for his sanctified people to enjoy communion with him. That’s why the Psalms are full of declarations of delight regarding God’s commands. Even with the passing of the Mosaic covenant, surely the psalms set an example for us. The happy man delights in the law of the Lord and meditates on it day and night (Ps. 1:2). The precepts and rules of the Lord are sweeter than honey and more to be desired than gold (Ps. 19:10). Yes, the law can incite the natural man to sin (Rom. 7:7–11). But God’s people rejoice in his statutes and behold wondrous things out of his law (Ps. 119:18). They long to be steadfast in keeping his statutes (v. 5). In the eyes of the believer, the law is still true and good; it is our hope, our comfort, and our song.

Let’s not be afraid to land on law—never as the means of meriting justification, but as the proper expression of having received it. It’s not wrong for a sermon to conclude with something we have to do. It’s not inappropriate that our counseling exhort one another to obedience. Legalism is a problem in the church, but so is antinomianism. Granted, I don’t hear anyone saying, “let’s continue in sin that grace may abound” (see Rom. 6:1). That’s the worst form of antinomianism. But strictly speaking, antinomianism simply means no-law, and some Christians have very little place for the law in their pursuit of holiness. One scholar says, about an antinomian pastor from seventeenth-century England, “He believed that the law served a useful purpose in convincing men of their need of a Saviour; nevertheless, he gave it little or no place in the life of a Christian since he held that ‘free grace is the teacher of good works.’”8 Emphasizing free grace is not the problem. The problem is in assuming that good works will invariably flow from nothing but a diligent emphasis on the gospel. Many Christians, including preachers, don’t know what to do with commands and are afraid to talk directly about obedience. The world may think we’re homophobic, but nomophobia (fear of law) may be our bigger problem.

The irony is that if we make every imperative into a command to believe the gospel more fully, we turn the gospel into one more thing we have to get right, and faith becomes the one thing we need to be better at. If only we really believed, obedience would take care of itself. No need for commands or effort. But the Bible does not reason this way. It has no problem with the word “therefore.” Grace, grace, grace, therefore, stop doing this, start doing that, and obey the commands of God. Good works should always be rooted in the good news of Christ’s death and resurrection, but I believe we are expecting too much from the “flow” and not doing enough to teach that obedience to the law—from a willing spirit, as made possible by the Holy Spirit—is the proper response to free grace.

For as much as Luther derided the misuse of the law, he did not reject the positive role of the law in the believer’s life. The Lutheran Formula of Concord is absolutely right when it says, “We believe, teach, and confess that the preaching of the Law is to be urged with diligence, not only upon the unbelieving and impenitent, but also upon true believers, who are truly converted, regenerate, and justified by faith” (Epitome 6.2). Preachers must preach the law without embarrassment. Parents must insist on obedience without shame. The law can, and should, be urged upon true believers—not to condemn, but to correct and to promote Christlikeness. Both the indicatives of Scripture and the imperatives are from God, for our good, and given in grace.

May 10, 2024 Pastor Jason Gilbert | Menomonie

Enduring…

Recently some discussions around the church have been about continuing on, not giving up, not throwing in the towel, but enduring to the end. Some of the verses in discussion have been:

“Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.” – 1 Timothy 4:16

“But the one who endures to the end shall be saved.” – Matthew 24:13

But how do we continue? How do we know we will endure to the end?

The Word…

What does God say will endure to the end? Both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, God declares,

“All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, but the word of the Lord endures forever.” – Peter 1:24 (see also Isaiah 40:6-8)

We see an example of the word of God relating to our endurance in the parable of the sower. In it, Jesus defines the seed as the word of God. In some cases, the word was carelessly lost because of a hard heart (i.e., hard soil). In other cases, the word was deemed insufficient to handle the trials and difficulties of this life. And in other cases, the word, was choked out by the cares and desires of this world. It was only the heart that nurtured for, provided for, and prioritized the word of God that endured.

King David…

In the Old Testament, King David had a lot of ups and downs. From being a young shepherd, to triumphing over Goliath. From being an outlaw, to king over Israel. From conquering enemy nations, to committing adultery with another man’s wife. From being a murderer, to repenting, and being declared a man after God’s own heart. Very few have had as many highs… and lows… as King David. Yet what kept David through it all? How did he continue on, and endure to the end?

In Psalm 1, we read of David,

“But His delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night.  He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither.” – Psalm 1:2-3

David’s “leaf” did not “wither”, because his delight was in the “law of the LORD”, and he meditated on it day and night.

In Psalm 119, David uses 8 Hebrew words for the “word of God”. They translate into our English as laws, words, testimonies, ordinances, commands, promises, statutes, and precepts. To see just how vital the word of God was for David, see Psalm 119:15-16, 27, 31-33, 40-41, 54, 93, 105, 118, 133, 141, 147-148, 155, 159-160, 162, 170.

Us…

What about us? We too have our ups and downs. From victories over sin and mountain-top experiences, to shameful thoughts and wicked deeds. How might we continue on, and endure to the end?

Certainly, church participation, discipleship classes, fellowship with Christians, serving others, giving charitably, reaching out to those around us, and overseas missions endeavors are all good. But none of those things promise to keep us to the end. In reality, they are just the externals of our faith.

What is inside is the seed, the word of God, implanted in our hearts. That is what matters. Without it, there is no lasting spiritual life. Without it, nothing we do will survive the tests of time. The only thing that will endure forever is the word of God.

Is the word of God in us? Are we nurturing it? Are we providing for it? Are we prioritizing it? Are we delighting in it? Do we meditate on His word? How often? With what focus? For how long? To what extent? Are we getting our sustenance from His testimonies? Are we receiving our directions from His precepts? If not, perhaps it is time to repent, and to renew our delight in God’s word. Perhaps it is time to turn again to God’s word, and to meditate on it, that we might be “like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither.”

March 1, 2024 Pastor Tim Dodson | Menomonie

“For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.” …2 Chronicles 16:9

Way back deep in the Old Testament was a king that perhaps may have passed through time with very little notice except for how he ended his reign…in fact, how he ended his life.  Asa was king of Judah during a time when the whole of Israel was split in half. What made him stand out was that he began quite well, and in fact at one time found himself in the place of great blessing because he did what was “right in the eyes of the Lord” …in a time when few found the ‘mo’ to do so. (2 Chr 14:2) But Asa did not finish well! Many biblical characters as well as many modern folks have followed that same road…starting off with the best of intentions, but finishing with a crash.

Early in his rule, Asa experienced some awesome victories because He sought God and God alone to intervene on his behalf. In chapter 14, verse 11…he prayed “Lord…it is nothing for you to help…whether with many or those who have no power! We rest on you, and on you we go to battle…” He was a man committed! He was a winner because God made him one, and furthermore, he knew it. He subsequently watched God give him victory after victory.

But then something inexplicably happened. It happened just as strangely as it happens to so many of us today. After all the victories at the hand of God…after all Asa saw and experienced allowing God to control the field of play, he decided one day to take matters into his own hands. Was it fear? Or was in overconfidence? Did he somewhere along the way decide he actually had something to do with what was happening around him other than obedience and reverence? We may never know on this side of heaven. But something happened! For suddenly Asa decides that even though God had handled every enemy and provided for every need up until then, he (Asa) needed to now ‘step up’ and ‘grab the bull by the horns.’ So Asa at this juncture takes what belonged to God and His church, and moved to give it instead to a neighboring king…king Ben-Hadad of Syria, in attempt to build an alliance with him so that Asa could feel safe and could prosper even with greater conquests.

But there was one guy…a prophet by the name of Hanani, who came to Asa and gave it to him straight. There is always that ‘one guy’ who loves enough to ‘step into the breech.’ Nanani reminded Asa of all that God had done and how God had blessed him and had had his back every step of the way. But in typical style, Asa did not receive such council well at all, and in fact, he moved to shut this prophet down by throwing him ‘under the bus’ . Asa began…in his anger…a season of “venting” and persecuted all the people around him. Not because they had done anything, but because they were simply ‘there’ and therefore in the way of his spewing anger. He was mad and he didn’t care who he hurt. Someone was to blame for his unhappiness and failure and it sure wasn’t him, so everyone around him was a receiver of his frustrated emotions. Mad only because someone dared not support his actions…dared to go against his decisions!

Sadly, we are so very adept at repeating history. So many of us will begin well…experiencing the awe of God as He manifests His presence and power in our very own personal realm. We were amazed! We worshipped and gave Him glory! But eventually that day came where God asked that we go out in faith based on what He had already done for us. He, in essence, asks us to trust Him. And it is at that junction that we so often will fail him and turn instead to our own power, our own comforts, and our own abilities..to those things that we can see with our own two eyes. We frankly just tell God “no.”

The bottom line is that we in fact can grow to trust ourselves more than we trust God, and certainly more than we trust those advisors around us that we always used to lovingly look to for council and comfort. We, after all, “have a plan” of our own! And we don’t need anyone else getting up in our face! So we bite and devour those around us, and deal with those we once loved as if they are not only our enemy, but worse, like they are actually the cause of the fallout of our rebellion against God!

Asa now had ‘blazed a new trail’ for himself. One that he ultimately never returned from. Pride has that kind of power over us! It is the monster that will consume us when we grow afraid…or grow impatient…or grow jealous…or grow arrogant. God “will show Himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are loyal to Him.” But when our hearts become loyal only to ourselves, we consume those around us that we once professed love for, and close our ears to God’s guidance that He desires to give. After which, we end like Asa ended. Asa found it much easier after this ‘fork in the road’  to reject God first in his life and turned to his own strength and the worlds ways to answer the needs of his life. Some ‘crossings’ can be the path of no return when repentance and humility is rejected.

Asa wouldn’t hear it. And if you have ‘crossed over’ in that aspect before God, neither will you. But if you stand at the crossroads today, and you have yet to make that plunge, it is perhaps not too late for you. Remember what God has done in your life! Remember the “red sea partings” and the “miraculous rebirth” of a life that was dead. Remember those around you that are today telling you what you don’t want to hear, and how they have loved you and rained grace down on you as you grew up in Christ. Because God is looking around the world for those who are loyal to Him…around the world for those for whom He can “show Himself strong.”

Whose strength are you looking to?

January 23, 2024 Believers Church

Has a culture of convenience and consumerism changed the way we preach the Gospel?

(Tyler Edwards, Relevant Magazine, November 24, 2017)

What if I told you that Jesus didn’t want us to win converts? What if I said that in all of Scripture we are never told to convert anyone? What if I proposed that people accepting Jesus into their life does not fulfill our mission?

We may share the Gospel, but it’s not always the same Gospel Jesus shared. Our version can be a little softer. It can be easier. The message, too often, has been watered down. Many of us don’t want to be called radicals. Many of us take the message of Jesus, and we omit some of the more intense parts because they might scare people away.

An Inconvenient Truth

Out of our desire to win converts we’ve often tried to make Jesus more convenient. That’s what our culture is all about. So watering down the Gospel to reflect the culture can be an easy trap to fall into.

We often make following Jesus comfortable and easy, reducing the expectations: You don’t have to do anything different. Just believe.

Carrying our cross has been reduced from a radical relationship of self-sacrificing love and humility to cheap advertisements with bracelets, jewelry and bumper stickers. We turned following Jesus into little more than eternal “fire” insurance. In so doing we made Him something He is not: safe.

What happened to Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s idea of, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die”?

The Consumerism Gospel

When we sell people on a Jesus who is easy to follow, can we really blame them for bailing out or drifting off when things don’t go smoothly?

It shouldn’t be surprising living in a consumer-based culture, that many times people bring the same attitudes into church: It’s my way, my preferences, my desires that are important. If I don’t get my way, I’ll take my business elsewhere.

In watering down the Gospel we have taken what is all about Jesus and made it all about us.

Jesus is a part of our lives when He should be our life. He is life. Following Him requires all our life. The disciples ate, drank, sweat and slept ministry from when Jesus called them to the day they died. Jesus wasn’t a part of their lives. He was their life.

We all are guilty of putting things above Jesus. Whether it’s health, wealth, comfort, causes, dreams, hobbies or interests, we all come to Jesus with expectations of what He will do for us. We all have our passions and causes.

But Jesus didn’t come to take sides. Jesus came to take over.

Disciples vs. Converts

Many people come to Jesus thinking it is enough to believe, to stand on the sidelines and root for Him. Jesus isn’t looking for cheerleaders. He is seeking men and women who will follow Him whatever the cost. He is looking for radical devotion, unreasonable commitment and undivided dedication.

Jesus isn’t looking for converts. He’s looking for disciples.

Converts are new believers. We all start as converts. Too often we stop there. We make Christianity all about what we believe. Converts aren’t bad or wrong. They are like babies. There’s nothing wrong with being a baby. The problem comes when that doesn’t change. When a baby acts like a baby, it’s cute. When a 35-year-old does, it’s sad. As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13:11, “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.”

For years churches have worked to get people to make a decision to accept Christ, which is a great thing. It’s important. But what happens next? Where’s the follow up? How do we train up new Christians?

Our mission isn’t to win converts; it’s to make disciples. So what is the difference?

1. Converts are believers who live like the world. Disciples are believers who live like Jesus.
2. Converts are focused on their values, interests, worries, fears, priorities, and lifestyles. Disciples are focused on Jesus.
3. Converts go to church. Disciples are the church.
4. Converts are involved in the mission of Jesus. Disciples are committed to it.
5. Converts cheer from the sidelines. Disciples are in the game.
6. Converts hear the word of God. Disciples live it.
7. Converts follow the rules. Disciples follow Jesus.
8. Converts are all about believing. Disciples are all about being.
9. Converts are comfortable. Disciples make sacrifices.
10. Converts talk. Disciples make more disciples.

A disciple is someone who whole-heartedly follows the life and example of Jesus, who makes His mission their mission, His values their values, and His heart their heart.

A disciple is someone who desperately seeks to be like Jesus. A disciple is someone so committed to the cause of Christ that they would follow Him through the gates of hell and back.

A disciple is someone who finds their entire identity, purpose and meaning in Jesus. Jesus is the center of their lives. They are all in, fully committed.

Not only is a disciple willing to die for Jesus, but they are dedicated to living every day of their life for Him.

A Change of Heart

Jesus doesn’t call us to be converts or to win converts. Jesus calls us to make disciples.

Jesus offers us grace and love without condition, but not without expectation. When we try to water down the message by saying things like, You don’t have to give up sin. You don’t have to change. You don’t have to be transformed. You don’t have to die to yourself. You just need to believe. In doing this, not only are we depriving people of the truth. We are denying them access to a real, transforming relationship with the almighty God.

Christianity isn’t just a system of belief. It isn’t a lifestyle. It’s a life transformed by Jesus.

Jesus doesn’t call everyone to leave everything every day. He calls us to be willing to give up everything at any point.

His call for each of us is different. He has uniquely gifted every person to carry out a unique and valuable function in His kingdom. While what we are called to may be unique, the call is an extreme standard: Jesus must be greater than everything else.

By Tyler Edwards

Tyler Edwards is a pastor, author, and husband. He currently works as the Discipleship Pastor of Carolina Forest Community Church in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. He is passionate about introducing people to and helping them grow in the Gospel. He is the author of Zombie Church: breathing life back into the body of Christ. You can find more of his work on Facebook or you can follow him on Twitter @tedwardsccc.