If you're looking for the perfect church, you're in the wrong place!

 

“You don't manage the truth. You tell the truth.” John M. Barry

 

One of the most amazing facets of the Bible is the lack of spin. Scripture is truly a “no spin zone.” Name nearly any hero or heroine in God’s Word and as you check the biblical records, you’re shocked that their history is never sanitized. The good, the bad, and the ugly are recorded. 

  The Bible is much like a true story from the life of Oliver Cromwell. When the Lord Protector was presented with his official portrait in 1656, he angrily rejected it. Thinking it would please him, the court painter had omitted Cromwell’s unsightly facial warts. “Take it away,” Cromwell demanded, “and paint me as I am, warts and all.” 

  Today we’re celebrating our 3^rd anniversary in this building. It’s an event that we believe is important to celebrate each year. God has been so good to us! It’s important that we remember and review God’s hand on our church and His blessings! What has happened here is truly of God and He deserves all of the glory. 

  Periodically, someone will say something foolish like, “I wish our church was like the early church” or “the New Testament church” (a lot of pastors say this) as if that was some perfect ideal. Read the New Testament and you will find back then, what we find today in the local church – failures, fights, disagreements, division, etc. Take for example the church at Corinth. There was division, problems with immorality, abuse of the Lord’s Table, misunderstanding the spiritual gifts, distorted view of marriage, squabbles over minute issues, etc. 

  Every church, even the best ones, has “history.” Ours does. We serve a perfect Savior yet our church is composed of redeemed sinners. With the power of God and transformation of the gospel, the “redeemed” side needs to shine, but sometimes it’s the “sinner” side that’s more predominant. 

  Sometimes it’s a sin problem. Sometimes it’s a matter of perspective or personal tastes. Every church though has some “warts.” Every church if they want to grow spiritually must work through biblical problem-solving. This is so vital to us that you can’t be a member of Grace unless you take the New Member’s class and there is an entire lesson on working through biblical problem-solving. Biblical problem-solving is part of our DNA. 

  Satan is the great divider. He first divided Adam and Eve from God, then from each other and the creation. His strategy has not changed. He loves to divide Christians and churches. 

  Shortly after I became the pastor of our church, I began looking back over the church’s history. Our church was started in 1955. I had the privilege of meeting the founding pastor, Dr. Reuben Kile and his wife, Sandy, and had him preach at my installation service in 1988. He was a godly man who loved the Lord. There was great commitment and excitement during those early days. Yet, no doubt there were issues when Dr. Kile was the pastor because people are people and sinners are sinners. 

  Dr. Kile moved on to pastor another church. But during the time with the pastor who followed him, a division flared up and people left the church. Who was at fault? I don’t know. If we could talk to those who were in the church, there, there would be various perspectives. When it comes to division, there are no innocent parties. That pastor was also a friend of mine and I greatly respected him (he’s now Home with the Lord). No doubt, he looked back with regret at decisions that he’d made. Probably, some of those involved who were so angry with him that they left the church also looked back later with regret at decisions that they made. Time has a way of healing wounds and giving us greater perspective. 

  Why am I sharing this? We all need to understand that while we’re so blessed and it’s exciting to see what God is doing in our church, we have problems and will have more in the future. When God works, Satan attacks. Our Enemy doesn’t put dead churches in his crosshairs but he loves churchianity. He loves it when a church is more interested in being a religious social club than a beachhead for the Kingdom. He hates churches who love Jesus and are serious about the gospel. 

  While I believe that we have great days ahead, we would be naïve if we were not on the alert for Satan’s attacks. In 2 Corinthians 2:11 we’re admonished to “not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.” Like a married couple who finds that they can squabble about the silliest things, that’s often Satan’s strategy and attack of the church. How can we have victory and protect ourselves and our church? 

  We must first be humbly dependent. The Bible is clear that anything good in us is of God and the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives. If we begin to think that we have spiritually arrived or get comfortable with a spiritual status quo, we’re foolish and setting ourselves up for failure. 

  When there’s a disagreement, suspect first the sinner that you know best. In 1 Timothy 1:15 the Apostle Paul wrote, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.” So am I…so are you. I’m continually shocked by the wickedness of my own heart, yet we shouldn’t be surprised at sin in our hearts or in our brothers and sisters. We must commit to showing grace to other sinners as our Savior has shown to us. 

  We must commit to biblical problem-solving. Two processes should never be started prematurely, embalming and church division. Most are committed to fighting for our families. We must be committed to fighting for our spiritual family, and its unity and health. The Bible compares a local church to a body. You don’t start amputating parts haphazardly. 
  We must thank God for church problems. Problems, confronting sin in our lives and in our church are opportunities for spiritual growth. God uses the fire to melt away the dross. It’s in the trials, that as we submit to Him and His Word, we become more like Jesus. 

  God has great things ahead for Grace Church! Know this though that where there are mountains, there will be valleys. It’s why we must be committed to Him and to each other! 

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

Great is Thy Faithfulness

“Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.”  Thomas Chisolm

  If you study Church History, you’ll find that many well-known Christians that we so admire today had very difficult lives. Many of our favorite songs we love to sing were written by those who knew very well difficult times and even the “valley of the shadow of death.” In fact, many of the believers that you and I admire, even in this church, have gone through deep waters. If we knew their story and the pain that they’ve endured, it would stagger us. That’s not a testimony of their strength or abilities, it’s a testimony of something so much greater – the faithfulness of God.

  One of my favorite hymns is Great is Thy Faithfulness by Thomas Chisolm. I love it because the words come straight out of God’s Word, Lamentations 3:22-23. That passage was a great blessing and source of continued encouragement for Thomas Chisholm (1866-1960). He had a very difficult life, particularly his adulthood. His health was so fragile that there were great periods of time when he was confined to bed, unable to work. Between bouts of illness he’d have to push himself to put in extra hours at various jobs in order to survive financially.

  He was born in a log cabin in Franklin, Kentucky and trusted Christ when he was twenty-seven. eHe studied and later entered the ministry when he was thirty-six. His ongoing poor health forced him to leave the ministry after only one year. During the rest of his life, Chisholm spent many years living in New Jersey and worked as a life insurance agent. 

  Yet, because of the many difficulties that he dealt with, Chisholm found tremendous comfort in God’s Word. I wonder today if many of our emotional and mental health issues in the Church would be alleviated, if not potentially resolved, if we were people who were consistently immersed in the study and meditation on the Scriptures. Yet, God’s faithfulness and that God was his constant source of strength in his times of illness and provided his needs, was particularly encouraging for him. Lamentations 3:22-23 was medicine for his soul: “It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness.”

  On one occasion, while away from home on a mission’s trip, Thomas Chisolm often wrote to one of his good friends, William Runyan, a relatively unknown musician. Several poems were exchanged in these letters. William Runyan found one of Chisholm’s poems so moving that he decided to compose a musical score to accompany the lyrics…and Great is Thy Faithfulness was born. It was published in 1923. For many years, the hymn received very little recognition, until it was discovered by a Moody Bible Institute professor. He loved it so much and requested it be sung so often at chapel services, that it became the unofficial theme song of Moody Bible Institute. Yet, it wasn’t until 1945 when George Beverly Shea, the famed soloist in Billy Graham Crusades began to sing it during the crusades that the hymn was finally heard around the world. 

  Toward the end of his life, Chisholm explained, “My income has not been large at any time due to impaired health in the earlier years which has followed me on until now. Although I must not fail to record here the unfailing faithfulness of a covenant-keeping God and that He has given me many wonderful displays of His providing care, for which I am filled with astonishing gratefulness.” Thomas Chisolm died in 1960 at the age of 94. During his lifetime, he’d written more than 1,200 poems and hymns including O To Be Like Thee and Living for Jesus.

  Just think, with each new day, God gives you and I the opportunity to prove His faithfulness. Throughout history, He’s never once been proven wrong, for His mercies are new every morning, no matter what.

  That’s what we are celebrating today – God’s wonderful faithfulness. Sixty years ago a handful of believers had a dream of a Bible believing Baptist Church in Burlington. We are their legacy. In following their footsteps, we truly walk on hallowed ground.

  I feel very blessed that I had the privilege of personally meeting all four of the previous pastors at Grace. Dr. Reuben Kile was one of the godliest, most passionate men that I’ve ever met. Even though I first met him in his later years, I was moved by his love for the Lord and love for people. He came to Burlington as a church planter. He and his wife Sandy, lived on a very limited budget yet left us this great treasure. They were followed by Pastor John Loggans and his wife, Marion. I knew Pastor Loggans when he served in Imlay City, Michigan. I preached for him one time many years ago at a youth conference, never dreaming that I’d one day follow his steps to our church in Burlington. His son, Bob, is one of my closest friends and a continual source of blessing and encouragement to me. Pastor Dewey Godwin was known for great passion for the lost, love for the Lord and a vision for the future that left its mark on our church. Pastor Ron Bergquist and his wife, Mona, were used by God to touch many of the lives of folk who are still at Grace.

  Our Heavenly Father is faithful. If you’re a believer, you’ve been adopted by a Father who will never ever change His mind in regard to you, never write you off, never leave you or forsake you. If you’re a part of God's family by faith alone in Christ alone, you have a Friend who sticks closer than a brother. You can’t talk about the one true God without coming to this truth: How great is the faithfulness of our God!

  When an intimidated Moses needed assurance about the massive assignment that he had been given, He asked for God's credentials. He wanted to know God's name. So God answered with His covenant name, "Yahweh: I AM WHO I AM" (Exodus 3:14). What’s the meaning of that name? God took the present tense verb form of "to be" and used it for His name. It’s a name that expresses God's eternality. It also announces that in His nature and perfections, in His knowledge, will, purpose and happiness, God always remains the same. God never changes.

  In another sixty or six hundred years, God will still be faithful. May that be said of us! If Jesus tarries His return for sixty or six hundred years may Grace Church still be faithfully serving the One who is consistently faithful!

Looking for quality used Christian books and other types of books at prices lower than even Amazon. Check out our family's online used bookstore at resurrectedreads.com or visit our store at the Waterford Unique Antique Market at 209 North Milwaukee Street in Waterford, WI -- 262.534.3500.