firstIMPRESSIONS
from Senior Pastor Timothy Satryan

In the book “Prozac Nation,” Elizabeth Wurtzel describes her experiences with chronic depression. Unfortunately, depression is an experience common to many people. Life can be terribly unfair, terribly tragic! That’s why many people like Elizabeth have sought relief from antidepressants like Prozac.

There are those who feel that being a Christian makes you somehow immune to depression. They would try to convince you that if you happen to fall into the pit of despair, you’re not very ’spiritual’ are you? Such judgments add a load of guilt to a person who is already miserable.

For those who struggle with feelings of depression – there’s bad news and good news.

The bad news is that such feelings are a fact of life in this broken world. Some disappointments or tragedies can leave a person depressed.

The good news? You are not alone. As Psalm 73 (and many other passages) clearly shows, even God’s chosen people experience anxiety, despair, and darkness in their soul.

If Psalm 73 doesn’t convince you, check out Elijah’s story (1 Kings 19) and Jesus’ experience in Gethsemane. Matthew 26:38 speaks of Jesus’ soul being “crushed with grief to the point of death.”

Depression that lasts for a long time indicates a need for counseling. But, there is nothing unusual or unspiritual about “walking through the dark valley” from time to time.

When you are caught in one of those unpleasant times, don’t add guilt to your load! Just trust that God knows what’s up and will help you through this situation!

Here is your copy of firstIMPRESSIONS, Volume 7.34. Live for God, on purpose, knowing that He will never leave you nor forsake you, and that Jesus is a friend that sticks closer than a brother!

In the secular world, there is a saying that goes something like “What have you done for me... lately!” As I understand it, the intent of this statement is to show how quickly we lose perspective about what others have done for us, and that the longer the time has been since someone has helped us, the less significant it becomes to us.

Unfortunately, many Christians have developed a similar attitude about God. Remember when you were first saved – when you had just recently accepted Christ as your Savior. Everything seemed so wonderful. God’s power and majesty seemed so awesome to you. But, as the years have come and gone, there is a tendency to take for granted the very salvation that He has so freely given us.

As believers in Christ, we need to regularly take time to take inventory of just what the Lord has done for us. In the 40th Psalm, David does this very thing. He says “He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.”

As the summer draws to a close, this Sunday here at WFA, we want to take time to do what David did. Let’s examine just what the Lord has done for us – and take time to give Him thanks and rejoice in His wonderful grace and mercy! Together, let’s proclaim just “What He’s Done For Me!”

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by David Jeremiah

All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify. – 1 Corinthians 10:23

About three-fourths of the German autobahn road system has no blanket speed limit; and in those areas, the average speed is about 93 mph. While most European car manufacturers operate under a “gentleman’s agreement” to limit the top speeds of their cars to 155 mph, autobahn speeds of up to 186 mph are not unheard of.

Even if you could legally drive that fast, would you really want to? Just because things are possible doesn’t always mean they are advisable. There are plenty of lifestyle choices we are free to make that are permissible, but not healthy or safe. The apostle Paul made that point when writing about spiritual freedom-and when it’s best to practice self-restraint for our own good and the good of others. God places strict limits on some areas of life (see the Ten Commandments) and “wisdom” limits on other areas. The mature Christian is the one who chooses those things that are permissible and wise at the same time.

The next time you have a decision to make, ask yourself who all will be impacted, and how. Let wisdom and restraint be your guides.

from Dr. David Jeremiah’s “Today’s Turning Point” daily devotional of August 18, 2007. www.TurningPointOnline.org

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by Alan Smith

A teenage boy lost a contact lens while playing basketball in his driveway. After a fruitless search, he told his mother the lens was no where to be found. Undaunted, she went outside and in a few minutes returned with the eyepiece in her hand.

“How did you manage to find it, Mom?” the teenager asked.

“We weren’t looking for the same thing,” she replied. “You were looking for a small piece of plastic. I was looking for $150.”

It is so true that our passion and persistence in doing something will be largely determined by its value in our eyes. For example, evangelism will never be a top priority as long as you see your next-door neighbor as simply a middle-aged guy with a pot belly. When you see him as an valuable soul whose eternal destiny will be determined by his relationship with God, suddenly things are different.

If you see your involvement at church as simply cleaning out a baptistry or corralling a herd of 4-year-olds for an hour, you will quickly lose heart. When you see your involvement as an essential element in the building up of the kingdom of God, you will not “grow weary while doing good” (Gal. 6:9).

“Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” (Col. 3:2)

Looking at earthly things from a heavenly perspective will change the value of things in our mind. And that, in turn, will change how diligently we seek to do the things of God.

This article by Alan Smith, Senior Pastor of the Helen Street Church of Christ in Fayetteville, North Carolina. You can visit his site at http://www.TFTD-online.com

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A highlight of the study was new research into what Rainer called the “formerly unchurched” – that is, people who had become Christians within the previous 12 months and were active in church. Tapping into their opinions of what actually got them connected to a church is even more useful than simply interviewing unchurched persons about what might get them into church. Finding out what made the “formerly unchurched” actually get involved in a church can help us be more effective with reaching the unchurched people of our community.

Rainer’s team found nine habits of effective evangelistic churches. Let’s think of how we can build these habits into our church.

The Habit of Intentionality. Simply put, for a church to be successful it intentionally must be trying to reach the unchurched. That includes an explicit plan to share the gospel with them, but it can also include seemingly-trivial matters. Rainer said his research shows that people often picked a church for such reasons as restroom and nursery cleanliness. Some people even drove away from a church because it did not have adequate signage, and they therefore could not find the building entrance. Rainer’s research also shows that friendly greeters at a church’s entrance can have an enormously positive effect.

The Habit of Cultural Awareness. “The churches that reached the unchurched were highly intentional, but they [also] understood the culture,” Rainer said. “It does not mean they compromised with culture, but they understood culture. There are some things we can do to be culturally aware.”

The Habit of High Expectations. Rainer said there is a direct correlation between how much is demanded of a new member and how long the new member stays active in the church. “Churches that expect much receive much,” he said. “Churches that expect little receive little.” For example, the average retention rate is 72 percent in churches that require a membership class before accepting someone as a member, but only 35 percent among churches that just present people who walk up the aisle during an invitation song. It’s also important to challenge new people right away to belong to a small group, find a place of service, and bring their unchurched friends.

The Habit of Clear Doctrine. Rainer said the formerly unchurched told the researchers, “We want to hear about the doctrine on the front end. We’re not going to make a commitment to a church where you will tell us about what you believe later.”

The Habit of Risk-Taking. “What we found was that churches that are reaching the unchurched do things that other churches do not,” Rainer said. “We see very few churches across America that truly act on faith — not foolishness, but faith.” Among the effective churches, 83 percent of senior pastors could tell of a major task their church had undertaken. “The risk-taking attitude of these churches is obvious by their willingness to lose members,” Rainer said. “They do not make a decision based upon who might leave as a result of this. They make decisions more on: Who will we reach?”

The Habit of Dynamic Small Groups. Among the formerly unchurched, 68 percent are involved in a small-group Bible study, not just worship attendance. New people who get involved in small groups are much more likely to stay plugged in.

The Habit of Effective Leadership. “I cannot understate the importance of leadership in these churches,” Rainer said. “Once unchurched persons visited churches, they said the pastor and the preaching were the most important factors in their returning.” Longevity contributed to effectiveness at this point, too: The senior pastors of the effective churches had an average tenure of 10.3 years.

The Habit of Effective Preaching. Among effective churches, pastors spent an average of 20 hours a week on sermons – including the task itself. Among ineffective churches, pastors spent an average of four hours. “That means that something has to give [in their schedule],” Rainer said. “What do they become? They became Acts 6 pastors. What do Acts 6 pastors do? They delegate and give away ministry [assignments].”

The Habit of Prayer. Rainer said that churches that prayed together and prayed often kept their new members.

Examine your life and our church against Rainer’s list of the “habits” of effective churches reaching and keeping the unchurched. There are some things that we have solidly in place, and a few things we can work on. Let’s make sure all 9 habits are part of our routine!

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A boy was sitting on a park bench with one hand resting on an open Bible. He was loudly exclaiming his praise to God. “Hallelujah! Hallelujah! God is great!” he yelled without worrying whether anyone heard him or not.

Shortly after, along came a man who had recently completed some studies at a local university. Feeling himself very enlightened in the ways of truth and very eager to show this enlightenment, he asked the boy about the source of his joy.

“Hey” asked the boy in return with a bright laugh, “Don’t you have any idea what God is able to do? I just read that God opened up the waves of the Red Sea and led the whole nation of Israel right through the middle.”

The enlightened man laughed lightly, sat down next to the boy and began to try to open his eyes to the “realities” of the miracles of the Bible. “That can all be very easily explained. Modern scholarship has shown that the Red Sea in that area was only 10-inches deep at that time. It was no problem for the Israelites to wade across.”

The boy was stumped. His eyes wandered from the man back to the Bible laying open in his lap. The man, content that he had enlightened a poor, naive young person to the finer points of scientific insight, turned to go.

Scarcely had he taken two steps when the boy began to rejoice and praise louder than before. The man turned to ask the reason for this resumed jubilation.

“Wow!” exclaimed the boy happily, “God is greater than I thought! Not only did He lead the whole nation of Israel through the Red Sea, He topped it off by drowning the whole Egyptian army in 10-inches of water!”

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by Dick Innes

“Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!” – Proverbs 6:6

“One morning,” writes Ron Clarke, “I wasted nearly an hour watching a tiny ant carry a huge feather across my back terrace. Several times it was confronted by obstacles in its path and after a momentary pause it would make the necessary detour.

“At one point the ant had to negotiate a crack in the concrete about 10mm wide. After brief contemplation the ant laid the feather over the crack, walked across it and picked up the feather on the other side then continued on its way.

“I was fascinated by the ingenuity of this ant-one of God’s smallest creatures. Here was a minute insect, lacking in size yet equipped with a brain to reason, explore, discover and overcome.”

Can you imagine God telling us to learn from an ant? So what can we learn? Ants are determined, they are not afraid to work to achieve their goals, they work as a team, they think through and work to overcome the challenges thrown in their pathway, and they never give up. But most of all they teach us about the marvels of God’s creation.

Thanks be to God for the miracles of His creation. May He help us to learn the lessons we need to learn from the ants!

© Copyright 2007 ACTS International. Visit them online at http://www.actsweb.org

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by Kelly McFadden

“When tempted no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire he is dragged away and enticed. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown gives birth to death.” – James 1:13-15

My computer died. One moment it was on and working fine, and the next moment nothing. A blank screen sat before me as I tried pushing every button and unplugged and re-plugged cords and cables. In the end, it seems that viruses and worms had taken hold and woven their way through the walls and chips of my computer, leaving it utterly useless.

After spending hours and months making phone calls to the manufacturer, my computer was finally fixed. The Bible says sin is crouching at the door. Throughout the Bible sin is not an inanimate object. It is personified and active. Sin seeks us out and waits for us to make a wrong move or decision. It is not God who sends temptation, it is the evil in this world that waits and pounces when given the chance.

Once sin gets in, it is hard to control. It moves and weaves its way through your life until it feels unstoppable and out of control. Ultimately it is your choice to let sin into your life. It will lurk in the dark corners until the opportunity is given for it to take hold. It is sin that leads to death. As Christians we need to accept responsibility for the sin in our lives and ask God for forgiveness. As it says in Hebrews 12:1, sin can easily entangle us. Don’t become ensnared and stopped by sin.

as seen in “Today’s HomeWord,” a daily devotional with Jim Burns. Visit them online at www.homeword.com

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After buying her kids a pet hamster, after they PROMISED they would take care of it, Mom, as usual, ended up with the responsibility.

One evening, exasperated, she asked them, “How many times do you think that hamster would have died if I hadn’t looked after it?”

After a moment, her youngest son replied quizzically, “Once?”

Looking forward to gathering together and worshiping our Lord this Sunday here at WFA!