Chuck Bridges Blog

Hey everyone, I just wanted to let you know of some great things that are happening so you can help us send God the PRAISE He deserves. We had 21 students and 6 adults who left yesterday to go to SeaSalt summer camp at Coastal Carolina University. In the first service we had one student who surrendered to Christ as Savior and 3 who decided to renew their commitment to Christ!!

I hope you will rejoice with us over God’s WORK in our midst even when our trials are heavy! He is still on His Throne and we are determined to “stay the course” and expect Him to send a Mighty Awakening on His People. We have called the church to a Season of Prayer and Fasting. I hope our people will take this very seriously. Maybe you can FAST for one meal, one day or one week and spend the time when you would normally eat to PRAY for God’s POWER to be Manifested on everything we do.

Keep praying for our Students and adults. I can’t wait until they get back this weekend to hear about all that God does in their lives this week. As God leads, we may be heading for a Worship Service at the 11:00 hour that is going to be incredible this week!

We leave for Romania in exactly one week. People have really stepped up to give sacrificially for this trip. Everyone on our team has their personal money raised and a little extra to help with construction supplies. Through fund raisers and sacrificial giving we now have about $5,500 to go towards the new building. Then it will only take $8,500 more to complete the building for the church to use. Keep praying!!

I will be posting regular updates on our trip while I am in Romania so be sure to check often. Thanks for reading my thoughts, insights, encouragements, etc. It means a lot to me knowing that others are interested in anything I have to say. I am honored and humbled that you check out this blog. I hope in some small way it helps you in your journey with the Lord. May God bless you!

A while back I talked about the Bible’s instructions for us to “test the spirits” (1 John 4:1ff) because there are many deceiving spirits gone out into the world. The only way I know of to “test the spirits” is by the result their influence brings. One of the most obvious ways to distinguish which Spirit (or spirits) may be leading in our churches is by the constant results we achieve.

Jesus died for us so that we might become ONE– TOGETHER IN HIM! (cf. John 17:11) He stated in this “Intercessory Prayer” that we (i.e. Believers) would be ONE as Jesus and His Father are ONE. That’s pretty incredible! There is no way to over emphasize the UNITY of Jesus with His Heavenly Father. Jesus never did anything without gaining the approval of His Father. He never moved in any direction or spoke any Words without complete Unity between He and His Father.

This is the kind of “TOGETHERNESS” that God requires of His Chosen People — i.e. The Church of Jesus Christ! The fact that we are not operating in this realm of UNITY casts serious doubt over any position that claims we are being LED by the Spirit of Christ! Our disunity and discord — NO MATTER WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES STIMULATE THESE BEHAVIORS — are not the work of God, the HOLY SPIIRT!!!!

One of the clearest “TESTS” to help us evaluate who is leading our churches is in the area of “Growth” verses “Decline.” Every MainLine Denomination is experiencing major decline. It is hard to focus on reaching the unreached for Jesus Christ when we can’t even retain those who have by testimony stated their desire to Follow Christ and Partner with a local church. Our inability to resolve many of our differences is clear proof that Christ’s Spirit is not LEADING in most New Testament Churches. So, the only conclusion we can reach is that the “spirit of Anti-Christ” as defined in 1 John 4 is having a great time disrupting the life of many good churches.

Our answer for this dilemma is found in God’s Word. This same 4th chapter of 1st John has one of the most encouraging messages for those who truly want God to gain control of His church once again: “Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world!” (1 John 4:4) It is a day for God’s People to FAST and PRAY so that the deep seated control of our enemy on established churches can be broken. Our weapons for this “Spiritual Warfare” are mighty: Prayer, Praise, and Proclamation of the Word of God! We STAND committed to the Ministry of these WEAPONS whereby we can experience the VICTORY that is already ours IN JESUS CHRIST!

In the words of a great old Hymn: “Stand up, stand up for Jesus, ye soldiers of the Cross!” I don’t have many clear answers to our present dilemmas but I can say one thing without apology and with conviction: ‘On Christ the solid Rock I stand!!’ Because He stood up for me at Calvary, I can do NO LESS FOR HIM in these “LAST DAYS.”

I intended to send out a quick note to say we would be out of town for a week. Since I finally made it to a Starbucks to use the internet I thought it would be a good time to say hello and goodbye for a few more days. Enjoying some relaxing days in the sun with my family. Hope you are doing well. I intend to get back to my current theme of “Testing the Spirits” as soon as I get back in the swing of the routine thing. Right now, just chillin!

The word sounds simple but it actually has significant influence over our lives. The word I am speaking about is “TOGETHER.” Together suggests commonality, order, efficiency, and a host of other criteria for a life that is blessed and fulfilling. In our efforts to “Test the spirits” (see last two posts) one of the most basic and obvious indications that our lives are being controlled by the “spirit of falsehood” is a lack of “UNITY.” When the influence of the “Anti-Christ” is greater than the influence of “Christ” in our lives, we will experience “division.”

This problem is especially noticeable in the life of the church. When we lack UNITY all we are really doing is “entertaining Christians.” As a matter of fact, many of our ministries are critiqued by their ability to attract people and then retain them! For years the measuring standard of the organized church has been: how many attends; how much money do we take in; and how big are our buildings. Even among the most devoted Christian, evaluating a church rests on many of these exterior realities.

The Bible is very clear about God’s expectations for UNITY in our churches (which will also result in UNITY in other areas of our lives). Psalm 133:1 says: “How good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in UNITY.” Jesus also said: “If two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” (Matthew 18:19-20) For years people in churches have said: “Where two or three come together Jesus will be there.” That is not necessarily true. Jesus says that when we come together in AGREEMENT or UNITY HE will be there and great things will happen!!!

Is there more UNITY (Togetherness) or DIVISION in your life? (Personally and relationally?) Would you be willing to take this first TEST to see which “SPIRIT” is controlling your life? or our churches? I don’t know about you but I tremble at the thought that my life is being contolled by the enemy without me even knowing it! UNITY brings peace into every area of our lives. God Created us to live in UNITY with each other. It is so easy to dwell on our differences and lose the opportunity to celebrate our commonalities. Join me in kicking the devil where it hurts! Get TOGETHER!!!

The Bible says in 1 John 4:1: “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” Have you ever meditated on the underlying “force” or “motivation” behind human behavior? While complex, it is intriguing to try and identify what causes people to act like we do. Would it surprise you to know that every action, attitude, response, etc. that we manifest stems from something outside ourselves?

Before you write me off as some kind of ranting lunatic try a little exercise. Try to get off the beltway of your daily activity for a few minutes and just observe the populace in your world. Actually this is a very popular pasttime for some people called “People watching!” (It is the only legitimate reason I can imagine for going to the Mall!) Are you not just amazed by the way people act, interact, and react? (Maybe I am a lunatic)

Actually, since my life purpose involves working with people in all different kinds of circumstances, I constantly think about what lies beneath the behaviors we see in others. Trust me, this can be a very frustrating exercise. Just when you think that there is a “measurable pattern” behind similar behavior, someone steps up and reminds me that we don’t have anything figured out. The point is, human behavior is an enigma wrapped in a mystery!! And, people are looking for answers to the mysteries that surround us.

The Bible actually gives us the greatest insight into Human Behavior. Our dilemmas find solutions when we take the time to examine the wisdom of Scripture. (we are not always happy about what we learn) In our study on Heaven I have entered a new realm of understanding ab0ut our enemy’s activity all around us. (yes I am talking about the devil and his evil presence in our world — only a fool could deny the many manifestations of evil in our world! Do you watch the news?)

There are actually ONLY TWO forces in our world dictating the vastly different behavior of the human race. One is called the “Spirit of Truth” (or The Spirit of Christ) and the other is called “The spirit of falsehood” (which is also known as THE spirit of Anti-Christ). When the Apostle John instructs us to “Test the spirits” he is admonishing us to examine measurable data through the microscope of God’s Word to determine if something is being stimulated by the Spirit of Christ or the spirit of Anti-Christ.

We are going to list a few examples of how to “TEST” these spirits in upcoming articles. For now, stop to look and listen in your daily lives. When you acknowledge the simple fact that everything manifested in “real time” is motivated by only one of two forces, it brings some light to even the most enigmatic behaviors. Why don’t you start with yourself. What motivates your actions, attitudes, reactions, etc.? Are there some things about yourself you would like to change? Good News: Change is not only possible but is very probable IF we can identify what is motivating our behavior. (This is not voodoo or spiritism, just a process of learning to “Test the spirits”) Happy Testing!

I heard a Preacher say once: “When all Heaven breaks loose, All hell will break loose right beside it!” For the past 4 weeks we have focused our attention on Heaven to encourage sincere Christ-Followers to keep “running their race;” or “fighting the good fight.” The idea is simple — if we keep our “perspectives” focused on Heaven, it should give us the energy to OVERCOME all the setbacks of this earth.

The reality aspect we have to acknowledge is that, the more we strive to think about our Heavenly home, the more intense our attacks from the devil become. As God brought this to my attention last week, I started reading and studying in 1 John 4:1-6 where we are instructed to “Test the Spirits!” The Sermon this past Sunday dealt with the things we need to examine to determine which “Spirit” is controlling our churches.

When you “Test the spirits” it becomes more apparent “who” is at the root of so many devastating situations in today’s Evangelical Church! The Church of Jesus Christ is under seige by the devil and his supporting cast (i.e. demons). Every time we surge forward in reaching people or administering the grace of God to others, we find ourselves ‘putting out fires’ or trying to clean-up yet another mess made by misdirected participants in the church.

This week I am going to highlight some of these “spirits” that need to be tested in the life of our churches to determine who is actually in control – the Lord Jesus or his arch enemy, the devil. It is frightening to see how much control Our Lord’s enemy actually has over the life of many N.T. churches. And, what is more disheartening is to consider how powerless we think we are to resisit his attacks. Many of his tactics are so well disguised that to expose them as “works of Satan” sounds like alarmist or fanatical rhetoric.

What we have forgotten is that we are in a WAR! Things are not going to get better here on this planet — not now or ever. Even good people get “sidetracked” and become more useful to the devil than we are to Christ Jesus! Even the most devout Disciple of all, the Apostle Peter, was used by Satan to try and prevent Jesus from accomplishing His mission. (cf. Matt.16:21-23) This makes me stop and think about my own life. Am I an asset or a liability to the work of God’s Kingdom? Do I manifest activity led by the “spirit of falsehood” or the “Spirit of truth?” How can I know the difference? In the next few posts I am going to highlight some of the “spirits” that we can TEST to expose the work or our Lord’s enemy and to enhance the work of our One and Only God! Stay tuned…

Have you ever felt like you were getting graded for a test you didn’t even know you were taking? If someone could just give us a “heads up” that we are taking a test we could better prepare for it. Or, at least we could accept our grade a little better because we knew there would be a day of ‘reckoning.’ I have known some very intelligent people who just simply did not “test” well. They could understand the material, talk intelligently on a particular subject, but when it came to taking the test, they would have difficulty recalling what they knew.

In a lot of ways, life on earth is nothing but a series of tests. We start taking them at a very early age and, unlike formal education, life’s tests never end. A test is designed to determine our progress in an area of emphasis. In school, tests determine if we are getting it! While good or bad scores may not be significant on every test, how would you feel if the doctor who was about to cut you open crammed for his tests on heart surgery and barely passed? Obviously, there are some tests with greater significance than others.

We have been talking about Heaven in our current series of messages at Washington Avenue Church. In my studies I have been continually reminded how we will stand before God and give an account of our lives before we get to enjoy the bountiful blessings of the Heaven that is created for us! This is the final “EXAM” to determine a great deal of what we will experience forever. I have also been reminded that God does not “Grade on a Curve!” Don’t you just hate it when everyone in the class does horrible on a test except one “bright” student? Your 50 on the test could have been raised to a “B” but because of “Smart Sally” it only makes it to a “C.”

There are many people who view God’s judgment like that. Some think that God will go easy on us once our lives on earth are over. After all, He is a loving God isn’t He? What we fail to realize is that we are all being ‘Measured’ by ONE STANDARD: The Perfect Holiness of God! This is obviously a STANDARD that NO Human Being can ‘measure up to!’ When we accept Jesus as our Savior our deficiencies are raised to God’s STANDARD by Christ’s righteousness. Then, for the rest of our lives, we face a series of “TESTS” to help us become more like the ONE who has given us the opportunity to “pass our final exam!” (for you Theology students this process is called Sanctification)

Heaven is definitely a HOPE that we can constantly look forward to, knowing that no matter how difficult our lives get on this earth, one day all of our troubles will be over — Now that will be heaven!!! But, we also need to understand that the things we experience in this life are used by God to get us ready for our “Eternal Assignments.” So, how are you doing with your tests? Are you making the grade? Trust me, as a Christ-Follower, if we fail the “TEST” God sends our way, we will have to take it again; and again; and again…(you get the point). Later we will discuss the relationship between our “earthly” assignments and their relationship to the roles we will have in Heaven forever! Stay tuned and I will try not to let so much time lapse between blog posts.

What are you looking forward to? Since this is a holiday weekend in America maybe you have been looking forward to being off work or out of school on Memorial Day Monday. Maybe you are looking forward to a special vacation coming up in the quickly approaching summer months. Maybe you are looking forward to seeing a special friend or family member whom you haven’t seen in a long time. No matter what the specifics are surrounding the things we “look forward to,” the concept is simple — When we are “Looking Forward” to something, it gives us the extra boost we need to complete our assignments.

This concept is the basis of our Sermon Series on Heaven called “The Finish Line.” As Christ-Followers, we need to have our eyes “fixed” on the “PRIZE” that we have been promised by God at the end of our ‘tour of duty’ on planet earth. We have been created for Eternity. Our Destiny is predetermined and is more amazing and wonderful than anything we can imagine.

The church has been somewhat silent on the issue of heaven through the years. We speak of it as our final destination and remind those who grieve how wonderful it is for their family member to be there. It is certainly “Great News” when the enemy of death intrudes upon our reality. We find solace in knowing that Heaven is waiting when we are forced to leave this world. The details about where Heaven is, what it is like, what we will look like and what we will be doing are seldom discussed in the teaching ministries of NT churches. Because of this, it seems that Heaven’s greatest contribution to Christianity is a “sedative” when dealing with death’s inevitable visit.

It is my conviction that the Guarantee of my heavenly home has much more benefit for me than just helping to ease any apprehension I may have about dying. Actually, the reality of our Future Home in Heaven has the “POWER” to lift my spirits when I am struggling with the issues of this life. It is like a shot of courage when my convictions run contrary to the controlling majority. It is the “fuel” I need when my spiritual tank gets low. When I am tempted to allow my Walk with Christ to suffer because of frustration or discouragement, My Ultimate Destination becomes the motivation to KEEP ON KEEPING ON!

Has your Ultimate Destiny collided with your present reality? Are you ready to learn more about this phenomenal PLACE Jesus is preparing just for you? Are you willing to open your horizons to the energizing, motivating power that Heaven’s promise can bring? Can you see yourself standing up for Jesus in our morally disentegrating society? The only way to do that is to continually remember where you are going, not where you presently are. We have a liberating HOPE in a place called Heaven. Your DESTINY is set. ADJUST YOUR REALITY!

Isn’t it amazing how many options there are for boosting our ENERGY? I have to admit that I have tried several of them. Since they are relatively expensive I don’t take the plunge too often. When the afternoon, post-lunch drowsiness sets in and I still have much to do, the little 5 hour shot does it for me! (In case you were wondering)

I mentioned in my last post that we are beginning a New Series of Messages at Washington Avenue Church in Greenville, SC this coming Sunday (9:15 and 11:00am every week). The series is called “The Finish Line.” The thesis is simple: As Followers of Jesus Christ, we will not live at FULL CAPACITY unless we have our ‘eyes’ totally fixed on the “Finish Line” (i.e. That is Heaven!). So, we are going to take 6 weeks to talk about Heaven!

I have to admit that the more I study the more ENERGIZED I get just Imagining this awesome PLACE God has prepared for those who choose to receive His salvation. I am putting the finishing comments on my Sermon Notes for this Sunday and WOW! it is going to be incredible. Right now I am trying to figure out what NOT to say because of the time limitations! I am so glad that our “Connecting Points” (i.e. Home Groups) will be continuing the focus on Heaven from Sunday morning! (By the way, there is a group for everyone who desires relational, inspiring growth!)

There is one thing I want to say about living on earth with a longing for Heaven. Most people only think about Heaven when Death intrudes on our reality or when our life gets so painful here on earth that we just want to escape. For many Heaven has become like a ’sedative’ to ease the pain of losing a loved one due to death. It just helps us cope with the pain when we can imagine that they are in this PLACE that exceeds our Imagination. While this is certainly a vital ministry of a solid conviction that Heaven is real, it is only ONE of the many benefits of living on earth with “The Finish Line” in view!

C.S. Lewis observed: “If you read history, you will ifnd that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next. The Apostles themselves, who set on foot the conversion of the Roman Empire, the great men who built up the Middle Ages, the English Evangelicals who abolished the Slave Trade, all left their mark on Earth, precisely because their minds were occupied with Heaven. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at Heaven and you will get earth ‘thrown in’: aim at earth and you will get neither.”

Some people have the idea that if we are TOO Heavenly Minded then we are of no “Earthly good!” Because I agree with the statement from C.S. Lewis, I think just the opposite is true. With Heaven on our Hearts and Minds, we are emboldened to actually DO what God put us on this earth to do, no matter HOW difficult the road may be. Persecution for our faith, unfair criticism, and a whole host of “setback” circumstances will not deter us from our Creator’s Purpose for giving us life!

Meditate on these words: “Set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” (Colossians 3:1-2) If Every Christ-Follower would DO this, this world would not know what hit it!!!

Sorry, but I have to get back to my “Energy Supplement” (I mean Sermon Notes). I can’t wait for the next thing God is going to show me about my Heavenly Home! (By the way, I hope to see you there one day! If you’re not sure you are going, let’s talk)