"Hello ma'am, my name is Lee and I am from the church that meets here in town. I'd like to ask you some questions about your Bible study habits and possibly give you some materials that will help you."

     That's the statement, or something like it, that many a door knocking campaign has been founded upon. When a member of the local congregation, or the congregation as a whole, takes it upon himself to reach out to his community to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ and teach people the one true way of salvation, there is often a "pitch", if you want to call it that, that the individual will say and by the end of the day that phrase or sentence has been ingrained into his mind to the point of him not even understanding the meaning of it, like when you look at a word for so long it doesn't look like it is spelled correctly any longer. 

     Cut to the congregation in another town. It is fall and the local church has decided to host a "Trunk or Treat" at the building in order to provide the children of the community with a safe atmosphere in which to gather their bounty for the year. The parking lot is full of cars and the tailgates are all down with piles of candy for the kids to take. At the entrance is a small table with a few brethren sitting and taking the contact information for those that attend the event, in return giving them a few tracts and some information about the congregation that meets at the building adjacent to the parking lot. Each family "hosting" the event are members of the congregation there and see many of their friends and family come through to receive their allotment of sugary goodness. 

     What is the difference in these two situations? One is a cleverly devised statement bent at making people think about the spiritual, the other a cleverly devised event bent at making the people of the community recognize members of the congregation and giving them the opportunity to learn the Word of God and think on the spiritual aspects of life. There is no difference, aside from the way in which the person is attracted. 

     Dictionary.com defines the word "gimmick" as, "an ingenious or novel device, scheme, or stratagem, especially one designed to attract attention or increase appeal." While both circumstances are clearly gimmicks, they have different purposes, all of which are advantageous to the preaching of the Gospel. While one is pointed, the other is rounded in its approach. However, both

1. Allow people to meet the brethren and get a feeling for what type of upstanding individuals are part of the local Lord's church. (Philippians 1:27)
2. Allow the people the chance to receive some Biblical teaching (Matthew 28:19-20)
3. Allow for those contacted to have an outlet for discussion and interpersonal relationships needed in anyone's life, especially that of encouragement to attend the services of the church and think on the spiritual (cf. Hebrews 10:24). 

     The fact of the matter is, we all use gimmicks. Whether that gimmick is in the form of comment or candy (or any other physical thing), they are all for one specific purpose. - To get people to realize that the Lord's church cares and wants them to know the Truth. 

     However, there are some limits to which the local congregation must not go. 

1. We cannot support sinful activities! - This is the major point that needs to be made. The Lord's people must never utilize sin in order to preach the Gospel. Whether that sin is using deceit to get people interested or it is some other sinful practice or physical thing, it is still sin. There is no room for bending the Law of Christ in order to preach the Gospel!
2. We must be good stewards of what has been given us. - There is an extreme in using things to attract attention. When a congregation spends money that they do not have or, in essence, "pays people to attend" then a line has been crossed. 
3. We must make sure that the focus of the event is the Gospel. - Too many times, Christians host such things as a "Trunk or Treat" without any thought about the spiritual. Remember, whenever someone comes in contact with the church of our Lord they need to leave knowing our focus is Christ. 

     It doesn't get more plain than that. The first three attributes which are derivatives of the Spirit and His divinely given word working in the like of the individual are stepping stones one upon another bringing us to an understanding of the spirituality of a Christian. While the second triad speaks to the reputation and the third to the religiousness of the Christian, the first brings to light the mind and inner workings, as it were, of the child of God! Love, brought about by God in His infinite attribute and given to mankind allowing him to worship his Creator, brings about a joy that can only be in the Christ (cf. Romans 8:1) which in turn conjures up "peace". 
     But what is this peace? Can it be measured or is it simply an abstract feeling inside the person that no one can really see, hidden deep within the confines of the soul? Aside from joy, what are the causes of peace? These questions, and many more which time will not permit to be discussed in this article, are the crux of this week's study on the single word, "peace." (Be warned, this one will be longer!)

assigned to the imprisonment of God's people, would later become one of the most prolific apostles (Acts 9:31). Peace is much more than quietness, prosperity, rest or the concept of one (unity), it is all these things and more!

Can Peace be Measured?
     Yes and no. It would be difficult, if not impossible for a person such as myself to speak to the observable nature of an abstract thing such as a feeling (I'll leave that to the neuroscientists or whatever they are called). However, peace can be measured simply by looking at the aforementioned verses. The result of this mental state (peace) can be seen in a group of people divided much like that of today's political realm of the United States. While thoughts and beliefs are as polarized as anything in today's politics, imagine as it everything were perfectly fine and everyone worked together for the good of the people, the state and the human race. - That would be the peace discussed (although somewhat sarcastically or out of flattery) in Acts 24:2. Imagine two brethren fighting over some meaningless issue or object and the state at which that relationship is after a mediator arrives to settle the disagreement (cf. Acts 7:26). That is a observable instance of peace. Finally, imagine you were part of an organization which was being put to death simply for existing without harming anyone other than their consciences in convicting them of wrong and, if but for a short time, that persecution subsided due to the conversion of the main perpetrator to your views (cf. Acts 9:31). If nothing else speaks to the measurement of peace, the account of Acts 8-9 does just that when considering the Christians in the area. So, yes peace can be measured but as to whether or not that measurement can come from both the effects and the biological, I can only speak to the effects. 

What Causes Peace?
     Peace is caused by three things, primarily. 

1. The Coming of Christ - The apostle Paul wrote one of the best writings concerning the church to the Ephesian brethren sometime around A.D. 62. In that inspired correspondence, Paul explained the fact that at one point there were two categories of people; Gentiles and Jews. In that separation, those who were called Gentiles were "without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world (Ephesians 2:11-12)." However, that wall of separation was not to be eternal for in the coming of Jesus Christ it was broken so that those "in Christ (Ephesians 2:13-14)" were no longer divided by enmity but part of a singular entity, the church (Ephesians 2:15-16). If one were to look back at some of the mindsets of the Jews regarding the Gentiles, he would see a tremendous amount of angst in the relationship, if it could even be called such. But in the body of Christ, the true church of Christ, there is no more division! We all work together for the good of the cause of Christ and the salvation of not only our souls but the souls of those who are in need of hearing and obeying the Gospel of Christ. 
2. The Obedience to the Gospel of Christ - That brings us to the second major cause of peace within a person today - obedience to the Gospel. If all there was in the church was peace between different types of people it would be wonderful, but there would still be something missing! The enmity placed between the eternal deity, God, and His creation through the fall of man from a righteous state in his eyes to the state of being classified as a "sinner" (c. James 5:19-20) at whatever point that individual reached the age at which he is accountable for his sins, would still need to be addressed. But how would this be possible? There is only one way, Christ. Being "justified," that is to say "rendered just/innocent" by the blood of Jesus we have been able to access that peace between us and our Father. The caveat to that is the fact that the individual seeking that peace must follow the God given process to become justified, wherein is peace. That can only happen through one's obedience to the Gospel (cf. 1 Thessalonians 1:7-9) which is done through baptism into Christ in submission to Him and reenactment of His passion experience (Galatians 3:27, Romans 6:3-4, 1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Then and only then will the person have not only the brotherly peace between his fellow man but the eternal peace between his Creator and himself. 
3. The Fulfillment of "the Life" as a Follower of Christ - However, if one were to stop there he would not realize that both of these peaces must be nurtured less they fall back into enmity (2 Peter 3:14). The child of God still has the capabilities to sin and therefore create anew the alienation that he once experienced from his brethren and his God. Therefore, he must live the life of a Christian and stay faithful to both his family, the church, and his Father. While establishing that peace is difficult at times, some see trouble in repenting of their past lives and still others find it hard for their brethren to trust them again (Acts 9:26-27), it is this cause of peace that takes the most effort on the part of the individual because the Christian life has built within it certain commands that must be followed somewhat ritualistically, in that they must be done step by step, and other commands that will take the complete denial of one's self for the Christ. 

     
     All this being said, peace is worth it! Even though it takes effort and even though it can only be measured by the outward effects of the inward emotion and even though it is difficult to define, it's perfect because our Lord established it and gave us a way by which to access it!

This week's post is just going to be a list of the verses relating to joy in Christianity. 
Be very careful to read each verse and make the connection in your mind, if you do that you'll get the picture quicker than I can type it out!

     Love, something that is drastically misunderstood in today's world. With the perversion of the marriage bond, the pandemic of lust being called love, and the skewed sense of brotherly love that would say one cannot rebuke or attempt to teach someone without stepping outside the realm of love it's no wonder that we live in a time where the once revered word has now slumped to the point at which it is. But regardless of what man thinks the word means, God has already outlined exactly what it is to be in the lives of His children. 

     The word translated "love" in Galatians 5:22 is the Greek word denoting "affection or benevolence (Strong's)". It is the same word translated by the translators of the King James Version as "charity" in the writing of Paul to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 13). Although charity can be done without any feelings whatsoever, especially just before April 15 of each year, it sums up the word nicely. See, the love that is a product of being a Christian who is filled with the Spirit of God through the divine instruction given by Him (Galatians 5:22-23, Ephesians 5:18, Colossians 3:16, 2 Timothy 3:16-17) is a sacrificial feeling, and action, based upon the understanding and overall mindset of the individual. It isn't something that is done out of necessity, although the Christian is commanded to have it present in his life (Luke 10:27, Romans 12:9, Ephesians 5:1-2). It isn't done out of pity toward the object of that love, although pity/compassion is absolutely incumbent upon the follower of Christ. 

     No, this kind of love is exuded forth from the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5-8). It is the guiding factor in the death of the Messiah upon the cross for my sins (John 3:16). It is why anyone becomes a Christian (1 John 4:19). Love is the reason for everything found within the 31,102 verses of the inspired Word of God!

     Since God is LOVE (1 John 4:8) and love demands an object, He created us. Since He created us in the image of Himself (Genesis 1:26-27) and our ability to love is a part of that image (cf. 1 John 4:19), He created a helpmeet comparable to man so that he would have an object upon which to express his love (Ephesians 5:25, Colossians 3:19). Since He desires us to love him back for all the love He has shown us (Galatians 5:22, cf. 2 Timothy 3:17), He gave us His commands in order to carry out our love for Him (John 14:15)!

Love, you can't really live without it (John 10:10) and you can't really live without showing God your ability to just what He created you to be able to do.

     Last month I made a promise to myself, the Lord and the congregation here in Gray that something was going to change. You see, I have been here for just over a year now and haven't experienced the evangelistic growth that I feel we have the opportunity to achieve in our community - and that is changing, NOW! That Sunday morning I preached a sermon entitled "Something Was Missing" (click the title to hear the sermon) and before that recording started I publicly asked for forgiveness from the congregation for my lackluster performance in the area of evangelism. 

     But, the change that is occurring here in the small town of Gray in the heart of the Lord's people isn't just me. You see, I've often heard a statistic, whether it is a factually based one or one like "97% of statistics are made up, including this one" type of thing I'm unsure, that states that 20% of the people do 80% of the work in any given congregation. And if I were asked I would have to say that statistic was somewhat true of the congregation just one short month ago, but not anymore! In actuality, 80% of the word "Queue" is silent just like 80% of members of the Body of Christ are primarily. With all of that untapped evangelistic potential what is the Lord's church to do about turning it around and making the "Queue of Christian Workers" into the "Q of Christian Workers" and have 100% of the word be in use? 

     I know this article hasn't been theologically deep and may have been things that every one of us already knew but if it does nothing more than remind us our goal as members of the Body of Christ is to evangelize then it has done its job. 

If you'd like to know some of the other evangelistic plans the congregation here will be using in the near future in order to get ideas, feel free to contact me by emailing me at thepfp@live.com or using the Contact Us button at the top of the page.