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S Volume 1 . Issue 7

COUNCIL OF REFERENCE
The
UPSIDE DOWN
Dr. Richard Averbeck

Dr. Bill Bright

Dr. Paul Cedar

Mr. Dave Coleman

Dr. Larry Crabb

Mr. Roger Cross

Rev. Samuel Farina

CHURCH
It’s time to turn the world
upside down again.
Dr. Kenneth O. Gangel

Rev. Lud Golz

Dr. Howard G. Hendricks

A Quick Focus
Mr. Olan Hendrix
The Book's Purpose
Dr. David Jeremiah
Rev. Knute Larson
Dr. John C. Maxwell
Dr. Bruce McNicol
Mr. Dean Merrill
Mrs. Elisa Morgan
Dr. Ray Ortlund
Dr. Luis Palau
Dr. Gilbert A. Peterson
Call Christians to put into
action God's~not man's~plan
for the church
Rekindle a focus on God's Word,
and urge Christians to rely on
it as the most powerful tool for
healing and resurrecting a dying
world
Explain the correlation between
a church's drive to operate
according to biblical principles
and its impact on its community
by Greg Laurie
Published by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Wheaton, IL
It's time to emulate the core biblical
principles demonstrated by the early church,
a vision-driven model based on spiritual
fervor and vibrant ministry. This radical,
countercultural church turned its world
upside down. CB
S
Nine Main Points

9
Rev. Wes Roberts Challenge believers to share
their faith boldly, modeling the GOD’S PLAN TO CHANGE THE WORLD ............. 2
Mr. Jim Warren
passion and zeal of Christ's first GROWING THE CHURCH GOD’S WAY ................ 3
Rev. Rick Warren followers. GOD’S UPSIDE-DOWN PLAN TO SAVE THE WORLD 3
THE GOOD NEWS AND THE BAD NEWS ........... 5
The Book's Message WALK THIS WAY ......................................... 5
Publishers
David A. Martin
The 21st-century church has for- A READY ANSWER: LOVING GOD’S WORD ....... 6
John S. Martin, III gotten its first-century roots, turning PRACTICING GOD’S UPSIDE-DOWN LOVE ........ 6
to modern marketing strategies to
Editor promote church growth. THE POWER OF PRAYER ............................... 7
Michael J. Chiapperino
WORSHIP IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH .............. 7
 2

GOD’S PLAN Brothers, think of

what you were when you were
called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influen-
tial; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world
Mary, and Saul are examples of
people whose hearts and minds were
transformed supernaturally so God
could work His purposes through
to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. them.
He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things ~ and the things
that are not ~ to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before God is more interested in His
him (1 Corinthians 1:26-29). eternal goals than our temporary
plans.
Our obsession with programs and numbers often shifts our attention God is more concerned about
away from the very ministry God has placed before us. It is essential that a person's heart than his
Christians step through every door that God opens~no matter how small religious practices.
or big. "You can never be too small for God to use, only too big," Warren God wants us to be more like
Wiersbe once said. Jesus, not more comfortable.
One day a minister came up to C. H. Spurgeon (at the height of his God reveals Himself in the
ministry) and started to complain about anemic attendance at his church. midst of human weaknesses
rather than human strengths.
"How many people attend
your church?" Spurgeon asked.
"About one hundred," the
minister replied. TO CHANGE
"I think that is enough to give an account of on the Day of Judgment,"
They acted according to God's
methods, not their own.
The disciples did God's work
in God's ways.

"The first Christians didn't out-

Spurgeon replied.
argue pagans~they outlived them.
God wants to use every one of His followers. He is looking for availa- It is worth noting that Christian-
bility and willing hearts. It goes without saying that He used the first dis- ity made no attempts to conquer
ciples in a mighty way~and they were as powerless and weak as humans paganism and dead Judaism by
can be. Nevertheless, they were radical. They preached the Gospel with reacting blow by blow. Instead,
power and passion; their message was so fresh and countercultural that it the Christians of the first century
turned their world upside down! outthought, outprayed and
outlived the unbelievers. Their
A Few Good Christians: weapons were positive, not
How 12 Men Turned the World On Its Ear negative."
We all have a mental image of an influential leader, a "mover and
shaker." Jesus' 12 disciples were nothing like our mental pictures. That's Have we become so consumed
because God specializes in selecting people who are weak by the world's with protest that we have forgotten
standards~so he can show his power. That's good news for every Christian, about prayer? Have we become so
for that means God wants to use even us. focused on the political revolution
that we are overlooking the spiritual
What were the defining characteristics of Christ's disciples? How did one?
they act? What were their keys to success?
As we set out to do God's work

THE WORLD
They walked according to the
Spirit, not the flesh. in God's way, our primary weapons
God permeated every aspect are spiritual ones. God's procedures
of these believers' lives. Their and tactics are revolutionary. We
lives were dynamic; they knew how to pray, worship, act kindly toward are called to be ambassadors to
one another~and treat non-believers with love. the world by:
Giving
“Thoughout the Bible, God reminds us to Loving
change our thinking, to see with spiritual eyes, Blessing
to remember that His thoughts are not ours.” Humbling ourselves
Relinquishing our rights
They kept in mind the purposes of God, not the priorities of people. CB
God's plans are dramatically different from ours; sometimes we must S
be willing to think and live outside of our comfort zones. Abraham, Gideon,

GROWING THE CHURCH GOD’S WAY
During the 1980s
and 1990s there has been a dramatic
increase in the number of "mega-
churches" (congregations of 1,000
or more) in the United States.
"We have to ask what these trends
mean for the church as a whole.
Are we witnessing a second era of
Christians who are really shaking
up their world? Or are believers
just shuffling their club member-
ships around to get the latest, most
attractive deal?"
The fact that a church is large
can show that God is working and
moving mightily in a community.
But large does not equal healthy.
A healthy church is an effective one.
Too many churches are overem-
phasizing a sensitivity to "the con-
sumer" as they model their church
growth strategies after business
plans. Their motto is: "Whatever the
consumer wants, we will give it to
them."
But the consumer-focused church
is asking the wrong questions:
What can I do to make my
product more appealing and
unique?
How can I improve customer
service?
How can I adjust what we offer
to meet and beat the competition?
A recent survey of 1,000 church-
goers revealed that 89 percent said
the church exists primarily to take
care of their spiritual needs. Only
11 percent mentioned evangelism
as a core purpose for the church's
existence.
If our churches rely on slick mar-
keting ploys, we will gradually shift
away from the message of the Gospel
and focus instead on the way we
package it. New ideas are good, and
Christians should always be interest-
ed in connecting with their genera-
tion; but when marketing is more
important then the gospel message,
nothing good can come of it.
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The Growth
Plan of the
Early Church
God can reach our generation
without our nifty marketing plans
to help Him out. The first century
church proved it. What "worked"
for them?
They were a worshiping church
They were an evangelizing church
They were a learning church
They were a loving church
Church Growth Rule #1:
Become a worshiping church.
A church that is growing is wor-
shiping. This principle is foreign to
a world that does not understand
what worship is and why one wor-
ships. We were put on this earth to
tell people about Jesus and worship
God.
Church Growth Rule #2:
Become an evangelistic church.
Healthy and growing Christians
will reproduce themselves and share
their faith with those who do not
know Christ. God can use many
creative ways to reach the lost
(drama, beach ministries), but His
primary way of converting souls is
through biblical preaching. "For
since in the wisdom of God the
world through its wisdom did not
know him, God was pleased through
the foolishness of [the message]
preached to save those who believe"
(1Corinthians 1:21).
Church Growth Rule #3:
Become a learning church.
When the Bible is not preached
in a church, the congregation be-
comes weak, helpless, and ineffec-
tual. A church with a steady diet of
good theology and solid teaching
from scripture becomes a church on
fire, an upside-down church.
Church Growth Rule #4:
Become a loving church.
Many churches are missing one
key element: the kind of love-in-
action that marked the first-century
church.
"All who believed were together,
and had all things in common. . .
continuing daily with one accord.
. . and having favor with all the
people" (Acts 2:44,45).
Today it seems that we are only
willing to accept and love each other
if we belong to the same clubs, have
the same interests, and drive the same
type of cars. A healthy, growing
church will be a cross-section of
races, ages, and socio-economic
backgrounds. And love will flow
naturally~often to the surprise of
a watching world! CB
S
GOD’S
UPSIDE-DOWN
PLAN TO SAVE
d
THE WORLD
God’s plan to save
the world is one of the most outra-
geous ideas in the history of the uni-
verse. God, the omnipotent and omni-
present being, has chosen to use
fallible humans to bring about
his salvation.
The Great
Concession
Christianity Today readers took
a poll some time ago. It revealed that:
89 percent agreed that faith in
Jesus Christ was the only way
to salvation.
87 percent agreed that every
Christian is responsible for
evangelism.
continued on page 4
GOD’S UPSIDE-DOWN PLAN continued from page 3
68 percent agreed that the most
important task for Christians is
to lead non-Christians to faith
in Christ.
52 percent were actively leading
people to Christ.
Christianity Today identified fear
as one of the major obstacles to
evangelism. Also, many Christians
believe that witnessing should be
left to those called to do it, people
who have "that spiritual gift."
"General William Booth, founder
of the Salvation Army, once said
that if he could have his wish, the
final step of his training program
would be to have them hung over
the open fires of hell for 24 hours
'so those that were sharing this
gospel message would recognize
the urgency of it.' "
In Acts 5:40-42 the apostles
were called in before the Sanhedrin,
flogged, and then told not to talk
about Jesus any longer. After their
release, they praised God and
rejoiced "because they had been
counted worthy of suffering disgrace
Upside
for the Name." From then on they
boldly proclaimed the Gospel
message whenever and wherever
they could.
Talk about an upside-down
view of the world! They rejoiced
in suffering! In America we have
the opportunity to proclaim Christ
anywhere, openly and without
serious repercussions. But how many
of us are actually engaged in sharing
the gospel? Believers in the early
church were put to death for it, yet
they rejoiced in their suffering. Too
Chur
many of us are complacent about
it; we even complain that sharing
our faith is too difficult!
Becoming an upside-down be-
liever means catching a vision for
the lost, understanding that every
person on this planet who does not
believe in Jesus will go to hell for
eternity. This burden should so over-
whelm us that we are constantly on
our knees asking God to use us for
his glory~ushering people into His
kingdom.
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A Part to Play: One Person's Role in the Great Commission
Edward Kimball sold shoes. And he changed his world. An ordinary Christian
who prayed that God would use him, Kimball decided to share the gospel with
a new salesman named Dwight who had just joined the staff. The man he led
to the Lord that day was Dwight L. Moody.
One day while Dwight Moody was preaching, a man named Fredrick Meyer
accepted Christ as his personal Savior. Fredrick Meyer went out and founded
a large, nation-wide evangelistic outreach. One day while he was preaching the
gospel a man named Wilbur Chapman accepted Christ. Chapman became
enraptured with saving the lost and became an evangelist. Wilber Chapman
needed help, for his ministry was growing by leaps and bounds, and he decided
to hire a former baseball player named Billy Sunday to help him share the gospel.
Billy Sunday emerged as the greatest preacher of the early 1900's. But the
story does not stop there. One day Billy Sunday was preaching the gospel in
Charlotte, North Carolina. During the final meeting in a revival series, a tall
lanky farm boy came forward and accepted Jesus into his life. His name was
Billy Frank, known now to the world as Billy Graham~the man who has delivered
T
the gospel message to more people than any other person in human history.
God is waiting to use us! We must be willing to be used. God entrusts us
with the most important message in the history of the world. He gives us the
authority to proclaim His message. And finally He empowers us to go anywhere
and to speak this great message of hope and salvation to everyone.
Practical
wish come true. Without hesitation,
he replied, "Every time I have a birth-
Principles for day, every time I blow out the candles,
Witnessing every time I see a shooting star, I wish
Witnessing to the lost is a very for the same thing~I wish for inner
security."
upside-down idea. It goes against
every grain in our body: we risk People are lonely.
being rejected, we feel insignificant, Even though people have power,
and we are proclaiming a message money, fame, worldly happiness, they
that no one really wants to hear. are desperately lonely. Albert Einstein
That is why so many Christians once said, "It is strange to be known
struggle to do it. so universally and yet be so lonely."
But we need to be open to God's People feel guilty.
timing. We must be willing to walk Even though our culture has lost
through every door God opens. its sense of shame, it still has a sense
The lost are all around us. of guilt. When people are all by them-
Christians have forgotten how selves, alone with time to think about
valuable God's message is to a dying moral issues, they realize they are
and empty world. Several key morally out of sync with the way they
principles need to be remembered: know they should be. They know they
have violated moral laws.
People are spiritually empty.
During an interview, Barbara People are afraid to die.
Walters once asked Richard Drey- When actor Dennis Hopper was
fuss what wish he would like to asked what he feared the most, he
have granted if he could have one responded in one word~death.
We need to allow the Holy Spirit
to burn these truths into our lives.
When we can empathize with
unbelievers, God can use us to reach
our desperate world for Him. CB
S

THE GOOD NEWS AND THE BAD NEWS
Do we as Christians
really believe that the world is dying
and that people are in jeopardy of
going to hell? If we do, why aren't
we sharing our faith more openly,
more vigorously and more fearlessly?
A criminal in England condemn-
ed to death was told by the witness-
ing chaplain that Jesus Christ could
forgive him for all of his sins. The
criminal turned around and said,
"Do you believe that? Do you really
believe that? If I believed that, I
would willingly crawl across England
on broken glass to tell men it was
true."
5
with His perfect and blameless right-
eousness. We who were debtors are
now debt-free.
We are adopted into God's family.
"Because you are sons, God has
sent forth the Spirit of His son into
your hearts, crying out, 'Abba,
Father'" (Gal. 4:6).
This powerful, life-transforming
message reaches across every ethnic,
cultural, and social barrier. It is the
greatest message man has ever been
given. And it is one that we are com-
manded to transmit to our world.
The Gospel
Billy Graham, when presented
with the Congressional Medal of
Honor, looked out over the crowd
in Washington D.C. and said, "As I
look around at these statues of all of
these great leaders, I realize that they
have one thing in common. They are
all dead. And you are all going to
die. Are you ready to die? Are you
ready to meet God?"
The good news of the gospel in-
cludes some bad news.
Jesus is not just something
that will make people happier. He is
someone who will stop people from
going to hell.

The
The church today is unable
to turn the world upside down for
Christ because the message that it
preaches is not the whole gospel,
but rather what its listeners want to
hear. It has, in many cases, compro-
mised the message for the sake of
the messenger. The gospel is simple
Unplugged
Often, the church is so wrapped
up in presentation that it has forgot-
ten the message. Here are several
points that every church pastor and
congregation should remember.
The gospel doesn't need our help.
A compromising gospel is no gospel.
The devil is a master at present-
ing false hope through false gospels.
If we are truly saved, we must believe
that there is only one way to heaven~
and that is through Jesus Christ,
God's son. The church is in jeopardy
of compromising the message so

e-Down
and yet very profound in its message:
We are acquitted of sin.
"Christ redeemed us from the
curse of the law by becoming a curse
for us" (Gal. 3:13, NIV).
We are allotted Christ's righteous-
ness.
Not only did Christ willingly
take our sins, but he replaced them
The Holy Spirit can convict
anyone anywhere with or without
our presentation techniques.
The most effective message is
a simple one.
When asked if he could put the
gospel message in a simple format,
C.H. Spurgeon said, "I will put it
into four words for you. Christ Died
For Me."
unbelievers will not be offended. We
need to trust God and the message
that He has commanded us to preach.
Who knows? The person we fear
offending might fall on his face and
ask, "What must I do to be saved?"
The Bible is replete with these very
expressions. If it happened in biblical
days, it can happen today. CB
S

WALK When
God calls
Four requirements of discipleship:
1. Love God more than anyone else.

rch
us to minister to the Our relationships with others may hinder our ability to disciple others.

THIS lost or to Christians,

we are always think-
ing that we are the
wrong person for the
Too many times the fire of the Spirit in a new Christian is squelched by
the reactions of unsaved friends and family members. How much are we
willing to risk for the sake of the kingdom?
2. Bear your cross.

WAY
job. But God consis-
tently used the "wrong
person for the job"
throughout the Bible.
Take Gideon. When God called him
to lead the Israelites, he was hiding
in fear. Then once he gathered an
army to march against the Midianites,
God decided to thin out his ranks.
Finally, with a mere few hundred
men, Gideon defeated the Midianites
during a night raid. God calls us to
be upside-down. Are we listening?
The early believers knew what this phrase really meant: be willing to
die for the sake of the gospel. In today's circles this phrase has taken on a
totally different meaning: Be willing to deal with put downs and scoffers.
Are we willing to say that we will follow Jesus no matter what?
3. Forsake all you have.
Jesus had no home; he possessed little if any material goods. We have
great wealth in this country, which is neither good nor bad, but how much
of it possesses us? We need to be willing to say, "Lord, all that I have is
yours, and I give it to you freely as you have freely given it to me."
continued on page 6
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WALK THIS WAY continued from page 5
4. Count the cost.
God wants us to know up
front what we are getting into and
why we are getting into it. We must
understand the cost that Christ paid
on the cross for us. Then and only
then can we understand what little
price we pay for so great a sacrifice.
When we begin to understand
the basic principles of being a Christ-
ian, God will begin to use us. We
will lead one person to Christ. And
soon one disciple becomes many,
and the gospel of Jesus is proclaimed
in places never imagined before. A
little salt can flavor the whole soup.
One strong disciple of Jesus can turn
a community upside down. CB
S key element that turns the world
6
We think we need more than
the Word.
More and more churches are
PRACTICING
leaning too much on the written
words of men~and not enough on
the written Word of God. Christian
books are not bad, but they must be
GOD’S
tempered with the Bible, for only
God's words have the power to
change a depraved heart into a right-
UPSIDE-
eous one.
We have itching ears.
The world at large has always
been enamored with spirituality, but
DOWN LOVE
The Way to Show
when it creeps into our churches we the World
are in great peril. Captivated with
Love is the key indicator of the
the newest and latest, we sometimes Christian's heart and soul. It is the
dismiss the old~including the Bible~
as outdated and irrelevant for today's upside down. Most non-Christians

A READY generation.

"Thus says the Lord: 'Stand

in the ways and see, and ask for the
have never experienced upside-down,
selfless love. Too often what they do
experience is selfish love. In today's

ANSWER: old paths, where the good way is,

and walk in it; then you will find
rest for your souls'" (Jer. 6:16, NKJV).
society Christians are known pri-
marily for what they oppose, for
example, the sins of homosexuality
and abortion. Often, unbelievers

LOVING GOD’S Good Reasons to

view believers with suspicion because
they do not see expressions of love
emanating from followers of Christ.

WORD The Word of God

is the vehicle He will use to trans-
form our world. A Christian must
desire it above all else, crave it as
a baby craves mother's milk. A true
disciple of Christ is a learner, one
who is willing to study the Word
and allow it to work in his/her life.
And yet, today we seem to be bored
with it, do not have enough time to
study it, and simply have placed it
on the shelf or near the bed to read
another time. Why have we become
so complacent?
We have spoiled appetites.
Today's church has been fed too
many sweets, too much fluff instead
of the meat: the Word of God. We
view God's inspired Word negatively,
considering it something we must
endure~like liver and onions! We
have lost the desire to have it fill
our hearts. People are desperate for
the Word of God. It is the most up-
side-down book in the history of
the world and it fills the emptiness
inside the lost soul. When we tone
it down or supplement it, we mini-
mize its life-changing message.
Read the Bible
Reading the Bible is like exer-
cising your body. At first the exertion
is difficult and it requires a constant,
willful discipline to keep at it. But
after several months of routine, the
body desires it, misses it when it
doesn't have it, and wants to do it
as soon as it gets an opportunity.
In order for Christians to turn
their world upside down, we must
be willing to exercise our spiritual
muscles through the steady reading
of God's Word.
The Bible helps you learn theo-
logy.
The Bible prepares you to recog-
nize false teaching.
The Bible provides spiritual
food for your soul.
The Bible enables you to know
God's will.
The Bible is one way God
speaks to you personally.
CB
S
As a result, many non-Christians
sincerely believe most Christians are
hypocrites.
But God's brand of love, detailed
in Matthew 5-7, should draw people
and get their attention. This kind of
love is radical and noticeable:
Love your enemies and pray for
those who persecute you.
If someone strikes your right
cheek, turn to him the other
also.
If someone forces you to go
one mile, go with him two
miles.
Freely forgive those who don't
deserve it~over and over again.
Judge yourself first~and more
harshly than others.
God’s Love Lesson
God showed true love through
his son Jesus Christ. God never asks
us to do something He has not done
Himself~or something for which He
does not empower us to accomplish.
This type of love~the love that God
continued on page 7

UPSIDE-DOWN LOVE continued from page 6
showed us, the love we must show
others~is detailed in "the love chap-
ter of the Bible," I Corinthians 13:
Love is patient.
Love is kind.
Love is active.
Paul then goes on in the passage
to say what love is not.
Love is not jealous.
Love does not behave rudely.
Love is not provoked.
Love does not keep a record
of wrongs.
Love believes all things, endures
all things, will conquer a rightside-
up world, and knock it upside down
in a hurry. CB
S
THE POWER
OF PRAYER
God uses prayer as
a supernatural vehicle to change the
world. Too many Christians have
taken on the "vending machine"
mentality to prayer: put your quar-
ters in and wait to receive.
But in order to turn our world
upside down, Christians need to
remember several aspects of effective
prayer.
Pray as the first resort~
not the last.
Too often we wait until the
situation is "out of our hands" in
order to fall on our knees. What we
must realize is that all situations are
out of our hands, and we should
approach all things with prayer.
Pray for what God wants~
not what you want.
The only prayers that are useless
are those prayers outside of the will
of God. God loves us too much to
answer some of our ridiculous pray-
ers. Thank God!
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7
“There are
certain things
God tells us we
can always pray
for~because
they are always
His will.”
“I don’t believe that God heals
everyone or will give you everything
you might ask for. But many of
us are missing out on many of the
things God has for us simply
because we don’t ask.”
Pray earnestly~even when
you don't feel like it.
The right way to pray is specific,
heartfelt and with a passion for what
we ask.
“The right approach to prayer is
specific, focused, and heartfelt.”
Pray with persistence.
When God does not immediately
answer our prayers, that does not
mean He will not. God's timing is
frequently far removed from ours.
Too often we do not see the big
picture and only focus on our small,
selfish world. We should be praying
that God gives us His vision for His
world.
Pray with others.
There is power in united prayer.
"If two of you agree on earth con-
cerning anything that they ask, it
will be done for them by My Father
in heaven" (Matt. 18:19 NKJV).
"The kind of prayer that took
place in the early church is the
kind of prayer we need today. A
miracle might be outside the very
same door God seems to have shut.
Prayer is how we open the door
to receive it. Be careful. Is there
a miracle knocking?"
CB
S
WORSHIP
IN SPIRIT
AND IN
TRUTH
"He has given me a new song
to sing, a hymn of praise to
our God. Many will see what
he has done and be astounded.
They will put their trust in
the Lord.”
Psalm 40:3 (NLT)
We often underestimate the
power of worship to change our
world. Worship has the potential
to be a powerful evangelism tool.
When we worship~especially
in the midst of struggles~people
notice. Consider Paul and Silas
when they began to praise God
in prison. They refused to keep
silent about their faith, so they were
thrown in jail and whipped. Their
feet were placed in stocks and they
were heaved into a filthy pit. Acts
16 records their response. It wasn't
anger. It was prayer, an act of wor-
ship. In short order, the jailer's heart
was opened to the Gospel's truth.
God makes it clear that He
wants us to worship him with both
our minds and our hearts, in spirit
and in truth. What does that mean?
Worship Him
in Spirit
Our worship of God should
engage the emotions, the spirit. Our
affections and our hearts should be
actively involved in our expressions
of love toward God.
continued on page 8

WORSHIP IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH continued from page 7
"That does not mean worship has
to necessarily be emotional or
involve an outward emotional
display to be "in spirit." But it
does mean it can be."
Worship Him
in Truth
Effective worship draws on an
accurate understanding of who God
is~His nature, character, plan, and
purposes~what we know to be true
about Him.
"When we worship in truth, we
are agreeing with God about who
He is, what He can do and has
done, and what He is asking of
us."
Our response, then, is lifting
Him up, recognizing we are bringing
honor to a God who deserves our
praise and our adoration.
“God wants us to engage in wor-
ship with intelligence as well as
emotion as we learn to worship
Him ‘in spirit and in truth.’ ”
Upside-Down Praise
Bowing down and paying homage
to anyone or anything has always
been a foreign concept for humans.
One of the ways the early believers
impacted their world was through
active and passionate worship:
They lavishly and extravagantly
praised a God who needs nothing.
Mary poured expensive oint-
ment~worth a whole year’s wages~
on the feet of Jesus as a way of dem-
onstrating her devotion and affec-
tion. Although God does not need
our praise to boost His ego, He never-
theless desires it.
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“He wants a tender, intimate rela-
tionship with us, and praise is one
way we express our affection.”
I II II II II II II
III
They worshiped the Lord even
when they didn’t feel like it.
We need to worship God because
He is worthy of our praise~not be-
cause we are in the mood to praise
Him. Scriptures tell us to rejoice in
the Lord always (Philippians 4:4).
“Ultimately we give thanks for the
fact that God is still on the throne~
no matter how bad things get...And
when we praise God in spite of
difficult circumstances, that’s when
non-Christians will listen to what
we have to say.”
When Paul and Silas suffered
in prison, they boldly worshiped God
in the middle of their hardships. Their
jailer was so touched by their faith
that his heart was opened to the
gospel!
They would not bow down to idols.
Humans were created to worship
and we all do worship. Tragically,
many people worship gods of their
own making or false gods rather than
giving full allegiance to the God of
the Universe.
They worshiped with their whole
lives.
We worship God~or fail to do
so~through our actions and our atti-
tudes. God is not interested in our
words of praise if they are not backed
up by lives that honor Him. We wor-
ship the Lord by working heartily,
giving cheerfully, and investing our
time and talents in His work.
CB
S side, California, began his preaching
XII
stian
Chriook
XII
XII
III
X
II
II
XIXI
B
II
IIIIIIII II II II II II II II I I I I
ummaries
S
Volume 1, Number 7
Publishers
David A. Martin
John S. Martin, III
Editor
Michael J. Chiapperino
Christian Book Summaries is published
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The Author: Greg Laurie, pastor of
Harvest Christian Fellowship in River-
ministry at the age of 20. His popular
radio broadcast, "A New Beginning,"
is carried around the world. His evange-
listic Harvest Crusades have drawn over
2 million people over the last ten years.
Laurie serves on the Board of Directors
of the Billy Graham Evangelistic
Association.
The Upside Down Church by Greg
Laurie, copyright C 1999 by Greg Laurie.
Summarized by permission of the publisher,
Tyndale House Publishers, Wheaton,
Illinois. 219 pages. $16.97. ISBN 0-8423-
7812-X. This book is available at most
bookstores, at any online bookseller (such
as amazon.com or parable.com) or by
calling Tyndale House Publishers direct
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