Is There No More Cause?

By Vergil G. Schmidt

Since the beginning of the church, Christians have always struggled with culture and how best to relate to our world. We are all familiar with the adage, . . . in the world but not of the world. We are aware that the Scripture requires us to be Salt and light as well as not to be conformed to the image of this world. But the problem is that many of us have our blinders on and consequently we are unable to make a determination of whether we are in or of the world. Inside the church where we strive to be holy and pure, the contamination of the world has become so pronounced that certain questionable activities and attitudes prevail. Therefore, life becomes very confusing.

So what is a Christian to do? Some drop out, others ignore or refuse to heed the call to righteous living, while still others make up their own rules as they continue to live out their days. However, there always is a remnant of Christians who take the Bible and Christian living seriously enough to return to the basics of Christianity and then earnestly attempt to transform our culture for Christ.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jul 28, 2016
• ISBN: 9781512749861

Vergil G. Schmidt

Vergil G. Schmidt has been engaged in pastoral ministry for over 30 years as well as working in the business world. He is well traveled and he has been a student of cultural diversity. He and his wife and daughter live in San Antonio, TX.

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Copyright © 2016 Vergil G. Schmidt.

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ISBN: 978-1-5127-4987-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-4986-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016911548

WestBow Press rev. date: 7/28/2016

CONTENTS

Thank You

Dedication

Introduction

Chapter 1 Dying for Change

Chapter 2 The World’s Culture

Chapter 3 New Testament Ministry

Chapter 4 Deficient Worship

Chapter 5 Where Do We Go From Here?

Thank You

I thank Dr. Charles Martin for his time and effort in reading this manuscript and for his invaluable contribution to the writing of this book. I could not have completed this project without your help. Thank you again!

Vergil G. Schmidt

Dedication

I dedicate this book to my wife, Raychel, and my daughter, Charis. Thank you for contributing to the content of this publication.

Introduction

Did you realize that the Super Bowl is the single largest event in United States when human trafficking is at its peak? Who would have thought that one of America’s most popular sporting events would be the breeding ground for one of the world’s greatest blights—human slavery? Thankfully, there is protection and training in place to help authorities identify individuals involved in such activities; however, human trafficking still is a billion-dollar industry. According to the US Department of Human Rights an estimated 14,500 to 17,500 individuals are brought into the United States annually. These individuals are then sold into sexual slavery. That is tragic! But where do we go from here?

In a day when the church and Christianity are being marginalized in our land, it becomes an even greater challenge for the body of Christ to be the hands of Jesus. But it is not impossible because remember, the church has always had to fight for her existence. Our message is worth preserving and living out before the world. But first we must be convinced that we have a cause worth fighting for. Then we must strategize to develop the best approach to combat these causes with God as our partner. He has promised always to help us and never to abandon us in the work He has called us to do.

This book is designed to create an awareness that the battle is real, the struggle is hard, but the victory is sure. We must choose to be on the right side of history and remember that God has called us to be ambassadors of a new world order. This new world order is not from earth but from the throne room of heaven. Christians long for the day when, Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven (Matt. 6:10). May God grant us the courage and grace to perform our part with confidence.

Chapter 1

Dying for Change

Have you ever been lost and asked yourself, Where do I go from here? Years ago after having accepted my first call to serve in a local church as staff youth pastor, upon my first arrival in the city, I got lost driving to the church building during the early morning hours. Because it was dark and I was unfamiliar with the streets and roads, it took me many hours to find the church location (this is before we had GPS). As a result, what normally would have been a relatively short drive ended up being many hours. By analogy, a similar lack of direction in ministry focus seems to be true of our current cultural environment in North America. In fact, I was visiting with a close friend who just a year ago surrendered his life to Christ, who said, I can sense uncertainty in the air. That sentiment is becoming more common.

We have seen significant change here in North America in recent years. My paternal grandfather witnessed great change in his day also. However, his experience with change came gradually. He experienced change in transportation—moving from horse-drawn buggies to the Model T and later the Model A Ford, to what we now call the modern automobile. The same was true for his farming experience, as he went from working with horses to driving gas-powered tractors. Late in his life, he also witnessed America sending an astronaut to the moon. Yet, to his dying day, he would not believe we actually accomplished that feat. He felt it was a massive hoax orchestrated through clever television tactics. Denying change, however, does nothing to address it.

Many people often bury their heads in the sand and hope that what they feel will go away so they will not have to deal with all this uncertainty. In addition, there appears to be a lethargy that permeates our culture, which is reflected among folks who are paralyzed with fear. Possibly it is because they are lost and cannot find their way back spiritually. The days seem long and dark. Whatever the reasons, we may be at a place in our history as a nation where we will be required to begin the tedious process of, step-by-step, moving out of these doldrums and into action. In fact, moving into action has always been good for individuals and for groups, even though they may resist initially. Some might protest and say, This time of lethargy is predicted in the Bible concerning the last days, which are supposed to be difficult, and therefore, there isn’t anything we can do about it. While it is true that troublesome times will come during the last of the last days, there is no assurance that we are at the place chronologically prophesied in Revelation and elsewhere in the scripture. To be sure, even if that is true, we are not free to opt out of life at any point in time.

In many respects, the present days are good because the church always thrives best when times become difficult. It is easy to sit back, complain, and compare our current condition to the good ol’ days (which were not so good either), and then slide into home base with relative ease. These days produce tension, and tension always brings about results. In the book of Acts, when those in the Jerusalem church were neglecting the Greek-speaking Jewish widows in the daily administration of food, a reaction occurred within the church. The