Some Things that Cause me to Marvel

1. I MARVEL AT THE BUSINESS NATURE OF CHRISTIANITY 
1. The Competition Between Churches (2 Corinthians 10:12)
1. Who is the best church?
2. Who is running the most?
3. Who can build the biggest buildings? (Mark 13:1-3)
2. Making Merchandise of Souls (2 Peter 2:3)
3. Marketing Strategies
1. We are to make the services seeker friendly.
2. We are to make the services fun.
1. It would probably come as a shock to us who live in a culture in which entertainment (which we could define as activities designed to produce personal gratification and pleasure) has become the primary and most cherished value, to learn that it has not always been this way.  One researcher discovered that the word fun was of recent origin and that no other language had an exact equivalent to the English meaning, leading him to speculate that fun was neither readily understood nor fully accepted until the twentieth century.  At the highest levels of culture it was taken for granted that good things were serious things.  Taken from  This Little Church Went to Market pages 23-24
3. We are to make the services non offensive.
4. We are to remove any negative associations.
5. We are to invite in world renown speakers and groups.
4. Successful Men Author Books
1. Men who build big works write books about how they did it.
2. When have you read a book by a man with a small church boasting of how he kept the church small and productive?
5. The Application of Job Descriptions
1. In the business world everyone has a job description and if something is not done it is the fault of a certain department or person.
2. Christians have adopted this view.
2. I MARVEL AT THE LACK OF CONCERN OF CHRISTIANITY 
1. For Sound Doctrine
1. On the word of God (1 Thessalonians 2:13)
2. On salvation (Ephesians 2:8)
3. On many other doctrines
2. For Scriptural Practice
1. Scriptural music (Colossians 3:16)
2. Scriptural teaching and preaching
3. For Holy Living
1. We are to live holy lives (1 Peter 1:15-16)
2. We are not to try to find the line where God does not want us to cross, rather we are to stay as far as possible away from that line (1 Thessalonians 5:22)
4. For Souls of Men
1. We have no pleasure in the salvation of souls.
2. We have no pleasure in the growth of believers.
5. For Pleasing God
1. We are more desirous to please the brethren then to please God (Galatians 1:10).
2. This is idolatry.
3. I MARVEL AT OUR EASE TO SAY "NO" TO GOD 
1. The Lost Say No to Salvation
2. The Saved Say No to Service

Conclusion:  Let us ask of God that He would keep us from these sins.  May the Lord convict us when we go the way of the world.