Hebrews 10:23-25 – “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; 24 and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, 25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” NASU

Yesterday I left you hanging on the Law of Degeneration and how truth will decay if not maintained.  Consider with me four simple definitions of DECAY that I believe will assist in our understanding:

• In the Hebrew it means:  ‘to be removed from.’
• In Webster’s it means:  “having sunk below a former or normal condition or character, to deteriorate from a former standard.”
• In Biology it means:  “to become gradually a lower type, a gradual falling off to a lower form of development.”
• In Medicine it means:  “a change in health of the vital organs by injury or disease and leading to loss of vitality, the loss of proper function.”

Hopefully those help and trigger thoughts in your heart and mind.  I have discovered that just as in the personal spiritual life, the corporate gatherings can DEGENERATE and must be given proper care and oversight and that, in my view is pastoral responsibility.  We need to be conscious of the ‘trappings’ of the corporate gathering.  What of the spiritual quality?  What of those things that do not edify and are more symbolism than substance?  What of traditions?  There can be so many causes of degeneration but the result is the same.

           In business if we have a ‘product to sell’ we must have a ‘marketing strategy’ to convey that product to the public.  What is our ‘marketing strategy’ for the Corporate Gathering?  What are the tools we rely upon to convey the product (Gospel) to the public?  I believe that we must rely upon the ‘Holy Spirit’s Anointing.’  Yet there is another factor that plays heavily in how the public views our product.  That is THE INTEREST INDICATOR.

If there is a general lack of interest there is a reason.  If it is not the product then it must be either the people or the packaging of the product and it is usually the latter.  I do not want you to think that I am trying to give a seminar on ‘marketing’ for the Gospel but if our ‘corporate gatherings’ are not what they should be why?

           The Church is in a continual state of transition.  Things change, people change, interests change and the church must address those changes with an UNCHANGING TRUTH!  It would serve us well to carefully and prayerfully consider what we are doing in our corporate gatherings and continually allow the Holy Spirit to eliminate that which is symbolism rather than substance and incorporate that which will spark the interest without compromising the truth and message.

Some have gone to extremes in entertainment and allowed the message to become diluted and secondary and others have gone to the extremes of rigidly presenting the message while losing people’s interest with their rigidity.  Ask the Holy Spirit to help you maintain a healthy state of life, growth, and progress in your corporate gatherings.

I have only scratched the surface and tomorrow want to consider briefly the Spirit of our Day and how it affects the Corporate Gathering.  So until tomorrow may the Lord bless you and keep you, make His face to shine upon you, be gracious unto you, and give you peace.  BLESSINGS!