Comfortably Numb

Eddie Wren

Description

A seasoned pastor explores the book of Malachi and shares inspiring wisdom that reminds weary Christians to believe in the promise of God’s love and divine plan.
Apathy or neglect of faith is not a new problem in the church. As conveyed in the Old Testament, God regularly confronted the apathy of His people and used prophets, such as Malachi, to call His people to believe in Him, and honor Him with their words, worship, and all they were.
In Comfortably Numb, Pastor Eddie Wren shares a detailed exploration of the Old Testament book of Malachi that provides a candid glimpse into the current state of the American church and its worshippers as they battle to shake the apathy that is gripping their lives and hearts, and ultimately serve the Lord with passion. While relying on the words of the fiery prophet for inspiration, Dr. Wren delves into the scripture that encourages believers to hear the accusations, respond to the conviction of the Holy Spirit, and walk in obedience to the Lord.
Comfortably Numb explores the book of Malachi and shares wisdom from a seasoned pastor while reminding weary Christians to believe in the promise of God’s love and divine plan.

Sujets

• Religion
• Christianisme
• Spiritual Growth
• Christian Living
• Philosophie et théologie
• God
• Apathy
• Christianity

Informations

• Publié par: WestBow Press
• Date de parution: 11 mai 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781664299399
• Langue: English

Extrait

COMFORTABLY NUMB
 
A STUDY OF APATHY IN MALACHI
 
 
 
 
 
 
EDDIE WREN
 
 
 
 
 


Copyright © 2023 Eddie Wren.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.
 
 
WestBow Press
A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.westbowpress.com
844-714-3454
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
Scripture are taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB), Copyright©1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission.
 
ISBN: 978-1-6642-9940-5 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6642-9941-2 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-6642-9939-9 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2023908418
 
 
 
WestBow Press rev. date: 06/15/2023
Contents
Foreword
Introduction
 
1Believe the Promise
2Give God the Best
3Integrity Matters
4Words Matter
5Faithfulness Matters
6Is He Worth It?
7Memorials
8Moving Forward
 
Bibliography
Dedication
To First Baptist Church, Rayville, Louisiana
Your love for the Lord and love for your pastor and family
blessed the Wrens beyond measure
and
To First Baptist Church, Zachary, Louisiana
Looking forward to great days of
service for the Kingdom of God
together.
Acknowledgments
Thank you, Uncle Charles Henry for your encouragement and support in this project.
 
Thank you, Beth Livingston and Melissa Wedblad for typing and making corrections.
 
Thank you, Clarence Mathis for your help in editing.
 
Thank you, Stacy, Sam, Meri Hobbs, Eli, and Noah for your love that pushes
me and encourages me to love the Lord with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength.
 
Most of all, thank you God for loving me, saving me, and continuing to mold me. May you receive honor and glory from all that I am and have.
Foreword
I have known Eddie Wren for almost thirty years. I know how he lives his life. I know how he leads his family. I know how he loves the Church and I know how he preaches the Bible. This little book that you have in your hand is just a taste of the earnestness and passion Eddie has for the Lord Jesus Christ. That earnestness is, of course, tempered by a pastoral desire to see people “get it.” This volume is a clear and motivating exposition of Malachi, which of course is not for the faint of heart. If you desire a picture of what “lived out” Christianity should look like, then you will certainly benefit from this book.
In large part, the Church in America suffers from a malaise of apathy that has crept in so slowly and so strongly that the Church feels almost paralyzed. The fiery prophet, Malachi, calls God’s people to awaken to their former glory of walking in his presence.
It is with a grateful heart for Eddie’s life and ministry that I am glad to commend this book to you in the sincere hope that your heart might be inflamed once again to live your life for the glory of the crucified, resurrected, and ascended Lord Jesus.
Clint Pressley
Senior Pastor, Hickory Grove Baptist Church, Charlotte, North Carolina
Introduction
In 2019, the Pew Research Center released a report entitled “In U.S., Decline of Christianity Continues at Rapid Pace.” To say the least, the results of the research are alarming. The number of Americans identifying as Christians declined by 12 percent in ten years. The generational gap of those who identify as Christian is shocking. More than 80 percent of those born between 1928 and 1945 describe themselves as Christians (84 percent), as do three-quarters of baby boomers (76 percent). Less than half of millennials (49 percent) describe themselves as Christians. At first glance, there did appear to be some good news in the report: Christians attend church at the same rate as ten years before. However, when the numbers are examined, 54 percent of Christians attend church services once or twice a month at the most. Another 19 percent of that number attend church only a few times a year. Another 13 percent seldom attend church services and 5 percent of professing Christians never attend worship services. The evidence suggests most professing Christians are apathetic toward God and His ways. 1
Apathy or neglect of faith is not a new problem. If a person surveys the Old Testament, he or she will find that God regularly confronted the apathy of His people. Most of the time, God used the prophets to confront His people, as was the case for the people of God in Malachi’s day. Unfortunately, the book of Malachi, usually, does not top anyone’s list when asked, “What is your favorite book of the Bible?” In fact, my wife told me she had never heard a sermon series through the book of Malachi. The neglect of Malachi is unfortunate because Malachi addressed the apathy of His day, and the words God spoke through Malachi are very much applicable to the Church today.
The Book of Malachi could properly be called the Oracle of Malachi. The oracle is words God spoke through Malachi to his people for a certain situation. The words of Malachi are for post-exilic Judah. What does that mean? When God’s people were rebellious, God used the Persian Empire to discipline His people. The Persians conquered Jerusalem and exiled almost all the inhabitants of the land. There were still some Israelites in Jerusalem, but the city was in disarray physically and spiritually.
The Persian Empire was at its height (538–533 BC) and scattered God’s people throughout the Persian kingdom. Over time, the people of God became comfortable living in the foreign lands and among foreign gods. They began to adopt the practices of heathen people. Even the Jews in Palestine held loosely to the ways of God. They offered animals as sacrifices to God they would not dare serve a Persian official. The Temple was not being used as a place of true worship, but often as a hotel. The Sabbath was just another day. The people of God had become weary of the ways of God.
God addressed the apathy of His people through Malachi in a unique way. He did not address them generally, calling upon them to repent of general apathy. Instead, he addressed specific sins the people had become comfortable with and called them to repent. Often in the book of Malachi, God made the accusation, listed the people’s response, and then called them back to obedience. Perhaps, the accusations God made against His people in that day are needed for His people today. May we hear the accusations, respond to the conviction of the Holy Spirit, and walk in obedience to the Lord.
1
Believe the Promise
Malachi 1:1–5
There are different ways of dealing with apathy. Sometimes correction of behavior is needed. If a certain practice is being neglected, such as tithing (as will be addressed later), then the prescription is to begin tithing again. Then there are instances when apathy is a matter of the heart. Instead of taking physical action, the repentant one must have a change of heart. A war on apathy begins in the heart and mind. In the first chapter of Malachi, the prophet of God addressed issues of the heart and mind. Malachi addressed the need to believe the promises of God and, in particular, His promise of love. If a person believes he or she is loved by God, apathy can be extinguished. However, when difficult days come, when things are tough and it appears God is on vacation, not interested in our circumstances, or it appears evil is triumphing, some find it difficult to believe God’s promise of love and struggle to press on in faith. If, however, he or she can remember the promise of God’s love and presence, apathy can be avoided. Let’s consider that truth as found in Malachi.
Remember God’s Promises When Nothing Is Happening
The book of Malachi opens, as do most prophetic books, by identifying the prophet and his audience. Malachi 1:1 states, “The oracle of the word of the Lord to Israel through Malachi.” The New American Standard Bible (NASB) translates the second word in verse one as oracle . Literally, the word could be translated burden or load . Oracle is a prophetic term used to describe the message of judgment the prophet had to deliver to the nation of Israel. Malachi was a load bearer given the task of delivering the load to the people of God. The load to be delivered was the word of God. Malachi was simply the mouthpiece through which God’s Word was given. Malachi was, as his name suggests, the Lord’s messenger. Malachi means “my messenger.”
The phrase “the word of the Lord” is a dynamic phrase. The message Malachi had for the people was not an ordinary speech. He would deliver the very word of God. The words were infused with God’s power and would accomplish any task they were assigned. Again, the form by wh