Travis Agnew - Travis Agnew

The State of the Present Church

January 3, 2017July 11, 2013 by Travis Agnew

After 392 A.D., the Church began to view the people in the Roman Empire as having accessibility to the gospel, thus the fervency of the Christian witness within the jurisdiction of the Roman Empire dwindled. Jesus commissioned the early Church to serve as His witnesses beginning in their present location and moving outwards to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). Until the Christianization of Rome, the Church had been faithful in this mission. Unfortunately, Christians began to regard missions as only taking place outside of their homeland, and they would depart their own country to evangelize. Some missiologists hold that the present Church has inherited the mindset that evangelism transpires solely outside of one’s immediate geographical living area. Consequently, evangelism rarely happens around the area of an individual church body.

Evangelicals have noticed the endangered position of the American Church. In a recent study, the yearly requirements for a church body to be deemed as evangelistic were to have twenty-six people become Christians under their church’s influence and to have one person baptized for every twenty members.

With that criteria, the surveyors accredited less than four percent of Southern Baptist churches as evangelistic.

Roman Christianization

January 3, 2017July 10, 2013 by Travis Agnew

Christianity had suffered greatly under Rome’s persecution, but the Church had advanced remarkably in influence and size composing ten to fifteen percent of the Roman population early in the fourth century. In A.D. 312, Emperor Constantine waged war with his rival for the throne, Maxentius. Emperor Constantine prayed to the “Unconquered Son,” the Roman patron deity, for assistance in battle. Supposedly, Constantine and his army witnessed a cross ablaze in the sky on which they read the words, “In this sign conquer.” In his sleep that night, Constantine claimed that he was commanded to distinguish his soldiers with the monogram of Christ to ensure victory. Upon applying the monogram, Constantine won the battle at the Milvian Bridge due to Maxentius’s drowning before the battle was even underway.

After this impressive victory, Constantine claimed that he was “under the tutelage of the God of Christianity.”

Persecution of the Early Church

January 3, 2017July 9, 2013 by Travis Agnew

Jesus told His disciples that the world would hate them in the same way that the world hated Jesus (John 15:18), and He foretold of a time when people would kill His disciples and believe that they were doing a service to God (John 16:2). Jesus never minimized the cost that those following Him would have to pay. He clearly prepared them for the trials that would come with involving themselves with Christ’s cause. While Jesus was on earth, His closest disciple, Peter, declared that he would follow Christ, even if all the other disciples would fall away (Matt. 26:33). After Peter’s denial of Christ, the future of the Church’s leadership appeared unable to continue Christ’s work in Jesus’ absence.

Conversely, Peter proved to be a bold witness for Christ after Jesus’ resurrection. In danger of imprisonment or death, Peter amazed the religious officials with his confidence in their midst, and they recognized Peter’s affiliation with Christ (Acts 4:13). Before this instance, the religious leaders had also been amazed at Jesus’ theological presentations (John 7:15), since He had no apparent mentor. Regardless of threats, Peter and the other disciples became insubordinate to the laws of the Jewish community, and they vowed to continue preaching in the name of Jesus (acts 4:19-20). The religious leaders listened to the advice of Gamaliel the Elder, the tutor of Paul (Acts 22:3), and they decided that if this movement was not from God, the people adhering to Jesus’ teaching would eventually dissipate in the aftermath of Christ’s death. The court punished Peter and the apostles with him, and the officials warned the disciples no longer to preach in Jesus’ name (Acts. 5:38-40). Gamaliel and the other leaders trusted that God, and not themselves, would bring about an end to this current movement.

Martyrdom became routine for those holding to the Christian faith.

Christian Persecution

January 3, 2017July 8, 2013 by Travis Agnew

“Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim. 3:12).

In his last recorded epistle, Paul attempted to prepare Timothy and other Church leaders for the coming persecution that they would face as Christians. Nearing the imminent culmination of Paul’s ministry and life, Paul instructed his son in the faith, Timothy, to continue “fighting the good fight” (2 Tim. 4:7), relinquishing the mantle of Paul’s ministry of spreading the gospel to Timothy.

During the time when Jesus lived on earth, He frequently admonished His unbelieving disciples of the coming persecution that He would endure and the persecution that the disciples themselves would soon face in the wake of Christ’s absence. Luke recorded numerous events in the Book of Acts concerning Christianity’s opponents administering beatings, imprisonments, and executions to Jesus’ disciples. Evangelicals and historians have written volumes of literature describing the accounts of Christians who have been persecuted for their faith in Jesus.

As God built on the foundation of His Church with men and women who were aware of their possible and probable death by their association with Christ, disciples boldly witnessed to all people concerning the grace of God, and many people were being saved (Acts 2:47). In countries where persecution of Christians is still prevalent, the Church is bold in witnessing and dynamic in growth; in countries where Christianity is allowed or even encouraged, the Church is often stagnate and declining.

The Worship of the Church

April 25, 2017July 6, 2013 by Travis Agnew

As we focused today on the worship of the church, I was eager to lead something I have had churning in my head for a while now.

We led worship music from 6 centuries in about 12 minutes. I took the theme concerning the greatness of God, and showed how it’s a constant theme through the ages, and that the style doesn’t really matter. It was a very special moment at the end of our services as we united with the Church over hundreds of years.

As the medley progressed, I posted the year each song was written as we started in the 1500s and ended up in the 2000s. The lyrics for the medley is available here: The Greatness Of God (Worship Medley) – lyrics (I never chorded out the song since I was playing it on the piano by myself for most of it and had liberty to adjust as we went along).

Today, we worshiped to:

Punishments in the Garden

April 25, 2017July 4, 2013 by Travis Agnew

After Adam and Eve’s sin, they try to blame someone else for their mistake. God has heard enough. He warned against sin, and because he is a just God, he must give consequences for sin. Rebellion must be addressed. To the serpent, his legs are removed forcing him to slither on his belly from that point on causing him to choke upon the dust of the ground from which Man was made (Gen. 3:14). God curses (arur) the crafty (arum).

In the midst of this depressing scene, hope emerges. Gen. 3:15 serves as the “Protoevangelium.” It is the first announcement of the gospel, or good news, in the Bible. “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Gen. 3:15). God informs the listeners that Satan will be fighting against this human race for the remainder of days. He will bruise Mankind’s heel. He will trip many a people up who are trying to follow God, but there is also a promise of one who will come and not stop at the heel. One will come to bruise Satan’s head leaving a lethal blow upon the enemy.

Concerning the identity of this attacker, one vital clue is given: he will be the seed of a woman.

Adam vs. Eve

April 25, 2017July 3, 2013 by Travis Agnew

The conversation continues to the point where Eve saw “that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate” (Gen. 3:6). As she commences this sinful snack, it is revealed that Adam has been present the entire time. If you read the first section of Genesis 3, every sign points to a conversation being held between the serpent and the woman.

There is no sign of the man anywhere.

You almost picture a seductive personality intruding in a home where the woman is left alone. Surely this slick-talking, charming intruder wouldn’t dare entice a man’s wife to apostate from her God if her husband was home. You get the feeling that the man of the house is gone, and someone has come to prey upon the unsuspecting wife in his absence.

Unfortunately, that is not the case. Adam is there. He is present the whole time. Adam’s silence in this moment speaks more volumes than his recorded remarks ever will.

His passivity leads to the Fall of Mankind.

The Love Dare for Parents

May 12, 2017July 1, 2013 by Travis Agnew

The Love Dare for Parents Bible Study looks at parenting the way Scripture describes it. It’s about walking in relationship with the One who created us and entrusted our children to us. This study will inspire and strengthen busy parents—married and single—to learn and practice principles of love as they relate to their children, ages preschool to college. It offers a plan

What We Love Most About Mom

July 1, 2013July 1, 2013 by Travis Agnew

It’s Amanda’s birthday today. The Agnews celebrate her today though she is worth celebrating every single day!

I asked the crew what they loved most about Mom. Their replies?

The Discipleship of the Church

April 25, 2017June 30, 2013 by Travis Agnew

We had one of those days at North Side where you weren’t sure if the roof was gonna come off or Jesus was gonna come down! I love worshiping with our family when we get after it like that. I loved the diversity in our worship today and the intensity at every corner. Our worship team works so hard to lead people to Jesus each week and I am so honored to lead beside them! Today was simply a joy.

The above picture was my personal prayer focus for the day. We took time and prayed specifically for military chaplains serving today. As I was going through the prayer cards, I found one for a college friend, Jason Sluder. It was great to be able to pray for him and the other chaplains today with our Be the Church highlight. Such an honor to help support this ministry through our offerings each week!

Today, we worshiped to:

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