{"id":430,"date":"2026-08-19T11:41:22","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T11:41:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/?p=430"},"modified":"2026-08-19T11:42:56","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T11:42:56","slug":"beware-the-bandwagon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/19\/beware-the-bandwagon\/","title":{"rendered":"Beware the Bandwagon!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cAnd they continued steadfastly in the apostles\u2019 doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in prayers\u201d<\/em> (Acts 2:42 NKJV).<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In bygone days, a band would play upon a decorated wagon at the front of a parade. As spectators applauded, other people jumped onboard, hoping to share in the glory. When the music and applause ended, the extras jumped right back off. Thus, joining any popular trend came to be called \u201cclimbing onto the band wagon.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ancient Christians faced the bandwagon temptation just as we do. Paul exhorted, \u201cWork out your own salvation with fear and trembling\u201d<\/em> (Philippians 2:12). To work something out is to see it through to completion (like working out a math problem \u2013 you must not stop before completing all the calculations). Are we seeing discipleship through to completion?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Our brethren in first-century Jerusalem were not band wagon disciples. Acts 2:42 specifies four items in which they continued steadfastly:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Apostles Doctrine (Teaching): They continued being taught by the apostles, and constantly behaved consistently with that teaching. Being a Christian involves life-long learning and growing. When you stop, you drop.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Fellowship: The church is a spiritual family. Going it alone is next to impossible. The early disciples spent much time together, sharing one another\u2019s joys, sorrows, successes, and failures. When fellowship wanes, disciples weaken and may perish.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Breaking of Bread: We need constant reminders of Jesus and what He did for us on Calvary. Jesus ordained the Lord\u2019s Supper for this very purpose: \u201cDo this in remembrance of Me\u201d<\/em> (Luke 22:19).<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Prayers: \u201cContinue in prayer\u201d<\/em> (Colossians 4:2). Jesus taught us \u201calways to pray and not lose heart\u201d (Luke 18:1). Did you pray yesterday? Pray today! Did you pray this morning? Pray tonight!<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Let us not treat the Lord and His church like a band wagon. By obeying the gospel, we committed ourselves to a lifetime of faithful service. May we continue steadfastly as the early disciples did!<\/span><\/p>\n

–Joe Slater<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cAnd they continued steadfastly in the apostles\u2019 doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in prayers\u201d (Acts 2:42 NKJV). \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In bygone days, a band would play upon a decorated wagon at the front of a parade. As spectators applauded, other people…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading… Beware the Bandwagon!<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=430"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":432,"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430\/revisions\/432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}