Pastor Leadership Development

Bottle Up Blindness (Am Example of Trusting God to Use You Personally!)

2012-02-10T10:26:00.000-08:00

In 2001, Doug Nichols was the speaker in the Old Tab in our evening service. As you know, he always challenges us with huge projects. He told the story of a 26 year old minister who was burdened for the many orphans roaming the streets of New York city. It was a time when thousands of immigrants were coming to America and because of the many hardships they faced, both enroute to and in trying to get settled in a new country, many parents died and the streets of New York City were filled with orphans. No one had the time or money to look after them. Horrified by their plight, Charles Brace began the foster home plan. When he ran out of homes, he organized a unique solution, the Orphan Train. The idea was simple: carefully put hundreds of orphans on a train heading west. As the train passed through towns along the way, Christian committees brought approved Christian families to the train depot to claim a new son or daughter from the Orphan Train.

By the time the last Orphan Train steamed west in 1929, thousands of children had found new homes and new lives. Of course, we know that not all the homes would have been the best.

Doug Nichols then challenged us to adopt 25,000 or even 50,000 orphans. As we closed in prayer, I felt the Lord clearly saying to me, “You cannot adopt 25,000 orphans, but you could help that many children from going blind.” Actually this had been on my mind for several years already. Over and over this thought went through my mind, “For lack of 60 cents a child is going blind. What if one of our nine precious grandchildren had gone blind for lack of 60 cents?”

No surgery can restore the child’s sight when blindness occurs from a lack of Vitamin A. Christian Blind Mission (the world’s leading organization to prevent and cure blindness) can purchase, ship to other countries and dispense three capsules of Vitamin A for only 60 cents. It will be stored in the child’s liver and prevent blindness for a year. Children between the ages of two and six are in special need of this vitamin.

Henry and I prayed and thought of every creative way we could to make this thing work. We envisioned hundreds of boys and girls, and even adults, collecting pennies, dimes and quarters. Finally we thought of small prescription bottles from the drug store that would hold dimes or quarters and we would organize a project much like the Christmas Shoe Boxes. Small bottles would be made available and one person in each church or school or any organization would be responsible to set up the project in their particular setting, see that the bottles were collected at a certain time and one cheque sent to the Mission.

We presented our idea to the Mission and they were thankful for any help. We persuaded them that we needed a short video – about seven or eight minutes long - to present the need. It took quite some time before they produced a video - just for us and our project – which we called Bottle-up-Blindness. We believe the video challenges every age group and by now our vision is much more than just having children involved. We believe every family member can be a part of this project. Although the little bottles we provide hold dimes and quarters, any small containers can be used to collect pennies, nickels - or even loonies and toonies.

The reason we chose these two prescription bottles is so that children have a reachable goal within a reasonable time period. Adults may want to collect all year, but for children we feel it's best to have an 8 – 10 week period. The challenge is: collect 30 dimes and you can prevent blindness in five children; collect 24 quarters and you prevent blindness in 10 children. Even 60 pennies helps one child.

-- Henry & Eva Goertzen in Three Hills, Alberta, Canada

Note from Doug Nichols: Perhaps God would use you to do a similar project; 60¢ to provide a meal and the Gospel to a street child in Manila or orphan in Africa. Imagine, $6 to provide the Gospel and feed 10 needy children and $60 for 100! www.actioncic.org; www.actioninternational.org

Respectable Sins -- Really?

2012-02-06T13:54:00.001-08:00

by Doug Nichols

My wife Margaret and I have been convicted in reading Jerry Bridges’ book, “Respectable Sins (Confronting the Sins We Tolerate)” published by NavPress.

The first six chapters deal with sin in general with titles such as: “Ordinary Saints”, “The Disappearance of Sin”, “The Malignancy of Sin”, “The Remedy of Sin”, “The Power of the Holy Spirit”, and “Directions for Dealing with Sins”.

In the next fourteen chapters, Bridges lists “respectable sins” and how to deal with them. Sins such as Ungodliness, Anxiety and Frustration, Discontentment, Un-thankfulness, Pride, Selfishness, Lack of Self-control, Impatience and Irritability, Anger, The Weeds of Anger, Judgmentalism, Envy, Jealousy and Related Sins, Sins of the Tongue, and Worldliness.

I am encouraged by what Bridges writes about the purpose of his book. He writes, “While seeking to address these “respectable sins”, however, I want this to be a book of hope. We are never to wallow hopelessly in our sins. Rather, we are to believe the gospel through which God has dealt with both the guilt of our sins and His dominion over us.

The gospel, though, is only for sinners, for those who recognize their need of it. Many Christians think of the gospel as only for unbelievers. Once we trust in Christ, some of the thinking goes; we no longer need the gospel. But, as I seek to bring out in this book, the gospel is a vital gift from God not only for our salvation but also to enable us to deal with the ongoing activity of sin in our lives. So we still need the gospel every day.”

How would your Christian friends and acquaintances describe you?

2012-02-01T12:07:00.001-08:00

by Doug Nichols

My wife and I have enjoyed reading one of the best biographies we have ever read. It is an old book that was first published in 1900 entitled, Pastor Hsi by Mrs. Howard Taylor. Near the end of the book, she describes a pastor of a Christian refuge ministry to opium addicts. The Refuge later became a church with over 200 men who had trusted Christ, as well as their wives and families.

This is how Mrs. Taylor described Pastor Sung as she and her husband were at a meeting at the Refuge:

Here from the doorway of the women's room we can see to better advantage, and it is not quite so hot as in the kitchen. What a bright,interesting scene it is. Such greetings, laughter, friendly conversation; such busy preparations for the meal! Mats are spread under the awning, upon which, grouped around little tables, the older men are seated; and the rest, supplied with basins and chopsticks like ourselves, sit comfortably on the ground, or perch on the steps of the side houses.

And there, in the midst of them all, under the spreading vine, is dear old Pastor Sung, manager of the Refuge, and spiritual father of almost everyone in this large company.

What a picture he makes, surrounded as with a halo by their loving reverence, seated on that low wooden bench, with the flowers behind him and the cool green leaves overhead, his face all aglow as he looks from one to another of his large, happy family. Dear old man; small, spare, and stooping, with a little whitey-brown queue, and a strongly marked, benevolent face: dear old wonderful man, who, without learning or special gifts, simply by the power of the Holy Spirit in his loving heart, has drawn all these to Jesus―he is worth coming to China to see.

This is one of the most moving descriptions of a godly man that we have ever read. I can hardly wait to get to heaven to meet Pastor Sung and Pastor and Mrs. Hsi.

Would someone be able to write a similar description of you? I think of Matthew 5:16, Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Do Our Sins Catch Up to Us in Our Old Age?

2012-01-26T12:57:00.001-08:00

Our sins have a way of catching up to us in our age. As we read in the Word of God, “The sins of some men are quite evident, going before them to judgment; for others, their sins follow after” (1 Timothy 5:24, nasb).

If you and I do not deal with our sins now, they will surely be evident when we get older. Sins such as stubbornness, unkindness and selfishness seem to really hit us as older people.

Recently I was visiting a Senior Care Home about a friend in need. As I was leaving, they asked me if my friend was like another Christian acquaintance of ours whom they had cared for previously. I answered, “What do you mean?”

They responded, “Well, we had so much trouble with Mr. ___. In fact, not only did we have real problems with him, but with his wife when she came to visit!” They went on to say that this Christian couple said very bad things to the directors and staff, were extremely difficult to care for, and were rude and never satisfied.

I felt ashamed that this was the testimony of some of my friends. Even though I had noticed this, especially in the gentleman’s life over the years, I was never in a situation to discuss this with him, but possibly should have.

It is important to not only hear the Word of God Sunday after Sunday in messages from our pastors, but also to obey the Word of God. As we read scripture day by day describing the characteristics of a godly person, we need to immediately confess our sins before God and ask His help in obeying for His glory.

Any offense that we give or criticism that we receive should never be because of our crudeness in speech, and un-Christlike actions, but our only offence should be because of our godly character and in speaking of the cross, the gospel.

So what type of person are you going to be at age 70, 80 and 90? Grumpy? Unkind? Selfish? Stubborn? Or are you going to be a man or woman of God with character qualities which bring glory to God.

Hey buddy, can't you be nice?

2012-01-24T15:03:00.001-08:00

Recently my wife and I were talking about the many verses (such as Colossians 3) which speak of the characteristics of a Christian which seem to include being Christ-like, loving, kind, gracious, understanding and compassionate. All of these center on the word “kindness”.

Even if you are with people you do not necessarily like being around or in church sitting next to people who “rub you the wrong way”, true believers should be kind. In fact, the scripture even says to love your enemies, to be kind to them, help them, and clothe them.

Many Christians do not open the door for others, they don’t get a chair for those who are older, they don’t let people go first in line, they are selfish and they do not greet people. In fact, they are simply rude!

So how are you doing? Is your relationship with Christ evidenced by your kindness? Or are you just one of those grumpy people whose personality does nothing to draw people to Christ?

You can change! You can trust God today to empower and enable you to live out the “fruit of the Spirit” beginning with “kindness”. You can begin to practice good manners to the glory of God!

Tell The Truth No Matter What

2012-01-12T10:56:00.000-08:00

The lesson from the dungeon is that if you are going to be a servant of God, you are going to have to tell the truth--the good, the bad, and the ugly--no matter what. And you’re going to have to live with the blast furnace of criticism and opposition.

Witness the integrity of Joseph in this matter. Some people must have looked at him years later and said, "He became the prime minister of Egypt overnight."

No, he didn’t. God was fashioning Joseph for leadership in the crucible of suffering, hammering out his convictions on the anvil of life. And one thing God was teaching Joseph was this: "Joseph, tell the truth. Do what is right, because it is always right to do right." Joseph learned the lesson, and he stood out in the midst of malaise around him.

Just before his death, Paul told his spiritual son and disciple, Timothy, ‘Preach the Word … For the time will come when men will not put up sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear’ (2 Timothy 4:2-3, niv).

Calvin says, "All love to be flattered. Hence the majority of teachers, in desiring to yield to the corrupt wishes of the world, adulterate the Word of God."

From Alistair Begg’s Hand of God,Moody Publishers (Chicago, IL, 1999) (p. 106)

Christmas Alone

2011-12-09T14:17:00.001-08:00

In 1939, Dad Jespersen (Margaret Nichols'father) was serving alone as a missionary in China on the Tibetan border. There was absolutely no sign of celebration of Christmas in this small heathen village.

Dad was raised in a large Christian family in Canada who happily and joyfully celebrated Christmas to God’s glory every year.

Dad was lonely and sad to be alone with no Christians in the village, so he invited about twenty men from the small town to his little house, served hot tea and sweets and then explained the significance of this special day in December and the birth of the Son of God who was sent to earth to die for our sins.

So whether we are lonely or surrounded by many, let’s be sure to tell others of Christ this Christmas, God in the flesh!

Have you been accused of killing someone?

2011-12-08T13:36:00.001-08:00

Soon after obtaining my driver’s license, I was driving on a main highway with one of my friends, Bob. A lady did not stop at a stop sign and I ran into her. Several people died in this terrible accident.

Later one of the widowers angrily came to my house looking for me. My grandfather was there that day and answered the door. The man said, “I am looking for that teenager who killed my wife.”

My elderly grandfather immediately grabbed the man by the collar, looked him in the eye, and said with force, “Young man, I realize that you are very sad over losing your wife. I have lost my wife also years ago. There is nothing so terrible, but you need to realize that my grandson had nothing to do with your wife’s death. It was someone’s fault who ran the stop sign and in whose car your wife was riding. Do not become angry in your sadness!”

Is this not the way we as believers act when there is a crisis or problem? We become angry. At work, home, school, or even in our church, when someone treats us rudely, we become angry and resentful. We strike out even to those who are not involved with the situation. It seems as if we have to blame someone for something. It is easy to become angry at others rather than trusting God in the situation.

“Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16, nasb).

Do you go to God with small matters, as well as big?

2011-11-14T10:49:00.001-08:00

by Doug Nichols

Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”

Recently I woke up late at night meditating on this wonderful passage in Proverbs 3:5-6. What a wonderful, encouraging, as well as convicting passage of scripture.

The next morning I went through Proverbs 3 again and read several commentaries on this passage. The saintly Matthew Henry, in his commentary on the verse, states that so often we only go to God with the big things that we consider to be important, rather than relying upon God on everything; even the small things.

I was bothered by a certain “small thing” that morning as I needed to take out the four heavy back seats of our van to make room for nearly $2000 worth of used Christian books that had been donated to ACTION by a church for needy pastors in the Philippines. I was scheduled to speak at the church the next day. They had the books ready for me to load into our van after the service, yet I did not know how to remove the seats. To make things even more difficult, my hands are arthritic and I am dealing with high blood pressure which made the task even more frustrating.

As I was struggling as to what to do, I prayed, “Lord, to many people this may be a simple thing, so maybe it is. So will you help me figure out how to get the seats out of the van so I can load the books for needy pastors in the Philippines?”

I went back into the house to do more study for the message I was to give the next morning. After I had warmed up a bit, I put on a pair of work gloves and went out to try to figure out a way to remove those heavy seats.

Believe it or not, the seats were out and safely stored on our back porch out of the rain within ten minutes! I was even able to phone my strong and younger friend who had volunteered to help to let him know that he would no longer need to come as the job was done!

Yes, in all things we are to “trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding”. I guess this might include abilities and strength.

31 Reasons Why Believers Should Give Thanks

2011-11-10T09:44:00.001-08:00

1.Because God is good. “O give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; for His lovingkindness is everlasting.” (1 Chronicles 16:34)

2.Because it is a correct response to God's righteousness. “I will give thanks to the LORD according to His righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.” (Psalm 7:17)

3.Because the Lord helps us. “The LORD is my strength and my shield; My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart exults, And with my song I shall thank Him.” (Psalm 28:7)

4.Because thanksgiving glorifies God. “The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!” (Psalm 50:23)

5.Because His name is good. “Willingly I will sacrifice to You; I will give thanks to Your name, O LORD, for it is good.” (Psalm 54:6)

6.Because thanksgiving magnifies God. “I will praise the name of God with song And magnify Him with thanksgiving.” (Psalm 69:30)

7.Because God is near to us. “For the choir director; set to Al-tashheth. A Psalm of Asaph, a Song. We give thanks to You, O God, we give thanks, For Your name is near; Men declare Your wondrous works.” (Psalm 75:1)

8.Because God will ultimately deliver His people from their enemies. 'So we Your people and the sheep of Your pasture Will give thanks to You forever; To all generations we will tell of Your praise.” (Psalm 79:13)

9.Because it is a good thing to do. “A Psalm, a Song for the Sabbath day. It is good to give thanks to the LORD And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High...” (Psalm 92:1)

10.Because God is faithful to all generations. “For the LORD is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting And His faithfulness to all generations.” (Psalm 100:5)

11.Because Gods steadfast love endures forever. “Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, For His lovingkindness is everlasting.” (Psalm 107:1)

12.Because of God's wondrous works. “Let them give thanks to the LORD for His lovingkindness, And for His wonders to the sons of men!” (Psalm 107:8)

13.Because God is salvation. “I shall give thanks to You, for You have answered me, And You have become my salvation.” (Psalm 118:21)

14.Because he is our God. “You are my God, and I give thanks to You; You are my God, I extol You.” (Psalm 118:28)

15.Because God has exalted His own name and His word. “You are my God, and I give thanks to You; You are my God, I extol You.” (Psalm 138:2)

16.Because thanksgiving is a characteristic of righteous people. “Surely the righteous will give thanks to Your name; The upright will dwell in Your presence.” (Psalm 140:13)

17.Because we are His workmanship and the recipients of His mercy. The LORD is good to all, and His mercies are over all His works. All Your works shall give thanks to You, O LORD, And Your godly ones shall bless You.” (Psalm 145:9-10)

18.Because His anger has been turned away from us. “Then you will say on that day, 'I will give thanks to You, O LORD; For although You were angry with me, Your anger is turned away, And You comfort me.'” (Isaiah 12:1)

19.Because of Jesus' example of giving thanks. “And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, 'This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.'” (Luke 22:19)

20.Because others have heard an account of faithful believers. “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world.” (Romans 1:8)

21.Because we are no longer slaves to sin. “But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed,” (Romans 6:17)

22.Because we see God's grace working in other believers. “I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus...” (1 Corinthians 1:4)

23.Because we are given victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. “...but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians15:57)

24.Because of answered prayer. “For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe's people, that there are quarrels among you.” (2 Corinthians 1:11)

25.Because God worlds through believers to spread knowledge of Himself. “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.” (2 Corinthians 2:14)

26.Because we are commanded to give thanks always and for everything. “...always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father...” (Ephesians 5:20)

27.Because it is God's will that we give thanks always and for everything. “...in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

28.Because we see God's love demonstrated by other believers. “We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater...” (2 Thessalonians 1:3)

29.Because God entrusts us with the task of serving Him. “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service...” (1 Timothy 1:12)

30.Because we remember believing friends. “I thank my God always, making mention of you in my prayers...” (Philemon 1:4)

31.Because we have received a kingdom that cannot be shaken. “Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe...” (Hebrews 12:28)

Know that the LORD Himself is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. For the LORD is good; his lovingkindness is everlasting and His faithfulness to all generations.
Psalm 100:3-5

All Scripture is taken from the New American Standard Bible.

Can a Christian Starve?

2011-10-17T13:49:00.001-07:00

Recently I read the book "Winning by Losing" by Richard Fowler. It covers Biblical paradoxes. What do think about the following on pages 80-81?

Writing to Timothy, Paul admonishes, "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2: 15).

Dealing with the question of starvation or any other issue in Scripture, we must first rid ourselves of any biases apart from the illumination given us by the Holy Spirit. Second, we must work diligently in our quest for truth. And third, we need to handle God's word accurately.

Can a Christian ever die of starvation? The answer is definitely yes.

There have been accounts of Christians dying from malnutrition in concentration camps. It has also been documented that a group of missionaries starved to death on a small island when a storm broke their tiny ship to pieces on the rocks. The skeletons of those missionaries were found some years later. Notes they wrote were found, and in them the missionaries gave a day-to-day account of their experience until the last survivor became too weak to write.

So the question emerges; If Christians can die of starvation, why does God allow it to happen? The answer can be obtained from reading the account of Jesus healing the blind man in John 9. When asked "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind?" Jesus answered, "It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was in order that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of Him who sent Me, as long as it is day; night is coming, when no man can work" (John 9:2-4).

No one dies by accident. God is sovereign. And any trial, whether it be hunger or sickness, is outlined in God's plan for eternity. As Christians, then, we are admonished to have the faith to believe that what¬ever happens to any of us in this life happens in order that the works of God might be displayed.

That is the faith I saw in the lives of my parents when I was growing up in Central America. On one occasion, with no food on the table and only flour in the cupboard, I recall my parents sitting us down around the table thanking God for what He had provided. Just then there came a knock on the door-and there on the porch sat two bags of groceries! Reading of God's provision is one thing. Experiencing it, however, has given me an unshakable faith in the God who works all things for our good and His glory.

The God who created us never forsakes us. And those believers who have been chosen by Him to endure deprivation in any sense can know a deeper peace and fullness through that deprivation than any sort of peace and fullness the world can offer. The person who can accept the hardest things from the hand of God as well as the easiest is the one whose faith is most honoring to the Lord.

Source: Richard Fowler, Winning By Losing: 11 Biblical Paradoxes That Can Change Your Life, Moody Press, 1986, p. 80-1.

A little child ... waiting for someone to share the Gospel!

2011-09-27T13:37:00.000-07:00

Recently, I read the following from the excellent book, Daddy, Are We There Yet (A global check-in on the world of mission and kids) by Sylvia Foth, Director of Kidzana Ministries. As you read this story, you will rejoice again in the sovereign plan of God of bringing a little child to Himself through the Gospel:

"A visitation team went out on Monday evening to spend some time with a sixth grade girl who had visited our church the day before. The team of two adults and two students were very excited about meeting someone new and watching for the opportunity to share their faith in Jesus. As they arrived they found the girl sitting on the steps outside her home: she was relieved to see them. She explained to the team that her mother was giving her the responsibility to choose her own religion. She had friends of many different faiths, and she couldn’t decide which one to follow. This girl was praying that the real God would send someone to explain the truth to her. Just then our team arrived. They were thrilled to explain God’s great plan for salvation and eternal life, and she prayed with them to trust in Jesus!"

I trust this will encourage you to be busy at your Father’s business of sharing the Gospel with all ages.

Doug Nichols

Daddy, Are We There Yet (A global check-in on the world of mission and kids), (Page 177)by Sylvia Foth, Kidzana Ministries
www.daddyarewethereyet.org

God Uses Ordinary People

2011-09-20T14:53:00.001-07:00

When you feel God cannot use you, it is helpful to remember that Noah was a drunk, Abraham was too old, Isaac was a day dreamer, Jacob was a liar, Leah was ugly, Joseph was spoiled, Moses had a stuttering problem, Gideon was afraid, Sampson had long hair and was a womanizer, Rahab was a prostitute, Jeremiah and Timothy were too young, David had a affair and was a murderer, Elijah was suicidal, Jonah ran from God, Naomi was a widow, Job went bankrupt, Peter denied Christ, the disciples slept through prayer, Martha worried over everything, the Samaritan woman was divorced more than once, Zacchaeus was too small, Paul was too religious, Timothy had a stomach problem, and Lazarus was dead.

“But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God” (1 Corinthians 1:27-29, nasb).

Sacrifical Giving

2011-09-15T14:41:00.001-07:00

Two wealthy Christians, a lawyer and a merchant, joined a tour that was going around the world. Before they started their minister earnestly asked them to observe and remember any unusual and interesting things that they might see in the missionary countries through which the party was to travel. The men promised ― carelessly, perhaps, to do so.

In Korea, one day they saw in a field by the side of the road a boy pulling a crude plow, while an old man held the handles and directed it. The lawyer was amused and took a snapshot of the scene.

“That’s a curious picture! I suppose they are very poor,” he said to the missionary who was interpreter and guide to the party.

“Yes,” was the quiet reply. “That is the family of Chi Noui. When the church was being built they were eager to give something to it, but they had no money so they sold their only ox and gave the money to the church. This spring they are pulling the plow themselves.”

The lawyer and the business man by his side were silent for some moments. Then the businessman said, “That must have been a real sacrifice.”

“They did not call it that,” said the missionary. “They thought it was fortunate that they had an ox to sell.”

Copied, Today’s Christian Woman.

Jesus is Lord

2011-09-08T11:16:00.001-07:00

The fundamental confession of a Christian is, “Jesus is Lord. He is my Lord. I am His slave.”

“…that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” (Romans 10:9-10, nasb).

"You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am” (John 14:13, nasb).

“Jesus is Lord” means that He is sovereign, Master, and He is totally in charge.

Lord is used 747 times in the New Testament.

Even though we are called slaves of Christ, He calls us friends. Not only does he call us friends, but he has adopted us as Sons and exalted us as joint heirs with Him in glory.

Knowing God's Will

2011-08-31T10:56:00.000-07:00

involves 7 things

These six are: 1. Salvation, 2. Revelation (Word of God), 3. Conviction (Obedience), 4. Dedication, 5. Supplication (Prayer), 6. Separation, and 7. Transformation.

1. Salvation

Ephesians 2:8-9—For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast.

John 10:27—Jesus said, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me."

2. Revelation (Word of God)

2 Timothy 2:15—Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth.

Psalm 119:32—I shall run the way of Your commandments, for You will enlarge my heart.

2 Timothy 3:16-17—All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

Luke 11:28—But [Jesus] said, "On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God, and observe it."

Hebrews 5:14—But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.

3. Conviction (Obedience)

John 14:15—Jesus said, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments."

Matthew 7:21—Not everyone who says to Me, "Lord, Lord," will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.

4. Dedication

Romans 12:1—I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

5. Supplication (Prayer)

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18—Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

6. Separation

Romans 12:2―And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

1 John 2:15-16—Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.

7. Transformation

Romans 12:2―And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

2 Peter 3:18―But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Our prayer should be, "O Lord, not my will but Your will...
in my life
in my family
in my finances
in my schooling
in my job
in my friendships
in my desires
in my service
in my words
in my dreams for the future
in all my world.

O Lord, Your will be done...
nothing more
nothing less
nothing else.
Amen!"

A Few Statistics from Capetown 2010 Conference

2011-08-23T09:04:00.001-07:00

(Found under: 01 Leadership Resources, 4-14 Global Initiative, 4-14 Booklet)

1. Christ followers as a % of total population
1990 – 2.5%
2005 – 4.7%

2. Estimated population of Christ followers
1990 – 87,535,000
2005 – 205,209,000
Average annual growth rate – 5.4%

3. Estimated total population
1990 – 3,441,271,000
2005 – 4,326,363,000
Average annual growth rate – 1.5%

4. The people of the 21st century will live in an urban world for the first time. Currently 50% of the world lives in an urban setting.

5. By the end of the 21st century 80% of the world will be urbanized.

6. The expanding slums and shantytowns of the world’s cities are already populated by one billion people. Nearly 40% of the developing world live in these dilapidated dwellings.

7. An estimated 10 million children suffer forced prostitution.

8. Malnutrition kills 35,000 children under five every day.

9. The number of street children has grown to 160 million.

10. 10/40 Window Statistics
Christ followers as a % of total population
In 1990: 2.5%
In 2005: 4.7%
Estimated population of Christ followers
In 1990: 87,535,000
In 2005: 205,209,000
Average annual growth rate: 5.4%
Estimated total population
In 1990: 3,441,271,000
In 2005: 4,326,363,000
Average annual growth rate: 1.5%

11. Population of children ages 5 to 14:
Top 10 Countries
India: 248,253,120
China: 180,084,594
Indonesia: 42,716,276
Nigeria: 42,716,276
USA: 41,819,347
Pakistan: 38,118,459
Bangladesh: 36,068,928
Brazil: 35,263,734
Ethiopia: 23,990,943
Mexico: 20,855,453
Total (Top 10): 709,595,962
Total (Others): 508,921,404
Global Total: 1,218,517,366

12. Our brains are 90% formed before we reach age 3 and 85% of our adult personality is formed by the time we reach 6 years of age.

13. Most people who will ever make a decision for Christ will do so before their 15th birthday. In the USA, nearly 85% of people who make a decision for Christ do so between the ages of 4 and 14. During the 20th Century, that age group was the single largest source of new believers for the American church.

14. By age 13, one’s spiritual identity is largely set in place . (George Barna)

15. By the time the typical child reaches age 9, the mental gears are shifted and the child begins to use internal cues to either confirm or challenge an existing perspective. As the child grows into adolescence, change becomes more and more difficult. By adulthood, only with great effort or under great influence will a person replace existing views and understandings.

16. Adults essentially carry out the beliefs they embraced when they were young. (Barna) This view challenges the stages of intellectual development formulated by Jean Piaget, et. al., contending that one must reach the age of 15 to be capable of reasoning as an adult.

17. More than 91 million children under 5 suffer from debilitating hunger. (36 D. Gordon, et.al, Study: Child Poverty in the Developing World (Bristol, UK: Centre for International Poverty Research, 2003).

18. 15 million children are orphaned as a result of AIDS. (36 D. Gordon, et.al, Study: Child Poverty in the Developing World (Bristol, UK: Centre for International Poverty Research, 2003).

19. 265 million children have not been immunized against any disease. (38 D. Gordon, et.al, Study: Child Poverty in the Developing World (Bristol, UK: Centre for International Poverty Research, 2003).

20. U.N. officials estimated in 2008 that about 33 million people worldwide are HIV-positive, most of them in sub-Saharan Africa. For years, the news about this crisis grew worse and worse; but now things are changing in some hard-hit areas. In fact, the full-scale reversal of AIDS is underway in the country where the crisis began—Uganda.

21. The physical health needs of children and youth are closely related to the broader problems of poverty. The staggering reality is that more than one billion of the world’s children—56%— are living in poverty or severe deprivation! (Stephen Langa, (Executive Director, Family Life Network, Uganda), discussion with the author, April 2006) A stunning 37% of the world’s children—more than 674 million (D. Gordon, et.al., Study: Child Poverty in the Developing World, Bristol, UK: Centre for International Poverty Research, 2003)— live in absolute poverty. Additionally, children living in what is defined as “severe deprivation” struggle with a “lack of income and productive resources to ensure sustainable livelihoods.” They are also victims of “hunger and malnutrition, ill health, limited access or lack of access to education and other basic services, increased morbidity and mortality from illness, homelessness and inadequate housing, unsafe environments, social discrimination and exclusion.” (D. Gordon, et.al., Study: Child Poverty in the Developing World, Bristol, UK: Centre for International Poverty Research, 2003)

22. World Orphan Population
India: 25,700,000
China: 20,600,000
Nigeria: 8,600,000
Indonesia: 5,300,000
Ethiopia: 4,800,000
Bangladesh: 4,400,000
Pakistan: 4,400,000
Congo: 4,200,000
Brazil: 3,700,000
South Africa: 2,500,000

23. Over one-third of children have to live in dwellings with more than five people per room.

24. 134 million children have no access to any school whatsoever.

25. Over half a billion children have no toilet facilities whatsoever.

26. Almost half a billion children lack access to published information of any kind.

27. 376 million children have more than 15-minute walk to water and/or are using unsafe water sources. (Dan Brewster and Patrick McDonald, “Children: The Great Omission,” Lausanne 2004 Forum, http://www.viva.org/en/articles/great_omission/great_ omission_booklet.pdf (accessed February 17, 2009).

28. According to the World Health Organization, 85% of the world’s orphans are between the ages of 4 and 14.

29. According to the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, at least 300,000 children, many as young as 10 years of age, are currently participating as “child soldiers” in armed conflicts around the world.

30. But the fact is that it is not just poor children who are at risk. Actually, all children are at risk. Millions are at risk from poverty, but millions are also at risk from prosperity! Many children and young people today have everything to live with, but nothing to live for. (Stephen Langa, Executive Director, Family Life Network, Uganda, discussion with the author, April 2006)

(Found under: 01 Leadership Resources, 4-14 Global Initiative, 4-14 Strategy Handbook)

31. The 4/14 Regions
Africa
Middle East
Latin America —Hispanic
Latin America—Portuguese
Europe — Former Western
Europe — Former Eastern
North America
East Asia
South Asia
Southeast Asia
North Asia
Central Asia
South Pacific/Oceania
Caribbean

(Found under: 01 Leadership Resources, 4-14 Global Initiative, 4-14 Window Golden Age of Opportunity Brochure)

32. The most compelling fact regarding the relationship between the 10/40 and the 4/14 windows is that our efforts should be refocused on the 4/14 within the 10/40 in order to reach the most receptive persons in the area of the greatest need and opportunity.

33. A country-by-country comparison of the nations with the most age 4-to-14ers is revealing. India, with almost 20% fewer people than China, has over 30% more children and youth. This is largely due to China’s controversial “one child” policy. Nigeria and Indonesia, with half the population of the U.S., actually have more children and young teens in absolute numbers. In the U.S., 25% of the nearly 42 million school-age children are Hispanic—though Hispanics comprise only 15% of the general population. In Africa and in places such as Gaza, Afghanistan and Pakistan, 40 to 50% of the population is under age 15.

compiled by Kim Craig for Doug Nichols, ACTION Founder

Advice to New Missionaries

2011-08-22T11:29:00.000-07:00

by Doug Nichols

1.No Bible, no breakfast! Do regular daily devotions and be serious about this. “O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day” (Psalm 197:97, nasb)

2.Read! Read! Read! Read good books and read the Bible through at least once yearly! “Grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18, nasb). Someone said, “If you do not read, you will not grow.”

3.Live by faith. “But my Righteous one shall live by faith; and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him” (Hebrews 10:38, nasb).

4.Build friendships with local believers, unbelievers and fellow missionaries. “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity” (Psalm 133:1, nasb).

5.Network for the glory of God. “…but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another…” (1 Peter 1:7, nasb).

6.Preach the Gospel to others. “Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures…” (1 Corinthians 15:1-4, nasb).

7.Practice hospitality whether you are single or married and do this often. “Be hospitable to one another without complaint” (1 Peter 4:9, nasb).

8.Learn to love the Savior, love saints, and love sinners. “…You shall love the Lord your God with all you heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Matthew 22:38-39, nasb).

9.Put on humility daily. “… clothe yourselves with humility toward one another…” (1 Peter 5:5b).

10.Be a servant of Christ by serving others. Remember manners are “the kindness of Christ in action.” “As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ…” (1 Peter 4:10-11, nasb).

Time in the Word of God

2011-08-01T14:55:00.001-07:00

There are many programs available to help you read through the Bible in one year. This year as last year, I have simply divided up my Bible in 360 days to read the Old Testament once(2 1/2 OT pages daily) and New Testament three times (2 1/2 pages of New Testament daily). This is only 20 to 30 minutes daily. I would encourage you to do something similar. Charles Colson said, "If we really understand what being a Christian means-that this Christ, the living God, actually comes in to rule one's life -then everything must change: values, goals, priorities, desires, and habits." A great habit is to spend time in Word of God; no Bible no breakfast!

H. A. Ironside:Ordained of the Lord

2011-07-26T15:15:00.001-07:00

by E. Schuyler English

1.However, neither the pursuit of knowledge nor the following of a trade deterred Harry from what he considered his calling. Photography was to him what shoemaking was to William Carey, the great missionary to India, who, when as a young man in England he was asked his business, replied, “My business is to serve the Lord; I make shoes to pay expenses.” (Page 59)

2.On the day that Harry Ironside left his job to enter into full-time work with the Salvation Army, his employer, J.F. Dando, said, “A good photographer has been spoiled to make a poor preacher.” (Page 61)

3.Ironside’s popularity as a speaker was further augmented by the unaffectedness of his person, the authority with which he spoke, the evident clarity of his thoughts, the simplicity of his teaching, and the brevity of his talks, which rarely exceeded thirty-five minutes. He felt that if he could not get this message to the audience in that length of time it was not worth preaching, and furthermore, that it was better to say too little than too much. (Page 174)

4.The late saintly D. M. Stearns once said, “I know of only one wholly consistent man who ever walked this earth. He was crucified at the age of thirty-three.”(Page 182)

English, E. Schuyler. H. A. Ironside: Ordained of the Lord, Neptune, NJ: Loizeaux Brothers, 1976.

God Uses Evil t His Good Purpose

2011-07-21T10:06:00.001-07:00

1. God sends evil but He does not do evil. He permits evil, but He does not do evil.

“The One forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the Lord who does all these” (Isaiah 45:7, nasb).

2. How does God’s will relate to our will?

“If a trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people tremble? If a calamity occurs in a city has not the Lord done it?” (Amos 3:6, nasb).

"Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know-- this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death” (Acts 2:22-23, nasb).

3. God has ordained everything that happens in time and space; and that man still acts freely and even evil to His people.

“Then Joseph said to his brothers, ‘Please come closer to me.’ And they came closer. And he said, ‘I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt’” (Genesis 45:4, nasb).

Joseph said, “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.”

“You sold me to Egypt for evil, but God meant that very evil event for good.”

“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28, nasb).

Truth & Transformation (A Manifesto for Ailing Nations) #4

2011-07-07T10:02:00.000-07:00

by Vishal Mangalwade

A rejection of the biblical, supernatural worldview does not make the secular world intellectually more sophisticated than believers who pray, "Thy kingdom come." It just makes it intellectually bankrupt. One only needs to view the latest eight Oscar-winning (including "best film") Slumdog Millionaire to see the inability of the secular mind to understand socioeconomic evil. The film powerfully portrays the evils that dehumanize the "filthy" rich and the powerless poor in India, but it does not even pretend to explain how such evils can rule a democratic country. Neither the film nor its hero has any strategy to fight evil. In fact, the film has no hero. Viewers feel good only because blind luck helps the lead character win millions and his beloved. Even though Slumdog Millionaire's portrayal of Indian slums is realistic, the story is unrealistic and romantic. Depressing films such as City of Joy and Ardh Satya (Half Truth) tell their stories more credibly. [page105]

Truth and Transformation (A Manifesto for Ailing Nations) #3

2011-06-27T13:53:00.000-07:00

by Vishal Mangalwade

Jesus needed to deliver his disciples from racism because he was making them the light of the world, the salt of the earth for the healing of the nations. As the high priest predicted in John 11:52, Jesus died to make the scattered children of God one.

There is hope for the healing of the nations because Jesus confronted sins that separate people into people groups, such as caste, tribe, and race, that prohibit us from loving our neighbors across these divisions. With his wounds he paid the price for the healing of the nations, which includes reconciliation among hostile people groups. The West's failure to understand the Jesus of the Gospels has at times had tragic consequences, such as slavery and racism. A distressing truth is that even today American missionaries continue to advise Brahmin followers of Christ not to worship with believers from people groups other than their own. In the name of propagating the gospel, they export racist segregation from America to India, as though we did not have enough sins of our own. These American missionaries seek to become "upper-caste" Brahmins in order to win Brahmins, ignoring the fact that Jesus did not become a Pharisee in order to win the Pharisees. Jesus' opposition to his religious culture led him to the cross.

When people commit themselves to following God even if it means conflict with their culture, God is able to use them to trans¬form unjust social sttuctures in favor of the enslaved, exploited, and oppressed. If they are willing to take up their cross, they will create ripples that never cease.

We Talk A Lot, How is Our Walk?

2011-06-10T09:20:00.001-07:00

by Doug Nichols

A. Before Salvation:
1. “…in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience”(Ephesians 2:2, nasb).

2. “So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind…”(Ephesians 4:17, nasb).

B. Now:
1. “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them” (Ephesians 2:8-10, nasb).

2. “Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called…” (Ephesians 4:1, nasb)

3. “…and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma” (Ephesians 5:2, nasb).

4. “…for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as of Light”(Ephesians 5:8, nasb).

5. “Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise…” (Ephesians 5:15, nasb).

What About the Hidden People?

2011-06-07T14:22:00.000-07:00

The number of those to be won to Christ in Africa and Asia has more than tripled since 1900. Almost three billion people today have little or no knowledge of Christ and His salvation. Never has the challenge been greater for total, global advance with the Gospel.

Most of those to be reached are often called the “Hidden People”. Why? - Because major cultural, racial, linguistic, social and other barriers “hide” them from the eyes and the concerned efforts of most evangelizing Christians. For example, if every Christian were to win his or her culturally near neighbor to Christ, 2.5 to 3 billion non-Christians would still remain totally untouched because they live outside the cultural home-base of every active Christian in the world.

Where can some of these Hidden People be found? – Consider just a few illustrations:

•In Japan the total Christian population is only 1%, most of who live in cities. But in thousands of towns and fishing villages there is absolutely no Christian witness, and no missionaries to reach them. They are hidden!

•There are 500,000 towns and villages with no gospel witness in Europe.

•For every Christian in Thailand there are 999 Buddhists, most of who have never once heard of Christ.

•There are 160 million street children worldwide and 145 million orphans. Most are “hidden” from the priorities of many church planting ministries and missions.

•For every 10,000 villages in India 9,950 have no Christian community whatsoever. Furthermore, less than 100 of its 3,000 castes and tribes have any Christians in them.

•Despite the strong Christian movement in Latin America there are still many Hidden People. In the jungle lowlands there are up to 600 small primitive tribes with over 5 million. Many have yet to hear of Christ.

•The almost one billion Muslims are concentrated in 44 countries and dispersed throughout 40 others. In the face of such diversity and with such numbers to reach there are less than 2000 evangelical missionaries working with them. Hidden!

Thousands of new missionaries should be specially trained and sent out for evangelism and discipleship among each of nearly 12,000 culture groupings where no churches exist!

The needs around us should always be seen in this perspective. Although we need missionaries on all six continents, not all six are equal either in resources, population or in present opportunities to know Christ.

To say that everyone is important and equal before God leads to an inescapable conclusion: those with no Christian witness culturally near to them, as well as geographically near, must have more of our concentrated efforts to reach them. For many Christians around the world these “Hidden People” must become our highest priority, or they will never be reached!

Where to Start in Ministry

2011-05-24T09:39:00.000-07:00

A pastor of a church mentioned that on one occasion he did not know what do to in ministry. The church was having so many problems he did not where to begin.

In reading James, he came to verse 27 in Chapter One, "Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world" (James 1:27 nasb).

So, he decided to start with these three very simple steps: 1) to care for orphans, 2) to care for widows, and 3) to keep his heart pure.

That is where he started in ministry, and God began to bless and use him in a wonderful way in his church family to the glory of God, not only locally, but also worldwide.

This is a good place for you and I to start today, isn’t it? To care for orphans, widows, and to keep our heart pure.

Truth and Transformation ( A Manifesto for Ailing Nations) #2

2011-05-17T11:50:00.000-07:00

by Vishal Mangalwade

Genuine compassion calls us to confront social structures and cultural practices that make people miserable. Atheism destroys compassion by making human beings accidental products of ran¬dom chance in an impersonal universe. This deprives compassion of all moral significance. If nature does not care for a creature too weak and powerless to care for itself, why should we, especially if he or she is of no use to us? Human beings are special only if they are seen as created beings, special to their Creator. If humans are created as image-bearers of the Creator himself, then they are even more special. And if individuals are to relate to the Creator in an intimate, personal relationship and carry out the Creator's will in this world, then they are very special indeed. That is how Jesus saw this blind beggar. "Neither this man nor his parents sinned ... but this happened that the work of God might be dis¬played in his life" (John 9:3).

Because an "unknown" blind beggar is special to God, we must have compassion for him individually. This compassion must be visible in specific acts of mercy, but our compassion for him must go deep enough to create a society that can see that a blind man is a special person. He should not have to live a hand¬-to-mouth, insecure existence until one day he falls sick, becomes too weak to beg, and rots by the roadside to be eaten by beasts, birds, and worms.

A society that cannot see the intrinsic value of a blind beggar ( Is blind to troth. Its blindness needs to be exposed so that it can be transformed into a humane and compassionate community. [pages 82-83]

Truth and Transformation (A Manifesto for Ailing Nations)

2011-05-09T10:12:00.001-07:00

by Vishal Mangalwade

The answer came from historian Lynn White Jr.'s study Medieval Religion and Technology. His pioneering research into the his¬tory of technology led him to conclude that it was the Bible that made the medieval West the first civilization in history that did not rest on the backs of sweating slaves.

The first chapter of the Bible presents a God who is a worker, not a meditator. God worked for six days-so must we! To work is godly. The third chapter of the Bible teaches that toil came as a curse upon Adam's sin. Humans became the only species that had to eat of the sweat of their brow. Since toil is a result of sin, salva¬tion includes deliverance from sin as well as toil-from mindless, repetitive labor that requires no choice.

So, why don't Western women haul water or dung on their heads? It is because, while the elite in other cultures used tech¬nology for power and pleasure, prestige and torture, Christian monasteries began developing technologies that liberated power¬less individuals from dehumanizing slavery. Toil is dehumanizing because it forces a human being to do what can be done by an ox, a horse, wind, water, or wheels. [page 41]

Tradition or Obedience?

2011-04-27T15:20:00.001-07:00

I was reading Mark 7:6-8, "And [Jesus] said to them, 'Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: 'This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me. But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.'" What are the traditions that I have allowed to come in to take the place of obedience to God? Would it be the tradition of social or political correctness or certain management leadership styles or the most recent "in" thing or book or a cliché or fear that is keeping me from following the commandments of God to love one another, to be pure, and to take the gospel to the masses? Traditions that may be keeping us from aggressively trusting God and moving forward in faith to do something about the 160 million street children of the world, the 13 million orphans of Africa, 90 percent of the people who have yet to know Christ in the Philippines, and the over 95 percent of people in India who do not know the Savior. So, is it tradition or obedience?

Go Get Them!

2011-04-18T14:59:00.001-07:00

Please consider helping recruit for the ministry of Action International Ministries (ACTION). Simply share the need for additional missionaries and the ministries of ACTION to your family, friends, and especially your local fellowship; trust the Lord to use you to help recruit for the Great Commission. You can inform people to go to the ACTION Web site [www.actioninternational.org] and apply online as the Lord leads. At present we are trusting God for many additional missionaries to serve with street and underprivileged children, needy pastors and in other ACTION ministries worldwide.

A Day with the LORD

2011-04-15T13:00:00.000-07:00

A Day With the Lord

“For a day in your courts is better than a thousand.

I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God

than dwell in the tents of wickedness.” Psalm 84:10

“Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” James 4:7-8

ACTION missionary Jim Robinette serves in Uganda, Africa. He is involved in equipping pastors and church leaders in their walk with God and for ministry. He writes the following on the subject of prayer and setting aside a day devoted to prayer. You can learn more at www.actionuganda.net.

Our Lord Jesus Christ, as in all things, sets a remarkable example for us in devotion and prayer as He gave Himself to God for an extended time. He drew near the Father in Luke 4:1-2: “Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they ended, He was hungry.” Though His consecration here is a preparation for His soon-coming ministry, in this passage we see our God, who became the Man Jesus, in an extended time of closest communion with God the Father.

The examples of godly leaders who found the benefits and blessings of spending extended time before God also encourage us in this practice. Donald Whitney reminds us that the church has been blessed by leaders who followed our Lord in nearness to God through spiritual disciplines: “Godly people are disciplined people. It has always been so. Call to mind some heroes of church history—Augustine, Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Bunyan, Susanna Wesley, George Whitfield, Lady Huntington, Jonathan and Sarah Edwards, Charles Spurgeon, George Muller—they were all disciplined people.”

We are to train ourselves in godliness according to 1Timothy 4:7-8: “For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.” This spiritual training or discipline (Greek: mathetes [meaning ‘a learner and adherent’] and sophronismos [meaning ‘saving the mind’ or ‘of sound mind’]) in grace enables us to habitually draw near to God and serves as a means of receiving His grace. “But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6. These exercises are not works by which we earn righteousness but merely a means to draw close to our grace-giving God that we may receive grace fully from Him.

In this spirit of gracious discipline for godliness, I offer you the following helps and suggestions for spending extended time in fellowship and communion with God. A Christian friend of mine once told me that he didn’t know how to spend a day with God so I offer these thoughts for him and others like him who would gain knowledge of this spiritual practice and apply it in their lives. I’ll also cite Biblical references that relate to the use of these disciplines.

Years ago I became acquainted with the spiritual disciplines through older, godly Christians. In my private readings I came across the idea of spending a day, or most of a day, regularly in seeking God through exercises like those listed below. As I began to practice this discipline I found refreshment and revival in my relationship with God. I spent usually one day a week (this could be one day a month or quarterly, if you prefer). I also began to fast during this time and this became a blessed and long-standing habit. I’m convinced of the blessings these actions bring. God abundantly blesses the soul that longs for Him. Time with Him can only strengthen and grace us. A longing for His nearness can be realized!

These thoughts are shared not as a formula but as an aid and useful guide. Grace requires growth (not declension) so choose the means that would be most helpful for you personally and begin to practice those means—perhaps with difficulty at first, but with increasing blessing as you draw near the Lord.

Andrew Murray wrote: “Time is one of the chief standards of value. The time we give is a proof of the interest we feel. We need time with God—to realize His presence; to wait for Him to make Himself known; to consider and feel the needs we plead for; to take our place in Christ; to pray till we can believe that we have received.”

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A Day with the Lord

Note: Schedule with friends and loved ones, and cancel appointments so that you have 6-8 hours of uninterrupted time with the Lord. This is an appointment with the King of kings and takes precedence over all things (Matthew 6:33; Matthew 7:7). Trust God and ask Him to show you the means that honor Him and bless you as you spend a day with Him (Psalm 52:8; James 1:5-6; Song of Solomon 4:9).

Your time could include:

A. Early morning devotions

~Reading the Bible is essential and reading devotional material is also helpful.

B. Prayer and worship

~The use of a prayer journal has been very helpful to me. Write out your prayers and pray from a Biblical text (Matthew 4:4; Ephesians 6:18; Psalm 68:4; Psalm 119:24).

~Sing hymns and songs to the Lord. This time should not be hurried but should be a time of edification and enjoyment.

C. Various spiritual exercises

~Exercise or go on a nature walk. I like to run and find this a help to meditation and prayer

~Study of the Word, meditation on the Word, reading the Bible and other God- honoring books

~ Being still before the Lord Quiet your heart and enjoy the Lord’s wonderful presence and nearness (Numbers 9:8; Hebrews 10:22; Isaiah 9:6).

D. Sermon preparation

~Some time can be used to prepare to preach and teach (Ezra 4:15; Mark 6:31; 1Timothy 4:7; Psalm 1:2; 2Timothy 2:15; 1Timothy 4:13; Jeremiah 36:8; Ecclesiastes 12:9).

E. Special prayer

~Schedule 1 or 2 hours especially seeking God in prayer and devotional reading of His Word leading to prayer (Luke 22:41; Psalm 143:1; Psalm 118:14).

F. Simply sitting before God in His Word; Resting in the presence of the Lord

~Enjoying the beauty about me is enjoyable to me. Enjoy God and His Word in nature or a place of quiet and undisturbed tranquility (Psalm 46:10; Psalm 119:59; Psalm 146:6).

~Schedule time for silence and solitude. This is often helpful and needed.

G. Fasting (Acts 14:23)

H. Scripture

~Come back to God’s Word repeatedly. Read Scriptures devotionally in adoration of His name. Simply to love God and rejoice in Him is blessed (Psalm 119:97; Psalm 18:1).

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May the Lord bless you, friend, as you seek to glorify and enjoy God in a day in communion with Him.

“Be much in prayer. Spend longer time in holy adoration. Read the Scriptures more earnestly and constantly. Watch your lives more carefully. Live nearer to God.” –C.H. Spurgeon

“See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil.” Ephesians 5:15-16.

Feeding the Hundry

2011-04-11T11:43:00.000-07:00

by Pastor Ron Mcconnell

It is impossible to share Christ with a hungry man or child until we have fed him. It is also impossible to share Christ with a dead man. Some people feel that simply a program to feed the hungry without gospel witness is not “evangelical Christianity” but it is! Evangelical Christianity is Matthew 25 as well as Matthew 28. In Matthew 25 Jesus said, “Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these (feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, care for the sick, and visit those in prison) you did not do it to me.’ (Matt. 25:45). In Matthew 28, Jesus said “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matt. 28:19-20)

The question of good deeds versus good beliefs, or physical versus spiritual, or the social versus the evangelical, is not an either/or issue. One without the other is incomplete, inadequate, and therefore un-Biblical and un-Christian. It is both/and. We cannot have evangelical Christianity without a social consciousness any more than we can have evangelical Christianity without evangelism. We are called to follow Christ! He will always lead us to human need, whether physical or spiritual.

Prayer

2011-04-05T10:57:00.000-07:00

Intercession literally means to stand between two parties and plead the case of one to the other. It means that we must take into account the mandate for world evangelization.

Systematically pray around the world:
Sunday – Latin America

Monday – Central America

Tuesday – North America

Wednesday – Europe

Thursday – Africa

Friday – Asia

Saturday – nations of the Pacific

Intercede for the national church and missionaries in these areas, and for the suffering and poor.

Pastors in the Philippines: How do you define "servant leadership"?

2011-04-01T12:16:00.000-07:00

How do you define “servant leadership”?

ACTION missionary Steve Read in the Philippines reports: "Great mentoring group this week! Five pastors cram into my office. Worship. Praise. Prayer. Open
hearts. Electric.".

We wrestle with the idea of “servant leadership.” Luke 22:24-26 (NIV) describes an interesting
interaction among the disciples and Jesus’ response: Also a dispute arose among them as to which of
them was considered to be greatest. Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them;
and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that.
Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who
serves.” Like many things, Jesus turns the idea of leadership upside down.

After each has a chance write a personal definition of servant leadership, personal opinions,
explanations, beg-to-differs begin to pop up. Smiling as I leave the room, I ask them to put their heads
together and come up with a definition they can all agree on. One guideline: “No blood on the floor,
boys!” One replies, “But bruises are OK, right?”

The results are informative, enlightening. “Servant leadership is struggling by His grace to empty oneself
as Christ emptied Himself out. Servant leadership is being Christ-like.” The definition carries us for nearly
two more hours of interaction and application.

“Struggling.” Servant leadership definitely is not easy. That seems especially true when it comes
to serving those church leaders that always seem to oppose you. One pastor laments, “Moses had
only one Pharaoh. I have three!” It is not easy to serve self-motivated power-grabbers. “Struggling.”

“By His grace.” Unmerited favor. The gift of character, strength, graciousness that flows from God’s
heart. It is God at work, not the pastor when servant leadership is in operation.

“To empty oneself as Christ emptied Himself.” Philippians 2:6, 7 (NIV) talks about Jesus’ servant-
spirit: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but
made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant. “Made himself nothing,” literally to empty
himself, to give up his power position (Swanson, James. Dictionary of Biblical Languages With Semantic
Domains : Greek (New Testament)).

Wow! How do we do that? Stories are shared. Pain is felt. Tears are shed. Love is expressed.

Jesus’ command to love one another, even our enemies, rings in our ears. That’s the Christ-likeness of
servant leadership. How did Jesus love his enemies? He did it on the cross even as we our very selves, in
our sin, hammered the nails into his hands. He served us laying down his life, emptying himself. We hear
Jesus’ cry on the cross, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. Love.

Jesus continues to speak: If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross
daily and follow me (Luke 9:23). Daily love. Daily denial of self. Daily servant-leadership. Daily the
cross. Daily Christ-like. By your grace, Lord.

We continue to struggle in the mentoring group to understand, to apply. Yes, Lord, sometimes those we
serve do not know what they are doing. Forgive. Love. Christ-like. Yes, Lord, sometimes it’s what you

Learn more at Steve Reads Blog: warriorshepherd.blogspot.com

Guidelines for Giving

2011-03-22T10:30:00.000-07:00

By Pastor Valmike Apuzen

1 Corinthians 16:1-4

1. Punctual. Give on the First Day of the week. This speaks of regularity and habit. First Day – regular (Acts 20:7).

2. Personal. “Everyone” set aside.

3. Provisional. Set aside some amount of your funds! Abound preparation – give some thought.

4. Proportional – “As God has prepared you”
(Deut. 16:17) (16:16 not empty handed).

5. Practical – that there be no gathering when I come. No need for extra special offering.

Why give? Because we are stewards. God owns it.

TOPIC (Trainers of Pastors International Coalition) Philippines Consultaion

2011-03-14T16:10:00.000-07:00

2011 TOPIC REGIONAL LEADER CONSULTATION REPORT
Christian Community Development Centre, Tagaytay, Cavite, Philippines
March 8-11, 2011

TOPIC (Trainers of Pastors International Coalition) is a coalition of primarily non formal education ministries with the common goal of equipping undertrained pastors for the burgeoning worldwide church. In the Philippines, TOPIC is a commission of the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches (PCEC). The vision of TOPIC Philippines is “Every church with equipped and maturing pastoral leadership teams.”
TOPIC Philippines has 200 trained pastor equippers in all sixteen regions of the country. March 8-11, 2011, thirty-three regional leaders from fourteen regions gathered at the Christian Development Centre in Tagaytay, Cavite. The purpose of the consultation was to (1) equip and encourage the pastors and to (2) plan and coordinate regional plans for 2011.
Equip and encourage
With the vision of equipped and maturing pastoral leadership teams in every church, the consultation delegates explored the scriptural roots of multiplication. The group noted, along with other insights, that multiplication is God’s will with roots in the creation account and the Abrahamic covenant. Multiplication is natural in creation with creatures procreating after their own kind. Spiritually, God connected obedience and blessing with multiplication. Considering the scope of all Scripture, multiplication not only has to do with quantity but quality as well, multiplying character through discipling and mentoring.
The delegates also discussed “Overcoming the Dark Side of Leadership: The Paradox of Personal Dysfunction” (Gary L. McIntosh and Samuel D. Rima, Sr.). The pastors offered heartfelt sharing, support and prayer with each other as they confessed their dark sides to each other. The “dark side” is the dysfunctional stuff we carry with us that must be brought under the healing hand of God. Everyone has a dark side but in leadership, especially Christian leadership with its pressures and unwritten expectations, sinful stuff can come out in unexpected ways and times. We hear of pastors falling into sin, immorality, anger issues, lack of integrity, and the like. As we face these issues God can bring healing and transformation. Like Paul, weakness can become the springboard for the grace of God to be displayed, victory experienced, growth realized.
Group devotionals also encouraged and inspired, offering much appreciated feeding to pastors who usually feeding others on a weekly basis. Executive committee member Pastor Roli Manuel shared that true success in God’s eyes is through a life of FAITH: faithfulness, availability, integrity, and humility. Ex com member Pastor Gil Balignasay led the pastors to the life of King Josiah. In Josiah’s devotion to God, he was a seeker of God, loyalist to God, promoter of God, and a revivalist in passion for God.
Plan and coordinate
In addition to coordinating schedules for ongoing regional training in 2011, long term goals were established called CORE 10K. CORE stands for Community of Regional Equippers. 10K expresses the goal to raise up 10,000 trained pastoral equippers by 2020. This goal will be fulfilled through widespread recruitment, mentoring, and training. Each of the 200 current trained TOPIC pastors will recruit and mentor four new potential pastors. The new recruits will be mentored and trained for three years, after which they in turn will each mentor four more for three years. The numbers crunch to well over 10,000 by 2020, leaving a buffer for attrition.
A role-up-our-sleeves spirit infects the TOPIC regional leadership team in anticipation of all that God will do in the coming years. In a land with a rapidly multiplying church, there is a critical need for multiplying leadership as well. By God’s grace, TOPIC Philippines will continue to fulfill the scriptural multiplying mandate as it seeks to establish equipped and maturing pastoral leadership teams in every church.

Scriptural Prayers for Revival

2011-03-14T09:25:00.000-07:00

1.Lord, convict me of my specific sins that need cleansed in the blood.
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9, nasb).

2.Lord, give me the Spirit of prevailing prayer.
“In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for word” Romans 8:26 (nasb).

3.Lord, burden me deeply over the headlong rush to destruction many engage in.

“I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh.” (Romans 9:1-3, nasb).

4.Lord, pour out your Holy Spirit mightily upon us.

“And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak the word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:31, nasb).

5.Lord, revive your work in the midst of years.
“Lord, I have heard the report about Thee and I fear O Lord, revive Your work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy” (Habakkuk 3:2, nasb)

Pastors and IN-AND-OUT BURGER

2011-03-10T09:41:00.000-08:00

by Dave Jacobs

Smaller churches lack the resources of larger churches. This does not mean they will not be able to provide meaningful ministry to their members and community, but it does mean they will have to be more selective in what they offer.

In 1948, the first In-N-Out Burger was founded by Harry and Esther Snyder in Baldwin Park, California. Harry’s idea of a drive-thru hamburger stand where customers could order through a two-way speaker box was quite unique. In that era, it was common to see carhops serving those who wanted to order food from their car. Harry’s idea caught on and California’s first drive-thru hamburger stand was born.

The Snyder’s business philosophy was simple: “Give customers the freshest, highest quality foods you can buy and provide them with friendly service in a sparkling clean environment.” These principles have worked so well over the years that they are still the company’s fundamental philosophy. In-N-Out Burger has basically three items on their menus: burgers, fries, and drinks. There are no salads, no burritos, no chicken sandwiches. Think of the huge variety most other fast food chains offer. You would think In-N-Out made a mistake in limiting what they offer but they continue to be one of the most popular food chains in California, Nevada, and Arizona.

I think smaller churches need to follow the example of In-N-Out…do a few things well and, “Give customers the freshest, highest quality foods you can buy and provide them with friendly service in a sparkling clean environment.”

What do you have the resources to do? By adding more ministries prematurely are you running the risk of providing a poor product and equally as bad, burned out workers? It would be better to do a few things well than a bunch of things half-baked that burn people out.

-If you can’t do multi-media well…don’t do multi-media.
-If you don’t have the manpower (usually it’s womanpower) to do a full-on Sunday school program, don’t do one.
-If there are not resources and interest for doing small groups…let it go and wait until the time is right.

You get the point. Smaller churches need to copy In-N-Out not Dennys. Dennys offers everything you could ever want. In-N-Out…burgers, fries, and drinks. Since mission statements are so popular these days, perhaps your mission statement should be In-N-Out’s: “Give customers the freshest, highest quality foods you can buy and provide them with friendly service in a sparkling clean environment.”

Source: http://www.toddrhoades.com/?p=1631

Why Does ACTION Work in Crisis Relief?

2011-03-07T12:38:00.001-08:00

Someone asked us recently “Why is ACTION involved with crisis relief? Why not just let large NGOs like World Vision handle it?”

A brief answer is that we want to follow Jesus by loving our neighbors (Luke 10: 25-37). ACTION works with evangelical missions, workers, networks, evangelical churches, and local ministries who are often near the place where crises occur. These believers have a desire to reach out in compassion to those in need in the name of Jesus Christ. They know our heart is the same as theirs so we are invited to serve with them.

ACTION is an evangelical mission committed to working in ministry (such as crisis relief) through local evangelical churches -- churches which minister compassionate care and the Gospel. It is true that ACTION is not a relief agency and it is not easy taking on added burdens of those in distress. However, Christ would have us do no less and we embrace His wish as our pleasure.

Most relief agencies from our observation and experience are not integrated with local churches and ministries the way ACTION is. We conduct our relief and mercy projects alongside our brothers and sisters in Christ as the Lord leads. It is our privilege to contribute resources and personnel toward their initiatives or mutually envisioned relief efforts.

Train Up a Child

2011-03-01T10:17:00.001-08:00

“We can also teach our sons and daughters that there is a world of suffering beyond our own neighborhood. Unfortunately, our kids won’t get a reliable perspective of this plight through the media. In 1988, for example, the press sent an army of reporters to cover the story of three trapped whales in Alaska. Several governments cooperated to rescue these animals, and the media heralded this account to inquiring minds around the world. Sadly, the same year, more than a quarter of a million people died of starvation in the Sudan. Their terrible tragedy never made the front page.

In fact, more children die in the Third World every two days than all the American servicemen killed in the Vietnam War. In some countries like Tanzania, one of five children will die before the age of five from diseases such as measles, malnourishment, diarrhea, and malaria. This is the stark reality of life and death in the Southern Hemisphere.”

Train Up A Child by Rolf Zettersten
(pages 29-30)

Romans (An Interpretive Outline)

2011-02-14T10:04:00.000-08:00

p.88 “Since the heathen sin against God by breaking the law written on their hearts, they will perish unless the message of Christ is carried to them. There is not justification for sinners apart from faith in Christ! Those whom God has chosen to save He saves through the means of the Gospel of Jesus Christ; He calls them outwardly by the message of the Gospel and inwardly by the Holy Spirit who enables them to believe the message. ‘But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God chose you from the beginning to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ,’ (II Thessalonians 2:13-14).

There are some who believe that those who never hear the Gospel cannot be damned. They argue that ‘God would not be so unjust as to condemn to hell those who have never been given a chance to accept or to reject Christ.’ Yet they advocate the sending of missionaries to those who have never heard and who, therefore, according to their view, could not possibly be lost. It seems contradictory to hold that the heathen are safe because they have never heard of Christ, and yet to support the missionary movement. For if the heathen cannot be lost without first hearing the Gospel and if after hearing it some of them reject it, then, would it not follow that missionaries, instead of bringing the possibility of salvation to the heathen are, in fact, bringing only condemnation to those who reject Christ after hearing the message? But, as Paul shows in Romans, men are lost, not by their rejection of the Gospel of Christ which frees them of the guilt of their sins, they must first hear it. Thus, the sending of missionaries is absolutely imperative if the heathen are to be saved.

As to the question of the salvation of those incapable of understanding and believing the Gospel (i.e., infants, the mentally incompetent, etc.) the Scriptures are silent-it is enough to know that the Judge of the world will do right. That they stand in need of salvation is clear from the fact that Adam’s sin has been charged to all the race (5:12-19); but we are given no information as to what provision has been made for them. This much is certain: if they enter heaven it must be through the merits of Christ, and not because they are innocent or free from guilt. When considering such matters we should ever keep before us the words of Deuteronomy 29:29, ‘The secret things belong to the Lord our God;’ but the things that are revealed belong to us and our children forever…’”

Readers Are Leaders

2011-02-07T11:21:00.000-08:00

by Warren Wiersbe

The next time you pick up any English translation of the Bible, give thanks to God for the life and ministry of Wil¬liam Tyndale (1494-1536). It was Tyndale who paved the way for the translation of the Bible from the original languages into English, and this ministry cost him his life.

The difficulties Tyndale had to overcome to get his work done were colossal. He experienced shipwreck. His precious manuscripts were lost. The established church hounded and persecuted him, and secret agents were constantly after him. The police even raided the printshop where his translation was being published. Some of his "friends" betrayed him. Tyndale was arrested in 1535 in Belgium, and in 1536 he was strangled and burned at the stake.

My reason for citing these facts is to pave the way for a quotation from one of the letters Tyndale wrote while he was in prison:

"I entreat your lordship, and that by the Lord Jesus, that if I must remain here for the winter you would beg the Commissary to be so kind as to send me, from the things of mine which he has, a warmer cap; I feel the cold painfully in my head. Also a warmer cloak, for the cloak I have is very thin. He has a woollen shirt of mine, if he will send it. But most of all, My Hebrew Bible, Grammar, and Vocabulary, that I may spend my time in that pursuit."

Every reader of the Bible will immediately associate this request with one which the Apostle Paul made to his beloved son in the faith, Timothy. "The cloak that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee, and the books, but especially the parchments" (II Tim. 4: 13).

We have no idea what these books were that Paul urgently requested, but we do know that they were important to him. It is possible that portions of the Old Testament Scriptures were among them. At any rate, it is worth noting that both Paul and Tyndale requested books as their companions as they awaited trial and certain death.

Charles Spurgeon had a marvelous comment on Paul's request:

"He is inspired, yet he wants books! He has been preaching at least for 30 years, yet he wants books! He has seen the Lord, and yet he wants books! He has had a wider experience than most men, yet he wants books! He had been caught up into the third heaven, and had heard things which it is unlawful for a man to utter, yet he wants books! He had written the major part of the New Testament, yet he wants books!"

How I wish that this same desire for good books character¬ized more believers today!

Some years ago, an American paper manufacturing com¬pany ran a series of ads in the major magazines, and each one had the same caption: "Send us a man who reads!" In recent years, the slogan “Readers are Leaders!” has appeared in many places. Somehow, these messages have not gotten through to some of God's people. One purpose of this book is to encourage our readers to invest their time in reading good books.

After all, reading is to the mind what eating is to the body: it provides nourishment. I read somewhere "The mind grows by what it takes in, and the heart grows by what it gives out."

Many people are starving their minds by neglecting the nutri¬tious volumes that are available for their reading. They try to minister to others, but they have nothing to give.

Our God is a God of truth. "He is the Rock, his work is perfect ... a God of truth and without iniquity" (Deut. 32:4). God put truth into creation and thus made possible science and engineering. His Son is named "the truth" (see John 14:6); and the Holy Spirit is "the Spirit of truth" (v. 17). We never have to fear truth because all truth comes from God and leads to God. "Thy word is truth" (17:17). God can write his truth in the skies (Ps. 19:1-6) or in the Scriptures (vv. 7-11), and there will be no contradiction.

God made man to appreciate and use truth. He gave us a mind to think with, and he expects us to use it. God puts no premium on ignorance, even though he warns us against trust¬ing the wisdom of the world. Years ago, when 1 was a young Christian heading for college, Dr. Torrey Johnson advised me, "Learn all you can, put it under the blood, and use it for Jesus' sake." I have tried to follow that wise counsel and share it with others.

We must face the fact that God wrote a book-the Bible. We must also face the fact that he gave teachers to the church (see Eph. 4: 11), and that "apt to teach" is one of the important qualifications for a pastor (1 Tim. 3:2). Of course apt to teach implies apt to learn. Yet many pastors, sad to say, do not read and, as a consequence, they do not grow. This means that their people do not grow and that the church does not prosper. "You have a fine library ," I said to a pastor who had invited me to minister in his pulpit. "Yes," he replied, "and 1 wish 1 had time to use it."

Reading is not a matter of having time, but of taking time, of making time. We always make time for the things that are important to us. God gives each of us twenty-four hours a day, and how we use those hours reveals the priorities in our lives. If you devoted only thirty minutes a day to serious reading, you could complete the average book in at least a week. 1 always carry books with me when 1 travel (you could write a book waiting for some planes to take off), and when I make my visits to the doctor or dentist or anywhere else that might involve a wait. I would rather read a good Christian book than the ancient magazines in the doctor's office!

"But, I'm just not the student type!" someone may argue.

I'm not sure I know what the student type is. You can be sure that I am not encouraging anybody to become an ivory-tower recluse, a bookworm who isolates himself from life and reads himself into senility. There is no such thing as the student type, because all kinds of people enjoy reading. Many readers of this book are serious Bible students, and that in itself proves that they can handle books; for a knowledge of the Bible is more important than a college education. If you have learned to use your Bible, you can master any other book.

No, the time has come for us to lay aside our feeble excuses and come to grips with the serious business of reading for learning and living. Never underestimate the power of a book. According to one authority, for every word in Hitler's Mein Kampf, 125 lives were lost in World War II.

What shall we read? Certainly the Bible and books that help us understand it better. We also need to read books that will help us serve the Lord better. But along with these we must also read books that will help us build our lives and our homes-biographies of great Christians, the classics that have endured the test of time, and those mind-stretching books that we have always avoided.

One of my purposes here is to introduce you to the best in Christian reading, to encourage you to go to your own book¬shelf, the church library, or your nearest Christian bookstore, or perhaps borrow from a friend that one book you have al¬ways meant to read-and start reading it!

Remember, readers are leaders.

Warren Wiersbe, “Readers Are Leaders,” Victorious Christians You Should Know, p. 7-10.

Men Wanted with Pastoral Experience

2011-01-31T09:48:00.001-08:00

Wanted men with pastoral experience age 55 years and older to help mentor and train pastors in the Philippines. If you are an evangelical, willing to raise your support with a passion for the Word of God and training pastors in ministry, perhaps you would consider serving God with ACTION’s Pastoral Leadership Development team in one of the 18 cities of Metro Manila (20 million people) with some of the over 40,000 untrained or under trained pastors in the Philippines. For application and more information check www.actioninternational.org.

Seven Laws of the Race

2011-01-24T10:34:00.001-08:00

by Jim Elliff

The motif of the Olympic race was dear to the Apostle Paul. Did he sit in the stands in Athens or Corinth? Perhaps so. Regardless, parallels between "the games" and the believer's race in life were often on his mind. He (along with the author of Hebrews) gives us seven laws for running the race.

1. Run to win
"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize." 1 Corinthians 9:24-25 (NASB)

2. Observe strict discipline
"Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training . . . . I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified." 1 Corinthians 9: 25-27

3. Don't look back
"Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:13-14

4. Get constant encouragement
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, [see chapter 11 for a list of encouragers] let us . . . run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." Hebrews 12:1-3

5. Throw off restraints
" . . . let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." Hebrews 12:1

6. Discount pain
"And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me-the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace." Acts 20:22-24

7. Don't let up until you cross the line
"For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day-and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing." 2 Timothy 4:6-8

(Amazing) Grace

2011-01-19T11:02:00.000-08:00

by Dr. Stephen Brown.

It s one thing to discuss the theological concept or doctrines of grace and even to understand grace in a cerebral way. It is quite another thing to experience the joy and freedom of grace itself. With that being said, one should understand and something you want to experience or what you are presently experiencing. Read Dr. Stephen Brown’s pamphlet “(Amazing) Grace” on the Reformed Theological Seminary web site here [http://www.rts.edu/Site/Resources/Booklets/Amazing_Grace.pdf].

What Does Scrooge Have to Do With Christmas?

2011-01-10T13:53:00.000-08:00

I recently read the wonderful Christmas story again in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke in my “through the bible” reading program. Wonderful! Majestic! Glorious!
Let’s encourage our churches, pastors and music leaders to emphasize the true story of Christmas this year in their plays, dramas and presentations at Christmas, rather than music and dramas that may be entertaining, but have nothing to do with the Gospel of Christmas.

We argue in the US, Canada and the UK about the secularism of Christmas (doing away with nativity scenes, etc.), yet when people come to our Christmas programs, all they see many times are silly dramas, circus acts, dancing, ballets, and Scrooge (what in the world does Scrooge have to do with Christmas anyway, with its swearing).

There is nothing as majestic and glorious as Christmas music and the Christmas story. So, when people come to our Christmas program, let’s make sure it portrays the Gospel of Christ, and is not just entertaining as the world. “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law.” (Galatians 4:4 NASB)

Growth Passages

2011-01-03T15:05:00.000-08:00

compiled by Dale Arveson (New Living Translation)

a.Romans 1:10-11, “One of the things I always pray for is the opportunity, God willing, to come at last to see you. For I long to visit you so I can share a spiritual blessing with you that will help you grow strong in the Lord.”

b.Ephesians 1:16b-17, “I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you might grow in your knowledge of God.”

c.Ephesians 3:16-17, “I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will give you mighty inner strength through his Holy Spirit. And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love. “

d.John 15:5, "Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.”

e.Ephesians 4:11-13, “He is the one who gave these gifts to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God's people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ, until we come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God's Son that we will be mature and full grown in the Lord, measuring up to the full stature of Christ.”

f.Phil 1:9-10,“I pray that your love for each other will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in your knowledge and understanding. For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until Christ returns.”

g.1 Timothy 1:5, “The purpose of my instruction is that all the Christians there would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and sincere faith.”

h.Hebrews 5:14-6:1,”Solid food is for those who are mature, who have trained themselves to recognize the difference between right and wrong and then do what is right. So let us stop going over the basics of Christianity again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding.”

i.James 1:2-4,” For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything.”

j.2 Peter 3:18, “Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. All glory to him, both now and forever! Amen.”

The Heart of God

2010-12-27T12:33:00.000-08:00

“Yet you are a man and not like God, although you make your heart like the heart of God” (Ezekiel 28:2b nasb).

“Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Because you have made your heart like the heart of God…” (Ezekiel 28:6 nasb).

“But now your kingdom must end, for the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart. The LORD has already appointed him to be the leader of his people, because you have not kept the LORD’s command” (1 Samuel 13:14 nlt).

“No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us” (John 1:18 nlt).

“But God removed Saul and replaced him with David, a man about whom God said, ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He will do anything I want him to do’” (Acts 13:22 nlt).

The Gift That Keeps On Giving

2010-12-20T14:16:00.000-08:00

It is possible to be an encouragement to the people that you meet. In the first century church, one man so embod¬ied the characteristics of intentional encouragement that he was given a new name - Barnabas, which means 'son of encouragement.’ Imagine being known as a person who so personifies an encouraging spirit that your friends would give you a new name. That indicates the character of Barnabas. He was a man who truly lived out his intimate re¬lationship with Jesus the Savior who is Himself the perfect encourager. How did Barnabas become such an encourager? No one forced him to live and act that way. There are two obvious reasons:

1.Barnabas deliberately nurtured a growing intimate faith relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

2.He worshipped and served God out of a community of Jesus' disciples who continuously encouraged one another as they were empowered by the Holy Spirit.

All the believers were of one heart and mind, and they felt that what they owned was not their own; they shared everything they had. And the apostles gave powerful witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God's great favor was upon them all. There was no poverty among them, because people who owned land or houses sold them and brought the money to the apostles to give to others in need. (Acts 4:32-33, NLT)

Then the Bible says that Barnabas was one of those who chose to sell some land and give all the money received from that sale to help others in need (Acts 4:36-37). Some may be wary of this as mandated socialism, but that is simply not true. Here is a situation where individuals responded to God's redemptive call on their lives and lived in harmony with and sacrificial service to others. Motivated by the in-dwelling Holy Spirit of God, they contributed to the kind of encouraging culture that transforms lives, marriages, churches, and work communities. Beware of any so-called 'church' or religious organization that forces or pressures you to do good works for the sole purpose of getting more converts. In the real churches of God, God and the Bible are the only and final authority and not the organization itself.

ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS
OF AN ENCOURAGING BARNABAS

It is the purpose of God that each of us should grow into Christ-likeness so that we possess and demonstrate the character traits that describe the person of Barnabas in the first century church.

Generous. Barnabas did more than give generously to others. He was a generous man. His very heart expressed generosity. He was not only willing to give to help those in need - he was will to give beyond what others expected. He was willing to pay a price, to give up something he valued, for the sake of others. He could have kept some of the money from his land sale, but he chose to give it all. That does not mean that you have to give away everything you have. God wants us to recognize that all good things come from Him, and so we should want to honor Him in the way we use them - to meet our needs and to bless others.

Good. Barnabas was called "a good man" (Acts 11:24, NL T). The word for good (agathos) refers to the character of someone. Barnabas was good because he possessed the inner character of God. He demonstrated the character and attitude of God - seeing life and people from the perspective of God because he trusted the Lord to guide his life, form his heart, and inform his thoughts. He was a good man because the good God occupied his heart.

Spiritually Mature. He was mature in a spiritual sense because he was "full of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 11:24, NLT). He invited the Holy Spirit to direct his life and develop the quali¬ties of Christ in him. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to enter and reside in each genuine follower of Jesus so as to make him or her like Christ in their character. This includes devel¬oping the fruit of the Spirit, which are the personal qualities like the Lord Jesus:

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22)

This is why Barnabas always sought to encourage other Christians "to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts" (Acts 11:23). If you will passionately pursue these qualities of Jesus for your life, you will be well on your way to living as a Barnabas encourager, positively impacting others with last¬ing spiritual results. Isn't this what life is really all about?

Faith-full. Barnabas was a man full of faith. In his daily living, he really did place his total trust in the hands of God. He had great confidence that God would transform the lives of all who put their trust in Christ. He was a very discerning person who sought to understand others and rejoiced when he saw the evidence of God at work in them. It took much to discourage Barnabas, whose unswerving faith in new follow¬ers of Jesus spurred them on towards spiritual maturity.

When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God [in the], he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. (Acts 11:23)

Person of Integrity. The Bible contrasts Barnabas, who lived openly and gave sacrificially, with Ananias and Sap¬phira, who tried to achieve the wonderful reputation of Barnabas. But they were envious of him and pretended that they were as generous as Barnabas. Their pretense misled the others in their church. They were confronted by the Apostle Peter, who reminded them that lying to the people of God also meant that they were lying to God. Barnabas was so different - he lived with transparency and complete honesty. What he revealed in public, he lived the same in private (Acts 4:36,5:11).

Warm-hearted and empathetic. Barnabas expressed love, even for those who were unwanted by others. Saul, who was later re-named Paul, had acquired a bad reputation for persecuting Christians and trying to destroy the early church. After Saul was confronted by Jesus on the road to Damascus, he became a passionate believer and follower of Christ. But after the church leaders wanted nothing to do with Saul, Barnabas took time to understand and affirm him. Against the wishes of perhaps all the others in the group, Barnabas defended Saul and convinced them of the transformation that had taken place in his life. More than anyone else, Barnabas saw the truth about Saul and his potential.

When [Saul] came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. (Acts 9:26¬27)

Dare to be a Barnabas - a gracious follower of Jesus who always seeks to understand the hearts of others and is will¬ing to believe in their God-given potential. This does not mean that you should accept sin and wrong attitudes in oth¬ers. It does mean that you care enough to lovingly and firmly confront them for their own good and for the glory of God. Barnabas illustrated this when he confronted even the Apos¬tle Paul over Mark, who had deserted their missionary team (Acts 15:37-39). Paul was really angry over Mark's desertion, but Barnabas saw through Mark's outward action and was convinced of his potential. When you believe strongly in what a person can become, you treat them according to what they can be instead of what they have done in the past.

APPENDIX C
Church Greeters:

A Frontline Ministry

Seek to understand the culture and personality of your church so that you can be truly helpful in welcoming new¬comers and assisting them in feeling at home there. Know your own identity (who you are in Christ) so that your re¬sponses can be clear, confident, and helpful to all who enter each week.

Welcoming others in a church or group context requires answers to three basic questions.

1. WHO AM I? I am a representative of God and for my church. "We are Christ's ambassadors, and God is using us to speak to you" (2 Corinthians 5:20, NL T).

I am a partner in our church family. "Through us God caused you to believe. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us. My job was to plant the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God, not we, who made it grow. The ones who do the planting or watering aren't important, but God is important because he is the one who makes the seed grow. The one who plants and the one who waters work as a team with the same purpose. Yet they will be rewarded individu¬ally, according to their own hard work. We work to¬gether as partners who belong to God" (1 Corinthians 3:5-9, NL T). "May God, who gives this patience and en-couragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other-each with the attitude of Christ Jesus to¬ward the other. Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 15:5-6, NLT).

I am a friend, "Don't forget to show hospitality to strangers" (Hebrews 13:2, NLT). "When God's people are in need, be the one to help them out And get into the habit of inviting guests home for dinner or, if they need lodging, for the night" (Romans 12:13, NLT).

Character requirements: a humble spirit (Ephesians 4:2; Romans 12:16), a willing attitude (Romans 12:13), and a servant mindset (Mark 10:43-45).

2. WHY AM I DOING THIS?

I believe that God has called me to this ministry.

"Lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called of God" (Ephesians 4: 1, NLT). "He was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts" (Acts 11:23). "Let us encourage one another" (Hebrews 10:25).
I have a passion to share the mind of Christ with oth¬ers. "Be humble, thinking of others as better than your¬self. Don't think only about your own affairs, but be interested in others, too" (Philippians 2:3-4, NL T). See also Philippians 2:5.
I am committed to communicate the mission of our church. (~s each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts [members] grow, so that the whole body [church] is healthy and growing and full of love" (Ephesians 4:16).

3. WHAT Is MY ROLE?

Be spiritually prepared (Bible study, prayer, worship, and witness).
Confess any known sin in my life to God.

I seek to be flexible, loving, and sensitive to the needs of those who enter our church (Romans 12:9-10).

I strive to earn the respect of our church so that in my role as a leader, I can truly help grow our church (Philippians 2:29).

As people enter, I silently pray for visitors and mem¬bers even as I welcome them.

It's not about me. It's about God. If it's about God, it must be about others (2 Corinthians 8:9).

Source: Brown, Stewart; ‘Majesty in Motion’ p140-145, 199-201; Word Alive Press; Winnipeg, MB, 2009

31 Key Verses

2010-12-13T11:39:00.000-08:00

(poor, foreigners, orphans, widows, afflicted, oppressed, helpless, fatherless)

1. “For the needy will not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the afflicted perish forever.” (Psalm 9:18, nasb)

2. “Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up Your hand. Do not forget the afflicted.” (Psalm 10:12, nasb)

3. “You have seen it, for You have beheld mischief and vexation to take it into Your hand. The unfortunate commits himself to You; You have been the helper of the orphan.” (Psalm 10:14, nasb)

4. “O LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will strengthen their heart, You will incline Your ear to vindicate the orphan and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth will no longer cause terror.” (Psalm 10:17-18, nasb)

5. “‘Because of the devastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy, now I will arise,’ says the LORD; ‘I will set him in the safety for which he longs.’” (Psalm 12:5, nasb)

6. “This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him and saved him out of all his troubles.” (Psalm 34:6, nasb)

7. “And my soul shall rejoice in the LORD; it shall exult in His salvation. All my bones will say, ‘LORD, who is like You, who delivers the afflicted from him who is too strong for him, and the afflicted and the needy from him who robs him?’” (Psalm 35:9-10, nasb)

8. “How blessed is he who considers the helpless; the LORD will deliver him in a day of trouble. The LORD will protect him and keep him alive, and he shall be called blessed upon the earth; and do not give him over to the desire of his enemies. The LORD will sustain him upon his sickbed; in his illness, You restore him to health.” (Psalm 41:1-3, nasb)

9. “A father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows, is God in His holy habitation.” (Psalm 68:5, nasb)

10. “Vindicate the weak and fatherless; do justice to the afflicted and destitute. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.” (Psalm 82:3-4, nasb)

11. “The LORD performs righteous deeds and judgments for all who are oppressed.” (Psalm 103:6, nasb)

12. “He has given freely to the poor, His righteousness endures forever; His horn will be exalted in honor.” (Psalm 112:9, nasb)

13. “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:1-4, nasb)

14. “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.' "Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 'And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' "The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'” (Matthew 25:31-40, nasb)

15. “…the cry of the afflicted…” (Psalm 9:12b).

16. “For the needy will not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the afflicted perish forever” (Psalm 9:18).

17. “Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up Your hand. Do not forget the afflicted” (Psalm 10:12).

18. “You have seen it, for You have beheld mischief and vexation to take it into Your hand. The unfortunate commits himself to You. You have been the helper of the orphan” (Psalm 10:14.

19. “O Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will strengthen their heart, You will incline Your ear to vindicate the orphan and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth will no longer cause terror” (Psalm 10:17-18).

20. “’Because of the devastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy, now I will arise’ says the Lord; ‘I will set him in the safety for which he long’” (Psalm 12:5).

21. “This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles” (Psalm 34:6).

22. “And my soul shall rejoice in the Lord; It shall exult in His salvation. All my bones will say, ‘Lord, who is like You, who delivers the afflicted from him who is too strong for him, and the afflicted and the needy from him who robs him?’” (Psalm 35:9-10).

23. “The wicked have drawn the sword and bent their bow to cast down the afflicted and the needy, to slay those who are upright in conduct. Their sword will enter their own heart, and their bows will be broken” (Psalm 37:14-15).

24. “How blessed is he who considers the helpless; the Lord will deliver him in a day of trouble. The Lord will protect him and keep him alive, and he shall be called blessed upon the earth; and do not give him over to the desire of his enemies. The Lord will sustain him upon his sickbed; in his illness, You restore him to health” (Psalm 41:1-3).

25. “A father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows, is God in His holy habitation” (Psalm 68:5).

26. “Vindicate the weak and fatherless; do justice to the afflicted and destitute. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them out of the hand of the wicked” (Psalm 82:3-4).

27. “The Lord performs righteous deeds and judgments for all who are oppressed” (Psalm 103:6).

28. “He has given freely to the poor, His righteousness endures forever; His horn will be exalted in honor” (Psalm 112:9).

29. “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you” (Psalm 6:1-4).

30. “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me. Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 'When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.' Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink…’” (Matthew 25:31-42).

31. “But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, ‘Why do you bother the woman? For she has done a good deed to Me. For you always have the poor with you; but you do not always have Me’” (Matthew 26:10-11).

How to Give Money to the Homeless

2010-12-06T14:19:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine, Pastor Mike Paddy, has worked with the poor for many years, not only in the USA, but in the Philippines as well. He gives the following guidelines in giving money to the homeless.

He says…

“I look them in the eye, I ask them their name. I tell them that I am a Christian and that God the Father mandates me to help people in need. I am going to give you some help but I want you to know that this money is not from me but from God who loves you. As I hand it to him, I pray, ‘Father help this person with this small gift in hope of discovering your love for him, in Jesus name.’ You see when we fulfill the law of God in loving our neighbor in a righteous and godly way, I know I can trust God to do the work in his heart and soul to minister and Lord willing, bring that person to a place of salvation, repentance and a new life in Christ.

When we ‘justify’ our behavior of not helping suggesting that the money will be wasted, we are not trusting the Lord. After all, weren’t we just as bad off in God’s sight as sinners before we knew the Savior? (Romans 3:9-18).

Several (7) Statistics of Information and Possible Action for the Church Worldwide

2010-11-30T14:14:00.001-08:00

1. 28 million in slavery worldwide; many are children and victims of human trafficking! 400,000 children are in slavery in Haiti! [“Finding Slavery in My Own Backyard”, by David Batstone. “Missions Frontiers”, September-October 2007 29:5, p.12]

2. 3.2 million untrained or undertrained pastors throughout the world. Pray for missionary mentors and trainers to assist these needy pastors [http://topic.us/].
3. 100 million Christians are living in persecution throughout the world (Persecuted Church) [http://www.persecution.com/].

4. There are 145 million orphans worldwide. If one missionary (or one church) took responsibility for 1000 orphans, there would, therefore, be a need for 145,000 missionaries (or individual churches) [http://viva.org/; http://www.compassion.com/; http:// www.actioncic.org /]!

5. There are 160 million street children, especially in Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Thousands of missionaries and Christian workers are needed to take the Gospel and compassionate care to these needy children [http://www.actioninternational.org/; http:// www.actioncic.org/].

6. 200 million people worldwide are on the move (referred to as the Diaspora) in search of employment and a better education, because of persecution and natural disasters, and so forth. Many are open to kindness and hospitality which opens the door for the Gospel [http://www.fin-online.org/].

7. There are three (3) billion people worldwide with no nearby Christian or church to share the Gospel with them. They can only be reached by someone going to them (missionary) with the Gospel. If one missionary went to 5000 of these, there would be the need of 600,000 additional missionaries [http://www.actioninternational.org/]!

From the book, "Just Do Something"

2010-11-22T11:13:00.000-08:00

by Kevin DeYoung

Obsessing over the future is not how God wants us to live, because showing us the future is not God's way. His way is to speak to us in the Scriptures and transform us by the renewing f our minds. His way is not a crystal ball. His way is wisdom. We should stop looking for God to reveal the future to us and remove all risk from our lives. We should start looking to God-His character and His promises-and thereby have confidence to take risks for His name's sake.

God is all-knowing and all-powerful. He has planned out and works out every detail of our lives-the joyous days and le difficult-all for our good (Ecclesiastes 7:14). Because we have confidence in God's will of decree, we can radically commit ourselves to His will of desire, without fretting over a hidden will of direction.

In other words, God doesn't take risks, so we can.

For some this means trusting God enough to let your money slip through your fingers. For others it means holding it to the Word of God in some difficult circumstances or an unpopular situation. For others it means cross-cultural missions, or more evangelism, or a new dream, or confession of sin, or confrontation of sin, or new vulnerability in a relationsh¬ip. And for some it means getting off your duff and getting a job, or overcoming your fear of rejection and pursuing a lovely Christian woman. For all of us it means putting aside our insatiable desire to have every aspect of our lives, or even the most important aspects of our lives, nailed down before our eyes before we get there.

God has a wonderful plan for your life-a plan that will take you through trial and tri¬umph as you are transformed into the image of His Son (Romans 8:28-29). Of this we can be absolutely confi¬dent. But God's normal way of operation is not to show this plan to us ahead of time-in retrospect, maybe; in advance, rarely.

Are you feeling directionally challenged by this? Don't de¬spair. God promises to be your sun and your shield and to carry you and protect with His strong right arm. So we can stop pleading with God to show us the future, and start living and obeying like we are confident that He holds the future.

Saturation Praying

2010-11-17T12:34:00.000-08:00

by Rev. Will Bruce, Minister-at-Large
Overseas Missionary Fellowship
10 West Dry Creek Circle
Littleton, CO 80120-4413
Telephone: 800.422.5330 or 303.730.4160
E-mail: info@omf.org

I. Saturation Praying is praying in which we share, unite, and zero in on the target with specific and full coverage.

Luke 11:1 "Lord, teach us to pray." We are commanded to pray: 1 Thess. 5:17. We are invited to pray:John 14:14. We are the losers if we do not pray: James 4:2b.

We talk to God, the Father through Jesus Christ, the Son, helped by the Holy Spirit. We talk with God simply and naturally as we would talk to others, yet with reverence.

It is hard to change old habit patterns and adopt that which would prove to be more effective in relation to answers for ourselves and for others. Involve the whole family or group in praying--no spectators, all participate. We move on from panic or crisis praying to protective praying.

God loves us, accepts us and cares for us. He will also forgive and cleanse us as we repent. "We are His workmanship." Ephesians 2:10. He is a living God who hears and answers.

II. General Rules:
Brief--back and forth
Only one formal opening and closing
Avoid simply "Lord, bless so and so."
Specific. Not shotgun praying. Luke 11:5,6.
Saturate one subject at a time.
Pray in agreement.
Everyday language but not crude.
Honest and open.
One step at a time.
Then move on to another subject.

An example of saturation praying for a missionary coming home on furlough. Items for prayer will include: extra strength for the multiplied duties prior to his leaving; handing over the work to others; health problems; travel arrangements; safety in travel; needs of the family (change of schools, new friends, culture shock); relationships with family members at home (including unsaved or bereaved ones); a place to live; a ministry in the home church; deputation opportunities; need of a car, furlough studies; ability to communicate the challenge of the field, etc.

Evelyn Christenson has an excellent book on prayer and a leader's guide for teaching prayer. She suggests these 6 simple steps:

1. Subject by subject.
2. Short prayers.
3. Simple prayers.
4. Specific prayers.
5. Silent prayers.
6. Small groups.

III. Five suggested steps for praying, with full freedom to move back and forth between steps:
1. Tune in: Psalm 46:10; Ps. 27:14, and think of:
a. What He is.
b. What He has done for us.
c. What we are in Him.
d. What we have in Him.

2. Praise Him (worship): Phil 4:4-7; 1 Thess. 5:16, and thank Him for:
a. Who He is.
b. What He has done for us.
c. What He will do.
Be specific. Give thanks for NEW LIFE, HEALTH, FAMILY MEMBERS, ANSWERS TO PRAYER, etc.

3. Share personal needs: James 5:13-16. In honesty, in openness, with reality. Use "I" for expressing
a need or in confession, not "We."

4. Bear one another's burdens: Gal. 6:2. Have a real concern for and understanding of one another.
Use your imagination concerning the needs of others. Ask God for guidance.

5. Reach out in earnest, specific, in-depth prayer for other Christians and those without Christ in your
neighborhood, nation, and world.

IV. Benefits:
1. A new awareness of one another.
2. A new sense of being loved.
3. Timid ones begin to participate.
4. Praying is more thorough, therefore more effective.

Some recommended books on prayer:
Prayer Power Unlimited by J. Oswald Sanders
Born for Battle by Arthur Mathews
God's Powerful Weapon by Denis Lane
Prayer without Pretending by Anne Townsend
Mountain Rain by Eileen Crossman, The biography of J.O. Fraser. Gives an ideal example of what is accomplished on the mission field through prayer in the home country.
The Prayer of Faith by J.O. Fraser
Effective Prayer by J. Oswald Sanders

Overseas Missionary Fellowship
10 West Dry Creek Circle
Littleton, CO 80120-4413
Telephone: 800.422.5330 or 303.730.4160
E-mail: info@omf.org

The Benefits of Holiness in a Pastor's Life

2010-10-27T10:48:00.000-07:00

by Charles Spurgeon

At times we will find it a struggle to live holy, but ‘God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make a way of escape, that you may be able to bear it’ (1 Cor. 10:13b, nasb).
Consider the lasting benefits that Charles Spurgeon noted:

‘Sanctity in ministers is a loud call to sinners to repent, and when allied with holy cheerfulness it becomes wondrously attractive.’ - from Lectures to My Students

‘In holiness God is more clearly seen than in anything else.’- from Flashes of Thought

‘The serene, silent beauty of a holy life is the most powerful influence in the world, next to the might of the Spirit of God.’ - from Gathered Gold

‘Only sanctified souls are satisfied souls.’- from An All-Round Ministry

Strong Faith and Trials

2010-10-20T11:46:00.000-07:00

by Charles Spurgeon

“God never gives strong faith without fiery trial; He will not build a strong ship without subjecting it to very mighty storms; He will not make you a mighty warrior if He does not intend to try your skill in battle. The sword of the Lord must be used; the blades of heaven must be smitten against the armor of the evil one, and yet they shall not break, for they are of true Jerusalem metal which shall never snap. We shall conquer, if we begin the battle in the right way. If we have sharpened our swords on the cross, we have nothing whatever to fear; for though we may be sometimes cast down and discomforted, we shall assuredly at last put to flight all our adversaries, for we are the sons of God even now. Why, then, should we fear? Who shall bid us ‘stay’ if God bid us advance?” - from Gleanings Among the Sheaves

Open Adoption

2010-09-13T14:09:00.000-07:00

by Charles Spurgeon

Romans 8:23

Even in this world saints are God's children, but the only way that people will discover this is by certain moral characteristics. The adoption is not displayed; the children are not yet openly declared. Among the Romans a man might adopt a child and keep it private for a long time; but there was a second adoption in public; when the child was brought before the constituted authorities, its old clothes were removed, and the father who took it to be his child gave it clothing suitable to its new status in life. "Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared."1 We are not yet clothed in the apparel of heaven's royal family; we are wearing in this flesh and blood just what we wore as the children of Adam. But we know that "when he appears" who is "the firstborn among many brothers,"2 we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is.

Can't you imagine that a child taken from the lowest ranks of society and adopted by a Roman senator would say to himself, "I long for the day when I shall be publicly adopted. Then I shall discard these poor clothes and be dressed in clothes that depict my senatorial rank"? Glad for what he has already received, he still groans until he gets the fullness of what has been promised to him. So it is with us today. We are waiting until we put on our proper clothes and are declared as the children of God for all to see. We are young nobles and have not yet worn our crowns. We are young brides, and the marriage day has not arrived, but our fiancée's love for us leads us to long and sigh for the bridal morning. Our very happiness makes us long for more; our joy, like a swollen stream, longs to spring up like a fountain, leaping to the skies, heaving and groaning within our spirit for lack of space and room by which to reveal itself to men.

1 John 3:2
Romans 8:29

Does How We treat Other Nationalities (Races) Matter?

2010-09-07T14:51:00.001-07:00

When Jose Rizal visited the United States (April 28 to May 16, 1988), he was impressed with the progress and beauty of the country, the drive and energy of the people, and the opportunities for a better life for immigrants.

However, he was shocked with the discrimination, racism, and prejudice, especially against the poor, Chinese and the blacks.

When Rizal was asked later by a friend what impressions he had of America, he answered, “America is the land par excellence of freedom, but only for the whites.”

“So that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain” (Philippians 2:15-16, nasb).

The Bible -- King James Version

2010-08-12T15:49:00.000-07:00

These are notes taken over a period of time in studies (from KJV). If you see corrections, please let me know.

Books of the Bible

Books – 66
The O.T. – 39
The N.T. – 27
Middle book of the O.T. Proverbs
Middle book of the N.T. 2 Thessalonians
Middle book of the whole Bible – Micah and Nahum
Smallest book in the whole Bible – 3 John
Smallest book in the O.T. – Obadiah
Smallest book in the N.T. – 3 John

Chapters of the Bible

Entire Bible – 1,189 chapters
O.T. – 929 chapters
N.T. – 260 chapters
Middle chapter of O.T. – Job 29
Middle chapter of N.T. – Romans 13 (& 14)
Middle and shortest chapter of the Bible – Psalm 117
Longest chapter in the Bible – Psalm 119
Chapters that are alike in the Bible – 2 Kings 19 and Isaiah 37

Verses of the Bible

O.T. – 23,214 verses
N.T. – 7,959 Verses
Middle verse of the Bible – Psalm 118:8 – (This is debated. Some say Psalm 103 between verses 1 and 2 and some also say Psalm 117: between verses 1 and 2. Scholars can’t agree on how to get to the middle.)
Middle verse of the O.T. – 2 Chronicles 20:17
Middle verse of the N.T. – Acts 17:17
Shortest verse of the O.T. – 1 Chronicles 1:25
Shortest verse of the N.T. – John 11:35
Shortest verse of the whole Bible – John 11:35
Verses in the whole Bible – 31,173
Longest verse in the Bible – Esther 8:9
Verse containing all letters of the alphabet
except “J” – Ezra 7:21
Verse containing all letters of the alphabet
except “Q” – Daniel 4:37
Verses alike – Psalm 107 verse 8,15,21,31

Words of the Bible

O.T. – 592,439
N.T. – 181,253
Whole Bible – 773,692
Longest word – Mahershalalhashbaz 18 letters, Isaiah 8:1
Eternity – Isaiah 57:15 – (Some say 4x)
Reverend – Psalm 111:9
Grandmother – 2 Timothy 1:5
Gnat- Matthew 23:24
“And” occurs 35,543 in O.T., 10,684 in N.T.
God occurs 4,379 times – (3,358 times in some translation)
Lord occurs 7,738 times – (7,736 and 7,830 times in other translations)
Boy and boys – 3 times
Girl and girls – 2 times

Letters of the Bible

In O.T. – 2,728,100
In N.T. – 838,380
Whole Bible – 3,566,480

But You Be Different

2010-06-17T09:49:00.000-07:00

by J.N. Manokaran, TOPIC India

Paul is giving sound advice to Timothy, a young emerging leader. People would like to have preachers and teachers who would please the masses. They will love, serve and support preachers who ‘suit their own desires’. And there would be always a great galaxy of such preachers and teachers. But, Timothy belongs to a minority, who would stand for the truth, be spokesperson for God and have guts to face adverse circumstances. It is not an easy task. “But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.” (II Timothy 4:5)

Like many Christian leaders, I also get into confusion. Things do not happen as we desire or expect. While struggling for finances, there are others who revel in money. While struggling through health and other issues, they live comfortably. And many times they mock at me for lack of ‘smartness’ to move ahead. In the January 2010, during one such confusing time the above verse struck me.

But You

Timothy was and expected to be different. He cannot compare himself with others, as he is unique and special. I am not called to compare myself with others. Why should an apple be compared with orange? They are different species, and do not have common basis for comparison. Can a camel run like a horse? So, each one of us are unique, special in God’s eyes. Timothy has to do four important things, so do I.

1. Keep your head in all situations: Situations could sink us. They are not always favourable. But keeping head high in adverse situations is very hard. Especially, when we see ourselves as failure, non-productive, listless, aimless, purposeless…etc. That is what exactly we are supposed to do when we do not feel like or have strength to do. That means do not give room for negative thoughts. Let not others’ success or prosperity overwhelm you. Let not lack of support of others undermine you and me. Being lonely should not drown us in sorrows and self-pity. Yes we learn to live the present in the light of the future. Present adversity is temporal and it would pass away soon. The future reality in hope provides us faith to be confident and unperturbed in the present. It is a radical Christian life – adventure of faith.

2. Endure hardship: Paul did not say that life would be easy for Timothy. I cannot expect just comforts, luxury and smooth rides. It is going to be risky bumpy ride. Lot of bruises wounds and hurts. But it is progressive endurance of pilgrimage and not stagnant endurance of misery and hopelessness. The endurance is the cost of leadership, fruitfulness and blessing. The endurance is not passive, no option endurance; but proactive, joyful, cheerful endurance. That is doing apparently mundane, useless, unprofitable and futile things without murmur. Going through the listless chores, sometimes like machines, but with hope and expectation. The hardship is easy to endure if the vision is towards future. The present sufferings are not worth comparing to the future glory (Romans 8:18).

3. Do the work of an evangelist: In the midst on routine, mundane, unproductive and unprogressive situation, I have my job description to declare the good news. The most creative, dynamic and positive work in the midst of personal and contextual negative situation. My situation would be changing always, but the good news would not. So, my work continues and cannot stop in the earth. So, I live for a cause that is eternal, I proclaim a news that is enduring and serve the Kingdom that could not be shaken by any power on earth.

4. Discharge all the duties of your ministry: Timothy has lot of responsibilities a s minister, do I. As steward and servant, I am called to discharge my ministry responsibilities. I cannot sulk, wear sack cloth, sit on ashes and mourn. ‘Ministry’ is the sacred trust entrusted to me. He thought that ‘I was faithful’ (I Timothy 1:12), so he entrusted me this ministry, hence, I have to measure up to that trust. So, I have to discharge my ministerial responsibilities with excellence. In Paul, Timothy has a role model. Paul poured himself like a drink offering (Philippians 2:17) as he discharged his ministry. So should I. Paul claims that he has fought a good fight, in the struggle to keep his head high and full fill his ministry. In his steps Timothy would follow, so should I. In the process of discharging his ministry, he completes the race. Similarly, Timothy should not stop in the middle of the race, but complete it. Completion of the race would be my goal also. Paul kept his faith in all these. (II Tim 4: 6,7) The Just shall live by faith (Romans 1:17).
Challenge

Discipleship is taking up the cross to follow Lord Jesus Christ. The cross is custom made for each one of us. It cannot be exchanged with any other person. The cross also is connected with our call for ministry. Each person’s call is unique so is the life and ministry. Hence, it is not ‘comparable’ with others. Let us run with perseverance the race that has been marked out for us (Hebrews 12:1)

Do you work with humble servants?

2010-06-03T09:21:00.000-07:00

by Doug Nichols

Let me share two stories of servant leadership:

ACTION USA Director, Rex Lee Carlaw, had just returned from several weeks of ministry in Latin America. He was, of course, tired from many meetings, travel, and now was faced with a huge backlog of mission correspondence with many items needing his attention. However, a friend of his was in need as his elderly father needed assistance going through security at the Seattle airport. Rex received special permission from the airlines to aid this elderly gentleman, so he took off an entire morning to help this man through the check-in for his flight, baggage, security, and on to the plane.

I thought later, “What a tremendous example! This is the kind of friend I would like to be.” Even with a heavy work load, much to accomplish, people to see and telephone, and team members to care for, Rex still took time off to help a friend in need.

I share office space with Nelson Reed, ACTION’s International Director. Most of the time, we are not in the office at the same time because of our various ministries and travels, so this “office sharing” works quite well for us. When we are in the office at the same time and he has a meeting or receives a private phone call, it is quite easy for me to work elsewhere in the building, even the store room, as I dictate correspondence through a voice recorder. I do not use a computer well, so my assistants type my correspondence from recorded mini cassettes onto a computer. However, it is not as easy for Nelson to leave the office as he does his own correspondence on his computer.

Something happened recently that displayed once again what a humble man Nelson is. He told me he would be leaving the office around 3 PM for several appointments, and I would be able to work in the office alone, so at 3 PM I was ready to do some dictation, and Nelson left. After about one hour, I came out of the office and saw Nelson at another small desk working on his notebook computer. He had remembered he had several other things to do which he had not taken care of. I thought, “Here is our International Director moving to a small work station outside his office to work on international matters not wanting to disturb me and my work.” What a humble servant to inconvenience himself not wanting to bother another brother’s work in ministry!

You may say these are very simple incidents. If they are, then why don’t many of us do simple things like these more often? They are wonderful examples to follow.

Can you stay on your horse?

2010-05-19T10:33:00.000-07:00

by Doug Nichols

Jane Austin was a writer during the Victorian era and wrote several books, most of which portrayed the clergy in a demeaning way. The clergy were always simpletons and prideful; seemingly turning down their noses at people, rather than ministering the grace of God and His loving kindness.

Recently my family and I watched a new rendition of “Emma” by the British BBC. The acting and photography were excellent!

In the first part of the series, the Vicar (clergy) was leaving a house and getting on a horse and someone said about him, “That man is so full of himself, it is a wonder he can stay on his horse!”

This is exactly the opposite description of what should be said about a pastor or even a Christian.

Instead, a person should be able to say, “That man [woman] is such a wonderful person. He is so kind, gracious, humble and easy to get along. He is always reaching out to others, serving them, taking the back seat (or even giving up his seat) so that others can be cared for; he is the last one to be served and the first one to graciously give a kind word of encouragement and minister to others, even though he may be suffering himself.”

In Colossians 3:12-13, Paul says, “So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.”
As you can see, these nine character qualities listed in Colossians are the exact opposite of pride. A good question for each of us, therefore is, “Can we stay on a horse or are we too full of ourselves with pride?”

“God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6, nasb).

We are Agreed Regarding Prayer

2010-05-03T12:34:00.001-07:00

by John Richard, ACTION Minister-at-large

** That if two of us on earth agree about anything we ask for, it will be done for us by our Father in heaven (Matthew 18:19)
** That where two or three of us come together in the name of Jesus, there Jesus is present among us (Matthew 18:20)
** That He who spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, will surely along with Him , graciously give us all things (Romans 8:32)
** That if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us -- this is the assuranc e we have in approaching God (1 John 5:14)
** That we will obtain mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need, if we would go boldly to the throne of His grace (Hebrews 4:16)
** That we have not because we ask not and that when we do ask, we do not receive because we ask amiss (James 4:2-3)
** That when someone gives us a hard time and persecutes us, we need to cover that person in earnest prayer (Matthew 5:44)
** That Jesus taught His disciples how to pray rather than how to preach (Matthew 6:5)
** That we are to watch and pray even as Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane required of His disciples: “Could you not watch with me for a single hour?” (Matthew 26:40)
** That Jesus taught by example what it is to continue all night in prayer to God (Luke 6:12)
** That the good and compassionate Heavenly Father is waiting readily to give the Holy Spirit to us, if we would humble ourselves to ask Him (Luke 11:13)
** That if our hearts do not condemn us, then have we confidence toward God and we receive from Him whatever we ask (1 John 3:21-22)
** That if we harbor sin in our hearts, then the Lord will not even hear us; He has to hear us, before He can answer us (Psalm 66:18)
** That the eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous and His ears are open to our cry (Psalm 34:15; James 5:16b)
** That when the poor and needy seek water but there is none and their tongues are failing for thirst, then the LORD will hear them and not forsake them (Isaiah 41:17)
** That even though we confess: “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God” , yet there’s no real thirsting in our soul for the living God (Psalm 42:1-2)
** That if we are to have a spiritual revival in our church, then we will need to answer truthfully two disturbing questions: “Has someone got something against me? (Matthew 5:23-24) and “Have I got something against someone? (Mark 11:25)
** That there’s such a thing as solidarity of sin, that is, when any one of us sins, that affects the whole body of Christ (Joshua 7:11, 21; Isaiah 59:9, 11; Ezra 9:13; Nehemiah 9:33-34; Daniel 9:3-19)
** That we are to pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests and that with this in mind, we are to be alert and keep on praying for all the saints (Ephesians 6:18)
** That Satan trembles when he sees the feeblest saint on his knees and that there’s no other way whereby we can withstand against his schemings (Ephesians 6:11)
** That when we call to the LORD, He is willing both to answer us and to show us marvelous and wondrous things we could never have figured out on our own (Jeremiah 33:3)
** That when man works, man works but when man prays, God works (James 5:17-18)

--John Richard, ACTION Minister-at-large

The Leader and Courage

2010-03-10T11:08:00.000-08:00

Is it important for a Christian leader to have courage in the battles we face? The following are 8 quotes I have taken from the “Introduction” of the secular book The Anatomy of Courage by Lord Moran. It is quite interesting. What do you think?

Lord Moran, The Anatomy of Courage (The classic WWI account of the psychological effects of war), Robinson, London, 2007

Introduction: By General Sir Peter de la Billiere

1.Courage conquers fear. Fighting in war creates an environment where fear is prevalent, and unless courage prevails, all is lost. [Page xi]

2.Courage is not preserve of any one service; it is critical to the morale and battle effectiveness of servicemen and women in ships or in air combat, as well as in the army on the ground. Courage and fear are in constant conflict in war, for without fear there would be no requirement for courage. [Page xii]

3.Leadership in war at junior ranks places great emphasis on the individual’s personal courage, tactical flair and ability to communicate. At a more senior level all these characteristics remain essential ingredients, and other qualities come into play. However at any rank the one constant essential is courage, regardless of a person’s position or service; without it, all is lost. With customary perception Churchill, who possessed extensive experience as a fighting soldier, commented; ‘Courage is rightly esteemed… because it is the quality that guarantees all others.’ [Page xii]

4.Moral courage is higher and rarer in quality than physical courage. It embraces all courage, and physical courage flows from it. We are all faced with decisions requiring moral courage in our daily lives, even at home – disciplining and teaching our children for example. It is applicable in business, in law, within institutions such as schools and hospitals. It takes moral courage to stand up against the crowd, to assist a victim of bullying or to reveal negligence where others would prefer it to remain hidden. Moral courage implies the belief that what you are doing or saying is right, and are willing to follow through your conviction regardless of personal popularity or favour. So easy to expound, so demanding to achieve. In my experience a person of high moral courage will seldom fail to demonstrate an equally distinguished level of physical courage. [Page xii, xiii]

5.Fear in war is contagious, and unless disciplined can destroy a whole unit, let alone one individual. It can only be overcome by courage backed by discipline and motivation. [Page xiv]

6.As with money, your courage credit-worthiness can steadily diminish, depending upon the level of sustained stress experienced in battle or in other demanding situations. Physical courage is achieved through personal self-discipline, governing and subordinating the innate fear possessed by all humans. [Page xiv]

7.The most important personal requirement for those who go to war is to understand the enigma of courage and its critical importance in overcoming fear. [Page xvii]

Preface to the second edition

8.…the martial spirit of a race is in a measure a crucial test of its viriliy, and that a man of character in peace is a man of courage in war. Is it not true that the early discovery of fear is as important in one army as the other? [Page xx]

Lord Moran, The Anatomy of Courage (The classic WWI account of the psychological effects of war), Robinson, London, 2007

Needy pastors lost study Bibles and books in recent Manila typhoons and flooding

2010-03-01T13:42:00.000-08:00

Needy pastors, many of whom earn less than $20 monthly, lost most of their ministry books in the recent flood last September and October, including their cherished study Bibles. These are crucial tools for their preaching and teaching. Funds are needed to replace them and other study books.

Please Help!

A gift of $30 will help provide a library of 14 books valued at $200. Perhaps you could help provide one pastor with a small library ($30) through ACTION BookShare ministry.

Please send you gift to:
Action International Ministries, PO Box 398, Mountlake Terrace, WA 98043-0398.

For more information, please contact our web sites: www.actioninternational.org or www.equippastors.org.

Action International Ministries

Enough of Me Already!

2010-02-17T15:02:00.000-08:00

It's time to find other ways to illustrate sermons than me, me, and mine.
by Mark Galli

I can think of no better way to show how insidious personal illustrations are to preaching than to share a personal illustration. I'm aware of the irony, but it can't be helped.

Trying to drive home a point about grace in a sermon I preached at my home church, I told about the time when my wife made me angry and I put my fist into a wall in our dining room. Unfortunately, I picked a place in the wall behind which stood an immovable two-by-four. I broke a knuckle. My wife, who had every reason to avoid me for a week or so, treated me gently and took me to the emergency room.

Any preacher worth his or her salt will know how to take this bare outline and milk it to the max. And I did. I inserted telling details and funny one-liners. I paused dramatically at the right moments to let the tension build. I ended with a nice turn of phrase that put the whole incident in a poignant cast. I mean, it was good.

Too good, apparently, because to this day, years later, people will remark, "I still remember that sermon you preached where you told about putting your fist into the wall."

They don't remember Jesus. They remember me. They tell me how vulnerable I was to tell such a story on myself. They tell me how much they laughed. They never talk about grace.

Truth through my personality

This sort of thing happens innocently, starting with the best of motives. A friend on the East Coast told me recently about his pastor. Apparently the man is a gifted communicator. He struts up and down the stage like a comedian at a night club. His sermons are always biblical in content, orthodox in theology, and aiming to bring people to Jesus Christ.

My friend has noted though how this pastor begins every sermon with a personal illustration. The illustration may be about something that happened to him in college, or to him and his wife on a recent trip, or to his kids (three boys between first and fifth grade). Lately this pastor has also been concluding his sermons with a personal illustration, and a few times, a personal illustration has been the hinge in the middle of the sermon.

My friend says he's slowly become aware that the medium has become the message—the sermon has inadvertently become a showcase of the pastor's life and faith—and this by a pastor who my friend describes as humble and desperate to win people to Christ.

Phillips Brooks once described preaching as "Truth through personality." Indeed. But with the flowering of the personal illustration, preaching often morphs into "the truth of my personality."

Saturday night temptation

It was just a generation ago that the personal illustration was suspect. Homiletics professors frowned on the preacher bringing himself or his family into the sermon. It was unseemly, not serious exposition. But the 1960s introduced the therapeutic age. Today, the personal illustration is de rigueur. If you don't use personal illustrations, people wonder whether you are authentic.

The sermon has inadvertently become a showcase of the pastor's life and faith. Less about the centrality and greatness of Jesus.This is one reason we're so easily tempted to illustrate the gospel with our lives. In a therapeutic culture, we are anxious to connect with listeners in a personal way. The personal illustration is the easiest way to do that, especially if you can describe a personal flaw or mistake humorously.

Here's another reason we're tempted: When it's Saturday night, and you are desperate for an illustration to kick off the sermon or drive home the main point, there is nothing so handy as a quick mental search through our memories. It's almost as instant and reliable as Google! And so much easier than plowing through dozens of books, publications, or even illustrations on PreachingToday.com.

Finally, we're hooked on personal illustrations because our listeners adore them. They love a good story, especially if it's a funny story about a pastor's most embarrassing moment or about cute kids doing cute things in the pastor's home. It makes everyone feel warm and fuzzy and connected. It's so much more interesting than theology or the Bible! And it makes people like the pastor. Who doesn't want to be liked?

Three new homiletic habits

I've come to believe, however, that if we can't break the personal illustration addiction, we'll slowly but surely leave listeners with a new gospel: "Pastor Bill is such an authentic man, with a wonderful family—and such a great sense of humor!" People will recall vividly stories about the pastor's kids or those marital spats, or that sudden revelation at the Grand Canyon, and only have a relatively vague idea of the grace and greatness of Jesus Christ.

To battle this addiction in my own preaching, I'm trying three approaches, which I've rediscovered are classic homiletic moves.

1. Illustrate like Jesus. I'm trying to draw more examples from everyday life, and not my everyday life. I try to think of things I've observed about nature or daily life in the suburbs. Or I'll create an analogy or make a stab at a parable.

2. Illustrate with the Bible. This was a favorite technique of the early church fathers. A preacher in my church is a master of this. To illustrate how we disobey God, he rehearses the story of Jonah. To illustrate the feeling of despair, he'll read something from the Psalms or Lamentations. This not only illustrates the point at hand, but it helps biblically illiterate listeners learn their Bible.

3. Illustrate with discretion. Sometimes I build from a personal experience, but do so in a way that doesn't draw attention to me. If I want to show how fickle we are at being grateful, I could describe a scene at my dinner table when my kids were young, how they'd argue about who "had to" say grace. This could easily be crafted into a cute homiletical story about my family. Or it can be universalized, that is, it can be told in such a way that it is about an experience everyone has had: "Many families know how reluctantly we are to give thanks—just think of how many dinner table arguments we've heard over whose turn it is—and isn't!—to say grace …"

If well crafted, an allusion communicates that, yes, I have experienced this sort of thing—thus helping people see that I'm not preaching six feet above them. But it doesn't draw their attention to me, but to the common human experience we all share.

Even if we avoid personal illustrations altogether, it does not guarantee people will remember and have a vivid impression of Jesus Christ. But at least we will not inadvertently become the focus. To be sure—to boycott or severely restrict the number of personal illustrations makes sermon preparation much harder! But in the long run, I believe it will make us better preachers through whom the truth of Christ reverberates.

Mark Galli is senior managing editor of Christianity Today, and author of A Great and Terrible Love: A Spritual Journey into the Attributes of God (Baker).

Copyright © 2010 by the author or Christianity Today International/Leadership Journal.

The Power of Prayer

2010-01-27T09:35:00.001-08:00

D. E. Hoste, the man who took over the China Inland Mission from Hudson Taylor, wrote a book titled Behind the Ranges. He was trying to analyze why the people with whom he lived and worked were not doing very well. But the people in the other village across the ranges were doing great! He visited them only now and then, but they were always doing fine, so he began to ask the Lord what was going on. How could those across the ranges be doing better than those with whom he lived and worked? The Lord showed Hoste the answer. Although he was spending much time counseling, preaching. and teaching with those with whom he lived, he spent much more time in prayer for those across the ranges. He concluded that there are four basic elements in making disciples: 1) prayer, 2) prayer, 3) prayer, 4) and the Word - in that order and in about that proportion.

What Works in ministry to Children?

2010-01-20T16:27:00.000-08:00

A lot of ministry to kids amounts to little more than child care and entertainment. This alone does not fulfill God’s heart for kids. What will help us really reach kids and disciple them?

Over the past several years, we have asked mission leaders, pastors and teachers to tell us about the most effective evangelism and outreach programs working in their regions. This has not been a formal study. However, we heard many common themes, emphasized over and over again.

Top ten most effective programs for reaching kids
1. Families
2. Mercy ministry (ongoing compassion in action)
3. Christian mission schools
4. Vibrant, relevant Sunday school or children’s church
5. Friends
6. Bible camps
7. Other club programs
8. Vacation Bible schools or other crusade-type events
9. Sports camps, programs
10. Vacation Bible schools or other crusade-type events

Look back over the list. Do you notice what is missing? We have not included curriculum, children’s tracts, children’s Bibles, videos, coloring books, or other literature. Why? Because children do not come to Christ as a result of a piece of paper, unless it come attached to a human being. Children (and adults, too) are reached through relationships.

In many developing regions of the world where we train children’s leaders, people request materials. They want curriculum and teaching supplies. We understand the desire. But we feel obligated to tell them about the great North American curriculum experiment. For the past 50 years, we have watched more and more curriculum become available to Christian teachers for Sunday School and other children’s programs. Most teachers have ample access to well-written curriculum. What is the result?

Researchers report that two-thirds of our students are leaving the church after high school. Our children struggle to describe their beliefs. Have they grown as disciples? Unfortunately, no.

One lesson we have learned: it’s about relationships. [Pages 180, 181]

Source: Sylvia Foth, Daddy Are We There Yet? (A global check-in on the world of mission and kids), Kidzana Ministries, Mukilteo, 2009

Lessons from the Dungeon

2010-01-06T11:18:00.001-08:00

The lesson from the dungeon is that if you are going to be the servant of God, you’re going to have to tell the truth ― the good, the bad, and the ugly ― no matter what. And you’re going to have to live with the blast furnace of criticism and opposition.

Witness the integrity of Joseph in this matter. Some people must have looked at him years later and said, “He became the prime minister of Egypt overnight.”

No, he didn’t. God was fashioning Joseph for leadership in the crucible of suffering, hammering out his convictions on the anvil of life. And one thing God was teaching Joseph was this: “Joseph, tell the truth. Do what is right, because it is always right to do right.” Joseph learned the lesson, and he stood out in the midst of the malaise around him.

Just before his death, Paul told his spiritual son and disciple, Timothy, “Preach the Word…. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears what to hear” (2 Timothy 4:2-3). Calvin says, “All love to be flattered. Hence the majority of teachers, in desiring to yield to the corrupt wishes of the world, adulterate the Word of God.”

Joseph told the truth in the dungeon even when it was hard. What a shame that our nation is led for the most part not by people of this commitment, but by politicians who wait to see what popular sentiment is at the moment, and then follow it.

Somebody has to stand up and tell the truth. If God’s people will not be strong and do exploits, then who shall?

Alistair Begg, The Hand of God (Finding His Care in All Circumstances), Moody Publishers, Chicago, 1999 (page 106)

The Price of Christmas

2009-12-23T15:58:00.000-08:00

by John Richard, ACTION Missionary

Scripture Readings: Matthew 1:18-21; 2:16-18; Luke 2:33-35

Since we are called to celebrate a Christian Christmas, we need to remind ourselves of an important truth, namely, that there was a price to be paid by those connected with the Christmas event.

Nine Observations:
1. The parting that the Father underwent
2. The poverty that the Son embraced
3. The condescension that the Spirit showed
4. The shame that Mary endured
5. The stigma that Joseph carried
6. The anguish that the Bethlehem homes suffered
7. The interruption that the shepherds experienced
8. The trouble that the wise men took
9. The sword that Mary anticipated

1. The parting that the Father underwent
Of His own accord did God, the Father, part with His only begotten Son, the Son of His love. There was no other way to rescue fallen man. That was Christmas.

2. The poverty that the Son endured
God, the Son, had to vacate the richest place in heaven, even the bosom of the Father. Though He was rich, yet He became poor. How poor? Not as a king born in a royal chamber did He come. In lowly birth He came. So lowly that His cradle was the manger. His curtains were the cobwebs, and His companions, the oxen and the donkeys.

Thou didst leave Thy throne and Thy kingly crown,
When Thou camest to earth for me;
But in Bethlehem homes was there found no room
For Thy holy nativity;
The foxes found rest and the birds their rest
In the shade of the forest tree;
But Thy couch was the sod
In the deserts of Galilee.

That was Christmas.

3. The condescension that the Spirit showed
God, the Holy Spirit, condescended to come upon a virgin, who like every other human, was stained with original sin. He had to purify her womb and make it meet to bear the Holy One, the sinless Son of God. That was Christmas.

4. The shame that Mary endured
Mary made her body available for the incredible thing to be performed in her and through her. An event that set wagging tongues cast aspersions on her chastity. That was Christmas.

5. The stigma that Joseph carried
Joseph fared no better than Mary. Undoubtedly, he had fathered Jesus ! It could not be otherwise. This palming off the responsibility to the Holy Spirit. Whoever can swallow such a story? Don’t you see Joseph could not after all put away Mary? That was Christmas.

6. The anguish that the Bethlehem homes suffered
The Bethlehem mothers had to witness the awful spectacle of seeing their two-year old baby boys slain under their very eyes. Screams of anguish arose from Ramah. Rachel was weeping for her children unrestrainedly. That was Christmas.

7. The interruption that the shepherds experienced
The shepherds had to act on the angelic announcement. For them it meant leaving their flock and going with haste to seek out the Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes. They were prepared to have their normal pastoral life disturbed. That was Christmas.

8. The trouble that the wise men took
The wise men, too, took a long arduous journey. All the way from the East led by a star to a place they knew not where. More than that they presented the Babe with their choicest treasures: gold, symbolic of Christ, the King; frankincense, symbolic of Christ, the priest; and myrrh , symbolic of Christ, the prophet. That was Christmas.

9. The sword that Mary anticipated
Remember Simeon’s message to Mary at the Jerusalem Temple: “A sword shall pierce your soul, for this child shall be rejected by many in Israel …” That was Christmas.

What does Christmas mean to you?
A voluntary giving up of a prized darling?
A willingness to quit the comfort of security?
A willingness to be ridiculed and reproached for the sake of Christ?
A willingness to soil our hands with unlovely things?
A willingness to give of our sons and daughters to defend the cause of Christ?
A willingness to have the daily pattern of our lives disturbed?
A willingness to take hazardous duties?
A willingness to part with our material wealth?

If these be evidenced in you, then Christ’s coming is not in vain.

Christmas is really paying the price of Christian discipleship. And discipleship is an affair of great cost. It may cost a man his life; it may cost him lifelong separation from his nearest relatives; it may set him at variance with his loved ones; it may require him to pack up and go wherever Christ may send him; it will require of him the sacrifice of ease and self-indulgence; it will make demands upon his time, his money, his talents.

In short, he has to give his heart to Christ and make himself available to do His bidding according to His good pleasure.

“Tho’ Christ a thousand times
In Bethlehem be born,
If He’s not born in thee
Thy soul is still forlorn.” (Angelus Silesius)
-- John Richard

Should We Celebrate Christmas on December 25?

2009-12-09T11:49:00.000-08:00

Well, it’s “the most wonderful time of year” again! That familiar phrase from the well-known Christmas song is at once both an exciting statement as well as a confusing sentence. Simply put, our world is a realm which is chronically drunk with frequent incremental celebrations throughout the year, most of which are void of any substantial purpose for our lives. And chief among those celebrations is the “Christmas” time of year.

The time of year of Christ’s birth can be deduced from both the Bible and secular history as NOT being during the month of December, let alone being specifically on December 25th! In fact, most conservative NT scholars say the time of Christ’s birth was probably springtime or an early fall event. The reason for the late December dating was no doubt a Romanesque touch which added yet another celebration to its calendar! I am sure that their thinking went like something like this, “Why not add another celebration to our pantheon of parties which celebrates the virgin birth of Jesus (which was really a virgin conception, not a birth)!? So, in considering the pagan origin of December 25th, is there still Scriptural warrant for celebrating the birth of the Son of God – especially at this time of year? The answer is a resounding yes!

There are two key texts: Matthew 2:9-11(esv) reads, after listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh; and Luke 2:18-20 (esv), And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

The shepherds were mere men. We are mere men, women and children. They praised God and worshipped at the news that the Savior of the world had arrived into His very own sin-soaked world (Colossians 1:16). Now that’s news to celebrate!!

Pastor Jerry Marcellino
Audubon Drive Bible Church
www.audubonchurch.org

Is There Really More to be Done?

2009-12-02T10:46:00.000-08:00

One of the biggest concerns for mission leaders is that we start to think the job is finished. We need to celebrate when many come to Christ. The angels in heaven rejoice when just one sinner comes to repentance. But we must inform ourselves about the realities, and guard against the feeling that there is no more work to do:

The truth is, 4.4 billion people on our planet do not know Jesus.

The truth is, currently, at least 1.87 billion people live in areas with no gospel presence at all (World A).

The truth is, in spite of major growth efforts, the percentage of people who call themselves Christian around the world has stayed essentially the same since the beginning of the 1900s (about 34%). We haven’t grown percentage-wise for the past 100 years. [Barrett and Johnson, World Christian Trends, 40; Market, “Global Christianity.”]
The truth is that 6500 people groups still do not have a Christian witness at all.

The truth is…we are not there yet. [Page 64]

Source: Sylvia Foth, Daddy Are We There Yet? (A global check-in on the world of mission and kids), Kidzana Ministries, Mukilteo, 2009

The Church Is Growing

2009-11-25T09:36:00.000-08:00

To being with, over 2.2 billion people now call themselves Christian, more than any other religious group in the world. Since the days of the disciples, the growth has never stopped. Christianity adds more than 28 million people to the church worldwide each year.

A significant part of what’s happening today in the Christian world is happening China. In China, it is estimated that over 100 million people are Christians. They are already fourth on the list of countries with the most Christians in the world. It doesn’t make the evening news, but every day, at least 10,000 new believers are added to the church. [Johnson, “World Christian Trends 2005.”]

In Afghanistan, before 2002, researchers counted about 75 believers. Just two years later, in mid-2004, there were over 8000, with believers in every single one of the 34 provinces. One year later, the Christian population had tripled!

In Kenya, so many churches have been planted that I heard one Kenyan pastor say, “If you stand on any street corner in Nairobi and throw a stone, you will hit a church.” The buildings are everywhere! [Pages 57, 58]

Source: Sylvia Foth, Daddy Are We There Yet? (A global check-in on the world of mission and kids), Kidzana Ministries, Mukilteo, 2009

Serve as God Wills!

2009-10-21T09:44:00.000-07:00

"William [Carey] worked hard at his cobbling, making sure he was giving his best service to his customers. When this was finished for the day he made time to study languages, science, history; to lecture when invited, and weekly to preach. It was a busy life but a contented one. In a letter to his father written at this time he said: 'I am not my own, nor would I choose for myself. Let God employ me where He thinks fit.'" (William Carey by Kellsye Finnie, OM Literature)

The Sanctifying Shepherd

2009-10-14T16:43:00.000-07:00

By John MacArthur
[from The Master’s Mantle, Summer 2009, Vol. 16:2, page 1, 3]

There is a growing but false legend that churches are designed for non-believers--a "contextualization movement," according to David Wells, founded on sola cultura, not sola scriptura. As a result, true Christianity hides its face, resulting in the death of sanctification. Seeking only numbers and affirmation, he adds, this new evangelicalism uses the culture to attract, with no interest in the deadly poison that lies below the surface of it.

Contextualization is nothing but an overexpo¬sure to the world, the flesh, and the devil, leading to a rise in antinomianism. History shows that antinomianism follows hard on the heels of a recovery of the doctrines of grace. Because the doctrines of grace can be pressed hard in the direction that everything is settled and secured, it leads easily to blatant and out-rageous antinomianism.

Contextualization of the gospel today has infected the church with the spirit of the age. It has opened the church's doors wide for worldliness, shallowness, and in some cases a crass party atmosphere. The world now sets the agenda for the church-it has done it musically, and is now doing it in terms of the message. A survey by James Davidson Hunter, a sociology professor at the University of Virginia, found that young evangelicals have become significantly more tolerant of activi¬ties once viewed as worldly or immoral, including smoking, using marijuana, attend¬ing R-rated movies, and premarital sex.

In No Place for Truth, David Wells writes, "The stream of historic orthodoxy that once watered the evangelical soul is now dammed up by a worldliness that many fail to recognize as worldliness because of the cultural inno¬cence with which it presents itself It may be that Christian faith, which has made many alliances with modern culture in the past few decades, is also living in a fool's paradise, com¬forting itself about all the things God is doing, while it is losing its character, if not its soul."

Clearly the NT church is focused on godliness and the edification of the saints so that they might reflect the image of Christ. That was Paul's foundational principle of ministry. In 2 Corinthians 11:29, he asks, "Who is led into sin without my intense concern?" In Galatians 4: 19 he adds, "I am in labor pains until Christ is fully formed in you." The sanctification of God's people involves agonizing, excruciating pain, in a world without anesthesia. It's not about how clever you can be to reach the cul¬ture by looking like the culture, because then you've just opened the sewer and let it seep in.

Today, everything seems directed away from this. We want to get as close to the world as possible. But we don't need culture to define the life of the church. When Paul says he became all things to all people, he simply means he would make any personal sacrifice to reach a person. Holiness of the church is Paul's objective, and must be ours. To fulfill this mandate, the shepherd must recognize seven things:
The power of the flesh. Do you understand the power of the flesh, how easily temptation is excited? Your people need to be protected from their own flesh, from inciting the flesh by painting word pictures of sex organs. The battle has to be won on the inside (Rom 7; James 1). I never want to be a person who is used to solicit any kind of evil in the mind of anyone. Because "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea" (Matt 18:6). That's the first instruction given to the church-protection from temptation. The church should be a haven, not a place peo¬ple are tempted.

The power of the world. Whatever you borrow from the world has the potential to corrupt. Friendship with the world is enmity with God (James 4:4; 1 John 2). The last thing you want to do is kick the church doors open and bring the world in-rubbing out the line between the world and the church. I want to build a wall so when you come to church your experience is disconnected from the world.

The power of Satan. "The devil prowls around like a roar¬ing lion, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Pet 5:8; 2 Cor 2:11; John 17:15). Shepherds not only feed and water sheep; they also protect them. You never want to be the instrument by which the devil gains access to your flock. The sanctifying shepherd recognizes that his people have a high level of susceptibility to corruption through the world, the flesh, and the devil, to which they're overexposed con¬stantly. The battle is fierce in their hearts-at work, at school, watching television, etc. The shepherd must be their protector.

The power of the Scripture. A sanctifying shepherd recog¬nizes the power of the Scriptures to sanctify. "Sanctify them by Thy truth: Thy Word is truth" (John 17:17; c[ Ps 119:11; Tit 3:5). We are pruned and purged by the Word, and that is why the shepherd is committed to the exposition of Scripture and thereby unleashing its sanctifying power.

The power of the Holy Spirit. "But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh" (Gal. 5: 16). Being filled with the Spirit basically means to let the Word dwell richly within you (cp. Eph 5:18 with Col 3:16). As shepherds, we want our people to come under the sanctifying power of the Scripture and the sanctifying power of the Spirit. They go together.

The power of confrontation. There is power in confronta¬tion (Matt 18:15-17). How can you do that in a church where the members aren't Christians? That's impossible by definition. How can you do that in a church where you just want everybody to feel good about being there?

The power of example. Your people know what's in your heart by what you say. "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks" (Matt 12:34). You can tell what a man thinks by his speech. Furthermore, when you stand in your pulpit, your people are getting the most sanitized version of you. The real you is not that sanitized! There's a reality about our fallenness that we don't need to display. But when you see someone who is openly flagrant, coarse, and profane (and that's the most sanitized version of him?), the conclu¬sion is obvious.

Christ-likeness is the goal of ministry in the church (Eph 4:13). Martin Luther, noting that the power of your min¬istry is inseparable from your character, called antinomian teaching the "crassest error, designed to grind me underfoot and throw the gospel into confusion. Such teaching," he contended, "kicks the bottom out of the barrel of God's sav¬ing work." We need to be sure that we understand that we have been called to shepherd the flock of God (1 Pet 5:2), which means to travail in pain, until they come to Christ¬likeness.

My prayer for you is that you would be sanctifying shepherds.

[from The Master’s Mantle, Summer 2009, Vol. 16:2, page 1, 3]

Deeds, Creeds, and Mission

2009-10-08T10:23:00.000-07:00

by Daren Beck

And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits… And they went out, and preached that men should repent (Mark 6:7 & 12, KJV).

These last months, my colleague BJ Lopez and I have been teaching through the Gospel of Mark. I have always enjoyed this particular book because it is hard-hitting, concise and action-packed! In Mark 6, we find Jesus sending out the 12 disciples on a short-term mission trip. Their mandate was clear, their methods were detailed by Christ, and they were deployed for the task (Mark 6:7-13). Among other things, I was struck by the harmony with which Jesus combined the emphasis of proclaimed truth and accompanying works. Today there is much talk about “creeds and deeds” in mission. By creeds we mean a body of truth which can be Biblically defined and is historically accepted by the Church, and deeds as those things we do that point people to the Gospel of Christ.

The disciples followed Jesus’ example of proclamational preaching – a message that demanded repentance and faith in Christ. Their mission also included the authority and power to authenticate their message and to identify their authority with the One (Christ) who had sent them. Neither the creed nor the deed was lost in the mission.

Down through history the Church has many times emphasized either creeds or deeds in attempting to accomplish mission (taking the Gospel to the world) while neglecting one or the other. It seems to have divided some groups to be known as those who only emphasize doctrine (creeds), while others are driven by an insatiable desire to show Christ through good works (deeds) in hopes of demonstrating the Gospel to a spiritually dying world. Needless to say there is a balance to be found lest we become either modern-day Pharisees or neo-gnostic moralists! But I fear that many of us are dangerously close to losing the heart of the Gospel which is rooted in the foundational truths which comprise our stated beliefs (creeds): consider the following:
The Bible is God’s redemptive story (Romans 3:1-23).

Man’s depravity and spiritual deadness demand that the Holy Spirit do the work of regeneration in a completely supernatural way (Ephesians 2:1).

Apart from this work of the Holy Spirit the Gospel is foolishness to those who are already perishing in their sin (I Corinthians 1:17-18).

The only source of light for the world is Jesus (John 1:5), even as He shines through His redeemed people (Matthew 5:16); He is the true light who is the source of salvation (II Corinthians 2:5-6).

People come to salvation through the preaching and teaching of the Gospel (Romans 10:15-17).

None of the presuppositions mentioned above are dependent in any way on my deeds or works. I certainly affirm that the byproduct of spiritual fruits will be activities (work or deeds) that honor Christ (James 2:14-26). The truths declared in Scripture become my creed forming an unyielding foundation for everything I do, including mission.

Our ministry here in Cambodia is built on the timeless truths of Scripture and we are unapologetic in proclaiming our firm belief that the Good News is to be declared and proclaimed. Should we be about deeds? Absolutely! As Christ shines in our hearts and the Holy Spirit empowers us, we share the privilege of demonstrating Christ to a dying world – for His praise in their salvation and for His glory in the preservation of His holiness in their judgment (II Corinthians 2:16).

Pray that we of ACTION would be faithful in our Christ-commissioned mission. Pray that our message would reflect the truths contained in Scripture and that our actions would come out of the overflow of our hearts and be used by God for His glory.

News from the Action Zambia PLD field

2009-10-01T05:25:00.001-07:00

AZ Welcomes A New Consultant

Action Zambia Ministries (AZM) recently hired a new, part-time consultant, Wozifera Ngoma. Ngoma joins AZM's staff to assist in the areas of leadership and discipleship.

In the local language, Ngoma's first name means, "someone who has died on his own." But Ngoma likes to give it a Biblical meaning from Galatians 2:20, "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me." (ESV)

Born in Zimbabwe on June 3, 1960, Ngoma lived with his parents and grandparents who had emigrated from Zambia to work in the mines. In 1967 his family returned to Zambia's eastern province and settled in Chipata.

Having been raised in a life of religiosity, the truth of Scripture

hadn't come alive for him until he was 22 years of age. His cousin, Charlton, shared with him that baptism was not what saved a person, but that a personal relationship with Jesus Christ did. When his cousin told him this, his eyes were opened, much like Nicodemus. He then realized there was more to Christianity than he had known and that he must be born again.

Following his conversion on March 17, 1982, Ngoma experienced a real freedom and began to grow in grace. Living in the remote bush, there was no one to disciple him. However, God by His Spirit helped him to grow in a number of ways. First, the Lord taught him that he needed to share his faith. Winning seven people to the Lord soon after coming to Christ increased his joy. He also had an intense hunger for the Word of God which led him to read the Scriptures daily. Thirdly, he cried out to God in prayer each day, oftentimes going to the mountains to seek the Lord.

Since his conversion he has lived up to his name by planting churches in rural areas, seeking theological training, and pasturing Faith Tabernacle Church for the past 12 years. He also shepherds a congregation of listeners each Sunday morning through a ZNBC broadcast on Radio One. Although he doesn't see his flock in the broadcasting room, he knows there are many in need of salvation and discipleship who can be reached with radio waves. Ngoma also ministers to HIV/AIDS
patients at the George Health Center each Friday where a group of 80 persons meets for Bible study.

Ngoma has not always had a heart for people with this deadly disease. Before his conversion, he thought only prostitutes contracted AIDS. Since that time he has seen that there are innocents who become sick with this illiness. AIDS began to concern him when some of his family and people in the church began to die. Ngoma began to see that when Christ walked the earth he embraced those who were suffering. As he thought about Jesus' example, God changed his heart and he longed to bring the Word of God to patients at the clinic in George township, people who often do not have a church.

As a volunteer Ngoma also coordinates leadership and AIDS awareness conferences. His greatest joy is to see people's lives being transformed. His passion and heart for the work drives him, not the earthly reward, as he uses his own finances for these events.

In his new role with AZM Ngoma is looking forward to working with pastors in the Action Bible Institute (ABI) and
discipleship 2:7. He says, ". . . most of our pastors have not had the privilege of going to college. They cannot afford the fees. How can you pastor people if you don't know the Word of God yourself?"

He likens the need for pastoral training to the taking in of physical food. People must be fed with the right kind of nourishment. If they aren't, then they will die. In the same way, pastors must be fed with the correct type of spiritual food. They will die without proper spiritual nutrition. In turn, without the right type of doctrine the people will be misled. "What AZM is doing is helping those who aren't privileged."

What AZM is also doing is planting seeds, according to Ngoma. ABI currently teaches 14 students and 2:7 disciples 10.
Those 24 can in turn teach hundreds, then thousands, then millions. In the years to come these very people will impact a lot of lives.

AZM welcomes Pastor Ngoma as he joins its staff and becomes a part of impacting the lives of Zambians. Please pray for him as he serves with AZM. Pray also for his wife of 20 years, Easter, and their three sons, Joshua, Joash, and Joel.

Christian Love

2009-09-23T11:17:00.001-07:00

The Greek word for Christian love is “agape” which means “sacrificial action for another person’s good”.

Many years ago when the Roman Empire was spreading throughout the world, King Tigranes of Armenia was taken captive. While standing before the conquering Roman general waiting for the death sentence to be passed, Tigranes fell on his knees before the General and pleaded for his family saying, “Do with me what you like, but I beg you to spare my family.” The conquering General was so impressed with the love of the king for his wife that he released the king and his family.

As they left the presence of the General, King Tigranes asked his wife what she thought about the General. She replied, “I never saw him.”

“What do you mean ‘you never saw him?’”, Tigranes asked. “You were standing within a few feet of him. You could not help but see him. What were you looking at?”

With tears now sparkling in her eyes, the queen gently replied to her beloved husband, “I saw no one but you. My eyes only saw the one who was willing to die for me.”

“But God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8, nasb).

Pastors' Conference on HIV/AIDS

2009-09-16T11:08:00.000-07:00

In August 2009, ACTION Zambia missionary Steve Allen went to a pastors' conference out in the Zambian bush. It was solely focused on HIV/AIDS training. The CROSS curriculum was taught to 23 pastors. CROSS curriculum is a 16-week course touching on the following: domestic violence, medical facts of getting the disease, and how Christians can fight. He also taught a lesson on counseling!

This curriculum is critical for these pastors. In the discussion times, one pastor opened up about his struggle to move away from the cultural views of women and adapt a more Biblical outlook. His views changed over the weekend as we looked at passages like Ephesians 5:21-33 which speaks of submitting one to another out of love (not just the wife submitting to the husband and in essence being his slave). It is vital that these pastors get this training as they are the key to reaching the Christian church of Zambia with HIV/AIDS training that is Biblical and changes people's hearts and actions.

--ACTION Zambia PLD Missionary, Steve Allen

Book Review: "Reproducible Pastoral Training"

2009-09-09T14:41:00.000-07:00

All of us (I hope) would like to “go therefore and make disciples”, but sometimes we do not know how.

Reproducible Pastoral Training is a timely and easy to read book written by missionary Patrick O’Connor.

Do not let the title fool you. This book is user-friendly, hands-on, and practical in making disciples who then reproduce themselves.

While the title suggests a focus on starting new churches and preparing leaders for the harvest, it also offers a practical look at how to do this. The book is an excellent biblical resource that is not a “new fad” or hard-to-replicate program. It is written from a perspective straight from the field and has been tried and tested. It is a required “must read” for every missionary and disciple who hopes to leave a mark - a mark which is hard to erase.

When I first saw this book and heard about the movement in western Honduras, I bought ten copies. I recently bought ten more! If I could get the book for $1, I would buy 1000!

O’Connor has spent nearly two decades as a missionary in Honduras. He cut his teeth in western Honduras, where he pioneered a brand new movement of churches in rural off-the-map locations. He calls them “chains of churches” and the Lord gave birth to many of them. Indeed, before the church planting movement genre became popular, these indigenous and nationalized cluster of churches, daughter churches and granddaughter churches were taking root.

O’Connor now ministers with Action International Ministries (ACTION), on loan from Missions Door, and we are thrilled to see him serve as Facilitator for the Church Planting Movement (CPM) worldwide. He was raised in India, and now returns often to train nationals in India for reproducible pastoral training.

O’Connor did not learn these concepts in a vacuum. For two decades, O’Connor learned and applied these concepts through his mentor George Patterson. Reproducible Pastoral Training presents Patterson’s model of outreach. It presents 68 biblical principles for action-oriented multiplication. The following are few of the 68 guidelines:

-Watch out! Here come wolves!
-Dramatize biblical events.
-Apply God’s oil to rusty organization.
-Spy out the land.
-Bond with the people and their culture.
-Permit the setting to shape your methods.
-Find pointers to Christ in pagan lore.
-Lead humbly and firmly.

Whether you are a pastor, academic, lay practitioner, housewife or a missionary on the field, I would encourage you to buy and read this book.

Gene Daniels, Author of In Search of the Indigenous Church, said this of the book “O'Connor has accomplished the missiological version of crossing Niagara falls on a tight-rope while blindfolded; he has written an organized presentation of the principles for building up indi¬genous churches without turning it into another fad system. Bravo!”

Victor Choudhrie of India put it this way: “Reproductive Pastoral Training is an impressive, up-to-date manual on Church Planting that should be studied by all who are involved in church planting movements. The principles laid are universal and scriptural.”

Reproducible Pastoral Training can be ordered by phone or online:

Order by phone: William Carey Library (1-800-MISSION; 1-800-647-7466)
Order Online: http://missionbooks.org/williamcareylibrary/product.php?productid=533&cat=70&page=1

2009 Book and Literature Distribution

2009-09-08T19:16:00.000-07:00

2009 Book and Literature Distribution
by ACTION missionary, Jim Robinette

Thanks to Christian Salvage Mission of Ontario, Canada, ACTION Kampala received a sea container with about 600 boxes of Christian books, Bibles, teaching materials, children’s Sunday school materials, audio tapes, tracts and various kinds of literature in March, 2009.

We estimate that each box contained about 50 books (totaling about 30,000 books in all) and innumerable pieces of literature, tracts and Bible study helps. At the time of this writing, almost all materials have been distributed.

The materials were received with enthusiasm by our Ugandan friends in churches, ministries, prisons, Bible Colleges and Universities, schools, and numerous individual Christians.

Primary and Secondary schools in Kampala and all parts of Uganda received books and materials, as well as Bible Colleges in Kampala and Rwanda.

We distributed materials (books mostly) to pastors in several meetings and “pastor training times” including Congolese refugee pastors in Kampala on two occasions.

A Christian radio station operated from the African Bible University benefitted from the books and materials. The radio announcers often quote from the books during their radio teaching and ministry time.

Ministries also distributed many thousands of books to their evangelists who serve country-wide and in prisons where they serve.

We encouraged schools and ministries to begin libraries and lending libraries. Several churches and ministries have done this. Some churches have made books available to their church members by setting up book shelves in the church. One church plans to open up a special room to serve as a church library.

The children’s materials are especially helpful as children’s ministries are much in need of materials. We have distributed hundreds of Bibles and New Testaments, some of these have been used in existing Bible studies.

A group of about 100 secondary school students will receive Scriptures upon the completion of a discipleship Bible study. Pastors particularly have thanked us and expressed how they have been helped through the books and materials. I’ve included a letter of thanks and encouragement from Vincent Otucu of Youth Evangelistic Team, a ministry from Apac, Northern Uganda:

Dear servants of God, Jim & Kappy,

Praise the name of the soon coming King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ. Amen! Your wonderful Scriptures, magazines, books, booklets, tracts and Bibles are very useful to us. We are indeed thankful to you all for your precious gift to equip the churches for mini-library and to spread the gospel and win the lost and dying souls in our unreached areas. Your rewards will be great in heaven when our Lord comes again. Much of the tracts, booklets, magazines are needed, but the demand for Bibles and books is high in churches, prisons, hospitals, offices, lodges, etc. Press on my friends."

Please continue to pray that God will use the books and materials He has sent us to fulfill His glorious plans which are surpassingly wonderful.

“The Lord gave the word; Great was the company of those who proclaimed it.”
(Psalm 68:11, NKJV)

For our Lord Jesus in His harvest work,

Jim & Kappy Robinette
Action International Ministries in Uganda

Container Bound for Uganda is for God's Servants!

2009-09-02T09:51:00.001-07:00

ACTION, in partnership with Chapel Library (Mt. Zion Publishers; literature@mountzion.org ), has been collecting study Bibles and bible materials to ship to Uganda, Africa for needy pastors, Christian workers, and Bible school students over the past six months.

On August 28-29, Brother Clarence and a team of approximately 25 men in Pensacola, Florida worked for a total of 7 hours loading boxes of donated Study Bibles, Gospel booklets, books, and children’s literature (valued at $250,000) on to a 20-ft. container bound for Uganda on September 4.

Over the months, many individuals and publishers have assisted in this great task with donated literature and books. We praise God for His provision and funds through His people.

The container is scheduled to arrive in Kampala by October 24, 2009. Please pray with us for the safe arrival of the container to Uganda and that there will be no problems with customs.

We look forward to October when these Study Bibles, wonderful books and literature will be placed in the hands of those ministering the Gospel throughout Uganda. Praise God for the opportunity to partner together with others for His glory!

Serving Pastors in Cambodia: Daren Beck, ACTION Missionary

2009-08-27T16:15:00.000-07:00

One of the greatest privileges I have is to come alongside pastors who faithfully preach and shepherd God’s people entrusted to them despite difficult circumstances. Pastor Sothon Pol is one such pastor. He planted Shalom Church Anglong Romeat in 2003 and labors for the Lord in a very difficult area. The community in which Pastor Sothon ministers is only an hour away from Phnom Penh, but is very rural and unreached with the Gospel. The villagers have lived in darkness for generations and the ministry there painfully slow. This past year was especially difficult because of poor harvest due to drought last year and floods this year. Recently the local government authorities refused to sell him a piece of land because they do not want a Church in the community. Sothon remained encouraged and unswerving in his commitment to the ministry. He recognized that God was in control and confident that God would direct them to a different piece of land. Please pray for me as I come alongside Sothon and help him work through the myriad of issues that he faces as the pastor of a local church in Cambodia.

The Preacher's Mandate

2009-08-19T09:44:00.000-07:00

1. Pray as though nothing of eternal value is going to happen unless God does it.
2. Prepare as giving “my utmost for His highest.”
3. Seek not to ‘get a message’ from the scripture, but seek ‘the message’ of the scripture.
4. Be satisfied not with producing good content, but with producing good people.
5. Attend carefully to private and public walk with God, knowing the congregation never rises to a standard higher than that being lived by the preacher.
6. Be “persuaded that the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation.”
7. “Preach the Word”—not about the Word, not from the Word, not with the Word – affirming it is only proclamations of God’s Word that carry God’s authority and his promise to bless.
8. Exalt Christ preeminently, trusting He will then draw people to Himself.
9. Balance declarations of “salvation by faith alone” with declarations describing the life Christ produces when He sees saving faith: transformed heart, desire to serve the Lord, not self, growing affection for His Word, increasing obedience, fruit of the Spirit, saltiness in society, maturing Christlikeness.
10. Depend solely upon God for translation of spiritual truth into life.
11. Preach Christ’s Word in Christ-like demeanor.
12. Agree it is impossible at one and the same time to impress people with Christ and with oneself.
13. Allow the preaching to exude the fruit of the Spirit, lest the preaching fail to produce Christ-like lives.
14. Preach with humble gratitude, as one privileged to be an oracle of God.
15. Trust God to produce in the hearers His chosen purposes—irrespective of whether the results are readily visible.

Courtesy of The Cornerstone Trust, PO Box 1906, Cave Creek, AZ 85327

Face to Face

2009-08-12T10:36:00.000-07:00

Servant Magazine, Issue Eighty-two, 2009, Page 8
http://www.prairie.edu/documents/Servant82.pdf

Oprah Winfrey’s promotion of Eckhart Tolle’s book A New Earth has turned it into an international bestseller, influencing millions. In it Tolle asserts, “There is only one absolute Truth, and all other truths emanate from it....Yes, you are the Truth. If you look for it elsewhere, you will be deceived every time. The very Being that you are is Truth.

Jesus tried to convey that when he said, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life.’...Jesus speaks of the innermost I Am, the essence identity of every man and woman.”

Donald S. Whitney calls Tolle’s teaching “the oldest blasphemy in the world,” and the same old lie Satan told Eve in the Garden of Eden: “You will be like God.” “One of the quickest ways to expose a false teacher,” writes Whitney, “is to examine what he says about mankind, Jesus, and the Bible… uncovering one major heresy usually indicates the presence of many others. Tolle’s heretical deification of man means that our great problem is no longer separation from God due to sin, but separation from ourselves….Tolle does mention sin, but…for him it is not the transgression of or lack of obedience to the law of God, but ‘to live unskillfully.’ And the ‘salvation’ we need is not the forgiveness of sin, but enlightenment.”

James Enns, History Professor at Prairie Bible College, calls Tolle’s message “just one more tired reiteration of New Age therapeutic psycho-babble.” Yet Enns is concerned about the widespread popularity of this teaching, believing that it reflects the basic human need for significance. “One of the most subtle effects of sin is the self-alienation we experience in our efforts to be our own god. Tolle’s solution is to proclaim the lie of our own divinity even louder. The writer of Proverbs reminds us that the fear of the Lord—not the worship of ourselves—is the beginning of truth and wisdom. It is only when we humbly confess that God in Christ is the way, truth and life, that we can truly be transformed, and discover that real meaning and significance are a gift God offers us in Jesus, not something we create.”

Servant Magazine, Issue Eighty-two, 2009, Page 8
http://www.prairie.edu/documents/Servant82.pdf

The Reformation of Worship

2009-08-05T09:40:00.000-07:00

by W. Robert Godfrey, "The Reformation of Worship," Faithwalk, Vol.3 No. 1, 2003, pg. 5-9.

For Christians who have understood the teaching of Jesus, doctrine, worship, and life have always been intimately intertwined and interconnected. Faith involves the truth of God (doctrine), meeting with God (worship), and serving God (life). The inseparability of these three elements can often be seen in the Scriptures and in the history of God's people.

For example, when Paul wrote to the Colossians, he connected these themes. He discussed the doctrines of the divinity of Christ and His saving work on the cross (Col. 2:9-15). He refuted a variety of errors about worship, concluding with a warning against all forms of "self-imposed worship" (2:16-23). He called the Colossians to holiness by putting to death their fallen nature and living in and for Christ (3:1-14).

WORSHIP THROUGH THE CENTURIES
Throughout the centuries Christians have seen this same connection in doctrine, worship, and life. Augustine, for example, expressed it clearly in his Confessions as he discussed his conversion. His conversion had an intellectual dimension as he accepted the truth of Christian doctrine. It had a moral dimension as he accepted the truth of Christian doctrine. It had a moral dimension as he abandoned his carnal habits and embraced chastity. It had a sacramental dimension as he was baptized and became a full part of Christ's worshipping community.

The Reformers insisted on the need for reform in all three areas. Martin Luther related doctrine, worship, and life as essential to the Reformation in his attack on the Mass. Luther taught that Christians must reject the Roman Mass because it attacks sound doctrine, is false worship, and leads to corruption of life.

Similarly John Calvin connected these three as he thought about the heart of the Reformation: "There are three things on which the safety of the church is founded, viz., doctrine, discipline, and the sacraments, and to these a fourth is added viz., ceremonies by which to exercise the people in offices of piety." The doctrines of salvation, worship with pure sacraments, and life in the church were basic for Calvin to the reform of Christianity.

Although the three elements of doctrine, worship, and life always remain affected by one another, at times in modern church history one element has seemed more prominent than the others. Doctrine was preeminent in the controversy between liberalism and fundamentalism in the 1920s and 1930s. Worship was the center of Scottish Presbyterian struggles in the seventeenth century. Life has dominated a variety of modern movements that primarily reacted again the perception of formalism and deadness in the church. Pietism, Methodism, revivalism, the holiness movement, and Pentecostalism all stress the call to life. Evangelicals have worked to preserve sound doctrine in their defense of inerrancy of the Scriptures. They have also undertaken extensive experimentation in the public worship of God.

CHANGES IN WORSHIP
Recent evangelical experiments in worship are particularly significant for two reasons. First, they represent the most widespread changes in Protestant public worship since the Reformation. Second, the contemporary changes in worship offer perhaps the best perspective from which to evaluate the health of evangelicalism today.

Variety has long characterized evangelicals in their practice of worship from the high Anglican liturgy to the wildly charismatic. But beyond these historic differences evangelicals from many traditions in recent years have introduced some common, specific changes in worship in at least five areas.

1. Many congregations have added a variety of new elements to their worship. Some have added liturgical dance and dramatic or humorous skits. Some have added visual aids--from banners to slides and films. Some have added a variety of Pentecostal activities, from being slain in the Spirit to holy laughter. Some have added popcorn and Super Bowl viewing--although perhaps not as an act of worship proper.

2. Many congregations have changed the character of traditional elements of worship. Worship leaders read much more shorter passages of the Bible and spend much less time in prayer. Sermons are more likely to be psychological rather than theological or expository. How to manage stress or time or money seems to be among the most pressing spiritual issues of our time. The Lord's Supper is apt to be either eliminated or elaborated with new ceremony and symbolism.

3. Many churches have seen major changes in the area of music. They give much more time to music and use a greater variety of instruments and more special music, especially soloists and choirs. Whereas traditionally music was an important part of the dialogue between God and and His people, for many it has become the heart of worship, even called the "Praise and Worship" part of the service. Music seems to have become for some a new sacrament, establishing a mystical bond between god and the worshiper. With eyes closed and hands in the air, worshipers repeat simple phrases that become Christian mantras.

4. Many churches have abandoned the historic practice of having an ordained minister lead the service. Various parts of the service are now led by professionals or members of the congregation. In some places no part of the service--even the sermon, sacrament, or benediction--seems reserved for the minister.

5. A number of churches have made changes in the time of worship. The Saturday evening service has emerged as a new time of worship for the busy, who save Sunday for work or recreation. Some churches give much more attention to the holy days of the church year. Christmas receives at least a month of preparation in many churches. But strangely, services are often not held on Christmas day itself.

In spite of the magnitude of these changes, an amazingly small amount of discussion or controversy has attended their introduction. The ease with which such momentous changes have taken place points to the dissatisfaction prevalent among evangelicals with traditional worship and gives insight into the contemporary evangelical mind.

AN EVALUATION OF WORSHIP
God has always taken His worship very seriously. He speaks of His worship not only in the Second Commandment, but at least implicitly in the first four of the Ten Commandments. He offers serious warning about worship through the Law (Deut. 4). He visit terrible judgement on those who pervert His worship (Lev. 10 and 2 Chron.26) The same concern is clear in the New Testament. Hebrews 12:28-29 sums up this concern well: "Let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our 'God is a consuming fire.'"

God's concern for His worship must lead evangelicals to much more careful evaluation of their practice of worship. First evangelicals must reconsider the new elements introduced into worship. Are visual elements such as drama, dance, and film acceptable to God? They do not seem consistent with a thoughtful application of the Second Commandment. Rather, they seem more like strange fire offered to the Lord (Lev.10:1).

These elements need to be rigorously subjected to Scriptures. Evangelicals need to see that worship must be Word-directed in specifics, not just in a general vague way.

Second, evangelicals must reexamine the ways in which they have changed the traditional element of worship. Sermons must again be closely expository so that the church really hears God's Word, not human opinions. The Bible must be read as a central act of worship--not only to inform but as an act of reverence to God. Prayer must be restored as the congregation's privilege to speak to God who draws near to them. The sacraments must be seen as the kindness of the Lord in giving a visible expression to the Gospel.

Third, evangelicals must look carefully at their music. Contemporary worship too often is only concerned with the emotion of joy. The Bible certain stresses joy, but it equally stresses reverence. Psalm 2:11 says, "Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling." Reverence and joy must both be expressed in worship. Joy and reverence reflect the character of God, who is just and merciful, holy and loving. Worship that is only joyful serves a God that is stripped of half His attributes. It produces a Gospel that tells of peace where there is no peace. It severs Law from Gospel and repentance from faith.

The worship songs of the church must follow the pattern of the Psalter that praises the character and great works of God. Such praise is not composed of repetition or phrases or bad poetry. It is verbally rich, emotionally varied, and full of content.

Fourth, many evangelicals have diminished the role of the minister in leading the worship and multiplied the number of worship leaders. Evangelicals need to regain a theology of office and ministry. One of Christ's greatest gifts to His church, according to Ephesians 4, is the office of pastors and teachers. Those gifted and called by Christ and His church need to lead the people of God in their worship carefully in accordance with the Word.

Fifth, evangelicals have changed the time of worship to make worship easier and more accessible. Real Christianity is not easy, but embraces the discipline and blessing of rest and worship on the Lord's Day. True faith delights to spend time with God. It does not seek to get worship over with, but seeks to follow the revealed pattern of a day with God.

Evangelicals in relation to worship, doctrine, and life have tended to become minimalists. Too many are asking, What is the least I can do and what is the easiest way to do it to be a disciple of Jesus Christ? Evangelicals must remember--of all things--the Great Commission (Matt.28:18-20). There Jesus declared what true discipleship is. It has a doctrinal dimension: Discipleship must acknowledge Jesus as possessing all authority in heaven and on earth. It has a worship dimension: Disciples must be baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. It has a life dimension: Disciples are to obey everything that God has commanded. Evangelicals must capture the fullness of biblical religion.

Today as always doctrine, worship, and life remain closely intertwined. Where worship teaches that man is good and God is benevolent, worship will be upbeat and life will be oriented to self-fulfillment. Where worship focuses on human needs and entertainment, the doctrine of God, sin, and grace will wither and life will become self-centered. Where life is self-indulgent, doctrine and worship will also be self-indulgent.

Evangelicals need to repent. Too often we have replaced the consuming fire with a mild-mannered God; replaced the worship of the invisible God with some forms of human invention; replaced the moral law of God with the fulfillment of felt needs. Evangelicals need a spirit of repentance that will lead to a thorough reformation of doctrine, worship, and life.

Excerpted from "The Reformation of Worship" by W. Robert Godfrey, published in Here We Stand!, edited by James Montgomery Boice and Benjamin E. Sasse. Copyright by the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. Published by Baker Books, PO Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287. Used by permission of the publisher. All rights reserved.

Source: W. Robert Godfrey, "The Reformation of Worship," Faithwalk, Vol.3 No. 1, 2003, pg. 5-9.

Recovering Biblical Worship
"In an age when corporate worship has been greatly trivialized, certain elements desperately need to be recovered, said James Montgomery Boice in his essay "Reformation in Doctrine, Worship, and Life, " published in Here We Stand!

1. Prayer. Boice observed, "There is usually a very short prayer at the beginning of the service and another prayer at the time the offering is received." He asked, "How can we say we are worshiping when we do not even pray?"

2. The reading of the Word. "Our Scripture readings are getting shorter and shorter, sometimes only two or three verses, if indeed the Bible is read at all. In many churches, there is not even a text for the sermon," Boice decried.

3. The exposition of the Word. There is very little serious teaching of God's Word, said Boice, "Instead, preachers try to be personable, to relate funny stories, to smile, above all to stay away from topics that might cause people to become unhappy with the church and leave it."

4. Confession of sin. "Who confesses sin today--anywhere, not to mention in church as God's humble people, repentant people?" Boice asked, It is not happening because there is little awareness of God."

5. Hymns. Boice lamented that one of the saddest features of contemporary worship is that the great hymns of the church are on the way out. The problem, he explained is not so much the style of music as the content of many of the songs sung in churches today. Whereas "the old hymns expressed the theology of the church in profound and perceptive ways with winsome, memorable language," he said, today's songs reflect a shallow or non-existent theology." He mentioned in particular songs "that merely repeat a trite idea, word, or phrase over and over again. Songs like (these) are not worship, though they give the church goer a religious feeling. They are mantras which belong more in a gathering of New Agers than among the worshiping people of God."

Source: W. Robert Godfrey, "The Reformation of Worship," Faithwalk, Vol.3 No. 1, 2003, pg. 5-9.

Seven Convincing Miracles

2009-07-29T11:41:00.001-07:00

Below are quotes from a book by Erwin Lutzer, Seven Convincing Miracles published by Moody Press. Pastor Lutzer is the senior pastor of Moody Memorial Church in Chicago. He deals with the issueof miracles and whether or not they are necessary. This information may be helpful to you in dealing with some of the issues of miracles you may be confronted with from time to time in your ministry.

I really appreciate the following two quotes:

1. Miracles are insufficient to persuade the unconverted … even the signs and wonders recorded in Scripture were insufficient to persuade the unconverted to believe in Christ. The more miracles He performed, the more opposition toward Him grew. On the day of Pentecost, Peter said that Christ was “accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs” (Acts 2:22); yet most in the crowd were not brought to faith until they heard the gospel through Peter’s lips. [Page 81]

2. Signs and wonders
Interestingly, no church in the New Testament is chided for not doing more signs and wonders. But Paul rebuked churches for an unclear gospel (Galatians), an overemphasis on gifts along with a worldly spirit (Corinthians), and the dangers of accepting a gnostic view of Christ (Colossians). Christ’s rebukes to the seven churches addressed in the book of Revelation were ei¬ther doctrinal, moral, or both. Never once did He hint that they needed more signs and wonders.

Miracles are of lesser importance than a clear gospel witness and the quest for holiness All this is not to say that authentic signs and won¬ders cannot occur today, or even that they do not occur today. There is no hard scriptural evidence that the gift of miracles has been rescinded. What we do know is that such miracles are of lesser importance than a clear gospel witness and the quest for holiness.Yes, we can believe God today for miracles, but we cannot demand them; and we should not be led to expect them on a regular basis. And we most assuredly cannot ascribe to the modern notion that they are needed to do effective evangelism in a culture already saturated with bogus miracles of every sort. [Page 82]

Missionary Mentors Pastors in Zambia

2009-07-24T11:39:00.000-07:00

Steve Allen, ACTION Pastoral Leadership Development Missionary, Zambia writes:
It is hard to describe the joy I feel as I stand before the fifteen pastors at our Action Bible Institute. Here are 15 pastors who minister in one of the most difficult places in all the earth in some of the difficult and painful situations in all the earth. What a privilege to walk alongside these men in their passion and commitment to know the word of God and use this knowledge to lead their churches. These pastors are on the cutting edge, pastoring, loving people, planting churches, working side jobs to support their families and living by faith, every day. They should be teaching me. I am teaching through the book of Ephesians now, and we are making some progress. My goal is to teach them how to study inductively the passage so they can translate this message of the Bible to their culture and effectively preach and teach this to their own church.

The Music of Worship

2009-07-22T15:54:00.000-07:00

by Becky Maceda

Source: Maceda, Becky, "The Music of Worship: Pleasing God or Pleasing Ourselves?", Faithwalk, Vol.3, No.1, 2003, p. 21-26.

You've survived one in your church. Or perhaps you've heard of a particularly grim one at another church.

I'm referring to the battle over worship music that has divided believers in too many churches. Should we sing the old-time, doctrine steeped hymns, or confine ourselves to the singable, catchy, praise choruses? Should our music be classical, contemporary, rock, country, Latin, disco, folk, or eclectic (read: "a little of everything")? Should we use organs or pianos? And what about drums? Should music be exclusively for praise or should it perform other functions as well?

In a world that increasingly devalues the primacy of objectivity and the ability to think antithetically and which, conversely, prizes subjectivity and the ability to see life and the world in pluralistic terms, popular music has become a global language.

And why not? Whether you are Buddhist or agnostic, "third world" or "first world," speak English or only Urdu, have a Ph.D. or finish only second grade, you can enjoy 'N 'Sync or Britney Spears or MTV.

This takeover of the culture by popular music is reflected in our churches. How many Christians today are serious readers? How many believers today enjoy solid preaching? Ask church members on a Tuesday how much they remember of the previous Sunday's preaching? Chances are, those very same Christians are still singing or humming the songs they sang during the service.

Music can and does powerfully engage our emotions. It is therefore not surprising that it has become a battleground for individuals and congregations.

Teaching Through Music
Today we live in a time when simple is seen as good and complex as bad. The tongue trips and the mind boggles at Charlies Wesley's "Long my imprisoned spirit lay, Fast bound in sin and nature's night" and even Dwight Lyles and Niles Borup's

Proclaim the glory of the Lord,
Give honor to the Prince of Peace.
For if we cease,
The stones will start shouting.

Proclaim the glory of the Lord.
With hands uplifted
Let us raise immortal praise
To Him who reigns on high.

Leonard Payton, writing in Modern Reformation says "'Simple' is not bad. However, when 'simple' is a virtue placed in rank above 'biblical,' then we are in trouble." What if being "simple" means we are no longer able to fulfill our responsibility to "teach and admonish one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs"? Payton warns: "It will not be long before we are writing a different Gospel on the tablets of our hearts."

Music is very powerful because it teaches whether or not we perceive that it does. And the more a person is inclined to subjective, relativistic thinking, the stronger music's influence will be on that person. It therefore a potent purveyor of heresies.

How then must pastors and church music directors, who seriously take their biblical mandate, evaluate the music the church uses in worship? By applying the regulative principle of sola Scriptura. John Calvin articulated it thus in The Necessity of Reforming the Church:

We may not adopt any device [in our worship] which seems fit to ourselves, but look to the injunctions of him who alone is entitled to prescribe. God disapproves of all modes of worship not expressly sanctioned by his word.

Toward Biblical Worship
To evaluate worship biblically is to be willing to step back from our own preferences and experiences and ask, "what pleases God in worship?" We know that not all worship and music please Him (see Ex. 32:4-6). We therefore need to examine three aspects of worship music if we are to bring it in line with Scripture: 1) the words we sing, 2)the melodies of the words we sing, and 3)the instruments we use to accompany the singing.

The first and most important aspect is the words that we sing. The Word of God should be the basis of all that we sing in at least four ways.

The content of the songs of the church must be doctrinally sound. Worship must have a theological basis. The people of God must know whom they are worshipping and why. Because God is beyond our comprehension, we cannot know Him by speculating on His essence. Instead, we are to know Him by mediating on what He reveals to us in His Word.

True worship is faithful to the doctrine of God as revealed in Scripture. Even the most well-intentioned believer may unwittingly end up in idolatry--worshiping a god he has fashioned in his own image.

Kim Riddlebarger argues:"This is not to say that worship is not to be emotional or that one is not to experience God during worship, but worship must be based on a correct knowledge of God, not an ecstatic experience of God. Worship has a doctrinal, and not experiential, context. This intellectual priority in worship is also seen in the prohibitions against idolatry."

We need to be careful then of such lyrics as these:

I just want to be where You are
Dwelling daily in your presence
Take me to the place where you are
I just want to be with You. [italics added]

Is God omnipresent? It is not clear from the words of this song, specifically the third line, even when the entire song is considered.

Or consider this song:

Jesus, we enthrone You.
We proclaim You our King.
Standing here in the midst of us.
We lift You up with our praise.
And as we worship,
Build Your throne.
Come, Lord Jesus,
And take Your place.

Ephesians 1:19-22 clearly teaches that God, "the Father of glory" (v. 17), raised Jesus from the dead, "and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. And He put all things under His feet." Who then enthrones Christ? Is it us or the Father?

Contrast these songs with another contemporary song.

We are called to be a royal priesthood
That will minister to God.
Declare the wisdom of His ways,
Exalt His character in praise.
We are called to yield unto the Spirit
That He may form in us
The beauty of the life of Jesus.

And give to Him undying devotion,
Our full adoration that He may be pleased.
And set our hearts on this one endeavor,
To worship forever His majesty.

While the entire song is not based on a particular passage of Scripture, the thoughts it contains are all Scripture.

The content of the songs must be God-centered, not man-centered. Consider this example:

Things in the past, things yet unseen,
Wishes and dreams that are yet to come true.
All of my hopes, all of my plans,
My heart and my hands are lifted to you.
Lord, I offer my life to You.
Everything I've been through,
Use it for Your glory
Lord, I offer my days to You,
Lifting my praise to You,
As a pleasing sacrifice.
Lord, I offer You my life [italics the author's].

The purpose of music in worship is to assist the congregation in worshipping God, not to encourage believers to focus on themselves. Songs that are full of what is happening or not happening in the lives of those who are singing, according to their point of view, may not be the most appropriate for worship.

The songs must deal with the whole counsel of God as it pertains to worship. As the Bible says, "Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfullness in your hearts to God" (Col. 3:16). Church songs cannot focus exclusively on "singing with thankfulness " to God. They must also teach and admonish.

The Book of Psalms has given us a model for what we are to sing. The Psalter contains a rich variety of songs that we can and should sing to God--joyful praise and thanksgiving (Ps. 146-150); reflections on creation (Ps. 19, 104); a recounting of the saving work of God in Christ (Ps. 2, 22, 24, and 110); and meditations on God's Word (Ps. 119). There are also psalms of lamentation and repentance (Ps. 32, 51, and 137).

In some churches today, however, it seems only happy and joyful songs are sung. Is joy the only emotion Christians experience? Christian worship needs to provide expression for sad and reflective emotions as well. Here is one such song.

Search me O god.
Reveal my heart.
Expose my sin that it may be confessed.
Search, me O God.
Unveil each thought
And leave no hidden motive unaddressed.
Uncover every action born in pride.
Show me the worldly ways
I still embrace.
May every anxious thought be brought to light,
And each unspoken fear with faith replaced.

The songs must "handle accurately the word of truth." While we recognize a certain latitude of expression owed to poetic license, we cannot forget that worship music functions as an integral part of teaching ministry of the church.

Congregations who would never tolerate shoddy exposition from the pulpit at times sing songs that would not be out of place in a "prosperity" or "deliverance" or "miracle healing" gathering. Are we not undermining our own efforts to teach our congregations to view all of life and doctrine through the lens of Scripture?

Over sin He has conquered.
Hallelujah! He has conquered.
Over death victorious.
Hallelujah! Victorious!
Over sickness He has triumphed.
Hallelujah! He has triumphed.
Jesus reigns over all!

While there is scriptural warrant for the first two assertions, there is none for the third. We must be careful to choose music texts with as much theological clarity and linguistic skill as possible.

The second aspect which we must evaluate is the melodies to which we sing the words. While it is important that a melody is singable for the congregation, it must likewise support the content of the song. It is very difficult, for instance, to sing about God as the "consuming fire" (Heb. 12:28-29) in a samba or disco beat; or to sing as a lament the following lyrics:

Every perfect gift comes from above.
From the Father of lights
From the Lord of love
This joy that I have
That I'm singing of is from the Lord.

Determining the appropriateness of the melody must also pass through another sieve: does it "make provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts"? Does the melody truly exalt God or does it appeal primarily to the carnal tastes of man and his desire to be entertained? Does the melody serve to focus the believer's attention on God as He reveals Himself in Scripture, or does it cause him to focus more on the world or on himself?

According to Heb. 12:28-29, thankfulness and joy should be united with reverence and awe in our worship. These characteristics are complementary, as a study of psalms will show. "Worship the Lord with reverence, And rejoice with trembling" (Ps. 2:11).

Reverence does not always mean quiet, and joy does not always mean noise, says W. Robert Godfrey in Pleasing God in Worship. Joy and reverence are attitudes of the heart which we seek to express in worship. Joy may be intense in the singing of a very quiet song. Reverence may be expressed in loud singing.

Here is a song that is joyfully reverent:

What do I possess that You did not give to me?
What mysteries are clear to me that you did not explain?
When did I share truth I had not received from you?
What good works have I performed that You did not ordain?

Any strength I have, any good I do
Comes from the life I found in You.
So in all I am and in all I do
I give the glory to You.

The third and last aspect is the kind of instruments we use to accompany the songs we sing. What kind of instrument is biblical? In Old Testament worship, a wide variety was used in the temple. Yet in the New Testament, it is not clear what role instruments played in corporate worship (though obviously they had no central or independent role).

Today most churches use one or more instruments. Where they are used, a good guideline to follow is that they should aid the singing of the congregation, not overwhelm or dominate it. They should contribute to a sense of reverence and joy, not undermine it.

Music is a vital element in the worship life of God's people. And because it is so powerful in its effects, we need to consider it carefully. In its Cambridge Declaration, the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals spoke of worship under the last theme, "Glory to God alone":

The loss of God's centrality in the life of today's church is lamentable. It is this loss that allows us to transform worship into entertainment, gospel preaching into marketing, believing into technique, being good into feeling good about ourselves, and faithfulness into being successful....We must focus on God in our worship, rather than the satisfaction of our personal needs. God is sovereign in worship; we are not. Our concern must be for God's kingdom, not our own empires, popularity, or success.

God is calling His church to repentance. Let us examine our own churches--have we been faithful in exercising pastoral oversight in this critical aspect of our teaching ministry, or have we neglected it? Let us cry out to God for His mercy and take back our authority over the music sung in our churches. Let us evaluate the entire collection of songs we are using and discard all that do not wholly conform to Scripture.

Becky Maceda serves the Lord at Higher Rock Christian Ministries and Hagios House Ministries, where she counsels and disciples women.

Source: Maceda, Becky, "The Music of Worship: Pleasing God or Pleasing Ourselves?", Faithwalk, Vol.3, No.1, 2003, p. 21-26.

How Shall We Then Worship?

2009-07-15T11:04:00.001-07:00

by John MacArthur

All Rights Reserved
Source: Faithwalk , Vol. 3, No. 1, 2003, p. 10-15.

There is almost no limit to how far some churches will go to be "relevant" and "contemporary" in their worship services. And nothing, it seems, is too profane or too outrageous to be fused with "worship."

The Los Angeles Times Magazine recently reported on one Lutheran church in Southern California that distributes flyers advertising their church service as "God's Country Goodtime Hour." The flyers boldly promise "line dancing following worship." According to the magazine article, "the pastor is dancing, too, decked out in Wrangler boots and Levis." The pastor credits the campaign with revitalizing his church. The article describes Sunday morning at the church:

Members listen to sermons whose topics include the pastor's '70 Ford pickup, and Christian sex (rated R for "relevance, respect, and relationship," says [the pastor], "and more fun than it sounds"). After the service, they dance to a band called—what else?—the Honkytonk Angels.

Attendance has been steadily rising . . .

Clearly, the corporate worship of the Lord's Day is undergoing a revolution that has few parallels in all of church history. The resulting crisis within evangelicalism cannot help but be profound in its direct bearing upon the health of thousands of our churches.

True Worship
A few years ago while preaching through the Gospel of John, I was struck by the depth of meaning in John 4:23: An hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. I saw as clearly as I had ever seen before the implications of that phrase, "worship . . . in spirit and truth."

The phrase suggests, first of all, that true worship involves the intellect as much as the emotions. It underscores the truth that worship is to be focused on God, not on the worshiper. The context also shows that Jesus was saying true worship is more a matter of substance than of form. And He was teaching that worship embraces what we do in life, not just what we do in the formal place of worship.

That series also signaled the beginning of a new era for our church. Our corporate worship took on a whole new depth and significance. People began to be conscious that every aspect of the church service—the music, the praying, the preaching, and even the offering—is worship rendered to God. They began to look at superficialities as an affront to a holy God. They saw worship as a participant's activity; not a spectator sport. Many realized for the first time that worship is the church's ultimate priority.

Furthermore, as our congregation began to think more earnestly than ever about worship, we were continually drawn to the only reliable and sufficient worship manual—Scripture. If God desires worship in spirit and truth, then surely all true worshipers must fashion their worship in accord with the truth He has revealed. If worship is something offered to God—and not just a show put on for the benefit of the congregation—then every aspect of it must be pleasing to God and in harmony with His Word. So the effect of our renewed emphasis on worship was that it heightened our commitment to the centrality of Scripture.

Sola Scriptura
A few years after that series on worship, I preached through Psalm 19. It was as if I saw for the first time the power of what the psalmist was saying about the absolute sufficiency of Scripture:

The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether.
They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb (vv. 7-10).

The point of that passage is, quite simply, that Scripture is wholly sufficient to meet every need of the human soul.

How does the sufficiency of Scripture apply to worship? The Reformers answered that question by applying sola Scriptura to worship in a tenet they called the regulative principle. John Calvin was one of the first to articulate it succinctly:

We may not adopt any device [in our worship] which seems fit to ourselves, but look to the injunctions of him who alone is entitled to prescribe. Therefore, if we would have Him approve our worship, this rule, which he everywhere enforces with the utmost strictness, must be carefully observed. . . . God disapproves of all modes of worship not expressly sanctioned by his word.

An English Reformer and contemporary of Calvin, John Hooper, stated the same principle this way: "Nothing should be used in the Church which has not either the express Word of God to support it, or otherwise is a thing indifferent in itself, which brings no profit when done or used, but no harm when not done or omitted."

The Reformers and Puritans applied the regulative principle against formal ritual, priestly vestments, church hierarchy, and other remnants of medieval Roman Catholic worship. The simplicity of worship forms in Presbyterian, Baptist, Congregational, and other evangelical traditions is the result of applying the regulative principle. Evangelicals today would do well to recover their spiritual ancestors' confidence in sola Scriptura as it applies to worship and church leadership. A number of harmful trends that are gaining momentum these days reveal a diminishing evangelical confidence in the sufficiency of Scripture. On the one hand, there is, as we have noted, almost a circus atmosphere in some churches where pragmatic methods that trivialize what is holy are being employed to boost attendance. On the other hand, growing numbers of former evangelicals are abandoning simple worship forms in favor of high-church formalism. Meanwhile, some churches have simply abandoned virtually all objectivity, opting for a worship style that is turbulent, emotional, and devoid of any rational sense.

A new understanding of sola Scriptura—the sufficiency of Scripture—ought to spur us to keep reforming our churches, to regulate our worship according to biblical guidelines, and to desire passionately to be those who worship God in spirit and truth.

Applying Sola Scriptura to Worship
Consider for a moment what would happen to corporate worship if the contemporary church took sola Scriptura seriously. Four biblical guidelines for worship immediately come to mind. These have fallen into a state of tragic neglect. Recovering them would surely bring about a new Reformation in the modern church's worship:

Preach the Word. In corporate worship, the preaching of the Word should take first place. All the New Testament instructions to pastors center on these words of Paul to Timothy: "Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction" (2 Tim. 4:2). Elsewhere, Paul summed up his advice to the young pastor, "Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching" (1 Tim. 4:13). Clearly, the ministry of the Word was at the heart of Timothy's pastoral responsibilities.

In the New Testament church, the activities of the believing community were totally devoted to "the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer" (Acts 2:42). The preaching of the Word was the centerpiece of every worship service. Paul once preached to a congregation past midnight (Acts 20:7-8). The ministry of the Word was such a crucial part of church life that before any man could qualify to serve as an elder, he had to prove himself skilled in teaching the Word (cf. 1 Tim 3:2; Tim. 2:24; Tit. 1:9).

Many people see preaching and worship as two distinct aspects of the church service, as if preaching has nothing to do with worship and vice versa. But that is an erroneous concept. The ministry of the Word is the platform on which all genuine worship is built.

When drama, music, comedy, or other activities are allowed to usurp the preaching of the Word, true worship inevitably suffers. And when preaching is subjugated to pomp and circumstance, that also hinders real worship. A "worship" service without the ministry of the Word is of questionable value. Moreover, a "church" where the Word of God is not regularly and faithfully preached is no true church.

Edify the flock. Scripture tells us that the purpose of spiritual gifts is for the edification of the whole church (Eph. 4:12; cf. 1 Cor. 14:12). Therefore all ministry in the context of the church should somehow be edifying—building up the flock, not just stirring emotions. Above all, ministry should be aimed at stimulating genuine worship. To do that it must be edifying. This is implied by the expression "worship . . . in spirit and truth."

Music may sometimes move us by the sheer beauty of its sound, but such sentiment is not worship. Music by itself, apart from the truth contained in the lyrics, it is not even a legitimate springboard for real worship. Similarly, a poignant story may be touching or stirring, but unless the message it conveys is set in the context of biblical truth, any emotions it may stir are of no use in prompting genuine worship. Aroused passions are not necessarily evidence that true worship is taking place. Genuine worship is a response to divine truth. It is passionate because it arises out of our love for God. But to be true worship it must also arise out of a correct understanding of His law, His righteousness, His mercy, and His Being. Real worship acknowledges God as He has revealed Himself in His Word. Such worship cannot rise out of a vacuum. It is prompted and vitalized by the objective truth of the Word.
Honor the Lord. Hebrews 12:28 says, Let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe" That verse speaks of the attitude in which we should worship. The Greek word for "service" is latreuo, which literally means "worship." The point is that worship ought to be done reverently, in a way that honors God. In fact, the Authorized version translates it this way: let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear (emphasis added)—and the next verse adds, For our God is a consuming fire (v. 29).

Why would a church replace preaching and worship with entertainment and comedy in the Lord's Day services? Many who have done it say they are aiming to reach non-Christians. They want to create a "user-friendly" environment that will be more appealing to unbelievers. Their stated goal is "relevance" rather than "reverence." And their services are designed to reach unbelievers with the gospel, not for believers to come together for worship and edification.

What's wrong with that? Is there a problem with using the Lord's Day services as evangelistic meetings? Is there a biblical reason Sunday should be the day believers gather for worship?

Scripture suggests that the regular meetings of the early church were not for evangelistic purposes, but primarily for mutual encouragement and worship among the community of believers. That's why the writer of Hebrews made this plea, And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another (Heb. 10:24-25, emphasis added).

When a church makes all its meetings evangelistic, believers lose opportunities to grow, be edified, and worship. There is simply no warrant in Scripture for adapting weekly church services to the preferences of unbelievers. When the church comes together on the Lord's Day is no time to entertain the lost, amuse the brethren, or otherwise cater to the "felt needs" of those in attendance. This is when we should bow before our God as a congregation and honor Him with our worship.

Put no confidence in the flesh. In Philippians 3:3 the apostle Paul characterizes Christian worship this way: "We are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh" (emphasis added).

Experience and history show that the human tendency to add fleshly apparatus to the worship God prescribes is incredibly strong. Israel did this in the Old Testament, culminating in the religion of the Pharisees. Pagan religions consist of nothing but fleshly ritual. The fact that such ceremonies are often beautiful and moving do not make them true worship. Scripture is clear that God condemns all human additions to what He has explicitly commanded: "In vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men" (Matt. 15:9). We who love the Word of God and believe in the principle of sola Scriptura must diligently be on guard against such a tendency.

Worship Is the Ultimate Priority
To Martha, troubled to distraction with the chores of being a hostess, our Lord said, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only a few things are necessary, really only one" (Lk. 11:41-42). The point was clear. Mary, who sat at His feet in adoration, had "chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her" (v. 42).

Our Lord was teaching that worship is the one essential activity that must take precedence over every other activity of life. And if that is true in our individual lives, how much more weight should we give it in the context of the assembly of believers?

The world is filled with false and superficial religion. We who love Christ and believe His word is true dare not accommodate our worship to the styles and preferences of an unbelieving world. Instead, we must make it our business to be worshipers in spirit and in truth. We must be people who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh. And to do that, we must allow Scripture alone to regulate our worship.

Taken from "How Shall We Then Worship" by John F. MacArthur, Jr. from The Coming Evangelical Crisis, edited by John H. Armstrong. Copyright 1996 by the Moody Bible Institute.

John F. MacArthur, Jr. is pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, CA, and president of The Master's College and Seminary.

Source: Faithwalk, Vol. 3, No. 1, 2003, p. 10-15.

The Importance of Motivation

2009-07-10T10:49:00.000-07:00

Recently I was presented with several ministry opportunities but not motivated to actively pursue any of them. A question came to my mind. “What is your motivation for ministry?” So I began to do a Bible study on the subject. Let me ask you the same question. What motivates your ministry activity? What are the incentives, the driving forces, and stimulations for your ministry? Is it fear, rivalry, envy, selfish ambition, anger, hatred or the love of Christ? Is it the desire for fame, wealth, knowledge, supremacy, revenge, or is it to please the Lord and to give glory to God?

While man looks at the outward appearance, God looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7; 2 Corinthians 5:12 – 16). People around us and in our churches may be impressed with the size of our ministry, accomplishments or with the gifts and abilities God has given us. But what does God think of what is going on in our hearts? What really matteres? We may face times of discouragement because of the lack of outward results. But are we faithful in our hearts to try to please the Lord in our ministry? God sees our hearts and requires pure motives in our ministry and religious activity (Matthew 6:1 – 8) and they will one day be brought to light and judged by the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:9,10; Romans 2:16).

The apostle Paul summarized his motivation for ministry when he said; “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, so that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:14,15,20,21 NIV).

My prayer is; “Lord Jesus help us to remember all you did for us on the cross to save us from our sins and give us a heart of love like yours to minister to the people around us for your glory.”

Bruce Ingram
ACTION Pastoral Leadership Development Team

Admonish Who? or I’m Certainly Not Going to Say Anything!

2009-07-08T09:27:00.000-07:00

“… Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ,” (Colossians 1:27-28, nasb).

Have you ever been surprised or disheartened with the conduct or teaching of pastors of large churches or directors of large ministries? Discouraged by their rudeness, crudeness, anger, language, teaching, lavish and ostentatious life style. Many of us are intimidated and fearful to say anything, for after all we may only be a pastor of a small church of 50, so who are we to confront (even graciously) a pastor of a church of 5000? How can we speak to the conduct of a famous Christian author when we’ve never even written a book?

But should not all of us in the body of Christ encourage each in the body in our conduct and walk with God?

A pastor of a mega church speaks crudely of sex from the pulpit, publically says he does not like people (except his own family), treats others rudely and is known as the “angry” pastor. I spoke at a meeting of pastors and was seated next to this “famous” young pastor. He spoke to no one at the table even when spoken to. When I sought to encourage and talk to him, he simply answered with an angry stare.

Was this a time to say something like, “Hey, brother, what do you think of Paul’s instruction to the church of Colossae in Colossians chapter 3, when he says in verses 10 to 12 that as a Christian, we are to put on (so the world can see) a heart of compassion, kindness, and humility. Brother, as a pastor and teacher of the Word, is it possible to be a true believer without the evidence in our lives of things that clothe a follower of Christ.

The reason most of us would not speak (even kindly) to a “big shot” church leader like this is because we are afraid they will answer, “Who do you think you are?”

Well, we do know (or should know) who we are; we are members to each other in Christ, in His body the Church!

So, don’t be a coward like me. Tactfully in love with gracious speech (or writing) speak to those who bring shame to Christ and discouragement to those in the church. Don’t be intimidated and fooled with statements like, “I know Pastor So and So is not perfect, but look at the size of his church. He may be angry, uses crude language, and doesn’t like people, but look at all he does for the Kingdom.”

“So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity,” (Colossians 3:12-14, nasb).

“Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear,” (Ephesians 4:29, nasb).

"Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you,“(“Ephesians 4:31-32, nasb).

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come,“(2 Corinthians 5:17, nasb).

“For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf,“(2 Corinthians 5:14-15 nasb).

If our teaching, life style, and conduct do not glorify the Lord Jesus, what good is it whatever size our ministry or church is?

by Doug Nichols

Basic Principles of Worship Music

2009-07-02T10:42:00.001-07:00

Because worshiper and worship cannot be treated independently of each other, Christians must understand the biblical principles that apply to the use of worship music. Dan G. MacCartney, in his article, "Music and the Worship of the Living God," enumerates these principles:

1. The worship of God, and, thus, also the music of worship, should correspond to God's character. How we worship should reflect the kind of God He is. This correspondence principle underlies all other principles.

2. The worship of God, and hence, the music of worship, should exhibit the joyful reverence and awe. This we may call the holiness principle.

3. The worship of God, and , thus, the music of worship, must conform to God's own prescriptions for worship, as contained in His Word. This we commonly call the regulative principle.

4. The worship of God, and, thus, the music of worship, should involve the whole worshiper and not just cognitive but also aesthetic, emotional, and physical aspects of our being. This is a holistic principle.

5. The worship of God, and, thus, the music of worship, should embody the best the worshiper can do. I will term this the excellence principle.

Source: Faithwalk, Vol.3, No.1, 2003, p. 26.

A Checklist for Evaluating Worship

2009-06-22T10:19:00.000-07:00

W. Robert Godfrey, in his book Pleasing God in Worship, poses the following questions, which we may well use to help us assess if our corporate worship conforms to God's Word, or better still, if we are worshiping God acceptably with reverence and awe (Heb. 12:29):

√ Does my church love and believe the Bible?

√ Is the worship of my church filled with the Word of God?

√ How much of the service is given to the reading of the Bible?

√ How much of the service is given to biblical prayer?

√ How much of the service is given to singing that is biblical in content and character?

√ What is content of preaching?

√ Is preaching a substantial part of the service?

√ Is the Law of God clearly present in the service?

√ Is the Gospel of Jesus Christ clearly present and central in the service?

√ What is the role of the sacraments [baptism and Lord's Supper] in the ministry of the church?

√ Are there elements of the service that are more entertaining than biblical?

√ Are both joyful thanksgiving and reverent awe expressed and balanced in the service?

Source: Faithwalk, Vol. 3 No. 1, 2003, p. 15

Saturation Praying

2009-06-18T10:05:00.000-07:00

by Rev. Will Bruce, Minister-at-Large

Overseas Missionary Fellowship
10 West Dry Creek Circle
Littleton, CO 80120-4413
Telephone: 800.422.5330 or 303.730.4160
Fax: 303.730.4165
E-mail: info@omf.org

I. Saturation Praying is praying in which we share, unite, and zero in on the target with specific and full coverage.

Luke 11:1 "Lord, teach us to pray." We are commanded to pray: 1 Thess. 5:17. We are invited to pray:John 14:14. We are the losers if we do not pray: James 4:2b.

We talk to God, the Father through Jesus Christ, the Son, helped by the Holy Spirit. We talk with God simply and naturally as we would talk to others, yet with reverence.

It is hard to change old habit patterns and adopt that which would prove to be more effective in relation to answers for ourselves and for others. Involve the whole family or group in praying--no spectators, all participate. We move on from panic or crisis praying to protective praying.

God loves us, accepts us and cares for us. He will also forgive and cleanse us as we repent. "We are His workmanship." Ephesians 2:10. He is a living God who hears and answers.

II. General Rules:
Brief--back and forth
Only one formal opening and closing
Avoid simply "Lord, bless so and so."
Specific. Not shotgun praying. Luke 11:5,6.
Saturate one subject at a time.
Pray in agreement.
Everyday language but not crude.
Honest and open.
One step at a time.
Then move on to another subject.

An example of saturation praying for a missionary coming home on furlough. Items for prayer will include: extra strength for the multiplied duties prior to his leaving; handing over the work to others; health problems; travel arrangements; safety in travel; needs of the family (change of schools, new friends, culture shock); relationships with family members at home (including unsaved or bereaved ones); a place to live; a ministry in the home church; deputation opportunities; need of a car, furlough studies; ability to communicate the challenge of the field, etc.

Evelyn Christenson has an excellent book on prayer and a leader's guide for teaching prayer. She suggests these 6 simple steps:

1. Subject by subject.
2. Short prayers.
3. Simple prayers.
4. Specific prayers.
5. Silent prayers.
6. Small groups.

III. Five suggested steps for praying, with full freedom to move back and forth between steps:
1. Tune in: Psalm 46:10; Ps. 27:14, and think of:
a. What He is.
b. What He has done for us.
c. What we are in Him.
d. What we have in Him.

2. Praise Him (worship): Phil 4:4-7; 1 Thess. 5:16, and thank Him for:
a. Who He is.
b. What He has done for us.
c. What He will do.
Be specific. Give thanks for NEW LIFE, HEALTH, FAMILY MEMBERS, ANSWERS TO PRAYER, etc.

3. Share personal needs: James 5:13-16. In honesty, in openness, with reality. Use "I" for expressing a need or in confession, not "We."

4. Bear one another's burdens: Gal. 6:2. Have a real concern for and understanding of one another. Use your imagination concerning the needs of others. Ask God for guidance.

5. Reach out in earnest, specific, in-depth prayer for other Christians and those without Christ in your neighborhood, nation, and world.

IV. Benefits:
1. A new awareness of one another.
2. A new sense of being loved.
3. Timid ones begin to participate.
4. Praying is more thorough, therefore more effective.

Some recommended books on prayer:
Prayer Power Unlimited by J. Oswald Sanders
Born for Battle by Arthur Mathews
God's Powerful Weapon by Denis Lane
Prayer without Pretending by Anne Townsend
Mountain Rain by Eileen Crossman, The biography of J.O. Fraser. Gives an ideal example of what is accomplished on the mission field through prayer in the home country.
The Prayer of Faith by J.O. Fraser
Effective Prayer by J. Oswald Sanders

Overseas Missionary Fellowship
10 West Dry Creek Circle
Littleton, CO 80120-4413
Telephone: 800.422.5330 or 303.730.4160
Fax: 303.730.4165
E-mail: info@omf.org

Quarreling Forbidden

2009-06-12T16:08:00.001-07:00

Trying to shift blame from ourselves to another person is a common practice. Whether it is an extreme case, such as the Nazis on trial after World War II who said they were only following orders, or a less heinous situation, such as a young child saying that his brother made him steal a pack of gum, all people like to point the finger when they are caught in sin.

Jacob's sons knew that truth about what had really happened to Joseph would have to come out once they were charged with telling their father the good news that Joseph had not died. Remember that Jacob's sons lied to him after Joseph was sold into slavery, telling him that "a fierce animal" had slaughtered their brother (Gen. 37:31-35). To explain why Joseph was still alive would necessitate a full revelation of their betrayal. Though all (except Benjamin) were guilty of this crime on some level, the tendency to shift blame would create opportunities for the brothers to accuse one another of responsibility in hopes of being held less culpable for their act.

Joseph moves to prevent this arguing in Genesis 45: 21-24. First he moves to assure them that there is no need to blame one another through the gift of "a change of clothes" (45:22). The clothing each brother receives is an outer garment that is also used as a blanket. In other words, it is a tunic, recalling the coat of many colors that helped prompt the brothers' jealousy of Joseph (chap. 37). By this gift Joseph gives further proof of forgiveness and reconciliation, for special coats can now be given without any worry of inciting strife.

More important are Joseph's instructions for his brothers not to quarrel. For the first time in decades, Jacob's sons are at peace with one another, and nothing must trouble this accord. Today, we must heed these words as well and avoid foolish arguing, not only over blame, but over relatively minor matters as well (Rom 14:1). John Calvin comments: "We ought to imitate this kindness of Joseph; that we may prevent, as much as possible, quarrels, and strifes of words; for Christ requires of his disciples, not only that they should be lovers of peace, but also that they should be peace-makers."

Source: Thomas, Derek W.H., "Quarreling Forbidden," Tabletalk October 2007, page 30.

BACK FROM INDIA!

2009-05-25T03:32:00.000-07:00

Having just returned from 12 days in India ministering to persecuted pastors from Orissa, I can only say that I am humbled to have met some of the most courageous joyful men of God who literally have lost all, but not their faith in Jesus. Some of them without a doubt will be martyrs themselves. Many of these pastors literally beat rocks all day and take the pebbles to sell for cement hoping to gain a dollar a day. They have seen things that I will not write here, but yet they sing and worship like no one I have ever seen.

These men are heroes of the faith, but they would not accept that, they would simply want to be good pastors for their people who have been scattered like they are. Theses pastors are targeted and are in danger every day. There are also pastors wives who are widows who are in need and of course orphans. Unless you go and see these men it is hard to understand, but one thing we can do here is help them financially. I will in the near future give you all opportunity to be a part of helping this situation to the glory of God. Pray for the pastors of Orissa as well as the widowed pastors wives and the orphans.