Homework for March-April 2009

Hello men! I hope your week is going well.

I want to list your homework for this month. Also, we are changing the times and days when we meet. Because I see the value of this ministry, I want to meet with you every 2nd and 4th Thursday nights @ 8:30pm. It has to be late until the summer when Thrive is over and we can start earlier.

Now, as to your homework here it is:

1. Finish Spiritual Leadership and be ready to discuss the parts that impacted you.
2. Your passage: do with your text what we did with 1 John 1:1-4, choose key words
   
3. Greek Alphabet Test: be ready
   
4. Greek: practice pronunciation of words with your chosen text
5. Website research ideas

I hope that helps and makes sense. Take care men!

Whatever You Bind...

Yo bros!!
So here is the question I've been wrestling with: What grieves the Holy Spirit more - (1) a local church member breaking fellowship, and potentially dividing the congregation over a non-essential, or (2) the church leadership implementing a program (could be a non-essential program) that has the potential to divide up the congregation and thus play a major role in scenario #1. ?? First off, I do believe our churches must be kept accountable by its members to some degree; this is wise as many churches have run a muck, taken radical left turns in doctrinal matters, and started to care only about marketing strategies and growth potential instead of the feeding of the flock. However, I have come to realize how unbelievably "nit-picky" church members can be (yes, even here at CBC), to the point of antagonistic behavior. To be honest, I have even had to repent of this myself from time to time, as I've been guilty of playing the "arm-chair" pastoral board of directors from the comfy confines of my apartment on more than one occasion . Our intentions can be good (and usually are) when having a concern w/ a local church, but the methods can tell a different story, even ending up spoiling the good intentions with sin. We all want to be members of THE perfect church. But unfortunately, this will not...CAN NOT happen until Christ sets up His perfect theocracy in the Millennial Kingdom. Until then, we should be grateful and remain humble that God has established a place of worship to come and glorify Him corporately, as well as enjoy each other's fellowship (Matt. 16:18; Rom.15:32; Heb.10:25) even when OUR hearts don't deserve this privilege, and even when our church leadership may be wrong in certain matters. John 17:21 tells us that Jesus Himself wants us to be united as "one" in the Body of Christ as this is our corporate testimony to the world that we have a relationship with our God and Savior. However, this is never to be at the expense of truth (which interestingly enough) is presented to us before unity, in verse 17. So what's my point? Basically, if there is nothing in Scripture that the church is violating (like starting a new service geared for younger folks), and the pure truth of the Word is still in tact - being guarded by the church's leadership - than we MUST submit to it's leadership and trust God that He will protect the unity of the Body as well. Our church(es) are given the special anointing of having the authority of Christ Himself behind her decisions (Matt. 18:17-20), and for this reason, and IF only for this reason, we as slaves are to submit to her decisions, pray, and trust God with the consequences.

I'm in!

Finally, I'm in the blog.

Per our Uncle Jon's suggestion, I've read 1st Tim.4:14-16 a number of times, although it has not "stuck" yet. Also, I checked my meager personal library and found my old copy of "Spiritual Leadership." I read it 4-5 yrs ago and looking forward to reading it again.

I've downloaded CJ Mahaney's msg, "Our Pastoral Priorities," and will listen to it by the weekend. I was able to locate Don Whitney's msg, "Almost inevitable ruin of every minister and how to avoid it," however it is in a file format that I could not open. Any ideas Eric?

I attended Wednesday and Thursday of Shepherd's Conference. The sessions and fellowship was outstanding.

With Authority

Well men, I just got back from the Shepherd's Conference (along w/ Jeremy and PJ) and am still in amazement at what God exposed me to. I noticed after a few seminars that an ongoing theme for pastor-teachers throughout was "preaching with authority". This was on display with the likes of Al Mohler on Thurs night and Alex Montoya on Friday morning, with its peak (I think) on Fri evening shown by Steve Lawson. It hit me hard that when we stand before ANYBODY with our Bibles open and (especially) behind a pulpit, we better preach, encourage, and BEG our listeners, understanding we have the authority of Almighty God surrounding us. This is what all the early church fathers did, the Reformation pastors did, and what a few truly anointed men do now. To trust God with the consequences while preaching biblically and authoritatively is what it's all about. Lives are at stake - it REALLY IS a matter of life OR death. Montoya made this especially clear stating, "The Holy Spirit speaks through you to channel Himself to the people, now do it!" We have to take this seriously, knowing that when done faithfully, we are imploring folks with the full and just authority of God Himself!!! Too many great men of the faith were slaughtered for their unwavering stance on the authority of Scipture. We have a lot to measure up to guys. God has used (and still uses) fearless men to proclaim His Word, e.g. John Knox, and John MacArthur. But, we have the awesome blessing from God that He will get His message out regardless and will not let us stop that process if we aren't "good enough". No one ever has been good enough behind the pulpit, just like no one ever has been good enough for salvation (Mohler, thurs night). As you can tell, this was a convicting week for me while up at Grace Church, and honestly, only furthered my drive to want to proclaim His truths.