Some Times I Cry

Where there is no vision, the people perish. Proverbs 29:18 (KJV)

Sometimes lately when I'm alone I cry because I'm on my own. The tears I cry are bitter and warm they flow with life but take no form. I cry because my heart is torn no this no that with vision for love. A place, a race, that is difficult,welcome the gift to two carry on. If I had an ear to confide in , I would cry among my treasured friends but who do you know that stops that long ah, I know God! Sometimes I forget when the world moves fast and I think I would rather let it pass. You know to stop and see what makes you cry reminds why he died for our sins. It's painful and sad and sometimes I cry, "no one on this Earth even cares".

Have you ever been part of a team that didn't seem to make any progress? Maybe the group had plenty of talent, resources, and opportunities, and team members got along, but the group just never went anywhere. There's a strong possibility that the situation was caused by lack of vision.
Great vision precedes great achievement. Every team needs a compelling vision to give it direction. A team without vision is at worst, purposeless. At best, it is subject to the personal-and sometimes selfish-agendas of various teammates.
Author Ezra Earl Jones points out: "Leaders do not have to be the greatest visionaries themselves. The vision may come from anyone. The leaders do have to state the vision, however. Leaders also have to keep the vision before the people and remind them of the progress that is being made to achieve the vision. Otherwise, the people might assume that they are failing and give up."
If you lead your team, then you are responsible for identifying a worthy and compelling vision and articulating it to your team members.

God’s desire is to supply His people with every necessity. Even when it seems impossible. Even if our personal situation is parched as a barren desert, it will be supplied with water. As Isaiah 35:7 says, “The parched ground shall become a pool.” Isaiah uses such graphic terms to paint a picture of what God’s workmanship will mean in the lives of His repentant obedient people. It will mean more that physical provision. It means spiritual refreshing, growth and fruitfulness. When God causes the impossible with His creative power, it will be clear that He blesses His people. Then those who truly behold these wondrous events will understand and learn the lesson that He alone is the God who is active and able. He is a God who delivers His people.

The Lord has sufficient power, and is not confined to the order of nature, which He can easily change, whenever He thinks fit. For He says that he will make life-giving waters to flow on the tops of mountains, and fountains in valleys, and pools in deserts.
Listen to this poem and take hope that He is working in your difficult needy circumstances.

Sometimes life seems hard to bear,
Full of sorrow, trouble and woe
It’s then I need to remember
That it’s in the valleys I grow.

If I always stayed on the mountain top And never experienced pain,
I would never appreciate God’s love
And would be living in vain.

I have so much to learn
And my growth is very slow,
Sometimes I need the mountain tops,
But it’s in the valleys I grow.

I do not always understand
Why things happen as they do,
But I am very sure of one thing.
My Lord will see me through.

My little valleys are nothing
When I picture Christ on the cross
He went through the valley of death;
His victory was Satan’s loss.

Forgive me Lord, for complaining
When I’m feeling so very low.
Just give me a gentle reminder
That it’s in the valleys I grow.

Continue to strengthen me, Lord
And use my life each day
To share your love with others
And help them find their way.

Thank you for valleys, Lord
For this one thing I know
The mountain tops are glorious
But it’s in the valleys I grow!

Let’s apply these words to God’s working within us. God gives us a promise from His word which He transforms into His vision for us as we meditate upon it. Generally there is gap between the promise and its reality. When we begin to long for the fulfillment of that promise, we are not yet ready for it. Instead of the promise being immediately fulfilled in us, we need to entered into a valley of humiliation and preparation. It is during this time that Satan comes to us with his temptations, and we are inclined to think that there is no point in even trying to continue.

Then as surely as God is God, and you are you, you will turn out as an exact likeness of the vision. But don’t lose heart in the process.[If you have ever had a vision from God, you may try as you will to be satisfied on a lower level, but God will never allow it. God’s saving work in His people is His testimony to the world that He is real and able. His wondrous blessings are kept for the poor in spirit, who long for Divine enlightening, pardon, empowerment, and holiness. God will pour forth His refreshing power into their barren souls and make them fruitful by the grace of His Spirit, that all who behold and consider it may know of His reality.

God Bless You and This Ministry!

Show Me What You Say

I want to start by asking you to get a picture in your head that demonstrates ministry.

Was your mental image of ministry:

• A man passing out tracts on a street corner?

• A missionary sharing Jesus with tribal natives?

• A preacher with a Bible?

• A gospel life light meeting?

Maybe you had a totally different image; for example:

• two men eating lunch at a business convention.

• How about friends playing on a bowling team?

• A few friends conversing on face book during a noonday Sunday.

Now in all honesty most of you probably imagined images like the first five. After all, those are evangelistic settings, right? We’d probably call those “spiritual”, in context: the church, the gospel meeting, the missionary.

And we’d probably figure the other three were worldly in nature. A business luncheon, a game with teammates and friends, social networking on-line. We usually think there’s nothing “spiritual,” in those scenarios, unless those people were talking about the Good News of Jesus Christ!

I believe it’s an Interesting concept, but one that’s false. Jesus Himself ignored the labels of “worldly” and “spiritual,” because any place He went became sacred. In reaching out to sinners, He personalized the gospel to each individual, speaking in terms the world understood, wherever He met them.

I want you to first notice about readings from Mark 1:29-31 that Jesus leaves the Synagogue to minister. Let’s look at Marks account of the day’s events.

As soon as Jesus and his followers left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. Simon’s mother-in-law was sick in bed with a fever, and the people told Jesus about her. So Jesus went to her bed, took her hand, and helped her up. The fever left her, and she began serving them. They told Jesus she was sick, but it does not say they asked Jesus to do anything. They did not demand anything of Jesus, but only made Him aware of the problem. What faith!! They wanted Jesus to be in a relationship with this woman and somehow they knew, they felt, He would take it from there.

Simon and Andrew took a leap of faith. They saw Jesus heal in the synagogue, so they took a leap of faith by just telling Jesus she had a fever. Jesus told us that he came so that we would have “life to the fullest” (John 10:10). If that was Jesus’ goal while he was on earth, don’t you think that should be a goal of ours?
I sometimes wonder if most people in my 100 foot circle know how to live a life to the fullest in Christ. Sure, most people have full lives. (These are wonders I have every time I attend a bible study, men’s gospel group or even Sunday church service) They’re always going from one place to another, from one accomplishment to another, and often from one relationship to another. Many people’s schedules are full, but that’s a far cry from living life to the fullest through Jesus Christ. And so, the question for me this day is from whence our delivery does come? We, who are supposed to have this ministry, yet find ourselves in need of ministry- how can we be delivered, so that we can deliver others? Lord, how can we help others if we are too impotent to help ourselves?
First we must learn to respond to God’s word with immediacy. The first thing we learn about Jesus and his effect on his community is that they all responded with immediacy, and that foremost , is living a life to the fullest starts with Jesus. We cannot have a full life without him. Salvation is the starting point to a life fulfilled, but it’s not the end. There are a lot – I mean a lot – of unfulfilled Christians even in the church. And that devastates our witness to the world.
After salvation, a fulfilled life is one of the following four basic needs (support, stability, self expression and significance) and how they are met. God has uniquely called the Body of Christ to meet those needs.  Everyone wants to know they’re not alone. God said in Genesis 2:18 “It is not good for man to be alone,” but there are a lot of factors in today’s world that are causing us to be more alone. The vast majority of us live in cities, and we don’t know our neighbors. We’re increasingly separating people into different boxes – further isolating ourselves. In just a few generations, we’ve gone from the extended family to the nuclear family to the single-parent family or the new normal.

For some of us, things have become more important than people.

People are coming into the church searching for something to belong to. They want to know they aren’t alone. They want to know someone cares about them.

That’s where the church steps in. God designed the church to be a family (Ephesians 2:19).  Small groups are crucial to this. That’s where we meet the need for support in people’s lives. Not just answering the question but living it by your Actions!

 Have you ever heard this statement, “People are looking for a strong foundation to build their life on”? This is surprising to me because. Every study you read about truth these days says people don’t believe in absolutes anymore. But people want/need absolutes to center their life on the sad part is that even regular church goers aren’t acknowledging absolute truth. But if you have no absolutes in your life, you’re asking for anxiety and stress.

Deep down, the people in your community know that. Those who walk into your church this weekend want absolutes to build their life around. Whether they want to admit it or not, they’re looking for principles to help guide them. Until people establish an authority in their life, they’ll never have life to their fullest.

You have an opportunity to do that. We must teach people that God’s Word is that kind of authority. It’s an anchor that we can depend upon when life gets rough.

 God made us all a unique mix of gifts, passions, abilities, personality, and experiences. And he gave us an irrepressible desire to express our uniqueness. When we can’t express that uniqueness, it produces frustration, dissatisfaction, and boredom.

The vast majority of men and women who’ll walk through our church doors every weekend – and the vast majority of people we are trying to reach – are bored out of their mind. They are conditioned to feel they have no opportunity to express their uniqueness. Often, the media, their jobs, their family, and their friends are trying to stuff them into a box that makes them just like everyone else. When they come to the church, they’re hoping you’ll help them express that uniqueness.

The church should be that kind of place. Helping people discover their uniqueness by worshiping God finding out about their S.H.A.P.E. (spiritual gifts, heart, abilities, personality, and experiences that help them to be fully alive in Christ). Teaching how to minister through the unique way God created us.

 We all want to know our life matters. We want to be part of something bigger than ourselves. We’ve been wired for this. Man’s search for meaning wrote the history of the 20th century. Communism and nationalism thrived because people long to be a part of something bigger than them. Today, radical Islam operates in that same way.

We should corner the market on meeting this emotional need. You and I are a part of the biggest mission imaginable – sharing the Good News about God’s Kingdom. I can’t think of any bigger mission to center our lives around. As we help people see their unique part in this mission, we’re meeting this huge need in their lives.

Philippians 2:13 in the New English Bible says, “For it is God who works in you, inspiring both the will and the deeds for his own chosen purpose.” God has a purpose for our lives even before we were born. One of the greatest things we can do for people is helping them to discover that. What is their unique mission? How does God want to use their uniqueness to tell his story? Our church has the opportunity to help people discover that.

Romans 5:2 sums up my heartbeat for my church and what I hope is your heartbeat for your church: “We can confidently and joyfully look forward to actually becoming all God has in mind for us to be.” I want to be able to say that I’ve helped my congregation and community become all God wanted them to be. That means I have to be meeting those numerous basic needs in the ministry of our church.
Of course, here’s the underlying message to this transformation: If you’re built around the biblical purposes of the church (worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry, and evangelism), you will be on the journey of meeting those needs. A church committed to fellowship meets the need of support. A church committed to discipleship meets the need of stability. A church committed to mobilizing members for ministry meets the need of self-expression. And a church committed to evangelism and missions meets the need of significance. It’s our responsibility and privilege to worship, love, exalt, and serve the Lord, let us join the chorus and worship Him!

God Bless You and This Ministry!

Dare to Be a Daniel

Emotional Pain is an ugly monster, and a very tough one. Imagine a predator or anything scary ..We need to know how to defeat it, kill the fear and tell ourselves we are stronger than it. We need a strong functional tactic to conquer it. Determination and a strong will, is one key to make it vanish, life experiences is another  but it is through scripture and my love of Christ is my ultimate fear remedy.

Mr. Baker taught mathematics at my High School for many years. Before giving us a test, he would put things in perspective for us by admonishing us with these words:

"Today I am giving two examinations: one in trigonometry, and the other in honesty. I hope you will pass them both. But, if you must fail one, fail trigonometry. There are many good people in the world that cannot pass trigonometry, but there are no good people in the world that cannot pass the examination of honesty."

It doesn’t take long to realize that the really important tests in life come long after school is out. Many times the tests are painful. And sometimes they are like pop exams—they take us by surprise!

That’s why the apostle Peter wrote: “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering as though something strange were happening to you” (1 Peter 4:12).

Referring to trials, the apostle Peter also said, “These [trials] have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed” (1 Peter 1:7).I realized early the unusual potential of teaching spiritual truths through appropriate songs. My favorite was

 “Dare to Be a Daniel” it goes like this:

Dare to be a Daniel;
dare to stand alone!
Dare to have a purpose firm!
Dare to make it known.

 In my study of Daniel I was surprised to find that he now finds himself facing what is probably the greatest test of his life. In Daniel 6:1-16a , he was now serving under a new king named Darius. Like the many kings before him, king Darius soon came to recognize Daniel’s great wisdom and personal integrity. Daniel, who was now approaching 90 years of age, became king Darius’ trusted friend. So Darius chose Daniel to be one of only three administrators who governed his kingdom.

Daniel so excelled at his position that the king decided to put him solely in charge of the whole government. That didn’t go over too well with the other cabinet members and high officials. In their jealousy, they tried to discredit Daniel by conducting an exhaustive background search in order to dig up some dirt from his past. That plan failed. Daniel was too much of a man of integrity.

They then decided that the only way they could trap Daniel was somehow to use his religious convictions against him. So they contrived a devious, yet ingenious, plan. The officials appealed to the king’s pride by challenging him to issue a royal decree, one that could not be altered, that would result in the execution of anyone in the kingdom who would pray to any god but to him.

The king’s pride trapped him. So he issued an unchangeable decree that said the lions’ den was for anyone who would not worship him alone. Little did the king know that, in issuing such an unchangeable decree, he was endangering the very life of his trusted friend Daniel?

As expected, it took Daniel’s peers no time at all to find him guilty of praying to his God. Daniel was then convicted of violating the king’s decree and ordered to be thrown into the lions’ den—all apart from the king’s desire. But they had Daniel—and Darius!—on a legal technicality.

So Daniel was now facing his greatest test yet! In this test I want you to see two very important truths that are meant by God to help you through the tests that you will inevitably face in life.
First, God’s tests are often designed to confront you with the reality of your own human limitations.
Humanly speaking, Daniel’s situation was without hope. Verse 16 tells us that he had just been thrown into the lions’ den.

There were three limiting factors that made for a humanly impossible situation here. The first limiting factor was the law of that day (referred to in verse 15 as the law of the Medes and Persians.) This law dictated that a king’s decree could never be revoked—not even by the king himself.
The second limiting factor was the stone referred to in verse 17. This large stone was placed over the mouth of the den to ensure that there was no physical way for Daniel to escape. The third limiting factor facing Daniel was the placement of the royal seals on the secured den. Verse 17 tells us that “the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings of his nobles, so that Daniel’s situation might not be changed.” The king and his nobles took moist clay and sealed it over the stone, pressing their signet rings into the clay so that if someone did try to save Daniel, they would first have to break the seals, which would have brought upon them the decree of their own execution.

Now you don’t have to be in a literal lions’ den or have a friend tossed in one to be confronted with the reality of your own limitations apart from God’s help.

I know that some of us at times feel like we are facing some personal impossibility, and are on the verge of giving up. Some are under-employed concerns today about your children. For some of you it’s an ongoing financial problem. For others it’s relational. You’ve almost given up on your marriage. In spite of all you have done, things just are not improving. They seem to be getting worse.  For some it’s a health problem or a recurring sin or addiction that you wonder if you will ever be able to conquer. No matter what you do, there just seems to be no way out. No hope for change.

The truth is that it is the most spiritually productive place you could ever be! You see, God brings you into the lions’ den because he loves you. He does so because he knows that it is only when you come to the end of yourself that you will ever be able to taste the joys of truly knowing his presence and power in your life. It is only in dying to yourself that you can come alive to God. The Lord takes great pleasure in taking the most difficult situations in life—those that seem humanly impossible to us—and using those impossibilities as a way of increasing our faith in his unlimited capability. Throughout the Scriptures we learn that temptations and trials of life are to be responded to, not by running from them, or trying to avoid them, or trying to meet them in the power of our own abilities, but by drawing near to God in faith.

The life of Daniel is really a model and an example of how God’s people can live in difficult conditions and come through victoriously. Even as the Jewish people were living in Babylonian captivity, so Christians today are pilgrims and sojourners in a foreign culture. We, like Daniel, must exercise our faith in God’s purposes and leading for our lives. We too must resolve in advance that we will not be defiled by the world. And whether our God delivers us or not from the lions’ den, we will remain faithful to him.

God Bless You And this Ministry!

Worship And Sacramental Life

In many respects the Holy Spirit’s call to worship was a call to be faithful amidst persecution in a hostile world. There is simply no Christianity worthy of the name without it. . Bible passages such as Acts 2:42-47 indicate the indispensable centrality of worship in the lives of Christians. Corporate worship is clearly essential, and the Bible warns us against minimizing it(Hebrews 10:19-25). We are called by God to Worship. I will attempt to trace a few significant developments in the Church’s worship and sacramental life.


A two-fold thrust has characterized most Christian worship throughout history. On the one hand, Christians took from synagogue services such important features as hymns, scripture readings, prayers, sermons, etc. Secondly, the unique feature of Christian worship, the one added by Jesus himself, the only “order of service” specifically commanded by Jesus, is Communion. In some places in early Christian centuries, these two components were kept clearly separated. The first part of the Sunday service (the one with components from synagogues) included both baptized and unbaptized people. Some of these people were just learning to be Christians (the initiation and instruction period prior to baptism sometimes took as long as three years!) These Christians-in the-making were known collectively as the Catechumenate(from the Greek work “katecheo,” “to instruct”). Unbaptized persons were dismissed after the first part of the service. The second part was for baptized Christians only; it centered around the Lord’s supper. By around the sixth century, when much of society was already “Christianized,” these two parts of the worship service were combined.

From the very beginning, worship was seen not as entertainment led by some people (clergy, etc.) but as participation. Our word “liturgy” (referring to the order of service) is from a Greek word meaning “work of the people.” However, in the later middle Ages a distorted view saw clergy as the chief actors, and the congregation as spectators and recipients. The Reformation (with its emphasis on corporate hymn singing, etc.) sought to restore the participatory nature of worship. However, in many Christian circles today, the notion of worship as a “show” with people in the pews as spectators and judges is still alive and well. No, let’s put it this way: prevalent, but unhealthy…and unbiblical!

Baptism has been regarded almost universally as the sacrament of admission to the Church and to the Lord’s supper. It conveys forgiveness of sin and new life in Christ with Christ’s people. Since the New Testament primarily deals with missionary situations involving adult converts, it stresses the baptism of adults. However, passages such as Act 16:33 imply that children were baptized too. By the second century, writings refer to the baptism of infants without challenge, and nothing in the first century contradicts the notion the notion that infant baptism was practiced. In contrast, nowhere in extant writings is a dedication rite for infants (in place of baptism) mentioned. A theologian named Tertullian (who was associated at one point with the distorted teachings of Montanism; in the third century expressed his doubts about the wisdom of baptizing infants. But his very words assure us that infant baptism was the common practice. According to a noted scholar, Dr.Joachim Jeremias, in his book, Infant Baptism in the First Four Centuries, it was not until c.AD.330 that we have clear evidence of a case of Christian parents letting their children grow up unbaptized. While it seems that infants of unchurched parents were not baptized (at least there is no current evidence of such a thing), clearly it was the prevailing practice to baptize children of believers as well as adults.

It was much later…in the 1500’s that the first significant attack on infant baptism arose. Perhaps it is no accident that at this late challenge arose in the heyday of a philosophy sometimes known as Renaissance Humanism. This kind of humanism stressed the great importance of individual understandings, feelings and decisions. This humanistic philosophy was probably a much more important factor in the re-baptism movement of the 1500’s than the Scriptures were, because the scriptures tell of some amazing things that God can do with infants, and even the unborn. In any event, it is safe to say that at least 90% of all the Christians who ever lived were baptized as infants and/or believed infant baptism to be Biblically and theologically valid.

Holy Communion was, from the very beginning, an integral part of worship. In the West at least, it was celebrated every Sunday by virtually all churches from the days of the Apostles through and including the Lutheran Reformation of the 1500’s. Acts 2:46 tells us that the early Christians gathered daily in the Temple. That’s how important worship was to them! In the Temple they no doubt prayed, sang psalms, heard the scriptures (Old Testament, of course), etc. But in their homes they broke bread, which very likely means celebrating the Eucharist (Communion). That was what was unique about Christian worship. That was what Christ commanded that could not be shared with everyone in the Temple. Often Christians risked their lives to gather on the Lord’s Day (Sunday)…not simply for individual prayer and meditation, but to share corporately in obedience to Christ’s command regarding Communion: “Do this in remembrance of me.”

The theology of Communion is highly complex in its development. Not all Christians believe the same things about it, other than that Christ commanded it. By the 9th century it was being suggested by some that bread and wine become the Body of Christ, i.e., are no longer bread and wine at all, except in outward appearance. To affect this miracle, a priest is essential. Here’s the way it was put in its official formulation, at the Fourth Lateran council in 1215: “The Body and Blood of Christ are truly contained…under the appearance of bread and wine, after the bread has been changed into the body, and the wine into the Blood, through the power of God. Only the rightly ordained priest can perform this sacrament. “But regardless of one’s views of the sacrament, Christ commanded it…and its blessings are immense.

Augustine (354-430) was a leading formulator of the doctrine of the sacraments in the western church. He stressed their centrality in the life of the church, emphasized their conveyance of grace, and held that they are necessary for salvation. Lastly specific patterns of worship can vary widely, but certain common components go back to the Jewish synagogue and to the Upper Room, where Jesus commanded Communion for his Church It is important to maintain these components in proper balance.

God's Blessings and this Ministry!

The Organized Church

If God is opposed to highly developed organization, he nonetheless certainly let a lot of it happen in his Church! History teaches us that, for a movement to survive beyond the first or second generation, increased complexity of organization seems a necessity. What Say You?

After its early years with a relatively loose structure, the Church of Jesus Christ became more and more complex in its organization. Is this an unfortunate result of the human tendency to over-organize and to produce hierarchical structures, or is it the Holy Spirit's guidance for a church with a world-wide mission?  I believe it was the latter. In any event, a major activity of early Christianity was the matter of getting organized.

Among the factors leading toward increased organization were the challenge of false teachings and the need to establish doctrinal authority and to clarify who the Church's Lord is. Also, large numbers of pagans were converting to Christianity, and many of these people had low levels of education and were inexperienced in the kind of leadership that the church required. The need for unity in worship and in Christian living was becoming increasingly recognized. Meanwhile, the Church's struggles with Montanism had left many Christians skeptical of ultra-spontaneous, "charismatic" leadership. In short, the Holy Spirit was seen as working for order and stability in an increasingly chaotic world. The more the structure of the once-great Roman Empire eroded, the more pressing was the need for order within the Church of Jesus Christ.

In my opinion it is a misreading of scripture to think that the New Testament had little use for structure. St. Paul, in line with traditional Jewish views of synagogue organization, instructed Titus to appoint elders "in every town" (Titus 1:5). When Paul talks about "gifts" in Ephesians 4:11-16, he lists not individual endowments, but offices in the church.The Pastoral Epistles (I & II Timothy & Titus) evidence much concern for leadership in the Church, and Paul and Barnabas themselves appointed leaders in the churches of Asia Minor (Acts 14:23). The word for "bishop," which in Greek literally means "overseer," appears over and over again. But did this refer to a formal office, or merely a function that someone assumed. Perhaps at first what we might today call the "pastor" of a church is what the New Testament calls "overseer." There is no easily-recognized and constantly-followed pattern of organization in the New Testament. However, it appears that, at least by the end of the first century, there were three offices: bishops, elders, and deacons.

Early in Church history, and with increasing force, the position of bishop became what we know it to be today the overseer of several congregations. Quite early came an incredibly strong view of the office. In a letter from Ignatius himself a bishop of Antioch in Syria, and who was soon to be martyred, the view of this man toward bishops around A.D. 110 is clearly spelled out. He writes: "Shun divisions as the beginning of evils. Do your all to follow your bishop, as Jesus Christ followed the Father, and the presbytery (elders) as the apostles, and to the deacons pay respect." Also, a man named Clement of Rome, writing in the last decade of the first century, speaks of the necessity of "apostolic succession." This is a very important concept, meaning that ordained leaders had been ordained by other leaders (bishops), who in turn could ultimately trace their own ordainers back to the apostles. Also, clergy in general became increasingly distinguished from lay members of the Church. By the beginning of the third century the distinction had become quite obvious.

Another very significant development was the elevation of the Bishop of Rome. Although, in much theorizing, bishops were equal to each other, bishops of large cities tended to gain in prominence over other bishops. The bishop of Rome eventually developed much of the aura of his city's once-proud leadership of the Roman Empire and became known as the "pope" (from the local word for "father"). Rome was the only city west of Greece to which the Apostle Paul sent a letter, and Paul and Peter were reported to have been martyred there. Just a few of the countless other factors in the rise of the Roman bishop's authority were: the leadership of Roman Christians in early developments of canon and creed; much landed wealth given by well-to-do donors; a man named Irenaus, who, in what is now southern France, wrote c.185 about the primacy of the Roman leader and the need to obey him; and the claims of Pope Leo I. This pope, who served A.D. 440-461, asserted that Peter's leadership among the apostles had been passed to his successors, the bishops of Rome. Leo persuaded the Emperor of the Western Roman Empire, Valentinian III, to give him control over the Western Church (Italy, Spain, North Africa and Southern Gaul) by decree in A.D. 445. Valentinian decreed that papal decisions would have the force of law.

With these and many other developments, something was forming which became known as the catholic church. It was beginning to call itself that by the end of the second century. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch c. A.D. 110, first used the word, in the sense of "universal." He said, "wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the catholic church." But the word has a history, and it came increasingly to be used of those who kept the historic Christian faith after encountering Gnosticism,, Marcionism, and Montanism in the mid-second century. Congregations were now much more closely tied together with one another and (in opposition to false teaching) bishops, canon and creed were firmly established. Whereas many Gnostics had claimed continuity with a secret teaching handed down orally from Jesus Catholic Christians took their stand on apostolic succession. This implied the passing along of true faith from Jesus through the apostles and bishops-the very faith embodied in canon and creeds. After the sifting process in the encounter with heretics, "catholic" became almost a synonym of "orthodox."  Finally one of the spin offs of greater unity and centralized authority is the increased ability to defend against false teachings and to maintain the faith
 under much stress. My continuing questions : Many people today frown on "organized religion" and the organized Church." What defense would you make against such attacks?  as well as how do you think the Holy Spirit wants the Church to be organized today?

God Bless You and This Ministry!

The Church's Challenge Clarify Who Its Lord is

My last two post thoughts have dealt with the call of God to early Christians to confront false teachings by delineating more clearly their own doctrine and doctrinal authority. The primary purpose of this delineation was to safeguard the center of the faith, the person and work of Jesus Christ. Now lets look more closely at the way the Church was led to spell out more clearly who Jesus Christ is.

Two primary questions about Jesus occupied the forefront of Christian thought for more than a century, from c. A.D 320 to 451, although the concerns go back far earlier than 320 and in many respects continue today. The first question was this: Is Jesus truly God? Secondly, if Jesus is divine, as the Church was to affirm, what is the relationship between his divinity and his humanity? Also, in the long process in which the Church took a stand on this, another question arose: Who is the Holy Spirit- God himself, or something less than God?

These are extremely complex and extremely important issues. Let me attempt to summaries the Church's answers first. Four major gatherings of bishops the first four gatherings known as Ecumenical Councils ( because for the most part their decisions involved, and were accepted by leaders from all over the Christian world) dealt with these big theological questions, with the following responses:
Jesus is true God... (council of Nicea, AD. 324, reaffirmed at council of Constantinople, 381) and true man... in one person... with two natures (council of Ephesus, 431 and council of Chalcedon, 451)
Also, the person of the Holy Spirit was clarified in this process, as the doctrine of the Trinity was delineated

The primary question was: Is Christ divine? Around A.D. 320 in Alexandria, Egypt, an influential Christian presbyter named Arius said: No. Oh sure, you could call Jesus "divine"..partly out of respect... and partly because in a sense he was a god..but not God in the sense that the Father is God. Arius said that Christ was created by the Father, and then Christ, in turn, made the rest of creation. Arius and his supporters were attacked for their views and were excommunicated by Egyptian and Libyan bishops. Both sides, plus a third, larger, initially more "neutral" group of church leaders, were summoned to Nicea. The man who called them together was a newly converted emperor named Constantine. Constantine had won an intense power struggle for control of the Roman Empire, and he believed that it was by Christ's help that he had conquered. He became the first Christian emperor. He was probably more concerned about political unity than about fine theological distinctions, But the issue that faced the church was no mere fringe matter. It focused on the very center of the faith. So it is good that Constantine worried so much about imperial disunity. At the heated, often raucous, council over which he presided, the verdict finally came: Christ is truly God... not just like God, as the Arians wanted to say. Jesus is "true God from true God," as today's translation of the Nicene Creed puts it. Incidentally, the Nicene Creed as we know it does not date in final form from the Council of Nicea. However, this Council of A.D. 325 did produce a prototype of our creed, called the Creed of Nicea. Not all Christians accepted tha creed. Some bitterly fought it. The leader of the Trinitarian theology that was clarified at Nicea, a man named Athanasius, was later exiled five times. But still, God used Nicea for his purposes.

The equality of the Holy Spirit with the Father and the Son, along with the reaffirmation and further clarification of the Creed of Nicea's stress on the divinity of Christ, were contributions of the Second Ecumenical Council, at Constantinople in A.D. 381. A year earlier Emperor Theodosius had, in effect, made Christianity the established religion of the Roman Empire. His edict decreed that all should "hold the faith which the holy Apostle Peter gave to the Romans." Theodosius called the council of 381.

Now that the divinity of Jesus was for the most part agreed upon (though the Arians' views continued to prevail in several areas of the Church, such as among some of the northern peoples of "barbarian" background), questions arose concerning the relationship of Christ's divinity and humanity. Was Jesus two persons-one human and one divine? No, said the council at Ephesus in A.D 431, Christ is one person.

Two natures characterized Jesus, said the Council of Chalcedon in A.D. 451, called by Emperor Marcian. It is a very long complex story to trace various views of how Christ's humanity and divinity were related. Let's say simply that there was heated "discussion." For instance, as someone put it at one Church meeting "books as well as insults were thrown." Another indication of violent disagreement was the fact that the Patriarch of Constantinople was so severely wounded in a riot over Christ's natures that he died of his injuries. The matter finally got settled in 451 , although, as with the unorthodox views of Arius decades earlier, other ideas prevailed in several parts of the Church. For example, a man named Nestorius said that only Jesus the man suffered on the Cross, not God incarnate. Complex and hair- splitting as these early theological debates may seem today, they were essential in lifting up the saving act of God in Christ as involving true divinity and also true humanity.

Lasting thoughts: There is a mystery in God's reconciling, act in Christ which we ought not dissolve by oversimplification,ie., saying that Christ is only God or only human. Good creeds don't dissolve mysteries, they preserve them. God can use highly mixed motives (such as emperors' political goals) in building up his Church and clarifying its message. Some theologians today try to explain Christianity without reference to the Trinity. The Holy Spirit's leading in early Church councils and through the years should indicate how very important this teaching is.Finally many people today do not accept the divinity of Jesus. Some downplay his humanity. How do we respond to these basic questionings today? How best can we speak/discuss today about who Jesus is, as we seek to introduce others the Savior?

God Bless You and this Ministry

The Church's Challenge to delineate its doctrine

Because of the many attacks by false teachers from earliest times, it was imperative that the church protect the Gospel of Jesus Christ by clarifying its own teachings. This meant dealing with the question of how the church is to decide what is true and false. In response to many assaults on the Gospel, the church clarified its doctrine with the help of three kinds of authority, which I will summarize as church, canon, and creeds.

The Church gradually (leadership) focused its chief teaching authority in the office of bishop. Bishops were viewed as rallying points of church unity and as key defenses against heresy (false teaching) as early as c.A.D. 110-115 in the letters of Ignatius, who was bishop of Antioch in Syria. A few decades later, synods (councils) of of various bishops met to deal with threats created by the teachings of a man named Montanus. Other challenges to cardinal Christian truths continued to expose the need for an office within the Church to serve as guardian of the Gospel. Th ordained ministry and especially the chief pastors developed largely as protectors of the Treasure of the Gospel. A key point in this process in the early Church wa the gathering of bishops known as the Council of Nicea, which had to deal with a denial of the full divinity of Christ. In all there were seven major councils of church leaders between A.D. 325 and 787. These are known as the "Seven Ecumenical Councils." Their pronouncements are accepted by virtually the whole Church today.

By the middle of the second century, a man named Marcion had devised his own personal canon of Scripture. A canon is a list of books to be included in the bible. Marcion's distorted theology led him to a Bible of only eleven books, all of them fro the New Testament, none form the Old. Partly because of this severe truncation of Scripture, and partly because of later continuing doctrinal threats, the Church was led by the Holy Spirit to declare an authoritative canon. A council of rabbis had done this for the Old Testament near the end of the first century A.D. Although many New Testament lasted for around two hundred years. This development culminated officially in the final list produced by the Council of Carthage in 397, so, in a sense, representatives of the Church produced the canon. But, for the most part, they were simply acknowledging the scriptural books that had already been accepted as authoritative by most parts of the church. Since every book of the New Testament was written by a member of the church, it is clear that, in the chronology of the Holy Spirit's working, the church preceded the New Testament and produced the New Testament, under divine guidance. The church's book became the single most important component of its doctrinal authority.

Creeds developed not for the ake of intellectual disputation, but to protect the Gospel of Jesus Christ from distortions. Their purpose was not to try to explain what really are mysteries, but rather to protct the mysteries from those who wanted to try toecplain them away. For instance, the Nicene Creed seeks to safeguard the mystery of Christ as both human and divine by eliminating two simplistic options, that Christ was only God , or only human. The Apostles Creed apparently grew out of an ancient baptismal creed, in question-and answer form, used from A.D. 150 in Rome. Gradual developments led to the form in which we now know it A.D. 400 or later.

If we wanted to move beyond the earliest Christian times that we have been describing, we could add a fourth "C" to our list of sources of doctrine namely confessions. In this sense, the word applies to basic statements of faith made by church bodies after the era of the Seven Ecumenical Councils.

As always in learning about church history. the call to faith comes into play. These developments merely are a matter of human defensiveness against the unsettling positions of "outsiders"? Are they simply the scheme of an increasingly organized and privileged Church to protect its own power and authority? Faith answers differently. While always acknowledging human factors and plenty of human error! in history, faith answers with it own confession. The Holy Spirit has led the process of Church and canon and creeds, so that we may know God's wonderful gift of the Gospel of Jesus Christ who died for us and lives for us! So this is all part of being Christ's witnesses to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8)

God Bless You and This ministry!

The Challenge to respond to false teachings

Very early in the Church's history as early as the time of the New Testament various teachings of the church became twisted and distorted. This happened not only at the hands of outsiders, but also from within. It was very important then as it is today to recognize such teachings and to respond effectively and faithfully, in order to follow Christ's command to be his witnesses to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8)

False teachings had far reaching effects on the church. The content of various teachings, and the way that Christians responded to these attacks, will be central in this post and the coming ones. But throughout history "new" versions of some of the most ancient of false teachings continued to challenge the church, as they do even today. Today lets look at three influential kinds of teaching.

Most stubbornly pervasive from New Testament times and into today's world is something that historians now call Gnosticism (from the Greek word for knowledge, "gnosis"). Among the primary teachings of this way of looking at life are the following:
Salvation is by knowledge, usually a secret form. Christians influenced by Gnosticism saw Jesus primarily as a divine (not fully human) teacher of this saving kind of knowledge.
There is a great gulf between "matter" and "spirit". Usually the spirit and spiritual things are seen as unequivocally good, and often anything physical is bad, or a hindrance to one's highest spiritual development, or, at best, not very important.
Gnosticism allows for enormous differences in matters of morality. Since physical and spiritual things were worlds apart from each other, some Gnostics counseled not indulging the body at all, while others said it didn't make any difference what you did physically, because God cared only about the spirit.
The church isn't very important compared to the individual.
A spiritual elite supposedly had knowledge of the true spiritual nature of things. They often classified people according to whether they were "spiritual" or merely "carnal."
When Gnosticism came into close contact with Christianity, the tendency was to promote such basic distortions as: Jesus is divine, but not human; salvation does not come from the Cross, but from setting one's spirit free, so Jesus becomes a teacher and example of salvation, but not in a strict sense the Savior. Also, there is a different concept of sin (lack of spiritual knowledge, rather than playing God). In these ways, Gnosticism was (and is) a direct threat to our understanding of the center of Christianity, the person and work of Jesus Christ. (The gospel of Thomas is gnostic)

Marcionism was a very influential form of Gnosticism. IT is named after a wealthy man from a city on the Black Sea in Asia Minor (present day Turkey), who joined the Church in Rome c. A.D. 140. He held most of the Gnostic views stated above, and in A.D. 144 was excommunicated from Rome and started his own church, with the idea: Jesus divine but not human was not born, but appeared fully grown at Capernaum in A.D. 29.
Jesus never suffered on the Cross, but only appeared to.
The god of the Old Testament, a crass, nationalistic "lesser" god, is not the same as the God of the New revealed by Jesus. a God of mercy and love.
Marcion was one of the first to draw up a canon of the New Testament (list of accepted books). He totally omitted the Old Testament from his Bible, and thinking that Paul was the only apostle who properly understood Jesus, included only ten letters of Paul plus the Gospel of Luke. The Marcionite Church survived for centuries, especially in the Orient (Arabia, Armenia, Egypt, etc.). Montanism is an example of taking one aspect of Christian revelation to the extreme, and adding to it. Montanus, a man from central Asia Minor who lived about the same time as Marcion, taught theat he was the "incarnation" of the Holy Spirit. His movement, which lasted several centuries, stressed highly disciplined, ascetic Christian living, manifestations of the Spirit such as speaking in tongues, and a belief in the imminent end of the world. He taught that he (and two prophetesses!) were passive instruments of the Holy Spirit. Montanus was condemned by the earliest synods (gatherings) of bishops of which we have record.

My question, how should Christians respond to false teachings these and countless other varieties? In regard to any specific teaching. three principal options are: reject it out of hand; have nothing to do with it. Swallow it all. Take it very seriously, but know where you stand.

The key result of false teachings in early Church History was for the Church to spell out more clearly its basic beliefs. In the end distortions of christian truth has occurred since earliest times. We need to be sharp theologians and know where we stand. Proclaiming the message of scripture and presenting its theology clearly are continual and essential tasks of the church. If we back away from our theological challenge, then humanly speaking, it probably will and have been destroyed.
God Bless You and this Ministry!!

To Be Faithful Amidst Persecution in a hostile world

Christ sent his people into the world to make disciples Mt28:19 "You will be my witnesses," he said.." to the ends of the earth" Acts 1:8 But, in response, the world was often hostile. The good news of a crucified and risen Lord and Savior often met forceful resistance. Yet the news needed to be spread, and God's New People needed to share his love no matter what. The challenge was to remain faithful regardless of the cost.

There were a number of reasons for hostility and persecution. From the beginning, many people detected something revolutionary and disturbing about Christians (Acts 17:6) Unlike so many of the religions of the day, Christianity was not characterized by an easygoing tolerance toward other faiths. The call of Christ to life-changing discipleship led to division (Mathew 10:34-36) Christians were not able merely to "live and let live" when it came to what other people believed, because Christ commanded that the faith be spread (Matthew 28: 16-20). Also while the Roman Empire allowed Jews to practice their religion more or less freely, Christians were making it clear that they were not simply a sect of Judaism. So they came out from under the umbrella of Rome's protection. Frequent charges against Christians included that of atheism (because of refusing to worship pagan gods) and anarchy (lack of patriotism, Christian attacks on traditional family values, etc.) Most importantly, the Roman Empire demanded total loyal to Casar and the Empire. This is something that faithful Christians could not give, because their unqualified loyalty was to Christ alone.

The extent of actual persecution was not as great as is often thought. The vast majority of Christians were never confronted directly by it. However, many of them lived under the threat of it. Relatively large persecutions were those under three different emperors: Domitian (A.D. 95), Decius (250) and Diocletian (303)

These Christians had to decide how to respond to this threat. As and example, consider the first Empire-Wide persecution (A.D. 250). The government required all citizens to present certificates showing that they had worshiped a statue of the statue of the emperor, who was officially considered to be a god. If they didn't, penalties could include degradation, the confiscation of property and torture.

What wee Christians' options as they faced this challenge? Key possibilities were:actively seek martyrdom by openly declaring one's Christianity and one's refusal to participate in Emperor worship; 2 simply not get a certificate, thereby quietly but firmly taking a stand; 3 get a certificate through someone Else's help, bribery, etc.; 4 worship the emperor's image, even though this meant making a break with the Church.

What did Christians actually do when faced with these options? Someone has estimated that perhaps one-third of all Christians obtained certificates. Others broke down under torture and consented to sacrifice to Caesar. Ultimately the choice for many came down to death or deserting Christianity. Many did choose the latter. Those that succumbed to the temptation to back away from Christianity under were bitterly divided , some groups, like the Novatians and Donatists, urged rigorous condemation. Others took the gentler stance of restoring those who had yielded to temptation.

The ultimate effect pf persecution was that the church, instead of being wiped out, was actually strengthened.The blood of the martyrs became the seed of the church also, the martyrs had an effect on the devotional life of many Christians, as popular admiration of them mushroomed through the years. Around A.D 313 when Constantine became emperor. He issued a number of edicts which led to the cessation of harassment and the eventual establishment of Christianity as the state religion. Thus the very empire that once attacked the faith now officially espoused it!

My thoughts:
Christians need to take a stand.
Christians need to deal with the weak who succumb
Christians need to deal with division
The Holy Spirit can bring great good even under highly adverse conditions
God Bless You and This Ministry!

Revelation

" 'Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.' Blessed are those who wash their robes. They will be permitted to enter through the gates of the city and eat the fruit from the tree of life. Outside the city are the dogs—the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idol worshipers, and all who love to live a lie. 'I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this message for the churches. I am both the source of David and the heir to his throne. I am the bright morning star.' " (Revelation 22:12-16 - New Living Translation)

Jesus reminds us that when He comes, He will judge and He will reward. We should be prepared for His return.

Those who obey God, those who repent and believe, will enter into the New Jerusalem. They will spend eternity in joy and happiness.

Those who refuse to accept Jesus will not enter into the New Jerusalem. Those who continue in their sin in this life will endure torment in the next.

Jesus is the One who sent the angel to tell John and us this prophecy. Jesus is the root of David; the one who gave David life. Jesus is the offspring of David; born into his family. Jesus is the bright and morning star who will announce the coming of a new and perfect dawn. The dawning of the new heaven, new earth and New Jerusalem.

Just as Genesis is the book of beginning, Revelation is the book of the end. It is God’s final statement about the return of Jesus Christ to earth. John writes, “Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. All the tribes of the earth will mourn because of him. Even so, Amen”. Thus to me the key word is prophecy. The predictions that have been prophesied in the Old Testament and by Jesus are fulfilled here in the book of Revelation. Even though many books have prophetic messages, the book of revelations deals with it in a prophetic manner and it’s fulfillment. My final thoughts today is that the key verse in Revelation is “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near” (Rev. 1:3).

God Bless You and This Ministry!

Thoughts about Revelation

May 23,2010
First of many thoughts about Revelation

Well, after one year, I have finished going through the Book of Revelation. Like every time I have read through this Book, I have had to re-examine some of my ideas, and even discovered I have conflicting opinions of this book, My first questions I have about Revelation is, What is the main focus? To me Revelation is not primarily a focus on prophetic events, but on Jesus Christ. The first verse indicates it is” Revelation of Jesus Christ”. This word revelation means an unveiling or disclosure and thus it is the final disclosure of who Jesus Christ is. This book is a self revelation because Jesus Chrit is giving these revelations to John therevelator to write down.

"And the Spirit and the bride say, come. And let him that hearth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. He, who testified these things, saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is with you all. Amen." (Revelation 22:17-21 - King James Version)

There are two views regarding verse 17. Some believe that the Spirit, the bride and him that hears call for Jesus to come. Others that they are calling for the lost to come to Jesus. Both are true.

The Spirit calls upon all people to come to Jesus for salvation. The redeemed who are now with God call upon others to trust the Lord. Those who read and believe God's Word today call upon others to believe it as well.

Whoever will hear the call to come may drink of the water of life freely. There is no charge for salvation. All that a person must do is come to Christ.

John adds a warning to his writing. Before the invention of the printing press, there was the danger that a copyist would change the wording, add to or take away from what he was copying. This warning should be taken as applying to not only such actions but also to doing the same through teaching. Any who deliberately distorts and misuses the Word of God is in danger of great judgment.

One last time Jesus reminds us that He is coming again, and that it will be quickly. John adds his own prayer to this statement. Every born again believer should have the same desire. We should pray, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus."

This final prophecy and book of the Bible contains both great tragedy and great glory. It tells us of the throne room of God, and of stubborn rebellion against God. It tells us of the horrors of the Tribulation and the wonders of the New Jerusalem. It is meant to encourage, to warn and to inform us.

More than anything else, studying this book should make us more committed to the Lord, and more faithful in reaching those who are yet without Him. God Bless You and this Ministry!
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Our Bird House

It seems to me that much of church is about relationships, trust, leadership, prayer and teaching especially in the moment. The hard part is when we build those relationships we begin to bump into one another with our differences. The organizational part of church is not most of my concern here but the people. Let me explain, we do because of the “Blood of Jesus Christ”. I became a Christian at the dinner table of one of my relatives. I did not know at the time that's what was happening. I can't point to one decisive moment when intellectual assent turned to trust. But it was at the dinner table that Christianity became real to me. Each evening as my relatives ate together, we would process the day's events. "How was school today?" "Who's going to take my cousin to basketball practice?" But as the events were being processed, we also had to decide what to do about difficult issues. As I watched my relatives work through the difficult issues of life, I saw that their faith made a difference in how they acted. They often prayed before they made big decisions; they often looked to Scripture for guidance, "what does the Bible say?" they would ask; they sometimes even chose the more difficult option simply because they believed that was the Christian thing to do. That is when I learned that faith mattered. I learned that I needed to see my own life in light of God's love; I needed to ask how spiritual resources like prayer and Scripture could help me make sense of life; and I needed to choose to act faithfully - even if that meant taking a more difficult path. I became a Christian by following the decision-making models I saw at the dinner table of my second family. This was unlike a healthy church committee, aligned in one accord.
Relationships through leadership can have the greatest impact for people by having that interconnection that bonds people together. My question is are we on the same page aligned, helping people to the fullness of life in Jesus Christ? Showing how even the most mundane issues must be seen in light of God's presence with us. Finding someone to salt the icy winter sidewalks, for example, is not just a liability issue; it's a matter of hospitality. It is in committee meetings that church leaders offer not just perspective but spiritual resources. There is a deep Biblical tradition, for example, demanding that God's people practice hospitality. And it is in committee meetings that church folks see the church choosing to live up to its belief, even if it is inconvenient. The elder in charge of facilities, to finish the example, may say that she will salt the sidewalks herself if she cannot locate someone else to do it. Just as I learned Christianity by watching my parents at the dinner table, so congregations learn to see faith in action by watching their leaders in committee meetings.
This emphasis on teaching in the moment points to an odd contradiction inherent in Christian ministry. Ministers spend most of their time doing tasks, but doing tasks is not the essence of ministry. In this way, a pastor's situation is not unlike the time spent by a stay-at-home mom. I know of friends, for example, who are stay home mothers that spends two days a week home with school-aged girls (the other three work-days each week, she is a computer programmer). She stays home with her daughters because she wants to have a direct influence in shaping their personalities and forming their characters. Yet she spends most of the time on those days doing chores - running errands, washing clothes, and wiping noses. The surprising thing about this experience, however, is that she is accomplishing just the goal she hoped to achieve. As the girls spend time with their mother, they learn how to relate to the world - they absorb her values (kindness, sharing, patience, diligence) and imbibe her practices (caring for strangers, putting others first, listening to others) - even as they go through the routine of daily life. As those children accompany her through the day, they learn what it means to embody faith. She may spend her time doing tasks, but she is really forming her children.
A pastor shapes his congregation in just the way a mother molds her children. In committee meetings and chance encounters, in hallways and the parking lot - that is where the pastor embodies his beliefs and models faith-in-action. That is where the pastor gives his congregation an example of what it means to see the world through Christian eyes, to care for the world with a Christian heart. Theology and biblical studies are not distinct from administration any more than me being separated from my wife. Theologically formed faith and biblically informed trust, animate administration; they make it alive. Enveloping the daily routine of a pastor is an ether of theological substance and a cloud of biblical meaning. You will spend a lot of time doing mundane tasks. But in this course you will learn to see how to relate those tasks to the beliefs, values, and ultimate purpose that make those tasks worth doing. Ministry cannot be summed up in the daily-duties of a minister any more than parenting can be reduced to washing clothes and wiping noses.
How, then, does one teach church leadership that is all about teaching in the moment? I believe you have already begun to learn it through the gospel of Jesus Christ. The very preaching, teaching and counseling skills it takes to be a good pastor (we all are pastors) are the skills it takes to be a good administrator or leader of the faith. This often amounts to little more than teaching on the fly - i.e. showing how faith, theology and Scripture apply in a specific situation. So the best way to be connected is to do what my relatives did with me at the dinner table: exegete situations and describe how we might think theologically about then, pray and model for you the skills I hope you will carry into the settings where it can bring all into the Fullness of Life through Jesus Christ.
God Bless You and This Ministry!