The Baldhead Blog

New Website

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Hunt) — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 09:34:12 PST

Greetings everybody!

I will no longer be blogging on this site. My new website is www.baldheadbruce.com I look forward to seeing you there. On this new site there will be more things and it is easier to look around. See you at the new site!

New Year Gospel Resolutions

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Hunt) — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 05:47:15 PST

OK -

It has been awhile since I have posted, but want to say something about New Years resolutions. I really do not believe in them because they are for the most part self centered. I do want to take a different approach as we head into the New Year.

Attached I have given the Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards, a Reformed thinking, theologian, and pastor from the 18th Century. Read these and allow the Lord to convict you. You will come t the realization that our spirituality is small and we have so much to learn in life. Notice, too that these resolutions were written over the course of time in 1723. There goes New Years Resolutions. The lesson here is that we should always strive to grow closer to Jesus, not just for the New Year.

The reality of these Resolutions is their focus - they are not self centered but they focus on a life desiring the Cross of Jesus. May our lives also reflect Jesus Christ as we journey through 2011.

The Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards

Spiritual Leadership

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Hunt) — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 11:38:07 PDT

Leadership in a community of faith is a HUGE deal! Throughout the whole bible, we see God's design for leadership and how that effects the impact on God's people. Paul writes to Timothy the qualifications for spiritual leadership. He writes what the qualifications for an elder and also a deacon. These qualifications are presented so that the community of faith, or church, will maintain integrity, keep people focus on Jesus Christ, and to give maturity in the spiritual oversight of a local church. The Deacons responsibility is to serve the church in areas of stewardship, mercy, and outreach. The Elders responsibility lead the church as they oversee all matters regarding discipline, vision, and theology. These two sermons give a brief overview of Elders and Deacons within the Reformed Church of America and Grace Church specifically.

Deacons:

Notes / Acts 6: 1-7 / 1 Timothy 3: 8-13 / RCA: The Ministry of the Deacon

Elders:

Notes / 1 Peter 5: 1-5 / 1 Timothy 3: 1-7 / RCA: The Ministry of the Elder

The Harvest is Ready

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Hunt) — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 08:29:59 PDT

Distractions

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Hunt) — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 14:39:40 PDT

Red Letters: Zacchaeus

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Hunt) — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 13:39:16 PDT

Series : Red Letters

Scripture : Luke 19: 1-10

Zacchaeus sought after Jesus. In fact, he craved and strived to see Him. He did no let anything get in his way and was determined. The result was that Jesus transformed him from the inside out. We too can have this type of transformation. In fact it is God's heart that we do and also to share it with others.

Notes

Red Letters: Sinful Woman

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Hunt) — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 13:51:15 PDT

Series : Red Letters

Scripture : Luke 7: 36-50

Do you mourn for your sin? Most of do not. The sinful woman at Simon the Pharisee's house is an account we can learn from and allow Jesus to take our burdens in life.

Notes

Red Letters: Nicodemus

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Hunt) — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 10:43:08 PDT

Series : Red Letters

Scripture : Various

God desires for us to grow spiritually. We see in Nicodemus that he went to Jesus at night and then grew every time we see him throughout the book of John. The end result is that he risked everything for Jesus and we are to do the same. Risk our reputation for Jesus and see what the Lord will do with that.

Notes

Inspiring Leadership

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Hunt) — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 09:47:36 PDT

Fresh Journey

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Hunt) — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 13:29:40 PDT

I cannot explain it, but I feel like a new chapter in my walk with Jesus is opening. One that is going to be filled with growth, discovery, fruit, and focus. I kinda feel like I am rediscovering new avenues to following Jesus. Now, some of you are thinking, "what is he talking about? Is Bruce into something off the wall and not Orthodox?" I will answer your questions and concerns with a resounding - NO!

Recently in my life, I have come to the conclusion that I really do not know that much. You are probably thinking, "It is about time Bruce, I could have told you that years ago." As funny as that may sound and how much we can joke about that - and it is funny. What I mean is this. I have served several churches in my career and have been on numerous interviews for various positions within the church. At some of these interviews, I was not true to who I was and what I believed. I tried to say what the church wanted to hear when it came to my own personal Theology. Of course I did not receive an offer to partner with those churches - a good thing! There were times, however, that I was true to my personal Theology and it did not line up with the perspective church. I did not receive and invitation to these church either - also a good thing.

I have always leaned into a Reformed or Covenant Theology personally. I have a great education path that I would not change for the world. But here is my recent personal revelation - I do not know as much as I should regarding a Reformed / Covenant Theology. I know the basics, but I am being challenged to go deeper by the Lord. So, in a way I am at a cliff ready to immerse myself in such a rich and biblical Theology.

My journey now has a new freshness about it and it is exciting. Along the path already are great organizations that have shaped me and will continue to shape me. I think of ministries such as PRMI / Ligonier / Monergism / The Gospel Coalition / RCA to name only a few. These are linked to the right. Check them out

Exciting days are ahead of me and also for Grace Church. The amazing thing is that I have been praying for this to happen. Who says that God does not answer prayers - only in His timing! So, here we go. Let the journey continue...

Disciple: Goes Out

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Hunt) — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 11:03:52 PDT

Series : Disciple

Scripture : Matthew 10: 5-15

When Jesus looked at the crowds that were following Him - He had compassion on them. He then told His disciples that the harvest is plentiful and to seek the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers. Today, a disciple of Jesus goes out and serves the community and also verbally shares the Hope found in Jesus. The two go hand in hand. When you serve and share, you will receive opposition to the message of Jesus - that is OK because we are not responsible for the results - Jesus is. All we have to do is to be faithful to the message, because there is a huge harvest field in front of us. A Christian goes on a mission trip, but a disciple is a missionary. This is how.

Notes

Disciple: Breaks Bread

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Hunt) — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 07:36:09 PDT

Series : Disciple

Scripture : Acts 2: 42-47

Community. Fellowship. These are not just "buzz" words around churches, they should be a way of living that penetrates every level and area of a local community of faith from the small groups, to the ministry teams, to the Sunday Morning worship and even on the Governance level. Community and fellowship is much deeper that just sharing a meal together or participating in a fun event and creating a welcoming atmosphere. It is about accountability, love, nurture, and living out the "Biblical One-Another's" A disciple of Jesus should look others and not just focus on themselves.

Notes

The Biblical One-Another’s

Love one another (John 13: 34)

Be devoted to one another (Romans 12: 10a)

Honor one another (Romans 12: 10b)

Accept one another (Romans 15: 7)

Teach one another (Romans 15: 14)

Greet one another (Romans 16: 16)

Serve one another (Galatians 5: 13)

Bear one another’s burdens (Galatians 6: 2)

Be compassionate to one another (Ephesians 4: 32)

Submit to one another (Ephesians 5: 21)

Forgive one another (Colossians 3: 13)

Encourage one another (1 Thessalonians 5: 11)

Spur one another toward love (Hebrews 10: 24)

Live in harmony with one another (1 Peter 3: 8)

Offer hospitality to one another (1 Peter 4: 9)

Kingdom Contributer

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Hunt) — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 09:06:59 PDT

Disciple: Wash Feet

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Hunt) — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 11:44:52 PDT

Series : Disciple

Scripture : John 13:3-17

A disciple of Jesus should not think too highly of themselves. They should also not think to low of themselves either. We are to look outside of ourselves and serve one another. The world tells us we should look out for #1, but following Jesus we look at how we can serve others. We follow Jesus' example as he washed the feet of the disciples, we are to wash each others feet.

Notes

Change of plans

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Hunt) — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 08:03:58 PDT

You gotta love it! I created a new site to place all my sermon there. Good idea right? Well there is a change of plans -and it is a great thing! We are in the process of re-designing the Grace Church web site. With the new design, I will be able to embed the www.youtube.com/user/baldheadbruce sermon videos right to the web site. Now, this may take a while so I will continue to place the sermons here. Once we have the new Grace Church web site up and running, I will disable the new blog site and start to place my sermons directly to the Grace Church web site. Technology - you gotta love it :)

New Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Hunt) — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 08:04:18 PDT

I have really enjoyed posting my sermons here on the Baldhead Blog, but I have come to realize that it is probably going to be better if these sermons are on their own site. That is why I created http://sermonsfromgrace.blogspot.com/ designed specifically for the sermons preached and video taped at Grace Church. On this site, you will also be able to link to the audio web site for the sermons. Then the Baldhead Blog can get back on track from its original intent - "Thoughts about Leadership, Life, and God." I hope you continue to enjoy my ramblings here and visit the new site with all the sermons. I am looking forward to seeing what the Lord has in store for us with all this. God is really moving at Grace and He is really working on me. Praise be to HIM who doe snot give up on us, but loves us with only the love He can give.
Blessings!

Disciple: Go Fishing

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Hunt) — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 09:48:28 PDT

eries : Disciple
Scripture : Luke 5:1-11

For a follower of Jesus, reaching out is not an option, we are commanded to do so. We do not need to do this without any tools, we have some items in our tackle box as we go and catch people - Just like Jesus told us to do.

Notes

Disciple: No Christians Allowed

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Hunt) — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 06:42:27 PDT

Series : Disciple
Scripture : Various

God never called anybody to be a "Christian" - He did however, call us to follow Him with our whole lives. Being a Passionate Follower of Jesus means we do several things; this sermon scratches the surface to these things.

Notes

Pastor: Theologian

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Hunt) — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 12:02:57 PDT

PDC Theology: Discipleship

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Hunt) — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 13:12:36 PDT

PDC Theology: Evangelism

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Hunt) — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 15:10:28 PDT

PDC Theology: Ministry

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Hunt) — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 08:03:00 PDT

PDC Theology: Fellowship / Community

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Hunt) — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 09:49:17 PDT

Some Links:
www.truefaced.com/blog/
www.billtell.blogspot.com
www.boscafe.com

Easy Theology

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Hunt) — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 09:43:11 PDT

I love reformed theology. It is a theology that keeps me thinking and growing. It was RC Sproul who just quoted Spurgeon on his radio broadcast this past week that reformed theology is biblical theology. I believe this. I do not have it all figured out nor will I ever. You can tell I believe in this theology by just looking at me links to the right – most of them are from a reformed perspective. I also serve in a reformed church and am loving it. Now, I am still learning and there are things with this theology that I have a hard time believing – and that OK. I will continue to search the scriptures and grow. What I will not do is combine different theological perspectives to create my own theology that fits my needs and fancy.

I am starting to see this more and more with church leaders and pastors today. They are copying programs and calling it a philosophy of ministry, they are committing pulpit plagiarism and feeding their flock from somebody else’s table (more about this in a future post), and they are wishy-washy when it comes to theology. I do not think the Lord wants us to have everything figured out – but He does desire us to grow, learn, lead, and become the theologians in our respected ministry contexts.

To illustrate this I want to share a story. I was traveling with some pastors a few years ago when the topic of Dispensationalism and Covenant theology came up. The Senior Pastor of a church said that neither was right and neither was wrong, but proper theology is a combination of the two. Specifically he believed in a covenant theology right up to the point about various spiritual gifts being available in the 21^st Century. Then he switched to a dispensationalist theology saying that only a select few are available. I sat there thinking that you cannot cherry pick from different theological camps and create your own theological melting pot. At that moment I really felt sad for the congregation he leads because he really does not know what he believes theologically and all of spiritual leadership is born out of this. The by-product of this or what this leads to is cheap grace and easy believism, something that is plaguing the American Church.

This happening more and more in the North American Church and you see it with all theological views and standpoints. I am not sitting here telling you that I have it all figured out, because I don’t! In fact I am the least to tell someone that they are wrong because I have such long way to go. I am just writing down some thoughts and observations I have seen in the North American Church, and putting out this challenge – know what you believe, why you believe it, and lead out of the Lord teaching you and shaping you.

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28: 18-20

Yummy to my tummy!

noreply@blogger.com (Bruce Hunt) — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 09:41:57 PDT

This picture was taken at our last mini-vacation as a family to Frankenmuth, MI. There they have a world fampus resturant called Zenders which has the best chicken you will ever taste. I have lived in Michigan my whole life but have never had Zenders chicken until we went a few weeks ago. This picture tells you what I think of the chicken!