Ministry127

How to Have Faith in the Storms of Life

Troy Calvert — Thu, 17 May 2012 16:00:00 +0000

In Matthew 8:23-27, Jesus exercises His sovereignty over nature for a very specific purpose. He was demonstrating for the disciples why they ought to have complete faith in Him to keep them safe through the storms of life. It’s a lesson we all need to learn well.

We often associate storms with sin, or disobedience. We think, “What did I do to bring this trial upon myself?” The truth is, there are times that God allows storms in our lives because we disciples need to learn something. Sometimes when we experience a sudden squall, we almost want to question if God really knew that this was going to happen—to me! The answer is always “yes.” The proper question to ask is, “God, what lesson do you have for me right now?”

Jesus knew full well that He and His disciples would make it to the other side. Wonderful comfort comes from reflecting on the faith that God desires us to have in Him and in His promises. Because we know that Jesus knows the end from the beginning, we trust Him through the storm.

One of life’s biggest storms is the death of a loved one. When Lazarus died, the natural response of his sisters was to scold Jesus: “If thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.”

Jesus said to them in John 11:15, “And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him.” Trials increase our faith as we trust Him every step of the way.

Storms, expected or not, cause quite a bit of stress. We may think that our Saviour is asleep instead of protecting us. When God does not do what we think He should do, we need to calm down, and realize that He is with us. We may not be really excited about the storm. We, like the disciples, may fear our ship is sinking, but Jesus is present. He was with the disciples. He had not left them, and He does not leave us.

How do you react in stress-filled situations? In 2 Chronicles 14:11, Asa said, “Lord, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O Lord our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O Lord, thou art our God; let not man prevail against thee.” In a storm, do we immediately go to the Saviour crying out for help? Sometimes God may allow a storm in our lives to draw us much closer to Him.

I remember when my children were younger and a storm would come with lightning and thunder. They would rush into our bedroom. It was still the same storm in our bedroom as in their bedroom. We were under the same roof of the same house; yet, because they were close to us, they felt safe. So it is with us Christians and our God.

Jesus used the storm to show His disciples they did not have the great faith that they thought they had. Four times Jesus points out that they had “little faith.” What is the storm in which you find yourself? Has it occurred to you that Jesus has gone through the same storm? Knowing He was doing His Father’s business, accomplishing the will of God, He could rest through the storm. Can you?

In Psalm 23:4, David said, “I will fear no evil: for thou art with me.” In Revelation 1:17, the risen Lord says to John, “Fear not. I am the first and the last.” It is wonderful to know that we can trust our God one hundred percent. Can you say “I know I’m obeying God; I’m not perfect but I know my God is in control; I’m not going to sit here and get all stressed out over what’s going on; I’m going to leave it in God’s hands.” That is what He wants each one of us to do.

When Jesus rebuked the winds and the sea, they did not just reduce in intensity, there was a “great calm.” We serve an all-powerful God!

Do Others See Christ in You?

Dr. Kevin Folger — Wed, 16 May 2012 22:57:15 +0000

Philippians 1:20–21, “According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

In Philippians 1:20, Paul shared that his desire was to magnify Christ in his body whether by life or death. He wanted to live as Christ desired him to live, and if he had to die for Christ, then so be it. Either way, Paul wanted to live so people could see Christ in his life.

The idea of living for Christ carries some great truths:

1. Living for Jesus Is Personal

Paul said, “For me to live.” It was obviously personal to the Apostle Paul. He was not talking about others living for Jesus, although he would encourage that. He was talking about himself setting an example or being a model for others to see and follow. God expects each believer to model Christ in this world. There should be a desire in each child of God to want to be like his Saviour, Jesus Christ.

2. Living for Jesus Is Practical

The phrase, “to live,” is more than just rhetoric or generic platitudes. There is a practical aspect to this statement. It means that no matter what our station or lot in life, we can live in such a way that God is praised and the cause of Jesus is advanced. The lives we touch should know that we are living for Jesus.

Recently, I again began reading about the life of Joseph. Everyone who came in contact with him knew that the Lord was with him. He lived his life with integrity and clarity. People who interacted with Joseph heard his language, saw his practical conduct, and saw the ethics that he practiced; they watched as God blessed everything he did. This is exactly how the Lord wants each of us to live.

3. Living for Jesus Is Possible

It is obvious that Paul lived this kind of life and that the church to which he was writing would know the truth of this statement. God does not ask His people to do things that are impossible. Of course, living for Jesus is only possible as we die to self and allow Christ to be evident in our lives. Christ only controls those who are willing to live holy lives that are yielded to Him. For some, that may mean that adjustments need to be made in their lives.

4. Living for Jesus Is Powerful

So many Christians live apathetic lives that are not fulfilling. It is not until a person is serious about serving the Saviour and gets focused in his deportment and direction that God can use him in powerful ways. This is not something reserved only for those in ministry or who hold positions in the church—it is something that God longs to do through each of His children.

The truth is that God gives us churches to be part of so that our lives can be continually challenged. The church, likewise, gives us ministry opportunities to serve the Lord and each other. Jesus did His greatest work during His earthly ministry among the men who walked with Him every day. We need to touch the world, but we must also touch each other so that the body can be strengthened.

Our focus should be living for Jesus! I trust that Christ will be clearly seen in this world through our lives. Pray for that to be true and ask God to help you to live for Jesus!

Revival Will Come When…

Gordon Conner — Tue, 15 May 2012 20:26:09 +0000

Revival is more than simply having a special guest preacher and a few extra nights of meetings. True revival is a work of the Holy Spirit. That is why Habakkuk prayed, “…O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years…” (Habakkuk 3:2).

Revival Will Come When We Recognize Our Need

Do you ever get discontent with your spiritual progress? Do you ever hunger for something more from God, or sense conviction from the Holy Spirit that things are not what they should be or could be? As long as you and I are content to keep the status quo spiritually—as long as we think we are doing fine—revival will not come.

Denial of our true condition is a major obstacle to revival. Real revival will not come until we reach the place where we cannot and will not ignore the truth of our spiritual condition. The simple fact is: if we never take time to let God speak to our hearts, and show us our need, we will never experience revival.

“Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139:23–24

Revival Will Come When We Confess Our Sin

Revival is held back when God’s people refuse to get right with Him. How can the Spirit of God freely work when our hearts are pre-occupied with other things? David understood this and sought the Lord’s cleansing and restoration in Psalm 51:10–13: “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.”

I am constantly amazed at God’s grace in my life. He truly is patient and longsuffering with me and is always, always, ready to hear my cries for mercy and forgiveness—when I repent and confess my sin to Him.

“For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” Isaiah 57:15

Did you notice? God will revive the spirit of the humble and the heart of the contrite ones. We often quote 1 John 1:9 which says: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” But we often forget the verse begins with the word if and that is the great pivoting point. No confession—no forgiveness and no reviving of the heart.

The importance of confession is seen in 2 Chronicles 7:14 as well: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

Will revival come? Yes, I believe it will, but only to those who are of humble hearts and willing to confess and forsake their sin.

Revival Will Come When We Ask for It

When we are confronted with our sin, the devil tries to keep us from moving toward God. He tries to hinder us even after we have fully and honestly confessed our sin and received God’s forgiveness. Remember the words of David? “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.” David understood that a clean heart needs the joy of God once again.

Jeremiah 29 has one of my favorite passages of encouragement. It reveals God’s message to Israel at a time when they were going to be chastened for their sin. God extends to His people—including you and me—an offer of His presence and renewed Spirit:

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the Lord:” Jeremiah 29:11–14

We need revival, and I believe God is ready to send it when He hears our prayers lifted up to Him and sees our seeking hearts. Paul wrote to the believers at Philippi, “That I may know Him.” That should be our cry and heartbeat.

God invites you and me to see what He can do in us, through us, and for us.

“Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” Jeremiah 33:3

Revival Will Come When We Are in the Place of Revival

“And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” Hebrews 10:24–25

The End of the Commandment

Dr. R. B. Ouellette — Mon, 14 May 2012 17:34:35 +0000

As a man and his wife were traveling across the desert by camel, a terrible sand storm came up causing the man to be separated from his wife. He desperately started searching for her on camelback, but could not find any trace of her. After several days, the man was separated from his camel in another sand storm. He was devastated and thought, “How will I ever find my dear wife without my camel?”

His search now turned to finding the camel so he would be better able to find his wife. Days turned into weeks. When the man stumbled into an oasis, his sandals were in tatters, and his robe was reduced to rags. But there by the edge of the water was his wife!

“Oh my poor husband,” she said, “You look so terrible! You must be in awful pain. What can I do to help you?” Wide-eyed, the husband replied, “Help me find my camel!” That which had been a means to an end, had become the end itself.

In 1 Timothy 1:1–8, the Holy Spirit moved the Apostle Paul to remind Timothy that the end of the commandment is charity. There was a real problem with false teachers leading new converts astray. The Judaizers wanted to add the law to the Gospel. The Gnostics had perverted Christianity by their philosophy and speculation. Concerned that new believers could be led astray by these erroneous teachings, Paul told Timothy to, “Charge some that they teach no other doctrine.” But then, he goes on to remind him that “the end of the commandment is charity.”

Here he emphasizes the purpose of dealing with false teachers. The ultimate goal was not to kill those who did not teach the truth, but to demonstrate love. It was not simply to purge error, but to live out Christian charity. They were ridding the garden of weeds in order to grow flowers. We can do many good things—take the right stand, avoid the wrong behavior, and pursue God’s purpose for our lives—yet forget that these are a means to an end. We are emptied of sin and self to be filled with love for God and others.

How can we keep our true purpose in sight? As in all matters of the Christian life, God gave us the Scriptures to guide us on the right path. We are told that this charity comes first out of a pure heart. A pure heart is a heart that is not motivated by selfish ambition or mere man pleasing, but a heart that is motivated by love for the Lord Jesus. Second Corinthians 5:14 says, “The love of Christ constraineth us.” From a pure heart comes a good conscience to guide us with charity. God gives all of us a conscience with an awareness of Him and His truth (Romans 2:15). Paul made it his purpose to, “Have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men” (Acts 24:16b).

The third element on the path to a life of charity is unfeigned faith. This indicates a genuine belief in and personal relationship with God. How much of what we do is truly motivated by love for God? Remember, in all of our work, service, and separation, the end of the commandment is charity.

The One Overriding Purpose

Dr. Paul Chappell — Fri, 11 May 2012 16:39:57 +0000

This blog is an early preview for a book I am currently writing about motivations for ministry. Below is an excerpt from chapter 1.

Sometimes we overcomplicate the Christian life. We develop formulas, lists, and philosophies, all of which may be good and helpful; but there is an overriding purpose to our lives, and it’s quite simple—do all to the glory of God.

Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.—1 Corinthians 10:31

The word glorify means “to reveal or make clear.” In simple terms, you and I were created for the express purpose of showing or revealing God more clearly to others. By our lives and very existence He should be seen more clearly—even magnified—in others’ eyes. There is no higher motivation or purpose in all of life.

What a different and contrasting purpose than what we see in modern-day pop-culture. The message of the world is simply, “Glorify self!” The secular world idolizes mankind, magnifies the pleasure of man, and promotes the worship of self.

Romans 1 describes the godless early Gentile world—a culture strikingly like our own.

Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.—Romans 1:21–23

Today’s world’s system—from the educators, to the Hollywood producers, to the fashion designers, to the musicians—is not concerned with glorifying God at all. In fact, as a whole, they are “willingly…ignorant” of God (2 Peter 3:5).

Even in Christian ministry, there is much popular teaching about promoting self, building brand, and the development of personal platform.

But for those of us who know God, who have received Christ, our hearts’ desire and purest passion should be to glorify Him—to make the Lord Jesus Christ more clearly known before men.

When God’s Glory Motivates Us…

There is a difference in how we approach ministry when our highest motivation is God’s glory. Below are some earmarks of ministry carried out to the glory of God.

We strive for excellence. Our God is excellent and worthy of our most excellent efforts. When His glory drives us, we dig deeper and strive to give Him our utmost in every area of life and service.

We live with integrity. When we care about God’s glory, we strive for a deep level of authenticity in all of life, not just the visible aspects. God sees every part of our hearts and lives, and His glory calls us to absolute integrity and sincerity. His glory prohibits us from separating our lives into public and private—into ministry and non-ministry, holding each area to a different standard. God’s glory calls us to integrity.

We care about the details. Remembering His glory changes how we handle the “insignificants.” God’s glory will motivate us to pay attention to details we might dismiss were it only our own names at stake. What’s “good enough” for me, may not be “good enough” for God’s glory.

We are willing to be consumed for Christ. John the Baptist’s highest ambition was to expend his life for Christ’s glory. In John 3:30 he said, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” John made Christ’s magnification his life mission, and he was satisfied by its completion. When God’s glory becomes our motive—our passion—it is a joy to expend our lives for Christ alone.

All to the Glory of God

What is your highest motivation? What drives you right now? When God examines your heart motives, does He find first and foremost a deep desire for His glory?

You were created for His glory, and you’re never more fully alive than when you are living to bring Him glory. And He is never more fully pleased than when your life is truly glorifying to Him!

This article originally appeared on the Pastor’s Perspective.

Thank God for Moms

Dr. John Goetsch — Thu, 10 May 2012 15:59:50 +0000

I am glad there is still a Sunday in May on our calendars designated as Mother’s Day. The Bible sadly announces in Proverbs 30:11, “There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother.” While no mother is sinless or perfect, everyone ought to be thankful for the one who went through the travail of death to give us life! How shameful that we live in a day when many dishonor and disrespect their mothers.

Emerson once said, “Men are what their mothers make them.” Abraham Lincoln stated, “No one is poor who had a godly mother.” Evangelist Billy Sunday preached, “I don’t think there are enough devils in Hell to take a young person from the arms of a godly mother.” What a difference the right kind of a mother can make in a home, in a church, and in our nation! God seems to indicate that the last deterrent before a nation slips into total depravity is the righteousness of women. “For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature” (Romans 1:26).

Personally, I can echo the words of the psalmist who said in Psalm 16:6, “The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.” How thankful I am for a mom who never wavered in her faith, her convictions, her prayers, or her love for the Lord or for me. There were many times when I was not worthy of the time spent before God on my behalf, but I am thankful that while others gave up—she never did! There is no doubt in my mind that much of what is accomplished through my ministry can be attributed to the prayers of my faithful mother. Sometimes I hesitate to share my schedule with her because if she knows that I am preaching or driving, she will spend the whole night in prayer on my behalf.

Do not let this month go by without thanking God for your mom. Proverbs 31:28a says, “Her children arise up, and call her blessed.” If you are one of those people who have the special privilege of being called “Mom,” I hope you will realize the impact you have on this nation. There is an old Spanish proverb that reads: “An ounce of mother is worth more than a pound of clergy.” May God give us mothers who will not give up in the battle for what is right in this world. We need mothers who will pray for their children, give them a pattern to follow, and cheer them on to do great things for God.

We will not notice everything that you do for us, and sometimes we will forget to thank you, but “God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister” (Hebrews 6:10). One day you will receive your true reward—a reward for every prayer, every sleepless night, every tear, every encouraging word, and every expression of love that you have shown. On that day, our flowers, candy and cards will pale in comparison to the honor that you will receive from the One who truly sees all that you have done for us.

Sound and Media Equipment We Use

Jeremy Lofgren — Wed, 09 May 2012 23:39:32 +0000

I am often asked about equipment we use, so I have developed a list of sound and projection equipment we have found helpful here at Lancaster Baptist Church:

Pulpit Mic

Audio-Technica U857QL

Piano Mics

DPA 4090

Choir/Orchestra Mics

Audio-Technica AT4051a (installed)
Shure SM137 (cheaper alternative we use for small instrumental ensembles or solos and occasionally small choirs)

Vocal Wireless Handhelds

Sennheiser EW 135 G3

Vocal Wired Mics

Sennheiser e835
Sennheiser e865

Wireless Bodypack Transmitters

Sennheiser ew 300 bodypack

Wireless Microphones (for use with a bodypack)

Pastor’s mic—DPA 4066 omnidirectional headband
Sennheiser ME2 (lapel worn)
Countryman e6 (ear worn) (We have used this in the past.)

Digital Mixing Consoles

Yamaha 01V96 (North Auditorium and off-campus events)
Yamaha LS9 (Livestream)
Yamaha M7CL (Main Auditorium)

Projector Model Numbers

Christie WX10K-M (Main Auditorium projectors)
Christie LX700 (Used for retreats and other off-campus applications. This is a good option for most churches.)

Presentation Software

ProPresenter (available for Windows or Mac)
Keynote (Mac only)

Understanding Your Pastor

Dr. Tim Cruse — Mon, 07 May 2012 17:27:33 +0000

Pastors carry many burdens. That is why Paul said, “Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches” (2 Corinthians 11:28). Paul had many difficulties. He had physical handicaps, he had been persecuted severely for the faith, he had been marooned on an island with criminals in the middle of a storm. In short, he bore in his body the marks of the Lord Jesus, yet the care of churches weighed more heavily upon him than his own burdens.

Most Christians never think about it, but your burdens are on your pastor’s heart when he is driving down the road, awake in the middle of the night, working at his desk, visiting people, walking down a hospital stairwell, listening to the choir sing, playing with his children, or at any other place at any other time of day.

Here are some points to keep in mind when you do not understand why your pastor does not do something the way you would do it:

Your pastor must be willing to be misunderstood or misjudged in your eyes because he cannot divulge certain confidences. You see the part; he sees the whole.
The only thing you have to go on is faith in God and in your pastor’s integrity to do the right thing. It is a matter of trust.
Because of providential circumstances, your pastor will not be able to do some things you would expect him to.
Your pastor’s love for your family should not be put on trial because of perceived oversight on his part in a particular matter.
Your pastor’s forbearance of you will outweigh your forbearance of him.
Your pastor will be the first to forgive and the last to be forgiven.
Your pastor’s family is suffering silently with him in a certain matter while others suffer openly and receive necessary reassurances.
Your pastor will not ask you to sacrifice in a matter that he has not sacrificed in already.

“And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you: And to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. And be at peace among yourselves.” 1 Thessalonians 5:12–13

A Protected Life

Valerie Creed — Fri, 04 May 2012 19:28:30 +0000

“Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” Hebrews 1:14

When was the last time you saw the hand of God protecting you from harm? How many times are we oblivious to His unseen hand moving on our behalf? Only eternity will tell what He mobilized to defend us and to keep us safe.

I had just closed my front door when a threatening growl behind me made me turn with a start. A white blur shot around the corner of my house racing directly at me. Fear caught in my throat. I desperately prayed as the white, wolf-like beast stopped just feet from me with quivering raised haunches and foam forming at his mouth. I knew the sign of a rabid animal; here was living proof. Keeping my eyes on his bared fangs, I slowly backed up toward my vehicle. “Go home,” I commanded. My outstretched hand felt the latch which I warily opened, scooting toward my safety. It all happened so fast after that. I slid into the driver’s seat and slammed the door just as the monster lunged at my window clawing and snarling. I found out later, that my neighbor was also attacked, and defended himself with a lid from a trashcan. Animal control officers came quickly and tranquilized the dog. I was grateful for God’s protection.

I was around eight-years-old when I believed I was going to die. My recent swimming safety course flooded my mind. I could not breathe as the rapids plummeted me to the bottom of the river, grazing my body on the boulders and river-bottom muck. Wearing my inner tube, I had been eagerly wading along the rickety fence which poked out of the water. It was built to dam the river and create the rapids which rushed out the opening along the opposite shore. Something had grabbed at my legs and sucked me out of my tube and down deeper into the water. I felt myself being pulled through the broken fence near the bottom of the river and spit out into the surging rapids. My lungs felt like they were exploding. Everything was a blur for what seemed like an eternity until I finally split the surface, gasping and calling for help.

Looking back now, I understand God loved me even as a little girl who had not yet trusted Christ as my Saviour. He knew I would become an heir of salvation, and He had plans for my life. Yes, God protects His own; but what about the times when God’s protection seems to have gone awry? God’s grace steps in then, and we find security in His strength.

God’s grace stepped in after my brother was shot during a robbery, and left to die while working late hours at a gas station to pay his way through Bible college. Today, he is pastoring Crossroads Baptist Church in Dothan, Alabama. God’s grace stepped in when my sister and husband watched their home and belongings destroyed in a fire. Today, they are endeavoring to start a Baptist church in McKinney, Texas. God’s grace steps in when Christians are called upon to give their lives as martyrs for their faith.

When your life’s story is written, what drama will unveil God’s hand of protection; or what trial will reveal His strengthening grace which stepped in to embrace your broken heart? Think back and thank Him today. God is so good!

Creating Effective Visual Presentations

Andrew Jones — Thu, 03 May 2012 16:30:00 +0000

Nothing can be more powerful or distracting than a presentation. One author estimates that over thirty million PowerPoint presentations are made every day. I’m sure you have attended your fair share of them. But I wonder how many were truly captivating, motivating, or convincing? Probably very few.

The goal of any presentation is to communicate visually. The effective presenter makes it simple for the audience to grasp ideas without having to work. A successful presentation leads the audience to a logical conclusion.

Here are five simple principles to remember when creating effective presentations:

1. You Are the Presenter, Not Your Presentation

This is the biggest mistake a speaker can make. Whether you are using PowerPoint or Keynote, you should be the focus not your slides. If you don’t have a well prepared message, PowerPoint can’t help save you. It will actually only make things worse. Know what you are going to say and let your slides play a supporting role.

2. Less Is More

This should be your guiding principle. The moment you flash a slide on the screen the audience stops listening to you and starts evaluating the slide. They first look at the design. Second, they begin to read the text. Third, they return to listening to you. If your slide is too detailed with no clear point, the audience will leave the presentation wondering what it was all about. The remedy is simple. Give the audience only what they need to know.

3. Think Like a Designer

Every decision a designer makes is intentional. There should always be a purpose to your visuals. Sketch out what you want to say before you ever even consider slides. Many presentations lack flow which makes the sequence of ideas so confusing that the audience is unable to follow.

4. Elements of a Good Slide

It is laziness on the part of the presenter to put everything on one slide. In Seth Godin’s book, Really Bad PowerPoint, he contends that you should never have, “More than six words on a slide. EVER.” Though there may be times you need more than six words, it is always a good goal. If the text is too long, consider breaking it up into several slides. Remember to keep your font choices simple. Use fonts that are easy to see at a distance such as sans serif fonts—Helvetica, Gill Sans, Myriad Pro, etc.

5. Practice, Practice, Practice

In the car, on the treadmill, rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. Especially if you are not the one advancing your slides. The speaker and teleprompter must be in harmony. If you started preparing the night before, clearly the presentation was low on your priority list. The amount of time required to develop a presentation is directly proportional to how high the stakes are. Nancy Duarte in her book Slide:ology estimates that a one-hour presentation with thirty slides can take as long as 36-90 hours to prepare. With that in mind, how long did it take you to prepare yours? Effective presentations require time and focus. So start early.

Changed Into His Image

Rob Badger — Wed, 02 May 2012 17:00:00 +0000

Many passages of Scripture (Jeremiah 18, Isaiah 45:9, Romans 9:21) liken God’s working in our lives to a potter working with clay. Ever since the day that you were saved, God’s Holy Spirit has been working to form you into something that you are not and cannot become on your own. This is biblically referred to as sanctification. Sanctification is the process of God removing sin from your life and replacing it with righteousness (Ephesians 2:8-10). It is the process by which God “sets us apart” from the world and separates us unto Jesus Christ. As a skilled Potter, God collects us from the broken heap and begins reforming us piece by piece.

So then, what is the intended design? What are we being shaped into? What will be the resulting form? What is the pattern that the Master follows? Galatians 4:19 and Romans 8:29 make it clear that God is changing us into the very image of Jesus Christ. He is the pattern; and when our life’s journey is all said and done, the result should be a life that is more like Christ.

How does God accomplish this? With every turn of the Potter’s wheel we become more like Jesus and less like our old, carnal nature. Here is a practical understanding of how this is accomplished daily in our lives:

1. The First Turn Is Conviction

God begins the process of change by pricking our conscience of sin. This is the Holy Spirit’s work. I have had many new Christians ask me, “Why do I feel so bad about doing certain things that never bothered me before now?” When I hear this I always smile inside knowing that these new brothers and sisters in Christ are being introduced to the very real, personal interaction of the Holy Spirit inside their own heart. The Bible says that He will reprove us of our sin (John 16:8). This is why it is important to maintain a tender conscience.

2. Conviction Is Followed by the Second Turn of the Wheel, Repentance

It is not enough to know that you have done wrong, but we must stop doing the wrong. Repentance is simply changing our mind about what we have done or how we have lived. It is changing our belief about sin and agreeing with God about it. Usually it is taking God’s side against me! This involves forsaking the attitude, motive, temptation, or belief system that led you to disobey God. Repentance is a gift from God (Romans 2:4).

3. Once You Repent, the Next Turn Is Obedience

Repentance is putting off; obedience is putting on. We must be careful not to simply put off bad behaviors, attitudes, decisions, or motivations—we must be sure to put on the right ones! Obedience means doing what is right instead of just knowing what is right (James 4:17).

4. After Obedience Comes Faithfulness

The final step for a potter is always the kiln where the project is heated and hardened to permanently reflect the potter’s design. As God changes and molds our lives, He desires for the changes that He has made to be permanent. He wants you and I to faithfully, day in and day out, obey what He has convicted us about and what we have repented of.

Can you see the progression in your mind? The potter places the clay on the wheel in a big, clumsy clump. He begins pushing the peddles with his foot, and the table begins to spin. As the wheel gets up to speed, the potter dips his hands into water and then gently places his hands onto the clay. The first touch brings conviction to the heart of the clay about a sin. The next turn leads to a forsaking of an old, ugly pattern and a reshaping of obedience to His every touch. Continued and done over and over again, each turn of the wheel leads to a faithful life of beautiful spiritual formation. The ultimate result—the likeness of Jesus Christ!

3 Ideas to Boost Attendance at Your Missions Conference

Dr. R. B. Ouellette — Tue, 01 May 2012 17:59:30 +0000

The first time we held a missions conference, I was greatly disappointed by the attendance at the Monday and Tuesday evening services. I had assumed that our people would come because I had announced the meeting and had excellent missionaries in attendance. I was wrong. Here are some ideas that have helped us get people out for the services that I hope will be a blessing to you:

1. A Foreign Lands Dinner

Several weeks in advance of the conference we announce that on a particular evening we will have a dinner before the church service and ask our ladies to make an international dish. Of course, some of them with various ethnic origins will make a dish from their homeland. When I announce the dinner, I often ask ladies in the congregation what dish they are going to bring.

2. A Dress-up Contest for Children

On another night, we encourage our children in sixth-grade and below to dress up in a costume representing a land where our missionaries serve. We usually have the children’s choir sing that night, so that the children get plenty of time on the platform in their costumes. We judge the costumes and give prizes to the best ones. Parents love to come see their children on the platform. It even helps to reach grandparents, aunts, uncles, and others.

3. A “Spread the Light” Service

The last night of the conference, we turn off all the lights in the auditorium and have each of our missionaries hold a lighted candle. We explain that these people have committed themselves to carry the Gospel into a darkened world. But in a large auditorium, a handful of missionaries does not spread much light.

Then we ask our young people who have surrendered to full-time Christian service to come stand with the missionaries and light their candles. Then we ask those who are going to make a commitment to faith-promise missions and by their gift help to “spread the light” to come light their candles and stand with the missionaries and the young people. By this time, nearly the entire congregation is involved and the light is greatly increased. It is a moving experience to see what can happen when others get involved in spreading the light.

Concerns and Hopes for Older Preachers

Dr. Paul Chappell — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:08:31 +0000

In a recent post, I shared several concerns and hopes for young preachers. Here I would like to continue the theme with some thoughts regarding older preachers.

I get concerned when older preachers view all those with a question as “in rebellion.” It encourages me to see older preachers take time with younger preachers.

I get concerned when older preachers won’t admit the shortcomings of our generation of leadership. I get encouraged when older preachers say, “Here are some mistakes we made; try not to make them.”

I get concerned when older preachers elevate preference to the place of doctrine. I am hopeful when an older preacher says, “Nothing in the Bible says a man must wear a tie (etc.), but here is why I prefer doing it that way.” (See Romans 14.)

I get concerned when older preachers won’t admit that leaders in other circles do “anything right.” I get hopeful when an older preacher kindly disagrees with another leader or group but credits them for their efforts in some area (such as fighting abortion).

I get concerned when older preachers stake loyalty to a college or institution, even when the philosophy of that institution no longer produces passionate Christian servants. I get encouraged when older preachers follow principle and seek revival with likeminded men who may be from a different college background.

I get concerned when older preachers speak only about who they saw come to Christ decades ago. I am encouraged by older preachers who have the spirit of Caleb and are still reaching out with the Gospel.

I get concerned when older preachers preach against gossip and division in the church, but read negative and gossipy blogs and share that information with their churches and friends. I am encouraged when older pastors take the “high road” and refuse to lend their ear to non-fruit-bearing trash peddlers.

I get concerned when older preachers assume any slight variances in a church schedule or method is always indicative that a younger preacher is on a “slippery slope.” I am thankful for older preachers who allow for growth and even mistakes in the lives of developing leaders. It is worthy of noting that some of the greatest “fundamental” leaders I have known were quite innovative (“world’s largest Sunday school,” etc.). While some did not prefer such methods, most did not deem those who used these methods as “liberal.” Dr. Curtis Hutson encouraged me to use a two-service schedule on Sunday mornings, and Dr. Tom Malone encouraged me to use screens in our services; still others were critical of both. Dr. R.B. Ouellette has recently written an excellent post on this subject.

I get concerned when older preachers mellow to the point of leaving their once firmly proclaimed distinctives. I am grateful for consistent, gracious leaders who walk in truth, contend for the faith, and love the brethren.

I have had the privilege of knowing and receiving personal influence from some of the greatest leaders of the previous generation. They weren’t perfect, but their examples remind us to, regardless of our age, faithfully preach the Gospel, lovingly invest in others, and graciously live for Christ.

Job: A Full Life

Dave Delaney — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 19:16:26 +0000

If I asked you to define Job’s life, what would you say? Probably most would define it as suffering or sorrow, but God defines Job’s life as filled. We come to the end of the book (Job 42:17) and we read this phrase, “So Job died, being old and full of days.”

Similar phrases are used to describe the death of others. It’s used for Abraham, who lived to be 175 years old (Genesis 25:8). It’s used for his son Isaac (Genesis 35:29) who died at the age of 180. It’s also used for King David (1 Chronicles 29:28) who lived to be about 70. This phrase doesn’t mean length of life as much as it does quality of life and fulfilled purposes in life.

We see Job not as a struggling, cranky, bitter, old codger that no one enjoyed being around. This man lived with a refreshed sense of urgency to teach and train and treasure his children and grandchildren.

What an enviable way to reach the end! He didn’t live happily ever after, and he wasn’t escorted directly into the heavenly gates. Instead he went back to doing exactly what he was doing in Job 1, living a life that was upright, fearing God, and eschewing evil.

Don’t be fooled, he had a tough road ahead of him. Mrs. Job had abandoned him, but they worked that out—they had 10 more children! He lost his businesses, but God blessed his future endeavors, doubling his companies. At one point he had wished himself dead; but God gave him another 140 years. Job pulled through all of this and lived a fulfilled life.

I’d like to offer several tips on how to stay young. No matter how young you are, you’ll be old someday; and when you are, you’ll need to review these.

Stay Alert

Nobody wants to be around a cranky old person who only sees clouds and talks about bad weather. Your mind isn’t old, so keep developing it. Watch less television and read more books. Spend time with people who talk about events and ideas rather than sitting around talking about how sorry this younger generation has become.

Stay Amused

I love being around older people who still see the sunny side of life. They find humor in life and enjoy it; they can tell a great story; they enjoy a loud belly laugh. A good laugh helps remove some of the lines on your face. Don’t lose your humor!

Stay Active

Your strength isn’t gone, so keep using it. Guard against becoming isolated and immobile. Quit talking about how weak you are and how others will have to do things for you; jump in there and be involved. You will find yourself in more demand the more involved you are.

Stay Available

There are people all around you who could use an encouraging word, an affirming note, or a phone call that says, “I love you and believe in you, and I’m praying for you.” You have been down the road several times that many are just now going down for the first time. They could use a pat on the back and a confident friend to travel with them. Life has blessed you with experiences that others can benefit from. Use them!

Stay Attached

God is not dead; keep serving and seeking Him. The living God is ageless. The Lord Jesus Christ is timeless and ever-relevant. Continue to enjoy some time alone with your Lord! Some of the greatest prayer warriors in our church are elderly saints.

If Job could finish full of days, so can we. Let’s stay active in serving Him. This is one of the best reasons for staying involved at your local church. There are many avenues of service for those who are available, whose attitudes are positive, and whose minds are active and alert.

Looking for an Economic Savior

Rick Houk — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:15:54 +0000

“Is that all?” newly elected Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou asked his budget committee in 2009 during a meeting to find out exactly how much the government was spending. A series of financial scandals led to the ousting of the incumbent party and ushered in a new Greek government—one which would count the money it spent instead of assuming they spent what they had budgeted. It took a week of meetings with each department head to learn the actual state of Greek finances. Every night Papandreou would ask if they had all the spending data, the department heads would affirm they did, and the next morning they would come back with more data. That year, the government raised their budget deficit from 6% (set the previous year) to 12.7%. Later it became 15.4%.

There were many causes to the catastrophe besides criminally optimistic accounting practices. There is widespread tax evasion among Greek’s self-employed and corruption among collections agents. Plastic surgeons would declare $12,000 yearly income. Public sector workers were paid as high as four times their private sector equivalents.

When the day of fiduciary reckoning came, the catastrophe was met with excuses. The current administration blamed the previous administration. The public sector workers claimed the high salaries were their just compensation. Everyone suspected everyone else was cheating on their taxes (and most of them were right). But the greatest evil in the eyes of the Greek citizens were the foreign banks (mostly German) who lent their country the money in the first place.

This world of economic depression with no parties willing to take responsibility for the crisis is ripe for a strong leader who will save the day. They are looking for someone with the power to fix their problems in exchange for their submission. After all, what good is national autonomy without a comfortable lifestyle?

There is a man coming who will have the power to offer hope to a floundering world. He will promise global unity and prosperity. Yet the source of his power is unseen, uncontrollable, and evil.

In Revelation 13:2, it says of the beast (the antichrist), “…and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.” The antichrist then does not rise to prominence through his own power, but he is given authority by the dragon—Satan. There are three words that describe what Satan will give the antichrist to make him appealing to the world and especially Europe.

First, power is given to him. This power is from the Greek word dunamis, referring to power of ability. The antichrist will have the capabilities to deal with the world’s critical issues which may be centered around economics.

Second, Satan will give him his seat, or throne. The antichrist will have political authority over the nations as he sits as a ruler over them in the political arena.

Finally, the third advantage given is great authority. Perhaps because of his capabilities and position the third is the outcome—“great authority.” Often in a season of economic and political collapse, the time is ripe for a dictator to rise in power and with great authority to right what had gone wrong. Hitler rose up in Germany, and Mussolini in Italy before WWII. People today are looking for someone to fix all their problems, not just in America or Europe, but the entire world. Satan for sure is ready and willing to manipulate the circumstances to eventually get his false-christ in position as the world ruler.

Be a Positive Influence

Dr. Kevin Folger — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 03:42:53 +0000

An important aspect of life is influence. Each one of us has influence over someone in this world. It is obvious that the more you lead, the more opportunities for influence you will have.

When God called me to preach, I had no idea where it would lead. If someone would have told me that I would one day pastor Cleveland Baptist Church and travel the world as a preacher, I would have run from the idea because I was insecure. Yet, as I have followed the Lord’s leading in my life, little by little, my opportunities for leadership and influence have grown. I do not believe that I have sought out opportunities, but as they have presented themselves, I have responded to them.

If you are a parent, you must not underestimate the power that you have to mold the children God has given you. Recently, my wife mentioned to me how thankful she was for our three sons and their accomplishments. My wife and I realized from the beginning that our boys were given to us to train. We would only have them under our daily training for eighteen years, and then they would be on their own. God blessed our efforts, and we are very grateful that all three of them are fine, upstanding Christians, married, and rearing their children responsibly.

In the work place, you have the opportunity to influence and encourage others. It is important that, as a Christian, you know what you believe and why. This is the best way to influence others. Your co-workers may disagree with your positions and values, but if you truly live them out you will be respected.

The church is influenced by the life of each member. The Bible clearly states that if we are saved and scripturally baptized, we are part of the local church. By living a pure, separated life and loving the Lord Jesus Christ, we bring a positive influence to that body. Having the Spirit in us and being excited about what God is doing in this world is of great benefit and influence.

Every one of us impacts and influences this world for better or for worse. As Christians, we should be working to be positive influences. Someday we will stand before the Lord Jesus and give an account for how we used our lives. It would be wise to live in such a way that the Lord is able to say, “Well done thou good and faithful servant!”

The Story of Pastor Bill Zaydan

Ministry127 — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 19:01:16 +0000

In 1959, God moved a young man and his family from Oklahoma to the Muslim-dominated city of Tripoli, Lebanon, to establish a Gospel-preaching church. Richard Hester wasn’t the first American missionary to go to Lebanon, but he was one of the few who would go to the Muslim area of North Lebanon. Other missionaries thought it was a bad idea, but by moving where few others would go, Brother Hester reached a group of people and influenced a young man who would be used of God to pastor one of the largest independent Baptist churches in Australia.

In the same year Richard Hester moved his family to Lebanon, Bill Zaydan was born in Kuwait to Lebanese parents, George Zaydan and Dalal Saoud-Zaydan. Dalal was head nurse at the Royal Hospital in Kuwait City. George developed property in Lebanon to sell as vacation homes to wealthy Kuwaitis and Lebanese living in Kuwait. He made millions, and the money became his own undoing.

A few years after the Zaydans moved back to Lebanon, Bill’s father began to attract many new friends and habits. Gambling soon drained his considerable wealth, and his new friends blew away with his money. One very early morning when Bill was twelve years old, his father woke him and explained he would be going away on a business trip. Though his father often went on business trips, his mother was crying. Bill knew this time was different.

It was the last time Bill would see his father for the next nine years.

The next year, 1973, brought rumblings of a civil war, but few people were concerned. Skirmishes were a regular occurrence in the country. Families would pack up their belongings, move to Cyprus, Greece, or Turkey for a month, and wait until the dust settled. But the war which broke out in 1975 was like nothing the country had seen in recent memory, and it would forever change the face of Lebanon.

Relations between the nominally Lebanese Christians (majority Maronites, Eastern Orthodox, and Catholic) and Lebanese Muslims were friendly before the civil war. Certain regions of the country were heavily skewed toward one religion or the other, but both groups lived as friends and neighbors. This war, however, radicalized both groups. Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Liberation Organization with its armed militia supported the Muslims who called for an overthrow of the Christian-controlled government and pitted neighbors against each other. The Lebanese government collapsed, and the Christian and Muslim militias grasped for weapons and supplies from the defunct national military.

Bill’s family, though they lived in a Muslim-controlled area, identified themselves as Christians. Like most other young men his age, Bill was swept up in the fervor of war and joined a militia. At first, the young men from the village were trained at night and on weekends by the Kataeb Regulatory Forces (krf), the largest and oldest political paramilitary force in Lebanon. In the second phase of training, men as young as fourteen were taken to several camps. “We were taken to the high mountains to be joined by Israeli army officers who trained us on land mines and more advanced equipment,” recalled Brother Zaydan.

At the age of sixteen, Bill Zaydan was thrust into the fighting on the streets of Beirut. His younger brother Wally took part in the training, but was not involved in the fighting. The battles for Beirut were terrible—whole neighborhoods were left in ruins. The civil war would stretch on for fifteen years, but Bill’s time in the conflict would come to an end much sooner.

Three months after being thrust into the fighting, two of Bill’s best friends, Michael and Tony, were killed in battle. It was a breaking point. Bill knew he needed God to save him from the war, and more. Though most of those who called themselves Christians in Lebanon were not born again, Bill had been exposed to the Gospel many times. His father’s brother, Pastor Maziad Zaydan, was an independent Free Evangelical pastor who preached the Gospel throughout Lebanon. An American missionary, Richard Hester, planted a church close by the Zaydan’s village and would have Bill’s uncle preach revivals. When Pastor Maziad came to preach, the Zaydans would go to hear his message. Bill also attended the church’s summer Bible camps. Despite all the opportunities, Bill never accepted Christ during his childhood. “I attended many summer camps where I raised my hand for salvation at the end of the meetings, said the sinner’s prayer,” Brother Zaydan said, “but I was not saved.”

“When I cried out to God in the war, God listened to my heart.” While Bill was fighting the war, his uncle Suhail Saoud came to Lebanon and took his sister Dalal (Bill’s mother) and Bill’s younger brother and two sisters to Kuwait. Two months after their departure, Bill was able to contact and join his family, as God gave him passage to Damascus, Syria, and then a flight to Kuwait.

While getting into Kuwait was difficult enough, staying would require a miracle. His mother was readily approved because of her prior work as a nurse in the country, but Bill was considered an adult and had to apply to the country on his own merit. Uncle Sahoud found Bill a sponsor and helped secure a one-month visa, but he would have to go to the immigration department to see if he could stay.

Bill filled out an application at the station, but he was sure it would be rejected—he was a sixteen-year-old war refugee with no professional skills. As he was waiting in line, there was a loud disagreement between the applicant in front of him and the processing officer. Both men left the room, and another employee stepped in to look at Bill’s application. It was obvious the employee didn’t usually do this.

“What do you want?” asked the substitute immigration processor.

“I’m hoping to be able to stay because my mother and siblings are here.”

“Okay, not a problem.” Without any further questions, the employee stamped Bill’s passport. He would be allowed to stay.

The visa approval was just one of a series of miracles that happened that year. After Dalal’s trials of her husband leaving their family and her son’s fate uncertain in the war, she prayed to God for a miracle. While Bill was still fighting in Beirut, his mother was befriended by another nurse, a born-again Christian from India. She shared the Gospel with Mrs. Zaydan, who then accepted Christ as her Saviour. Dalal and her family began attending a house church in Kuwait started by a group of genuine born-again Christians from several Arab countries.

One of the volunteer leaders in the small house church was Brother Farid, a Palestinian engineer who led the youth group. When he met Dalal and heard her son was coming to Kuwait, Farid determined to befriend the young man. He found Bill a job at a friend’s printing press, and would often give him rides to and from work. After Bill had been in Kuwait for about three months, Brother Farid invited him to a Bible study. He enjoyed the Bible study, mostly because he liked Brother Farid, but during the second visit his eternity was changed. The Holy Spirit brought to mind all the false decisions Bill had made. Bill knew he had been running away from God his entire life, but God was chasing him and was giving him one more chance. Bill was scared to death, and he knew he needed to be saved.

When the Bible study was finished, Bill went to Brother Farid and told him he needed to be saved. “There, that night, I said the sinner’s prayer, but it was different from any other time,” said Brother Zaydan. “God changed my life forever from that day.”

Bill’s life was different from then on. When he got home that night, he read the Bible until 4:30 in the morning. Before he was saved, every other word out of his mouth was an expletive. But when he started to say something filthy to his friend the next day, it felt like a dagger was stuck in his heart. He cried and asked God to forgive the sinfulness of his thoughts.

Bill led his brother to the Lord shortly after he was saved. “He saw me every night, reading my Bible. He saw something had changed in my life, and I got to share Christ with him.” Soon after, his sister was also saved.

Mr. Zaydan’s abandonment of his family left Bill bitter for many years, but after he was saved, he wrote his father in Australia to tell him of his changed life. Not long before, his father had discovered that his family was living in Kuwait and applied to the Australian embassy to reunite their family. Nearly nine years after Bill’s father left his family, they were reunited in Melbourne, Australia.

“When we came together, it was strange,” recalled Brother Zaydan. In hindsight, he could see his mother was both strongly loyal to her husband and was protective of her children. She would never allow her children to say anything bad about their father in front of her. “He is my husband, the father of my children,” she told those who questioned her, “and it’s no one’s business how long I wait for him.” But this wasn’t the first time Mr. Zaydan had tried to bring his family to Australia. A previous attempt was refused by his wife because he was in the country illegally, and she knew it was a hardship that would put tremendous strain on her family.

In the end, it was the war that allowed their family to be reunited. After it became apparent that many of the Lebanese refugees would not be able to return to their homeland, Australia granted amnesty to all those who had fled Lebanon. Mr. Zaydan was granted permanent residency, and Mrs. Zaydan trusted that God was reuniting her family.

In Melbourne, Bill finished the education for his Information Technology qualification and found a job in Sydney with the company Honeywell. He began looking for a church right away, and discovered through some friends that his Uncle Maziad attended Faith Baptist Church in Sydney. When Bill attended the church, the pastor was none other than Richard Hester, the American missionary who started the Baptist church just fifteen miles away from his home near Tripoli, Lebanon.

The war had forced Pastor Hester to flee like many others. His heart was with the Lebanese people, and he waited for the time he could return to the country. During the war, however, many of the members from Tripoli emigrated to Sydney. They wrote Pastor Hester asking him to come start an Arabic church. After a survey trip, he was moved to start Faith Baptist Church in Sydney.

Bill joined the church and quickly became active in the ministry. God was doing a good work in the young church of war refugees, and He was preparing Bill for a greater purpose. In the early days of the church, about forty members gathered for a missions conference. Pastor Hester preached the message, “The Greatest Need that Mankind Has.” He challenged parents and young people to be servants of God, and Bill knew God was speaking to him. He attended Bible Baptist College in Sydney, graduated in 1985, and became Pastor Hester’s assistant pastor. In 1986, he married Joseline Youssef, a young lady saved through the ministry of the church.

Brother Zaydan learned much from the American missionary who loved the Lebanese people and adopted their culture as his own. “He always says that he loves us and wants to die among us,” Brother Zaydan said of Pastor Hester. For years they labored together until Richard Hester stepped down as pastor, and Brother Zaydan was given the responsibility to lead the church in 1994. Since then, Brother Hester has remained in the church still serving and discipling new families. The church has grown to hundreds of people meeting every week, so much that they recently built a new facility to keep up with the growth. There is excitement in the church, and so many are praying for God’s continued hand on this special congregation.

Bill Zaydan visited Lebanon with his wife after the war in 1998. As they saw their home country in a state of disrepair, they came over a hill and saw children playing in the street near a cemetery. Mrs. Zaydan began to cry, and her husband asked what was wrong.

“That could have been my nephews and nieces. This is the same place where my brother and I used to play,” she said gazing at the children and thinking about what it would have been like living through the war. “How rich is God’s grace!”

Looking across the way, Brother Zaydan motioned toward the cemetery. “And that could have been me.”

How rich God’s grace has been for Pastor Zaydan, and for all those God used to bring him and his family to salvation.

This article was originally printed in the Baptist Voice.

Concerns and Hopes for Young Preachers

Dr. Paul Chappell — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 00:07:04 +0000

I was recently with a young preacher here on the West Coast who asked me a thought-provoking question: “What do you see that concerns or encourages you in younger pastors?”

I was encouraged by the question itself, and I pondered it for the next few days. I still consider myself a “younger pastor” and gladly learn from others, but perhaps because I am turning fifty this month, I feel old enough to answer the question.

These concerns could be stated with regard to preachers of any age or, for that matter, to Christians in any realm of ministry. (In my next blog, I plan to address some concerns and hopes for older preachers.)

Here are a few thoughts:

I get concerned when a young preacher has a sarcastic attitude toward most older pastors in ministry. I get hopeful when he has a general sense of respect and fellowship with older pastors.

I get concerned when a young preacher attempts to quickly copy any new fad or method from a mega church that appears successful. I get hopeful when a young preacher tries the spirits to see whether they be of God (see 1 John 4:1).

I get concerned when a young preacher has an argumentative spirit. I get hopeful when a young preacher approaches me with a sincere heart, even when his ideas are different than mine.

I get concerned when a young preacher constantly tweets and links to authors or pastors who are not cessationists, who drink alcohol, and who are staunch Calvinists. I am hopeful and encouraged when a young preacher tweets Scripture or tells how he recently led someone to Christ.

I get concerned when a young preacher is primarily influenced by web-based ministry. I get hopeful when a young preacher is consistent in his Bible reading and his heart burns within him when the Bible is soundly preached.

I get concerned when a young preacher’s questions rarely revolve around doctrine or theology. I am blessed by young preachers who have a heart for God and His truth and inquire about how to better serve Him.

I get concerned when a young preacher reads only “best-selling church growth” books. I am blessed by young preachers who read classics, who study doctrine, and who rightly divide the Word of truth.

I get concerned with a young preacher whose modern methods overshadow the message and whose love of culture crowds out the Gospel of Christ. I am encouraged by young preachers who are careful that Christ and His Word are truly preeminent in ministry.

I get concerned when a young preacher is reacting against an angry, absent, or abusive authority figure as he crafts his ministry philosophy. I get hopeful when his philosophy is derived from a causative and definite walk with God.

I get concerned when a young preacher (on the right or left) gets critical. Many young “progressives” claim they are leaving a “fundamental context” because they sense harshness in our ranks. Yet, many of these who are moving positions are equally caustic in their spirit to those who are on the same old path. I get encouraged when any Christian displays a Christ-like spirit.

I get concerned when a young preacher spends excessive time on social network sites. I get hopeful when young preachers are out in the community, conducting outreach and discipleship, and spending time with people who need personal ministry.

I get concerned when a young preacher wants to invest his time only with a certain segment of the “beautiful people” in society. I am encouraged by young pastors who have a heart for the hurting, the poor, and the elderly.

I get concerned when a young preacher naïvely believes that most pastors in the group he grew up in are weird or wrong and that other groups have all the “cool” or “more balanced” leadership. I get hopeful when preachers admit that every group has inherent problems because of our sin nature and that no one group is ever perfectly balanced or without sin.

Planning Center: A Helpful Tool for Music Ministry

Jon Guy — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 02:23:15 +0000

About a year and a half ago, I was introduced to Planning Center Online (PCO), which is a web-based planning and communication tool that has helped me more effectively serve our music team. One brief article is not enough to exhaustively explain the usefulness of this tool, so I would encourage you to explore their website. Here are a few of the reasons I recommend this tool:

Easy Planning

PCO allows you to create service plans in which you can schedule your groups and the songs they will sing. You can also upload mp3s and lyric documents to individual songs so your singers have easy access for listening and learning purposes. The program keeps record of the last time you sang a particular song so you don’t schedule it too often. This is particularly helpful with congregational songs.

The matrix view allows you to view several service plans at a time. This is great when working on an entire month’s worth of music. It keeps the task of scheduling simple.

Clear Communication

Effective communication is essential in music ministry. PCO centralizes much of your communication with your team members including their “block-out dates” when they are out of town or unable to sing. (I only use this tool to communicate with my ensembles, groups, and soloists. I use other means to stay in touch with the choir and orchestra.)

When you schedule a singer and then email them from PCO, they receive a notification that tells them what they’re scheduled to do, and it gives them the option to accept, decline, or view the service. When they accept or decline, you receive an email letting you know.

Accessibility

Because PCO is web-based, it can be accessed just about everywhere. Whether you’re in the office, at home, or on the go using the smart phone or iOS application, you can easily update service plans, schedule a group, or communicate with one of your team members.

Additional Information

There is a monthly cost to use PCO which you can view on their website. There are different tiers depending on your number of service plans and people you have using the program.

PCO can also be used for other ministries that involve planning and scheduling people. We have used it for our nursery workers, camera men, and parking lot attendants.

The members of our music team have taken very well to this new tool and are good at responding to the notifications. It took a few months to transfer over and adapt to PCO, but now, I wouldn’t go back!

Deeds, Not Words

Dr. John Goetsch — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 17:00:00 +0000

Our first President, George Washington, had a motto for his life that he endeavored to live by: “Deeds, not words.” Reading this, I thought about how simplistic and yet how important it is that our lives as Christians be characterized by that motto. James 1:22–24 says, “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.”

Hospitals are important and wonderful places—when you’re sick. I am grateful for people in the medical professions who have dedicated themselves to helping people in difficult physical conditions. In many ways, it is much like ministry in that it is people work, and those people have crucial and time-sensitive needs. I marvel at the dedicated professionals in this field who can walk into work, forget about their own problems, and focus on the needs of others for sometimes ten to twelve hours at a time.

Two days before Thanksgiving (several years ago), my wife, Diane, complained of some pain in her abdomen. She normally has a high tolerance of pain, and rarely takes so much as an aspirin! I could see from the grimace on her face that she was seriously hurting so at 5:00 am we made our way to the emergency room at the hospital. The main door was closed due to carpet cleaning so we had to pry open a side door to get in. Once inside, we were ushered to a bed in the hallway. After a few hours and some preliminary examinations, it was determined that she needed to have a cat scan to determine the problem. She drank the dye at 10:15 am and was promised the exam by 11:00 am.

At 3:30 pm, after sitting in the hallway for ten and a half hours, one of the doctors came by and asked my wife if she was comfortable. By this time, I’ll admit that most of my spirituality from my devotions that morning had worn off! For ten and a half hours people had smiled, acted busy, and acknowledged our presence (they couldn’t avoid us in the hallway), but nothing had been done! I stood up and said to the doctor: “No! She is not comfortable! For ten hours we have listened to you talk; it’s time for someone to do something!”

By 6:30 that evening her appendix had been successfully removed, and we were grateful that something was done before it ruptured. I learned some powerful truths during our four-day stay in the hospital. A lot of people talk a good game—but perform rather poorly. On Friday morning after my wife had not received a bath for forty-eight hours, her vitals had not been taken for twenty-four hours, and her intravenous medicine had been inadvertently unplugged for twelve hours, I challenged the nurse on duty to start doing something instead of walking back and forth to the break room!

When the doctor released Diane, it took two and a half hours to get the paperwork done and thirty minutes to fetch a wheelchair that was in a hallway fifty feet from our room! Later I told Diane if I ever get sick she should take me straight to the morgue—that way when they figure out what’s wrong, I’ll be ahead of schedule.

Seriously though, I wonder how many times we have responded with words rather than deeds? How many times have we promised in word to pray for someone yet fell short in deed? We have given good testimonies, prayed good prayers, sung good solos, preached good sermons, but then failed to live it. I am reminded of the Lord’s words in Isaiah 29:13, “Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men.”

“Deeds, not words”—a good motto for our first president to be sure, but let’s make it more than a motto. Otherwise, it is just “words, not deeds.”

Life Principles from the Book of Proverbs

Dr. Tim Cruse — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 01:43:38 +0000

Sermon outline: This is an abbreviated outline with the complete sermon downloadable at the bottom of the post.

Title: Life Principles from the Book of Proverbs

Introduction: God’s Word was written for our instruction. As one must dive deep for pearls and dig deep for precious stones, so must we delve deep into God’s Word if we are going to uncover its powerful principles.

I. Let Not

Proverbs 3:3
Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart.

Mercy, truth, sound wisdom and discretion are to be grasped. In order to take hold of them, we must turn loose of pride, error, simple-mindedness, and human folly.

II. Lean Not

Proverbs 3:5–6
5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

We must trust God in all things and never demand an explanation for what He is doing in our life.

III. Lust Not

Proverbs 6:25
Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.

Lust causes one to lay aside reason at the expense of reality. The first step to fornication is rebellion against authority (Proverbs 5:11–13). The reality of lust and its consequences is that one must surrender his honor, accomplishments, health, and eventually his life. When one gives himself over to lust, he sins against his own mind, emotions, and body (cf. 1 Corinthians 6:13–20; 1 Thessalonians 4:17).

IV. Love Not

Proverbs 20:13
Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.

I heard a poem once that said, “You better work while you can, be a diligent man. You better get up and work and not sleep. Work and hoe, watch them grow. As ye sow, so shall ye reap.”

V. Labor Not

Proverbs 23:4–5
4 Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.
5 Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.

Earthly riches are temporal and fleeting. Live not only for time, but for eternity. As the songwriter said, “One short life will soon be past only what’s done for Christ will last.”

VI. Look Not

Proverbs 23:31–35
31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.
32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
33 Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.
34 Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.
35 They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.

Alcohol is the number one drug in America. There are more deaths attributed to alcohol than experienced in all our nation’s wars combined.

Conclusion: Take the Challenge

Read a chapter of Proverbs each day. There are 31 chapters to correspond to the days of the month.

Proverbs 4:7
With all thy getting get understanding.

Life Principles from the Book of Proverbs.doc

Teamwork and Follow-Up

Dr. Paul Chappell — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 16:57:15 +0000

How did the ministry of Christ continue after the Resurrection? In the salutation to Acts we find the answer: “The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach” (Acts 1:1).

Jesus didn’t simply do the ministry Himself, but He taught His disciples how to do it as well. He involved them in the ministry, mentoring and training along the way.

Ministry today is likewise most effective when we train and involve others in the process. And what a better week to involve others than this in which we have much follow up from Resurrection Sunday!

In this Growth Points podcast, I share several pointers on how to effectively engage others with you in the Gospel ministry.

Make sure you get all future Growth Points videos by subscribing to the Spiritual Leadership Podcast.

This article was originally posted on The Pastor’s Perspective.

5 Ways to Stay Personal

Dr. R. B. Ouellette — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 00:13:36 +0000

The modern model of the office of a pastor seems to be that of a spiritual executive. The vision is of a man sitting in his office, reading reports, conducting meetings, and issuing instructions. It is true that if we are to “look well to the state of our flock,” inspection and direction are necessary. But the Bible model is one of service. The word minister literally means “servant.” The larger and more complex our ministries become, the easier it is to do more “executing” and less serving. How can we keep it personal? Here are a few thoughts:

1. Be Available

Speak to your people before and after the services. Recently after I had preached at a church, and stayed after some time speaking individually to those in attendance, a man who had been observing me called me aside. He complimented me for looking directly at the people to whom I was speaking. He went on to say that someone had once said to him, “I don’t really think my pastor cares about me. Every time I talk to him, he is looking over my shoulder.” The man then said, “Thank you for not looking over their shoulders.”

2. Send Personal Notes

These may include thank you notes, birthday cards, or simply a spontaneous expression of gratitude for the service and character of one of your members.

3. Give Gifts

Each year at Christmas, I purchase gifts to give to our staff and deacons. On other occasions, the Holy Spirit will prompt me to give money to someone in need or to give a helpful book or encouraging music CD. Be alert to these opportunities to show love.

4. Notice Children

Be especially attentive to children. I try to learn the names of and speak to the young children in our church. Sometimes I will “make friends” with them by giving them some change from my pocket. On other occasions I will put a little red light behind my ear and ask them if they think my ear looks “inflamed.” I want to give attention to “the least of these.”

5. Be Humble

Be willing to do the mundane. I recently drove a bus on Saturday to pick up some of our children. I took the time to get my CDL so I could be an example to others we were trying to recruit as drivers, to be an encouragement to our current bus workers, and to help on those rare occasions when we run our buses on Saturday. I certainly do not feel this or any other job is “beneath me.”

Living Counter Culturally

Dr. Bud Calvert — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 00:36:28 +0000

The songwriter had it right when he wrote, “This world is not my home!” I am sure every blood-bought Christian agrees that this world leaves a lot to be desired. God has designed for the believer to go against the grain, or to live “counter culturally” to this world.

Satan, on the other hand, has illuminated everything in the world to be appealing to our old and sinful nature. Although our sin nature has been crucified, if left unguarded, it will still try to raise its ugly head. The world and it’s pleasures are like the flashing lights in Las Vegas that say, “Come and see us; experience our way and really enjoy life.”

A walk through the mall is enough to make any God-fearing Christian blush. Look in the average Independent Baptist Church today and you will see the fashions and styles of the world. Even the music and “sermonettes” are responding to the dictates of what people want, rather than what glorifies the Lord.

I am simply saying that it is getting more and more difficult to live for God in a cross cultural society unless we live our lives based on the culture of the Cross. Paul put it this way, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

The philosophy of so many young (and old) people today is, “But everyone is doing it.” Our response should be, “No they are not! God-fearing Christians are not dipping the flag to be tainted by this world’s goods.” And, even if “everyone else” is doing it, it still may not be the best thing—just ask Noah’s generation!

Leviticus 18:1–5 says:

“And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am the LORD your God. After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances. Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein: I am the LORD your God. Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the LORD.”

The Israelites were not to emulate what they saw in the land (culture) of Egypt where they had been, nor were they to do, “After the doings of the land [culture] of Canaan,” where they were going. In other words, God wants people who are willing to live counter culturally to this world. We must keep our eyes on the Lord and “press toward the mark” until we hear the shout!

I believe this is what John meant in 1 John 2:15–17:

“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love 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 pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.”

God is looking for and expects a separated people who are willing to live counter culturally for His glory. We are not to let this world—or culture— mold our convictions or the principles by which we live.

Going to church three times a week (although we should) does not make us holy or righteous; it is Jesus living in and through us.

Is your life and testimony beginning to blend in with the world, or is there a clear distinction between the way you live and the rest of the world. We all need to check our hearts, our motives, our pride, our desires, our lifestyle, and our thoughts and actions.

“Even so come, Lord Jesus.” Revelation 22:20b

4 Characteristics of a Godly Influence in the Office

Lisa Stoner — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 22:16:15 +0000

“Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” 1 Timothy 4:12

If you are on the staff of a church, you are an example to someone. You may just think of yourself as a secretary, or office worker, but in reality you are more than that. Just being “on staff” makes you an example and a leader. You need to accept it, and allow it to affect what you do and how you behave.

You ask, “Who is watching me?” or, “to whom am I an example?” There is someone in your church who wishes she had your job, or wants to be just like you some day:

Children and teens (yours or someone else’s)
Newer Christians
Newer members
Parents of your children’s friends
School parents
Folks in your adult class
Folks who sit near you in church

Are you a good example?

A godly influence is one who moves others onto God’s agenda. Before we can influence others toward godliness, we ourselves must be under God’s influence—seeking God’s direction, obeying His impulses, and being where we’re supposed to be so God can use us. If you are moving toward God, someone is probably following you.

A godly influence:

1. Encourages a Closer Walk with God

“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” Psalm 1:1–3

Encourage wise choices—encourage ladies to seek godly counsel, love their husbands, and be faithful to the Lord and church.
Encourage “God-ward” thinking—remind others of God’s love; weave godly topics into conversations.
Encourage Bible study and prayer.

2. Is a Need-filler

So often we are guilty of not noticing. Instead, we need to stop, look, and ask questions. This is where love kicks in—do you love enough to act or just have empathy or sympathy? When you say you will pray for someone, don’t fail to do it!

Influence grows when we show compassion. We must model compassion, like the Lord did in Luke 10:37, “And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.” Genuine compassion powerfully affects those who receive it, those who give it, and those who observe it. You can offer to babysit for a young mother, or help in a financial way if you can, or just a smile, hug, or note can communicate compassion.

3. Is Trustworthy

Keep confidence. Be careful about sharing news. Be careful not to gossip. Repeating facts can lead to gossip (James 3:6; Proverbs 26:20–22).

Gossip = habitually retelling behind the scenes information
Gossip = idle talk about others, regardless of fact
Gossip = saying something about someone that you know he/she wouldn’t want said—regardless of whether or not it is true

Be intensely loyal, and always give others the benefit of the doubt.

4. Is a Real Example

In word – our words should build, not tear down

“Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.” Colossians 4:6

“For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.” James 3:2

“Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.” Ephesians 4:29

In conversation = lifestyle

“Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;” Philippians 1:27

In charity = compassion

Do you love enough to take action?

In spirit = attitude

Attitude is contagious (good or bad)! Is this your attitude: “I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:8)?

“He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.” Proverbs 25:28

In faith

“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17

“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Hebrews 11:6

In purity

“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” Philippians 4:8

Let’s determine to be a positive friend, mentor, and influence in our offices, churches, and communities.

The Bible Cycle

Stephen Benefield — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 16:33:22 +0000

If you were to ask the average Christian which book means the most to him out of every book he has ever read or owned, I believe most would say the Bible. But I wonder how many Christians are actually benefiting from it in a real and practical way on a regular basis. We don’t get the benefits of God’s Word by setting a Bible on the coffee table or carrying a Bible to church. There is a process, some prerequisites if you will, which will ensure that you will receive the benefits that God wants to provide through His Word.

In Psalm 119:161–176, we see the progress of one man’s relationship with the Word of God which ultimately culminated in great personal benefit. These progressive steps will form a self-perpetuating cycle.

1. Assessment

The first prerequisite to receiving benefit from the Bible is that one must have a proper assessment of it. If you do not consider the Bible to be in fact God’s Word, if you do not value it highly and stand in awe of its truth and power, then you will never be helped by it. Notice what the Psalmist said in verses 161-162: “…my heart standeth in awe of thy word. I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil.”

To recognize the intrinsic value of God’s Word is, without a doubt, step number one toward receiving benefit from it. When you consider the Bible, does your heart skip a beat? Does your heart stand in awe? Awe is defined as “fear mingled with admiration or reverence.” We should stand in awe of God’s Word because the Word of God is eternal (Psalm 119:89). It has always been and always will be. It is settled and unshakeable. The philosophies of man come and go, but God’s Word is here to stay.

It was by the Word of God that the heavens and the earth were spoken into existence, and it is by God’s Word that they are kept and preserved unto judgment (2 Peter 3:5–7). The Word of God is a hammer, which can break man’s hard heart into pieces, and is a fire which can thaw a heart frozen with unbelief (Jeremiah 23:29). It is sharper than any two-edged sword and can discern the thoughts and intents of the heart (Hebrews 4:12). The Word of God can stop Satan’s advances (Matthew 4:1–11). Not only is the Word of God powerful, it is also precious. It can calm the fearful soul and cheer the sad heart (Psalm 23). It is sweeter than honey and more to be desired than much fine gold (Psalm 19:10).

When one stands in awe of God’s Word, and recognizes the amazing treasure that he holds in his hands, that person is well on his way to getting great benefit from the Bible.

2. Affection

The second prerequisite to receiving benefit from the Bible is to love it. Assessment leads to affection. People are affectionate toward that which they have assessed to be of great value. You would not love and cherish a piece of trash that you found on the side of the road, but you would certainly love and cherish an old photograph of your grandparents or some other family heirloom. What makes the difference? The assessment. When something is perceived to be very valuable, it is only natural to love and honor that object. Again, notice the words of the Psalmist in verses 163 and 167: “…thy law do I love. My soul hath kept thy testimonies; and I love them exceedingly.”

Love is predominantly shown by the giving of time. If a person says he loves the Bible but never reads it, would you believe him? What about a person who never wants to study the Bible, listen to God’s Word preached, or memorize a verse? That kind of love is not a very convincing love.

When we truly love someone, we will desire to spend time with him. Not as little as we can possibly get away with, but every last moment we can possibly squeeze in. It is the same with the Word of God. Those who love it will want to be in its presence as much as possible (Psalm 119:97). When it is preached, they will want to hear it. When there are no preaching services, they will still set aside time to read it on their own. And since they cannot literally carry their Bible everywhere they go in life, they will want to hide it in their heart through memorization so they will never be without it.

3. Acquiescence

The third prerequisite follows the first two very closely and naturally. When a person holds the Bible in high regard, that will naturally lead him to love it. And when a person loves Scripture, he will obey it. Notice the progression unfolding in verses 166-168: “LORD, I have… done thy commandments. My soul hath kept thy testimonies… I have kept thy precepts and thy testimonies.”

Jesus Himself said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). Just as it is natural to love someone you hold in high regard, it is also natural to obey that person you love. If a child is constantly disobeying everything his parents tell him to do, he is going to have a hard time convincing them that he truly loves them. When you truly love someone, your aim is to please him, and obedience pleases God most of all.

4. Advantage

Once these three prerequisites have been fulfilled (esteeming the Bible highly, loving the Bible, and obeying the Bible) then a person will begin to see the benefits that the Bible will bring. Look at verses 169, 170, and 173: “…give me understanding according to thy word… deliver me according to thy word… Let thine hand help me….”

Have you ever been in over your head and felt in desperate need of some spiritual understanding? Have you ever felt like there was no way out of a certain situation or circumstance apart from God’s miraculous deliverance? Have you ever needed help? God’s design is that His Word would provide understanding when we are stumped. God’s plan is that His laws and precepts would spiritually deliver us from all manner of snares and entrapments. God’s purpose is that the Bible would be a help to His children on a daily basis. Every need that we have can be supplied through His marvelous and matchless Word (Psalm 19:7–9). Sadly, for many Christians the Bible is nothing more than a religious relic that takes up space on a shelf, but God wants it to be so much more than that to us.

Let’s recap this cycle for a moment. If a person will first give the Bible a proper assessment, it will soon lead to affection. Affection will lead to acquiescence, and acquiescence will lead to advantage.

And now we will see the most beautiful part of this cycle: advantage leads back to where we started! When we are personally benefiting from the Word of God, it will cause us to esteem the Bible highly once again! The advantage that God’s Word provides will bring us full circle back to assessment where the process will start all over!

It is a wonderful thing to watch the first complete revolution of this cycle in the life of a new believer. Because of his new nature and the indwelling Holy Spirit, a new believer should have a reverence for the Bible. As he stands in awe of the wisdom of the Bible, he will love it and spend time reading it and listening to the preaching of God’s Word. As he obeys what he has heard and read, he will see the Bible begin to come alive, giving him understanding, deliverance and help with various issues in his life. Suddenly he says, “This is amazing! How did I ever survive without the Word of God? I want more!” At this point, the cycle has gone around once, and his spiritual journey is well under way.

Once a Christian gets into the habit of regularly reading and obeying the Bible, he may make multiple revolutions of the cycle each week. In fact, just like when a bicycle picks up speed you cannot make out the individual spokes of the wheel, so also when a Christian develops a strong relationship with the Word of God the “spokes” of this cycle will all blur together. It will be hard to identify which came first between the assessment, the affection, the acquiescence, and the advantage. But such a Christian will know for sure that the wheel is properly turning when he sees all of the components of the cycle showing up in his daily life.

Preparing for Growth by Adding New Classes

Tim Christoson — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 20:39:13 +0000

The people of Israel were told by the prophet Isaiah, “Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes” (Isaiah 54:2). He encouraged them to prepare for, expect, and make room for the fruitfulness that God would bring. He said in the following verse, “For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left….”

He didn’t want them to expand in response to growth. He wanted them to expand in anticipation of growth. That’s the difference faith makes! And that’s the way growing churches—churches that expect to reach, win, and disciple new Christians—think.

At Lancaster Baptist, Pastor Chappell has often called on us to launch new LifeStage adult Sunday school classes, only to turn around six to twelve months later and find these new classes filled to capacity with fresh, new faces. There is nothing more thrilling for these new teachers, their class members, and especially the growing new believers—that’s what it’s all about!

But many churches are stuck—we’ve been stuck. There are a handful of healthy, happy adult Sunday school classes with dedicated teachers and faithful members, but they have plateaued in their efforts to win and disciple new Christians. There are many things individual classes can do to break out of this slump (we discuss these things often). But there’s also something larger we can do that will force a static Sunday school out of its comfort zone, and that is to start several new classes!

This is treacherous territory for many pastors, leaders, and especially seasoned Sunday school teachers, because it means change. It means some existing classes are going to have to give up a few members to help start the new classes (not the members they’d want to give up!). It means some classes will relocate. It’s going to require flexibility on several levels. And your average Sunday school teacher is allergic to all of this!

But it’s worth the effort. The fact is, new classes tend to generate more enthusiasm, provide better care, cultivate closer relationships, and allow for greater involvement than established classes. New classes are also less intimidating and more naturally welcoming to newcomers. As we’ve started around fifty new adult Sunday school classes over the past dozen years here at Lancaster Baptist Church, we’ve followed essentially the same steps. If you want to start new classes, these steps can help:

Make sure the entire church family (especially the existing Sunday school leadership) knows that the purpose of starting new classes is to reach more people. It’s simple—you have to prepare for growth. Who could possibly be against that?
Select, interview, and train the new class teachers over a three-month period.
Choose an age bracket (we call them LifeStages) for each new class. This will catch the attention of people who currently attend your church but who do not attend a Sunday school class.
Identify a few “pioneer members” (from existing classes) who will join with the new teachers and serve as the first leaders and helpers in the new class.
Introduce the new classes and teachers to the congregation a few weeks before the classes begin. Advertise what topics are being taught and what age groups the classes will serve. We also “name” our classes (visit lancasterbaptist.org/adults for some ideas).
Use a form distributed in your Sunday bulletin for two consecutive weeks, prior to the start date, to “pre-enroll” worship service attenders into the new classes. A few folks will move from an existing class to a new class—and that’s okay (really, it’s okay).
Conduct pre-launch fellowships with the pioneers, pre-enrolled members, and class leaders the week before the classes officially start.
Make sure each class understands from the very first week that their job—as a unit within the church—is to reach people with the Gospel, build relationships with each other and with those who come into the class, study the Word, grow together spiritually, and serve the Lord as a group.

Not every new class will be a homerun. You’ll need to apply some adjustments, correction, and ongoing training. If done prayerfully and properly, though, starting new classes is one of the greatest and time-tested strategies at our disposal for seeing more people reached and kept for Christ. The whole process seems to communicate, “Lord, we’re enlarging our tent; we’re lengthening our cords. We’re making more room, and we’re ready for the growth You want to bring our way!”

The Authority of the Word of God

Kevan Bartlett — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 23:28:25 +0000

We live in a culture that openly rejects and rebels against proper authority. The latest manifestation of this trend was the “occupy” demonstrations. Some of the protesters did not like the fact that they are expected to pay back money loaned to them for their college education, so they rebelled against taxpayers who funded the program that loaned them the money. Some didn’t like capitalism, so they rejected the authority of business owners and investors to make decisions that are best for their companies. Some didn’t like representative government, so they rebelled against the idea of participating in the election process. The bottom line is they didn’t recognize and respect authority.

The timeless Word of God is the supreme authority for all of humanity. Whether recognized as such or not, the fact remains that God has given mankind absolute truth in the Bible. Certainly, believers should recognize, respect, and regard the authority of the Holy Scriptures.

There are several evidences of the authority of the Word of God:

The Evidence of its Authorship

God gave the Bible word for word through human writers that we might know Him. As we read it we learn the mind and the heart of God.

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God…” 2 Timothy 3:16

“Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” 2 Peter 1:20–21

The Evidence of its Power

The message of the Bible has formed nations and restored individual lives. It gives direction for men to aspire to, and simple truths for a child to grasp. The Bible affects all who receive it in profound ways.

“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12

The Evidence of its Perfection

The Word of God is without error. It is totally accurate; completely true in all its statements. It is absolute truth. The Bible makes declarative statements about its perfection. So, it is either totally true or completely false.

“The law of the LORD is perfect…” Psalm 19:7

“Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.” Proverbs 30:5

“The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.” Psalm 12:6

The Evidence of its Endurance

For centuries many have tried to dismantle, destroy, deride, and dilute God’s Word. But, the Bible remains the best-seller every year. Governments have seized it, dictators have burned it, and scoffers have ridiculed it. Yet, still today, millions of people read it for comfort, guidance, and hope.

“For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.” 1 Peter 1:24–25

The Evidence of its Impact

No other writing has impacted humanity as the Bible has. No other book has the personal impact on one who reads and studies it as the Bible has.

“Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?” Jeremiah 23:29

“For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life: Proverbs 6:23

Preaching the Resurrection

Dr. Paul Chappell — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 17:03:12 +0000

Over the last several years, I have noticed a trend of pastors getting clever with Easter Sunday. Rather than making this Sunday themed on the resurrection itself, they center it on an effect of the resurrection—emphasizing a set of psychological or relational topics.

Although I understand the thought process here, I believe it is a mistake.

Churches today have a tendency to neglect the core doctrines of the blood atonement, the resurrection, and the transforming power of Christ in our lives. To take these key weeks surrounding the celebration of Christ’s resurrection and, rather than emphasizing major Bible themes, to preach messages of a more shallow substance is to trivialize one of the most significant seasons of the year.

In this growth points podcast, I share a few thoughts on why I believe that we need to seize the Easter season to lift up Christ.

Make sure you get all future Growth Points videos by subscribing to the Spiritual Leadership Podcast.

This article was originally posted on The Pastor’s Perspective.

How to Help Hurting People

Dr. Kevin Folger — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 00:59:10 +0000

“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound” (Isaiah 61:1).

We know that Christ ultimately came to save us from our sins. Truth be told, the reason we face so many hurtful situations and circumstances in our lives is because we live in a sin-cursed world, and we are sinners. Because people are sinful, they do hurtful, hateful, and sinful things which always affect others. Christ’s work on the cross of Calvary and through the empty tomb offers sinners true healing and sets captives free.

We cannot overlook the truth, however, that Jesus also physically touched many people’s lives when He walked on this earth as the God-man. The gospels are filled with stories of Jesus helping and healing brokenhearted, sick or afflicted people. They knew Jesus not only as Redeemer but also as Healer. His ministry was one that continually dealt with hurting people.

There is no shortage of hurting people in this world. Besides those dealing with sickness and disease, we can add to this list those who are dealing with personal problems. I think of families dealing with a wayward son or daughter, or perhaps one who is betrayed by an unfaithful spouse, or rejected by family because of holding to the faith of Christ. We can add to the list those suffering because they are lonely or feel no one really cares about them. The suffering list seems endless.

The question arises from seeing human suffering and the difficulties that people face—how can we best help them? Let me attempt to answer that question. I will admit that my answers are not exhaustive, but perhaps I can help you as you seek to minister to the hurting.

First, We Must Remember That People Want to Know That We Care

When a family in our church was going through some very trying circumstances, I backed away because I didn’t know how to help them as their pastor. Later, they let me know (in no uncertain terms) that I had added to their frustration because I was not reaching out to them in their time of need. I was absolutely wrong. You don’t need to have the answers to pray with and encourage hurting people as they make hard decisions.

Second, We Must Help with Any Needs We Can

James chapter 2 says that if we do nothing when we can help, our faith is worthless. Are there things we can do? Do children need to be watched, does the grass need to be mowed, or is there something in the home that needs to be repaired?

Not long ago, I had emergency surgery which required an overnight stay in the hospital. The ladies in the church prepared and delivered dinners to our home for the next two weeks. No one asked them to do that; they just wanted to be a blessing to my wife as she took care of me. I was blessed by their thoughtfulness that communicated their love for us.

Third, Communicating with People Going through a Difficult Time Can Mean a Lot

With modern means of communication such as text messaging, we can do things each week to let a friend or fellow Christian know that we are thinking of and praying for them. You could call them with just a few brief words of encouragement expressing your love and prayer support. And, of course, you could stop by their home or hospital room to visit and pray with them.

Finally, and Most Importantly, Upholding Someone in Prayer before the Throne of Grace Cannot Be Overstated

James again tells us that the, “Effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16). To be an intercessor for others to the Lord is a great privilege and honor.

The need to minister to the hurting is great. As we look around our churches and families, we see hurting people everywhere. While we can’t do everything, we can all do something to show the love of Christ through our lives to those who are hurting. Someone once said, “We are never so much like Christ as when we serve.” Who can you help and minister to today?