The Presidential Election and the Svereignty of God

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God

Romans 13:1

As I watch Monday Night football, unable to sleep, I read some from the book of Romans. I understand that we are on the eve of one of the most significant elections in the history of our country. Many people think that this election is a very dangerous one, especially the ones that "fear" Obama. I read Romans and I come to the understanding that no matter who becomes our President, God is still sitting on His throne.

Because God is a good God and He is sovereign we can rest assured that He will not be taken off guard. We need to vote, we need to vote for who we think will be the best leader for our country, but we also need to never put our trust in Governement. Our faith must always be in the One who bled upon the Cross for our sins. We must pray for our leaders no matter who they are, no matter if we agree with their stances, no matter if we like them. Romans tells us that God allows our leaders to sit in power, and because of that we must understand that it is always God who is in control.

I dont know how this election will turn out. I am concerned, though. Not because of the two men that are running but simply because our country is so far away from being the country that we need to be. I pray that America will be purged not of crooked politicans, but of the false Gospel that has corrupted her. I pray for leaders in the Church to step up to the plate and be who we have been called to be. I pray for Godly men to step up and lead. I pray for daddies to love and lead their children. I pray for husbands to lovingly lead and serve their wives.

A President will not lead America down the road to Hell, because we are already on it. A President has the ability to influence but they will only take us where we dont want to go if we sit back and let him.

Pray. Pray for the man who will be taking over. Pray that his heart will be directed toward Christ. But most importantly pray that we will be the world force for good that we need to be. Pray for the Church.

Why Plant Churches - Tim Keller

Reasons we should plant churches: A summary of lessons found in the Church Planting strategy of Tim Keller, Pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church - New York.


1. We want to be true to THE BIBLICAL MANDATE

A. Jesus' mandate was to plant churches.
B. Paul's strategy was to plant urban
churches.

2. We want to be true to THE GREAT COMMISSION.

A. New churches best reach a) new generations, b) new residents, and
c) new people groups.
B. New churches best reach the unchurched--period.

3. We want to continually RENEW THE WHOLE BODY OF CHRIST.

A. New churches bring new ideas to the whole Body.
B. New churches are one of the best ways to
surface creative, strong leaders for the
whole Body.
C. New churches challenge other churches to
self-examination.
D. New church may be an 'evangelistic feeder' for
a whole community.

4. As an exercise in KINGDOM-MINDEDNESS





Tim Keller is an incredible resource for anyone interested in Church Planting, check him out at http://www.redeemer.com/.


Tim Keller Books:

The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism
Worship by the Book
The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith


Tim Keller Articles:

"Gospel Centered Ministry"
"Preaching in a Post-Modern City Part 1"
"Preaching in a Post-Modern City Part 2"
"The Missional Church"

The Ironic Twist of Ministry

I love working at a Church. Its hard, stressful, difficult, tiring, uncomfortable, but it is awesome. To work at a Church is to serve. I got the opportunity to see ministry up close my whole life due to the fact that my dad is a pastor. Going into the ministry was definetly something that I wanted to avoid because I saw how hard it was, but God had another call on my life and because of that I am now in the ministry.

Its hard to serve at a Church because very rarely do you just clock out and go home. As a Pastor you are responsible for the well-being of your flock which means that you are constantly praying for them. Studying. Reading. Making hospital visits. Counseling. Doing weddings. Funerals. You constantly have your mind on your congregation. You hurt when they hurt, you cry when they cry. You want to see people get their lives right, and you do what you can to see that happen...and when they don't you feel personally responsible for it as if it is your fault.

As a Student Pastor I am burdened to see my students going down a path that will only lead them to pain. I am get upset when I see a Student with a God-given calling on their life simply sit back and blow their talents seeking for after their own glory rather than submit to the Lord's leading. I hate seeing beautiful young ladies chase after guys that don't love Jesus. I cry when I hear about teenage suicide.

Ministers never just clock out and go home. We are always at work. We are called to love, lead, shepherd, and minister to the people around us in any way that we can. That usually means long hours, lots of stress, and burning the candle at multiple ends. We do this because God has a calling on out life, and we love it! We love leading the local body that we are called to.

The ironic thing about ministering at a church is that no matter how much a minister gives to a church, no matter what we do for a church...it always seems that the church is giving us so much more. The notes of encouragement. The prayers. The pats on the back. The help.

Just recently me and my wife had to move to a new apartment and I called one guy in my church and I had two truck loads of guys helpin me move. When the church found out that we were pregnant, we were given a crib, a changing table, clothes, gift cards, and to much other stuff to even mention.

The crazy thing is that no matter what you do at a church, people at the church want to take care of you too. I love serving Jesus in the loval church, but although I do it because I love Jesus, it seems that the people respond with love for me. Sometimes I am just overwhelmed with the way people love us just because we lead the church. Its a beautiful twist of grace that comes with the job. We are here to serve and love the church, but in the end we are the ones that are served and loved.

Sure its incredibly hard work, and sometimes you just want to give it up and find another job that is less stress but you suck it up and get your hands dirty and in the end you get a double blessing. You are obedient to what God has called you to do, and you shown love by the people that you love. Its a great deal.

Serving.
Adam Wyatt
Associate Pastor to Students -
Brair Hill Baptist Church

adamwyatt74@hotmail.com

Youth Ministry

Thirsty for the Reign: A Kingdom Theology for Youth Ministry, Part One by Wendell Loewen.

This is really good article about Student Ministry and how societal trends affect how we minister to youth. It talks about Postmodernism, but unlike most articles it states that although Postmodernism is a challenge to the way that we minister, it also offers us new ways to reach people for Christ.

As a Student Pastor I am always looking at the culture in which my students live and wondering what I must do to see them claimed for Christ. The Postmodern generation is vastly becoming a major voice in the world, but until we show them how the Gospel is relevant to their lives they will never be the dynamic world changing force that they can be.

Men are From Mars Hill

A great interview with Mark Driscoll about his Church.

Some good stuff about how he came to be the type of leader that he is.

Modern Day Heretic #1: Joel Osteen

Reason that I believe that Joel Osteen is a Modern Day Heretic:

#1: He doesn't have a love for Scripture. Any "Pastor" that doesn't love the Bible should not be taken very seriously.



#2: He doesn't have enough guts to call people wrong.



#3: He states that the importance of Jesus' Resurection is to give us victory in our life...not forgiveness of sins.



Osteen is a very dangerous man...pastoring the largest church in America. I think he is a Christian, but he is preaching a very dangerous gospel that stresses self-betterment without the mention of sin and/or Hell. A gospel preached without the mention of Hell will always result in an unregenerate people.

Watch out! A wolf in sheep's clothing is dangerous to the Church.

Free Online Books

This is a site that I found on John Piper's Site: www.desiringgod.org.

This gives you access to 50 free books that you can either read or download for free...who doesn't like free books? It seems that these days thats all that I can afford.

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/OnlineBooks/ByTitle/

Enjoy.