Jesus is the Light.

Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life  (John 8:12)

Being one of Jesus' "I am" statements what difference does it make?  What it is about being "Light" that makes a difference in our own life?  What exactly is Jesus meaning here, and what does it do to our inner lives?

I think for us to really look at Jesus being the Light we must first understand that we are all in Darkness.  If we look at Genesis we understand that before there was anything there nothing.  So without anything there is darkness.  Total Darkness.

We are in darkness until we meet Jesus.  Jesus is the light that shines in our darkness.  The strange thing is that darkness is always there.  You don't turn on the darkness.  You turn on the light.  The light just overcomes the darkness.  This is the way Jesus comes in to our life.  He comes in and rescues us from the dark.  He saves us from what is there.  He is our eternal rescuer.

We all are walking in the dark.  We stumble around until the light comes to save.

The light saves us from the dark.

The light shows us where we are.

The light shows us where we are going.

Jesus is that type of light. 

I thought you should see this story

Governor signs teen tanning bill

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_7732/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=f3spESBI

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10 Things that 10 Men can do to change their City

My Pastor made a reference this Sunday to how Abraham tried to save Sodom from destruction. Abraham bartered God down to finding 10 righteous men in exchange for saving the city. As you remember Sodom was a very wicked city, not unlike some of the cities in which we live now. God said that He wouldn't destroy the city if there were 10 Godly men there.

There weren't.

The City was destroyed.

My questions is this: what could 10 Godly men have done?

They could have saved their city.

So in response to this, I want to challenge some men to step up and lead in a way that saves their city.  We as Christian men should be doing what we can to restore our city, not to destroy it.  We should be leading in a way that furthers the Gospel not hinders it.  For far too long we have sat passively by and watched as our cities crumbled while we did nothing.  We must not allow this to happen.

10 Things that 10 Men can do in order to change their City:

1.  Love Jesus.

2.  Worship Jesus.

3.  Love their wife.

4.  Serve their wife.

5.  Love their children.

6.  Keep their word.

7.  Serve their Church.

8.  Work hard at their job.

9.  Read their Bible.

10.  Hang out with other Godly men.

If 10 men could have saved Sodom, imagine what 10 men could do today!

Just think about it.

adam.

Where have the Heroes Gone?

2 Samuel 23:

 

These are the names of David's mighty men: 
      Josheb-Basshebeth, ^{b]" style="line-height: 0.5em; ">[b]} a Tahkemonite, ^{c]" style="line-height: 0.5em; ">[c]} was chief of the Three; he raised his spear against eight hundred men, whom he killed ^{d]" style="line-height: 0.5em; ">[d]} in one encounter.

 ⁹ Next to him was Eleazar son of Dodai the Ahohite. As one of the three mighty men, he was with David when they taunted the Philistines gathered at Pas Dammim ^{e]" style="line-height: 0.5em; ">[e]} for battle. Then the men of Israel retreated, ¹⁰ but he stood his ground and struck down the Philistines till his hand grew tired and froze to the sword. The LORD brought about a great victory that day. The troops returned to Eleazar, but only to strip the dead.

 ¹¹ Next to him was Shammah son of Agee the Hararite. When the Philistines banded together at a place where there was a field full of lentils, Israel's troops fled from them. ¹² But Shammah took his stand in the middle of the field. He defended it and struck the Philistines down, and the LORD brought about a great victory.

 ¹³ During harvest time, three of the thirty chief men came down to David at the cave of Adullam, while a band of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim. ¹⁴ At that time David was in the stronghold, and the Philistine garrison was at Bethlehem. ¹⁵ David longed for water and said, "Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem!" ¹⁶ So the three mighty men broke through the Philistine lines, drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem and carried it back to David. But he refused to drink it; instead, he poured it out before the LORD. ¹⁷ "Far be it from me, O LORD, to do this!" he said. "Is it not the blood of men who went at the risk of their lives?" And David would not drink it. 
      Such were the exploits of the three mighty men.

 ¹⁸ Abishai the brother of Joab son of Zeruiah was chief of the Three. ^{f]" style="line-height: 0.5em; ">[f]} He raised his spear against three hundred men, whom he killed, and so he became as famous as the Three. ¹⁹ Was he not held in greater honor than the Three? He became their commander, even though he was not included among them.

 ²⁰ Benaiah son of Jehoiada was a valiant fighter from Kabzeel, who performed great exploits. He struck down two of Moab's best men. He also went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion. ²¹ And he struck down a huge Egyptian. Although the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, Benaiah went against him with a club. He snatched the spear from the Egyptian's hand and killed him with his own spear. ²² Such were the exploits of Benaiah son of Jehoiada; he too was as famous as the three mighty men. ²³ He was held in greater honor than any of the Thirty, but he was not included among the Three. And David put him in charge of his bodyguard.

 I have recently been looking back at the Old Testament and studying what kind of man David was.  We all remember him for killing Goliath (probably when he was around 15), but after that he became an outlaw.  He was going to be the next King but before Saul was removed he was on the run.  And as he was living in the wilderness, men came and pledged their allegiance.

Heroes of old.  Warriors.  Men.  They all came and fought and risked their lives for David.  David was the kind of men that other men could follow.  He was the kind of man that men would go to war with.  He was a hero.  As I look at the Church I see so many weak men who would no more go to battle for anything than they would go get a manicure.  We are sissifying the Church...

Where are the Men?  Where are the Warriors?  Where are the Heroes?

It seems they are dying. 

Greater Than; Less Than (John 3:30)

John 3:30, "He must increase, I must decrease."

Very few verses in Scripture present a better example of humility than this one. Here the Baptist is discussing with the Jews the fact that Jesus and his disciples are baptizing more than John is...typical of what Churches do today...we are never happy when others are doing better than we are...

But in response to this, John explains that Jesus is to increase...What does this mean for us today? John the Baptist came to bear witness to Jesus. He came to prepare the way for Jesus. John was the guy who sort of gave some legitimacy to Jesus' early ministry. People came from all over to hear him preach and, now, he prepares that he must decrease.

John the Baptist is declaring that his ministry is not as important as Jesus' ministry. John is stating that Jesus is to be made much of. John is expressing his desire to humble himself so that Jesus can do what he came to earth to do. Now that the true "light" has come, the "lamp" has no more work to do!

What must we do to Decrease:

We must understand that it is never about us.

JTB understood that. The Jews were coming to him to "warn" him that Jesus was gathering a crowd. His followers were growing. He was gaining influence. They thought that John was going to be upset at that. They thought that John was some sort of insicure prophet. But he wasnt. He understood that his ministry was not his own, his ministry was simply to prepare the way for Jesus. Our life is not our own. Our ministry is not our own. We simply live to prepare the way for Jesus.

We must understand that He is greater than us.

John knew that Jesus was the Son of God and deserved take the back-seat for no one. Jesus was the Light that the world needed to see, and because of that John didnt want to get in the way of that. Although John has an icredible ministry in the area, what was needed was the salvation that Jesus brought and because of that he knew that it was time for him to take a back-seat to Jesus.

We must understand that others are more important than us

Because Jesus (through his disciples) were baptizing others, we must understand that they were finding what they needed. John knew that he was not the answer to their problems...Jesus was. Because of that John needed to let Jesus' ministry grow. We must always understand that we will not always have the answers but we know the One that does.

He must increase.

We must decrease.

When that happens, people come to know Jesus.

Discipleship According to Karl Barth

I recently picked up The Call to Discipleship by Karl Barth. I knew that he was an ifluential Theologian, but had never actually read any of his work. I was blown away by his deep insight in the area of discipleship. I want to quote a lengthy passage from it, due to the fact that I could not do any better.

Discipleship is not the recognition and
adoption of a programme, ideal or
law, or the attempt to fulfill it.
It is not the execution of a plan of
individual or social construction
imparted and commended by Jesus. If the
word "discipleship" is in any
way used to denoted something general and not a cocrete and therefore a
concretely filled-out event between Jesus and this
particular person, the
command "Follow me" can only be described as quite
meaningless. For
the only possible content of this command is that this or
that specific
person to whom it is given should come to and follow, and be with,
the
person the one who gives it. In this one, and the relationship that it
establishes between him and the one he calls, a good deal more is
involved. But there is nothing apart from him and this
relationship...what
Jesus demands is trust in himself and therefore, in the
concrete form that this
involves, trust in God. He demands faith in
the form of obedience;
obedience to himself. This is the commitment to
him that constitutes the
content of the call to disicpleship...his summons
is, however, that they should
give to him and therefore to God a true and
serious and total faith: not a mere
acceptance of the fact that he is their
Lord nor an idle confidence that they
are helped by him; but this acceptance
and confidence as a faith that is lived
out and practiced by them; a faith
that is proved to be a true and serious faith
by the fact that it includes
at once their obedience...Faith is not obedience,
but as obedience is not
obedience without faith, faith is not faith without
obedience.

From The Call to Discipleship (Pages
12-17).

The Journey

This is a logo that I made using Photoshop for my Wednesday night Bible Study on the Gospel of John.

Nicodemus

Lessons learned from John 3:1-21.

Nicodemus was a very prominent Jewish Pharisee. He was rich (according to Josephus), and would probably have had much social empact because of his elite status.

He came to Jesus at night in order to talk to him. There could be a few reasons why? 1) Fewer crowds around Jesus at night. 2) Theologians of the day often studied at night, so he could have went to Jesus for theological insight. 3) Embarassment.

I think that he went to Jesus in order not to draw a crowd to himself. This is too often what we do today. We come to Jesus for help whenever it is convienient. We seek safety for ourselves when we go to the Savior. Nicodemus would have had a lot to lose to go to poor carpenter who was often ridiculed because he had no formal education.

We can learn something from Nicodemus here. Although he might have went to Jesus at night in order to save some of his own social status...Jesus still saw him. Jesus still took time out of his schedule for him.

Nicodemus saw Jesus. He sought Jesus. Shouldn't we do the same?

Being Born Again

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. ²He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him."

 ³In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."

 ⁴"How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!"

 ⁵Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. ⁶Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. ⁷You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' ⁸The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

John 3:1-8 (NIV)

What does it mean to be "born-again?"  It is a term that we associate with Christianity.  Moralism.  Church.  But what does it actually mean for us today?  I am currently taking my Student Ministry through the Gospel of John, and in chapter 3 a man named Nicodemus comes to visit with Jesus.

Nicodemus is a Pharisee...a Politician...a wealthy man (according to Jewish historian Josephus) and according to Jesus the "teacher of Israel."  So it seems that he has his act together.  He is wealthy, powerful, and socially he is an elite.  So why does he come to Jesus?  What is he looking for?

Taking this a step further.  He also has a good theological understanding of Jesus.  He calls Jesus, "Rabbi" which indicated that he thought Jesus was an esteemed teacher despite his apparent lack of theological training.  He stated that he thought that Jesus was "from God" or sent from God.  Once again Nicodemus gets this one right... although not in the proper way (Jews thought that if you had power than God was blessing you).  He then talks about the signs that Jesus was doing.  Jesus did indeed use signs as a way to point to his Divinity.  So, so far, Nicodemus has a good grasp on who Jesus is...

But Jesus addresses Nicodemus' need without him even noticing that he has one.  Nicodemus must be "born again."  So what does this mean?

The Need

First in order to understand what it means to be born again we must understand the need for it to happen to us.  We must understand that in our present state we lack something.  We are sinful and needy, and are in desperately in need of a Savior.  

The Miracle

Then we must understand that God calls us to be born again.  God works in our life.  God is the initiator in our salvation.  It is not of our own accord, but because of his Grace showered over us.  This is a miracle.  God does it for us.

The Mystery

The next step is to understand that we cannot understand what has taken place.  This is why Jesus talks about not being able to see the wind but still knowing that it is there.  We cannot understand what is taking place when we are truly born again but is something that actually takes place in our lives.

New But Still Ourselves

Being born again means that a change has taken place in our lives.  We become different.  We are changed from the inside out to be more like Christ.  We become Christian, and live our life for him.  We are still ourself but we are different.  We are in the process of becoming.

Ezekiel 36:26:  I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

We become so much more than we could ever hope to be ourself...we are born again.

Worst Christian Songs of All-Time

I love Christian music...mostly. The genre has made drastic improvements over the past few years. But growing up, I remember not really liking the majority of Christiian music. So I am posting my opinions of the worst Christian Songs ever.

DISCLAIMER: In no way am I doubting the Artists passion for Jesus, or am I making fun of them as individuals...I just think that these songs are terrible.


#5. Go Light Your World. Kathy Troccoli.



Last time I checked, I was a sinner saved by Grace. My light is not important...we take Jesus to the world. In fact Jesus is the Light of the World (John 1). I understand her thought here. We should be the Light in the world, but her lyrics stress our work rather than the work of Jesus...this I have a problem with.


#4. Drop Kick Me Jesus Through the Goalposts of Life. Bobby Bare.



Now I want to give Bobby some props for the Football analogy...but no! This is terrible.


#3. Jesus is my Friend. Sonseed.

If you havent seen this one on youtube...I dont know where you have been. This would be #1 but I cant really take this song seriously enough to. It is terribly funny in all of the wrong ways. Enjoy.



"Jesus is like a Mounty...He always gets his man..."

"...Zap!"

Nothing else to say.


#2. The Champion. Carmen.



Now I understand the Theological thought behing this one. We technically are in a spiritual battle. Good and evil have been in a fight for a while. I get it...but seriously...is this the best we can come up with? Its kinda like some sort of cheesy MMA fight (although I love me some MMA) written with a script.

I just dont like the song. Jesus got beat...he bled...he died...But he did so by allowing it to happen. Jesus allowed this to happen because it was his Father's plan. Jesus death was a horrible one...but I dont like to think of Jesus as a mild, weak, man who was a wuss. Jesus was the manliest of men who suffered and died like a man...he was not beaten up by the devil...he allowed his Father's plan...he gave up us life...no one took it!
I think the real reason I dont like this song is that I had to go watch Carmen in concert with my parents when I was a kid... I just thought that it was so cheesy.


#1. Friends. Michael W. Smith.



Friends are Friends Forever...Really? A "Friend will not say Never." What does that even mean. The theology in this one is terrible. It seems that in this one, friends will live in perfect harmony til Jesus comes back. That just isnt the case, is it? Sin messes up all of our relationships...friendships especially.

Not a big fan of this one.

MWS is one of Christian Music's biggest stars and will always be...I just think that this one is one of those songs that looks at life through pink colored lenses.



I appreciate all of these artists and by no means do I intend to diminish what they do...I just really dont like these songs.

We are a Movement

Mark Driscoll's We are a Movement Video from the Acts 29 Raleigh Bootcamp:



Great stuff...well said...we need to Plant...we need to reach.

Mark Driscoll and Crappy Christians

Mark Driscoll has been under a lot of criticism as of late:

• Ingrid Schlueter assassinated him in her blog in regard to his talking about sex from the pulpit.
• The Baptist Press also wrote an article on him intitled "Driscoll's Vulgarity Draws Media Attention"

Both of these articles spoke very negatively about Driscoll and his "vulgar" speech. Now, I admit Driscoll is very blunt, but most of these are refereing to Don Miller's book Blue Like Jazz which is not really a great theological book. In it Miller refers to Driscoll as the "cussing pastor." This was around 10 years ago when Driscoll was still a relatively new Christian. Obviously Christians, espescially pastors, need to refrain from unwholesome speech and talk...but 10 years ago is a long time.

Praise God, that I am not remembered for my past or my past sins. Grace showed up big in my life, and because of that I have freedom from them.

I am okay with people targeting people who preach the Gospel. Most Pastors or Ministers would agree that to serve Christ puts a bih bullseye on your back and because of that people will always be critizing you...that goes with the job. The problem that I have is when a Christian Publication totally assassinates the character of a Pastor who is sold out to Jesus and doing all that he can to change his culture for the sake of Christ. The SBC should be embarrassed that it published that it let someone write such a horrendous article.

Upon reading the article it is apparent that the "annonymous" writer had an agenda against Driscoll...

Ed Stetzer (from the SBC's Lifeway) upon speaking to Driscoll wrote a response to the whole situation in his blog. Stetzer and Driscoll are friends and Stetzer admits to criticizing Driscoll's language. Now Driscoll has repented publically...that means that biblically we should forgive him and move on.

Now on a positive note...Driscoll has also had a great amount of positive publicity from the secular press:

• New York Times article
• ABC News Video Interview
• And most recently he was on D.L. Hughley's CNN Show

http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/js/2.0/video/evp/module.js?loc=dom&vid=/video/bestoftv/2009/02/13/hughley.cussing.pastor.cnn" type="text/javascript">

Driscoll is possibly the voice of the current generation...and he is apparently paying the price for it, but it shouldnt come from Christians...its a shame that the secular press seems to like him more than his Christian counterparts...maybe that is why is making a difference.

Not the Light...

There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He
came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men
might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the
light. (John 1:6-8)

It is an amazing and humling thought to think that God uses people! John the Baptist was chosen by God to introduce Jesus to the world. Jesus was the eternal Son of God who left heaven to come to earth, but he uses a man who lived in the desert, eating locusts and wild honey and wearing camel skins, to annouce his coming to earth...

Is this not a crazy thing? Is this not a humbling thing?

John was not the Light, but he was put here to testify to the Light.

There was a man...

John was a man. A real person. God uses people! He uses us today, not because he has to, but because he chooses to. This should give us a passion because God has given us a purpose.

Sent from God...

Because God sends us, we must understand that we have a mission while we are still on earth. God sends us out to our community to make a difference in the lives of the people around us. We are sent!

He came as a witness...

We are to tell our story of who Jesus is and what he has done in our life. To be a witness is to tell what we saw... If Jesus has made a difference in our lives then we will be a witness to it!

About the Light...

Our witness should not be about ourselves, but about Jesus who is the Light. Jesus comes into the dark world and dispels the light and that is to be our witness. The world is a dark and dreary place that desperately needs to hear about the Light. That is our duty.

That all might believe...

The reason that witness is for all around us to believe. We show and live Jesus out in the real world so that others can believe that He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God who takes away sin.

He was not the Light...

John was not the Light...and neither are we...and neither is our Church...

We show Jesus...that is the Gospel... Jesus is the Light that we show!

But came as a witness to the Light...

This was John's purpose: to be a witness to the Light! Should our purpose be any different? We should be all about sharing Jesus to the lost and dying world that is in complete and utter darkness.

We are witnesses to the light:

1. God sends people
2. We witness
3. People believe

thats the plan...

The New Rebel

G.K. Chesterton: from Orthodoxy: The Romance of Faith (33, 41-42)

The new rebel is a skeptic, and will not trust anything...therefore he can
never be really a revolutionary. For all denunciation implies a moral
doctrine of some kind...Therefore the modern man in revolt has become
practically useless for all purposes of revolt. By rebelling against
everything he has lost his right to rebel against anything...There is a thought that stops thought. That is the only thought that ought to be
stopped.

The Word

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1)

What a beautiful way to start a chapter. In the beginning...not an actual time...but eternity...WAS the Word. So, the Word was there in the beginning...the Word was there before time began...the Word was there from the beginning. The Word is eternal.

"The Word was WITH God." So this Word which is eternal is also coequal with the God the Father. The only way to be coequal with something is to be the same.

"The Word WAS God." So we see this Word is not only co-eternal with the Father, and co-equal with the Father, we see that the Word is God.

The introduction that the Gospel of John makes here is an incredibly deep resource of Theological material. John states that Jesus is the Word. Jesus was there from the beginning of time. Jesus is God in the flesh. John doesnt start off his Gospel by stating geneological facts, but instead shows that Jesus is eternal. This concept goes much deeper than the other Gospels because from the very start we see that John is stating that this Jesus-man was in fact the God-man. We dont have to wait to find out, we know from the start.

Its like reading a book, but sort of starting at the last chapter. Jesus is the eternal Word who is co-equal with God the Father because he is God the Son.

In the Beginning:

We serve a God who has always been! He has always been! Our God was there when time began, so He is all-powerful. "Nothing was made that wasnt made in Him." He is the Creator. C.S. Lewis stated that "where can look for help if we cant look to something that is greater than ourselves." Because our God was there in the beginning He can be trusted to protect and guide us in the present.

The Word:

Our God is also the Word. This is a difficult concept for us to understand, because John is directing this term towards the Theolofical climate of his day. People understood this term as a living being. So Jesus not only the pre-existant, eternal one, He is also the One who became a man and lived an actual life. Too many times we forget that Jesus was an actual human being, with feelings and desires and emotions. He was tempted. He knew hunger and thirst and pain. He wept. He was misunderstood by his family and friends. He was betrayed.

...but He was perfect.

Because Jesus lived an actual physical life He knows what it is like to be in our shoes. He is not a cold distant God but an up-close-and-personal God who understands us. He is sitting at the Father's right hand interceding for us, because He understands us.

Was God:

Jesus became a man, but he was always God. When Jesus became a man he just added humanity to his divinity. Jesus became a man...but he was God. Because he was God, when he died he paid the upmost price for us. His death was a death of a man, but also of God. Because he was God, his death actually meant something. Because he was God, when he died he actually accomplished somethign. Jesus was God and when he died he conquered Satan, Sin, and Death.

Because...He WAS God.

As John so wrote some 1900 years ago..."In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

Need nothing be said.

Compassionate Church Disicpline

In a Post-Modern Western culture dominated by sin, recklessness, and pride; we as the church are failing to make a difference in the communities in which we live. We are leading fewer people to Jesus, we are meeting fewer needs, and we are increasingly being known simply for hate rather than love. The question is why? Why is the church not the difference maker that it used to be? Why are churches failing to be the churches that they have been called to be? What are we doing?

As a Student Minister I am burdened by research that states that about 85% of students will NEVER come back to church after they graduate. That means that they will be without Christian Community for the rest of their lives. This is heartbreaking! Thom Ranier of Lifeway states, "We are baptizing fewer of our own children, and fewer lost people."

I think that if we are honest we will realize that our Church Culture is dominated by the Culture in which we live. This means that we are less prone to preach on sin, and repentance, and more prone to preach happy, watered down messages of self-help like Joel Osteen. We have watered down the Gospel so much that when we reach out to the World they respond by stating they already believe in what we are preaching...they are living better than we are, so why in the world come to Church?

I think that in order for the Church to be the Church that it needs to be, we need to get back to the forgotten Doctrine of Church Discipline. These are words that dont usually go together, especially in the Southern Baptist Chuch (in which I serve).

What is Church Discipline?

According to the Bible...its a command!

Jesus gives us a great view of what it looks like in Matthew 1815-20 (NIV):

"If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector. "I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
"Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."

Jesus states if your brother sins against you...This means that we are to discipline believers.
For far too long, we have left the Church in sin, while we protest everything and everyone else. We allow unregerated believers to infest the church while we crusade against "the World" like they are our enemy. We must understand that it is God who judges the World not us. Paul puts it like this, in response to Church Discipline: "God will judge those outside" (1 Corinthians 5:13).

When the members of our local body of believers are in sin, we must go to them to restore them. Church Discipline then is an act of love directed toward a wayward believer in an attempt to lovingly restore them to a regenerated heart.

We must exercise a measure of Church Discipline in order that sin doesn't have a foothold on our Church.

How do we do Church Discipline?

We do it like Jesus...with compassion.

Notice that Jesus wants the wayward believer to be restored. Every effort must be made to restore the one who has sinned. The reason is for that believer to get his heart right. We should not seek to be vengeful, but seek to be compassioniate. We Discipline because we love.

We also Discipline because we have a responsibility. If there is "sin in the camp" (Achan's Sin) all can be held liable for it. This is not a popular teaching, but it must be noted that we state "I am not hurting anybody else" when it comes to our own sin, but that is just not a biblical statement. Our sin (public or private) effects the people around us. Therefore, as Church leaders we must look to the welfare of the whole not just to the individual.

Al Mohler states, "The theological category of sin has been replaced, in many circles, with the psychological concept of therapy." We must realize that sin is real, and it is rampant. We must exercise Church Discipline in order to maintain a measure of biblical faithfulness. We must seek to restore members so that we can have better fellowship wiht one another.

Characteristics of Proper Church Disicpline:

1. Maturity. Notice that Jesus states that the one who is sinned against go to the one who sinned. This is very important for us to look at, because Jesus wants us to be leaders. It is possible (and sometimes probable) that the person who has sinned, doesnt realize that he has. So if we go to the person in order to correct him, we are helping him out by being the more mature believer.

Too often, what we do is backbite, and gossip, about what people have done to us instead of being mature about it and going to the person. We must step up and be mature Christians by going to the person.

2. Humilty. We must not seek to hurt the individual but seek his restoration. We seek his betterment. We look to his self-interest. We cannot do this by seeking vengance. Most cases of Church Discipline are not done because of pride, and we cannot make that better if we go to them in pride. We must be humble when we go them, in order that both parties are restored and Church harmony is restored.

We must have a refound era of Church Discipline if we want the Church to lead people to Jesus. We cannot expect a watching world to come to Christ if dont hold our own to higher standard. The world is watching and looking for someone to change their lives, and it starts with Jesus. If Jesus has changed our lives and our hearts, we must do all that we can to ensure that his Bride is as spotless as she can be. We must renew our efforts at Church Discipline so that we can renew our place of influence in the World.

Church Discipline Resources:

Al Mohler (President of Southern Seminary)

Mark Dever's 9 Marks of a Healthy Church

Article from the Brethren Church

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.