Marital Roles Reprise

This is my beloved wife!

I am reposting this with some additional commentary. Originally I posted this before my eye issues, but it is even more important to me now. My wife, just so that everyone knows, was a champion during my illness. For over two months, she did everything in our home, without complaining. It is in her honor that I repost this now:

1. Men are often told that they are the master of their home, and therefore, their needs are the most important. This is where the whole 'male headship' aspect of Christian homes can be taken out of context. Yes, wives are to submit to the male headship in their homes, but, as I posed in the previous post, men have the greater responsibilities towards their wives.

2. Notice that Paul directs men to love their wives as they love themselves; if we ONLY did that, we would see a tremendous difference in our wives! But then he goes on to say that we are to nourish and cherish our wives. As the last post noted, one aspect of nourishing our wives is to be the spiritual leaders in our home, spiritually nourishing them with a steady diet of the Word, and prayer.

NOTE: During the time of my physical blindness, while my wife still looked to me as the spiritual leader, she was the one who prodded me to maintain that role, even though I felt like a useless lump of dirt, and whined a bit about it!

Another, and I feel equally true aspect is to provide for our families physical needs. Many men today allow their wives to be the primary breadwinner in the home, even if they have children that need to be tended to! Men are to provide for their wives. This is not a statement about women working outside the home, rather it is an observation regarding the number of women who provide the primary income for the family. I realize that I sound like a Luddite, and maybe I am, but I know that the Bible speaks of men providing for their families, and while you can examine Proverbs 31 and see an industrious and productive woman, I think that it is imperative for men to be the one who provides the leadership, not just in the home, but in getting and keeping a job!

Many men today are content to let their wives do the work, and they can be housedads. I disagree with this -- children need to see a home where leadership and sacrifice are modeled by the father. This provides a healthy image of our heavenly Father for children. You would not believe how many people I have counseled at church who cannot fathom God as their heavenly 'Father'. This is so often due to the fact that the father they knew was lazy, self-centered and ofttimes cruel to his family; frequently forcing mom to be the one doing all of the sacrificing. This should not be!

I also recognize that there are times when a man may be unemployed while his wife retains her job, but this should be a situational issue, and not the normative pattern. Men need to provide for their wives.

3. Now notice that a man is to cherish his wife! Do you cherish your wife? Does she know it?

NOTE: Never has this meant as much to me as now -- DO YOU cherish your wife? I do more than ever!

Our wives need to know that we cherish them; they should have no doubt about this! Proverbs 31:10 - An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. How many of us think of our wives in that manner? Is your wife more important to you than your job, your bank account, your buddies, your life itself? Why not? When a woman is cherished, she will respond.

Men, I challenge you to love and cherish your wives, sacrificing your wants and needs for hers, and ensuring that she knows you are providing self-sacrificial love and leadership to your home. Drop the machismo act and the swagger, and begin leading in the manner of Christ! You may be surprised at your wife's response!

I state here publicly that I try to love and cherish my wife to the best of my ability. There is no one I want to spend time with more then her. We share everything in our life, and she is both a sincere critic, and ardent supporter. We have a marriage that is truly made in heaven!

And that is my prayer for all Christians!

Nope, we are not shallow and superficial!

RANT

So, we have Israeli IAF forces bombing buildings in Syria, a full-blown war in Iraq, Myanmar in serious lock-down, presidential hopefuls all over the place, a brewing war (again) between Southern and Northern Sudan, and the top news stories at CNN?

1. Miss Moneypenny actress from James Bond films dies.
2. Pamela ANderson is getting married (again).
3. Navy fixing building shaped like swastika (a normal dorm layout, that from the air looks like a Nazi swastika).

Amazing!

And we wonder why our politicians are shallow?

/RANT

Patience

In my last post I addressed the lessons on humility that I learned through my recent illness. Today I would like to look at another fruit of the Spirit that I was schooled in -- that is, the fruit of Patience.

Now, anyone who knows me well, knows that I am not the most patient person in the world. I have (had) a tendency to run at a fairly fast rate, being a bi-vocational pastor, a motorcycle enthusiast, and an avid reader, plus many other things, I ran at my own pace and anyone who didn't, needed to get out of the way.

I had actually stopped praying for patience, because I had found that I would be put into situations that required this fruit to be displayed, and I really did not want to have to go through that! Yet, as I stood before the congregation on July 22nd, 2007, and spoke of God's answering prayer in His own way; little did I know that two days later, and for the next 60 days, I would be given a lesson in patience that I would never forget!

Patience sounds like such a wonderful fruit of the Spirit -- "Yes, I want that!" is what we exclaim; yet like humility, this is something that we rarely grasp in its fullness. Patience does not simply mean that we 'put up with' others without complaining. No, patience is much deeper, it is a heart thing -- we actually place OUR desires on the back burner and put others BEFORE us!

Sadly, the church today lacks patience, and it is displayed in the constant squabbling that is going on. Now, I am not talking about disagreeing on a position of doctrine -- I am talking about the squabbling that goes on as we put ourselves and our wants/needs BEFORE those around us.

Paul tells us in Philippians 2:1-4: So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

This is something hat I learned the hard way! When I was powerless to do anything on my own, I had to wait on other people to do for me. I was forced to exercise patience, and what I found was that I began to sense their love and concern for me in a fresh, new way. Maybe they did things in a different way, or at a different pace than I did, but in the end, it all worked out fine.

When we chafe against the fruit of patience, what we are in effect saying, is Look, I don't have time for you and your foolishness, let me SHOW you how this is to be done correctly! An impatient person (such as myself), can be a real boor to be around, and does not reflect the instructions found in many of the Epistles. HAVING to be right, or in charge, or setting the pace can leave many quieter, slower, more introspective people in the dust. These are the very people we need in our churches! No wonder Paul said "On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together..." [1st Corinthians 12:22-26]

How impatience short-changes the church -- the loud, charismatic, strong and controlling often overshadow the others. Now, I will say that being charismatic, or being louder than others is not wrong, but when we combine that with impatience, we find that it makes for a church that is unbalanced. We need each other, the loud fellow and the quiet one, the charismatic personality and the more introverted, the strong, and the weak. Just like the human body needs to have all parts working, so too the church does as well.

The lungs are a very delicate organ, whereas the skin is tougher, yet without both working a human being really cannot sustain life; so it goes in out fellowships! Let those of us who are impatient stop for a minute and look around us -- who are we stepping on, or over in our run to 'do things' for the Church? Let our churches become a place where ALL have a home, where all can be involved in ministry and where all feel like they are part of growing the Kingdom!

Humility

I wanted to go back a bit and discuss some of the things that I learned through the blindness that struck me for a few months.

The first thing I wanted to address is humility. When I was struck with my blindness, I had just preached on Matthew 6 where Jesus states that we should not pray to impress others, but go secretly into our secret place and pray to Him.

What is interesting about this was that I had been praying for humility, but I now look back on that and realize that I was probably asking for the humility that is recognized by others -- You know, that "What a humble guy Ray is..." type of praying. Now, I did not consciously pray in that way, but when God finally humbled me, I found myself asking a lot of hard questions.

First, I would not hesitate to say that most of us who pray for humility have no idea what true humility is -- if we did, we would not pray for it! What we are usually requesting is a spirit that is SLIGHTLY humble, just so that we can be recognized, as I stated earlier. In reality, true humility is often beyond anything that we may grasp.

Let me give some specifics: I am not the best husband in the world, and there are times when I think I know it all -- ask my wife. And so, there are many things that I do, or have always done, around our home that I simply KNEW I did better than her. Yet, when the blindness struck, my wife had to pick up the ball and run with it. You know what I found? She does a much better job at a lot of things that I thought I had 'mastered'. An example -- our bills are more organized and promptly paid than they ever have been with 'the boss' (me) running the show! So, I began to realize that I am not the end-all, be-all when it came to that.

Then I found that the church ran just fine without me. Oh yes, people missed me, but the Word was preached, the bills were paid, the kids were taken care of, etc. Now, I had many times said that I did not want our church to 'stop' should something happen to me, but in my heart, I had hoped there would be a hiccup (again, not consciously, but subconsciously), yet there they were moving forward. Another prideful chunk of my being was exorcised!

And I found that work just continued on, with people picking up the slack and keeping the ball rolling. This was no surprise to me, but as I surveyed my life, I found that.... GASP, I was NOT IRREPLACEABLE! And then I heard it -- "You prayed for humility, is there a problem?"

"YES, I didn't mean LIKE THIS!!! I meant the kind of humility they write about in the Banner of Truth Trust books, that humility that is ascribed to great, saintly men of old!", I found myself silently screaming. And the Holy Spirit illuminated the Scriptures for me, and I began to see, albeit imperfectly, just what was meant by humility. Wow, did I NOT want that!

But, now that I am here, at this place, I realize that the deep-seated pride in my heart was shaken by the Potter as His hands lovingly removed my sight so that I might, for the first time, see what humility meant.

Let me provide you with an illustration -- Here is humility: When you sit next to your wife and ask her to trim your fingernails as you cannot even see them. Or you ask her to walk you to the bathroom. Suddenly, you are filled with a deep and abiding sense of humility. And what is frightening, is that this is simply humility in the presence of other humans; imagine Isaiah -- Isaiah 6:1 - 5 -- In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory! And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!

Oh prideful man that I am, how my heart will melt when I stand before the King of Glory -- I will then say, with Paul, [Romans 7:24,25] -- Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Could it be..... Satan?

Remember the church lady from SNL? Dana Carvey's little old lady, (Enid Strict), would rant and rave about the evils of our day, usually venting her wrath on some 'guest' on her show. She would rail against the sin in others lives, and cap it off by saying.... Could it be.... Satan?

Unfortunately, there are far too many Christians today who follow Enid's mentality; i.e. everything is of Satan, except the good parts of life. These people will rail against John Piper when he writes of God's sovereignty; a sovereignty that is present even amidst crises.

I understand that the desire of these people is to 'protect' or 'defend' God against character assassination, but the sad truth is that many of these people have little understanding of God's nature and character, and therefore in their desire to 'protect' it, are actually diminishing it!

What brings all of this on? Well, we are currently finishing up 2nd Samuel in our daily devotions, and what you find in this book (chapter 13 and following) is a listing of the troubles that David experienced. David's life turns from the idyllic beloved of God who expanded the Kingdom, to a daytime soap opera:

1. - Amnon, lusts after Tamar, his half-sister and lures her into his home to rape her and then toss her out.
2. - Absalom, Tamar's full-brother, avenges his sister's defilement after David does nothing for two years. Amnon is fooled into attending a celebration feast held by Absalom for the expressed purpose of killing Amnon. Amnon is killed and Absalom goes into hiding out of country for two years.
3. - Absalom is convinced to return to Israel and reconcile with David, his father. After four years, Absalom decides that he is a more capable ruler than David and leads a revolt against David -- in which Joab and his men kill Absalom.
4. - There are several internal revolts following on the heels of David's victory over Absalom, and the Philistines raise their ugly heads again!

Bottom line, David's life is one of strife and pain, constantly at war. Now, many who would face this today would undoubtedly, like Enid, say Could it be... Satan?

But God makes it clear that it is He who declares that David will face these obstacles. 2nd Samuel 12:10 - 12 "...Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house. And I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun."

We are so quick to assume that we are suffering because Satan is autonomously at work in our lives, yet throughout the Bible, even when Satan is involved, it is God who is thoroughly and completely in control (witness Job). People live in complete bondage to the myth that their every sin 'opens a door' for Satan, up to and including the words they speak! Now, I am not saying that Satan is not at work in this, but I am stating that it is the Father who has the reins of power, NOT Satan. If a door is 'opened' and things happen as a result of our sin, it is, (for those who are His children),the Potter whose loving hands rework the clay, it is the Master Smelter burning the dross off the lives of His Saints, NOT the schemings of an equally powerful 'evil force' who is capable of subverting the power of God. This is not Star Wars -- and the Jedi vs. the Dark Side -- which is the perspective of many Christians today. God is not Obie-Wan-Kenobi, and Satan is not Darth Vader.

My friends, to give Satan authority that he does not possess is wrong-headed, and makes for a life filled with dread and fear. God is omnipotent, and while we may not always understand His ways, we must NEVER assign His authority to Satan!

Who Commends You?

As my wife and I read through 2nd Corinthians, I find myself amazed at how false teachers, or as Paul labels them, false apostles, never change their tactics.

Paul speaks of how these false teachers brought letters of commendation to the church in Corinth; these letters were from OTHER false teachers! Today we find the same pattern. When a false teacher is exposed, immediately another false teacher will arise and say something along these lines -- "I have known X for many years and he/she is one of the most anointed people in the service of the kingdom now!"

Paul says that his commendation is not a written letter from man, but is the church in Corinth, in other words, his Gospel is proven true by the TRANSFORMATIONAL/REGENERATIONAL work of the Holy Spirit in the people of Corinth. These were people who were delivered from pagan lives to Christians lives, often at the cost of their lives, or jobs or homes!

How many false teachers today point to transformed lives as their commendation? Most of the time these false teachers point to their large following, (most often not changed lives, but the cult-like following of a man), or they point to the healings they have performed. Often these healings are proven to be false, or simply emotional reaction to the foolishness and theatrics of these snake-oil salesmen. NOTE: I believe that God still heals, and have witnessed such events, that is not what I am referencing here. This is more about the theatrical productions that many false teachers put on, bringing shame to the Body of Christ with their antics!)

Like the false teachers of Paul's day, these men spend much of their time, if not most of it, boasting in their own works. How many times I have heard, or read of these false teachers speaking of their anointing; never really mentioning the Gospel, the finished work of Christ, the Holiness of God, or anything else.

So, we see that false teachers never change their spots -- some signs of a false teacher (per Paul):

1. These false teachers pat each other on the back and commend on another, even in the face of exposed heresy.

2. These false teachers point to the size of their ministries, the number of healings, the amount of time they spend 'talking' with Jesus, or the 'power' of their anointing as validation of their ministry.

3. These false teachers spend much of their time talking about themselves, and their supposed powers, little, or no time is spent reflecting on the Gospel.

4. These false teachers focus on the here and now, "Jesus wants you rich and beautiful", and no time reflecting on eternity.

Paul is clear in his letter to the church in Corinth -- The commendation that we should be seeking is regenerated lives, not the praises of man. We are but jars of clay that have been entrusted with an incredible message of redemption, our validation will be when our Lord and Savior says "Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Master".

We should be as uncomfortable about boasting as Paul was -- we should never focus on ourselves, but on the cross. What do we have that was not given us? Boasting has no place in Christian ministry, and those who spend much of their time boasting are building THEIR ministry and not God's.

Our perspective should be an eternal one; as Paul says, we are going to one day put off these tents and put on a building made by God -- we may or may not have 'things' in this world, but we have something far greater awaiting us!

For my Brother Dave

Hey, I am smiling!

:-)




Dave, I love ya brother!

News!

So, I just came back from the doctor -- the tested vision in my left eye is 20/25! This eye was not supposed to get much beyond 20/60... I am still stunned that my eyesight is that good...

My right eye -- that is the one that underwent all of the trauma, that one reads in at 20/40 (corrected). I am speechless -- The Lord is faithful even when I am not!

Thanks for the prayers, and everything... I still have a ways to go to stabilize the eyes, but praise be to God -- I am so far from where I started...

For Bugs

It's Loonie!

Congrats! :-)

Wondering?

I was recently perusing the blogsphere, and came across a website that is one of the many 'discernment' websites out there. I will say that this website has some good information on it, and I do not doubt that the owners are attempting to inform the Christian community of abuses, heresies etc.

However, I do have a concern with some of these websites, especially this one. It seems that these folks scour the web for blasphemous, heretical, and/or ridiculous items that are being advertised, or practiced by the so-called 'church' in the West. While that may be OK, why do they link to the various photos, and videos that display these things? I found many of these links (which I stopped checking out after a few), are sensual and promote women in a less than acceptable light.

Some of the links are actually erotic in nature, and I found myself shocked that a 'discernment' website would link to these. I believe that having all of these links on one site is more conducive to giving people a central link to find them, as opposed to providing a warning to caring Christians.

We must be cautious in our desire to expose false teaching, and abuses -- let us not become just like the abuses we seek to expose, inadvertently advertising these sites, rather let us pursue "whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." -- Philippians 4:8

Stuart Smalley is Wrong

We are so inundated with news and media 'stuff' that we either get overwhelmed, desensitized, or enamored with the goings on in our world; here is a sampling of things from the news...

No comments are really required -- however, should anyone think that we (mankind) are just getting better and better...

Child-Killers

Who needs God?

The 'Arts'?

Gender-Bending

And this is just a perusal of the recent 'news'...

Since I have been out of circulation for a while, I guess I am just shocked by the news that I have been reading about! How true is Paul's (God's) assessment of mankind!

Romans 1:16ff -- For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, The righteous shall live by faith. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

And should you think that I am placing myself above all of this, I fit right in with the rest of humanity! Truly the need for a Savior is obvious. Paul recognized this in his struggles with his fallen nature:

Romans 7:18-25a -- For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

It is truly by grace ALONE through faith ALONE that we are saved, we could not bring anything to the table, and if we believe that we somehow need to 'contribute' we simply do not understand the nature of man, or the grace of God! And there is nothing we bring to the table to 'keep' us saved! Even Paul realized this as he stated in the Romans 7 passage quoted above.

Man is fallen and only a perfect Savior is capable of bringing salvation -- anything else is simply filthy rags....

Stuart Smalley is wrong -- remember his tag line? I'm Good Enough, I'm Smart Enough, and Doggone It, People Like Me! Sorry Stu -- none are good enough, save one...

Thoughts

In our reading, my wife and I have been going through 2nd Corinthians, a book that I really enjoy. We came to this passage, which I have read many times, but it seemed to have jumped out at me this time.

But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ. 2nd Corinthians 2:14-17

How often we, (man), are worried about 'offending seekers' with the message of the Gospel, what with its emphasis on substitutionary death, blood and a Savior who took upon Himself our sins. According to some, who call themselves Christians, this is akin to 'cosmic child abuse'. The discussion of the barbarism of crucifixion and the sacrifice of our Savior is deemed 'too offensive' for the modern and advanced palate.

Yet, here, Paul says that the message of the Gospel is death to those who are perishing, and life to those who in Christ. Yes, the ENTIRE message, of a sinless, blemish-free Lamb of God being nailed to a tree and suffering, to die for my sins, IS offensive -- it makes us realize, as did the Israelites as they stood before a slain animal, that sin has consequences, and an innocent died for me.

We somehow think we are more 'civilized' than any generation before us. Yet, as I read through the New Testament, what I find is that the 'civilized' society of Paul's day was as offended by the death of a Savior as we are. Maybe the concept of 'blood' didn't make them as queasy as the modern genteel society we find ourselves in, but the concept of sacrifice was plain offensive.

The reason that the modern 'seeker' finds the message offensive is not because they are somehow more civilized than any before them, but because they are unwilling to take an honest look at themselves. If they accept that Christ died this gruesome death on the cross for them, this will imply that they are truly THAT bad. No one, especially in our modern, Oprah, Dr. Phil, therapeutic gospel society wants to look at the cross and realize the sin that placed our Savior upon it was OURS!

So, like Paul, pastors must steel themselves to the fact that our message will ALWAYS be death to the death for some, and life to life for others -- we are not called to be successful, or popular, rather we are called to be faithful jars of clay carrying about in our lives the inestimable message of the gospel!

Post-Op Day 1 (in many ways)

Well, I am at day one after my cataract surgery -- The doctor found a small retinal horseshoe tear, and repaired it via laser in his office. Other than that -- the surgery was successful so far. They predicted that I would have no better than 20/60 vision, yet at day 1 I have 20/50, and may continue to improve.

I am still healing in the right eye -- it is still quite fuzzy, but the doctor said it is getting better every visit -- I am probably looking at 2-3 months for complete return. This eye has also developed a trauma-induced cataract which my doctor will have to remove at a later date.

I CAN READ! Trust me -- this passage from Amos never struck me so hard -- Amos 8:11 Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord God... when I will send a famine on the land — not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord, They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the Lord, but they shall not find it.

I was hearing the Word of God (I will soon tell of the phenomenal preaching done in my absence!), but being able to pick up the Word and just READ IT was missing for the last 2 months.

I will be reflecting on this two months of blindness as strength allows -- I do not want to overdue it, as I am not out of the woods yet. Lots more gray in the hair, and a weight loss of 15 pounds is a reminder of the track that I have passed through... Yet God was faithful in SO MANY ways through it all...

Thank you all for your many prayers, and Bugs: it looks like I might actually SEE you while you are here! :-)

Color!

This week I finally got some good news. My pressure was stable enough to stop taking pressure meds. And 9 days between doctor visits.

Also began to see color in earnest. Some shapes visible as well. Not bad for 3 weeks post-op!

Psalm 42 has been echoing in my heart. Still have a long road, but can visually see improvement.

Update

update:

Note: I corrected the dates... Ray...

07-24-97 Emergebcy retinal surgery

08-02-07 Hyphema occurs hyphema - I experience an "8-ball"

08-09-07 IOP spikes at 54! normal is around 12-15. Emergency trab surgery, trab

I also have a cataract on the good eye!

Vision slow in coming back. Posting a chore - this post took 1 hour to rough out.

Sabbatical

I will be going in today for retinal surgery. I may be offline for a while, potentially up to a month. I have not shut down, merely taking some time until I get my sight back.

Thanks to all for your prayers...

Update

To all: I am going in for an emergency consultation with my ophthalmologist tomorrow morning bright and early. The good eye has gone downhill. Thanks for the prayers -- Hope to be back with you soon!

Status Part Deux

I am contemplating the next series of posts that I will write, but in the interim I would ask for prayer. I am having, (as I mentioned in a previous post), eye problems with my remaining good eye. I am going in on Wednesday of next week to determine what is wrong, and what the treatment may be.

While I rest completely in Christ, I must admit that I am a bit concerned. Anyway, I am not sure I will post before then, but if not -- my visit is next Wednesday at 1:00pm.

Any suggestions for a series of posts would be welcomed; I might not be qualified to post on some things, and if that is the case I will be upfront and say so.

Well, until later...

Men at Work VII - Fathers

I thought I would close with this series on men addressing the aspect of Fatherhood.

I am shocked and horrified with the news nowadays -- it is common to read about a man killing, maiming, raping or abandoning his children! What a world we live in -- no longer are children safe within the arms of their father! Truly, Romans 1 is reflected in our society today!

Sadly, many of these men never had fathers in their lives, and so therefore, they never had a role model to look up to. And so many, even in the Christian community, are/were 'latch-key' kids, growing up with a limited access to their fathers. Many were raised with their moral and ethical foundations formed by the TV and their peers, in lieu of their father.

The church today and for the last several generations, has not held men accountable as fathers. They teach men to go out and act out their adolescent fantasies, somehow believing that this will bring men back into the church. What we end up with is a bunch of immature adolescents, not fathers and husbands.

Men do not need to be 'enabled' to act out their fantasy of being Claude Van Damme, or Stephen Seagal -- they need to be taught what a father's role is in the family. A man is to teach his children -- catechize them, lead in prayer, and be the one who heads up the evening Bible Study with the kids. Dad needs to be viewed as the spiritual leader of the home. All too often, even within the Christian community, fathers come home, plop down on the couch and pick up the remote -- their interaction with their children limited to taking them to football, softball and other activities which have supplanted a family's time together.

Christian men should first and foremost, model the life of a Christian for their children. Secondly, he should teach them of God and His holiness -- a reverent fear and awe that should be reflected in the life of the father. Third -- dad should love mom, and exhibit that love and respect for his wife so that his children see it. What a great model -- men can point to their marriage as a model of Christ's love for His people -- the marriage is the picture kids, albeit imperfect.

I have a problem with a men's ministry that is focused solely around men acting out their childhood fantasy -- be it motorcycle riding, hiking, shooting, hunting. Men's ministry should be focused around Christ, and our relationship with Him first and foremost, then it should focus around men's role within their families and eventually moving outward to their role within the church and society.

But when we have men's ministries that are nothing but a cover for 'activities' that we want to do, I think we have missed the mark. Let's get our men ministries back in line with Biblical foundations -- holding one another accountable as fathers and husbands, lifting one another up in prayer and modeling Christian manhood for our families!

Finally, I say to you father's -- love your children enough to impart in them a love for and reverent fear of God. You are not being loving by allowing your children to 'find their own path' to God. You are being hateful. If you are truly redeemed, that means that you believe that Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life and no one comes to the Father but by Him -- why would you enable your children to figure that out on their own?

We need more Godly fathers -- NOT more self-confident posers...

Status

Sorry I have not posted recently -- I am in Canada on work assignment for the week. I would ask for prayer from my friends out there -- I am having eye issues with my remaining good eye. As some might rememer, it was about a year ago that i had a retinal detachment, and the good eye is acting up. I go to see the doc on my return to Dallas.

Man At Work VI - Friends

So far we have looked at the role of a husband in marriage and also at the sad state of men's ministries in today's world. We should understand that we are called to be more than simply 'macho' men, who are engaged in a royal battle, trying to win a beauty (a rough paraphrase of one of the books that I read). We realize that our model for manhood needs to be found in the pages of Scripture.

So, we know that a man is to be self-sacrificial in his love for his wife, he is also supposed to care for and train up his children (more on that later), and be the provider in the home, both from a physical and spiritual perspective.

Let's look at another observation -- men should have others to which they are accountable -- unfortunately, the word 'accountable' has been so emptied of meaning in many parts of Christendom. We overuse and misuse this word. In most instances, it is only used in a negative sense -- i.e. "I am accountable to some men in the church regarding my addition to pornography".

However, if we look in Scripture, we find that men were accountable, not simply in a negative fashion, but also in a positive way. That is, men loved and cared about their fellow workers in the harvest field, and depended upon one another -- they were 'accountable' in their friendship, and the dependence they had upon one another.

As we read the book of Acts we find that Paul always traveled with men whom he depended upon, as did the rest of the apostles. These men understood that they needed relationships with one another, and even our Savior sent them out two-by-two. This kept these men on task, and provided comfort and fellowship for them as they faced persecution, the rigors of the mission field, and the loneliness of being 'on the road'.

Now we find that, in their humanness, sometimes things got a bit rocky for these men; all we need to do is look at the incident between John Mark, Barnabas and Paul (Acts 15:36ff). Interestingly, later in his life, Paul asked for John Mark to be sent to him 2nd Timothy 4:11, that he was "...useful to me [Paul] for ministry".

So, they were human, and struggled at times with their relationship, however they were in relationships.

Updated: I realized that I did a poor job of putting this post together, and seemed to jump from relationships into a rant about men's ministries. I have updated the post to more accurately and consistently reflect where I was going with the thought.

How different their focus was from the men's churches that have 'sports'-themed everything, and ropes courses! In these types of churches the relationships that are built often have little to do with Christ and our unity in Him, and more to do with a common school, or hobby. Relationships developed in this manner are often not Christ-centered, but rather man-centered.

We somehow believe that, to get men into churches and relationships, we need more 'manly' themes and focus, when in reality what we need is a Christ-centered focus. We need to be teaching men to be the husband, friend, disciple, witness, that Christ calls them to be. When we bring men in with secular, carnal pursuits, the bulk of them will never go beyond that -- we need to call men into relationships with one another that are based upon Biblical principles, and hold our ground against a fast-encroaching worldly mindset that says that what we really need to do is have 'car-shows' and 'football-parties' to 'lure' men back to the church.

How about just preaching the word, holding them accountable as men, and showing them the principles of Biblical manhood? Doesn't that seem like it would be more effective? Why do we believe that we can 'lure' men to Christ using (frankly) deceptive means? God will draw men to Christ -- and He will not use bait and switch techniques! And when men come together with Christ as their focus, we will find our churches revived!

P.S. I am not against anything geared towards men -- we have a motorcycle ministry, and other events, but these are SIDE things, not the focus of our church. The focus is, and must always be Christ.

Apologies

I am sorry it has taken a while to post -- my back went out a few days ago, and I am unable to sit for any length of time. I am hoping to be 'repaired' soon! :-)

Prays are welcome!

Men At Work - V - Marital Roles III

This is my beloved wife!

This will be the final post as regards marital roles. I have previously discussed the role of the wife in submission to her husband's leadership, and in the last post, I addressed a few of the husband's responsibilities. I would like to close out this section with a some final thoughts regarding this:

Ephesians 5:25 - 33 -- Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

1. Men are often told that they are the master of their home, and therefore, their needs are the most important. This is where the whole 'male headship' aspect of Christian homes can be taken out of context. Yes, wives are to submit to the male headship in their homes, but, as I posed in the previous post, men have the greater responsibilities towards their wives.

2. Notice that Paul directs men to love their wives as they love themselves; if we ONLY did that, we would see a tremendous difference in our wives! But then he goes on to say that we are to nourish and cherish our wives. As the last post noted, one aspect of nourishing our wives is to be the spiritual leaders in our home, spiritually nourishing them with a steady diet of the Word, and prayer. Another, and I feel equally true aspect is to provide for our families physical needs. Many men today allow their wives to be the primary breadwinner in the home, even if they have children that need to be tended to! Men are to provide for their wives. This is not a statement about women working outside the home, rather it is an observation regarding the number of women who provide the primary income for the family. I realize that I sound like a Luddite, and maybe I am, but I know that the Bible speaks of men providing for their families, and while you can examine Proverbs 31 and see an industrious and productive woman, I think that it is imperative for men to be the one who provides the leadership, not just in the home, but in getting and keeping a job!

Many men today are content to let their wives do the work, and they can be housedads. I disagree with this -- children need to see a home where leadership and sacrifice are modeled by the father. This provides a healthy image of our heavenly Father for children. You would not believe how many people I have counseled at church who cannot fathom God as their heavenly 'Father'. This is so often due to the fact that the father they knew was lazy, self-centered and ofttimes cruel to his family; frequently forcing mom to be the one doing all of the sacrificing. This should not be!

I also recognize that there are times when a man may be unemployed while his wife retains her job, but this should be a situational issue, and not the normative pattern. Men need to provide for their wives.

3. Now notice that a man is to cherish his wife! Do you cherish your wife? Does she know it? Our wives need to know that we cherish them; they should have no doubt about this! Proverbs 31:10 - An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. How many of us think of our wives in that manner? Is your wife more important to you than your job, your bank account, your buddies, your life itself? Why not? When a woman is cherished, she will respond.

Men, I challenge you to love and cherish your wives, sacrificing your wants and needs for hers, and ensuring that she knows you are providing self-sacrificial love and leadership to your home. Drop the machismo act and the swagger, and begin leading in the manner of Christ! You may be surprised at your wife's response!

I state here publicly that I try to love and cherish my wife to the best of my ability. There is no one I want to spend time with more then her. We share everything in our life, and she is both a sincere critic, and ardent supporter. We have a marriage that is truly made in heaven!

And that is my prayer for all Christians!

Man at Work IV - Marital Role II

Last time we left off with the highly contentious statement that wives were to submit to their husbands. Unfortunately this is often as far as most men go in listening to Ephesians 5. And sadly, many pastors that I have heard speak on this really focus on the submission of wives.

Part of the reason (at least in my experience) that many women in the church are unwilling to submit to male headship in their homes is because of the failure of men to live up to their roles.

Let's look at Ephesians 5:25 - 33 -- Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

I want to simply address a few points in this post:

1. - Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. First and foremost, husbands LOVE your wives. Do you love your wife? This means that you do not tear her down in front of others with such wonderful monikers as 'the ole ball and chain'; or 'the wife'; or any other demeaning title. Second -- do you give yourself up for your wife? Do you sacrifice for your wife, or are you one who HAS to have his night out with the boys, or is constantly busy with work or other activities, letting your wife take care of all the home duties and fending for herself? Are your interests more important than hers, and are you constantly trumping her desires with your own?

2. - Notice that Christ sanctifies His bride by washing of the water with the word. Men, are you the spiritual leaders in your home? Are you the one who instigates prayer and study of the Word? Most men that I know are NOT the spiritual leaders in their home -- the women pray and read the word, the men sit on their duffs with the remote watching 'man shows' (i.e. westerns, kill-em-alls), or sports. I know that sounds like a caricature, but it is true in my experience.

So, we have looked at two parts of being a man and a husband -- first: love your wife, and sacrifice yourself for her. Second: be the spiritual leader in your home -- practicing the disciplines of a Christian man, and leading your family in that area.

If men would do just these two things, they would find a wife who was much more prepared to fulfill her role within the marriage. We will look at more next post.

Men at Work III - Marital Roles

So, we have looked at what men's ministry is not; but what should it be? What should we be inculcating in our men?

Let's start by looking at the marriage in general. I heave heard Ephesians 5 taught in a number of ways -- one way, traditionally by Fundamentalists, is to emphasize the word SUBMIT found in the 22nd verse, while downplaying the verses that spell out a husband's role. "Wives are to SUBMIT to their husbands"; a second way is to go back one verse to Ephesians 5:21, and emphasize the submission of one to another, "we are to be in submission to ONE ANOTHER". This is generally taught in mainline denominational churches.

Because of this faulty and unbalanced teaching, men are often not taught the gravitas of marriage as a witness to the world of Christ and His bride. We often end up with men who are domineering and egoists, or men who are incapable of, or unwilling to, make leadership decisions in their home, often these men are ruled by their wives and children.

So, let us first look at the wife's role. This is well-known, and contentious, but I pray that as we explore this Scripture, men will begin to see their role in a different light. I 'preached' this passage on Saturday to a couple renewing their vows.

Ephesians 5:22 - 33 -- Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

This immediately grates upon the nerve of any feminists that read it (even women who would not describe themselves as 'feminists' are often so steeped in the feminist mindset that they react exactly the same way). It uses that obscene word "submit". In our day and age, no woman should ever submit to anyone else, and ESPECIALLY not their husbands! Yet, here it is, not matter how much the liberal community attempts to change the wording, the meaning, and context, it says the same thing.

The word translated 'submit' is hupotasso, and it means what it says. As we look through the New Testament, we find this word used in a number of other places. Here are a few that are interesting:

Luke 2:51 -- And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart.

Now, who is this 'He' that is being discussed? It is Jesus, the Christ -- and here He is hupotasso towards His parents. Even though He is the Second Person of the Godhead, he submitted Himself to the earthly parents that had been chosen.

1st Corinthians 15:27, 28 -- For "God has put all things in subjection under his feet." But when it says, "all things are put in subjection," it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.

Again we find Christ's submission.

It seems that it is perfectly acceptable for the Savior to submit to His earthly parents for a time, and submit to His Heavenly Father, bringing to culmination to great plan of salvation, yet we must not use that word about wives!

In Ephesians 5 Paul clearly states that marriage is a picture of Christ and His Bride (the church). The church submits to the Savior, who gave Himself up for Her, dying on a tree for her redemption; a Savior who is active in the sanctifying work of His Bride. Wives should submit to their husbands for the same reasons. As we look at the role of the husband in the next post, we will unpack this more.

Let me ask you a question -- considering the value that society places on marriage in general, and on roles within marriage in particular -- it is any surprise that we have such a man-centered theology permeating the church? When egalitarianism is all the rage, we lose the ability to understand our role as the Bride of Christ, thinking ourselves peers with our Savior (not that we would ever word it that way).

We preach man-centered sermons, accompanied by man-centered singing, and man-centered gatherings. The truth is that our churches betray our egalitarian mindset -- everything the church does is often built around man and his comfort as opposed to Christ and His Glory! We even have some heretics who preach that we are all little gods,equal to Christ, and these people are considered 'Christians' by many in the church!

By bringing back the fullness of marriage in its Biblical context we will once again display to our children, and the world the picture of Christ and His Bride. And we will again understand the position of the church in relationship to Her Bridegroom!

Agent of Change

We interrupt our regularly scheduled posting to bring this breaking news:

Polls Say: Gays Can't Change!. It seems that 56% of the 515 respondents (HUGE poll, isn't it?), believe that gays can't change their orientation.

No news there! But the wrong question is being asked -- it is not "Can Gays Change?", but "Can mankind change?". You see, this is where the Episcopalians and others have missed the boat. By stating that gays cannot/should not change, they are stating clearly their disbelief in the Gospel.

Before anyone jumps up and hollers that I am a homophobe, hear me out; this is not about gays or straights; this is about man and his sin. Gays cannot change, that is no surprise; it is God who does the changing of one's heart. As a matter of fact, not only can gays not change, but neither can adulterers, murderers, pedophiles, liars, and sinners of all ilk (including yours truly).

If we preach that sinners are the architects of their own change, we are doing a tremendous disservice to the Gospel. The proclamation of the Gospel is that Christ has come to deliver us from our sins, that it is the monergistic work of God that creates the change in us. Jesus, in responding to Nicodemus in John 3 says that no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born-again. Why is it that we are so unfair to the gay community?

We tell these people they must change, yet we claim that it is God who is at work in the change. We cannot have it both ways -- we must pray for the Lord to change the hearts of ANY who are caught up in sin, and in rebellion against Him, not only the gay community, and we must know that it is not 'up to the sinner' to make the change in their heart, or worse, convince them that there is nothing wrong, they are simply 'wounded'. (Oh, how I have come to hate the misuse of this word in the church!)

UPDATE: Dr. David Powlison addresses much of this mindset in today's Gospel presentation. He does a much better job than i ever could.

It all comes down to who is in charge, doesn't it? Is God the agent of change in our life, or are we the captains of our own soul and masters of our destiny?

Bugs

I am finally getting around to blogspotting my old friend Neil Shay, aka Bugblaster. He probably thought I didn't care, or was simply overlooking him! Nothing could be further from the truth -- I am just not good at blogspotting (there are many things, concerning blogging, that I am not good at)

Anyway, I don't want to just throw out a simple blogspot, but I would like to point you to his wonderful expositional work on Leviticus (a man after my own heart, I love the book of Leviticus)! Look on the right-hand bar, halfway or so down on Bugs blog -- the series is called "Shadows... Jesus Christ in Leviticus".

Highly recommended!

Men at Work Part II

So, in the last post I looked at the Men's Ministry 'Industry' a bit. This post will address what Men's Ministry should be focused on. As I said in the last post -- far too much so-called 'men's' curriculum is focused around becoming one of the Three Musketeers, or William Wallace as opposed to becoming one of the disciples of Christ.

I have searched through the Bible to discover where these people get their Biblical grounding for the machismo that they present, and I have not found it. Instead, I find that the perfect man, Jesus Christ, embodied both a fearlessness, and a compassion that is lacking in these books.

So, first and foremost, a men's ministry should be about teaching men, Biblically, how to be leaders from a Christ-centered perspective. Now, this may not be as exciting as swinging across a chasm on a piece of fishing line, but this is what is lacking in so many men's lives.

As we teach our married men how to be godly leaders in their home, our single men will begin to understand this responsibility as well. As we speak of godly fathers, our childless men will begin to see what a compassionate man is like.

Here are several books that I recommend for men's studies. The Measure of a Man by Gene Getz; The Disciplines of a Godly Man by R. Kent Hughes; Tender Warrior by Stu Weber, and Point Man by Steve Farrar are good places to start. Once you have begun to develop an understanding of what a godly man is, then you may begin to dig deeper and start working through some more doctrinal books, some of the Puritan books, i.e. The Christian in Complete Armor by William Gurnell.

We are to be leading the men in our churches to a more Christ-like life, NOT teaching them to be middle linebackers for the Steelers!

Men at Work

This post and some of the following are not specific to small churches, but to all churches. I would like to address the state of Men's ministry within the local body.

When I was looking for men's ministry curriculum last year, I had several men I respect provide me with suggestions. These men were from conservative, 'evangelical' churches, so I assumed that the books would be along those lines.

I must admit, I was shocked by the books recommended -- they sounded more like secular counseling books on reclaiming your manhood (in a secular sense) than they did Christian books on how to be a godly man.

Men do not need to be told how to be MEN, that comes naturally to most, it is much more difficult to instruct them on being godly. Sitting in a sweat shack with a bunch of other guys talking about football might be a good idea if you were trying to make men who were confident in their manhood, but I want to make men who are confident in Christ, and that is a vastly different thing.

I read through these books (which will remain nameless) and was surprised at the lack of Biblical grounding they had -- most of them simply wanted men to 'let go of mommy's apron strings' and step up to being a man in a generic sense.

I even met one of the men who has propagated this type of instruction in the men's ministry 'industry'. One of his tape series had two steel balls on the cover -- what do you think he was trying to convey? And how does that makes us men of God? I have worked in men's ministry for a long while now, and rarely do I find men who need to be taught how to be a man -- it is much more likely that they have no concept of being godly men.

We should not be asking the question -- "What does it take to be a man?", rather it should be "What does it take to be a godly leader in your home, a loving and self-sacrificing husband, a compassionate representative of Christ in your life?"

More on this later....

Catechize!

As anyone who has read this blog for any length of time knows, a good percentage of our church has never attended church before (I like that, we are not doing a lot of 'sheep-stealing').

With that make-up comes a wonderful opportunity -- to teach these young/new believers the foundational principles of our faith without having to fight through a lot of bad teaching. (I do not think that we have all the answers, but some who have attended had come from environments where Bible preaching, or explanation of the gospel had never occurred).

When a new believer is taught the foundations right out of the chute, they can spot bad doctrine a mile away.

I was pleasantly surprised recently when a relatively new convert related to me how she had been required to explain -- to much more 'mature' Christians in her college class -- that the Bible was actually the Word of God, and clearly addressed a discussion they were having -- (they were discussing how one knew the Bible's stance on several social issues).

She said --"why is it that these people who have attended church for much longer than I have were unaware of the Bible's position?". Sadly, I had to tell her that in quite a few churches in the area they do not use the Bible on Sundays. her answer was priceless -- "Well, what do they talk about then?"

Out of the mouth of babes!

Anyway, we have begun a new believers class, taught by a wonderful, mature, man of God. He is using as his 'new believers curriculum', the Westminster Catechism, and I have been pleasantly surprised by the way the folks are taking to it! I know that this is not news to many out there, but I had felt in the past that this might be too much too quick.... I WAS WRONG! As Voddie Baucham says -- Catechize, Catechize, Catechize!

So, to many who are just developing a 'New Believers' Curriculum, I would highly suggest this Westminster Catechism.

We have been blessed by this, and I have learned a valuable lesson -- Do not underestimate (sad to say that I had) the power of God's Word!

Green-Eyed Lady

Don't let the title throw you off -- this will be a post about ENVY, not a woman, or a song by Sugarloaf! :-)

As a small church pastor, this is one of the most difficult struggles I have faced. It is also profoundly unchristian. The Church in Corinth was developing a congregation of envious people, and Paul deals with it -- 1st Corinthians 1:11 - 17 -- For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. What I mean is that each one of you says, "I follow Paul," or "I follow Apollos," or "I follow Cephas," or "I follow Christ." Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

It is not much different today, and nowhere do you feel this pinch more, than at a small church. You look down the street and see the another pastor, not near as smart as you, (in your opinion), whose church is growing like a weed. They have even purchased land while you languish in a small storefront. Your envy burns green and hot; now, of course you don't call it envy, you say things like -- "Well, he doesn't preach the gospel as properly as I do", or you may take this tact "Well, after all they are using the Purpose-Driven Model".

Truth be told, we are not called to be competitive, as Paul says clearly in the aforementioned Corinthian passage. We are to be about the business of Christ. When we spend out time focused on what the 'other guy' is doing to be successful, we empty the cross of its power. We preach growth, success (in a numbers sense), and any number of other criterion ABOVE preaching the cross of Christ!

This should not be, as Paul says -- whether we have 1 or 1001 attending our church, our task is to preach the gospel. Our task is one with eternal import -- let us never forget that! We are talking of the souls of men and women!

So, small church pastor -- As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. 2nd Timothy 4:5. I know the pain of trying to grow at the unreasonable pace that the modern church expects, but I also know the reward of staying the course, doing your job, and watching the small number of people within your church grow more and more into the likeness of Christ. I know the joy of baptizing people who, at one time, told me off and cursed at me. I know the joy of deeply caring about the flock that God has entrusted to me, and taking my eyes off the churches around me and placing them squarely on the author and finisher of our faith, Jesus Christ.

If you are a small church pastor, I would encourage you: If you are staying faithful to the Word of God, proclaiming Christ in your church, loving the people of the church, and living what you preach, then you have nothing to be ashamed of, or envious about.

Yes, there will always be that 'amazing' church nearby that grows by 300 every week, and yes, you will lose some of your folks to them. But we are not here to have the largest, most lavish church in our area. We are here to proclaim Christ and Him crucified!

And finally, a warning -- if you are petty and envious, guess what your congregation will be? Yep, petty and envious! Don't do that to them -- tell them of the great joys of knowing Christ, preach the Word, love the people and above all love Christ.

Get it Together

For small church pastors, I recommend that you put together your thoughts on worship, gender-based ministries, etc. It took us years to pull together our thoughts in these vital areas, and the congregation suffered for it. As pastor, you need to be about the business of setting the tone for the church -- be it in your prayer life, your study of God's Word, or your thoughts on worship, and other ministries. This is not done in a despotic vacuum, but as a family, but as the pastor it is your responsibility to be pointing people to Christ in their songs, thoughts, prayers etc.

I am going to pull together some of our thoughts and post them here and maybe they will help someone else to begin thinking about organizing their church, or I may receive some good input on mine.

Regarding Worship Music -- far too often we feel that worship music 'just happens', and we do not need to think too much about it. Just pick out a few Maranatha songs, and maybe a Vineyard or two, and away we go; some solid musicians complete the picture! Worse yet -- "Hey, I like these thirty songs; worship team, please cycle through these!" (I have attended churches where the songs we sang were exclusively the pastor's favorites!)

Sadly, this hit and miss style was my method for far too long. And it was painful for a faithful worship team built of my dear friends -- they were constantly trying to track with me as I grew and matured regarding worship.

I am in the process of putting together our collective thoughts on many areas of church life, but a post by my good friend JD spurred me to post the document regarding our Worship. Notice that worship is not just singing or music -- it involves all aspects of the service, and all should be addressed.

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Why a ‘Theology of Worship’?

All worship is driven by a theology, even if unconsciously. If one’s worship is consumed with songs that exclusively focus on the creature instead of creator, sermons that are structured around the felt needs of the congregation in lieu of a Christ-centered focus, a low view of the ordinances, and prayers that are little more than requests in nature, then inevitably one will be drawn to a theology that is man-centered.

By the same token, if one’s worship is dominated by songs that are Biblical, focusing on the attributes and glories of God, sermons which maintain a Christ-centered perspective, a proper view of the ordinances and a prayer life which gives equal attention to the confessional, thanksgiving, supplication and adoration portions of prayer, the theology that is developed and promoted in that environment will be God-centered and God honoring.

Our prayer is that Covenant Fellowship’s Theology of Worship will be one which brings honor and glory to our Triune God. (1)

In order to bring about worship that is honoring to God, we must pay particular attention to the songs that are sung, the prayers that are offered, the creeds which are recited, the ordinances performed, and the sermons which are preached. It is vital that the leadership of Covenant Fellowship maintain vigilance in their responsibility regarding the worship that takes place in the confines of our assembly; assuring that Covenant Fellowship maintains proper focus and a sense of adoration and awe towards God.

The first question in both the Longer and Shorter Westminster Catechisms is: “What is the chief end of man?” The answer that follows is: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” This should be the overriding focus of our worship. The question remains; how do we go about worship that reflects this?

What is the Focus of Our Worship?

The center of all Christian worship is Jesus Christ. It is Jesus Christ who fulfilled the Law and the Prophets, establishing a New Covenant with the Father through His death, burial, resurrection and ascension. It is Jesus Christ who sent us his Spirit to guide and comfort us. We are the Body of Christ, united with Him and seated in the heavenlies. He is our High Priest, and our praises to God the Father are pleasing because of Christ’s finished work. (2)

Therefore our worship is to be formed by our relationship with God the Father through God the Son, as led by God the Holy Spirit. All worship should be Trinitarian in nature, addressing the work of our blessed Three-In-One God. “God is the One who graciously invites our worship and then hears our response. God is the One who perfects and mediates our praise and petitions. God is also the One who helps us comprehend what we hear and prompts us to respond." (3)

How are we to Worship?

We have now explored why we should have a theology of worship, and what the focus of our worship should be. Now we get to more pragmatic aspects of a Theology of Worship; i.e. HOW are we to worship.

Many will make the claim that proper worship only contains hymns, or all services must progress in a strict and regulated order. Some believe that the sacraments (known to us as ordinances) are to be offered each week; some believe that once per quarter is sufficient. This is often confusing the means with the end. As we stated in the above, worship is to have Christ as its center, being inherently Trinitarian in nature. But how do we go about ensuring that we are maintaining our focus? This section of the document will examine the area of methods in more detail.

First and foremost, our worship methods must be Biblical. This should go without saying, but in a day and age when anything goes, we must reiterate this fact.

What exactly does this mean?

Scripture Reading

Since the Bible is God’s revelation of Himself to the world, including His plan of redemption in His Son, Jesus Christ; our worship should contain prominent readings from Scripture. There should be an opening Scripture reading in our services, as well as sermons based upon the Word of God, followed by a closing reading that prepares the people to go into the world, witnessing to the lost and bringing the good news of the Gospel to all. The passages selected should illustrate God’s character, and actions.

Singing

The songs which are sung should likewise focus on God’s character, being, and actions. Songs which contain, or are written from Scripture are the best for expressing this properly. Songs which focus on feelings, or are centered on the creature should be the minority of the songs which the church sings. Feelings are expressed within the Bible, and there is nothing incorrect about them, however when the church comes together to worship God, our singing should be focused on the object of our worship.

Songs, prayers and sermons should be theologically rich, enabling the congregation to experience the beauty and depth of our faith. Hymns, both modern and ancient, should comprise a good portion of the singing. All songs should be selected carefully, ensuring that proper focus, and biblical truths are expressed.
Some thoughts regarding our worship music (4):

Music is a gift of God and part of the created order. From its inception, "when the morning stars sang together and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy" (Job 38:7), to its consummation, when "every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them" will sing to the Lamb on the throne (Rev. 5:13), creation is musical.

Of all the musical instruments that may be employed in the praise of God, the human voice has priority. Other instruments are to be used primarily in the service of the singing of God's people. The Christian church sings.

Singing is a ministry that belongs to all the people of God. The congregation is always the primary choir. The role of professional or volunteer choirs and musicians is to aid the whole people of God in their worship. While anthems or vocal and instrumental solos may be offered, they do not have to be. Congregational singing, however, is essential. While it is possible to be actively engaged in worship and in prayer while listening to an anthem or solo, a diet of worship which does not regularly include ample opportunity for all the members of the congregation to join in song will be impoverished worship, and the life of the church and the faith of its people will suffer.

Of all the art forms that may be employed in worship, singing is especially corporate. Different voices, different instruments, different parts are blended to offer a single, living, and unified work of beauty. John Calvin recognized the power of congregational singing and unison prayer in helping the church express and experience the unity of the body of Christ. Asserting that the human tongue was especially created to proclaim the praise of God, both through singing and speaking, he noted that "the chief use of the tongue is in public prayers, which are offered in the assembly of the believers, by which it comes about that with one common voice, and as it were, with the same mouth, we all glorify God together, worshiping him with one spirit and the same faith."(5)

The church's ministry of song is for the glory of God. The principal direction of congregational singing is to the Lord (Ps. 96:1). Music is made first of all to the Lord and only secondarily to each other. Music should communicate and express a sense of awe and wonder in the presence of God; it should lead our thoughts toward God rather than toward ourselves. God can be glorified by beautiful sounds and spirits may be uplifted by a pleasing melody, but it is primarily the joining of the tune to a text that gives meaning to Christians' songs. Not only should both text and tune glorify God and be consistent with each other, but the tune must serve the text. Music is always the servant of the Word. (6)

The church's ministry of song is for the edification of God's people. Through congregational singing Christian faith is not only expressed; to a very real degree it is formed. Since people tend to remember the theology they sing more than the theology that is preached. A congregation's repertoire of hymnody is often of critical importance in shaping the faith of its people. Here again, it is the meaning of the text that is of primary importance. It is through the sense of the words that God s people learn of the nature and character of God and of the Christian life.

Through congregational song God's people learn their language about God; God's people learn how to speak with God. Songs of worship shape faith. It is, therefore, very important that a congregation have a rich "vocabulary of praise." Simple, repetitive music such as praise choruses are very appropriate in worship and can be very effective in moving individuals to prayer and to praise. But it is also important for the congregation to know some of the great hymns of faith in order to have a sense that the Christian faith is both relevant and enduring, and to be enriched by the faith of the "great cloud of witnesses." Hymns, both ancient and modern, which stretch minds, increase vocabulary, rehearse the biblical story, and teach of the nature and the mighty acts of God are essential for the congregation to growth in faith.

The emotional power of music, rightly employed, is a vital and moving aid to worship. Music, quite apart from an associated text, is capable of evoking powerful emotions. Hearts are stirred and feet set to tapping by a rousing Sousa march, while another melody may move people to tears. It is, therefore, important that the emotional mood of a particular tune be commensurate with the sense of the text. It is also important that the emotional power of music in worship be evocative rather than manipulative, honest rather than manufactured, and that the congregation’s singing allow for the full range of emotions in worship.

With the above in mind, here are some questions we should ask ourselves as we prepare songs for worship each week are (4):

* What theology is expressed in our congregational singing? Is it biblical? Is the range of what we sing representative of the "whole counsel of God?" What do our songs and hymns say or imply about the sovereignty and grace of God? About the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ? About the work of the Holy Spirit, the nature and mission of the church, the ordinances, and the Christian life?

* Is there sufficient pastoral breadth in our music ministry? Do we sing songs that are appropriate to the many and variable life situations in which believers find themselves? Does our congregational singing include the many moods and types of prayer, including praise, thanksgiving, confession, lament, intercession, and dedication? A congregation which sings only "upbeat" praise choruses and hymns, for example, will have a diminished and restricted understanding of prayer.

* Is there sufficient historical, cultural, and generational breadth? Does our congregational singing express belief in the communion of saints? Are all the saints present encouraged to join in singing, and do our songs also express our belief that we sing with saints throughout the ages and around the world? Do the hymns and songs include contributions from other cultures, languages, and eras? Are songs included which allow for the full participation of children? For those beginning the journey of faith as well as for more mature Christians?

* Are we providing our congregation with a sufficient vocabulary of praise? Marva Dawn suggests that a hymn text "is great in proportion to what we can learn from it."(7) What do we learn about God and the Christian faith from what we sing?

* Does the music serve the text? "A tune is excellent only as it is subservient to the words, undergirds the thought, and captures the dominant mood."(8) Does the tune help us to recall the words by bringing forward appropriate features of the text, or does the tune call attention to itself and contradict or stand in the way of the words?

* Does our music encourage corporate worship? Does the music encourage congregational singing or is it designed for the solo artist or does it come across as entertainment? Are soloists and choir effectively leading and supporting the congregation in its worship or are they merely displaying their virtuosity? Do the hymns and choruses we sing express the faith of the gathered community or do they tend toward individual and private expressions of faith?

* Is the music appropriate to the ability of the congregation? Do our musical selections respect the past practice of congregation? Do we include enough familiar hymns?

* Do the hymns and choruses we sing assume and encourage growth in discipleship? Is continuing congregational education in music and worship a part of our ministry? Do we take the time and effort to learn new hymns and challenging hymns? Worship is a "living sacrifice," and therefore our gifts to God should represent some cost to us. Learning more difficult music and coming to understand and appreciate richer theology may be difficult work, but it can also be a source of spiritual renewal and growth.

Preaching

Preaching should be predominately expository in nature, with the pastor working through books of the Bible. Topical preaching has its place and fills a portion of the preaching schedule; however the preaching of a book in an expository manner provides the congregation with the richest food upon which to feast.

The following is adapted from an article by Mark Bullmore (9):

What is expositional preaching? A sermon is expositional if its content and intent are controlled by the content and intent of a particular passage of Scripture. The preacher says what the passage says, and he intends for his sermon to accomplish in his listeners exactly what God is seeking to accomplish through the chosen passage of his Word… The biblical case for expositional preaching starts with the connection between the gift the ascended Christ has given to the church in pastor-teachers (Eph 4:11) and the biblical injunction for pastors-teachers to "preach the word" (2 Tim 4:2). Those who preach should preach their Bibles… In the pulpit, [this] will look like the picture we see in Nehemiah 8:8: "They read from the book . . . clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading." God has both purposed and promised to use this kind of preaching to accomplish one of his great aims—the gathering and building up of his people.

Praying

The pastor should also ensure that his prayers, whether extemporaneous or written, are God-honoring, God-focused and Biblically correct. Likewise, all leaders involved in the prayer life of the corporate body should ensure that they have active and rich private prayer lives; this will flow over into their corporate prayers.

Recitation of Creeds

Christianity is creedal. One of the earliest creeds is found in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8:

“I told you the most important part of the message exactly as it was told to me. That part is: Christ died for our sins, as the Scriptures say. He was buried, and three days later he was raised to life, as the Scriptures say. Christ appeared to Peter, then to the twelve. After this, he appeared to more than five hundred other followers. Most of them are still alive, but some have died. He also appeared to James, and then to all of the apostles. Finally, he appeared to me, even though I am like someone who was born at the wrong time”

This creed states all of the pertinent aspects of the churches faith – Jesus Christ was crucified for our sins, buried and three days later He was raised. Likewise, the Apostle’s Creed, the Athanasius Creed, the Nicene Creed all state the great truths of our faith in a succinct and memorable manner. Therefore, Covenant Fellowship shall undertake to recite from the creeds weekly, instilling in our congregation an understanding of the great truths in such a manner as the youngest member to the elder statesmen/women of the church will have an understanding of our foundations.

Ordinances

The ordinance of the Lord’s Supper will be observed regularly within the worship services of Covenant Fellowship. During this time, emphasis will be placed upon the covenantal aspect of our relationship with God the Father, through God the Son. The congregation should be reminded that only those who are within the Body of Christ and not living in sin are to partake. While the communion at Covenant Fellowship is not closed, we are duty-bound to remind and exhort those members who are in rebellion against God, and those outside the Body of Christ that this is a sacred celebration, to be enjoyed only by the faithful.

The ordinance of baptism must be explained and offered to any who have come to Christ. The ordinance should be offered at the first practical time possible. Before any are baptized at Covenant Fellowship, the elders will conduct an interview with the person(s) being baptized to ensure their proper understanding of the significance of the ordinance.

All aspects of our worship should be “a lavish outpouring of our love and praise to our God who has created and redeemed us.” (1) With that in mind, all of our worship should be excellent. The songs we sing, the sermons we preach, the prayers we offer should all be done to the best of our ability. Our offering should be the firstfruits of our lives, not the leftovers from a busy week.

Conclusion

Covenant Fellowship services will be a lavish outpouring of excellent worship to our triune God, involving prayers, preaching, Scripture reading, and recitation of creeds, singing and the practice of the ordinances of the church. All of these will be done to the Glory of God, centering on the finished work of our Savior Jesus Christ who bought us.

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Footnotes:

1. Romans 11:36 - For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

Jude 24, 25 - Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. (ESV)

2. Colossians 1:15-20 - He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. (ESV)

3. The Worship Sourcebook – published by the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship

4. Adapted from the Commission on Worship, Reformed Church in America, 1996

5. John Calvin, The Institutes of the Christian Religion, III. 20, #31.

6. Howard Hageman, "Can Music Be Reformed?" Reformed Review, 1960.

7. Marva Dawn, Reaching Out without Dumbing Down: A Theology of Worship for the Turn-of-the-Century Culture (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995), p. 201.

8. Austin Lovelace and William C. Rice, Music and Worship in the Church (Nashville: Abingdon, 1976), p. 20.

9 Marks website May/June 2007 9Marks


Covenant Fellowship
A Theology of Worship
May 2007

Evangelism in the Small Church

I will be the first to admit that our church is somewhat eclectic, so the following post may not fit all churches, but I think some of the principles are valid for any church.

When we started our church, we planted it in a part of town that is less than desirable, i.e. between a bar and a Mexican restaurant. The bar was a well-known drug emporium (it has since changed owners and has cleaned up, but it is still a bar).

We felt led to bring a church into this area that was focused on people that had 'fallen through the cracks' in the system; aka people habitually out of work, with low skill sets, and/or drug/prison issues. Now, I will state clearly that not all or even the majority of our people are folks that fit that category, however we do have our share.

This presented us with an issue: How could a small group with only a few mature Christians reach a community that was hurting with the good news of the Gospel? After all, many would say that you need a 'program' for Evangelism, and this requires money (we have very little), and a team (we had a small group). We prayed about this and discussed it, looking into the Bible for our model as opposed to some of the more tried and true modern methods.

I am not saying that these modern methods are wrong, or even unBiblical, but some of them do tend to give the impression that you need more than you actually do to accomplish evangelism. So what did we find?

First and foremost -- we had to evangelize our church! I pastor a church in the Bible Belt, and you would be surprised (if not from here) at the number of unsaved people INSIDE churches -- having attended church their entire life, there are some people who cannot even present the Gospel! So, we started by teaching our folks the full Gospel, (not leaving out the more painful parts, such as God's wrath is upon us until we are drawn to Christ), and then teaching that it is EVERY Christian's responsibility to share their faith.

We created a church of evangelists -- we no longer needed a big team, or money to start a program -- people naturally shared their faith, and therefore we have a church that is actively involved in the community as a whole, not in sporadic programs, or with a 'special' evangelistic team.

Our little church, as Daniel who stops by here periodically will attest, is pretty active in outreach, I believe that we are active beyond our size limitations. This is not something I can toot my horn about, it is solely the providence and grace of God that has put us in this position, by first placing in our hearts the desire to plant the church in this location, and secondly, by gently and patiently guiding us to evangelize our church.

A small warning -- you will be greeted with a variety of attitudes when you attempt to teach the church how to share the gospel -- everything from eagerness to downright derision that you would be arrogant enough to think that "I" need to be taught the Gospel. Be prepared to gently, but firmly, stay the course.

Everyone in your church should be able to share the full gospel as naturally as if they were discussing the weather! I am not discussing the new guy who just walked in last week, but your core should be Gospel-preaching, Gospel-living, Gospel-sharing folks. A small church cannot have pew-warmers.

I'm Back

I apologize for being gone for a bit -- I was on vacation visiting family, and just arrived home!

My next post may be about evangelism from a small church pastor perspective. I have written about this before, but thought I would revisit it.