Good quotes on trusting God’s plans and commands

“If It were possible for me to alter any part of God’s plan, I could only spoil it” John Newton

“If God’s Word told me to eat dung on the streets, I not only would do it but know that it was good for me.” Martin Luther

Do few things well as a pastor

As a pastor, do a few things well in discipling people. Here are three things Col Marshall sugggests:

1. Ministry of the Pew
2. 1-1 Bible reading
3. Training leaders of disciple-making small groups

Get Wisdom, Give Wisdom

We are flooded with words about how we are to live life and what we are supposed to value. We go to the book of James this morning to get clarifying words of wisdom in a confused world of advice and counsel that is foolish.

James the author:

1. James – the half-brother of Jesus the Messiah.
2. A slave of God
3. A slave of the Lord Jesus Christ

James’ audience:

1. The 12 tribes in the Dispersion
2. Greetings

James’ main point of the letter is summarized in 3:13-18.

There are 3 sources of earthly wisdom – Satan/demons, the world (other people and philosophies and ideas espoused by them) and yourself (James 1:13-14).

We are bombarded and attacked on all three fronts regularly, so much so that we don’t even realize it. We are constantly pushed into an earthly mold called, “wisdom” that pulls us apart from God and his people. What’s worse, is not only that we adopt earthly wisdom, but that we continue to live by it calling it actual wisdom. This is tragic and dangerous and many live and die on this damning and destructive path.

James’ message: Be wise as a covenant community in life until the Lord returns.

We’ll look at 4 wise words from James and 2 reasons to get and give wisdom to others.

Wise word 1: Trials are always good for you even though they feel bad for you (world: trials are bad so avoid them and minimize them at all costs)

1. They build endurance and character (1.2-4)
2. It provides an opportunity to receive wisdom from God (1.5-8)
3. It keeps us humble and accurate in perspective (1.9-12)
4. It points out our sin which is the worse thing in the world about us (1:13-15)
5. It gives us an opportunity to see the goodness of God because we don’t always understand what is truly good (1:16-18)

Wise word 2: Not everyone who says he’s a Christian actually is one. Actions justify or nullify words (world: don’t question what anyone else believes in their heart because you don’t know them, their heart, or their history – and it’s disrespectful)

1. The point of hearing/reading God’s Word is doing it (1.19-27)
2. True trust/faith in Jesus necessarily and inevitably has actions (2.14-26)
3. Faith/trust is demonstrably wise (3.13-18)

Wise word 3: Covenant Community takes sin-killing, one-another-restoring work (world: there’s more intimacy and happy relationships when you choose who, when, and for how long – the ultimate value is your immediate happiness as best you can conceive it at the current moment)

1. Favoritism (2.1-13)
2. Words (3.1-12; 4.11-12; 5:12)
3. Worldliness (4.1-10)
4. Restoration (5:19-20)

Wise word 4: Plan, invest, and live with the end always in mind (world: live for the moment and enjoy it. Just do it. Work hard and you’ll earn what you work for. Enjoy as much as you can now. Don’t think about death. Deny a future judgment or Jesus existence. Don’t ask God or other for stuff, help yourself).

1. You don’t know what tomorrow holds but you often act like you do (4.13-17)
2. Invest in heaven (5.1-6)
3. Wait for the Lord (5.7-11)
4. Pray and live expectantly (5.12-20)

So James wants to give us wisdom. So what’s God’s main message to us from this book and from verse 1? Get and give God’s wisdom to God’s people. That is what James does in this book and in this text we find 2 reasons why we need to be about the same task and privilege.

Reason 1: Because we are slaves of God

• We are slaves
  • Slave – a person bound in servitude to another human being as an instrument of labor; one who is no longer free and has no rights. ^[1]
  • God the Father is our master – God in James is the God who gives wisdom (1:5; 3:17), he fulfills his promise of giving the crown of life to the ones who endure trials (1:12), he doesn’t tempt anyone 1:13 because he himself is unable to be tempted to evil. He is utterly holy. He is the source and giver of every good gift and every good act of giving. He speaks (1:18). He created and will re-create (1:18). He has a righteous standard (1:20). He sees our religious actions and the heart and consistency behind those actions (1:27). He is Father (1:27). He chose the poor to be rich in faith (2:5). He credits some as righteous and calls them friends (2:23). He is praiseworthy (3:10) and his image is borne by humanity he created (3:9). He is opposed to the world in its adulterous mindset (4:4). He resists the proud and give (4:6). He can be submitted to in a relationship with humans (4:7). He can have sinners draw near to him and they can distance themselves from him (4:8). He is lawgiver and judge (4:12) and his judgment is imminent (5:9). His sovereign will is always effective, even over against our plans (4:16). He hears the cries of the oppressed (5:4). He allows his name to be borne by others (5:10). He is very compassionate and merciful (5:11).
  • The Lord Jesus Christ is our Master
    • Jesus – He is the one trusted in 2:1. He is glorious (2:1). He is Lord (1:1; 2:1). He is coming again and it is near (5:8). When he comes, he will come to judge (5:9). In his name people suffer (5:10). It is in his name and person people pray and through him people are healed (5:14-15).
    • Lord – He is Lord over his church.  He has elders that he gives to churches (5:14) but he is head and Lord of the church. He is Lord over every Christian personally (1:1). He is Lord over all people and creation (Philippians 2:9-11). His Lordship means that he has all authority (Matt 28:18), he is always present and near those he rules over (28:20), and he is in absolute control (4:16; Col 1:17; Hebrews 1:3).
    • Messiah – This is Messiah. Jesus is the messiah, the one who was to come as king, prophet, and priest, to bring salvation to his people. In Matthew’s words, he is to save his people from their sins (Matt 1:21). He is the king of Israel, the promised one (Matt 1:1-18), who would have all authority (Matt 28:18).
    • Preach Christ crucified and call people to repentance and trust in Christ.
    • The Triune God is our one master – James 2:19 (cf. Deut. 6:4; Exodus 20:2; John 10:30).
    • Baptist Catechism:
      • Are there more gods than one?
      • There is only one living and true God.
      • How many persons are there in the Godhead?
      • There are three persons in the Godhead: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one God, the same in essence, equal in power and glory.

Application:

1. The goal is glad obedience, ILLUSTRATION – 2 Sam 23:13-17.
2. The key to consistently living out the slavery that is ours is the Lord and Master we serve. Do we know him? Do we see him? Do we love him? In staring at him, service becomes a joy.
3. NON-CHRISTIAN (taken from Tim Keller’s “Deconstructing Defeater Beliefs) – In Christianity the Bible and the church dictate everything that a Christian must believe, feel, and do. Christians are not encouraged to make their own moral decisions, or to think out their beliefs or patterns of life for r themselves. In a fiercely pluralistic society there are too many options, too many cultures, too many personality differences for this approach. We must be free to choose for ourselves how to live – this is the only truly authentic life. We should only feel guilty if we are not being true to ourselves – to our own chosen beliefs and practices and values and vision for life.
   1. Individual creation of truth removes moral outrage. Aren’t there any people in the world who are doing things you believer are wrong that they should stop doing no matter what they believe inside about right and wrong? Then you do believe that there is some kind of moral obligation that people should abide by and which stands in judgment over their internal choices and convictions. So what is wrong with Christians doing that?
   2. No one is really free anyway. We all have to live for something, and whatever our ultimate meaning in life is (whether approval, achievement, a love relationship, our work)  it is basically our ‘lord’ and master. Everyone is ultimately in a spiritual straightjacket. Even the most independent people are dependent on their independence and so can’t commit. Christianity gives you a lord and master who forgives you and dies for you.

Reason 2: Because we are God’s people committed to his people

• The twelve tribes are the Jewish believers in Christ.
• Dispersion is due to the persecution in the early church (Acts 7-8).
  • It’s historical significance
  • It’s current significance for the church with Peter
  • James is doing what Jesus taught, greeting and welcoming other brothers as Christian family on the same team. We spoke about this from Matthew 18 a few weeks back but listen to Mark’s account (chapter 9):

³⁶ Then He took a child, had him stand among them, and taking him in His arms, He said to them, ³⁷ “Whoever welcomes one little child such as this in My name welcomes Me. And whoever welcomes Me does not welcome Me, but Him who sent Me.”  ³⁸ John said to Him, “Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in Your name, and we tried to stop him because he wasn’t following us.”

³⁹ “Don’t stop him,” said Jesus, “because there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name who can soon afterward speak evil of Me. ⁴⁰ For whoever is not against us is for us. ⁴¹ And whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of My name, since you belong to the Messiah—I assure you: He will never lose his reward.

• The twelve tribes are a family from one man, and they were to live like a family. Jesus fulfills this family (Matt 2:15) and we are grafted in through our union with Jesus the Messiah.

Application:

• Renew your identity as family with God’s people
• Learn from your family the way a fiancée getting prepared for marriage would learn from other married couples.
• Give wisdom to your family from your lessons learned, even your sins – Psalm 51:10-13.

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^[1] Youngblood, R. F., Bruce, F. F., Harrison, R. K., & Thomas Nelson Publishers. (1995). Nelson’s new illustrated Bible dictionary. Nashville: T. Nelson.

Preachers development plan at CrossView while I preach through the book of James

Before Sunday:

1. Meditate on text and read it several times (at least 10 times and check another translation or two)
2. Outline the text as if you were preaching it
3. Read commentary on the passage
4. Rework your outline after reading the commentary and thinking further and send it to me before Saturday, the day before I preach it.

After Sunday

1. Review sermon and…
2. Discuss reasoning from text to sermon on Sunday after lunch at my place

A response to someone who says church membership is not necessary but a good idea

One of my facebook friends responded to a recent blog post advising members and pastors how to approach regular attenders of your church who are not members. Here’s what she wrote:

Three things stand out:

1) “For the person who is not convinced a matter is biblical, I’ll usually ask them to consider Matthew 18 and 1 Corinthians 5.” I really don’t see how those two chapters battle the argument “it’s not in the Bible,” because there is no flat-out command anywhere in Scripture for church membership. Only two sacraments were ever mandated for the New Testament church – baptism and communion. I can see where he can twist these verses to apply to his point, but at best, these passages were taken completely out of context with a little eisegesis thrown in.

2) “Church membership is more like citizenship, which is why Jesus gave the apostolic local church the keys of the kingdom.” The local church may hold the keys of the kingdom, but the church does not have the authority to create its own set of legalistic rules and condemn anyone who doesn’t abide by their man-made mandates. This includes the necessity of membership, because lacking a direct command, this issue is a gray matter best left between the individual and God. If there IS a verse that requires church membership, then there wouldn’t be this whole debate about it.

3) “He should stop “borrowing” the [local] church’s public sign of the Lord’s Supper. It was like grabbing a team jersey when no one is looking and wearing it, even though he wasn’t an official member of a team.” A believer IS an official member of THE TEAM. It doesn’t matter which church he goes to – HE IS STILL A MEMBER OF THE BODY OF CHRIST. No single local church owns the exclusive rights to communion or baptism!

All this to say, I don’t have anything against church membership. I believe it is a good IDEA for the many reasons the author outlines. However, I do not believe the author did a very good job defending his point against the 5 different reasons he listed for not joining a church. He certainly didn’t defend it well enough to justify his final subpoint where he states “I encouraged a professing Christian who had not joined any church in a decade to stop receiving the Lord’s Supper.” The author sounds like he is thoroughly enamored with the church as a system – not as a body of believers. His poor delivery makes his article reek of legalism and haughty Christian elitism. “Judge not, that ye be not judged.”

I will respond to her directly here. Though I strongly disagree with the points made and will respond to it here, I’m grateful for someone thinking and articulating why they disagree with certain ideas. Christians should be thoughtful and push back where they disagree to increase understanding.

(1) He doesn’t argue explicitly why Matthew 18 and 1 Corinthians 5 necessitate church membership. That’s not the main point of the article. It would be eisegesis if he was reading into the text. But you have not read his argument to see whether it is in fact eisegsis or not. That accusation is premature at best. You can read my reasoning here and see if I’m eisegeting. I argue there that you must be formally committed to a church if you are going to obey those commands.

(2) There are debates about everything in the Bible, even things that are explicitly clear. In other words, debates about things doesn’t mean the Bible is unclear on those things. There are debates about the Trinity, Jesus being God, Jesus being man, justification by faith alone, the inerrancy of Scripture, whether women can be pastors, what is legitimate baptism, etc. I would argue for a position in each of these issues and tell others why they must agree with what I think the Bible says. But let’s not say it’s a gray area because there’s a debate or someone says, “it’s unclear.”

(3) In your third point above, do you mean “body of Christ” local or universal or both? I’m assuming you mean universal church because you state membership positively there but seemingly negative regarding the local church. Are you arguing that the author is saying that a local church owns the exclusive rights to baptism and the Lord’s Supper. He’s not. If you think that then you’ve misread him and assumed it. If you don’t think that then that rhetorical flourish is a caricature that is unhelpful to the discussion since it’s untrue.

(4) Legalism and elitism are bold charges that are fitting at times. Then you quote Jesus from Matthew 7, “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” That verse is often misused. Are you saying that he is judging and shouldn’t be? Are you saying it’s never right to judge? And is charging someone as an elitist or legalist judging? To be clear, I think you and others have a right and responsibility to confront error and legalism and elitism. I wouldn’t necessarily call it judging in the way Christ forbids in Matthew 7. I just found it a bit ironic that you called the author that and then closed with a call to not judge.

(5) There are key questions I think you need to answer to move this discussion forward: What do you think it means to hold the keys to the kingdom? What do you think a local church is and why? What are the obligations, if any, on those who regularly attend a local church gathering?

I hope this is helpful and that understanding is increasing.

What to say to Non-Committal Church Attenders

Jonathan Leeman has sound advice. He helps you think about how well you know the person, why one should join a church, and then responding to 5 different reasons people give for not joining a church (I’m committed elsewhere, I’ve been burned in the past, I don’t trust the leadership, I don’t agree with the statement of faith, it’s not in the bible).

The article has much more. Read the whole thing.

Trellis and the Vine Application – Move every member to maturity

Plan how to move every member to the right – The “right” is not political but in terms of the illustration above. The “right” is maturity in Christ in terms of character, convictions regarding Scripture’s teachings, and competency to serve others with the truth of Christ in the Spirit’s power. I have put all the names of the members on a gospel growth chart and identified where they are on the chart. I have not come up with a plan for each member yet. I need to clearly state the next steps for me as a pastor to move each member to the right.

We have 29 members in our church right now. We have a handful considering membership and others we’re sharing the gospel with and pursuing. Here is a “Gospel Growth Grid” (word doc) to help make sure every member has a personal pastor, is located on the grid, and has a suggested move to encourage the person to move to the right in Christian maturity.

Discussion on Contemporary Challenges in the Local Church with Dever, Lawrence and one other dude

I found this panel discussion helpful.

Subjects discussed: mission of the church, contextualization, culture, ministry, pastoral ministry, ecclesiology.

Implementation of Trellis and the Vine Insights for CrossView Church LA (part 1)

Aim: To develop concrete plans for ministry training, refine these through feedback and identify potential blockages to implementing these plans.

1. Seven ways to Change a Culture

1. Clear your schedule.
2. Set the agenda on Sunday – For us this means preaching in a way that emphasizes how the text preaches equips people to make disciples. It also means calling the church to maximize it’s 5 minute greet time and lunch time in listening well to others and speaking God’s Word prayerfully to each other. The gathering leader has to exhort the congregation to this end as he leads the gathering. We’ll need members to read “The Ministry of the Pew” and maybe watch the video of our Sunday Seminar on the topic.
3. Plan how to move every member to the right – I have put all the names of the members on a gospel growth chart and identified where they are on the chart. I have not come up with a plan for each member yet. I need to clearly state the next steps for me as a pastor to move each member to the right.
4. Start your first Vine-work training team. I need to identify the 10 people I will devote to training for the next 10 weeks. I have 19 I want to train but that is too many and will not help the quality of the training, attention, coaching, and feedback given to each one trained. So I’ll just do 10 on Sundays, train my CMT separately using our Friday CMT meetings,  and let these train others as we set up maintenance trainers meetings monthly. Is it to much to start right now with 2 training teams? Maybe. I may need to rethink this and discuss it with the other CMT leaders.
5. Treat every newcomer like gold. This is a big weakness for our church and for me. I had a member take this up but because I did not train that member well and deeply and have not set up a follow-up and feedback meeting with him, it has deteriorated and newcomers are not always treated like gold.
6. Put small groups on hold; start more Vine-work teams. Or do maintenance with current groups while starting/training new teams. Our CMTs are vine-work teams and those who lead it are familiar with the vine-working mentality. I want to train all those in the DB team but have to trust and leave that to Jun though I will help train the co-leaders and elders in that group. From this training hopefully we can start another CMT in North Hollywood, but we’ll see.
7. Rinse and repeat.

2. Take time to train

1. See the overworked cycle and see your perpetuation of it.
2. See training as an investment and not an expense. I often forget the investment aspect and minimize the cost of not training men well. I see my failure in this. I need to train some really well, like my CMT and the pastors’ training team. I’ll keep those circles small and focus on training them well. I can’t afford to wast these next 6 months with some members almost (or already) ready to make disciples waiting for me to drag my feet and very vaguely equip them for disciple-making ministry by using God’s Word.
3. What do I fear will not get done if I develop a training style of leadership? My big fears is for the preaching ministry to suffer. I also fear that the members I’m not training and focusing on will feel neglected or devalued.
4. Are there people in the church who could be co-workers and lift the load if trained and delegated? Yes! Praise the Lord Jesus that this is so.
   
5. Remember… ministry training is a way of thinking about pastoral ministry, not another program.

3. Do a few things really well

1. Sunday preaching
2. Keep and increase praying alone, praying with my wife, and praying with my teams for our church and gospel priority area.
3. Coaching, feedback, and supporting current leaders
4. Pastor’s training team of vine-workers – I’ll need to train people to minister to CrossView Church and also for some to focus on USC and Shatto. I’m not sure how all of this is going to fit together yet, but I know that my neglect or low priority on USC needs to change. I’m not sure how yet. But however I configure those priorities, we must train leaders to serve every member and our gospel priority areas well.
5. Shatto CMT – I need to make sure we’re sharing life, I’m pastoring them well, I’m training other leaders, and that we’re engaging our gospel priority area together.
6. Encourage and spur men (husbands and dads) to read/pray with their wives and kids more regularly. We have 6 other married couples in our church. I don’t encourage most of them regularly and pray for them to this end.

Is 6 to many? If I have to drop one it would be #6 I think. It would be better to do 4 things well than 6 things not so well but only sort of on the way to what it should be.

4. Tools to get the job done

1. The Bible and bible-reading sheets for trainees to start bible reading with others.
2. Articles, readings, and other extra materials for the 10 week intensive training and the monthly vine-growers meeting that will follow. I may end up writing some stuff myself for the training phase and how to walk people through outreach, follow-up, and growth phases of the gospel growth process.
3. Other training courses or materials, maybe: The Course of Your Life; 6 Steps to Encouragement/Reading your Bible/Talking about Jesus; Two Ways to Live; Story-Formed Way; Growth Groups; CrossView Mission Team Training (based on and modified a little from Soma School).
4. Time to prep, run the course, and coach/debrief/feedback. Clear my schedule at line up priorities!

5. What needs to change?

1. What are the key things that need to change in the culture and program of your church? The CMTs need to really engage their gospel priority area and people. The members need to all engage non-Christians with other CrossViewers and Christians along the way whether or not they’re part of the CMT. Sunday gatherings need to be cleaned up with people prepared for the ministry of the pew and to treat visitors like gold. Our follow-up processes need to be clear and quicker. We need someone to head that up so things don’t fall through the cracks.
2. How do I need to change? My biggest change is following through with resolutions. I need to make sure I follow up on existing leaders and those given responsibility. I need to set aside a block of time for admin, follow up, and coaching others.
3. What will block me making these changes? What do I need to stop doing? What do I need to start doing? I need to stop spending so much time in my personal study and development and spend more time texting, calling, and following up on my leaders’ responsibilities and development. I need to stop trying to have all of these follow up conversations on Sunday. I need to start calling and scheduling calls for times during the week.  I need to find faithful brothers and sisters who need less follow up.
   
4. What are the 5 “next actions” for me to take when I get back to my church? (1) Run the Course of Your Life training course from January to March in 2012; (2) Appoint vine-workers to 121 readings and name someone to handle visitor care and follow up; (3) Follow up regularly on Jun’s DB CMT; (4) Train my current team in evangelism; (5) do shepherd calls for all the members.
   

Remember… a river doesn’t rise above its source.

Strategies to Keep from Falling: Practical Steps to Maintain Your Purity and Ministry

Randy Alcorn:

We are in battle—a battle far more fierce and strategic than any Alexander, Hannibal, or Napoleon ever fought. We must realize that no one prepares for a battle of which he is unaware, and no one wins a battle for which he doesn’t prepare.

As we hear of Christian leaders succumbing to immorality, we must not say merely, “There, but for the grace of God, I might have gone,” but rather, “There, but for the grace of God—and but for my alertness and diligence in the spiritual battle—I may yet go.”

Read the whole thing.