One thing that our country/churches are in great need of are Godly leaders. I am blown away of how few of the men and women who sit in our congreagations are more like spiritual sponges who soak it all up but never give anything back. Jesus came to serve, not to be served and if we are going to be like Him then we need to start serving. Christ has called all of His children to follow Him and thus we are to model the example that He set for us. There is no denying the strategy that Jesus used to help reach the masses.
Christ invested in the lives of 12 men to change the world. Men were His method to winning the world to God. He called His followers to "follow Him" and He would make them "fishers of men." He stayed with them and allowed them to see Him in action along with speaking truth into their lives. Although they may not have understood it all at the time, eventually, it would all come to be revealed.
I believe that if we are going to impact this world for Christ, then we must model his strategy. We must invest in the lives of a few while ministering to the masses. By investing in a few, we are seeking to develop leaders so they inturn can go and invest in others to become leaders all the while they are ministering to people. Jesus implemented the best church growth strategy while he was here on earth. He invested in a few to make them true disciples so that they could go out and make disciples. It is a snowball effect!
I am in the beginning stages of developing a youth leadership team made up of 15 students (10th-12th grade) to help in planning out the year's activites and lead out in our student ministry. The goal behind this team is to develop their leadership skills and to invest in their lives as Jesus did His 12 disciples. We are walking through Robert E. Coleman's book, "The Master Plan of Evangelism" to help them understand the strategy of Christ in making disciples. My prayer is that these students will grow deeper in their love relationship with the Lord and see the need for investing in the lives of other people. I believe, that this is the best approach of developing a deep rooted youth group.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Grace
Over the past year and a half, God has really been showing me just how Amazing His Grace truly is. I have found that many people today are blinded from the truth of God's grace and what it means to be saved by grace.
Often, I run across people who feel that the way to eternal life is through good works and though many believers do not believe this (because we know that it is only through Christ, John 14:6) they often live their lives as though we have to keep ourselves "saved" by good works. This mindset will keep a person chained up and living under condmnation because we will never be able to do enough. It is as though we are constantly running on a spirtual treadmill. This is what living under the Old Testament Law does to people. Let me remind you that Jesus came to fullfill the Law on our behalf because we will never be able to keep it ourselves. Living this way focuses on our behavior rather than our position in Christ. When we are "in Christ," (have been born again) we are in right standing with God. Our relationship/position is not determined on our behavior/works but rather on the finished work of Christ! Because of our position we are seen as pure, holy, and righteous sons of God.
The point is that we don't practice "correct behavior" in order to earn God's approval, but it happens spontaneously as a result of us falling more in love with Jesus and becoming more and more aware of how wonderfully we have been saved. (Merwe, Andre van der. Grace: The Forbidden Gospel. 195). This means that our lives will be changed and we will be fruit producers because of our love for the King, not because we are trying ourselves to please God, but because He is already pleased with us because of Jesus' finished work!
Often, I run across people who feel that the way to eternal life is through good works and though many believers do not believe this (because we know that it is only through Christ, John 14:6) they often live their lives as though we have to keep ourselves "saved" by good works. This mindset will keep a person chained up and living under condmnation because we will never be able to do enough. It is as though we are constantly running on a spirtual treadmill. This is what living under the Old Testament Law does to people. Let me remind you that Jesus came to fullfill the Law on our behalf because we will never be able to keep it ourselves. Living this way focuses on our behavior rather than our position in Christ. When we are "in Christ," (have been born again) we are in right standing with God. Our relationship/position is not determined on our behavior/works but rather on the finished work of Christ! Because of our position we are seen as pure, holy, and righteous sons of God.
The point is that we don't practice "correct behavior" in order to earn God's approval, but it happens spontaneously as a result of us falling more in love with Jesus and becoming more and more aware of how wonderfully we have been saved. (Merwe, Andre van der. Grace: The Forbidden Gospel. 195). This means that our lives will be changed and we will be fruit producers because of our love for the King, not because we are trying ourselves to please God, but because He is already pleased with us because of Jesus' finished work!
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
I Am Not Sure I Get All This...
I have decided to start blogging about my family and ministry to allow people to see the other side of my life. Often the people who are sitting in my church see one side but through this blog, hopefully I will be able to allow people to get a glimpse of what's going on in my life and ministry. I am not sure how this will pan out so I will give it a shot!
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