19 Things to Mull Over In Your Mind

1.  Jesus said, “I am the truth, the way and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him.” (John 14:6-7)

2.  It was Jesus’ claim to be God that got Him into such trouble with the religious leaders (Priests, Pharisees and Levites).

3.  God speaks to every believer, but He never speaks to any believer in any way that contradicts His Word.

4.  God works in our lives according to the Scriptures, not according to our imaginations.

5.  God requires perfection of us, but we are unable to achieve it for Him. He therefore provides our perfection through Christ. If we trust Him in Christ, we will not have to worry about our “works.” In direct proportion to our trust in His leadership, our works will “take care of themselves.”

6.  God never has, does not now and never will break His promise. His promises are clearly delineated in the Bible.

7.  God has a direction for your life that is in keeping with His word.

8.  God wants you to respond to the leadership of the Holy Spirit as He directs your daily life in accordance with His word.

9.  Commitment to God’s way for our lives is essential to experiencing Him.

10. Being in the center of God’s will is essential to experiencing Him. Anything that we do, think or say that is not in the “dead center” of God’s will is sin. He will not condemn us for it, but we will lose the joy and comfort of being in His will.

11. We do not determine God’s will by our experiences. Our experiences must conform to the Word of God or the results of them will be heresy. Experiences must be evaluated in the light of God’s Word. God will direct you in ways that are consistent with His Word.

12. Jesus is the only one worthy of our followship.

13.God’s will includes, but is not limited to: 1. Be joyful always. 2. Pray continually. 3. Give thanks in all circumstances. 4. Follow the Holy Spirit. 5. Study the prophets. 6. Test everything. 7. Hold to the good. 8. Avoid evil. 9. Sanctify (set apart) yourself for His works.

14. Being a servant of God means giving up one’s selfishness and dying daily for Him. Jesus is the potter, we are His clay to be molded in His hands according to His will.

15. God is not interested in our business for business’ sake. He wants everything we do to be for the ongoing and up-building of His work.

16. God’s church has three main purposes: 1) To worship and praise Him; 2) To edify (build up) one another; 3) To lead people to Christ.

17. God will use you to do His work. He will enter into a relationship with you. He will invite you to come to Him and to work for Him. He will speak to you through His word and through His Holy Spirit. He will see you through those times when you don’t understand what’s happening and when you tend to doubt Him. He will help you adjust your thinking to conform to His Word. He will help you experience Him more fully every day.

18. No matter how unable you think you are to follow and experience God, He can use you; starting where you are and advancing you to heights you may never have believed possible.

19. God is Holy. His ways are not our ways. We think we know how something should be done, but often God accomplishes His will in ways we never expect.

Pastors, equip your saints to do it right. That's your job!

Pastors have a great many responsibilities. Some of those are self-imposed. Some are imposed on him by his congregation. But there are some Scriptural responsibilities for pastors.

The literal meaning of the Greek word translated "pastor" (poimen) is shepherd. A shepherd is someone who herds, shears and cares for sheep. Congregations are people referred to by the Bible as sheep, in need of herding, shearing and caring. Those three words can practically be understood to mean, leading, correcting and loving.

Another, no less important job of the pastor is to equip members of the congregation for works of service.

The New Testament is clear that all of the members of the congregation are to be in service to their Lord. Every Christian is a minister. Their job is to carry out the ministries to which they are assigned or for which they volunteer.

Note that Christ did not call apostles, prophets, evangelists and pastor-teachers to do the ministry of the church. He gave them those gifts "...to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up." (Ephesians 4:12-12).

Whatever is done in the church should be for the purpose of building up the body of Christ,,,the church. Everything the church does should be done in an organized, excellent manner. There is no excuse for sloppiness in the church.

Church leaders should be trained to do their jobs. They should NOT be left to "make-it-up as they go along." They should be carefully taught to do their jobs in such a way that the church is built up. They should be taught in such a way that they do not bring dishonor to the church or to the Lord.

Take public prayer, for example. How to pray must be taught. The disciples, who walked with Jesus every day, had to be taught to pray. It did not come naturally to them and Jesus did not instruct them to just pray whatever they thought of or whatever was "on their hearts."

Public prayer is not a time to preach to people. It is not a time to philosophize. It is not a time to tell God what He already knows. Jesus taught that prayer should start with exalting God, move to submission to Him, proceed to petition, acknowledge His forgiveness of sin, and conclude with adoration and praise. Far too many people called on to pray don't do ANY of that. They just randomly ramble.

Bible study teachers should be taught to teach. They must be taught to look out for bad doctrine. They should be taught how to understand and teach the Bible in the context of the word used, the verse it's in, the chapter it's part of, the book it's in, which covenant it relates to and the Bible as a whole. They must be taught the difference between an opinion session and understanding what the Bible is really conveying.

All of that and much, much more is the responsibility of the pastor-shepherd. It is not that he must do it himself, it is that he must oversee its implementation.

Pastors; do your jobs! Teach your people how to do what needs to be done to build up (edify) your congregation as they exalt Christ.

Hebrews 11 - A Long One, but Worth the Read

I have never heard a preacher preach from this passage correctly. Never. Maybe some have, but I've never heard them.

The pastors I've heard invariably use chapter 1 as a definition of faith for us. It is not. Is that arrogant? Oh Well, it is nonetheless true.

The Bible is not stream of consciousness. It does not begin dealing with one subject and abruptly interrupt its train of thought for a few verses and then return to what it was talking about in earlier verses. It just doesn't. It might seem to, if you don’t know how to read above a second grade level, but it does not.

For instance, “and by his stripes we are healed” is used to “prove” that Jesus has already provided healing for whatever physical ailments we endure. That is just plain stupid reading of the Scripture. To draw that conclusion, we have to believe that God instructed Isaiah to write like this: Spiritual, spiritual, spiritual, spiritual, spiritual, physical, spiritual, spiritual. He did no such thing! God is consistent. He is the same, yesterday, today and forever. He is not willy-nilly.

Another example is Romans 8:12. Paul writes that we have an obligation but does not tell us what the obligation is! Actually he does, but not in verse 13, 14 or any other verse from there through chapter 11. What’s going on here? What happened to the obligation? The answer is that Roman 8:13- Romans 11:36 is parenthetical, explaining why we have the obligation that he reveals in Romans 12:1, that is, that we present our bodies as living sacrifices. Take out the parentheses and you have: “Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation to present our bodies as living sacrifices.”

When will we EVER learn to read Scripture? When will we ever learn to read what it is really about: God’s character; His love of His creation and His plan for its redemption.

Now let’s look at Hebrews chapter 11.

To begin with, it is written to Jews. The whole book is written to Jews.

Secondly, it is about Jesus. The whole book is about Jesus.

So let’s examine verse 1

11 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 

Paul was defining faith to his Jewish readers. He is about to explain to them in terms Jews would understand how the “elders,” that is, Jewish leaders of old trusted in God for salvation through a Savior, to whom they referred as Messiah.

What Paul was saying in verse 1 is: The faith I’m about to speak about is the substance of things hoped for (salvation), the evidence of things unseen. The Jews hoped for salvation and knew it would come through Messiah.

 ² For by it the elders obtained a good report.

That is, the elders gained favor with God by their faith in the substance of their salvation (something real) and the evidence of something they have not seen: Jesus.

³ Through the substance of what we hope for and the evidence of what we have not seen, we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

⁴ By the substance of what he hopped  for (salvation) and the evidence of what he did not see (Messiah),Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.

⁵ By the substance of what he hopped for (salvation) and the evidence of what he did not see (Messiah), Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

⁶ But without the substance of things hopped for and the evidence of thngs unseen, it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

⁷ By the substance of what he hopped for (salvation) and the evidence of what he did not see (Messiah), Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

⁸ By the substance of what he hopped for (salvation) and the evidence of what he did not see (Messiah), Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.

⁹ By the substance of what he hopped for (salvation) and the evidence of what he did not see (Messiah), he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:

¹⁰ For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

¹¹ Through the substance of what she hopped for (salvation) and the evidence of what she did not see (Messiah),  also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.

¹² Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.

¹³ These all died in the substance of what they hopped for and the evidence of what they did not see,, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

¹⁴ For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.

¹⁵ And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.

¹⁶ But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.

¹⁷ By the substance of what he hopped for (salvation) and the evidence of what he did not see (Messiah), when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,

¹⁸ Of whom it was said, that in Isaac shall thy seed be called:

¹⁹ Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.

²⁰ By the substance of what he hopped for (salvation) and the evidence of what he did not see (Messiah), Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.

²¹ By the substance of what he hopped  for (salvation) and the evidence of what he did not see (Messiah), Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshiped, leaning upon the top of his staff.

²² By the substance of what he hopped for (salvation) and the evidence of what he did not see (Messiah), Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones.

²³ By the substance of what he hopped for (salvation) and the evidence of what he did not see (Messiah),  Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment.

²⁴ By the substance of what he hopped for (salvation) and the evidence of what he did not see (Messiah), Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter;

²⁵ Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;

²⁶ Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.

²⁷ By the substance of what he hopped for (salvation) and the evidence of what he did not see (Messiah),  he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.

²⁸ Through the substance of what he hopped for (salvation) and the evidence of what he did not see (Messiah), he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them.

²⁹ By the substance of what he hopped for (salvation) and the evidence of what he did not see (Messiah), they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned.

³⁰ By the substance of what he hopped for (salvation) and the evidence of what he did not see (Messiah), the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days.

³¹ By the substance of what he hopped for (salvation) and the evidence of what he did not see (Messiah), the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.

³² And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:

³³ Who through the substance of what he hopped for (salvation) and the evidence of what he did not see (Messiah), subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions.

³⁴ Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.

³⁵ Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:

³⁶ And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:

³⁷ They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;

³⁸ (Of whom the world was not worthy) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

³⁹ And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:

⁴⁰ God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

Can you see it? The WHOLE CHAPTER IS ABOUT THE ELDERS’ FAITH IN THE COMING MESSIAH!

We treat it as though it was written about US! But it is NOT! We treat it as though it is written about “faith” in some ethereal God or faith in faith. It is NOT! It is written about JESUS, whom we saw in chapters 1-10 is greater than them all. He is greater than the High Priest, Melchizedek. He is greater than the greatest and greater than all of the greatest put together and about whose greatness we will continue to read about in chapters 12-13!

Which Half of the Great Commission Do You Believe In?

Matthew 28:18-20 is commonly known as the Great Commission. It reads: Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

The phrase, "make disciples" seems to be an instruction to introduce people to Christ with the idea of bringing them into the family of God. We don't do as good of a job of that as we should, but at least we do tell people how to be saved and we do baptize them when they profess Christ. At that point, they are babes in Christ. They are 1 Corinthian 3:1-3 Christians and have not yet gotten to the meat of followship.

Where we really fall short is at part 2 of the Commission: "...teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." Too often we baptize them, give them a short introductory course for new Christians and then leave them to find the meat of followship on their own. The frequent result is that new Christians fall into false doctrine as they try to figure out for themselves how to live as Christians. 

"Learning" is defined as a relatively permanent change of behavior as a result of internal and external stimuli. What that means in the case of Christian growth is that as we grow in Christ we learn how to change our behavior and our attitudes to conform to the image of Christ (Romans 12:2 "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.")

At one time many churches had what was called "Training Union" or "Church Training" or perhaps "Discipleship Training." Although they were often implemented in a boring and cumbersome way, their purpose was to teach Christians how to mature in Christ. Sadly, because they were instituted as "programs" and/or "organizations," they began to be seen as useless.

It is still true (since the Bible tells us to do so) that Christians need to be taught how to obey Christ. While preaching might inspire the desire for obedience, and Bible study might lay out what needs to be learned, the actual teaching of followship has been diminished or dropped altogether.

How does one reach someone else for Christ? How does the church accomplish missions? How do we confront the cults, apostasies, heresies and false doctrines that abound? How do we handle our finances in a Biblical way? How do we teach a class? What is a deacon and what are deacons supposed to do? How does one become a leader in a particular ministry? How does a new Christian learn to "rightly divide the Word of Truth?" How do we raise children in the "fear and admonition of the Lord?" How does a new Christian develop discernment? How does one conduct music at a gathering? How does a Christian lead or participate in hospitality? How does one learn to speak in front of a group?

These and many more things need to be deliberately and actively taught by the church in order for Christians (of all stages of spiritual development) to grow as disciples. There should be a well thought out, Holy Spirit led, organized ministry that leads new Christians to grow and seasoned Christians to more fully mature in their walk with Christ. This should be a ministry that focuses on the "HOW TO DO," rather than the "what needs to be done." Individuals should be afforded the opportunity to practice what they're learning under the leadership of a mature Christian.

Whatever the church chooses to call this ministry (Discipleship Training, Christian Growth or some other descriptive term), it should have an overall leader who plans, coordinates and evaluates the ministry. There should be measurable goals for the ministry and ways to do the measuring.

(In case you are one who thinks organization is not spiritual, try reading about the building of the temple in Kings, the rebuilding of the wall in Nehemiah, the layout of the tents of Israel in Numbers or the dividing of the land in Ezekiel. You'll find organization to be a chief characteristic of the God we serve.)

By establishing a ministry of growth for Christians of all ages, the church will move toward fulfilling the second part of the Great Commission. Churches should not only make disciples of the unsaved, they should teach them how to obey  everything Jesus has commanded them to do.

Is Everything You Were Taught Correct?

What ideas were ingrained in your mind when you were a child or began to grow as a Christian?

Were you taught that the church building is "God's House?" It isn't, you know (except in the sense that it is a building dedicated to God. His house on earth is our hearts.)

Were you taught that God is up in Heaven looking down on you, trying to catch you doing something wrong? He isn't, you know.

Were you taught that if you do enough good things they will outweigh the bad things you do and tht will cause God to accept you into Heaven? It won't, you know.

Maybe you were taught that the Bible was written so you would have a guidebook for living in a way that pleases God. It wasn't, you know.

Were you taught that the New Testament is built on the Old Testament? It isn't, you know.

Were you taught that the church is a building where people gather to worship? It isn't, you know.

Were you taught that God has given a list of Laws that good Christians follow to make Him happy with us? He didn't, you know.

 Were you taught that the Old Testament and the Old Covenant are the same thing? They aren't, you know.

Were you taught that the Jewish practices outlined and required in the Old Testament apply to Christians today? They don't, you know. (Yeah, that's right, they don't. Christ fulfilled every single one of them on our behalf. Then He put His New Covenant Law in our hearts.)

Were you taught that there is one proper interpretation but many applications of the Bible in people's lives. That's not true, you know. The Bible is not a group of laws, rules, philosophies or sayings that we must follow, it is God's revelation of His character, His love for His creation and His plan for its redemption. It is not about you at all, it is about God.

Were you taught that sin is a list of things that you fail to do or do wrongly? It isn't, you know.

How many other doctrines and religious ideas can you think of that you were taught wrong about?

Were you taught that sin is any word, deed or thought that is not directly in the center of God's will, therefore we are hopelessly sinful outside of Christ? On that you were taught well.

Were you taught that the only way to please God enough to gain eternal life is to recognize that you are a sinner, repent of that sin and place your trust in, and only in, the finished work of Christ at the cross of Calvary? On that you were taught well.

What about Teaching the Bible?

In the first place, let me be clear that I don’t care what you call it. You can call it Sunday School, Bible Study, Bible Study Groups, Small Groups, Family Groups, Life Groups or anything else you want to call it as long as its purpose is to find the actual meaning of God’s Word.

The text book for Bible study is…wait for it…the Bible. It is not some denominational publication, some bestselling book or some opinion session about God. The text book is the plenary, inspired, literal, infallible Word of God, the Bible. Use it and you will NEVER run out of relevant material and its message is 100% as current as it was in the eternity God first thought of it.

In order to properly teach the Bible, Bible study leaders must be steeped in it themselves. They must know the perfect context of every word of it, in terms of the words used, the verse in which they are used, the chapter they’re found in, the book of the Bible they’re in, the testament they’re in and the Bible as a whole.

They must realize that the Bible is God’s revelation of His character, His love of His creation and His plan for its redemption. They must not deviate from this revelation.

If you teach the Bible book by book, chapter by chapter or from beginning to end, you will not miss any topic ever conceived in the mind of man. That is why exegetical teaching is superior to topical teaching.

Topical teaching carries with it the danger of becoming a philosophy study backed up by random verses that may or may not genuinely apply to the topic. Thousands of cults, sects, and heresies are formed just this way, and you are not smart enough to resist allowing Satan to lead you in the same direction.

The Bible does not exist to support your spiritual philosophy, your mind set or your ideology. It exists to reveal to you the mind of God and to conform you to it. It exists to reveal to you His plan of salvation. Its theme is the gospel. It has no other. Its objective is to bring people to God through Christ.

A Bible study leader/teacher would do well to understand those truths before beginning any Bible study session.

While college and seminary education has some value, any priest can properly interpret the Bible if he sets his mind to discovering its truths in their context. By the way, if you are a Christian you ARE a priest, and thus can rightly divide the Word of God if you use the proper approach.

Every Bible study teacher should have and make use of a good concordance, such as Strong's or Young's. He should also have a good Bible dictionary, Internet access (although you have to be careful on the Internet. There's a lot of very bad misinformation out there) and maybe a Greek/English, English/Greek lexicon (again, be careful. These can easily be misused and misunderstood). A really well put together lesson plan book can be helpful if it is not used as a substitute for the real text (the Bible).

Bible study can be as shallow or as deep as you want it to be. It can be geared to preschoolers, grammar school students, teens, young adults, middle adults and any age groups in between. And it should be. Every Bible study lesson should be targeted to the group studying it. More mature Christians require a different approach from those younger in the Lord, as well as in age.

The Bible should NEVER be MADE relevant. It IS relevant. It deals with the deepest needs of the darkest corners of every heart. It is the vehicle by which you can be introduced to the presence of God! It is the revelation of the greatest gift any person has ever received, the gift of salvation through Christ.

All Bible study should lead to that end. It should have as its point that whosoever will may come to God blameless if they place their trust in, and only in, the finished work of Christ at the cross of Calvary.