A Study in James, Week 3

James Chapter 3  

Verses 1-6 – James makes what seems like a 90 degree turn and seems to change the subject. While Chapter 2 spoke of our works being evidence of our faith, chapter 3 seems to suddenly be about  teachers, the tongue and being smart.

Here is a principle about God’s word: God does not interrupt His thought processes. His word is a continuing revelation of His character, His love for His creation and His plan for its redemption.

So, how could this abrupt change of subject take place? The answer is that it is not a change of subject at all. It is a continuation of the idea that our faith in Christ causes a change in the very way we behave in every aspect of our lives.

Why should not very many of us be teachers? Is it because God can’t use us as teachers if we have not been so gifted at birth? Is it because we might be untrained?

Few should be teachers, because few are able to express the faith in their teaching and too often dissolve into empty and vain philosophies and theosophies. The teacher’s faith must find its expression in what he/she teaches.

If anyone is perfect, he would be able to control his whole being. So which of us is perfect? The answer is: none of us. That is why a teacher must count not on his own understanding and ability, but must count on the Holy Spirit to guide his teaching.

Then we can yield to the “bit” that the Holy Spirit puts in our mouths to guide our thinking and our teaching.

James is about to show us how far off base we can get when we speak, if the Holy Spirit is not in control.

He is not about to lead us on a diatribe about the organ called the tongue. The word he uses in this section is our old friend glossa. It is the Greek word for tongue meaning “language.” He is about to tell us what we should speak about because of our faith.

Words have meaning. Words can be used to edify or to destroy.  They can build up or they can tear down.  It is difficult to train our language to be a language of encouragement in Christ and not a language of cynicism and faultfinding

Verses 7-12 – Here we see James exhorting us to control our language. In the context of the chapter, it means that we must always use our language to point people to Christ. That is not a direct quote in the passage, but it is the conclusion reached by following the principle laid down concerning the use of language.

We can use language to praise or to curse. We can pretend to love Christ (Living Water), but if our language does not conform to our claim, we are just noise in the wind. If we are truly in Christ, our speech will be used to lift Him up. We will also be consistent in our use of language to speak of Christ.

Verses 13-18 – James wraps up this section by telling us that this all relates to what he was saying about faith and the resulting deeds. Our deeds that reflect our faith in Christ will not bring glory to us, but only to Him. The same is true of our language. That will testify that we have true wisdom, the wisdom to express our faith in Christ, promoting purity in Christ, peace, kindness, mercy, etc.

If we sow in peace, we raise a harvest of righteousness. That means that we use our wisdom to guide our speech to introduce people to the King of Peace, who gives them a righteousness they will never otherwise know.

FRIDAY'S FINDINGS-The Saddest Thing about Our Churches

The saddest thing about our churches today is what we do with our babies.

I'm not talking about the nursery, I'm talking about babes in Christ.

The church at Corinth was told by Paul, "I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly - mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready." (1 Corinthians 3:1-2)

It seems that Paul was addressing Christians, but Christians who had not grown in their Christianity. They were not trained and they were not discipled.

The saddest thing about our churches today is not that we don't win more people to the Lord. That's because we don't preach the gospel We preach other stuff, then tack the gospel on for good measure.

The saddest thing about our churches today is that we "dip 'em and drop 'em." Or we give them a short course in what Christianity and/or the church is about and turn them loose to do what they will with it.

The saddest thing about our churches today is that we have no organized, deliberate ministry to help them grow in the Lord both in knowledge and in service.

We seem to think Christians can be grown from the pulpit. Because of the nature of one man standing before a crowd speaking platitudes (whether rightly or wrongly), it is impossible to grow them into a thriving army for the Lord. He is too easily turned off and tuned out. There are too many distractions and too much room for diversion.

To be sure, there are churches built on the preacher and the worship service that are large, but large does not equal grown.

Joel Osteen preaches before thousands every week, but the majority of them are just bystanders who are there to have their ears tickled with Osteen's peculiar doctrine of prosperity mixed with egoism. His church is large, but his members are babes in Christ (if they are in Christ at all).

The saddest thing about our churches today is that they think they can grow church members if they just get the worship right.

Worship is important. It is one of the two reasons we meet together on Sunday mornings (the other being to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord). But worship alone cannot build a mature, functioning church.

To build a mature, functioning church there must be a way of involving individuals in a proper reading and understanding of God's Word, making it personal in their daily lives.

There must also be a way to grow them in sound doctrine and in being "doers and not hearers only" of the Word.

We must also understand that babies, as well as babes in Christ, do not know what to do or how to do it. They do not know how to think. They do not know how to grow. And they are all at different stages in the process of growing in Christ. We must be careful not to discourage them or run them off because we demand of them something they do not yet understand and are not trained for.

Finally, there must be a way of enlisting people as they grow into works of service. They must learn to be deacons, teachers, missionaries, ministers, children's leaders, youth leaders, music leaders, hospitality coordinators, groundskeepers, and whatever other needs the Body of Christ might have.

The saddest thing about our churches today is the attitude that we will draw them in with this kind of worship or that kind of worship and then will let them find their own way.

How sad.

THURSDAY THOUGHTS-A B/Cs Look at Worship

The church has really struggled in the last few decades with the idea of worship. It has promoted the idea that older people and younger people have different likes and dislikes and that the older styles of worship do not appeal to the younger generation.

The argument could be made: Poppycock!

The trouble is, and always has been, that the church has attempted to infringe on Biblical worship in general and New Covenant worship in particular.

Worship is not about preferences. It is not about you. It is not about me. It is all about Him.

Part of the problem with "modern" worship is that it is very "me" based. The idea is, "Look what God has done for me."

Worship is not about what God has done for you (or me), it is about recognizing who He is and falling (physically or spiritually) before Him in an attitude of adoration and praise.

Somewhat recently the idea of Blended worship was born. It was an attempt to bring together the entertainment oriented youth crowd with the liturgically oriented older crowd.

It was (is) a mixture of hymns and popular praise music, to one degree of success or another. Often the hymns were re-set to a contemporary sound to please the more modern oriented, while the drummer was featured as though he carried the melody.

The result of the blended worship turned out to be a curious perversion of the New Covenant idea of worship.

One of the criticisms of blended worship is that not all of the congregation knows the music. How can a person worship in song if the song is not known to them? I have seen a TV camera pan a congregation during the singing and have noticed that a majority of people are not singing, and thus are not participating in worship.

Recently a "new" idea of worship has emerged called, "Convergent Worship."

Convergent worship is an apparent attempt to reintroduce Biblical concepts into worship without any specific regard to who likes them and who doesn't. That is not exactly the stated intent, but as a practical matter it sometimes works itself out that way.

The potential for convergent worship to be conformed to Biblical precepts exists. It also tends to emphasize personal involvement in worship. That's a good thing.

Convergent worship also expresses a desire for worship to include physical participation in worship with physical expression of worship through various art-forms and through congregational involvement.

Let me list some of the characteristics of blended worship followed by a list of the supposed characteristics of convergent worship.

Blended worship:

1. Sometimes a matter of fulfilling a certain quota of musical styles (i.e., using a certain number of hymns and a certain number of choruses).

2. Essentially a matter of compromise in order to keep people happy (i.e., let’s have a little something for everyone).

3. Results in generic services (i.e., church distinctives are lost as it all begins to look alike in the land of “middle ground”).

Convergence worship: 

Seeks to reclaim the biblical focus and historical worship elements: 

1. The two-fold order of Word/Table (or Response to the Word)

2. Extensive reading of the Holy Scriptures

3. Multiple types of prayer

4. Functional congregational song

5. Participatory worship through gestures and enactment

6. Creeds or affirmations of faith

7. The Christ-centeredness of worship

8. The God-ward nature of worship

9. The sense of community

10. Desire for Word/Response to the Word

11. Desire for more frequent opportunities for celebrating the Table of the Lord

12. Desire for the celebrative nature of worship

13. The common story—the “meta narrative”

14. An interest in the common corpus of song

15. An interest in the visual presentation of the Gospel (visual art, dance, drama, music, poetry, banners, sculpture, architecture, stained glass, etc.)

16. A hunger for silence and quiet reflection

17. A cherishing of the Word of God read with simplicity and clarity

18. A connection between worship and mission

19. Full participation in the liturgy

In my mind, the idea of convergent worship is theoretically Biblical, and philosophically more in tune with New Covenant worship in some respects.

New Covenant worship, as put forth in the New Testament, includes such things as singing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, personal and corporate prayer, submission of self to the will of God and to the leadership of the Holy Spirit, the presentation of the gospel message and a much less liturgical atmosphere than many churches practice.

Churches have allowed themselves to become steeped in the tradition of man to the detriment of the writing of God's word (logos) on their hearts and giving expression to that alone.

That is not to suggest that worship should be without form, substance and order. It must follow the New Covenant tenants of orderliness, as all things are to be done in a fitting and orderly way.

I hold out some hope for the convergent worship model, but suspect that it could easily fall prey to the same things that have plagued corporate worship for ages: emphases on self and self-gratification in the name of Jesus.

Worship is designed to be participatory. Whatever form of worship we use, it must do what it takes to involve the congregants in true New Covenant worship. 

WEDNESDAY WORSHIP - The Worthiness of God

For absolutely no other reason than God is who He is,

He is therefore worthy of our worship and praise.

He is worthy of honor and glory.

He is worthy of bowing before Him.

He is worthy of kneeling before Him.

He is worthy of reverence.

He is worthy of fear.

He is worthy of love.

He is worthy of devotion.

He is worthy of being recognized as Almighty Father.

He is worthy of being recognized as Master and Lord.

He is worthy of being recognized of being King of all kings.

He is worthy of the name, Redeemer.

He is worthy of being called Wonderful Counselor.

He is worthy of being a friend.

He is worthy of being our Savior.

He is worthy to be our Source of eternal life.

He is Father.

He is Creator.

He is Sustainer.

He is worthy of our worship and our praise.

TUESDAY’S TEACHINGS - What It Really Says &/or Means

Have you been to any funerals lately? Did the speaker try to console the family by quoting passages of Scripture to them? Did he happen to use Job 1:21?

"...and said: 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away, may the name of the Lord be praised.'"

I've heard it used at funerals and other calamitous events. It never seemed like much comfort to me.

But the real question is, "Is that really true? Does the Lord give and then take away?"

Not according to the book of Job.

One of the problems with reading Scripture out of context is that it leads us to accept as true that which is not true.

"What?" I hear you yelling. "How dare you say something in the Scripture is not true?"

Let me explain.

Job did say, "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away." He did.

But he was wrong.

The Lord gave, but He did not take away.

If you read the account, it was not the Lord who took away. It was Satan.

Yet for many the verse has been used to show the supposed capriciousness of God: sometimes He gives, sometimes He takes away and we'd better just get used to it.

What an obfuscation of the Word of God!

How dare we use the Word of God to promulgate a theology that is doctrinally wrong!?

That is but one example of how we twist Scripture to mean what it does not mean.

Always remember, there are two criteria for correctly interpreting Scripture: 1) Are you reading it in the context of the words used, the verse, the chapter, the book the Covenant and the Bible as a whole; and 2) Are you discovering what the passage reveals about God's character, His love for His creation and His plan for its redemption.

Learn to interpret Scripture according to those precepts and you'll get it right. Fail to use them, and you'll always get it wrong.

Getting it right is better.

Try it. You'll like it!

MONDAY'S MUSINGS-The Persecution of Paul

Paul has been called the greatest missionary ever. He certainly got around. As he went, he preached the Kingdom of God and Jesus' death, burial and resurrection for the remission of sin.

Just how firm was Paul's faith in his message? It was firm enough to stand against almost constant persecution, mostly by religious leaders: the Jewish Pharisees, the Sanhedrin, the priests and the rabbis.

The secular Greeks did not attack him for his message in Athens, they enjoyed the debate, even though they only considered his arguments sophomoric and not very convincing.

It was after that experience that Paul proclaimed that he would never preach anything but Christ crucified, and he never did.

Here are some of the circumstances recorded in Acts in which Paul was persecuted. Through them all, he remained steadfast in his proclamation of the gospel and nothing else but the gospel.

Acts 9:23 – The Jews conspired to kill him. Yet he remained steadfast in his proclamation of the gospel and nothing else but the gospel..

Acts 13:45 & 50 – The jealous Jewish leaders stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas. Yet he remained steadfast in his proclamation of the gospel and nothing else but the gospel.

Acts 14:5 –The Jews plot with some gentiles to stone Paul. Yet he remained steadfast in his proclamation of the gospel and nothing else but the gospel.

Acts 14: 19 – Jews from Antioch stoned Paul and believed him dead. Yet he remained steadfast in his proclamation of the gospel and nothing else but the gospel.

Acts 16:22-24 – Paul and Silas were beaten and thrown into prison. Yet he remained steadfast in his proclamation of the gospel and nothing else but the gospel.

Acts 17:13 – Jewish leaders from Thessalonica agitate the crowds against Paul. Yet he remained steadfast in his proclamation of the gospel and nothing else but the gospel.

Acts 18:6 – The Jewish leaders opposed Paul and became abusive. Yet he remained steadfast in his proclamation of the gospel and nothing else but the gospel.

Acts 18:12 – Paul was taken to court. Yet he remained steadfast in his proclamation of the gospel and nothing else but the gospel.

Acts 19:8-9 – Paul maligned by the Jewish leaders. Yet he remained steadfast in his proclamation of the gospel and nothing else but the gospel.

Acts 19:23-40 – A riot ensues over Paul’s ministry. Yet he remained steadfast in his proclamation of the gospel and nothing else but the gospel.

Acts 20:3 – The Jewish leaders made a plot against Paul. Yet he remained steadfast in his proclamation of the gospel and nothing else but the gospel.

Acts 21:10-14 – A Prophet predicts Paul’s arrest in Jerusalem.Yet he remained steadfast in his proclamation of the gospel and nothing else but the gospel.

Acts 21:27 – Jewish leaders in Jerusalem stirred up the crowd, which seized Paul.Yet he remained steadfast in his proclamation of the gospel and nothing else but the gospel.

Acts 22:23 –The Roman centurion arrested Paul.Yet he remained steadfast in his proclamation of the gospel and nothing else but the gospel.

Acts 22:30-23:8 – Paul was brought before the Sanhedrin.Yet he remained steadfast in his proclamation of the gospel and nothing else but the gospel.

Acts 23:12-15 – The Jewish leaders formed a conspiracy to kill Paul. Yet he remained steadfast in his proclamation of the gospel and nothing else but the gospel.

Acts 23:23-35 – Paul was escorted to Antipatris, where detained him while he awaited trial. Yet he remained steadfast in his proclamation of the gospel and nothing else but the gospel.

Acts 24:1-21 – Paul was taken by the high priest, Ananias to Felix to stand trial. Yet he remained steadfast in his proclamation of the gospel and nothing else but the gospel.

Acts 24:22 – Paul was kept in prison by Felix. Yet he remained steadfast in his proclamation of the gospel and nothing else but the gospel.

Acts 25:1-12 – Paul is tried by Festus. Yet he remained steadfast in his proclamation of the gospel and nothing else but the gospel.

Acts 25:23-26:27 – Paul testifies before King Agrippa (almost persuading him to become a Christian). Yet he remained steadfast in his proclamation of the gospel and nothing else but the gospel.

Acts 27:1-12 – Paul kept prisoner on a ship. Yet he remained steadfast in his proclamation of the gospel and nothing else but the gospel.

Acts 27:13-26 – Paul is allowed to get help from friends, but then must continue to be held prisoner on the ship. Yet he remained steadfast in his proclamation of the gospel and nothing else but the gospel.

Acts 27:42-44 – Paul is threatened with death. Yet he remained steadfast in his proclamation of the gospel and nothing else but the gospel.

Acts 28:11-16 Paul is kept under house arrest. Yet he remained steadfast in his proclamation of the gospel and nothing else but the gospel.

Acts 28:17-31 Paul is kept under Roman guard, but allowed to preach his message: the kingdom of God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Some "Christians," some pastors and some theologians think the gospel is enhanced by their deep insights into human psychology and spirituality. Others think the preaching of the gospel boring, or at least secondary to what "the Holy Spirit has led them to preach today."

The idea of  "just preaching the gospel" seems monotonous to them. So, they embark on forays into social evils and political happenings.

Yet Paul said, "For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified." (I Corinthians 2:2).

I guess he did not find it boring at all...sometimes dangerous, but never boring.

I wonder. Could we ever stay as stuck on the gospel as Paul did?

We need to realize the truth of the line from the hymn: "I love to tell the story, for those who love it best seem hungering and thirsting to hear it like the rest."

The gospel boring? You had better think that one over again.

SUNDAY SOUNDS OF PRAISE-Wings As Eagles-Phil Driscoll

A Study in James, Week 2

James Chapter 2

Verses 1-11 – John 2:16 is clear: “Whosoever believeth in Him should not perish…” The gospel is not for a select few, it is for any and everybody who will place their faith and trust in and only in the finished work of Christ at the cross of Calvary. That means rich or poor, sick or well, black or white, smart or dumb, tall or short educated or uneducated.

Acts 10:34 Luke writes: “Then Peter began to speak: ‘I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism, but accepts men from every nation…’”

“If you keep the royal law found in scripture, (8)‘Love your neighbor as yourself, you are doing right. (9)But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law…(10)For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it’

Think of a drinking glass. It is designed to hold water. But if you drill a hole in the bottom of the glass, you have rendered the whole glass useless. It will no longer hold water. You didn’t have to smash the whole glass to ruin it, just one small hole.

So it is with the law. If you have ever broken one part of it, you are doomed to an eternity in Hell…unless you have trusted Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Verses 12-13 – We are all going to be judged. First we will be judged based on what we did with Jesus. If we trust Him as God’s Son, who died and rose for us, we are saved. If not, we are doomed. We will also be judged for our acts of mercy. Since God has shown mercy to us, we, being like Him in Christ, must show mercy to others, no matter who they are.

Verses 14-17 – A faith that has no deeds is not faith at all. We do not do good deeds in order to prove ourselves worthy of being saved. We do good deeds in response to the wonderful salvation God has provided for us in Christ. In other words, your good deeds are evidence of your faith.

Talk is cheap. As we will see, the tongue we use to speak with is quite a troublemaker. We need to back up our talk with deeds because we are followers of Christ, whose deeds were always and only good.

Verses 18-19 – Just saying you believe is not evidence of your salvation. Satan believes, but he is not saved. Our talk must be evidenced by our walk.

Verses 20-23 – Here James recalls Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice the son of promise out of faith that God would provide the Lamb. His faith was credited to him for righteousness. That righteousness was fulfilled in Christ.

Even a prostitute (Rahab) was made righteous by Christ because of the evidence of her faith.

Without the spirit, a body dies. With the Spirit (Christ), it lives for eternity. Without deeds, faith is already useless and no better than a vain philosophy.

The object of our faith is not faith, it is Christ. He is the in all, of all and through all of everything we are and ever will be.

WEDNESDAY WORSHIP-The Holiness of God

Isaiah 6:3 proclaims: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The Hebrew word for holy used here is Gadosh. It means separate, set apart.

Here we find a basis to recognize God as not like anything or anyone in the world. He is a wonderful, but fearful being. Isaiah tells us in 48:13, “My right hand has spanned the heavens.”

Every time the Hubble telescope looks deeper into space, we discover new things about the universe. It is far more complex than we have ever realized. We also discover it is far larger than we had ever thought.

If God’s right hand spans the universe, imagine how big His arms, neck, torso and legs are. Of course, God is not a being like a man. He is a unique being, worthy of being feared and praised at the same time.

He is a powerful God. More powerful than our minds can fathom.

The splitting of a single atom destroyed most of Hiroshima in Japan. Think of the power of all of the atoms in the universe (trillions to the trillionth plus power). God is more powerful than that.

So when He is referred to as “Almighty,” He is being recognized as omnipotent…that is, all powerful.

He is to be praised in our every waking hour, with our song, our words and our attitudes.

In spite of His power, He is full of mercy toward His creation. That is the essence of His character. He is both powerful and merciful. He manifested His mercy in Christ Jesus at the cross of Calvary.

We are to worship Him with our entire being. Jesus said we are to “Love God with all of our hearts, soul, mind and strength.”

All of Heaven, even the angels, fall before Him in humility. They worship the Eternal One who was before there was a was. He exists and operates outside of the confines of time.

Even when the darkness of evil tries to cover God’s goodness, it cannot succeed. When man, in his sinful, fallen condition, cannot see God, He is still Holy and worthy of praise. He is the only “holy” one and is perfect in every respect: in power, but also in love and purity.

Everything in all of the universe, animate and inanimate alike praises Him. Jesus said if we won’t, the stones will.

We worship this absolutely magnificent God when we are in correct relationship with Him through Jesus Christ, the second Person of the Trinity and our Savior and Lord.

Worship Him today. You’ll be glad you did.

TUESDAY TEACHINGS: RIGHTLY DIVIDING

A particular verse of Scripture has always puzzled me. I had heard so many trite explanations of it that I had begun to think, "Well, maybe those 'scholars' know something I don't". So I began to research it.

The verse is II Timothy 2:15 & 16: "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness." (KJV)

Actually, I have never heard a preacher, theologian or scholar connect verse 16 to verse 15. In my experience, they have always been treated as two separate and unrelated verses, each with its own meaning.

Let me state something clearly. Every word of Scripture must be interpreted:

in light of what the word(s) means specifically;
in the light of the context of the sentence in which they are found;
in the light of the context of the verse in which they are found;
in the light of the context of the chapter or section in which they are found;
in the light of the context of the of the book in which they are found;
in the light of the context of the Covenant to which they apply and in the light of the context of the Bible as a whole.

That's a tall order. If any one of those contexts is violated, the proper interpretation of the Scripture is invalidated.

"There is only one interpretation, but many applications" is a clever bromide, but it places in jeopardy the real meaning of a passage.

So, what's this "rightly dividing the word of God" about?

I have heard it explained as "correctly interpreting" passages of Scripture. That's important, of course. But it is not what is meant here.

I have heard it taught that it means to study so you can please God. God is pleased not by what we do or don't do, but by what we have done with His Son, Jesus.

I have heard it said that it means to "try hard" to gain favor with God by learning a lot about Scripture (you can't gain favor with God by trying hard).

I don't think any of those are correct.

Here are a few of the important words from this passage, their Greek origins and their definitions in this passage:

study - Gk: spoudazo - to diligence, to make speed, to get to it.
shew - GK: paristemi-to place or set near.  Used to express drawing closer.
approved - Gk: dokimos - tested, tried. Meaning to have been operated with and found to work properly.
dividing - Gk: orthotomeo to cut straight. Most often used in Greek to mean slice in two so as to never be united again.
word - Gk: logos - speech, matter, reason. Often used to describe Jesus (John 1:1 ff)
truth - Gk: aletheia - the same word used in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth and the light..."
profane - Gk: bebelos - impious - marked by or showing reverence for deity and devotion to divine worship
vain - Gk: kenophonia - empty sound having neither substance nor meaning.
babblings - Gk: kenophonia - empty sound having neither substance nor meaning. ("Vain" and "babblings" are the same Greek word.)

Given that many Greek words require context to understand their meaning in a particular usage, we can still put together the raw definitions of each word in the passage and find an interesting meaning.

We might read it:

(15)"Hurry! Get to it! Set yourself near to God. Be a workman who can work properly, correctly slicing the word (logos) of God forever into its two parts (the Old Covenant and the New Covenant).

(16) "Stay away from the use of empty rhetoric, meaningless babbling. They will only show how ungodly you are."

By the way, this is one of those phrases incorrectly translated by the NIV. I believe "Do your best..." is wrong as is "...correctly handles..."

The other Greek word used for "dividing" in most places in the New Testament is merismos - which is division into parts that may or may not be able to be reunited.

In our passage, the word orthotomeo indicates that that which is divided cannot be reunited.

So, what does it mean? In the totality of its context, it means that because of Christ, we now have a New Covenant that is forever and completely separated from the Old Covenant, and that we need to set about the task of trusting the author of the New Covenant [the blood of Christ (I Corinthians 11:25), (Galatians 4:24 ff (Hebrews, chapters 6-10 and ] and avoiding meaningless philosophies and theosophies.

Christ's New Covenant is written not on tablets of stone or paper between leather bindings, but on our hearts by the deliberate action of the Holy Spirit.

We must proclaim the gospel message of the New Covenant, Jesus Christ, Messiah and Lord.

SUNDAY SOUNDS OF PRAISE-All the Earth-Parachute Band

A Study in James, Week 1

 James - An Introduction

In the New Testament there are at least three men named James clearly identified: 1) James, brother of John, son of Zebedee, called by our Lord “son of thunder” [Mark 3:17]. He was slain by Herod [Acts 12:1, 2]; 2) James, son of Alphaeus, called “James the less” [Mark 15:40]. He is mentioned in the list of apostles, but very little is known concerning him. 3) James, the Lord’s brother [Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3], in reality a half-brother according to the flesh. He became head of the church at Jerusalem [Acts 15:13]. This James is evidently the writer of this epistle [Galatians 2:9].

James was probably the first New Testament book written, although some think it was Mark, which might make sense, too. We are not certain which James wrote it, but he was a servant of God, for sure. Some have called James the New Testament Book of Proverbs, but that requires removing it from the context of the purpose of the Bible.

Its teaching must be understood in the context of the words, verses, chapters, the book and the entire Bible. It must answer the three questions: 1) What does it tell us about God’s character? 2) What does it tell us about God’s love of His creation? and 3) What does it tell us about God’s plan for the redemption of His creation?

To understand James it is important to remember that its message fits perfectly into the New Covenant model of faith. We are justified by faith. Once we are justified, with God’s Word (logos) written on our hearts, we will respond to the leadership of the Holy Spirit by doing those things which produced by our faith. These “works” will not be done by command, but by response to God’s love evidenced in Christ.

James Chapter 1

Verses 1-12 – Remember, Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble (tribulation). But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33). James reminds us that those troubles will bring us closer to God if we keep our focus on Him. The way we react to those trials will reveal our character and our relationship to God.

In verse 12 we read that the man who perseveres in the faith, in the middle of trials, will be keenly aware of the joy (blessing) of Christ. We do not do good in order to receive the Crown of Life, but our focus on the Person of our faith results in the Crown of Life, who is Jesus.

Verses 13-21 – One whose focus is on Christ will not be incensed by the circumstances around him, but will exhibit the Peace of God through his language, countenance, reactions, and responses to his surroundings. “…the word (logos) planted in you…” is a reference to Christ living in your heart in the person of the Holy Spirit.

The only “good and perfect” gift comes from God, and His name is Jesus.

We are to listen to the logos (Word of God, IE: Christ), but more. We are to do what Christ tells us to do

The perfect law that gives freedom is the “law” of GRACE…Jesus…written on our hearts.

Verses 22-27 – The Pharisees considered themselves very religious, and Jesus castigated them for it. They loved to speak in “religious speak.” The loved to pray eloquently so that men would be impressed with their words.

Finally, verse 27 tells us that it should be a natural response of followers of Christ to see to the needs of those who need help. This is not the government’s job. According to God (and He should know), it is our job as Christians.

The key idea of chapter 1 is that we will act to fulfill God’s will in our lives if we have truly become children of His by trusting in, and only in, the finished work of Christ at the cross of Calvary.

DISCIPLESHIP-THE OLD MADE NEW-Part 5-Bible Study Leaders

Sunday School has been called by many names: Bible Study Classes; Small Groups; Life Groups; etc. Personally, I like Bible Study Ministry.

Whatever it is called, its purpose remains the same: to provide a purposeful study of the Word of God, its purpose, its meaning and its application for Christians.

Far too many Bible Study Ministry classes serve as a forum for people to express divergent opinions about who God is and what He is like. Too many are nothing more than discussion groups, and some are only gossip sessions. Many are just studies of books and never really delve into the meat of the Word.

The real purpose of a Bible Study Ministry is to show Christians the real meaning of God's Word, the Bible. The Bible is God's revelation of His character, love for His creation and His plan for its redemption.

How does it happen that the Bible Study Ministry of a church devolves into the aberration mentioned above?

The major issue is poor training of the teacher/facilitator/leader. Even very Scripture-wise people, professors and other professionals often are not qualified to properly lead a Bible Study class. They have never been trained to do so.

That is where a solid, comprehensive Discipleship Training Ministry comes in.

A properly conducted Discipleship Training Ministry will have as one of its responsibilities the training of Christian servants to properly lead a Bible Study class, keeping it focused on the Bible and its meaning and application.

Keep in mind that fellowship is an important part of the Bible Study Ministry class, but it is not its goal. Self expression is an important part of the Bible Study Ministry class, but it is not its goal. Discussing the current  condition of its members' families and lives is an important part of the Bible Study Ministry class, but it is not its goal.

The goal of a Bible Study Ministry class is to discover personal growth as a Christian based on what the Bible teaches.

The Bible Study Ministry is not an imitation of, or a substitute for, a Seminary class, a Bible school class or a Theological course. It is for Christian laymen.

A good Bible Study Ministry class leader will be well versed in the Bible. He will also have experience using Bible study enhancement resources such as concordances, lexicons, Bible dictionaries, denominational publications, the Internet and others. He needs to know which of these resources is doctrinally dependable and which ones are heretical.

A good Bible Study Ministry class leader will know how learning takes place in the age group for which he is responsible. He will understand the psyche of his class members. He will use a variety of tools designed for that age group.

A good Bible Study Ministry class leader will know how to know his class members personally, their life situations, their needs and their stages of development as Christians.

A good Bible Study Ministry class leader will know how to engage the class in discussion about the Bible passage being studied without allowing them to stray into apostasies, heresies and irrelevancies.

A good Bible Study Ministry class leader will know how to make the Bible passages being studied exciting and relevant to the members' lives.

These are all things that a Bible Study Ministry leader should learn to practice BEFORE taking the leadership of a class.

The best venue to learn these things would be a well designed, well functioning layman oriented Discipleship Training Ministry with age specific training for present and future Bible Study Ministry leaders.

Discipleship Training...try it. You'll like it!

A TRIBUTE

SUNDAY SOUNDS OF PRAISE-Amazing Grace-Jose Antonio Jotta a Viana

A Study in Acts Week 20

Acts Chapter 20

Verses 1-6 – They met ‘on the first day of the week’. This was Sunday. So, we know that the first Christians worshipped on Sunday. God raised Jesus from death on a Sunday. Sunday never has been, is not now and never will be the Sabbath. We meet on Sunday to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus from the grave. It is a New Covenant practice, not a substitute for the Old Covenant Sabbath worship.

Verses 7-12 – The pre-teen, Eutychus, was obviously bored by Paul’s long sermon. He fell asleep and out the window three stories to the ground. He was very dead. Remember, this is being reported by Dr. Luke, who was there. He came back to life when Paul hugged him.

Verses 13-16 – On their way to Miletus. Paul did not want to stop at Ephesus. Maybe that was because it was too soon after the riot.

Verses 17-24 – From Troas, the group headed to Miletus via Assos. Paul’s goal was Jerusalem. Paul’s speech in Miletus was for a Christian audience. It is the only speech in Acts like this. All Paul’s other speeches were for Jewish or Gentile audiences.

Sometimes it can be difficult to tell people about Jesus. We may upset our friends. We may be afraid that people will persecute us. People may insult us and they may do bad things to us. These things happened to Paul because he preached the good news. But that did not stop him. He wanted people to receive salvation. He did not change God’s message.

Verses 25-31 - God had chosen Paul to tell people His message. If anyone did not accept God’s message of salvation through Christ, it was his own fault. Paul had done everything that he could to spread the good news.

Verses 32-38 – Once again we see that we have but one message. Paul said, “Now I put you into God’s care. Remember the message about his grace. This message can make you strong. It can give you the blessings that belong to you, God’s people.

Remember, blessings are not what God does for you, per se. Blessings are what God gives you to better serve Him and to be His messengers of the gospel.

If we understand what His blessings are and what they are for, we will use them 100% for the ongoing and up building of the Kingdom of God through His message of salvation by grace through faith in, and only in, the finished work of Christ at the cross of Calvary.

DISCIPLESHIP-THE OLD BECOMES NEW-Part 4-MAKE DISCIPLES

Most Christians believe that the primary purpose of salvation is to avoid hell. That may have been what you were taught, but it’s not what the Bible teaches. In fact, that kind of thinking serves to inoculate people from the truth of the Gospel concerning salvation.

The truth is, salvation is about having a relationship with God. God’s main reason for sending Jesus was to restore fellowship. We restore our relationship with God through salvation.

Nowhere in the Scripture did Jesus tell us to go and make converts. Let’s look at what is commonly referred to as The Great Commission, Matthew 28:18-20.

"God has given me all authority in heaven and on earth. So you must go to the people in all the nations and make them my disciples. Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach them to obey everything that I have told you. And you can be sure that I will be with you always. I will be with you until the age ends."

Jesus told them to teach others to observe all the things that He had commanded. The Greek word for “teach” in this passage is literally the word that is translated “disciple” (Gk: didasko).

The New International Version translated this as “Go and make disciples.” The emphasis here is that the Lord commanded us to make disciples not converts. Somewhere along the way, the church has changed the emphasis of this message from making disciples to getting people born again, leaving discipleship for the “mature.”

Did you know that Jesus never preached on being “born again”? In the third chapter of John, He talked to Nicodemus about the spiritual birth compared to the natural birth, but He never taught or preached to the people about being “born again.”

How can this be? That’s the centerpiece of every evangelistic effort.

It is. But the Bible teaches that the church has placed the emphasis in the wrong place. By making that the focus, the church is actually lowering the standards, leaving people with the misconception that all they need to do is just be born again and discipleship is optional.

That is not what Jesus commanded.

Being born again is what brings you into relationship with God. The Gospel is the absolute essential for a person to be saved.

Being made a disciple is what enables you to grow to maturity in accordance with Ephesians 4:13: “…until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”

Let me be clear. Sunday School is the foundation of everything that enables a church to be what God wants it to be. Sunday School is the ministry that enables us to know what the Word of God says about our depravity and need for salvation and how to receive it. It is also the one ministry organized to be drawn upon for the success of every other ministry in the church.

If you want a strong, consistent worship, build a great Sunday School. If you want a strong, consistent missions ministry, build a great Sunday School. If you want a strong, consistent music ministry, build a great Sunday School. If you want a strong, consistent youth ministry, build a great Sunday School.

There is no substitute for knowing the Word of God and its purpose: to reveal the character of God, His love of His creation and His plan for its redemption.

But once a person knows he is saved, in order to be what God wants him to be he must be discipled.

That is why a strong Discipleship Training ministry is important.

In a Discipleship Training ministry, individuals train to do what they are supposed to do as Christians: serve God, each other and the world.

An effective Discipleship Training ministry will result in many more people committing their lives to preach the gospel, to become missionaries, to become Bible Study teachers, to become Youth and/or Children's ministers, to be come music leaders, to become effective deacons, to become useful ushers and greeters, to lead in hospitality and so on.

Imagine a church accomplishing all of those things under the leadership of the Holy Spirit!

Now imagine YOUR church accomplishing those things!

Lest you fear another church "program," remember this: the Holy Spirit of God is not so small as to be only able to lead one day at a time. He can lead days, months, years and decades at a time. He can use church ministries to introduce people to Christ, to teach people about Christ, to enable them to grow in Christ and to enable them to serve Christ.

Discipleship Training...try it. You'll like it.

DISCIPLESHIP - THE OLD MADE NEW Part 3

In my previous two posts I outlined a possible way for churches to involve their pastors and leaders in preparing their members for acts of service as outlined in Ephesians 4:7-12.

Lest you think resources are scarce, here is a list of just a few that are available for adults (the numbers in parentheses indicates the suggested number of weeks the course is to take. This can be shorter or longer as the need dictates) :


Adult Discipleship Studies

Abide in Christ –Studies that help disciples learn about the nature of the
Christian’s relationship with Christ, the character of Christ, the disciple’s identity
in Christ, what it means to abide in Christ, and how to have a personal quiet time

Believing God: Experiencing a Fresh Explosion of Faith (10)
Breaking Free: Making Liberty in Christ a Reality in Life (11)
Day by Day in God’s Kingdom (Personal resource)
Discovering the Biblical Jesus (6)
Experiencing God as Couples (8)
Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God (12)
Fingerprints of God: Recognizing God’s Touch on Your Life (6)
A 40-Day Experience: EKG, The Heartbeat of God (7)
A 40-Day Experience: Extreme Love (7)
A 40-Day Experience: Know Fear (7)
A 40-Day Experience: Reality, 7 Truths from Experiencing God (7)
God’s Story: Finding Meaning in Your Life Through Knowing God (5)
He Speaks to Me: Preparing to Hear from God (6)
A Hunger for the Holy: Nurturing Intimacy with Christ (7)
In My Father’s House: Women Relating to God as Father (6)
Jesus, the One and Only (11)
Life in the Spirit (12)
The Love Languages of God (8)
Made to Count Life Planner (10)
MasterLife 2: The Disciple’s Personality (6)
The Mind of Christ (12)
My Identity in Christ (6)
The Search for Significance Workbook: Build Your Self-Worth on
God’s Truth (8)
Vertically Inclined: Climbing Higher with God (7)
The Vision of His Glory: Finding Hope Through the Revelation of
Jesus Christ (7)
Walking by Faith: Lessons Learned in the Dark (7)
The Ways of God (6)
When God Speaks: How to Recognize God’s Voice and Respond in
Obedience (7)
A Woman’s Heart: God’s Dwelling Place (11)

Live by God’s Word – Studies that help disciples learn to study God’s Word,
understand how the Bible came to be, explore biblical truth for life issues, apply
biblical truth to life daily

Basics for Baptists (8)
Beloved Disciple: The Life and Ministry of John (11)
Enjoy: A Thirst-Quenching Look at Philippians (6)
Foundations of the Faith: The Doctrines Baptists Believe (6)
God’s Transforming Word: How to Study Your Bible (9)
A Heart like His (11)
How Much Is Enough? 30 Days to Personal Revival (4)
Jesus on Money (6)
Life Lessons from Women in the Bible ((6)
Living Beyond Yourself: Exploring the Fruit of the Spirit (10)
Living God’s Word (6)
Living Your Life as a Beautiful Offering: A Bible Study Based on the
Sermon on the Mount (7)
MasterLife 1: The Disciple’s Cross (6)
Men’s Fraternity: The Quest for Authentic Manhood (24)
The Patriarchs: Encountering the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
The Purity Principle (4 or 5)
Step by Step Through the New Testament (13)
Step by Step Through the Old Testament (13)
To Live Is Christ: The Life and Ministry of Paul (11)
The Treasure Principle (4)
We Believe: Living in the Light of God’s Truth (8)
Whispers of Hope (Personal Resource)

Build Godly Relationships – Studies that help disciples understand the
nature of the church as the body of Christ, build effective relationships, and
understanding themselves and others

The BodyLife Journey: Guiding Believers into Ministry (Leader
resource)
Choosing to Live the Blessing: Bringing the Gift of Light and Life to
Every Relationship (6)
Christ-Empowered Living: Reflecting God’s Design (8)
Come Home to the Heart of God: Building Life on the Seven Pillars of
God’s Kingdom Family (7)
Conversation Peace: The Power of Transformed Speech (7)
Covenant Marriage: Communication and Intimacy (12)
Covenant Marriage: Partnership and Commitment (12)
Effective Parenting in a Defective World (9)
Empowered Parenting (8)
Experiencing God as Couples (8)
Experiencing God in Your Workplace (7)
Extraordinary Marriage: God’s Plan for Your Journey (7)
Making Peace With Your Past
Moving Beyond Your Past
The Five Love Languages (2)
The Five Love Languages of Children (6)
The Five Love Languages of Singles (6)
The Five Love Languages of Teenagers (6)
Life @ Full Capacity: Building Matthew 5 Relationships (6)
The Love Languages of God (8)
Making Love Last Forever (12)
MasterLife 4: The Disciple’s Mission (6)
Men’s Fraternity: The Great Adventure (20 )
Men’s Fraternity: The Quest for Authentic Manhood (24 )
New Faces in the Frame: A Guide to Marriage and Parenting in the
Blended Family (Two 6 session)
Parenting by Grace: Discipline and Spiritual Growth (10)
Redefining Church Membership (Leader resource)
The Seven Seasons of a Man’s Life (6)
Shaping the Next Generation (8)
Survival Kit (6)
Taking the Next Step: A Guide for New Church Members (4 or 5)
The Virtuous Woman: Shattering the Superwoman Myth (6)
Women Making a Difference in Marriage: Building Love, Joy, and
Contentment (8)
Your Church Experiencing God Together (9)
Your Life and Your Church (7)

Minister to Others – Studies that help disciples identify personal spiritual gifts,
interests, and natural abilities, grow in leadership ability, build effective skills for
ministry, facilitate small groups for ministry care, and learn to disciple others

Deacons: Growing in Character and Commitment (6)
DecisionTime: Commitment Counseling (6)
Drawing Men to God: Men’s Ministry Manual (Leader resource)
Equipping Deacons in Caring Skills (Leader resource)
Every Christian a Minister: Finding Joy and Fulfillment in Serving God (4)
Faithful and True: Sexual Integrity in a Fallen World (Two 6 session)
Forward Together: A New Vision for Senior-Adult Ministry (Leader resource)
Free to Forgive (6)
Heart Friends: Beginning and Maintaining a Small Accountability Group
How to Minister to Families in Your Church (Leader resource)
Jesus on Leadership: Developing Servant Leaders (6)
Making Peace with Your Past (12)
MasterLife 4: The Disciple’s Mission (6)
Moving Beyond Your Past (12)
Paul on Leadership: Leadership in a Ministry of Transition (6)
Quitting for Good: A Christ-Centered Approach to Nicotine Dependency (9)
Recovering from the Losses of Life (6, plus 3 optional)
The Search for Significance Workbook: Build Your Self-Worth on God’s Truth (8)
Spiritual Gifts: A Practical Guide to How God Works Through You (6)
Strength for the Journey: A Biblical Perspective on Discouragement
and Depression (9)
Teaching the Jesus Way: Building a Transformational Teaching
Ministry (Leader resource)
Transformed Lives: Taking Women’s Ministry to the Next Level
(Leader resource)
Unleashing the Power of Deacon-Led Ministry Teams (Leader resource)
Woman-to-Woman Mentoring: How to Start, Grow, and Maintain a
Mentoring Ministry (6 months)
Women Reaching Women: Beginning and Building a Growing
Women’s Enrichment Ministry (Leader resource)

Witness to the World – Studies that help disciples share a personal testimony,
witness in a variety of situations, develop a mission worldview, and lead others to
share the good news

The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Empowering the Church to Be on Mission
Evangelism Through the Sunday School (Leader resource)
The Ever-Loving Truth (8)
Experiencing God in Your Workplace: The Kingdom Agenda (7)
FAITH Sunday School Evangelism Strategy
A 40-Day Experience: The Choice, Believe, Belong, and Bless (7)
The Grace and Truth Paradox (4)
How Now Shall We Live? (8 plus 4 optional)
Learning to Share My Faith (6)
Living Your Christian Values (7)
Made to Count Life Planner (10)
The Man God Uses: Moved from the Ordinary to the Extraordinary (7)
MasterLife 4: The Disciple’s Mission (6)
Men’s Fraternity: The Great Adventure (20)
On Mission with God: Living God’s Purpose for His Glory (8)
Outreach Teams That Win—GROW (Leader resource)
Share Jesus Without Fear (4)
When Worldviews Collide
Your Church Experiencing God Together (9)

DISCIPLESHIP - THE OLD MADE NEW Part 2

The Christian Growth Institute Organized and Functioning

Yesterday I showed you a way to fulfill the Biblical admonition for pastors and church leaders to equip the saints for works of service (Ephesians 4:7-12).

Today I'll show you one way to organize the Christian Growth Institute to meet the growth needs of both children and adults.

The CGI would necessarily start small as leaders to lead it are trained for the future. One class could be led by the Education Director, who would train at least one person in the class to lead that class the next time around, freeing him up to teach another class, find a leader to lead that class, and so on until a thriving, ongoing Institute is established.

The objective would be to end up with a fully organized training ministry reaching all age groups.

Here's what it might look like fully organized:


CHRISTIAN GROWTH INSTITUTE
TRAINING DISCIPLES FOR SERVICE TO CHRIST

ADULT COURSES

1100 Level Courses – New Christians (for new Christians and those needing    
          a fresh   start)
1101   Basics of Christian Living (Six week course)
1102  What Does It Really Mean to Be A Christian? (for seekers)
1103  Who Are Southern Baptists (A study of the Baptist Faith and Message)
1104   How to Study Your Bible (Six Weeks)
1105   The Life Changing Power of Prayer
1106   Share Jesus without Fear (Six weeks based on video course by Bill Faye)
1107   Basic Bible Doctrines (Six weeks basic course)
1101 Survival Guide for New Church Members

1200 Level Courses Growing Christians (for Christians who want to grow)
    1201  Discovering Your Spiritual Gifts
1202 Experiencing God (Pre-requisite: 1201; 1202; or 1203)
1203 MasterLife (Pre-requisite: 1301)
1204 Life in the Spirit (Pre-requisite: 1302)
1205 How Now Shall We Live?
1206 How to Manage Your Money (Crown Financial Ministries)
1207 Train Up A Child
1208 Dealing with Cults and the Occult
1209 Evolution and Creation: Conflict or Harmony?
1210 Growing a Marriage God’s Way
1211 The Purpose Driven Life (a study of the Rick Warren book)

1300 Level Courses – Witnessing Christians (for outreach ministry)
1301  F.A.I.T.H. Studies
1302 Outreach Lab
1303 Share Jesus Without Fear
1304 God Has Called Me to Be A Missionary – Now What?
1305 Prison Ministry (A Chuck Colson course)

1400 Level Courses – The Community (for community outreach)
1401 Overcomers
1402 Soul Winning for New Christians
1403 Learning to Paint
1404 Practical Crafts
1405 Auto Repair Made Simple
1406 Elementary Computer Use
1407 Sewing for Beginners
1408 Aerobics for Fitness
1409 An Introduction to American Sign Language



YOUTH COURSES

2100 Level Courses and Regular Activities

2101 Sunday Night…the Place for YOUth (Worship Training)
2102 Wednesday Night Fire
2103 Youth Camp at Lake Yale
2104 World Changers

2200 Level Courses – New Christians (for new Christians)

2201 Basics of Christian Living (for Youth)
2202 Learning to Lead
2203 Youth Bible Study
2204 Survival Guide for Youth

2300 Level courses – Growing Christians (for Youth who want to grow in Christ)

2301  MasterLife for Youth
2302  Experiencing God for Youth
2303  Finding God’s Will for Your Life’s Work (Career Direct)

2400 Level Courses – Witnessing Christians (for outreach ministry)

2401  Worship for Youth (Tuesday)
2402  Roman Road Witnessing

CHILDREN’S  COURSES

3100 Level Courses

3101  Sunday Night…the Place for Children

3102  Quarterly Children’s Blast

3103  Vacation Bible School

3200 Level Courses (Use one or more)

3201 H2O Wednesday Nights

3202 TEAMKid

3203 MacKids

3202  Royal Ambassadors and Girls in Action

3203  AWANA

3300 Level courses

3301 Children’s Choir(s)

3302 Back Yard Bible Clubs

3400 Level Courses 

3401 Weeknight Activity (Summer and Holidays)

PRESCHOOL TRAINING

4100 Level Courses 

4101 Pre-school events scheduled when adult courses are scheduled so that 

                     parents can attend the course they need.

SPECIAL TRAINING COURSES

5100 Level Courses 

5101 Teaching Adults in Sunday School

5102 Teaching Youth in Sunday School

5103 Teaching Children in Sunday School

5104 Teaching Preschoolers in Sunday School

5200 Level Courses

5201 Deacon Family Ministry Plan

5202 Deacons – What Are They?

5300 Level Courses

5301 Audio/Visual Apprenticeship

5302 Ushers & Greeters

5303 Hospitality in the Church

5400 Level Courses

5401 Sports and Recreation

5402 Fellowship Planning

These are all suggested courses. As new materials become available, new books come out and new materials develop, they can be substituted for the courses above. Presently there are hundreds of resources available, with new ones appearing all the time.

What a joy it will be to equip the saints for ministry with the Christian Growth Institute!

DISCIPLESHIP – THE OLD MADE NEW Part 1

CGI Study Group

The Christian Growth Institute

Let’s be clear. This is not about starting a school or developing a university. It is not about teaching college, seminary or Bible College level courses. This is about regular, ongoing, discipleship ministries for new Christians, young Christians, maturing Christians and mature Christians.

The Christian Growth Institute is a purposeful, organized, Holy Spirit led effort to take Christians beyond Bible study and on to the application of Biblical principles in their daily lives. It is a vehicle through which to train and equip Christians for acts of service in accordance with Ephesians 4:7-13:

“But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why is says ‘When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men. What does ‘he ascended’ mean except that he also descended to the lower earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens in order to fill the whole universe.”

“It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists and some to be pastors and teachers to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”

The classes can meet anywhere, any time...Sunday evenings, Wednesday evenings or weekdays at the church or in homes.

The Christian Growth Institute is divided into five areas: Training for New Christians; Training for Growing Christians; Training for Witness Outreach; Training to Serve the Community and Training for Leadership Roles in the Church.

In each division there is training development for Children, Youth and Adults, each learning works of service to mature the body of Christ.

These classes are not discussion groups or Bible study groups. They are groups in which each class member learns how to put into practice the Biblical principles learned in Bible study groups such as Sunday School and “Small Groups.”

Members of these classes do not sit and listen, nor do they discuss and opine. They are given short-term projects that can be completed during the 1, 3, 6 or 12 weeks of the class in which they are participating.

For instance, suppose the church decided it needed more Bible Study leaders. It would recruit members willing to commit to a six week course on Bible Study leadership. In the course they would get hands on experience using various resources: concordances, Bible dictionaries, the Internet, prepared lesson plans and the like. They would also spend class time actually preparing one or more Bible study classes they would then lead.

A student leading the class

At least on person in the class would be recruited to become the long-term leader of this training class, freeing the present leader to lead in some other area.

Perhaps the church would like to have a course on the classic, Blackaby ‘s “Experiencing God.” Instead of a facilitator leading the course and assigning workbook sessions, each member would be assigned a chapter of the study to lead. He would be helped by the class leader and others in the class, but the responsibility of actually leading the class for that chapter would be his.

This would continue until each person had lead a chapter, then the rotation would continue until the entire book was completed by the class members.

Using this method, those who take the course would be trained in works of service, “so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”

DISCIPLESHIP BEGINNING TO RE-EMERGE

The following is from the  “Baptist Standard” newspaper.

I. Time to revamp discipleship methods?

By John Hall

More than two decades after he helped many Baptist churches breathe new life into discipleship training, Roy Edgemon believes it’s time take a new look at how churches make disciples.

In the early 1980s, the Southern Baptist Convention’s Sunday School Board asked Edgemon to revamp its approach to discipleship as attendance to Sunday night church training was on what seemed an irreversible decline.

Under his leadership, the organization that became LifeWay introduced interactive writing—an approach that engaged readers with discussion-oriented questions—and discovered hallmark writers such as Beth Moore and Henry Blackaby. In 2001, discipleship enrollment was at an all-time high, he noted.

But several years later, Edgemon believes it’s time for Baptists to take a fresh look at their approach to discipleship. If they don’t, churches are in danger of continuing to reach people but not turning them into devoted followers of Christ.

“They’re trying to be evangelistic and trying to be very missions-oriented,” said Edgemon, a member of First Baptist Church in Sulfur Springs. “I don’t think the people are getting the foundations of their faith. I don’t think they’re getting any depth.”


Edgemon’s concerns mirror those of the leaders of Willow Creek Community Church outside Chicago, which has served as a model for churches nationwide in how to evangelize people through small groups. Despite reaching thousands, leaders acknowledged a recent study showed the church is doing a poor job of turning converts into growing followers of Christ.

The study found nearly 25 percent of the people at Willow Creek were stalled in their spiritual growth and dissatisfied with church. The conventional approach to discipleship that connected increased church activity to spiritual growth was flawed. While activity can lead to growth, the survey found at a certain point, people who were growing extremely deep in their faith actually were becoming less connected to Willow Creek.

“What you hold in your hands has revolutionized the way I look at the role of the local church,” Willow Creek Pastor Bill Hybels wrote in the forward of a book based on the study. “It is causing me to ask new questions. It is causing me to rethink how we coach Christ-followers. It is causing me to see clearly that the church and its myriad of programs have taken on too much of the responsibility for people’s spiritual growth.”

Willow Creek’s survey reveals what some Baptists have believed for years. Max Barnett, who led the Baptist Student Ministries at the University of Oklahoma for more than 37 years and now directs collegiate ministry for the Colorado Baptist General Convention, reminds people that the Great Commission does not emphasize sharing the gospel with large numbers of people. Rather, it stresses making disciples around the globe.

Many churches incorrectly rely on small-group Bible studies to develop people spiritually, Barnett said.

Discipleship takes place in regular (…meetings…with people who agree to keep each other accountable (for growth)during an extended period.

“This is where as Southern Baptists, I think we’ve lost it—the person-to-person,” he said. “I think most people are not going to grow to maturity without someone meeting with them.”

Baptist General Convention of Texas Evangelism Director Jon Randles agreed with Barnett. Spiritually mature Christians may be able to disciple three or four people a year in individual meetings. In these private gatherings, people can be held accountable for their Scripture memorization, (doctrinal understanding, application of principles to daily life, leadership principles) prayer life, Bible study habits and sharing the gospel.

“Baptists have always been skeptical of exclusivism, and discipleship is a bit exclusive,” he said.

At CrossBridge Community Church in San Antonio, discipleship is at the heart of everything the congregation does because members view growing in faith as fundamental to all other expressions of belief, explained Pastor Kirk Freeman.

“When we say discipleship, we don’t limit the phrase to mean just Bible study,” he said. “We don’t separate missions from discipleship, because only a disciple can go to the ends of the earth to witness for Jesus.”

Edgemon believes Freeman’s church understands the critical nature of discipleship. Baptists’ weakness in discipleship has weakened the denomination, including the wane in evangelistic zeal. Proper discipleship encourages people to pray for people they know who lack a relationship with Christ and to share the gospel with them.

Whether they follow a programmatic or organic approach, churches must help members grow in their faith, experts agree. Christians need to internalize their beliefs and let those beliefs affect actions.

“Once someone becomes a disciple, they never turn back. It becomes part of who they are.”

SUNDAY SOUNDS OF PRAISE - Because of Who You Are - Vicki Yohe

A Study in Acts Week 19

Acts Chapter 19

Verses 1-10 – Paul found some people professing to be Christians in Ephesus. They had “received the baptism of John, but had never been saved, because they had never received the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes to dwell in you the instant you are saved, or you are not saved.

The word for languages here is our old friend from Acts Chapter 2, “glossa.” It is not the aberration, “glossalalia,” which was unintelligible babbling and never used in the New Testament, but was actual existing languages.

When Paul went to the synagogue, he boldly preached the Kingdom of God as manifested in Christ. So, Paul, now dealing more and more with gentiles, went to Tyrannus’s lecture hall to preach the gospel

Verses 11-20 – When Paul made tents, he probably wore a cloth round his head. This helped him to stay cool. He would also cover his clothes with cloth. This protected them from dust and dirt.

The cloths did not have special powers. Paul did not have special powers. The power to cure came from God. In his Gospel, Luke records that a sick woman touched Jesus’ coat (Luke 8:43-48). Jesus felt power go out from him. The woman became well immediately. Jesus told her that she was well because of her faith, not because of His garment.

People paid Sceva’s (probably from the family of a priest) seven sons to force out evil spirits. They knew that Paul used Jesus’ name to force out evil spirits. They knew how powerful Jesus’ name is. So, they copied Paul. They had no authority to use Jesus’ name. They had not accepted Jesus as their Savior and Lord.

Just because someone says Jesus’ name does not mean they are a Christian or have been saved. There a many, many people who claim to be born again believers who are not. They preach and practice a warped “gospel” that is attractive but is not the real deal. The real gospel is attractive only to those who believe. Everyone else thinks it foolishness.

Verses 21-27 – Ephesus was famous as a place where people worshiped Artemis, the hunter (not the Greek and Roman goddess). Demetrius was an idol maker, and he made a living at it. He became concerned that Paul’s message about Jesus would cut into his business, so he set about to have Paul stopped.

Verses 28-34 – Demetrius tried to hold a Town Meeting. The confusion mentioned in the passage probably indicates that the people did not understand the purpose of the meeting, they just got caught up in the moment. The people at the meeting refused to let Paul have his say about the gospel. They chanted for two hours!

Verses 35-41 – This meeting was not legal. It would have to be reported to the Roman government. The Roman rulers would be very angry. They did not allow riots. So a town official stepped in to bring order. He dispelled the idea that Paul and his friends were insulting Athens or disobeying Roman law.

God used this meeting and the town official to make it easier to spread the gospel across the Roman empire and around the world.

It is important to remember that it was Paul’s message of the gospel that kept getting him into trouble. Jesus had said people would suffer persecution for His message and they did. They still do. The gospel is not popular. You can talk about religion, God and many other things, but Jesus is an offense, a stumbling block to most people (I Corinthians 1:23).

You can expect people to be offended when you present the gospel to them, but we must remember that the gospel is our message, as Paul said, our only message (I Corinthians 2:2). And Christ, in and of Himself, is sufficient. We need add nothing to the message.

GOD MADE ME DO IT

Pastor does not understand why
his flock is stalled, many
thinking of leaving

Just a few Sunday's ago, a pastor (not the one in the picture) stood in front of the congregation and said (paraphrasing), "I had another sermon planned, but God told me to preach this instead."

He then proceeded to deliver his new "God-given" message about how the church members were not properly supporting the ministry.

The sermon was delivered in an incoherent halting manner that reeked of the lack of preparation.

God just isn't very good at inspiring rational thought, good grammar and well thought out phrases and sentences.

That, of course, is pure sarcasm.

The truth is God did NOT inspire him to change messages. If He had, He would have made it clear, concise, meaningful and would have pointed us to, and lifted up, Jesus.

It troubles me that many preachers today are more like the Pharisees of the Old Covenant than proclaimers of the New Covenant. They try to walk with one foot in the Old Covenant and the other in the New Covenant. They love God's Riches At Christ's Expense (grace), but they preach the circumcision of the Law.

They suffer from what the Galatians suffered. They are legalistic, all the while claiming that they are not.

They need a good dose of Romans 10:4, Galatians, I Corinthians 2:2 and Hebrews, chapters 6-10. (They love Hebrews 11, but eschew 6-10.)

Some pastors denigrate programs and ministries with comments like, "You can't lead churches with programs," or "Programs should never be the emphasis," or some such.

They seem to believe that the Holy Spirit can only use spontaneous processes to promote the Kingdom.

Poor God. He is just too restricted to be able to lead days, months, years or decades in advance. He can only lead in the moment.

That is not the God I worship.

The God I worship has planned His universe from before the beginning of time and will fulfill His plan for it as He always has.

The Holy Spirit leads through planned messages, programs, ministries, and organization just as well as He does moment-by-moment...maybe even better.

Anybody who reads about the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem in Nehemiah, the construction of the temple in I Kings or the laying out of the tents of Israel in such a way that Balam could not curse them in Numbers, and does not recognize the pre-planned order of them just does not know the organizational skills of the God of the Bible.

Organization is not a bad thing, it is God's revealed way of getting things done.

We are too often inconsistent while claiming to follow God, who is always consistent...never changing.

Some churches have participated in their own demise by making decisions based on some frantic idea that comes to their minds with the idea, "It must be the will of the Lord because it seems so right to me."

I know a church in which the pastor decided that growth was unstoppable and therefore the church should go into great debt to buy an existing property that would meet their needs. Whereas they could have simply held three services in the facility they already had, instead they claimed God's leadership to go into debt.

Now they are surprised to find that God led them into grave financial difficulty and are having to sell their old property far below its value to be able to keep the new! Membership has declined, primarily because of Old Covenant teaching. Leaders have said things like, "God is culling our membership so that we will be more in tune with His plan for our church." (Poppycock! Spiritual balder-ever-lovin'-blue-eyed-dash! That is apostatic and an anamatha to the Kingdom).

God leads funny, doesn't He?

We can excuse all of this by saying, "God ways are not our ways."

That is true, but it is no excuse for thinking of a solution to a problem and thinking it must be God's leadership, when in retrospect it is clear that it was not.

The "leadership of the Holy Spirit" is not an excuse for disorganization and inconsistency!

When churches decide not to disciple their members with programs and ministries that train them to grow in Christ and do the work of the Kingdom, they are violating God's word.

Paul wrote in I Corinthians 3:2, "I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it."

And in Ephesians 4:12 he writes that pastors, evangelists, teachers and other church leaders are, "...to prepare God's people for the works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God..."

I know of no New Covenant teaching that says the church will be improved if we cast out members who are not behaving in a permanent immoral fashion. Instead, the New Covenant requires us to nurture, teach, lead and assist those who have not yet fully grown in Christ to grow closer to Him and learn to DO what results from solid New Covenant teaching.

We are to be "...doers of the word and not hearers only."

See, it's not the land, it's the man.

People are the same in every church. Some are babes in Christ, some are rebellious teens, some are young adult Christians and some are mature in Christ. We cannot throw out those who have not yet matured. We must lead them toward maturity and unity in the body. If we can't do that, maybe we don't belong in ministry.

We can accomplish that through a Holy Spirit led program (yes, I said "program") that involves more mature Christians leading less mature Christians in the work of the ministry, teaching them by example and by training.

Let me tell you about my God. He is very able to lead through programs and ministries, preparation for His work and long-term practice of His principles and precepts.

Following the Holy Spirit will never lead to a sermon less meaningful than the one He led you to preach in the first place.

The only message we have is Christ crucified for our sins. That's it! Finis! The Holy Spirit never leads otherwise.

SUNDAY SOUNDS OF PRAISE-We Bow Down-Twila Paris

A Study in Acts Week 18

Acts Chapter 18

Verses 1-4 – Paul went from Athens to Corinth. He was there 18 months, and got to know the members of First Baptist Church of Corinth very well. This is the church he wrote two letters to to help them get over their issues with legalism, Old Covenantism and really bad doctrines.

Corinth was a trade center, known for quality goods (Corinthian Leather) and prostitution (which they hid in the guise of the worship of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and sex). Some have said the sidewalks were used as billboards to advertise prostitution spots in the city.

He did not take up a collection and get paid from the collection, he was bi-vocational and worked with Aquila and Precilla to support himself. It is NOT correct to conclude from this that ministers should not be paid from church collections. The was a specific tactic of Paul, so there would be no conflict of interest charged when he had to write his letters of correction to them.

Verses 5-11 – As had become his custom, Paul preached to the Jews. He told them that Jesus was the Messiah promised under the Old Covenant. And as usual, the Jews did not like this kind of talk one bit.

Notice that as Paul got back to his only real message, he began to reach people once again. The leader of the synagogue, Crispus, was saved. Everyone in his family believed, too. They were all baptized after they became believer

In a vision, the Lord assured Paul that he could continue preaching the gospel safely. He stayed in Corinth to preach God’s salvation message.

Verses 12-17 – The good old Jews were at it again. They seized Paul and took him to court. They accused of preaching a message that was against the law (as if they obeyed the Law). Once again they tried to turn Rome against Paul. The Roman ruler in the area, Gallio, insisted that Paul was NOT disobeying Roman law and he threw the Jewish leaders out of court.

Verses 18-23 – Paul finally left Corinth , but before he left he cut off his hair.

Much has been made of this by the "legalists," keepers of the Old Covenant and those who try to mix the Old Covenant with the New Covenant. This was not a general example of how Christians should live, but was an act of consecration between Paul and God. It was a Jewish custom, not a law, and Paul WAS Jewish.

Verses 24-28 – Paul went to Ephesus, but did not stay very long. He went to Caeserea, then to Antioch. From there he went to Galatia and Phrygia.

A Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian, came to Ephesus. He was a charismatic figure who said a lot of right things about Jesus. But he knew nothing of the Holy Spirit and only knew of John the Baptist's teachings about baptism. He was scholarly, knew that the Old Testament was about Jesus, and like a lot of Christians, used his experience and intellect to present Christ. His lack of knowledge about the Holy Spirit shows that he was religious but probably not saved.

Apollos later went to Corinth and developed a large following, much like many false preachers today. Just because you have a large following, does not mean you are receiving the blessings of God. You “blessings” are probably coming from somewhere else.

In I Corinthians 3:4-6, Paul made some cryptic remarks about Apollos. Apollos was bringing about divisions in the church. Paul’s emphasis was that we should not fall prey to following men who are “charismatic, “ or men who are small and ugly (like Paul). Rather, we should follow Christ and only Christ.

SUNDAY SOUNDS OF PRAISE-Lean On Me-Robbie Hiner

A Study in Acts Week 17

Acts Chapter 17

Verses 1-4 – Remember that Paul only had the Old Testament to teach from. In this passage we read about Paul using the Old Testament to teach about Jesus. He could do that because every word of every verse of the Bible is about God’s character, His love for His creation and His plan for its redemption through Christ.

Paul explained prophecies from those Old Testament scriptures. Those prophecies proved that Jesus was the Messiah. The prophets said that the Messiah would suffer. They also said that he would become alive again. All this had happened to Jesus.

Verses 5-9 – Our good old friends, the Jewish leaders, were jealous of the following of Paul and the other disciples. They wanted to feed Paul and Silas to the crowd they had stirred up, but since they weren't in Jason’s house, they took Jason, instead. The Jewish leaders accused Paul and Silas of disobeying the Emperor’s laws.

Verses 10-15 – Paul and Silas left to go to Berea. As usual, they went to the synagogue to preach Christ. Who should show up, but the Jewish leaders once again. They tried to turn the people against Paul and Silas again. He went to the coast and then sent for Silas and Timothy.

Verses 16-21 – The Greeks fancied themselves to be great philosophers. They also “ worshiped” many gods. In the synagogue, Paul preached his usual message, to both Jews and Greeks. He got into discussions with the Greeks about their idol worship. His focus was not on the idol worship itself, but about Jesus and the resurrection (Verse 18)

Verses 22-34 – The Areopagus was the name for the leaders of the city of Athens. Before the Areopagus, Paul did not quote Scripture, because it would have been meaningless to them. Instead, he spoke of an altar to God. It was referred to as the altar to an unknown god. Paul told them about God, who made the world and everything in it.

Then Paul began to speak of the resurrection. Some people laughed at him. Others wanted to hear more. A member of the Areopagus named Dionysius believed what Paul was teaching. So did Damaris and others.

As it turns out, though, much of what Paul said fell on deaf ears. That’s probably because he swayed from his usual emphasis on Christ and tried to reason with the world in the world’s way. We cannot argue people into the Kingdom of God. They come through faith in Christ or they don’t come at all.

In fact, in I Corinthians 2:1-2, Paul revealed his remorse at having left the message for argument. He wrote these words: “I decided to speak only about Jesus Christ, whom people crucified.”

When he returned to his only real message, Paul began to have success once again.

We only have one message. When we begin to venture into peripherals, it is no wonder we run into troubles. People will gladly argue with us about social issues. When it comes to the gospel, however, few people will argue it. Most will simply turn away in derision. (Those are usually the same people who proclaim, “Christians should be open minded.” Does that strike you as odd?)

We actually are, and should be, “narrow minded” about the claims of Christ, for they are either true, or He is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the world.

For those who believe, He is the power of salvation, to both the Jew and the Greek, for in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed (Romans 1:16-17)