Good Nuggets Found

Eureka! I've found 'em! (--good nuggets -- not gold nuggets! But they are on a yellow legal pad!) They are statements made during a recent conference that I attended that highlight the power, beauty and influence of the Word of God on our ministry (God's ministry actually of which we are stewards) especially in light of postmodernity!

1. Appreciate the veracity of the word of God; it can and must be believed b/c it is true! It can and must be presented to a world in search of truth!
2. We talk about the "high view of Scripture". The litmus test of our view of Scripture is how long it take us to go to its pages for answers. Who do we value higher? We will go there first!
3. Often cries of "I'm not being fed here" mean "I want chocolate, not vegetables".
4. Obey God> today, I am going to be like Jesus; Oppose Godlessness> today, I am going to rightly divide the Word of Truth

You probably didn't select the culture into which you were born. You shouldn't hole up and isolate from those who are lost in the culture. You probably won't change the culture. You can be salt and light. You can bring truth to bear on a truth-starved world! Titus 2:11-14!

Mike

Here'e Some More -- Titus 2:11

Mondays are often a day of "watching film" for football players and coaches. I have found that my evaluative nature causes me to go back over my notes from Sunday's sermons on Monday morning. I jot in the "on-the-fly" illustrations and comments that I made and flesh out portions of the messsage that were weaker or not able to be discussed at length. This editing "after delivery" helps especially when an expositional, "work through a book" hermeneutic and methodlogy are employed. It gets you ready for the next piece of the pie.

This Monday was no different. I just preached Titus 2:11 on Sunday afternoon. I suggested that this verse was a reference to the gracious ministry and activity of Christ as he lived and died and rose again here on this earth. Our ministry, then, ought to bear the marks of such graciousness as well! After all we are disciples, copies, imitators of Christ! The beauty of grace is unmistakable and must be displayed in all of our ministry efforts.

Beautiful, ornamented ministry...
a. Uses both grace and truth to make God known
b. Presents Jesus as the gracious Savior
c. Removes any ungraces that might distort the gospel
d. Lives each day graciously

All good challenges, but there is more! These notes (following) are part of a sidebar that I worked out myself:

1. Jesus came to reveal, explain, invite others to salvation; he wanted to introduce others to a knowing relationship with God. I must do the same.
2. He made grace appear right before their very eyes. I must do the same.
3. No one had seen God before, but they saw Jesus and therefore had seen the Father! I want this to be true of me as well! (ie I have never seen God, but I have seen Mike and he is a spitting image of him!)

Thanks for thinking about incarnational ministry with me. Thanks for doing incarnational ministry with me!

Mimicking my gracious Savior,
Mike

For Rent: Cheap

Could this advertisement be posted about you and your mind?

"Head for rent, now vacant and unfurnished"

I hope not! Fill your head with the good stuff!

"Finally brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things." Philippians 4:8

"But as for you, speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine." Titus 2:1

Mike

Putting the Cart Behind the Horse

I preached yesterday afternoon using an analogy. It was an imperfect analogy at best (so stated by me). I really wanted to help these dear people (who endured the message) to see that character and doctrine were extremely important to the selection/success of leaders for church ministry.

I suggested in that message that character was kind of like the horse of the "horse and cart" illustration. It provided the "go" power and was the result of training for the task. The best kind of GO looks like this:

GO for God, the trainer/driver, not for self
GO every-day-all-day, not in spurts when the mood strikes us
GO through hard times
GO like God showed you in training

The cart portion of the tandem is like doctrine. I realize that we often use this word in a slightly different way (=dogmatic statements of truth), but I tried to broaden the definition to: the understanding and application of God's Word to everyday life. That definition is probably closer to the definition of wisdom.

I wanted to discuss with people the importance of looking beyond the doctrinal statements of leaders to determine whether this man (or woman in some cases) is a good appointee for the role of ministry leader. Doctrine, as a I defined it, must meet certain criteria of it will be a great cart, or vehicle for ministry:

• CONNECTION to the power source


• CONTAINMENT of the load


• CONVEYANCE of the load from point A to point B


• CONTROL of direction, speed, etc to reach point B
  

The stuff of theology (applied doctrine) had better be connected to God's Word, it's ultimate power source and had better accurately reflect the cahracter of God. The horse (me--the leader) has to have character -- the character of God, i.e. godliness, in order to have any strength at all.

By being built according to God's standards for "carts", the vehicle of leadership (ie ministry) is God pleasing and glorifying to Him. A disconnect from God, His Word, His design for ministry, etc. will spell disaster for the ministry vehicle. In Titus, one of the roles of the leaders was "cart inspection". There were some leaders afoot that were not building quality carts -- they were overturning houses!

The load must be moved along by the cart. In order for the cart to have usefulness, it has to take the load to the marketplace. It has to move the load for point A to point B. I suggested that those two points might be the church and the community. We must get the load out there!

The load in this analogy is the good news of the gospel and the Word of God and the relationship offered with God. The world around us needs to hear that message! The load is critically urgent and precious -- we had better build great carts for delivery of such to the marketplace. the design of our carts (ministries) must then be such that the gospel comes through clearly and nothing is lost along the way. We must think about how the carts can convey the gospel to those desperate to receive it. If we spill out the load along the path or if we have nothing to carry the cargo, then those who need to hear it will be without!! To leave the cargo on the loading dock or to leave the cart in the carriage house is unacceptable!

The design of our ministries ought to have a series of controls in place -- a brake, a steering wheel/reins, a throttle, etc. These controls are safely in the hands of God. As we prayerfully listen to the instructions given to us through the Spirit and Scripture, we know best how we ought to pull the load. To chase after the enemy's carrots is a mistake we all too often make! We must find our sustenance and satisfaction in following the lead of the Divine Driver (God). He is too powerful to lose control, too wise to make a wrong turn and too loving to drive us beyond what we are able to handle! Praise to Him!

Analogies all break down at some point. This one is indeed flawed -- as is the teacher. But I pray that it might communicate a little of my heartbeat for the advance of the kingdom through the careful delivery of the goods to the lost and dying!

Would you care to interact with the analogy some more? Jot a thought in the comments section! I would love to work through the idea with you. It's what I enjoy most! :)

Puling for the Kingdom,
Mike