monday morning pastor

disciple me!

 

Ever heard someone say, “What a great church we have?"  Here in South Texas we are proud of our churches in so many ways, and, for good reason.  Many have grown up in their church, married in their church and raised their family in their church. 

Some of the best people on “God’s green earth” we have met in our church.  They are real “salt of the earth” folks.  We have served with them, prayed with them, laughed with them, and cried with them.

We are so glad to say that for the most part our churches are still nearly full.  For the most part, our buildings are well-cared-for and maintained.  For many churches the offerings have seldom been better.

We could go on and on describing all the ways we can think of to speak of our churches and ourselves in glowing terms.

However, deep down below the waterline, there are problems unknown to the majority.  For several generations we have failed to keep up with teaching the vital components of the Christian faith to new believers.  Result?  Now we have several generations of church members who have been well-churched but poorly-discipled.

The damage, well, it is practically irreversible for some churches.  While most are still asleep in their staterooms, those in charge have reviewed the charts and inspected the damage and have made the determination that this ship is going down.

But wait!  Could there still be a chance to save the ship?  Yes.  But many will not do what it necessary.  We have to all plug the leaks and maybe, just maybe, there will be a chance that our church will survive.

Do you hear the cries?  "Please, please, someone, disciple me!”

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Allow me to introduce to you, Pete Pawelek.  Pete is pastor of Cowboy Fellowship near San Antonio, Texas.  He has written and published The Absolute Basics of Christianity: A fresh look at the basics for all believers - Pete Pawelek Volumes 1 & 2 to help disciple new believers and old ones as well.  It was field tested for two years before publishing.  It is available for purchase at www.Amazon.com. 

Each book is in a workbook format and provides space to answer questions and complete assignments in the books themselves.  Many pastors in the United States are now using Pete's book to disciple their own members and new believers.  This material is offers an excellent and practical treatment of the things every believer needs to know and discuss with a leader or mentor.

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Check out each week's lesson title.  Titles progress using letters of the alphabet to begin each subject.  Notice how the most basic studies are front and center.

Volume One        

Week One                   Assurance of Salvation                                  

Week Two                   Baptism

Week Three                Church

Week Four                  Discipleship

Week Five                   Evangelism

Week Six                      Forgiveness

Week Seven                Gifts

Week Eight                 Heaven and Hell

Week Nine                  “I Am”

Week Ten                    Joy

Week Eleven              Kingdom

Week Twelve             Love

Week Thirteen         Money

Completion Certificate Details

Appendix One            Memory Verse System

Appendix Two            Spiritual Gifts Test

Volume Two

Week Fourteen           New Life

Week Fifteen                Obedience

Week Sixteen                Prayer

Week Seventeen         Quiet Times

Week Eighteen             Revelation

Week Nineteen            Holy Spirit

Week Twenty                Trinity

Week Twenty-one      Unity

Week Twenty-two      Victorious Life

Week Twenty-three   Worth Walk

Week Twenty-four     X Commandments

Week Twenty-five      Yielding

Week Twenty-six        Zelotes

Completion Certificate Details

Appendix One            Memory Verse System

Appendix Two            Prayer Journal

Appendix Three          Scripture Journal

 

The workbooks can be purchased at www.Amazon.com 

The Absolute Basics of Christianity: A fresh look at the basics for all believers - Pete Pawelek Vol. 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Absolute Basics of Christianity: A fresh look at the basics for all believers - Pete Pawelek Vol. 2

Now available all in one:

The Absolute Basics of Christianity: A fresh look at the basics for all believers - Pete Pawelek Vol. 1 & 2

 
 
 

Christians are the real doomsday preppers

I thought it interesting that "Harold Camping, the Northern California preacher whose radio ministry spent millions of dollars last year predicting a fiery apocalypse that failed to materialize has apologized to his followers in an open letter, saying 'we humbly acknowledge we were wrong' and 'we have no new evidence pointing to another date for the end of the world.'"

However, Camping's predictions along with the renewed interest that somehow the Mayan calendar is predicting the world's end on December 21, 2012 have gotten a lot of people talking. 

Some TV producers are certainly betting on cashing in on the hysteria with their new Nat Geo channel's Doomsday Preppers.  I have watched parts of two shows and predict it will become popular and most likely create some hyteria of its own. 

Now, exactly how does this relate to Christians? 

a pastor's wish list

Amazon.com has a neat feature as do other sites.  When you are logged in you can click to put a book on your wish list.  When someone asks you what books you are recommending or what book you would like to have you can quickly find the books you have been most impressed with.  Here are my top five books that I am yet to read.  What are your top five?  Would you ask for one for Christmas?

1. Simply Jesus – N. T. Wright
2. Practice Resurrection – Eugene H. Peterson
3. Speaking Christian – Marcus J. Borg
4. You Lost Me – David Kinnamen
5. The Meaning of Marriage – Timothy Keller

  

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Wright patiently explains the world views that Jesus stepped into, how his parables point to his mission, and, finally, what this truth means in today’s world. Wright’s direct style, reminiscent of C. S. Lewis’ writings, invites readers in but allows for internal argument.”

Product Description

We have grown used to the battles over Jesus—whether he was human or divine, whether he could do miracles or just inspire them, whether he even existed. Much of the church defends tradition, while critics take shots at the institution and its beliefs. But what if these debates have masked the real story of Jesus? What if even Jesus’s defenders have been so blinded by their focus on defending the church’s traditions that they have failed to grapple with what the New Testament really teaches?

Bible scholar, Anglican bishop, and bestselling author N. T. Wright summarizes a lifetime of study of Jesus and the New Testament in order to present for a general audience who Jesus was and is. In Simply Jesus, we are invited to hear one of our leading scholars introduce the story of the carpenter’s son from Nazareth as if we were hearing it for the first time.

you must be born again

The sum of the matter is this: Christianity includes morality, as grace does reason; but if we are only mere moralists, if we are not inwardly wrought upon, and changed by the powerful operations of the Holy Spirit, and our moral actions proceed from a principle of a new nature, however we may call ourselves Christians, it is to be feared that we shall be found naked at the Great Day, and in the number of those, who vainly depend on their own righteousness, and not on the righteousness of Jesus Christ, imputed to and inherent in them, as necessary to their eternal salvation.

“It is not enough to turn from profaneness to civility; you must turn from civility to godliness. Not only some things, but all things must become new in your soul. It will profit you but little to do many things, if yet some one thing you lack. In short, you must not be only an almost, but altogether a new creation, or in vain you hope for a saving interest in Christ.”

- George Whitefield, quoted in A God-Sized Vision: Revival Stories that Stretch and Stir, adapted.

commonly used phrases come from the Bible

 

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It is amazing how the influence of the Bible has permeated all areas of life, particularly in the western world. Here are just a few examples of well-known phrases that come from the Bible and form an integral part of our everyday life.
  

THE HAND WRITING ON THE WALL
Originates from Daniel 5. The carnal King Belshazzar, having seen a hand appear and write a mysterious message, called upon Daniel to interpret it. His kingdom was to disappear that night - and it did! So we use the phrase for something inevitable that we can all see is going to happen.

A THORN IN THE SIDE
Paul used this in 2 Corinthians 12:7 to describe an ailment he had. God didn't take it away, in order to keep him humble.
We still use this phrase to describe an ongoing problem.

THE POWERS THAT BE
First used by Bible translator, William Tyndale who quoted it from the King James Version (KJV) Translation of Romans 13:1. "the powers that be are ordained of God." Now means the government, or those in charge.

 FEET OF CLAY
Talking about a personal flaw in an individual. Come from Daniel's description of the statue King Nebuchadnezzar had seen in his dream. The statue's feet were made of clay mixed with iron, a weak base for such a big and heavy statue.

CAN A LEOPARD CHANGE ITS SPOTS?
A rhetorical question suggesting people cannot change what they inherently are. Taken from Jeremiah's statement in 13:23 of his book. But God can - and does!

HOLIER THAN THOU
Currently used to describe a self-righteous person. User in the same way in Isaiah 65:5 by the Lord to criticise those who thought themselves better than others.

WOE IS ME!
Common in 19th Century literature, the phrase comes from Isaiah 6:5, when Isaiah came face to face with God. An understated reaction?! It also appears in Jeremiah as an expression of sorrow or self-pity, as it still is today.

LIKE A LAMB TO THE SLAUGHTER
First used Isaiah 53:7 to describe the promised Messiahs willingness to accept His fate. Now usually describes an innocent or naive victim losing something in their life.

DO NOT THROW PEARLS BEFORE SWINE
A warning from Jesus in Matthew 7:6 not to waste the message of salvation on those openly hostile to the Gospel.

FIRE AND BRIMSTONE
This was what God used to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, as recorded in Genesis 19:24. Also used to describe the ultimate end of Satan in Revelation 21:8.
Used by preachers when talking about judgement or other fiery speakers when searching for a vivid phrase meaning punishment.

THE FORBIDDEN FRUIT
Of course, this is the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that Adam and Eve were instructed not to eat in Genesis 2:17. They took no notice, a decision we still have to live with today.
Now means doing something we know to be wrong, often of a sensual nature.

EAT, DRINK AND BE MERRY
A cautionary story from Luke 12 about a rich fool who thought his life was set up for good. Of course, his life expectancy didn't meet his expectations, dying that very night! Many today make the same mistake!

MONEY IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL
A mistranslation actually! For the Bible says in 1 Timothy 6:10 "the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil" However, the phrase makes the point that lusting after money gets us into trouble!

THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH
Means, 'just barely'.
The imagery comes from Job 19:20. Made popular by American playwright Thornton Wilder as the title of a smash hit play.

A DROP IN THE BUCKET
Meaning a small or meaningless amount, the phrase comes straight from Isaiah 40:15, which says, "the nations are a drop in the bucket."

TAKING A SABBATICAL
From the old Jewish notion of, 'taking time off'. The Old Testament Law commands the Jews to leave the land fallow every 7th year so it may refresh itself. Called the 'Sabbatical Year'. It is now generally a period of time off for refreshing or renewing of the mind.

A LAND FLOWING WITH MILK AND HONEY
These are the words God used to describe Palestine, the promised land, to Moses in Exodus 3:8. We know that that when the spies went in, they found it to be so. But the people looked too powerful also, so for their lack of faith in God, the Israelites had to endure 40 years of wandering in the desert before they could inherit it. Today it is used to describe a very nice or pleasant place.

 

words

WORDS.

I am once again having a problem with words, church words. 

Words can be so incredible.  Words thrill us when they are placed in a row to form the sentence, "We're going to have a baby!"  At other times words bring to our hearts incredible sorrow when they share the news, "I'm sorry to tell you your dad has died." 

Words educate and inform us when they tell the history of a great nation.  Words can be made to entertain us when a gifted writer brings a story of fiction to life.  And, words inspire us to live differently and vow to change.

And then again, words can be less than exciting and even boring. 

Take the greatest thing you have ever known about and try to express it in words.  If you choose words that are sterile or words devoid of emotion and feeling, you can cause the spectacular to be thought of as bland.  Or, when describing something, however well, if the same words are run out again and again and again they can become old, tired and useless just as the salt that has lost its savor.

There, I have hit on what I want to say. What has happened is that we have become comfortable and even lazy in the way in which we talk about salvation.  We run out the same tired phrase over and over again, regardless of the audience. We choose a sterile catch phrase rather than grapple with words that would cause a heart to leap to attention and cry for more.

Often in my travels and in my reading I hear the phrase and question, "God wants to give you a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?  Won't you come forward and begin your personal relationship with Jesus today? 

We use it too often.  I am bored by that phrase.  Yes, bored is the right word because there are so many other words, good words, great words, Bible words, that can be used to give a new depth of meaning to what it means to know God and be forgiven of our sin.

The Bible is full of interesting and exciting words to describe salvation.  Why don't we use them more instead of the worn-thin phrases?

Believe,  trust,  place your confidence in,  adopted,  redeemed,  reconciled,  saved,  born again,   made whole,  forgiven,  made sons,  heirs with Christ,  in Christ,  rescued,  given hope,  faith, given new life,  given eternal life,  confession of sin,  repentance,  great salvation,  new creature,  new garment,   whiter than snow,  as wool,  set free,  delivered,  citizens of heaven,  justified  freely,  propitiation,  ransomed,  no longer strangers, etc.

Each of the above words and their equivalents in today's language are rich metaphor and verbs, etc. that help put life back into salvation and herald its great accomplishment. 

And all we have to offer in our sermon and to ad nauseam during the invitation time is to say, "You need to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?"  Why?  Who says?  What for?  How is that possible?  Don't you see? 

The answers can be given with stories and explanations that burst to life in living and vivid colors from the words above.

"A personal relationship with Jesus Christ" may mean a lot to you but I don't think it communicates very well our sinful condition and need for a Savior, especially to little children. 

Pastor, watch out for church words!  They will suck the life out of your message and maybe even your soul.

apersonalrealtionshipwithjesuschrist

This weekend I witnessed the good and the bad, the right and the wrong way to talk to little children about Jesus.  Two men, one in his 30's and the other in his 60's, both stood before very little children and spoke to them in 8th grade English.  Both men were sincere and wanted desperately to communicate the Gospel.  Though servants of God, neither knew how.

We used to play a game called Taboo.  You would draw a card and have to use descriptive language to try and get your partner to guess the word printed at the top of the card you drew. 

Just one catch.  Underneath the word on the card was a list of five other words you were not allowed to use while trying to get your partner to say the right word.  And you had just a few seconds to get it done adding excitement to the game.

Let's do something similar and pretend you are being asked to explain the Gospel message to little children ages 4-7.  Here are the five word's you cannot say:

1. personal

2. salvation

3. eternal

4. confess

5. relationship

You have 30 seconds.  Ready, set, go!

How did you do?  Pretty good?  Still have some work to do to get it down to their level?  I can imagine any of us would have to do a fair amount of work to get it just right.  Do we do the work?  We should!

One last thing.  I mentioned that I also witnessed the good as well as the bad.  The good was done by a woman who was highly skilled at speaking to little children.  She used a flannel graph board and told the story by pressing figures against the flannel that easily stayed wherever she put them. 

The story she told was one with little words for their little minds to understand.  She asked them to repeat words and even gave candy at the end for children who could give the one word answers to questions she asked them.

See the difference?  It really does take effort and skill to tell the little children the story of Jesus, doesn't it?  Without preparation your well-meaning talk will make about as much sense as this blog's title printed in a first grade reading book.