Sunday, June 29, 2014

biblical eldership

First Timothy 3:1-13
 “This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work.  A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behaviour, hospitable, able to teach; not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?); not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil.  Moreover he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. Likewise deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for money, holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. But let these also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons, being found blameless. Likewise, their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things. Let deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. For those who have served well as deacons, obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.” NKJV

Sunday, June 22, 2014

Man's Purpose

Someone forwarded this to me and I thought it would make a great Sunday afternoon blog post. This has probably been republished a thousand times... so what is one more posting going to hurt? The subject matter is the purpose of life and I think the verse in Ecclesiastes shown above pretty much sums it. Anyway, Here is what Rick Warren has to say:

Sunday, June 15, 2014

binding the strongman
Background image courtesy www.pachd.com

Matthew 12:28-29; Luke 11:21-22

“But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can one enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house” (NKJV)

“When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace.  But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armour in which he trusted, and divides his spoils.” (NKJV)

Sunday, June 08, 2014

Spiritual Warfare

Revelation 12:7-11 
“And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. Therefore rejoice O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time." NKJV

The Devil is the Christian leader’s greatest foe. He the devil wields a vast power in the world. It is necessary therefore that the Christian leader should pay enough attention to the activities and methods of the devil. We allow him to outwit us in strategy and outmanoeuvre us in tactics largely because of our ignorance of his devices. Too much goes by default because we are not alive to his insidious activity. 

Sunday, June 01, 2014

spiritual leadership
Luke 22:24-27:” Now there was also a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest. And He said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called 'benefactors.'   But not so among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves.  For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as the One who serves”. (NKJV)

We must admit that our society today is in dire need of leaders. This is not news. It has been the case through the centuries whether in secular or sacred realms. In the Scriptures, God is frequently represented as searching for a man of a certain type. In First Samuel 13:14 –it was for “a man after His own heart”. In Jeremiah 4:25 – it was dismay when God said “I beheld and lo there was no man”. In Jeremiah 5:1 It was for a man “that executes judgment, that seeks the truth so that God would pardon” In Ezekiel 22:30 – it was for a man that would “stand in the gap”. When God discovers a man who conforms to His spiritual requirements, despite their obvious limitations, and short-comings there is no limit to what He will do for and through them.