Disciples Today

The word disciple is a commonly used Bible word. The word discipleship is a word that does not appear in scripture. A disciple is basically a student. A disciple is one who follows both the teaching and the teacher. Disciples are those who try to use thought followed by endeavor.  A disciple is one who on one hand sits and learns from a teacher, and on another hand gets practical experience in putting into practice the things that they have been taught.

A disciple does not have to live with his teacher, nor does he have to spend every waking moment with his teacher. He has to hear what the teacher is saying and he tries to watch how the teacher is living. In a local church a disciple is in every service, paying attention, taking notes, and watching what his pastor is doing.

One thing that works is that by being involved, a disciple can be involved in real ministry that helps real people. People get saved, baptized, filled with the Spirit, and locked into church. Ministry is the method by which this all happens.

A disciple never reaches a point where he graduates from the program. It is a life-long process of learning. The relationship between the teacher and the disciple can grow and it will change over time. But he will always be the teacher and you will always be the disciple.

Discipleship is the process by which all of this happens. It has produced the Fellowship that we are a part of. Winning souls, making disciples, and planting churches is what we do. The key to making pastors is first making disciples and then helping them to learn how to be a pastor.

Names of God

 Many years ago, when I was just a disciple, pastor Mitchell taught a Sunday school series on the redemptive names of God. There are seven of them. It is strange that I still remember things that happened so long ago.

Our pastor here started a new Sunday school series on the names of God. He has taken on a big task. The Bible is a book about God. He is on every page. Trying to distill that down to an adult study series will be a big task.

This is why we pray for our pastors. They need wisdom and inspiration. 

My Thoughts For Today.

The complexity threshold has been on my mind recently. I do not fully understand what this implies. I do know that as civilizations or businesses or even churches grow in complexity, they become so unwieldly that it take more to run them than we get a benefit from their size.  Every civilization from the beginning of recorded history has followed this curve. Sometimes, a collapse, rather than being a negative, is actually a way to shed complexity that we can no longer afford.

Has any church in our Fellowship that has reached a size of stability had a new wave of explosive growth? I hear a lot about latter rain revival, but my poor brain cannot come up with one example of that happening to any of our larger churches. We evangelize and we get people saved and we see them baptized. But we do not grow in attendance. It's like we can make converts, but are we making true disciples?

A disciple is a learner. They hunger and thirst for righteousness. They hunger for solid Bible preaching. They speak in tongues. They give money. They learn how to be a real Christian. They do not just say a sinner's prayer.

Science is not an end in itself. It is a means to an end. It discovers the laws by which the natural world works. This is the complexity threshold. It is not the devil fighting against us. It is not God unwilling to pour out His Spirit upon us again. It is the natural course that every revival has taken throughout history.

The best is yet to come. We may have to wait until we get to Heaven to see that. 

A Sermon

 Here is a nice three point sermon for my brothers who do not seem to know how to put a sermon together.

1. There is an external enemy.

"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walk about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." 1Pet. 5:8

2. There is an inner enemy.

"No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man..."1Cor.10:13a

"Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world." 1Pet.5:9

3. The God factor.

"but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able , but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it." 1Cor.10:13b

Add some quotes and an illustration or two, and maybe a poem, and this will preach.

Flying Under The Radar

 "From the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him; there! A people dwelling alone, not reckoning itself among the nations." Num.23:9

One of the genius things that pastor Mitchell did for our Fellowship is that he deliberately sought to fly under the radar. He never thought it wise to draw attention to himself. He never strove to be on television. Evidently pastor Mitchell had his ego under control.

Our text tells us part of Balaam's prophecy over Israel. He describes them as a people dwelling alone, and not reckoning itself among the nations. They got into trouble by wanting to be like the nations around them. To have a king like they have. To form alliances with neighboring kingdoms. As though being the people of God was not enough. And we read in the Bible a history of how giving in to ego and desiring acceptance from the world plays out over time.

Our calling is to be in the world, but not like the world. To be salt and light in a drab and dark world. Our calling is to be unique and a place where God can dwell. The mega church movement is an attempt to impress the world by imitating the world. Any attempt to be like the world is rooted in pride. Look at us, look at what we've done. 

We used to mock the sweet by and by. But there is safety in waiting until Heaven to be rewarded for what we've done.

I am regularly surprised to find out how smart pastor Mitchell really was.

Thoughts On Headship

"It is like the precious oil upon the head , running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garment." Psalm 133:2

Ever since the dawn of creation God has set in order how things work best in life. Part of this program is the idea of headship. Certain people are placed in status over other people. Pastors are men who run local churches. We get a lot from the flow of ministry that we get from our pastors. Our text tells us how the Holy Spirit flows down from the head to the edges of the garment of the high priest. This is the oil.

This headship is also how marriages and families thrive. Adam was formed first, then Eve. She was to serve him and complete him. She wants to be in charge, but it only works when we do it God's way.

"But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God." 1Cor.11:3

We run into big problems when we criticize or challenge or ignore headship. We cut ourselves off from all the God wants to do in and through and for us. 

"Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God." Col. 2:18-19

In fact, God works against those who rebel against His headship.

"...why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses? So the anger of the Lord was aroused against them, and He departed. And when the cloud departed from above the tabernacle, suddenly Miriam became leprous, as white as snow..." Num.12:8b-10a

Miriam rebelled against God and against Moses and she paid the price for her rebellion for 7 days.

It was Eve that the serpent targeted, not Adam. Take heed my sisters. 

Debunking Fake Science

 I read an interesting article today. It's not Biblical or spiritual. But in the world we live in I found it useful anyway.

1. We have more than 5 senses. Christians should know this. We are spiritual beings living in a physical body. But science tells us that we have 20 or more senses that we all use every day.

2. Who says that you cannot go swimming right after a meal? Swimmers often eat right before a meet. Our bodies are balanced so that we can function in life easily. Our bodies work perfectly.

3. Someone told us that we only use 10% of our brains. In fact we use 100% of our brain all the time. Even when we sleep. Our brain is always on and always working.

4. Do camels really store water in their humps. No. They are uniquely suited to living in a harsh environment. Their humps are full of fat that provides them with energy. Not water.

5. In spite of Yogi Bear or Winnie the Pooh, bears do not love honey. They eat the bees or the bee larva for protein. They get honey, but it is not what they are searching for.

6. Bats are not blind. They have good eyesight. They also have built in sonar to hunt at night. God made even bats so that they thrive in their environment.

Old wives fable are not given to us by old women. Often science tells us things that are not true. Even Aristotle got it wrong a lot of the time.