What is a pastor?

“A pastor is 1)a man who is 2)divinely called, who 3)lives a life that exemplifies the Scripture he preaches, and 4)who humbly leads and willingly serves the body of Christ 5)for the glory of God.”

An Excellent Quote

What do you think "Corporate Worship" is about? Read this quote!


"Corporate worship is not about hearing a message that tells us what we can do to improve ourselves, singing songs about what we are going to do for God, and judging the quality of the meeting by how it feels to us. Rather, God-centered worship is about hearing a message that reveals, from the Bible, who God is and what he has done for and with us; singing songs about who God is and what he does; and judging the quality of worship based upon whether it accords with the Scriptures." 


-Mark Driscoll from "Religion Saves and 9 Other Misconceptions" (page 248)

Why The World Hates Christians

John 15:18-21

18 "If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20Remember the word that I said to you: 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. 21But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.”

John 16:1-4

1"I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. 3And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. 4But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.”

            This is why the world hates Christians. It is not mainly because of the bad examples of so many hypocritical Christians. It is not mainly because Christians are intolerant. It hates Christians because we are ‘not of this world” and “chosen out of the world” by Jesus. It first hated Jesus, and it also hates those He chooses.

            It hates the fact that we proclaim that Jesus is God and not a mere “good teacher”. It hates that we say this Jesus who lived a humble life as a homeless, despised, rejected and crucified man is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. It hates the gospel—that Jesus lived a perfect life and was crucified and bore the full wrath of God the Father for our sins and then rose again, all that we might be saved (and all for HIS glory). It further hates us for saying that only His work on the cross washes away our sin—our sinful nature that we were ALL born with. It hates us for daring to say that sin is judged by a righteous and just God. It is an offense to this pluralistic world to say that “there is salvation in no one else (but Jesus), for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) The world declares us intolerant and judgmental for saying that homosexuality is a sin. It declares us judgmental and foolish for saying that the murder of babies is a sin.

            And there is a day, yet even today, when those who would kill us would think they were doing God a service.

            Think about it. The world was so hostile against Jesus, so hateful of Him, that they crucified Him—murdered the very Son of God they were so desperate for. And they thought they were doing a service for God.

Will they not do the same to His servants?

            The disciples were martyred. Stephen was stoned. Paul himself before his conversion thought he was doing a service by persecuting Christians. And it continues today. Though not near as tough (yet) in the United States, the entire world is against Christianity. They hate us because they first hated Christ. And He chose us. This is a fact we cannot try and escape. And unfortunately, many self-proclaimed “Christians” are scrambling for an escape by rejecting truth and pursuing acceptance of the world.

            Today, many people who profess to be Christians would say that Jesus is NOT the only way to heaven. Many of them would say that the doctrine of sin is outdated—that we are born good and not into a sinful nature. Many of them say that if one believes in themselves enough, then good will be accomplished without the help of God. Many say that the cross is offensive. Many say that Hell does not exist. And if they do believe Hell exists, they think no one is going there. They do not stand strong in the Word against the wave of pressure and persecution to conform to the world. They say homosexuality is o.k in the church—so much so that homosexual people can be ordained. Many Christians today are more and more proclaiming a relative truth.

            And they will hate to be confronted. They will hate to be corrected. And they will call us intolerant, prideful, hateful, foolish bigots.  

           

Because they hated Jesus Christ the Lord and Savior, they will hate you, Christian. Jesus Himself said this would happen, so that when the time would come, we would not be surprised.

And be that as it may, I will hold to Galatians 6:14:

“But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.”

Like Children We Walk

I once saw a movie that began with two people. One was a somewhat anxious man and the other was a rather in charge businessperson. It was clear due to their dialogue that the anxious man worked for the other. What was funny however was the camera shot. It was aimed directly at their shins down, focused solely on their shoes as they walked. The boss’ voice was matched by like swift and confident steps. The anxious man was fumbling with his speech and his paces were erratic. It soon became clear that the entire time, he was trying to match his steps with his boss—right left right left—like a child!

It was pretty comical, because we do not usually see such behavior in the workplace today—we see it in the behavior of children.

When I remembered that scene, I also thought about how children who have fathers that truly love them also want to be like them. Even down to the very same stride.

And God, the one to Whom we may cry “Abba, Father”, has shown us in His Word how to walk. Furthermore, God came down in human form, being both God and man, and showed us Himself how to walk.

Faith like a child does not mean to “just believe” like a child. It also means the desire of the child to imitate the loving Father as best as he or she can… even down to the same footsteps. This requires dependence and constant focus on the Father.

Psalm 119:1-3 "Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord! Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart, 

who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways!"

Divine Intercession

         There has been quite a few times where I talked with someone about prayer and about why he or she seems hesitant to pray—especially in corporate, “out loud” prayer. On Sundays, when the service comes to an end and the pastor is about to ask someone to close in prayer, sometimes you can feel the rising of the congregation’s pulse as many silently plead, “Oh, please don’t call on me.”

When I talk to people about such a lack of the desire to pray, I quite often hear the words “I just don’t know what to pray for.” I would then answer them by saying this: “But that is ok! The Spirit intercedes for us when we do not know what to pray for! Romans 8:26!”

But that answer is wrong.

Why is this wrong? Again, it all boils down to the words in the verse. As we analyze verses, it is so incredibly important to look at small words like “but”, “yet”, and “for”.  Read this verse carefully—this verse that I have all too often misquoted:

Romans 8:26 “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”

It is this verse that tells us something truly amazing. It is also another witness to God’s intimacy and grace in our lives.

The verse does not say, “When we do not know what to pray for as we ought…” it says a definite “For we do not know what to pray for as we ought.”

No one knows what to pray for! The “prayer veteran”, who spouts out long, eloquent and flowery prayer does not know what to pray for any more than the newly converted stutterer. The Bible even says so right here in Romans 8:26! That is why it is so crucial that the Spirit intercedes for us. And we find from this verse that the Spirit does not merely wait for us to “not know what to pray for” in order to intercede for us. Rather, he intercedes for us all the time “for we do not know what we ought to pray for.” My original answer was wrong in that it assumed that some people know what to pray for and others--out of lack of experience or whatnot-- do not. But we-all of us-do not know.

Does this mean that prayer is completely irrelevant? That we need not pray because “Hey the Spirit intercedes for us.” Absolutely not. The verse is clearly in the context of Him interceding for us always as we pray. This presumes that we are to pray and are praying in the first place as He intercedes (and we indeed are to pray—prayer is commanded).

And even though we do not know what to pray for as we ought, that does not mean that we are shooting off prayers blindly and vainly in the dark. For part of the work of the Spirit in intercession is His work in our lives through the Word of God—and it is the Word that does tell us some things to pray for (such as wisdom in James 1:5).

Prayer is only possible by the power of the Spirit, for it is He who knows our hearts and intercedes on our behalf since we do not know what to pray for on our own. And His work is a gift to us through the grace of God.

So now when I hear someone say, “I just don’t know what to pray for.” I will answer them this way:

“It’s ok. No one knows what to pray for as they ought—Romans 8:26 even says so. But the Spirit intercedes for us. So don’t worry, and trust His power.”