Leading the Church
How is your seasoning? One of the key objectives of Francis Schaeffer's work was to help Christians think and process who they are in Christ. In so doing, one would look at God's precepts and then work them out so he could better be salt and light in the world in which we live. Schaeffer found, both as a pastor and in his early personal practice of Christianity, too much shallowness, preoccupation with trivialities, and what he saw as "irrationality."
Righteousness is defined as conformity to God's Law, both from our heart and deeds, inside and outside. Faith is the instrument for Righteousness but not the cause. Christ is the cause.
We are committed to Christ by faith! Thus, we, as Christians, must live by faith...
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. We are called to learn and develop faith because faith is essential and of the utmost importance for every aspect of the Christian life. Without faith, we can do nothing! As Christians, especially those who are responsible for the education and care of others, we are called to build our spiritual formation from...
This is the cornerstone of protestant theology that Christ through His work gave us a 'pardon'. And the rallying cry of the Reformation. The main point that caused Luther and Calvin to challenge the Catholic Church and it's teachings.
We can model the character of Christ by the faith we show in our obedience to His Word. What we see in Christ is our model of how we integrate or relate to people with whom we have relationships.
In application, our faith and ministry efforts are like a working fishing net. Our lives are interwoven with that of others by God as we crisscross with them in life.
Why we should go to Church, when to leave a Church?
Do you want to go to church, but feel lost there? Do you dread going to church? Do you wonder why or even if you should go to church? If we are not committed to a church home, then there is no one to keep us accountable or to miss us when we do not attend worship. If no one is expecting us, we can come up with all those excuses of why we need not go. Then, a trickle-down effect will occur.
Do you want to go to church, but feel lost there? Do you dread going to church? Do you wonder why or even if you should go to church? If we are not committed to a church home, then there is no one to keep us accountable or to miss us when we do not attend worship. If no one is expecting us, we can come up with all those excuses of why we need not go. Then, a trickle-down effect will occur.
Is heartfelt Devotion working in you? Are you an offering to God (Psalm 1:2; Isa. 26:3)? Has the Christian faith impacted all of you, who you are as well as what you do?
Stewardship Part II Are you giving what's right, or what's left? In my experiences and observations, I have observed, with sadness, that most people in evangelical circles do not see stewardship as important. A common response to the subject of stewardship is that all we need to have is a good heart, or be sincere in our faith. Our money, and how we manage life is irrelevant. But, is this true? Is God only concerned with our heart? If so, what does that mean? Well, when you read the Bible, you can see that it has a totally different definition of stewardship than what is popular in the church today!
