Family Integrated?

There are a lot of questions about churches that are purposely integrating the family back into the full activity of worship on the Lord's day. But it affects more than just Sunday. Here are some free messages that touch on those subjects. Enjoy!
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College: a necessity?

Apprenticeships and trade schools have for centuries aided the skilled workers of the world by training people in specific tasks. Universities and Colleges have honed the minds and shaped men and women alike to take roles in various fields. But are these necessary? The immediate answer is "Yes, because the authoritative certifying agencies demand it for various fields." We don't mind a shade-tree mechanic working on our old van, but we don't want a "shade-tree" heart surgeon working on our Mom!
But what happened to fathers and grandfathers training sons, and mothers and grandmothers training daughters? Not to mention uncles and aunts, etc, etc. There are many fields that could be trained for right from the home.
One of the reasons this is not happening in America today the way it did in times past is that the Deuteronomy Six commands are not being practiced. Notice: Deu 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: Deu 6:5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. Deu 6:6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: Deu 6:7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
Now clearly, what is being pressed here is the teaching of the Law to the household. It is an all day, every moment thing. Teach with the mouth, teach with the life. But this could not be accomplished if the children were not with them when they sat in the house, when they walked by the way and when they laid down and rose up.
With the present cultural mode of operation the family is placed in an environment that almost demands that the children go one way, dad goes another and mom goes yet another. Therefore there is little fellowship for learning godliness from the father and mother, much less a skill or trade.
We have opted for short family devotionals to replace the "walking by the way" and we have placed a Television set to replace the "sitting in thine house".
What a challenge we face in training our children. What a challenge we face in determining that we will break the mold and move toward a more sound center.

The world's accolades...

"The world pays scantily indeed. What will it do for those it loves best? When it has done all it can, the last resource of the world is to give a man a title and what is that? And then to give him a tall pillar and set him up there to bear all weathers, to be pitilessly exposed to every storm; and there he stands for fools to gaze at..." Charles Spurgeon

Let us be careful of desiring accolades from the world. The best they can give is not near the least that God can render to man. Our hopes and treasures should be laid up somewhere else, other than here. Once we amass all we can, stand back and look at it and count it as ash. For dear one, it shall be ash on that great day. The only thing that will survive will be what was done for Christ.
May God be glorified. Soli Deo Gloria

When Method matches the Message.

When Method Matches the Message


The pulpit was ablaze and one could almost feel the emotions being poured forth from the podium. Bible open, hand uplifted, the message was solid, the words were pure, and no man dared dispute him. When we attend conferences and revivalist meetings, often times we come away with more than a strengthened resolve and encouraged heart, we come away with a false sense of methodology. Here is how this works: The preacher preaches a strong line on the family, the importance of the Scriptures and loyalty to church. We see the size or we perceive that the size, of the ministry he is involved in to be large. One leaves believing that preacher is a family integrationist by the great importance he places on the family unit. He even says, "I am a husband first, a preacher last." That sounds so good, in fact we begin to repeat the mantra, (even though we may have not been living it out in our own lives.) That is the conundrum. When does our method match our message.


For what it is worth, I have committed to making sure the church I pastor does not fall into the trap of fluff. I know, one man's fluff is another man's ministry. What one preacher calls fluff, another calls "useful method". Whether it be preaching, music, bus ministries, awana clubs or basket weaving, we tend to spiritualize the acts and suggest that in and of themselves, they are fine, as long as the end justifies the means. "Hey, the fact of the matter is evident: we are trying to get people to come to church, right?" Wrong. We are trying to preach Christ and Him crucified. Those who come to church ought to be the ones who Christ has already called to himself. Only the Saved can worship in Spirit and Truth. Yes, the world can worship, no doubt. But they cannot enter into the holy of holies and worship the one true God. Without the Spirit of God, there is no true worship. Yet, we bend all we do in the church many times to accommodate those "without the Spirit." We put fluff in place to make them comfortable, and hope they stick around long enough to "get saved." The church no longer goes, but rather sends out invitations.


What am I wanting in Worship? I am wanting what God wants in worship. Not what I want. If I got what I wanted, and if I were pleased with what I had, without regard to God's direct desires, I am only worshipping my own self-interests.


It is a hard thing for a preacher who loves to preach, to know that he could amp up the music just a bit, change the format to be a bit more man centered, and provide a few more "community based" activities to draw in a crowd. "Hey, I have never stopped preaching the same message!" But when, dear preacher, does the "Method match the Message". If you say you love families, why do you divide them? If you say you love the Word, why does it get supplanted by the emotionalism of the music ministry? If you say that Preaching is the primary activity in a church, why then is the pulpit secondary, or even further down the list of what is promoted in the church? Because we know, the lost world will not say, "Hey, I hear that they have a great pulpit ministry down there at Emmanuel, lets go check it out!"


Dr. Bruce Bickel states in his book Light and Heat"With the increase of communication equipment and an emphasis on communication skills, Bible studies, small groups and sharing are increasingly sought as the route to revitalizing the church, while faith in the pulpit fades and grows dim. Consequently, more emphasis is being placed on methodology and less on the message." Again, When does the Method match the Message? The answer is clear, "When it brings people in, and not before."


So, preachers fill their pulpits each week and proclaim, "I will not compromise the message from this pulpit, you can boot me out, but I am standing on the word!" The congregation shouts "AMEN!, but don't you dare allow your message to affect the methodology we practice here." The message, some suppose belongs in the pulpit, along with the messenger, but the method belongs to us, the people, "Why, that is the whole reason we are here!" I know Emmanuel has not arrived, but I want to be on the correct train, heading in the right direction.


Let us have a strong defense of the Word of God, but let us be careful not to diminish that with a low esteem of the message. We show a disregard and low esteem of the message, when it does not translate from out of the pulpit, to the methods practiced in the church. Crowds or not.