Every Member Ministry

In our Evangelical churches we have this idea that our pastor(s) are the primary ministers of the Word of God. 
We need to help our people  see that the Word of God is more powerful than any idea of their ability or inability to minister to others.
The authors of the book The Trellis and the Vine, Colin Marshall and Tony Payne, explode this unbiblical idea.  Ministry, say the authors, is the work of the church, that is the people.  The members of the local church are like a vine that grows on the trellis of the organizational superstructure and programs of the church; they grow in the Word and Spirit of truth in order to minister the Word to other people.
The emphasis of the pastor is in training people to minister the Word of God to other people—to “equip the saints for the ministry.” (Eph 4v11-16; 2Ti 3v16)
It’s time that we all grow-up in the faith and gird ourselves for spiritual warfare.  It’s time we stop making excuses for not ministering the Word to people around us.

The Goodness of God

After being on vacation, then sick with a fever that went to the family, I fell short of my goal to write a post weekly. In my own strength this was frustrating. As I finally moved to consider some topics to address, I considered how God really has been good to my family and me.

I was reminded, "Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loads us with benefits, The God of our salvation! Selah." (Ps. 68:19)

Here are some comments on Psalm 68.

The Lord has chosen his dwelling place. The believer is indwelt by God through the Holy Spirit. Of the great and might men and women of this world, the Almighty God of the Universe has chosen to indwell each and every person who is the object of His Grace in Jesus Christ.

Other mountaintops are not higher than the place God has chosen. God is no respecter of persons. Every mighty person among mankind can not claim a higher position than the lowliest citizen of God's Kingdom. For everyone indwelt by Almighty God is a king and a priest in His Kingdom. We are His servants, and we are His ambassadors. For the redeemed live as lights in the darkness of the world through our deeds of kindness and compassion and love. But it is not our acts of service ("ministry" in Christian-ese), that secure a higher place in God's eyes, rather we are lifted up by God because he is merciful to us who are sinners.

God's protection will be upon his chosen dwelling and not another. God's protection is not by the power of man, but by the power of His Gospel. For our deliverance from The Death is not our work but the work of God in Jesus Christ who died on the cross for sinners, suffered our condemnation in death for three days, and then was raised for our justification. We are not ashamed of this message because it is The Good News about Christ "for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes."

God's protection is total victory. The Resurrection of Jesus is the greatest victory for mankind because of it's totality. In His victory on the cross he interposed His Righteous Self between God's Wrath and sinners; in His victory in the grave he bore our condemnation and penalty for sin; and, in His Resurrection He secured our justification before God.

His victory is put on view to all because the psalmist tells us that he “led captivity captive.” In other words, He is at the head of a public parade of the conquered enemies of Death and Hell as in a display of His power and authority over them. And so His people are assured of Life and a place of honor in His earthly and heavenly Kingdom.

But not only are Death and Hell so absolutely conquered, but the Lord also is showered with glory through the gifts of men, that is the service of servants who are willing to be subject to the conquering Lord, and displayed as “trophies of His grace.”

Assurance of Daily Blessings. Because of the Lord’s total ascendancy in the lives of His people, they can be assured of daily blessings from His hand. Although not all may go well with them, the Lord’s people are assured of the Lord’s favor and encouragement in difficulty and in ease because we share in His victory over Death and Hell, and also in His Life and Kingdom.

But I Speak Concerning Christ and The Church

As I reminisce about a recent wedding, these words of Paul came forward as I read the larger context of the passage to my sons in bedtime devotions with them, "This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church."

Paul is admonishing wives to submit to their husbands, and husbands to love their wives, and describes this relationship in light of the relationship between Christ and the Church. I am always amazed at how Christ loves the Church, for I often am humbled at the infinite nature of Christ's love, especially in comparison to my own dismal failings as a husband to my wife.

Now, my wife and I are not having marital strife, but we are not perfect and we each must repent of our selfish desires that cause disagreements and conflict that happens between humans that are friends and lovers. In my single-minded pursuit of my own agenda or schedule I have burst with anger at the frustrations I feel when everyone else is (unintentionally) hindering my way. Oftentimes I don't consciously repent before God even though my wife and I may apologize, kiss, and make up. Am I alone in this, I think not.

As I was thinking on this passage, I searched the net, and sought to see what some others might have to say. John Piper's site, DesiringGod.org yielded some gold nuggets in his article on Marriage and conformity to Christ.

Thank God for weddings that point to Christ and remind us of the covenant with the wife of your youth.

The Culture War And The Called-Out Ones

As the church continues to listen to the voices calling it to ‘re-capture’ our society for Christ, it will regress to a place where it is no longer the church, but an unholy interest group engaged in ‘cultural renewal’ instead of individual New Birth.
In order to prevent such a regression, Christians, then, must reevaluate their role in this society and return to the mandate to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ This proclamation requires that we involve our whole being, not only in the verbal proclamation of the Gospel itself, but also in the deeds of a born-again human and a new citizen of God’s Kingdom culture.
John Piper has done much to exposit Philippians 1, especially verse 20, “. . .20 according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death.” He points out that we need to live for Christ and exhorts us to this in his book, Don’t Waste Your Life.
We must honestly need to count all our accomplishments, talents and status as “rubbish” (Phil. 3:8) in comparison with “the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.” Christ embodies all that is and can be excellent. His example in the Gospels teach us how he balanced perfectly his love for mankind.
Christ loved the woman at the well (John 4:4-26), the certain ruler seeking Eternal Life (Luke 18:18-30), and the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11). In these examples we see that Jesus exercises love in perfect balance with the unique cultural issues around each person he met. Jesus balanced His love with the racial differences between Himself (a Jew) and the Samaritan women; between His humility and the pride and riches of that certain ruler seeking Eternal Live; and, between His perfect holiness with harlotry of the adulterous woman without excusing the sin of the adulterous woman.
Christ loved these people outside the confines of this world culture, by presenting the claims of the culture of the Kingdom of God, while proclaiming the Gospel.
We are called to be in the world for the same task, but we are admonished not to be conformed to this world. So we have been left in this world that we might make Christ known; as ambassadors of God’s Kingdom to our fellow humans. This will require us to proclaim the Truth of God in this present evil age, and in the face of persecution and hostility.
Paul warns and encourages us, “Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Cor 5:16-21)
Our great purpose if fulfilled in being called out of a God-hostile world culture to to live and proclaim the messages of our King Jesus and our Father God. as His ambassadors. “But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you are blessed. ‘And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.’ But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;. . . .:

The Culture War And The Christian Response

The secularization of our society has been used by political leaders to centralize government power into the hands of a few people. The growth of the welfare state is an example of our county’s move away from religious practice. The establishment of compulsory state education is another example. These two social issues were once the province of the church and the family.
A great shift has occurred in our views of government “as the major dispenser of political, social, and economic favors.” (John P. Stead, “Developing a Biblical View of Church and State,” in Think Biblically!, 2003). “Governmental institutions are now seen as something to be captured and used by a particular interest group for its own ends.” (Stead) Even ‘Christian’ leaders have accepted this premise, but God calls Christians to a higher and more vital purpose than dominate our culture in an effort to create a Christian counter-hegemony.
Yes there is a war, but it is much more fundamentally rooted in the origins of all problems, Sin in our soul. In Ephesians we read more of the Christian warfare, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against power, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” Paul tells us, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience if fulfilled.” So the war that mankind is engaged in is for more than man’s culture, but for the very soul of mankind.
Christians, then, must reevaluate their role in this society and return to the mandate to preach the Gospel: the Jesus was sent from God, born of a virgin, died on the cross as a sacrifice for sin, and was buried for three days and rose again on the third day, and now lives in heaven ruling over the affairs of men until he returns again to judge the living and the dead.
In the meantime we must live on earth for the purpose of declaring the Gospel and living lives that are consistent with those who have been called out of culture and into a new kingdom where we have our citizenship.