The Sermon on the Mount (part 5)

I just returned home from teaching a session on Missiology based on the Sermon on the Mount. I have decided to continue writing on this subject. This is an amazing message because it sets in contrast the righteousness of man and the righteousness of God. The characteristics of the righteousness of God have been covered in the previous articles. Once a person encounters God

Missiology Session in Warsaw, Poland

I had the privilege of spending 10 days with some of my favorite friends (brothers and sisters in Christ) in Warsaw, Poland as I taught a session on Missiology based on the “Sermon on the Mount“. It was a great session. We studied this masterful sermon very intensively. It was a time of personal examination. All of us examined our relationship with God as well as our motives in doing what we do in the ministry. God really spoke directly to all of us. We evaluated the previous 6 months of ministry and planned the next 6 months.

God really motivated us to be salt and light in the societies in which we live. God motivated us to love people and serve them, teaching them how to have and live by the righteousness of God and not the righteousness of man, based on rules, rituals, and empty regulations.

Have you prayed today?

 

Preaching the Gospel on ESPN

Ministry update from Moldova

This has been a busy week on the mission field. I absolutely love serving the Lord day in and day out in the country of Moldova. It is not easy and is quite exhausting most of the time but also so fulfilling.

The week began on Sunday at Good News. The medical team that was to work in a village arrived at church and I was their translator. It was a great service. They shared and encouraged us and then we all prayed for the upcoming week’s activities. They were about to go and work in a village that has a long history of animosity toward the Gospel. God answered our prayers and worked in a mighty way among the people of the village.

Be angry yet do not sin (Sunday’s Sermon from Ephesians)

Yesterday was a great day at Good News. We had a full service. We had guests from the Southern part of Moldova, an ensemble that played and sang traditional Moldovan music with a Christian message. One of the men in the group shared his testimony of how God changed his life, from being wife beating alcoholic to a follower of Christ.

The church was also blessed to have a medical mission team that will join us in serving at one of our mission points in a village not too far from the city. The team consists of 20 doctors and nurses who will set up a mobile clinic. Using this service to the community, we want to form friendships, share the Gospel, and seek to start small group Bible studies that will blossom into a local church.

Five Rock Solid Truths for daily living

There are many things that compete for our attention today, especially during this age of technology where all the information that you may need is at the stroke of a few keys. The problem is, this access is dangerous because many of the competing modern ideas contradict each other. Some of the ideas that are promoted can be very dangerous. In this age of information, we have many, many people who are confused about life and its purpose. Because of this confusion, the disease of the 2oth and 21st Centuries is depression. As a result, the world is full of people who are just drudging through life or, worse, people who end their days because they just cannot take the pain.

I would like to present 5 rock solid truths for every person who lives on this earth.

Church Bible study on choosing deacons

Last night Good News met to have a short Bible study on the characteristics of a deacon because we are in the process of choosing deacons. A church with over 100 members does not have any deacons. We elected a deacon last year but he was then ordained as a pastor to plant a church out of Good News. There was a deacon in the very beginning but he was ordained a couple of years ago to be one of the pastors of our growing church.

I would like to share the truths that we learned last night.

Our sin nature loves “religion” (church Bible study on Galatians)

Sunday was a unique service at Good News. We spent the day studying the Scriptures together. Over the last couple of years, a new wave of false teaching has been creeping into the Evangelical Christian world. The teaching is that Jesus Christ is the sacrifice for our sins that gives us salvation but in order to experience true salvation, people must keep certain aspects of the Jewish Law. Because of this teaching, many people have stopped eating pork, not necessarily for health related reasons but as a critical point for salvation. Also, debates have sprung up about which day is the best day to celebrate the Lord’s day, Saturday or Sunday. In other words, which day should church services be held on? In order to clear up these false teachings and end much of the debate, as well as to protect the members of our church, Pastor Vasile decided to dedicate the day to studying the Apostle Paul’s epistle to the Galatian churches. This same false teaching was a problem during the 1st Century and Paul had to address the issue. I would like to share some of the main conclusions from what we learned. It was amazing to spend and entire Sunday dedicated to studying the Scriptures as a church family.

Is it important to have a profession?

I went to teach my two 8th grade classes yesterday and the theme of the lesson was the importance of choosing a profession. After finishing the Bible study “What does the Bible say about sex”, I have been invited to add a Biblical perspective on the topics covered over the course of the rest of the semester during civics class. Yesterday’s topic was careers, as I have already mentioned. I would like to share some of the truths from the lesson here.