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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.

Finding our adequacy in Jesus Christ

As I prepare to lead lesson three from the study, “Lord give me a heart for You” based on II Corinthians, I would like to analyze this lesson and explain its amazingly practical truths for daily living in this article.

The apostle Paul was a great missionary, church planter, pastor, and overall leader during the early years of the Christian Church. He had to deal with a lot of stuff on a daily basis, doing things that had never been done before. He did not have a model to follow or even a manual other than the Old Testament and maybe a few of the Gospels. He was taught directly by Jesus Christ which greatly helped him but mostly he depended on the examples of the great leaders of the Old Testament. As a leader, he had to depend completely on God and not his own adequacy. He knew that in himself and his own strength he was inadequate. He explains that in Romans 7. Paul knew that he needed help and he knew exactly where to turn for that help. In order to be adequate in the Lord, there are certain things that we must do and there are certain things that God must do. We know that God will always do His part so it is up to us to do ours.

Principles of Leadership from II Corinthians (6)

I have really enjoyed looking at II Timothy and discipleship together with II Corinthians and Biblical leadership. The two go hand in hand. If we would follow God’s Word, we would learn how to disciple others and be good leaders as we do it. You can read article number 5 here. As a recap, here is what we learned in the last article on leadership.

1. A good leader is able to forgive and he teaches his followers to do the same.
2. A good leader cares for the well being of his followers.
3. A good leader is an aroma of the knowledge of Christ everywhere he goes.
4. A good leader does not manipulate people with the Word of God.

Discipleship and Second Timothy (4)

In this article I would like to revisit the subject of discipleship in II Timothy. It is amazing to see Paul’s ministry, specifically the way that he led God’s people. Article 3 contains teaching on retaining the high standard of the Gospel as you serve God by serving the people around you through the process of making disciples. You can read that article here. As way of review:

1. A good disciple retains the high standard of the Gospel by living It out day by day and investing It in others.
2. A good disciple views the Gospel as a precious treasure that must be guarded as he lives It out and shares It with others.
3. A good disciple is aware that not everyone who claims to follow Christ is a genuine disciple.

Principles of Leadership from II Corinthians (5)

I want to take a short break from II Timothy and revisit the theme of leadership back in II Corinthians. I love teachings on mentoring (discipleship) and leadership and the Bible is full of both. I pray that my generation will invest in the future generations by showing them how to be good leaders through our example and teaching them to be good leaders based on the principles of the Word of God. Here is a quick recap of the previous lesson.

1. He does not lord his leadership over his followers.
2. He confronts and rebukes correctly, not to cause sorrow.
3. He communicates with his followers for their own benefits.

Discipleship and Second Timothy (3)

I would like to continue our study on the topic of discipleship from II Timothy. I addressed the issue of suffering for the Gospel in the last article and you can read it here. As a recap of the previous article, when suffering for preaching the Gospel:

1. Do not be ashamed of the Gospel.
2. Do not be ashamed of those who do suffer for the Gospel.
3. Follow your mentor’s example of suffering for the Gospel.

Discipleship and Second Timothy

Having spent several years in a foreign country under the leadership of a mentor has caused me to see the value of Biblical discipleship, being mentored and mentoring others. Because of this experience I believe that living in another country for a significant period of time is almost a necessity for every American Christian living in the United States, especially if he or she has the opportunity to sit under the teaching of a mentor. I say this because I feel that many Christians living in Western society have lost the understanding of the meaning of discipleship, for the most part. Because the Bible was written in and to the Eastern-world with a non-Western world perspective so the idea of discipleship was more easily understood by the readers and writers during the first century. There are a few indicators of this trend that one can see by talking with Christians in average American churches about such things as sitting under the teaching of a mentor, being discipled, suffering for the Gospel, and building one’s life around the propagation of the Gospel. The Apostle Paul taught the importance of discipleship and he also foresaw the loss of significance on discipleship in the lives of future Christians. For that reason, he wrote his last epistle, just before his death. He wrote to his best disciple to pass the torch of discipleship on to the next generation. Paul writes II Timothy to Timothy in order to instruct him on “guarding the treasure” of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and “retaining the standard” that goes along with the Gospel.

Resolving Conflicts God’s way

I am preparing to teach lesson two tonight at our Romanian Bible study near St. Louis, MO. The lesson comes from “Lord, give me a heart for You“. It is an important lesson because it teaches us how to resolve conflicts among friends. As we live life with the people around us, conflicts will inevitably arise because we are all flawed people living in a fallen world. The question is not whether or not you have conflicts, the question is how do you react in the midst of one? Do you blow up in anger and give the guilty party what he or she deserves? Or, do you seek to resolve the conflict while maintaining the relationship? This lesson will teach us how to value the relationship enough to resolve the conflict.

Are you surprised B. Hussein Obama won, I am not

Good day. As a Christian, did you wake up this morning feeling a bit discouraged at how people could vote for a pro abortion, pro gay marriage, pro forced charity candidate? I did not because I have been talking with some “Christians” over the last few days about the issues and for whom a genuine Christian should cast his or her vote. The Bible does not name a candidate or a party because they change like the wind. The Bible explains the values and character of a person who should lead a country. I was a little discouraged to hear some of the justifications that people use for voting against life and traditional marriage. Here are a couple of those “righteous” excuses.