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Pastor's Blog - Entries from May 2010

MonMondayMayMay31st2010

Speaking the Truth in Love Part 1

Posted Monday, May 31 2010 @ 2 PM byPastor Trevor Tagged Christian Living 0 comments Add comment

How Would You Define Biblical Love?

Let me share with you some of the things that I have seen and heard in the church over the last 20 years.

1) Biblical love does not offend. (disciples were concerned with offending -Matt.15:12)

2) Biblical love does not judge. (Matt.7:1) Judge not lest you be judged!

3) Biblical love covers a multitude of sins. (1 Peter 4:8) Interpretation: We should ignore the sin we see in others…cover it up so to speak.

Is this an accurate picture of what Biblical love is? If so then these are the things that we need to strive for in our church. We need to make every effort not to offend, not to judge and not to point out sin in another’s life.

Let me suggest to you that our culture has defined how we read those verses…not a proper understanding of the context and the original intent of the author. A text can not mean what it has not meant. (We can not say when these words were written 2000 years ago in meant X, but now in our day it means Y. There may be different ways to apply the truth, but the truth does not change.)

1. Biblical love does not offend…Jesus offended (Matt.15:10-19) The Gospel offends those who are perishing. (1 Cor.1:20-25) Now are we to be offensive people in our conduct. By no means but our message will be offensive. So our greatest concern is not to be non offensive, but rather to speak truth. This does not give license for people to be offensive in their actions or conduct, but the truth may offend.

2. Biblical love does not judge. There are plenty of Scriptures that seem to contradict Matthew 7:1, so what is Jesus talking about then. He is referring to the self-righteous judgment that was prominent in His day and is still seen in the church today. The kind of person who believes that they have reached perfection and that it is their job to point out the sin of everyone around them. This person is self-deceived and their sin is much more dangerous, because they do not recognize their sin. We can never come to another with any kind of pride, because we are fellow sinners until we should depart from this earth. However, a man in proper humility will come to his brother to help him with his speck in his eye. (Anyone ever had something in their eye…comfortable or not…it drives you crazy right…he still needs help) But we come out of love and concern not as a hypocritical judge. (James 5:19,20; Gal.6:1; Matt.18:15)

3. Biblical Love Covers a Multitude of Sins 1 Peter 4:8 This is to be interrupted not as an ignoring of the sin, but rather as a forgiving of the sin. The Lord’s prayer makes it clear that we are to forgive just as we have been forgiven by the Lord. This is the sense that Biblical love covers a multitude of sins.

Next we will look at what Biblical love looks like in the context of speaking the truth in love .

TueTuesdayMayMay25th2010

A Call to Pray

Posted Tuesday, May 25 2010 @ 4 PM byPastor Trevor Tagged Prayer 0 comments Add comment

One of the questions that J.C. Ryle asked repeatedly in his booklet "A Call to Pray" was," Do you pray?". These three words are challenging to the average Christian today. When I ask that question I am not talking about the quick prayer that we put before meals, when we're in a bind or rushing off somewhere. I am talking about quiet, uninterrupted prayer. A time when we are alone and focused on the King of Kings. If this is not a habit in your life, let me suggest to you that it needs to be. If we truly understood prayer's importance, I dare suggest it would move way up on our priority list. At our last launch team meeting we looked at 5 facts in regards to prayer that have motivated me to move it up on my priority list and I pray we will motivate you to do the same.

1. Believers Pray

As you search the pages of Scripture from beginning to end, from Genesis to Revelation, you see that the people of God pray. In fact they make it a priority. We see men like Daniel, David and Jesus (the Son of God) taking time in their day to get alone and pray to the Lord. We see the priority of prayer in the church in the book of Acts (Acts 1:24, Acts 4:31, Acts 6:6, Acts 10:9 etc). Paul, Peter, James and John alll mention the importance of praying in their epistles. Paul often requests prayer and tells of how he is praying for those to whom he is writing to.
It signifies who is godly (1 Pet.1:17, 1 Cor.1:2) and ungodly (Ps.14:4).

2. Prayer is Not Just Empty Words

The Lord is not interested in prayers that pay Him lip service only. There was plenty of prayer going on while Jesus was here on this earth. There were men who prayed to be seen by others (Matt.6:5). There were those who "heaped up empty phrases" thinking that they would be heard because of their many words. (Matt.6:7) Jesus quoted the words found in the book of Isaiah when showing where the people were really at. He said that the people honored Him with their lips, but that their hearts were far from Him. (Matt.15:8,9) God is not interested in mere words. He looks on the heart of the person who is praying. J.C. Ryle said it like this, "Words said without heart are as utterly useless to our souls as the drum beating of the poor heathen before their idols. Where there is no heart, there may be lip work and tongue work, but there is nothing that God listens to; there is no prayer."

3. Prayer Has No Obstacles

Romans 8 makes it clear to us that there are no obstacles for our prayers to make it to God the Father, because of what the rest of the Trinity is doing. Jesus is at the right of hand of God interceding for us. (Romans 8:34) He is the great High Priest who allows us to approach the throne of grace with confidence so that we may find mercy and grace in time of need. (Heb.4:14-16) The Holy Spirit also intercedes for us according to the will of God (Rom.8:26,27) If the Trinity goes to these lengths to help us in our prayers should we not be a people of prayer?
We are continually encouraged to pray. The Lord wants us to pray, to give our requests to Him. The Gospels alone give much encouragement. (Matt.6:5-13; Matt. 7:7,8; Matt.9:38; Matt.21:22; Luke 11:5-13; Luke 18:1John 14:13,14)

4. Biblical, Word Centered, Prayer Impacts What the Person Prays

The question may be asked, "what do you pray for?" Too many times our prayer lists do not sound much different than a child's list. We ask for health, things, and comfort. Seldom do we hear prayers that are more spiritually oriented. Yet, Christ says seek ye first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things (earthly needs) will be added to you as well. (Matt.6:33) When is the last time you prayed for things such as were prayed by the apostle Paul. When praying for the people of Ephesus, Paul asked that God would give them a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him, that they may know the hope to which they were called and that they would understand greatness of Christ power toward us who believe. (Eph.1:15-23) In other words Paul was concerned for the spirtual well being of the people he was praying for. He was concerned that they would have a proper view of God. What do you pray for yourself and for others? Are you praying that God would be glorified in you and in others? (2 Thess.1:11) This should be our greatest desire.

5. There is No Excuse Not to Pray

Here are three excuses that J.C. Ryle mentioned that people use when asked why they don't pray. (Remember Ryle would have written this over a hundred years ago)

        1. I don't know how.
        2. I don't have time.
        3. I don't have a convenient place.

I have used all three of these at different times in my life. The first one is really no excuse at all. Prayer is simply speaking to God. Our prayers may change as we grow in our knowledge of Him (Is.55:8,9), but how we do it will not. Ryle wrote, "The most ignorant man will find something to say to God, if he has only a mind." The second excuse can be answered in terms of our priorities. We always find time for the things that we find important. It is my prayer that we will understand just how important prayer is and make the time for prayer. The third excuse is the same as the second. I understand in a home with children that a convenient place can be tough to find. However, once again I believe that with some sacrifice a place can be found.

Do you pray? I hope your answer is yes and that it is your desire to do so increasingly as you grow in your love for God!

SatSaturdayMayMay22nd2010

Children's Ministry at Harvest

Posted Saturday, May 22 2010 @ 11 PM byPastor Trevor Tagged Children 0 comments Add comment

I have found in ministry over the last 15 years that people rise to the occasion when you raise the bar. I have witnessed it in youth ministry, in missions and in children's ministry. Too often the church has decided that their main job is to entertain teens and children. However, number one, that is not the Biblical mandate of the church, number two, we don't do a good job at it and number three, teens and children crave something more. If church is boring it's, because we are not doing a very good job at teaching the splendour of God. Children are little sponges and they can learn much in these very informative years! This is where the church needs to work alongside of parents to support them in what they are teaching.

At Harvest we believe that children should be motivated to climb to higher spiritual ground during their years in children's ministry. The values of children's ministry at Harvest can be defined through C.L.I.M.B.

Communities - in our children's ministry we want to help children establish spiritually healthy friendships. (Acts 2:42)

Love - in our children's ministry we want our children to be loved and to provide opportunities for our children to serve others in love. (1 John 4:7,8)

Imitate - in our children's ministry we want our children to be imitators of Jesus Christ as they are discipled from the Bible.(Ephesians 5:1)

Magnify - in our children's ministry we want our children to magnify Jesus Christ through worship and prayer. (John 4:24 and Jeremiah 33:3)

Boldly - in our children's ministry we want our children to be bold in sharing their faith in Christ. (Romans 1:16)

As a father of two young girls it is such an encouragement to me to hear them excited about the things that they are learning in children's ministry. A great memory for me this last Easter was my youngest daughter (5) retelling to me all that Christ had suffered on the cross for our sins and how He had died and yet He rose again! She had just come from her time in children's ministry. She was so excited to share with us all that she had learned. I have also seen my oldest (7) learn much in her year's in children's ministry and she has made many great friends who she is still in contact with despite are moving to another city. Children's ministry has been such a great support to what we have been teaching them and we are very thankful for it!

We are excited to see what God will do in and through these young lives in the years to come!

ThuThursdayMayMay20th2010

Children's Ministry Begins in the Home

Posted Thursday, May 20 2010 @ 7 PM byPastor Trevor Tagged Children 0 comments Add comment

On Sunday at our launch team meeting we talked about the importance of children's ministry. There have been great men over the course of history who have undersood the importance of ministry to children. D.L. Moody comes to mind as we think of a man who had a heart for children. The Sunday School that he began became so prominient that President Lincoln came and spoke at one of his Sunday School meetings in 1860. D.L. Moody was concerned about the souls of children.

        As adults we ought to have this same passion to minister to children. This begins in our homes. Parents have a great responsibility to care for and teach their children. Moses reminded the people of God that parents have a responsibility to pass the Word of God onto their children. In Deuteronomy 4:9,10 he told parents that they were to make the things of the Lord known to their children and their children's children so that they would learn to fear the Lord all the days of their lives. In Deuteronomy 6:4-9 we see that teaching our children the words of God is not a once a week thing or a once a day thing, but rather it is something that we should be doing continually with our children throughout our days with them. This same admonition is given again in Deuteronomy 11:18-21. Deuteronomy 32:46,47 remind us of just how important the Word is to our children. He writes, "for it is no empty word for you, but your very life." There is no greater responsibility for a parent then teaching their children the Word of God.

        Other examples include God's plan for Abraham. Genesis 18:19 says that God chose Abraham so that he may command his children and his household to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice. Psalm 78 speaks of the importance of telling our children the glorious deeds of the Lord and His might and the wonders that He has done so that they might put their hope in God. (Ps.78:1-8) Much of the book of Proverbs is the effort of a father to pass wisdom onto his son. Again and again in the Proverbs we read, "hear, my son, your father's instruction." There is no doubt that teaching children the things of God was seen as the primary responsibility of the parent in the OT.

        The N.T. continues to remind parents of their responsibility to their children. Ephesians 6:4 instructs fathers to bring up their children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Men, it is not just our wives responsibility to teach our children God's Word, but as the head of the home it is your responsibility to make sure that your children are being instructed in the things of the Lord. When looking at the qualifications for someone to hold the office of deacon in the church they were to be someone who managed their children and their household well. (1 Tim.3:12) The qualifications of an elder are no different. (1 Tim.3:4; Titus 1:6)

        How are you doing as a parent? It is no easy task, but one that we need to make the number one priority as we raise our children. We spend a lot of time, money and effort on things that really matter very little in our kids lives. Let us never be to busy or distracted that we neglect instructing our children in the things of the Lord.

        Next we will look at how Harvest does children's ministry and the values that they hold to.

Pastor's Blogby A window into the heart and mind of the Senior Pastor for Harvest Bible Chapel Calgary.