Danger: Implement change with care, FBC Durham pastor says April 19, 2010

It was a "traditional" Southern Baptist church, with its tradition entrenched firmly in the soil of 1955, an age that gave America the roadside luncheonette, waitresses on skates, the beehive hairstyle, "I Love Lucy" and Fortune 500 efficiency as the doctrine which served as the standing or falling of the church.

Founded in 1845, the same year as the birth of the Southern Baptist Convention, this church was home of a proud traditionalism, one that preferred being "in the neighborhood, but not of it," big on numbers, small on discipleship.

Worse, some in the congregation said they had begun to find errors in the Bible. And the church, a congregation for which the term "deacon" was a synonym for "elder," had just elected its first female deacon.

This was the congregation Andy Davis inherited when he was elected pastor of first Baptist Church of Durham, N.C., in 1998.

In the dozen years since, Davis, who received his Ph.D. from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1998, has learned many valuable lessons, but perhaps none more important than this: the church that stops changing is, like the roadside luncheonette, dead.

"The immense danger is not reforming the local church," Davis said. "If we do not reform the local, we are out of step with Jesus Christ, who is always rebuking us, correcting us, changing us. The great threat to a local church that doesn't constantly reform by the Spirit of God and by the Word of God is that Christ will come and remove the lamp stand from its place in judgment. ... The church that stops reforming is dead."

In his dozen years at the church, Davis has sought to shepherd the congregation patiently toward a more biblical view of church through verse-by-verse biblical exposition. Davis has watched God work to transform the congregation from a dying future corpse into a vibrant, unified and effective body.

"The greatest display of the glory of God I have ever seen in my life and in my ministry has been in the reformation of a local church - First Baptist Church of Durham, N.C.," Davis said. "It has also been the scene of some of my lowest points as a minister of the Gospel, some of my most painful encounters and some of the most bitter struggles, as well."

Addressing the topic of implementing biblical change in a local church at the 2008 national Founders Conference in Owasso, Okla., Davis said every pastor faces the dangers of:

1. Forgetting the centrality of God in implementing biblical change

"The church is God's," Davis said. "For He bought it with his own blood (Acts 20:28) ... We need to keep central God's interest in it, His power over it and His right to command it. God is zealous over His church. A pastor must keep the glory of God central in all things."

2. Relying on self

Just as God is sovereign in the salvation of a sinner, Davis said, so does He bring about change within His church. Pastors must look to God for the strength and resources to shepherd the church - and not inside themselves - he said.

3. Failing to rely on the Word of God alone

God changes human hearts through the preached Word, Davis said. Pastors must put their confidence in the Spirit's working through the Word and they must forsake pragmatic gimmicks and unbiblical techniques to bring about change, he warned.

"It is not about marshalling enough people in your corner to bring about reform," he said. "Sola Scriptura (Scripture alone) is still true in the reformation of the local church."

4. Marginalizing prayer

Pastors must beg God to bring reform to a body, he said, because prayer keeps man in his proper place of utter reliance on God. "Don't focus on technique or strategy," he said. "Get on your knees and ask God to reform His church. Prayerlessness is arrogance, unbelief and disobedience."

5. Becoming prideful of accomplishments once reform has come

Davis pointed to the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18, noting that the Pharisee had forgotten the correct answer to Paul's question in 1 Cor. 4:7: "What do you have that you did not receive?" A reforming pastor must avoid cultivating sinful pride in his heart once God has brought about change, he said, and must humble himself continually before God and others.

6. Fearing man more than God

Davis said he wrestled with the sin of cowardice throughout his early days as a pastor while the church was undergoing reform. This fear leads to a failure to trust God and pushes the pastor toward anxiousness about such factors as what people will think of him and losing his livelihood through being fired, he said.

7. Mistaking non-essentials for essentials

While all doctrines are important, not all are of equal weight, Davis said. Pastors must use wisdom to avoid cowardice on the one hand and contentiousness on the other, he said. "You need to be careful where you put the line in the sand," Davis said. A faithful pastor must focus on essential issues.

8. Impatience

A pastor who would implement biblical change in a church must patiently teach his congregation and give God time to work through His Word, Davis said. Preaching the Word is like farming, he said: a seed does not grow into a fully-mature plant within a few hours, but takes much time.

9. Discouragement

Spiritual depression is like poison to a minister, Davis said. "Satan is on every street corner selling poison to every minister," he said. "Satan knows that our weapons are powerful and that if we get the full Gospel array on us with the Word of God in our hands, he will lose. So, Satan keeps you on the sidelines in discouragement."

The remedy? Martin Lloyd-Jones offered the best cure, Davis said, when the 20th century English Presbyterian said, "Stop listening to yourself and start preaching to yourself."

10. Not developing men as leaders in the church

A pastor must train up godly men who will boldly stand for the truth and encourage him in implementing biblical change, Davis said, because, "reformation is led by godly men."

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Seven sure-fire ways to blow up a church April 16, 2010

By Chuck Lawless, Dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions and Evangelism at Southern Seminary

I served as a church pastor for 14 years, have now served for 12 years as a church consultant and have watched hundreds of students begin their local church ministries during my 14 years as a seminary professor. Based on my observations from these various vantage points, here's what I would do if I wanted to "blow up" a church.

1. Begin my ministry as a teacher and refuse to be a learner. Seminary does this to us sometimes: we spend three or more years learning, and we are ready to use all of that knowledge in the first few weeks of a new ministry. What we fail to do is listen to the people, get to know them and understand their culture. Consequently, we are viewed more as an outsider than a pastor, and the fault most often lies with us.

2. Assume that the "honeymoon period" as a church leader is the time to make as many changes as possible. Some churches may, in fact, offer no such honeymoon period. Others do need immediate attention, but even those churches do not want to be trampled under significant change. Still others fired the previous pastor for making changes too quickly; in that case, how wise is it to follow the same pattern?

3. Expect to fix everything overnight. We who have grown up in a microwave world assume that everything can be changed quickly -- but that is not the case. Most of the church problems that we inherit are long-term issues with roots that run deep in the church. Emotions surround these issues, and we should not expect that such problems will be rooted out and changed quickly.

4. Teach a theological system more than the Bible. Particularly if our theological system is new and fresh for us, we often cannot wait to bring others into our camp. We become more concerned about leading church members to become "____________ists" (you fill in the blank) than we are about leading them to follow Jesus.

5. Study always and seldom "hang out" with people. Study matters, and we cannot neglect our time to focus on God and His Word. At the same time, though, our church members deserve our time and attention. If we only study and set aside no time to develop relationships with members, we will be viewed as distant and uncaring.

6. Blame undiscipled members for acting like believers who have never been discipled. This story is repeated in church after church: its members (including its leaders) have never truly been discipled. They have not been taught how to read the Word, pray without ceasing, reject temptation and tell others about Jesus. They have not learned even basic doctrines simply because no one ever addressed that need. We can either blame them, or we can invest in them and help ground them in the faith.

7. Pray reactively rather than proactively. Most pastors do their best, pray briefly out of habit and more earnestly pray only when they face a situation they cannot solve. Such reactive prayer often shows that we are operating in our own power most of the time. This reality may not necessarily "blow up" the church, but it may leave the church in mediocrity -- which may be even worse.

Obviously, our goal is not to blow up the church. Here's one suggestion to avoid doing so: love the church before you try to change the church. Gain people's love and respect first by ministering to them, guiding them, praying for them and consistently preaching the Word to them. When they know that you have their best spiritual interests at heart, the church will be much more willing to follow you.

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Speaking the truth in love: the key to pastoral ministry April 15, 2010

By Thomas R. Schreiner, preaching pastor of Clifton Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky., and associate dean of Scripture and interpretation and James Buchanan Harrison Professor of New Testament interpretation at Southern Seminary.

A loving pastor should not want to blow up his church, but, for even the most faithful minister, there are no guarantees. Sometimes churches blow up and you didn't see it coming, and the devastation was inevitable. Sometimes churches ignite because the congregation, or some influential leaders in the congregation, are deeply unspiritual. Pastors should not draw the conclusion that they are always at fault when a congregation implodes. Jeremiah should not be blamed for Judah going into exile. Judah would have been spared from exile if the people had listened to Jeremiah. Sometimes that's true of churches too. They suffer devastation because they do not listen to the pastor.

But that's the exception. Too often pastors, particularly young pastors, contribute to -- or even play the primary role -- in a church blow up. What can be done to avoid such a scenario? The key is found in Ephesians 4:15: "speaking the truth in love."

Let's think about love. Faith without love is worthless, and Paul teaches us that the goal of all our teaching is love (1 Tim 1:5). Pastors are clearly called upon to teach the truth to their congregation, but our world is filled with people who want to tell us what they think. We have all had professors who were brilliant and delighted to teach us what they believed, but who were arrogant and loveless. As pastors we are called upon to love our flock and understand them.

Love recognizes that people are not changed in a day. Love takes people where they are and moves them slowly toward a deeper appreciation of truth. Love does not relish controversy, but longs to shepherd the flock so that it becomes more like Christ. Love never compromises the truth, but it does not burst onto the scene by teaching controversial doctrines. Love communicates that you want to be a pastor and a shepherd and healer and not just a teacher. Love never compels or constrains others to share your beliefs; it patiently teaches, remembering that truth dawned upon our hearts slowly and that our knowledge is still imperfect. Love does not tolerate error, but it stoops low to understand the person who is mistaken, for the one who understands why one believes a falsehood will be able to explain more deeply and sympathetically why such a view is wrong.

I heard a story recently about Adolf Schlatter and Friedrich Nietzsche that illustrates this truth. Schlatter heard the famous atheistic philosopher, Nietzsche, lecture. What struck Schlatter was Nietzsche's lack of love for his students. Schlatter rightly observed that no one truly teaches others if he does not love them. May God grant those of us as pastors to love our flocks!

Love, of course, always proclaims the truth; it speaks the truth in love. The Gospel should be at the heart of any pastoral ministry. Pastors who love to see unbelievers saved and to see their congregation become more like Christ are what our churches need. The congregation should be instructed in God's ways and God's will. Here is one of the great advantages of expositional preaching. If the pastor faithfully and clearly teaches through books of the Bible, he communicates to the church that he has no special agenda. His goal is not to shape the congregation in his image or to propound his own ideas. He shows week after week that his aim is to teach and obey what God's Word says.

Don't emphasize "ism's" (particular theological distinctives) in your ministry. Teach the church that you want the church to be God-glorifying, Christ-centered, Spirit-empowered and biblically-based. If people ask, "What do you want the church to be?," you should say, "I want it to be a biblical church where the Gospel is taught and Christ is central."

It is wise, then, when you start your ministry to preach on the Gospel of Mark to underscore that Jesus Christ will be the heart and soul of your ministry. Colossians is another good book with which to begin, for it teaches so clearly that Christ is sufficient to meet our every need.

I am not advising pastors to avoid controversial issues, but build a foundation first. Often this takes years. I know a pastor who preached a sermon on a controversial topic six months after he became the pastor. He thought he had waited a long time! He did not realize that some people in the congregation probably still did not know his name.

Time should be measured in years not months. No formula can be written on how to pastor a church. Each situation is unique, but as pastors we are always called upon to speak the truth in love. May God grant us the wisdom to do so.

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How to implement and sustain change in a local church April 14, 2010

By Hershael W. York, senior pastor of Buck Run Baptist Church in Frankfort, Ky. and Victor and Louise Lester Professor of Christian Preaching at Southern Seminary.

With some regularity I receive an email or a call relating that some pastor, often a seminary student or recent graduate, has "torn up" a church he has served. Listening to the details, I usually discern two things: 1) the popular perception is that the cause of the problem was the pastor's haste to change things in the church, and 2) the real problem was not that he changed things, but that he did so in a clumsy or autocratic way. In other words, how he does something is a bigger problem for a pastor than what he does.

Since churches aren't perfect, no one should be surprised that a new pastor would want to change some things. In fact, churches usually expect, even demand, it. Growth itself inherently involves change, and almost all churches at least pay lip service to the need to grow and change. The problem, however, comes in the clash between the new pastor's need to initiate change and his inability to know the relationships and history that would impact his success or failure in this effort.

Adding to the confusion, two schools of thought offer competing views and mutually exclusive advice to a new pastor. One philosophy urges him to take advantage of the honeymoon period, moving quickly and decisively to lead the church through change while the congregation is still filled with the excitement and good will churches have for a new pastor. The other opinion he might find offered sounds every bit as reasonable, but is contradictory: don't change anything, at least for the first year. The justification for this counsel is that it takes at least a year to gain the trust of the congregation as well as to discern the potential barriers and pockets of resistance that surely lie beneath the surface.

Imagine that the congregation's good will and acquiescence to a pastor's leadership is like a bag of poker chips. When the pastor first arrives, the bag is quite full, but everything he does that requires change costs him chips. If he changes the offertory from the beginning of the service to the end of the service, it will cost him a few chips. If he wants to put the deacons on a rotation plan rather than to allow deacons to serve for life, that's going to cost him a considerably larger sum of chips. If he attempts to change the worship style, introducing a praise band and new hymns into the corporate worship, then he can empty the bag because that will likely cost him every chip in his reserve. Perhaps the only thing that will cost him more is if he lets a staff member go.

The bag is replenished by doing the basic things that a pastor ought to do - and doing them well, frequently and noticeably. When a pastor preaches good sermons, visits the sick and shut-ins regularly, personally leads in efforts that he asks others to do or hosts the deacons or other groups in his home, he earns chips. His wife's involvement with the congregation gets him chips. Growth in attendance and offerings earn him chips. A cool head in the face of conflict adds to his bag.

A successful pastoral leader has a keen, even uncanny, ability to know two things: how many chips a particular issue or change will cost him and how many chips he has left in the bag, if any. He knows how to invest his chips in issues that are worth it rather than frivolous and insignificant things, but he always evaluates what it will cost him and he knows when he has reached the limit for the time being and just needs to do the basics well for a while.

A pastor cannot spend what he has not earned or does not have. So in the interest of keeping chips in the bag, I offer the following bits of advice.

1. Lower your expectations of the church

This may be the most unexpected piece of advice I ever give young pastors, but I often find myself amazed by how quickly men who espouse a belief in total depravity forget that it applies to their church members. Some of the best people in a church will do some of the dumbest, most sinful and hurtful things at times. In addition, pastors often go into a church with a preconceived desire to shape the church into what they think a church ought to be.

Perhaps the greatest change that needs to occur, however, is not in the pew but in the pulpit! Especially in the setting of a church that has a seminary student pastor who rotates in and out every two to three years. More important than changing them is learning from them. Hone your preaching skills, visit the sick, win the lost and love the people. A pastor can find plenty to do without implementing change that the congregation hasn't really accepted convictionally.

2. Raise your expectations of yourself

Seldom will a pastor fail when he enters a pastorate with the simple desire to be faithful. It's far more important to be a preacher filled with grace than to pastor a people who can articulate the doctrines of grace. It's more significant to be a godly elder than to lead a church to implement elder rule.

3. Never let them sense your fear or anger

A pastor can feel anything he wants to feel, but he cannot afford to show it. He is able to deal with matters, even in a contentious business or deacons' meeting, dispassionately and with a cool head, no matter what he's feeling inside. His emotions - and their telltale signs - are kept in check. Fear and anger are the two emotions that will cause the most problems for a pastor. He has to seem totally unafraid, but without anger when things don't go his way.

4. Don't ask more of them than you are willing to stick around and ensure

If a young pastor makes implementing elder rule his big agenda item, but then he leaves after the church follows his leadership and does it, he has not done them or his successor any favors. Leading a church into debt and then leaving it to someone else to pay off is simply wrong.

5. As soon as possible, find the place to plant your life and stay there

Lasting change in a church will only come through a lasting commitment to providing loving, Christlike leadership through that change. The high turnover rate in the pastorate only creates an atmosphere of mistrust in congregations. Their attitude becomes "We were here when you came and we'll be here when you leave - just like the last five pastors who insisted on the latest ecclesiastical fad and then left. Why should we follow you?"

Only when one becomes a part of the community and has a history with them can he reach the most meaningful levels of true leadership.

6. Care more for people than for programs

Change occurs through people. People follow leaders, and leaders know the value of relationship. A good pastor discovers, befriends and shapes the leaders of the church through genuine love and concern for them, not through personal ambition.

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David Prince and Jeremy Haskins on how to implement and sustain change in a local church WITHOUT blowing it up April 13, 2010

David Prince (left) and Jeremy Haskins minister at Ashland Avenue Baptist Church in Lexington, Ky., as pastor of preaching and vision and pastor of the mission, respectively. Photo by Devin Maddox
David Prince (left) and Jeremy Haskins minister at Ashland Avenue Baptist Church in Lexington, Ky., as pastor of preaching and vision and pastor of the mission, respectively. Photo by Devin Maddox

Picture this situation: you have served as pastor of a particular church for less than five years. The church is growing and you think it would be wise to construct a new building.

"Yes, the church was founded in 1916 and has met in the same building for 90 years," you think. "Yes, members have seen their children profess faith in Christ, get baptized and married in this building.

"But wouldn't it be great if the congregation could see the Kingdom advancement that would come, not just in building a new facility, but in building it and calling it a Great Commission Center? Wouldn't it be great if we displayed this wording prominently on the front of the building? Wouldn't it be great if we welcomed people from the community into this building with open arms?

"And wouldn't it be great if we not only did this, but we did so with a unanimous vote of the congregation, not because everyone liked the idea, but because those who didn't were willing to put aside their personal preferences for the sake of the Gospel?"

"Yeah, it would be great," you think. "But who am I kidding? That only happens in dreams."

Or does it?

For Ashland Avenue Baptist Church in Lexington, Ky., that dream became reality over the past few years. Under the leadership of David Prince, pastor of preaching and vision, and Jeremy Haskins, pastor of the mission, the church unanimously approved the building of a new facility to be called a Great Commission Center. On March 2, 2008, Ashland Avenue held its first services there.

"When we voted to officially sell our old property and move to our new property, the vote was unanimous, but it was unanimous with a lot of people affirming the decision through tears," Prince said. "There is hardly a church that has a more incredible history than Ashland Avenue and all in one particular location. If some people were asked, ‘Do you want to move?' the answer would have been, ‘No, I don't.' But if they were asked, ‘For the sake of the Gospel, now and in the days ahead, would you affirm that this is what God has for us to be most strategic in these days?' they would say, ‘Yes,' even through tears."

How did Prince and Haskins move Ashland Avenue to make the decision described above, in the manner described above? How do they lead this congregation?  How do you implement and sustain change in a local church?

Privilege, Word of God and Gospel

Prince and Haskins have served at Ashland Avenue for the past six years. Prior to that they ministered together at Raleigh Avenue Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., for four years. What began as a mentoring relationship of Prince training Haskins has developed into a mutual friendship and partnership for the sake of the Gospel.

Prince said to introduce positive, healthy change into a church, leadership has to change its culture.

"I realized from the very beginning that it's not just specific things that I am going after; we are going after an entire change of culture," he said. "The strongest congregation still has ways in which its culture needs to change and you want change at the heart level, not mere external change that won't last."

Prince said such change begins with creating a culture of privilege.

"First and foremost, I have to be the guy who communicates the privilege of the Gospel," he said. "Everything starts out with privilege. You see that in the New Testament again and again as church life is talked about: before issues are addressed, before the call to specific imperatives are given, there is almost always this lengthy indicative declaration of the Gospel, ‘You are a people of privilege.'

"So, I have to communicate what a privilege it is to serve the Lord Jesus Christ as a believer and the incredible privilege I have to serve as a pastor."

As pastors establish their leadership, Prince said they must not get sidetracked -- or build the church upon -- secondary or tertiary issues, such as theological hobbyhorses, particular ministry programs or other preferential distinctives. Instead, the two pillars of Word of God and Gospel must drive and shape everything the church does.

"I don't have some specific agenda, issue, programming or mechanism that I want to bring into the church that is going to revitalize the church," Prince said. "No, I want to be seen as the man who is committed to the Word of God. Everything is about the Word of God. And the Word is about Christ and about the Gospel, so everything has to be shaped by Word and Gospel."

Loving and leading in overdrive

Pastors must "love their congregation in overdrive," but they must also lead in a similar manner, Prince said. While he said young pastors should certainly prioritize demonstrating a love for people, he does not think this has to negate making changes in the first few years of their ministry.

"I don't agree with the advice, ‘Don't change anything the first few years you are there. Just preach and love them,'" he said. "Now, don't treat year one like you are in year 20. But you need to pick your spots and gain some ground each year, even year one.

"If you are loving the congregation in overdrive then you have the responsibility to lead. That is why God has placed you there. If you go the first year or two and you haven't done anything to lead them toward change and transformation that more reflect the Word and the Gospel, then why are you there?"

At Ashland Avenue, as Prince leads publicly in change by casting vision and establishing direction, Haskins, as pastor of the mission, has the role of driving the vision home in tangible and specific ways.

"I have to be the first person in the congregation who is applying the vision, in my own life and in my ministry with the staff and with all the different people that I work with," Haskins said. "I have to show how the vision applies to what we have been doing and what we are going to do.

"For example, if I am leading people on a mission trip, I want to ask ‘how do we serve on this mission trip with a sense of privilege?'"

Prince and Haskins agree that you must show every member that he or she has a vital part to play in changes.

"People talk about folks who are against change; when you give those folks responsibility in the change, their attitude changes drastically," Haskins said. "A lot of people are opposed to change when you grab their ministry, take it away from them and say, ‘We are not doing it anymore.' What have you given them to replace what they were doing or to be a part of changing what they were doing before?"

Not only do people embrace change as they play integral roles in it; Scripture makes it clear that pastors/shepherds are expected to equip the saints, Prince said.

"If we don't equip the saints, we are failures," he said. "Scripture does not allow pastors the notion to think that we can accomplish the ministry we seek to flesh out in the context of the church by ourselves."

Practical outworkings of ecclesiology

Prince and Haskins function -- along with Nate BeVier, pastor of music and community at Ashland Avenue -- with equal authority as a plurality of pastors or elders. These pastors/elders lead the church under the structure of congregational rule.

"The congregation is the one that grants us the opportunity to serve as pastors and recognizes our ruling authority and has a responsibility to take that seriously," Prince said. "But it is a dynamic relationship in the sense that the ultimate decision-maker in the life of the church is the congregation and we recognize that."

The pastors also recognize that while they have the same level of authority, Prince has the most influence because he is the primary preaching pastor. Prince said the idea of same authority, different influence, in pastoral leadership matches the New Testament.

"In the New Testament, you see particular people identified as a leader of particular churches and yet, you find the same churches that are referred to as having a plurality of elders, or a plurality of pastors," he said.

Loyalty

Prince said the key factor a senior pastor should have in mind when working with and hiring other pastors and staff is loyalty. Prince said he has never heard of a church split taking place where the pastors, deacons, and staff in the church were united. While competence can be taught and cultivated, loyalty is a must from the beginning, he said.

"You must surround yourself with people who have a sense of loyalty and commitment to a common biblical/theological vision," Prince said. "A commitment to loyalty and a commitment to the same Gospel-oriented vision are essential, both with leaders cultivated from within the congregation and those that you hire from outside."

If Haskins has a deacon, or other key leader in the church, come to him and complain about Pastor Prince, what does he do? How does he flesh out his loyalty?

"I act like he just used profanity. I treat it with that sense of weight," Haskins said. "The attitude of grumbling is an attitude that you have to squash immediately."

Haskins said he would ask the deacon if his concern was doctrinal or moral in nature and if not, he would then challenge him to change his attitude immediately.

"If his complaint is not on the level of pastor Prince acting unbiblically, then the deacon and I don't even need to talk," Haskins said. "I would say, ‘Not only do we not need to talk about it, you don't need to repeat what you just said to anyone. This is sin and it has to stop. And I'm going to hold you accountable to that. I'm going to come back to you and ask you how you are doing in dealing with that.'"

Prince said such confrontation is the biblical way to deal with conflict in the church, a confrontation that should be carried out, and followed up, in love.

"We directly deal with conflict or complaint, confront it, get it out in the open and love that man," he said. "And we don't avoid him after the confrontation. The next time we see him, we walk right up to him, shake his hand and ask how things are going. This is loving and leading in overdrive."

What about church programs?

When it comes to programs, Prince works under the idea of "shrink and expand."

"We want to shrink the number of things that are going on because a lot of things that are going on may be good, but they are not the best to keep us focused on fulfilling the mission that we have," he said. "But we want to do the things that we do better: we want to expand them. So, we want to have a Gospel-oriented commitment to excellence in everything we do."

Ashland Avenue's pastors view each program as a tool: if it accomplishes its purpose, then it will remain; if not, then they will either tweak it or do away with it and do something else. Each ministry must directly connect to the overall vision, and with each ministry the pastors seek to create a culture of every member involvement.

"A lot of people do ministry in a way that self-consciously segments the entire congregation," Prince said. "What we try to do is never allow that. If these things matter to the congregation as a whole for the sake of the Gospel then we are all committed to them.

"For example, when we send a mission team out, we don't say that we are sending a certain group of people out on a mission trip. We say, ‘Ashland Avenue Baptist Church is involved in this mission trip. Some people have involvement here and some have involvement there; the people there are our eyes, hands and mouths for the Gospel.'"

Stop complaining: ministry is a privilege

Prince said viewing ministry as a privilege is non-negotiable for all men in pastoral ministry.

"If you were to ask me, ‘What it is the one thing you would say if you just had a few minutes to say it?' that one thing would be: ministry is a privilege," he said. "If men can get that right and stop feeling sorry for themselves, stop whining about their situation and think, ‘It is okay even if my service here takes years off of my life,' that will transform their ministry."

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April 12 Towers: How to Blow up a Church April 12, 2010

The goal of course is to NOT blow up churches: but in reality some pastors do. Of course, what church is perfect? All churches need to grow in matching the New Testament picture of a body of people who reflect the image of Christ as individuals and as a group. This means change. But what church likes change?

The April 12 issue of Towers is devoted to addressing how to implement and sustain change in a local church. The entree for this issue is a feature story on the ministry partnership of David Prince and Jeremy Haskins and their work at Ashland Avenue Baptist Church in Lexington, Ky. (pages 3 and 6). Prince, pastor of preaching and vision, and Haskins, pastor of the mission, have served together for 10 years, the last six at Ashland Avenue.

As complements to the Prince/Haskins feature, long-time pastor and SBTS professor Hershael York and theologian/scholar/pastor Tom Schreiner provided first person articles on change and pastoral ministry (pages 4 and 5).

York serves as senior pastor of Buck Run Baptist Church in Frankfort, Ky., and Victor and Louise Lester Professor of Christian Preaching and associate dean of ministry and proclamation at Southern. Schreiner is the preaching pastor of Clifton Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky., and James Buchanan Harrison Professor of New Testament Interpretation and associate dean of Scripture and interpretation at Southern.

The following Southern Seminary professors who currently serve as pastors or who have pastoral ministry experience also offered insights:

  • Chuck Lawless, dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions and Evangelism and a pastor of 14 years (page 5).
  • Bill Cook, senior pastor of Ninth & O Baptist Church and professor of New Testament interpretation (page 9).
  • Jim Orrick, department coordinator of general studies and professor of literature and culture at Boyce College and a man with years of pastoral experience (page 9).
  • Jim Hamilton, senior pastor of Kenwood Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky. and associate professor of biblical theology (page 9).
  • Bill Henard, senior pastor of Porter Memorial Baptist Church in Lexington, Ky. and assistant professor of evangelism and church growth (page 14).

Tony Rose, senior pastor of LaGrange Baptist Church in LaGrange, Ky., offers his insights on how to begin in the pastorate and Andy Davis, First Baptist Church of Durham, N.C., points out 10 potential pitfalls a first-time minister might make (page 7).

Finally, 3 questions features Phil Newton, senior pastor of South Woods Baptist Church in Germantown, Tenn., a congregation he planted 23 years ago (page 16).

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My father’s son: Brand making name in country music April 9, 2010

In his song "Walking in My Father's Shoes," Craig Morgan sings lovingly of a father who taught his son how to be a man by example: "He taught me so many things, even when he wasn't trying to," one line recalls.

Country music has a cherished tradition of emphasizing the often complex relationship between fathers and sons.

On the positive side of the ledger, it has celebrated the fathers who were worthy of emulation.

In one of his most beloved hits, "A Father's Love," George Strait croons about the love between a father and son, typifying it as "a love without end, amen." The song ends by comparing an earthly father's love to that which the Heavenly Father possesses for His people. President George H.W. Bush, a lifelong country music aficionado, called Strait's song his favorite because it reminds him of a treasured relationship with his own sons.

On the negative side, country has also mourned deeply those fathers who were MIA.

Hank Williams, Jr., has often written songs that reflect wistfully on the tragic legacy of his father, Hank Williams, Sr., a legend who died at age 29 after little more than a half-decade of hit-making and hard-living. The elder Williams left a legacy of womanizing, drunkenness and drug abuse that no son would benefit from emulating.

More recently, in the Billy Currington hit "Walk a Little Straighter, Daddy," a son pleads with his alcohol-dazed father to "walk a little straighter daddy, you're leading me." The boy grows up and concludes, "My old man is still like he was, but I love him anyway and if I've learned one thing from him it's my kids will never have to say: ‘Walk a little straighter daddy.'" The song is an emotional reminder of the unspeakably profound stewardship involved in fatherhood.

Owen Brand, son of Chad Brand, professor of theology at Boyce College and Southern Seminary, is in position to write a song of the decidedly more joyful variety about his father's legacy and personal impact. At 27, the younger Brand is a rising country music talent who, alongside musical heroes such as Haggard, Cash and Jennings, places Chad Brand as the most influential man in his life.

"My dad has taught me about great theology and early on, he sat me down and taught me about good music," Brand said. "Dad and I are very close and he been a great influence on my life and my music."

Owen Brand's musical pilgrimage began some 13 years ago at age 14 after his father introduced him to classic rock and country artists such as the Beatles, Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard and challenged him to assess the worldviews communicated in each. Owen soon took up playing guitar, another of his father's longtime pleasures, and at 14 played his first paid gig.

"When I was 13 I got my first guitar for Christmas and I started playing in bands a couple of years after that, all local stuff," Owen Brand said. "My first gig was at an opening of a Burger King in South Carolina at age 14. We got $40 apiece for it and each of us got a cardboard Burger King crown."

These days, Brand is not playing openings for hamburger joints, but is fronting, as lead singer and guitarist, his own group known as "Firebrand," a band that includes his wife, Whitney. Brand also regularly plays shows as a freelance guitarist for other groups. His travels are often rigorous and have taken him in recent years from the southernmost tip of the U.S., Key West, Fla., to the upper northwest, including the Dakotas and the Rocky Mountains.

Firebrand performs cover tunes of classic country and Southern rock artists, but also sings original songs that Brand has written. Brand writes in the classical storytelling vein of old country music. In the fall, he plans to record his first full-length original album with famed producer Elliott Mazer, who has worked with such folk rock legends as Bob Dylan and Janis Joplin.

The elder Brand, who also plays guitar and loves classic country, says he was awakened to his son's significant musical gifts long ago and has watched them gain momentum like a Southern Railway engine in a Boxcar Willie song.

"I think Owen has been gifted by God," Chad Brand said. "When he first learned to play, we would play together and I would play ‘Proud Mary' or something like that. I would play the cords and sing a little bit and he said, ‘I'll never be able to do that.' Within six months, he had far outstripped me. He is incredibly gifted both as a guitarist and a vocalist."

In recent months, when Owen is home from the road, the two Brands have played and sung gospel songs in church together at Northside Baptist Church in Elizabethtown where Chad Brand serves as pastor. Most recently, they dueted on Josh Turner's hit "Long Black Train."

Owen Brand says he is drawn to country music because of the genre's ability to communicate stories that relate to both the hard times and good times that form the metanarrative of everyday life. Country music, with its close historic ties to gospel and blues music, is an excellent means for communicating the fallenness of the world and every man's need for divine grace, he said.

"The book of Job is the perfect wrap up of country music," he said. "Look at the book of Job and tell me that's not every CM song you ever heard? Job didn't have a pickup truck, but if had, it would have been stolen. That's the kind of thing I'm talking about.

"The world we live in is fallen. If I'm out there singing my songs in these clubs and restaurants on Saturday nights and I can cause people to ask the right questions and seek wisdom from someone in their lives like their pastors, then that would make me happy.

"If you were to take a theological example of what I am talking about, think about Jonathan Edwards' first delivery of "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." People were crawling over the pews to be saved and he told them, ‘No, go home and come back next week.' That's how I feel about writing and singing. If, when I play and sing, somebody gets to a point to where they want some answers they are going to go ask the people who can point them to the answer."

Working in an industry in which the artists often live out the honky-tonk songs they perform, how does Brand hope to make an impact as a follower of Christ? First and foremost, he wants both his fans and fellow artists to witness something different in his daily life.

"You have to be around sinners if you are going to speak to sinners," he said. "But you have to be in the world, but not of it. I get a chance every time I play to lead by example. Often, people will want to buy me a shot (of an alcoholic beverage), and I say, ‘Give me a Diet Coke and I'll be fine.' By the end of the night, I'll have 12-15 Diet Cokes lined up on the stage. You'd be surprised how people notice that.

"When you are up playing in front of people, they are watching everything you do. So, they notice when you aren't drinking and you are able after the set and to interact with and be gracious to the fans."

Further plumbing the father-son theme, how will Chad Brand, who often attends his son's performances when they are within close proximity, help his son avoid the dark underbelly of the entertainment world?

"I encourage him to avoid the dark side of the music industry," Chad Brand said. "I probably had to do that more in the earlier days than now, because he has really found his own footing. I don't really feel like I have to tell him what to do at this point, because he isn't caught up in the dark side of the music industry at all."

Having his wife and infant son-named Buck Owen Brand after Buck Owens, who pioneered the Bakersfield country sound- on the road with him much of the time provides  natural, and much-welcomed, accountability. Dad, he said, will always be there as well.

"It is a hostile environment," he said. "I have really good structural foundation build into my life. I have a great family. I have a really solid relationship with God and my family, and of course, with my dad. I am very thankful for these relationships."

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SBTS chapel Mullins Lectures live blog: Bryan Chapell April 1, 2010

Preacher: Bryan Chapell

Text/title: Romans 15:4; "Hope's Journey"

The question before is whether the examples I have already given from Gideon and Colossians of Christ-centered interpretation are unique instances or whether they are normative throughout Scripture.

Instead of trying to make Jesus Himself mentioned in every text, magically appear in every text, I have tried to preach each sermon in light of the redemptive plan of God in Christ.

When we preach, we should seek to be both exegetically and biblically sound, that is, exposit the text in front of us and show where it fits in God's redemptive plan in history.

My intention in this message is to demonstrate, with the authority of Scripture, the redemptive thrust that is present throughout the whole Bible.

Romans 15:4

"For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope" (Rom 15:4 ESV).

Rose Bowl ... 1929 ... Georgia Tech ... University of California.

The game was a defensive struggle. A player for one team picked up a fumble and ran the wrong way with it. He nearly ran to the wrong end zone before his teammates caught up with him. He was tacked near his own end zone and it led to his team losing the game.

He was doing everything right: he picked up the fumble, he ran hard, and he was determined and fully engaged in what he was doing. But he lost sight of the goal.

The reason you are a pastor is to give people hope. Pastors can get so focused on doctrine and duty that they lose sight of the goal. Do we give people hope? Is that what they are leaving with?

The apostle Paul is unfolding to the Romans the message that if hope is not there then the Gospel is not there. And in so doing, he reveals the purpose of every text of Scripture.

The Old Testament was written for the church today. What the church does is not something new: it is part of a continuity. The instruction of all of Scripture was given so that we might be able to endure. The first purpose of Scripture is instruction, but it is also given to enable us to endure.

What was written was written to remind us that our God is a God of promise and the reason that you can endure is because you know that is what is happening to you is not outside the promise of God. You can endure. You can go forward, knowing that our God is a God of promise and He will be faithful to His redemptive purposes for the entire world (Rom 15:8-9).

The quote in Romans 15:9 is taken from 2 Samuel 22. It is David's song at the end of his life after he had failed so badly. David was willing to say, "though I have failed, God will not fail."

The quote in Romans 15:10 is taken from Deuteronomy 32. It is Moses' song at the end of his life after he in pride had struck the rock and taken the glory for himself. Moses was able to say, "though I have failed, God will not fail. He has promised to make us a blessing to the nations and He will do it."

The quote in Romans 15:11 is taken from Psalm 117. This came after the nation of Israel had been divided and dispersed. Nevertheless, the people praise God.

The quote in Romans 15:12-13 comes from Isaiah 11. The promised Messiah is to bring in the nations so that all will honor God and the knowledge of God will cover the earth as the waters do the sea.

The apostle has gone to a book of history, law, poetry and prophecy and he says, whatever is written in Scripture is written that we might have hope.

Our God is a God of promise. Every page, every chapter, God is saying, "I will fulfill my promises. My Messiah will come and I will reign on this earth." It may be hard, but God will do it. God will fulfill His purposes in and through His people.

God was being faithful to His promises with Abraham, when he traveled from Ur and when he could not have a child until age 100. God was faithful with Jacob. God was being faithful to His promises when David was slaying his tens of thousands and God was being faithful to His promises when David committed adultery and murdered a man. God was faithful to His promises in Solomon's life.

When Jesus was born in a manger and when Jesus hung on a cross, God was being faithful to His promises.

God will fulfill His purposes and for that reason we have hope and we can endure.

William Carey lived in light of these promises and stood on these promises.

Adoniram and Ann Judson went to Burma in light of God's promise and because they stood on God's promises. The first two children born to the Judsons died. Adoniram endured torture and imprisonment. Ann would come to him and tell him "Do not give Adoniram. God will give us the victory." Adoniram later wrote, "God will give us the victory."

How do we stand firm? It is through standing on the belief that God will be faithful to His purposes and His promises.

God will accomplish His purposes through people who are obedient to do His will. Because God is faithful, we can endure.

But what if you can't endure anymore?

In Adoniram Judson's life, his wife, Ann, eventually died and so did his third son. After this, Adoniram stopped translating Scripture, moved to a remote village and grieved. During this time he wrote in his journal, "God to me is the great unknown. I believe in Him, but I find Him not."

What if you can't endure? What then?

Romans 15:4 says that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. What encouragement is here for us?

Our God is not just a God of promise; He is a God of mercy. So, when you have turned your face from God, God is a God of mercy.

Judson's brother turned to Christ late in his life, just before he died. This act of mercy from God in his brother's life encouraged Judson. Judson eventually began translating Scripture again and he is remembered as one of the most faithful Christian missionaries in history.

God is a God of mercy: this should encourage us. Hearing accounts of His mercy in other's lives should encourage us.

We have to remember the goal. The goal is to give people hope. And hope is found only in the Gospel. If we have given people duty and doctrine, we have not reached the goal. The goal is to give people hope. What is the hope?

It is this understanding that if God is faithful to His promises and merciful to sinful people, then our hope comes from that. Our hope comes from seeing in Scripture that God is faithful to His promises and is merciful to sinful people and standing on those realities even in the midst of the most trying circumstances.

It is saying, "I will have hope and I will tell you about it because you need it to."

We have duty and doctrine to teach, yes we do. But if you forget the goal, which is to give people hope and hope in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and if you forget that then you will only discourage people.

May we preach this hope, this Gospel of Jesus Christ, that is found throughout the pages of Scripture.

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SBTS live blog: Bryan Chapell — Mullins Lectures March 31, 2010

God's love is not based on our heroic or holy actions. What is the basis of God's love? His grace. I know you know that, but the implications can be difficult for even the most mature Christian to apprehend and live out.

Most of our human relationships are consequential and reciprocal. We perform and are paid for our work. But the Gospel is different. While we were His enemies, Christ died for us. When we are faithless, He abides faithful. His love, His lasting affection is not based on our past, present or future actions. This unconditional nature of the love of God is concerning. People fear that we grant people liberty to sin. When people say that, we have no option but to concede that they are right.

There is an unavoidable math: when we tell people that they will be loved no more or no less even if they sin, the mind does the math.

But the math of the mind is not the mechanics of the heart. The heart works differently. Jesus says, "If you love me, you will keep my commands." The compulsion of the Christian life is not the conditional nature of grace, but the unconditional nature of grace. The love of Christ compels us to do His will. That is the true and strongest motivation for holiness. And we love Him most deeply and most compulsively when we know His grace and love the most.

What we do is based on who we are and that order is not reversible. God says, "you are mine. Now walk in my ways," and that order is imperative for us to understand if we are to be proclaimers of the Gospel. The Gospel says what you do is determined by who you are.

If you understand that the imperatives of what you are to do are based on who you are ... if you understand that, it will transform every relationship in your life.

I did not used to preach this way. I did not used to parent this way.

There is no better place to look than Colossians 3 to see that the indicatives precede the imperatives, and the strongest imperatives. The imperatives could not be more strongly stated and the indicatives could not be clearer.

Colossians 3

What Paul is saying in this passage is "you must be willing to kill yourself for your Savior." Even in seminary, you can get caught up in grades and classes and studying. Devotion to your Savior may have brought you to seminary, but that devotion may be waning. If so, Colossians 3 is a great place to turn.

Indicatives

You are raised with Christ

Paul begins by saying, "If you have been raised." Of course, if we must be raised, then we were previously dead.

Baptism marked a union with Christ. It marked being dead to ourselves and alive with Christ.

Christ is seated at the right hand of God. We are identified with this Christ. This Christ is not only at the right hand of God, He is seated at the right hand of God.

Heb. 10:11 talks about this reality. Every priest stands daily at his service. But when Christ offered one time a single sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God.

In the old sacrificial system, there were annual, seasonal, monthly, weekly, daily and personal sacrifices. The blood ran and the stench filled the streets and the smoke filled the sky and people knew what these things represented. The priest was busy and he did not sit down until one Lamb without blemish went to the hill that is called Calvary. And that point the sacrifices were done and the great High Priest sat down.

He said, "it is finished" and He sat down at God's right hand and we sit with Him.

There is nothing that we do to enter right relationship with God. We should sit with Christ. There remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. And Paul has just begun to say what your position is in Christ.

You are hid with Christ

You are dead. All that was you and that was counted to you are dead, nailed to the cross. You are dead, because all that was true of you is now eclipsed by the work of Christ. That is what Paul is saying. You have died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

We are hid with Christ in God as if we are being reminded that in this relationship with the wrath of God turned away, we are hidden in God, in Christ, in the embrace of God the Father. But Paul is not finished describing who we are in Christ.

You will appear with Him in glory

The apostle has said (1) "you are raised" and (2) "you are hid with Christ" and here he says (3) "you will appear with Him in glory."

If you could see the person next to you the way they will be at Christ's return, you would be tempted to bow down and worship them. That is the glory that we will receive. To this position that has now been described, Paul begins to add imperatives.

Imperatives

The first imperative appears in verse one: seek the things that are above. But Paul ratchets things up in verse two: set your minds on things that are above. SET YOUR MINDS. Paul is saying that you were once dead and on your way to hell, but now you are alive in Christ. We must set our minds on that.

We were going to die. Our sins were going to overwhelm us. But God sent His Son and raised Him in newness of life and then raised us in newness of life in Him. Paul is saying that these things need to grab you. Only now is Paul ready for the key imperative.

Verse five: put to death therefore what is earthly in you.

Paul says identify in you what turns back to your old way of life and kill it.

The apostle is saying, "God has rescued you from these things. Do not go back to the mire." And the way that Paul is doing this is not with a great threat, it is with a great privilege. He is reminding them of who they are in Christ and the privilege of their standing in Christ.

The power is first in the fight itself.

Verse three says: you have died. But verse five says: put to death what is earthly in you. The fact that you are dead to sin and alive in Christ does not mean that you don't have to then fight sin. You should never think that you don't have to fight anymore. The fact that the apostle Paul puts the fighting words in the present tense should remind us that having to fight sin is part of the normal Christian life. If you think you don't have to fight, you are wrong. You have to fight.

John Owen says believers typically think of two times in their life when they don't have to fight anymore. The first is when they have indulged in a serious sin and they find it is repugnant and they think that once they turn they will not be tempted by it anymore. But the repugnance will grow old and the temptation will return.

The second time Christians think they won't have to fight anymore is when they come through a great trial. Once they come through the suffering they think that the sin will not tempt them anymore. But God's rescue from the trouble will grow distant, Owen says. You always have to fight.

As you fight, you must set your minds on things above. Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. Satan will come along and tell you: you can't help this, you can't resist this. It is actually God's fault. Scripture says that is a lie.

God gives you power to resist. I am not saying it will be easy. The very fact that Paul uses language of fighting and setting our minds should tell us that it is not easy. We should turn to other Christians and ask for help. We should pray. And we should believe the Word. You have been raised with Christ and Christ is your life. Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.

The question is not so much whether you can, but whether you will.

The power for the Christian life is (1) in the fight, (2) by faith and (3) ultimately it is in love for Christ.

If He loves you so, then love Him and let the love for Him become the compelling power to engage the resources to begin the fight. What will overcome the desires of the world is a desire for God. The way you take away the power of sin to live in you is to replace and overcome it with love for Christ.

Remember who you are so that when He calls you to holiness, compromise is not your option but living for the Lord is your joy.

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SBTS chapel live blog: Bryan Chapell Mullins Lectures – Judges 7 March 30, 2010

Preacher: Bryan Chapell

Text/title: Judges 7 - Use for Useless Heroes

I had the privilege when I graduated from Covenant Seminary of pastoring the oldest and largest church in our association. To tell you I felt like hot stuff would be an understatement. What I didn't recognize soon enough was reputation is nothing compared to the weight of the responsibility of pastoring.

I grew up in a farming community. I learned what happens when income starts dropping, alcohol starts coming in. When alcohol starts being abused, abuse happens. And when abuse happens, then marital infidelity happens. And when marital infidelity happens, children born out of wedlock come along. Abortion happens. Depression sets in.

When I stepped into my pulpit, I had ideas for how to combat this culture. My basic message was: stop. Just stop it. That is what I said. That is what I preached. That is what I told people. My ministry was not effective. And it began to wear on me. I became burned out. I told my wife, "I am just discouraging people." I was considering leaving the ministry.

About this time, I picked up Sidney Griedanus' book, "Sola Scriptura." I began reading it. Griedanus talked about how you should preach about the lives of David and Abraham. He asked if we should hold these men up as moral examples to be followed. Act by faith and kill your Goliaths. Is that how we should preach? Well, what about Bathsheba? What about the man that David murdered?

Griedanus' point was simple: these (David and Abraham) are not the heroes of the text. There is only one hero in the text. And that is the God who cares about people enough to use people like David and Abraham to work in the world.

God is on the scenes throughout Scripture. He uses sinful people throughout Scripture. He uses sinful people like you and me.

I began to realize that God has not called me only to give moral instruction. In fact, that should not be the driving force of my preaching. The driving force should be hope. Hope for sinners. Grace for sinners.

Judges 7 - Use for Useless Heroes

If you are in a position that whether by your failures or faults that you think God can't use you, then accounts like Gideon are for you.

Gideon's fear

In Judges 6, we learn about Gideon's fears and in Judges 7 we learn that God can still use him. In Judges 6, we learn that Gideon is threshing wheat in a winepress. Gideon should be out in the field threshing wheat so that the chaff will blow away. But he is not because he is afraid of the Midianites.

Gideon's fear is obvious.

His fear is also offensive.

The angel of the Lord came to Gideon and Gideon began to ask him why Israel was under oppression, if indeed the Lord was with them.

Gideon then turns to accusation, "But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian."

"It is your fault, Lord," Gideon is saying. We might say, "It is your fault, God. You are sovereign. It is your fault that I am suffering."

Gideon asks for a sign. And, amazingly, the Lord gives him a sign. Fire sprang up from a rock and consumed meat and the unleavened cakes. Pretty good sign.

The Lord then gives Gideon a warm-up exercise. Before the Lord sends Gideon against more than 100,000 Midianites, He sends him to tear down the altar in his dad's backyard.

And Gideon does ... but he does it at night.

And before Gideon goes to lead Israel against the Midianites, he asks God to give him another sign. Twice.

Gideon is a scared, fearing man.

Chapell's fear; your fear

I emphasize Gideon's fear so much because I can relate to it so well.

Chapell recounted an experience of struggling with fear at a veiled threat from a man over Chapell's leadership at Covenant.

I need Gideon. I need to be reminded that God can work through men who have fear.

I don't know what you are afraid of. I just want to remind you, even you are afraid, God is with you.

Gideon's fraility

Gideon is not just telling us about a God who saves us when we are fearful. He is telling us that He is with the most frail of people.

You don't take 300 men against 135,000 people. The message here is that if Israel wins the battle, it will only be because God gives it to them. God works through 300 men who have idols in their backyard, and turn against men who tear them down, to defeat a mighty army.

What God wants to remind me and you is that we may not be in positions of great esteem. God wants to remind you that He uses frail people to do amazing things.

Gideon's flaws

God uses fearful people. He uses frail people. And ultimately, He uses the most terribly flawed people.

After winning the battle against the Midianites, Gideon took the plunder from the victory and fashions it into an ephod that people idolized. Through the ephod, Gideon was said to be able to tell the future. So, Gideon won the victory and then turns and fashions another god that Israel pursues and worships. Gideon betrays God and God blesses him.

God uses fearful, frail, flawed men

Grace is pretty disturbing isn't it? Despite Gideon's flaws, He received the blessing of God.

God doesn't do our math. If God did our math, every one of us would stand condemned. We would be in hell and we would deserve it. But God says, I will rescue you. I will rescue you, though you are fearful and frail and flawed.

This passage should tell us to look for a Redeemer. In some of the most surprising and amazing ways, the Lord will show us that He will save us. In some of the most surprising and amazing ways, the Lord shows His people that He will save them throughout the pages of Scripture.

God uses useless people for great and eternal things. He is the rescuing God who shows us His grace over and over again.

The Gospel is real. God can take people who afraid and frail and greatly flawed and pour His glory out of them.

He can even use people like me and you. He used Gideon: He can use us, too.

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