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Kieth Drury has a great article that you can read here. Check it out. It’s called Why study the Apostle’s Creed?
Hey I just wanted to let everyone know about a couple of things:
1. The Youth Challenge website has been updated and you check out this years lineup of speakers and the theme. The executive board is pumped! We want all teens & youth workers/pastors to be there!
2. We now have a Youth Challenge blog. Check it out!
Check out the entire article here. It’s worth it!
If a preacher is not deeply mining the truth of God’s Word to determine the message of his sermons, they are likely being driven by his own preferences. When someone regularly preaches in a way that is not expositional, the sermons tend to be only on the topics that interest the preacher. Thus the congregation doesn’t receive all that God intended. The lesson? Preachers must give themselves to thoroughly understanding the text before setting out to write their sermons. A cursory reading is not enough. Preachers must allow God to determine the sheep’s diet so as to prevent an insufficient feeding.
Last night we had an awesome service with several praying around the altar. At least three people were saved; one for the very first time in his life. Another man and I met with him in my office after the service. We talked to him about sin, accountability, and I gave him a Bible. I hope to set him up with a layman in the church who will serve as a mentor. But this got me to thinking, what are the needs of a new convert? Well, what are the needs of a new baby? The contrasts are very similar:
• Protection. New life is fragile. Ever notice how “paranoid” parents are around their baby when it looks like they are going to lurch out of their infant seat? Instantly, their hands are there to stabilize the baby or catch it before it falls. Imagine if every babe in Christ would have four Christian hands reach out in love to make sure when the new believer falls they will not hurt themselves. We need to protect them. We need to provide a safe environment for confession, trust, and accountability.
• Diet. Beware “loading up the plate.” Newborns, after all, start out with frequent but small portions of milk. Huge slabs of meat are far in the future. It would be ludicrous to ask a baby to eat a Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings. The poor thing would sit at the table and starve to death! Don’t give a new Christian more than they can reasonably digest. This is why I believe in Sunday School classes or discipleship classes for new converts. They don’t need to be in the class that’s been talking about the Temple furniture for the last 16 weeks! They need to be fed what they can eat!
• Community. Developmental problems result when a newborn is deprived of attention. So do new converts. New Christians need to sense early on that they are part of a family. Community and fellowship is vital. When you do things with your Christian friends, include them. Give them plenty of opportunity to experience what it’s like to be part of God’s family. Then they’ll know they are not alone. That is why I’m trying to get both couples that prayed last night plugged into a small group.
• Instruction. Paul taught the new Christians in Thessalonica “how to live” (1 Thess. 4:1). As they begin to mature, teach them how to feed themselves—through Bible study, devotions, Bible memorization, etc. (Every pastor I’ve had preached to me that I should have devotions, but no one ever showed me. Show them!) They’ll also need training in sharing their faith, praying, dealing with sin, using time wisely, tithing, and so on. Much of this they’ll learn by example. They’ll begin to imitate the “adults” around them, just as a child does. (This is a good motivating factor for spiritual maturity). It’s crucial, therefore, that you spend time with them so they can see you living out your faith in good times and bad. A good example is a powerful motivator.
Yesterday my youngest daughter had just finished a peanut butter sandwich and wanted some Cool Whip in a bowl to snack on. So I got her some and then I started putting the dishes in the dishwasher. The knife still had peanut butter on it and the spoon still had Cool Whip on it. So I licked the peanut butter off the knife (like any good Dad) and licked the Cool Whip off the spoon (it’s a terrible sacrifice that somebody has to make). To my surprise, they were very good together! So I got some clean spoons out and had a nice snack. Try it and tell me what you think. Yum!
one-armed paperhanger with a case of the hives.
one-eyed cat watching nine rat holes.
salmon in cold water.
one-toothed man in a corn-on-the-cob eating contest.
mosquito at a nudist colony.
cross-eyed air traffic controller.
termite in a saw mill.
desert cobra at a mongoose convention.
one-armed trombone player.
deodorant salesman in Paris.
Sorry for no recent updates. Just been too busy.
