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anonymous

Too Few Children in the Pew « Creed:or:Chaos - 0 views

creedorchaos.wordpress.com/...too-few-children-in-the-pew

Covenant Community Dispensationalism Sunday School Age Segregation Church

shared by anonymous on 22 Sep 09 - Cached
  • I have a huge problem with children (not just mine) leaving the collective assembly of the saints. Now the woman and most churches certainly have good intentions—that I certainly do not deny—but this relatively new phenomenon of segregating the church population during the general proclamation of law and gospel is not the biblical or historical standard.
  • One could go one step further and argue that the disjunction of the Old and New Testaments and the undo emphasis on the New Testament might be one cause of this age-based segregation. As far as I can see, the entire Bible advocates that all of the believers, both young and old, should gather together for general worship: to pray, partake of the sacraments, and to hear the gospel.
David Murray

Lloyd-Jones on Seriousness in the Pulpit - The Gospel Coalition Blog - 0 views

thegospelcoalition.org/...s-on-seriousness-in-the-pulpit

Ministry Humor

shared by David Murray on 27 Sep 09 - Cached
  • The preacher must be a serious man; he must never give the impression that preaching is something light or superficial or trivial….What is happing [in the act of preaching] is that he is speaking to them from God, he is speaking to them about God, he is speaking about their condition, the state of their souls. He is telling them that they are, by nature, under the wrath of God–”the children of wrath even as others”–that the character of the life they’re living is offensive to God and under the judgment of God, and warning them of the dread eternal possibility that lies ahead of them. In any case the preacher, of all men, should realize the fleeting nature of life in this world. The men of the world are so immersed in its business and affairs, its pleasures and all is vain show, that the one thing they never stop to consider is the fleeting nature of life. All this means that the preacher should create and convey the impression of the seriousness of what is happening the moment he even appears in the pulpit. You remember the famous lines of Richard Baxter: “I preached as never sure to preach again, and as a dying man to dying men.”…You remember what was said of the saintly Robert Murray McCheyne of Scotland in the last century. It is said that when he appeared in the pulpit, even before he had uttered a single word, people would begin to weep silently. Why? Because of this very element of seriousness. The very sight of the man gave the impression that he had come from the presence of God and that he was to deliver a message from God to them. That is what had such an effect upon the people even before he had opened his mouth. We forget this at our peril, and at great cost to our listeners.
  • David Murray on 27 Sep 09
     
    Humor in the Ministry
David Murray

Eternal Perspectives (Randy Alcorn's blog): Counting the Cost of Sexual Immorality - 0 views

randyalcorn.blogspot.com/...cost-of-sexual-immorality.html

Ministry Immorality

shared by David Murray on 05 Oct 09 - Cached
  • Grieving my Lord; displeasing the One whose opinion most matters.Dragging into the mud Christ's sacred reputation.Loss of reward and commendation from God.Having to one day look Jesus in the face at the judgment seat and give an account of why I did it. Forcing God to discipline me in various ways. Following in the footsteps of men I know of whose immorality forfeited their ministry and caused me to shudder. List of these names: Suffering of innocent people around me who would get hit by my shrapnel (a la Achan).Untold hurt to Nanci, my best friend and loyal wife. Loss of Nanci's respect and trust.Hurt to and loss of credibility with my beloved daughters, Karina and Angela. ("Why listen to a man who betrayed Mom and us?")If my blindness should continue or my family be unable to forgive, I could lose my wife and my children forever.Shame to my family. (The cruel comments of others who would invariably find out.) Shame to my church family.Shame and hurt to my fellow pastors and elders. List of names: Shame and hurt to my friends, and especially those I've led to Christ and discipled. List of names: Guilt awfully hard to shake—even though God would forgive me, would I forgive myself?Plaguing memories and flashbacks that could taint future intimacy with my wife. Disqualifying myself after having preached to others. Surrender of the things I am called to and love to do—teach and preach and write and minister to others. Forfeiting forever certain opportunities to serve God. Years of training and experience in ministry wasted for a long period of time, maybe permanently. Being haunted by my sin as I look in the eyes of others, and having it all dredged up again wherever I go and whatever I do. Undermining the hard work and prayers of others by saying to our community "this is a hypocrite—who can take seriously anything he and his church have said and done?"Laughter, rejoicing and blasphemous smugness by those who disrespect God and the church (2 Samuel 12:14). Bringing great pleasure to Satan, the Enemy of God. Heaping judgment and endless problems on the person I would have committed adultery with. Possible diseases (pain, constant reminder to me and my wife, possible infection of Nanci, or in the case of AIDS, even causing her death, as well as mine.) Possible pregnancy, with its personal and financial implications. Loss of self-respect, discrediting my own name, and invoking shame and lifelong embarrassment upon myself.
  • David Murray on 05 Oct 09
     
    Counting the cost of sexual immorality
Maarten Kuivenhoven

Those Toxic Non-Attenders - 9Marks - 1 views

www.9marks.org/CC/article/0,,PTID314526|CHID598014|CIID2496468,00.html

Practicing Church Discipline

shared by Maarten Kuivenhoven on 02 Nov 09 - Cached
  • THE TOXIC EFFECTS OF NON-ATTENDERS1. They Make Evangelism Harder
  • 2. They Confuse New Believers
  • 3. They Discourage Regular Attenders
  • ...8 more annotations...
  • 4. They Worry Their Leaders
  • everyone who bears the name of Christ, as affirmed by your church, yet who willingly chooses to live their lives apart from the covenanted community of believers is practicing identity theft. They've taken Christ's name, but they don't honestly identify with his body, the local church.
  • Non-attenders are not only reverse-witnesses, they're reverse models. They disregard and disobey countless passages of Scripture and fail to image God's character in even the most basic ways, even though they claim to be his adopted children.
  • Second, non-attenders confuse new believers. New believers are often a mess. Everything they thought was up is down, and everything they thought was down is up. There is great confusion in the first weeks and months and even years of a new believer's life. They need to be taught well.
  • Regular attenders sacrifice to keep their covenant with their local church. They give their money and their time to meet the needs of other members of the body, which is not easy to say the least. Non-attenders don't do these things, at least not with any regularity. So when a church allows non-attenders to remain members, they effectively gut the meaning of membership, which hurts and discourages the faithful.
  • Hebrews 13:17 says, "Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account." In light of this verse, a faithful pastor or elder should feel responsible for the spiritual state of every member of his flock. Like a father worried about his son who hasn't yet come home late at night, a good shepherd doesn't rest until all his sheep are accounted for. Non-attenders makes this task nearly impossible.  
  • NOT ALL NON-ATTENDERS ARE ALIKE
  • Those who live in the area and are unable to attend: age or health prevent them. Such elderly or physically suffering members should be treated with special care. This article isn't about them. Those who live (temporarily) outside the area and are unable to attend: military or business assignments prevent them. Such (temporary) non-attenders should also be treated with special care since their travel for work places unique burdens on them and their family. This article isn't about them.  Those who live outside the area and choose to keep their membership with your local church: distance prevents them. Such non-attenders should be encouraged to join a local church they can attend. This article is about them. Those who live in the area and sporadically, infrequently attend: nothing really prevents them except their own choice. This article is especially about them.
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