ChurchTag Archive -

Judges 1 – Replacing leaders

Judges 1:1-2 Now it came about after the death of Joshua that the sons of Israel inquired of the LORD, saying, “Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites, to fight against them?” 2 The LORD said, “Judah shall go up; behold, I have given the land into his hand.”

When a church seeks to replace a leader the most important thing to do is to seek out God’s counsel. Time spent in prayer seeking guidance and inquiring about God’s opinion is never a waste.

This is true whether a church is looking to replace a pastor, an elder, a Sunday school teacher, or a custodian. Every position within the church is a position of leadership and God cares about all leaders. We need to ask God, “Who is it you have prepared for this role?”

A church should never rush the replacement of a leader. A church should only move forward, once they have discerned a clear direction from God.

Weekly Meanderings

Here’s some stuff I came across this week*…

1. The search for the historical Adam
2. CT’s editorial on Adam, Eve, and the Gospel
3. A response to CT’s article and editorial on Adam and Eve
4. The Bible and Evolution
5. A critique of gender language in the NIV
6. A defense of baptism
7. The trouble with litmus tests
8. Surprised by addiction
9. Positioning your church
10. Implementing change in a small church
11. Responses to spiritual confusion
12. Praying for silliness
13. What to do while you’re waiting
14. On ranking charities by administrative expense
15. Pilgrim’s Progress for children
16. A review of “The Tree of Life
17. A review of “Go the F*** to Sleep
18. Is adoption a trend or trendy?
19. Are kids normal or inferior goods?
20. Life habits to improve your writing
21. The “Blue Like Jazz” teaser trailer
22. How to open a door for a woman

 

"It's a God Fit" by David Hayward

 

Have a great weekend!

*inclusion of items on this list does not necessarily suggest my approval of, or agreement with, the linked material. I just think they add to the conversation.

Weekly Meanderings

Here’s some stuff I came across this week*…

1. Praying for Osama bin Laden
2. “welcoming to Christocentrics/others?”
3. A report on the Coptic Christians of Egypt
4. No matter what you do, it matters
5. Differences in the brains of men and women and conservatives and liberals
6. Did Jesus really call his disciples “children”?
7. Why Christians need contracts
8. Bad church hires
9. Are churches passive-aggressive?
10. A review of “The Unlikely Disciple
11. On sexual fidelity and brand loyalty
12. The neuroscience behind sexual desire
13. Why is sex so important to you?
14. Do musicians have better brains?
15. Are we becoming a country without libraries?
16. Arguments against home-ownership
17. How to pick between two paths
18. Does this spring mark the end of a baseball era?

Have a great weekend!

*inclusion of items on this list does not necessarily suggest my approval of, or agreement with, the linked material. I just think they add to the conversation.

Weekly Meanderings

Here’s some stuff I came across this week*…

1. Women in ministry: a video series – part 1, part 2, part 3
2. A review of “The Missional Mom
3. Thou shalt not let thyself go – the 11th commandment?
4. Pastor, you’re too controlling
5. From pastor to Church drop-out
6. Chuck Colson’s theology fail
7. Lessons on God from Biblical genres
8. What is the Biblical form of Church government?
9. A video on church culture and money
10. Robert Alter on the Wisdom books
11. The Holy Spirit: harasser or comforter?
12. Why I’m a lousy progressive
13. What’s the point of marriage?
14. The effects of climate change on cholera
15. Lessons from a failed social media campaign
16. How a consumer thinks
17. Three characteristics of a creator
18. The Lord of the Rings through the eyes of the bad guys (free e-book in translation)
19. The Netflix top 25 “Faith and Spirituality” movies
20. On Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s musical “The Book of Mormon”
21. A review of “Cedar Rapids
22. Banksy’s pre-Oscar LA work
23. How do they put sound into movies?
24. A near death experience with Spanx for men

Have a great weekend!

*inclusion of items on this list does not necessarily suggest my approval of or agreement with the linked material. I just think they add to the conversation.

Weekly Meanderings

Here’s some stuff I came across this week*…

1. Millennials, the Church, and social media
2. Is the conversation about gay rights “over”?
3. How infighting will kill the church
4. Disrespect is often the first sign of a failing relationship
5. How our words impact others
6. How to practice forgiveness
7. Five steps to recovery from abuse
8. Messiah figures in politics and culture
9. Sex and sexuality in the Garden of Eden
10. Is Satan in the book of Job?
11. The portrayal of God in the prologue to Job
12. Job as an example of Retribution Theology
13. Were the Biblical authors reliable in their old age?
14. “Just obeying what scripture clearly says…
15. Eugene Peterson on the King James Bible
16. The story of Zac Smith
17. What happened to Michael Vick’s dogs (video)
18. The effects of “forbidden fruit” on romantic relationships
19. Some (negative) thoughts on the Grammys
20. Michael Lewis on the financial crisis

Have a great weekend!

*inclusion of items on this list does not necessarily suggest my approval of or agreement with the linked material. I just think they add to the conversation.

Weekly Meanderings

Here’s some stuff I came across this week*…

1. Churches and Facebook: should churches care? How to leverage it?
2. A review of “Half the Church: recapturing God’s global vision for women
3. The Bible as a book of questions
4. “that whoever believes in him” shall or will “not perish” (John 3:16)?
5. The manifestation of God in the Old Testament
6. Converting from Christian to Agnostic and back again
7. The state of sex in America
8. Sex and the Bible
9. Al Mohler on sex and the Bible
10. The social costs of pornography
11. What porn does to relationships: part 1 and part 2
12. Fetal surgery and abortion
13. Homelessness and demonstrating love
14. Visiting the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata, India
15. A good discussion on Christianity and international violence
16. Thoughts on the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt
17. How introverts and extroverts benefit one another
18. Nine aberrant forms of Christian leadership
19. Four temptations for Christian leaders
20. Strong leader or bad pastor?
21. How strategic are your friendships?
22. LifeWay drops “warning labels” from certain books
23. The world is not against you; it’s waiting for you to succeed
24. Were Groupon’s offensive ads actually clever social satire?
25. A brief introduction to breathing
26. What happens if Banksy wins an Oscar?
27. Q&A with the NFLPA Assistant Executive Director of External Affairs
28. What Cubs game did Ferris Bueller attend on his day off?

Have a great weekend!

*inclusion of items on this list does not necessarily suggest my approval of or agreement with the linked material. I just think they add to the conversation.

Weekly Meanderings

Here’s some stuff I came across this week…

1. The struggle with teaching our children about evil
2. Praying for the space shuttle
3. Why I don’t want to be a “Chinese Mother”
4. How they changed their mind about women
5. What happened when I tried to love God with my mind
6. John Piper and Jesse Jackson
7. Thoughts on spiritual pride
8. Bonhoeffer on asceticism
9. A missionary perspective on the American church
10. Everybody worships something
11. Some critical thoughts on the church’s need to over-inform
12. A review of “Church Planting is for Wimps
13. Why leaders cannot afford to be offended
14. Is leadership Biblical (a rebuttal)
15. Galatians as an example of spiritual direction
16. Ephesians 1:5 – adopted into the people of God
17. The “lost verses” of Proverbs 31
18. Luke 22:38 does not endorse violence
19. Translating sexuality in 1 Corinthians 6:9
20. Bible verses that cause questions
21. What if Richard Dawkins showed up in your Sunday School
22. Thoughts on translating the Bible
23. The evolution of Jesus on Wikipedia
24. Christian motifs in the mythology of Batman
25. Christian engagement with the arts
26. Flannery O’Connor and John Milton
27. How to publish your book on Amazon Kindle
28. A review of “One Thousand Gifts
29. Nine ways to boost your self-esteem
30. Four keys to stop worrying
31. What housework is really about
32. Unclutter by tackling the most annoying thing first
33. Clearing your digital clutter
34. Why your job is killing your creativity
35. Are NFL coaches learning from economists?
36. Building a chicken coop from recycled materials
37. Jurassic Park theme slowed 1000%

Happy Faces by David Hayward

Have a great weekend!

Weekly Meanderings

Here’s some stuff I came across this week…

1. Explaining anti-intellectualism
2. Are Evangelicals getting dumber?
3. Reverse judgmentalism
4. The art of getting rejected
5. The tomb of Esther and Mordecai
6. Religion and sexual violence
7. On repealing the death penalty
8. Is your church open to autism?
9. Characteristics of a growing church
10. Is leadership Biblical?
11. Leadership at Pixar
12. The hidden power of humility
13. The benefits of learning peoples’ names
14. Get better service by learning peoples’ names
15. Toxic words can kill creativity
16. Adjusting mood to enable creativity
17. Why we quit and the potential benefits
18, We need margin
19. Can offensive art be Christian?
20. Being Elmo: a puppeteer’s journey
21. Response to “regrets of a stay-at-home mom”
22. The awful truth about fatherhood: I will fail
23. A snow day with the kids
24. What I’ve learned while unemployed
25. Do economists need a code of conduct (my opinion is no)
26. E-book trends to watch in 2011
27. The 100 best selling Christian books of 2010
28. A review of “Passport Through Darkness
29. The unspeakable word of Huck Finn
30. Home brewing beer
31. Top death metal band names from Leviticus 17

Have a great weekend!

Weekly Meanderings

Here’s some stuff I came across this week…

1. A letter to my son
2. Ricky Gervais on why he is an atheist
3. Tolkien and a traitor’s place in salvation
4. Surrogate Spirituality
5. When you can’t seem to read the Bible
6. Old Testament polygamy and the sanctity of marriage
7. The Pope and the Big Bang
8. What are the 12 days of Christmas?
9. Egyptian Muslims protect Christians at Coptic Christmas eve mass
10. The most significant cultural trends of the last decade
11. Is Church life stifling your creativity?
12. Free ways to unlock creative energy
13. Characters every team needs
14. The 4 relationships you need to succeed
15. A healthier way to view rejection
16. Free pornography book
17. The modern rules of Christian care and accountability (WARNING: this is sarcasm)
18. When does opinion become “hate”?
19. A review of “God the Peacemaker
20. A review of “A God-Sized Nation
21. A review of “Blue Valentine
22. A freelance writer’s manifesto
23. What’s your excuse for not achieving your goals
24. Killing, plucking, eviscerating, & cutting up your chicken (WARNING: a bit graphic)
25. Overcoming the winter blues
26. An interview with the man who removed the racially charged words from Huck Finn
27. Game Theory in child rearing
28. Where do you stand with the Olympian gods?
29. The Seattle Seahawks are not the worst playoff team ever
30. The late Aiden Binkley and his friend Mark Sanchez

Have a great weekend!

Weekly Meanderings

Here’s some stuff I came across this week…

1. Happy 500th birthday KJV
2. Lancelot Andrewes: the chief KJV translator
3. Is the church’s captivity self-imposed
4. Stages of grief and the loss of your god
5. Fear is a good thing
6. The problem with assuming
7. If the earth was 10 feet closer to the sun
8. Kentucky creationist museum to feature dragons and unicorns
9. Where did all these “pre-tribs” come from
10. Your local Christian book store
11. Ken Starr and the future of Baylor University
12. Favorite books by women in 2010
13. A review of “The 100 Things Challenge
14. Top 10 books of 2010
15. Top 10 songs of 2010
16. Geek culture is dead
17. Putting together a “Tech Survival Kit”
18. Use RezScore to improve your resume
19. On repugnance and the trafficking of human organs
20. How Disney deals with lines
21. Best passive-aggressive notes of 2010 (WARNING: some offensive language)

Jesus being harassed by visitors by David Hayward

Have a great week!

Weekly Meanderings

Here’s some stuff I came across this week…

1. Savior of the Nations, Come
2. Why is Christmas on December 25?
3. A thoughtful Merry Christmas from Bill Maher
4. Survey: Jesus is one of the reasons for the season
5. How different churches are celebrating Christmas
6. Mary’s Grammar: how can she sing that the Lord has done great things for her?
7. On Mary: faith and doubt
8. What is the “stay-at-home daughters” movement
9. The growth of an idea
10. Adam, Eve, and the anatomy of modern humans
11. Can a Christian teach biology?
12. A review of “A New Kind of Big
13. A review of “True Grit
14. The economics of baseball
15. The cognitive-visual strategies of top athletes
16. Will the census impact the 2012 presidential race?
17. Does WikiLeaks change everything?
18. Gifts are valued at less than their cost
19. Why the other checkout line always moves faster than yours

Have a great Christmas!

Weekly Meanderings

Here’s some stuff I came across this week…

1. Is God a monster?
2. Does God cringe?
3. A Victim Impact Statement for the Church
4. Having a voice after sexual abuse
5. The cost of honesty
6. The benefits of a fresh perspective
7. Three benefits of God-sized dreams
8. Arsonists and firefighters in your church creative environment
9. Six themes of change in the church
10. The day Christian music died
11. Churches aren’t paying attention on Twitter
12. The Christian industrial complex part 1 and part 2
13. The scriptural Bible vs. the academic Bible
14. Adam, Eve, and contemporary anthropology
15. The Cambrian Explosion Taxonomy and the fossil record
16. Beginning Greek texts
17. The top 50 blogs of theology professors
18. A review of “Experimental Theology in America
19. A review of “What Jesus Meant
20. A review of “Man’s Search for Meaning
21. A review of “The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind
22. A review of “Churched
23. A review of “Silence
24. Liu Xiaobo’s empty chair
25. The Smithsonian succumbs to censorship
26. The truth about suicide bombers
27. Top 10 albums of 2010
28. The 15 worst films of 2010
29. The Boardgame Remix Kit
30. Why do we have Christmas trees?
The Colbert Report Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Jesus Is a Liberal Democrat
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog</a> March to Keep Fear Alive

Have a great week!

Weekly Meanderings

Here’s some stuff I came across this week…

1. A lecture on St. Nicholas (begins at 3:30)
2. The hipster Bible
3. When was Genesis written?
4. BioLogos statement on inerrancy
5. Evolutionary creation
6. The human fossil record and transitional species
7. An excerpt from Scot McKnight’s article on Jesus vs. Paul
8. Walt Kaiser responds to Scot McKnight’s article on Jesus vs. Paul
9. Is Universalism to scary for Evangelicals to talk about?
10. Should we call ourselves “evangelical”?
11. The worst form of censorship
12. What does a pastor do? Helps people transition
13. “I am a born doubter
14. When working for a church causes doubt
15. Should the Church be pointless?
16. Al Mohler rejects deviation within denominations
17. God’s stimulus package
18. Thoughts on paedobaptism
19. ETS talks about changing views on women in ministry
20. A review of “How I Changed My Mind About Women in Leadership
21. A review of “The Undistracted Widow
22. A review of “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
23. A review of “Black Swan
24. A review of “Tangled
25. Top 10 books of 2010
26. Liu Xiaobo and the Nobel Prize
27. Why Muslim’s don’t adopt
28. WikiLeaks in the moral void?
29. Cold Snap: a poem

Have a great weekend!

Isaiah 5 – Woe to Those Who Call Evil Good, and Good Evil

Isaiah 5:1-7 Let me sing now for my well-beloved A song of my beloved concerning His vineyard. My well-beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill. 2 He dug it all around, removed its stones, And planted it with the choicest vine. And He built a tower in the middle of it And also hewed out a wine vat in it; Then He expected it to produce good grapes, But it produced only worthless ones. 3 “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, Judge between Me and My vineyard. 4 “What more was there to do for My vineyard that I have not done in it? Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce worthless ones? 5 “So now let Me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard: I will remove its hedge and it will be consumed; I will break down its wall and it will become trampled ground. 6 “I will lay it waste; It will not be pruned or hoed, But briars and thorns will come up. I will also charge the clouds to rain no rain on it.” 7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel And the men of Judah His delightful plant. Thus He looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; For righteousness, but behold, a cry of distress.

The Church is God’s new delightful plant; I’m not sure we are that much different from the house of Israel.

The Dance of Good and Evil by Curtis Verdun

Isaiah 5:18-24 Woe to those who drag iniquity with the cords of falsehood, And sin as if with cart ropes; 19 Who say, “Let Him make speed, let Him hasten His work, that we may see it; And let the purpose of the Holy One of Israel draw near And come to pass, that we may know it!” 20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! 21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes And clever in their own sight! 22 Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine And valiant men in mixing strong drink, 23 Who justify the wicked for a bribe, And take away the rights of the ones who are in the right! 24 Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes stubble And dry grass collapses into the flame, So their root will become like rot and their blossom blow away as dust; For they have rejected the law of the LORD of hosts And despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

We need to be careful that Gospel we preach is the Gospel of Christ. The Gospel that says God came to earth in the form of Jesus, and through his life, death, and resurrection we have the opportunity to be adopted into the family of go.

Woe to those who preach a different gospel; be it a gospel of politics, social justice, wealth, relationships, or self. We are all very good at finding a gospel other than Jesus to which we can cling. Stop.

Isaiah 3 – The Church as Israel

Cross and Star of DavidIsaiah 3:8-15 For Jerusalem has stumbled and Judah has fallen, Because their speech and their actions are against the LORD, To rebel against His glorious presence. 9 The expression of their faces bears witness against them, And they display their sin like Sodom; They do not even conceal it. Woe to them! For they have brought evil on themselves. 10 Say to the righteous that it will go well with them, For they will eat the fruit of their actions. 11 Woe to the wicked! It will go badly with him, For what he deserves will be done to him. 12 O My people! Their oppressors are children, And women rule over them. O My people! Those who guide you lead you astray And confuse the direction of your paths. 13 The LORD arises to contend, And stands to judge the people. 14 The LORD enters into judgment with the elders and princes of His people, “It is you who have devoured the vineyard; The plunder of the poor is in your houses. 15 “What do you mean by crushing My people And grinding the face of the poor?” Declares the Lord GOD of hosts.

I know of many people who would read this passage and say, “America better watch out, if our country doesn’t turn back to God we will be destroyed.” I think that is a horrible misapplication of the text.

The nation Israel was a nation set aside by God as God’s special people. Israel was to follow the law of God and obey God in everything; in return Israel would receive God’s favor and blessing. The United States is not a nation set aside by God as God’s special people. The United States (or any other country for that matter) is not equivalent to the nation of Israel in this passage.

There is an equivalent institution; the Church. While I think it is destructive for us to read this passage from Isaiah and plug our country into this prophesy, I think it is very helpful to read this prophesy and plug in our contemporary Church.

Think about these words:

For the Church has stumbled and has fallen, Because their speech and their actions are against the LORD, To rebel against His glorious presence. The expression of their faces bears witness against them, And they display their sin like Sodom; They do not even conceal it. Woe to them! For they have brought evil on themselves. Say to the righteous that it will go well with them, For they will eat the fruit of their actions. Woe to the wicked! It will go badly with him, For what he deserves will be done to him. The LORD arises to contend, And stands to judge the Church. The LORD enters into judgment with the elders and princes of His people, “It is you who have devoured the vineyard; The plunder of the poor is in your houses. “What do you mean by crushing My people And grinding the face of the poor?” Declares the Lord GOD of hosts.

Recently I have listened to too many church leaders who have replaced the Gospel of Christ with a gospel of politics. Too many churches who have plundered the poor and not cared for their needs. Too many churches who have named the sins of the lost, but failed to reach out with the forgiveness of Christ.

The Church is God’s special people; don’t repeat the mistakes of Israel.

Deuteronomy 33 – The Church is Not a Monolith

A Monolith

Deuteronomy 33:29 “Blessed are you, O Israel; Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD, Who is the shield of your help And the sword of your majesty! So your enemies will cringe before you, And you will tread upon their high places.”

In Chapter 33, Moses is preparing for his death. A part of his preparation is to give a final blessing to each tribe of Israel. Moses recognized that the nation Israel was made up of a collection of families. During the time of transition around his death, Moses was careful to treat each of the families individually. Different families needed a different word of blessing from the departing Moses. Moses was wise enough to recognize that he need to take the time to individually bless the families.

Our churches are not always very good at caring for the individual families within the church during a time of transition. The church is not one organism; it is a collection of smaller organisms. We need to be careful that we are taking the time to care for all of the parts of the church and not assuming a false uniformity.

It takes time and energy to care for the varied needs of your community. It is especially hard to find this time and energy during times of transition. Moses found the time and energy while he was dying; I expect our church leaders can find the time and energy during times of less dramatic transition.

Weekly Meanderings

Here’s some stuff I came across this week…

1. Is Halloween good or evil?
2. What message does your church send on Halloween
3. Why I believe in Halloween
4. Richard Mouw on Gargoyles, Calvinism, and Halloween
5. Is it okay for Christians to do yoga?
6. Jude 3: the fight for faith
7. The joy of teaching Anselm
8. You teach children that the Bible matters
9. Thoughts on memorization
10. Five things to know about communicating with Millennials
11. Things that make me a lousy Evangelical
12. You’re a good wife
13. Leaving has a price
14. Saving Blue Like Jazz the movie
15. A review of Mark Robins album “The Broken
16. A review of Belle & Sebastian’s “Write About Love
17. “The Haunted House” by George MacDonald
18. Shakespeare performed at KU in Original Pronunciation
19. The space between the notes
20. Lies we believe: you always need 100% effort
21. The 5 philosophies of quitting your day job
22. Use Benford’s law to fake numbers
23. Texas A&M grades faculty
24. What is Derek Jeter worth?
25. Neonatal babies survive nutrition withdrawal for longer than expected
26. The dirty political ads of 1800
27. I know why the Death Moth sings

The Church Today (Satire)

Have a great weekend!

Book Review: Transforming Church in Rural America

Transforming Church in Rural America
By Shannon O’Dell
This books was provided for review from the publisher through BookSneeze.com

Transforming Church in Rural America by Shannon O'DellIn 2003, Shannon O’Dell felt that he was called to leave his youth pastor position at a large church in a large city and pastor a small rural church. Once in leadership O’Dell met opposition to change and so undertook an effort to recreate the church to his vision. After many of the original church members left, the church grew and joined together with another church down the road. The church now has a focus on reaching people through satellite locations.

The more irritated I become with a book the more I tend to write in its margins; my copy of this book is littered with margin notes. O’Dell paints himself as savior of the rural church. He repeatedly speaks of what the rural church needs to learn (pp 38, 47, 63, 85), while failing to describe what the rural church has taught him. O’Dell repeatedly stereotypes and condescends to the rural church making presumptuous statements such as:

• Too many rural pastors I know have little vision, if any. (p 54)
• I’m also not talking about the milquetoast prayers of most local churches that are little more than cop-outs (p 64)
• There are very few churches that are preaching the pure gospel of life transformation. (p 82)
• Most rural churches are controlled by a handful of families. They don’t represent God’s family…Persistent tradition and generational claims on the church building are what drive them. (p 83)
• We cannot let our vision become enslaved by the fear of someone who probably hasn’t led anyone to Christ in decades, anyway. (p 84)

Ultimately, O’Dell is creating a church that is only able to function under his direct leadership. There is little or no concern for building up the leadership qualities of the individuals in the church, or planning for a future in which he is not a part. Throughout the book, O’Dell seems to substitute his leadership skills for the role of the Holy Spirit.

O’Dell consistently twists scripture to conform to his opinions. The most blatant example is on page 114. While arguing against the value of seminary education for pastors, O’Dell writes: “No one in the New Testament Church was educated.” He uses Acts 4:13 as validation of this statement. Unfortunately Acts 4:13 is speaking only of Peter and John, it reads: “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were amazed and recognized them as companions of Jesus.” O’Dell further contends that the word translated ordinary, idiwtai, means “idiot” because the Greek word shares the root from which we get our English word “idiot”. Nowhere in Greek literature does idiwtai mean idiot. It means unskilled or untrained; someone who has not yet obtained knowledge. This is just one example of O’Dell’s misuse of scripture (cf 93, 97, 132).

I wanted this book to be good. I wanted a strong tool with which to build up the rural churches in our country in order that they might reach the world for Christ. There were portions of this book which I found useful; however, these passages were so small and scattered that they do not compensate for the book’s failures. I cannot recommend this book to anyone in any circumstance. In a few years, when O’Dell is more able to express what he has learned along with what he has to teach, I hope he will be able to write a more useful book

Book Description from New Leaf

Without meaningful change, thousands of rural churches won’t survive the next decade. *A vital guide for every deacon, elder, and pastor wanting to bring their rural church back to the business of changing lives *No-cost solutions for staffing challenges, upgrading the worship, and generating teams of volunteers *Innovative strategies for growth through transformed lives, relevance in meeting needs, and creating active evangelism in your community

If you aren’t transforming lives, then the church has no impact. Pastor Shannon O’Dell reveals the need for relevancy and shares a powerful mission for rural churches in reaching the unchurched and lost in their communities. Now, learn the strategies and biblical guidance that turned a church of 30 into a multi-campus church of several thousand with a national and global outreach. Experience the blueprint for transforming into effective, dynamic, and thriving churches which give God the very best!

Learn to add VALUE to your ministry goals: Vision, Attitude, Leadership, Understanding, and Excellence. Discover how your marriage reflects the state of your faith and your relationship with God.

Deuteronomy 24 – Who is my responsibility?

Deuteronomy 24:16 “Fathers shall not be put to death for their sons, nor shall sons be put to death for their fathers; everyone shall be put to death for his own sin.”

The law has repeatedly emphasized that the community as a whole is responsible for the actions and well being of the individuals; however, this passage notes that no single individual is responsible for another person’s actions.

The whole community was responsible for the actions of each member of that community and each member was responsible for his or her own actions.

In today’s church I believe the body is responsible for each individual in the community (inside and outside the church); but, no single individual bears that responsibility. Our churches must focus more on this responsibility of caring for others.

The Pareto Principle states that 20% of the people do 80% of the work. What can we do to more evenly distribute our workload? Only by using the talents and abilities of the unengaged 80% can the church fulfill its mission of sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, with all of their community and all of the world.

Deuteronomy 21 – Blood on our hands

Deuteronomy 21:1-9 “If a slain person is found lying in the open country in the land which the LORD your God gives you to possess, and it is not known who has struck him, 2 then your elders and your judges shall go out and measure the distance to the cities which are around the slain one. 3 “It shall be that the city which is nearest to the slain man, that is, the elders of that city, shall take a heifer of the herd, which has not been worked and which has not pulled in a yoke; 4 and the elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a valley with running water, which has not been plowed or sown, and shall break the heifer’s neck there in the valley. 5 “Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come near, for the LORD your God has chosen them to serve Him and to bless in the name of the LORD; and every dispute and every assault shall be settled by them. 6 “All the elders of that city which is nearest to the slain man shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley; 7 and they shall answer and say, ‘Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it. 8 ‘Forgive Your people Israel whom You have redeemed, O LORD, and do not place the guilt of innocent blood in the midst of Your people Israel.’ And the bloodguiltiness shall be forgiven them. 9 “So you shall remove the guilt of innocent blood from your midst, when you do what is right in the eyes of the LORD.

Each member of the community of God was responsible for what happened within their community. This corporate accountability is a recurring theme throughout the law of God. In this case, the blood of the murdered man is on the hands of the community. The community, as a whole, is required to seek forgiveness from God and must atone for the sin.

There is also a level of corporate accountability within the church of today. Each of us, individually and as a church body, is responsible for the community in which we live. We are responsible for caring for and ministering to the people in our towns and cities. We are individually and corporately responsible for the well-being of all the people in our towns and cities.

We as Christians need to be meeting the physical needs of the people in and on the edges of our secular community; otherwise their blood is on our hands.

We as Christians need to be meeting the psychological needs of the people in and on the edges of our secular community; otherwise their blood is on our hands.

We as Christians need to be meeting the spiritual needs of the people in and on the edges of our secular community; otherwise their blood is on our hands.

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