Being A Deacon Has Honor

I was doing my morning devotions and I was do my study in First Timothy. In chapter three it details what an overseer and a deacon should have as qualifications. Since, as I see it, it is a great responsibility to be either an overseer or a deacon. They don't seem to be the same although the requirements seem close.  But as leaders, they should be someone you can look up to for direction. So they are important positions.
I don't see them as the elder. Requirements for an elder come in chapter four.
Only here and I guess in Titus is a deacon mentioned. They appear in the life of the church when the tables needed to be waited upon. There they were set up to help the apostles. Today they are set ujp to help the pastor.
Deacons should not try to dominate or take the place of the pastor. They don't run the church. They weren't set up to do so and are not presently in that position.
Honor comes in the way they conduct themselves. Details are given in first Timothy and in Titus. These two letters were written  by Paul to pastors who were ministering in newly formed Churches. They are still good letters to read for the purpose of forming up a new or established deacon and overseer. Therefore, it is worthy of being studyed.

A Welcoming Spirit

  More churches would grow and maintain fellowship if we were to greet all the people who come in to the building. Show that we are glad to have them there. Don't just leave the greeting to the man at the door who hands out the daily Sunday program. But each one of us should be aware of who is there and of visitors.
   Say hi. Listen to their needs. Find out something about them. Find out what they expect a church that is meeting their needs to look like. Not that you presently are that church. But you can change.
   Preach the word.
   Don't just hang around in little cliques. Get to know people. Be the type of person you would like to meet if you were a stranger in the midst.
  

It Was A Great Easter Service

 Last Sunday, 20 April. we had the chuildren start out wit htheir Easter play. All the children were not miked so it was hard to hear and understand and follow what was going on.
  But as I could figure out, these three wise dude were seeking the king. Only it is now 2014. They missed him.
   Easter is celebrated because Jesus arose from the grave. Because he rose we shall rise.
   It was a good Easter service. Wish you had been there.

It Is Called Ability Giving

       Last Sunday Pastor Joe of ACTS Church gave as his sermon a sermon on ability giving. This is not the same as the Tithe or Law giving. It is giving according to your ability to give. There is noi set level of giving attached to this. Just what you are able to give.
       Most of us think of giving as financi
al so ability giving is giving a portion of what youi are able to make this past week.
       If you are a writer than a portion of your check that you receive.. that portion that is a sacrifice for you. For giving for a Christian seems to be the equivalent of the lamb or dove offered to God in the days of old by the people of Israel.
       Or if you are able to sell a product this past week and have recedived the payment. A portion of that. According to your ability. It is called ability giving.
       The example of the widows mite in the days of Jesus is an ability offering. She gave of her ability. The rich people gave off the top and probably never missed what they gave. But the widow gave more  than off the top..
       Or if you do internet marketing and you get money from this type of business, give according to your ability.
        Remember, it is called ability giving.

The Meeting

      Just got back from a morning breakfast meeting of some of the planners of ACTS church men's fellowship. Seems we are on the move again.
        Pastor Joe put forth the vision of claiming a whole corridor of our city to go door to door on foot. We would put on our Nike or Puma footwear and carry a survey with us.
      We would ask: "In the community, what does the church look like to you?" and the second question, " What services should your church be giving you in the community?"
      We would compile the answers and move in that direction of a needs service meeting church.
      So I have wondered also, since you are not my community how would you answer that type of survey if someone came to your door and asked you? Or maybe just talked to you? In other words, what would a church look like  which is meeting the needs you have?
     Interesting question.
     Feel free to comment.
     Also feel free to purchase what is offered here.

               

Good Listening

    It is now the New Year and I need to let you know you can hear good sermons. Since I am a member of Acts Church and an attender of Victory Christian Fellowship I will no doubt lean towards those two groups.

     All you need is a computer. A computer you can buy at almost any store now, it seems.  Try a place like officemax or ABT Electronics.
   Once you have the computer you need a on-line connection. Almost all computers have internet access.
    To hear the sermons from Acts you go here: http://acts1.libsyn.com/webpage. Their web site is www.achurchthatstudies.org.  If you in to itunes it is http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/acts/id509946339
   Now when it comes to Victory at the moment they are doing the Sermon On The Mount. That is the series for the New Year. For them it is: http://victory.libsyn.com/webpage. Their itune connection is http://itunes.applecom//us/podcast/victory-christian-fellowship/id458552062 .

Certification of Victory Christian Fellowship

      He is back here now. He has spent four days up in Sacramento looking for the okay to be a new church plant. Never mind that for a year now he has been holding services under the name of Victory Christian Fellowship. Never mind the fact that he is a church plant sent out from ACTS Church. Without  the group approval of  organization he would be unable to get sponsorship money. Never mind that for the past year he has had to do it without any money coming in.
      If  you were to meet Daryl face to faced he would come across as a humble person who has no needs. I am sure of if wasn't for his wife he would be a mystic who denied his needs.
       Not that I am trying to put him down. I admire him. But if he were to look me in the face and say that he lives on faith, I must say, fine, faith is good but it won't pay for lighting, for hymnn books, for upkeep, for.. you name it.
      I realize this posting is way different from the others.
      I guess what I want to say is it isn't easy being called by God to be a church leader. It is a hard road and few there be who can walk it.

Christ our example

 Today, in fact this morning at Acts :A Church That Studies- we discussed Christ our example as seen in the incarnation. Scripture used was John 1:14. Christ came in flesh. He being God became flesh like us so he could be our example. You should be able to find a podcast there and other information about the church. Even if you can't be there you can weekly tune in for the podcasts.

A Father is a Champ

     Today is Father's day. Happy Father's day to all the dads and dads to be. You are heroes. We all salute you. You don't have an easy job. Your children look up to you to see just what a man is like. Your sons say that is what I want to be when I grow up. Better yet, that is who I want to be when I grow up. Your daughters look at you and say, that is the type of man I want to marry. Your wives look at you and say, that is the man I married and God blessed me with the perfect man, suited for me.
     And when you are not as perfect as you want to be or think you should be, that is when you should be transparent enough to say that you are not perfect but that is okay. God is not done working on me.

     And father, don't forget your source when it comes down to it. You are only as good as the source of your authority.

There are blessings in forgiveness

  To continue on the subject of forgiveness. You can forgive a person and still not forget what he has done. It will take time for that person to work back in your trust. That is normal. But the main blessing in forgiveness is that it frees you up. You no longer have to carry that heavy burden. You can wave that flag and go on with your life.
   Let the offending party go. God will handle him.
   If you want a good series on forgiveness and the blessing in forgiveness you can no doubt listen to the pod casts of that time period when Pastor Joe allowed his sermon series to be recorded and mad einto a pod caast. For the podcasts you just go over to http://acts1.libsyn.com/webpage. It is there.
   Also a good series around mothers day about Ruth and Naomi. A whole different way of looking at it.

   A great lesson on mentorship and direction.

Money and Time

God's House

       Today being Sunday I was in service. All Christian's should be in a Bible believing,Bible teaching fellowship on Sunday or whenever during the week the service is. ACTS meets on a Sunday. Victory Christian Fellowship meets on a Saturday.The day isn't important. The attendence is.
        Pastor Joe was finishing up his series on money today. He said we should think of our finances not only as the money we have in our pockets but also the witnessing we do and the service using our spiritual gifts
        To help us in our understanding of money and its use, ACTS is hosting a series on Tuesday nights taught using DVDs and study groups; using the Dave Ramsey series on money. I highly recommend Dave Ramsey. Learn not only to give but how to save. The series will show you how to handle your money and how to budget.

Telling

           The whole of our life should be service. Even our work. Some of us are put in places of employment that are easier than others. I work at a grocery store in the deli department. It is not somewhere where I am able to use my intelligence. I feel like my brain shuts down. I basicly wash the dishes and tie up chickens for the roasting. I have trouble at certain times feeling this is what God in His sovereignty wants me to do. But that is the mind set I must take.  He has me there for a purpsoe.
      Please comment about your work situation. How do you manage it?
      Also follow me .

Be Content

  This morning Pastor Joe of ACTS church gave us a sermon on money and how the receiving of wealth is okay if we keep the right attitude about it. Money is not evil. It is the love of money that is evil. When money dominates your life or the lack of it dominates your life so much that all you can think about is possession, so much that it shuts down your concern for God, that is evil. But to have money,to be wealthy, there is nothing wrong in that.

     In fact, I see money as a means to help others. The kingdom effort on this earth needs money to go ahead. It costs to do God's work. God gives man the ability to make money. He can also take it away. He can blow on it and it is gone. Money is only a form of exchange.
     Here in America we work and we get paid. We give a form of service and we get paid. We take the money and we exchange it for a good or service. That is what I mean by a form of exchange.
    But we also need to save some and invest some. The period of time we have to make money is limited. We need to work while we are able to.
    Consider the ant..It works while it can and eats the fruit of its labor. The Bible states if a person will not work, don't feed him. He has not earned his right to eat. Tell him to go out and consider the ant. The ant labors. the ant is not seen to feed ants who are not laboring.

      Yes, we need to invest. We need somethning to live on when we can no longer work. That honors God. That is the purpose of the Christian.--to honor God. So let's honor God with our money

Christmas Coming Up

  Soon it will be .December 25. That is the traditional time for Christmas. There will be family gatherings and present giving. Yes, all that. But we must not forget the reason for the season. That is that God sent His only begotten Son to earth.

    Now I know it wasn't in winter that Jesus was born. More likely in the spring. (Shepherds in the field watching their flocks by night) 

    And we must not forget that God gave the first Christmas present- His Son.

    Of course what I am talking about is an American thing. I don't know how it is done in other countries. I am aware that this blog is being read outside the USA. Share with me some of what you do around this time of year.

    This past Sunday Pastor Joe of Acts,(Info.,) gave a sermon on what Christmas meant to him. It was very well done. Christmas is a special time where God broke into history and changed it. It has nothing to do ultimately with pagan ritual. That is just a smokescreen that Satan and his demons have constructed. Yes, the date is not necessarily a good one. But it has been adapted by the church as the day to celebrate God's greatest gift.

Why I am Doing This

      Dude. You may be thinking, just why is this guy spending so much time on subjects like cults and Bible study methods and not just blogging as in web logging? That is a very good question. As those of you who are following these posts since the beginning you know that I am setting this blog "For Your Information" up for the church group I am a member of.
   I guess I feel that since I have had some training at Western Theological Seminary I am a frustrated theologian.
   That may be true. I also don't want anyone to unknowingly be sucked into a false belief system.
   I took a class on Contemporary Theology. The text book used was by a James Livingston, Modern Christian Thouight Since it had a copyright of 1971 it didn't cover today's Christian Thought. That is, the New Age was not covered. And a good amount of Cults never got into its pages. Looking back, the cults were not the main emphasis. It was more the development of Christian Thought from the Enlightenment to Vatican Two.
    I found soon after I became a Christian in 1968 that I was given an interest in false religions. Basicly in the cults and in spiritual counterfits.
    God got my attention when I was away at college in Taft, California. I was in a Four Sqaure Gospel fellowship at the moment. I noticed the tongue emphasis going on around me. I found myself analyzing what I saw and asking "Is this something Satan could influence and get a toe hold in?" I concluded yes, since he can appear as an angel of light.
    Satan also is busy in movements that diviate from the Bible as the basis for belief.
   That is why you will be reading for a while in this blog a series on cults. That is why you have had a series on Bible Study Methods. A person must learn to feed himself. A person should  know how to test the spirits. And that is why I spend so much time systematically blogging.
     Keep on reading. Yes. Please do so. Also comment. Let me know how this is being received.

Church Attendence

I just want you to know it is important for you to be in a church somewhere on Sunday. Not just any church now, but a Bible believing and Bible preaching group.

  Let me tell you what I mean.
  The church is not the building but the people gathered. When I say a Bible believing I want to point out that there is only one authority that should be used to  teach the people.. If the Bible is not being taught from, the truth is not being transmitted.
  Why go? Because it is a duty. "Do not forsake the assembly of yourselves together",God says. But not only a duty. It is a privilege. Where else can you go and be in the presence of a Holy God? You can't see Him. No. But you can hear what He has to say and you can respond in worship through songs and action. And you can serve. That is a part of worship too.
  And you can listen to what the preacher says. As long as he is saying what God says, he is okay. But you must test what he says. As long as what he says squares with what God has said in the Bible the test has proved him true. Prove all things. Hold fast to that which is true.
 

How to Memorize

We should all learn how to feed ourselves. The pastor can only do so much and then only on that Sunday or whenever your church group meets. Plus the Bible says "Your word have I hid in my heart that I may not sin against You". Psalm 119:11.
  Each Christian is given at the  moment of becoming a Christian the Holy Spirit. That is the third person of the Godhead who comes to dwell inside you. You become a temple of the Holy Spirit. He is your teacher/counselor. He it is who brings to your memory what God has said in the Bible. Remember, my position is, that God communicates and He has allowed His communication to be recorded. The Bible was given for us to read and study and memorize.
   I am not going to dogmatically state here just where you should memorize. Memorize according to your need. But do memorize scripture. You won't always have a Bible with you and you will want to quote scripture when you talk to people. Believe me. You will.
  So, how do you begin?
  Choose a verse. One that you need. Read the verse a few times.. oh, say, five. Pay attention to the word order and the words used. You want to memorize exactly as it is written in the translation you are using. Always use the same translation in all your memorizing.
  Memorize in small chunks until you have the whole verse or verses down in your memory. Later you can do sections  or paragraphs. But to start your program one verse will do. Now having read it that number of times, look away and repeat to yourself the verse. Check from time to time. Get it exact. Hook the location with the verse as I have done above with Psalm 119:11. This will help you when you talk to others and they ask where is it located.
 

Preparation

As I have posted earlier, Pastor Joe, the pastor of Acts-A Church That Studies-- believes in  preparation. Not all of us, of course, can spend the time to go to a campus and get our education. Some of us are working a full time job and can't get away. But now since the internet is here, it is possible to get an education on line. Just make sure the online degreee comes from an acccredited organization so that the credits transfer should you want to do something with it. A Masters from some unknown or small independent university that only exists on line in cyberspace is in the long run  useless.
  But if you just want it to look good on some resume and you have the money to throw away....
  And when it comes to the preparation for the pastorship of a church, take the time and do it right.

New Birth

It is exciting to be in on the ground floor of a new church plant. On the 27th we are having a baby shower for the new venture. As I have posted earlier some person will be walking away with a new IPad2. But that is not the reason a person should get excited. A person should get excited because God is at work.
  Lots of prayer will be needed. Prayer is important. The fervent prayer of a righteous man is very powerful.
  The mother church is Acts. Pastor Joe wouldn't be backing this venture if he didn't know the new pastor he was backing. Pastor Daryl has worked under him for twelve years, most of these years getting trained. Daryl is a graduate of Biola University and presently is attending Talbot Theological Seminary. Pastor Joe, the pastor of Acts, feels that when God saves you He gives you a gift. Also when God calls you to the minisrty it is a call to prepare.And once a person is prepared God will open doors.

Obama is in the fight

With unemployment at an all time high here in Santa Monica where I post it doesn't look good for President Obamas' efforts to get the economy going again. It seems the more he does the less he accomplishes.
  Not that I don't appreciate what he is trying to do.  But as President Truman said, "The Buck Stops Here.' Obama seems not to be following that advice. He is still at the level of a blame game. He blames the Republicans for the situation he is in. He needs to look around and see that not only the Republicans but also the Democrats who are trying to advise him. He must stop being a Lone Ranger type person and stop and listen.
 God is in control. He needs to stop and pray and seek God's face before he makes his next move. God has placed him in authority. Why? Because this is what He has done in response either to our seeking Him or not seeking Him. God allows things to happen according to His Will. He listens to those who seek Him and blesses accordingly.

Help for the Seeking

I decided to post here some links to web sites that may be helpful.
 Let me first say that the author of this blog is a Biola University Graduate. Their link would be http://www.biola.edu/. A person I will try to get to contribute on this blog is pastor Daryl McKillian. His church site is http://www.evictory.org/. He also is a Biola University Grad and presently a Talbot seminary student. Finally a great link for sermons can be found at http://www.ustream.tv/ and put in achurchthatstudies in the search box. These are services recorded each week when the camera is working. The pastor there is Rev. Dr. Joseph P. Metoyer, Jr. He also is a Biola University Grad. His web site is http://www.achurchthatstudies.org/.