The gathered church is to sing to God and edify each other when we come together. “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” [Col. 3:16]. “Dwell in you richly” actually means to “fill the house with riches.” This scripture speaks of our being filled with the riches of God’s Word, out of which will come true worship. The Bible tells us to sing with understanding. If we can’t hear the words then we certainly can’t worship with understanding.
Paul gives the same instruction to the church at Ephesus where he connects the singing and the singer to being filled with the Spirit. “But be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” [Eph. 5:18-20].
God sets a high standard for music in the church. It should never simply be “music for music’s sake.” The music we play and sing must come from the riches of God’s Word and in the fullness of His Spirit in us. When music is used under the influence of the Holy Spirit, it prepares the way for the preacher to preach. We don’t “work up” worship by the music, but rather, true music comes from a worshipful heart.
Church musicians are not performers or entertainers that attract attention to them selves, but lead the people to God. If we leave the service drawn to the singer or singers, then something went wrong. Music must be God-centered and not man-centered, which is operating in the flesh. We don’t use God to display man’s talents, but man’s talents are used to display God. Any offering that is not acceptable to God will bring no spiritual or eternal benefits to God’s people, no matter how much they enjoy what they hear or do. If the beat or music supercedes the message, then we are not leading people to God through the scriptures and have merely fleshly entertainment. Adrian Rogers used to say, “If the beat or rhythm move the feet before the heart, then it is from below. If it moves the heart before the feet, then it is from above.” True worship will stir the spirit and not the flesh. True worship was never intended to “get them in,” but rather, to be an expression of their worship because “they are in.”
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Cleaning Church Rolls
Why should churches clean up their membership roles?
Mark Dever
1) Christ’s name and honor is at stake in the world. Think about the Apostle Paul’s passionate concern for who was associated with the Corinthian church (1 Cor. 5).
2) Membership in a church should reflect, as best as possible, membership in Christ’s Kingdom. We should neither receive nor dismiss members lightly. "Dropping someone from the rolls" should be treated with utmost care, even if the member himself has been careless.
3) Pastors, elders, and leaders will "give an account" to God someday for their shepherding (Heb. 13:17). God took Israel’s shepherds to task for repeated unfaithfulness (e.g. Ezek. 34).
4) Congregations will also give an account to God for how they receive members. Consider who Paul addressed in 1 Corinthians 5!
5) Less mature Christians are at risk of being confused about the importance of the church in the growing Christian’s life and could be led toward complacency themselves.
6) The member who has moved out of the area should be encouraged to link arms with a church in his new hometown and make himself known to believers there. If he does not, his former church should encourage him to do so by letter or phone. If he remains unresponsive, the church should inform him that they will remove his name in the next members’ meeting, thereby sending the message that they can no longer account for his life.
How should churches clean up their membership roles?
If you tackle all the problematic membership cases at once, you will run into fire. But it’s difficult to predict where. Will your members be happy to remove local non-attenders? Out-of-the-area members? The dead? Pastor, be wise and only do what your people can tolerate. Be patient and teach until they are ready to move.
So where do you start? Picture multiple concentric circles (like a dartboard) with the center (the bull’s-eye) representing meaningful membership. The outer rings represent meaningless membership, and hopefully they are easiest to clean up. As you move from the outer rings to the bull’s-eye, your membership rolls should increasingly consist of confessing believers who are actively involved in your church. Let’s start from the outside and work in:
1) Members who are dead. (At my church we found 10!) This outer-most ring should be the easiest to clean up. At you church’s next meeting for conducting business, put these names before the congregation with a motion to remove them from membership in the following meeting. Don’t ask the congregation to immediately remove these names, but give them time to think about the motion.
2) Members whom you cannot find. Probably the next easiest group to remove. Two women in our church hunted for seventy members for six months in vain! These names were then put before the congregation asking for help. When all efforts were exhausted, a motion was put to the congregation to remove them.
3) Absent and disinterested members. Our church had dozens of members who we found but who wanted nothing to do with us. We found one woman in Germany who had become a Unitarian and was upset that we contacted her.
4) Members out of the area. These are people who are unable to attend on a regular basis due to distance, and any meaningful accountability is near-impossible. You will no doubt encounter people who have a wrong understanding of membership in this group: "I’ve held my membership in that church since I sang in the Junior Choir in 1959" or "I walked the aisle in that church in 1970, and I promised my mother I would remain a faithful member." Despite their emotional attachment to your church, this group needs to be taught a right understanding of church membership. Remember pastor, you will give an account for these individuals. Don’t be caught with names on your rolls of people whom you have never met. Make a motion to remove these individuals "for non-attendance" at your next business meeting.
5) Non-attending members in the area. Certainly we’ve reached one of the toughest circles. These people want to maintain their membership and they can attend; but they want little to do with the church. This circle is often difficult because of the relationships these individuals maintain with attending members. Maybe it’s a grown child or an old friend from the choir. Again, teaching is required and movement must be slow.
These first five categories are the biggest and most obvious targets. There are other categories like "attends, but won’t sign the statement of faith" or "in the area, but cannot attend." Old age or an infirmity might prevent a member from attending; they should not be dismissed, but specially cared for! Also, we encourage special charity toward elderly members who have moved out of the area and into retirement homes. Why? They often grew up with a different understanding of church membership and are unlikely to change. Out of love, consider allowing them to remain on the rolls.
Once again, out of love for your people, do not clean the roles more quickly than your congregation can handle. For some, this may take years to work through the different rings. Churches are too often divided over careless pastoral exercises when the goal should be unity. Remember, each listing on your roll is more than a name; it’s a soul.
Mark Dever
1) Christ’s name and honor is at stake in the world. Think about the Apostle Paul’s passionate concern for who was associated with the Corinthian church (1 Cor. 5).
2) Membership in a church should reflect, as best as possible, membership in Christ’s Kingdom. We should neither receive nor dismiss members lightly. "Dropping someone from the rolls" should be treated with utmost care, even if the member himself has been careless.
3) Pastors, elders, and leaders will "give an account" to God someday for their shepherding (Heb. 13:17). God took Israel’s shepherds to task for repeated unfaithfulness (e.g. Ezek. 34).
4) Congregations will also give an account to God for how they receive members. Consider who Paul addressed in 1 Corinthians 5!
5) Less mature Christians are at risk of being confused about the importance of the church in the growing Christian’s life and could be led toward complacency themselves.
6) The member who has moved out of the area should be encouraged to link arms with a church in his new hometown and make himself known to believers there. If he does not, his former church should encourage him to do so by letter or phone. If he remains unresponsive, the church should inform him that they will remove his name in the next members’ meeting, thereby sending the message that they can no longer account for his life.
How should churches clean up their membership roles?
If you tackle all the problematic membership cases at once, you will run into fire. But it’s difficult to predict where. Will your members be happy to remove local non-attenders? Out-of-the-area members? The dead? Pastor, be wise and only do what your people can tolerate. Be patient and teach until they are ready to move.
So where do you start? Picture multiple concentric circles (like a dartboard) with the center (the bull’s-eye) representing meaningful membership. The outer rings represent meaningless membership, and hopefully they are easiest to clean up. As you move from the outer rings to the bull’s-eye, your membership rolls should increasingly consist of confessing believers who are actively involved in your church. Let’s start from the outside and work in:
1) Members who are dead. (At my church we found 10!) This outer-most ring should be the easiest to clean up. At you church’s next meeting for conducting business, put these names before the congregation with a motion to remove them from membership in the following meeting. Don’t ask the congregation to immediately remove these names, but give them time to think about the motion.
2) Members whom you cannot find. Probably the next easiest group to remove. Two women in our church hunted for seventy members for six months in vain! These names were then put before the congregation asking for help. When all efforts were exhausted, a motion was put to the congregation to remove them.
3) Absent and disinterested members. Our church had dozens of members who we found but who wanted nothing to do with us. We found one woman in Germany who had become a Unitarian and was upset that we contacted her.
4) Members out of the area. These are people who are unable to attend on a regular basis due to distance, and any meaningful accountability is near-impossible. You will no doubt encounter people who have a wrong understanding of membership in this group: "I’ve held my membership in that church since I sang in the Junior Choir in 1959" or "I walked the aisle in that church in 1970, and I promised my mother I would remain a faithful member." Despite their emotional attachment to your church, this group needs to be taught a right understanding of church membership. Remember pastor, you will give an account for these individuals. Don’t be caught with names on your rolls of people whom you have never met. Make a motion to remove these individuals "for non-attendance" at your next business meeting.
5) Non-attending members in the area. Certainly we’ve reached one of the toughest circles. These people want to maintain their membership and they can attend; but they want little to do with the church. This circle is often difficult because of the relationships these individuals maintain with attending members. Maybe it’s a grown child or an old friend from the choir. Again, teaching is required and movement must be slow.
These first five categories are the biggest and most obvious targets. There are other categories like "attends, but won’t sign the statement of faith" or "in the area, but cannot attend." Old age or an infirmity might prevent a member from attending; they should not be dismissed, but specially cared for! Also, we encourage special charity toward elderly members who have moved out of the area and into retirement homes. Why? They often grew up with a different understanding of church membership and are unlikely to change. Out of love, consider allowing them to remain on the rolls.
Once again, out of love for your people, do not clean the roles more quickly than your congregation can handle. For some, this may take years to work through the different rings. Churches are too often divided over careless pastoral exercises when the goal should be unity. Remember, each listing on your roll is more than a name; it’s a soul.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Lack of Assurance of Salvation
Why do some Christians lack assurance of salvation?
1. Some feel they are too sinful to be saved and have difficulty in accepting forgiveness.
2. They don’t fully understand the Gospel and the saving work of Jesus.
3. They believe that only the sins forgiven are those sins they committed before salvation. Christ’s atonement paid for the sins- past, present and future, for all who believe.
4. Some can’t remember the exact moment and occasion they got saved. A decision for Christ has been over emphasized over a present reality of faith in Christ’s atoning work. The evidences of true faith [1 John] play second fiddle to a decision that may not have been real. Some believe they can be saved without true regeneration.
5. Because of the battle with the flesh, some doubt.
6. Some don’t see God in their trials, and miss the strong proof of assurance which is a tested faith.
7. Some lack assurance because of sin which robs them of their joy.
8. Some lack assurance because they are not genuinely saved.
1. Some feel they are too sinful to be saved and have difficulty in accepting forgiveness.
2. They don’t fully understand the Gospel and the saving work of Jesus.
3. They believe that only the sins forgiven are those sins they committed before salvation. Christ’s atonement paid for the sins- past, present and future, for all who believe.
4. Some can’t remember the exact moment and occasion they got saved. A decision for Christ has been over emphasized over a present reality of faith in Christ’s atoning work. The evidences of true faith [1 John] play second fiddle to a decision that may not have been real. Some believe they can be saved without true regeneration.
5. Because of the battle with the flesh, some doubt.
6. Some don’t see God in their trials, and miss the strong proof of assurance which is a tested faith.
7. Some lack assurance because of sin which robs them of their joy.
8. Some lack assurance because they are not genuinely saved.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
The King and His Subjects
When a believing sinner trusts Christ as Lord and Savior, they are delivered from Satan’s power, moved into God’s kingdom, redeemed, and forgiven.
Colossians 1:12-14 “Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us, meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:”
The believer has been liberated by God from Satan’s kingdom and translated us into Christ’s kingdom.
1. Translated means “to change or remove” He caused us to
stand in a new kingdom.
2. Once translated, we can’t be translated back. We didn’t do
the translating.
John 5:24 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”
3. A kingdom is a group of people ruled by a king. We are in
a kingdom under the care and authority of Jesus Christ.
The Father gave this kingdom to His Son as an
expression of his love for Him.
John 6:37 “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” John 6:44 “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.”
4. How do you get into this kingdom? You must be born
again, you must believe.
Colossians 1:12-14 “Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us, meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:”
The believer has been liberated by God from Satan’s kingdom and translated us into Christ’s kingdom.
1. Translated means “to change or remove” He caused us to
stand in a new kingdom.
2. Once translated, we can’t be translated back. We didn’t do
the translating.
John 5:24 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”
3. A kingdom is a group of people ruled by a king. We are in
a kingdom under the care and authority of Jesus Christ.
The Father gave this kingdom to His Son as an
expression of his love for Him.
John 6:37 “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” John 6:44 “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.”
4. How do you get into this kingdom? You must be born
again, you must believe.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Mysterious Musings # 3
I continue to write about things that have always been a mystery to me in the pastoral ministry.
Why don't Christians know and develop their spiritual gifts?
The Word of God names about 17 spiritual gifts in four different passages in the NT that the Body of Christ has to minister to the body. Each believer has at least one gift which has been given at salvation. If we are to be fulfilled and happy in the body, we must find our gift/gifts and use them to minister to one another. We must function in our giftedness in the body.
Many setting in our pews are totally ignorant of spiritual gifts and don't seem to care. Many pastors have not taught spiritual giftedness because they so afraid of being called a "charismatic."
We must know what the gifts are, experiment with the gifts, seek confirmation, and walk in the Spirit. As we walk in the Spirit living under the control of the Spirit,the Spirit will express that gift through us to the body.
If the body is to grow as God intended, we must all use our gifts in the Spirit and not the flesh [Eph. 4:11-17].
Why don't Christians know and develop their spiritual gifts?
The Word of God names about 17 spiritual gifts in four different passages in the NT that the Body of Christ has to minister to the body. Each believer has at least one gift which has been given at salvation. If we are to be fulfilled and happy in the body, we must find our gift/gifts and use them to minister to one another. We must function in our giftedness in the body.
Many setting in our pews are totally ignorant of spiritual gifts and don't seem to care. Many pastors have not taught spiritual giftedness because they so afraid of being called a "charismatic."
We must know what the gifts are, experiment with the gifts, seek confirmation, and walk in the Spirit. As we walk in the Spirit living under the control of the Spirit,the Spirit will express that gift through us to the body.
If the body is to grow as God intended, we must all use our gifts in the Spirit and not the flesh [Eph. 4:11-17].
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Mysterious Musings # 2
Why some who call themselves Christians don't study their Bible?
1 Timothy 3:15-17 tells that the Scriptures are beneficial for salvation, sanctification and service. The Scriptures help us grow as Christians as we learn, love, long for, and live the Scriptures.
How can one claim to be a Christian and not desire the Word of God? The Bible is full of Scriptures that tell us that Christians love the Word of God and desire to hear and learn the Word.
We study whatever we need to study to be the best at our jobs in the workplace, why don't we have the same desire when it comes to God's Word?
So, It's always been a mystery to me why so many don't read the Bible and really show a eagerness for God's Word.
The Word has been implanted in our hearts, and I believe we should have an ongoing desire for spiritual food.
When one does not want to eat, they are either sick or dead!
1 Timothy 3:15-17 tells that the Scriptures are beneficial for salvation, sanctification and service. The Scriptures help us grow as Christians as we learn, love, long for, and live the Scriptures.
How can one claim to be a Christian and not desire the Word of God? The Bible is full of Scriptures that tell us that Christians love the Word of God and desire to hear and learn the Word.
We study whatever we need to study to be the best at our jobs in the workplace, why don't we have the same desire when it comes to God's Word?
So, It's always been a mystery to me why so many don't read the Bible and really show a eagerness for God's Word.
The Word has been implanted in our hearts, and I believe we should have an ongoing desire for spiritual food.
When one does not want to eat, they are either sick or dead!
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Mysterious Musings # 1
There are some things that continue to be a mystery to me among "so-called" Christians. I think of these often and ponder the mystery of them, thus the title, "Mysterious Musings." Here we go as I begin to look at several over the next weeks.
First Mystery I muse over:
Why don't Christians share the greatest news ever given to mankind?
We have been saved by the good news of Jesus Christ and we should desire that others be as well. Do we not know how after setting in the church under Pastors and teachers whose job it is to equip the saints for the work of ministry? [Eph. 4:12]. We can say we don't know how, but that will be no legitimate excuse at the Judgment Seat of Christ.
Don't we understand there is a literal hell that our unbelieving family and friends will spend eternity?
I am afraid that the reality of a heaven and a hell don't really motivate us to share the gospel. If we really believe what the Bible says about hell, then we should embrace the truth and put it into practice by our witnessing. I am afraid most don't know what they believe and why they believe it. They just give intellectual consent to a truth and it has never really gripped their heart and they have not really gripped the truth.
So, we build a false theology that will keep our lost family and friends out of hell, and thus depart from sound doctrine. We are able to live with our lack of concern and passion for souls by embracing a false doctrine fabricated in our own minds.
My question is this, "Do we really have something to share?" Jesus said, "Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men" [Matt. 4:19].
First Mystery I muse over:
Why don't Christians share the greatest news ever given to mankind?
We have been saved by the good news of Jesus Christ and we should desire that others be as well. Do we not know how after setting in the church under Pastors and teachers whose job it is to equip the saints for the work of ministry? [Eph. 4:12]. We can say we don't know how, but that will be no legitimate excuse at the Judgment Seat of Christ.
Don't we understand there is a literal hell that our unbelieving family and friends will spend eternity?
I am afraid that the reality of a heaven and a hell don't really motivate us to share the gospel. If we really believe what the Bible says about hell, then we should embrace the truth and put it into practice by our witnessing. I am afraid most don't know what they believe and why they believe it. They just give intellectual consent to a truth and it has never really gripped their heart and they have not really gripped the truth.
So, we build a false theology that will keep our lost family and friends out of hell, and thus depart from sound doctrine. We are able to live with our lack of concern and passion for souls by embracing a false doctrine fabricated in our own minds.
My question is this, "Do we really have something to share?" Jesus said, "Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men" [Matt. 4:19].
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