Paul, not Christ?

My apologies to Jon for posting on top of his recent posts. But I kind of feel like I should work on finishing what I started earlier.
This is my second post detailing my thoughts on Lakeview Bible Church’s Statement of Doctrine. Instead of sharing my specific thoughts right here, I’m going to detail their beliefs the way I understand them. I will save my own thoughts for the comments section, should it come up. (Feel free to use the comments section to challenge or ask questions about what is posted -- now and always.)

K. Mission
The mission and commission of the Church, which is the Body of Christ,
is to follow the revelation of the truth which our Lord Jesus Christ in
glory revealed to the Apostle Paul for us. That gospel which Paul called “my gospel” in contrast to the gospel of the circumcision (Israel) is God’s message for today.
So, as Paul, we should strive to preach the gospel in the regions
beyond where Christ is not named.
(Romans 2:16, 11:13, 15:16, 15:20 and 16:25; 1 Corinthians 4:16 and 11:1;
2 Corinthians 10:16; 2 Corinthians 5:14-21; Galatians 1:6, 9, 11 and 2:2, 5:7;
Ephesians 3:1-2; Philippians 3:17, 1 Thessalonians 1:6;
1 Timothy 2:7; 2 Timothy 1:11 and 2:2 &8)

There are 3 parts to this mission statement. I will break them down for you along with the applicable verses from those listed in their statement of faith. I am listing these verses out here to get your thoughts moving. My understanding of their points in green.

1. The mission and commission of the Church, which is the Body of Christ, is to follow the revelation of the truth which our Lord Jesus Christ in glory revealed to the Apostle Paul for us.

(Paul was given special revelation to become God’s minister to the Gentiles. These are the teachings the church is to follow.)

Galatians 1:6-12 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: 7Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. 8But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. 9As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. 10For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. 11But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. 12For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 3:1 1For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, 2If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:
Romans 16:25 Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,
Galatians 2:2 And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain.

2. That gospel which Paul called “my gospel” in contrast to the gospel of the circumcision (Israel) is God’s message for today.

(Paul was given a new gospel to preach among the Gentiles. This new gospel was the special revelation that God had given to him – previously a mystery (unknown, hidden by God). He refers to it as “my gospel” and the “Gospel of the Uncircumcision” in contrast to the gospel that was given by Jesus and was being preached by the disciples.)

Romans 2:16 In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.
Romans 11:13 For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:
Romans 15:16 That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.
Romans 16:25 Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,
Galatians 2:2 And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain.
2 Timothy 1:11 Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.
1 Timothy 2:7 Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity.
2 Timothy 2:8 Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel:

3. So, as Paul, we should strive to preach the gospel in the regions beyond where Christ is not named.

(Paul was given a new gospel and a new audience. Since we belong to the new audience, saved under the new gospel, our example is not the disciples’ following Jesus’s command to preach His gospel and baptize, but rather our example is Paul. Paul himself told us to be followers of him, and he believed his mission was to preach his gospel to everyone who had not heard it.)

Romans 15:20 Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man's foundation:
1 Corinthians 4:16 Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me.
1 Corinthians 11:1 Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.
2 Corinthians 10:16 To preach the gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in another man’s line of things made ready to our hand.
2 Corinthians 5:14-21 For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: 15And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. 16Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. 17Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 18And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 19To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. 20Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. 21For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Philippians 3:17 Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample.
1 Thessalonians 1:6 And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost:

-- YourBrother

Well Come

I feel the need to write a quick post to welcome all the new readers. I found out tonight, in a rather surprising way, that what I thought was written to a few, has now been read by many!
There should not be any secrets on this blog, though I will confess that some of the posts over the last 3 years were not intended for a larger audience. Many times postings were added as the Lord was working on me in specific areas. The long time reader of this blog has been able to hear and see those things in progress.

Karen and I had a question and answer time with the church tonight regarding my qualifications as an Elder candidate. It turns out that this blog was being read by people that I would have never guessed had access to it. This is not a bad thing, though I know some posts may not be understood in the context in which they were written. That being said, feel free to browse through the last few years of my private (or since it's on the net, not so private) life.

Let me recommend two of my favorite posts to the new readers to this blog:

Aug 2008 "Anything dad can do..."
Dec 15 2007 "Deer me"

If you use the links on the left of this post you can quickly jump to a previous year and then look for the month and title of the post you would like to read.

In addition, you can comment on any post you would like to weigh in on by clicking on the "__ comments" under each posting. Hope to hear from you soon,
Jon

He who now letteth

Since it appears that controversial topics (Your Brother) are generating the comments this week, I have decided to add another subject. In my reading this week I came across the following viewpoint:

"Another argument for the pretribulation rapture is based on 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7, “And now ye know that which restraineth, to the end that he may be revealed in his own season. For the mystery of lawlessness doth already work: only there is one that restraineth now, until he be taken out of the way” (ASV). The standard Dispensationalist understanding of this passage is that the restrainer spoken of is the Holy Spirit. Pretribulationists argue that since the Holy Sprit dwells and works to restrain evil by means of the church, a removal of the Spirit entails a removal of the church. Once the church is raptured the Antichrist will be revealed. Although this passage is a difficult one that has resulted in many different interpretations, the idea that this passage teaches the removal of the Holy Spirit is theologically impossible and totally contradicts the Dispensationalist’s own interpretation of the events that are supposed to take place during the tribulation. After the rapture a Jewish remnant of 144,000 is converted to Christ. These Jews will be the greatest evangelists the world has ever seen, who bring multitudes to Christ from every nation. What is wrong with this understanding of Scripture? It places the Dispensationalist in the position of either denying his own interpretation of 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7 or of denying the biblical teaching regarding the Holy Spirit’s role in converting sinners. The Bible teaches that no one can be converted without the regenerating and drawing power of the Holy Spirit (Ezek. 36:25-26; Jn 1:13; 3:5-8; Ac. 5:31; 11:18; 16:13-14; 1 Cor. 2:12-14; 2 Cor. 4:6; Eph. 2:1, 5; Col. 2:11; Tit. 3:5). Yet, Pretribulationists teach that the 144,000 Jews are converted after the departure of the Holy Spirit. They also teach that the preaching of these converted Jews will be a hundred times more fruitful without the Holy Spirit than the preaching of the church with the Holy Spirit throughout the so-called church age. Multitudes are said to be converted to Christ from every nation during the absence of the Holy Spirit in only 1260 days! The truth is that if the Holy Spirit is removed, there would be no converts during the tribulation—not even one."

Where is the error?

For They Shall Inherit the Earth

The other day I was sitting with my girls in the family room while I was reading "The New-England Primer" (Boston 1777, Patriotic Textbook Series). Yes, I still have more to learn! Unfortunately it has no chapter on editing. However, as I was reading, I came across a page that gave me pause.

Really, there was only one statement on the page that made me wonder. I will include the page here to see if you can pick it out...

Who was the firft man?............................. Adam
Who was the firft woman?........................ Eve
Who was the firft Murderer?................... Cain
Who was the firft Tranflated?.................. Enoch
Who was the oldeft Man?......................... Methufelah
Who built the Ark?.................................... Noah
Who was the Patienteft Man?.................. Job
Who was the Meekeft Man?.................... Mofes
Who led Ifrael into Canaan? ....................Jofhua
Who was the ftrongest Man?................... Sampfon
Who killed Goliah?.................................... David
Who was the wifeft Man?......................... Solomon
Who was in the Whale's Belly?................. Jonah
Who faves loft Men?.................................. Jefus Chrift
Who is Jefus Chrift? ................................. .The Son of God
Who was the Mother of Chrift?.............. .Mary
Who betrayed his Mafter?........................ Judas
Who denied his Mafter?............................ Peter
Who was the firft Chriftian Martyr?....... Stephen
Who was chief Apoftle of the Gentiles?... Paul

Overwhelmed

I suppose I should introduce myself. I am YourBrother. The reason I am YourBrother is because in response to this Blog's main author (Jon), I am informing him that I am his brother (by blood.) And in relation to you (the assumed reader) I am Your Brother (in Christ.)
I realize I am not creative, entertaining, or humorous. I enjoy reading this blog because Jon is all of those things. But since he asked me to post from time to time, you have to scroll over my posts to read what he has to say. Or, if you would like to get lost in the ramblings of my mind, or perhaps fancy the challenge of trying to unravel my tangled thoughts; you are welcome to read my posts also.

Okay... I thought it would be fairly easy to share my thoughts on the 3 excerpts I posted from the Lakeview Bible Church's Statement of Doctrine. Turns out it is rather overwhelming. There is so much background that goes into it, I’m not sure if this is the best format for expounding. I will try to share my thoughts in an abbreviated fashion. I will be happy to elaborate if anyone is interested. I will start with baptism.

1. F. One Baptism
   We believe that the Holy Spirit places all believers today
   into the Body of Christ by one spiritual baptism.
2. This divine baptism takes place at salvation and identifies every believer with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection.
3. Since this one baptism promotes the unity of the Spirit,
   Lakeview Bible Church does not practice water baptism,
   resting in the total sufficiency of the finish work of Jesus Christ
   for a complete and blameless standing before God.
   (Romans 6:3-4; 1 Corinthians 1:17-18 and 12:12-13; Ephesians 4:3-6; Colossians 2:9-12)

I think I understand why Lakeview Bible Church says they do not practice water baptism today. If you have not bothered to look up the verses listed, I will share them here. The baptism that Paul taught was not a water baptism, it was a spiritual one.

Romans 6
3Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

1 Corinthians 12
12For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. 13For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

Ephesians 4
3Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 5One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

Colossians 2
9For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. 10And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: 11In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: 12Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.

1 Corinthians 1
17For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. 18For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.


Now this last verse raises an interesting question. If Paul wasn’t sent to baptize, why did Jesus say:
Matthew 28
18And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.

I’m sure we ignore the truth of what Paul is saying by minimizing it, since it doesn’t fit what we’ve been taught. (“He must have just meant that baptizing wasn’t his MAIN goal, since baptism doesn’t really SAVE you.”)

Except that Jesus really said:
Mark 16
15And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. 17And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 18They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.


And Peter, remembering what Christ had taught him said:
Acts 2
38Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 39For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. 40And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. 41Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.


For now, I suppose I can just say that Paul is preaching a different gospel than Jesus was commanding his disciples to preach at the end of the gospels. Paul was given a different message and a different audience.

Paul said:
Galatians 2
7But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter; 8(For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:)

The verses above, and the verses below should give you an idea of what the gospel of the circumcision was about (gospel to the Jews).

Matthew 10
5These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: 6But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. 8Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. 22And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved. 23But… …Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come. 32Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. 33But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

Matthew 4
23And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom,

Matthew 24
3But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 14And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

And this should tell you what Paul’s gospel was about:
1 Corinthians 15
1Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

Water baptism belongs to a different gospel than the one Paul taught (and the one through which I was saved.)

Since I’m trying to keep my post here fairly condensed, here’s a good read if you want a thorough breakdown according to a mid-Acts dispensational view: http://www.dispensationalberean.com/teaching/webb/water.html
It is 8 pages long, so you will have to click through the multiple pages for the whole idea.

Pull up your Breeches

I bought a new version of the English Bible a couple of weeks ago. I have enjoyed reading it while relaxing in the evening. Those that know me well may be surprised that I have purchased a version other than the KJV.
The most interesting thing about this new version is that it is written in pretty modern English. There are a few verses however that don't use modern words. For instance, Genesis 3:7 (speaking of Adam and Eve) "Then the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig tree leaves together, and made themselves breeches."
This is why the Bible I bought, formally called "The Geneva Bible", is nicknamed "The Breeches Bible". I purchased a copy of the 1599 edition. The Geneva Bible was the English version used by our Founding Fathers. It is a very easy read though not as poetic as the King James. For those that think the Old English is beyond our ability to understand, this Bible version could change your thinking. I purchased mine (bonded leather) from: http://www.reformationbookstore.com/

(If the web address doesn't show up as a link, copy it and paste it in your browser)

If you like to compare Bible versions when you study the Word, purchase the Geneva Bible. I think you'll enjoy it.

Live and Learn

I just want to start out by welcoming myself back. Many of you probably forgot who I was. I am not going to make excuses other than to say that my computer crashed (it would not boot up) and I finally purchased another one this morning.
My next project is to try and recover my files from the hard drive of my previous computer. I'll bet there are people out there who back up their files in another location so that they don't find themselves in the predicament that I am currently in. Apparently I am not that type of person. Maybe I'll learn something from this experience?

I have been thinking about how to catch everyone up on what has been going on. I have an antelope story to tell (by the way, Karen makes delicious antelope stew), I saw a black bear in Tennessee, I shot a decent buck during bow season, Emily shot her first deer last week, my car broke down and I haven't been able to drive it, Thanksgiving came and went, I have missed every Pheasant that I have shot at (I have managed to bag some Quail), and I have been working on some projects at church. I am hoping to share some of these things with you in the near future, but alas, shotgun season for deer starts on Saturday. In addition to that, we have a family coming in from out of town to visit the church this weekend, I have a deacon meeting next week, I have a union meeting next week, we need to have our 2010 church financial plan finished in the next couple of weeks, the church has a question and answer time on Sunday evening with a prospective elder and his wife (Karen and I), and I am trying to help start up a new small group ministry. Oh yeah, and Christmas is coming. With that comes the holiday schedule.

On an unrelated topic, we started our corn stove two days ago. What a blessing that has been as we now have 10" of snow on the ground and the temperature is supposed to be ten below the next couple of nights. We did have an unseasonably warm November so that was an unexpected blessing.

Saturday evening the girls are performing a puppet show for a neighboring church. This evening we are having "puppet practice" in our home (prayer meeting was canceled due to the weather). Who knew that puppets needed to practice?

While I wait for the girls to prepare, I am going to load my Bible software on this new computer. I don't want to leave without giving a plug for "YourBrother" who has recently posted on this blog. Encourage him to continue by commenting on his posts! It seems his latest post ought to draw some feedback (especially from the Baptists).

Look what I found...

The following are two excerpts from the Statement of Doctrine from the Lakeview Bible Church in Carter Lake, IA. (Carter Lake, Iowa is kind of inside the city of Omaha.)
http://lakeviewreflections.org/index.php/About-Us/

The green text is my personal highlighting.

F. One Baptism
We believe that the Holy Spirit places all believers today
into the Body of Christ by one spiritual baptism.
This divine baptism takes place at salvation and identifies every believer
with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection.
Since this one baptism promotes the unity of the Spirit,
Lakeview Bible Church does not practice water baptism,
resting in the total sufficiency of the finish work of Jesus Christ
for a complete and blameless standing before God.
(Romans 6:3-4; 1 Corinthians 1:17-18 and 12:12-13; Ephesians 4:3-6; Colossians 2:9-12)

K. Mission
The mission and commission of the Church, which is the Body of Christ,
is to follow the revelation of the truth which our Lord Jesus Christ in
glory revealed to the Apostle Paul for us. That gospel which Paul called “my gospel” in contrast to the gospel of the circumcision (Israel) is God’s message for today.
So, as Paul, we should strive to preach the gospel in the regions
beyond where Christ is not named.
(Romans 2:16, 11:13, 15:16, 15:20 and 16:25; 1 Corinthians 4:16 and 11:1;
2 Corinthians 10:16; 2 Corinthians 5:14-21; Galatians 1:6, 9, 11 and 2:2, 5:7;
Ephesians 3:1-2; Philippians 3:17, 1 Thessalonians 1:6;
1 Timothy 2:7; 2 Timothy 1:11 and 2:2 &8)

A church that identifies separate Israel gospel from Paul's gospel... AND doesn't believe in water baptism for today?
Now you're wondering about their take on communion?

F. The Lord’s Supper
The communion of the Lord’s Supper as revealed through
the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 is
for members of the Body of Christ to be observed “till he comes.”

I have my own thoughts on all three parts. Anyone else?

Apparently there is an affiliation of like-minded Grace churches and organizations. Check out this link (look at all of the ones listed for Ohio.) How did I never hear of this before? Some of them have REALLY bold statements of faith. You might like to check some of them out.
http://www.gmaf.org/churches.html

-YourBrother

Hang on!

Wow! Have I left you hanging!

What did Tuesday bring? Well it was almost three weeks ago now but our family packed up the car and headed to Tennessee! We had a surprise 85th birthday for my Grandmother. What a beautiful woman!

We all met in Pigeon Forge and spent a wonderful 3 days together. I was thrilled this time to finally see a bear! Karen was not as thrilled about that as I was. In fact, the second bear that she saw was only about five feet behind her as she walked along a hiking trail. There was no one else around at the time except for our Nephew who had whispered to Karen "Aunt Karen, there's a bear".

It was such a joy to see my cousin Mark after having not seen each other for 14 years. I was able to meet his wife and his three children. I also received a special hug from my cousin Jenny. I hadn't seen her family for around 7 years. In case you are wondering, she was more beautiful than ever! I wish I could explain the way it made me feel to see her wonderful smile on the face of her daughter. It was like going back in time and seeing her as I did when we were children.

Okay, enough of the sappy stuff. I had promised an account on an antelope hunt. Unfortunately that is old news. I mean, it was great to take a trip to Wyoming and shoot two antelope, but what was even better was my deer hunting attempt this past Saturday night! I probably should have been working on my Sunday morning sermon, but the weather was beautiful and the deer were calling my name.

Ha, I'm going to leave you hanging again. I wish I had time to write but Julianna is here for two days. We haven't seen her since she lived with us during the 2004/2005 school year (she was our foreign exchange student). The girls are having a blast catching up with her and reliving old stories. I (dad) want to be a part of it as well.

In the meantime, enjoy the pictures of my beautiful Grandma...

A note on Antelope

Every day since last Thursday I have been meaning to post on the blog regarding last week's antelope hunt in Wyoming. All I can tell you is that a note is coming but I'm not sure when. I was going to post today but it was such nice weather today and I had some things that I needed to get done outside. I also had to go to a friends house this afternoon and help him pour footings for his new garage (he accidentally burned his previous garage to the ground).

This past Friday evening we had Sherwood Church to our house for their fall party. We had a big bonfire (roasting hot dogs and marshmallows), ate antelope stew, and had a few hay rack rides. Saturday we had about 50 people (counting families) from our fire house here for a fall party. The party doubled as a retirement party for a battalion chief who was a good friend of Kurt and I.

Tomorrow I am at the fire station, Wednesday evening I will be teaching at prayer meeting, Thursday and Saturday I will be at the station; Sunday I am preaching, teaching ABF, leading a church business meeting, I have a pulpit committee meeting, and I have a deacon meeting. Monday I will be back at the fire station and Tuesday...
I'll tell you what happens on Tuesday in a couple of weeks.
All of that to say this, after I get the priorities handled, I'll tell you about my antelope hunt.
I'll talk with you soon,
Jon

1,830! But Who's Counting?

Today is our second daughter's 13th birthday! Every day with our children is a gift from the Lord but it really hits home for me at this time every year. Many of you know that it was just a couple of days from her 8th birthday that she was involved in a near fatal accident with one of our horses.
As I rode in the squad with her on the way to the hospital and looked into her beautiful hazel eyes, I distinctly remember knowing in my heart that as much as I loved her, the Lord loved her more. I couldn't bring myself to beg for her life, I just asked God for enough time for Karen to make it to the hospital and say goodbye to her. I knew the Lord knows best.

As I write this post I can hear her playing her violin in the other room. I know that she will never understand how beautiful those hymns of praise sound to me right now.

Every day with our children is a gift from God. He answered my prayer exceeding abundantly above all that I could ask or think. Unto him be glory...throughout all ages, world without end. Amen!

Thank you Lord for the last 1,830 days.

Happy 13th birthday Kaylin,
I love you...
Papa

Half Way Done

I just wanted to take a minute to wish "YourBrother" a Happy Birthday! October 4th (tomorrow) is the big day.
If the average life span of a man is really 70 years, he is half way there. I am excited to see how the Lord can use him in the next 35 years. Hopefully he can find the time to sharpen us by participating in posting on this blog :)
Happy B-Day Brother

Alone Together still

The leadership of our church has decided to move toward a small group ministry. In doing so we recognized the need to teach through the reasons that we find small group ministries important. Yesterday I started a series in which I will preach on some of the responsibilities of the New Testament Church and how small groups can assist us in fulfilling those callings. The topic yesterday was fellowship. The point that I wanted to get across was that Biblical Fellowship can't take place if we are excluding the Lord.
I think that we label a lot of things as "fellowship". We get together for hobbies, sporting events, potlucks, and even movie events. Oftentimes, even at these church events, we enjoy our fellowship without it bringing us any closer to the Lord. I think that true Biblical Fellowship is experiencing God together.

I was reading in Hebrews chapter ten last week and I noticed that before we are called to "consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together..." we are reminded that we have "boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he hath consecrated..."
As I went back to Exodus to look closer at the "holiest" (the Holy of Holies) I was reminded of all the times the High Priest went in (once a year) alone. Now however, because of the blood of Jesus, we are able to enter the "holiest" (anytime) together. This is how I picture Biblical Fellowship. Walking into the holy of holies, hand in hand. If there is anything preventing us from wanting to walk behind the veil (figurative) with our spouse, our children, our family or others in our church, we cannot experience true Biblical Fellowship with them.

Last night we also had a vote on calling a preaching pastor. The vote was close but we didn't have the percentage necessary to call him. This was difficult news for many in the church. I want to again ask those of you who have been so faithful in prayer to continue to pray for our church at this time. It is difficult to see so many hurting people. I pray that even through something as difficult as this, our church will experience God together.

Laced with Blazing tears

I want to take a little time to thank those of you that have been praying for our family. I know that many of you have been faithful in prayer and we appreciate it immensely.

In regard to things at church, there was some very encouraging news this past Wednesday evening. I do not have the freedom to write about it yet, but I know that the Lord is continuing to lead in our lives.

Additionally, this morning our daughters said goodbye to two members of our family. This involved a few tears but I am so thankful for children that, though incredibly sad, are obedient and respectful even on the hardest days. Lacy and Blaze have been wonderful horses! In the above picture, they are the two horses on the outside. Our pony "Cocoa" is in the center. We hope their new owners love them as much as we have.

My Hidden Agenda

I was asked last week if it was possible to update my blog with something that wasn't so discouraging.

Instead, I decided to go into hiding!


Saturday was the start of youth season here in Iowa. Emily and I have a date this afternoon because we weren't able to hunt on Saturday. In preparation for this (my favorite time of the year) I decided to try out some new camouflage.


Now if you don't see me for a while, you know why!

Which Weigh to Go?

These next two weeks may be very difficult weeks for my family. I am asking that those of you who read this blog will pray for us over the next couple of weeks. We are at a crossroads right now in our lives as it relates to ministry and the church we have been ministering in. These decisions have been weighing on our minds. I am seeking the Lord's direction in these areas and I am praying for clear direction to the choices we must make.

At least six months ago Karen and I affectionately termed our ministry a "kamikaze" ministry. We decided that no matter what became of our "reputation" we were going to do what we knew to be Biblical. Shortly after we came to grips with that, the Lord started doing things in the life of the church that gave us hope as to our future there. However, in the last few weeks it has become evident that there is a distrust or fear (of me) that wasn't there before the kamikaze(ing) had to be done. We shall see where all this leads...

For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

It's About Time

My wife informed me the other day (as she was reading through her favorite blogs) that I hadn't written on mine for a month. I expected that.
I have an excuse. I have no time. Life is always busy. Our home is always busy. I continually say "If we can just make it through this week..." but then our very next week fills in so that one week hardly seems much different than the previous.

As I think on this fact, it strikes me that our children have no after-school activities. They don't play sports. They rarely watch television. They don't go to the mall and hang out with friends. They don't date (and they won't).
The fact is, it is not the social life of our children that keeps us busy. How is it that other families have the time to chauffeur their children to all of these things? Can it be that we are not as busy as we think? Do we have time to cram more things into our schedule? I doubt it.

I guess we could if we were willing to give some things up. What should we give up so that I have the time to blog more and my children have the time to play sports, go to the mall, watch television and date?

We could give up the rigid public school schedule. I say that tongue in cheek because we did that several years ago. What can we give up now?

We could give up schooling all together (It is tempting, but don't send the government my way, we won't do that). We could give up eating dinner at home as a family. We could give up our hobbies. We could give up maintaining our home. We could give up ministry. We could give up hospitality. We could give up Bible study and prayer.

Hobbies? Yes, I have hobbies. Good old red-blooded American hobbies. I hunt and fish. As a matter of fact, I have been fishing four times this summer. That is more fishing than I have done in any summer I can remember.
I am looking forward to hunting season. I hunt more than I fish. Fishing doesn't feed my family, but I am a more successful hunter. We eat venison all the time. We have been eating venison all year long. I could give that up this fall and get a job for a couple of months. That should provide enough money to buy a years worth of meat.
Oh, that wouldn't give me more time though. I would just be replacing one thing with another.

Now that I've taken the time to think about it, I don't think I'll give these things up. I've had the time to read 4 books, memorize a chapter of the Bible, mow the lawn, work 24 hours at the station, till the horse corral, eat with my family, work on Emily's computer, pay bills, sleep, spend some alone time with my wife, visit with my Father-in-law, spend time in prayer, wash the tractor, send out 12 emails and I am now sitting down for more Bible study (after I am done taking the time to write on this blog).
All of this since Monday morning. I suppose I have time.

Oh yes, blogging comes before sports, the mall, television and dating.

I guess it's time to teach the girls to blog.

Origin of Species

Still Questioning Authority

Over the last couple of years the issue of church governance has been on my mind quite a bit. I think this stems from not only what the Lord has been teaching me, but also because of what our church has been going through.
For those of you that read this blog regularly, you will know that this has been something that I touch on when we have struggled as a church. In fact, here is the third post that I wrote on Novermber 6th, 2007.

Church polity

It has been a long process since I authored that post. We presented a new form of government to the church. Instead of the deacons having the charge of the church and the pastors being subject to them, we presented a constitution that was "Elder (or Pastor) Led". However, the authority does not reside with the Elders. Here is the paragraph from our constitution on the issue of authority.

ARTICLE III AUTHORITY

The ultimate authority of the local church is Jesus Christ and the Word of God. Under God, the authority in the local church rests with the congregation. Matthew 18:17, Acts 15:1-2, Acts 6:3. The Elders will submit to God, to one another, and to the congregation.

I want to praise the Lord that after a two and a half year process, the church finally approved the Elder led model by voting in favor of the constitutional changes that we presented. This was done on the 19th of July, 2009. However, as you can see by the preceding paragraph, the Elders are not ruling in the church, they are submitting to the congregation. Again, I praise the Lord that we have included Elders, but do they have the position in the church that God intends for them?

Our governmental democracy has affected our church in a lot of ways. Unfortunately, I think it has negatively impacted the church as it relates to leadership. I know that there are verses included in the constitution that supposedly support congregational rule. Yet, none of these verses show that the congregation should vote on the spiritual matters of the church, instead, the congregation is expected to follow the direction given to them by the Apostles and Elders.

I included the verses on "ruling" in the previous post because I believe that God has placed an authority to "rule" in the church. I believe that it falls on the Elders. In the Elder qualifications it says he must rule his house well or how will he know how to rule the house of God? In Romans 12, ruling is listed as a spiritual gift. It says in I Timothy 5 that the Elders that rule well are worthy of double honor.

Would you agree that this ruling is to take place in the church?
Is the paragraph on authority in our constitution biblical?

Rule On This One

I want to ask a two part question that might be unpopular in the church today. Why did the Lord include so many verses (for the church) in the Bible about "ruling" and how does this fit in with a view of the church being a democracy?

One that ruleth his own house, having his children is subjection with all gravity; For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church...

ruling their children and their own houses...

Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of...

Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God...

Obey them that have the rule over you,...they watch for your souls, as they that must give account...

Salute all them that have the rule over you, and all the saints.

he that ruleth, with diligence; he that showeth mercy...

Obviously these are all from the New Testament. If I were to include synonyms of "rule" the list would be longer.

Nick of Time

Nothing special to write tonight, unfortunately I just don't have the time. I am heading to bible study in 3 minutes. I just wanted to check in so that you all knew that I was still alive and hadn't dropped off the face of the earth.
We had a great week of vacation and a good weekend when we got home. I was able to preach three times in Glenwood Iowa and I thank the Lord for that opportunity!
We have a busy week but I will try and post in the next few days. Keep checking in, Jon
Whew 23 seconds to go

Still Hunting

I cannot believe that the post titled "hunting for intelligence" has not prompted any comments. Has the post been skipped over or do words fail you as well?

Just to give you a quick update, we are having the church out to our house tonight for a Fourth of July celebration. I will be giving a quick devotional and reading excerpts from our Declaration of Independence.
My question will be about our rights. The Declaration states that we have the right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness..."
I believe that these "rights" have negatively impacted many believers. You see, we may have these rights from a governmental standpoint but we don't have them in our personal lives. In other words...

Mark 8:35 ; Galatians 2:20 - life?
I Corinthians 8:9; Galatians 5:13-14 - liberty?
Romans 14:19 - pursuit of happiness?

As believers, if we could forget about our rights, we could be more righteous. Right?

On July 12th I will be filling the pulpit at another church. I will be teaching Sunday School on our right to life. During morning worship I will be preaching on our liberty, and for the evening service... You got it! The pursuit of happiness.

Happy 4th of July!

Schools Out!

I am not going to say much. As a matter of fact, it is from a lack of time, not a lack of interest. Emily finished driver's ed this week. We were very happy that she passed this mandatory (and expensive) class.
Speaking of which...

"As many as eighty-five to ninety percent of professing Christians send their children to the government for their education. That is simply an astonishing figure considering the fact that the Christian community fought mandatory government education tooth-and-nail for it’s first fifty years of existence. Since then we have gone from fighting against government schools to fighting for them and implying that those who fight against them are fundamentalists, anti-intellectuals, and racists."

"No academic skepticism, no secularist authors, no blatant materialism can so undermine the spiritual life of the country like the completely secularized training of the child under the authority of the state"

The preceding statements were taken from the following post;

http://www.voddiebaucham.org/vbm/Blog/Entries/2009/6/25_Top_Five_REasons_Not_to_Send_Your_Kids_Back_to_Govt._School.html.

Compelling arguments?

Creative signatures

Our youngest daughter has gone to camp this week. As is the tradition, my other daughters are sending her mail. I had so much fun reading their letters that I thought I'd share them here...











Click on the images if you would like to read them.
They also wrote to Audrey's best friend...





































Please note the signatory of each letter.

The titles that were left out of this post:

"Your pig riding license has expired"

"Pleese join are spellitrite klub"

"Your membership to the lipstick lovers loop is expiring next month"

"Your tennis shoe burning license has expired"

Hunting for Intelligence

Words fail me!

Catching up

Wow, it has been a while since I have given an update on what is going on in our lives! This has been such a busy couple of weeks that I have not dedicated any time to writing on the blog.
We have just finished up our Vacation Bible School for this summer. The week went well and attendance was good. The last three nights of VBS we had over 80 kids per night, with a total attendance over 150 with the workers and adults added to the count!

Wednesday morning our "Peru mission team" flew out of Omaha, NE. Our family was up at 4:00 a.m. in order to see them off. We were able to pray together in the airport after they had checked in their luggage but before they headed into the terminal. We received a report yesterday afternoon that they had made it safely and would be speaking in a church last night. The team includes Kurt O. (a firefighter that works with me in Omaha) and my brother Chad.

Rob (my business partner) is done teaching for the summer. He will be teaching building construction again in the fall at the local community college but since he has the summer off, we have fired up the cabinet shop again and are building custom cabinets for a house near Sioux City, IA.

Tonight we have a dinner and an interview with a man that has applied to be the Pastor at our church. The deacons will spend some more time getting to know him tomorrow while I am at the station. Sunday afternoon we will have them over to our house so that I can get to know him a little better. Please pray that we will be sensitive to the Lord's leading in this matter. This month makes it three full years without a Pastor.

On July first we will have an all church 4th of July celebration at our house. I hope that between now and then we will have some time to make our place presentable. We have not been able to do much maintenance as we have had so many other commitments that take us from our home. Well... commitments and a family camping trip!

Emily has been taking driver's education this spring. Her final driving test is this Thursday so we are praying that it goes well. She is doing a fine job driving but we are concerned about her nerves. If the pressure doesn't get her, she'll do great.

I know this has been a long update, thanks for hanging in there,
Jon

Outweighed

As many of you know, our family went camping last week in south western Iowa. I think that we had a great time though there were some trying moments. It started raining on Monday afternoon and didn't quit until the middle of Tuesday afternoon. As you can imagine, this put a little stress on Karen. Sometime around the middle of the night, our tent fly succumbed to the constant barrage of water and started leaking. By the time Tuesday morning rolled around, Karen was on my cot (with me) and two of the three girls had abandoned their bags as well. The floor of the tent was soaked, all of our clothes were soaked (they weren't in water proof bags), and most of the sleeping bags were wet.
Well, if you are wet in the tent, you might as well be outside. If you are outside, you might as well be fishing. This was what Audrey, Emily and I decided anyway.
Karen and Kaylin figured that if it was raining, they might as well be at Wal-Mart. This meant a 70 mile drive so we didn't see them again until lunch time. They came back with a tarp (that we promptly put over the tent) and a screen pavilion that we put our food and our picnic table in.

Tuesday evening was very mild so we were enjoying a campfire and the girls were cooking smores when we had furry guest with a ring tail explore our screen pavilion. One minute I was calmly sitting in my camping chair next to Karen with the girls chatting around us, and the next second Karen was yelling at me from the top of a picnic table 20' away. This caused quite a clamour among the girls and quickly led to a flurry of directives being thrown my way. Apparently each was concerned for the safety of everyone but Papa.

Wednesday evening the same visitor(s) came by for another visit. This occurrence was quite different than the first. This time the visitors were bestowed names. Frank and Francine. It was amazing to hear the way that the raccoons were fawned upon the second evening that they came by.
"Oh, there soooo cute!"
"Let's feed them."
"Emily, give them a marshmallow"
"Don't scare them off. Let's name them."

It is funny how our perspective can change so quickly.

Speaking of perspectives, it is the same fish that Emily and I are holding. I caught him Wednesday morning. The size discrepancy is in the field of view.

Hebrews 12:1-3
¹Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, ²Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

II Corinthians 4:17-18
¹⁷For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; ¹⁸While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Weigh In

I was just wondering how many of you wanted to weigh in on who caught the bigger fish this week?

But we have the mind of Christ.

Whew! What a long weekend. Out of the 72 hour long memorial day weekend, I was only able to spend 3 of those hours with my family. Most of this was due to the fact that I was at the Fire Station for a cumulative 48 hours.

Things went well on Sunday morning as I filled the pulpit in a neighboring church. I did learn a valuable lesson though. If I am ever asked to preach at another church again, I will ask if they are expecting me to teach Sunday School as well. Next time I won't be surprised when they turn Sunday School over to me.

I must say that it was pretty "freeing" to preach in another church. I didn't know anyone there so I had no worries about who might be offended by the message. It was also not a concern that anyone would wonder about my motives. These factors made it easy to just let the Bible flow!

I did teach on discernment. I was able to use an article from the Omaha newspaper for my illustration. Karen thought I lacked discernment in bringing the story up at church. To fill you in, there was a story about a little boy (8 yrs old) in Omaha that has decided he would rather be a girl. The Catholic school that he attends will not support him so his parents are enrolling him in the Omaha Public School System for next year. They have bought him new outfits (dresses, shoes, and pink clothes) and started calling him Katie rather than Ben.
The fact that Ben would rather be a girl than a boy was not really the issue that I was dealing with in my sermon. Instead I dealt with a couple of letters regarding the story that were published in the paper a few days later. In one letter, a man wrote that he hoped the Catholic Chancellor had misspoken when he stated that people are either male or female and cannot change.
This man went on to say the statement made by the Chancellor was "equal parts ignorance and arrogance". Ignorance because animals can change gender, and arrogance because the purpose of the church is to explain salvation, not to comment on subjects that they know nothing about.

I spent some time talking about the responsibility of believers to strive for holiness. It is also the responsibility of the Pastor to "feed the flock" not just introduce unbelievers to Christ. In our church, our purpose statement is "...to introduce people to Jesus Christ...to instruct them in Christlike maturity, and to inspire them to serve him."

We do have a plethora of churches that are only concerned with the gospel. The New Testament however, has many things to say regarding the growth of the believer after salvation. Our change has only just begun after coming to know Christ. There is still much to learn.
The man writing the letter lacked spiritual discernment.

The first thing required for spiritual discernment is a relationship with Christ. Hebrews 5:1-10

Secondly, in order to have discernment, we need to get past the basics of the gospel and delve into the meat of the Word. Hebrews 5:11 - 6:3

What was the third point? It can be found in I Corinthians 2:9-16

In order to "have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil" I read a second letter.
This was written by a Christian woman. She said that she hoped the Christian community would show support to the family because of their courage in caring for their daughter. She reminded us that the first command is to treat everyone with love and the second is not to judge.

Which Two?

I received a call last night at 10:47. The purpose of the phone call was to ask me to fill the pulpit this Sunday in a neighboring town. Of course I said that I would.

During the course of our short conversation (I have never been to the church and don't believe that I know anyone there) I asked if there were specific topics or passages that they are asking their pulpit supply to stick to. I was told "No, but spiritual discernment might be good."

Does this mean that I should preach on spiritual discernment two days from now or does it mean that I need spiritual discernment over the next two days in order to know what to preach on?

Time is Short

I was asked a few days ago to speak at a graduation next week. The graduation is for a young lady who has been home schooled so the family is putting on the graduation party. Both parents work at a retail store and have invited everyone at the store to come to the graduation. The family is expecting a large number to attend (possibly over 100) so they have rented a gym for the evening.
If the parents prediction of attendees is correct, then most of those that will be in attendance will not be believers.

I have been asked to give a charge to their daughter, give a summation as to why one would home school, and clearly present the gospel message for those that may not have heard what Christ has done for them. If anyone has input to share, I am receptive. I was asked to keep it around 15 minutes.

On a related note,

If I talk for 25 minutes but make it feel like 12, am I still okay?

PER U SE Philippians 1

Karen and I took the girls on a canoe trip last Saturday with some other families from our home school group. What perfect weather we had for our trip! I must say that it has really gotten me into the camping mood. In fact, I would have liked to have gone camping this weekend but we have too many things going on to be able to get away.
Tonight the girls are going to a play at one of the Community Theaters in town while Karen and I are going out to dinner (we had pizza from the gas station last week on our anniversary). We also have a church league softball game to participate in at 9:30 p.m. Tomorrow we have two graduation parties to attend, a bike ride scheduled with Karen's dad, and a dinner to put on for her family (She is making Rueben's, one of my favorite meals!).
Right now we are toying with the possibility of going camping on Monday and Tuesday but Emily has driver's education classes every morning next week and we would rather she not miss them.

For those of you that don't know, our church is sending a group of people on a mission's trip to Peru this summer. I am excited that my brother Chad is going with the group. Unfortunately I have not had much time to talk with him about this, but the Lord has been bringing him to my mind frequently. I know from personal experience how much something like this can impact his life and I want to be faithful in praying to that end. I know that many of you are also praying for him too. I would ask that you not just pray for his safety, or for his family as he is away, but that you would commit to praying for his spiritual well being and growth.
On Wednesday nights at church we have been memorizing the book of Philippians together. The purpose of this is to learn to pray for spiritual things rather than temporal. I would like to share some of my thoughts from chapter one regarding Chad and his upcoming trip.

Paul says in verses 3-4 "I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy... " and I want to ask that God remind me as well to remember Chad and to joyfully pray for him.

In verse 7 "...I have you in my heart...and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace." I know that Chad will have the opportunity to defend and confirm the gospel by his testimony and work ethic on this trip. I know that the Lord will provide him the grace to do everything required of him, and I pray that he will draw on it.

In verse 9 "And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more..." I pray that Chad will not only have a love for the people of Peru but also for the members on his team. It can be difficult traveling and living for two weeks with people that you hardly know.

In verse 10 "That ye may approve things that are excellent, that ye may be sincere and without offense..." I pray that Chad will be supportive of others and their ideas. I pray that the sincerity of his heart will be evident to those that he works with and those that he meets.

In verse 11 "Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ..." I pray that his fruits will be sweet to others.

Verse 12 "But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel;" Most of all, I want to pray that regardless of what happens; whether the Lord chooses to keep him healthy or even whether the Lord chooses to keep him safe, that the things which happen unto him will be for the furtherance of the gospel!

Verse 21 "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."
Verse 25-26 "And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith; That your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again.

What can you find in Philippians chapter 1 to pray for Chad with me?

No Longer Aloft

Well, I promised some pictures by this week sometime. Unfortunately, I do not have the time to figure out how to format all of these pictures. In other words, the pictures are in reverse order so it will appear that the barn was built rather than torn down.

I have also not included pictures of the stack of lumber that is now located on my property. I will try to upload more pictures in the week ahead.

Enjoy browsing the photos, I know it doesn't look like much yet (especially because these were taken on my phone). Bear with me, I'll communicate more soon.