Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Thursday, July 23, 2009

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?




Thursday, July 16, 2009

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.




Tuesday, July 14, 2009

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

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

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!