Robert @ PTP Live Blog from Robert Hatfield.net
Sunday, August 18, 2013 - 10:09pm (EST)
Welcome to the PTP live blog! You’ll receive real-time updates right here beginning Thursday, August 22 and going through Thursday, August 29.
Thursday, August 22, 2013 - 08:42pm (EST)
We have arrived, had the annual Thursday night feast with the PTP crew, and have done much of the set up work as we prepare for PTP to begin tomorrow afternoon, Lord willing!
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 01:38pm (EST)
We are just over an hour before the official kick-off of PTP 2013! My video station is set up in Ballroom C and I’m excited to bring you notes, quotes, and pictures live from the event. I’ll hear Michael Shepherd first on “Weathering the Storms of Life.” Stay tuned!
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 03:14pm (EST)
“We preachers have spent a lot of time to prepare ourselves to preach the gospel, but have we prepared self for the gospel we preach?” – Michael Shepherd
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 03:21pm (EST)
“I guess people misread it: ‘blessed are they that MOAN!'” – Michael Shepherd
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 03:58pm (EST)
About to hear Steve Higginbotham (Karns church of Christ, Knoxville, TN, home of SEIBS) speak on “The Preacher’s Wife.”
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 04:01pm (EST)
Eddie Parrish is introducing Steve Higginbotham. Higginbotham has been at Karns for three years. 1984 grad of FHU.
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 04:03pm (EST)
Lady: “How tall are you?”
Steve: “I’m five feet, eighteen inches.”
Lady: “I could have sworn you were over six feet tall.”
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 04:05pm (EST)
Higginbotham has written a two-part blog on the subject of the preacher’s wife.
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 04:06pm (EST)
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 04:06pm (EST)
“The role of the preacher’s wife is the same as a banker’s wife, a school teacher’s wife, a plumber’s wife, as a ditch-digger’s wife.”
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 04:07pm (EST)
“I don’t know where we came up with the idea that the role of a preacher’s wife is different than from someone else. … I think the role of a preacher’s wife is to be a godly woman. That’s the role of every wife.”
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 04:07pm (EST)
“The role of the preacher’s wife is to be faithful to God. Again, isn’t that the role of every wife, to be faithful to God?”
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 04:09pm (EST)
The preacher’s wife is, first and foremost, to be a wife (just like everyone else’s wife). She is to serve God to her best and to use her talents to His glory. To require more of her is extra-Biblical.
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 04:10pm (EST)
First, we’re going to look at fundamental things that a wife is to possess (no matter whose wife she is).
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 04:10pm (EST)
Many preachers are guilty of allowing other responsibilities to be imposed upon their wives.
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 04:12pm (EST)
Why do we remain silent with some people impose extra responsibilities upon the preacher’s wife? Why don’t we step in and tell her that she doesn’t have to do that? Unwittingly, we remain silent while heavy burdens are placed upon our wives.
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 04:12pm (EST)
“The role of the preacher’s wife is to be a godly faithful Christian. Period. I believe that’s it.” – Higginbotham
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 04:13pm (EST)
At SEIBS, there is a class for the wives of the students. The name of the class is “The Christian Woman,” not “The Preacher’s Wife.”
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 04:14pm (EST)
The preacher’s wife involvement in the local congregation should be to the extent that her talents make her feel comfortable to serve.
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 04:15pm (EST)
If we were to look for a passage that teaches that God expects more of the preacher’s wife, where would I turn to find that? Where would I find that she is to be a leader, Bible class teacher, event planner, ladies day speaker, event hostess? It isn’t there.
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 04:16pm (EST)
We know what preachers are supposed to do (1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus). We know what elders are supposed to do (1 Timothy 3; Titus 1), but where is the same clear explanation of what the preacher’s wife is to be? If we’re searching for it, our search is in vain.
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 04:17pm (EST)
One of the concerns that young ladies have when their husbands come to SEIBS is that they cannot live up to the expectations of the preacher’s wife. Steve Higginbotham tells them, “If you can be a wife, then you can be a preacher’s wife.”
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 04:17pm (EST)
Now we’re going to discuss some of the things a preacher’s wife needs to be to help her husband.
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 04:17pm (EST)
1. She needs to be a confidant. But so does a school teacher’s wife. This isn’t peculiar to preaching, but it’s something a wife ought to be.
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 04:18pm (EST)
“Who does the counsellor go to for counseling? Who helps the one who is busy helping others?” – SH
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 04:19pm (EST)
2. A preacher’s wife needs to be an encourager. So does a car salesman’s wife. All people need encouragement. Again, this isn’t peculiar to the preacher’s wife.
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 04:23pm (EST)
3. A preacher’s wife also needs to be someone who can endure criticism. So does a plumber’s wife. This isn’t peculiar to preacher’s wives. Criticism isn’t localized to preaching.
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 04:24pm (EST)
“It’s probably harder for my wife than it is for me to hear the criticisms.” – SH
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 04:25pm (EST)
We can’t hear our feelings on our shoulders. “If you want to be a good wife, you have to learn how to accept criticism and process that.”
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 04:25pm (EST)
Proverbs 22:6
Like a flitting sparrow, like a flying swallow,
So a curse without cause shall not alight.
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 04:26pm (EST)
In other words, let is roll off like water from a duck’s back.
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 04:27pm (EST)
“If there’s substance, then make change. If it’s not substantive, then let it pass.”
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 04:27pm (EST)
4. A preacher needs a wife who can counsel him. So does a policeman.
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 04:28pm (EST)
“My wife is my better judgment.” – SH // He runs things by her like sermon illustrations to see what she thinks. He trusts her judgment.
compare Prov. 15:22
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 04:28pm (EST)
5. A preacher’s wife needs to be someone who can share her husband’s time with other people. Isn’t that also true with a doctor?
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 04:29pm (EST)
Preachers don’t punch time cards. We often go home from work and then go back to work again. You don’t say “no” to the people who call at all hours of the night with emergencies and needs.
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 04:29pm (EST)
“All wives should allow their husbands the freedom to do good even when it’s inconvenient.” – SH
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 04:30pm (EST)
6. A preacher’s wife needs to be a good mother. So does a psychologist’s wife, or a grocer’s wife.
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 04:30pm (EST)
Prov. 17:25
A foolish son is a grief to his father,
And bitterness to her who bore him.
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 04:31pm (EST)
An undisciplined child can be harmful to a preacher’s work, but it can also be that way for anyone.
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 04:31pm (EST)
Preacher’s wives don’t have the luxury of having dad to sit on the other side of the pew during worship services. That’s a challenge, and a great tribute to ladies who are in that situation.
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 04:32pm (EST)
7. A preacher’s wife needs to be someone who can live with interruptions. So does a firefighter.
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 04:33pm (EST)
8. A preacher’s wife needs to be someone who can live within her means. This is true of anyone’s wife.
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 04:33pm (EST)
Romans 13:8
Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 04:34pm (EST)
9. A preacher’s wife needs to be one who can live in a fishbowl. This is true with politician’s, too.
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 04:36pm (EST)
It’s ok to live in a fishbowl — Matthew 5:16
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 04:36pm (EST)
10. A preacher’s wife needs to be a faithful Christian. This is true of a farmer’s wife, too … or anyone else’s wife.
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 04:37pm (EST)
Compare Acts 5 (Ananias & Sapphira) – If just one of them would have been what they should have been, then that would have prevented the whole thing from happening.
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 04:38pm (EST)
Conclusion: The preacher’s wife is “simply” a wife (“you understand how I mean that” – SH). She has an identity. She’s not the preacher’s wife; she’s married to the preacher.
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 04:38pm (EST)
Her identity isn’t wrapped up into what her husband does. “Learn her name. Call her by it.”
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 04:39pm (EST)
Her responsibility is….
- Does she love God?
- Doe she love her husband?
- Does she love her children?
- Does she use her talents in God’s service to the best of her ability?
What more can we expect of her?
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 06:22pm (EST)
Listening to “Refresh, Renew, Recharge … Your Marriage!” Dr. Bill Battles is the speaker.
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 06:25pm (EST)
Three things you can do to solidify your marriage:
- Think with clarity.
- Feel with compassion.
- Act with purpose.
If you’ll do those three things when you interact with your spouse, you’ll have happy marriage.
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 06:29pm (EST)
“Joy is the by-product of spiritual endeavor.”
“Peace is the byproduct of spiritual achievement.”
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 06:36pm (EST)
“Where there is no laughter, love has no voice.”
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 06:36pm (EST)
“Marriage needs laughter because marriage is difficult.”
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 07:02pm (EST)
Matt Vega is about to speak on “How Churches Can Participate in the Traditional Marriage Debate”
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 07:13pm (EST)
“No matter what the courts decide, we must keep up our [spreading] the truth” – Matt Vega
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 07:14pm (EST)
“We cannot fall into the trap … of compromise upon compromise upon compromise.”
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 07:14pm (EST)
“God has spoken on the issue … and we don’t have to just figure it out on our own.”
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 07:18pm (EST)
Vega is stressing the importance of Christians upholding ALL of the Truth about God’s plan for marriage … including marriage, divorce, and remarriage.
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 07:20pm (EST)
We have to understand the basic purpose of marriage: “It’s not just one man and one woman arbitrarily, but one man and one woman for a reason!”
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 07:21pm (EST)
“If you can explain why opposite sex marriage is good, WHY it’s good, then you can win the debate on marriage.”
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 07:22pm (EST)
“We need to be prepared to support God’s definition of marriage in its entirety.”
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 07:22pm (EST)
“Being right isn’t enough to win this war.”
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 07:23pm (EST)
They persecuted Jesus, they’re going to persecute us.
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 07:23pm (EST)
“I want us to be wise as serpents … and as harmless as doves.”
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 07:24pm (EST)
1Pet. 3:11
Let him turn away from evil and do good;
Let him seek peace and pursue it.
James 3:18
Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
Heb. 12:14
Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord:
2Tim. 2:22
Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
Col. 3:15
And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 07:25pm (EST)
“Even if you’re right on your definition of marriage, if the way you argue that is not consistent with the aforementioned verses of Scripture, then we’re going to lose the battle over America.”
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 07:31pm (EST)
“Resolving our differences and learning how to participate in the public square is critical to our being the salt and light in the world.”
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 07:32pm (EST)
“What I’m seeing when I read these opinions is that they’re still open to one view or the other.”
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 07:33pm (EST)
“We HAVE to be above any approach when it comes to modeling the love of Christ when we have to come down with the Truth as we have to come down with it.”
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 07:37pm (EST)
Romans 13:
1 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. 4 For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. 5 Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing.
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 07:37pm (EST)
Vega is reminding us that, according to Romans 13, when the government perceives actions as evil, then the sword will come down. Therefore, our actions must be done in unmistakeable love.
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 07:44pm (EST)
Whose liberty (in America)? It’s about the church’s freedom to be the “pillar and the ground of the Truth” (1 Tim. 3:15). The church’s freedom to evangelize the Truth and to exercise it as God demands.
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 07:48pm (EST)
That was an INCREDIBLE lesson. One I’ll definitely be listening to several times over to absorb all of the facts that connected the dots toward a powerful argument. May God bless the church with wisdom to act and react in this world of political land mines.
Friday, August 23, 2013 - 07:57pm (EST)
My last session of the night has to do with “Sex Issues / The Tough Stuff” (that’s literally what the PTP schedule says). Don’t think I’ll be live blogging this one. 
Signing off for tonight.
Meet me here tomorrow, beginning at 9:00 AM (EDT)!
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 09:16am (EST)
After an hour of singing, the first session of the morning is a panel discussion: “Here is What We Do, It Might Work for You: How to Reach a Relative with the Gospel” with Johnnie LeMaster, Ron Maynard, Todd O’Donnell, and Matt Richardson
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 09:18am (EST)
LeMaster admits many mistakes he made as he tried to teach his parents the gospel. Even with family, we must approach Bible study carefully to reach their hearts.
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 09:20am (EST)
“Don’t give up! Do. Not. Give. Up. We only have a small amount of time to go to heaven ourselves and to try to bring as many people as we possibly can. … Get out of your comfort zone and tell your family you love them and teach them the gospel. … Don’t give up” – LeMaster
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 09:25am (EST)
To get her husband to read Biblical literature, Todd O’Donnell’s mother left tracts and brochures lying around the house. His curiosity caused him to read the pamphlets after she went to bed.
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 09:25am (EST)
Then, she would invite him to recreational activities with church members.
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 09:26am (EST)
Finally, he was asked to be in a Bible study, and was baptized not long thereafter.
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 09:27am (EST)
Matt Richardson is now up. He likes to ask open-ended questions with people to gain insight.
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 09:28am (EST)
“The thing about your family is that they know you. … There’s a difference between convicted and converted, and some people are just playing church.” – Richardson
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 09:32am (EST)
“Be sweet. Be Christian. When the veins are popping out of your neck, you need to back off. You’ll do more harm than good that way.” – Richardson
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 09:42am (EST)
Someone: I don’t like the way you do evangelism.
Matt Richardson: I don’t either, how do you do it?
S: I don’t.
MR: Well, I like the way I do it better than the way you don’t do it.
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 09:46am (EST)
Break until the top of the hour.
Next session: “Hot Button Issues: What about Clapping in Worship? (Symptom, Sin, or Both?) Should we applaud speakers and baptism?” Glenn Colley will be speaking.
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 10:06am (EST)
“There’s such a thing as religious sin.” – Glenn Colley
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 10:07am (EST)
First, a short course on worship.
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 10:07am (EST)
Worship is a serious matter. How you approach the God of the universe is a serious matter (cf. Gen. 22:2; John 4:23-24).
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 10:08am (EST)
We approach the question about hand clapping in worship very carefully. We don’t approach anything regarding God “willy nilly.”
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 10:09am (EST)
An action in worship is not wrong just because denominations do it or because it’s new or because I personally find it unappealing. An action in worship is wrong when it conflicts with or is inconsistent with the Bible.
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 10:09am (EST)
Three categories of hand clapping in worship:
- Percussion
- Applause
- Clapping at baptisms
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 10:10am (EST)
“Is clapping during a song a part of the music of the song? Of course it is!”
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 10:11am (EST)
(There is standing room only for this lecture in a ballroom the holds over 700 people.)
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 10:12am (EST)
“If it is true that playing a set of drums in worship to God is sinful because it is unauthorized … then I do not see the difference between beating that animal skin and beating human skin with the music we offer to God.”
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 10:13am (EST)
“I fail to appreciate the argument that the principles of worship in the New Testament are applicable only to Sunday morning worship.” – GC
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 10:14am (EST)
Now, he will address arguments against what he has just said.
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 10:15am (EST)
First argument: “hand clapping is in the Old Testament.” Not true!
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 10:15am (EST)
Nine instances of clapping in the Old Testament in the KJV. None are done in a context of worship.
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 10:17am (EST)
One such passage that is used from the OT:
Psalm 47:1
Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples!
Shout to God with the voice of triumph!
“This was joy over military victory. That’s what this is. David is encouraging them to shout for joy and to clap and, incidentally, in verse five, to play the trumpet. Just thought you’d like to know what’s in the context.” – GC
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 10:18am (EST)
“When you get to Psalm 50, they’re advocating animal sacrifice! Are you ready for this? Is this where we’re going to go? … Psalm 47:1 has nothing to do with rhythmic clapping to music. Nothing. And nothing to do with the spiritual worship God wants under the new covenant.”
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 10:19am (EST)
“Nobody is clapping in worship today because they believe God told them to do it … They’re doing it because … they like the atmosphere it brings … I think that’s backwards.”
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 10:19am (EST)
Argument #2: “It’s just natural for humans to do this.”
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 10:20am (EST)
“You’re not ready for the conclusion of that argument. Do you really feel like whatever feels natural to you ought to be done in worship?”
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 10:20am (EST)
“We do not determine what we do in worship to God by what we simply prefer or by what seems natural to us.”
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 10:21am (EST)
Argument #3: “The church of Christ is too stale in worship and needs to be fresh.”
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 10:22am (EST)
Colley says he thinks there is some validity to this argument. He regrets that men no longer say “amen” when they hear things they deeply agree with or that people no longer kneel when they pray in worship.
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 10:23am (EST)
Are we too stale in worship and need to freshen it up? This is the wrong question because it’s based on what I feel or what I think. “When my worship degenerates down to that, I’ve blown it.”
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 10:24am (EST)
If you do exactly what the New Testament teaches in worship, and someone comes out of that and says, “that seems stale to me,” pity them.
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 10:25am (EST)
Argument #4: “Clapping is not expressly forbidden in Scripture.”
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 10:26am (EST)
Compare Leviticus 10, Nadab and Abihu
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 10:26am (EST)
If God had to write everything we are NOT to do, the world couldn’t hold that volume.
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 10:28am (EST)
With reference to clapping for percussion in worship to God: It is a sin.
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 10:28am (EST)
Category #2: Clapping for applause.
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 10:29am (EST)
Argument #1: “It’s the same thing as saying ‘amen.'” No it’s not.
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 10:29am (EST)
The word “amen” is described to communicate this: “I agree with what has been said.”
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 10:30am (EST)
Clapping is to approve the speaker, to elevate the speaker, not just the message. Saying “amen” is to approve the message. By in large, applause is to approve the speaker.
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 10:31am (EST)
“[Clapping in worship] strikes me as blasphemous. Is that too strong to say? What are we doing? Worshipping God and applauding men. Keep it! … Worship isn’t about me.” – GC
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 10:32am (EST)
Argument #2: “Worship is to be both horizontal and vertical.” Well, there’s a sense in which that’s true (cf. Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16). While I sing, I encourage the people around me.
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 10:33am (EST)
However, this misses a rather important point. In Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16, teaching and admonishing one another is about mutual edification, encouraging each other in singing praises to the Lord. The focal point of worship isn’t you or me, it’s God. Applause has its ending point in the ears of the recipient because it’s designed to elevate him.
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 10:34am (EST)
Category #3: Clapping at baptisms.
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 10:34am (EST)
“I don’t believe baptism is worship.”
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 10:35am (EST)
“I’d be hard pressed to tell a man that it’s a sin to clap at baptisms, but I don’t think it’s a smart thing to do, or a wise thing to do. I’m not going to do it.”
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 10:35am (EST)
The problem is that it borrows from the entertainment industry. You go to a ball game and someone knocks it out of the park, and you clap. You’re at a concert and you clap.
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 10:36am (EST)
Romans 6:3-4
3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Do you know what you’re doing when you watch a baptism? You’re walking right up to the cross! Whatever emotion you think would be appropriate there should be appropriate at baptisms.
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 10:37am (EST)
” I understand the resurrection and the joy attached to baptisms … but it seems to me to be a package deal.”
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 10:38am (EST)
Think about standing at one’s bedside, a Christian who has just passed away. There’s great joy attached there, but no one feels like clapping.
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 11:06am (EST)
“Upon the Rock Evangelism Method” – Phil Sanders
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 11:08am (EST)
Suggestions that everyone can do in personal evangelism:
1. Prayerfully identify people you want to reach (Col. 4:2).
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 11:09am (EST)
“It is clarity and boldness that we need, and we need it more and more in this day and time.” – PS
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 11:10am (EST)
Things everyone can do (cont’d.):
2. Pray fervently that those people may come to know the Lord.
3. Be a blessing to your friends.
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 11:11am (EST)
4. Invite each of those people to a meal, just to get better acquainted. Don’t have an agenda at first, just get to know them.
5. At an opportune time, ask them if there’s anything in their life that they’d like you to pray about.
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 11:12am (EST)
6. Invite them to worship and to Bible class.
7. When they come, be there for them. Greet them, be close to them, help them.
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 11:13am (EST)
During those times, make statements regarding how good the Lord has been to you. “A one sentence sermon can be good to get them thinking.”
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 11:13am (EST)
“Sometimes we assume the ‘how’ is very important, but people need to know the ‘why’ you became a Christian as well as the ‘how.'”
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 11:14am (EST)
“Conversion is inviting as well as a little bit of confrontation. Without inviting them to study and a little bit of confrontation during the study, there will be no conversion.” – PS
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 11:14am (EST)
Once they become a Christian, help them to grow. Don’t let these newborn Christians go by themselves.
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 11:15am (EST)
“If every church in your town were filled to capacity, there would still be more people away from church then at church.”
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 11:16am (EST)
“The only way you’ll ever have a Bible study with someone is to ask them. And ask them you must.”
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 11:18am (EST)
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 11:18am (EST)
Evangelism Handbook of New Testament Christianity by Phil Sanders
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 11:19am (EST)
(Those previous two posts are links, by the way. Sorry they don’t show up more obviously.)
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 11:30am (EST)
“Baptism is easy. Repentance is the tough part. You haven’t taught people the gospel if you haven’t taught them that repentance is necessary.”
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 11:37am (EST)
Sanders uses the parable of the wise and foolish builders to help people to see the difference between being wise and foolish, between obeying God and not obeying God.
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 11:38am (EST)
“I have never failed to help someone to see the truth, but that doesn’t mean that they’re going to obey it.” – PS
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 11:40am (EST)
The foolish man’s house might have looked far better than the wise man’s house looked. It may have been far more ornate, prettier, etc., but it wasn’t going to stand. At the end of the day, our goal is to stand.
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 06:14pm (EST)
Listening to Richard Sutton on “How Last Year’s PTP Led a Whole Congregation to Repentance.”
Cultivating a Spirit and Passion for Evangelism:
- Educate
- Motivate
- Activate
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 06:18pm (EST)
“For a while there, I forgot who I was. I’m not a sermon manufacturer. I’m not a preacher, I’m a REACHER.” – Richard Sutton on being convicted to making disciples after hearing a lesson from David Shannon on discipleship.
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 06:19pm (EST)
Sutton got back from PTP and preached a lesson on the second greatest commandment.
Matt. 22:37 Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 06:27pm (EST)
Sutton has been telling facts about the sinking of the Titanic.
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 06:27pm (EST)
“What happened on April 15, 1912 is really our story. As Christians we live in an ocean of lost humanity – man and women and teens who are drowning in sin.”
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 06:28pm (EST)
How can we enhance our love for our neighbors?
1. Remember that love crosses all human barriers.
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 06:29pm (EST)
“Our God is color blind when it comes down to souls.” – RS
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 06:30pm (EST)
2. Love cares (1 John 3:18).
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 06:36pm (EST)
3. Love is courageous.
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 06:39pm (EST)
4. Love moves into action (John 3:16; Rom. 5:8).
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 06:39pm (EST)
“Did you notice how love … is a verb? Love moves into action!” – RS
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 06:42pm (EST)
“I want you to stop what you’re doing right now and just listen. What do you hear? I hear it. I can’t stop hearing it. Everywhere I go, I hear the sound of dying people all around me. I’m sitting in traffic and I don’t hear traffic, I hear dying people. What are we going to do about it?”
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 06:43pm (EST)
INCREDIBLE lesson from Richard Sutton just concluded. Up next: Bob Prichard, “Why I Left the Southern Baptist Denomination.”
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 07:10pm (EST)
Why Bob Prichard left the Baptist church:
1. Church organization (local and national)
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 07:17pm (EST)
Why Bob Prichard left the Baptist denomination:
2. The Baptist manuals
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 07:17pm (EST)
Prichard says that, when he was in the Baptist denomination, he had never heard of the Baptist Manual. He didn’t think it even existed.
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 07:19pm (EST)
“The Baptist Manual: why is it necessary? I had no answer for that.” – Prichard
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 07:19pm (EST)
3. He left because of worship, most particularly the Lord’s Supper.
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 07:24pm (EST)
“We really need to work on, as God’s people, thinking about what the Lord’s Supper really means.”
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 07:26pm (EST)
Another thing about worship was instrumental music. Prichard says he sang in the choir while he was in the Baptist denomination. He says it’s important to answer the question: “is it by tradition or by biblical authority?”
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 07:26pm (EST)
“We need to be thoughtful about our worship.” – Prichard
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 07:27pm (EST)
We (in the church of Christ) are NOT “the people who don’t have music.” We have the music that God has authorized; we sing. The fact that we sing a cappella is not all that defines us. “Seems like Jesus said something else would define us” (John 13:35).
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 07:28pm (EST)
4. He left because of the Baptist name. Prichard thought the church was named after John the Baptist because he had been taught that John the Baptist started the Baptist denomination.
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 07:29pm (EST)
This is part of a doctrine that is called landmarkism.
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 07:30pm (EST)
Landmarkism was officially rejected by the Baptist convention a few years ago.
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 07:31pm (EST)
Prichard references the book, Not a Silent People: Controversies That Have Shaped Southern Baptists, for more info on this. Click here for the amazon link.
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 07:32pm (EST)
John was not a Baptist, but an immerser. “If you translate the word literally to be ‘immerse,’ you’ll do away with the Baptist religion.” – Prichard
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 07:33pm (EST)
Prichard considered himself a “Baptist-Christian.” They say, “I’m Christian, but I happen to be this flavor, or this kind of Christian.”
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 07:35pm (EST)
The New Testament teaches that we can be “just” Christians. We don’t have to be Baptist- or any other kind of Christians. Simply New Testament Christians.
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 07:36pm (EST)
5. Prichard left because of how he was added to the Baptist church. He was voted into it.
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 07:36pm (EST)
“I was voted into the Baptist church.”
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 07:37pm (EST)
“Why is it harder to get into the Baptist church than it is to become a Christian?” – Prichard
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 07:40pm (EST)
“It is God who determines what we do to become Christians, not man. … We must do what God tells us to be saved.”
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 07:40pm (EST)
6. Bob Prichard’s biggest struggle in leaving the Baptist denomination was baptism.
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 07:44pm (EST)
“I obeyed the gospel of Christ because I want to make sure I’m in the right church, the church of the New Testament. Baptist people are good people. They love God. But there’s only one church I can read about in the New Testament.” – Bob Prichard, former Baptist
Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 07:47pm (EST)
At the top of the hour: “Pornography Forum / General Assembly” with Bill Battles, Glenn Colley, and Jaime Harper
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 08:38am (EST)
Listening to “Happily Ever After: It’s Not Just a Fairy Tale” (Part 1) by Eddie Parrish
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 08:42am (EST)
“God never intended for marriage to be a short period of time so characterized by abject misery that half a dozen years is all someone could take of it!” – Eddie Parrish
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 08:48am (EST)
“God doesn’t want [your marriage] to be a drudgery and for the time to just drag on!” – EP
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 08:50am (EST)
“God says, ‘do this because what I say for you to do is what is best for you.'”
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 08:50am (EST)
God is infinite in His wisdom. He knows what is best for us.
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 08:50am (EST)
There is no problem that can arise in our marriages but what God has the answer.
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 08:51am (EST)
When God has given us the direction in marriage, there is no reason to doubt Him.
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 08:52am (EST)
God is infinite in love. He wants what is best for us.
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 08:53am (EST)
We have to trust God and not define happiness on our terms as though we know more about marriage and happiness than He does. God’s commands are for our good always (Prov. 3:5-8).
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 08:55am (EST)
“God wants husbands to lead because that’s what’s good for the family. God wants wives to submit because that’s what’s good for the family. God wants children to obey because that’s what’s good for the family. That may not make sense to our culture, but it’s not about making sense to our culture. It’s about trusting God and that’s it!” – EP
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 08:55am (EST)
“Following God’s pattern is the only way to insure ‘happily ever after.'”
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 08:56am (EST)
Now he wants to say some words to preachers about “happily ever after.”
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 08:56am (EST)
“It saddens me, and, to be honest, frustrates me because of the number of preachers we’ve lost to the world because of failed marriages.”
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 08:57am (EST)
“Let me be clear this morning, preacher: your marriage is not to be considered separate from the Lord’s work; your marriage IS the Lord’s work! God gave you both of these responsibilities! He expects you to fulfill BOTH of them!” – EP
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 08:59am (EST)
“Being an involved husband and father is NOT being disloyal to Jesus!”
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 08:59am (EST)
“Let us not hide behind ‘the Lord’s work’ when we are in the process of destroying our own homes because of our lack of involvement!” – EP
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 09:00am (EST)
Preacher, when you refuse to fulfill the responsibilities of husbands and fathers, you are not doing the Lord’s work.
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 09:04am (EST)
“Preachers … your wife and your kids do not need to be neglected because we have created some type of hostility between ‘the Lord’s work’ and your family responsibilities. God gave you those family responsibilities.”
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 09:05am (EST)
“Elders: sometimes we take our preachers away from their families because we have this thing to do and that thing to do.”
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 09:05am (EST)
If elders have meetings and other commitments for preachers every night of the week, then when is the preacher supposed to be with his family?
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 09:07am (EST)
“So many problems in our marriages can be alleviated and avoided in the first place if husbands and wives will communicate better … and in the right way”
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 09:07am (EST)
“Saying words is easy. Communicating takes work. If you haven’t figured out the difference, then it’s time to.” – EP
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 09:11am (EST)
How do we control our tongue?
1. Listen and understand before you speak.
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 09:33am (EST)
Up now: “Miracles are Parables of Instruction: No Joke! Jesus Healed Peter’s Mother-in-Law” (Matthew 8:14-15; Mark 1:30-31; Luke 4:38-39) by Wade Webster
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 09:36am (EST)
Jewish men had a tradition of thanking God that they were not as others were: slaves, Gentiles, or women.
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 09:37am (EST)
It seems that Peter’s mother-in-law was a widow. Maybe he had taken her into his house and was caring for her.
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 09:38am (EST)
Here’s the outline Webster was going to use today.
In this miracle, we see…
- A Great Sickness
- A Gracious Savior
- A Grateful Servant
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 09:39am (EST)
Instead, he’s adapting an outline from Warren Weirsbe, called “Miracles Can Happen at Home.”
1. INVITATION – Invite Jesus into your home.
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 09:45am (EST)
Some people are guilt of “leaving Jesus at the synagogue.” Not Peter.
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 09:45am (EST)
Jesus enjoyed going to peoples’ houses and sharing meals with them.
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 09:47am (EST)
Some of the homes Jesus was in:
- Matthew’s house (Matt. 9:10)
- Young couple at the marriage feast (John 2:1-2) – They wanted Jesus to be at their wedding.
- Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10) – Jesus was apparently reading Zacchaeus’ mind because Zacchaeus received Him gladly. That was exactly what Zacchaeus wanted.
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 09:48am (EST)
Think about the blessing these homes received because they opened up their homes to Jesus.
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 09:49am (EST)
The young couple in John 2 didn’t have much. In fact, they ran out of what they had. But Jesus was there.
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 09:50am (EST)
Everyone who invited Jesus into their homes received a blessing because they did so. If we will invite Jesus into our homes, then our marriages and families will be better.
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 09:50am (EST)
If Jesus were in your home – literally, visually standing there – do you think you could be more patient with your wife? Would you pray more? Would you have a devotional with your family? Would you complete your Bible reading?
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 09:51am (EST)
“Jesus Christ is the Head of this home; the unseen Guest at every meal, the silent Listener to every conversation.”
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 09:52am (EST)
In Mark 1:30-31, they immediately and urgently told Jesus about their problem, Peter’s sick mother-in-law.
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 09:53am (EST)
Isaiah 55:6
Seek the LORD while He may be found,
Call upon Him while He is near.
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 09:54am (EST)
Interestingly, Matthew doesn’t record the conversation. Instead, Matthew says Jesus saw what was wrong. Did they tell Him and then He examined it on His own? It seems as if Jesus noticed that she was sick and in bed, but it’s still honoring for us to tell Jesus about our problems. He knows all about our problems.
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 09:55am (EST)
Dr. Luke tells us that she had “a great fever” (using the terminology of the day for physicians). We would talk about a high fever or a low fever. A great fever was very serious for them.
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 09:57am (EST)
The Great Physician made a house call. Luke pictures Him as standing over her, showing Him as touching her and lifting her up.
“This is a Doctor who has a good bedside manner.” – Webster
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 09:57am (EST)
1 Peter 5:7
Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 09:58am (EST)
Cast all of your anxiety on Him. The language is a fisherman’s term. When you cast out those heavy fishing nets, your arms aren’t tired from carrying those nets anymore. When you go to God in prayer, that weight isn’t on you anymore.
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 09:59am (EST)
Psa. 55:22
Cast your burden on the LORD,
And He shall sustain you;
He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 09:59am (EST)
Philippians 4:6-7
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 10:00am (EST)
Daniel 3:16-17
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king.
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 10:01am (EST)
1. INVITATION – Invite Jesus into your home.
2. CONVERSATION – Tell Him about your troubles.
3. APPRECIATION – Show Him how much you love Him.
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 10:05am (EST)
When Peter’s mother was healed, she immediately got up and began to serve Him.
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 10:06am (EST)
**mother-in-law
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 10:07am (EST)
When Wade lived in northern Mississippi, he lived on a dirt road. When people went down it, the dust would stand in the air for 15 minutes. Peter’s mother-in-law was “stirring up dust” for Jesus.
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 10:07am (EST)
When you’ve had a fever, you know that it takes a couple of days to get to feeling totally well again. This wasn’t the case for people who were healed by Jesus.
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 10:08am (EST)
How much dust are we stirring up for Jesus?
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 10:10am (EST)
What would you think of Peter’s mother-in-law if she, having been healed, remained in bed for the rest of the day, not hurrying to get up and get back to work?
What about us when Jesus heals us of our sinfulness through His forgiveness and we don’t immediately go out and study with others, serve others, and do His will?
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 10:11am (EST)
This session has concluded. Up next: “Parenting on Purpose: Parenting with the End in Mind” by David Shannon. It begins at 10:30 (EDT).
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 10:50am (EST)
“If I could give any advice to our young parents in here today, I’d say get over the ‘best parent’ thing and be a godly parent.” – David Shannon
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 10:51am (EST)
We know where we came from
Gen. 1:26-27
26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
But do we know where we’re going?
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 10:52am (EST)
When a child is placed into his or her parents’ arms, they know where that child came from, but do they know where he or she is going? Do you live each day in awareness that your child has a soul that will be in eternity somewhere.
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 10:55am (EST)
2 Samuel 12:22-23
22 And he said, “While the child was alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who can tell whether the LORD will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ 23 But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.”
David knew his child was a gift from God, and he knew that, after that very short time with the child, the child returned to God.
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 10:56am (EST)
Young parents have about 20 years to firmly and greatly impact children for their eternity. They can’t relive any one of those years.
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 10:57am (EST)
“It becomes of great importance, then, that we recognize this important journey.”
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 10:59am (EST)
“Will we be willing to say to Satan, ‘Get behind us!’ when he stands in our way of getting ourselves and our children to heaven?” – DS
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 11:01am (EST)
Apply this verse to parenting:
Matthew 16:26
For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 11:02am (EST)
“Parents, we need to have a moral compass for our children, and this compass needs to point them to and take them to God.”
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 11:05am (EST)
The first time the Bible speaks of parenting:
Genesis 2:24
Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 11:05am (EST)
What does this verse tell us about parenting? That the children are leaving. You only have a short time.
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 11:10am (EST)
“Too often we raise children under the American mindset that no one ought to have to suffer.”
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 11:11am (EST)
“Look through the Bible and see if God ever apologizes to His people for sufferings. We’re not the kind of father that God is. We need to be more like God.” – DS
Monday, August 26, 2013 - 11:14am (EST)
“It hurts to hurt, but it’s not a bad thing to hurt.” – DS
Tuesday, August 27, 2013 - 08:25am (EST)
About to begin: “Happily Ever After: It’s Not Just A Fairy Tale” (Part 2) by Eddie Parrish
Tuesday, August 27, 2013 - 08:34am (EST)
Review from yesterday: God wants marriage to be something that we celebrate, that we revel in.
Tuesday, August 27, 2013 - 08:36am (EST)
A lot of the problems we have in our marriages are actually stemmed from poor communication within our marriages.
Tuesday, August 27, 2013 - 08:38am (EST)
In woodworking, you learn to measure twice and cut once. This is true of communication in marriage. Measure your words.
Tuesday, August 27, 2013 - 08:39am (EST)
Proverbs 15:28
The heart of the righteous studies how to answer,
But the mouth of the wicked pours forth evil.
Tuesday, August 27, 2013 - 08:40am (EST)
Proverbs 29:20
Do you see a man hasty in his words?
There is more hope for a fool than for him.
Tuesday, August 27, 2013 - 08:40am (EST)
“You cannot unscramble eggs. You cannot un-ring a bell. You cannot un-speak words.”
Tuesday, August 27, 2013 - 08:43am (EST)
THINK before you speak:
T – Is it true?
H – Is it helpful?
I – Is it inspiring? (Does it build up?)
N – Is it necessary?
K – Is it kind?
Tuesday, August 27, 2013 - 08:43am (EST)
How you say it is just as important as what you say.
Tuesday, August 27, 2013 - 08:44am (EST)
Colossians 4:6
Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
Tuesday, August 27, 2013 - 08:45am (EST)
Proverbs 15:1
A soft answer turns away wrath,
But a harsh word stirs up anger.
Tuesday, August 27, 2013 - 08:45am (EST)
“Marriage problems are never solved by shouting the potential solution.” – EP
Tuesday, August 27, 2013 - 08:46am (EST)
“Always communicate under the direction of the golden rule” – EP
Tuesday, August 27, 2013 - 08:48am (EST)
Good communication also involves knowing the “love language” of your spouse. “People communicate affection differently, and they tend to feel loved by means of the ‘love language’ they speak.”
See Gary Chapman’s book, The 5 Love Languages.
Tuesday, August 27, 2013 - 08:49am (EST)
The Five Love Languages (Dr. Gary Chapman):
- Words of Affirmation
- Acts of Service
- Receiving Gifts
- Quality Time
- Physical Touch
Tuesday, August 27, 2013 - 08:52am (EST)
We all appreciate all of these five things, but it’s likely the case the we fit into one of these more than the others.
Tuesday, August 27, 2013 - 08:53am (EST)
How can one communicate love in the best way that his or her spouse will understand it?
Tuesday, August 27, 2013 - 08:59am (EST)
When we learn the love language of our spouses, isn’t that the essence of Matthew 7:12?
Tuesday, August 27, 2013 - 09:00am (EST)
“Any way that we might better communicate with each other – words or actions – will improve our marriages.”
Tuesday, August 27, 2013 - 09:02am (EST)
“Happily Ever After” and Dating – Keep on winning his / her heart
Tuesday, August 27, 2013 - 09:06am (EST)
“The good news is that you don’t have to worry about the all of the negative parts of dating that you used to worry about!”
Tuesday, August 27, 2013 - 09:06am (EST)
You get all the good parts – romance, fun, surprise, discovery, undivided attention
Tuesday, August 27, 2013 - 09:07am (EST)
1 Peter 3:7
Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.
Tuesday, August 27, 2013 - 09:08am (EST)
“We’re not going to ‘dwell together with understanding’ if we don’t take the time to step away from our busy lives and just be with each other.”
Tuesday, August 27, 2013 - 09:10am (EST)
Put that time with your spouse on your schedule so that, when someone asks you to do something, you say, “I can’t. I already have an appointment.”
Tuesday, August 27, 2013 - 09:11am (EST)
Book: 40 Unforgettable Dates with Your Mate
Tuesday, August 27, 2013 - 09:15am (EST)
Summary:
- Truly believe that God knows what is best for your marriage.
- Truly believe that God wants you to enjoy your marriage.
- Demonstrate your belief in those things by committing to follow God’s commands for your marriage.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 07:38am (EST)
Tom Holland is speaking on “Preachers, Aim Higher!”
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 07:39am (EST)
He began by quoting 1 Timothy 4:1-6.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 07:39am (EST)
“I wish the people who have borrowed this dressing-down attire, would give it back to the people to whom it belongs. I dress for the Lord.” – TH
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 07:40am (EST)
Preachers ought to be the best preachers they can be. We are ministers, or servants. “I operate in that area.” – TH
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 07:41am (EST)
“Be a good minister by spending adequate time in preparation.”
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 07:44am (EST)
“Don’t ever forget that a minister is a servant. That’s what we do. We serve the spiritual needs of the people.” – TH
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 07:45am (EST)
2 Timothy 2:3
You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
Preachers must be soldiers – good soldiers.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 07:48am (EST)
“When you’re looking for an easy work, don’t look for preaching. Preaching can be hard, hard work. Preaching can be discouraging work.” – TH
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 07:49am (EST)
Preachers are evangelists (2 Tim. 4:1-5), that is, spreaders of good news.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 07:50am (EST)
“I believe this is a correct analysis of the news in America: ‘things are as bad as they can possibly get, but they’re going to get worse!'” – TH
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 07:50am (EST)
“I want to walk into a pulpit and give people hope!”
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 07:53am (EST)
Three reasons to aim as high as you can.
1. The Person for Whom we work – the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 15:58).
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 07:54am (EST)
2. Never forget the One with Whom we work (2 Cor. 6:1).
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 07:56am (EST)
3. Never forget the value of those whom you seek to serve (Mat. 16:26).
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 07:57am (EST)
“When I get to heaven and I can meet just one person whom God used me to teach and help to get there, then I will have not lived in vain” – TH
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 07:58am (EST)
“Let’s not accept mediocrity in our preaching. Let’s not accept ‘just getting by.’ Let’s aim high!” – TH
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 09:26am (EST)
About to begin: “Understanding Young Families and How to Reach Them with the Gospel” by Stephen Rogers
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 09:44am (EST)
According to David Kinnaman in You Lost Me, Young adults are more likely than any other age group to believe that Jesus sinned, to doubt the miracles He performed, and to announce skepticism about His resurrection.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 09:46am (EST)
“We better get back and talk to people about the nature of Christianity and about what faith is and that is it NOT blind speculation! There is reason for Christian faith!” – SR
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 09:48am (EST)
Many young adults see science and religion as enemies. They see empirical knowledge and faith as diametrically opposite concepts.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 09:49am (EST)
“Real science and God are not in conflict!” – SR
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 09:49am (EST)
Many young adults claim to be great multi-taskers; however, they are often very superficially committed to many of those tasks.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 09:53am (EST)
Rogers is going through various characteristics of young adults today.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 09:56am (EST)
Now: How can we reach young families with the gospel?
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 09:57am (EST)
1. Be absolutely genuine! Let them see your conviction, passion, sacrifice, and love for them.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 09:59am (EST)
2. Give them an opportunity to study the Bible.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 10:00am (EST)
“Young adult people are smart. They can understand the Bible. Open up the Bible with them.”
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 10:01am (EST)
3. Help them see the absolute trustworthiness of Christianity.
- “Christianity is a religion of intelligence and the heart!”
4. They need to understand that there is a God. They need to know him!
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 10:01am (EST)
5. Jesus Christ is man’s only Redeemer.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 10:09am (EST)
6. Tell them that life is about much more than just being happy. Every sinner needs salvation.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 10:10am (EST)
7. Life is about SO MUCH MORE than self. It is about sacrifice for God and others.
8. Show them HOW VITAL faith in Jesus is for their children in this world and in eternity.
- Parents need to understand that children are a gift from God that they must train / prepare for eternity.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 10:11am (EST)
“Parents need to be like Joshua. Children need mothers and grandmothers like Hannah, Lois and Eunice.”
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 10:12am (EST)
9. Let hem realize that they have choice! So many people are caught up in Calvinistic teaching that they have no choice in their salvation.
10. Show them the Lord’s call to holy living.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 10:14am (EST)
What should we do after teaching them the gospel?
- Remain friends even if they do not choose to submit to Christ.
- If they become Christians, continue to teach them!
- Congregations must DETERMINE to be families of love and peace where small children can grow up and have warm feelings about Christ, the Bible, and Christians!
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 10:15am (EST)
Lesson concluded. See you again at 10:30 AM (EDT).
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 10:36am (EST)
Now: “Parenting on Purpose: Parenting with the End in Mind” by David Shannon
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 10:37am (EST)
We’re beginning in Hebrews 12.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 10:38am (EST)
In Hebrews 12:7-8, a child who has parents who will not punish is likened to having no parents at all.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 10:40am (EST)
Children who have recognizable boundaries set for them and who have those boundaries enforced will feel safe.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 10:40am (EST)
“Children long to feel safe. … They do not feel safe unless they have healthy boundaries that are honored.” – DS
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 10:42am (EST)
Hebrews 12:11
Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 10:49am (EST)
“We have a lot of 20 and 30 year olds who don’t know who they are. In fact, they’ve never left adolescence.” – DS
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 10:53am (EST)
“We need to be respectful and mindful of a point in time that are kids are going through when they have so many changes, and they’re trying to wake up each day to figure out, ‘Who in the world am I?'” – DS
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 11:00am (EST)
When children are going through adolescence, it isn’t a parent’s job to swoop in and alleviate all of the problems. It’s the parent’s job to understand.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 11:01am (EST)
When children grow up and leave home, they need to have their own faith. God doesn’t have grandchildren.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 11:04am (EST)
Somewhere during adolescent years, teens will begin to even evaluate their parents about their values. “Are they always good to everyone?” “Are they consistent with Christianity?”
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 11:05am (EST)
“Parents, we have failed if our children are riding on our coattails of faith!” – DS
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 11:06am (EST)
How beautiful it is when parents help their adolescent children find their identity, especially their religious identity as Christians, a new creation.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 11:06am (EST)
It shouldn’t be “they look a lot like their mom and dad in faith.” It should be “they look a lot like Jesus in their faith.”
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 11:08am (EST)
Have the moral discussions with your adolescents about abortion, evolution, etc. so that, when they leave home, they will have already wrestled with those issues in their minds.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 11:09am (EST)
“We have to let our kids see ahead of time that they are going to see some significant moral changes in their world. I’m not talking about the world we live in, I’m talking about their world, the world that changes around them because their friends aren’t living a righteous life.” – DS
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 11:11am (EST)
Don’t compare your children among their siblings. Don’t compare your child to your personality or skill set.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 11:15am (EST)
Session just concluded. Lunch time!
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 12:49pm (EST)
Now hearing Mike Vestal on “Great Commandment Preaching (Dealing with logos, ethos, and pathos in preaching)”
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 12:53pm (EST)
Preaching is…
- the proclamation
- of divine truth
- by human personalities
- to human personalities
- to achieve the desired result
- to the glory of God.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 12:55pm (EST)
Some preachers may love to study, but are constantly in their study to the neglect of other responsibilities. This isn’t great commandment preaching (Mat. 22:37-39).
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 12:56pm (EST)
Others may be very charismatic and great with people, but this alone isn’t great commandment preaching. The power is to be in the gospel, not in your personality.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 12:56pm (EST)
Logos has to do with the content of the sermon – the words, the logic, etc.
“Gospel preaching is more than logos, but it can NEVER be less.” – Mike Vestal
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 12:57pm (EST)
Logos impacts our view of God. “We have the amazing realization that God has spoken! He’s real! He’s personal! He has disclosed Himself!”
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 12:57pm (EST)
Logos affects our view of Jesus. God has spoken through His Son!
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 12:58pm (EST)
“The preacher stands before a congregation absolutely convinced that it will make a difference!” – MV
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 12:59pm (EST)
Logos affects our view of Scripture. “You have to be absolutely convinced that what you’re holding in your hand is God’s Word.”
“You must not allow holy things to become heartless habitual!” – MV
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 01:00pm (EST)
We deal with the bride of Christ, purchased with His blood. “Even when our message is one of warning and rebuke, we must ever be motivated by love for what Jesus loved enough to die for!” – MV
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 01:00pm (EST)
Logos affects our love for the church.
Logos affects our love for souls.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 01:01pm (EST)
The task of preaching is to observe, interpret and apply appropriately what is in the Bible.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 01:02pm (EST)
Now, love as seen is ethos.
Ethos has to do with the preacher’s character (his integrity, his example).
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 01:02pm (EST)
Ethos has to do with the perception of care that people think you have for them.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 01:03pm (EST)
“Cold, frozen hearts in the pulpit produce a frigid lack of spirituality in the pew.” – MV
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 01:05pm (EST)
In REAL gospel preaching, absolutely EVERYTHING is filtered through the Word. It comes from the Word and is filtered through the Word. Most of all, YOU must be filtered through the Word.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 01:05pm (EST)
The devil will try to get to you through a lack of character (Phil. 1:27).
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 01:06pm (EST)
2 Corinthians 4:5
For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 01:07pm (EST)
Gospel preachers are not trying to be “somebody.” They’re not trying to be a “great preacher” or to preach “great” sermons or to preach for a “great” church. Our desire is to preach a GREAT God and a GREAT salvation. These are character, ethical issues.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 01:07pm (EST)
Now, love, as seen in pathos.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 01:08pm (EST)
Pathos has to do with the emotive features of our sermons, our teaching, and our lives.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 01:09pm (EST)
Preaching necessitates the ALL of the one speaking.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 01:10pm (EST)
“You cannot deal with the things of God and the amazing nature of God and remain untouched by it! That’s going to come out in your preaching, your teaching, and the very core of your being! It matters! It makes a difference!” – MV
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 01:11pm (EST)
Why do some preachers get so excited about a ball game but you’d never know they were excited when they preach.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 01:12pm (EST)
“Sometimes … we have forgotten that there is a purpose for emotionalism in the pulpit and in the classroom” – MV
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 01:12pm (EST)
Preaching has been described as “theology on fire.” If people think you’re preaching fire while you’re seated on ice, there’s a problem.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 01:14pm (EST)
Pathos has to be done in a way that is…
- … consistent with the content of the message.
- … consistent with the intent of the message.
- … consistent with the personality of the preacher who is following the Will of God.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 01:14pm (EST)
How can we preach on the Lord’s Supper and feel nothing? How can we preach on the promises of God and feel nothing?
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 01:15pm (EST)
Do not pit pathos against logos and / or ethos.
They all have their biblical place and ought to be respected.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 01:18pm (EST)
Logos, pathos, and ethos are the three musketeers of preaching.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 01:22pm (EST)
Up next: “Alzheimers and Dementia 101: What It Is and What Causes It” by Don Williams
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 01:35pm (EST)
In any given audience, 50% of the people will either experience dementia one day or will know someone who experiences it.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 01:37pm (EST)
Two components of someone having Alzheimer’s disease:
- Family history
- The age that someone with Alzheimer’s acquired the disease.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 01:38pm (EST)
When someone turns 90 years old, the chances significantly decrease that one will have AD (Alzheimer’s disease).
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 01:38pm (EST)
With AD, short term memory is often affected before long term memory.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 01:40pm (EST)
Head trauma is the leading cause for Dementia among young adults (head injuries caused by sports, automobile, and motorcycle crashes). 200,000 people in America under 65 have Dementia.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 01:40pm (EST)
10% of people ages 65 and older will develop AD.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 01:40pm (EST)
With Dementia, there is a direct connection to the loss of neurons in the brain.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 01:42pm (EST)
To an AD patient, a black rubber mat is often perceived as a hole and they will not step on it.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 01:43pm (EST)
Singing from Monday night
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 01:44pm (EST)
There are 5.4 million Americans afflicted with AD.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 01:44pm (EST)
“Alzheimer’s disease is a disease of the brain and not of the soul.” – Don Williams
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 01:45pm (EST)
10% of people over 65 and 47% over 85 have Dementia.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 01:47pm (EST)
Dementia is the permanent loss of multiple intellectual functions. Symptoms include:
- Loss of memory (especially short-term memory)
- Confusion
- Problems with speech and understanding
- Changes in personality and behavior
- Increase reliance on others for activities of daily living
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 01:49pm (EST)
Dementia damages the governing parts of the brain, causing people who suffer with Dementia to often say and act in ways that they never would have before.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 02:00pm (EST)
C. S. Lewis says that caregivers continually ask themselves the same question: “Who am I?”
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 02:07pm (EST)
Don Williams just concluded. I’ll see you again here at 2:30 (EDT) for Wade Webster on “Miracles are Parables of Instruction: The Devils Inside (Matt. 8:28-34; Mark 5:1-15; Luke 8:27-39)”
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 02:40pm (EST)
How do you think Jesus would be received if He appeared on earth again? We often think that if our loved ones could see just one great miracle, then they would believe. However, He would likely be rejected today just as He was then. After this miracle (casting out the demons), the people begged Him to depart from their region (Mat. 8:34).
Outline:
- The Men, Miserably Possessed
- The Messiah, Mightily Confessed
- The Multitude, Materially Obsessed
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 02:41pm (EST)
First, the men. Matthew uniquely records that there were two men.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 02:44pm (EST)
This is not a single demon that was driven out, but a legion of demons!
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 02:45pm (EST)
“These men are possessed by an army of demons!” Roman legions were 3,000 men strong at the least and could have been as many as 6,000 men.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 02:48pm (EST)
These demons were destructive. They were causing this man to cut himself.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 02:49pm (EST)
“I think that this is but a small picture of the lot of those who ultimately cast their lot with the devil.” – WW
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 02:51pm (EST)
“Imagine the misery of having one demon in you, but this man had thousands. Imagine the misery of having one night like this, but his man had many nights like this.” – WW
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 02:56pm (EST)
Second, look at the Messiah who is mightily confessed.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 02:56pm (EST)
The demons believed and confessed Christ, but were not willing to obey Him (cf. James 2:19).
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 02:59pm (EST)
Demons existed at that time in order for Jesus to show His power at that time in that realm. Demons aren’t around today.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 03:01pm (EST)
These demons knew who Jesus was. They called Him the Son of God (Mat. 8:29). Really, they knew more about Jesus than the Jews did.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 03:02pm (EST)
Even the demons didn’t want to go to the abyss! That ought to tell you how horrible that place is.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 03:03pm (EST)
These demons saw and submitted to the authority of Christ (cf. Phil. 2:10).
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 03:04pm (EST)
With one word, the demons were cast out. Jesus said, “Go.”
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 03:05pm (EST)
What has Jesus asked us to do? Hasn’t he asked us to go (Mat. 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-16)? What a shame if the demons obey His command, but we don’t.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 03:14pm (EST)
So often we get so caught up on the things of this world and we miss who we really are.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 03:14pm (EST)
Jesus would not stay where He was not wanted. It’s the same way now. If you don’t Him in your life, then He won’t be in it.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 03:15pm (EST)
Are we telling the story of the great things God has done for us?
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 03:15pm (EST)
That’s it for this afternoon of live blogging. Thanks for reading!
