Author Archive
The Struggle of Prayer
In my experience as a pastor, I have met few people who do not struggle with prayer. This is true for me as well. Whenever I am called upon to teach on prayer or even in the mornings when I try to practice the discipline of prayer, I struggle because I know this is a discipline I can always be improving upon. I’m just being honest. The hard thing for me is that I know as an elder it is one of my main responsibilities (If we understand the apostolic duties to be what should be done by elders of today’s church, Acts 6:4). I also know that prayer is not something that is only for a certain time of day. It is something I should be in the practice of throughout the day. One of the practices I try to follow is, when someone asks me to pray or I recognize that I should pray for someone (in that they have come to me to tell me of a situation in their life, etc.), I should pray with them right there and then. Just a few thoughts that have been bouncing around in my head this morning.
Book Review – G.O.S.P.E.L by Damon Horton
Damon Horton, the author of G.O.S.P.E.L 1, is a pastor, Bible college professor, author (obviously) and Christian Hip-Hop artist . Yes, you read correctly, I said Christian Hip-Hop artist, (his stage name is Azriel. And for those of you out of touch, this means he raps, if you still don’t get it, then never mind.). If you are familiar with the likes of Lecrae or shai linne, then Damon’s solidly biblical content will be no surprise to you. It is also no surprise that his book is just the same.
In G.O.S.P.E.L. Horton attempts to take the street lingo he was used to in his days before Christ when he was a pusher, to communicate the gospel to those who come from a similar background. This book is written mainly for the urban dweller, the inner-city folk, who Horton identifies as having cultural roots in the church, but very little knowledge of the true hope that is in Christ. However, don’t expect this to be a watered down contextualized message. Though this book is small, it is meaty with a strong Biblically substantiated gospel message, that does not leave the reader wondering where Horton stands on issues like repentance and lordship.
The reason the title is spelled the way it is, is that Horton uses it as an acrostic: G–God’s Image, O–Open Fellowship, S–Sin Introduced, P–Penalty and Price, E–Enter Jesus and L–Life Everlasting. In each chapter the author addresses these issues from Scripture interspersing it with what he calls Thebonics (Theological Ebonics) to flavor the truth with street language. Again, Horton never allows this to detract from the beauty of Scripture and the clear message of man’s sin and his need of repentance and faith. Each chapter also includes a rap that Horton wrote to coincide with the topic he is addressing. He also recorded an album which features each of these songs.
Not only does Horton tell the reader how they can be made right with God through Christ’s death and resurrection, but in a chapter called “What Now?” he also communicates how the reality of one’s conversion can only be known through a lifestyle that reflects what they’ve said they believed.
The most encouraging part about the book is every time I thought the author was going to concede a strong point, to aid in “not being offensive” to the urban dweller in presenting the gospel, he shocked me with solidly Biblical responses. For instance, Horton encourages the reader that skin color or style has nothing to do with the effectiveness of gospel communication in certain contexts, but reminds us that “the Holy Spirit is responsible for bringing regeneration to the sinner, not the church or our methods. Minorities in the inner city are in need of the same gospel that is preached to the white-collar CEO in the suburbs.”
It is because of this kind of balanced approach that I can highly recommend Damon Horton’s book to you, both as an encouragement to your heart, as well as an extended gospel tract.
- G.O.S.P.E.L. is published by Moody Press ↩
Parents, instruct your children.
The Scriptures call us as parents to not provoke our children to anger, but to raise them in the discipline and instruction of the Lord (Eph. 6:4). We should know that this is both formal and informal. We are to do this as those who sit and read the Scriptures and discuss them, praying together and singing together. We are to also live in such a way that what we instruct is also how we live (Deut 6:4-9). This is our calling!
This does not replace the church. We must be a part of a local assembly, showing humility by submitting ourselves to godly leadership and serving the body (Eph 4:1-16; Heb 13:17).
For the formal aspects of discipleship I would recommend you use something like Bruce Ware’s book Big Truths for Young Hearts. In it Dr. Ware does a great job of explaining the truths of Scripture in a down to earth and bite sized way. For you as parents, wanting to learn what it means to formally and informally instruct your children I recommend Shepherding Your Child’s Heart by Tedd Tripp. Tripp also has other volumes that are helpful in this area. Here is his Amazon page.
More than instruction to any of you who read this, this is a reminder to me of my responsibility as I seek to honor God through the rearing of my children. Parenting is a joyful, heart wrenching, complex, wonderful and exciting venture. I have enjoyed my 12+ years of it and it really does become more of a joy as the days go by. I know that there are always times when I wish I had done better and those time will still come. I know there were times when I was disappointed and that those times are still to come. If parenting has taught me one lesson over and over again, it is that if I can be disappointed in sin and be grieved over it when my kids continue in it, yet I love them still, and at that imperfectly; how much more does my Heavenly Father, who has loved me infinitely, though I know I can grieve him, continue to love me perfectly.
What do I do when I unintentionally let someone down?
Whenever I have the occasion to do membership interviews, one of the points I bring up is the reality that I and my fellow elders will eventually, though hopefully unintentionally, let that person down. I learned the importance of stating this from my teaching pastor, from observing him saying those exact words in membership interviews. He generally states it like this, “We want you to know, we as elders are just mere men. We will eventually, with all of our best intentions, unfortunately, we will eventually let you down.”
As a pastor this is a hard thing to admit. I’m thankful for the candid way my pastor has dealt with this reality and that I have learned to not only say this, but how God has allowed me to experience it as well. Yes, I know it comes as a shock, but I have let people down. In fact I hate to say it happens all the time. The reason we let people know this is because people tend to put pastors/elders on pedestals and to some degree there is cause for this to a certain degree. Elders are held to a higher accountability (1 Tim 3:1-7, Titus 1:5-9, 1 Peter 5:1-4) and the congregation is held to a standard of conduct in regard to their leaders (Heb 13:17). So it’s understandable that when a pastor/elder disappoints a member of the flock that it can be a huge let down.
The question then is, “What do I do, as a pastor, when I unintentionally let someone down?” We must do what the Scriptures tell us. We must humble ourselves (1 Pet. 3:8) and seek forgiveness and reconciliation with those whom we serve (Matt. 5:23-24).
This does several things. First, it puts actions to the words spoken about sometimes disappointing people unintentionally. If I am unwilling to admit that I am wrong or have done wrong, then I am a proud leader, who is not willing to serve the body rightly. Secondly, it allows me to be a “real person” to that other person and should hopefully take away the possible “pedestal” they have placed me on. Thirdly, it allows me to exhibit the kind of humility that Paul calls us to in Phil 2:3-11. Fourthly, it engenders trust between me and that person. Fifthly, it makes the next unintentional disappointment a little bit of a softer blow. Lastly, and most importantly, hopefully it points to our need of ultimate dependence on Christ and not men.
Understand, by these things I am not stating that pastors/elders should not do their best at fulfilling promises and everything that is included in shepherding the flock. This is a non-negotiable in the mind of Paul in Acts 20:28, as we see that it is the precious blood of Jesus that has purchased the flock we oversee. But their are times, even with the best of intentions and the hardest striving, that we will disappoint our flock.
The One I Forgot
In writing on blogs I will follow in 2012, I would be remiss to not include my friend and fellow champion of the gospel, Dr. Thad Bergmeier. Thad is the pastor of Cornerstone Bible Church in Middlefield, OH and the author of Helping Johnny Listen, which you must read. It is a book that is written from the perspective of the hearer of the sermon. We must not forget that we as the listener play a vital role in the preaching event. This is a part of worship! Buy Thad’s book, read it and apply it. It’s a great read for pastors as well! Read his blog as well and be blessed!
