Leadership in the Church 4

Hello "Christ-seekers!" I hope you all have been doing well. I have been away for a while and have truly missed writing so let's get right to it. We have been discussing the topic of Leadership in the Church. We talked about the Pastor's role as a Leader and how important it is to choose the right Shepherd. We also talked about the role of the sheep and how it is important to follow the Shepherd. As sheep we need to be able to support the man of God. But today's topic is going to be a little more thought provoking. What happens when your Pastor falls? How do you overcome the deception? This was a very hard topic for me.  It is going to take more than a day to discuss it. I know that it is important not to put your trust in man. God is the only one we should put our trust in. But God does call leaders to the church and it is their duty to follow his Word and Lead the flock.We are being plagued by headlines in the media which do not paint flattering pictures of the Leadership in the church. We have Pastor's who have been accused of stealing money, committing adultery, practicing homosexual acts and most recently child pornography. What do you do as a congregation? I have often asked this question of so many people. I have gotten a ton of responses from we all fall short, we have to forgive and we should not put so much stock into man but should only be worshipping God. All of these things are true, but just because we have to forgive and we know everyone makes mistakes, should we negate the fact that some of are Leadership should be held accountable. Is it even our right? For the next few days I would like to explore this. I would like to discuss the fall of a Leader, how it affects the church and the world and how you heal from the hurt. I would love to hear from you. We will continue discussing this tomorrow so please join, "The Truth of the Matter. Knowing the truth about everything really does matter.

Leadership in the Church 3

Hello all!!! Hope today was a good one for you. So, yesterday we spoke on what a Pastor's role is. It is important to choose someone who lives by example and teaches you the truth! But what is your role? How many of you know that you play a role too? Acts 2:42 could be considered a purpose statement for the church: “They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” According to this verse, the purposes/activities of the church should be the following: We must be taught the correct biblical doctrines. We must be able to fellowship with other believers. We must observe communion. And we must all pray. The church is also to equip believers in Christ with the tools they need to overcome sin and remain free from the pollution of the world. This is done by biblical teaching and Christian fellowship. That is why it is so important to have an effective Leader. Your Pastor should be doing the same thing! Knowing our roles and what our responsibilities are help us to join together in being effective witnesses as commanded in the "Great Commission," (Matthew 28:16-20) Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Tomorrow we will discuss what happens when a Pastor falls and how a congregation rebounds after the hurt. Thanks again for reading "The Truth of the Matter. Knowing the truth about everything really does matter."

Leadership in the Church 2

Hello "Christ-seekers!!" We are continuing our discussion of Leadership in the church. Why do we need Pastors? (Hebrews 10:17) says, "Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you." So we have leaders in our life to keep watch over us and to guide us. Much like countries have Presidents, corporations have CEO's and churches have Pastors. So it is very imporant that are leaders are chosen carefully. What makes a good leader? In my opinion, one of the best attributes a leader can have is to lead by example. There is nothing worse than a someone who is appointed to lead and does not live what he/she preaches. For me to want to follow you I have to know that you have been through and overcame some of the obstacles that I will be facing. It is easier for me to respect someone that I know lives right. Now that is just how I feel, but what does the Bible say? Peter confirms the interchangeable nature of the words "pastor" and "elder," when he exhorts the "elders" to "be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers – not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve" (I Peter 5:2, NIV). The word "elder" is also used, on occasion, to denote an older person (I Timothy 5:1), but a pastor need not be an "elder" in the sense of age. Timothy, after all, was evidently fairly young (his mother and grandmother both apparently still living) and was taking over as head pastor in Ephesus (I Timothy 4:12). A pastor is, however, not to be a "novice" to the Christian faith (I Timothy 3:6) and must accept the responsibility of leading by example (I Timothy 4:12). A Pastor's responsibility is very great. He is charged by the Word of God to "feed the flock". I believe that feeding the flock implies feeding God's people His Word. It is the Shepherd, or, Pastor's responsibility to not only understand and study the bible for himself, but also to pass on his knowledge to the members of his church through teaching and preaching. So now we are clear why we have Pastors. Tomorrow we are going to discuss what the sheep's responsibility is in following the man of God and what we should look for when looking for a good leader. So tune in tomorrow for "The Truth of the Matter. Knowing the truth about everything really does matter!"

Leadership in the Church

Hello my faithful "Christ Seekers." Did you all enjoy your weekend?!! Mine was busy!!!! But I could not wait to write on this topic. Leadership in the church has been causing a lot of discussion lately. With headlines in the news of fallen Pastors and scandals every time you turn around. Believers become discouraged and sinners justify their lifestyle by what is going on in the church and more importantly the lack of solid leadership that is occurring. The definition of a president is the highest executive officer of a modern republic, as the Chief Executive of the United States. His role is to oversee our entire country. He is responsible for our well being as a people and should be leading us correctly by his example. The Pastor is the same for the church. 
God states that a godly pastor shares precepts from God’s Word because he desires not only to serve God but to feed the flock the spiritual food that will result in their experiencing the abundant life Jesus promised (John 10:10b). The Pastor's job is to guide his flock. So what happens when the Pastor is out of order? What happens when the leadership falls? This week I would like to explore this. What is your opinion of leadership in the church? What is the Pastor's responsibility? I want to talk this week about what their roles are in the church, the role of the congregation, how to identify "false prophets" and what to do when a leader has fallen! And let me tell you, as I began to study this topic there is very much a difference between Godly leaders and world leaders.  We are equipped as men and women in Christ to determine the correct kind of leadership.Tomorrow I want to discuss more in depth the role of a pastor and why we need leadership in the church. Tell me what you think. Stay tuned for tomorrow's blog "The Truth of the Matter. Knowing the truth about everything really does matter.". 

Overcoming Sin 4

Hello everyone!! Hope you all have been having a great week!!! How much are you thinking about the actions you are taking? How many of you want to be sin free? How many of you think it is possible? Well, it is. The conclusion of this series is the hope that we can and will overcome sin! The answer to overcoming sin is accepting Jesus Christ!! You have to be born again. In (John 3: 3-8), it is explained: Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.” Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” Believing in Jesus Christ is our way out of sinning. He sacrificed his life for our sins. “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Accepting Jesus allows us to be strong against sin and to follow the ways of the Lord. The Spirit is inside all of us and allows us to overcome the sin nature and fight off the urge to come against Christ. In (Galatians 5)  Paul says, So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.In a nutshell, you have the ability to choose good and do not kid yourself into thinking you never have the ability to be sin free. For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16). So we do have the ability to live sin free. Because Jesus did not have the sin nature His death and resurrection allowed us to be free of sin ruling our lives. His completed sacrifice for us gives us the power to overcome sin!!! The fact that each person ever born possesses a sin nature is verified by human experience and the Word of God. The good news is that Christ provides a way of conquering the inherited sin nature and a victory that can be experienced both in this life and the next. No matter how bad off the person is, Jesus can defeat the sin that enslaves him. I pray that we all get a revelation of the power that we are equipped with. I also pray that we be delivered from any sin that keeps us bound. We are more than conquerors, so let's live right. Tune in next week for "The Truth of the Matter. Knowing the truth about everything really does matter." 

Overcoming Sin 3

Good Evening Christ-Seekers!!! Have you been thinking about the "sin nature?" Just to recap our previous discussions we have been talking about the origin of sin and how it becomes a part of our lives. We know that we are all sinners before we know Christ. We also know that once we receive Christ we are not exempt from having to make decisions about right and wrong. At this point, the war begins because your flesh will battle with your Spirit. We have to choose to submit to the Spirit. Today we are going to talk about the effects of sin in your life. Have you ever been around someone who is always negative? They never seem to have anything positive to say? Have you ever known people who are jealous of everything you do? Have you ever known people who lie without so much as a second thought to it? Do you know people who can sleep around, drink and cuss without any regards to the people they hurt or who may be around them? Do you know people who are always trying to make money and no matter what they have to do when they get it they are never satisfied? Well, I am sure we all know several of these individuals if not all of them. We encounter all kinds of people in our walk with Christ. The reason people are like this is because of sin. Sin is a disconnection from God. It separates you from the love of Christ. When you do not acknowledge Him you do not have the Holy Spirit on the inside of you. This will make you do the things of the world which are (Galatians 5:19-21)
sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. These actions will not allow you to inherit the Kingdom of God and living this way will leave you unsatisfied. Eventually, sin can also lead to an eternal separation from God. God’s wrath remains on those who are not born again (John 3:36), and so their destiny is only one of judgment, which is spelled out in the book of Revelation: "Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:14-15). Really think about the effects of sin in your life. No one should want to live this way! The hope is that there is way out of sin and it does not have to rule your life. We will discuss that tomorrow. Thank you again for joining the "Truth of the Matter. Knowing the truth about everything really does matter"!!!

Overcoming Sin 2

Hello All! I could not wait to get back to this subject today. So I told you to think about "bad people." Who do you consider bad? Why do people do bad things? Well we started with the origin of sin and that we inherited it from Adam's disobedience. So mankind has a sin nature. The Bible provides the answer as to why every person sins. Scripture says that God created humankind originally good and without a sin nature: "Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness. . . . God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (Genesis 1:26-27). However, Genesis chapter 3 records the fall of Adam and Eve, and with that fall, sin entered into the two previously sinless creatures that God had made. And when they, in turn, had children, their sin nature was passed along to their offspring. That sin nature immediately manifested itself in the very first man born from Adam and Eve, a man named Cain who became a murderer (Genesis 4:8). First, some people think that a sin nature means that a person cannot tell right from wrong or behave in a ‘good’ manner towards someone else. That is not true.
In fact, the Bible says each person is equipped by God with a conscience that instinctively knows right and wrong. A sin nature does not mean that every person will be as bad as they can possibly be but the degrees of wickedness in each person will vary. Lastly, some Christians have been taught that they lose their sin nature once they receive Christ as their Lord and Savior. But Scripture says that the sin nature remains after a person becomes a believer in Christ and that a struggle with that sin nature will continue until they are glorified in eternity. So each one of us has the ability to be bad or good. That answers one question. We all are bad to some degree. We start off sinful. It is up to us to apply good choices to our lives. Some of us are raised well and have a good foundation. Others have had more challenging upbringings which caused them to be cold and bitter. Unresolved hurt can also cause anger in your life. These are all foundations that may cause a person to choose evil or over good. Someone who does not have hope or never accepts accountability for the wrong done in their life can also choose to live for evil. As we continue to dig deeper into this subject begin to wonder about your actions. Do you live to do good or do you find yourself on the opposite end? Examine yourself. In the next couple of days we will discuss the repercussions of sin and finally how to overcome it! Let me hear from you. Join us tomorrow for "The Truth of the Matter. Knowing the truth about everything really does matter."

Overcoming Sin

Good day "Christ-seekers!" I was really torn on what I would begin to write about this week. This blog is so near and dear to me and the more I write the more sensitive I am becoming about the things I am doing in my life right or wrong. My daughter and I were talking this weekend about the "Tot Mom" trial. My daughter has an extreme desire to be an attorney and is obsessed with trials and case studies so she has been following this case daily. We were driving in the car and she said she hoped Casey Anthony would not go to jail. Inside I became irritated by that comment. I have always felt like she hurt her child. Then my daughter said she did not believe she killed her daughter. So calmly I explained that we may never know what happened to her daughter but God knows. I told her the only thing I pray is that she did not do that to her child. I also said that it is hard for me to believe how someone could look at their child and do them harm! I said my prayers are that she really did not do that to her child! So that brought up the question from my daughter, "Why do people do bad things?" That is a simple enough question, right? The more I pondered over it, the more complex it became to me. There are so many reasons why some people do bad things. I begin to study the origin of it. The basis of all evil is sin. Sin is described in the Bible as transgression of the law of God (1 John 3:4) and rebellion against God (Deuteronomy 9:7; Joshua 1:18). Sin had its beginning with Lucifer who was one of the most beautiful angels in Heaven. He desired to be higher than God and that was his downfall. Renamed satan he brought sin to mankind in the Garden of Eden. So sin was inherited from Adam.  Romans 5:12 tells us that through Adam sin entered the world, and so death was passed on to all men because “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). So we became sinners by nature. As I continued to study I felt like this subject needs to be explored. There are so many "Christians" that live day to day engulfed in sin. It is so easy to convince yourself that you are not doing anything wrong. Sometimes we can be the "kings" and "queens" of justification. We are going to go through this subject step by step. Let me know what you think. In the next week or so we are going to talk about why sin is in our lives and if we can overcome it. There is a way to overcome sin in your life. For now I would like to hear from you. Why do you think people do bad things? Do you think people desire to be bad? How do you handle bad people? Who do you consider bad people? I would like for us to really dig deep into this topic so that we can try to overcome any sin that is keeping us from being free in our life! Have a thought provoking evening! And tune in tomorrow for "The Truth of the Matter." Knowing the truth about everything really does matter!"

God Over Possessions 2

Hello again!!! Sorry for the delay in the post. The most recent discussion was regarding the love we have for possessions over the love we have for God. We all know that we must "first seek the kingdom of Heaven and His righteousness and all things will be added unto you"(Matthew 6:33). So basically living right is the key. We further went on to discuss why it is so hard for us to live right and to do the right things. Today we are going to note steps that we can take in order to get closer to God and follow righteousness:
Step 1-Pray without ceasing. You have to continually communicate with God. Even if it is just your personal thoughts during the day or praise and worship at night. The more you speak to God the more you will hear from Him. You will become strengthened in His Word and you will become more committed and obedient. Your constant communication allows the Holy Spirit to connect to you so things you used to do you won't want to do anymore.
Step 2-Study the Word. the only way you can follow God is to know what He wants from you. The only way you know what He wants is to study it. "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God,"(Romans 10:17). So the more you study, the more knowledge you will gain on what direction God wants you to go in.
Step 3-Admit when you are wrong. Confession brings you closer to God. It means you are being accountable and acknowledging what you are wrong about so that God can help you. This action will allow you to stay away from strongholds that will keep you farther and farther from God.
Step 4- Be obedient. Do what the Word says and you will just feel better.
Step 5- Share your walk with someone else. When you have to be accountable to others it helps you stay on a straighter path. You want to be a good example to people and the best spiritual leaders are those that follow what they preach! Have a blessed weekend and holiday and stay tuned to next week topic. And remember "Knowing the truth about everything really does matter!!"