Air Date May 8, 2016: This week we talked about the followup sessions we are holding after the conference we held the previous day.
evangelism
Live Life Unfiltered – Sober Minded
This week we have been looking at the concept of living life unfiltered and have seen how it combines evangelism, discipleship, and accountability together. Then last time we saw how because of how exposure to the truth convicts us and shows one need for accountability to keep us from straying because of the convictions we face. Today we will finish up this concept by looking at 2 Timothy 4:5, “As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”
Sober-minded
Paul now personalizes his warning to Timothy by telling him to be sober-minded. What Paul is saying here is to remain faithful to the truth and not deviate from it. To be sober-minded is to be level-headed, vigilant, steadfast, and unwavering in your beliefs. The opposite of being sober to us would be the concept of being drunk, when you think of a drunk you see that their senses are dulled, and they are not in their best state of mind. It is when we are in this drunk state spiritually that we can be easily led astray. Again this is why accountability is so important. We have seen in past weeks how we need fellowship with other believers, accountability is just another aspect as we cannot be a Lone Ranger Christian; we are to help keep each other to be sober-minded to keep us from straying.
Endure Suffering
The next thing Paul tells Timothy is to endure suffering. We are never guaranteed an easy life once we become Christians, in fact we are told the opposite. You see we need to surround ourselves with those that will encourage and lift us up when we face suffering. That are willing to keep us faithful to Christ when we feel like we are ready to throw in the towel to avoid suffering. In turn we are then to be willing to do the same for them. It is much like when changing your diet or starting an exercise program. If you do it by yourself, eventually you will quit for some reason or another. However, if you have just one other person that is willing to encourage you and check on how you are doing you are more likely to continue on. The Christian life is much the same, things will come up that if you are by yourself you will eventually give up, but if you are in fellowship with others it makes it easier to bear.
Evangelism And Ministry
Paul finishes this out by telling Timothy to do the work of an evangelist and to fulfill his ministry. What this means is to first share the Gospel; Paul is basically restating what he said at the beginning “preach the word.” The second part of fulfilling your ministry is what I would like to focus on. As men one of our ministries is that of being the spiritual leader in our homes. We are to be leading and pointing our families to God. The way we do this is to again lead by example; we are to ourselves be drawing near to God, showing our families how they are to focus on God themselves. This is again why fellowship and accountability are important. We need others to help keep us focused on God in order to keep us from leading not only ourselves astray but to keep from leading our families astray as well. I said it earlier and I will say it again there are no Lone Ranger Christians.
Live Life Unfiltered – Sound Teaching
Last time we started this look at living life unfiltered and briefly mentioned how it has an aspect of accountability. This time we will look more closely at accountability in regards to the concept of correcting or reproving false teachings. You see Paul addresses this in 2 Timothy 4:3-4, “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” These two verses point out the need for accountability in the life of a Christian.
Sound Teaching
The first thing Paul warns about is that a “time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching.” You only have to look around and see how true that is. We can find teaching that will appeal to just about any taste. You don’t want to believe Jesus is th only way to heaven, there is a teaching that states all religions lead to heaven despite Jesus claiming to be the only way. Then there is the teaching that if we have enough faith we will always be rich, happy, and nothing bad will ever happen to us; yet Jesus told us to expect persecution. You see we need to be vigilant to remain faithful to sound doctrine, to keep our beliefs Biblically sound, this is because the false teachings will speak to our human desires rather than promote the truth of God.
Convictions
When looking at this verse the thought of accountability comes in when looking at how Paul presents his warning. The word Paul used for endure brings a concept of patiently suffering, this is because the truth always convicts. It does not matter who we are there will always be something in our lives that when exposed to the truth we will be convicted. It could be something as simple as claiming all your meals eaten out as business expenses or as big as cheating on a final exam. It could be forgetting to leave a tip at the restaurant for your waitress or lying to your wife. No matter what it is the truth and sound teaching will always carry along with it a level of conviction. The thing is as Christians and the spiritual leaders in our homes we need to be willing to both endure sound teaching, endure the conviction that listening to the truth brings into our lives, and to present sound teaching to around us that are turning away “from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” This is the basic concept behind accountability, we need to be willing to have others that will ask the tough questions and expose us to the truth to keep us from straying; while we need to be willing to do the same for them.
Live Life Unfiltered – Evangelism, Accountability, Discipleship
This week’s topic is one that is sort of a cross post from my other blog, Unfiltered Ministries. There I started with the question of what is “Unfiltered” and as I worked on those posts I realized that most of what I found can apply to men and being the spiritual heads of their homes. What we will look at this week has application no matter if you are married, single, divorced, widowed, with kids, or not; every man can learn from this to be a better spiritual leader in their home and in their relationships. Unfiltered came from the concept of preaching the whole word of God, which while not written exactly in the Bible the concept appears in both Old and New Testaments. The one passage that sticks out to me is part of Paul’s farewell address to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:27 where he states, “I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.” You see as men we are to be the spiritual leaders in our homes, no matter what, and that means to our wives and kids, if we have them, or in a dating relationship we should be able to boldly proclaim that we did not shrink from proclaiming the full counsel of God to those around us. So what does this look like? Well to me I then looked at what Paul wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:2-5, “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” Today we will look at verse 2, “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.”
Preach The Word
So the first thing we notice in Paul’s command to Timothy is that he is to preach the word. Now what many of you may be thinking is getting up on a stage and preaching a sermon; this is not fully what Paul is getting at. Rather what Paul is saying is that we need to proclaim God’s word. We are to be heralds spreading the message of the Gospel to any who would listen. This means sharing our faith with those we meet in daily situations. The thing is this will serve as an example to our families for them in turn to follow, as they see you sharing your faith it will help make them realize the importance and need for them to share their faith as well. You see as a spiritual leader in our homes we need to lead by example.
In Season And Out
Paul next mentions that we need to be prepared “in season and out of season.” What this means is that we need to be ready to at the drop of a hat be able to impart to someone the wisdom and knowledge that the Holy Spirit gives to us. Yes there are times when we may need to spend time and prepare what we are going to say, these are the times when it is in season. Then there are the times when “preaching the word” is more providing that simple word of encouragement when a friend is feeling down, those times were what is said is more spontaneous, this is preaching out of season.
Reprove, Rebuke, Exhort, Teach
Paul finishes off this thought by telling Timothy to “reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.” What Paul is getting at is to correct false teachings, confront or point out sins that need to be confessed, and encourage others. What we see here points some to the concept of accountability as well as discipleship. As believers we need to be one be willing for other believers to help hold us accountable, as well as be willing to hold others accountable. One thing I will point out is that living a life unfiltered discipleship, evangelism, and accountability all go together hand in hand for helping us to mature spiritually as well as to be the spiritual leaders in our homes that God wants us to be.
Go Therefore – You Are Not Alone
In looking at the Great Commission as found in Matthew 28:18-20 we have looked at the appetizer of how Jesus is the one in control. Then last time we got the main course of the command and call to evangelism. Today we will look at the dessert of how Jesus finishes off the Great Commission, “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” You see I call this the dessert of the Great Commission because what Jesus says is just like icing on the cake.
I Am With You
What Jesus is saying here to one degree reiterates how He started out by essentially telling the disciples not to fear. The placement of the fear though is different. He started out by telling the disciples not to fear those in authority, because He has all the authority. Now Jesus is basically telling them not to fear being alone, because He will be with them. He was reassuring His disciples that while they may not see Him, and they may be isolated from each other they will never be alone. This is a promise that even today we can lean on, we are never alone. If because of your faith your friends and family turn away from you, you are not alone. If while sharing the Gospel you are persecuted, you are not going through it alone. No matter the circumstances or what is going on Jesus is right there by our side and we can take comfort in that.
So What Are You Going To Do?
Unlike most of these posts I want to pose the question of what are you going to do? Remember first Christ is in control and has all authority and power so we have nothing to fear regarding those in authority, and Christ is with us so we can take comfort in that we will never be alone. So are you willing to go and share the Gospel? Are you willing to tell those you daily encounter about your faith? Are you willing to help those that you lead to faith grow in their faith? Remember this is the Great Commission not the Great Suggestion, these are our marching orders.
Go Therefore – Share The Gospel
Last time we started out by looking at the Great Commission as found in Matthew 28:18-20 and how Jesus starts out by basically telling the disciples not to fear because He is in control. Today we will look at what Jesus says next, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” This is the main part of this version of the Great Commission, if it were a meal this would be the steak and potatoes of what Jesus has to say, where what we saw last time was the appetizer and next time we will look at the dessert.
Make Disciples
The first part of what Jesus tells his disciples here is to, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.” This is the first part of evangelism and really what many of us think about when we evangelize; the sharing of the Gospel. You see Jesus presents this command to evangelize as a progression, first we are to go and share the Gospel. I could go into a big debate on how some look at “go” as being active or passive, as either intentionally going out to share our faith or just sharing our faith in the day to day; but regardless of how you look at it the outcome is still the same we are to share our faith, that never changes. There are some people that may be more comfortable going out and doing street evangelism, where they approach complete strangers and share the Gospel, these people actively go and make disciples. Other people have a more relational approach and share their faith through their day to day relationships with others, this is more of the passive approach of going; they share as they go about with their normal daily routines. Is one way better than the other, no, if you go with the method of sharing the Gospel that suits your personality you are working towards fulfilling the Great Commission, you just have to remember to above all else share the Gospel.
Baptize
The next thing Jesus commands is that after sharing the Gospel we are to, baptize them. Let me say right now there is nothing magical about baptism and you do not need to be baptized in order to be saved, just look at the thief on the cross. The thing however is with baptism we are making an outward profession of an inward change. In other words through being baptized one is telling the world that they have come to faith in Christ, that they have put their trust in Him as the forgiveness for their sins. You see in the progression once we share the Gospel, if they decide to give their heart to Christ the next step is for them to publicly show their faith. He wants people to be ambassadors out there promoting the Gospel not secret agents hiding in the shadows.
Teach
Jesus finishes off his command with “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” In other words discipleship is the next logical step after evangelism. Once we have shared the Gospel and they have come to faith we need to help teach them and help them grow spiritually. I know this is one area I am somewhat passionate about because after I came to faith in Christ it was years before I was really taught what that meant. To neglect teaching would be like telling a child 2 + 2 = 4 and then expect them to perform advanced Calculus; it just is not going to happen, they need to be taught. Our faith is the same way we need to be taught by those more experienced as well as teach those less experienced.
Go Therefore – Who Is In Control?
Last week we looked at the concept of discipleship this week we will look at the start of the process, evangelism. As believers we are given the command to go and make disciples, to go and spread the Gospel to others. There are a number of passages that have taken on the title we often give to the call of the believer to evangelize, this title is the Great Commission. Each of the Gospels and the book of Acts have a different phrasing of the Great Commission but each of them have the same basic concept of how we are to go out and spread the Gospel to the world. The two most well known Great Commission passages are probably Acts 1:8 and the one we will look at this week, Matthew 28:18-20. “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’”
Jesus Came
The first thing I want to point out is how it starts, “Jesus came and said to them.” At this point the disciples had been with Christ for over 3 years, and saw him arrested and killed on a cross. This Jesus that came to them was the resurrected Lord and they knew what he was going to say would be important. But it wasn’t just that Jesus had a command for them, but He came to them, He approached them where they were to give them this message.
Fearful Disciples
The reason behind Jesus coming to them was up to this point the disciples were hiding out. They were scared of what the Jewish leaders and the Roman government would do to them for following Jesus. They had just seen their leader arrested, put on trial, and executed in a time frame of less that 24 hours; they were afraid they would be next. It is because of this fear that makes the first thing Jesus tells them make sense, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” You see Jesus starts by telling them don’t worry about the Jewish leaders or even what the Romans will do, I am the one in control. With Jesus having the authority nothing will happen that is not in God’s plan, and if we are working in God’s will we have nothing to fear. You see when I think of evangelism the first thing that comes to my mind is fear, I am scared of how people will react to the message and I am scared for my safety; but Jesus basically tells us there is nothing to fear. He understood that fear would be a major obstacle regarding evangelism so before giving the disciples the command to go out and spread the Gospel, he addressed their fear. You see one thing we need to remember when we share the Gospel is that no matter what happens or how people react, God is in control.
Becoming God’s Man Radio Show Episode 19 – Christ’s Love
Air Date April 10, 2016: This week we looked at how Christ will pursue you no matter where you are in life.
Becoming God’s Man Radio Show Episode 18 – Post Resurrection Appearances of Christ
Every week Becoming God’s Man Ministries records a radio show that is aired on Inspiration Radio 1110 AM on Sunday mornings at 8:30 in the St. Petersburg area. We usually have a number of the different pastors and leaders that are involved with the ministry there and occasionally a guy that the ministry has reached will join us.
Air Date April 5, 2016: This week we looked at the post resurrection appearances of Christ
Back to the Basics – A Changed Life
So in looking at the getting back to the basics and more specifically the basic of what it means to be a Christian we saw that first we are saved by grace, then last time we saw how as a Christian our focus will change from other stuff, including ourselves and our family, to being focused solely on God. Well with a change in our focus eventually our lives will change. One verse that comes to mind is Psalms 37:4, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” So now let’s take apart this verse and see what I mean by it leading us to a changed life.
Delight Yourself In The Lord
The first thing the psalmist mentions in this verse is that we are to delight ourselves in the Lord. You see this is where that change in focus comes in. When we start looking towards Christ and making Him our all, our one and only desire is where the changed life comes from. Jesus states in Luke 14 that one must hate his family in order to be His disciple, this means that there is nothing else in our life that takes our attention from God. So you see when we are focused on God we look to Him for everything. When times are good we look to God in gratitude, when times are bad we look to God for sustenance; no matter what the situation we are to look to God as He should be our All in All.
The Desires Of Your Heart
So what happens as our focus shifts from us and onto God? Well according to this verse we are given the desires of our hearts. So what are the desires of our heart? What exactly is it that God is giving us as we delight in Him? Will he give us all the things we want? Things such as money, fame, material things? No I don’t think that it is quite that simple. You see what I believe God is giving us is not those things that we want, the things that we desire; but rather God is actually changing our desires, He is actually giving us His desires. You see as we are walking in God’s will, focusing on Him we start to desire the things that God desires.
So what do these desires look like? James puts it like this, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” Then Micah states it as such, “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” You see the desires God gives us is that we are focused on serving others rather than ourselves. You see the Christian life is a progression, we are saved which leads to a change in our focus; that change in focus then leads to a change in our life. As Christians we are called to “be holy as God is holy.” Yet while we know it is an unattainable goal, it is still a goal that we should strive towards; or as I have heard it put we are not sinless, but every day we should sin less.