Sunday, May 27, 2007

Your God story - get it right!

God’s most powerful tool in your evangelism is your story about how you became a Christian. Many of us may think that our conversion was not very spectacular but the way it happened, happened for a purpose and that purpose is to pass all credit to God for it was HIS work of salvation. Therefore it is important as a Christian to be familiar with your own story. Below are tips on how to write your Christian testimony.

Quick Tips on Writing Your “God story”

1. Prepared with prayer. Pray that God will get the glory and He will remind you of things that He did in bringing you to be saved. Ask Him to keep you from being sidetracked and to remind you of your first love for Him.

2. Is a witness, not a sermon. A testimony is your personal story about God in your life. Think about a witness in court. He can only testify of something he has experienced, saw, heard or felt.

3. Is true. A good witness tells the truth. Don’t try to exaggerate or twist your testimony to make it sound better. Ordinary people will relate better to an ordinary story.

4. Can be pictured. Giving examples of your points will help people to picture your story. This will make your testimony more effective.

5. Points to God. At each point in your testimony, ask yourself, is this part of the testimony necessary to point people to God? Or is it there for someone other purpose?

6. Gives glory to God. Spend more of your testimony on what God has done AFTER you are saved, rather than talking too much about what you were like in the past.

7. Does not include Christian jargon. Your testimony is written to relate to the non Christian to share what God has done in your life. Don’t write it to impress other Christians with Christian wordiness.

How many of you heard a story about someone else’s life and thought – wow, they are just like me! Ever think that it was GOD who directed you to that particular story? He who wrote the script also has the power to direct you to the script, yes?

Saturday, May 19, 2007

To the Christian reader

You can try improve your Christian walk with God, but there’s one thing that you need to make sure of – that you ARE walking with God!!

 

This message became the top sermon downloaded on the popular www.sermonaudio.com  attracting 63,000 downloads in less than a year eclipsing the famous sermon Sinners at the Hands of an Angry God by Jonathan Edwards. Paul Washer is a missionary with Heart Cry Missionaries and has seen so much of God’s working his mission work that he is gravely concerned for us Christians in the Western World. Are we merely professing Christianity or does Jesus Christ know us by name in the Book of Life?

 

Many will tell me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in your name, in your name cast out demons, and in your name do many mighty works?' Then I will tell them, 'I never knew you. Depart from me, you who work iniquity.' - Matthew 7:22-23 

 

Download the shocking message where the speaker was not invited back.

AUDIO: here

VIDEO: here

PDF: here

 

Another similar message can be downloaded called True and False Conversion found here

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Answering the big question - Am I called to be a pastor?

The following article was taken from http://www.joethorn.net/2007/05/08/so-youre-thinking-of-being-a-pastor

1. Don’t.
If you can do anything outside of the pastorate and find satisfaction in it - do that. Full time, vocational ministry - and the pastorate in particular - is difficult and places unique pressures on your life, marriage and family. Even those who are called by God to serve in this way must be very careful to manage one’s life and house well.

2. Go to a liberal arts college.
If you are young and thinking Bible College vs the University, I’d encourage you to get your undergraduate degree at a liberal arts college - especially if you plan on attending seminary afterward. Pursue a degree in something that will assist you in the ministry. This can be anything from history, to art, to journalism. I say this as a guy who went to Bible College and enjoyed his time there. It was not the wrong decision, but there is a lot of repeat if you go from Bible College to seminary. I believe the university route can provide a more well rounded education.

3. Get the best theological and ministry training possible.
And that may not be the seminary. I am still a supporter of our seminaries - especially places like RTS, Trinity and Southern. But there are other options as well. More churches are now offering training to prepare people for pastoral ministry and depending on where and who you are, alternative models may work better for you. Whatever your choice, get the best education and preparation for ministry possible.

4. Check with your wife.
If you are married, and God calls you to pastoral ministry, he will call your wife as well. This does not mean that she will immediately share the vision or even like the idea. But it does mean that your family comes first, and if God wants you to lead the church he will lead your wife to support you in this calling.

5. Check with your church.
Talk to your pastor about your desire. Can he affirm your sense of calling? Does the church agree that you should pursue this? They are the ones who should be best equipped to assess your qualifications and character. If your church cannot see you functioning in that role it should give you considerable pause.

6. Determine your calling.
Is the pastorate something you think you can do, or is it something you believe God says you must do? I am one of those guys who believes God calls us to specific vocations. Our spiritual gifts, abilities and God’s design for each person is unique and extends to what we do “for a living.” How can you know if God wants you to go into the ministry? Though this is a bit simplistic there are three things to begin with: 1) Do you have an unquenchable, passionate desire to do the work? This of course assumes you know what the work actually is. It is not simply preaching sermons on Sunday. 2) Do you bear fruit when you engage in the work related to this calling (teaching, leading, serving, etc.)? 3) Does your local church affirm your calling? If you can answer yes to these questions be encouraged.

7. Pray.
Honestly, far too many assume that they should go to seminary or into pastoral ministry without really talking to God about it. Labor in prayer over this. It is no small idea or decision.

8. Talk to pastors you respect.
Get the insider’s perspective. Find out from them first-hand what makes ministry so hard. Ask these men to give you reasons not to be a pastor and take those answers to heart. Seek counsel as you move forward following God’s will. As you prepare for pastoral ministry it is critical that you remain connected to the church and her leadership. It is easy to blow your 3 years in seminary, disconnected from the local church, while wrapped up in the classroom and library.

9. Read. A lot.
As you consider this calling - read. While in college - read. It is especially important that you read while in seminary, but read well beyond what is required of you. Read where the seminary leaves off. Determine what is missing and fill in the gaps. Again, seek the counsel of your pastor(s) and men you respect for advice here.

10. Get Real.
When most guys are thinking about pastoring a church they envision themselves pastoring churches like Mars Hill, Tenth Pres’, etc. We tend to dream big (as we should), but the reality is that most of the guys who go into the ministry will pastor relatively small churches. I am not suggesting that anyone think small and avoid anticipating God’s powerful work. I am suggesting that you have expectations that are birthed by God and his word that are aimed at your particular context and not another’s. Do not hijack someone else’s vision, but have an eye for what God can do in the city or town he sends you to.

Recommended reading for those considering and pursuing the office of pastor:
Note: I do not necessarily agree with everything in each of these books. In fact I take issue with a number of things in many of these volumes, but in each is something so important that it merits reading thoughtfully.

The Reformed Pastor by Richard Baxter
Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders
An Earnest Ministry by John Angell James or Lectures to My Students by Charles Spurgeon
The Christian Ministry by Charles Bridges

Two good sermons on this topic are:

Called To Christian Ministry

Knowing God's Will

Tuesday, May 1, 2007

Vodcasts of Christian messages

There are podcasts and now there are VODcasts for Christian sermons. A vodcast is really a video file which you can download to watch a video sermon. There are Australian vodcasts which can be accessed at

www.buildinggodspeople.com
www.reason4hope.com.au

International sermons can be downloaded at

www.sermonaudio.com in video or audio form. Many Church websites have download page.