‘Notes’ Category Archive

   
05/21
2009

Mark Driscoll’s The OX: Qualifications of a Church Planter

From The Resurgence 2008 Text and Context Conference

(Notes are my own, so forgive any sloppiness)

The OX: Qualifications of a Church Planter (1 Timothy 5 – Don’t muzzle the Ox)

Jesus at the top of the Org Chart
Under Jesus, Pastors/Elders/Overseers
Elders are men who must be qualified AND called of God
  • Moses, Jeremiah, John the Baptist, Saul, Jonah
  • Acts 20 – Shepherd the flock 

Church planters have to be called of God

Don’t pursue eldership unless you sense God’s call
Eldership begins with a sense of calling from God and heart’s desire to be an elder
Be aware of your own sense of calling
Call the trained vs. train the called
  • Look for God’s Call
  • Train him to lead
1 Timothy 2:12 
  • Biblically allow women to teach in your church to other women (complimentarian)
  • Quiet – peaceable spirit
  • The government of the home is reflected in the government of the church
    • Man is the Head, women is the helper

1 Timothy 3

Counting Characters, not rocks
    Takes Time


Relationship to God 

  • Be a man
    • Need to be “the dude”
    • A man needs to be a man
    • Does what he is responsible to oversee
    • Takes responsibilities for his responsibilities
    • Loves
    • Serves Jesus
    • Is Humble
    • Has Character
    • Elders set the standard of quality for manliness in the church
  • Above Reproach
    • Catch-all category
  • Able to teach (the scriptures)
    • People actually learn
    • Recipient not communicator centered
    • Is the bible effectively articulated so that people can be transformed?
    • Doesn’t mean able to preach
  • Not a new convert
    • A mature Christian
    • Be seasoned by mature elders
      • You’ll experience frustration

Relationship to Family

God takes care of your family through you
God 1st
Family 2nd
Ministry 3rd

  • Husband of one wife
    • one-woman man
    • pursuing, desiring, loving one woman
    • Jesus loves his bride the church, we have to model that
    • Ask your wife if you’re a one-woman man
  • He is a good daddy
    • submissive children
    • Love your kids
    • pastoral work and fathering are inter-related
    • as able, involve kids in ministry
    • you want your kids to love what you love
    • Seeing your kids love Jesus is more important than any ministry
  • Manages his family well
    • Provides for family financially
    • Hard working
    • Not extravagant but exemplary

 

Relationship to Self

 

  • Sober minded
    • Mentally and emotionally stable
      • Eldership is having a front-row seat for sin and depravity
  • Self-controlled
    • Disciplined life of sound decision making
  • Not a drunkard
    • Not addicted
    • Don’t fight over the alcohol issue, be a man of your word
  • Not a lover of money
    • Financially upright
    • Don’t fight for more money
    • “Poverty Theology” reaction to “prosperity gospel”

Relationship to Others

  • Respectable
    • Worth following, worth imitating
  • Hospitable
    • Welcoming strangers – non-Christians
    • If not for this requirement, elders wouldn’t evangelize
    • Homes need to be open to strangers
    • Don’t want pastors to love people and no-one gets saved
    • Closed Home
    • Random Home
    • Not an extension of the church foyer
    • Be discerning
  • Not violent / even-tempered
    • Spiritual gift of self-control
  • Gentle
    • Kind
    • Gracious
    • Loving
    • Patient
  • Not quarrelsome
    • Not divisive
  • Well-thought of by outsiders
Church planters need spiritual gift of Apostleship
Offices and Gifts in NT
Office of apostleship closed with the apostles
 

  • Church planting and missionary gift
  • Starting church from scratch is different than taking over role at church
  • Leader
  • Evangelist
  • High Enteprenerual ability
  • Communicator

Other Things to do

  • Pray a lot
  • Read a lot
  • Manage church  (1 Peter 5)
  • Give account to God for the church
  • Rightly use authority God has given to you
  • Teach the Bible
  • Teach sound doctrine
  • Refute false doctrine
  • Work hard
  • Follow laws
  • Prepare other preachers/teachers
  • Equip the saints

1. Clearly define as an elder what the role of your wife is

  • She should be a mature Christian who serves in church as mature Christian
  • Her first job is to serve her husband and family
  • Wife can only do wifely and motherly jobs. All other church jobs can be delegated
  • Other marriages in church photocopy elder’s marriage
  • Wife’s not free staff
  • Don’t let others define your wife’s role

2. Among the Elders, there must be a “First Among Equals”

  • Elders act jointly as a council and share equal responsibility for the church
  • All are not equal in gifts, experience, determination
  • Someone needs to lead
  • Leader of the leaders, needs to have vision
  • Vision comes through Elder team but comes from Leader

3. Some Elders are 

  • Prophets
    • Teach, Preach, All about Doctrine, Discerning, Refute error, Rebuke, Call to Repentence
    • Strong in Reformed theology
  • Priests
    • Love People, Hospital Visits, Love counseling and shepherding, culturally connected, encouraging
    • Missional / Emerging theology
  • Kings
    • Love systems, policies, procedures, teams, measurable results, effective/efficient organization
    • Megachurch world
  • Need elders from all groups
  • Some combos
    • Piper – Prophet/Priest
    • CJ Maheney – Prophet/Priest
    • Driscoll – Prophet/King
  • Seed your team with multiple types and read outside of your tribe with the humility to learn
  • Have Discernment to know what not to agree with when reading/studying outside your tribe, isn’t theological conviction

Posted in Acts 29, Bible Study, Church Planting, Evangelism, Faith, Family, God, Missional, Notes, Parenting, Pastoring, Preaching, The Church | No Comments »

05/21
2009

C. J. Mahaney’s Pastoral Care and Loving People

As presented by C. J. Mahaney at The Resurgence 2008 Text and Context Conference

(the notes are my own, so please forgive any sloppiness or incompleteness)

1 Corinthians 1:1-9 

1Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes,

 2To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:

 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

 4I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, 5that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— 6even as) the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— 7so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Hidden in Plain Site

A compelling example of Cross-centered Pastoral Ministry
Corinthians Church was a piece of work

  • Seduced by human wisdom
  • Drifted from centrality of cross
  • Didn’t want to be distinctive from culture
  • Desired approval of wealthy and powerful
  • Division within church – 4 factions
  • Sexual immorality (Ch 5)
  • Lawsuit happy church (Ch 6)
  • Desecrating Lord’s Supper (Ch 11)
  • 1 Cor 11 “I have no praise for you for your meetings do more harm than good”
  • Opposition to Paul

Yet still, Paul says “I give thanks to my God always for you” (1 Cor 1:4)

  • Paul’s extraordinary gratefulness and thankfulness for the church
  • Attitude and Affection are sustained by a divine perspective of the Corinthian church

You must have a divine perspective for your church

Is our perspective the same as Paul’s divine perspective?

The Divine perspective of the Corinthiand Church is evident in

1.    Paul’s Understanding of the Call of God

  1.  
    1. Paul is called to be apostle (v1)
    2. Church is called to be set apart (v2)
    3. They are called into the fellowship of His Son (v9)
    • Accent Divine Intiative
Call of God – Personal

  • To salvation
  • Who am I? I richly deserve His righteous wrath because of His Holiness and my sinfulness
  • And yet, He called me, summoned me, a divine summons

Call of God – Pastoral

  • To pastoral ministry
  • Divine Initiative or areas of immaturity
  • Progressive santification is a process
  • Do not correct anyone you do not have faith for and affection towards – that correction is not sufficient
  • 16 Chapters of correction in 1 Corinthians
  • Paul’s correction is effectively transferred because of his introduction, his affection for the church
2.   Understanding of God’s Grace

  • Presence of gifts in Corinthian church is evidence of God’s grace
  • Only the humble can identify evidences of grace in those so evidently in need of adjustment 
  • Which are you more away of – evidences of grace or areas in need of adjustment
  • Your evaluation of the church must be informed by this divine perspective – the appreciation of the evidences of grace in your church
  • The temptation and tendency to focus on the areas in need of growth and change
  • But the focus must be on the appreciation of the evidences of grace in your church
  • Process of evaluation is looking at how God was at work in the sermon
  • Sunday is a glorious opportunity to identify evidences of grace, how God is at work
  • More Christians are more aware of sin than grace, more aware of sorrow vs. joy
  • If God’s at work, it’s spectacular – not at all
  • God works subtly
  • Teach your church to discern evidences of grace
    • you will build a grateful church
    • you will build a church that pleases and glorifies God

3.  Confidence in God’s Faithfulness

  • v9 – “I can make this statement about the Corinthian church because God is faithful”

Posted in Faith, God, Notes, Pastoring, Preaching, The Church | No Comments »

04/15
2009

The Biblical Mandate on the Man

Scott Thomas’ message from the Acts 29 2009 Raleigh Boot Camp

Acts 11:19-25

19 Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. 20 But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists  also, preaching the Lord Jesus. 21 And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. 22 The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23 When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose, 24 for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord. 25 So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, 26 and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.

Acts 13

1 Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger,  Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a member of the court of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.

9 But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him 

10 Qualifications of What a Church Planter is

Missionary, Apostolic Leader

Leading Men Into Mission

  1. Spiritual Vitality
  2. Theological Clarity
    • Guard the doctrinal door with winsome authority
  3. Clarity and Strength of Calling
    • Church needs to commend you for ministry (planting) and send you
  4. Strong marriage and family life
  5. Relationship Building
  6. Leadership Abilities
    1. As a church planter, do you prefer mules or stallions in your church? We need stallions
    2. Mules are sterile, won’t reproduce
    3. Must be willing to let the stallions run past you
  7. Emotional health and stability
    1. A man who is not teachable and not coachable is not usable
    2. Know you weaknesses and strengths
  8. A Missional Lifestyle
  9. Disciple-making Skills
  10. Entrepeneurial aptitude

Church stoppers

  • Arrogance
  • Betrays trust
  • Unethical lifestyle

Posted in Church Planting, Faith, Notes, Pastoring, Preaching, The Church | No Comments »

04/14
2009

Dwelling In The Text

Part 1

Preparation

  1. What does the Bible say?
  2. What does the Bible mean?
  3. What is the takeaway point? What’s the hook?
  4. Why or how is there resistance to what is true in Scripture?
  5. Why does this matter? How does this relate to my church, my marriage, my family, my city?
  6. How is Jesus the hero?

Seeing Jesus in the OT

  1. Prophetic Promises
  2. Christophany
  3. Types
    1. Last Adam
    2. Prophet
    3. King
    4. Sacrifices
    5. Shepherd
    6. Judge
  4. Like ministries
  5. In events
  6. Titles for God

Posted in Acts 29, Bible Study, Faith, Notes, Pastoring, Preaching | No Comments »