All to Him I Owe

Spiritual Leadership in the Home

Dad and Mom want to be spiritual leaders. They are willing to lay down their agenda for God’s agenda and to lead the family according to that agenda. But where in the Bible do they find that agenda? Genesis? Ephesians? Proverbs?

Crystal Balls and Encyclopedias

Some people think of the Bible as a crystal ball that supernaturally informs the reader of his divine destiny. Others wish that the Bible were like an encyclopedia where they could just look up a topic for which they want answers. But the Bible does not operate like either of these. Instead it reveals to us Who God is and what He has done.  Remember the account given to us in Luke 24:13-27? There it states that Christ took the Old Testament and revealed Himself to the two with whom He was walking. The purpose of the Bible is to reveal Christ to us.

So, Dad and Mom want to be spiritual leaders. They are looking into the Bible to find out Who God is and what He has done, but how can this help them figure out God’s agenda?

The Word of God teaches us the ways of God that we may know the will of God.

The more we know what a person is like, the more we know what they expect. There are things within the realm of parenting and marriage that God’s Word does not specifically address. However, the more we know what God is like and how He has worked in the past, we can come to discover what God would expect in the various situations we find ourselves in.

Spiritual leaders must be in the Bible on a regular basis, but not just reading to fill their quota and not just reading with the hope that it will make them have a good day. Spiritual leaders read that they may know Who God is and what He has done so that they may know and do His will.

Learning,

Pastor Ron

The following outline is from our Sunday Evening message in Daniel 3. The fiery furnace and the miraculous deliverance of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego make this passage memorable. The passage unfolds a host of principles that apply to worship and will hopefully prove to be as memorable as the fiery furnace.

Text: Daniel 3

Vs.1-12

1.) Unity does not gurantee that true Biblical worship has occurred.

2.) External conformity does not gurantee that true Biblical worship has occurred.

Definition of Biblical Worship: “Worship is directed toward God and defined by His desires.”

What is the enemy of Biblical Worship? Answer – Man’s own pride! (illustrated perfectly by Nebuchadnezzar)

Notice Nebuchadnezzar’s proud responses:

1.) Ignores clear precept (Exodus 20:3-4)

2.) Attempted to manipulate people through music and consequence.

3.) Operates off of impulse (vs.13) and (vs.22 – even at the expense of others)

4.) God becomes small in Nebuchadnezzar’s eyes.

What do Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego teach us about Biblical worship?

1.) Their worship was a response to a truth that they knew about God. (vs.17)

2.) Worship of God and service to God go hand in hand. (vs.17)

3.) They worshipped out of conviction. (vs.18)

4.) The reward of their Biblical worship was the presence of God. (vs.25)

“The greatest cancer to our worship is our own selfish desires and ambitions!”

Spiritual Leadership in the Home

The Greatest Obstacle to Spiritual Leadership

We left our discussion last week with this definition of spiritual leadership: “Spiritual leadership is moving people on to God’s agenda.” A prominent mistake that leaders make is to think that leadership is merely choosing what must be done. However, the great responsibility of spiritual leadership is not just choosing what must be done but figuring out what God wants done and then influencing others to do it. The great obstacle to spiritual leadership is a leader’s own agenda. He or she must be willing to lay down that agenda to pick up God’s agenda and do it.  

Just because I think it’s right doesn’t mean it is right.

Proverbs 12:15 “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes.”

Proverbs 14:12 “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end                      thereof are the ways of death.”

Just because it feels right doesn’t mean it is right.

Proverbs 28:26 “He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool.”

Because God has said it is right, it is right.

A bumper sticker emerged a number of years ago that said, “God said it, I believe it, that settles it.” Every time I have seen that sticker, I have wrestled with the order of the statement. It should more appropriately say, “God said it, that settles it, I believe it.” God’s Word is not settled because I believe it; it’s settled because God has spoken it. The issue is whether or not I will believe what God has said.  What most of us face when it comes to spiritual leadership in the home is whether or not I am willing to lay down my agenda for God’s agenda. Am I willing to believe that God’s will and way is the right way? Before a leader can properly move people to God’s agenda, he must be convinced that God’s agenda is better than his own.

Learning – Psalm 18:30 “As for God His way is perfect.”

Pastor Ron

Valuable “No’s”

Think about this concept. Every time we say no, we are actually saying yes to something else. For instance, when a father says no to an extra hour of work, he is saying yes to something else. When a family says no to going to church, they are saying yes to some other activity. When a person says no to reading his Bible, he is saying yes to something in its place. A practical way to determine the value of a no is to see the yes that is on the other side of the no. A valuable no is determined not only by saying no to the right thing, but also by saying yes to the right thing.

Self-Control

A person who has learned to say yes and no to the right things has learned the fine art of self-control. But is a valuable no just self-control? Sometimes our self-control can simply be motivated and controlled by what we want. For instance, what about the child who really wants the new bike and saves every penny to get it or the athlete who is determined to set a new goal and works towards that end. Those individuals are demonstrating self-control, but is it the most valuable no? Is there a valuable no that is demonstrated by spiritual self-control?

The most valuable no

The most valuable no is not motivated by what I want, but rather by what God wants. Spiritual self control is the ability to make valuable yes and no choices that are controlled by what God wants. Parenting gives us the daunting but rewarding task of teaching our children how to choose valuable no’s.

Learning,

Pastor Ron

A Riddle

I only have two letters, but I contain great value. I can destroy, but if I am used correctly I can bring great joy. I am used by some people all the time, but others do not use me enough. I was the first word some children ever learned. Who am I? I am the word no.

Observations

The word no is valuable! Proverbs 25:28 says, “He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.” The person who has not learned how to tell himself no lacks the protective nature of that word.  Consider Matthew 16:24: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself.”  Here we learn that saying no is a crucial ingredient to following Christ. God considers the word no to be valuable. As parents, have we taught our children the value of this word, or have we subtly de-valued it in their eyes?

How Parents can De-value the Word No

• By allowing a childish, rebellious no to become their entertainment  [ie. Laughing at the child’s public no’s of rebellion
• By not having any follow-through to the no’s they give their children. [ie. Not giving consequence to the child’s rebellious no’s]
• By not illustrating good no’s in their own lives.

May God help us to stop finding humor in the rebellious no’s of our children and to follow through with wisdom as we discipline the disobedient no’s; and may He give us grace that we may illustrate wise no’s in our own lives.

Learning,

Pastor Ron

Many of you have made comment that there are aspects of our church website that are out of date or in need of improvement. If you click on www.fbcfolsom.org you will find that slowly but surely things are becoming updated.

Ted Hayes has faithfully served our church through his ministry with our web and has recently handed those reins to Jason Taylor and Eric Palmer. Together with those men we are attempting to stay consistent with the foundation Ted has laid for this ministry.

Take note of the following things:

1.) Picture Gallery – Ted Hayes has served as the unofficial photographer within our church for many years and has an ever growing collection of photos from church events.

2.) Sermons from our study in Joshua continue to be uploaded to our site.

3.) Areas that were out of date or primarily the writing of the previous pastor have been removed until they can be accurately updated.

A couple of things that we are researching and considering are the following:

1.) A calendar glance of a whole month.

2.) A video portion that would include an introduction to our church.

3.) A Frequently Asked Questions page.

All to Him I owe!

P.Ron

God has graciously given Faith Baptist Church a wonderful group of teens. More importantly God has given our church a wonderful group of parents who are raising teens. Last night the parents of our teens shared their burdens, and prayer requests for their teens in a meeting with Pastor Kaighen and myself.

It was my privilege to hear these requests and to then share a simple philosophical thought about our youth group. Here is what I shared.

Our youth group is part of our whole church. It is not a small church within our church. God has equipped each of His believers with gifts and abilities that He desires to see used in our church. Some of those gifts and talents are evident now in the lives of the teens and the challenge we face is the challenge of getting them plugged in that they may use those gifts. We can look at our youth group as a “fold” within the great flock of the church. God has graciously called Pastor Kaighen to assist in shepherding this “fold” and to help these teens grow, and use their gifts and abilities within our local church.

When we think of the fold think of the following things in the form of an acrostic:

F – Focused on Future Transitions. We are not teaching or doing activities that merely focus on the here and now, but also on where they are going. Therefore we are training and teaching with their future decisions in mind.

O – Optional. Youth group is one of the tools that come with the toolbox of the local church. I hope that each family with teens would consider the youth group a valuable tool that assist them. We do not gauge a persons faithfulness or level of spirituality by how faithful they are to youth activities. I do hope they will be used, but understand the busy lives of families and want the youth group to simply be an optional tool that many will choose to use.

L – Lead by example and word. The “fold” of the youth group is not merely a platform where teens hear teaching. It is also a platform where they see Godly examples to follow. My hope is to see our youth group facilitate ways in which are teens get to interact and watch Godly adults live joyful Christian lives.

D – Dependent on the whole Church. The youth group is currently led by Pastor Kaighen but the great value of the youth group is when an entire church sees the benefit of the youth group and gets excited about supporting what is happening there. Some have said it takes a village to raise a child, but I say it takes a whole church to properly support a youth group.

Praising the Lord for our teens, their parents, and our youth pastor!