Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Book Review on The Shepherd Leader

"The Shepherd Leader" is a fantastic book for pastors or for any one that plays a role in church leadership. It is a great book where the author not only presents a great concept but also communicates practically how to implement the concept. Which I have to say is rare. It is a great read that will get you excited about about church growth and discipleship, but not just get you excited but will point you in a practical direction to do something about it in your church. I have seen so many churches struggling in these areas because the church leadership is too stuck in their ways to change or they simply lack the knowledge of how to do it better. If the concepts of that are talked about in this book are properly applied then a church could not only avoid many problems but also reach out to people they never thought were possible to reach. So many churches are bogged down by unmotivated leadership. This would be a great book to help your break that stalemate and get things moving again.



We have to remember the words of Jesus Christ in Matt. 16:18:  "And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."  
This verse does not say 'the church's gates will not be over taken'; Jesus is saying we will will not be stopped by even the last defensive measures of hell. The gates of a city are your last hope if you do not stop thew enemy there they you are pretty much toast. This means that we are to be on the offensive. Our fight is not a passive defense of what we have but a marching forward in the power of the greatest King ever. This book will be a great tool in the hands of someone that is passionate about building the body of Christ, the church. Which is all believers.

Friday, October 5, 2012

What I Want to Accomplish in the Final Stages of My Internship?

Studying is a great thing and I have been so thankful for the opportunity to study here at Warner Ave Baptist Church. If there is one thing that I have learned while I am here it is that I certainly do not want this to be the end of my learning. In some ways what I have learned has only opened the door to much, much more learning. I am excited to make this a life long pursuit. I am very thankful that I have been able to get this head start on such things. I have been able to read some great books, prepare a lot of sermons, take some awesome classes on theology, as well as many other things.



While there are several other books as well as other projects I intend to complete before my time here is done, I really want to complete my thesis. I want to sum up my learning here in a very large project that I hope in the end will produce something of a small book. This I hope will be a valuable tool for me as I go out to work in whatever ministry God sees me doing next. I am still working on a title but the theme of the book will address the modern Christian man and his roles in Church, Society and Family. Unfortunately it seems the greatest fault of our modern Christian man is not that he is off in the Holy Land slaughtering Jews, Christians, and Muslims or torturing Indians on the tables of the Inquisition, or even flirting with the concepts of Darwinism, but that his wholly missing in action. Where is the modern Christian man? Has he been so silenced by his failures that he simply is too timid to even speak on the behalf to others? While the historic Christian man has made his mistakes at least he tried. Sure it hasn't been all roses and sunshine, but it was Christian men who were willing to die for their faith in the coliseums of Rome, who fought to end the slave trade and spoke out against Hitler and his Reich. As Teddy Roosevelt wisely said  “In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing.” Unfortunately the modern Christian man has checked out. This generation has become the fatherless generation. 

This book will be a call to men to stand up and fight for the truth. Jesus was not afraid to use a whip and lash to purge his Father's house. We should not be afraid to defend the defenseless and stand in the gap.



"The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully. And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none. Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord GOD." 

                                                                                                Ezk 22:29-31