My Best Pastor Appreciation Present

How can I bless my pastor?

My Hopes for the Summer

As I pray about the summer months at The Village Church, here are a few of my hopes and dreams:

• A mom, dad, son, and daughter will place their faith in Jesus
• New faces will visit our church every week
• Teachers and caregivers will get some rest with one Summer Sunday service
• Small groups will multiply and launch new small groups
• We will excel in welcoming and greeting and welcome newcomers
• A marriage will be healed during our July focus on marriage and family
• Our families will give sacrificially and generously to our budget needs
• All the funds will be raised for both mission trips to Mexico and Romania
• We will be closer to knowing our Next Step in developing our 11 acres
• Sunday morning attendance will grow like never before

In sum, for this coming summer, I hope God allows us to connect MORE people, change MORE lives, and communicate the love of Jesus in MORE ways.

How will you be part of my dreams for our church this summer?

Apostasy (Buffy Brown)

by Buffy M. Brown

Some came with tears, others overflowing with excitement, still others with a shy reluctance as they grabbed the pastor’s hand and prayed a prayer of confession. They each stood in front of the church saying yes to the pastor’s pointed questions. They began teaching Sunday School, singing in the choir, greeting at the door, and attending Bible Study. Weeks later their attendance dwindles, and other members wonder if they are sick, or out-of- town, or have moved away. Soon they are put on the “Inactive Member” roll and they are never heard of again. What happens to these that God drew down the aisle? Is it possible to gain the blessings of salvation, only to turn so far away from it all?

The question of the certainty of personal salvation has occupied Christian theologians since the time of Augustine. This question has never been adequately answered down through the ages because of what appears to be tensions in the biblical texts on the issue. On the one hand, Paul insists that all those who are predestined, and called will be glorified(Romans 8:30). Paul also warns in 2 Corinthians 13:5 for the Corinthians to examine themselves. Simon Magus in Acts 8:21-23 was said to have believed and baptized, yet it was still asked of him, “Is your heart not right before God?” Hebrews 6:4-6 even gives the possibility of apostasy from which their is no reprieve. How can believer’s be finally certain of their own salvation? This I assert is not a debate about judging self or others, but about the nature of salvation itself, and one’s own opinion of God.

There are three deeply entrenched views on the subject of apostasy (which will be defined in this paper from Elwell, “a deliberate repudiation and abandonment of the faith that one has professed”). The first is that their is a possibility of Christian apostasy. The logical assumption is that Non-Calvinist fall into this category. Dr. Robert R. Cook illustrates,

“If I am free to accept or reject Christ, then once I become a Christian I am always free to turn away and apostatize and thus lose my salvation.” The inference here is that the non-Calvinist must reject the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints.

The second view is the classic Calvinist who has a much greater assurance of salvation than the non-Calvinist. Election secures this assurance, because the chosen were selected before the foundation of the world. I. H. Marshall argues that this is not as comforting as it may sound,

“Whoever said, ’The Calvinist knows that he cannot fall from salvation but does not know if he has got it’, has summed it up nicely. On this view the ground of assurance is the evidence of a changed life. But this can be counterfeit and misleading.”

Apostasy is of no alarm to the Calvinist because if one is chosen for salvation, he will be saved, and may not commit any unforgivable sin. The basis for assurance however is a changed life, and this can be gray in judgment.

The final assumption is that scriptural warnings are merely hypothetical. This line of thinking says that God desires that we get to the point in our Christian journey that we would never want to apostatize, but when we are tempted to do so He providentially, even using scriptural warnings, blocks us from doing so. The illustration of a parent/child relationship is valuable in understanding this point of view. A child is warned, “If you go in the road you will get run over”. What the child does not know is that the parent keeps an eye on the child and if the child does end up in the road the parent will save him. The problem with this approach is that if scriptural warnings such as in Hebrews 6 were not true, then they are not warnings at all. Many commentators also suggest the context of the whole of Hebrews and the many other warnings in Hebrews that are very “real” do not support this view that one be hypothetical.

Whatever one’s answer is to this question reveals much about what one’s view is of God and the nature of salvation. The church has been in a vacuum in answering this question with confidence and audible clarity, and the lack of teaching on the subject has caused many to live either defeated lives, or deceitful ones. Joel R. Beeke says,

“The contemporary church stands in great need of refocusing on the doctrine of assurance if the desirable fruit of Christian living is to abound. …Today Christian’s live in a day of minimal, not maximal, assurance.”

George Whitefield’s sermon, ”The Nature and Necessity of Our Regeneration” is one of the most influential sermons ever published and can give marvelous insight into the mystery of salvation, and how one can be assured of salvation. He discusses what it is meant by 2 Corinthians 5:17, “if any man be in Christ”. Whitefield says that an outward profession or being called after His name is far from being saved. He says,

“To be in Christ, is to so partake of the benefits of His sufferings, to be in Him not only by an outward profession but by a inward change and purity of heart and cohabitation of the Holy Spirit , to be in Him so as to be mystically united to Him by a true and lively faith.”

Whitefield goes on to describe how whom Christ justifies he also sanctifies. Justification cannot come without the latter, arguing that one cannot leave the faith.

In reflection on the nature of salvation and how one comes to know with certainty where they will spend eternity, I most frequently resort to the text, “He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”(Phil. 1:6) If God truly was the one who drew and started the good work in you, it will come to fruition, as we work out our salvation with fear and trembling. I believe there is no way that a saved Christian can commit apostasy. This belief comes from my view of God, who I see not as one who keeps a list of grievances, but one who sent His Son for the purpose of redemption. He did not come to save us from our sin, but because we have sin. Salvation is not then a sudden shift in morality, that if lost, salvation is lost, but a one time acceptance of the atoning work of Jesus on the cross, who died once for sin, that we accept once as our substitution. The scriptural warnings then of apostasy I believe, are that any who taste of the fruit, recognizes from whence it came, allies itself with it’s significance, and then knowingly rejects the gospel, has no place left to return, because there is no more forgiveness of sins. The question then, unanswerable to me is was that “tasting of the fruit” saving faith to begin with? I will let past church fathers and present theologians keep debating that one for me. What a tragedy to live a life without assurance of salvation, to me it would be like living a life wondering if I was one of the 144,000.

Works Cited

Beeke, Joel R. “Does assurance belong to the essence of faith? Calvin and the Calvinists.” In Master’s Seminary Journal. Vol. 5, Spring 1994, 43-71.

Carson, D. A. “Reflections on Christ’s Assurance.” In Westminster Theological Journal. Vol. 54, Spring 1972, 1-29.

Cook, Robert R. “Apostasy: Some Logical Reflections.” In Evangelical Quarterly. Vol. 65, April 1993, 147-153.

Elwell, Walter A. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1984.

Kempson, Wayne R. “Hebrews 6:1-8.” In Review and Expositor. Vol. 9, Fall 1994, 567-573.

Reid, Rodney L. “Calvin, Calvinism, and Wesley: The assurance in historical perspective.” In Methodist History. Vol. 32, 1993, 31-43.

Smith, Timothy L. Whitefield and Wesley on the New Birth. Grand Rapids: Asbury Press, 1986.

People Reach People

Caz McCaslin, founder of Upward, wrote a very challenging article in Upward’s May 2008 newsletter. Click here to read the entire article.

When you have a passion for making a difference in your community, it may uncover a problem like finding a way to reach that community. IF God manifests the answer to reaching this community as a recreation ministry which requires a building, then I would be afraid NOT to build a building to fulfill the vision that he has revealed. On the other hand, if a person, a group of people, or even a church body decides to build a building of ANY kind including a sanctuary, Sunday school space, or even a gym just because someone else has done it or because they think the building is going to reach people, they are in for a long road. Buildings of any kind do not REACH people, PEOPLE reach people. Buildings are only a means to an end, basically tools for people to use. The fact that un-churched people see a gym as an in-reach to the local congregation is not a reflection on the building; it is a reflection on those who are responsible for how to use the building to reach their community. There are over 44,000 churches in the one denomination (Southern Baptist) that Thom Rainer is associated with and 22,000 of them have reported to have a gym, not to mention all of the other buildings that come along with them. What a joy it would be to survey 350 people, of the many thousands, who have joined your churches because of the outreach to your community through the God given talents of leadership your staff and volunteers utilize through recreation. This would be an especially interesting survey amongst those of you who have chosen to partner with us here at Upward because our mission clearly states that we exist to introduce children to Jesus Christ by creating opportunities to serve through sports. I don’t think any one of the people whose lives were changed through Upward would say that it had ANYTHING to do with a building. I think they would say it had EVERYTHING to do with the relationship that they had with someone IN the building or on the field.

Random Acts of Kindness for A Pastor

As a pastor, I am always thinking of ways to show the love of Christ in a practical way through random acts of kindness.

Recently, I had the tables turned on me.

In rapid succession, I had two people show me kindness in very surprising ways.

First, in the hustle and bustle of Sunday’s church take down, I left my Bible sitting on the bench outside of the elementary school where we meet. Thankfully, before the rain moved in that night, Mrs. Vivis Vegas and her husband were walking their dog in front of the school and rescued my Bible from the rain. She was kind to call and return it to its owner.

Second, after a long night of coaching Upward Soccer, my daughter and I were swinging through the McDonalds drive thru to get milk-shakes for the family. To my surprise, a nice lady in front of me in the drive thru line paid for MY milk-shakes. She instructed the cashier to hand me a card that read:

What happened here? You just experienced Revolutionary Love. Someone showed you the love of God-no strings attached. Jesus Christ was the greatest example of this that ever existed. He died on the cross to pay for sins that were not His own- they were yours. The person who gave you this care has experienced that Revolutionary Love and is passing it on to you.

When I arrived home, my daughter had an unchurched neighborhood friend waiting in the driveway ready to play. She jumped out of the vehicle, told him immediately what had happened and then asked me to read the card to him. It was a neat to have someone else’s act of service open up an opportunity for me and my daughter to share the love of Christ to someone else.

The Creek Church in NW Cary, NC

I have mentioned several times (here, here, & here) how excited I am about Apex Baptist Church’s new church plant in North West Cary. Matt Rice is the planting pastor and I am proud to announce they are settling on a name for the new church.

But, I can’t spoil the surprise for you, so you will have to visit his latest post which mentions it.

God Uses the Prayers of His Church

Dear Pastor Don and The Village Church at Holly Springs,

We would like to thank all of you for your prayers for our family, especially for Baby Shelton. His heart surgery was on April 18, his 4 month birthday. According to the doctors he came through the surgery and recovery better than expected. Surgery was on Friday and he was home by Wednesday. He was eating well, flipping from his back to his stomach or side and constantly smiling. We have no doubt that this response is definitely the answer to all of the prayers on his behalf, and that you all had a major part in his recovery. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

We send a special thanks to Linda and Ray Messer who have been right there with us from the beginning and who brought our request for prayer to you.

May God bless each and every one of you as he has blessed us.

In His name we Thank You!

Jessica and Shelton (Mom and Dad)
Donald and Brenda Rose (Grandparents)

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Pride Divides

As a pastor of a church with a high percentage of homeschooling families, I often worry that others (inside and outside of the church) feel looked down upon if they do not homeschool their children. I pray that those in our church who homeschool or have their children in Christian school never become so prideful to think that these are the only ways.

I will never forget the tremendous pressure I felt when someone told me to hurry up and figure out whether my kids were doing public, private Christian, or homeschooling…because they were going to follow whatever I did!!

The truth of the matter is that there are many of these type moral issues that are matters of conscious and require husbands and wives seeking the Lord together for answers through His Word, the Bible.  If we just copy another person’s decision based on the fact that we respect them, then we miss out on experiencing God’s teaching power in our lives.

On the issue of our children’s education (and this can apply to so many more issues), I pray that those in our church will always maintain the attitude that Pastor Josh Harris speaks about in this video clip.

May God make any necessary adjustments to our hearts.

Church Adoption Funds

Many believers are stepping out in faith and following God’s direction to care for orphans and expand their families through adoption, yet these families often are discouraged by seemingly insurmountable financial obstacles along the way. By establishing adoption funds, local churches can directly minister to their own church families by removing the financial barriers so often faced by adoptive families. At The ABBA Fund, we desire to use our experience and passion for adoption to assist churches in establishing and administering church adoption funds. We provide our services at no charge to the church so that every dollar contributed will be used to assist families in their time of need. Download Entire Flyer

I am very supportive of the vision and mission of the ABBA Fund. My hope is that our church will one day soon be able to partner with a solid ministry like this one in Charlotte, NC. If you want to know more about the ABBA Fund, contact Jason Kovacs, God is using Jason mightily at the ABBA Fund. And check out Jason’s blog which has lots of good adoption resources.

It is Like a Dream (Romanian Reunion)

Psalm 126

1 When the LORD brought back the captives to Zion,
we were like men who dreamed.

2 Our mouths were filled with laughter,
our tongues with songs of joy.
Then it was said among the nations,
“The LORD has done great things for them.”

3 The LORD has done great things for us,
and we are filled with joy.

Recently, we had the privilege to host Pastor George Dragan from Stei, Buhor, Romania in our home. Honestly, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect as he made FIRST EVER trip to the United States. George remarked that it was a first for many things in his 34 year old life. It was his first airplane flight, his first long stay away from his family, his first time eating onion rings, etc…But, what stuck out the most was watching him walk on the beach for the first time and saying, “This all seems like one big DREAM.”

I have to be honest, it was a powerful moment to realize that God had allowed my family to fulfill someone else’s dream.

DREAMS are very powerful.

Notice that Psalm 126 reinforces the power of dreaming.

First, dreaming changes how we talk, “Our mouths are filled with laughter.”
Second, dreaming changes how we sing, “Our tongues with songs of joy.“
Third, dreaming encourages others, “Then it was said among the nations.”
Fourth, dreaming exposes faithfulness,”The LORD has done great things for us.”
Fifth, dreaming brings joy, “We are filled with joy.“

If dreaming has the potential to be so powerful in our lives, then why do we do so little of it?  And why are we so vacant of helping others fulfill their dreams.

For me personally, I am very guilty at this. I really struggling just sitting down and dreaming with God in regards to my family and church. Too often, I am more wrapped up in the details of ministry rather than the joy of dreaming.

I need to realize that if I fail to lead others to dream with God about their families and their church, then I am circumventing a powerful means by which God wants to bring us joy.

Dear Lord, please help me be more intentional about dreaming with God and leading others to fulfill their dreams.