Pursuing Excellence

Soap box time! This particular post has nothing to do with preaching, evangelism, or theology per se. However, I do believe that pursuing excellence in everything comes from a God-centered worldview. Most of us strive for excellence in our preaching. We spend time being careful to exegete; we are careful to present the gospel clearly; we seek to understand the whole of scripture and not just one isolated text. We pursue excellence in these areas. But what about the small things? Do you pursue excellence in your speech? I am not talking about profanity, but grammar. Do you speak correctly, or do you perpetuate the stereotype of a southern preacher (Ain't God good!)? Why is it important to edit your bulletins and handouts to make sure there are as few mistakes as possible? It is important because those things reflect upon you. They are also an extension of your church to your community. It is important because if you are a believer then you believe there is a right and wrong, a correct and incorrect way. Two plus two always equals four; it is not left up to a group consensus as is being subtly taught in schools. Correct spelling is important because communication is important. I wonder if Edwards would be appalled at the way we talk, write, and teach. Let us learn from the ones who have gone before us who believed that God was a God of precision, and sought Him out in science, math, and english. You will probably never receieve a compliment for speaking correctly or having faultless bulletins, but people will definitely notice if you do not. Pursue excellence for the glory of God!

9Marks

9Marks has just released their May/June Newsletter and it is excellent. For those not aware of the 9Marks ministry by Mark Dever, I encourage you to check out their website here. In fact, the 9Marks ministry was one of the motivating factors for beginning this blog. Those who frequently post here believe that there are certain "marks" of a healthy church: biblical preaching, biblical evangelism, biblical theology, biblical membership, etc. We believe that if you want your church to have vitality, then these ingredients are musts.

New posts are on there way that will hopefully generate some conversation among us. Feel free to comment. Also, direct other pastors and student ministers to the site. Our aim is to be a sounding board, a resource, a Network for Church Vitality!

The Pastor's Counselors and Friends by Anders Lee

There is no doubt that as ministers and men of God we have prayer, we have the Holy Spirit, we have the bible...etc... Spiritual we are loaded with options and oh how sweet to walk with Jesus... no arguements on that level. Yet we are human and we need friends. Jesus had an inner circle if you please. Three of His disciples He obviously spent more time with, then you see Him eating and hanging out with others like on the occasion of John 12. My point...my question to you... who do we as pastor's and youth pastors hang with...who do we grow close to...who do we seek counsel from in our personal lives and in ministry...who are we staying accountable to? Gentlemen... your thoughts...

Why...

Expositional sermons? Check out this great article here to find out the answer.

Hiring Biblical Preachers

A question posed to all pastors who read this blog: what do you look for when hiring a student minister, college minister, or kid's minister. What are your non-negotiables as far as the ministry aspect is concerned? Degree? License? Direct calling? Correct handler of the Word? Experience? Able to teach (and how do you gauge that anyway)?

I think this is an important question for us to discuss because so many times pastors have not considered what would be best for their culture and church. Instead, they just call the local Christian college to see if there is anyone willing to serve. I do believe that route can be helpful in a "getting the ball rolling" phase, but we must have some other criteria to go by. It is so easy to hire someone because they are willing. But this is not best. It is easy because it immediately takes a workload off of many pastors, but in the long run it can be damaging because you may not get the disciple production you would hope. Maybe that would be a good question to ask a candidate: What is your strategy for reproducing disciples? Here is another one: What do you want a student to know about Christ and the Bible after they have spent 6 years under your teaching?

Let's raise the standards of what we expect out of our ministers (pastors included). I think a good example of how lowering the standards does not help matters is in the questioning process of ordaining ministers or deacons. Can you find scripture to back up this practice? Probably not chapter and verse. Is it a good idea to know what they believe? Absolutely! How many of us experienced an arduous questioning before we were ordained? I know I wasn't. But that process could be very beneficial to a candidate. For one thing it drives him to scripture. It makes him think deeply about eternal matters and how to apply those to whoever his audience may be.

So anyway, let's raise the standards for ourselves and then call on others to follow us.

Church Requisites

Simple question: What constitutes a church?

What are the biblical requisites for being considered a church? (ie. believers in covenant with one another, ordinances, etc).

At what point can a church lose its status as a church? (beyond disbanding).

Further, what is necessary to begin a church? Can anyone begin one? Does it have to be a mission of an established church? etc.

Membership Process

Recently we began a "membership class" at our church. We ask each prospective member to attend the 5 week orientation before joining. So far, I have been very pleased with the class. Every person who has joined after attending has been very committed and seems to have a good understanding of our church's mission. At the same time, I think the class has also helped prevent some people from joining who would never have been committed in the long run.

All of this makes me curious to hear about everyone else's membership process. How many of you utilize some sort of class? Is it for prospective members or new members? What topics do you cover? What kind of commitment is asked for?

Does someone have a way to orient new people without using a class? What are the pro's and cons?

I am anxious to hear everyone's thoughts and hopefully get some good ideas and insight.