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Articles from Pastor Jon's Blog

On The Horns Of A Delima 2007-09-29 17:24:28 For some time I have been at a bit of a delima. What do I do with this blog? I would like to write on some of the salient aspects of church planting as well as pastoral ministry. This blog really does not have room for that type of discourse. Pastor Jon's Blog has become a place for Bible exegesis. This is good. Still, I have this desire to create a forum for the discussion of things pertaining to church planting and pastoring. Some months ago, we switched from a standard church web site to a blog. That site is Springfield Calvary. Within the frame work of that site are several (mostly unused) existing sub-blogs. One of these is Laboring In The Fields. And it is dedicated to this end. As Yogi said; "Dejavu all over again." I am inviting everyone to give the site a couple of views. In particular, I invite pastors and church planters to visit and share their views by way of comment. <:))))><< ...

Romans 15:7-13 2007-09-29 00:00:00 Romans 15 - Living to Bless Your Brother 4. (7-13) Filled with love for others and joy and peace by the Holy Spirit. Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God. Now I say that Jesus Christ has become a servant to the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers, and that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy, as it is written: “For this reason I will confess to You among the Gentiles, and sing to Your name.” And again he says: “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people!” And again: “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles! Laud Him, all you peoples!” And again, Isaiah says: “There shall be a root of Jesse; and He who shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, in Him the Gentiles shall hope.” Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. a. Therefore receive one another: Instead of letting these issues about disputabl ...

Romans 15:5-6 2007-09-28 00:00:00 3. (5-6) A prayer for the fulfillment of this attitude in the Romans. Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. a. Now may the God: The fact that Paul puts these words into the form of a prayer demonstrates that he recognizes that this is a work that the Holy Spirit must do inside us. b. The God of patience: Our God is a God of patience. We are often in so much of a hurry, and God often seems to work too slowly for us. Often the purposes of God seem to be delayed but they always are fulfilled. Godâ??s delays are not His denials, and He has a loving purpose in every delay. i. We love Godâ??s patience with His people - we need Him to be patient with us! Yet we often resent Godâ??s patience with His plan - we think He should hurry up. Nevertheless, God is patient both with His people and in His plan. c. That y ...

Romans 15:3-4 2007-09-27 00:00:00 Romans 15 - Living to Bless Your Brother 2. (3-4) Filled with the example of Jesus, who always put others first. For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, â??The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.â?� For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. a. For even Christ did not please Himself: Jesus is the ultimate example of one who did not please Himself, but put others first. Paulâ??s classic development of this idea is in Philippians 2:5-11. b. As it is written: As Jesus took abuse and suffered wrong for Godâ??s glory, He fulfilled what was written in Godâ??s word. Jesus showed by example that for the most part we are entirely too quick to vindicate ourselves, instead of letting God vindicate us. Jesus showed how the Father is well able to vindicate us. c. The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me: The commandment Jes ...

Romans 15:1-2 2007-09-26 00:00:00 Romans 15 - Living to Bless Your Brother A. Being filled in the Christian life. 1. (1-2) Filled with care and concern for others. We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification. a. We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves: If you consider yourself strong in comparison to your brother, use your strength to serve your brothers in Christ - instead of using your â??strengthâ?� just to please yourself. i. Bear with: The idea isnâ??t really bearing with, but bearing up the weaker brother - supporting him with your superior strength. ii. This goes against the whole tenor of our times, which counsels people to â??look out for number 1â?� and despises those who live lives of real sacrifice for the sake of others. Yet, undeniably Paul points the way to true happiness and fulfillment in life - get ...

Romans 14:22-23 2007-09-25 00:00:00 Romans 14 - Helping a Weaker Brother 4. (22-23) The concluding principle of faith. Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin. a. Do you have faith? If you have [strong] faith, and feel liberty to partake of certain things, praise God! But have your strong faith before God, not before a brother who will stumble. b. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves: Not every Christian knows this happiness. There are things God may challenge us to give up, but we go on approving them in our life - thus we condemn ourselves. It may not be that they thing itself is clearly good or bad, but it is enough that God has spoken to us about this matter. i. Each of us must ask: "God what is there in my life hindering a closer walk with You? I want to know the happiness that comes from not ...

Romans 14:19-21 2007-09-24 00:00:00 Romans 14 - Helping a Weaker Brother 3. (19-21) Use your liberty to build each other up, not to tear each other down. Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for the man who eats with offense. It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak. a. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food: If eating or drinking something will stumble another brother, then we are not free to do so. Even if we have the personal liberty, we do not have the liberty to stumble, offend, or weaken a brother. b. All things indeed are pure: Paul will concede the point that there is nothing impure in the food itself; but he likewise insists that there is nothing pure in causing a brother to stumble. c. Nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or i ...

Sunday Quotes 09.23.07 2007-09-23 00:00:00 "Do not have your concert first and tune your instrument afterwards. Begin the daywith God." -- James Hudson Taylor God permits what he hates to achieve what He loves. -- Joni Eareckson Tada & Steven Austin, "When God Weeps," p. 84 "God is dead." Nietzsche "Nietzsche is dead." - God We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be . -- C. S. Lewis In marriage, being the right person is as important as finding the right person."   -- Wilbert Donald Gough We prevent God from giving us the great spiritual gifts He has in store for us, because we do not give thanks for daily gifts. We think we dare not be satisfied with the small measure of spiritual knowledge, experience, and love that has been given to us, and that we must constantly be looking forward eagerly for the highest good. Then we deplore the fact that we lack the deep certainty, the stron ...

Romans 14:16-18 2007-09-22 23:30:00 Romans 14 - Helping a Weaker Brother 2. (16-18) Pursuing the higher call of the Kingdom of God. Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil; for the kingdom of God  is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by mena. Do not let your good be spoken of as evil: Our liberty in Jesus and freedom from the law is good, but not if we use it to destroy another brother in Christ. If we do that, then it could rightly be spoken of as evil. b. If we place food and drink before righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, then we are hopelessly out of touch with Godâ??s priorities and His heart. c. Serving God with a heart for His righteousness and peace and joy is the kind of service that is acceptable in His sight, and will be approved by men. Unless otherwise noted all Scripture is taken from the New King James translation of the Bible.<:))))>& ...

Romans 14:14-15 2007-09-22 00:00:00 Romans 14 - Helping a Weaker Brother B. Donâ??t stumble each other over doubtful things. 1. (14-15) Destroying a brother makes a privilege wrong. I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died. a. I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself: Paul knew that there was nothing intrinsically unclean about meat that was not kosher or sacrificed to an idol. Yet there was nothing that could justify the destruction of a Christian brother over food. i. Trapp on I know and am convinced: "Many, on the contrary, are persuaded before they know; and such will not be persuaded to know." b. The issue now is not my personal liberty; it is walking in love towards a brother that Jesus loves and di ...

Romans 14:13 2007-09-21 00:00:00 Romans 14 - Helping a Weaker Brother 6. (13) Summary: donâ??t make it an issue of judging, but donâ??t use your liberty to stumble another brother. Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brotherâ??s way. a. Let us not judge one another: In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus helped us to understand what this means - it means judging others according to a standard that we would not want to have applied to our self. i. This does not take away the need and the responsibility for admonishment (Romans 15:14) or rebuke (2 Timothy 4:2). When we admonish or rebuke, we do it over clear Scriptural principles, not over doubtful things. We may offer advice to others about doubtful things, but should never judge them.  b. Not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brotherâ??s way: We might stumble or cause our brother to fall in two ways. We can discourage or beat them down thr ...

Romans 14:10-12 2007-09-20 00:00:00 Romans 14 - Helping a Weaker Brother 5. (10-12) Judging our brother is inappropriate because we will all face judgment before Jesus. But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written: â??As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God.â?� So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. a. But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? Probably, the use of both judge and show contempt is meant to have application to both the â??strictâ?� and the â??freeâ?� individuals. In either case, the attitude is wrong because we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. i. The strict Christian found it easy to judge his brother, writing him off as an unspiritual meat-eater-compromiser. The free Christian found it easy to show contempt against his brother, regarding him ...

Romans 14:5-6 2007-09-19 00:00:00 Romans 14 - Helping a Weaker Brother 3. (5-6) Judging our brother is inappropriate because these are matters of conscience. One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks. a. One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike: By bringing in the aspect of observing certain days, Paul lets us know that he is talking more about principles than specific issues. What he says has application to more than just eating meat. b. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind: In such issues, Paul is willing to leave it up to the conscience of the individual. But whatever we do, we must be able to do it to the Lord, not using “conscience” as an ...

Romans 14:3-4 2007-09-18 00:00:00 Romans 14 - Helping a Weaker Brother 2. (3-4) Judging our brother is inappropriate because we are not their masters. Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him. Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand. a. Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat: It would be easy for a Christian who felt free to eat meat to despise those who did not feel free as hopeless legalists. It would also be easy for those who did not eat such meat to judge those who did - but God has received those Christians who eat meat. b. Who are you to judge another’s servant? Paul reminds us that it isn’t our place to pass judgment on any fellow Christian. They stand or fall before their own Master, God - and God is able to make those “meat eaters” stand. i. There is a lot of useless, harmful division a ...

Romans 14:1-2 2007-09-17 00:00:00 Romans 14 - Helping a Weaker Brother A. Don’t judge each other in doubtful things. 1. (1-2) Receiving the weaker brother. Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. a. We must receive (accept) the one who is weak in the faith; but we are not to receive them for the sake of carrying on a debate with them regarding doubtful things. i. Receive the one who is weak in the faith: These are words to take seriously. Paul warns us to not make spiritual maturity a requirement for fellowship. We should distinguish between someone who is weak and someone who is rebellious. ii. There are many reasons why a Christian might be weak. They may be a babe in Christ (babies are weak) They may be sick or diseased (by legalism) They may be malnourished (by lack of good teaching) They may lack exercise (needing exhortation) b. Eats only vegetables: As an example of a doubtful t ...