theology-ecclesiology

The Lord’s Provision for Ministry (part 3)

/ Richard Bargas / 2 Comments

Maybe it’s an American thing, but it seems that there is too much entrepreneurialism in the church today. Every up and coming church is looking to be innovative and cutting-edge. Along with this entrepreneurial spirit comes an equally troubling reality–that man-centered ministry is produced by a man-centered power. It makes sense: if you throw out the book on how to pursue ministry, why would you seek to be empowered in a biblical manner? For the man of God who wants to do things according to God’s Word, we need to remember that God provides in every way for every need.

We began to look at six ways which the Lord provides for His servants.The first way he provides is: He Gives Us Ministry Co-workers. You can read part one here: The Lord’s Provision for Ministry (part 1). Then we saw that he provides financially and by giving us focus in our ministry. You can read this in part 2: The Lord’s Provision for Ministry (part 2). Fourthly…

He Gives Us Gospel Boldness

“But when they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” (Acts 18:6, NASB95) 

Hard hearts are a result of the sinfulness of mankind. It goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden. We shouldn’t be surprised that Paul faced the rejection and mockery of the crowds in Corinth as he had in many cities he preached in. And it shouldn’t surprise us when we see that happen to us as well. It’s nothing new and we should expect it. But we should also expect that the Lord will provide us with gospel boldness as well, so that we can respond as we should in the face of opposition.

In verse 6, Paul can no longer stand the resistance of the Jewish people’s hardened hearts. Their objections degenerated into blasphemies against Christ himself. Paul shook out his garment, a sign of disgust and complete rejection, and rebuked them for their hardness. Paul had done what the Lord said was required in Ezekiel 3:18-19, “When I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way that he may live, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. “Yet if you have warned the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered yourself.” (Ezekiel 3:18-19, NASB95)  

Paul wasn’t fooling around. He had come to complete the King’s business and he didn’t want to waste his time on foolish scoffers.

Some people call alcohol “liquid courage” because it lowers the inhibitions and allows people to say and do things they would never do or say when sober. However, Ephesians 5:18 says, “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,” (Ephesians 5:18, NASB95). Here, the influence of drunkenness is compared to the influence of being filled with the Holy Spirit. Paul was a Spirit-filled man and this is demonstrated in the fact that with great courage and boldness he spoke out against the rejection and mockery of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

John Calvin once said to the Queen of France, “A dog barks when his master is attacked. I would be a coward if I saw that God’s truth is attacked and yet would remain silent.” God offers this same gospel boldness as well. I think that too many Christians are okay with being quiet wallflowers, even when their Lord is blasphemed in their presence. We must pray for the Lord to fill our mouths with a courageous testimony, even in the face of opposition.

Hope for Leaders Who Have Made Dumb Decisions (weekend repost)

/ Richard Bargas / Leave a comment

It’s not hard for me to think about multiple examples of personal failure over my 51 years of life. I can recall so many bad decisions–dumb ones, sinful ones, immature ones, naive ones, rash ones, prideful ones. Like I said, I remember too many. The problem is, leaders have to make multiple decisions all day, every day. The more decisions we need to make, the greater potential there is to make another bonehead decision. So what do we do?

Read the rest of the post here: Hope for Leaders Who Have Made Dumb Decisions

How the News Media Can Affect Your Spiritual Life (weekend repost)

/ Richard Bargas / Leave a comment

With the proliferation of media sources it is possible to take in news and media non-stop from all over the world instantaneously at any hour of the day. Because of this mass flow of information, it is easy for Christians to become swept up in the downpour of news and information. And although it is good that we become aware of what is going on in our world so that we can be informed, like any good thing, there’s also a need to guard our hearts against the negative effects on our souls.

Read the post here: How the News Media Can Affect Your Spiritual Life

The Lord’s Provision for Ministry (part 2)

/ Richard Bargas / 3 Comments

Ministry can be an exhilarating challenge at times, and some people thrive on that rush. But it can also be a daunting challenge with lows as deep as the highs. Some people can become overwhelmed with the special challenges that they find in ministry–and either burn out, give up, or simply grow bitter. But the Lord provides for those he calls into service.

Yesterday we began to look at six ways which the Lord provides for His servants.The first way he provides is: He Gives Us Ministry Co-workers. You can read part one here: The Lord’s Provision for Ministry (part 1)

He Gives Us Financial Provision

“and because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and they were working, for by trade they were tent-makers.… “But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the word, solemnly testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.”” (Acts 18:3, 5 NASB95)

When Paul first arrived in Corinth, he needed a place to make a living. The blessing of meeting Aquila and Priscilla was more than a blessing and provision of co-workers in the gospel ministry. Verse 3 tells us that they shared the same trade: tent-making. This would make good sense because when Paul arrived there was no church to take an offering of support for his work. So, when the small group formed a tiny little church, he didn’t accept any financial support from them but supported himself from his own labors.

Verse 4 shows us that his need to work limited his ministry to the Sabbath day. It may have been that he used the evenings as well to teach and preach, but this would have been limited as well.

Paul later wrote to the Corinthian church that he did not want to take from them any financial support so that they would not be put under the financial stress. In 2 Corinthians 11:9 Paul wrote, “and when I was present with you and was in need, I was not a burden to anyone; for when the brethren came from Macedonia they fully supplied my need, and in everything I kept myself from being a burden to you, and will continue to do so.” (2 Corinthians 11:9, NASB95).Instead of burdening the Corinthian Church, Paul wrote that he took the support he received from the churches in Macedonia. We see that in verse 5 when Paul and Silas returned they brought a financial gift to help Paul so that he didn’t have to work as a tentmaker anymore.

This wasn’t an issue of laziness on Paul’s part, but an issue of mission. Paul was called to plant churches, not make tents! When Paul wrote to the Philippians he thanked them for their generosity in providing for this ministry. He said in Philippians 4:15, “You yourselves also know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the gospel, after I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you alone” (Philippians 4:15, NASB95). How encouraging it is to know that the Lord provides for his minister’s needs!

Do you know how much an F/A 18 Hornet twin engine fighter plane costs? $94 million dollars! [2] Do you think the pilots that fly those beautiful machines pay for their own jets? How about the fuel? Of course not! They are serving us as they protect the United States. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 9:7, “Who at any time serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat the fruit of it? Or who tends a flock and does not use the milk of the flock?” (1 Corinthians 9:7, NASB95) 

We all pay taxes that pay for those planes, the fuel, the rockets and the pilots. I happily pay for those things because I want those men and women who defend our country to be safe and to keep us safe. Ministry is no different. Some people don’t pay taxes, and some begrudge the taxes they pay. Same thing goes in church. Some people don’t give, or they give very little. They begrudge God. Don’t be that person. Support the ministry of your church, missionaries and other ministries which the Lord is using to promote the gospel of Jesus Christ.

He Gives Us Ministry Focus 

“And he was reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath and trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the word, solemnly testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.” (Acts 18:4–5, NASB95)

Whenever Paul and the missionary team entered into a city, they didn’t need to figure out what they were supposed to do. The Lord had laid that out for his Apostles when he was with them, and nothing had changed. When Paul entered a city, he proclaimed the gospel to the people. After souls were saved, he established a church where Christ was worshiped. Then he discipled the Christians until there were some who were mature enough to be leaders. Then he moved on to plant another church somewhere else.

In Acts 2:42 we see how the church conducted its services when it gathered: “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” (Acts 2:42, NASB95). This isn’t mysterious. No need to be creative and reinvent the wheel of worship. 

Verse 4 says Paul reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath trying to persuade the Jews and Greeks of the truthfulness of the gospel. He did that everywhere he went. And in verse 5 when Timothy and Silas find him, he was still at it!

As a pastor, whenever we gathered together to conduct board meetings we always had an agenda. Perhaps you have been at a meeting that goes nowhere and is just a giant time waster. I hate that. I don’t know about you, but If I have to meet I want to have a purpose and know where I am going, and I want the meeting to stop when we are done.

God has an agenda for the Church, doesn’t he? He wants us to go out into the whole world and preach the gospel, baptizing them and making disciples. He wants us to admonish and teach everyone with wisdom so that everyone is complete in Christ (Philippians 2:30). He wants our churches to focus on Scripture teaching, biblical fellowship, communion and prayer. That’s the plan and we need to stick to it and not wander off into a spiritual drift pattern.

Let me ask you honestly, how are you involved in these purposes? Are you personally helping the church in moving forward to be faithful to this purpose or are you slowing it down?

The Lord’s Provision for Ministry (part 1)

/ Richard Bargas / 4 Comments

It’s hard to imagine the hardships that the Apostle Paul must have faced at times. Having travelled so far away from family and that which was familiar would be enough to cause most people to struggle. Add to that the immense physical strain in travelling by foot, having poor accommodations and little to eat at times. We could understand if Paul and his teammates grew weary. The beatings and imprisonments compounded and heightened the suffering he endured for the sake of Christ.

As Paul wandered about in Athens (Acts 17), he was all alone. His travelling companions would catch up with him later, but for now he walked the streets and engaged people with the gospel of Jesus Christ. As he moved about the city, his heart was provoked by the widespread idolatry, and as he left Athens his ministry did not show as much fruit as he hoped. How did Paul continue for so long without being burned out and frustrated?

A Lifeway Research Survey completed in 2015 states conservatively that the number of men leaving the ministry are about 250 per month. Some statistics are as high as 1,700 a month.  The reasons given in the Lifeway survey would have been understood by the Apostle Paul and experienced by him in some form:

  • 84 percent say they’re on call 24 hours a day.
  • 80 percent expect conflict in their church.
  • 54 percent find the role of pastor frequently overwhelming.
  • 53 percent are often concerned about their family’s financial security.
  • 48 percent often feel the demands of ministry are more than they can handle.
  • 21 percent say their church has unrealistic expectations of them. [1]

So, it is fair to ask ourselves once again, how could Paul continue so faithfully in the ministry under such difficult circumstances? This isn’t just important for those in ministry to know, but everyone in the Body of Christ as well. We are all called as ministers of the New Covenant. You may not preach a sermon every Sunday, but you might teach Sunday school, or AWANA or lead a weekly Bible study. All of Christ’s disciples are called, even if not vocationally, to minister to one another and to carry the gospel to the world. In this series of posts I’d like to examine six ways which the Lord provides for His servants. The first way he provides is…

He Gives Us Ministry Co-workers 

“After these things he left Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, having recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. He came to them,” (Acts 18:1–2, NASB95) 

“But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the word, solemnly testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.” (Acts 18:5, NASB95)

Leaving Athens, Paul was still all alone. Back in Acts 17:13-15 the missionary team was broken up in order to get Paul out of the area because of the physical danger he was in from the angry Jewish leaders who were stirring up riots in Berea. Paul went to Athens alone and then travelled to Corinth, a little over 50 miles away. If Athens was noted for its philosophical and religious nature, Corinth was known for its sensual attractions. The city was one of the largest and most prominent ports in the ancient world and it was a melting pot of money, religions and fleshly sin, much like Los Angeles and New York City.

The need was great in Corinth for the gospel. As Paul came to this great ministry opportunity, the Lord provided for him ministry partners named Priscilla and Aquila, a married couple. Aquila, whose name was Latin for “eagle,” was originally from the Roman province of Pontus, near the Black Sea in what is now called Turkey. Aquila and Priscilla had been living in Rome but had been commanded to leave along with all other Jews. This was because of a command in 49 A.D. from Emperor Claudius.

Along with this couple, the Lord brought back Silas and Timothy from Macedonia (v. 5). When they found Paul, he was busy faithfully proclaiming the gospel in the synagogue. Paul now had a full team that joined him in preaching and discipling those that came to Christ. Even as gifted as the Apostle Paul was, he needed the help of co-workers to be able to faithfully carry out the mission he had received from Christ. 

This reminds me that when the Lord Jesus sent out his disciples, he sent them out in groups of at least two, sometimes more. I don’t think this is a command, but it is good wisdom.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 says, “Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up. Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone? And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, NASB95)  

Think about those in your church. These are your ministry partners and co-workers for the gospel ministry. We should be working together, encouraging one another, stirring one another up to love and good deeds. We should be making incursions into enemy territory in teams.

If you’re not doing anything, that means that you aren’t just disobeying the Lord in not serving, but you are not being a co-worker for someone else. Others are needing to carry on without you! Get in the game! The team needs you!