THE BIG RED TRACTOR

Francis Chan has created this little video to teach about the relationship of the Church to the Holy Spirit. This especially for my 3D students.

WEEK 1 - ZOE

by Steve Dunn

In week 1 of Doing Discipleship Daily, we spoke of the tie between discipleship and Jesus' promise recorded in John 10:10 of the abundant life.  The Greek word for life in that text is zoe.

Strong's Concordance has this information on the nature and purpose of possessing this zoe-life.

 zoe { dzo-ay’)  Strong's Lexicon: Greek Origin

Life- the state of one who is possessed of vitality or is anim
- every living soul- of the absolute fullness of life, both essential and ethical, which belongs to God, and through Him,

 zoe { dzo-ay’}

1. Strong's Lexicon: Greek Origin
   -Life
   - the state of one who is possessed of vitality or is animate
   - every living soul
   -Life
   - of the absolute fullness of life, both essential and ethical, which belongs to God, and through Him
   - life real and genuine, a life active and vigorous, devoted to God, blessed, in the portion even in this world of those who put their trust in Christ, and to last for ever.

1.  - life real and genuine, a life active and vigorous, devoted to God, blessed, in the portion even in this world of those who put their trust in Christ, and to last for ever.

THE ONLY WAY TO PLEASE GOD

This post originally appeared in my devotional blog THRIVING IN CHRIST  June 19, 2012 - Steve

BY STEVE DUNN

 

"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." - Hebrews 11:6

 

Man years ago, as a younger pastor, I stood at the door of the church and soaked up the "That was a great sermon, pastor" accolades.  We all like affirmation. It is the way God wired us.  I had hit a homiletic home run and was reveling in the "atta-boys'."  

 

But one of my elders waited until all had passed me by and then simply said, "I perceive you are a people-pleaser."  Trust me, that's not a compliment.  Before I could defend myself he said, "You work hard on your sermons.  You really like it when people tell you they like your efforts.  But here's the problem.  On every given Sunday there is someone in your hearing who should not like your sermon. They are in sin or harboring a sinful attitude and if you are doing God's work, the truth that you speak should make them uncomfortable, feel guilty, maybe even angry. If everyone agrees with what you said, you are probably being disobedient to God as a preacher."

Ouch!

 

But the more I thought about, he was right.  And since then I have been very careful that the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart are God's words from God's heart, not mine.  And if I speak the truth in love, then I have to accept that the truth is convicting to a person not living with God's heart.  I need to be sure my sermons please God, not the audience.

 

What pleases God?  Truth, obviously.  But faith in particular.

 

I have found that some people have a faith and others live by faith.  Some people have a set of beliefs that given them meaning, comfort, and even a sense of order.  Others live by faith -- they simply live in daily obedience to the will and purposes of God--trusting that His will is best and that He provides all things needed for those who live by His will. There is simply no other option in their minds.  They never settle for any lower expectations.

 

The former can often reduce one to a fairly static walk with God, that never really surrenders to His will because His will rarely is safe and comfortable.  His will takes us out on mission.  "A faith" often allows us to justify inaction because at least we believe the right things.

 

I think that latter is what Paul meant when he said, "The righteous will live by faith." - Romans 1:17.

 

 

Anything that doesn't lead you to pleasing God, even at the expense of displeasing men and making yourself feel uncomfortable, is not faith.

(C) 2012 by Stephen Dunn

3D - DOING DISCIPLESHIP DAILY

 BY STEVE DUNN

In addition to serving as an intentional interim pastor for the Churches of God and an adjunct professor for Winebrenner Seminar, I have a consulting and equipping ministry called BFRIDGEBUILDERS MINISTRIES.  We resources for evangelism, discipleship, outreach, leadership and tools for healthy kingdom-focused churches.

Currently we are piloting a new in-depth discipleship development tool called 3D-Doing Discipleship Daily.  Thirteen lay persons from the Barkeyville Church of God in western Pennsylvania are helping us with a test pilot for this program and its materials.

Although I have designed this as a public blog, we are using it to facilitate their learning experience and to allow them to reflect and comment on what they are learning.  The posts related to this are labeled with this symbol.

You are welcome to read these posts and comment upon them.