Day 3 began with the team splitting up for a time and going to different job sites, one part of the team went to a location and did some cleanup, while the other installed the electrical service that was built yesterday.  While at that site we noticed many interested flowers.  One of the human interest aspects to this has been seeing peoples garden plants growing on site while their house is long gone.  We found a watermelon vine growing wild with a watermelon on it, potatoes, rose bushes, and numerous other flowers.  It reminds you of the people who were in this place before it was destroyed.

 After we finished those two jobs we rejoined and followed our leader, Jim Boyd to Apison, TN, another community devastated by the tornadoes. It was here that we met Jojo.  Jojo is a firefighter and he lost his home as did his step-dad.  But what he has done is coordinate efforts in the community to help everyone rebuilt.  He setup a tent in his front yard and people started coming.  What started as a tent is now a large tent with cooking trailers, and supply trailers, and people helping each other out.  The community meets here to dine together and help one another out.  Jojo is an amazing leader in all of this, and the church is at the forefront.  It is God who is being glorified in this effort.  As one lady we talked to said, you don’t see the atheist leagues coming out here and doing this, it is God’s people who are doing this to the glory of Christ.  What a neat testimony to the love of Christ.  This community is rallying around the gospel as they help one another rebuild.  And along with the neighbors there are church groups that are coming from all over the country (like us from Wisconsin) to help.  The people are so appreciative.  They cannot believe people came all the way from Green Bay, WI to help them. That is really cool.  

As far as work goes, today was mostly a construction day.  We worked along with a group from a church near Nashville, TN, rebuilding a house which was destroyed.  After a long day of work we were hot, tired, and hungry, but we were also satisfied because we are seeing the work we are doing, as small as it seems in the larger scheme, is having an impact in people’s lives.

The job site we were on today was the home of a 73 year old gentleman who rode out the tornado braced in his bathroom.  There were only two walls left in his house, yet he survived.  He has been able to rebuild his house, but his property was covered with fallen trees and other debris. He was overwhelmed We took 6 dump trailer loads of wood off of his property.    We are all humbled to be able to serve Christ in this way, helping people and sharing the love of Jesus with them.  Needless to say, the team is exhausted after day one.  When I have a more consistent internet connection, I will post pictures.

-Paul

If you are believer in Jesus Christ, you understand this, but the question is, what are the implications of the gospel?  What does it mean to live out the gospel.  This is the question that I myself am grappling with.  But, I think that it means at least 2 things:

First that we are living to God’s glory.  We live in a country that literally has everything.  Often we live for ourselves and for the fulfillment of our own satisfactions.   We live for our own pleasure.  But this is not what God intends for us.  We should be living our lives to the glory of God.  Everything we do, eating, drinking, driving, reading. . . and on and on. . . all should be done in accordance with God’s will and to His glory. “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31).  Living out the implications of the gospel then means that we should do all things to the glory of God.  What we do is not for us and our satisfactions but to the glory of God, in thankfulness for the grace that he has showered on us!

The second implication of the living out the gospel is that we need to be sharing this good news with others, and this is of course related to implication number one, God’s glory.  If we have the good news that is the salvation of souls, then why don’t we want to share it?  Living out the gospel means that we share our faith in Jesus Christ as naturally as we breathe.  I struggle with this, do you?  God’s is most glorified by the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  What the Christian needs to live out gospel implications is to glorify God, and share faith, while resting in the full assurance of salvation in Christ.

Would you add anything?  Please let me know.

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (ESV)

What is often times missed is that the imperative of this verse is not “Go”, as is often taught, but “make.”  Based on the emphasis placed on go, some reason to themselves that not everyone can go off somewhere else, so they must be off the hook for disciple making.  They think that this verse is for missionaries and pastors, not lay people. However, literally, the passage should read, “in your going therefore”, or “as you go.”  As you go about living your life you are to make disciples.  So disciple making of all the nations does not start with some far off place, but with your next door neighbor as you go about your business.

The question is how do we go about making disciples of all nations, starting with my neighbor?  The answer is found in the rest of the verse.  There are two Greek participles of “means” (Go by the way is also a participle, but its syntax is “attendant circumstance”).  Baptizing, and Teaching.  Disciples are made through relationships with people.  People have to come to know Jesus.  We have to be active in evangelism, sharing the good news with a world in desperate need. And when people are converted to Christ, they are baptized.

The second  participle is “teaching.”  We are to instruct our new brother in Christ all that Jesus commanded.  This is the second part to disciple making.  This is the life long aspect of discipleship.  Disciple making does not end with conversion, but continues on as person is build up and grows in the Word of God.  This is the Christian life, and we are all called to assist in this.

However, there is one final thing that Jesus says.  This is a work accomplished by God through us.  Jesus is with us until the end of the age.  How grateful I am that I am only called to be obedient to the Great Commission, but it is the Spirit of God who accomplishes all that He has set out to do.

So are you making disciples?  Are you active in sharing your faith with neighbors, co-workers, etc.?  And are you active in teaching new believers and seasoned believers  alike all that Jesus commanded?  What would the church look like if we all took the time to mentor or disciple one other person?  Would we see the church grown numerically and more importantly, spiritually?

Last week was the first week of classes here at the seminary and we completed our first class, The Doctrine of God.  Dr. Lewis Hill, President of Reformed Discipleship Ministries was our lecturer.  It was an excellent study of our Scriptural understanding of who God is, and his plan of redemption.

This week’s course is Pastoral Counselling, led by Dr. Andrew Zeller.  Primarily we will be reading through Instruments in the Redeemers Hands, by Paul David Tripp.  From what I have read thus far, this is an excellent book that is not only helpful for those who “professionally” counsel, but to any Christian, who takes relationships and discipleship seriously.  I have only read the first 3 chapters so far (I should be finished   by the end of the week), but already I can see that Dr. Tripp is laying a foundation of who we  are in Christ Jesus instead of presenting a “system” on how to counsel people.  One of the neat things with this course and this book is that the women at the seminary are also going to go through this book as part of their study this summer.

Well, I think that is all for now, we would love to hear from you.

-Paul

Grace OPC

This website was set up for Grace OPC in Springfield, IL.  This is a small congregation that is devoted to the preaching of God’s Word.  This is my latest website and it is still a work in progress.  More links and pages will probably be added in the  near future.

Rincon Mountain Presbyterian Church

RMPC is a good sized PCA congregation in Tucson, AZ.  This church is family oriented and committed to the preaching of God’s Word. This site uses flash for a rotating banner. Also includes drop-down menus and the sermon brower plugin for easy sorting of the mp3 sermon files.

Sangre de Cristo Seminary

Sangre de Cristo is a small reformed seminary neslted in the mountains of Colorado.  The seminary focuses on the original languages an exegesis and preaching of God’s Word.  The website design here is actually their blog that was designed to match the existing website.