A Thought On The Church

In Matthew 21, the Lord leaves Bethany and heads towards Jerusalem.  This is about a day and a half before He would go to the Garden, where He would be crucified.  There in Matthew, as He teaches near the Temple, He uses a parable (vs. 33-46).
In this parable, He uses a vineyard.  My best summary of the parable is that a man plants a vineyard, hedges it, digs a winepress in it, builds a tower, and leaves it under the responsibility of husbandmen.
When fruit should have been ready, the man sends his servants to the husbandmen to receive the fruit.  The husbandmen beats one servant, stones another, and kills another, and continues to do so as servants were sent.  Finally, the man sends his own son to the vineyard expecting the husbandmen to reverence his son.  They do not, but rather in rebellion seize him, cast him out, and finally slays him.
The Lord then asks in His teaching, "When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?"  They all answer to the Lord, "He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons."
According to verse 45, the chief priests and Pharisees knew that Jesus was speaking of them.  God had planted His vineyard, Israel, in the promised land (Isaiah 5), and had hedged it, dug a winepress in it, built a tower and left it under the responsibility of men-Pharisees and chief priests.  These men had neglected their duties and led Israel astray, rejecting God's servants (prophets, judges, teachers) and would now see to it that the Son would be slain.  
Jesus concludes this parable with these words, "The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner, this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?  Therefore say I unto you, the Kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof."
Of course, the Lord was referring to Himself as the Corner Stone (Eph. 2:20) and the new nation bringing forth the fruits would be His church.
The next day, late in the night, Jesus leaves the table at the "Last Supper" (John 14:31) and heads towards Gethsemane.  His first lesson He teaches to His disciples as they leave Jerusalem is "I AM the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman." (John 15:1).
I have always just seen this passage as teaching for the individual believer that he must draw his strength and nourishment from the vine (the Lord Jesus), bear fruit, abide in Him, or be "taken away" for being a branch that doesn't bear fruit.  I do not doubt the application being there, but am wondering if others have a thought on this, that the branches are the Lord's churches?
I only see a local, visible church in God's Word and this passage would teach the same.  As Christ is the Head of every body (local church), so He is the Vine of every branch (local church).
Consider:
vs. 1-Jesus says, "I AM the true vine..".  He is the source and the cornerstone of the church.  The "Father is the husbandman."  No longer does man (Pharisee, chief priest, pastor, denomination, etc) do the work of husbandman, but that duty is the Father's.
vs. 2-"Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away." The Lord's churches are to be fruit bearers.  Our first love should be souls.  The church should embrace and obey her great Commission!  Those churches that lose that love, "he taketh away;" or how Rev. 2:5 reads, "repent and do the first works: or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent."  The Father is the husbandman.  He alone decides when a candlestick is removed.  He alone decides when to "take away" that privilege. "...every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit."  The Lord's churches throughout history that have sacrificed and poured themselves out to bear fruit have all gone through purging.  What has happened under the pruning shears of God (evil emperors, inquisitions, imprisonments, beatings, and martyrdom)?  Those churches have bore more fruit!
vs. 3-"Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you."  The branches must be cleansed.  How are they cleansed and kept clean? Through the Word!  The church is to be presented a chaste virgin to the Lord Jesus (2 Cor. 11:2).  Concerning the church, (Eph. 5:26-27) "That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish."  The church is kept pure by the Word of God.  This demands separation from a carnal world, our own lusts, and a doctrinal separation.  I have often heard, "True doctrine divides!"  A more accurate statement may be "Doctrine Purifies!"
vs. 4 "Abide in me, and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except you abide in me."  Proper, Biblical service can only be done through the local church.  As branches cannot bear fruit by itself, no more can a church bear fruit without the working and empowering of a holy God.  A church must abide in Him.  How does a branch abide in the vine?  It just stays where the vine puts it, and does the work the vine empowers it to do.  May our churches stay faithful to where God first put us and through His power do the work He has called us to do.
vs. 5 "I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without me ye can do nothing."  Oh how the Lord's churches seem to have forgotten our desperate need and only hope of Christ working through us.  When an individual and church completely yield themselves to the Lord and His Word, there will be a bringing forth of MUCH FRUIT.  We must learn that without Him, we can do nothing!
vs. 6 "If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them and cast them into the fire, and they are burned."  In looking at this verse, I see a pronoun change.  Thus far the Lord has used 1st person pronouns, but now He uses 3rd person pronouns.  It does NOT read," if a man abide in me and then not abide in me;" though that is the context we normally here it used.  The verse simply says there are some men who do not abide in Christ.  He is "AS" a branch that is withered and will be gathered together some day and cast into the fire and burned.  A clear reference to those not in Christ, unbelievers.  Some may even "look like as a branch," but having not ever been in the vine, they will be gathered one day (Great White Throne) and cast into the fire and burned (Lake of Fire).
Vs 7 "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you."  The Lord returns to 1st person pronoun in referring to those who abide in Him.  If we as churches act as the "Pillar and ground of Truth," His word will abide in us.  We then will see  prayers answered as the early church once did.  This is not an open promise to ask and get like a Genie and a lamp; but rather, the key to churches seeing prayers answered like the church did in Acts and throughout history is not getting what you want, but wanting what He wants.
Vs 8 "Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples."  A church is glorifying God as she bears fruit-souls saved, baptized, added to the church, and discipled (Great Commission)
Vs. 9 "As the Father hath love me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love."  The Lord loved the church, and gave Himself for it (Eph. 5:25).  What love the Father has for His Son, and what love the Son has for His churches.

So, those are my thoughts and I would love to hear yours on this passage.

Thoughts from a Veteran Church Planter.

Several weeks ago I contacted one of the church planters supported by our church.  His name is B.J. Nordgren, he is commissioned out of Anchor Baptist Church, Salt Lake City, UT. Brother Nordgren was used of the Lord to plant the Chigagoland Baptist Church in Lansing, Illinois in 2010. Once the church was planted both he and his home church felt it was the Lord's will for him to return home and await God's direction for the next church plant. The Lord has led and they are currently working in Heber City, UT to establish the Lighthouse Baptist Church. We thank the Lord for men who practice what is taught in Acts 13. We see that Barnabas and Saul were sent out by their local church. We asked Bro. Norgren to share any things he has learned and about his new church plant  the following is his response:

"With respect to Church Planting a key aim is reaching and discipling a faithful man or faithful men. These men come really as a blessing of the Lord. Over the years we have seen God bring men that were teachable and trainable. They are willing to go house to house, visit widows, do Bible Studies, whatever you as the preacher/ missionary are doing they are hungry to be a part of it. These men become very fitted for the work of the ministry where God put them.

'It is easy to overlook these men when they first come to us. Many times we are too focused on other areas of ministry that we do not commit the time and effort required to disciple these men.

'The Lord so definitely impressed me a while back with this verse:
2Ti 2:2  And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.

'A few thoughts from this passage that have been a help:
"Commit"- The precious truthes and practices of the faith must be "commited" and only those who are "teachable" will we be able to "commit" them to. One can not "commit" something to a person only nominally interested. Nor would we want to "commmit" a thing to someone that was not obviously very eager to receive the thing. They must be "teachable". They must also be "faithful" to have the doctrines and practices "committed" to them over a length of time. "A faithful man who can find?" The Lord can! (Prov 20:6) And He will bring that faithful man to stabilize and forward His ministry (Jn 15:16).

'So this is, I think, a great need in Church Planting-teachable and faithful men.

'You asked about our ministry and how it started. We are presently evangelizing and holding Bible Studies here in Utah. Thankfully, we have 2 committed men (and their families) that the Lord has brought. Both have opened their homes to have our Bible Studies so far they are faithful, teachable and have a heart for souls. One of them was saved out of Mormonism and has a heart for Mormons and is really very fitted to reach them. He understands the great cost and the difficulty we will face in establishing a church in a Mormon dominated area. .... By God's grace we want to keep building them up as well as whoever the Lord brings. We are preparing to begin holding services in June. Our website is www.lighthousebaptistutah.com"

Have we forgot Jerusalem and Judaea?

There are many needy areas here in our state of Ohio. Barna research shows 96 major U.S. cities considered to be Post Christian. To be considered Post Christian they had to meet with at least 9 of the following fifteen factors:

• Do not believe in God
• Identify as atheist or agnostic
• Disagree that faith is important in their lives
• Have not prayed to God in at least a year
• Have never made a commitment to Jesus Christ
• Disagree that the Bible is accurate
• Have not donated to a church in the last year
• Have not attended a Christian church in the last year
• Agree that Jesus committed sins
• Do not feel a responsibility to share their faith
• Have not read the Bible in the last week
• Have not volunteered at church in the last week
• Have not attended Sunday school in the last week
• Have not attended religious small group in the last week
• Did not participate in house church in the last year

Out of 96 cities we find Columbus, Ohio to be listed 25^th, Toledo is 39^th, Cleveland-Akron-Canton

area is 43^rd, Dayton is 55^th, and Cincinnati is 57^th out of 96 major U.S. cities listed. 

The 2010 U.S. Religion Census revealed a county-by-county study of every denomination. Look closely at our state, the state of Ohio and see how many red dots you are able to see.  

It also seems as if most Conventions, Fellowships and Independent groups seem to all have needy areas listed where they are looking to plant churches when the church planter comes along.  As we have looked, researched and contacted others looking for needy areas we have come to the following conclusion:

When looking at this information it is very easy for us to look over pockets of needy areas. Yes, I believe God does call men to go into farther away areas, states and foreign countries (Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria) but we are looking here at the subject not of church planters but churches as a whole being the church planter.

 If we had gone by national surveys, maps or lists of different groups, the church we have planted in Lynchburg, Ohio would never have shown up and is only about one hour from our church. The church plant we are working on in Elmwood Place would never have shown up on a list or a map and is only about forty-five minutes from our church.  As we have driven around our area we have seen many empty church buildings where a church used to be and is now needed.

  My challenge would be this, if the Lord is leading your local church to plant another church, take a map of the area, locate your church on the map, draw a circle of one hour to a one and a half hour drive from there and then drive that radius looking for an area that needs a church plant. 
I believe the list and map seen above are a reflection of local churches obeying (with the exception of Jerusalem and Judaea) Acts 1:8  "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you:  and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." Have we been so focused on foreign missions (which is right to do) that our own country is now fast becoming a mission field?  May God burn within our hearts a desire to see a revival of church planting once again.

Books

I have been reading these last few weeks a lot and as a result been thinking about how important books are.  I finished reading a good book about men titled "What the Bible Says About Being a Man" by J. Richard Fugate (excellent book).  I am about a third through reading a second time "Pillars of Orthodoxy" by Ben M. Bogard (a must read for every Independent Baptist). I'm finishing today "The 21 Tenets of Biblical Masculinity" by Pastor Jerry Ross and have enjoyed it greatly and encourage every man to read.

Now before you profile me as a "book nerd," let me say I don't like to read.  Matter a fact, I'd about do anything more than reading.  I wasn't a big reader growing up.  My flesh hates it.  So, why do I read?  There are many things I didn't do right as a young man, and there are many more things my flesh and my spirit don't agree on.  I have learned this, if you are going to succeed in life, you must be a reader!

According to Kaiser Family Foundation (http://www.kff.org/entmedia/entmedia012010nr.cfm) children spend 7 hours 38 minutes A DAY (53 hours a week) on T.V., video games, and computers.  Compare this with a recent  Nielsen study, children read books 25 minutes a day (just less than 3 hours a WEEK).

With Kindle's, IBooks, and digital newspapers and magazines, I understand (and participate in) that you can read digitally, but my point is we aren't reading books any more.  If we removed from children books about Harry Potter, Vampires, and sorcery, I wonder how much time would be spent reading?

The old saying is true, "Readers are Leaders."  I read because I want to serve the Lord more effectively.  I read because I want to grow in knowledge. I read so that I understand my history and try not to repeat mistakes of the past and imitate the successes of my forefathers.  I read so I can learn more about my Lord and His promises. Ultimately, I read because God thinks it is important.

Consider this, most scholars believe one of the oldest characters in the Bible is Job.  We are not too distant from the creation of the world when most believe Job lived.  Listen to his words before Gutenberg's printing press, the internet, or even scribes and scrolls:

"Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book!  That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever! For I know that my redeemer liveth... "   Job 19:23-24a

 The importance of writing things down that are important for others to read was a concept from the beginning of time.  Listen to the Lord's words in Exodus 17:14:

"And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua..."

Our Lord wanted things written down for future leaders to read.  A neglect of reading has cost our families, churches, and nation the leaders that God has intended them to have. We must get back to reading.

You will find books talked about all throughout the Scriptures.  Most every reference referring to the importance of writing down so that other generations can follow and read and learn of the great wisdom, promises, and acts of our God.  God could have chosen many avenues to speak to us, His children, but He chose a Book, the Bible.  This Book we are to study (2 Tim. 2:15).

In Heaven, there are books (Rev. 20:12). Our names as believers are written down in books.  Obviously, God is more than capable of remembering who His children are, but He wrote it down in a book because books are consistently God's way of recording what is important and what should be remembered.

The Devil, as always, tries to take God's perfect plan and distort it.  The Devil has used the power of books to destroy people's lives. In Acts 19:19 there were a great number of souls saved from a wicked lifestyle of curious arts and witchcraft and sorcery, and one of the first things they did after being saved was "brought their books together and burned them." (friendly reminder to see the best selling list of children's books today).  Even believers get caught up in reading too much fiction.  Racy novels filled with adultery and lusts sit on the counters of too many believing adults. Christian fiction books about murder, sorcery, and suspense are consistently top sellers at your local "Christian" book stores.  Reading a good fiction book has it's place.  I don't believe this is a sin at all when the story is one that does not violate God's Word.  Just be sure your reading diet is not too heavy on the fiction.

Then, one has to be careful about reading the non-fiction materials that are classified as "Christian."  2 Thessalonians 2 warns about reading material that is not sound in doctrine:

"That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter..."

Reading nonfiction "Christian" books that are not sound doctrinally can shake and trouble your mind and has led and is leading too many away from the truth.  Many believe that no one is writing sound books any more and they just can't be found.  This is a lie from Satan.  Here are just a few sources where good solid, doctrinally sound books can be obtained:

- Challenge Press – www.baptist-books.com

- Particular Baptist Press – www.pbpress.org

- The Baptist Standard Bearer – www.standardbearer.org

- Bible Baptist Church Publications – www.baptistpublications.org

- Calvary Publishing – www.calvarypublishing.org

- The Multiplying Model – www.multiplyingmodel.com

Paul, when he was at the end of his life, when he knew "the time of his departure was at hand," made a last request for his last few days on this earth.  His request? "The cloak that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee, and the books, but especially the parchments."  Paul's last requests for his last few days on earth was a cloak to keep his body warm, books to keep his mind sharp, and Scripture to keep his heart right.

Thanks for READING.

How we started.

This past week we were able to see several historic Baptist sites.  We traveled to J. R Christian's grave site, Squire Boone's grave site, the old Goshen Baptist church (one of Indiana’s oldest Baptist Churches), Tidence Lane’s grave site, Lewis Craig’s grave site and several of the churches they planted. As we were at the historic Bracken Baptist Church, the last church Lewis Craig pastored, we could not help but to be thankful for the men who seemly had so little but did so much for the cause of Christ.  Lewis Craig moved his entire church from Virginia to plant churches in the State of Kentucky, and they accomplished their goal.

We were reminded of a statement we heard many years ago. “There are no great men of God, only men of a great God.”  The God whom these men served is the same God we serve today. The Book, which these men preached from, is the same Book we preach from. The command these men obeyed is the same command we claim to be obeying today.  These men are to be remembered, and we should be thankful for them and for their ministries; but let us not think that the same God who used these men is no longer looking for men to preach the Book or obey the command  “ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Yes the obstacles of our time are vastly different from those of the early pioneers who first traveled by foot, horse, wagon or boat; but we also have so much more than they did to work with. Could it be that we rely on what we have instead of who He is?

We are thankful that there are many churches and men of God who are not only listening to the voice of God but are also answering the call to go. We shared in our last article how the Lord has blessed us with three full time missionaries out of our church: Bro Colin Christensen, who has now gone home to be with the Lord; Bro. Steven Harris; and Bro. Bryon Roberts.  Missionaries are scriptural, and we should support them; but that does not relieve us of our command to go here at home. We are thankful our pastor has led our church in the area of church planting as a church. The Lord has blessed our church in that we as a church body planted a church near us in Lynchburg, Ohio. The pastor is one of our former deacons who felt led to take over the work once it was organized.  We are now planting a church in Elmwood Place, Ohio, using the same plan as we did in Lynchburg.

First there was a burden: Pastor Burke and I had gone to a funeral down in Cincinnati a few blocks from Elmwood Place. As we drove through Elmwood Pastor felt the Lord begin to place upon his heart to lead the church to plant a work there.

Secondly there was a survey trip.  A few weeks later Pastor Burke; Evangelist Dan Souza; Brother Brown, missionary to Bozeman, Montana; and I went and walked the streets of Elmwood.  The Lord confirmed the burden.

Then there was a commission: Pastor Burke presented the burden to the church to pray about, and they followed. We began going down, walking the streets and meeting people, business owners, and city officials.  We shared our burden to plant a church there and began to look for a storefront to rent.

Then we as a church went: The storefront was rented.  We began to take about twenty people down weekly to blanket the area with tracts and brochures each Saturday. On Sundays, the same number of people now bring their lunches, eat in the fellowship hall and then ride the bus down to Elmwood where we hold services  at 2:30 p.m.  Some sit and sing and are available as altar workers, some go outside to invite folks in, the children sing specials, one of the men leads the singing and the Lord blesses.

Elmwood is a transit area, and we have seen several come and then they are gone. When we had two who were faithful, we started Wednesday night discipleship class to teach the basics of the Christian life. At this point we normally have eleven adults and one child from the area each Sunday and ten on discipleship on Wednesday nights.

Next blog we are going to begin to compile a list of needy areas here in our state and share ideas we are gaining from others who are planting churches.