My devotional today asks all sorts of questions ! Are you a sheep or are you a goat? Who is he talking about in V34 His brothers yes! His brothers the Jews? or Gentile believers ?
31"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, (NIV)
Saturday 20 October 2007
Friday 19 October 2007
Justice and Mercy. Mat 23:23
In my devotional reading today, we see Jesus in conversation with the pharisees. He tells them quite plainly that they have neglected the important matters of the law - justice, mercy and faithfulness. In Mat 5:17 we see Jesus stating that he has not come to abolish the law but to fiulfil it. The pharisees in their strict obedience to the Law were trying to create the right social conditions in which the Messiah would come, they were looking to purify society(v25). The prophets of old had said many times that the people were neglecting mercy. (e.g. Amos 2:7)
In other words, lets get on with the business of justice, mercy and faithfulness in Jesus name and by doing so we will have oil in our Jars Mat 25:4. The Kingdom of God is among us.
In other words, lets get on with the business of justice, mercy and faithfulness in Jesus name and by doing so we will have oil in our Jars Mat 25:4. The Kingdom of God is among us.
prayer request
Prayer Request
Rev Mark Taylor, minister of Wick Baptist Church, was admitted to hospital this week with a suspected heart attack. He was transferred from Caithness General Hospital in Wick to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary where doctors decided that Mark had not had a heart attack, but has inflammation of fluid sacks around the heart which can be stress related. He could be transferred back to Wick as soon as today possibly.
Mark with his wife Claire and children Danielle, Joel, Isaac and Eli had just moved to Wick from Cromer in Norfolk in August of this year. This is Mark's first full time pastorate having graduated from Spurgeon's College in London this year. The news of Mark's illness has come as a great shock to the church as it has to his family. Please pray for Mark that he may make a full recovery. Pray for Claire and the children at this time also.
Rev Mark Taylor, minister of Wick Baptist Church, was admitted to hospital this week with a suspected heart attack. He was transferred from Caithness General Hospital in Wick to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary where doctors decided that Mark had not had a heart attack, but has inflammation of fluid sacks around the heart which can be stress related. He could be transferred back to Wick as soon as today possibly.
Mark with his wife Claire and children Danielle, Joel, Isaac and Eli had just moved to Wick from Cromer in Norfolk in August of this year. This is Mark's first full time pastorate having graduated from Spurgeon's College in London this year. The news of Mark's illness has come as a great shock to the church as it has to his family. Please pray for Mark that he may make a full recovery. Pray for Claire and the children at this time also.
Wednesday 17 October 2007
Received an email from the Baptist Union of Scotland yesterday requesting that we announce an event in Glasgow for those interested in pastoral ministry. It seems there is a dire shortage of pastors in BUS churches. Why is this? This should be the most desirable of work. Work of the highest calling. The ultimate vocation
Does the BUS not consider that perhaps the form of leadership in Baptist churches might be unscriptural, that congregational government might be part of the problem. Where in scripture do the shepherds hand over the decision making process to the sheep? Before there can be any improvement in numbers of men coming into ministry perhaps they had better look at this problem. This is where a lot of problems surface, a lot of personalities clash where the focus is off Christ and on the problem whatever it is, where egos are massaged and groups form..... in the church meetings.
This problem of indiscipline runs right through Baptist life and yes you can have peaceful meetings, once those that have had enough have left to wander and only those that agree with one another are left. Then everybody is so anxious to agree with one another because they are the only one's left that they make bad decisions.
Elders should make decisions pertaining to the spiritual life of the Church. The BUS should produce clear guidelines as to what constitutes good scripturaly informed church government, so that the average life of a pastor in office extends beyond the current four years. Then pastors might not face burn out. Pastors should free to pastor the congregation, supported by a team of worshipful Elders and which is..in turn supported by some cracking good Deacons. Incidentally looking through the bible I see Elders/Pastors, I see Deacons, I see a treasurer ( Judas ) but I don't see a secretary, yet this role is second only to the Pastor in Baptist thinking.
Come to think of it I don't see a vacancy committee in scripture either! Can six people drive a car at the same time?
Does the BUS not consider that perhaps the form of leadership in Baptist churches might be unscriptural, that congregational government might be part of the problem. Where in scripture do the shepherds hand over the decision making process to the sheep? Before there can be any improvement in numbers of men coming into ministry perhaps they had better look at this problem. This is where a lot of problems surface, a lot of personalities clash where the focus is off Christ and on the problem whatever it is, where egos are massaged and groups form..... in the church meetings.
This problem of indiscipline runs right through Baptist life and yes you can have peaceful meetings, once those that have had enough have left to wander and only those that agree with one another are left. Then everybody is so anxious to agree with one another because they are the only one's left that they make bad decisions.
Elders should make decisions pertaining to the spiritual life of the Church. The BUS should produce clear guidelines as to what constitutes good scripturaly informed church government, so that the average life of a pastor in office extends beyond the current four years. Then pastors might not face burn out. Pastors should free to pastor the congregation, supported by a team of worshipful Elders and which is..in turn supported by some cracking good Deacons. Incidentally looking through the bible I see Elders/Pastors, I see Deacons, I see a treasurer ( Judas ) but I don't see a secretary, yet this role is second only to the Pastor in Baptist thinking.
Come to think of it I don't see a vacancy committee in scripture either! Can six people drive a car at the same time?
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