Faith Family and Finance

I am reposting a blog by Craig Groeschel. He is the Senior Pastor of Lifechurch.Tv in the U.S. – a cutting edge church that ministers using internet as a medium. They produce top calibre videos to make the gospel easy to understand and relevant for our times. He emphasizes that while the modern church needs to be relevant in its preaching method, it should not replace substance with style and dependence on the Holy Spirit with gimmickry. A good reminder for all of us who are called to pastor. The blog goes:

The [American] Church is not lacking for “cool” pastors. Like a single guy who is trying just-a-bit-too-hard to impress a girl, some churches are simply trying too hard to be cool.
I’m very encouraged to see a shifting in direction. For years, many of us seemed focused on:
* Designing relevant church experiences.
* Producing entertaining videos.
* Creating inviting environments.
* Crafting sermon series to draw a crowd.
* Writing sermons with shock value and plenty of humor or stories.

While all of the above can be effective tools, many of my friends are intentionally moving in a stronger direction. So many great Christian leaders are seeing far better results with:
* Bathing a sermon in prayer.
* Fasting regularly.
* Practicing personal confession and repentance.
* Preaching from the overflow of time alone in God’s word.
* Caring deeply for others in biblical community.

I’m thrilled so many leaders are placing less emphasis on being cool and more emphasis on being like Christ.

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We are called to disciple, lead and preach. Not just to entertain people.

Popularity: 8% [?]

I am so grateful for this church. I got saved  23 years ago as a sophomore student and got involved in the life of the church. I’ve seen the church grow from a handful of people to now almost 40 thousand (in Metro Manila) in 13 locations. Back in 1986, we knew everyone in church by name (no kidding). It was so small that during a mid-week service if the worship team would go to the stage to sing, about five people would be left sitting in the congregation (a little exaggerated here).  I knew as a young believer that the honor of God is to be pursued at all cost – even in the way we do church.

By honoring God in church, it means that we build this church around God and not around a pastor or a group of pastors. We want to give God the credit always. We give God the honor by honoring one another – by not keeping offense and spreading it like wildfire. By God’s grace, we have not seen any church split after twenty five years of doing ministry. We may not agree on everything in a meeting in the conference room but when we go out (after a decision is made) we are in full support with one another.

We honor God in church by realizing that this is His body and that we need to walk united and connected with one another. Jesus will not come back for  mutilated bride but a glorious church without spot, blemish or wrinkle.

Eph. 5:27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.

Jesus loves His church. He gave His life for His bride. Let us honor Him by keeping the unity of the faith.

I love this Church!

Popularity: 22% [?]

Had a great time in church service yesterday. The presence of God was there. We started with a new series entitled www.victory (The what, why and who of Victory). This month we are celebrating 25 years of Victory as a church. We are culminating it with a celebration in Araneta Coliseum on July 24. Get your tickets now. We hope to see you there.

Yesterday, we talked about honoring God. This is the ultimate motive of why we do what we do. We give God the credit. We honor God because He is worthy. We worship him for who he is and not just for what He does or give us. We are to honor God not just in church on Sunday but everyday in every way. We honor God in our marriage, in our family, in our work, in our finances and even with our body.

One of the verses that stuck to me is found in Malachi 2:2 If you do not listen, and if you do not set your heart to honor my name,” says the LORD Almighty, “I will send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not set your heart to honor me. The Israelites were in a backslidden state and was warned by God through the prophet Malachi.

We are to set our hearts to honor God. Not because we fear that He will curse us but out of reverence and gratitude.

Before doing anything, ask yourself the question ,”Will this thing honor God?”

Popularity: 9% [?]