Mainstay Ministries by Dr. David R. Mains

Daring to Dream Again: Confront the... - Part 11

Tuesday, April 24, 2012 by David Mains

Confront the Scandal of Our Prejudices—Part 11

FOR DISCUSSION AND REFLECTION

1. Are there prejudices in the North American church that still grieve the heart of God? If so, what are they?

2. Sincere Christians sometimes reinforce their prejudices by appealing to Scripture. How is this possible?

3. In an effort to overcome prejudice and show love and understanding, Christians can sometimes compromise what Scripture teaches. Give an example of how this might happen.

4. Who are people or groups you have prejudged or were prejudiced toward in the past?

5. Has the Holy Spirit been revealing any new prejudices you need to correct? What has God been showing you?

6. When it comes to tearing down walls of prejudice, is the church in North America ahead of or behind the secular culture? Why?

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Sunday’s coming. Do you have your sermon ready? Is it relevant? Will it effectively motivate your congregation to walk more in step with the Master? What about that Sermon Series you’ve been thinking about?

Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?

David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help. We offer a wide variety of Sermon Starters and Full Sermons that will give you Sermon Ideas to help you prepare for regular Saturday or Sunday sermons, Mid-week Bible Sermons, and Sermons for special occasions.

We also offer assistance as you create Topical Sermons, Sermons Series, and sermons for special times of the year. We have resources available to help you with Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermons, Easter Sunday Sermons, Patriotic Sermons, and more.

For more information on how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons, please click here to visit David Mains’ website.

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.

(161D)

Daring to Dream Again: Confront the... - Part 10

Monday, April 23, 2012 by David Mains

Confront the Scandal of Our Prejudices—Part 10

“I believe we too need to open up more places for women to use their special resources for kingdom work.”

With that statement I haven’t tried to resolve all the doctrinal issues related to women in ministry. But I am challenging men of the church to make more room at the table for women, just as we need to do for minorities. Can you respond “amen” to that?

For too long we have stereotyped women as being capable of taking charge of the church nursery but not the church treasury. We’ve said women can teach boys and girls, but not a mixed adult class. In Scripture we read that women should learn in silence. Often the only word we see•is “silence.” We miss the fact that women were encouraged to inquire and learn. Why learn if one’s knowledge can't be used?

One of the great unsung demonstrations of the working of the Holy Spirit in the church in our land is what's happening among women. They are becoming “maiden warriors.” I commend my sisters in the Lord. And I believe the Lord is challenging many of us who are men to confront the scandal of our sexual prejudices.

This chapter has been a cram course. I’ve tried to write too much in too restricted a space. Suffice it to underscore that this matter of prejudices is a real-life nightmare that continues to trouble the church. The Lord is telling me to grow up and stop acting out of little-boy fears. What’s He saying to you?

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Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.

(161C)

Daring to Dream Again: Confront the... - Part 9

Friday, April 20, 2012 by David Mains

Confront the Scandal of Our Prejudices—Part 9

Sharing the Burden

A passage like John 4 reveals the racism of New Testament times as we see the Samaritan woman responding to Christ, “How can You ask me for a drink?” John, the author adds in parentheses: “(for Jews do not associate with Samaritans).” But Jesus did anyway (v. 9).

Also revealing is verse 27 of that chapter. When the disciples returned to the scene, the Scriptures record, they were surprised, not that Jesus was talking to a Samaritan, but that our Lord was conversing with a woman!

I believe we still have lessons to learn from Christ on this matter. In Luke 8, referring to Jesus’ travels from one town and village to another, we read, “The Twelve were with Him, and also some women” (vv. 1-2). The passage names three of them: Mary Magdalene, Susanna, and Joanna. Joanna’s husband, Cuza, was the manager of Herod’s household. So the wife of the king’s steward was traveling with Jesus as He preached!

According to Luke 8:3, “These women were helping to support them [the disciples] out of their own means.” Ministry requires money, and apparently a lot of it was being provided by the women who traveled with Christ.

Contrary to the practices of the day, Jesus opened up places of service like this for women. It was risky. There could have been a lot of misunderstandings about women traveling with His ministry team. But Jesus didn’t exclude them. I believe we too need to open up more places for women to use their special resources for kingdom work.

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Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.

(161B)

Daring to Dream Again: Confront the... - Part 8

Thursday, April 19, 2012 by David Mains

Confront the Scandal of Our Prejudices—Part 8

Are times changing? I hope so. It’s never too late to dream. But, I wonder, will minor differences or our fears of one another continue to keep us apart so that we'll never know how strong we could have been, if only we had worked harder at being unified?

Let’s face the facts. It still befuddles the average non-Christian that the church has so many divisions. If Christians agree on the greater portion of their beliefs, why don't they concentrate on that rather than on their differences? Let’s wake up. Our divisions absolutely bamboozle nonbelievers! We Christians should be equally concerned.

I have preached in many different denominational settings. I’ve never yet found a group I didn’t like, never! Mennonites, Wesleyans, Nazarenes, Friends, Moravians, they’re all wonderful people. Lord, bring us together!

I believe He wants to do just that. I truly am convinced God is almost forcing us to confront this scandal of our denominational prejudices, because it stands in the way of His dreams for us becoming reality.

There are so many Scriptures which speak to issues like these. In 1 Corinthians 1, the Apostle Paul writes: “One of you says, ‘I follow Paul’; another, ‘I follow Apollos’; another, ‘I follow Cephas’; still another, ‘I follow Christ.’ Is Christ divided?” Paul asks in wonderment! (vv. 12-13)

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Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.

(161A)

A Word to the Wise is...

Wednesday, April 18, 2012 by David Mains

When preaching is appropriate and when it’s not is a lesson more seminaries should cover. Unfortunately, I’ve yet to hear of even one that does. Maybe it’s hard to stretch such a singular lesson out over an entire quarter or semester. The truth be known, I believe I can cover it quite adequately in a few paragraphs.

Preaching is appropriate when you are in a pulpit setting. An example of when it’s not appropriate is when you are having a meal with friends. Even so, I’ve been with enough men or women of the cloth who apparently were never told by their spouses, “You talked ten times more than the rest of the people combined”

Okay, so it’s not really preaching with an introduction, main points, application and conclusion. But it doesn’t matter whether following a predetermined outline or talking off-the-cuff, it’s still just as rude if you’re always dominating the conversation, regaling everyone with your wisdom, your insights, your experiences, your spirituality, your accomplishments, your humor, etc.

Too many times I’ve been with ministers—from world-renown pulpiteers to pastors of tiny congregations—who were so used to “flying solo” for long periods of time in front of others that they weren’t aware they were continuing the practice of pontificating out of the pulpit. Groupies may think this is wonderful for big-shots. But in the average local church, there usually isn’t that high a percentage of pastor groupies. Enough said ... okay?

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Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.

(#161)

Daring to Dream Again: Confront the... - Part 7

Tuesday, April 17, 2012 by David Mains

Confront the Scandal of Our Prejudices—Part 7

Getting Together

Another prejudice that needs to be addressed is our denominationalism. I’m not necessarily advocating that we join together as part of a great ecumenical movement. We don't need to blindly embrace the minister down the street who believes Christ to be a good man but little more—and certainly not the unique Son of God. There are essential doctrinal differences that cannot be overlooked.

But that doesn’t mean that all in the true body of Christ, those who have received His saving grace, can’t learn to work together better. In our land the enemy is increasing in power. The strides Satan has made in recent years are frightening. Christians will never stop him if we can’t learn to cooperate more.

I am thrilled with reports I hear of ministers in many parts of the country praying together across denominational lines. We are not as far behind denominationally as we are racially, but that’s hardly a high compliment.

As I talk with church leaders, I am amazed how little Baptists know about Episcopalians, or Episcopalians about the Salvation Army, or the Army about what’s happening in Presbyterian circles. In many ways these are like different worlds which seldom interface unless something like a Billy Graham Crusade brings them together.

In a given town, churches and the people of those various churches so often are spiritually isolated from one another. Free Methodists don’t know who attends the local Church of God church, or the Missouri Synod Lutheran church, or the Evangelical Free church, or the Assembly of God church. There are exceptions, but on the whole we don’t really know the true body of Christ in our particular settings as I believe our Lord would like us to.

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Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.

(160D)

Daring to Dream Again: Confront the... - Part 6

Monday, April 16, 2012 by David Mains

Confront the Scandal of Our Prejudices—Part 6

There’s a strong white church, there’s a strong black church, and there’s a strong Hispanic church. But there isn’t nearly as much of a coming together racially as we might like to think. Most honest church leaders would say that as Christians we’re probably fifteen to twenty years behind where we should be on this issue.

Don’t misunderstand. I’m not equating the church with the Ku Klux Klan. I’m not overlooking the fact that some progress has been made. I’m just honestly pointing out that Christians should be a lot farther along than we are in terms of racial reconciliation.

Most churches or parachurch organizations are not in a position to boast. More likely, they admit to finding the race issue an extremely difficult problem to work through. But if Christians ever expect to be heard as a viable voice in Chicago or in this nation or in North America, then racism in the church must be addressed. It’s a glass ceiling that needs to be shattered, and soon.

My conviction is that God still forces His people to confront the scandal of their prejudices when they stand in the way of His dreams becoming reality. As we plead with the Spirit for revival in the church, I believe this is one of the sins He will convict us of. Daring to dream again means breaking through the racial barriers that hold us back.

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Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.

(160C)

Daring to Dream Again: Confront the... - Part 5

Friday, April 13, 2012 by David Mains

Confront the Scandal of Our Prejudices—Part 5

Personal Cram Course

Have you ever tried to master some difficult subject by taking a cram course? Perhaps in a short period of time you were going to learn how to speak French or become an accomplished pianist.

What happened?

I could say I took a twelve-year inner city cram course on racial reconciliation. Now for some, twelve years might seem too long for a cram course. But when we realize that racism in this land has been hundreds of years in the making, twelve years is actually rather a short period of time in which to expect to master the subject!

What happened was that I founded an inner city, interracial church that which quickly grew to a Sunday morning attendance of 500. On my staff were a Chinese Filipino man, an African American man, and also a white woman. We did well, for a while—about eight years. But eventually all the blacks left. I confess that I, as senior minister, was as much involved and to blame for what happened as anyone. In retrospect, I would say I flunked the racial reconciliation course. On the other hand, I certainly learned a great deal, probably as much about my flaws as anything! So when I talk about personal racism or racism in the church, it's not just another topic to me.

That church ministry began in 1967. At that time in Chicago there was minimal communication between the black church and the white church. Today, in this third largest of U.S. cities, there are ministries where blacks and whites work together in the church beautifully. I applaud those efforts. In fact, I stand and applaud. I rejoice. I shout, “Praise the Lord!”

But the truth is, when you look at the broader church picture, not much progress has been made toward racial reconciliation. When it comes to blacks and whites working together, the church lags behind the sports world, the entertainment world, the world of education, the world of business, the world of government, and on and on.

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Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.

(160B)

Daring to Dream Again: Confront the... - Part 4

Thursday, April 12, 2012 by David Mains

Confront the Scandal of Our Prejudices—Part 4

I’m continuing with a section from Tales of the Resistance, written by my wife, Karen. Her tale called “Doubletalk, Triple Tongue, and Theysay.” This story has something to teach us about prejudice.

Doubletalk made positive announcements out of one side of his mouth. "The Enchanter is coming!", for instance, or, "Melons in the marketplace!" would be announced out of the right side. Negative announcements, however, would be shouted out of the left side of his mouth: "The Enchanter is not coming!" "The melons have all been stolen!"

Trouble began when Doubletalk couldn't decide if the announcement was negative or positive. Was the theft of rutabagas good or bad news? Or, maybe, it was a good thing that the Enchanter wasn't coming.

Consequently, he began to make announcements out of both sides of his mouth. "The Enchanter is coming!" (on the right side). "The Enchanter is not coming!" (on the left). Then both at the same time. His tongue worked so hard it eventually split in two:

Doubletalk always worked up a sweat, but no one appreciated his great effort. People standing beneath his column shouted, "Heh, bub! Make up yer mind. Watcha got? Wet-noodle brains?" And they threw rotten tomatoes.

Double talk—one thing out of one side of the mouth and something else out of the other side. Contradictory announcements.

- Witness to your non-Christian friends, but don't associate with too many non-Christians or you might compromise your convictions.

- Treat all people with Christian love—except African Americans who move into your neighborhood, because then your property value will drop.

- Make use of all the gifts the Holy Spirit has given you unless, of course, you are a woman who would violate all that is sacred if you thought you had gifts intended only for men. Prejudices. We still have them, don’t we? I see them often standing in the way of the dreams God has for the world.

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Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.

(160A)

Realistic Expectations

Wednesday, April 11, 2012 by David Mains

Young preachers would do well to acquaint themselves with the Old Testament prophets. Reading the messages of men like Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel gives a contemporary preacher a feel for just how resistant hearers can be to “a word from the Lord.”

You probably recall Isaiah’s accusation of his listeners in chapter 30. Here’s verses 10-13:

They say to the seers,
“See no more visions!”
and to the prophets,
“Give us no more visions of what is right!
Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions.
Leave this way, get off this path,
and stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel!”

To expect the majority of your congregation to quickly put into practice what you preach is not realistic. Most people are slow to change and amazingly capable of forgetting your words very quickly.

Even with some of what I feel were my “best messages,” I would be surprised if as high as 10% of those who heard me preach actually enfleshed what I asked for in the conclusion to my sermon. Most of the time my expectation would be more in the 3-5% range.

This isn’t to minimize what God can do through preaching. It’s to report that even the most articulate of speakers seldom get into the double digits when we’re talking about measurable spiritual changes in lives as a result of sermons.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that with 5% of those applying what their minister preaches each Lord’s Day, that still accounts for considerable growth over a period of years.

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Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.

(#160)

Daring to Dream Again: Confront the... - Part 3

Tuesday, April 10, 2012 by David Mains

Confront the Scandal of Our Prejudices—Part 3

Double Bind

I’ve illustrated previous chapters with sections from Tales of the Resistance, written by my wife, Karen. Her tale called “Doubletalk, Triple Tongue, and Theysay” has something to teach us about prejudice.

Heralds stood on broadcast columns throughout Enchanted City and shouted news. They announced special events as well as the hour of the night. Because of power-outs, however, no one really knew the correct time. One herald might proclaim, “Midnight. All’s well!” while another shouted “Ten thirty o’clock. Half-night approaches!” No wonder citizens suffered from indigestion, they were always eating dinner at the wrong hour.

Doubletalk, Triple Tongue, and Theysay were friends. The three boys had grown up in Moire Oxan, the tenement slums which stretched for miles, hovel stacked upon hovel. Together they endured illness, poverty, hunger, and branding. When Theysay’s parents died, the other two helped him escape orphan dragnets by hiding him back and forth in their own tenement hovels, at great risk of penalty to themselves.

All were now heralds of the Enchanter-and proud of their accomplishment. It was something for penniless young men to rise to heraldship, to stand on the tall broadcast columns, trusted with all the news fit to proclaim. It was something for ragtag ruffians to wear the red and yellow jerseys with the Enchanter’s insignia of blazing fire. It was something to blow the herald horn whenever the wizard's sleek black limousine moved ominously through the city streets, and to shout, “The Enchanter is coming! Make way for the Enchanter!”

Unfortunately, heralds frequently made contradictory announcements. One might shout, “Melons in the marketplace! First come, first served!” while the herald on the very next post was shouting, “No melons today! Try rutabagas in your fruit salad!”

Some people suspected that heralds were chosen only•if they had something wrong with their speech. Some heralds spoke backwards, “!gnimoc si retnahcnE ehT” Some had twisted tongues. Some had lockmouth, so that all s’s whistled through clenched teeth with a wicked his-s-s-s-s-s-s. Some had very bad breath.

(Continued with Thursday’s blog post...)

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Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.

(159D)

Daring to Dream Again: Confront the... - Part 2

Monday, April 9, 2012 by David Mains

Confront the Scandal of Our Prejudices—Part 2

The Lord was preparing Peter to be responsive to the invitation of this Gentile he normally wouldn't even have associated with. That's because God wanted His apostles to extend the message of His kingdom beyond the Jewish world. To do that, to get these servants of His to buy into His more expansive dream, the Lord had to somehow break through certain prejudices they held.

Peter figured out the puzzle of his vision a lot faster than I did the message of my dream. He had to, because before long he found himself at the home of Cornelius, preaching Christ and seeing the Holy Spirit fall upon the group. The Scriptures report:

While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers [or, the Jewish believers] who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God (Acts 10:44-46).

I believe it’s fair to say that God forces us to confront the scandal of our prejudices when they stand in the way of the fulfillment of His dreams. The early church, which was almost exclusively Jewish, would undoubtedly have stayed that way if the Lord had not pushed His key leaders, such as Peter, and said, “Don’t call anything impure that God has made clean.”

Since the first century, this kind of nudging has continued through the generations. I hold the conviction that this is one of the things the Lord is trying to do in His church even today.

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Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.

(159C)

Daring to Dream Again: Confront the... - Part 1

Friday, April 6, 2012 by David Mains

Confront the Scandal of Our Prejudices—Part 1

Maybe you’re like I am. Every so often you have a dream that really troubles you. For example, here’s .a recurring nightmare of mine I recall from years back. I would be watching from the last row of an auditorium as a magician performed illusions. He would ask for a volunteer to come up, and one of my young sons, who was sitting down in front would respond. He would be put in a box through which a sword was to be thrust. But suddenly I knew the trick wasn’t going to work, and my son would actually be killed. So I’d race to the front, trying to stop things, but I would always be too late. I’d hear a piercing scream, at which point I’d wake up, terrified.

Usually I don’t remember my dreams. But I had this one more than once, and it was troubling enough to remember.

I’m told that one’s dreams are usually not about somebody else, like my young son, but about oneself. With that perspective, I eventually became aware that this dream was underscoring what God had been telling me through a number of different means. There were little-boy aspects of my personality that needed to be put to death. If I didn’t stop acting like a little boy in some ways, the Lord would never be able to entrust me with certain adult assignments. I feel I’ve heeded those warnings from the Lord and done the work He wanted accomplished. And, interestingly, that dream hasn’t returned.

Confronted by the Lord

In Scripture, we see that Peter had one of these unusual revelations from the Lord while he was in Joppa.

About noon the following day as they were approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air. Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”

“Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”

The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”

This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven ...

While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Simon, three men are looking for you. So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.”

Peter went down and said to the men, “I’m the one you’re looking for. Why have you come?” (Acts 10:9-16, 19-21)

It was then he learned they had been sent by a Gentile named Cornelius, a centurion in what was called the Italian regiment. “He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people,” they said. “A holy angel told him to have you come to his house so that he could hear what you have to say” (v. 22).

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Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.

(159B)

Daring to Dream Again: Become... - Part 14

Thursday, April 5, 2012 by David Mains

Become World-Class Christians—Part 14

READINGS - Part 5

God has called us to prayer for “all nations.” There is no better way than starting at the top,

The other day a friend asked me to write a few words of explanation on the theme “How to pray for world leaders.”

As I worked to keep the guidelines brief, I was forced to simply give Scripture references at points where fully developed teachings would be completely appropriate. If you take time with your Bible and the following suggestions, I believe your effectiveness in prayer will deepen.”

First: Be convinced that God has placed these leaders in their positions. As to whether they have ruled in evil or righteousness, they will give account, but it is God’s sovereignty that has ordained their term of governing nonetheless (Romans 13:1-4).

Second: It is the believer’s responsibility to pray for all governmental leaders. Our calling is not to pass judgment on their rule; but, in obedience to God’s Word, to enter into prayer with intercessions that order and peace may fill each land (1 Timothy 2:1, 2).

Third: Such praying makes possible the rise of righteous rule in any land, for God OVERrules in all things when intercessory prayer prevails (Psalm 75:7 -10). Further, such praying pleases God, for it paves the way for fruitful evangelism to take place in each nation (1 Timothy 2:3-4).

Fourth: Let your heart be filled with confidence that prayer will introduce God’s overruling hand wherever faithful believers call forth His dominion. “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” is a prayer Jesus taught us to pray now (Matthew 6:10).

Fifth: Pray for national leaders to be taught by God that the Lord Almighty is the source of their rule. Pray that humility will fill the hearts of kings who learn to fear God (Daniel 4:34-35). Pray that leaders will love their people more than they love themselves; that they will serve as shepherds and not as taskmasters (Micah 6:8; Jeremiah 23:4, 5).

Finally: Pray for the family of each national leader. God is able to work wonders in the heart of any man or woman at this practical dimension of daily life. Rightly ordered authority begins in the home—in family relationships. Pray for miracles in the households of world leaders (Philippians 4:22). It’s astounding to realize that we live in an era of almost instant global communication. As children of our heavenly Father, however, we possess something even more astounding: instant communication with the One who made the world and knows the hearts of all its rulers.

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Moments with Majesty, Jack Hayford, Multnomah, pages 158-59.

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Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.

(159A)

The Need for Lay Input

Wednesday, April 4, 2012 by David Mains

A common mistake of preachers is to assume that their congregation is on-par with them spiritually speaking. A recent example of this occurred when several pastors in our area set up a prayer program for their people related to an evangelism effort.

Members of their various churches were to sign up for 30-minute timeslots to start “praying around the clock” for the unsaved individuals in the neighborhoods surrounding the different churches.

I have every confidence that these pastors could easily pray for 30 minutes on that topic. But I have to believe this would be a difficult assignment to fill for most of their people.

How many church people have prayed alone for 30 minutes when they could talk to the Lord about anything they wanted? And how many of them really carry a burden for the unsaved in the geographic areas around these various churches? Ministers—yes. The average member of a congregation—not really.

To pray in a meaningful manner for a half-hour for unknown people in a specified geographic area is challenging most congregation members to participate in an exercise in frustration. Those who don’t sign up feel guilty. And I have to assume many of them who did sign up felt frustrated in their efforts.

To me this sounded like an idea several pastors came up with but never talked to church members like Cathy the Bus Driver or Sam the Plumber for their honest opinion.

I could cite other examples, but you get the idea.

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Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.

(#159)

Daring to Dream Again: Become... - Part 13

Tuesday, April 3, 2012 by David Mains

Become World-Class Christians—Part 13

READINGS - Part 4

It was that kind of obedience that prompted Tom and Mary Mason to agree to house an international student for the Memorial Day weekend in 1982. That was easy. The pleasant Chinese graduate student from the nearby University of Buffalo was a joy to meet. They fed him breakfast, took him to church on Sunday, and had no idea that encounter would change their lives.

Nothing much happened until the next year when they agreed to help out again. Then the local director of International Students asked Mary and her next -door neighbor, Virginia, if they'd be willing to take a group of Chinese students to Washington, D.C., for a week. Why not? Neither one of the women had ever been to the Capitol, and it sounded like an adventure. They had only three days to prepare, so they sped to the AAA for an itinerary, made lists and studied maps, and on a warm July day, the two women, plus four children and seventeen students, headed down the New York thruway in three vans.

“We literally did D.C. with a map in one hand while pointing with the other,” Mary laughs when she recalls it. “We constantly got lost, but the Chinese joined in the spirit of it and had a great time.”

One afternoon—Mary had planned this—they stopped in the middle of the Mall between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial and sat on the grass. Mary told the students how she had come to Jesus Christ and how He had changed her life. Then her daughter Beth played “Amazing Grace” on the violin while the students sang with them this song that was strange to them. It was a touching moment, although the students showed little response. That didn’t surprise Mary. She had been told that characterized Orientals and she knew they were wary of being watched. One of them might have been—probably was—ready to report suspicious behavior to Beijing.

That fall, Mary and Virginia were invited to a Chinese dinner, a special occasion to celebrate the anniversary of the Cultural Revolution. Neither Mary nor Virginia knew before the dinner that they were the honored guests and the only Americans invited.

Toward the end of the evening, one of the Chinese women who had been on the trip to Washington pulled Mary aside and told her this story. “Do you see this little emblem I have on my lapel?” Mary nodded. It was an American flag. “Well,” she said, “America will always be a special place for me. I thought about what you said in Washington and I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior.

“I also decided I needed to make some changes in my life. I had come to this country to stay. We have been slowly getting our family out of China and only my husband is left there. He is a high government official and can’t leave yet. But now that I’m a Christian, my son has become a Christian, and we’ve decided to go home and share the Word with our family and our country.”

“It was enough,” says Mary, “to keep me going for years.” And keep going for years she has. The Masons began to host students for a week or two weeks at a time—mostly Japanese or Chinese. Then Mary began teaching English as a second language and holding Bible studies in her home. The latest was a Monday morning study made up of six Korean men and women.

One day when Gordon Loux visited the Masons, Tom hit the playback button on his telephone answering machine. A woman with a Japanese accent left a message that told it all: “Hi, Mom and Dad! Just called to say I love you. No need to call back.”

The Masons will never know while on this earth how many lives they have influenced and in what way. That’s true for most of us. Scrapbooks are crammed with stories of one person who got an idea or got mad or got unwittingly involved in a cause and ended up changing a community, or preserving the environment or saving lives.

_________________________________
You Can Be a Point of Light, Gordon Loux and Ronald L. Wilson, Multnomah, pages 21-23.

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Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.

(158D)

Daring to Dream Again: Become... - Part 12

Monday, April 2, 2012 by David Mains

Become World-Class Christians—Part 12

READINGS - Part 3

Oswald Chambers, writer of the devotional classic My Utmost for His Highest, reminds us that “the basis of missionary appeals is the authority of Jesus Christ, not the needs of the heathen.” In other words, we commit ourselves to growth as world-class Christians because Jesus says so in His Word, not because it is the popular or emotionally attractive thing to do.

In the mid-1980s, the world’s attention turned toward the plight of famine-ravaged people in Ethiopia and the Sudan. An enormously successful concert raised millions of dollars to help alleviate the suffering. At that time, talking about the “Sahel region,” discussing the injustices being done toward Eritrean people, and giving sacrificially to assist the hungry gave one admittance into the popular limelight.

Eighteen months after the concert, however, attentions had turned elsewhere. The emotional appeal of northern Africa had dissipated, and projects which had been initiated during the “boom” of giving were abandoned half-completed because the money, like the soil of these countries, had dried up.

Why? Because emotions cannot sustain the mission. They are necessary and operate effectively as catalysts, but they are not enough. Our vision for being involved as world-class Christians must be built on the sure foundation of God's Word. Our global commitment emanates out of the heart of God, not out of some popular fad of our times.

We build our vision and sustained involvement on the purposes of God as revealed in His Word.

_________________________________
How to Be a World-Class Christian, Paul Borthwick, Victor, pages 34-35.

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Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.

(158C)

Daring to Dream Again: Become... - Part 11

Friday, March 30, 2012 by David Mains

Become World-Class Christians—Part 11

READINGS - Part 2

Is missions an option-especially for super-wealthy countries like America? The biblical answer is clear. Every Christian in America has some minimal responsibility to get involved in helping the poor brethren in the church in other countries.

God has not given this superabundance of blessings to American and Canadian Christians so that we only can sit back and enjoy the luxuries of this society—or even in spiritual terms, so that we can gorge ourselves on books, teaching cassettes and deeper-life conferences. He has left us on this earth to be stewards of these spiritual and material blessings. God wants us to become experts on how to share with others.

Believers have a date with destiny. They are to be servants to the expanding churches and movement of God around the world. We need to gain a sense of trusteeship, learning to administer our wealth to accomplish the purposes of God.

What then is the bottom line? God is calling us as Christians to alter our life-styles. We must find ways to give up the non-essentials of our lives so that we can better invest our wealth in the kingdom of God.

To start, I challenge believers to lay aside at least one dollar a day to support a native missionary in the Third World. This, of course, should be over and above our present commitments to the local church and other ministries.

I do not ask Christians to redirect their giving away from other ministries for native missions—but to expand their giving over arid above current levels. Most people can do this.

For many North American and Western European believers—millions of them—this can be accomplished easily simply by giving up cookies, cakes, sweets, coffee, and other beverages. Many of these junk foods harm our bodies anyway, and anyone can save enough in this way to sponsor one or even two missionaries a month.

Many are going beyond this and, without affecting health or happiness, are able to sponsor several missionaries every month.

Of course, there are many other ways to get involved. Some cannot give more financially, but they can invest time in prayer and serve as volunteer coordinators to help recruit more sponsors. And a few ware called to go overseas to become involved experientially.

The single most important hindrance to world evangelization right now is the lack of total involvement by the body of Christ. I am convinced there are enough, American and Canadian sponsors to support all the native missionaries needed to evangelize the Third World.

_________________________________
The Coming Revolution in World Missions, K.P. Yohannan, Creation House, pages 81-82.

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Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.

(158B)

Daring to Dream Again: Become... - Part 10

Thursday, March 29, 2012 by David Mains

Become World-Class Christians—Part 10

READINGS - Part 1

Ramji is small of stature and of dark complexion. He lives in a one-room house made of sun-baked clay. His ancestors are the aborigines of Western India. His language is an unwritten tongue called Mouchi. Ramji ekes out starvation rations for his family from a small parcel of overworked, undernourished soil which has been passed down the family line for generations. Jungle roots and occasional chunks of wild boar meat supplement the family diet.

Waghdev, the tiger god, is Ramji’s tribal deity. His sincere devotion to Waghdev is astounding. Though he has never seen a Hindu hymnal, Ramji can be heard singing the praises of his deity at almost any time of the day. Though he has never read any books about Waghdev, he has an amazing wealth of information concerning him.

Ramji has never studied for the priesthood, yet he faithfully offers sacrifices to his god. He is as meticulous•about the place, the time and the way in which he carries out his religious ceremonies as if he were guided by a manual of ritual. His annual blood offering (a slain chicken) is made in the hope that the tiger god will not molest his one pair of bullocks and 11 goats.

Strange, isn’t it, that you have never heard of Waghdev when there are so many like Ramji who worship him so devoutly? No, it’s not strange at all, for Waghdev is only a tribal deity. He is worshiped within the confines of a small geographic circle. Nor have his devotees ever dreamed of the necessity of proclaiming his virtues to others. Waghdev’s responsibilities are definitely localized.

As a missionary to India, it has been my privilege to gather information on numerous tribal deities. Frankly, the more I have learned about most of them, the more thankful I’ve been that their influence is circumscribed. But I have become more and more concerned about one particular tribe of people. Numerically they are a much larger group than any Indian tribe of which I know. They are widely scattered and possess a great diversity of languages.

The religion of the group which concerns me has little in common with the other religions of the world. There is, however, one apparent similarity between the followers of Waghdev and this larger group; it is their indifference toward the proclaiming of the virtues of their religion to others. Let’s scrutinize for a moment the religious practices of a typical devotee within this tribe and see how they compare with those of Ramji.

For the sake of convenience, let’s call this fellow Anthony. Our first contact with him convinces us that he is deeply religious. He is faithful to his ritual responsibilities and sensitive to spiritual values. His religion has made a commendable contribution toward his good way of life.

But let’s listen to Anthony’s prayers. His requests are woven around a tight little circle of loved ones and friends. They seldom reach beyond his localized situation and never—just never across the ocean. Obviously his god is a tribal deity.

Are sacrifices and offerings a part of Anthony’s worship? Indeed they are, and he is faithful in them. That is, as long as he can see some practical and personal benefit from them. If they will provide a more commodious place of worship for him, if they will lessen the amount of juvenile delinquency in his community and if they will provide schools where his children can become indoctrinated in his religion, then he is quite ready to give. In watching Anthony offer his sacrifices, one is convinced that the one who is the object of his worship is only interested in the local tribe,

It is already obvious to you that the tribe to which Anthony belongs is that large, gifted, and God-blessed group of people called Christians. It is that group which has been chosen of God to be a witness of the grace of Christ to every tribe, race and nation. But Anthony, who is so typical of many in his tribe, seems as indifferent to a world without Christ as Ramji is to a world without Weghdev.

To Anthony God is bilingual, speaking only the language of heaven and English. God has no concern about getting the Gospel into other languages. God is nearsighted, seeing only the needs of men and women in the English-speaking world. God is limited in His capacity to love and partial in His desire to receive worship. He is provincial and nationalistic.

_________________________________
Get with It, Man, Don W. Hillis, Moody, pages 22-25.

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Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.

(158A)

What Do the People Think?

Wednesday, March 28, 2012 by David Mains

In my opinion, people in the pew are the best judges of whether or not sermons are effective. They know better than anyone else whether or not their lives will change as a result of what they heard preached. Believing this to be the case, it’s surprising to me how little their opinions are sought out by their pastors.

At the end of a sermon series, why not include a simple questionnaire in the church bulletin asking for feedback?

I found this series to be:

_____ Exceptionally helpful

_____ Helpful

_____ Interesting but not helpful

_____ Not all that much help

_____ Other ______________________

Here is how I intend to apply what I heard:

_____________________________________

_______________________
(signature)

Probably those filling out a response will be the people most positive in their evaluation. I would also think it is not a good sign of no one turns in a response. Even so, my feeling is that it’s better to ask than to remain in the dark.

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Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.

(#158)

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