Glory of Christ Fellowship

Affirming and Encouraging our children’s positive development Imagine you are in a prayer circle at church or in a family devotion and children are present. Not only do they sit quietly and respectfully, they participate of their own will by offering sweet and innocent and biblical prayers. If we are going to let the Gospel truly shape our efforts in parenting and spiritual development we have to ask and answer an important question: “how will we encourage this child?” The reason we should be thoughtful about it is because our answer may be the difference between drawing attention to the work of Christ in them and their work for Christ. It is the difference between seeking justification by keeping the law of God rather than receiving his grace. Our children need to live in the hope that an almighty God works through needy people, not needy people work for an almighty God. God is not served by human hands as though he needed anything” (Acts 17:25). God ...

Here's a note I just sent to the church about Sarah Fergus. Check out her blog here . Hello Everyone, Sarah Fergus and I have been e-mailing back and forth over the last day, and here's where she's at: 1. She has bought her tickets, and she will be leaving the country--Lord willing, of course! 2. She does have enough support to go, but she really needs another $100-150 per month of support to be at an optimal level. Please pray about joining her support team, and feel free to forward her blog address to anyone who might be willing to lift her up in prayer or offer financial support (sfergus.aimsites.org--Sarah's contact information is on the blog-site). 3. Please consider coming to Sarah's send off party from 4-9 p.m. on December 29 at the home of Dave and Susan Fergus (19352 Carson Cir NW, Elk River, 55330). 4. Please attend the worship service on December 30 where we will be commissioning Sarah for the glory of Christ. 5. Please put Sarah on your prayer list and...

Obedience versus Righteousness…there is a difference! Parents are instructed to train their children to be obedient, yet, it is impossible to be pleasing to God without being born again.  Elyse Fitzpatrick outlines the various spheres of obedience which parents are to train their children to be obedient within. There is initial obedience (understanding the command “no”), social obedience (laws particular to our culture), civic obedience (laws of the land), religious obedience (practices of the faith). Most interesting and most controversial is religious obedience, particularly because it has to do with the matters of a transformed heart. For instance, we teach our children to pray before a meal. If they do so, is it because they are born again and love Jesus? Maybe, but it could just be because it is what they were taught to do and that is all they know.   The title points out that there is a difference between obedience that please...

Some years ago, while going through a difficult time of life, I bowed before the Lord and begged him to get me out of the situation. The prayer session literally lasted for about two hours. Near the end of that time, I sensed the Lord's loving reply, by his Spirit, "Charlie, I don't want to get you out of this, I want to develop you in this." I felt a deep peace wash over me at that moment because I knew that my Father was with me, and that's all I really needed to know. The circumstances remained the same, but with the Lord at my side my attitude did not.  As I moved on with my life, I thought it might be good to conduct a fairly thorough New Testament (NT) Bible study on the subject of suffering, and my mentor at the time, Tom Brindley, agreed and encouraged me to do so. I was surprised by what I found. First, I discovered over 60 passages from the NT that touch upon the subject, some of which are one or more chapters long. The Lord has much to say about s...

How it looks when we parent out of the Gospel What about you, the Christian parent? Do you feel that God loves you, or loves you more when you are obedient or self-controlled? Do you sense that he is more pleased with you when you successfully fight sin? Or do you ever feel like you have less of a right to go to him in prayer or song if you have done some bad things?   “If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.” Psalm 130:3-4. Parents, if you answered “yes” to any of the above questions it may reflect a desire to justify yourself (and your children) by the law. The bad news is that there is never a time that we have any right to fellowship with God based on the good we have done. The good news is that in Christ there is never a time we cannot fellowship with God, even when we sin and repent. God is the perfect parent who comes to his children on the basis of their sin and offers...

A new week is here. A new MONTH is here. Hello, DECEMBER! This month is the beginning of the ending of another year, of baking hundreds of cookies and watching quiet snow fall on silent nights. And we mustn't forget the millions of tiny lights, twinkling houses on cold nights, lighting the way home in the dark. (I DO like that part!) For me, there's something that warms my heart even more than a steaming cup of hot cocoa. When the tree is bare from tinsel packed and ribbons from gifts are no more, what is left that lingers long that makes all the effort worth all the doing? If all we have to look forward to is discounts at Target, 'to Santa or not to Santa', deciding whether to have a fake tree or a real one and who's going to host the family this year (or how are we going to afford all of this anyway?), maybe something's missing? Maybe, just maybe, we're forgetting what started this all in the first place? The reason why t...

Exposing our Law-Centered Tendencies in Parenting Martin Luther said, “the law of God, although beneficial and beautiful, cannot advance us on our way to righteousness because we cannot obey it.” Yet, with children, it is exceptionally easy to reduce the Bible to a moralistic guidebook and wield its authority to impose behavioral standards upon them. It is easy to take a story such as Jonah and conclude that you need to obey God or else “you too will get swallowed by huge fish.” Or how about David, the mighty warrior? “David was brave and fought Goliath, therefore you too should be brave, just like David.” No doubt, obedience and trust are fruits that are reflected in Christians. However, those fruits will never be produced through ultimatums. Why not? It is because fruits are produced through the Spirit of God and not through the will of man. Indeed, this is an example of reducing the primary purpose of God’s word to a rule, a moral, a command, or a directive, wh...

As Christian parents we recognize our responsibility to “train our children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4). I am currently reading through a book titled Give Them Grace authored by Elyse Fitzpatrick and her daughter, Jessica Thompson. The subtitle of the book is Dazzling your children with the love of Jesus. This is an excellent book for helping Christians understand how the Gospel applies to parenting and diagnosing the subtle ways we allow the law to influence us negatively. It is a desire of mine to help parents see the ways that we parent out of the law even when we think we are not. Furthermore, to help parents understand the ways to parent out of the Gospel even when we think we already are. In the end, the glory of God in the gospel, the next generation of his kingdom, and the happiness of our children are at stake in our parenting. May God help us to be good ambassadors of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, starting with our children. W...

This morning on Facebook the Biblical Counseling Coalition posted an entry entitled, "14 Resources on Forgiveness." I encourage you to look over the page here . One of the resources may make a good Christmas present, or a good tool for you as you prepare to deal with family and friends over the holidays. May the Lord of life set us free as we learn to forgive, even as we were forgiven.  

Here is an update that we just sent to our church regarding Sarah Fergus who is heading off soon to serve the Lord in Madagascar. If you're interested in helping Sarah, please write me a note and I'll be glad to pass it on to her. One way or the other, please join us in prayer! Dear Glory of Christ Fellowship, Thank you for all your prayers in the last few weeks. I have been very encouraged by many of you on Sunday mornings and after visiting several community groups. This church really is a blessing to me as I am being constantly reminded that I am not alone in this. One huge praise is that in the last week I was pledged about half of what I still needed for monthly support! Reminder of dates: Dec 13th is when I need financial clearance. Jan 8th is my planned departure date. Finance Update: Total amount still needed per month: $279 Breakdown: 6 people at $50 a month 12 people at $25 a month Please continue to keep this in prayer for the next few weeks. I also have a lot to...

As I slowly find consciousness my hand feels around for the covers and I can tell they’ve shifted in the night. My exposed foot is no longer toasty warm due to it dangling off the edge of the bed. I turn slightly to peer over my shoulder, the blanket and sheet are pulled back where my husband had been sleeping, I realize a sliver of faint light is streaming in from the window, it must be morning. I missed him saying goodbye... There was a time, not long ago, that my husband annoyed me pretty much every morning. Because every morning he would kiss me goodbye and whisper, "I love you" or something similar. They nerve, huh? Yeah, I know. I was totally and completely, 100% undeniably, selfish and ungrateful. But would you believe there was actually more to it than that (as if that wasn't enough)? You see, for me, there's always been this underlying current of pain and fear that subconsciously compels me to respond to acts of love and kindness ...

So far in this series about sharing our faith, I've talked about what the Gospel message is , why we are to share our faith  ( and part II ), tools for sharing , and how to utilize question s (thanks, Randy Newman and  Sovereign Grace Church - Fairfax, VA !). Today I will share how to handle tough questions and tough people. If you haven't done so, before continuing, check out my last blog post and watch the video of a message preached by Randy Newman. His teaching is better than anything I could share here. I will share more some suggestions rather than step-by-step tips. When you think back to your road to salvation, you probably weren't won over by a formula, and neither was I. But I was won over by honest people (thanks, Mom and Dad) willing to engage honest questions from an honest seeker. Below are some thoughts. Pray, pray, pray. And then pray. When you talk to your Heavenly Father, pray for the person, their situation, their doubts and their longings. ...

Mitt Romney's run for the presidency has brought Mormonism to the forefront of discourse in America, which can be a good thing for evangelical Christians if we're wise about it. In other words, the attention to Mormonism gives us a chance to articulate, in love, why Mormonism is not a branch of Christianity but is in fact a rejection of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I must admit that I've been surprised lately by a number of people in the church I serve who have no idea what Mormons believe and don't understand why we evangelicals deny that they are Christians. This is due to a lack of clear communication and equipping on our part, so over the next several months I plan to blog quite a bit about Mormons, what they believe, why they are not Christians, and how we as evangelicals should relate to them.  For today, I simply want to recommend a good article by Hank Henegraaff entitled The Basics of Mormonism. You can access the article  here . Henegraaff offers a v...

This blog entry was written by Jordan Pepin, an Elder at Glory of Christ, his wife's name is Jen.  “Jen. Obama won.” That was the text my wife received from a friend last night. With just a few words, there was much said; anxiety, fear, concern for her young children, lack of hope. I knew her feelings because I had the same feelings. Like many others I’m sure, I did not sleep well last night, mostly tossing with different thoughts of what could transpire in the next four years. Mostly, there was fear for what my kids would have to go through. I spent the night tossing.  This morning I woke with the same dark cloud over my heart. I began to preach to myself (saying things like, “God is in control”, “God is the one that sets up rulers”, etc.), but the preaching was dry and not impacting my heart. But, God by the Holy Spirit began to preach to me, and He is a much better preacher than I am. His preaching impacted my heart significantly. That is why I am writi...

So far in our evangelism series, I've shared what the Gospel is , why we are to share our faith ( part I and part II ), and I've shared a few tools to share our faith.  Today, I'm going to share a sermon that deals with how to share with particularly hard hearers.  I ran across a message preached at Sovereign Grace Church - Fairfax, VA .  To be honest, it was completely by accident - I was looking for a message at a different Sovereign Grace church.  This sermon was in the middle of their evangelism series from the beginning of 2012, and I was very much blessed by it. Rather than try to recap the highlights, I asked permission of the church to post this message here.  Originally shared on February 22, 2012, guest speaker Randy Newman preached a message about the effectiveness of using questions in sharing the Gospel.  The main thrust of his message was how to effectively use questions to get the hearer thinking. His ideas work especially wel...

So far, I've shared what the Gospel is , and I've given a couple of biblical mandates as to why we are to share our faith. Today, I will give some ways to share. One of the strongest reasons people - OK, I - don't share my faith is because I don't feel adequately equipped to share. What do I say? What is the "right" way? What if I screw up? This post won't be all encompassing, but I'll give you a couple of tools to use. Before I begin, I want to remind you of the Gospel. One key for sharing one's faith is to be able to share the Gospel in one paragraph. You don't need to be able to share the intricate details of the Gospel, but you need to be able to share the key points succinctly. As a reminder of what the Gospel message is, see my first post here. You Can't Argue a Testimony To be clear, a testimony is a powerfully effective tool for sharing your faith, but it's not the Gospel. The Gospel is the redeeming work of Ch...

Last time I shared how my view of evangelism changed through my understanding of I Corinthians 3:6. I also shared that I view sharing my faith as a form of worship - the overflow of gratitude to my Savior - rather than a mere duty. Before reading this post, I recommend you read that one first, as it will set the tone for this post - biblical mandates to share. Therefore Go Matthew 28:18-20 is, quite possibly, one of the most direct mandates from Christ, "And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, 'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.' Amen." One of the last instructions Jesus left before He left earth was to go make disciples. His command was to share and baptize. This isn't a sugge...

In my last post , I shared a one paragraph definition of the Gospel. In this post and the next, I'm going to share some reasons to share your faith. Before We Begin Many times, evangelism is shared as a duty. This is certainly true, as we will see in a moment, but it's so much more than that. Like many duties of the faith, evangelism is meant to flow out of our relationship with Christ. Like praise, service, and giving of one's treasure and resources, sharing the Gospel with another should flow from a sense of worship rather than a sense of mere duty. As we contemplate all that Christ did for us, we begin to be compelled to worship out of gratefulness, and, from that attitude, we then share with unbelievers. The Road to Salvation as a Process I will be referring to this concept throughout this series. When I first started to really study evangelism, one short verse changed my entire approach and attitude. Paul, in I Corinthians 3 addresses sectarianism - divis...

If you're like me, sharing Christ with another person can be the most exciting, and most terrifying, aspect of our faith. And, if you're anything like me, all too often it feels like a duty, not a privilege. Believe you me, I relate. All too often, I've treated evangelism as a duty of the faith. This is one of those "have to" tasks. Too often I have not viewed this as the true priveledge and opportunity that it is. I will be sharing a series of posts that I pray will spur us both on to share our faith with others. Topics I will be sharing on will be: What is the Gospel? I will share this one today. Why should we share our faith and w hat is my responsibility in sharing? How can I share? What about particularly cold people and ho w do I handle common objections? I may also share a few other thoughts along the way. What is the Gospel? Before I get into other aspects of evangelism, I feel it worthwhile to pause and make sure we understand the G...

In chapter ten of his book The Enemy Within (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Publishing, 1998), Kris Lundgaard suggests several ways our flesh works to douse the fire of our first love for Jesus. One of his points seems particularly appropriate for those of us at Glory of Christ Fellowship as we commence our journey through the letter to the Hebrews.  The author of this great sermonic-letter was immensely learned and he writes in such a way as to cause us to think carefully and ponder deeply the person of Jesus Christ. However, it would be a grave error to think that he thinks thinking is an end in itself. Rather, his design in leading us to know more about Jesus is to lead us into a life-changing encounter with Jesus. He writes to wake us from our slumber and stun us into worship and obedience as we come to understand who Jesus is, what he's accomplished for us, and how he means to apply those accomplishments to our lives and churches.  Therefore, I thought it might be ...

Please join me in savoring these precious words on the relationship of the Word of God and prayer. They were written by E. M. Bounds over a century ago but still ring as true as they did the day he penned them!  "The Word of God is a great help in prayer. If it be lodged and written in our hearts, it will form an out-flowing current of prayer, full and irresistible. Promises, stored in the heart, are to be the fuel from which prayer receives life and warmth, just as the coal, stored in the earth, ministers to our comfort on stormy days and wintry nights. The Word of God is the food by which prayer is nourished and made strong. Prayer, like man, cannot live by bread alone, ‘but by every word which proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord.’ “Unless the vital forces of prayer are supplied by God’s Word, prayer, though earnest and even vociferous in its urgency, is in reality flabby, vapid, and void. The absence of the vital force in praying can be traced to the absence of a...

I am on the mailing list for 9 Marks Ministries, a ministry of Mark Dever and Capitol Hill Baptist Church. Today they sent out the latest edition of their journal which is on discipleship. You can access the edition  here , and I hope you will! It's very helpful and steers the church in the right direction, namely, toward obeying Jesus' command in Matthew 28:18-20. 

  Listless words linger in my mind. Half-thoughts swirling around innermost parts. Sentences start, quickly fade, their endings unknown. Imaged impressions float through hazed vastness, just out of reach. Stretching out, trying to grasp anything, only to pull my hand back, empty. Trying to shake them off, deliberate discouragements, carefully chosen, trigger my flesh. Familiar emotions surface, the sound of their voice a reminder, they are still with me. Failure memories, horrible happenings, the movie flickers while the soundtrack plays in my soul. I fight, struggling against an enemy who knows the ugly details of my weakest weaknesses and my darkest darkness. All strength is taken up in this recurring battle. Fog begins to roll in, thinking becomes incoherent. Life presses on  blurring the line between intentional living and auto-pilot. Struggling to not fall asleep at the wheel, I am wooed into a slumber, my past takes over. Loudly reminded,...