The old saying is that “time flies when you are having fun”. It seems like yesterday that I began as an evangelist. It was twenty years ago this month (June 5, 1988) that the elders at the Central Christian Church in Tampa, FL, ordained me as an evangelist of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I had already been working as a youth evangelist. But as I graduated from Florida Christian College (May 1988), my desire was to preach. It was May 7, 1988, that the eldership at Lawshe Church of Christ in Seaman, OH, woke me up from my afternoon nap to interview me to become their evangelist. They liked me well enough that they flew me up so that I could preach two trial sermons on June 12, 1988. They were either desperate, or they really liked my preaching, as they wanted me to begin the following week! After packing up all my things in a large truck, I moved north and began full time at Lawshe on Father’s Day, June 19, 1988!
Being an evangelist involves a lot of things. Here are some specific things that Paul wrote to a couple of young evangelists in the first century.
Duties of an evangelist:
o Public Ministry of the Word
o (I Timothy 4:13)
o Herald the Message of Salvation
o (I Timothy 2:7)
o Remind the Saints of Basic Christian Virtues
o (Titus 3:1,2; I Timothy 4:16; 6:17-19)
o Rebuke Unchristian Attitudes and Actions
o (Titus 1:13; 2:15; II Timothy 4:3)
o Warn Divisive People
o (Titus 3:10,11)
o Preach the Word
o (II Timothy 4:1,2)
o Teach
o (I Timothy 4:11)
o Passing onto others what he has been taught
o (II Timothy 2:2)
o Set things in order
o (Titus 1:5)
o Train and install Godly men into leadership positions
o (I Timothy 3:1-12; Titus 1:5-9; I Timothy 5:22)
o Rebuke those who sin and deal with them
o (Titus 3:10; I Timothy 5:20)
o See that Widows are properly cared for
o (I Timothy 5:3-16)
o Responsible for proper conduct within the Assembly
o (I Timothy 2 - Paul instructs Timothy on the proper conduct of men in prayer, women, etc.)
o Guarding against False Teaching
o (I Timothy 4:1-6; Titus 1:10-14)
o Servant
o (II Timothy 2:24)
o Student
o (II Timothy 2:15) The word “diligent” (NASB) or "Study” (KJV) means to “become a master-craftsman.”
WOW! That is a lot of things! Thankfully here at South Side, I have a great group of elders who encourage and support me completely and assist me in doing the work of an evangelist! The congregation has also been wonderful in loving and taking care of my family. Thank you for your patience and encouragement. I consider it an honor and a privilege to be the evangelist at South Side Church of Christ.
Sunday, June 01, 2008
Thursday, May 01, 2008
From Darkness to Light
I am currently reading a great book entitled “From Darkness to Light”. Each chapter is written by a different author. It is part of the Restoration Reprint Series of books. The book is about how people left the darkness of denominationalism and came into the light of New Testament Christianity. Ever since starting to read it, I have thought that we need a book like this today! If I were to write my conversion from denominationalism to New Testament Christianity, it would include the following:
I remember as a child, at a fairly young age, going forward one Sunday morning and saying the “sinner’s prayer”. The Wesleyan church which we attended believed that a person should be immersed, but only as an “outward sign of an inward act”. The building where my Dad took us to church did not have a baptistery in it. So a group of us kids went to the Nazarene church in town to be immersed. As I was lowered in the water, I was reminded that this immersion had nothing to do with my salvation. What saved me, according to their teaching, was God’s grace when I went up and repeated the “sinner’s prayer”.
I spent a few years after this in the Jehovah’s Witnesses, including being immersed as an “outward sign of an inward act” - this time into the Jehovah’s Witnesses. And then I spent a few years not going to any kind of church or “kingdom hall” at all.
This all changed in 1984. I am so grateful for the grace of God that He sent into my life some people who would help lead me out of darkness into the light. Two of those people would be my neighbors, the James family, who constantly invited me to attend the Central Christian Church near my home in Tampa. I am glad that they did not give up on me, but kept persevering as I kept promising that I would attend sometime.
I decided to finally attend and was surprised when I saw people actually carry their Bibles to church with them, and they used them! In fact, I attended a Sunday School class like I had never attended before. God used my new Sunday School teacher Daniel Hefner to teach me some of the basics of the faith. Dan’s goal was that we would learn. In order to meet this goal, he had us memorize Scripture. You read that right! My adult Sunday School teacher had us memorize Scriptures that I still have in my memory today. These Scriptures included verses that would help us win others to come to New Testament Christianity.
I am also thankful that God placed Edgar Harris into my life. Edgar Harris was the evangelist at Central Christian Church. God used him to set me straight on the order of salvation—belief, saved, baptized (as the Wesleyans and Jehovah’s Witnesses taught)? or belief, baptized, saved? All he really needed to do was quote Mark 16:16—He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. Edgar Harris became the “Aquila and Pricilla” in my life, as he explained to me “the way of God more accurately” (Acts 18:26). Using the Jule Miller film strip series, he taught several newcomers the basics of the faith, right in his own study. Between that and his solid Biblical preaching, he convinced me from the Bible that salvation does not take place when one lifts up their hand and says a prayer. Rather it happens when a repentant believer is lowered and then raised in the watery grave of baptism. I remember going up to him and telling him after the fifth film strip that I needed to be immersed, this time into Christ to have my sins finally removed. That evening, October 21, 1984, Edgar Harris immersed me into Christ to have all my sins washed away!
There were many others who would influence me during this time of my life. God used each of them to lead me to the New Testament position. I was so convinced of the restoration of New Testament Christianity that less than a year later I was in Bible college training at Florida Christian College to be an evangelist.
The plea to return to the New Testament position is so logical. And that plea must begin with winning people to Christ the way it was done in the first century church (as we read in the book of Acts).
I remember as a child, at a fairly young age, going forward one Sunday morning and saying the “sinner’s prayer”. The Wesleyan church which we attended believed that a person should be immersed, but only as an “outward sign of an inward act”. The building where my Dad took us to church did not have a baptistery in it. So a group of us kids went to the Nazarene church in town to be immersed. As I was lowered in the water, I was reminded that this immersion had nothing to do with my salvation. What saved me, according to their teaching, was God’s grace when I went up and repeated the “sinner’s prayer”.
I spent a few years after this in the Jehovah’s Witnesses, including being immersed as an “outward sign of an inward act” - this time into the Jehovah’s Witnesses. And then I spent a few years not going to any kind of church or “kingdom hall” at all.
This all changed in 1984. I am so grateful for the grace of God that He sent into my life some people who would help lead me out of darkness into the light. Two of those people would be my neighbors, the James family, who constantly invited me to attend the Central Christian Church near my home in Tampa. I am glad that they did not give up on me, but kept persevering as I kept promising that I would attend sometime.
I decided to finally attend and was surprised when I saw people actually carry their Bibles to church with them, and they used them! In fact, I attended a Sunday School class like I had never attended before. God used my new Sunday School teacher Daniel Hefner to teach me some of the basics of the faith. Dan’s goal was that we would learn. In order to meet this goal, he had us memorize Scripture. You read that right! My adult Sunday School teacher had us memorize Scriptures that I still have in my memory today. These Scriptures included verses that would help us win others to come to New Testament Christianity.
I am also thankful that God placed Edgar Harris into my life. Edgar Harris was the evangelist at Central Christian Church. God used him to set me straight on the order of salvation—belief, saved, baptized (as the Wesleyans and Jehovah’s Witnesses taught)? or belief, baptized, saved? All he really needed to do was quote Mark 16:16—He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. Edgar Harris became the “Aquila and Pricilla” in my life, as he explained to me “the way of God more accurately” (Acts 18:26). Using the Jule Miller film strip series, he taught several newcomers the basics of the faith, right in his own study. Between that and his solid Biblical preaching, he convinced me from the Bible that salvation does not take place when one lifts up their hand and says a prayer. Rather it happens when a repentant believer is lowered and then raised in the watery grave of baptism. I remember going up to him and telling him after the fifth film strip that I needed to be immersed, this time into Christ to have my sins finally removed. That evening, October 21, 1984, Edgar Harris immersed me into Christ to have all my sins washed away!
There were many others who would influence me during this time of my life. God used each of them to lead me to the New Testament position. I was so convinced of the restoration of New Testament Christianity that less than a year later I was in Bible college training at Florida Christian College to be an evangelist.
The plea to return to the New Testament position is so logical. And that plea must begin with winning people to Christ the way it was done in the first century church (as we read in the book of Acts).
Monday, March 31, 2008
The Ancient Paths
When I was at Florida Christian College and taking Hebrew under the late Dr. W.W. Winter, I used the Hebrew name “Yirmeyahu” in class. I am sure you are wondering who “Yirmeyahu” was, never having heard that name in your Old Testament reading. It was simply the name Jeremiah, just spoken in the Hebrew dialect. There were basically two main reasons that I chose to use the name of the great prophet Jeremiah in Hebrew class. One of them is not that I was always crying (he is known as the “weeping prophet”).
The first reason was Jeremiah 20:9—But if I say, “I will not remember Him or speak anymore in His name”, Then in my heart it becomes like a burning fire shut up in my bones; And I am weary of holding it in, And I cannot endure it. As a future evangelist in the mid 1980’s, this verse of Jeremiah became like a theme verse as I prepared to go out and preach the Gospel. Nothing could shut me up because the message was like a fire in my bones—I was weary of holding it in! Wouldn’t that be a great attitude for all Christians about sharing the Gospel?
The second reason was Jeremiah 6:16—Thus says the LORD, "Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; And you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’ As I continued to be taught about the foundations of the faith at FCC, this verse was a constant reminder to go back to the “ancient paths”! If you will—go back and restore the New Testament Church! Go back to the “old paths” - the New Testament!
Too often in the New Testament church, we are more concerned about “new things” than we are the ancient order of things.
I remember being in Nazareth at the church building built overtop of the traditional home of Jesus. The guide was very proud of the building and as he lead us through the courtyard, he pointed out the new baptistery the church had put in. As the 40 or so Church of Christ members looked over, all we saw was what looked like a bird bath. It was obviously a place to sprinkle or pour water onto someone. As we continued on our tour into the ancient ruins underneath the modern church—we came upon something that looked like an ancient hot tub. It was obvious to us that it was an ancient baptistery used to immerse. We asked the guide what that was and he answered, “That was the ancient way of baptizing people”.
Wow! The old paths! The ancient ways! The old Jerusalem Gospel and the old ship Zion! What has happened to preaching and teaching of the Old stuff—just some good old fashioned Gospel preaching?
While at FCC I also was privileged to study under Dr. James Smith. “Doc Smith” as we called him (or “Doc”), is a great preacher and teacher of the ancient paths. He is also a great scholar. Doc Smith wrote the whole Old Testament commentary set for College Press. He also wrote a couple of those Bible Study Textbook Series Commentaries. In his one on “Jeremiah and Lamentations” he writes, “True reformers are not those who are advocating new things but those who give due weight to old truths. The person who walks the old path will find spiritual rest for his soul. He will live a life free from anxiety about the here and now and the hereafter as well.”*
South Side—lets be a church that is constantly looking back to the “old paths”! Lets be a church that is continually devoted to the Apostles’ teaching! Lets be a church that is restoring New Testament Christianity, always seeking the “old paths”! The Bible is our source of absolute authority—for the things we do in the church building and for our lives!
Have you ever felt all alone in this endeavor? Don’t feel bad, even Jeremiah was told that the people would not walk in the old paths! So, if sometimes you have this feeling—keep pressing on! For as we do, we ensure salvation for ourselves and for those we lead to Christ.
*Bible Study Textbook Series: Jeremiah and Lamentations, Dr. James Smith, College Press, 1972, p. 214.
The first reason was Jeremiah 20:9—But if I say, “I will not remember Him or speak anymore in His name”, Then in my heart it becomes like a burning fire shut up in my bones; And I am weary of holding it in, And I cannot endure it. As a future evangelist in the mid 1980’s, this verse of Jeremiah became like a theme verse as I prepared to go out and preach the Gospel. Nothing could shut me up because the message was like a fire in my bones—I was weary of holding it in! Wouldn’t that be a great attitude for all Christians about sharing the Gospel?
The second reason was Jeremiah 6:16—Thus says the LORD, "Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; And you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’ As I continued to be taught about the foundations of the faith at FCC, this verse was a constant reminder to go back to the “ancient paths”! If you will—go back and restore the New Testament Church! Go back to the “old paths” - the New Testament!
Too often in the New Testament church, we are more concerned about “new things” than we are the ancient order of things.
I remember being in Nazareth at the church building built overtop of the traditional home of Jesus. The guide was very proud of the building and as he lead us through the courtyard, he pointed out the new baptistery the church had put in. As the 40 or so Church of Christ members looked over, all we saw was what looked like a bird bath. It was obviously a place to sprinkle or pour water onto someone. As we continued on our tour into the ancient ruins underneath the modern church—we came upon something that looked like an ancient hot tub. It was obvious to us that it was an ancient baptistery used to immerse. We asked the guide what that was and he answered, “That was the ancient way of baptizing people”.
Wow! The old paths! The ancient ways! The old Jerusalem Gospel and the old ship Zion! What has happened to preaching and teaching of the Old stuff—just some good old fashioned Gospel preaching?
While at FCC I also was privileged to study under Dr. James Smith. “Doc Smith” as we called him (or “Doc”), is a great preacher and teacher of the ancient paths. He is also a great scholar. Doc Smith wrote the whole Old Testament commentary set for College Press. He also wrote a couple of those Bible Study Textbook Series Commentaries. In his one on “Jeremiah and Lamentations” he writes, “True reformers are not those who are advocating new things but those who give due weight to old truths. The person who walks the old path will find spiritual rest for his soul. He will live a life free from anxiety about the here and now and the hereafter as well.”*
South Side—lets be a church that is constantly looking back to the “old paths”! Lets be a church that is continually devoted to the Apostles’ teaching! Lets be a church that is restoring New Testament Christianity, always seeking the “old paths”! The Bible is our source of absolute authority—for the things we do in the church building and for our lives!
Have you ever felt all alone in this endeavor? Don’t feel bad, even Jeremiah was told that the people would not walk in the old paths! So, if sometimes you have this feeling—keep pressing on! For as we do, we ensure salvation for ourselves and for those we lead to Christ.
*Bible Study Textbook Series: Jeremiah and Lamentations, Dr. James Smith, College Press, 1972, p. 214.
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