What is Christian Apologetics?

Christian Apologetics

Christians need to know what they believe and how to defend and share their faith! The Apostle  Peter made this plain as he wrote to the Christians in Asia Minor in the first century saying, ” But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;” (1 Peter 3:15 ) This he wrote to the average Christian in the pew, so to speak. It is one of my passions to help my Brothers and Sisters in Christ fulfill this command.

Ready To Give An Answer – LESSON AUDIO

I had the opportunity last Saturday to meet with a few of them and share my most recent paper on the subject which I wrote for my current seminary studies at The North American Reformed Seminary.   We all need to be “Ready To Give An Answer.” I encourage you to check out the paper, its the post on the blog here entitled Ready To Give An Answer. Isn’t that convenient? You can listen and read as I read and discuss the paper in the lesson above or just read or listen.

A friend of mine who is an apologist himself said this of the paper, ” it’s one of the most concise, clear and useful short expositions on the matter that I’ve seen.” you can check out his ministry, Applied Apologetics. Read, listen, learn and enjoy! I pray that the Lord strengthens you as you share the Gospel with those He bring across your path.

In Christ!

Kevin

How Does the Church Grow?

I had the privilege of addressing the pastors and elders of the Ohio Christian Union churches this past week on the subject of what makes “successful church growth” take place. I believe that the answer is so simple that we tend to look too hard for something that we think will be more effective. Although the answer is simple, the task is not easy.

First off, our goal should not be numerical growth. We are not called to grow the church. We are called to grow Christians. Paul told the Colossian what the goal  of his ministry was.

Colossians 1:28  Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.

It was his goal to present individual Christians complete in Christ. That means having everything they needed to live as Christians. The amazing thing is that it is all in Christ. Not in programs or workshops or facilities, but IN CHRIST. In Colossians 2:10 he tells them “We are complete in Him.” So why would we look to other places to find what we need to be what He has called us to be?  I love what John Calvin says about this verse;

Those, therefore, who do not rest satisfied with Christ alone, do injury to God in two ways, for besides detracting from the glory of God, by desiring something above his perfection, they are also ungrateful, inasmuch as they seek elsewhere what they already have in Christ. Paul, however, does not mean that the perfection of Christ is transfused into us, but that there are in him resources from which we may be filled, that nothing may be wanting to us.

With this said, it is our job to build Saints, not churches. As the Saints are built up into a healthy body, that healthy body will grow. That is what healthy bodies do. Not only that, but Jesus Himself said. “I will build My Church!” (Matthew 16:18). But He commanded us to make Disciples and teach them to obey what He had commanded. (Matthew 28:18-20) We need to be about the business that He gave us to do and not try to do His job.

Don’t take me to say that we should sit back and wait for Him to do all of the work. We need to BE the Church. We need to live our lives like real Disciples. When we are prepared for ministry, He will send us people to serve. The biggest problem that I see in most church growth stuff is that it neglects the church in order to make it bigger by focusing on quantity to the neglect of quality.

I really encourage you to listen to the audio from the presentation and also to check out the book that I gave away at the meeting, The Hospitality Commands.

Check out the audio  by clicking on the link below

Biblical Church Growth – AUDIO

In Christ!

Kevin

Discipleship 101 – What Jesus said about following Him.

Preached at Maple Ave. C. U. Church in Newark, OH

A couple of weeks ago I had the great privilege of preaching a series of messages over the course of a Thursday through Sunday that were designed to encourage and instruct the saints to the work of being true Disciples of Jesus Christ. There are many in the Church of Jesus Christ in our day that teach that a “disciple” is one notch up from the regular Christian in the pew (or theater seat, depending on your church building). The Bible does not seem to teach this.

Acts 11:26 And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.

Disciple and Christian are interchangeable terms in the new Testament. Jesus had a lot to say about what a disciple is and how one behaves. In this series we look primarily at one long passage, from Luke 14:1-17:10 which is really just spending a Sabbath Day with the Savior has He discusses life, faith and obedience for the the true “follower” of Jesus. I encourage you to take some time to listen to the messages and pray about what the Savior says, to evaluate your understanding of discipleship and as the Apostles do at the end of our text, pray, “Increase our faith.” (Luke 17:5)

The link below will take you to the page of my site where there are several messages on the saying of Jesus including the ones that are marked as Discipleship 101. Give them a listen and let’s discuss what the implication of this discourse means to the Followers of Jesus.

DISCIPLESHIP 101

In Christ!

Kevin

Following Jesus [Part 5, Making Disciples]

Making Disciples

Over the last four weeks we have seen the characteristics of a disciple. Now we see the work of a Disciple. As you probably have heard the old preacher’s question, “What in heaven’s name are you doing here on earth?” Jesus was pretty clear as to what His disciples should be doing.

Matthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  19   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,  20  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.

There are a couple of significant things in this text; 1) the source of Jesus’ Authority as He gives the commands, 2) the Commands themselves which are really one complex command.

1) Jesus’ says first that “All authority” has been given to Him in heaven and in earth. But His authority was not given to Him in such a way that He had not had it previously. We see the Apostle Paul encourage the Philippians to be humble as Christ was, and this is what he tells them; Philippians 2:5-11 “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,  6  who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,  7  but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.  8  And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.  9  Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,  10  that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,  11  and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

We too, as Christians, are supposed to humble ourselves. He, being God Himself, was able to humble Himself to the nth degree for our benefit. As a result of His humiliation from absolute Deity to the death of the Cross, He was in turn, “Highly Exalted.” 

John 17:1-5 “Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You,  2  as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him.  3  And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.  4  I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.  5  And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.” As we see here, His glory was simply restored. So the absolute authority of Jesus Christ rests in His absolute Deity. It also rests in His absolute obedience to the Will of the Father in His humiliation and willing sacrifice for sin. Based upon His Person and His Work He has the right to command us.

2) What is that command? Matthew 28:19-20 “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,  20  teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you;” Here we see a complex command. It is made up of four different verbs, Go, Make Disciples, Baptize and Teach. For the details on the grammatical construction  you’ll have to listen to the audio, but we learn from them that the main verb here is Make Disciples. The others support or modify that one so that a Disciple Maker is “Going, ” “Baptizing,” and “Teaching.”

If you are a “disciple” then you too are involved in this process. It is your job to be sharing the Gospel and bringing others into the fold. They should be baptized and taught to obey the commands of Christ. You may not do it all, certainly baptism is to be performed by the elders, but teaching and leading others to maturity is the job of all Christians.

Titus 2:3-5 the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things– 4  that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children,  5  to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed.

2 Timothy 2:2 And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

We are all to be “going.” If we are disciples then we are to be making disciples. It goes with the territory. Hebrews 3:1-2 “Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus,  2  who was faithful to Him who appointed Him…” Aren’t you glad that He was faithful to the One who sent Him? Now He has sent you, how are you doing?

Audio of this message is available by clicking on the link below

Following Jesus Pt. 5 (Making Disciples)

In Christ!

Kevin

Following Jesus [Part 1]

What does it mean to “follow Jesus?” Is it just to take the name of Christian or does it go farther than that? Jesus said to His disciples,

Luke 9:23 “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.

Being a  Christian is far more than just saying, “I believe in Jesus.” It is something that is to effect every facet of the Believer’s life. It is to bring him or her to the place where they are willing to give up all of this world’s goods and even suffer death for Him. It was very clear in His teaching as we read the words in the ninth chapter of Luke’s Gospel. He was asking His disciples who people were saying that He was and they told Him, “John the Baptist, but some say Elijah; and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again.” (Luke 9:19) Then He asked them, “Who do you say that I am?” and Peter nailed it, “The Christ of God.” (Luke 9:20)

What Jesus said next probably puzzled and perplexed them. They were waiting for their Messiah, the Christ, to deliver them from the political tyranny of Rome and move them as a nation from the bottom of the food chain to the top. Just as Jesus admits that He is that Messiah or “Christ,” He reveals some startling news that his disciples were not aware of.

Luke 9:22 “The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.”

The leader that they are ready to follow to victory tells them that victory comes through death. He tells them that He is about to go and suffer at the hands of the leaders of His own people. He is going to be rejected by them and be put to death, but He will be raised the third day. Then He says to the disciples,

Luke 9:23-25 “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.  24  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.  25  For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?”

Matthew tells us that when Jesus revealed this that His disciple Peter actually rebuked Him Matthew 16:21-22 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.  22  Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” Jesus told him that he was not thinking about the things of God but about the things of man.

Men do not want to suffer. They want to live at ease. They want to have pleasant lives and cannot fathom a reason for suffering beyond preserving their way of life.  Jesus did not suffer and die so that we could be wealthy and have nice houses, comfort and ease. He calls us to come and labor and suffer with Him, even to die with Him, that we and others might hear the Good News of His death and resurrection and and understand its implications. This life is temporary and the life to come is eternal. True “followers” of Jesus are doing His will in the world. They are not just resting on His work and living for themselves. Following Jesus means following Him all the way to the Cross where self dies and He reigns as Lord. It means leaving all to bring the message of reconciliation to a dying world.  It must rest on the recognition that this world is temporary and that it means literally nothing in the scope of eternity unless it brings others to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. That is why He said to the Disciples, “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?” Wealth, comfort and ease mean nothing in eternity. If we really believe that Jesus is the Christ then we should be doing what He says. We must follow Him wherever He leads. We must grasp the disparity between this age and the age to come. We must devote ourselves and our stuff to winning the lost to Him in order that their lives would be saved.

Jesus says that if this is not what discipleship looks like to you then you do not know Him. Do you want to know whether you have truly embraced the Cross of Jesus Christ? The answer lies in this question, Have you embraced your own cross?

Audio of the sermon is available by clicking on the link below

Following Jesus Pt.1

In Christ!

Kevin