I believe that the pre-incarnate Christ was actively involved in the creation of the world, and by the power of His will and word He continually sustains His creation (Col. 1:16-17; Heb. 1:2-3).   I believe Christ entered into His own creation (Jn. 1:14), came to earth and lead a sinless, perfect life in obedience to the Father and in step with the Spirit, culminating in His physical death upon the cross (Acts 2:23), His blood pouring forth as He became the perfect sacrifice for our sins (Heb. 10:10).  On the third day, Jesus was physically resurrected (Mt. 28), showed Himself too many (1 Cor. 15:1-8), and ascended into heaven forty days later (Acts 1:9).  Jesus now sits enthroned at the right hand of God the Father, exalted above creation (Col. 3:1; Rev. 14:14).  His work continues as He intercedes for Believers (Heb. 7:25) and He will one day soon return physically (Acts 1:9-11) to gather those who belong to Him and to judge all of humanity (1 Thess. 4:13-18, Rom. 2:16).

I believe Christ’s death upon the Cross was substitutionary in nature as He suffered and paid the penalty of death in my place (2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 3:13), fulfilling God’s righteous demands (Rom. 3:24-25), turning away God’s wrath by the shedding of His blood (1 Jn. 2:2). Jesus’ sacrificial death was a ransom to redeem His own people from slavery to sin (Tit. 2:14; Matt. 20:28; 1 Pet. 1:18), and to restore and reconcile those who believe the message of the Cross (1 Tim. 4:10) to their purposed relationship with God (Rom. 5:8-11; 2 Cor. 5:18, 19).

I believe Jesus’ work on earth is divided into His work as prophet, priest and king.  As prophet, Jesus was the full revelation of God to humanity (Jn. 1:14;18), foretelling the future (Mat.. 24:3-35) and speaking authoritatively for God the Father (Heb. 1:2).  As high priest, Jesus offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice for sins (Heb 9:11-15; Heb. 10:10) and continues to intercede for those who belong to Him (Heb. 7:25).  As king, Jesus rules in the hearts of His people (Acts 17:7; Col. 1:13) and rules over His creation (Col. 1:17).  Also as king, Jesus will reign into eternity (Rev. 20:6), and He will exercise dominion forever (Rev. 11:15).

Salvation and its effects

I believe that election is the act of God by which He chose unconditionally, before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4-5), those who would believe in Him and be saved (Acts 13:48; Rom. 8:28-30).  God made this choice not on account of any foreseen merit or foreknowledge of a person’s faith, but only because in His sovereignty and graciousness He willed some to be saved (Titus 3:4-7; 2 Thess. 2:13).  Those whom God did not choose are those whom God allows to continue in their sin and rebellion against Him (1 Pet. 2:8; Jn. 3:18).  God in His justice will punish them for their sin and rebellion, which will result in their eternal death (Phil. 3:19; 2 Thess. 1:8, 9).

I believe God, not wanting any to perish (2 Pet. 3:9) calls all people to receive the Lord Jesus Christ and receive salvation (Jn. 3:16).  This general, Gospel call is made irresistible and effective in the lives of the elect by the work of the Holy Spirit in which He summons (Rom. 1:6-7) us into a relationship with Christ (Rom. 8:28-30), which results in our salvation (Jn. 6:44; Mt. 11:28).

I believe those who are summoned into a relationship with God through Christ are then regenerated by the Holy Spirit (Jn. 3:3, 5-8), which is totally a work of God, where He imparts to us a new spiritual life (2 Cor. 5:17), and He enables us to respond to God in faith (Acts 16:14; 1 Cor. 2:14).   Conversion then takes place when a person responds to the message of Christ with both repentance and genuine faith.  So it’s a turning from sin in repentance and at the same time turning to Christ in faith and personally trusting Him as your Savior (Acts 20:21).  Those who repent and believe in Christ as Savior are justified, meaning all their sins are imputed to Christ, and the righteousness of Christ is imputed to the Believer (Rom. 4:1-5:21; 2 Cor. 5:21).  Justification is not earned or merited, but rather is a gift from God (Rom. 3:24, 28) where He frees us from the penalty of sin (Rom. 8:1), unites us with Christ (Rom. 6:1-5) and adopts us into the family of God with full privileges (Gal. 4:1-7)!

I believe that those who are drawn into salvation are also being sanctified, namely, growing into Christ-likeness through the work of the Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 3:18) as we cooperate with Him (Rom. 6:12-13, 19) by not yielding to sin, but by pursuing holiness (Phil 3:13-14).  Although we will never be sin-free in this age (1 Jn. 1:8), we should be progressively growing in Christ like love and character (Heb. 12:14) until the day we stand complete before Christ in glory (Heb. 12:23; Rev. 21:27).

I believe those who trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ are eternally secure (Jn. 6:37) because in Christ there is no condemnation (Rom. 8:1), and nothing can separate them from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 8:38-39).  Those whom God has saved will also be glorified, meaning we will be conformed to the image of Christ (1 Jn. 3:2), given new bodies (1 Cor. 15:49-53), and share in the relational intimacy of the Trinity (Jn. 17:20-23).

So often the things in our lives that we see as major inconveniences, the challenges that we would get out of if we could but simply can’t, are the situations that God wants in our lives to fulfill His purposes in us and through us…just like this episode of traveling nearly 100 miles while Mary is “great” with child.  God uses Caesar Augustus’ decree to fulfill His promised rise of a special ruler from Bethlehem.  God’s providence is seen throughout this episode.

When you find yourself in painful, frustrating situations in life, things that you wouldn’t choose for yourself, but you can’t legitimately get out of, you can be certain that God is working providentially, behind the scenes to fulfill His purposes in and through you. 

What situations in your life right now are out of control?  What situations in your life are painful, and frustrating, and you’d get out of them if you could, but you can’t?  Those are the situations, the events in your life that God is using.  The response on our part isn’t to try and figure it out, or to resist necessarily, but to trust that God is working…and I’ve found that when I’m going through painful situations, or frustrating events that I have to tell myself over and over again that God is at work right now working out all situations and events for His good purposes.

As the Apostle Paul tells us “God causes all things work together for good for those who love Him and have been called according to His purpose” and the “all things” certainly include our pain and frustration over situations and events.  So consistently tell yourself, “God is at work in this painful situation and I’ll trust Him” because if you don’t keep telling yourself that, the natural human response is to doubt whether God loves you, whether He’s really in control or not, whether you’re saved or not, whether He’s really good or not, or to question if you’re being punished for something.  That’s moralism, not the Gospel, so you got to keep telling yourself, “My God is a providential God and He uses all things to bring about His good purposes, and I’m going to trust Him with my pain and frustration.” 

God uses circumstances beyond our control to shape our lives for certain purposes.  It was good enough for His Son, it’s certainly good enough for us!

If you have a deep disappointment or a deep emotional scar because of something that’s happened to you, or something that hasn’t happened to you, but has happened to the vast majority of your friends, you can identify with Elizabeth.  If you carry with you deep disappointment or shame, imitate Elizabeth, because she didn’t allow her disappointment to turn into bitterness against God.  She trusted God to do for them what was right and good.

God sends the Angel Gabriel to tell Zechariah thatElizabethin her old age will conceive and bear him a son, and they’re to name him John!  Luke tells us, “Elizabethconceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people” (Lk.1:24-25). 

This account that starts with sadness over Elizabeth’s barren state ends with great joy and gladness over what God has done for them.  And what’s even more beautiful is knowing that what the Lord did for Elizabethis what Jesus does for His people!  Elizabethrejoices by saying, “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach…”  This is what God does for you in Christ!  He takes away your disgrace, your shame that’s connected with your sin, and replaces it with joy and gladness.  It’s the great reversal of fortunes.  At the Cross, Jesus took upon Himself your disgrace, your shame and your sin, therefore, when you place your faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ, all your shame, all your disgrace that accompanied your sin is wiped away and paid for by God Himself, so that you, like Elizabeth can worship, you can celebrate, and you can enjoy God forever.

                                                                                                                                                                                      1 Corinthians 12:14; 27

As many of you know, on Wednesday evenings we are examining the Lord Jesus’ life as we work our way through Luke’s Gospel.  But what you may not know, is while Luke wrote his gospel account by traveling and interviewing the different witnesses, Theophilus (the man Luke’s Gospel and the book of Acts is addressed to) probably funded Luke, in order for him to travel and write.    

Many commentators believe Theophilus was affluent, a person of high social standing, and was Luke’s financial backer so he could write these two books, which would have been an enormous financial commitment, and if it’s true, it’s a perfect picture of how people with different gift-mixes combine them to serve the Lord.  Luke gave his intellect, time and energy and Theophilus gave his money, and together to this very day we are still served by both of these men, and the Lord has used their contribution countless times to draw people into a genuine relationship with the Lord Jesus. 

I guarantee you, as Theophilus stands before the Lord Jesus, he doesn’t regret at all giving his money away to help get the news out about Jesus Christ.  I would even venture to say he actually rejoices in the opportunities that God gave him to further the Kingdom!  And Luke must be over-joyed to know that his investment of time, energy and intellect has paid eternal dividends! 

What about you?  In what ways and different venues do you sense the Lord is prompting you to combine your gift-mix with another person’s gift-mix to help spread the good news of Jesus Christ, and hold Jesus up as our supreme treasure?  Follow in the example of Luke and Theophilus and allow the Lord to use your gifts for His Kingdom purposes!

http://www.trail.org/uploads/Metrics_of_Ministry.pdf

My wife, Trea turned 32 this morning.  I first met her 16 years ago, and I remember the moment exactly.  I was in the gym shooting by myself, and she walked in and asked if I knew where her dad was (her dad was the basketball coach).  She was 16. I was 17. She was/is beautiful. Sparkling eyes, blonde hair, great legs! I tried striking up a conversation with her, but she ignored me. She continued to ignore me for several months, even though I tried everything possible to get her attention. It wasn’t until after we had lost a basketball game to Powers High School (thanks Jimmy) that Trea finally gave me a hug.  And it wasn’t for another 6 months until she finally agreed to date me, and then it took me almost 6 years to get her to agree to marry me. 

Our first year of marriage, we were so flippin poor, living in the hell hole of Oregon (Salem), but we were completely happy.  We would stay up and play “Battleship” or the card game “speed” because it wouldn’t cost us a dime.

After living in Salem for a year, we decided to move back to Southern Oregon, where we had purchased property and where Trea accepted a job teaching First Grade at Grace Christian School, in Medford, and I took a job being a youth pastor at a little country church. We struggled, we fought, I made plenty of mistakes, but by God’s grace Trea and I made it through that period of time, and we are stronger today because of it.

16 years later, we’re celebrating her birthday with the expectation that our second daugther will arrive any minute.  I can say without a doubt that Trea is a wonderful wife, amazing mother and that I need and love Trea, and count her influence in my life to be one of God’s greatest gifts.

1.  Select key men from the larger Christian body to which you are ministering (congregation, Sunday School class, Bible study, ets.)  Note these verses for the basis of your choice.  2 Tim. 2:2; Luke 6:12, 13; Mk. 3:13.

2. Begin to spend time with this select group. Jn. 3:22. Spend leisure time with them.  Mk. 6:31.  Get them into your home and family life.  Involve them in your personal life and ministry. Mk. 5:37.

3. Provide additional opportunities for teaching through Bible study and discussion, reading, Scripture memorization, tapes, etc.

4. Expose them to other teachers and leaders.  It takes all the saints to know all the dimensions of the knowledge of God.

5. Encourage them to open up and share their lives with one another.  You, of course, must set the pace by your own openness and honesty.

6. Be sensitive to teachable moments. Mk. 10:13-16.

7. Don’t be afraid to be hard on these men.  God’s men will bounce. Mk. 8:18,33; Mk. 9:1-8; 9:19.

8. Welcome adversity in their lives.  These times are opportunities for advancement. Mk. 4:35-41

9. Encourage them into ministries on their own.  Give them plenty of rope.  You can trust the Holy Spirit in their lives.  Provide counsel and encouragment. Evaluate periodically.  Mk. 6:7-13, 30.  Move them out into positions with increasing responsibility.  Gently push them out into situations beyond their depth so they have to trust the Lord.

10. Impart your vision to disciple others and send them out. John 20:21

11. Maintain a support base even when they are on their own.  Provide help as they need it.  Pray for them, write, be available for counsel, et at.

Biblical Guidance/Our Position

At Trail Christian Fellowship we seek, under the Lord’s guidance, to build strong marriages and families, knowing the marriage relationship is to re-image the permanent faithful relationship of Christ with His Bride, the Church (Eph. 5:22-32, 1 Pet. 3:1-7). But we realize that in a fallen age, marriages will undergo extreme difficulties; and some marriages will fail.  In both cases we must be ready to respond with grace, truth and love.

 Marriage is a God-ordained, public covenant between a man and a woman which joins them together in a “one flesh” relationship that is to be exclusive for life (Genesis 2:24, Malachi 2:14).  Jesus speaks to the permanence of marriage by saying, “they are no longer two, but one.  Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate” (Matt. 19:6, italics added).  God intends for a married couple to live for each other rather than for themselves. Therefore selflessness and sacrifice are at the heart of marriage, even though selflessness and sacrifice are difficult (Eph. 5:25).  When a marriage runs into difficultly (and almost all do) the priority is true forgiveness, true healing, and true reconciliation. 

 The position we hold at Trail Christian Fellowship allows for divorce and remarriage for either of two valid causes:  sexual unfaithfulness, (Matt. 5:31-32; 19:9), or abandonment by an unbelieving spouse (1 Cor. 7:15).

 Sexual Unfaithfulness

When speaking to the Pharisee’s Jesus said, “whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another commits adultery (Matt. 19:9, italics added).  The word Jesus uses for sexual immorality is the Greek word porneia which covers all the cases of sexual sin that deserved capital punishment in the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 24:1-4).  

 Jesus’ teaching allows, but does not require, divorce for sexual unfaithfulness.  Sexual unfaithfulness doesn’t necessitate divorce, but it is permissible under those circumstances.  The marriage bond includes a covenant and then a uniting sexually in “one flesh” (Genesis 2:24), and when the “one flesh” has been violated the other partner may divorce, and after cleansing from the trauma, and experiencing God’s healing grace may choose to remarry. 

 Abandonment

One further exception is found in the Apostle Paul’s writing.  In 1 Corinthians 7:15, Paul writes, “If the unbeliever leaves, let him do so.  A believing man or woman is not bound in such circumstances.”  In a marriage between a believer and an unbeliever, the believer should always seek to preserve the marriage, and honor their vows (1 Cor. 7:13-14; 1 Pet. 3:1-2).  However, if the unbelieving spouse (or a believing spouse who is living like an unbeliever) abandons the believer, after much waiting, and prayer, the believing spouse may divorce and remarry. 

Unwillingness to earn a living and provide for one’s family is another form of abandonment (1 Tim.5:8), as is a conscious and purposeful abandonment of your spousal duty to the marriage bed (1 Cor. 7:3-5).

 Ethical Issues

Unfortunately, and to God’s great displeasure, in some marriages there are devastating attitudes and behaviors that can destroy the marriage, and threaten the safety of family members.  Physical or sexual abuse of the spouse or children is an example of such behavior. While not explicitly stated in Scripture as grounds for divorce it certainly is a serious breach of marriage covenant, which necessitates a mandatory period of separation, and intense marital counseling.  Where there is physical or sexual abuse of the spouse or children, we will:

1. Seek to remove family members from abusive situations,
2. Contact the local authorities, and follow legal reporting,
3. Confront the abuser as appropriate,
4. Provide as much practical support as we can to the family and,
5. Bring church discipline as appropriate.

Depending on the circumstance, pastors and/or counselors in such cases might recommend legal separation or divorce for the welfare of the battered spouse and/or safety of minor children.  While divorce should not be a desired outcome, when confronted with two bad choices a Christian may choose the lesser of two evils.

 If someone divorces without a valid cause, they are still married in God’s sight, and the one who initiated the divorce has dishonored the Lord, their marriage vows and the community of faith.  If one of them remarries, their new union is adultery against their former spouse, and the first marriage is ended. The former spouse is now single and free to remarry (Matt. 19:3-12).  The new married couple should repent of adultery, receive God’s forgiveness, be brought back into God’s pattern for life and seek to establish a marriage marked by exclusivity, intimacy, loyalty, and permanence.

 Broken marriages cause great damage to all involved—spouses, children and immediate families.  Our goal is to help divorced people experience God’s healing grace, and yet recognize, and deal with their personal sin in their previous marriage, and allow the Spirit room to grow and restore them to wholeness.  When restoration has occurred, and only if restoration has occurred, there is another possibility of marriage. 

 There are times, however, when the marriage relationship has been so damaged by entrenched sin, and so devalued that the couple (having exhausted all resources) may seek divorce, as a final and undesirable option. Because such divorces have no scriptural warrant, neither person would be eligible for a subsequent marriage. While divorce is always the product of sin, it is not the unforgivable sin (Matt. 12:32, Mark 3:28-29), and we pray that those who have been divorced may find joy, forgiveness and restoration in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Gender Issues in Church Leadership

Biblical Guidance/Our Position

At Trail Christian Fellowship we have been blessed because gender has never been a divisive issue among us.  We want to preserve that peace and unity.  Yet, all around us the gender wars are raging.  Even within the evangelical community people disagree, sometimes heatedly.

The reason for the disagreement (aside from the perennial angst in our culture over these topics) is that in one place Paul says that women should not teach or exercise authority over men in the church (1 Tim. 2:12), yet in other places it seems obvious that women prophesied, prayed and were taken very seriously in Christian body life (Acts 21:9; 1 Cor. 11:5; Rom. 16:3-16 where women are included with the men as heroes of the faith).  The fact that Paul had to correct some abuses with regard to the sisters’ freedom to join in ministry indicates that Christian women had more clout in the church than the surrounding culture generally condoned.  They were considered equals with the men in service to Christ.  So, how should we understand these seemingly divergent perspectives?

Three main views regarding gender and leadership within the Church have emerged:  Egalitarians believe that men and women are equal before God and therefore women should be admitted to and represented in all ministries within a church, particularly senior pastoral and eldership positions.  They believe a person’s gender is not at all a relevant issue for positioning people in ministry.  Hierarchialists believe Scripture teaches that men and women are equal before God, but that women should strictly avoid ministry to adult men under all conditions.  Complementarians believe that men and women are equal before God, but that he has created some church ministry specifications based not on superiority or inferiority, but on his designed spirit distinctions between male and female souls.  These specifications position men as ultimately responsible for the life and health of the church (elders) in this age.  The complementarian view opens all other venues for women to teach, pray and prophesy within the ministry except elder-board membership and primary pulpit responsibility.  This is the view we hold at Trail Christian Fellowship. 

Love and respect are more important to the Lord than titles and power.  As a church we believe that how men and women treat each other is more important than what roles and titles we have (John 13:34-35; Mtt 20:25-28).  When anger and divisiveness predominate and ministry degenerates into arguments about authority, prestige, and position something very important has already been lost—Christlikeness (see Phil. 2:1-11; Jas. 3:13-18).   We also believe that this issue, while important and worthy of a position paper like this, is not the basis of unity in the body of Christ and therefore ought not to be a dividing factor between brothers and sisters.  We ask that all those who fellowship among us accept the functional position we as elders believe is most biblical and strive to love and respect one another within that parameter.  We do not insist that everybody outside the elder board and teaching faculty “sign off’ personally on our view.  We do ask that for the purposes of fellowship and unity in Christ at our church we not argue or agitate for one of the other two Christian positions on this issue.

Our Position (Complementarian)

We believe God created both male and female in His image, and gave them equally dignity, value and purpose (Genesis 1:27).  We also believe that men and women are equal partners in Christ (Gal. 3:28), and both men and women are equally gifted by God (Eph. 4:7, 11-13) so that the local church may be strengthened (1 Cor. 12:4-7).  In the Trinity, there are three distinct and equal Persons sharing the same essence and yet who exercise different roles.  God the Father sends the Son and the Spirit (John 5:23, 24, 36, Isaiah 48:16).  God the Son and God the Spirit submit to the Father, yet each is equally God.  This is equality in diversity.  At Trail Christian Fellowship we believe there is an equality of persons between men and women, but a diversity of function.

For further reading we recommend:

Women and Men in Ministry by Robert L. Saucy & Judith K. Tenelshof

Two Views on Women in Ministry by James R. Beck & Craig L. Blomberg

Women in Ministry: Four Views by Bonnidell Clouse & Robert G. Clouse